"Yeah. What is it, Wayne?"
"You have a visitor. Says she wants to talk to you," the captain said, a slight quiver in his hoarse voice. "I don't know what it's about, but she...she looks just like...your..."
"Captain, please. Just send her in."
I released the communicator and let it rest on its cradle. I wiped the sleep from my eyes and tugged at the hair on the top of my head.
"You got a visitor, sweetheart."
He peered through the small window in my door, his eyes filled with curiosity. I could sense his uncertainty: what was a young woman doing on his ship? After separating from my family, I hid myself away on a small, abandoned vessel to make the long journey home alone.
"Yeah. I'm...coming out now."
I tidied myself up and exhaled. I pulled my door open and stepped out into the hallway, meeting my visitor. He began to chuckle as his eyes met mine, staring at my face. His dark hair stuck up at odd angles, and his unshaven chin matched his messy, salt and pepper beard. He wore a crumpled, white button-down shirt and black slacks.
"I suppose you two are related?"
"Tia!" the captain exclaimed with a smirk, reaching out to shake my hand.
I took the proffered hand. "Please. Call me your sister."
"Alright. So you're the sister we've been lookin' for?"
"I am."
"What were you doing holed up in my ship, anyway?"
I gave him my best glare. "I was waiting for someone. And that someone is over my shoulder."
He looked over my shoulder and began laughing hysterically, slamming his hand down on the wall as he peeked around the corner.
"She's here! She's here!"
I rolled my eyes and followed the man down the hallway. He cleared the way for me to step over the threshold into the small hangar bay. He dusted off his hands as I perused the group of seven or eight. They all sat around in lawn chairs. A small boy and girl sat in one chair, their eyes wide from their grime-streaked faces.
"This is your sister, Marissa!" Wayne said. "She's the one we've been looking for."
"And this is my wife, Eve!" the captain said. "Maddie and Jonah are our children."
I stepped over to a sweet-looking woman with olive skin, dark black hair, and a light brown, T-shirt-and-jeans ensemble. Her lips were pursed downward, her eyes focused on her bare feet.
"So...are we going to do this?" she said.
"Y-yes! Of course. Right away!"
She removed her hand from her lips and rubbed it against her pants. "Do you want to hold their hands?" she asked, looking up at me.
"I...I guess, yes."
Marissa knelt down in front of the brother and sister. She grabbed the brother's wrist and leaned his arm forward, placing his hand onto his sister's. They both gripped each other's hands tight, clutching tight to each other.
"Alright. Let's do this. I have to tell you, it might not work. But...I'm going to try."
"Alright."
She began to slowly recite the words.
"I, Marissa, charge you to hold Jonah's hand, and to address Eve by her first name. You must do this, at all times, without any excuse, no matter what. If you fail to keep this promise, I promise to be upon you to return this Gift, and to fix your actions." She looked at the wall, toward the captain, then back towards the children. "Are you ready?"
The children nodded and placed their hands back down, then faced their parent. She repeated the phrase towards the woman.
"Eve, I charge you to hold Jonah's hand, and to treat Marissa as her own sister. You must do this, at all times, without any excuse, no matter what. If you fail to keep this promise, I promise to be upon you to return this Gift, and to fix your actions."
Eve placed her hand on top of the children's and looked up at me. I nodded to her.
"I'm ready."
Marissa shifted her weight onto her back foot, bringing her arm up into the air. She clenched her eyes shut. I couldn't see a change in her appearance immediately, but all of the children began to squirm in their seats, clutching desperately to their sister or brother's hands. They were trembling, and tears welled up in their eyes.
Their father, Wayne, took his wife by the hand. She stood up and the children stepped in front of her, staring at her with their eyes wide open. I followed behind them, unsure of what was going on. The woman's head lay to the side while her eyes were shut tight.
The children flinched. Wayne's wife shook her body, as if to loosen up her heavy muscles. Her eyes suddenly snapped open. She slowed her breathing down and looked around the room. Her face shifted into something that resembled a smile, but did not change her facial features.
"Did it work?" the captain asked.
They looked at each other and nodded. The captain and his wife stepped forward quickly, delighted. The children clapped their hands in the air. The lights in the hangar bay flickered on and off for a few seconds, and the ship began to launch itself out into space. The children giggled with delight, hugging their mothers' legs.
Marissa slung her arm over her shoulder. "Yes, they're home now. They'll have another chance at their life."
I followed the man and his wife back into the ship. He gave me a dazed look.
"Was it really her?"
"Yes."
"I always knew there was a reason I didn't want to let her go."
The man and his wife waved at us as the ship blew out of the hangar.
"Good luck," Marissa said, squeezing the children's hands and blowing a kiss to them. The captain and I stood by the doors as the ship drifted off into the darkness.
"Thanks. I'll contact you when I get home. You'll be alright, won't you?"
"Yeah. I'll be alright. Later!"
We waved at each other as the children sang happily and bounced into the ship.
"We better get to work on that small ship. I'm sure your parents are looking for us," I said.
"Yeah. Can't wait to see their reaction."
The ship continued to shimmer into view as AhnHao flew down from the top of the hangar to meet us. He landed by our sides and I waved at him. He fluttered his wings and waved back, and then trotted up to us.
