Step by step, Esteban began to walk without the help of crutches. His strides were short and in principle, he leaned on my body to keep from falling. That day, we went for a walk on a small beach in New Betchley. The sky was covered with clouds, but the temperature was pleasant. The ocean waters were calm and the morning breeze carried the typical coastal scent to my nostrils.

"Come on love, step by step," I lovingly encouraged him to walk by himself. He, however, was still fearful.

“Don't worry, lean on me, I won't let you fall.”

“Thank you my love” he replied a little nervous.

I always considered Esteban a shy boy, but sweet. And at the same time, with great inner strength. In that we are alike. He grew up without his parents and I lost mine. Life has not been easy for either of us. Yet here we are, supporting each other to move forward. Watching him try to take steps on his own, I think how indifferent humans were to me. This species never caught my attention. And I didn't take too seriously what some skunktaurs think of them: cruel slavers. That happened centuries ago. And all the humans who enslaved my ancestors are already dead. However, when I was with Ugkar, hy never stopped reminding me how dangerous they were. Hy hated them strongly. But I never shared those feelings.

“Look Lilethe! Do you see that I can take more steps? I'll be jogging again soon! ”He exclaimed happily. I saw it from a distance. I liked seeing him happy. I never believed that a human would be the owner of both my hearts. When I thought about my future, I saw myself in a clan, loving and being loved by someone of my species, such as my parents, or by some chakat. But inexplicably, fate linked me to this creature, coming from so far away. My mental union with him arose spontaneously and involuntarily. My emotions rested on his, and his on mine, under a harmonic energy that I don't know how to explain.

Why did Vroeg leave his message next to mine for me to deliver? Why did he want me to meet him? What do those words mean that the old skunktaur wrote to me before he died? Did he know beforehand that Esteban and I were compatible and would fall in love? Why do I sometimes dream that Esteban is in the land of centuries ago, in those old laboratories where the history of our species began?

"We always mend the fabric of life, which we once broke, and in that, time has no meaning" It was one of the phrases that hy left me about Esteban. What could it mean?

As he pondered these matters, I felt a calm voice speak my name within me. I recognized her immediately, but was struck by the sense of calm that it now possessed. It was my old patner Ugkar, calling me from the prison where hy was still staying.

“I see that you enjoy your stay with your new boyfriend. I'm happy for you Lilethe. And also for him.”

“Ugkar! I thought your psionic abilities were blocked in prison.”

“Not at all. Although they do not know.”

“I understand.”

“Do you want to know my opinion about what my father wrote you?”

“Could you tell me something about it?”

“Since I met Esteban, and my father through him, Lilethe has revealed many things to me. And I think I understand something more about all this.”

I confess that Ugkar's words filled me with curiosity. So I decided to settle my body on the sand and concentrate to listen to him better, while Esteban continued taking steps by himself only several meters away from me.

“I think that everything my little brother has experienced in Chakona is the payment for the mistakes he made in the past.”

“You mean his student participation in H1? He himself said at the time after he reconsidered and abandoned those ideas…”

“Not Lilethe. You do not understand. Have you ever wondered why, in your dreams, Esteban appears working in those archaic terrestrial laboratories from centuries ago? You are capturing images from his previous life.”

"Past life?"

"Yes. This human was surely one of those scientists who worked in those laboratories, perhaps with the aim of turning the skunktaurs into what they ended up being: pathetic slaves without rights. I'm not just saying it for your dreams. But because I myself have capable of his life beyond this existence. Everything is cyclical, and your mistakes end up condemning you. Esteban has suffered a lot in his life. He first he was hurt and abandoned by his own human parents. Later in Chakona, he suffered the wrath of the skunktaurs. He experienced the horror of almost being killed by his own friend renouncing him. I was unknowingly playing a role in paying for his misdeeds. And furthermore, he suffered the fear of death when they pointed that weapon at him. And now he's there, recovering from his physical injuries."

“Wait ... You mean that Vroeg wanted to tell me that Esteban...”

“I would have a debt to pay. Humans call it "karma." Maybe that's why my father chose him as a partner. Hy felt compassion for his, helping him cope with what the future held, and at the same time, hy tried to ease his own guilt for abandoning me.”

“Ugkar!… What you tell me is impressive!”

“But don't worry Lilethe. I don't hold a grudge against Vroeg. Hy did what hy could. And about Esteban, and once I consider him as a little brother, he has won my heart, not so much because he is your boyfriend now, but because he had the courage to deliver the last message that my father had for me ... And seeing him so happy After all he's been through, I realize that Vroeg was right. Everyone deserves another chance.”

“Even you Ugkar” I replied with emotion.

“Yes…” I heard clearly, then felt a silence that calmed the soul. I opened my eyes, and I saw Esteban in the distance. He was trying to run alongside a pair of skunktaur pups who were challenging him to catch up to the seashore.

Could it be that Ugkar is right, and after mistreating and harming the skunktaurs in his previous life, he is now paying for those mistakes by living among us and fighting for the dignity of our species? Is he mending in this way, the fabric that he tore in the past?¨

Whatever the truth, I will always be by your side my love, because I see in you, a wonderful soul, full of love and sweetness. I see inside you, the rising brilliance of a generous star.

Drawing by  sethtriggs