And begin it did. Soon enough Aspen acclimated to the rough and tumble life of the trading towns, and though people stared at the Seraphim; a species almost never on the Ground, she made friends and lived a colorful life with a job selling jewelry as eye-catching as herself. She even managed fell in love.

Aspen had originally met the young man after about a year and a half of living on the Ground, and the 19-almost-20 year old was intrigued. The boy was selling wares across the street from her own stand on the dusty street, and his fiery red hair caught her eye.

It was the same color as the sunsets she had watched as a child, the nets hanging from the edges of her home island in the sky. The memory of nostalgia made her catch her breath, and she continued to watch the other vendor as the days wore on.

He sold tiny glass figurines, and she would often see him working on new pieces during the slow times of the day. They were beautiful little things, and she enjoyed studying the art in the light of the afternoon sun,

She might have enjoyed studying the man as well…

Soon enough, as expected when working across from one another for several weeks, the two met face to face. The red-haired man introduced himself as Marco, and as cliche as it was, Aspen fell in love. And so it happened, Marco did too…

The two soon got to talking often after the day at the market ended, and a firm friendship quickly formed. As it turned out, they had a lot in common, as Marco had also left his home (a different planet in the system) under wary support from his parents. His glass figurine business picked up quickly on Mabilia, and he had moved through the trading posts for almost three years before meeting Aspen.

Their friendship turned into something more after about two years of a bond steadily becoming stronger. And soon enough, the unthinkable but oh so predictable happened. Aspen was expecting.

Of course, she always did defy the unthinkable.

Considering the laws on her home colony, as well as from most of her species, Aspen and Marco planned to raise their child on the Ground, living among the other traders and merchants. But things don’t always go as planned.

Near the end of the pregnancy, Aspen began to get very sick, and since she was a Seraphim, the doctors on the Ground could not figure out what was wrong with her. Their best prediction would be her death before the child was even born.

Marco was heartbroken, but he knew that his only real option was to somehow get Aspen back to Restless Waves, or else the love of his life and his unborn child would die.

Gathering together most of the savings the lovers had, he bought a boat just strong enough to make it to where the Colony was said to be. Day and night he sailed, only sleeping when he could stay awake no more. Aspen got progressively worse, and the relief Marco felt when the fishing nets of Restless Waves appeared on the horizon was indescribable. It had become a race against time to save his love and unborn child.