I'm sorry. He eventually whispers. Mentally he's accepted their circumstances but his heart still hasn't come around. The part of him that desperately wants to share all of his life with Hiroki still feels cheated.

I don't have to be your pilot for that. Ziggy squeezes Hiroki's hand in return and leans in quietly. If my mind connects to yours, the way my mom and dad's are, then you will be able to see and feel a lot of what I do. We'll be able to talk at a distance too.

Ziggy leads them out into the outside gardens instead of the greenhouse. Like all Antheans, he has a love of large bodies of water and he remembers a pond in the back of the gardens with water lilies and birds. He's starting to even out again, settling into a calm and loving emotion.