Midnight in the Jeddak's Garden

 [cont'd from here]

She holds him through the worst of it.  Holds him and rocks him gently, her mind racing to come up with some kind of solution, any solution.  There isn't one, she knows.  She can feel his agony as if it were her own, and in a way, it is now, isn't it?  She feels the tears on her cheeks and lets them fall.  Grief is the strongest enemy she's ever vanquished.

But she's done it before, and she knows she can do it again.

She doesn't know how long they've been sitting there when she notices a telltale ripple in the air.  It's just inches above the wood of her door.  It takes a moment to resolve, and before it does, she recognizes the portal and knows where it opens to.  She can smell the pimalias and the blessed cool of the moss trees beyond.  The night sky above Helium is crystal clear.

Gingerly she urges his gaze up.  Her voice is gentle and warm.  "Hey.  Can you smell that?"