Against Love and Freedom on Mars

Ralen wandered through the desert, the sand crunching under his feet. He'd been walking for hours, but he was still no closer to finding Ahki. The trip from the capital to her village had been long and tiresome, and now he was stuck in a desert with no shelter or water. But he wasn't going to give up.

"Ahki!" He yelled into the distance, hoping she could hear him. His voice was hoarse and dry after hours of yelling her name, but he didn't care. He called out again, this time trying to imitate her voice.

"Ralen!" He tried again, this time imitating the contralto of her mother's call. "Ahi!" This time he tried an alto range similar to his own mother's, but it didn't sound right either. Then suddenly it clicked into place.

"Akaiiiiii!" Finally! Ralen felt a swell of excitement at the thought of finally hearing her wispy voice calling back to him, but then he realized that he'd never heard her call his name like that before. She always called him Achi (ahh-chee), meaning brother in their language. But how did she know where he was? Ralen turned around and saw Ahki running towards him, the wind creating billows of sand behind her as she ran full speed towards him. Her hair flew behind her as she bounded over rocks and low shrubs in her haste to reach him. As she approached Ralen felt himself being picked up off his feet and carried by Ahki, who held him tight against her chest as they ran through the desert together.

"What are you doing here?" She asked when they reached a small patch of shade beneath a rocky overhang that provided some protection from the harsh sun of Mars' summer season. When they stopped running Ahki sat down on the ground with Ralen in her lap and held him tight against her chest while she waited for their breathing to return to normal.

"My father arranged my marriage." Ralen said between panting breaths. "I had to get away." He continued once his breathing returned to normal

Ahki looked at Ralen with a saddened expression on her face. "I'm sorry," She said softly as she leaned forward and placed a kiss on his forehead "But I can't be with you." She continued sadly as she leaned back into their embrace. "It's too dangerous for me to even talk to you." She added after a moment of silence had passed between them.

"Well then we'll just have to run away together." Ralen said as he sat up straight in Ahki's lap, causing Ahki to look at him curiously while taking his hands in hers so that they could hold hands while sitting side by side on the ground. "We'll start our own village." He continued excitedly as Ahki smiled at him warmly and squeezed his hands gently between hers while turning herself slightly in his direction so that they were facing each other comfortably while sitting beside each other on the ground of their desert hideaway. "And we'll marry each other and everyone will know that we're meant for each other! And people will wonder why they ever thought that we weren't going to be together forever when we were younger! And all those nasty old biddies who were telling our parents that getting married would ruin our lives will be proven wrong because we'll live happily ever after together! It'll be great!" He finished excitedly, smiling broadly at Ahki whose smile had grown wider with each sentence he spoke until now it stretched across her face like a crescent moon just before it disappeared behind clouds during its waning phase as she giggled happily next to him while staring adoringly into his eyes with tears pooling there threateningly while being fought back valiantly by an overwhelmed Ahki who knew that if they were allowed through then they would flow freely down both cheeks without fail.