Just saying the words made him choke up.
In a way, he'd been wanting to save them for a very long time.He didn't know how to react to this--he was not used to being so emotional.Was that part of being an -An?Or did Caoimhe's appearance in his life unlock these emotions?
He didn't know.
But it brought him an incredible amount of relief that those Rhimodians, the ones who were assumed dead because of his actions, were coming back to the Sol system.
A small hand touched his arm.
He turned.
Caoimhe stood there."They're coming home, Bahran."
He nodded."I know."
"You did it."
He touched her hand back."We did it."Their fingers laced together.
He pulled her to him and kissed her.
Hard and sensual, and he wished they were alone.For he had a lot more kissing he wanted to do.Kissing.Celebrating.Touching.All of it.They hadn't had nearly enough alone time since returning, and it seemed every time they started to kiss, they wound up not being able to do more.
"All right, that's enough," Eleanor said."You're going to make me jealous."
Caoimhe pulled away."Why?Because you haven't been able to kiss Jedriek for the last twenty minutes?"
"Probably, yes."She grinned.
Bahran reluctantly let her go.She had work to do.He knew that.
They could celebrate later in private.
"Transmission from Veta," Bahran said."She's reporting that they're entering the Terran homeworld and will be landing.Any last-minute orders?"
"Admiral Jeke should be waiting for them," Caoimhe said."He needs to confirm the death of the Emperor so I can officially take over."
Bahran relayed the information back to Veta.
"Should we wait before we broadcast?"Eleanor asked.
Caoimhe shook her head."We have a great deal that needs to be done.I think we need to start as soon as possible, so we can get through the difficulty of transference."
"Is the military going to listen?"Eleanor asked.
"So far they are," Caoimhe replied.She'd sent out orders to the Terran Empire forces to retreat from Rhimodian territories, using the Emperor's code, so there would be no question in the decision.The system telemetry showed that the Rhimodian starfield finally was empty of anyone that was not Rhimodian.
"No detected stragglers, and no Charro I can find on sensors, either," Bahran said."So far, it's moving forward."
Caoimhe nodded."Forward is good."
He did not envy the work in front of her.Ending this war that lasted for over a decade would not be easy.Just saying the war was over did not mean that all of a sudden, all the humanoids out there would let go of their anger and frustration over it.The Rhimodians will still have issues with others.And so will the Terran Empire.
Everything will take time.
He knew she could do it, though.
She had accomplished so much already.
