Cress checked the time on her port for the fifth time in as many minutes. She tapped her foot incessantly, impatiently. "Thorne!" she called again. "Cinder is going to kill us for being late. Can we get a move on?"

Thorne stuck his head out of their bedroom–it had only just become theirs, instead of his, a few months ago–and he had a toothbrush sticking out of his mouth. Cress crossed her arms as he shouted, his words muffled by his full mouth, "C'min!"

"You just brushed your teeth!" she yelled, huffing. And he had, two hours ago before they left to go on their daily run. The fact that he was doing it again was almost annoying.

He shrugged and disappeared into the bathroom.

She rolled her eyes just as a comm from María pinged in on her port. It was a short explanation of the project Cress would be starting once they got back from Rieux. Cress had been 18 for 9 months now, which meant she'd been full time for just as long, and her paycheck generously reflected that. She shot a quick comm back, telling María that she would get started on it as soon as she got back into work, but that she couldn't stay late on Monday. Cress had dinner plans with Radha, Rani, Julio, and Anya, and she tried to never cancel on them. They'd gotten back into contact a few months ago, and it was nice to have them around.

They were good friends, and a great reminder of who she became when she had to almost start over. They were a sign of her resilience, and she adored them all to pieces.

Cress began to pace, checking that their Serv11.2's feeding schedule for their cats, Boots and Little Cress, had been set correctly, especially since it was Thorne who had set it in the first place. But maybe that wasn't fair, because he had become a bit more responsible with the cats as time passed.

She walked to the sliding glass door that led to their backyard.

It was cool outside for April, but the clear skies meant it was a good day for travel. They were headed to Rieux for Scarlet and Ze'ev's wedding, which would unfortunately be widely-televised, as it was the first publicized wedding between a Lunar and an Earthen, though Cress was sure it was far more common now.

They'd spent a few days with the couple in the autumn, and Cress loved it there. The golden fields and warm wind made her wish they had spent a month there instead, but she didn't like taking a lot of consecutive time off work. She hated coming back and having to refresh on a project.

Cress finally gave in, walking back to the living room to plop down on the couch while she waited for Thorne to finish getting ready, staring blankly at their suitcases, which were propped up near the door to the Rampion dock.

The dock had been finished for about a month. They'd made plans for the build only a month after Cress moved in. It'd taken six months for them to find a good contractor, and then another year for it to actually be built. A whole year of having their huge and beautiful backyard torn apart so that it could be put back together with a large cargo ship dock beneath it. A whole year of the sounds of construction. It really cut through the otherwise peaceful days on the outskirts of Los Angeles.

The dock was nice. The top was conspicuously covered with grass so that you almost couldn't tell it had ever been disturbed, and it opened so the Rampion could have a smooth ascent straight upwards.

For her part, Cress wasn't sure why they needed to take the Rampion when they could just fly one of the podships, but Thorne insisted that Scarlet and Ze'ev's home didn't have enough rooms, so they needed the extra space. Plus, he'd said, it was a thirteen hour ride and they'd want the extra space to move around.

It was fair, but it was still annoying. Thorne had finally gotten his pilot's license, but that didn't mean he was necessarily a good one, and it made Cress wish she had the time to take piloting lessons herself.

Still waiting, she scrolled through the calendar on her port. Thorne's birthday was a month away, and she still hadn't thought of anything for them to do. She felt bad about that, because he had made sure that they'd spent her 18th birthday in the Icelandic mountains.

Finally, finally, he emerged from the bedroom. "Sitting down?" he said in mock disappointment. "We have places to be!"

Cress jumped up. "Stars above, it's about time."

He held his arms out like he was presenting something. "This kind of handsome takes time, Cress."

He was handsome. His hair was gelled back, he was clean shaven, and she could just catch the scent of his cologne in the air.

She marched over to him, quickly covering the small space between them, and tilted her head back so that she could try to peer down her nose at him, though it wasn't really working. "You don't need to take time! We're about to embark on a thirteen hour trip. You could've gotten ready on the Rampion."

His arms moved to cross over his chest, more mock disappointment etched in his features. "But then I wouldn't look handsome for you, and that's not fair."

Cress smirked at him now, and reached forward to tickle his side. "You always look handsome."

He laughed, grabbing her wrists and gently pushing her back onto the couch. "I disagree. Now c'mon, we have places to be, remember?"

He bent over and hoisted her up over his shoulder and grabbed both of their suitcases by the handles, pulling them behind him. Cress screeched in laughter as he walked with her flung over his shoulder, as he could barely keep both of the suitcases in his hand, and they continually almost toppled over onto the ground.

"Dock lift door, open," he commanded.

Cress tapped her hands on his butt as if she were playing the drums, giggling all the way.

Thorne stepped into the lift that took them to the dock floor and set her down, evenly distributing their suitcases so that he had one handle in each hand.

She shoved him lightly. "You're such a jerk," she joked.

He smiled at her, sincere, and leaned over to kiss her forehead. "I love you, too."

Once they were in orbit, their ETA set at a solid 12 and a half hours, Cress settled into the cockpit with Thorne. He was looking out at the stars ahead, and she was looking at him.

Cress quirked a smile and reached over to take his hand. "We should do something special for your birthday," she said.

He didn't look over at her, but lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles. "We don't need to do anything special. A nice dinner with my girl," he tore his eyes away from the stars now, looking at her, "that's all I really want."

Cress pulled his hand over to her lips, kissing his knuckles like he had hers. "We should do it here, in orbit. We can have a nice dinner in the stars. I'll even cloak the ship so we can disappear for a day."

"I think that that sounds like the best birthday gift ever."

Cress rose to her feet and shuffled over to the captain's chair, sitting across Thorne's lap so that their bodies were perpendicular, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I feel like I could do better, but I'm so bad at celebration ideas."

Thorne leaned over and kissed her, and it was as much of a thrill as it always was. "I think you're wonderful."

They both looked out at the stars together, at the way the sunlight blossomed off the Earthen horizon and lit the oceans so that they glittered, at the way the moon shone bright in the distance, partially shaded by the Earth. It was a beautiful scene, one she had always loved, and moreso now that it was not something that she saw every day. Moreso now that when she saw it, it was with Thorne by her side. Loving her.

She had been bruised and scarred, and Thorne and this life she had now were worth every second of the pain that had been.

She rested her temple against his, and the Rampion continued its voyage over the Earth, and it was quite possibly one of the best days of her life. So far.

Author's Note: I told you I finished it. ;_; Please review and tell me if it was everything you wanted it to be... and if it wasn't, well, sorry. I'm just so glad it's finally over! And that this was not one for the 'multi chapter fanfics that never got finished' folder! Thanks for sticking around, guys. I'm proud of you. xo