Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.-Chapter 550: A date in the food court.

Sunshine blinked, her lips parted but no sound came. But again, she stretched her hand, fingers trembling. Her gaze was soft, stripped of all pretense. "I thought that there was a possibility that I wouldn’t make it back. The mist is not a friend to anyone, not even to mist walkers. So, in case I did not make it back, I wanted those to be my last words not just to the boys but to you. Not because of fear, but because it’s the truth. I think I have loved you since the day I told you an apocalypse was coming and instead of divorcing me and kicking me out, you gave me your bank card."

His breath caught, the tension in his shoulders breaking like a dam. He moved to his knees and pulled her into his arms, holding her as though the watchers would create trouble and split them apart that very moment. "I have been thinking about it all day. You don’t know what those words do to me," he whispered against her neck. "When we survive this apocalypse, I swear that I will be the best husband to you. And you will get to keep all my bank cards from now on."

Sunshine laughed.

"We have to do something." Hades declared. "We must celebrate this moment. Despite the apocalypse and the deaths, we have to celebrate the unyielding promise of forever."

She thought for a moment. It had been a long day, but she lacked sleep. The base was not in celebratory mood tonight. Perhaps, a trip to another world was in order. She could afford it and he had been clamoring for it. "How would you like to come to another world with me?"

She took him into the space and then out of a door that led to a whole other world that lacked struggle, grief and turmoil. In front of them sprawled a colossal food court, a mall of jaw dropping scale! Its size seemed to be endless. Neon signs in alien scripts blinked restaurants that sold hot, cold, and steaming dishes. Others advertised glowing drinks and desserts which floated in air.

The air was thick with the scent of honey, sweets, spices and incense. It was also heavy with chatter in unrecognizable tongues and patrons from different worlds. Some had scales, others had feathers or shimmering skin like jellyfish. Some had skin like crystal and others looked almost human.

Hades was overwhelmed by the gravity of it all. "What is this place? A market...mall, or restaurant?"

Sunshine laughed, tugging him toward a restaurant where a winged alien outside was shuffling skewers over a green fire at the speed of light. "This is the food court. It is a combination of branches of one million of the best restaurants in the galaxy. If you crave it, it’s here. If you can imagine it, it’s here. Pick anything you crave, and I will pay for it."

Hades looked around, and he shook his head. "Not meat. After everything that happened in Ferry Island, I am going to give meat a break."

Sunshine’s face almost turned green. "That makes two of us. I still cannot believe what that woman was doing." She shook her head. "To think that she mixed that meat into beef and mutton and donated it to people!"

Hades trembled. "I have never been so glad to have our own food. I am making a new rule in Fortress four, no importation of any meat of any kind into the base. Except for hunters that bring in mutated animal meat. But nothing from outside markets."

She agreed with him. Some vendors in the fortress had started buying meat from traders in Ferry Island. Lord knows what they had been sold. All the vendors would have to be found and their meat stash had to be confiscated and incinerated tomorrow.

They found a table beneath a canopy hanging lanterns that pulsed with gentle light. It sold desserts. She ordered for ice cream which came with green strips that looked like noodles but glowed faintly.

Hades ordered for a mash up of an ice cream fruit bowl with roasted nuts that smelled faintly of cinnamon and iron.

For a while, they ate in silence, marveling at the flavors. The most amazing thing was the size of the deserts. They were very generous portions.

Hades closed his eyes, chewing cautiously with a grin. Occasionally, his head nodded along to the serenading melodies that accompanied their meal. "This is better than the ice cream you buy usually." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

She rolled her eyes. "I am a cheapskate; I usually buy the cheap stuff. Your bank card does not work over here."

He laughed.

She set down her spoon, her gaze fixed on him, sharp and unyielding. "You know, I admitted my love for you, you never said it back."

The words hung between them, heavier that the smell of alien cinnamon in the air. He swallowed and put down his spoon. "I...." He faltered, the coughed. "I didn’t want to---"

"No excuses Quinn." Her voice held steady. "Do you love me, or not?"

She had no interest in living like Nimo, having a man known how she felt while he struggled with his own feelings.

He froze, then did something utterly ridiculous. He stood up, climbed into the table, and raised his spoon high as if it was a microphone. "Attention everyone!" he shouted, voice booming. "This woman, this beautiful, fierce, terrifying, incredible, stubborn woman crushed into my life like a bear. She has saved my ass and changed my life and I am besotted. I love her. I love her so much that I am willing to stand in front of strangers and make a fool of myself."

Hades had no idea that he was being viewed on every screen in the food court.

The food court erupted in laughter, cheers and a few confused alien noises that were an applause or an insult. Sunshine covered her face, mortified but her smile betrayed how happy she was. "You are embarrassing me and you are insane," she muttered, tugging him down.

"Embarrassing and insanely in love." he corrected, grinning like an idiot.

He swooped in for a kiss, quick but fierce beneath the lantern above their heads. They broke apart when a four-armed angry alien frowned at them.

He pointed to a sign on the wall which Sunshine translated. Standing on the tables was illegal and anyone that did so had to pay a fine of fifty galaxy coins.

She paid the fine while Hades muttered that a romantic moment had to be the exception. The date continued, despite the small hiccup. It unfolded like a dream. They wandered between restaurants, sampling alien desserts that fizzed on their tongues or made them jump and cough, they tasted drinks that made them sing and changed their tongues to different colors. They ate pastries that cried when bitten.

She laughed and teased Hades mercilessly when he refused to take more than one bite of those pastries. He even tried to buy the restaurant and save the pastries.

It was all perfect until she saw a similar figure.

Across from the pastry shop, sampling soups, stood a Noxian. A member of the same species that had placed a bounty on her. Even though her identity was still a myth to them, her blood ran cold.

She froze, grip tightening on Hades’ hand. He followed her gaze, frowning. "Do you know him or her?"

"Remember that bounty on my head? She hissed. "He is from that species. I could be recognized from my mannerisms, or voice. I was in disguise but still...., bad luck happens. I think we should end the date."

He looked at the time. "Its past midnight anyway." He would not let her stay, not if there was a chance that someone could hurt her.

She took his hand and they vanished from the court immediately.