Little Gillian was as close as she could get to him, and they constantly smiled at each other. It was as if they no longer needed to speak, as they had found some way of communicating telepathically.
I was interested to see that Ed’s knee was behaving as if nothing had been wrong with it, ever. For a man who had been through so much, this was a miracle, and one that I could never explain. I would be fascinated to see the US Navy medics’ reaction to his new knee.
Gradually the village was repaired, and their life got back to normal. Ed was treated like a hero, but just smiled and dealt with it with a degree of humility I found admirable. Gillian was never far from his side, and had taken to wearing an enormous grin on her face virtually all the time.
She had undergone the most profound change. Suddenly, almost overnight, she became amazingly feminine. She took to wearing flowers in her hair, with strings of beads around her neck. Gone were the combat trousers, and in their place were wrap-around skirts, and a bikini top.
Ed was the only person who seemed unmoved by the whole experience. He just took everything in with his smiling eyes, just going about his business. Russell was bursting to return to complete his paper on the village. Simon had so much material, that the pair of them were already planning a return trip in a few months. Craig had no film left, so was dying to return to develop his pictures.
And as for myself, well, Russak had supplied me with various plants and herbs that would keep me busy for a lifetime. However, I still was eager to understand how he had managed that trick with Ed’s knee.
He was enigmatically reluctant to go into details, simply telling me that he hadn’t done anything, but the spirits had done it all.
Ed contacted Mickey on the Lucky Lucy, to discover that she was a day away, so we informed the village that we would be leaving soon. There was much genuine sorrow, and a concern that others, who were not as friendly as us would now come.
Once again, Ed stepped in, and with a level of wisdom I was unaware of, he told them about the United Nations and the rights of indigenous peoples. It seems that in their haste to claim the larger islands in the region, the powers of the day had all neglected to claim the little island of Saint Mateus. The Portuguese had named her, but not thought to claim her.
So, logging into the Internet, through the satellite phone and Gillian’s laptop, we managed to register the island in the natives’ name of Narvara, meaning ‘dry land’, and on behalf of them stated that it was an independent nation state in its own right!
The UN acknowledged these facts, bureaucracy took over, and the item was placed on an agenda for action at some point in the future.
There was frenzy amongst the villagers, as they prepared for a farewell feast. We gave them all the remaining stores, and everything that we felt we could give them, like pots and pans, water containers, and even the tents. Lucky Lucy appeared and anchored in the bay, just the other side of the reef.
Ed and Gillian managed to locate and get the rib running, and went out and brought Mickey to the island. He brought with him a crate of beer, for which Ed, for one, looked pleased about.
As the village was decorated with garlands of flowers, I got all my specimens and notes together. I was sad at leaving, but ached for the comforts of home.
* * *
Gillian.
When I came to, I was very disorientated. All that business with the smoke, and the spinning. I was just still giddy and feeling slightly nauseous.
The first thing that I was aware of was I was now sitting, and that when I moved my left hand, it was no longer tied down. I pushed my hair out of my face, and then it hit me. I had so much hair, and I stared at my hand. It was my left hand, and it was far too small.
I looked to my other hand, and found it tied to someone else, and the tall US Marine lying peacefully by my side, looked familiar.
It was then that I recalled seeing the world through my own eyes and through Ed’s too. My left hand went to my chest, and I could feel the swell of my breasts beneath the fabric of my shirt. My mind was a jumble of memories, of Ohio, of Scotland, of being someone called Lady Jane Lambert, a farm, Paris, America, Abingdon, and Vietnam. Then came the memories of Rome, ancient Britain, somewhere called Dacia and lots of fighting. Oh yes, and a man called Gaius.
It was all too much; I no longer knew who I was. I blacked out, very gratefully!
When I came to, I was cradled in Ed’s lap. He was talking very softly to me, and he seemed to be the same as ever, yet I felt very strange. It was as if we had merged in the smoke, to become one. When we had returned to the flesh, we had taken parts of each other with us.
Roger was staring at us, so I realised that the pain in my knee was gone. My knee? Ed’s Knee! Who was I, was I Gillian, or was I Ed? And who was Ed? It was all very difficult. But Ed just kissed me, and was starting to chuckle.
“We both got what we wanted,” he said, very softly, and I swear he had a slight Scottish accent!
I nodded and started to laugh, too. Then old Russak, the old wizard, he was laughing his socks off.
To my surprise, Ed stood up, while I was still in his arms, and it was then I realised that his knee was now fine again. It made me laugh even more.
Ed carried me to our hut, and laid me on the bed. I wanted him so much now, and I no longer cared whom I used to be, I knew who I was now, and I could not take my clothes off quick enough. He stripped off and started to caress me, while I stroked his large, well-muscled arm.
He kissed me, very tenderly, so I pulled him close to me. I breathed in his scent, of power and strength, of sweat and toil.
He looked into my eyes, and I knew what he was thinking. It was as if he spoke straight into my brain.
‘You know I love you?’
‘And I love you!’ I thought back at him.
‘Why can I remember things in your life?’ he asked me.
‘I think we have merged so that those parts of us that needed to be something else, are now where they belong,’ I thought, and he smiled.
‘So we are one?’
‘Something like that. That part of me that should have been male is now in you, and vice versa. I no longer want to be a male, and I believe the female in you is now in me,’ I thought.
He kissed my breast, and let my nipple roll against his tongue. I felt the heat of passion spread like a fire from my groin. I pulled him closer to me and kissed him.
I let my hand feel for his erection, grasping it tightly.
‘I want you inside me!’
‘I know!’ he thought, and smiled. He kissed my belly, running his tongue across my moist opening, as I arched my back and moaned with pleasure.
He lifted me up, so I opened my legs for him, as he sat on the floor. I sank down, feeling him slide inside me, so I shuddered with the pleasure. I wrapped my legs around him, as he cradled me, kissing my breasts.
On the boat, we had had sex. In the tent, and in the hut, we had had sex, many times, and I had been satisfied.
But now, we made real love, it was a thousand times better. The feelings I experienced were magnified to the nth degree. I felt what he felt, as our thoughts became as one. He knew what I felt and when I felt it, and we merged in the physical, mental and spiritual plane all at the same time.
When he finally climaxed, shooting his sperm deep into me, I had been on a crest of a wave of pleasure that defies description. The overriding emotion I had was of such love that I never wanted to let him go. I found myself wishing, with all my heart that I would become pregnant and have his child. I started to laugh.