is a weekly serial. While it is a work of fiction, it has elements from both my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from various people. The characters, while in some cases inspired by real people, aren’t directly modeled on anyone in particular. I expect there will be inconsistencies and factual errors. I don’t know where it is going, and I’ll probably forget where it’s been. Why am I doing this? To give me an excuse and a deadline for some creative writing and because I thought people might enjoy it. Gozatu!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\u201cWhat?\u201d he exclaimed. \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGaruna wants to go with us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGo with us? Where?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur own time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCan it do that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maite nodded. \u201cIt can, but only by becoming part of the zatia that I then absorb. It will become a part of me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cInola ere ez! No way! Why would you ever do that?\u201d exclaimed Kepa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBecause, otherwise, it won\u2019t let us have the zatia. It won\u2019t let us go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe can find a different way. We can take it from it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maite shook her head, a tear slowly trickling down her cheek. \u201cYou saw what it did to de Lancre. And de Lancre was prepared. We have no hope of breaking into its facility and getting the zatia. If that is even where it is keeping the damn thing. I don\u2019t see another option.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe can just live here. Spend the rest of our lives in this bubble.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sadness filled Maite\u2019s eyes. She knew Kepa loved her, but didn\u2019t realize the extent to which he would sacrifice for her. A weak smile spread on her lips. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI appreciate that you would even offer that, more than you could ever know. But, you and I both know that isn\u2019t an option. The bubbles could become unstable. And there are other versions of de Lancre out there, searching for the zatiak. We have to stop him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd there are other versions of us too. One of them may come back to this bubble and find a way to defeat Garuna.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t take that chance, when we have the ability to pop this bubble now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kepa\u2019s shoulders slumped. \u201cWhat would it be like, with it inside you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEz dakit,\u201d replied Maite. \u201cI don\u2019t know. I guess like another little voice in my head?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI expect that will be the case,\u201d added Garuna, its voice filling the empty space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDamn you, Garuna!\u201d yelled Kepa. \u201cWhy are you doing this? Why won\u2019t you just let us go?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was a pause. \u201cFor the same reason you are here in the first place. Self-preservation. If I cannot preserve my time, my space, then the next best thing is for me to preserve myself. I hope I can learn to stabilize the time bubbles and prevent others from being burst. Regardless, I do not want to cease existing. Just like you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kepa looked at Maite. \u201cAre you sure this is what you want?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maite shuddered. \u201cEz. No, I don\u2019t want this. But I want us. And I want to save the timeline. If this is the cost, I\u2019m willing to pay it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kepa nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGaruna,\u201d announced Maite. \u201cI\u2019m ready.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The circle of light that surrounded them pulsed, slowly at first and then increasingly faster until it was almost a strobe light. Kepa shielded his eyes but Maite simply stood her ground. The circle rose above them and then shrunk further, coallescing into a small ball of light that hovered in front of her at chest height. The zatia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maite looked over at Kepa, smiling as she reached out to touch the zatia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you get this post via email, the return-to address goes no where, so please write blas@buber.net<\/a> if you want to get in touch with me.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Moments later, Kepa materialized seemingly out of nowhere next to Maite. \u201cZer\u2026?\u201d he began. Looking at Maite, he asked \u201cWhat is going on?\u201d \u201cWe\u2019re in Garuna\u2019s mind,\u201d replied Maite. \u201cWhat?\u201d he exclaimed. \u201cWhy?\u201d \u201cGaruna wants to go with us.\u201d \u201cGo with us? Where?\u201d \u201cOur own time.\u201d \u201cCan it do that?\u201d Maite nodded. \u201cIt can, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2640,864],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa","category-bubers-basque-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/maite-and-kepa-v2-01.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2sYNu-1x3","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5893"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5894,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5893\/revisions\/5894"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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