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Dearest Fiona,
SAM sent me an archive of human literature, including many famous love letters. I do appreciate it, but more than anything, I want to know what you enjoy in your correspondence.
If you are comfortable with the idea, let me explain what I enjoy. I enjoy knowing your mind and heart. Humans are not as open as my own people, and that difference makes me treasure everything you share with me. I enjoy making you smile. I don't need to be in the same room as you to picture it. And I enjoy the constant reminder that you and I still have so much to learn about one another. It fills me with the same thrill as looking up at the stars.
Yours,
Jaal
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Dear Jaal,
You know what? Forget the stuff SAM sent you. I mean, you can go ahead and read it. A lot of it is very famous, poetic, and good for trivia night. But honestly? You're doing great without it. I can't stop thinking about your last email. Or the one before that. I've had to put all of your correspondence in a separate archive so I don't constantly lose my train of thought.
I should warn you--I'm pretty terrible at this. Actually, you probably noticed that already. As cliche as it sounds, I really enjoy little gestures like this. Writing emails. Trying each other's food. Just being with you. I like taking time to know you, to feel like I've known you all my life. Does that sound strange to you? I'm not always good at expressing it, but I promise that I'm a romantic at heart.
-Fiona
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You have a lovely heart. I don't need poetry or grand gestures to see that in you. And no, what you said does not sound strange to me at all.
Having said that, would you be willing to humor me with a poetry attempt? I have been reading through SAM's selections, and the form called haiku is the most familiar to me. It resembles our poetry, though we do not count all of our syllables, and the poems are much longer.
Besides, I know you can count to five and seven. I've seen you set explosives.
Yours,
Jaal
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You just doomed us both. This is going to be terrible, and we are both going to wish you'd never heard of a haiku. We might melt in shame.
Also, if this haiku ever sees the light of day, I'll drive the Nomad off another cliff.
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How can an object see the light of day?
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It's an idiom. It means if you ever share it with anyone else.
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Dearest,
You chose to open your heart to me. I would never betray that trust. Though I may still find your attempt humorous.
Please don't drive the Nomad off another cliff. Gil conscripted Liam and I for two days repairing the damage.
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Jaal,
All right, you asked for it. At least you'll get a laugh out of this exercise. Brace yourself. Here it is--my honest, best attempt at a romantic haiku. One for the history books:
Far across the stars
Blue eyes and swirling rofjinn
A chance encounter
Now I think I'm going to crawl under my covers and dissolve.
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Darling Fiona,
I have heard far worse poetry in my time, and it is a sincere first attempt. We may make a poet out of you yet. More than that, I enjoy seeing the more romantic side of you, especially because it is not something you often reveal. Is that selfish of me? Most angara would consider it selfish, to witness something so beautiful in another and reserve it for oneself. And yet, I cannot help but smile, knowing that you wouldn't try writing poetry for anyone else.
Yours,
Jaal
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Jaal,
You're...really sweet. I don't have anything more profound to say than that. And maybe angara would consider this kind of exclusive sharing selfish, but I don't. So stop worrying about it. You make me want to share more, and that's a good thing. For both of us.
Since you liked my first poetic creation, there's more terrible haiku where that came from!
Big damn Architect
Roars and shakes the ruined earth
Asses on fire
Yours,
Fiona
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How wonderfully crude. I'm showing that one to Drack.
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Awesome. He'll probably forward it to Kesh too. Let's see if we can get it turned into a memorial plaque on the Nexus.
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A memorial for...what?
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Resetting an Architect, of course! I mean, I can hope, but we're more likely to get bitter recriminations than plaques from the Nexus. It's always "Pathfinder, why isn't every planet overflowing with coconuts?" Or "Pathfinder, do my job for me." Or my personal favorite, "Pathfinder, why can't you pull a homeworld out of your ass?"
Sorry. That got a little bitter. I didn't mean to rant at you. Maybe I'll ask Reyes if the Collective can carve that poem into a cliff face on Kadara.
-Fiona
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Dearest Fiona,
My people share pain as readily as joy. I know you often hide your pain and frustration. And while I will never completely understand why you do, I want you to know this: I adore you, with all the flaws and strange qualities that make you so unique. If you were perfect, you would not be Fiona Ryder, Pathfinder from the Milky Way, who enjoys driving off cliffs, reading romantic letters, and casting a light into the unknown. And I would not enjoy your company as much as I do.
Please think on what I said. I ask this not for my benefit, but for yours.
Yours,
Jaal
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Dearest Jaal,
OK. I do feel better now. Thank you.
Sometimes when I'm with you, or on Aya and surrounded by angara, I wonder why humans are the way we are. Why we hide so much from each other. Wouldn't we be better off if we were completely open and honest about how we felt? Logically, that makes sense, but our aversion to sharing ourselves in public is more than cultural, I think. I can only speculate on its evolutionary origins. It's a fundamentally ingrained survival instinct, and it's a difficult one to overcome.
I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm making excuses. I hope you can be patient with me. For what it's worth, just being in the same room as you, or reading your emails, helps take the edge off the stress.
Yours,
Fiona
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My dearest,
Evfra and the Moshae would both say that patience isn't one of my strongest qualities. But for you? You were patient with building my trust when you first fell out of the sky. I am more than happy to repay that patience.
After all, you waited six hundred years to be here, now. That alone is breathtaking to me.
Yours,
Jaal
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Thanks. I really appreciate it. But I don't think I should get much credit for patience either. I was asleep that whole time in cryo. It's not like I was sitting around playing Tetris and waiting to crash on Aya.
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Tetris?
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Only the greatest achievement of my people!
Archive file attached: 3.0 MB
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What have you done to me? Why can I not stop humming this music?
Why do I see falling blocks whenever I close my eyes?
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>:)
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You are a devilish, ingenious, maddening woman.
And I love that about you.