It was decided that Malik and I would continue with our mission to merge with the earthlings, despite becoming a source of ridicule and mockery at the food court. After all, we had already traveled so far to be here, and I refused to crawl back to Alan's bakery empty-handed.

Unfortunately, it gets more and more difficult to resist grabbing everything in sight as we delve deeper into Roswell Mall. The humans joyfully displayed food items in their boxes—sugar-coated, dripping sweets. Scents of roasted nuts and seeds trailed Malik and me as we went down the aisle, marveling at baggies of dried meat and goods ready for consumption.

"Isn't this wonderful?" Malik asks me with a chuckle, "The humans are so generous with their food that they display it in the middle of the mall. You'll never have to worry about missing a meal here or fighting to the death to eat. Am I correct, or am I correct?"

I scan the rack full of tasty snack items and hesitate before grabbing a bag of rainbow-colored nuts with small letters marked on each one. "I am unsure about this, Malik," I admit. "The cab driver who I encountered yesterday did not allow me to ride for free and requested that I give him something called cash. This seems almost too good to be true."

"Trust me, I know these things," Malik replies confidently, and he reaches up to paw several bags of dried meat and nuts off the shelf into a larger bag, which I carried since Malik had no hands. "Now grab your snack and let's go find our disguises and an outfit for you to impress Alan."

My stomach grumbles in response, and before long, hunger replaces my desire to dispute with Malik. Glancing around, I see the humans eating their treats and candies and then leaving the stall with no problems, and I decide to engage. 

I rip open the bag and dip my hand inside, fishing out some of the colorful pieces while Malik and I leave the stall with our snacks. There's a shout behind us as we walk away, and I turn around and see a man waving at us wildly, so I wave back at him and smile before shoving a handful of M-stamped nuts into my mouth.

This truly was the greatest day of my life.

The crowd swallows Malik and me once more, and we stop at several more boxes and pick out a few items, like proper uniforms—the humans call them T-shirts and jackets—and even a pair of Ree-Boks for myself. It was all so exciting that I found myself changing forms in the changing room each time we went to match the look of my outfit.

I had noticed how graceful and slender Alan's Noah seemed, and for a split second, I considered changing my appearance to resemble him in an attempt to win Alan over, only to quickly realize what a horrible idea that was. If anything, this change had to be for me and to make myself happy, no matter what Malik believed. 

"Thieves! Good for nothing, thieves!" A female store owner shouts into the crowd as Malik and I leave a store called American Eagle and walk to Victoria's Secret together. 

"Forgive me if this sounds rude, but why are you helping me, Malik?" I decide to ask him as we enter the dimly lit store, my arms loaded with bags. "I see no reason for you to show your loyalty to me when Tau is so far away and freedom is around the corner."

Malik turns to me, having slipped into a very strange form during our mission. He looked just like the previous creature in the food court, only with a bright green color. His pink tongue poked out from a wrinkly face, and he seemed to have trouble breathing through his squished nose. 

"Well," he pants a little, "you are all I have left."

"Elaborate," I tell him, and we stop in front of a large box with several very tiny clothing items in assorted colors. They seemed to be called thongs, but I had no idea how the humans wore them.

"The Tau created me to serve," Malik explains. "I was a warrior, like you, born without a family. My whole life was spent fighting and surviving until we were assigned to travel the universe together. At first, I thought about killing you while you were in stasis and putting us both out of our misery, but I found myself growing attached as I tended to your body, adjusting your fluid levels and temperature. You are a child to me—my child."

I bite my lip and stare down at him, unsure of how to feel about what he was saying.

"It was not war or hatred that guided me through the universe in the end," Malik tells me quietly. "It was love. One day, I hope you will understand what that word truly means, Luna."

I feel my throat tighten painfully and have to turn away to hide my emotions. Malik and I truly had bonded during our journey, or at least he had bonded with me. I almost wished I hadn't been put into stasis so I could know him better as a companion and a friend. 

"Excuse me?" A voice sneers as I'm gingerly picking up something called a V-string panty in the color pink and trying to figure out where it was supposed to go on my body.

I turn around, my panty clutched in one hand, and spot a female eyeballing me nearby.

"You shouldn't be in this store," She tells me, her nose wrinkling in disgust, "Didn't you notice all the signs?" She gestures with one hand towards the walls, which are covered in images of even more females sporting tiny little garments like the ones in my hand. "This store is exclusively for women. Why are you touching those panties?"

"I didn't know--" I start to reply, realizing that my larger form may have been unsettling for her. From one store to another, I had changed from looking petite and lavender to large and intimidating like Alan. "I thought these clothes were available for all humans to pick from."

The woman sneers at me a little. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

This was not my first encounter with an angry human, but it was still very unsettling. The woman seemed to feed off my uncertainty and even smirked a little when I set the panty down, my face hot with embarrassment.

"Bork! Bork!" Malik's voice barks from the floor, and I look down in time to see him lifting his leg. The next thing I know, a stream of yellow urine is shooting out and soaking the woman's pant leg. Her mouth drops open, then she screams and starts trying to kick Malik. "You filthy animal!" She howls, "Who let this disgusting beast into my store!?"

Malik yelps when the woman kicks him hard.

"Malik!" I scream, and I scoop him up from the floor along with my bags, glaring at the woman the whole time. "Touch him again, and I will show you how my kind deals with people like you."

"Is that a threat?" She screeches.

My blade threatens to come out, but for some reason, Alan's words from the night before fill my thoughts before I can do any harm to the human woman. "I don't want to hurt anyone," he had told me in the car while we shared a meal. "I'm not that kind of person."

Jaw clenched, I break eye contact with the woman and take Malik, quickly leaving the store without another word. Alan was right; hurting people wasn't the answer anymore, and I was no longer under Mother Superior's rules. It was time for me to change.

"Did you see how I dealt with her?" Malik asks me cheerfully when we finally leave Roswell Mall. "She will reek of urine for days! This form is brilliant!" He touches his chest with a paw and admires himself proudly. "If I can recall correctly, I believe this is called a pug!"

I drop my bags as soon as we're outside. 

"I'm thrilled for you," I reply dejectedly. "But I failed to find something for Alan and haven't decided on a form that I actually feel comfortable in. The mission was a total loss, Malik."

Malik stares up at me. "Or was it? Why don't you take a look in that pink bag next to your foot?"

I am perplexed and glance around before spotting a tiny pink bag on the ground and opening it right away. Inside, something stringy and black with a top attached to it is inside. "Malik!" I squeal, "You did not! I cannot believe my eyes!"

"Come," Malik tells me, and he puts a paw on my leg and leads me over to a large concrete object shooting water into the sky. "Hold it up to your chest and look at yourself now."

I lean forward, and my reflection comes into view. 

Lavender eyes, long dark hair, and creamy skin with freckles dotted around my nose. My shoulders were slender, and my chin pointed at the end. The face was unrecognizable, and yet, it was still me, with some Tau peeking out from certain features. 

It was me, despite all my differences.

My eyes well up with tears, but they are tears of joy for once in my life instead of sorrow.