Name: Listen to Your Heart

Rating: PG

Summary: A songfic about the good-bye scene between Leo and Ari

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters

Authors Note: This is a songfic.

Song: Listen to Your Heart by D. H. T.

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Ari stood from her position in the sand beside the grave of Krull. She wrung her hands together and tipped her head down, saying a silent prayer as Colonel Attar talked, surrounded by three ape soldiers. Inside she was crying, aching at the thought that she couldn't protect Krull like he had done for her for such a long time. She turned at the sound of feet crunching sand behind her and saw Leo walking up to her, Pericles cradled in his arms.

As Leo got closer to her, within arms reach, Pericles reached out to Ari and Leo gratefully passed him off to her. She held him tightly to her.

"Take good care of him, okay." Leo said.

Ari pressed her forehead to Pericles, breathing in slowly. "Yeah." She looked at Leo and smiled at him. "Well, I can promise I won't put him in a cage."

Scrounging around the ship, Limbo laughed as he pressed a button that looked suspicious then jumped back with a yelp as a loud beeping erupted from the machine. Ari's brow furrowed as Leo looked between her and the ship before he ran off. Ari frowned; she became unusually upset that he'd just left on a whim. He ran past Birn accompanied by a few other humans stacking rocks on top of each other to form a sort of marking, but did not notice. Birn watched Leo as he fumbled around with his pod, bringing up the image of traveling planets until it settled on one planet. Home….

"It's found the coordinates that brought me here." he mumbled to no one in particular. But Ari was behind him, listening and showing a gloomy expression. She understood what was coming.

Ari slowly strolled up to Leo, setting Pericles on the ground. She didn't want this part of come, the time to say good-bye. She knew the minute that she had helped him escape the authorities that consequences would follow. But she had no idea the consequences would be a wounded, possibly broken, heart.

"You know, uh, it would mean a great deal to everyone,"—Leo turned to look at her, panting in the heat—"if you would stay…" He moved closer to her, leveling himself so she was looking up at him. "It'd mean a great deal to me."

There, it was out. She said what she wanted to say ever since he carried her across the river to protect her. He tilted his head to the side. "I have to leave now." he told her nonchalantly. "I have to take a chance at getting back."

Ari refused to look him in the eye as he said this; she knew it'd hurt too much. She finally looked to her right at the climbing mountains as she breathed a heavy "yeah." She glanced at him, a small smile twisting at her lips. "You know, one day they'll tell a story about a human who came from the stars…changed our world." Leo smiled at her, loving the sound of her complimenting him. "Some will say it's just a fairytale, that it was never real." She smiled, fighting the tears welling up in her eyes that caught in the light so they were revealed to Leo. "But I'll know."

And there are voices
that want to be heard.
So much to mention
but you can't find the words.
The scent of magic,
the beauty that's been
when love was wilder than the wind.

Leo saw the threatening tears and he smiled. How did this happen? How did he come to care about this woman—this ape? Maybe it wasn't care; maybe it was love. He gently laid a hand on her cheek, stroking his thumb over her skin, caressing her. She leaned into his touch, pursing her thin lips, but was instantly surprised when he leaned in and kissed her tenderly. He pulled back slightly and they smiled at one another, eyes searching one another's souls to find the common feeling. Neither wanted to let go, but what had to be done had to be done.

He vanished from his place in front of her, leaving her with nothing but warm air and the sensations stringing through her body, and began preparations for his departure. Ari watched the scene unravel from the sand dune in front of the pod. She watched him protectively as he talked with Limbo then noticed that Daena was crouched in the shadows. He ran off to talk to her, not acknowledging Limbo as he yelled, "Farewell Spaceman" before he was swarmed by human children trying to grab at a shaking tube in this hand.

After a minute or so, Daena ran off behind the rock formations and Leo retreated back to his ship. He hastily climbed into the seat of his pod and, as the tented shield was closing, he nodded to Birn who returned the gesture. His eyes swept over to Ari to his left and for a second, as he smiled at her, he reconsidered leaving. He shook it off, realizing he had to go home, and buckled his belt.

Leo easily directed the pod up into the air, blowing away dust all around him. The crowd surrounding every inch of him instinctively scooted back, out of the way, but Ari and Daena stayed in their position. They both watched the man that stole their hearts and flipped their worlds upside-down descend into the sky, drifting off into the sun. Up in the sky, Leo looked over his shoulder, pointing out the important shrinking form.

As Ari watched him disappear, she became aware that Leo had saved her. Saved her life, saved her heart, but even more, saved her soul. She had no idea what her life would have become if he hadn't stumbled into her life, if she hadn't seen him in that moving cart. She could now look forward to the future, saving hope that he might make an appearance. She said silently: Let him return. No forever good-byes, please.