“It's not the face, but the expressions on it. It's not the voice, but what you say. It's not how you look in that body, but the thing you do with it. You are beautiful.”

“Wanderer: You don't really feel that way about me you know. It's this body... she's pretty isn't she?Ian: She is. Melanie is a very pretty girl. Even beautiful. But pretty as she is, she is a stranger to me. She's not the one I... care about.Wanderer: It's this body.Ian: That's not true at all. It's not the face, but the expressions on it. It's not the voice, but what they say. It's not how you look like in that body, it's what you do with it. You are beautiful.”

“It's not what you are. It's what you do.”

“It's hard to tell what a fish is thinking. Eagles are good looking birds, you know.”

“What did you do to this?' he asked in a horrorstruck voice.'It didn't want to come out of the dashboard.''So you felt the need to torture it?''You know how I am with tools. No pain was inflicted intentionally.'He shook his head, his face a mask of faux tragedy. 'You killed it.”

“Eight full lives,” I whispered against his jaw, my voice breaking. “Eight full lives and I never found anyone I would stay on a planet for, anyone I would follow when they left. I never found a partner. Why now? Why you? You're not of my species. How can you be my partner?”“It's a strange universe,” he murmured.“It's not fair,” I complained, echoing Sunny's words. It wasn't fair. How could I find this, find love–now, in this eleventh hour–and have to leave it? Was it fair that my soul and body couldn't reconcile? Was it fair that I had to love Melanie, too? Was it fair that Ian would suffer? He deserved happiness if anyone did. Itwasn't fair or right or even…sane. How could I do this to him?“I love you,” I whispered.“Don't say that like you're saying goodbye.”But I had to. “I, the soul called Wanderer, love you, human Ian. And that will never change, no matter what I might become.” I worded it carefully, so that there would be no lie in my voice. “If I were a Dolphin or a Bear or a Flower, it wouldn't matter. I would always love you, always remember you. You will be my only partner.”

“Do you truly believe that you care more for me than I do for you?" he murmured, leaning closer to me as he spoke, his dark golden eyes piercing.I tried to remember how to exhale. I had to look away before it came back to me."You're doing it again," I muttered.His eyes opened wide with surprise. "What?""Dazzling me," I admitted, trying to concentrate as I looked back at him."Oh." He frowned."It's not your fault," I sighed. "You can't help it.”