Rei's last day on Earth - 7

Whether you write a single book or a whole series, to make it realistic, you need a backstory for each of the main characters. When the time came to write Rome's Evolution, I finally had an opportunity to blend together all the little tidbits I had sprinkled throughout my novels regarding Rei Bierak's past into a single, self-contained intermezzo. It's a seven part series and here is the final part:

     Rei laughed. “Wouldn’t that be a hoot? We go to the stars and when we get there, there are already people? Nah,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m just hoping for some grass and trees to start a colony. At this point, I think we’d settle for air.”
     “They wouldn’t be sending you if they didn’t think you had the odds stacked in your favor,” Sally said. “You and the Arks are mankind’s best chance just in case something really bad happens down here.”
     “And you’re mankind’s best hope as a cure-all for all the new diseases popping up,” Rei said. He put his hand on her shoulder, stroking it gently. “You and your incredible immune system.”
     Sally face reddened. Rei wasn’t sure if it was embarrassment or something else. “I know,” she said. “Sometimes I can’t figure out if Raul is my husband or my doctor or my epidemiologist. They take blood samples, like, every week.” She held out her forearm and showed Rei the bandage across the crook of her arm.
     “So we’re both trying to save mankind,” Rei said. “Each in our own way.”
     “Maybe we are,” Sally nodded but she did not appear to be completely convinced.
     Rei held out his arms and Sally came forward. They hugged each other tightly for a long time as only former lovers could. Rei could feel every inch of her body against his frame. Out of sheer habit, he ran his hand down her back but had to stop himself before he went too far. The body pressing against him was once his but it would never be again. She belonged to someone else now and that was that.
     As much as he did not want to, he forced them apart. As they let go, Sally put her palm up to his cheek and said, “I will always love you, Rei Bierak. I wish for nothing but good things for you, now and forever. No matter where you end up.”
     Rei reached his hand behind her head and tilted it forward so he could kiss her on the forehead. In every real way, Sally was his past. He let go and took one last look up at the stars. They were his future. That was where his destiny lie.
     “Thanks, babe,” he said, “same for you. But dead man walking here. I gotta get up early tomorrow. Let’s go in so I can spend some time with everyone. For the last time. And thanks for having us over.”
     Sally nodded gamely. “It was the least we could do.” She took Rei’s hand and led him back into the house. For Rei, tomorrow was bearing down fast and while he did not realize it, everything he thought he knew about the universe was about to change forever.

Do you have any idea how much fun it was for me to write this scene? It completely wrote itself. I had already laid all the groundwork during the previous eight years so all I had to do is dictate to myself. It will go down as one of my all-time favorite scenes. I hope you enjoyed it too.