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home it is, too. I think it needs flowers. Choose.”
    She reached out and took the bouquet from him with a shy smile. The scents overwhelmed her. The flowers were a rainbow of blended colours. She sat on one of the benches in the courtyard and pulled out a single flower that reminded her of honeysuckle and orange but looked like a bird of paradise.
    With Arez watching, she lifted the flower to her cheek, and she rubbed the petals against her skin. They were crisp and strong...not her at all.
    She smiled and set the flower aside, reaching in for the next one. This selection was a floppy orchid.
    After three flowers were rejected, Arez asked, “What are you looking for?”
    “I am looking for me.”
    “What?”
    “I am looking for the flower that represents me. I know what I am right now, and while I may evolve in the future, that is not what this is about. I am looking for a representation of me.”
    He looked at her and cocked his head. “May I make a selection? I have had a little more time with the flowers, and I believe that I know what you are looking for based on Aster’s conversation about you.”
    Gala held the bundle of flowers out to him. “Please.”
    He quickly searched through the stems, and when he found the texture he was looking for, he tugged it free.
    The flower was partially encased in a hard green shell, but when it was turned, there was a tumble of soft, fragrant petals in a vibrant purple with white highlights. The stem was straight and as hard as the shell.
    A tiny spark of bright gold was deep in the heart of the petals, and the soft fragrance was notes of rose and lilac with a hint of cardamom.
    “This is it. This one feels like me.”
    Arez grinned. “I thought so. It is a work in process. I had to yank it out of Aster’s hand before she finished with it. She got mad, so I collected the other flowers and took off.”
    Gala smiled softly and closed her eyes as she stroked the petals over her cheek. She shivered, and her nipples tightened at the light caress. She gasped when the petals grazed over her neck, and her eyes opened wide at the throb of her clit. That was new.
    Arez was watching her with heated eyes. “You appear to have sensitive skin.”
    “It is a new phenomenon. I am getting used to feeling things around me from the fabric of this shirt to the caress of my own hair.”
    He blinked. “So, Aster was right. You have not been able to feel the touch of anything.”
    “Not until Rekfa fixed me. He repaired the defect that I was born with and helped my body interpret the signals that my nerves had been sending. I was missing the switch box that let my body know what the signals meant.”
    “What have you touched so far?”
    “Stone, flowers, you.” She blinked when that last came out of her mouth. She cleared her throat and continued. “The wind, the sun, pain and the slide of fabric along my skin.”
    “You have only begun to experiment. May I take you on a tour of your new senses?” Arez smiled.
    Go with him.
    She lifted the flower and smiled at it, setting it on the bench when she rose. “Please. I am interested to see what you come up with.”
    He offered her his hand, and he led her out of the reformed temple and out into the crowd waiting to meet her. It was time to learn what normal people felt on a daily basis. The temples could wait.
     
    Alone in the swirling power left behind by the Avatar, the flower chosen by Gala swelled, blossomed fully and seeds were carried away on the wind.
     

Chapter Five
     
     
    Eating at the food stalls was fun. When she licked the weird combination of ice cream and jam, she ran her tongue around the surface and laughed as Arez stared at her.
    “What? Is it on my chin?” She could feel the slick substance running down her jaw.
    He smiled and leaned in, licking away the mess she had made before using his tongue to taste her.
    She held her hands clear of him so that she wouldn’t smoosh the small cup on his shirt.
    She shivered as