Leela grinned. “Koreen will have to eat her words.” Then she frowned. “I am confused about something else, though. Elysse loved a male. That does not seem possible.”

Wyllin gave her a curious look. “But of course it is possible. There are Cerulean who love men, though I admit they are rare. There are Cerulean who love men and women, and Cerulean who have no interest in romantic love at all. There are Cerulean who love planets more than people and Cerulean who enjoy the physical expression of love but not the emotional. Not every Cerulean is meant for a triad. Not every Cerulean is the same.”

Sera seemed to be thinking very hard about something and Leo kept as still as he could. When she turned to Leela, there was a fierce sort of determination on her face.

“It is possible,” she said. “I am proof. I am attracted to males, Leela. But I did not know it until I came to this planet. Finally, I understood every part of myself.” She gazed up at the crystal-blue sky. “I had wondered if there were others in our City like me. Or not like me. Cerulean that are different in other ways.”

Leela’s eyes bulged. “Males?” She rubbed her forehead then and shot Leo a furtive glance. “Are you attracted to that male?” she whispered as if Leo wouldn’t be able to hear her, standing where he was.

Sera laughed and Leo felt a sharp tug in his chest, knowing this might be the last time he heard that sound. “I was not at first,” she said. “But yes. I am now.”

Leela looked Leo up and down with a sort of hesitant mix of approval and curiosity, and he hoped he appeared more cool and collected than he felt. All this discovery, all this new information about the City Above the Sky, it was all leading to one thing: Sera leaving. Agnes had tears in her eyes and Leo wished she wouldn’t—he wanted to be strong now. He didn’t want Sera to see him falter, to see just how much it would hurt him to lose her.