"Where are you going?" a small voice demanded.
Simon laughed. "It's okay, mei-mei, I'm just going to school."
"You're leaving me," River accused. "You're leaving me all alone with them and you don't even know!"
"Know what?" he asked, deciding to humor her.
"I can't tell. You're supposed to figure it out for yourself but you're so dreadfully dumb, Simon. You'll never puzzle it out, and I just don't want you to die." River put on her well-practiced innocent mei-mei look as she gained the attention she knew this statement would bring.
"River?" Simon was suspicious. River had this uncanny ability to know what was going to happen sometimes, and he didn't want to go ruling anything out when there she was telling him he was going to die. "What are you talking about?"
River pouted, but didn't say a word.
"River, I haven't got time for games. The shuttle's going to come and leave and if I'm not out there, I can't go to school."
"Good," she said finally. "It's a trap. It's an evil school, and they're going to tie you down and cut up your brain and put needles in your eyes. You shouldn't go."
River had quite the imagination sometimes. "River, just think how many people I can save when I'm a doctor. I can be a real hero."
"My hero," River said sadly, almost wistfully, and Simon was mildly disturbed.
"River," Simon said, smiling bravely. "You don't need a hero."
And sometimes he thinks, if he'd stayed, maybe she wouldn't.