Fred sat on the bed in the room Ambrosius had given him, wishing he had his stuffed rabbit right now. He desperately needed something to cuddle, to help him cope with the knowledge that he was going to have to face Her before this mess was over. Someone knocked at the door, and he didn't go through the ceiling only because Edgar cut off the jump reflex before it reached his body.
"Fred?" Ami called from the hallway. "May I join you?"
"Deep breath, Fred," he thought. "It's just Ami. She's not going to hurt you."
"Uh, sure," Fred called back, while quickly scanning around himself to make sure he hadn't left anything obviously out of place. "It should be open."
The door opened and Ami slipped in, then closed it behind herself. She stopped, her back against the door, as she looked Fred over. He felt as if she were dissecting him with her eyes. After what felt to Fred like an eternity, Ami walked slowly to the bed, knelt on the floor in front of him, and took his hands, while looking up into his face.
"How bad is it?" she asked.
"B-bad?" Fred stammered, staring at her in shock. She knows! But how does she know? Am I that obvious?
"Yes," Ami said softly, then kissed his hands gently. "It took me some time to figure it out, but I realized that you weren't really responding to me downstairs, so you had to be responding to something inside. Something that still hurts terribly."
Fred closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. Damn. How can I explain it to her?
"Fred?" Ami touched his cheek and whispered gently, "You're crying. What can I do?"
"I'm sorry," Fred whispered. "I...where do I start?"
"Why not start wherever seems right?"
Fred caught Ami's hands and gently pulled, felt her rise to meet him, and wrapped his arms around her. "Just...hold me? Please? I...I'll try to explain. I just don't know how."
"Shhhh," Ami whispered gently, while holding Fred tightly. "There's no rush. I'm here. I won't let go."
Fred shivered against Ami, his mind racing as he tried to calm himself. It's Ami, not Her. Ami won't hurt me. She can't hurt me, ever again. I'm safe. I have to remember, I'm safe now.
Ami's lips touched Fred's cheek, then his ear, and she whispered softly, "I'm here, Fred. I promise, I won't let anyone hurt you. I'm here. I love you."
"The Empress," Fred whispered, then shuddered and held Ami tightly, lost in a flood of memories, unable to keep them at bay any longer.
"Edgar?" Ami squeaked. "I...can't...breathe."
Edgar reduced the pressure Fred was applying to Ami and extruded a cable with a contact pad. "Dad's lost," he said softly. "If you want to understand, let me put this at the base of your skull."
"Anything," Ami said, after drawing in a deep breath. "I want to help."
The cable nestled against the back of Ami's neck, and Edgar adjusted the signal until he made contact with Ami's mind. "Can you hear me now?"
"I...yes, I can," Ami's voice carried a tone of surprise and wonder. "Let me see?"
"If it becomes too much, just break the connection, OK?"
"If it'll help me understand, it can't be too much," Ami said firmly. "I want to understand what's hurting him so much."
Ami felt the images, sensations, remembered words and actions, flooding into her. A woman, her hair as dark as Rei's, radiating evil as strongly as any youma, was the center of all the memories. Everywhere she turned, the woman was there, attacking, tormenting, demeaning Fred at every turn. Not only Fred, but anyone who got close to her.
"The only mistake Hitler made was picking the Jews instead of the Christians," the woman declared, as well as, "You're all just cardboard cut-outs. I'm the only real person, the rest of you are nothing but toys, to be used the way I see fit."
Ami watched, helplessly, as Fred's very existence was cut into shreds by the woman. "Love? That's just a word you use to manipulate people, to make them do what you want them to do. Only a spineless moron would believe love is real. I own you. Don't ever forget that."
It seemed an eternity before Ami could take no more and jerked the contact away from her neck, crying as she hugged Fred with all her strength. "Kami-sama...no wonder..." Ami roughly rubbed her cheeks with one hand, trying to clear away the tears so she could see. She looked at Fred, still lost in his memories, took his head in her hands, and kissed him, focusing on now, concentrating on the feelings that had risen in her when he told her he loved her, trying to pour those feelings into him through her kiss.
"I'm sorry," Fred whispered, weakly trying to push away. Ami held tight, refusing to let him get away from her embrace.
"No," Ami said firmly. "You did nothing to apologize for. Nothing."
"But...you're crying," Fred whispered. "It must be my fault."
"That's her talking," Ami growled. She looked into Fred's eyes and repeated, "You did nothing to apologize for. She is the one to blame for this, not you. I swear, if I ever get the chance to make her pay..."
"But...," Fred saw the resolve in Ami's eyes and sighed softly, then whispered, "Can you forgive me for...for..."
"There's nothing to forgive," Ami said, taking Fred's head in her hands and holding him firmly as she looked into his eyes. "I had to know. I had to know what was hurting you so badly, why you...I'm so sorry, I didn't realize how bad it was. When I got annoyed at the table, and you reacted the way you did, I didn't understand. I just wanted to make the sadness go away. I didn't know how deep it was."
"You couldn't know," Fred said softly. "I...for years, the only women I could be around were lesbians. I couldn't even get near Miri, until Cal hatched. She wouldn't let me keep her out, and when Cal adopted her alongside me, I finally realized it was safe to let her in."
"Kind of like me, huh?" Ami asked, smiling. "I'm not going to let you keep me out, Fred. I've seen the worst, and I'm not going to let go."
"Even...," Fred started, then sighed and hugged Ami close. "Even knowing what you know, you're not going to let go?"
"Not a chance." Ami worked her way into his lap and batted her eyes at him, then giggled when he smiled. "Not now, not ever." She rested her head against his chest and whispered, "It makes me feel good when I can get you to smile."
"Silly," Fred chuckled. "I'd do anything to make you feel good." He squeezed her gently and whispered, uncertainly, "Would you...I mean..."
"Hm?" Ami asked, looking up and stretching to kiss the tip of his nose. "Would I what?" She blushed and ducked her head, then teased, "I hope you're not asking if I would leave, because I plan to stay right here. Unless you have a more comfortable place for me, that is."
Fred swallowed and looked down at her, then took a deep breath and whispered, wonderingly, "You...do? You...you don't mind me holding you like this?"
"Don't mind?" Ami laughed, then pressed a hand against his chest. "It's kind of weird, not hearing a heartbeat, but..." She took his hand and guided it to rest between her breasts. "Feel that? It's beating for you." She tilted her head to look past him, toward the bed. "Wouldn't it be more comfortable if we were to lay down?" She glanced up, saw the look of adoration in his eyes, and blushed deeply, while reaching up to stroke his cheek. "I'm just me, Fred. I'm not that special."
"You are to me," Fred said softly, his hand moving from her chest to caress her cheek. "You are the most special woman in this world, the one I would go through Hell for. The one I would live for. I...if I could find a way to take you home with me..."
"I know," Ami whispered. "If I could find a way to take you home with me, I would. But we have each other here, now. And we'll find a way to be together, even after we're no longer here. I promise, I will not rest until I'm sure of that."
"Nor will I," Fred said, looking into Ami's eyes. "I love you, Ami. With all that's in me, I love you."
BEEP BEEP
Fred jumped, and Ami bit off an under-the-breath "kuso" as she pulled out her communicator. "Yes?"
"I'm at your room and you're not here," Rei said. "Where are you?"
"I'm in Fred's room," Ami said. "What's the problem?"
"I'm coming over," Rei growled.
"NO!" Ami barked. "If you come into Fred's room without his express invitation, I will throw you out."
"What are you talking about?" Rei asked. "What kind of trouble are you in?"
"Edgar?" Ami thought. "Can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear," Edgar replied.
"Good. Patch me through to Fred."
"OK. You're through."
"Fred?" Ami focused on her love for him as she sent her thoughts through Edgar's link. "I'm about to say some things that you're not going to want to hear. I need you to not say anything while I'm talking, and I need you to think about what I'm saying, because it is, to the best of my understanding, true. And unless you have a therapist who's addressing it, you're going to continue hurting the way you hurt right now, and I do not want that for you."
"Ami," Fred answered slowly, deliberately, focused on the love she had sent him, and responding with all the love he could muster. "I have absolute faith in you. Edgar, if I try to say anything before Ami's ready for me, I want you to stop it from getting out, OK?"
"I'm not sure, Dad...," Edgar answered. "I trust Ami, too, but I know how hard it is for you."
"She wouldn't ask me to keep quiet if it wasn't necessary."
"All right, but if it gets to be too much, I'm not going to cut you off."
"Fair enough, Edgar," Ami said. "Thank you, Fred."
"I'm not in any trouble, Rei," Ami said into her communicator. She held it far enough away from herself that Rei could see she was fully clothed and unharmed. "On the other hand, if you come in here, you will be in trouble. With me, at the very least."
"What are you talking about?" Rei demanded.
"Rei, have you ever had to counsel a rape victim?" Ami asked. "Someone who was repeatedly raped over a period of years, who was so brutalized that she couldn't even look at a man without having a breakdown?"
"I...not anyone who was that badly hurt," Rei said, "but I have counseled rape victims, yes."
"Well," Ami took a deep breath and forged ahead. "What would you do if you were dealing with a rape victim, and a man came barging in, acting like the person who had raped her?"
"I'd throw him so hard he wouldn't hit the ground until he reached the bus stop!" Rei growled.
"Good," Ami said. "Now you know what I'll do to you if you come through that door."
"But!" Rei sputtered. "That's impossible! Men can't--"
"Men can!" Ami shot back. "I know. I've been in his memories. We're lucky he let us get near him at all! If we weren't what we are, he would have run screaming as soon as you started berating him, way back in the woods. The only reason he didn't is because he recognized us, and because, despite how terribly damaged he is, he still has the capacity to love. I don't know why he picked me, but I'm not going to let him down, Rei. I'm not going to stand by and let anyone hurt him, not even you."
"He...," Rei trailed off, her image in the communicator wavering between stricken, disbelieving, and angry. "Why didn't he say something?"
"How many rape victims do you know who are willing to stand up and announce it to the world?"
"Oh."
Ami turned her attention from the communicator to Fred. He was shaking, tears flowing between tightly clenched eyelids, his arms wrapped around her and holding her as tightly as Edgar would let him. She gently caressed his cheek and reached up to kiss him, then whispered, "I am here, my love. I will never leave you. I will never let anyone hurt you, as long as I have the power to prevent it."
"If that's the case, you need me," Rei said.
"No," Ami replied firmly. "I need your advice, yes. But you are the last person who should be around him right now, Rei. From the moment we landed in this world, you have been acting like his rapist. If he didn't have an absurdly high faith in us, your behavior would have ensured that even I wouldn't be getting the chance I'm getting now."
"It can't really be that bad, can it?" Rei asked, weakly.
"Yes, it can," Ami said. "He's not merely afraid of women, he's phobic. He couldn't even deal with his wife until his son pushed them together. Think about it, Rei. It took a dragon's protection to make him feel safe enough to let a woman touch him. A dragon!"
"Doesn't he have a therapist? A priest? Anyone to help him?"
"Edgar?" Ami asked. "Does he?"
"Michael," Edgar said. "He's a Bubasti. But we haven't gotten this deep with him. It's all been superficial, up until now. Michael's been letting Fred guide their sessions, and Fred's never approached the heart of darkness. Not until today, anyway."
"He does, but they hadn't reached this point in their sessions yet."
"I don't understand," Rei said, her image reflecting her confusion. "If he hasn't reached this point with his therapist, how did he reach it with you?"
"He didn't," Ami said. "He reached it before I got here. All I've been doing is holding him while it hits him."
"Then, what happened?"
"The Empress," Ami said. "SHE is the dream image of his rapist."
"Oh." Rei said softly. "Shit." She took a deep breath and added, almost in a whisper, "We have a long way to go, Ami. Since I've already made it impossible to work with him directly, all I can do is suggest things for you to try. I don't know what they've been teaching you in med school, or if they have been teaching you anything about how to handle situations like this, but I'll offer you whatever I can from my own experience."
"Thank you, Rei," Ami said, sighing with relief. "That means a lot. There's something else I need your help with, too. Can you tell the others, just whatever you would as a counselor, so that they don't try to push themselves on him? And make sure Usagi understands that she can't heal him? As much as she'd like to, this is something that she just can not do."
"You don't have to worry on that front," Rei said. "She's already learned, the hard way, that none of her magic will heal this kind of wound. I'll take care of the others. Don't worry about that, either."
"Thanks, Rei. I don't think you'll see either me or Fred before tomorrow. If we need help, you'll get the call, from either me or Edgar."
"Take care of him," Rei said softly. "And, in case it's worth anything, would you tell him I'm sorry? I know it doesn't mean much right now, but I really am sorry."
"I will, Rei," Ami said. "I promise. But don't be too hard on yourself, OK? You had no way of knowing. I didn't know until I dove into his memories."
"The signs were there," Rei said. "I just didn't bother to read them. You get back to him, OK? I need to go talk to the others." She clicked off, leaving Ami looking into a blank screen for a moment, before she sighed and pocketed her communicator.
"Fred? Sweetheart?" Ami slipped off his lap, forcing him to release her so she wouldn't fall, and took his hands. She slid onto the bed, pulling him after her, and patted the top of her left breast. "Just rest your head right here, my love. You don't have to say anything. Just curl up with me and let me hold you."
Fred followed her lead, curling up against her and resting his head on her breast, still shaking wordlessly as she wrapped her arms around him and gently stroked the back of his head.
"Edgar?"
"He's screaming, Ami. All this time, he's classified it as simply abuse, as nothing more than ordinary violence. Hearing you name it like that...he's been denying it for so long that having it out in the open that way is more than he can take."
"Fred, my love," Ami crooned gently, her hands continuing their gentle caresses, "you are not alone. I am here. I love you. I will never let go. I will not let anyone hurt you that way again. I am here, my love. I'll keep you safe."
"Edgar?" Ami asked. "What time is it?"
"3:27 a.m." Edgar answered. "Fred's finally out. He couldn't have done it if you hadn't been holding him."
"Will we be able to help him?"
"Only if he lets us. You're not Michael, but if Rei gives the help she promised, you should manage just fine. The fact that he loves you as much as you love him should help."
"I want to kill her. Slowly."
"I know. I've wanted to since the day I Awakened."
Ami sighed softly and shifted a little, trying to find a position that was more comfortable. As much as Fred needed her, she needed the bathroom. She wasn't sure she'd make it to morning. "Edgar? Can you keep him under until I get back?"
"No problem." Edgar chuckled. "A distinct advantage to our configuration is that we don't have to deal with waste the way organic bodies do. Anything that doesn't feed our organic parts gets broken down for system maintenance."
"Lucky," Ami grumbled softly as she wormed her way out from under Fred. "I'll be back as fast as I can."
"Don't worry. I can keep Dad in delta sleep for as long as you need. Then we can talk, eh?"
"Good idea. I want to know about Michael, and anything else you can tell me about how Fred's been coping."
Ami scurried to the room's bathroom, and was back in just under five minutes, after a quick wash-up. She knelt on the bed and studied Fred thoughtfully for a few moments.
"Ami?" Edgar asked when she didn't speak right away. "Why did you describe what she did to Dad as rape?"
"It was the only way I could think of at the time to convey to Rei just how badly she'd hurt him," Ami said with a heavy sigh. "Now that I think about it, it fits better than I realized. What is rape, really?"
"Which definition would you like?" Edgar asked. If he'd had a face, Ami wouldn't have been surprised if he were wearing a disgusted look. "Every nation, state, and even some cities, defines it differently."
"How about a meta-definition?" Ami asked.
"That's easy," Edgar said. "Rape is the use of sex to assault another person. It differs from lesser degrees of sexual assault only in the severity of injury caused to the victim's body and/or mind." He paused, then snorted. "Now I see why you used the term. It does fit, doesn't it?"
"Yes," Ami sighed. "I'm surprised he can tolerate any women, even lesbians, with what she did to him."
"It's a miracle he can," Edgar said. "The lesbians who associate with him are a big part of why he was able to accept it when Cal adopted Miriam. They showed him, just by the way they behave normally, that not all women are like his ex."
"Yeah, and I'll bet her line of 'sex is for animals' kept running through his head at first." Ami sighed softly and caressed Fred's hair. "It makes me wonder how many pieces he's broken into."
"Not nearly as many as he was when I Awakened," Edgar said. "Being constantly in touch with me has been good for him. He gets to experience the presence of a relatively sane mind."
"Only relatively?" Ami teased, laughing.
"But of course," Edgar shot back. "SPOON!"
"Uh...spoon?" Ami asked. "What does that mean?"
"It means that, on our world, we are a superhero." Edgar snickered. "But we're not nearly as dim as the big blue guy."
"The...big...blue...guy...," Ami shook her head. "You realize, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."
"Better get out your computer, then," Edgar laughed. "Files coming your way."
Ami shook her head, smiling, as she retrieved her computer. Sure enough, the file transfer screen was up. After a few moments, the transfer finished and she opened the first file, something called "The Tick vs The Idea Men". Within a minute, she was giggling, then laughing. "You have got to be kidding me! This is...well, I'm not sure whether to call it absurd or surreal."
"How about both?" Edgar asked, his voice dripping with innocence.
"OK, I'll buy that," Ami said. "Where did this come from?"
"The Tick was originally an underground comic, created by a guy from Boston," Edgar said. "He was one of Arthur's first rescues. He lives in Laputa now, and this anime has been running for almost ten years on Cal's TV network."
"Cal has a TV network?" Ami blinked. "But he's only eleven years old!"
"Yup," Edgar said with a laugh. "Dragons have a talent for finding profit in the darnedest places. Besides, if he's in charge of creating stuff like this, he can add the originals to his hoard."
"So Cal hoards anime?" Ami laughed. "I have to admit, that's something I wouldn't have imagined."
"Yeah. He says gold's only good for buying stuff, so he keeps the stuff he thinks is really valuable. Anime, manga, movies, TV shows, artwork, books..."
"And he's not a mad scientist like Fred?"
"Nobody is a mad scientist like Fred," Edgar said, a strong current of pride in his voice. "Cal is a mad scientist, though. He invents new ways to print things, to record things, to preserve valuable recordings, that kind of thing. He's also working on ways to read the ancient recordings we sometimes dig up in pre-Atlantean ruins. Or in Diana's archives, for that matter."
"And he's been doing this since he was only a year old?" Ami smiled, imagining a little dragon ordering around the people it would take to produce an anime.
"Yup. As far as he's concerned, it's the best game in the world. Even better than shredding Scylla."
"How does Miriam handle it?" Ami asked, then added, "How does she handle Fred?"
"Mostly, the same way you've been handling him," Edgar said. "The best thing she's done for him is to remind him, as often as possible, that she loves him, that she wants him, and that the things his ex used to attack him are things she values about him."
"So," Ami mused, studying Fred thoughtfully, "he can have sex, if he's guided into it with love?"
"It's the only way he can," Edgar admitted. "Thanks to his ex, the idea of sex terrifies him and makes him feel as if he's unclean and unworthy." He sighed softly. "Even now, Miri has to show him that she doesn't see him that way, that she sees him as worthy of love, as a decent and wonderful human being, and that making love is a way to express that goodness inside him. But even Miri can't get through to him when he's been triggered this badly. All she can do is what you've been doing. Hold him, soothe him, help him get the pain out so that he can hear her when she reminds him of how much she loves him."
Ami closed her computer and put it away, started to lay down beside Fred, then sat up as an idea occurred to her. "Edgar, how would he respond if I were to be nude when he woke up?"
"In his current state?" Edgar thought for a moment before answering. "He would probably think he did something to hurt you, that he somehow made you undress against your will."
"How much work would it be for me to convince him otherwise?"
"Don't even try. It'd be better, if you want to be nude with him, to wait until he's awake, then undress. He'd still believe he did something wrong, but at least then you'd be able to convince him he hadn't, if you're half as stubborn as I think you are."
"Thanks," Ami giggled, blearily. "I think. OK, then. I'm going back to sleep. I should know better than to try to make serious plans when I'm not fully awake."
Fred returned abruptly to consciousness and, before opening his eyes, scanned the surroundings for whatever threat it was that had awakened him. No obvious threats jumped out, so he took inventory of his physical condition, wondering if that was what had done it. Damn. He'd gone to bed fully clothed. He hated it when he did that, because he always woke up feeling as if he were tangled in fabric. He felt Miri snuggled against him, and relaxed some. If there were a real threat, Edgar and Ruth would have alerted both of them. He turned toward her with a smile and froze. That wasn't Miri. The evening before crashed into his consciousness and he let out a weak whimper.
"Is my bed head really that awful?" Ami asked, then raised her head and stretched to give him a kiss. "Told you I wasn't going anywhere, love. What time is it?"
"6:43," Fred answered automatically, taking the time from Edgar without conscious thought. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."
"Shhh," Ami said, putting a finger on his lips. "You didn't do anything. I chose to stay with you. And I choose to remain with you. Unless, of course, you don't want me."
Of course, he wanted her! But, why would she want him? He was easily twice her age, he had perverted, animal desires...
"You mean, those 'animal desires' that Miri has to coax you into expressing?" Edgar slid into his thoughts. "Or maybe those 'animal desires' that Ami herself made very clear she has for you?"
Fred swallowed hard and whispered weakly, "Even as bad as I am, you want me?"
"Fred, my love," Ami said gently, while shifting so she could gently stroke his cheek, "if you are bad, then I must be the scum of the universe." She tilted her head and batted her eyes at him. "Can you imagine me as a villain?"
"Uh...no?"
"So, if you can't imagine me as a villain, how am I supposed to imagine you as bad?" Ami grinned at him, impishly daring him to fault her logic--or lack thereof.
"But...but...you saw!" Fred moaned. "If I'd just been good enough..."
"Fred, love," Ami sighed and pulled him close. "You could have been a saint and it wouldn't have been good enough for her. There's no such thing as 'good enough' for someone like that. It's just an excuse they use to shift the blame from themselves to their victims. Like you."
"Survivor," Fred mumbled.
"Fred," Ami sighed, "how can you say you're a survivor when it's still tearing you apart? Doesn't it have to be over before you can say you've survived it?" She hugged him tightly and whispered, "Believe me, love, you are good enough. Good enough for me, good enough for Miri, good enough for any decent human being."
"Don't want anyone," Fred murmured. "Want you."
"Well," Ami said firmly, while guiding Fred's hand to her breast, "you have me. All of me." When Fred's hand slid off her breast, along her ribs, to press against her back, she smiled up at him and whispered, "Thank you, love. Thank you for being brave enough to not do what I seemed to want you to do. That tells me She doesn't have nearly the grip on you that you're afraid she has."
Fred blushed, looked into Ami's eyes for a moment, then kissed her. She snuggled against him and purred softly into the kiss.
"What? Not going to strip for him?" Edgar teased.
"No," Ami thought back. "He's not ready. And, honestly, I'll feel better about it when he's together enough to say he wants it, rather than getting it foisted on him."
"And you're a virgin."
"Yes, I--wait! How did you know that?" Ami felt as if her face were going to spontaneously combust.
"Ami," Edgar laughed in her mind, "with the data I have access to from the network, I can tell when someone doesn't have experience, no matter how seductive she tries to be. If you want real experience, you should meet Alex. She has five wives and as many girlfriends as she can find the time and energy for. But that just wouldn't be you. It wouldn't even be Minako, and she's as close to being like Alex as any of you come. Don't worry about it, ok? I'm not going to tell Dad. He'll find out soon enough, if you actually want him to."
"I do," Ami started, then felt herself stumbling into a block that rational thought just wouldn't go through. Love? Sex? Romance? What was she thinking? And with someone she'd just met yesterday? Admittedly, she knew him as well as she knew herself--better than most people who'd lived together for a lifetime could ever hope to know their partners--but could that really explain how deeply she wanted him, how strongly she felt for him? The way she felt, she might as well already be married to him! Then again, she'd already lived a lifetime inside his memories...
"Ami? What's wrong?" Fred's gentle, worried tone cut through her whirling thoughts. She blinked and looked up, saw the fear and love in his eyes, and stretched to quickly peck his lips.
"I'm ok. Just realized how much has changed since yesterday," Ami paused when she saw Fred's face fall, and quickly added, "and how much more I want to change. As long as it means I can be with you, that is."
"As long as...," Fred whispered, wonderingly. He touched his lips with his fingertips, then touched hers, as if unable to believe that she would kiss him so readily, of her own free will. "You really do want...wow."
"Yes," Ami said, smiling as she touched his lips with her fingertips. "I really do want. Will you let me have?"
"I...uh..."
Ami could see the war in his eyes, between desire and fear, love and guilt. She touched his lips again and whispered, "Later, my love. For now, the ache in my stomach has more to do with a lack of food than a lack of you." She slid off the bed and offered her hands. "Will you stay with me today, Fred? Stay at my side, no matter what happens?"
Fred looked from her hands to her eyes, back to her hands, then back to her face, his own lighting up in wonder as he finally began to understand that, even given the chance to leave him, she wanted him at her side. He nodded, too overcome to speak, and took her hands as he flowed off the bed, his 't-shirt' reconfiguring to read "MacManus Wrecking & Salvage: Used Scylla Parts Since 1994 (We also deal in used Scylla spaceship parts...)".
--
disclaimer: If you recognize it, and it's not from Knights in Tarnished Armor, it's not mine. Sailor Moon is the property of Takeuchi Naoko, and a few companies that published her stuff.
author's note: What Ami sees and hears in Fred's memories are not made up for this story. They actually happened, and what his ex-wife says in his memories are as close to an exact quote as it is possible to remember after ten years.
Some people might disagree with my rating of this chapter. Tough! They probably disagree with the existence of sexual information in their school nurse's office, or the number of the local suicide hotline being posted in their school counselor's office, too.