Sue Ellen Ewing had always been a fine looking woman. Even now, bruised and fragile, she still carried that class and grace that had first attracted her late ex-husband. Ann could see how easily men would have fallen for her friend, particularly when they got to know her lovable personality. Stroking her arm tenderly, Ann lay her own hand over Sue Ellen's.

"Ann?"

Her head shot up.

"Sue Ellen?"

A meek smile confirmed that Sue Ellen was indeed awake and cogent.

"Oh, thank God!" Ann couldn't hide her tears as she heard a nurse enter the room to tend to the patient.

"What happened?" Sue Ellen asked.

Ann's face fell. The inevitable had come, as she knew it would.

"There was a fire at your home, Ms Ewing. One of your ranch hands has been arrested, he's believed to have started the fire. You were found unconscious in a bedroom of the house. You had been drinking."

Just like that, the nurse had done the explaining for her.

Sue Ellen turned to look at Ann bearing a slightly confused expression. Her gaze was not returned, as Ann stared at the bed-sheets to deflect her guilt until the moment the nurse left the room.

"Sue Ellen, I…"

"Oh, Ann were you hurt?" Sue Ellen sounded more than a bit concerned. Noticing that Ann's eyes were filled to the brim with tears, she squeezed her hand.

Ann shook her head, no. This was harder than she had anticipated. Harder than breaking the news to Bobby, which seemed odd to her.

"I wasn't there, Sue Ellen. I let you down. I'm so sorry. Bobby and Christopher are here too, they were trying to rescue both of us."

Sue Ellen's lips parted in surprise at the admission.

"It's all my fault."

"Ann…"

The two ladies held each other's gaze.

"I'm the one who should be apologizing. I have a problem. I'm a grown woman and I shouldn't need round the clock minding simply because the bottle is too attractive to me right now."

Beginning to form a sentence, Ann started in a whisper:

"Sue Ellen, I…"

"I had a dream, Ann."

This was strange. Never one to interrupt, Sue Ellen met her friend's confused stare with a smile.

"Before you tell me what you're about to tell me…can I tell you about this dream? It really was…so unusual."

Ann blinked back the tears and nodded.

"You were in the dream with me….and so was JR." She said the last part with a heartwarming smile.

Unable to help it, Ann felt a smile appear on her own lips at the fondness in Sue Ellen's voice for the family legend.

"Now, JR made mistakes and I think he felt truly sorry for some of them at the end of his life…but he was wise too. Smarter than any man I've ever known. Even Bobby."

A wince. It didn't go unnoticed by Sue Ellen.

"He told me you had to make a choice. And that I had to make one too. We both had to let go of things that were holding us back."

Swallowing hard, Ann felt a familiar chill.

"He said we would both make the right choice in the end. He was sure of that much."

After a brief, but resounding silence, Ann commented: "I admire his confidence."

Sue Ellen smiled with enough beautiful energy to light up the room.

"I learned a long time ago, that when JR Ewing tells you to do the right thing, you do it. One way or another."

Again, Ann struggled to vocalize what she wanted to say. Not knowing what Sue Ellen's reaction would be, especially after all her dealings with Harris, she decided it was best to leave her friend out of it. No good could come of more people being involved in this.

"So, what did Harris say about having Emma move back in with him?"

Ann's eyes trailed up to Sue Ellen's face in shock.

"I may be a drunk, Ann, but I have a pretty good memory. If it's any consolation, Bobby was out of line."

Since they had first met, Ann had always appreciated the warmth and understanding that radiated from Sue Ellen. There was nothing that she felt unable to confide in her. Apart from this.

"He asked if I thought Bobby would calm down after sleeping on it. I said I wasn't sure. You know, I think he's happy to take her back, he keeps promising to fix this mess….but I'm not so sure he wants to have Emma and his mother under the same roof."

Acknowledging the difficulty that was Judith, Sue Ellen squeezed Ann's hand again in reassurance.

"Are Bobby and Christopher alright?"

"Christopher had a seizure a few hours ago, but he recovered and he's breathing normally now. Bobby…well, Bobby has facial injuries from the fire, but he's….he should be able to come home next week."

Knowing that she had sounded less than enthused at this prospect, Ann sighed in exasperation.

"I don't know where things stand with us, Sue Ellen. He's not prepared to forgive me, or admit that he was wrong about Emma. I-I know I was wrong, but I'm so angry with him."

"Good."

Ann tilted her head in surprise.

"I'd rather you be angry, than upset."

Harris pulled into the driveway in front of his house. Sighing, he got out of the car and tried to mentally prepare himself for the questions that would be fired at him for his absence. As he reached to push the front door, it opened at the hands of his daughter.

"Emma? What are you doin' here?"

"I'm here to see Grandmother. Where have you been? She was asking after you all day."

Ignoring the question, Harris strode past her, shutting the front door. The grandfather clock in the hall told the time; 5pm. He really had been gone all day. Pausing briefly as he took the information in, Harris walked towards the living room in search of Judith.

"She's not here."

"Where is she?"

"Working."

Harris turned to see his little girl smirking at him in a fashion that reminded him of his mother.

"If you came here to see your grandmother, why are you still here if she's…working?" he asked in annoyance.

Emma followed her father as he marched to his study.

"I thought I should probably stay and warn you."

Harris spun around slowly.

"She's been drinking. And she's coming for you."

Harris grunted the way he did when the women in his life needed to know he would not be threatened by any of their games. Seeing the paperwork on his desk, he recognized an all too familiar stain on the wood. She had been through his personal effects.

"I know."

Turning to face Emma, Harris glared at her.

"Have you spoken to your mother today, Emma?"

Huffing rudely at her father, she exclaimed "No, why?"

"There's been a fire at Southfork."

Emma's expression fell.

"Bobby, Christopher and Sue Ellen were caught in it. Your mother's worried sick."

"Why didn't she call me?"

"She tried. I tried. You were unreachable."

"Wait-Where was Ann?"

Harris' face turned stone cold as he said in a warning tone "Your mother was here."

"Why?"

"Well, apparently everyone, including Bobby Ewing knows about your little affair with John Ross Ewing. And as a result, Bobby ordered your mother to send you back here, to live with us. Now, while I can't force you to stay here, Southfork…well, Southfork has pretty much been burned to the ground."

Emma gasped silently.

"Looks to me like you don't have a lot of options, little girl."

Chatting with Sue Ellen had comforted Ann somewhat. Overall, she still felt angry, but it was anger that had subsided into something more primitive. Pain. A deep, searing, unwelcome pain. As she walked out of the hospital she realized she had no car, no place to stay and no Bobby to go home to. Turning back, she thought of Sue Ellen's house just off the ranch. Surely that had escaped the fire and her friend wouldn't mind her staying there temporarily, at least. As she made her way back into the hospital, Ann knew she couldn't stay at Sue Ellen's. It was too much of an imposition, especially considering that Sue Ellen would have to return to it –but Sue Ellen wouldn't be returning to it. No, she had some recovery to do in the hospital and at a proper rehab center, unlike the place John Ross had put her in. Ann slowed to a halt as this dawned on her. Flummoxed and unwilling to seek charity, she turned back around and walked to the nearest hotel she could find.

Once she had paid for a room, Ann felt everything slow down around her. The concierge seemed to take his time getting her a key; the bell boy approached her and when she told him she had no luggage, he seemed to waltz away in slow motion. Even as she walked to the room, she found her feet moving slower than she wanted them to. Inside, she found a large glass and poured herself a drink of water. Dehydrated, tired and overly warm, Ann made for the shower. Having been confined in the hospital for two days, she hadn't had a chance to freshen up. Finally, she was alone.

Ann had never particularly liked her own company when she was younger, nor did she like solitude in long bouts now. When she had first heard about Sue Ellen's charity for battered and abused women, she had leapt at the chance to start over. Horses seemed an excellent escape route from telling people about her problems and it gave her a chance to be out in the air. It made her feel less lonely after the divorce. There had been a certain satisfaction in having control over an animal, but Ann soon learned that the beast of burden is more than capable of taking care of you, if you let them. Learning to trust was not an easy thing and it was far more plausible to start off with a creature that couldn't ridicule your flaws. Yes, horse riding had benefited her in many ways. It reminded her of when she was very young. Carefree and wild. That wildness had been raging in her eyes when Harris met her. She knew it had been part of the attraction, just as she had seen the burning need in him for freedom. Two lost souls wandering in the dark who found each other along the way. Unfortunately, any wildness in Ann had long since been tamed. The flame that had burned in her eyes when he first saw her all those years ago, had been extinguished. Although not completely; her penchant for guns and knowing how to use them, showed her independent streak up marvelously, as Harris knew firsthand.

Standing in the shower, with suds and hot water running down her back, Ann could see her younger self with Harris; their first date, their first kiss, their first time, walking down the aisle, the tiny bump she developed when pregnant with Emma. Closing her eyes, Ann could see herself running towards him at 17 years of age. Running away from poverty and into the open arms of a man who loved her, cherished her. He caught her and spun her around in his arms. Ann could remember a time when Harris knew how to laugh. Her eyelids sealed tighter together as she thought of how sad that sentence was. She could still see herself spinning in his arms, blurred colours flashing by. There was nothing but bright colours…except for that dark centre. It reminded her of a box of jellies her mother had brought home one day, and in the middle of three rows of bright, sugar-lined shapes, there was a black jelly. It looked dangerous to eat, almost as though it could poison whoever was foolish enough to try it. Even the crystallised sugar on its anterior didn't shine as bright as the others. As Harris spun her around, she could see the dark centre get closer and closer, until she cried out from fear as it brushed past her face. When he let her go, the darkness passed. It was only a rain-cloud, she promised herself.

Opening her eyes with a start, Ann realized her skin was turning prunish from excessive heat. Turning off the shower, she stepped out of her thoughts and into her bedroom for the night. After drying her hair, she looked around the room. It was small and empty. It occurred to her that she hadn't spent a night alone in over 7 years. As she folded the towels on the radiator, she noticed her phone. Turning it over, her mouth dropped open at the numerous missed calls from Harris, all within the last hour. Why was he trying to reach her so urgently? A text asking her to call him as soon as possible. Returning the call, Ann closed her eyes as she tried to clear her mind.

"Annie?"

"Harris, what's wrong?"

Silence.

"I went back to the hospital and you were gone. No one seemed to know where you went and I was worr-uh-wondering… where you were."

Ann tried to hide the smile that tugged at her lips. Remembering that no one could see her, she allowed herself to smile.

"I'm fine, Harris. I checked into a hotel."

Although every fiber of his being wanted to beg her to come over to him, he fought the urge, knowing she would probably distance herself if he gave in. With that, he said the only thing that he could think of to keep the conversation going.

"Emma's here."

"What? Is she ok?"

"She's fine. Says she came to see her grandmother. I don't believe her though."

"Well, what do you think she's there for?"

"Probably to see if she can get more information to leak to John Ross. I told her about the fire, she said she was tryin' to call you, but she couldn't get through. Annie, I…."

He sighed into the bleak atmosphere around him. Ann hovered on the other end. There was an undeniable pang of guilt in her side as she realized she hadn't stopped to think and call Emma to make sure she didn't go back to Southfork. Moments like this made Ann feel inferior and Harris knew it. He thought he fully understood the sentiment on the other end of the phone, but deep down he knew he couldn't possibly comprehend how angry and lost Ann must have felt.

"Can we meet?"

Taken aback, Ann dwindled as she held the phone. Bobby would not like this, was her first thought.

"About Emma?" she asked cautiously.

"About Emma" came the reply.

"Where?"

"Tell me where you are and I'll pick you up."