Amy

I was on the phone with June.

"So um relationship wise, how did you figure out Woody was the one?"

There was silence on the other end.

"I really don't think I'm a good person to give out relationship advice, Amy."

I leaned back in my chair.

"Come on?"

I could hear the intake of breath.

"Um... when I saw him... I mean I saw him on TV and he looked so dashing and impressive and um..."

"June?"

"Look I kind of well may have rushed into things..."

"And so."

She sighed.

"I was 19 ok, I had have a thing for um... Right yeah, I really don't feel comfortable having this conversation at all."

"So no relationship advice at all."

"Amy, I dated a grand total of one person, and he's not human. You should go to your mother about this, not me."

"Come on you're like the cool aunt I never had."

...

"You don't get out much Amy, do you?"

"Come on something, how did you and Woody get together?"

"It would be really really bad advice Amy, seriously looking back on it I got really ridiculously lucky."

"Come on."

"Um I basically moved into his place and threw myself at him until he noticed me..."

I stared at the phone...

"Wow that sounds um."

"Kind of slutty?"

"Yeah..."

"There's a reason why I'm not a good person to get advice from Amy. Look, the one thing I do know... getting together is the easy part. Staying together is harder, making it work, making it last. Look, love is like a fire, right?"

"Ok."

"Getting that spark, that's easy, keeping the fire going is hard and tha'ts what relationships are about, keeping that fire going. Dealing with all the things that annoy you and annoy him... or her, I'm a frisco girl I don't judge."

"It's a guy... and um..."

"Right...you don't need to tell me anything more, just keep in mind I'm really not a good role model, seriously talk to your mother."

"So you regret-"

"No... I made a choice, I didn't quite understand what I was getting into but I knew what I wanted and I was willing to pay the price. In my case it's a lot of hate mail."

"Hate mail?"

"I grade it on grammer and spelling and post it online."

I blinked at that comment.

"Um wow, that's um..."

"Kind of bitchy? I killed a man with a chair leg, granted he really had it comming but I reached the point where it was either toughen up or fall apart. I have two children who depend on me so I put on my big girl pants and I do what I need to do."

I decided to change the subject.

"So why don't they call in Sensei more often?"

"I really don't like that question Amy, as far as I'm concerned he's gone entirely too often for my tastes."

"But there's a reason why they don't send him out?"

I heard a sigh.

"Look the relationship between my husband and the PRT is a two way street. He does a lot, but they do try to make him happy and what makes him happy is us, his family."

"Really? So he would be happy just being a dad and healing people?"

She was silent for a bit.

"Talk to me about that subject when you have watched your baby take their first steps."

"Ok?"

"And as to your question, If my husband was a more aggressive person they would probably send him out to do clean up more often, there would be less evil in the world but that would mean fewer people get healed. Is having less evil worth having less good?"

I blinked.

"um isn't that the same thing?"

"Not really, taking evil out of the world means that less people get harmed but their lives aren't really improved. So the valley's aren't as low but the heights aren't as high either."

I leaned back.

"And ask your mother for relationship advice, talk to someone who knows what their talking about ok? Not Vicky."

"But she-"

"Never Vicky."

I hung up the phone and stared into the night.