Frank had heard from Columbia that Sarah had been to the club several nights in a row, and that she had not been sober in any form. Frank couldn't help but wonder why she and Eva were so different, and why Eva always seemed to wind up forgiving her at some point. He finally decided to go straight to the source of both of them: Audrey.
"I'm very glad that you came over, Frank," Audrey said, motioning for him to take a seat next to her. "I think we have quite a bit to talk about."
"We do?" Frank asked, puzzled. He was only expecting to talk about her daughters.
Audrey smiled at him and said, "Yes, dear." Her smile then faded. "I know that you're aware of the way that Sarah has been trying to cause problems for you and Eva."
"Unfortunately, yes, I am," Frank said. "Eva has forgiven her sister for what she has done to her time and time again, which I find quite amazing of her, so why is Sarah still behaving in such a fashion?"
"Sarah has always been jealous of Eva. She always wanted what Eva had, which is a bit odd considering sisters usually behave in the opposite way. With Sarah being the older sister, Eva should have wanted what she had, but – Well, anyway, Eva is also more forgiving, though truth be told, after this last stunt, I almost hope she isn't."
This was the last thing Frank expected to hear. "Are you saying you wouldn't be upset if Eva and Sarah didn't settle their differences?" Of course that idea only made Frank feel all the better about his feelings towards Sarah.
"No, I wouldn't. I'm having problems being able to look her lately – especially after what she tried to do to you."
Frank cleared his throat. "You know about that?"
"Yes, Eva told me. She needed to get a few things off of her chest." Audrey looked at Frank for a moment, then continued. "While we're talking about getting things off of various chests, I have something that I need to tell you, Frank."
"Oh?"
"I know who you really are, Frank," Audrey said, taking his hand in hers.
Frank's eyes widened. "Wh-what? I'm a bit confused, Audrey."
"It's O.K., Frank." Audrey took a deep breath before continuing. "You are from Transsexual, correct?"
Frank's voice was barely above a whisper. "How do you know that?"
"You're also royalty, if I'm not mistaken," she smiled.
"What's going on? With whom have you spoken?" He tried to get up, but Audrey put her hand on his shoulder.
"Please, Frank, it's O.K. I need to tell you a few things."
"How do you know about me?"
"It's a rather lengthy story, Frank, and what I'm going to tell you, Eva doesn't know. Are you willing to hear me out?" Frank nodded. "O.K. then," she said seeming pleased. "The first thing is that Eva and Sarah don't share the same father. That's most likely why they're so different, but it's something that they are totally unaware of.
"Sarah's father left when she was two years old. He left with everything of both his own and mine. I had to move in with my parents for a couple of months until I was back on my feet. When I was finally in my own apartment, my parents still watched Sarah while I worked." She paused a moment before continuing. "One evening I just felt that I needed to be out alone for a while, so I left Sarah with my parents for the night. I was never one for bars, so I wound up at that little café by the river…I know that you and Eva have been there a few times. Anyway, I was sitting alone at a table outside and the most handsome man that I'd ever seen asked if he could take the other chair. Well, to try and shorten this a little, he never left. He sat with me for hours and we just talked about everything you could think of."
"Eva's father?" Frank asked.
"Yes. He was the most wonderful man I'd ever met and I just - I hope this doesn't sound funny coming from your mother-in-law, but I felt that I needed to be with him. I asked him to go home with me and, well, he did…and again he never left."
"You fell in love with each other that quickly?"
"As did you and Eva," Audrey reminded Frank. "In fact, our relationship bloomed much like yours did. We connected with each other on every level and he turned my life around. I was happy again and he took to Sarah as if she were his own, he even adopted her. It wasn't very long before I was pregnant with Eva. He was so happy…" Audrey's eyes began to tear a bit.
"What happened to him, Audrey?"
"I can gather that you've caught on to that fact that he too was from Transsexual, why else would I be telling you such a long story."
"Yes…so, how did you find out? Did he come out and tell you?"
"Not exactly. We got married much in the same manner as you and Eva did, a trip to the JP. Then a few months later, Eva was born and he was at my side." Audrey again paused; Frank knew that what she was going to say next was rather painful for her. "When Eva was three months old, he started to get very ill. I begged him to see a doctor, but he refused, insisting that there was nothing that could be done for him. With much reluctance, he told me everything. I didn't believe him at first, but he showed me some type of communicator and…"
"Why was he here?" Frank asked, engrossed in Audrey's story.
"Some sort of mission to see what Earth was like, what the inhabitants were like…after he met me, he told his crew to leave without him and eventually, they did. They also returned for him."
"Returned?"
"Yes. As I said, he got very ill…what he had was, well, I can only compare it to the equivalent of our cancer here. The only way he could possibly get well was to return home. He didn't want to leave me, or Eva and Sarah…one night it got so bad…I figured out how to use his communicator and begged them to come and get him." Audrey began to cry. "They arrived the next morning. He was unconscious when they took him away. I was assured that he would recover, but that he wouldn't be able to return without the illness resurfacing. I couldn't say goodbye to him myself, so I wrote him a letter and put it in his pocket."
Frank could feel his heart sink. He held Audrey's hand and let her cry. "Audrey, I'm so sorry. What did you tell the girls?"
Audrey sighed. "I lied…to everyone. I said that he had an emergency at home in London and he had to leave right away. I said that he was on very small plane and that it was believed to have crashed…I don't know how I convinced everyone. Nobody knew that he was sick either; he didn't want me to tell anyone."
Frank then remembered what Audrey had said in the beginning of their conversation and had questions that he didn't want to ask at that moment, but needed to do so. "Audrey, I'm not trying to be insensitive, but how does any of that relate back to me?"
"Oh, how could I skip over all that? I'm sorry, Frank, of course. When he became ill, he started to tell me about your world. It sounded strange and wonderful all at the same time. He spoke of the queen there, as well as her newborn son, Prince Frank N. Furter. He carried a picture of the queen with him at all times and finally showed it to me. You look so much like your mother, dear."
"You knew right away?" Frank asked, puzzled.
"Not right away, but I knew within a few weeks. Eva began to act the way I did when I met her father. She became a new person…and the way you acted sometimes…I knew you were unfamiliar with so much. I then remembered the picture of the queen and pieced everything together. When you left…I was so afraid that Eva would have the same fate as I did. I prayed every day that you two would find each other again."
"You knew before she did…" Frank's voice trailed. "And she's part Transylvanian…and Faye's…oh my. Audrey, you have to tell Eva…"
"I don't know that I can…what if she's angry that I've kept so much from her?"
"Audrey, how could she be angry? Everything makes so much more sense now…why we're so in tune with each other…" Frank became silent and very still for a moment. The emotions in him that had been running so highly were getting the best of him. He wiped away a tear and turned to Audrey. He hugged her and in a low voice said, "I'm so sorry for the pain you had to go through, but thank you…thank you so much for bringing Eva into this world."
Audrey smiled. She really hadn't thought of things in that way…every time she thought of her daughter, her father came to mind, thus bringing the smallest tinges of pain even after all of the time that had passed. "I'm so glad that you two found each other."
"Audrey, you keep referring to your husband as 'him.' May I ask what his name is?"
"Kristoph, Kristoph Roycifer. It turned out that he shortened his last name to Royce when he came here and that's what was the marriage certificate. Frank? Frank, are you O.K.?"
Frank's face had lost all color. He looked at Audrey. "I never believed in fate until I came to this planet," he said just above a whisper. "Kristoph Roycifer was a scientist in my mother's court. He was my tutor for several years."
"He really got better?" Audrey asked, her eyes growing wide.
"I always thought there was something wrong with him…he never had a lover, he said something about chastity that, at the time, I found absurd…but it was because of you. My mother always told me not to ridicule him for his lifestyle, but I just couldn't understand…He's my wife's father…"