A/N: Okay, I changed my penname. It used to be i-luv-mark/MD fan, and so you might know me as the author of "The Chords of a Piano."

Whoa! I can't believe I actually have time to write ANOTHER Big O story! And a chaptered one, at that! I had to knock off my one Finding Nemo story, but… sacrifices must be made, I guess.

Anyway, onto this. Personally, I think this chapter sucks beyond all possibility. And I think that this plot is kind of corny, too. But if you guys seem to like it, then I'm happy and all that good stuff.

By the way, this chapter's in Dorothy's POV. I will switch POV's in different chapters. So the whole story won't be in the same person's POV.

Now, I'm gonna try my best at etting all these different characterizations right, and finish this story successfully. So wish me luck with this. ^__^

Disclaimer: I don't own Big O. I hardly doubt I have the genius to come up with something as amazing as Big O, anyway…

"And Forever"

Rating: PG-13 (language, violence, and mild drama)

By: MD fan

Chapter 1 – "What Does it Feel Like to Fall in Love?" Sometimes I feel so all alone

Finding myself calling your name

When we're apart, so far away

Hoping it's me that you're thinking of

Each day of my existence I have wondered what feelings or emotions I was able to have. Dr. Wayneright hadn't told me what emotions I was programmed with, so I decided to find out for myself – sometimes by asking Roger, but he was hardly any help at all.

I looked at the clock and saw that it was five minutes after seven a.m. On normal days, I would have been playing the piano to wake Roger, but I decided I would let him sleep in this morning. This would be the first time I let Roger sleep in since I got here, but I guess it's my thanks for untying the piano yesterday.

Now, if he's still asleep past noon, then I'll have to wake him up, but for now, I'll let him rest.

"Dorothy?"

I turned to see Roger standing in the doorway to the parlor, where I was. It was surprising to see him up now – since I hadn't woken him up myself.

"What are you doing awake, Roger?" I questioned. He raised an eyebrow. "How come you didn't wake me up?" he asked, bewildered.

"I just felt like letting you sleep in today, that's all. But I looks like it didn't matter if I woke you up or not," I stated. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "Eh, I guess I'm just used to getting up this early, then." Roger yawned and then said, "Well I'm going to get dressed and then eat breakfast." He turned and left.

Silently, I walked over to the window that looked over Paradigm City. I wasn't really hoping to see anything; it's not like the city had transformed overnight. I was actually trying to decide in which emotion I should find out about. I turned my head and eyes in every direction until I finally found something: two people – a man and a woman sitting on a bench kissing.

---

A short while later, I was sitting at the breakfast table, with Roger at the opposite side of me. He was in the middle of eating his bacon when I put my teacup down on its saucer.

"What does it feel like to fall in love, Roger?"

The question seemed to have startled him, because he almost choked on the piece of bacon in his mouth. He coughed for a few seconds, wiped his mouth with a napkin, then averted his eyes to me.

"Er… why do you want to know?" he asked. I don't know why he seemed do shocked; I had asked him something similar to this before.

"Because I don't know what it feels like," I said simply. He glanced down, rested his forearms on the table, and looked back to me. "Well, Dorothy," he started, shifting a bit. "To be honest, I really don't know. I've… never been in love."

I was surprised at this. Roger seemed like the man who had had many lady friends in his past.

"Not ever?"

"No."

His voice sounded a bit upset, so I didn't press the subject any further. I, personally, found it quite it quite hard to believe that Roger Smith, Paradigm City's top Negotiator, had never been in love. Not even once.

"Well, that is a shame, Roger. I could be in love with you and not even know it," I said truthfully. I saw his eyes widen at my comment.

"I… guess that's true." He stood up quickly from his chair. I could tell just by the way he stood up that he was trying to hide something. But what?

Sometimes Roger Smith could be so confusing. I watched his disappear down the hallway into his room. I looked to Norman, who had stayed quiet the whole time.

"Did I say anything wrong, Norman?" I asked. He sighed and folded his hands in front of him. "No, Dorothy. I think Roger just finds it awkward to discuss matters like love with you," he explained solemnly. This made no sense to me.

"Why?"

"I really don't think it's my place to answer that, Dorothy."

Well, if Norman couldn't tell me, then I guess I had to find out for myself… now was definitely one of those times that I wasn't sure that I wanted to know what emotions I could have. Roger's human, and if having human emotions meant acting the way he does, then why bother?

A/N: And that's the end of chapter 1! Good, bad, please let me know! No flames, just constructive criticism, please.