Author's Notes: After this chapter, I dunno if I should leave it here or continue with it further. See what you guys think. There are supposed to be differences with this whole atmosphere, such as Vlad taking the place of 790, Kai being alive, and Xev becoming more of a stronger female type than a sex kitten, but I'm still trying to stay true to the Lexx rules.

It was odd to Xev, to see Kai leaning against one of the many growths in the cavity after the passageway ended, being careful of his newly revitalized arm, and staring into space. The Infected had knocked him around some, since a few large bruises were visible, and she hated it, considering in the old days that it wouldn't have even been possible to injure him, and he would have immediately closed up. . "Hey," she said.

"Hello, Xev," said Kai.

"Where'd Vlad go?" she asked.

"She ran off again, I allowed her to. It is wise that we keep our distance from her in the future,"

Xev nodded in agreement, not knowing that the information that Kai had just been given was eating at him for the moment. He couldn't understand it, but the Time Prophet had always been someone he had respectful memories of. Now that he knew that the same person had tried to kill him, he wasn't quite sure of what it was, whether it was anger at His Shadow for condemming another innocent life to living death, or if it was at Vlad herself.

"You should be in bed," said Xev, knocking the thoughts right out of his mind. "So you can recover all the way,"

"I do not wish to be confined anywhere, a bed most of all," said Kai. "I've had enough of lying down,"

Then it dawned on her. "Hmm, I guess you would. I almost forgot about how you spent most of your time in a cryopod,"

She circled around the growth and stood next to him. "So...how's your arm?" she asked, at a loss for any real conversation.

For some reason, it had been much easier to talk to him when he was dead. She supposed it was because he had no emotions then, and now, no matter how hard he tried to hide it, she could still see coming back to life after being reduced to a particle the size of a pea was still on his mind. It must have been hard, she thought, to be on this plane of existence again, after moving on to the next life.

He looked down at the limb, somewhat distastefully and said, "I am ninety percent healed," he said systematically. "It will take time, however,"

"That's good," said Xev. "Must be uncomfortable, having all those fibers in the bone fusing back together,"

"I can still fight, seeing that my weapon is located on my right arm," said Kai.

"That's not what I mean," said Xev. "Anyway, I've been meaning to ask you,...how'd you sleep last night?"

"It is not sleeping that's difficult," said Kai. "Waking up is the hard part,"

"I'd guess so...you did wake up in a glass box, with scientists pressing their ugly faces in on you," she said uncomfortably.

They sat there a while, silent and uncomfortable, and then Xev took a deep breath, and crossed her arms. Stan had sent her in there for a reason, and for once, she agreed that this was a good reason.

"What is with you, Kai?" Xev asked, looking at him questioningly. "First going down to that hole alone, where you knew that energy-absorbing insect was, and then asking me to leave you after an hour? It's not like you to get beaten up like that!"

"Your lives were in danger," said Kai. "Yours and Stanley's. Your lives are more important than mine,"

"Don't you want to live?" said Xev.

"The dead do not want," he said, avoiding her eyes.

"...Are you looking for a place to die?" she asked.

"I am already dead," he said.

Xev came up to him and slapped him lightly across the face, and then grabbed his shoulders. "No, you're not! You're alive again! Doesn't that make you happy? Doesn't a second chance mean anything to you?"

He pulled away. "I died the day His Shadow's dagger went through my body. As for being happy, that was when I knew that I would finally be destroyed for good," he said, turning his back from her. "I did not want to live this life again,"

Tears welled up in Xev's eyes, and started flowing down her cheeks, but she didn't cease to continue her agitated interrogation. "But why? Don't you want to be here with us?" she asked. "With me?"

"I killed thousands of people, Xev," said Kai. "That's all I ever did. Given my history, you shouldn't want to be here with me. You have no idea what it's like, to never be able to die. I was denied an afterlife. I was forced to be a bringer of death, and when I finally took hold of the afterlife, I was pulled back out of it,"

"...You mean, you knew where you were after you died?" Xev whispered.

"No," said Kai, doing his best to not make eye contact with her. "I'm not sure where, but all I know is that my conciousness was somewhere, and I no longer had to kill. I was pulled out of that in a matter of seconds,"

Xev had to sit down, and plopped down on one of the smaller growths. Now she knew why Kai had been more distant than usual, and why he was now searching for a way to die. He'd been in a good place, the afterlife that everyone hoped for, and now he was stuck in what he probably considered a pergatory. "...Did it hurt?" she said, as he sat down on the bridge next to her.

"Yes," he said simply, sitting down next to her.

"Were you on Water, at least?" she said, not thinking about the question.

"No," said Kai. "Otherwise I would not have remembered you or Stan, or anything else for that matter. Besides...Water was destroyed,"

"Oh," she said speechlessly. "Kai...I'm so sorry,"

Her words were barely more than a whisper. She didn't want him to feel this way, let alone die. The thought of unimaginable pain he went through in the process of being rejuvenated made the whole idea worse. "There is nothing for you to apologize for," said Kai. "It was not your choice or within your knowledge to revive me,"

They sat there for a minute or two, in complete silence. He hadn't been ready for her to suddenly press her mouth to his, but as spontaeneous as the action was, he enjoyed feeling her tounge probe into his mouth. He found himself wrap his good arm around her waist, until she suddenly pulled back, causing him to do the same. Her eyes were quite wide, and she looked remorseful. "I'm sorry!" she said quickly. "I shouldn't have-"

Kai looked straight into her eyes this time, feeling an odd mix of dissapointment containing the thought that he knew it would only hurt her were he to get too involved with her. "It's all right," he said. "Programming can sometimes be...difficult to control,"

Xev looked down at her boots. "I really am sorry, Kai," she said sadly.

"...I am as well," he said.

They stood there for another three minutes, contemplating what had just happened. Xev was sorry, even though it felt good at the moment. She could tell that he wasn't at all ready for anything relating to closely to any human being, but the love slave in her had pushed her to do it, and even though she regretted it, part of her wanted more of it.

Kai, on the other hand, was still trying to understand why his body had reacted the way it did. He supposed that was what a good feeling was supposed to be, but he found that he didn't want to feel good. He couldn't reciprocate affection in death, and he figured that trying to do so in life would only cause more problems for the both of them. He wasn't even sure he knew the difference between love, hate, anger, confusion, or any other emotion. All he knew was that they seemed to be assaulting him at the same time, and he had to keep them pinned down and as far away as possible, because if he didn't, then he'd no longer be able to do what he'd been doing for Stan and Xev since he'd known them. He had to kill, otherwise, they might be killed.

Xev suddenly turned to him and said, "So is this how things are going to be from now on?"

"...Yes," said Kai. "I believe so,"