Tess was rifling through the cupboards angrily, tossing bags and boxes back over her head as she excavated the pantries. Oro had to duck to avoid a bag of sugar.

"Would you please stop tearing apart my kitchens, Tess? If you need to know where something is, ask one of the servants."

Tess rolled her eyes and jammed a box back in its place.

"Is it my fault you don't have a single box of cheese-flavored crackers in this entire house?"

"Cheese-flavored crackers? Whoever heard of such a thing? Well, it's hardly worth tearing the place apart. Why not just put cheese on normal crackers? Well, never mind. We need to talk."

"We do not need to talk. I already told you what happened, and it doesn't matter anyway because Erik doesn't even remember it. Think it would help if I gave him another concussion?"

Tess grabbed the box of plain crackers off the shelf and tossed it angrily on the counter.

"You remember it well enough."

"What difference does that make? Besides, if it made him stop talking to that idiot Christine over my head all day, then it was worth it, as far as I am concerned."

Tess stomped over to the fridge and pulled out the cheese and picked up a knife. She started to cut the cheese into small pieces.

"That's a lot of anger directed toward someone you've never met."

"Well, so what? I might as well have met her, I know more about her than I ever wanted to. Christine is so beautiful, she sings like an angel. Oh marry me Christine, or I'll blow up everything! Peuh! It's sickening. Why pine over someone who's afraid of you? It's obvious she left him. It's even more obvious she likely never wanted him to begin with!"

"Tess… You're right on one thing – This Christine, whoever she is, left him. She's long gone. You are here right now."

"So what? He loves Christine—God knows why. He doesn't love me. Sometimes I wonder if he even knows I'm alive."

Tess jammed the knife point-end-down into the carving board. Oro was silent for several moments.

"He doesn't know you. I don't think you know him that well either, not as well as you think you do. I don't even know his entire story."

"So? You still care about him."

"Yes, but he is my grandson. The situation is not the same."

"Well it's damn hard to get to know someone when they talk through you all day!"

"That is true, but as you said – that should not be a problem anymore. He has not recovered his whole memory, but he is no longer trapped in the past. I know you have been alone for quite some time and are probably rather impatient, but if you are serious about wanting any sort of relationship with Erik, friendship or otherwise, I think you'd best take things one step at a time. He may not be quite all you think he is and it would not serve to discover that years after the fact. Talk to him. If nothing else, you may at least find a true friend, and that is certainly worthwhile."

"I don't want to talk to him right now."

"Then don't. Talk to him some other time. He isn't going to disappear again, if I have anything to say on the matter. Just… do not wait too long."

Oro left Tess to her supper of crackers and cheese and returned to the library. Erik was still right where he'd left him.

"How is your head?"

"Better. I don't suppose you could tell me how I managed to offend Tess deeply enough to deserve a blow to the head?"

"The last few weeks have been rather trying… I don't suppose you can remember any of it at all?"

Erik shook his head.

"Nothing concrete. A few dreams, mostly about people I haven't seen in a long time."

"Giovanni, Daroga and Christine, you mean?"

"How do you know of the daroga and Christine? I know I have not told you of them!"

"You have, in great detail. Not intentionally, though. Over the past week you've had some interesting conversations with them. While I didn't mind being a stand-in for your old mentor and friend, I'm afraid you've spooked Tess rather badly, mistaking her so many times for Christine."

Erik never had much color in his skin, but he slowly turned absolutely white.

"What… what did I say to her?"

"Many things, over the past few days. I heard a bit of it. Some of it was quite amusing. Mostly, I think, you were berating her on her singing technique. Tess, of course, does not sing at all, so it was clear from the beginning you were speaking to someone else."

"Is that all? Then why did she hit me today?"

"I'm not entirely certain. She said you were upset because Christine would not marry you and threatened to blow something up. She was frightened and slapped you and I think the two of you ended up fighting each other. I did not arrive until you were both unconscious on the floor."

"I attacked her, then."

"Yes. I do not believe she would have knocked herself senseless with your hard head otherwise. Indeed, she seemed quite determined beforehand to see that you came to no more harm, when I mentioned the impending return of Endo."

"But she is well now?"

"Yes. It was only a concussion, easily remedied."

"Perhaps I should apologize to her."

"That might be advisable, but I would wait until tomorrow if I were you. She is in a rather foul mood at the moment."

"I will wait, then."

"Good. And I think perhaps we ought to talk about some of these people. You never told me much of your Giovanni, other than the fact that he was an architect. I gathered from one-sided conversations that you did not part on good terms. Something very misfortunate happened, did it not?"

Erik frowned.

"I see no point in dredging up the past. My history is hardly a bed of roses."

"Whose is? I still want to know where you've been."

"All sorts of places, none of which matter. I'll never see Giovanni again anyway. Even if I could return to Earth, he's no doubt dead by now. He was old already when I met him, and his health was deteriorating. You remind me of him, in some ways."

"Good ways, I hope."

"Yes, mostly."

"I understand if your past is painful. I will not force you to speak of it if it bothers you to do so. I only hope one day you will feel comfortable enough to confide in me. I do, think, however, that you owe Tess at least a brief explanation. She seems quite jealous of this Christine of yours."

Erik laughed bitterly.

"She's wasting her energy. I will never see Christine again."

"But she still holds reign over your heart."

"Of course she does! How could she not? I love her with all my soul! But I had to let her go…"

"It seems to me you have not let her go in the slightest. What service do you do her by clinging to your pain? I do not know your beliefs, but in Eranae tradition, desperate unrequited love is considered a source of ill will, casting bad fortune upon both the object of desire and the one who desires. After death, it is said to cause the spirit to linger in this world, angering the Winds. Superstition, perhaps, but I agree with the overall sentiment. Cherish your memory of your time with her, love her always, if you must, but do not turn aside everyone else. You will not betray Christine by loving another. She has already left you. You will harm yourself greatly, though, if you continue to wallow in your pain. If this girl cared for you even in the slightest measure, I doubt she would wish you to torment yourself on her behalf."

"You say that easily enough, but what of you? I assume your wife passed away, you have not remarried."

"I did not remarry because I did not meet anyone I wished to marry. I am far too old for that sort of thing now, anyway."

"And I am not? I am nearly 46."

"Hardly. That is still fairly young for an Eranae. Most these days do not marry until they are past 35, by your calendar. You're a bit older than the average, but not greatly so."

"How long do your people live, then?"

"Our people typically live about 120 or 130 years. The women tend to live a bit longer than the men. I believe the record highest age of death is around 170 or so."

"And how old are you, then?"

"About 90, I think, by your reckoning. I have a bit of life in me yet, if that's what worries you. Barring accidents, it should be some time yet before I leave you."

"Then you had better be careful."

"I am always careful. But back to my original point, Erik—If Tess has no reason to be jealous of Christine, you ought to tell her so. I believe it would go far toward her peace of mind. Just make sure you are speaking the truth if you do. There is no great rush, but do not wait forever. She seems content to stay in my house at the moment, but I cannot guarantee she will not fly off in that ship of hers if you confuse her too badly."

"Why should it matter if she leaves? She seems successful at what she does, I think she does not need your support."

"You would not miss her presence? You do not even consider her a friend?"

"I… suppose I do. I owe her my current home. I'd never have met you if she had not found me."

"You should not base a friendship solely on a sense of debt."

"To be frank, I am not certain what to make of her in any fashion. I do not believe I have never met a female like her at any point in my life… She's not particularly feminine."

"That bothers you?"

"It's unsettling sometimes. It doesn't bother me as much as it did when I first met her, but it is still… odd. She seems entirely too competent for her sex. She's nothing like Christine."

"You have not met many strong women, then? I do not know how women in your culture are expected to act, but on most of the modern worlds, they are required to have some measure of independence. They are educated and many of them are professionals in their fields. Most of them do not choose to Hunt, but regardless... Well, as for Tess, she's not nearly as together as she pretends. She's no frail wilting flower, but neither is she made of stone. As far as being feminine or not, that is a definition that changes rapidly both within a single culture and across cultures. Do not put too much stock in such nebulous ideas. She seems fairly normal to me, beyond her questionable choice of career. As for Christine, if you seek only to find another like her, you will always be unsatisfied."

"She was so beautiful, though. I needed... need her beauty. I was a fool to ever think she could love a monster like me."

"Not all beauty is readily obvious, nor is all ugliness. If you wish only to look at the surface of things for the rest of your life, you will miss much of the truth. Learn to look more than skin-deep. If you would judge another on appearance alone, you will only repeat the sins of those who rejected you. Do not make a hypocrite of yourself, Erik. And you are no monster, however much you would like to consider yourself one."