"Your sister's boring. What do you want me to tell you?"

"What do you mean she's boring?" Rufus asks quickly, looking Reno in the face. "What has she been doing?"

"Nothing, that's what I'm trying to tell you," Reno presses on, shrugging his shoulders. Rufus continues to pace in front of him, his shoes clacking on the hardwood flooring of the beach house. "She works, visits her airship, works on her plane, goes out with Reeve, goes home with Reeve, fucks Reeve, sees LOVELESS almost religiously, and—oh, well, she did go to Rocket Town a few days ago."

Narrowing his eyes, Rufus dislikes the bored look on the Turk's face. His sister hasn't been to see her rocket since the day she left it four and a half years ago, or close enough. For her to return so suddenly seems very suspect, but Reno doesn't seem to realize that.

"Why did she go to Rocket Town?"

"I guess some people were afraid that the rocket would be reduced to scrap metal," Reno supplies unhelpfully. People have been wanting to do that for years now, but Reeve had argued against it, citing tourists as the main reason for keeping it up. "She went to go check on it."

"She went into the rocket?"

"I guess so."

"What do you mean you guess so?" Rufus snaps, stepping closer to Reno, who seems to realize his mistake too late. "You were told to stay by her side. Did she or did she not go into the rocket?"

"She led me to believe she was going to—"

"So you don't know?"

"I know that I saw her climbing down. She was with someone up there." Reno sighs, holding his hands up in surrender. "Look, she threatened me! What was I supposed to do? Your sister hates me! She didn't want me with her. I told you that it should be Tseng tagging after her, but did you listen to me? No, you didn't—"

Rufus places a strong hand at the crook of Reno's neck, his fingers lightly circling his throat. Dark Nation growls at the Turk from Rufus's side. "Who was she in the rocket with? Who was she meeting? Was it an AVALANCHE informant?"

"What? No!" Reno says hastily, a little more jumpy with Rufus's hand around his throat. "It was that pilot—the scumbag who helped with the rocket!"

The admission takes Rufus by surprise. He lowers his hand back to his side, trying to determine if Reno is telling the truth or not. "You know that for a certainty? That it was the pilot?"

"Looked like him. I dunno—I've only ever seen pictures, but it definitely looked like him from where I was standing." As Rufus thinks, Reno asks, "Should I not have let her near the pilot? He seemed a pretty harmless drunk, if you ask me."

So Charlie went to Rocket Town under the guise of some pleading townsperson, only to meet with Cid again? It's no secret to Rufus that she's always harbored some queer feelings for the man, but to think that she might still feel something for him is almost laughable. She's engaged to one of the better men at Shinra Inc. (in her view, at least) and they've already established their place as world's favorite power couple.

He tries to imagine a scenario where Charlie doesn't marry Reeve, and he no longer needs to worry about her finding out things about the company that are less than savory. He tries to imagine Charlie running to him instead of Reeve when she needs help, when she needs a favor, when she needs a bailout, when she needs a shoulder to cry on.

It's appealing, truthfully, a future without Reeve as his brother-in-law.

"No," he answers after a long time, and Reno furrows his brow. "If she misses her pilot so much, let her visit. Who are we to meddle in the middle of such a love affair?"

"Nero's here somewhere, and he's expecting to see you."

"What?" Rufus scoffs, scanning the crowd. "Why? Why does he want to speak to me?"

"I told him that you would be here. He asked about you the other day," Charlie explains patiently, holding onto her brother's arm with long fingers, looking for a sign of Reeve in the thick crowd that's gathered in the casino lobby of the Gold Saucer. "I got him to donate sixty thousand gil to the slum project."

"Sixty thousand?" he asks, his eyebrows shooting up to his hairline. "That's a lot for Nero."

"He was drunk when he promised me," she replies, turning her back on the crowd to straighten Rufus's thin black tie. "I just made sure that he delivered. Trust me, he was reluctant. You look very nice tonight, by the way." Catching Nero's eye across the lobby, she smiles at her brother. "Here, he's just over there, I'll go with you until Reeve arrives."

"He didn't come with you?"

"No," Charlie laughs. "I've been here since this morning making sure everything was going to be perfect."

Charlie drags Rufus by the hand over to their father's old friend, standing with his wife, a forty-something woman with artificially red hair and long eyelashes, her skin browned by the sun. Nero is happy to see them, and has the grace not to mention his hefty donation (likely unknown to his wife) in front of Rufus.

Even to this day, she isn't certain what caused the falling out between her father and his friend. Nero had always been a welcome face at Shinra Headquarters when she was very young, and always took her mother's side when it came to the intense education and studies Charlie's mother subjected her to.

Regardless, he had been friendly, funny, likeable, and known for bringing Charlie star charts and candy and magazines that her father didn't like her looking at, not wanting to fill her head with dreams and wishful little fantasies.

To Charlie's pleasant surprise, Rufus greets him like an old, personal friend, shaking Nero's hand with vigor and greeting Nero's wife (Charlie isn't sure of her name, as this wife is new to her) with a slight, polite inclining of his head. He talks graciously of Charlie's newest magazine cover, and they fawn over her and discuss her upcoming marriage for a few minutes before Nero changes the subject back to Rufus's own private life.

"The two of you could be twins," he notes, something their mother used to tell them all the time. "To think you looked alike when you were children . . . it's the Shinra look, I suppose."

Charlie smiles up at her brother, admiring the similarities between them. He has her nose, of course, and hair and eyes and even the shape of their faces are the same.

"When are you going to settle down with a nice girl, Rufus?" Nero asks, and Charlie watches her brother smile, revealing a dazzling smile that does nothing to thaw the coldness of his eyes. "I know quite a few girls who would take care of you. Pretty ones, too."

"Why should I settle down?" Rufus asks, scoffing loudly and making Nero laugh. "I'm too busy to settle down, Nero. Besides, why should I need a woman? I have a nice woman right here." He wraps an arm around his sister's waist and kisses her cheek. Nero's wife seems touched by this gesture, placing her hand to her heart and smiling sweetly at them. "Look at her, how lovely she is."

"If I know your father, he'll want you to find another girl that isn't your sister soon enough." Nero claps a hand on Rufus's shoulder in a rather paternal way, giving him a slight shake, but Rufus doesn't falter. "Charlie, why haven't you come by sooner? My telescope is wasted without someone there to use it."

Charlie clears her throat, feeling her brother's fingers dig into her waist. "I don't do that anymore, Nero."

"No? Your mother would be disappointed, my dear. You know how happy she was to look at the stars with you."

"Well, Mother isn't here to be disappointed."

Nero's smile fades slowly. "I'll talk to you later, you two. I've a thirst. Charlie, you'll let me know when Reeve gets here, won't you? I would like to meet this man you're to marry."

"Of course. We'll find you right away."

The private ballroom above the casino that's been reserved for Shinra Inc. is high enough for Charlie to peer out the window and see the tram running back and forth, the gondolas making their circuit of the massive Gold Saucer, the empty racing track where riders drive chocobos in a long race that leaves them aching and hurting, she's certain.

A black-tie clad orchestra plays on the stage and couples are already dancing on the dance floor while waiters and waitresses maneuver through the throng with silver platters carrying food and glasses of champagne. A few card tables have been set up where others are already bidding, winning, and losing, and several monitors show the empty track where the chocobos are going to race in a little while. The flooring is so black and polished that she can see her reflection in it, and the reflection of her brother, who still hasn't left her side.

"Reeve should be here by now," she says to him, looking anxiously down at the tram station for new arrivals. The tram has yet to return from its journey back to pick more guests up. "Where is he?"

"Let's dance." Rufus touches her elbow to guide her towards the dance floor.

"I don't want to dance," she says, jerking away from his touch.

Rufus's nostrils flare and he grabs hold of her elbow again, tighter this time. Charlie stumbles in his high heels, quickly regaining her balance to attempt to pull away again. "Let's dance, Charlie. If Reeve wanted to be here, he would be."

Charlie frowns, turning away from the window to follow her brother to the dance floor. He leads wonderfully, with skill—Rufus has always been an excellent dancer, likely because of all the galas and fundraisers and events he's attended at Charlie's request over the years. He holds onto her waist and hand gently, knowing that now she's here with him, she won't be so quick to leave him.

Very briefly, she remembers dancing in an open and empty field underneath the stars with Cid.

"You know that Father's been having you followed," Rufus murmurs into her ear, causing her heart to momentarily stop.

"What?" But after processing this, Charlie can't say she's surprised. Her father has always been suspicious of her, known to think she would be the first to defect. "Is that why I've been seeing far more of Reno than I'd like?"

"He thinks you're passing information."

Charlie's heart stutters, but she doesn't let her fear show. Rufus knows her too well, and even the smallest tic in her face might give her away to him. "Why would I be passing information?"

"Who else would have known I decided to give money to your project?"

"You didn't exactly announce your intentions in private," Charlie scoffs, moving smoothly among the dance floor with the other couples. "You announced it on the beach of Costa del Sol. You don't think other people heard it?" She purses her lips, wanting to make it very plain to Rufus that she isn't passing information, despite having met with an AVALANCHE member just last week at a showing of LOVELESS. "Father has never had any trust in me."

"Don't worry. I told him you weren't an informant, Charlie."

"Is that why he hit you?" Charlie lifts her hand from his shoulder to brush her fingertips across some slight bruising on his cheekbone.

"Don't, Charlie," he whispers gently, and she lowers her hand.

"Can I cut in?"

Charlie and Rufus break apart, and she's delighted to see Reeve standing there with an awkward smile, her heart beating painfully fast, leaping in her throat.

"Of course," Rufus says with a smile, bowing out, his hands held behind his back.

As soon as Reeve resumes the dance with Charlie, she hisses, "Where have you been? You should have been here nearly an hour ago."

"I'm sorry," he answers, his collar slightly crooked and his hair a bit disheveled and his forehead shiny with sweat, looking as if he's run here all the way from Midgar. "Your father wanted to talk to me, and I couldn't escape."

Charlie stiffens, the hand at her back comforting and warm, soaking up the sudden tension. "What did he want to talk to you about?"

"Nothing important." Now that she really looks, he seems slightly shaken. "Don't worry about it now. It looks fantastic in here, and you look—" His dark eyes flick up and down her body, settling again on her face—"absolutely beautiful."

"Reeve," she begins again, slowly, and she can see his composure beginning to crack the more she talks, "what did my father say to you?"

"Charlie, it was only about our wedding details," he laughs, but it doesn't seem he's telling her the complete truth. Kissing her swiftly on the lips, he tells her, "Everything is fine. Don't worry." And when she still doesn't seem convinced enough for his liking, he releases her to touch either side of her face. "Charlotte, everything is fine."

"That doesn't sound like my father," Charlie protests. "What kind of things did he want to know about? The guest list? Pia gave it to me already."

Reeve looks exasperated, but it makes her feel slightly better to see him still smiling. "I can tell that you're exhausted."

"I'm so exhausted," she admits, unable to keep her laughter at bay.

But it's true—her feet are killing her and all the lights of the Gold Saucer are giving her a headache and the champagne is making her bloat and she isn't at all looking forward to the long flight home. She wants one week where she doesn't have to fly across the world, one week where she can sleep without being bothered.

"I know you just got here, but . . ." Charlie sighs, looking around her, looking for some sign of Rufus, but she doesn't see him anywhere. "Will you take a walk with me? I just want to be with you for a little bit."

Reeve lifts an eyebrow, nodding. "I think I know a quiet place we can talk. That is what you had in mind, yes? Or would you prefer somewhere a little more secluded, a little more . . . private?"

Charlie blushes. "After the speech, maybe, so I don't look like someone who's been fucked in a closet while standing up in front of all of these people." She and Reeve stop dancing, pressed close together to keep from interrupting the other dancers. "Let's go."

To her pleasure, Reeve brings her all the way to the gondola, where the worker looks very surprised to see them there and lets them ahead of everyone waiting in line. Charlie can almost feel the contempt, the impatience of the other people who had been waiting for their turn, and she urges the gondola worker to move quickly, if only to get herself and Reeve away from the restless line.

She continues to look out the window, watching the bright neon lights of the Gold Saucer flash and blink, every color of the rainbow. Reeve watches her from the opposite seat, dragging a hand down his face and pushing his hair out of his eyes.

"Charlie, talk to me," he insists softly, reaching out to take her left hand, brushing his thumb over her ring. She looks away from the window to smile weakly at him. "You haven't been yourself these past few days."

Not since Rocket Town. Not since Cid. "My father is having me followed," she says lightly, and Reeve doesn't seem very surprised by this. "He thinks I'm passing inside information about the company."

Reeve hums. "Is that why Reno has been everywhere you are lately?"

"Very probably."

"That's good to know," he muses. "I was starting to get worried I might need to have a word with him about any designs he might have on you."

Charlie smiles wider at him, squeezing his hand. She moves forward on her seat, inhaling deeply. "What if I started to study the stars again?"

Reeve thinks for a moment, but that moment is enough for Charlie. She pulls her hand away from him and looks out the window again, frowning. "You haven't done that in years," he reminds her, as if she needs reminding. Back when they had first made things official, when it became clear they weren't just sleeping together, Charlie had spent more time looking through an optical telescope than with Reeve, often leaving Midgar for days at a time on a whim without even telling him. "Do you think you have the time for that?"

"Well, I . . . no, but I could make time for it," she counters. "I think it would make me happy again."

"You're not happy?" He leans back in his seat, completely oblivious to the fun and colorful world outside the gondola.

"No! Of course I'm happy—you make me so happy, I just—" Charlie wraps her arms around herself, looking down at the skirt of her dress. Silver, just like almost every other gown she owns. Rufus always told her silver looked nice with her eyes. "Ever since seeing the rocket again, I just feel like something is missing, and Nero was right, my mother would be so disappointed if she knew—"

"Nero? Nero told you to do this?"

"No, he didn't tell me to do anything, he only suggested that I might start using his telescope again, and you know that he has the best telescope in Midgar. You can actually see the stars with it, even through all the smog." When Reeve opens his mouth to argue, Charlie stops him before he can say a single word. "And maybe, in time, my father will consider refunding the Space Exploration Department with me as the head of it. We don't have to send anyone in space, but think of all the experiments and scientists and engineers we could hire to complete more studies—"

"My love, your father isn't going to fund the department." He says it so matter-of-factly that it startles her. "And we're supposed to be married in the spring—"

Charlie shakes her head. "We can still be married in the spring. What does that have to do with anything?"

"I know you, Charlie, I've known you since you were sixteen," Reeve replies adamantly, lowering his voice, but no less firm about his stance on her studying some stars. "You've never known when to stop working, and this is no different. If you start studying the stars again, I might not see you for months, and with your actual position now—"

"It's hardly a position," Charlie answers, scoffing. "I'm a puppet for Shinra Inc. and my father and brother."

"Look, I think, if you want to change jobs, I have a few engineering positions in my department that you could try, or I'm certain you would be welcome in weapons development."

"Weapons development?" she hisses coldly, and Reeve seems to realize his mistake at that moment, looking away from her. "Is that what you think of me? You think I want to build weapons?"

"Charlie, I'm only trying to help—"

"If you really knew me, you would know what would make me happy."

"I don't want to see you disappointed again," Reeve pleads with her, moving from his current seat to sit beside Charlie. She tries to move away from him, but he backs her against the corner of the gondola, trapping her there.

"Why would I be disappointed? If I were to go through with another rocket launch, I would at least have a far more competent astronaut working with me." Charlie looks up into his face with wide eyes, wanting desperately for him to take her side. "You told me yourself that Rufus defended me. Why wouldn't he still defend me four years later? If he could convince my father—"

"He won't—"

"Why not?"

Reeve's tongue darts out to wet his lips and he sighs, fidgeting and shifting uncomfortably, adjusting his cufflinks and collar and hair, combing his beard distractedly with his fingertips. "Because," he starts, lowering his hands into her lap and looking into her eyes again, "Rufus never defended your department. He didn't even defend you."

"What?" Charlie feels as if he's slapped her. She would rather he have just slapped her, as the sting would at least stop hurting after a few minutes. "What are you talking about? Rufus defended me. He told my father to let me have another six months. He told me that—you told me that—"

"Your brother advocated for the closing of your department," Reeve confesses, and her heart sinks into her stomach, leaving her breathless and nauseous. "But how was I supposed to tell you that after what happened? I needed something to make you feel as if it wasn't a complete loss—"

"So you just lied about it?"

"I didn't think that it would matter—I never anticipated the department to reopen, anyway—"

The gondola slowly comes full circle, making its slow descent back to the platform, where the line is much shorter now. Charlie can't look away from Reeve's face, pale and nervous. She knows that he never intended to hurt her, but this admission, seemingly random, in the hopes of preventing her from disappearing for days without him . . . the admission hurts.

She puts on a smile for everyone who watches them exit the gondola, holding onto Reeve's hand and squeezing as hard as she can to keep her grounded. This revelation is so incredibly painful, the knowledge that her brother hadn't bothered to stand up for a project she spent years on . . .

Upon reentering the ballroom, Charlie and Reeve don't talk anymore on the subject, but wear their false smiles and kiss when expected to and cling to each other all night long. After Charlie gives her speech, and after Rufus's chocobo outraces hers, and after Reeve gambles for a little while and comes out on top, she decides she's overstayed her welcome.

Not wanting to talk any further about her department, Charlie finds Rufus in the crowd while Reeve is being interrogated by Nero, the perfect distraction. He seems very pleased to see her approach, a drink in one hand and surveying the crowd from an empty corner. Charlie grabs at his free hand, breathing heavily.

"Take me home," she says quietly, and it is not a question, but a command.

Rufus doesn't question her, doesn't ask where Reeve is (one of his favorite questions), doesn't ask if she's certain she wants to go now. He doesn't brag about his chocobo beating hers, doesn't try and find Reeve to tell him they're leaving, but puts a hand on the small of her back and leads her down to the tram station, where Charlie finally feels safe enough to ask the question she's been burning to ask him all night.

"Why didn't you defend my department when Father wanted to shut it down after the launch?"

Her brother hesitates just outside the tram, pulling her aside to a shadowy alcove roughly by her upper arm. "What are you talking about?"

"Did you or did you not defend my department after the launch?"

Rufus releases her, straightening and taking a step back to consider her. He smiles coldly, infuriating Charlie.

"Charlotte! Charlotte?"

Both Charlie and Rufus turn towards the mouth of the Gold Saucer's entrance, where Reeve is jogging towards the tram, spotting the siblings and slowing, approaching them very warily.

Rufus's smile widens in delight at the sight of Reeve. "Did he tell you that, sister?" he asks, malicious and excited. As Reeve finds a place at Charlie's side, taking her hand and pulling gently, in the hopes of taking her away from her brother, Rufus adds, "Did you tell her about what you said about it?"

Charlie blinks in surprise, looking from Rufus to Reeve and back again. "What are you talking about? What did—Reeve, what did you say?"

"Reeve was the first to agree with me about shutting down the department," Rufus laughs, folding his arms over his chest. It's all a big game to him. It's always been a big game to him, a joke.

Reeve has the grace to look ashamed, turning his face away from Charlie, who feels herself deflate. "Reeve?"

"We all know why he did it," Rufus continues, teeth bared in a grim imitation of a smile. "He was jealous of that pilot. Anything to separate you two, isn't that right?" He touches Charlie's hair affectionately, kissing her forehead. "Reeve, see my lovely sister home safely, would you?"

Charlie can't breathe, can hardly speak. She allows Rufus to walk away, even though she would much rather have her brother here right now, bringing her safely home.

"Charlie . . ."

"How could you do that to me?"

Reeve holds his hands up in surrender, stepping closer to her. "Charlotte, listen to me—Rufus was the one who—"

"I don't care about Rufus right now!" Charlie runs a hand through her hair restlessly. "I know what Rufus is. I know how he felt about my department, but you knew how important that was to me! You knew that was my dream! And you didn't even defend me—you were my best friend!"

"Nothing I said would have saved your department," Reeve replies steadily, looking pained. "Your father was looking for an excuse to defund the entire program—"

"You should have stood up for me! You should have defended me!" Charlie counters, tears springing to her eyes. "I would have done the same for you!"

"Charlie, Charlie, please listen to me—" Reeve cups her face in his large hands, his eyebrows knitted together. "There was no money to be made, only money to be lost in another launch—the timing was bad, and it was the best decision for the company—"

"Don't do that to me," Charlie snarls, taking hold of his wrists to tear them away from her face. "You lied to me about it, Reeve, to what end? To make yourself look good in front of me?"

"I only wanted to comfort you—"

He reaches out for her again, but she swats his hands away, shaking her head slowly. "I can get home myself."

Charlie's phone rings non-stop for about thirty minutes. She's left it on the dining table, where it vibrates loudly against the wood, but Rufus doesn't mind so much, lounging on the sofa and watching the latest newscast with his feet propped up, listening to the faint crying of his sister from her bedroom.

After a few minutes of silence, he stands, bends over to pet the bulky head of his pup, and walks over to her phone to see how many times that bastard has actually attempted to call her. He's sure that if Reeve knew Charlie was here alone, he would certainly come to collect his wife-to-be. As it happens, with Rufus currently in the beach house with her, it's unlikely Reeve will come at all.

Twenty-seven missed calls (surprisingly, not all of them from Reeve) and six voicemails (those are all from Reeve). Curious, Rufus plays the first voicemail and holds the phone up to his ear.

"Charlie, I wish you would answer your phone. If you give me time to explain, I'm sure it will be easier for you to understand."

Rufus scoffs, listening to the next one.

"I love you, Charlie, please answer your phone."

The next one is very similar.

"Charlie, please come home. I don't want to fight with you about something that happened over four years ago. Please come home, my love."

It makes him want to vomit.

It's almost amusing to him, that Charlie would be so angry with Reeve over something that Rufus did, as well. If she knew what Rufus had really done in regards to her rocket launch . . . if she knew that it was his fault it . . . well . . .

A story for another time, perhaps. But not here, not now, not while she's sobbing upstairs in her bed.

With a sigh, Rufus climbs the stairs and knocks on his sister's bedroom door. "Charlie, come out of there."

To his great surprise, Charlie opens the door seconds after his request. Her eyes are puffy and swollen and bloodshot, her hair a mess and her makeup smeared, making her look like some kind of beautiful raccoon. Her bottom lip quivers as she looks at him, still in the dress she had been wearing at the Gold Saucer.

"Are you ready to come out now?"

"No," she tells him tearfully, making to slam the door again, but Rufus holds his hand out to stop it. "Leave me alone."

"Charlie," Rufus says with a smile, letting himself into her bedroom by pushing past her, watching her wrap her arms around herself, standing in the middle of her bedroom. He sits down on the side of her bed, looking around and opening his arms for her. "Come here, sweet sister."

She obliges, sitting down slowly beside him and letting down her guard. Huffing loudly, she curls up at his side, resting her cheek on his shoulder and hugging his arm. Rufus kisses her hair, holding her close.

"Don't cry, Charlie," he murmurs against her hair, nuzzling the tip of his nose against the hair so like his own. "Especially not over that oaf you're going to marry."

"He's not an oaf," she replies shakily. "I love him."

The words set a fire in his chest. "He lied to you."

"That doesn't mean I don't love him anymore."

Rufus scowls, allowing Charlie to move closer, to bury her face into his chest and cry harder. He wraps his arms around her, holding her until she begins to quiet again.

"Rufus, sometimes I feel like you don't know anything about love," she rasps after a little while, tilting her head back to look up at him.

He bristles, the scowl still stuck to his face. "What are you talking about? I love you, don't I?"

This makes Charlie smile, albeit reluctantly. "Then I must be the luckiest woman in the world, and the only one who can claim that honor."

"Charlie, I want you to listen to me," he orders her gently, touching her chin to tilt her head back again. "Why did you go to Rocket Town?"

She blinks up at him, obviously confused at his sudden change of topic. "What do you mean? I went to go look at the rocket, and to keep it from being reduced to scrap metal."

"Did you see your pilot?"

He watches her think for a moment, the gears in her brain spinning. "Briefly," she admits. "He cornered me while I was in the rocket."

Not wanting to seem too eager, Rufus nods sympathetically, frowning at her. "Why don't you take a short vacation to Rocket Town?" he suggests casually. "You can . . . relive your very exciting past with your pilot, and no one will be any the wiser. You know that I am your most trusted confidante, Charlie. Your secret will be safe with me."

"Why would you want me to do that?" she asks, narrowing her swollen eyes at him. "You hated Cid, more than you hate Reeve."

He holds her face in his hands, brushing tears away with his thumbs. "Because I can't bear to see you so depressed," he says, feigning concern. "I want to see you happy again, sister, the way that you were when you were with Cid."

It takes her a long time to answer. "I can't."

Rufus's face hardens. "Why not?"

She shows off the sparkling engagement ring on her left hand. While it is beautiful and elegant and it seems to fit so nicely on her hand, Rufus can't help but suppress the urge to tear it from her finger and crush it, along with any of her hopes to marry Reeve, beneath his shoe.