Joker took a cab to the address when the date time approached. It was a bar-restaurant not far from the Dark Star, where Kasumi was planning her farewell party, and he thought that they would probably stop there after their dinner.

The bar area was packed with soldiers, marines and civilian fleet crews, many of them human. In this crowd he couldn't see Jo right away. He took a breath and asked himself: If I were a tough, gorgeous blond woman in a bar filled with horny men, where would I be?

The answer was right in front of him: a tight knot of men at the bar. She sat on a high stool there with a non-alcoholic drink and about a dozen men vied for her attention. He could see why. She opted against her usual hair bun. Instead, she wore her long curls in a loose braid over one shoulder. A couple of escaped strands caressed her cheeks and forehead. Instead of a uniform she wore a kind of black catsuit made of slick fabric that reflected light and made her body look like liquid darkness, with a black leather jacket over it, tall boots with two inch heels, and a harness of belts around her hips, waist and thighs. On that harness she wore two huge pistols. Joker could bet his balls that those were not the only weapons she had on her, though.

That catsuit… Joker gulped. It hugged her body without a single wrinkle, despite her sitting position. It accentuated every curve, every little inch of her ass and thighs. It could drive any man insane, even a gay and married one. At least she wore a jacket, he thought. The heaven of her breasts was partly concealed. That kind of clothing demanded a killer of a woman's body. Miranda could wear it, and now Joker could see the proof of what he'd always known: Jo not only had the perfect figure to wear it, she looked a million times sexier in it than the dead Cerberus operative ever had in hers. His heart soared when he thought to himself: last night this sex bomb was screaming my name as I tasted every little bit of her. She is mine. So mine.

For a few moments he silently observed her. With the way she sat there, the whole crowd couldn't stop staring at her butt. The more composed ones who'd managed to tear their eyes off that particular body part tried to engage her in a conversation. As he watched, Jo turned down four offers for a 'real drink' and two actual drinks sent to her by admirers from another end of the bar. Little did they know that she couldn't drink alcohol without getting terrible nightmares. Joker once more felt the floor tilt under his feet at the thought of how intimately he knew her. She was his woman. It'd been two weeks and yet the realisation hadn't sunk in completely.

She saw him over the shoulders of the other guys and her face changed. From mildly mysterious, silent, with a tolerating, arrogant smile, she went to blissfully happy within half a second. Her whole face lit up, saying to him again and again what she'd whispered into his ear only last night: that she loved him.

He smiled back. The men noticed the change in her and turned to see whoever inspired such a reaction. If looks could kill… If resentment and envy were bullets…

Jo slid off the stool and flowed towards him. There was no other word, she looked like liquid, and her moves matched the outfit.

She stopped in front of him with a truly evil grin.

"Hello, stranger," she said in a low voice that sent tremors right into his bones.

"Hello yourself," he managed to whisper. She'd told him a few times that dressing up, looking hot and moving like this was only something she could do for a mission, but not in private life. Was she here on a mission? Hell, if she'd dressed up like this for someone else, he would personally kill her and dispose of her body.

"Care to rescue a lady from a pack of hungry beasts?" She threw a cheeky glance behind her at all the people who were watching him with dark resentment. That was when Joker realised that she was playing a role for him. Dressed up for him. That was so hot…

"You are in luck, my lady," he bowed his head a little. Could he play along? Damn right, and he'd enjoy every second of it! "Your knight in shining armour has just arrived."

"I can see that," she gave him an approving once-over, noticing the new clothes he was wearing. "Are you sure you're not Prince Charming himself?"

"I go by many names."

"Oh, dear. A great hero such as yourself deserves a kiss as a token of a lady's gratitude," she stepped closer, leaned her whole body against his front and planted a long, slow, obscenely hot kiss on his lips. As his head spun, he could almost feel the animosity from other guys in the room. There were no good-natured whistles when a group cheers for one of their own getting some action. This was pure, undiluted envy.

To make matters worse – just because he was Joker, and he simply could – he possessively grabbed the back of her neck and pushed his fingers into her hair. In just a few moments her braid was undone. Commander Shepard never appeared in public with her hair down and free, but messing up her carefully calculated hairdo was too much fun to resist.

"I'm sorry," she leaned back, breathless after the kiss, with a beautiful and extremely uncharacteristic blush on her cheeks and a trembling hand on her heaving chest. "I don't make a habit out of kissing perfect strangers. Perhaps you're here to meet someone."

"I was to meet my girlfriend here, but something tells me she's entirely indisposed at the moment."

"Her loss, good sir, is my gain."

Joker knew he was smiling like a complete idiot. He'd never thought that role-playing would be such fun. Just talking nonsense in front of a bunch of envious strangers.

"Well, my lady, let me rescue you, then," he offered her his arm and a waiter led them to a free table in the restaurant area of the establishment.

"May I ask my saviour's name?" She asked coyly once they were seated.

"Call me Charming. And you?"

"Cinderella."

They ordered food and kept talking in the same silly manner for the whole duration of their meal, teasing and poking each other with whatever fairytale stuff they could still remember from the old stories from Earth.

"I like what you're wearing," she said eventually, when the dessert was almost gone and so was their knowledge of fairytale stuff.

"Said she who wears a black catsuit," he grinned back.

"You approve?"

"It takes all my willpower not to show wood right now. Though I don't think anyone here could blame me."

"I think you're right. Even the girls were drooling over me before you came to my rescue."

"Fuck, Jo, you're not helping. But I thought you said you couldn't do the whole dress-up thing in private life. Seems to me you can do it just fine."

He hadn't realised how much effort she was making until he said those words. Her smile faltered and her shoulders slumped.

"Don't unleash the beast, I beg you. Otherwise I'd have to murder most of the people in here for acting inappropriately towards me."

"So, it's true, then? The only way for you to look and act like this is if you're working?"

"This isn't work, it is very much fun. But I am playing a role tonight, one I thought you'd like to see for a few hours. Turns out dressing up for you is different than dressing up to go clubbing. For you – I'd do anything and have fun doing it."

"I appreciate it, Jo, don't get me wrong. I just don't want you to feel pressured to do things you'd otherwise never do."

"Oh, I did it plenty. This is what they trained me for in N3, I chose it and I love it, and since I don't get to do it for real anymore, you'll be the one to reap the benefits of having a chameleon for a girlfriend. If you like."

Joker gave it some thought. He didn't want to break the illusion just yet, he wanted to keep Cinderella for a little while longer, so he had better shut up about the real Jo. He knew, though, that life would never be boring with this woman. Next time he swore to himself to leave her a little hint in form of a porn vid about a horny nurse in a slutty white uniform.

"I like. I like so much, you have no idea. All right, Cinderella it is," he nodded. "I love your catsuit." He had to shift in his chair to adjust the raging hard-on he had because of it.

"I'm starting to really like it, too," she smiled. "It's having an interesting effect on you."

"I really, really want to…make love to you while you're still wearing it," he whispered, just so that the people at other tables wouldn't hear them. Jo shook her head a little:

"Fuck. You want to fuck me. That's more accurate."

"Well… yes."

"Gorgeous," she shifted a little, catching the bar lights on her breasts. "The designer of this suit created it for one purpose only: to inspire. What would be the point of it if you couldn't fuck me while I'm still wearing it?"

"So…"

"So there is a zip down my crotch. And I'm not wearing any underwear."

He hissed in a breath:

"Damn, girl, that was a low blow."

"But you asked!"

"But you should know what the answer would do to me!"

They both kept grinning at each other like mad across the table.

"I love you," he suddenly said on an impulse.

Her lips parted in surprise and she sucked in a breath, wide eyed like a deer caught in headlights. That reaction threw him off a little bit. Why was she surprised? Hadn't he told her? He thought back and cursed himself: he hadn't, not once until now.

"I do," he nodded, more seriously now. "Love you like a madman."

"I'm glad," she exhaled slowly on a shudder, as if she'd been hanging off a cliff and he just yanked her to safety. Fuckit, had he only known how her reaction to those words would touch him, he wouldn't have hesitated for so long. She looked as if she'd been holding a breath all this time and could finally release it. Her vulnerability had once again made him feel like more than just a man, but a ten feet tall all-powerful hero.

"It's late enough for Kasumi's party at the Dark Star. Wanna stop by?" She said eventually.

"Instead of going back to the cabin and unzipping your catsuit?" He gave her a look. "But yeah, sure, let's stop by."

They found most of the crew already in the club, drinking and dancing. When Jo and Joker joined the party, everyone gathered around with drinks. Donnelly raised his voice over the music:

"Here's to our Commander, who performed another miracle, saved us all, and eliminated a threat to human colonies!"

Everyone cheered and crowded in on them to pat Jo on the shoulder, thank her, just acknowledge her. Joker could see that she turned a little red from all the recognition. What a surreal moment. She could do almost anything and think nothing of it, but when it came to accepting due recognition from people who mattered to her – she was lost and embarrassed. The cheers didn't want to die, especially when the crew saw that she wasn't taking their gratitude for granted, that she was genuinely touched. Suddenly Grunt grabbed her and lifted her up above them all, until she sat on his shoulder, like on a throne. People approved, clapping their hands even more, cheering louder. They were getting the attention of everyone at the club, but they didn't care. Joker clapped along with everyone else when suddenly he found himself being lifted up. Ken and Jacob grabbed him and raised him up to their shoulders, holding him firmly, but carefully.

"To our crazy pilot!" Someone shouted and everyone joined in, Jo along with the crew. Joker didn't like being the centre of attention, but when Jo was looking at him like that and when he could tell that all these people really meant it, he let himself enjoy it. He didn't know how and when it had happened, but he had grown to like these people. He, the porcupine, the sarcastic, snarky asshole, famous for turning everything into a joke, impossible to have a serious conversation with, the guy who hated everyone on principle – he felt at home with these people. His friends and his girl. He'd never thought he would ever be so lucky to claim something like that as his own.

Later he and the other guys were drinking and watching the girls dance. Even Chakwas was on the dance floor. Jo, however sexy her clothes were, still couldn't dance, Cinderella or not. Joker grinned. That was his woman.


Next morning Joker found Jo asleep against him, still wearing the catsuit. They'd made crazy love last night and she fell asleep without bothering to undress. Carefully, Joker got out of the bed and went to his computer. He had a plan and needed Avina's assistance. The Citadel Guide told him that there were no gardening exhibitions on the station at the moment, but there was a large closed garden for the Council members on the Presidium. Joker used Jo's Spectre authorisation codes (like there was a chance he didn't know them, he snorted) to gain access.

"What'cha doin, gorgeous?" Jo muttered from the bed.

"Planning the end of the world," he said. When he turned to her, he noticed a strange intensity in her glance. "What?"

"Just looking at you," she said. "What a sight to wake up to. You're buck-naked, but you wear your hat. I love that."

He looked up. True enough, he'd subconsciously put his hat on, while leaving the rest of his clothes scattered.

"So, I delegated. Kasumi and Samara leave after breakfast, so you can say your goodbyes. Then I have an appointment at a tattoo parlour, where you can come with me, if you like. And then I'm taking you somewhere, but it's a surprise. I already sent Jacob, Garrus and Legion messages to take over our duties for the day. What are you looking at me like that for?"

"Do you have any idea how long I've been alone in the world?" Jo said from the pillows.

"Thirty one years?" He took an educated guess.

"Exactly. I had orders to go somewhere and I went. No one's ever delegated my duties to take me somewhere for a surprise. I find that I like this. A lot."

"Don't kill me if you don't like the surprise," he deadpanned, not knowing what to do with the rising emotion in his chest.

"Even if I don't like it, I'll be spending time with you, right? I love the whole world because you're in it."

"Did I fuck you completely stupid last night?" He joked again, maybe inappropriately so, but he didn't know how else to deal with the intimacy of the moment.

"Yes, you did. We need to repeat that soon."

Just like that. He watched in amazement how she got out of bed and went to the bathroom. Even unromantic, inappropriate commentary didn't insult her. Even his lack of touchy-feely responses didn't bother her. What had he ever done to deserve a woman who accepted him just as he was?

After breakfast Jo held Samara's hand and said that she released her from her oath and succumbed to her judgement, in case Jo had acted wrong while they worked together. Samara smiled in her serene way and kissed Jo's cheek:

"It's been an honour, Shepard."

"If you ever need a friend, find me," Jo nodded. "Nobody has to be alone."

"I can see that," Samara gave Joker a little smile and kissed Jo's other cheek: "Take good care of each other."

Thus two members left their crew. It was sad to watch them go, but Joker could tell Jo one thing for sure: he was never going anywhere.


"Completely?" The asari tattoo artist in the most expensive and well-recommended tattoo parlour on the Citadel sighed a while later, looking at his chest. "You don't want to keep even a part of it? It's beautiful work, you know."

"Ask her," Joker pointed to his right, where Jo sat in a chair, holding his hand and pointedly looking anywhere but at his chest. The asari turned to her.

"Well," Jo drawled. "You could keep the nebula. I love nebulas."

"I know," he said. "That's why it's tattooed on my chest."

"I can do that," the artist rubbed her hands. "It'll be stunning."


As the cab approached the Presidium, Joker started getting nervous. What if she had made fun of him back then? Because, seriously, Commander Shepard and gardening? That was like saying Miranda and a smile. Or Jacob and a shirt. Or him and kickboxing. On the other hand he could really see her enjoying plants. He'd found out while living with her for two weeks now that she regularly needed moments of quiet and peace, so she might like the calmness of a garden. She didn't ask him where he was taking her. On their ride over she sat quietly and looked at him. She did that a lot, and even though he couldn't imagine why, she seemed to enjoy it. Their hands found each other and their fingers intertwined. He'd never get tired of this.

He parked them near the hidden gate on a quiet side street with no pedestrians. There was literally no one around because they were too close to the Council chambers and the security held everyone at bay.

"I've never been here before," Jo said, looking around as they climbed out of the car and approached the gate. The two armed guards eyed them suspiciously and blocked their way.

"I think no one ever has, from the looks of it. You'll have to flash your Spectre authorisation at these guys."

"Where are you taking me?" She finally asked with a sidelong glance at him.

"Somewhere I'd never get in without you," he admitted honestly. The guards checked them profusely but found nothing wrong with them and let them through, albeit somewhat bewildered by the visit. The gate opened, revealing an exotic paradise beyond. Joker watched Jo as she stepped onto a narrow path winding in artful loops through a congregation of the most exotic trees, bushes, flowers, mossy rocks, ponds, waterfalls and sandpits in the galaxy. The Council garden was made of plants from most of the known homeworlds, and Joker could see the wonder in Jo's face when she realised that.

"What is this place?" She whispered. He stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"It's not a gardening exhibition, but it's a garden all right."

"A gar… Oh my god." She twisted her neck to look at him over her shoulder. "Oh, god, you remembered!" The look in her eyes at that moment was worth getting into a world of trouble. She was literally breathless, her lips quivering. "It's been years for you, but you remembered."

"That one was hard to forget," he whispered, placing a soft kiss under her ear.

"God, I love you," she melted in his arms. He tried to fight the pinch in his heart at her words, tried to pretend they didn't affect him as much as they did.

"Wanna go in and explore?" He suggested.

"I want to find a groundskeeper."

She dragged him across the garden, found a groundskeeper and had him give them a tour. The turian was actually glad to show them his work because the most beautiful place on the Citadel was reserved for the Council members and the people with the highest authority, and they didn't come here often. In fact, Joker only noticed three other people walking around. The groundskeeper showed them several secret spots he was particularly proud of. The one that caught Jo's eye was a small lagoon with a little waterfall, Thessian water flowers, trees with pink petals and blue moss covering the ground. She thanked the turian and when he was gone, she sat down on the moss with her legs crossed, like a yogi.

"Come, sit with me," she held a hand out to him.

"Me and a leg-lock like that? I don't think so," he chuckled.

"Then lie down," she smiled radiantly. No one would ever believe him if he told them how happy some plants and rocks made Commander Shepard. This was a moment he would always cherish, it belonged to them alone.

He lay down before her and put his arm in her lap. Not touching her was not an idea he entertained anymore. She closed her eyes and several minutes passed in silence. She had a blissful smile on her face.

"Why gardening?" He finally asked, when his curiosity won over the tranquillity of a beautiful moment. Jo opened her eyes and said in an oddly serious voice:

"Jeff. I know you love secrets, especially my secrets. But in all this time you never really told me anything about yourself."

He tensed all over. She was right, of course. He'd always avoided talking about himself. Mostly when people asked him that, they wanted to hear the story of how a cripple overcame impossible odds. Frankly, he wasn't sure he even had any other stories about himself that didn't revolve around that. He was boring. All bullshit aside, he was totally boring and he dreaded the day Jo would finally realise that.

"Not much to tell."

"I refuse to believe that. I've read your file a million times. I know you have a sister, who lives with your father on Tiptree. I know your mother lives alone on Benning after retiring from Arcturus Station. Your aptitude scores, your flight school scores and a list of odd assignments in the Alliance. I don't really know anything about your life outside the Normandy and my command."

"And what would you like to know?"

"Why did you decide to join the Alliance? Why do your parents live separately, when they're not divorced? What were you thinking about in your graduation picture? What was your first girlfriend's name? What kind of games did you play as a little kid? How is your relationship with your sister? Do you talk to your family often? How do they feel about you serving under the Devil's Spawn? Does anyone else in your family have the Vrolik's? What kind of posters or deco did you have in your room as a boy? What kinds of books did you read, and what did you do for fun? What was it like to have a home and two parents? What was it like to go to school? To rebel? To learn to fly on your own? What was it like being normal?"

"Jo, I was never normal. Up until Cerberus fixed me up, my life has been a constant battle against my own body. What do I know about normalcy, really?"

"Compared to me everyone is normal. Tell me about yourself."

Joker took a deep breath and held it as long as he could. He really didn't want to talk about himself. But you didn't just say no to Commander Shepard. Not when she looked at you with light shining in her eyes and ran her fingers over your face and neck with the tenderness of a lover.

"Well," he gave up. "My parents were among the first colonists to leave Earth and settle on some far planet. To start a new life, they'd say. They settled on Tiptree, mum got pregnant with me, they found that they couldn't ensure the proper treatment for me and started moving around, looking for doctors and treatment. Landed on the Arcturus station eventually. There were some better doctors who did several surgeries on me, and while I was in recovery, my mum took a job there. Those surgeries weren't cheap and she had to work more for the follow-up treatment, anyways, we got stuck there. My dad was really supportive, but he didn't want to live on a station, he wanted to go back to his land on Tiptree. I realised that their relationship was strained when I got older. I didn't want to be the one making them unhappy. So I said I'd become a pilot and signed up for the Alliance. My parents tried to save their marriage, had Hilary while I was in flight school, but it didn't work out. So, they decided that divorce would be an unnecessary strain on my sister and just split up without making it official. She lives on Tiptree most of the time, goes to school, has a normal teenage life. Dad's happy with the fertile land under his feet, and mum takes Hilary to Benning for holidays, but lives alone there most of the time. I talk to them now and then, like once every four or five months. We're mostly in some deep shit where I can't call them from, so it's your fault."

"Of course it is, a butterfly farting on the other side of the galaxy is also my fault," Jo nodded gently. "That was the condensed version. What about the real story?"

"The real story is that you don't want to know the real story."

"But I really do."

"Jo, you'd never tell me your real story, either. Like why did you run away from the orphanage to live on the streets? Couldn't have been that bad. Why did you decide to join the Alliance? How did you make it into the N program? How was it, growing up without a family?"

"Well, let's trade story for story. Ask me what you want to know and if it's not classified, I'll tell you."

"Would you ever tell me classified stuff just because you don't care that it's classified?"

"Jeff, I already did. Many times. I just never told you those things were classified. So, ask."

"How did you get into the N program?"

"After boot camp I went to an Officer Candidate School. Got noticed for my extraordinary strength, willpower, leadership skills, my wits and my unusual brain. I never actually applied for the program, they invited me."

"I heard the competition is brutal," Joker idly dug his fingers into the flesh of her thigh. It felt oddly relaxing, lying on the ground like that.

"It is. But I couldn't care less about competition. I did several educational courses after the OCS while being deployed on various planets, I wanted to make a career in the military, get to high ranks. I guess the villa noticed that I was their kind of girl, so they invited me."

"Do they do that often? I thought they have their pick from the best of the best already."

"Actually, half of their recruits enter the program through invitation, not by application."

"And? What did you do when you got the invitation?"

"I packed my shit and I went to Brazil, Joker," Jo laughed.

"See? Right there. You didn't really answer my question, just gave me the general outline. It would only serve you right if I responded in kind."

"Jeff, every decision I've made in my life, every circumstance led me to that invitation. It's impossible to pinpoint how I got into the program. I was just being myself."

"Hmpf."

"Tell me about your first love, Jeff."

"What do you mean they noticed your unusual brain? What's so unusual about it?"

"I thought we were trading stories. Now you're fishing for my secrets again."

"I'll tell you a detailed story if you tell me about the brain."

"My brain. Geez, you should have been an interrogator. You give a whole new meaning to the words 'extreme prejudice'. Aren't you proud of yourself that a fucking hardass N7 keeps giving up sensitive intel to you all the time? I'm specifically trained not to do that, you know."

"And yet here you are," he raised a hand and caught the end of her braid to tug. "So, brain. Talk."

"My brain used to work like a machine. It still does, but not so much after dying and being resurrected anymore. I see the world as a continuous stream of numbers, measurements. Like when I entered this garden, I automatically noticed all the possible entries and exits, all the available cover, I calculated how long it would take me to get out of here if we were under attack, how long if I were also taking care of you, and how long if I had to round up all the other visitors. I noticed the length and width of every path, depth of every pond and height of every tree we passed. I made a map of the area in my mind and filled it out with numbers. I always do that. Don't know if it's training, habit or natural predisposition. N school used this ability of mine to the fullest. It allows me to see the battlefield as a whole and to anticipate the enemy's movement. I still get surprised, of course, otherwise I'd never get shot, but it gives me a real edge. I used to do the same with feelings, emotions. Dissect them, carefully label them and put them away in little boxes for further study. Pretty much every aspect of my life used to be measured, calculated, carefully labelled and filed away. But not anymore."

"Why? What happened?"

"You did, Jeff."

"Me?!" He moved, almost losing his cap. "What do you mean?"

"I still remember it like it was last night. That time when you said to me that you weren't good, weren't great, but the best pilot in the Alliance fleet…"

"I remember."

"For the first time in my life I felt something I couldn't label, didn't want to label and dissect."

"What was it?"

"Jeff, don't be daft. I fell in love with you."

He swallowed hard.

"So before that day your brain worked like a machine?"

"People used to call it that. I don't know. All I do know is that I'm really good with numbers."

"Is that why the code to our bedroom door is a sixteen numbers long algorithm?"

"Used to be twenty five numbers, and I randomly changed them every other day."

"And never locked yourself out."

"Obviously. You know, the whole measuring things by looking at them is a fine party trick, people love that, but to me it's not really a trick, it's how my brain works."

He couldn't help but look at her with a weird laughter bubbling in his chest. How could this possibly be?

"Jo, I think I just discovered a reason why you and I work together so well."

"Do share."

"I've been assigned to several ships before the Normandy, but I've never had a CO who didn't tell me what to do. Never had a CO who let me do what I do because it corresponded so exactly with what she needed me to do. You and I don't need words. I know what you need from me and you know that I know. Do you even realise how rare it is?"

"No, not really. Is it?"

"I see the world in a very similar fashion you do, Jo. A continuous stream of numbers, statistics, algorithms, calculations. I suppose neither of us ever worked with another person who had the same brain chemistry before. But when you look at the battlefield and I look at it, you may calculate your path through it and I calculate my approach, but essentially we see the same and I can always tell where you need me to be. I look around this garden and I see the turret towers around the perimeter and I've already calculated sixteen approach routes that would take me through all of their blind spots, I see it like there are lines drawn in the sky. That's easy for me. And then I look up at the girl sitting next to me, telling me she loves me, and I panic because I have no idea what to do about it, I'm so completely out of my league, I'm lost, paralysed. Not good with feelings, terrible with people. I'm winging it most of the time, just between the amazing sex I'm wishing someone would put me out of my misery. Not that I'm miserable. Here we go again..."

"That's exactly how I feel, Jeff."

They remained silent for a few minutes, considering the gravity of the discovery. Then he took a deep breath and started talking:

"I was seventeen. My parents, they weren't really fighting so much as they were coexisting and taking their frustration out on each other. Mum worked long shifts as a contractor, but dad couldn't find a job he'd really love, so he made do as a janitor, and he was growing more and more frustrated. They didn't really talk, it was more like a few years of silent treatment for them. We knew by then that nothing could be done about my bones and I accepted it easier than they did. We didn't even have dinners anymore, everyone ate whenever they came home, nobody really talked. So I didn't feel like being home too much. I'd go to the arcade to set another record on the flight simulator, but also to watch a girl from my school working there two evenings a week. I didn't want to be home, I knew my parents only stayed together because of me, but I really saw no reason for them to stay married at all, but as a seventeen year old I was not in the position to give them marriage advice. I mean, Lord save anyone who follows my relationship advice. I preferred to be spending time with the flight simulators and watching that girl. Her name was, geez, I don't remember anymore. Amina or Aaminah or something like that. Pretty, dark haired, graceful, nice. We had a few classes together and she was always nice to me. She was nice to everyone, but I would always imagine she was especially nice to me, and not because I was that weird kid with the crutches. It took me a year to work up the courage to go over to her and ask her out. You can imagine what happened."

"Not really. I'd have been thrilled if you asked me out."

"Well, she wasn't thrilled. In fact, she looked at me, her eyes widened, I still remember that. She tried to be nice about it, too, but essentially she ripped my heart out and crushed it under her feet."

"What did she say?"

"That she didn't see me as anything but a nice acquaintance, and even though she found it admirable when people dedicated their lives helping cripples, she was too young to tie herself down with someone like me. As if that wasn't enough, she added that she planned to fly on ships, see the galaxy, do something big with her life, and since I was basically immobile, a vegetable to her eyes, she saw no reason to waste her time with someone who'd never leave the confines of his house and do some pity jobs here and there."

"Are you fucking kidding me? She said that?"

"Children are cruel. Seventeen year old girls are unimaginably brutal. She left me standing there, pretty much crying, my heart and soul ripped apart. I don't know how I found the strength to move, but I didn't want to go home, either. I sat in the shopping area all night by myself, recovering, thinking. No, this is not the point when I say: next day I was on the Alliance shuttle to flight school. Gosh, no. Spent three months wallowing in my misery, almost failed the exams in school, drove my parents nuts with my mood, caused some fights between them, swore to take revenge on all female population of the world, forged myself an ID, went to a bar, met some girl, got drunk, and I think I kinda lost my virginity to her a few moments before both my legs broke. Spent another two months in the hospitals, turned eighteen and declared war on the whole world. I owed nothing to it and wanted nothing in return. Then I went back to that arcade, looked at those flight simulators and thought: she wants to fly around the galaxy? She doesn't want an immobile vegetable? I'll never be a vegetable. I love flying those simulators more than I love anything else in the world. I'll be out there before her. That was when I went and signed up with the Alliance."

"And how did that work out? Did your parents just let you go?"

"Oh, Jo, that's a story for another time."

"You know that I never saw you that way, right? You're magnificent."

"Yeah, well."

"Do you know what became of her?"

"No. Couldn't care less. When I got in that flight school, I met my one true love. The console."

"And what girl stands a chance against that?" Jo chuckled. The love shining in her eyes told him (to his endless wonder) that she didn't mind coming second in his affections after the console.

"Only a girl who'd have sex with me on top of it," he teased.

"You know that this can be arranged easily, right?"

"God, I hope so," he caught her hand and pulled her down to make her lie next to him. She did, stretching her legs and rubbing her cheek against his shoulder.

"Just you and me and some peace and quiet, even if it's only for one day," she said softly. "That's all I ever wanted."