A/N,

Apparrently I've been putting people asleep. It's time for the story to pick up the pace.

Anna was getting into the habit of going outside by herself. I was always in favor of her doing this, I wanted her to be independent. She had loads of energy and she just needed to expel it. But her mind was still child-like, and she needed to go outside and play. While this was adorable, there is always risk...

It was mid afternoon and I was listening to some Roy Eldridge when I heard it. Snap!, Crack!, Thud. Then the screaming started.

I burst through the door nearly knocking it off the hinges. "Anna!, where are..." I didn't even bother to finish the sentence, I only had to follow the screams.

"I was playing in the tree when the branch snapped, then this happened." Oh my God, her left radius and ulna had broken and were protruding through the skin, and she was bleeding badly.

"Olaf, come quick!"

"Yes, Michael, what is... Oh, dear! Help is on the way."

I got to her side, whipped off my pants gather and wrapped it around her arm to slow the bleeding down. I kissed her on the top of her head and said;

"It'll be alright, I'm sure they can fix this."

"I know silly, they made me from scratch, an arm should be easy!" She said thru clenched teeth, the pain was making it hard for her to breath. I stifled a laugh, this was still serious, even with their technology. Then the 'what ifs' started and I couldn't hold back the tears. I've never been around someone who's been so seriously injured, and I was feeling a little faint. My eyesight started to blur, it was as if I could feel her pain directly.

"Please do not cry for me, I'll be fine, you'll see." Just then a rectangular shape appeared from over the shield wall, flying at great speed, it landed right next to Anna.

Olaf said; "Place her on the gurney, and Anna, lie down and stay perfectly still."

"OK."

I scooped her up as best I could, but every movement had her wincing in pain, tears streaming out of the corners of her eyes. I don't think I've ever experienced a more heart-breaking moment. I placed her as gently as I could manage on the gurney.

Then an arm came out from below and scanned Anna's injury. Another arm with what appeared to be a hose sprayed Anna's broken arm with a quick setting foam, encasing and splinting her arm. Straps crossed over her securing her to the gurney. Before she took off I motioned to the scanner to wait, it appeared to know what I wanted.

I took her good hand, looked her straight in the eye and said; "I love you, and I want you to return to me as soon as possible."

"I have always loved you." She said very weakly, then the shield on the gurney went up, and it took off with such speed that it cracked like thunder.

"Olaf, I want to be able to communicate with her."

"I shall prepare another orb."

"And Olaf, I want her returned to me, don't just make another one and toss her out with the trash. Do you hear me?! If I don't get her back, I'll be able to tell, and I swear, I'll plow this bucket into a star if I don't see her again."

"I'll do what I can, and don't worry Michael, this kind of damage is well within our capability to repair."

"Just see to it that I can speak to her."

"Understood." then Olaf flew away over the shield wall, and I was alone.

I got inside to a record that was clicking away in the deadwax, apparently some time had elapsed. It felt like an eternity, and it was starting to get late, but I just laid there on the couch, starring at the ceiling. I had forgotten to eat, but I couldn't even tell I had a stomach.

They had won. They wanted me to fall in love with her and they succeeded. If this had been on Earth, I'd be right there by her side, trying to comfort her. They don't trust us yet, but I have to trust them, to treat her with dignity, and not like some toaster that you throw away because the cord went bad. Olaf finally returned and said;

"I have communications established, would you like to speak with her?"

"Um, duh, Olaf."

"Go ahead Anna."

"Hey there, Silly Pants! it's me, and I'm alright, well, most of me anywho."

"Thank God!, Anna, you're OK. How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?"

"Pretty good actually, this thing on my arm where it used be keeps me from feeling anything."

"Um...used to be?"

"That's right, Silly Buns. They just took it off, said the damage was just too great."

"You don't seem that upset." I was ready to pass out at this point.

"Why should I be? They'll just grow another one, but it'll be a couple of weeks before it's ready. They said I can come home tomorrow if I want to, but I'll need some help, and you can just call me 'Stumpy'."

"I can't think of anything else I'd rather do."

"Anything?!"

"Anything. Goodnight my love."

"Goodnight Michael, I love you. End transmission."

I smiled and a tear formed in my eye. Even in tragedy she was warm and sweet,... and funny. Her sing-song voice still lingering in my ears.

Olaf said; "Is there anything else I can do for you Michael?"

"No Olaf, I think you've done quite enough for today."

"I shall take my leave then, goodnight Michael."

"Goodnight Olaf, and thanks again."

"My pleasure." He went into his cubby and powered down. "Lights." then the house went dark, and I could finally rest, what a long day.

"Anna will be arriving within one quarter of an hour, Michael."

"Thank you, Olaf." I could feel the knots twisting in my stomach, I really didn't know what to expect. When I was young, I never even got any stitches. Much less any broken bones. She is still such a child, 'playing in the tree'. What was she thinking? But that's Anna, she wasn't thinking. She was the nine year old child, standing on the back seat of her bicycle, going down a spiral staircase. Bravery is just another form of stupidity. When you're smart, you analyze everything. If I climb this tree, the limb wouln't support my weight, and I'll fall. That's what the logical mind does. All Anna saw was a birds nest, or some pretty leaf that she needed to see up close, and she could've died.

Now I have to be a parent, and scold her for being so careless, when all I wanted to do is give her a hug, and tell her how glad I am that she's still alive. This is such a mess, I was never a parent for a good reason, I would've been lousy at it, now I have to do it with someone who should already be at a more advanced stage of intellectual development.

Second chances. I've been given a second chance on life. To get it right this time, and that's what's going to have to happen with Anna. Maybe I'll use that somehow.

"The shuttle will be landing in the clearing soon, Michael, we should make our way there."

"We?"

"You do not want me to join you?"

"It's OK, Olaf. I'm just messin' with ya." I actually would have liked this to be a private moment. But privacy is non-existent here, and I don't know if Olaf was capable of having feelings for Anna, but he did show concern once he realized what happened yesterday.

As the shuttle approached, she was trying to get the gate open before it touched the ground. Which was proving to be difficult for her, as they had placed her on a left hand sided seat, and it was her left arm that was missing. She favored her left, so I assumed she was a south paw. This will make her life difficult for the next few weeks. As soon as it was down she burst out running up to me and hugged me with what she had, a rather plain looking metal cap over what was left of her arm, they cut it off about fifteen centimeters past the shoulder.

"I missed you so much, Michael."

"I missed you to, Anna, but it's barely been a day." I didn't want to let her go. When she got on that gurney yesterday, I couldn't help but think it would be the last time I'd see her. We walked back to the domicile while I held her hand, her only hand.

"So how was the food?" I just wanted to create some idle banter, anything to strike back the emotions I was feeling at the moment.

"It was awful, basically some goop in a cup, it was supposed to meet all my nutritional requirements, but I needed chocolate!"

"I'll be sure to fix that once we get home." We... home... us... together. We were becoming the start of a family. I almost wish we could have a baby now. But 'Stumpy' still has some growing do to, and she still has to be activated yet, that is something the Masters have control of, and for now, it's probably in our best interest. Especially when the love of your life likes to climbs trees. Speaking of which,...

"When we get back, we need to have a serious talk." I gave her the fatherly voice, I had no idea if I got it right.

"I know, I was careless, and I'm sorry." She at least sounded sincere. But knowing Anna...

"Chocolate chip cookies, six, recipe 1A. Two glasses milk, bovine, 5 degrees Celsius." I set our snacks down on the coffee table, as she reached out for the cookies, my speech stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Now Anna, what you did yesterday was very foolish, and you could've died. What if we didn't have access to this technology? I would have had to cut your arm off myself, how do think I would have felt if I had to do that?" The wheels were turning in her head, and her eyes welled up. She was thinking about the consequences of her actions.

"I'm sorry, I never looked at it that way. I was just doing what I wanted to do."

"That's the thing Anna, actions have consequences, and part of being an adult is thinking about what happens when we do things and there's the possibility of something going wrong.

But I don't want to keep you from being you. Maybe if you want to climb trees, we can come up with some type of safety equipment, like a sling or something. Hey.. I know,... once you have a fully functional arm again, why don't we build a tree house? You'll get your climbing jones satisfied, we'll have a place to go to observe the habitat, and we'll have the fun of building it,... together."

"Really!?, that sounds like fun!, and thanks for understanding me." She slid across the couch to give me a hug and a peck on the cheek, then reached trepidatously for the cookies, seeing if at this point if it was all right.

"Yes, you can now have some cookies." physically, we were the same age, intellectually, we were decades apart. On Earth, we would've been seen as the happy couple. In this reality, I was her father. This had all the trappings of another test. What if something,... or someone broke that branch in that tree? Would they go so far as to hurt her to see how I'd react? I never told her I loved her till yesterday, and honestly, I wasn't sure how I felt, till the thought of her being gone crossed my mind, and how devastated I'd be without her.

They needed a breeding pair. That's what we are. I just hope she matures quickly. The idea of having sex with her is somewhat creepy at this point, but I now have the sex drive that comes with this new body, and with her inability to produce offspring, we could go at it like rabbits with no consequences. Plus the fact that we're most likely mated for life, I can't see any downside to this. Then she looks at me with a milk mustache, chocolate on her face along with a big smile. Ugh,... talk about mixed emotions.