"That's it, you are too good to be true," Rue stated, staring at him. They were seated on a small bench at the side of the road, next to a robot orphanage that had been under attack only minutes before. Now caretakers were doing an assessment of everything that was broken, had gone missing or was in even more need of repair than before.

Jack seemed surprised at her statement. "Miss Arkham, what are you talking about?"

She counted on her fingers. "In the past two days you've won a skirmish with several of master Aku's Bugbots, convinced a water serpent to go vegan and literally saved orphans. Robot orphans. Do you have any idea how many people would turn these kids into toasters just for the heck of it?"

"Well… I… they needed help."

Rue took a sip of water. "I am traveling with a bona fide hero. The only thing that is missing is the white horse. Is there anything about you that isn't pure good?"

Now he really had become bashful. If her eyes didn't deceive her, he had started to blush. An actual blush accentuated his cheekbones as he glanced away from her. "You really are making too much of this."

She shrugged, leaning back. The bench creaked in alarm, leading her to sit up straighter. So this was what a good person looked like. She didn't hide her observation of him, instead slowly sipping her water as her eyes roved his face. She didn't get it. What was it that kept him going?

"My people… my parents," he told her, and only then she realized she'd asked the question aloud. "If I can go back in time I can stop all of this from happening. Aku will never have polluted the world. And… my parents will be able to grow old in peace. Perhaps… perhaps even be proud of me."

Seven hells, was he opening up to her?! "Who wouldn't be? I don't know if there's a person left on this planet that doesn't worship the ground you walk on. Sweet oblivion, you're the best thing that's happened to people since… since Aku!"

He looked in her eyes. His were so dark brown, they almost seemed black. There was still a smudge of ash on his cheek. He sounded almost pained. "Worshiping is not the same as… appreciation."

Well wasn't this great? Now her supposed victim didn't just have a name and a face, he had feelings. Emotions that were eerily like her own, only that people didn't generally jump for joy when they saw her. With a deep sigh she sank back on the bench, kicking an old bug bot leg away from her. "I've never met anyone who sees the world like you do." He saw this entire wretched existence as a place to do good. She mostly saw it as an ordeal to survive in as long as possible. She raised her head when she heard a squeaky sound. It sounded oddly familiar.

|Jack|

Miss Arkham raised her head at the squeaking sound one of the robot children emitted. He had seen it coming a few seconds earlier, chasing after a ball. With an air of sudden interest she turned in the bench, sitting on her knees. Her blue pants snagged in the motion, revealing a strip of skin at her hip. He considerately turned his eyes away, observing the child as she was. "Is there a problem?"

"Maaaybe," she conceded, running her index finger across her upper lip. It was a motion she oft repeated when thinking about something. "Not really a problem for us. That kid's one of the old ZI models. Judging from the sound of it his knee joints are going to snap any day now."
She cocked her head to the side, eyes narrowing. She seemed to be focusing on the sound. "Sounds like old Pete did when someone spilled coffee down his main circuitry."

Odd. He hadn't pegged her emotions towards robots as sympathetic. In general she seemed spooked by everything around her, including him at times. When he carefully voiced his misconception she looked at him in surprise.

"You really pay attention to people, don't you? I don't care for robots much. The ones in my office have a tendency to explode every few months, or go ballistic and slice people to ribbons for not stapling files correctly. I learned how to fix some of the small things though. They fit together real logically. The hard part is convincing them they need to stand still so you can fix them." She looked at the kid with the squeaking knees, before her eyes trailed over the remainders of the carnage he had inflicted.

"Hey kid, wait up!" she shouted, standing up from her sitting position. She tottered on her feet for a few seconds, before running over to the waiting robot. On the way she only slipped over the oil-slicked grass twice, neither of the times falling. Jack watched as she started to explain something to the kid. When some of the other children appeared she sent them inside on an errand.

Miss Rue Arkham. She was undoubtedly a product of this time. Whenever she mentioned Aku her voice hitched in fear and she'd glance around as if his name could summon him. He couldn't foresee a time when her skittishness in a forest would diminish. Perhaps the path of a shaman would be too far-fetched for her. But for now she still accompanied him, and he liked that. He liked it quite much. She still ended up grasping for words often, but sometime she let her guard down like just now. Then she'd talk to him, share little personal tidbits. And he guessed she was perhaps in awe of him, but she did appreciate him. He felt it in the way she'd give an unguarded smile over the fire late at night, or when he aided her across a stream. Her soft hands would tentatively hold onto his callused ones, as if she was afraid she might drag him in the water along with her.

The kids had brought back a tool box, hanging around her to see what she was going to do. Jack watched in amusement as she wrenched part of a bug bot loose, falling back in the oily mud with a thud. The large part was subsequently stripped in smaller parts, until she found what she was looking for.
Her small fix-up of the first child quickly ended in all of the children asking her for a check-up. After the first three Jack trailed over as well.

"Lady, could you look at my arm? It makes this weird scratchy- omigosh it's samurai Jack!"

The robot girl ended her sentence in near incomprehensible static, jumping up and down. Rue didn't look at him, instead grabbing the girl by the arm. She peered at a point near the armpit, before grabbing a magnifying glass. "Got it. You've got a steel splinter lodged in here. Now don't cry, I'll get it out. Won't hurt a bit."

"It won't?" the girl asked, dividing her attention between the hero and the splinter.

"I'll turn off your pain receptors for a few seconds. Here we go. Where did I put those tweezers?" miss Arkham looked around her, patting her loose pants in search of them. Jack leaned down and picked the implement up, cleaning it of dirt.

"Here you are," he offered helpfully. She glanced up at him from her sitting position, taking the tweezers. She sent him a quick grin. The muttered 'thanks' before she turned back to the child didn't turn his knees to jelly. But it did end up doing something weird to his stomach. A kind of strange squeeze. It had been a long time since he'd felt that squeeze.
Perhaps it was the sudden splashes of oil around her nose, or that she'd pulled up her ponytail in a bun. The traces of red rust along her fingers could also be responsible. The rose in her cheeks because she was working. Or just that she was doing something nice for no reason other than to be nice.
No matter the cause, the squeeze in his stomach was sudden and perplexing. As the day continued and it was clear miss Arkham wouldn't be done before nightfall, he pitched in and found some of the spare parts she needed most.

"No more twisting your nose. That's what's causing the oil leaks," she admonished one kid. The boy nodded solemnly when she slapped his hand away from his nose. "I mean it. If you wanna grow up to be a strong bot, you stop twisting your nose."

"Yes lady. Thanks samurai Jack!" the kid waved awkwardly at the both of them before rushing inside the building. Once inside he heard a chorus of little voices jammering. He was fairly certain tonight he wasn't the only shining example in their life.

Miss Arkham grinned up at him again, the smears of oil black against her pearly skin in the moonlight. Now he was positive of the little swirl in his stomach. A more alarming sign was that it also tickled in his toes. "Now I remember why I liked the desk job. There is oil everywhere."

He offered her a strip of his kimono, which had seen better days. In their next village stop he would have to spend some time tracking down a tailor or weaver. She accepted gratefully, using the strip to clean her fingers of the worst of grime. She almost managed to look presentable again just by doing that. "You're a lifesaver. They were preparing a bath for us. I'm thinking we could both use one."

When he looked down at his own hands and arms he nodded. Usually he could avoid most of the splatter in a fight, but now he felt drenched in honest work. When he flexed his arms little dried-up flakes floated to the ground. Miss Arkham started to get up. Out of reflex he offered her his hand, which she accepted almost without thinking.

He must have pulled a bit too hard, because she stumbled and nearly knocked him over. Instead she gripped his hand tighter with a giggle. "Oooh, head rush. Give me a minute."

Strange. He had considered her to be frail, something to be protected. She still was that, but now she'd also shown a certain perseverance. The grime and sweat had proven that this day. "Miss Arkham, I do believe you are a good person as well. You made a lot of children happy today."

Under the moonlight he couldn't be certain of her blush, but the way she tilted her head indicated embarrassment. With a nervous half-smile she let go of his hand. "I dunnow… maybe you rubbed off on me." Then she looked at her hand, which had come away from their handshake more blackened than it had been before. "Scratch that, you definitely rubbed off on me. Let's get washed up."

Rue submerged her head under water, containing something between a terrified scream and a happy squee. He'd called her a good person, and for a second she had actually believed him. Coming back up she gulped for air. It tasted metallic, almost rusty. The scent of oil hung heavy in the air.
She resumed scrubbing her fingers, trying to get rid of the final black traces that had lodged in the creases of her skin. Oil smear was harder to remove than blood, despite her diligent scrubbing.

"Lady samurai?" a small, staticky voice asked.

Rue looked up from her fruitless attempts. The robot girl she'd helped with the metal splinter stood in the door entrance, with an expression as if she wasn't sure she ought to be there. Or maybe she didn't fancy getting close to the bath water. Rue doubted she had a waterproof coating.

"Yes? Oh, I'm not a samurai," she added the last part in a hurry.

The girl smiled. "No, but you travel with samurai Jack! And you helped us too. Anyway, samurai Jack agreed to tell us a story before bedtime. Will you come listen too?"

Rue promised she would, but also mentioned they could get started without her. She got out of the bath, shuddering when she saw the dark gray the water had colored. The staff of the orphanage had laid out some white fabric garments, intended for pajamas. Slipping in those she walked through the chilly building. Since the residents were all robots there was no need for heating.

She walked briskly to the left wing, which had been damaged the least during the raid. The floor felt freezing and she wrapped her arms around her to keep warm. As she neared the big room, she heard Jack's voice. The cadence betrayed he was telling a fairytale. She slipped through the crack of the opened door, lingering near the entrance of the door.

The children were gathered in a half-circle around the samurai, each one of them hanging on his every word. The two caretakers of the facility motioned for her to join them at a small table separated from the children. She tip-toed over to them, only minorly distracting the children.

"He's so dreamy," the matronly looking robot cooed, leaning her head on her hand. The soft whizzing of her machinery sped up when she considered the samurai. "You're so lucky, getting to travel with him. Oh, what I wouldn't give."

Dreamy? Was that the word others used to describe him? Rue glanced at Jack as he told how a princess named Kaguya posed her suitors impossible challengers. He wasn't a very animated storyteller, but there was a determination in the cadence of his voice, pulling his audience with him in the tale.
"Yeah… I'm lucky."

Every time she'd convinced herself that maybe, somewhere deep inside of her, there was a scrap of courage to be summoned, he was the personification of charm. How exactly did one justify the killing of a man who risked his life for orphans and then told them a bedtime story? If she had any courage at all, it was lodged behind layers of blood curdling cowardice.

Suddenly she was aware of Jack's eyes meeting hers, and she realized she'd been staring. Flustered she broke eye contact, instead contemplating the wall on the other side of the room as she listened to the story. Before long several of the children started to nod off. When they did the caretakers picked them up and brought them to bed. Rue found herself in the same capacity, trying to gently lift a child that easily weighed as much as she did. When the story ended, the few die-hard fans were sent to bed as well, leaving the grown-ups to their own designs.

They stood gathered in a group of four, having a short conversation which consisted mostly of some very solid hero worship. After a lull in the conversation the matron bot glanced between the two human guests and yawned, a gesture that was very artificial for a robot. "My my, look at the time. It's about time we get to recharging ourselves. Here we go, m'dear."

The other bot emitted a surprised zoom when the matron bot grabbed them by the arm. The matron continued as she marched towards the door. "You two just catch up. Lots happened today, you must feel the positive need to tell each other aaaaall about it."

The two humans blinked a few times, processing the sudden departure. Rue broke the silence first. "I… I quite liked your story. Very interesting."

"Something my mother used to read to me when I was younger," he replied. When their eyes met he chuckled. "This world manages to surprise me in good ways as well. I am grateful for it."

"I'll bet you didn't think you'd be reading fairytales to robots this week. Sure beats the company of the last week," Rue said with a half-shrug.

"Well, not all company this week was bad. Some of it I found quite enjoyable," Jack confessed to her. This time he was the one to study the opposite wall. "Dare I say the company was quite… friendly?"

Somewhere in the back of her head alarm bells went ringing. A little voice told her that being friends most definitely meant not killing the other person. Travel companions, yes. But friends were supposed to be sacred. "I… friendly, yes. Most certainly even."

Stupid, stupider and stupidst. Her treacherous lips folded into a smile as she walked into the corridor towards her allocated bedroom. When she opened the door she was surprised to see two single beds shoved together, both of their stuff neatly arranged on one chair. Friends was one thing. This was a whole new level. "I think the staff also thinks we're very friendly with each other."

Jack looked over her shoulder and made a small choking sound. "So it would seem."

"We can shove the beds apart?"

"An astute observation," he conceded, setting to work immediately.

Mere minutes later they both occupied their single beds. Lying on her side Rue faced Jack. He wasn't that far removed; the beds had made a ghastly shrieking sound when moved. Rather than waking the entire building they'd contented themselves with half a meter of distance. A night light burned between them. Rue had her finger on the off-switch.

"Sir samurai?" Rue started, before realizing she didn't really have anything to say. Instead she ventured a question. "That thing about being friends… did you, I mean, were you serious?"

"I quite believe I was," he offered, his voice soft.

The familiar feeling of guilt was still in her stomach, only it was gently ushered to the side by the warm fuzziness one experienced when making a new friend. "That makes me very happy. Thank you."

"You are very welcome."

So I'm one day late, in my defense I have some new exchange students to take care of. And I submitted a short story to a magazine, so here's hoping it'll be accepted! The next update is scheduled for the 15th of October!

And THANK YOU to all the people who reviewed, I was starting to doubt this story! You're all simply wonderful! I hope you all have a wonderful day.

IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT

I am going to write my graduation thesis on fanfiction, and to do that I need to read a lot of... well, fanfiction. So if you can answer yes to all of these questions, please send me a personal message (or if you would like more information). If you know a person who answers this description, I would be much obliged if they could send me a pm as well.

-You have written a fanfiction that cointains an original character

- This fanfic was written while you were between the ages of 12 and 16 years old

- You have not edited the fanfic since you were between these ages, OR you still have the original version

- This fanfic is in English, Dutch, French or German

- The fandom does not matter, I just need a lot of fics

- You would be okay with me quoting from your fic (for science)

- You would be comfortable with telling me your gender* (optional)

In return I am willing to leave reviews or give pointers, if I am familiar enough with the source material.

*I will not ask you for any personal information other than your gender, and if people ever ask you to share personal information with them online please think long and hard before you do so. Your personal safety is important, and even if you fear hurting someone's feelings you should be aware that you are important and that your feellings also matter.