A/N: Remember when I said that this story would have fewer than five chapters? As it turns out, I lied, even though I didn't know that at the time. At the moment, I think there will be two more chapters after this one. Maybe if I'm lucky, I can get at least one more chapter done during the holiday break.

Eventually, life went back to normal...at least on the surface. I hadn't thought it could, but somehow it did. My wound healed after a couple of weeks, and there was barely even a scar (the incision had actually been a lot smaller than it had felt).

I didn't get to see Amon as much anymore. He was busy studying for a bunch of tests. If he scored high enough, he would get to go to a school all the way in Istanbul! In addition to offering high-level classes in the usual subjects, this place would also teach people how to play that Duel Monsters game! I'd given up on learning all of those complicated rules years ago, and really saw it as a silly children's pastime. Of course, I did not say any of this to Amon...he took the game very seriously indeed.

I wasn't sure how I'd be able to manage without him. Sometimes, I even half-hoped that he would fail the tests. But then I would reprimand myself for putting my own desires ahead of Amon's. At any rate, he achieved nearly perfect scores.

Istanbul really wasn't all that far away...just across a corner of the Mediterranean Sea. For all intents and purposes, though, it might as well have been on the other side of the planet. Amon would be living at the school until he was eighteen, and he would only be home for the winter holidays and summer vacation. I wasn't sure just how I would manage without him.

Worst of all, there would be other girls at Amon's new school. These girls would probably be much smarter and prettier than I was. What if Amon fell in love with one of them and forgot about me?

As Amon began packing his many possessions, I grew more and more nervous. I continued to hear the baby crying on a regular basis. I tried to tell myself it wasn't real, and put a pillow over my head to block out the sound. Usually, the crying would stop at some point, and I could go back to sleep. Sometimes, though, it didn't stop.

Once I even woke up in the middle of the night to find the baby lying on the foot of my bed! I cried out in surprise and shook Amon awake. He would know how to take care of this.

"...wha?...it's 2 AM! Why are you making so much noise?" he said sleepily. I informed him about the baby that was wailing away right at his feet. How could he not notice it?

Amon muttered, "What the hell...?" and switched on a bedside lamp. Immediately, he rolled his eyes.

"Ekou...that's just a throw pillow. A pillow that is making no noise whatsoever. I thought you knew not to wake me up unless it's important, since I have to get out of here early."

I blushed in shame. Now that Amon pointed out, I couldn't see how it couldn't have been anything but a pillow! I was so stupid! When Amon slept with me, he had to get up at 5 AM so the servants wouldn't catch him in my room, and he always let me sleep in! How could I have forgotten that in my moment of idiotic panicking?

After a few moments, Amon added sagely, "Perhaps you are hallucinating due to sleep deprivation. I would suggest taking an afternoon nap if you aren't getting enough sleep at night."

"Yes, Amon," I replied meekly. He always knows what's best for me.

About a week after that, Amon set off on his grand adventure, and I was left all alone. I was jealous...when Amon didn't have classes, he would get to do all sorts of fun things in Istanbul. Meanwhile, I would be trapped in the house with my boring tutors and embroidery. During my free time, I would just lie on my bed watching TV all afternoon.

I spent those first several weeks alternating between feeling incredibly horny and unbelievably lonely. Although I eventually figured out how to take care of the former, the latter did not go away so easily. I even had a calendar where I marked off the days until Amon returned for Christmas. I was careful to keep this calendar well-hidden.

One October afternoon, however, Mother decided that she wouldn't tolerate any more of my hormonal sulking. I must have been really irritating her, since she usually left matters of discipline to the servants. She had never before taken the time to personally visit my room and upbraid me.

It was a day like any other. I was half-awake, watching some boring rerun or other. Mother's ugly yet very sweet hairless cat (the only breed Sid wasn't allergic to) was curled up at my feet.

A businesslike knock sounded at my door. I was so out of it, I barely turned my head.

"Ekou?" came Mother's voice, "You aren't watching that TV again, are you?"

"No..." I lied as I made a frantic search for the remote. It was half-hidden in the sheets, as remote controls are ever wont to do. I had just located the little bugger when Mother walked into the room and saw that the TV was very much on.

Mother looked at me sternly. Now this was unusual indeed.

"If you keep staring at that thing all day, I will ask the servants to lock it up. Why don't you do something useful for a change?"

I retaliated that I was supposed to be a proper lady, and proper ladies were not supposed to leave the house.

Now Mother was extremely annoyed. This departure from her normal calmness was so sudden, it was almost like she was a different person.

"Yes, Ekou, but you forgot one small detail. Proper ladies also do not lie around all the time until their brains turn to mush. They find constructive activities to do. And that is what we shall do right now...find something to keep you occupied. We begin this moment."

And with that, she retrieved the remote and turned off the TV. By now I knew better than to argue.

I was sure kept busy for the next couple of months. I had never before given any thought to household chores. As far as I knew, that was what servants were for. Even with the dozens of housemaids that our family employed, though, Mother always found something for me to do. I was still supposed to be a lady, so it wasn't like the chores were all that difficult. Nevertheless, my pristine hands were despoiled by being forced to touch common brooms and dustrags. At least, that was how I thought of it at the time.

I was also forced to get plenty of exercise. At first, I did not got the point of this at all.

"But I don't need exercise!" I whined, "The dressmaker says I have a twenty-two inch waist!"

Mother remained adamant.

"There can be a difference between being thin and being in shape, Ekou. Your figure may be in control, but you have virtually no muscle tone whatsoever. How will you be able to host parties all night if you don't have the endurance for it?"

And so, I would be sent out to check how the orchards were doing, or to teach Sid how to ride his new horse.

After a while, even I had to admit that the chores were taking my mind off of Amon for long intervals of time. I even got my hair cut so that it wouldn't keep getting all sweaty and matted. The haircut was not as drastic as the one I have today...my hair was still about shoulder-length. Nevertheless, it was quite a change. I thought it made me look quite a bit older.

My muscles were sore every day at first, but I gradually toughened up. It wasn't like I was bodybuilding or anything, so my new muscles weren't all that apparent to the casual observer. But I could definitely see them if I looked in the mirror for a while.

I hoped that Amon wouldn't mind how I had changed when he returned. But, as it turned out, he changed quite a bit more than I had in those few months.

You know how some events seem so agonizingly far away, and then suddenly they're looming right in front of you? That was what Amon's homecoming was like for me. I was quite startled when I realized it was December already.

The day Amon was taking the airplane home, the whole house was in an uproar from getting ready. We wouldn't be picking him up from the airport...that was the chauffeur's job. Therefore, all we could do was sit at home and wait. Sid was so excited, he kept running up and down the hallways until we were all scared that he would get an asthma attack. Thankfully, he didn't.

Mother was busy overseeing the servants, so for once I was not assaulted with Household Chores of Doom. I spent most of the day looking out of the window, waiting for the car to pull up in the driveway. I would have waited outside, but it was raining.

Amon's flight was delayed a bit due to the weather, so he didn't show up until it was almost suppertime. As luck would have it, the car appeared during the one time I thought it was safe to take a bathroom break. I had been waiting all those hours, and I had missed it! I tried to wash up as quickly as I could, but it was not quickly enough. Father apparently went to the door to greet Amon, and his greeting was not exactly a warm welcome.

Even though the bathroom was quite a ways away from the front hall, I could clearly hear Father's outraged bellow:

"WHY are you wearing a DRESS?"

Amon...wearing a dress? This I had to see.

As I walked down the hall, I heard Amon calmly explaining, "It's not a dress. And anyway, it's what everybody at school wears."

Father was not appeased.

"Don't get smart with me, young man. I am the head of this household, and if I say it's a dress, then it's a dress! Now go up to your room right now and get changed into decent clothes before dinner."

By now, I was close enough to see this controversial apparel. I did have to admit, it did look a lot like a dress. I didn't care, though. Even if Amon wanted to walk around in a tutu and tiara, he would still be Amon and I would still love him. Most unfortunately, Father did not see things this way. He grew even angrier when Amon refused to change.

"Listen, you, I will not have crossdressers in my house!"

Now Amon started to raise his voice slightly.

"I told you, it's not a dress!"

"And I'm telling you that it IS a dress! And are those earrings you're wearing, too? I thought I raised you to know better than that!"

Mother heard the shouting, and rushed in to intervene before it got ugly.

"Dear," she said to Father, "Amon is just a teenager. I'm sure that this is just a phase, and will pass soon. There's no need to get so worried about it."

Amon started to protest, but one look from Mother silenced him.

"And Amon," she continued, "You are welcome to wear your dre...I mean, outfit...at school as much as you want. However, when you are at home, you must follow your father's rules. Do as he says and change your clothes before dinner."

Neither Amon nor Father was exactly happy about this, but the situation was defused for the time being. Amon stomped upstairs, and came back down a few minutes later wearing a more innocuous outfit. Soon after that, it was time to eat.

As usual, Amon was not very talkative during dinner. Everyone had questions about his new school, but he answered them with mostly monosyllabic answers. The reason for this was soon evident. We walked to our separate rooms after dinner, but it only took minutes before Amon was pounding on my door. And of course, I had to comfort him after his long time away from home.

He had learned much more from this new locale than he was letting on. For all of the history and tradition in Istanbul, the school was surprisingly modern and liberal. Although Amon much preferred his studies to partying, he returned home much more worldly than when he had left. What was more, he could barely wait to test all this new-found knowledge on me.

I don't remember too much about the holiday festivities this year. I'm sure they were as wonderful as they always were, but I was too distracted to pay attention to the series of parties. No, the only thing that's clear in my memory of those weeks is Amon.

He had most definitely not forgotten about me. Sure, there had been other girls there, and he had socialized with them some. The more forward ones had even tried to seduce him. But in the end, he found them all to be boring and stupid. At least, that was what he told me. I decided that as long as these stupid girls didn't replace me emotionally, I was content.

For the longest time, I thought that we would never be able to get enough of each other. Amon had brought back many new "toys" from Istanbul, and he wanted to try them all out. Once again, I still have no idea just where he finds all this stuff. If it makes Amon happy, though, I try not to question it.

For the first few days, though, I wasn't so sure about all this new stuff. I had to wear extra-long sleeves to hide the bruises that the ropes made on my wrists, and I'm sure everyone except Amon wondered why often I had a slight limp in the mornings. Nevertheless, I got used to it. I always eventually get used to any new thing that Amon thinks up.

And that is as much detail as I am going to go into on that particular subject. This is by no means supposed to be a "dirty" story. Therefore, I'll leave the rest to your imagination.

Amon liked my new hairstyle. Of course, he didn't say so outright. But he did tell me to consider keeping it shorter like that. This was close enough to a compliment to satisfy me. Maybe, I thought, if he likes it so much now, I should make it even shorter by the time he returns home for the summer. I would have to be stealthy about it, though. Even now, Father liked to grumble about my hair being too short.

I was not exactly on Father's good side at that moment. I had my seventeenth birthday in January, and there were still no new men. Father would have liked to have gotten rid of me by now.

None of this is really new, I know. But it's not like there was much else worth reporting during the first half of that year. Just the same old boring dinner parties and sewing lessons. Mother was no longer as strict with me about those chores, but she had definitely started some new ambitions in my head. I was no longer content with just staying in the house all day.

I jumped at any excuse for going out and doing something. And that summer, the perfect opportunity presented itself.

I think it was June when this happened, because Amon had just gotten back from school. Once again, it was almost unbearably hot. I was just lying around the house, trying to conserve my energy, when a servant came into my room with a message from Father. Apparently, the whole family was going on an outing, to see something special.

This was definitely something out of the ordinary. Our family just wasn't the type to do spontaneous activities. The only times we truly spent time together were during vacations that were planned months in advance.

We all piled into a relatively small car, as if Father didn't want us to be noticed. This was also odd. Normally, he took the most showy limousines he owned, to show the whole world how rich he was.

After what seemed like forever, we pulled up next to a harbor. However, our journey wasn't yet complete. We had to walk for a good fifteen minutes through a complex maze of buildings and alleys. These alleys were rather dark and scary, so I tried to hold Amon's hand when no one else was looking. He immediately swatted my hand away and glared at me. When Sid started to look scared, though, Amon took his hand right away.

Just when I was starting to worry that Father would lead us to a dead end and shoot us all, we reached our destination. It was a long, low building that looked like nothing special. However, what was inside the building was quite amazing.

"See them?" Father said as he gestured proudly, "They're brand new!"

Yes, this building was actually some sort of hangar. Instead of airplanes, it contained row upon row of submarines.

"Why do we need submarines?" Amon asked.

"Well, Amon, that's a very good question indeed! We got these submarines in order to maximize our profits."

In other words, he wanted to use them to spy on rival companies.

I wasn't concentrating on Father's words right now, though. I was too busy looking at these awe-inspiring submarines. I had never seen one up close before, and pictures did not do them justice. There was just some mysterious something about them. They were so beautiful and round and graceful and...

Okay, I bet you are all laughing at me by now. Fine, then. Laugh all you want. I am simply trying to convey my emotions at that very moment.

Father did not notice this. He was too busy answering Sid's questions. Being the six-year-old that he was, Sid wanted to know every little thing about how these machines worked. Such as...Where was the engine? And, Why didn't the people in them drown? And, of course, How do the people go to the bathroom?

Mother did notice, however, and I do believe that she was smiling.

I couldn't stop thinking about those submarines. I did all the research I could on the Internet, and I felt as if I had been around these vehicles all my life. I was so involved by this, Amon noticed that I wasn't focusing on him during our time together.

"Ekou... it's no fun when you're like this!" he complained as he put his clothes back on, "Will you tell me what's on your mind already?"

I tried to say that it was nothing, but Amon refused to stop interrogating me until I revealed my secret. So, feeling rather silly, I told him about my fascination with the submarines.

I thought Amon would laugh it off, but he actually listened to me! When I was done talking, he said something surprising.

"Well, if you like them that much, I guess I could talk to Father about letting you drive one of them. It might be difficult to convince him, but I'll try my best."

I was thrilled beyond belief!

"You'd...do that?" I asked. If there was ever a time when I had cliched stars in my eyes, this would be it.

"Of course." he answered. For a second, it looked like he wanted to add something else. I thought he might finally say he loved me. But he ultimately decided to remain quiet.

Oh well. I was deliriously happy anyway. As it turned out, our night together wasn't ruined after all!

I overheard part of what Amon said to Father, since I "accidentally" picked a sewing spot that was within earshot of them.

"Think about it, Father", Amon said, "No one is going to marry her any time soon. She's not attractive enough to be an asset that way. Why not put her to some use, instead of just letting her hang around the house and do nothing productive?"

I wasn't offended by what Amon said. It was the truth, after all. I was very proud of him for being so honest. At any rate, Father finally grudgingly agreed. He would only let me use the smallest submarine, but that was definitely better than nothing.

If you think I merrily skipped off into the sunset on my adventures right then and there, you are quite mistaken about what it takes to drive a submarine. I had to train for months to get the proper licenses. I also started weight training, sneaking time in with Amon's barbells. Eventually, Father caved in and let me get my own set.

As I mentioned earlier, my job would involve obtaining secret information from other companies. I would sneak around in the submarine, snooping on sonar readings from the rival ships. I'm afraid I can't go into much more detail than that. This is top-secret stuff. Even the little that I'm giving away could get my father's company into deep trouble.

Of course, Father wasn't expecting me to do much of any worth, which is why I got the least expensive equipment.

All in all, it took me over a year until I was ready. You would be very bored listening to me recount all of the little details. Really, who cares how many situps and pushups I did, or what drills I participated in? In the end, though, Father deemed me ready. They thought I would never be able to handle the pressure, but I did.

He was not exactly happy about the new haircut I got, though.

"First my son wears a dress, and now my daughter cuts her hair like a boy? Does anyone in this house know which gender they are?" he complained to no one in particular. Since Amon was now eighteen, he was free to wear his "dress" as much as he wanted, and Father was sore that there was nothing he could do about it.

When I wasn't busy with submarine training, I stayed up all night studying Japanese. Amon had ordered me to start learning the language, for reasons I would not discover until a bit later.

That summer was also the time that Sid got sick.

It started with a cough. There was nothing alarming about this. Coughing was even encouraged in people with cystic fibrosis, so all the mucus could be cleared from the lungs.

Over a few days, though, the coughing grew worse, until it hurt so much that Sid couldn't do it at all. He had been confined to bed, in the hopes that some rest would make him better.

Amon stayed at Sid's bedside, asking him stern questions.

"Did you wear your compression vest like you were supposed to, Sid? No? You know what happens if you don't do that. I don't care if it's uncomfortable. You have to wear it. What about your medicine? Have you been taking that? No? What am I supposed to do with you?"

Amon sounded rather scary, but there were tears in his eyes when he turned away.

Sid was just a boy like any other in most ways, and loved being mischievous. Apparently, he had turned avoiding his therapy into some sort of elaborate game. And now he was paying the price. He got steadily worse, and eventually developed double pneumonia. It was such a bad case that none of the usual antibiotics seemed to work.

Amon would only leave Sid's room to use the bathroom. He even refused to eat more than a few quick mouthfuls of food. He scowled at the doctors whenever they tried a new medicine.

"I try to tell them what to do, but they all ignore me! Why won't they let me help?" He complained to me. I had no answer.

Everyone was sure that Sid had finally run out of luck. They made a plot for him in the family mausoleum, and started planning his funeral. They even went right to Sid's room and measured the poor thing for his coffin. When they did this, something in Amon seemed to snap.

He came to my room one night, but it was not for the usual reason.

"Get dressed in that uniform. We're going out," he snapped at me. I obeyed as quickly as I could.

We snuck out in the old Mercedes (the same one that my parents had used to find Amon, coincidentally). I grew nervous. Did Amon know what he was doing? He was driving into the part of the city that we had been given strict orders never to visit. The red-light district was here, and everything was filthy and poverty-stricken. However, Amon seemed to know his way around this place as if he had lived here. I realized with a start that maybe he had lived there.

We stopped at what looked to be some sort of shop. Amon told me to wait in the car. I was quite relieved...I didn't want to stay out here where I could be mugged. Or worse.

Amon went into the building. The door, which was poorly made, remained wide-open, so I could see what was going on fairly well.

The proprietor of the store seemed to be some sort of medicine man. I guessed he was a Druze from the way he dressed. I didn't know too much about this Arabic minority population...Father had told us to stay away from them if possible. Now that I'm thinking about it, he may have just been worried that they would be rivals for his business. But I digress. This is not about Father's possible bigotry. This is about Amon.

Amon was very respectful towards this elderly, unkempt man. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but he actually bowed at the man's feet! I hadn't think that he could ever bow down to anyone. He bought what looked to be all the medicines that the man had, bowing as he respectfully backed his way to the door.

So was Amon going to try homeopathic remedies to cure Sid? Well, we were at the point where we just tried anything we could. Plus, it wasn't like it would make Sid any worse. I didn't have much confidence in folk remedies, but I wisely kept my mouth shut.

I would never be sure whether the medicine actually worked, or if Sid recovered on his own. But somehow, he made a miraculous recovery. Once again, I see that I might not be showing the proper emotion for this event. In truth...well, I don't want to say that I wished that my brother would die, but...all right, maybe deep down I did. I never liked the way Amon had to answer to him. Sid wasn't even aware of it, but he only served as a hindrance to Amon's goals.

The night Sid recovered, I heard the baby again; the first time I had heard it for several months. I was quite perplexed. Why was the baby still a newborn, when more than two years had passed since we first met?

A/N: The last two chapters are where the really good stuff starts to happen! Michael will play a big role, and I'm hoping to tie up all the loose ends.