Dustin lied down on a bench, outside of his house, looking up at the stars. He looked a bit older but not too much. Sarah came over and kneeled down next to him.
"Still dreaming of Cybertron?" Sarah asked.
"I'm just watching the clouds."
"You're wondering what you can do to get back to that life." Sarah said.
"That memory is five years old but it's still inside of me. My other existence may be gone but I still wonder about it." Dustin replied.
She regarded him solemnly, and then began to idly circling the courtyard.
"Was that life so much better than this one?"
Dustin gave her a sharp look. Undaunted, she continued talking.
"So much more gratifying... so much more fulfilling that you cling to it with such stubbornness?"
"Sarah."
"It must have been extraordinary but never once, in all the stories you've told me have you mentioned anyone who loved you as I do."
Dustin didn't have the heart to tell her what happened to her in his other life. He couldn't tell her that he had found someone else.
"It was real... as real as this is. You can't expect me to forget the lifetime I spent there
"Yes, I can."
Dustin looked at her.
"I've been patient, Dustin. For five years I have shared you with that other life. I have listened, I have tried to understand... and I have waited. When do I get you back?"
Dustin was silent fully understanding her frustration.
"I know this has been hard for you..."
"It's not as though it hasn't been, interesting, all this talk about Transformers and distant planets, I have never been bored. But I have been lonely. Knowing that your heart is really somewhere else."
"You have been amazingly tolerant." Dustin said.
"When are you going to let go? When are you going to start living this life?"
Dustin didn't answer.
"I hope it's soon." Sarah said as she kissed Dustin on the forehead and walked back inside.
Later that night, Dustin sat out in the courtyard writing. His friend Nick had arrived earlier in the evening and the two were just out relaxing.
"You've been brooding behind your writing all evening." Nick said.
"I'm not brooding. I'm immersed in my writing." Dustin replied.
"Writing…" Nick said.
"I've also found that it helps me relax." Dustin said.
At that moment Sarah walked out.
"Nick."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Go home."
"Yes, ma'am." Nick stood up. "Goodnight, Dustin."
"Goodnight, my friend." Dustin replied.
"Be careful." Sarah said.
Nick walked away as Sarah leaned over and picked up Dustin's shoes that were sprawled on the ground.
"Don't forget these. I won't put them away again."
"Yes, ma'am." Dustin said.
Sarah gave him a sidelong glance and saw the humor in him and smiled back.
"I've done nothing but nag today. I'm sorry." Sarah said.
"I'm the one who's sorry. Everything you said this morning was absolutely right."
Sarah gave him a surprised look.
"I've given you so little and you have given me so much tenderness, patience and a good talking to when I needed it. You've been more than I could ever have hoped for. More than I deserve."
Sarah hastened to reassure him, hearing these unaccustomed and longed for words.
"You're a good man, a wonderful husband... I didn't mean to imply."
He touched her mouth gently with his fingertips.
"Not such a wonderful husband."
He put his arm around her, musing.
"I spend my spare time staring at the stars, I disappear for days at a time exploring the countryside, and I never put away my shoes. I lead my life very much as I did… before. Old habits."
"You're gentle and kind, you've never raised your voice to me."
"I'd like to ask your permission to build something."
"Dustin, you've built your telescope, your laboratory, you don't need my permission to build anything…"
"In this case, I think I do."
"What is it?"
"A nursery."
She digests the enormity of this. Then, absolutely beaming, she wraps her arms around him.
"Really? Really?"
"Unless you'd rather have a porch. It'd certainly be easier to build...
She laughed, flinging her arms around him; he smiled. Then, tenderly, lovingly... he took her face in his hands, kissed her.