The sun had gone down when Leo entered the trailer, a six-pack in his hand. He found Jo, Amy, and Meg sitting at the kitchen table. There was a box from a pizza delivery place between them and four slices left.

Meg looked up and turned away from the slice she was gnawing. "Hey, Leo. Want some pizza? We're not hungry."

Leo shook his head. "Where is she?"

Meg pointed at the ceiling.

Leo came onto the roof. Sei was leaning on the railing, staring at the nearby highway interchange. Lines of black mascara trailed down from her eyes, marking where she had been crying.

She barely looked at him. "Hi, Leo."

"Hey." He removed a can from the six-pack. "Want a beer? Friend of mine imports this straight from America; this isn't the licensed swill you get in the store. Nothing like a made-in-the-U. S. A. brewski for killing brain cells."

"Well, I'm feeling homicidal towards my brain cells. Give it here."

Sei took the can from him and removed on for himself. They opened their cans and sipped their beers.

Leo asked, "How you doing?"

"How do you think?"

"That bad, huh?"

"What do you want me to say, Leo?"

Leo shrugged. "It sucks. What is there to say?"

Sei looked at her can for a moment. "Remember that trip I took to the Middle East when I was 16?"

Leo nodded. "That's where you met this Arab prince, right? He came here and hung out for a couple of months-"

"He was the one I lost my virginity to. It was on his yacht in the Mediterranean."

Leo's eyes widened slightly. "I didn't know that."

Sei nodded. "And you never asked who I was with before you; very gentlemanly of you. My grandfather introduced us. No fumbling in the back seat of a car with a local boy for me. Only the best for the princess of Bailan…" She trailed off for a moment, then went on: "There's nothing 'normal' about my life, Leo, even by the standards of the super rich; and I suspect there will be nothing normal about my death. And until my grandfather tried to marry me off to Jei Koruken, I thought I might never marry and have children. But I'd made my peace with it. Or I thought I had. Then one day I'm in a grocery store listening to an awkward 16 year old boy tell me about the different cuisines he can cook, and for just a moment, I forget what I'm doing there; if Meg hadn't called, I might have wandered all over Tokyo with him. But sometimes I don't know which end is up and I…I dream about the road not taken, about the things I thought I could do without.

"You all think I'm in love with him. The cops and his parents think I'm a monster. I want to tell you all to go to hell. But even now, I can't imagine life without him, and I expect to find him in the kitchen even though I know he's not here. What do you call that? I don't know." She sipped some beer. "But maybe it's for the best. I'm not exactly a girl he could bring home to mother; and his dreams of being a patissier will come to an end if Bailan thinks he knows too much - if they didn't put a contract on him, they'd never let him leave Japan. I really could screw up his life…so…he'll be better off. I miss him but…I'll…and I don't understand…I'll just have to get used to it." She turned away and looked out towards the interchange.

Leo came to stand next to her. "Sei, you know I have a lot of respect for you. But sometimes I think you're insane for doing all this. You're in your prime, and Meg and Jo are just becoming young women. Risking your necks against god knows what is nuts. I wouldn't blame you for calling it quits."

"And who will take over for me, Leo? You? No. I appreciate the sentiment, but I won't run from my destiny. I'll shoulder this burden to the end. But for a while…" And her voice shook. "…it was a little easier."

"You, uh, you want me to stay the night?"

"No, Leo. Thank you. But I'd rather be alone." Sei wandered away from him, to the far side of the roof deck, and a view of the Tokyo skyline. "Kyohei," she whispered, "what did I do?" And another tear slid down her cheek.