The rain slowed down at some point during the night. Dietrich awoke to hear crickets and tree frogs drowning out the sound of rain dripping from the roof and hitting the windowsill. He reached over to pick up the clock on the nightstand. It is only two in the morning. Why am I up? He set the clock back on the nightstand with a sigh, then sat up, rubbing his face. After sitting for a few minutes, Dietrich got out of bed, and left the room to go downstairs for a glass of water.

He headed back upstairs with his glass, planning to just read until he fell back asleep. It wasn't like he needed to be up in the morning. He could sleep in if he wanted to. As he passed by Troy's bedroom, he could hear frantic, heavy breathing. Curious and concerned, Dietrich quietly opened the door. A dull ache of sympathy formed in his chest when he saw Troy curled up in bed, breathing hard and shivering as he was gripped in the throes of a nightmare.

Dietrich didn't want to startle him, but he decided he was going to get Troy out of his dream. He was still holding the glass of water as he entered the room. "Troy?"

The heavy breathing stopped. Dietrich heard the click of a gun's safety being taken off, and froze in place when Troy sat up in bed, aiming an M1911 at him. Dietrich knew that pistol all too well. It certainly wasn't the first time Troy had pointed a gun at him. He stepped back nervously. "Troy, you are having a bad dream. I—"

"Put the glass down," Troy growled.

"What?"

"I said, put the glass down, now."

Confused, Dietrich set the glass on a table, keeping his eyes on Troy's gun. "Alright. Will you listen to me now?"

The fear and defensiveness suddenly vanished from Troy's eyes. He slowly lowered the gun and put its safety back on. "Dietrich?"

"Yes?"

"You okay?"

"For the most part. Just reliving the good old days when you often greeted me with a gun in hand."

Troy set his gun back on the nightstand. "I didn't actually hurt you, did I?"

"No."

"Good. I'm sorry about that."

Dietrich glanced at the water glass on the table. "You seemed quite frightened by a glass of water of all things."

Troy didn't respond at first. He looked embarrassed.

"Is it something you wish to discuss?"

"I don't know."

"Well, I did not visit just for the fun of it. I heard you having a nightmare."

"I was."

Dietrich left the water glass where it was, and sat on the bed, making it clear that he wasn't leaving without answers—or without making an attempt to help and understand Troy.

"I take it you want to know what it was about, and… why I got nervous when you came in here with a glass of water," Troy said, sighing a little.

"I would very much like to know. I just hope you are not assuming I am going to make fun of you for it."

"I know you're not. Trust me, I think it's weird, too." Troy was quiet for a moment. "In… Beckmann's camp, the guards would give me my water ration by throwing it at me. I had bitten the guy watching me the night before, so he didn't want to get to close. After that, throwing the water in my face became standard."

"Is that what you were dreaming about?"

Troy hesitated, then nodded. "I can't remember what I did to make them upset, but all I do remember is that one of the punishments I received was having saltwater thrown in my face. I didn't know it was saltwater, so I tried catching it in my mouth… not a very pleasant surprise. I spit it back out—right in the face of the guard who threw it. For that, they restrained me and poured a whole cup of saltwater down my throat."

"I can see why that would lead to you being nervous around water."

"I wouldn't say I'm nervous around water. I can swim, take a shower, drink water on my own, but I really don't like water—or any other liquid—thrown in my face."

"So, next time I have to pull you from a nightmare, I should not be carrying a glass of water."

"Pretty much."

There was still an embarrassed look on Troy's face. Dietrich wasn't quite sure how to alleviate that. He didn't think Troy's fear was silly, or even irrational. It made sense given what he went through.

"I'm sorry for pointing my gun at you," Troy said, breaking the silence.

"Not like it is the first time you have done that. No need to apologize."

"We're trying to fix things, Dietrich. Pointing guns at you doesn't sound like 'fixing things' to me."

"No, but you did not realize it was only me, did you?"

Troy shook his head. "No. I… wasn't sure who the hell would be in my bedroom at two in the morning."

"I am the only other person in your house."

"This is only your second night here, so I kinda forgot you were sleeping in the next room over. Anyway, I panicked, and I'm sorry. I'm just glad I didn't hurt you."

Dietrich still couldn't find the best thing to say. Apologizing wouldn't do anything. He was content with sitting there until Troy got sick of him, though. If that was all he needed to do, he would do it.

"You can go back to bed," Troy said. A heartbeat later, he added, "If you want."

On one hand, Troy was giving him the option to leave. Dietrich didn't think Troy would be disappointed if he took it, but he figured it would be best to stay. Something was nagging at him to stay.

The two sat in silence for quite some time. The dripping of rain gradually stopped, leaving only the nighttime wildlife performing its concert outside. Dietrich occasionally looked over at Troy, who was staring off into space. I should get him out of his head, Dietrich thought. He wasn't sure how deep in his thoughts Troy was. Dietrich didn't want to spook him, but he still decided to poke Troy's arm.

Fortunately, Troy's reaction was only to turn and look at him. "What?"

"Have you made any plans in regards to your wedding day?"

"A few. Why?"

"You look a bit lost. I speak from experience when I say that when your thoughts turn dark, the last thing you want to do is spend time with them. Not exactly easy when you live alone."

Troy looked down at his lap. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Of course."

"Most people date for a few years before they get married. I've only been dating Shauna for about six months—"

"You have known her for almost four years, though."

"Yeah, but we're jumping from dating to marriage pretty quickly."

"Moffitt married Vanora after only knowing her for eight months."

"Because they genuinely, deeply love each other."

Dietrich gave Troy a concerned look. "Do you not love Shauna?"

"I love Shauna. A lot. More than I can express with words. That's one reason I want to get married so quickly. The other… is that I don't know how much more I can stand living alone. Moffitt was right when he said that this isn't good for me."

"Does Shauna know about this?"

"No. She wants to get married soon, too. I figured I don't have to say anything because we both want the same thing. I feel like I need to be honest about this, though. She knows… what's wrong with me. I've asked her time and time again if she would rather be with someone who's less of a broken-down mess. Every single time, she says, 'no.' She wants me. Nobody else."

"Do you think you are undeserving of her?"

Troy shrugged. "Sometimes."

"I think you two are perfect together."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better."

"True friends do not give each other empty words in a vain attempt to make the other feel better."

"A few hours ago, you were doubting whether or not we're actually friends."

A tiny smirk crossed Dietrich's face. "Was I?"

"Yes. Yes, you were. You thought it was ridiculous that I would go to you before anyone else if I ever thought about… wanting to take my own life."

"I still think it is a bit ridiculous. I know I went down that road, but… I actually tried."

"So? You survived. You want to live. You're still fighting."

Dietrich gave a quiet sigh. "Look, I am going to continue doubting how well I can actually help anyone, but that does not mean I will turn you down when you need help." He then gave Troy a somewhat confused look. "That did not make much sense, did it?"

"No, it made sense coming from you. You're going to keep saying that you're crap at helping people, but if something ever happened, you'd be the first person to step in, because you at least care."

"I just hope I never have to step in. You are entirely deserving of Shauna, and I am telling you the truth when I say that she loves you back. She talks about you fondly when you are not in the room. I have never heard her complain about you in a serious manner. If she is aware of what bothers you, you should have no trouble discussing your reasons for wanting to get married quickly with her."

"Why should I? Honest question."

"Because it bothers you."

"Just because it bothers me doesn't mean I should burden Shauna—"

"Stop. You have a tendency to take the burden for everything, and it must stop." Dietrich gave Troy a stern look. "It is a hard habit to break, I know, but not something you can keep up forever. You will not heal from any of your old wounds if you continue bottling things up and acting like you can carry all of your burdens on your own. Talk to Shauna about what is bothering you."

Troy nodded a little. "I'm just afraid it's going to sound like I don't love her."

Dietrich worked his jaw as he thought. "Would you like me to talk to her?"

"I don't know. It feels like something I should do." Troy rubbed his face. "You know what? I want to go back to sleep."

Dietrich didn't think they were done. "Troy—"

"No. We'll talk in the morning." Troy got back under the covers.

"We should finish this now."

"You'd throw a fit if I did this to you."

"And you would persist, claiming that we need to talk, for a perfectly good reason, now we are going to finish this."

"I'm not in the mood."

Dietrich stayed put. "Fine. I will not move from this bed until we continue."

"Why do you want to continue?"

"Because this is something that is clearly bothering you."

"I'll figure it out on my own."

"You need to stop insisting that you can figure everything out on your own."

"Dietrich, get out and go back to bed."

"No."

"Dietrich, out." Troy's voice dropped to a growl.

"Make me."

Troy tried pulling the covers back over his head, but Dietrich was sitting on a bunched-up section of the blanket that made pulling them nearly impossible. "Okay, now I'm really not in the mood to talk. Get your butt off my covers."

"Where are your manners, Troy?"

Troy gave an irritable sigh. "Dietrich, for the last time—"

"I am not going anywhere until we finish our conversation."

"And I told you, I don't want to finish this conversation right now! We'll finish it in the morning!"

"This does not have to be difficult!"

"You're making it difficult!"

"I am making it difficult?! I am not the one who gave up when I offered a perfectly reasonable solution—"

Troy sat up, eyes narrowed to blue slits. "Don't you ever suggest that I give up at anything! You of all people should know that I don't give up! I don't want to discuss this right now! That doesn't mean I'm giving up! Now, get out and go back to bed!"

Dietrich was torn between standing firm and continuing to argue with Troy. At this point, though, he could see that arguing wasn't worth it. Troy was just getting madder and madder, and Dietrich didn't want to get thrown out of the house completely. With a sigh, he got up, and left the room, taking his glass of now-warm water with him. He cursed to himself while going downstairs and dumping the water, but eventually stopped while filling the glass with cold water. This is probably how everyone felt when they were dealing with me. He remembered yelling at Moffitt after waking up in the hospital, realizing he hadn't succeeded in dying. All Moffitt was doing was trying to talk to him, trying to start him on a path to recovery. Dietrich pushed him away.

Troy likes to call my depression "the demons in my head." He certainly has his own. Dietrich turned the water off, then took a drink. I said I would help, but that means stepping back a little sometimes. He finished his drink, and washed the glass. Where are Tully and Hitch when you need them?

It was difficult for Dietrich to get back to sleep. He awoke after only a couple of hours, hearing Troy getting ready to start his daily chores around the ranch. The smell of coffee soon filled the house, but it wasn't before long that Dietrich heard Troy leaving out the front door.

After getting dressed, Dietrich headed down to the kitchen. A half-drunk cup of coffee was sitting on the counter, and there were no dirty dishes in the sink. Did Troy not have breakfast? Dietrich looked out the window to see Troy heading toward the horse barn. The way he walked seemed to suggest that Troy was still in a foul mood, leaving Dietrich unsure of what to do.

He certainly wasn't going to follow Troy's example. Dietrich pulled out the leftovers of yesterday's biscuits and gravy, along with the cinnamon rolls. He turned when he heard the door open, and saw Shauna entering the house. "Good morning," he said.

"Good morning, Hans," Shauna replied. "Where's Sam?"

"Out with the horses."

"Oh. Did he already have breakfast?"

"No."

Shauna raised her eyebrows. "'No?'"

"No."

"Was there an emergency with the horses?"

"No."

"Did Sam just… forget?"

Dietrich shook his head. "No."

"So he deliberately chose not to eat this morning."

"Yes."

"I thought that was supposed to be your problem."

Dietrich took a huge bite out of one of the cinnamon rolls on his plate. "Not anymore."

"Alright. Any idea why Sam didn't have breakfast?" Shauna looked at the mug on the counter. "Is that his coffee?"

Dietrich nodded.

"He didn't even finish his coffee?! He always finishes his coffee! What's going on here?!"

Dietrich wasn't sure it was his place to talk about what happened the night before. He tried using another bite of cinnamon roll to give himself time to think. Either you tell her the truth, or you try to convince Troy to tell her, and he is not in the mood. Who knows? Maybe he will be in a better mood when he returns from caring for his horses. "I may have put Troy in a bad mood last night. We were discussing things that… he requested I keep secret."

"I see." Shauna poured herself a cup of coffee. "Things went south, I take it?"

"Yes. I pressed him a little too much. He snapped, and told me to leave him alone for the rest of the night."

"Ah. So, he just needs some time with the horses and he'll be alright."

Hopefully. "Yes."

"I'm sorry that happened. I don't see Sam being mad at you forever, though."

Dietrich doubted Troy would continue to be upset, but he did wonder how long it would take before Troy was willing to talk about this again. At the same time, Dietrich was wondering if he was the one in the wrong for pressuring Troy to talk about his reasons for wanting to marry Shauna so quickly. Maybe it is best we just leave it alone.

Shauna went outside to take care of the chickens after finishing her breakfast and coffee. Dietrich, not wanting to be around the chickens, wandered aimlessly around the property until pausing near the horse pasture. He could see Troy in a large, fenced-off area behind the barn doing groundwork with Alverstone. Dietrich began walking closer, unsure if it was a good idea to interrupt. He was stopped when he saw a tall bay horse approaching him from the corner of his eye. Akutan stopped at the fence, stretching his neck in order to sniff Dietrich and show him a bit of affection.

"Hello," Dietrich said, stepping back when Akutan was about to chew his hair. "I would not like that, thank you very much."

It wasn't before long when Castner showed up to see what Akutan had found to be so interesting. She also started studying Dietrich, and at one point decided she wanted him all to herself, so she nipped at Akutan to tell him to back off.

"Well, that was not nice," Dietrich muttered. He looked over in Troy's direction again, and noticed Troy had become aware that he had an audience.

Troy's expression soured a bit, and he led Alverstone out to the pasture. "Need something, Dietrich?"

"I came to talk," Dietrich replied.

Troy sighed. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"No. Just like how you would not let go of anything when my depression was at its worst."

Troy looked down, a somewhat defeated expression crossing his face. "Fine, let's—Akutan! Hey! Quit playing with Dietrich's hair. Nobody likes that."

The horse immediately went for Troy's hat.

"No! The hat is off-limits. I taught you that your first day here." Troy gently pushed Akutan away. "Go on. Go back to grazing. I'll work with you later, buddy." He turned to Dietrich once Akutan left the fence. "Alright. Talk."

"Should we talk inside?" Dietrich asked.

"Isn't Shauna in there?"

"No, she is with her little feathered Teufel right now."

Troy gave him a confused look. "What?"

"Teufel. Devils."

"Oh. Dietrich, the chickens—"

"No, her chickens are crazy."

Troy gave up. "Fine. We'll go inside."

Dietrich didn't say anything when they entered the house. As Troy was hanging up his hat, Dietrich went into the kitchen, and took the still-full coffee mug from the counter. He held it out to Troy, who stared at him in surprise.

"You never finished this, or had breakfast," Dietrich said.

"Don't start."

"Oh, really? You are the one who sent Tully and Hitch to my door to make sure I was eating."

Troy let out his breath before taking the coffee. "You didn't tell Shauna, did you?"

"No."

"Good. Like I said last night, I think this is something I should talk to her about on my own, but I also… don't know if I should even bring it up."

"Which one of you brought up the idea of marriage first?"

"She did. During that first conversation we had about it, I wasn't thinking about being alone or anything like that. I was completely on board with the idea because I love her. It wasn't until afterward when I started thinking that… it would definitely make life better for me, because then I wouldn't be alone. I wouldn't be waking up from nightmares alone. I would have someone here who knows me and understands what's going on. Someone I can actually talk to."

"Why are you afraid of telling her this?"

"Because it sounds like I only want to marry her so I can be happy."

"But, that is not the only reason. Would you force her to marry you if she said no?"

"Absolutely not."

"This is just one reason you want to marry her. It is not the only reason. Besides, it is not like you are marrying her simply for money or—" Dietrich cleared his throat, "nighttime activities in the bedroom. Like you said, she understands you. You can talk to her about what bothers you. You trust her, and she trusts you. I am sure she will be happy to help you out when you are having a rough night."

"I'm just worried that she's going to get tired of dealing with it."

"She knows this is part of the package, right?"

"Yeah."

"Has she seen you when your memories are giving you a hard time?"

"I once ran out of a date at a restaurant because someone accidentally spilled their beer on me. I started… seeing Beckmann's guards, hearing their voices, and then… out the door I went. Shauna came after me, asking what happened. I kept telling her that she shouldn't want me in her life because stupid stuff like that was a given. She argued, telling me that it's not my fault that I have to suffer like this. She didn't get mad at me for running out—she wanted to help me, and I… wasn't sure I should let her, because I don't know where to begin with helping me." Troy grinned a little. "It's kinda funny because that was also the first time she told me that she loves me."

"So, she saw you at a rough point, and still told you she loves you."

"Yeah."

"For heaven's sake, Troy, hold this woman and never let go!" Dietrich gestured to the window. "You would be insane to think—wait, no, you are insane. What am I saying?" He rubbed his face, sighing. "Clearly, she knows what she is getting into, but still wants to marry you."

"Well, she's definitely stubborn, which is one of the reasons I love her."

"Honestly, it would take someone as stubborn as you to love you. You two were made for each other, and here I was thinking that you would never find someone. I was wrong."

"I never thought I'd find someone either, so that makes two of us." Troy looked down at the mug in his hand, and started drinking from it.

Dietrich made a face. "Do you not want fresh coffee?"

"This still tastes okay."

Dietrich sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. "Garbage disposal," he muttered. "Anyway, you are getting worried over the silliest little thing with Shauna, and if it worries you that much, go tell her—"

The two jumped when something flew up the window. A rooster madly flapped its wings against the glass. Behind the rooster, Shauna was swearing while grabbing the insolent chicken and putting it back in the pen.

Troy stepped away from the window. "You were saying?"

"Go talk to Shauna about this." Dietrich, despite already being a good distance away from the window, moved closer to the refrigerator on the opposite side of the kitchen.

"Fine. I'll go talk to her." Troy finished his coffee and set the mug in the sink. "Be right back."

Dietrich couldn't believe he just talked sense into Troy. He stood with his mouth agape, unable to believe what just happened. When Troy left the room, Dietrich was still profoundly dumbfounded. He pinched himself to make sure this wasn't a dream, and upon realizing it wasn't, he went back to trying to process the fact that he actually talked some genuine sense into Sergeant Sam Troy.

He reckoned pigs would fly before the other Rats believed him if he told them.

Troy waited until Shauna had the chickens wrangled before going into the pen. When the chickens were back to strutting about and making themselves tripping hazards, Troy walked over to where Shauna was collecting eggs from inside the coop. "Hey, you have a minute, sweetheart?" Troy asked.

"What is it, Sam? Hans said you were in a bad mood," Shauna replied.

"I was. We talked. Everything's fine now. I came to tell you what… it was all about."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Troy hesitated a moment. "Why do you want to marry me? Be honest."

"When have I not been honest with you? And you know why I want to marry you." Shauna gave him a confused look. "Where is this coming from, Sam? Do I need to be worried?"

"No. I really do love you. I… had another bad dream last night, and told Dietrich that… one of the reasons I want to marry you soon is because I'm tired of being alone at night. I highly doubt you just being there will fix everything automatically, but at least someone will be there… to just talk. I said that I didn't want to tell you because it feels disingenuous. It feels like… it isn't mutual. We started arguing about it, because I just didn't want to discuss it anymore. It felt like a stupid thing to be worried about."

"It is a stupid thing to be worried about. Do you think I don't worry about you whenever I leave for the night? Do you think I haven't thought about asking to stay the night?"

"I've wondered if you worried."

"Of course I worry!" Shauna pulled Troy's hat over his eyes. "Goofball. I wouldn't love you if I didn't worry. Quit thinking you're too much for anyone to handle. You're well-worth the effort, Sam."

Troy adjusted his hat, and tried to hide how red his cheeks were getting. "I'm glad you think so. You and Dietrich are right—it's a stupid thing to get worked up over. It just… feels…"

"It would seem selfish to someone who doesn't know all the details."

"Yeah. That."

"You and the word 'selfish' don't belong in the same sentence. I mean that. Despite everything you went through—despite your own family trying to crush your dreams—you're probably the most generous person I've met. How many times do I have to tell you that before it sinks in?"

"It'll sink in eventually. Either that or you'll still be reminding me when we're old."

"That's more likely, honestly," Shauna said with a sigh. She took Troy's shoulders, squeezing them tightly. "Let people help you, Sam. You don't have to keep hiding."

"I know."

"We're working on it." Shauna kissed him, then squeezed his shoulders again. "Go have breakfast. Hans told me you started work without that or your coffee."

"I had my coffee."

"So go have breakfast."

"I've got things to do—"

"Go have breakfast, Sam. No arguing. There should still be leftover biscuits and cinnamon rolls if Hans hasn't eaten all of it."

"Alright, alright." Troy gave Shauna a kiss on her forehead before going back inside. He entered the house to find Dietrich laying on the couch, and leaned against the back of the couch to look down at the former captain. "Hey, thanks for being a pain."

"I cannot believe I talked sense into you," Dietrich said. "Never in my life did I think anyone would be able to do such a thing. I doubt even Moffitt has pulled this off."

Troy sighed. "I'm about to blow your mind again, Dietrich, so brace yourself—I'm sorry for how I acted last night. I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"Apology accepted."

Troy stayed where he was at the couch, watching Dietrich for a moment. "So, what should we do today?"

"What more is there to do around here?"

"There are some good bars in Douglas."

"I am not particularly interested in drinking."

Troy wondered if it was really a good idea to pursue that. He knew Dietrich was still a bit wary when it came to drinking after being found drunk in his apartment in Germany, the night before he tried ending his own life. Then again, Dietrich did have a glass of wine to celebrate getting his house a year ago. "You can just have one or two drinks."

"One of us has to drive."

"You can drive. I trust you to be good to my truck." Troy kept trying to think of ways to convince Dietrich to go with him. "There's a place that serves really big soft pretzels. I mean really big. Really soft, too. They make them in-house and serve them hot and fresh. There's sweet, salty, with all different kinds of dips." Troy leaned down and lowered his voice. "There's a honey dip. Made with the same honey that we get. There's a honey peanut butter dip, and—"

"Okay, shut up, I will go to this bar with you."

Troy grinned. "Thanks. It'll be fun, trust me."

"Fine. I trust you. What time do we leave?"

"We'll go sometime around six, after Shauna heads home."

"Alright. What will we do until then?"

Troy shrugged. "I've got things to do around the ranch. You can watch or help out if you want. Ever cleaned out horse stalls before?"

"I have."

"You can help me with that. Did you have breakfast?"

"I did."

"Okay. Go put clothes on that you don't mind getting dirty."

Troy was quick with his breakfast, then met up with Dietrich outside the stable. "It's really easy." He handed Dietrich a shovel, and found himself tempted to ask, "Is this something you had to do as a POW?"

Dietrich nodded.

"Did they treat you well? The people running the camp, I mean."

"From what I remember, yes." Dietrich got to work cleaning out Castner's stall. "I was not a troublemaker. No escape attempts. I was a little too busy being depressed to be concerned about escaping. The guards were alright. The other prisoners were… mixed. I spent most of my time with Major Tausemann. He did his best to hide my condition from the others, but he was also constantly worrying for his family back in Germany. No one can blame him for that."

"Still made you feel like you weren't worth his time."

Dietrich looked hesitant on answering, but eventually said, "I was convinced that I was not worth anyone's time. I no longer had the excuse of being an officer, in charge of soldiers. I had no one to lead, no one to play pretend in front of. I was nothing, not even an illusion. Those few months in that camp were among the worst of my life. 1945-48 were the worst years of my life."

Silence fell between the two as they worked. Troy felt bad for asking anything, though a part of him felt it was fair because of how much Dietrich had gotten out of him over the last day. He gave a quiet sigh, telling himself that wasn't a good way to think. "Do you feel like things really are getting better for you?"

"I think so. Coming here and spending time with you is part of the plan I set for myself to improve things."

"Do you feel like visiting me has helped at all?"

"In a way. I do not feel as uncomfortable as I thought I would be. I think Shauna's presence has helped with that." Dietrich looked over the stall wall at Troy. "Learning about your history has helped. What about you? Do you feel like I have helped you at all?"

Troy stayed focused on his work for a minute, then glanced at Dietrich. "I guess. Never thought you'd be the one I would be opening up to first."

"I never thought we would be having conversations like this, period. My mind keeps going back to when we were sitting under that tree in Britain, trying to catch Moffitt's horse, and you asked me if I still wanted to die. I had no clue how to answer that, but something deep inside was telling me to just beg for help, so I did. I did not even care that the only person around to listen to my begging was you. After everything that happened, you were the one I was going to for help."

"Funny how things work out sometimes," Troy said. "I mean, there's the damn prophecy—"

"You would have helped me even if the prophecy was not a factor."

"Yeah. I most certainly would have. I've said this to Moffitt—the prophecy is secondary to making sure you're okay. I didn't help you because of the stupid prophecy. I helped you because it's the right thing to do."

There was another long period of silence. Troy began removing old feed from Akutan's stall, hoping he and Dietrich could find something else to talk about.

"How do you think your family would have reacted if they learned you are part of a prophecy?" Dietrich asked.

Troy paused, then tossed a bundle of old hay into a wheelbarrow nearby. "Laugh in my face," he said. "They wouldn't believe it."

"Even if you showed them Anah?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Does your brother know?"

"Yeah, he knows. He met Anah when we… rescued him from the minefield."

"Sorry I brought it up."

"Don't worry about it." Troy left Akutan's stall to check Dietrich's progress on Castner's. "Looks pretty good."

"Thank you. I like neat and tidy."

Troy smirked. "Too bad Castner doesn't. First thing I know she's going to do is make a mess, put it back to the way it was before."

"Moffitt has told me Snowstripe is the same way."

"Oh, Snowstripe knows how hard Moffitt works at keeping his stall clean. He throws hay everywhere as soon as he's let back in, and poor Moffitt—" Troy tried not to laugh, "Moffitt stands there, staring at him, and then asks if Snowstripe is proud of himself. I was no help the time I watched that. Moffitt stormed out of the stable, growling 'jackass' under his breath, and I said, 'That's not an ass, that's a horse.' He gave me the dirtiest look for that."

Dietrich grinned. "Of course you were no help."

"Nope." Troy leaned against the side of the stall. "You don't have to go too crazy with the cleaning."

"I would like to keep myself occupied until later," Dietrich said.

"Well, if you want something to keep you busy, let's finish up here, and then I'll show you something I'm working on for Shauna. It's a wedding present, so don't say anything to her." Troy gave Dietrich a look. "You haven't said anything about the ring, have you?"

"Not a word," Dietrich replied.

"Good. She's got about a week, and then she can finally stop asking what the surprise is."

"She is quite persistent when it comes to that."

"Yeah. I'm looking forward to the expression on her face when I show her that ring." Troy's smile faded. "You know, last night, when we were talking, I never told you what my ideas for the wedding are."

"No. You dove right into being worried about the reasons you are marrying Shauna."

"I know." Troy's smiled briefly returned. "There's a church down the road we're going to have the ceremony in, and then I'd like to have the reception here. David's the only blood relative of mine who's invited. Shauna doesn't have any family. She said she's okay with that, but I don't want her to have no one. Moffitt and Tully said they'll talk to their wives about helping Shauna. Hitch's mother has already thrown her support in. I haven't settled on a best man yet." He looked at Dietrich. "I was thinking about asking you."

"Me? I was just best man at Moffitt's wedding."

"So? I'd like you to be my best man."

"Your brother should be best man! Or Moffitt!"

"You can think about it if you want, but… I do want you there." Troy wasn't too surprised at Dietrich's refusal, but it did sting a little. He went back to work, hoping that Dietrich would change his mind.