Cycle One, End

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

12/25/96:

Prid's first sun was starting to rise, casting some of it's
light through the slider on the first floor of my house. I
was sitting on the couch, trying to read through some
documents that I didn't even know what where about, let
alone if they had anything to do with anything at all.

The fact is, I had spent all of the night going through half
a dozen such files, not doing anything but fill time.

Hell, time was something I had a LOT lately. What, with
Prid's 30 hour days, and the fact that I hadn't sleep sense
the 13th, when I found out about all that has happened.

With a heave, I sent the padd flying, to smack against the
wall, right next to one of the holes I had punched into it.

Standing, I stomped up the stairs and tried to make some
tea, though finding I wasn't in the mood. So I just slumped
down in a chair, and watched the flickering reflection of
the sunrise in the water.

"Fox." Oriana said behind me. I jumped, and twisted around a
bit.

"I didn't hear you come in." I said flatly. She had been off
and about the last few days. Taking care of some stuff for
that gift she had been working on for me.

She nodded. "You've been staring out that window for a few
minuets, I though you where sleeping."

I shook my head. "I doubt that, not lately. Maybe a twenty
or thirty minute nap here or there, but no, not sleep."

She pulled out a chair, and sat down accost from me.
Sweeping some of her hair out of her vision, she gave me a
worried look. "Fox, you need to sleep."

I nodded. "Ya, I just can't. It's something I really don't
want to talk about now."

She frowned. "Then just please see a doctor about it,
alright?"

I nodded again. "I was thinking about it."

Tapping her claws gently on the table, she shook her head.
"Um... I have some good news."

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Remember that gift I mentioned?"

I nodded.

She smiled. "I got the last bit I needed to replace. Give me
a short time, and it will be ready."

I blinked, the smiled, glancing at my watch. I smiled a bit
when I saw what day it was. "You're timing is killer, you
know that?" I asked, standing up.

She smiled a bit wider. "Oh, why do you say that?"

I walked over to one of the cupboards, and pulled out a
small box. "I got this a few days ago. One of the Council
members I had to be in a meting with was wearing them. I
though they would look good on you, and asked her to get me
a pair for you."

I moved back over the the table, and set the box down in
front of her. "You see, back on Earth, today is a holiday.
It's about a lot of things, one of them is about giving
gifts to friends and loved ones. Which is why your timing is
prefect."

She slowly nodded, then gently lifted the lid of the box.
Nestled inside the packing of the box, was a pair of hair
claps, not like kind that clip or anything, but just pushes
it back.

The top of each part, the area that was exposed over the
hair, was encrusted with a series of small blue gems. It was
the kind of thing you expect to see with formal dress, and
would fit it in perfectly.

Oria was staring down at them, then slowly she looked up.
"Fox... this is... I mean..." She gulped, then picking up
the hair claps, pushed her head back, and slipped the claps
in just about under her ears.

I smiled. "They look good."

She nodded. "There beautifully," she whispered, slowly
standing.

I shrugged. "That was part of the idea."

She walked over to me, gently taking her finger, and pushing
my glasses down, she placed the tip right between my eyes,
on the bridge of my nose. "Fox," she started, but stopped.

Slowly she took her finger away, then in one move, wrapped
her arms around me, and kissed me. This wasn't like a hug,
and a kiss on the cheek, this was a *kiss*! Face to face,
lip to lip, this had passion written all over it. I really
didn't react, just sort of stood there. She took advantage
of my inaction, and made the kiss even deeper.

After a few seconds, she seemed to notice I wasn't returning
it. Slowly she pulled back a bit, her arms still around my
shoulders, a hurt look on her face. Her ears where drooping
and pale on the inside. "Fox." she slowly said.

I just sort of stood there.

She started to chew on her lip. I could see a thousand
thoughts filter through behind her eyes. She slowly started
to speak. "Fox, I..." she licked her lips. "I need to
know... do..." she paused again, this time gulping.

Finally, she took a deep breath, "Do you love me?" she said
in a rush.

I blinked. The answer very easy to find, and to say.

"No."

She dropped her arms, her face falling. "But... what
about..." she whispered, her voice was choked, almost
sobbing.

"I never meet to give you the wrong impression." I said.

She slowly nodded. "I... I'll be right back." Then she
turned, and ran into her room, her tail flying through the
air as she went.

I sat down with a loud thump in the chair. I had hurt her,
and badly so. I didn't know how I had given her the idea
that I loved her. I mean, I was a good friend of hers, and
maybe other things, but I wasn't in love with here. Not the
way she projected with that kiss.

I rubbed my forehead. I needed some way to apologize to her.
Not a way to fix it, there was no way I could do that, she
was the only one who could do that. My job right now was to
let her know that I didn't even know I was leading her on
the way I was. It really was all I could do.

So I sat there, trying to think of what to say. I was still
right where I had started when Oriana walked back out of her
room. She had changed her clothing from her sweets, into a
pair of pants and a shirt. Though she was still wearing the
hair claps. Over one should was slung a large duffel-bag.

I could see that the fur under her eyes was wet and matted,
she had clearly been crying for the past fifteen minutes or
so, as she packed.

I gulped. I didn't want her to leave, she was the last
really stable thing I had in my life, but that was what it
looked like she was doing.

She padded over to me, setting down a small vile filled with
a brown liquid. "This is your gift Fox. It had indented it
to be done differently..." she let out a breath, "but this
is way is better."

I slowly picked the vial up, shaking it a bit. "What is it?"

"Just drink it. It's something you really want. It should
last about two weeks, maybe three."

I nodded a bit.

She sighed. "Fox, I've got to go, I have to think about
things... I'm not even sure if I'll come back." She shook
her head. "Please... don't try and find me."

With that, she turned and slowly descended the steps, then
out the front door.

I stood myself, leaving the vial on the table. I walked over
to the railing and looked over the living room. I sighed,
turning around, I walked over to the slider onto the deck.

Pressing one hand against the glass, I stared out at the
lake. Then with a deep growl I balled up my free fist, and
smashed it into the glass. I heard a crack of my knuckles as
the glass shattered falling to the floor.

I closed my eyes, whimpering. This was the last thing, the
last bit that I could lose, and I had lost it. To hell with
meetings, to hell with the Council, to hell with everything!
I needed to go and do something, to get my mind off all of
this, and to start getting my life back together again.