Some days, it doesn’t pay to leave home.

The apartment was dark and empty when MyKai returned from patrol that particular evening.  He spied his queen through the balcony door, wrapped in a blanket, staring out at the woods but, he could tell she was not really seeing them.  Quietly he walked out on the balcony and stood beside her.  The day had turned dreary, and what light there was in the sky was fading out of it quickly.  The air was chilly and threatened snow before morning.

"Good evening," he said, glancing at her from behind his forelock.

"Hello, MyKai."

"All alone?  Where are the FAAs and the animals?"

"I sent them away.  Party went to town with FAAnboy, and Zen went to the monastery to commune with the ghost.  The animals are down in the kitchen, and 790Thirteen is turned off.  I wanted some peace and quiet for a change."

MyKai pursed his lips, but otherwise kept his expression noncommital.  For a little while he continued to stand beside her, watching whatever she was watching.  Finally, he said,  "It's getting dark."

She didn't answer.

"Are you cold?"

She shrugged.

"Come inside," he urged.  "I'll make dinner for you."

"I'm not hungry.  Thanks, anyway."

He knelt down beside her and took her hand in his, pressing it to his lips.  "Your hand is like ice," he said.  "Come inside and get warm.  And tell me what's wrong."

She looked down and away from him, but she let him pull her to her feet and guide her inside.  He settled her on the couch, tucking her feet up under her blanket, and puffing up pillows for her to lean against, making sure she was cozy.  He rubbed her hands vigorously to get the circulation going.

"This won't do," he said.  "You'll make yourself sick."

"Don't fuss, MyKai."

"Somebody has to fuss.  Those two idiots let you send them away, instead of seeing that something is wrong and staying here with you.  I'm going to make some tea and some hot soup, and then you can tell me why you look so sad."

She smiled a little at that.  "I don't look sad."

"Yes, you do."  He kissed her forehead.  "It hurts me to see you this way."

She put her arms around him and drew him close to her, hiding her face against his neck.  "You make my heart glad when you're near," she said.  

@@@@@@@

Those in the castle who knew him --- and that was everybody --- made sure they were going in another direction when they saw him coming.  The look on his face told them something was dreadfully wrong, and a second glance convinced them they didn't want to know what it was.  Thus, almost the whole main floor of the castle was silent and deserted when ZenFAA and PartyAnimalFAA came bustling in, rubbing their hands and puffing out chubby cheeks that were apple-red from the cold.  Party carried various plastic bags stuffed with who knew what, and Zen had an armload of dried lavendar, scented tapers, and forced daffodils from the monastery.  It was these things that probably saved them from the immediate wrath of the clone waiting by the door.

"Where have you been?"  MyKai shouted at them.

Party turned white, unable to stammer out an answer --- in his secret heart, he was convinced that the dangerous Kai clone would someday kill him in an irrational fit of rage --- but Zen calmly answered:

"I was at the monastery with the Camorrans all afternoon.  Party went shopping.  Why?"

"Did either one of you think to take note of our queen's condition?"

It was Zen's turn to pale.  "What's wrong?  Is she all right?"

He started to rush for the stairs, but MyKai stopped him.

"She's all right… *now*.  No thanks to you two dimwits."

"W-what happened?" squeaked the trembling Party.

"She's depressed.  Blue.  Down in the dumps.  Having a bad---"

"We get it, MyKai," Zen interrupted.  "She wanted us out from underfoot today, and I thought it best to give her some time to herself.  Since you say nothing has happened to her, I still think I was right."

MyKai seethed inwardly, but he had to admit Zen had probably done what he thought best.  dgrequeen often sought solitude for periods of time, and MyKai himself knew when to back off and leave her alone.  He was convinced, however, that this was not one of those times.

"Something must be done," he said despairingly.  "I cannot stand by while she suffers."

"It bothers us, too, MyKai," Zen said.  "But what can we do?"

"Have you no thoughts of your own?  She is your queen as well as mine."

"Yes," Zen said, nodding, his face impassive.  "But we are here merely to amuse her.  *You* are the one she loves."

MyKai's face turned even paler than usual.  The two FAAs could plainly see that he would be trembling if he had not put himself under iron control.  He opened his mouth, closed it, blinked several times, and finally opened it again:

"I need your help," he managed to rasp out.

"Well, that obviously hurt," Zen said drily.

MyKai's brace clicked, and the terrified Party rushed forward.  "I know!"  he yelped, practically twisting himself in knots to please.  "Why don't we fix her another special dinner?  You know, like the one we made before we went to Halifax?”

MyKai glared at Party.  “Are you insane?  That was a disaster.”

Zen stepped forward.  “Maybe she needs a vacation.”  He leaned forward and stared meaningfully at MyKai.  "Maybe you should take her *away *."

@@@@@@@

"I have to wonder why you didn't think of this yourself."

Zen bent over the table, smoothing out an embroidered linen tablecloth and positioning the silver candlestick and crystal bud vase just so.  Every move he made was so serenely deliberate, he set MyKai’s teeth on edge.

“We’ve gone on trips before.  I don’t manage them well,” MyKai replied stiffly.

PartyAnimal insisted on making a special dinner for dgrequeen anyway.  She went down to her workshop to give them room and  MyKai went with her, but after watching her sit at her workbench starting at nothing for a while he stationed the possum outside the workroom door to act as a lookout and trudged back upstairs.

"Everyone needs a change of scenery now and then.  You should take her away to some nice, romantic spot."

"There's only so much chocolate one can do," MyKai muttered.  "Then you have to find something else to do."

"She'll love this," PartyAnimal sang from the kitchen, where he was going all out to produce something delectable.  The smells were certainly enticing, lost though they were on the detached FAA monk and the Kai clone.

For starters, he'd prepared a fresh green salad with radiccio and romaine mixed, sliced tomatoes, cucumber, olives, and pepperoncinis as garnish, and his own special herb blend and olive oil dressing.  As the main course, he was going to serve his homemade mezzaluna (half-moon ravioli) stuffed with Caprine Estates soft goat cheese, garlic roast mashed potatoes, and vinegraitte steamed broccoli.  To wash it all down, he'd prepared a pitcher of red sangria flavored with cinnamon (and wisely limited it to one pitcher).  Dessert, of course, was up to MyKai, and Party smirked to himself thinking that after *this* meal, that smug Kai would be lucky if Queenie could stay awake, even if he did manage to roll her into the bedroom.

"Feed her chocolate *now*, deadboy, and see what it gets you!" he muttered to himself and, turning to get something from the counter, ran smack into MyKai's chest.

"You said something?"  the Kai clone said impassively.

"No," Party squeaked.

"TKP says she's on her way up."

"It's all ready," Party said, weak with fright.
 
"What's all this?"  dgrequeen stood at the door, taking in the elaborate table settings, the candles, the enticing food smells, and the clones standing at attention with a look on her face approaching dismay.   "I thought we were just going to have a regular dinner.  What's the occasion?"

MyKai stepped forward and offered his arm.  "No occasion.  This is just for you, because we love you."

"Well," she said doubtfully, letting him lead her to the table where he seated her with a flourish, "it does smell good.  I suppose I could eat something."

MyKai sat down opposite her and poured out glasses of sangria.  Zen and Party sat at each side, digging in with relish, while dgre picked at her food, making the obligatory appreciative remarks.  Finally, she put her fork down.

"I suppose this is the farewell dinner?"  she said, sighing deeply.

"What?"  Startled, MyKai looked at Party,  Party gulped and looked at Zen, and  Zen studiously leaned over his mezzaluna, poking at it with his fork as if looking for the secret of its making.  TheKitchenPossum, who had until then been enjoying a soothing glass of margarita under the table, disappeared into the kitchen.

@@@@@@@

dgre went to bed with a headache, and MyKai dragged Zen and Party down to her workshop in the cellars where he could scream at them without disturbing her.

"You weren't going to tell me, were you?  You were just going to pack up and slink away like a couple of dogs, weren't you?  How long has she known about this?  Do you *care* at all what you are putting her through?  Are you---"

"Admit it, MyKai," Zen cut in smoothly, completely unfazed by the tirade, which had, by the way, attracted a small knot of curious clones just outside the door.  "You can't wait to get rid of us.  This is your fondest dream come true."

"That's beside the point!  *She* doesn't want you to go, and it's *her* feelings that count!"

"We have lives too!"  Party broke in before he shrank back behind Zen when MyKai turned toward him.  "And she wants us to live them," he added defiantly, while clinging to Zen.  "She said so."

"You are living your lives, dimwit!  What about her?"

"What about her?"  Zen said.  "We've already talked it over with her.  She agreed that it's time for us to be independent.   We're moving to Kaitown at the end of the month so Party can get married and open a bakery, and I can be closer to my job and my girlfriend.  You're just mad because nobody consulted you."

MyKai seriously considered killing him on the spot, but he knew he'd never hear the end of it if he did.  So he folded his arms and forced himself to wait.

"This is your chance," Zen went on.  "You'll have dgrequeen all to yourself from now on.  What's the problem?"

"It's making her sad,"  said the Kai clone.

"She'll get over it.  Just distract her with something.  In the end, this is the best thing for her as well as for us.  You'll see."
 

@@@@@@@

Troubled, MyKai spent the next night's patrol roaming the lower reaches of the castle on patrol, racking his mind to find some remedy for dgrequeen's depression.  But there were no answers there.  He knew Zen’s suggestion of a trip was a good one, but he didn’t know how to arrange one.  dgrequeen had always arranged the trips.  As he turned reluctantly toward home, no closer to a solution, he was distracted by the sounds of whooping and hollering echoing dimly somewhere above him.  He followed the noise, and soon found himself on the battlements, looking up in amazement at the steeply pitched roofs of the tallest towers.  It seemed Kai21 had found himself a new sport.

“Look at me!” Kai21 yelled, as he crouched slightly, long thin poles tucked under his arms.  He leaned forward, and was suddenly swooping down the slope of the roof on long, rail-like, slightly curved boards fastened to his feet.  “YEEEEHAAAAAAA!” he screamed as he sailed off the edge of the roof, over the parapets to the snowcovered ground that fell away toward the river.  He landed on his feet and continued his glide, whooping all the way, till he skidded across the frozen surface of the river to come to rest on the far side, where several other of their brothers were standing with the same thin rails resting on their shoulders.  They all laughed, and prepared to return to the castle to brace themselves back up on the roof.

“What are you doing?”  MyKai called down to them.

“We’re skiing, MyKai!”  an excited CowboyKai yelled back.  “Come on!  It’s fun!”

Intrigued, MyKai joined them on the roof, watching carefully while they stepped into thick boots that clamped onto the… “What do you call these?” he asked.

“Skis,” Kai13 answered.  “Several of the brothers got them for Christmas.  This is a great sport, MyKai, almost as good as troll golf, except there aren’t any trolls.”

“You can try mine out,” Kai21 generously offered.  MyKai started to refuse, and then shrugged.  Why not?  He dreaded facing his queen.

Kai21 helped MyKai fasten the boots and clamps, and showed him how to hold the “ski poles”.  “You just lean forward and let gravity do the rest,” he said.

Cautiously, MyKai tested the boots.  He looked out over the frozen fields and woods --- never having seen the countryside from this high up on the castle.  It was a spectacular view from up here.  On the other side of the woods, he could just see the roofs of KaiTown, and beyond that, the snowy peaks of the Xeviana Mountains.  A strange exhilaration took him, and he pushed off with the poles, hitting top speed just before he went whizzing off the edge of the roof.

He found himself whooping just the way Cowboy had done, transported by the rush of air past his face, the emptiness beneath his feet, the feeling that was almost like flying.  He instinctively leaned forward to center his weight over the skis.  “Woof!” he said as the skis hit the ground, and once again he was flying, but low to the ground this time.  In no time at all he was scraping across the river to come grinding up against the snowbanks on the far side, while WOWKai, Dionysus, Myth, and even the normally stoic Samurai, among others, laughed and congratulated him on such good form his very first time out.

“This is wonderful!” he cried.  “Do you suppose it would be possible to carry a mistress on your back while you did this?”

WOWKai laughed.  “Just get her a pair of skis of her own, MyKai, and let her do it herself!”

“Not from the roof, though,” said Dionysus.  “I don’t think the mistresses can handle the landing.  You have to put them on the bunny slope.”

“What is the bunny slope?”

“Um…” Dionysus’ brow wrinkled.  “I’m not exactly sure.  I just heard the man in the ski shop in town talking about it.  It’s for beginners who aren’t Kais, I think.  Not so far to drop.  Anyway, he said it’s better for the ladies to use the bunny slope than to ski off the roof.”

“Ah.  There is a shop in town for this?”  MyKai’s eyes lit up with a sudden thought.  “There is a place to go for skiing?”

“Oh, yes!  The shop had posters all over the walls of places called ‘ski resorts’, where people go to ski in the daytime and then sit around a fire and drink hot chocolate at night.”

“Chocolate?”  All of the Kais perked up at that.  Perhaps there were other aspects to this new sport besides just roof-skiing.

@@@@@

PartyAnimalFAA was busy in the castle kitchen when MyKai found him.  He was humming a Puccini aria to himself as he took another batch of his special banana nut/ chocolate chip cookies from the oven.  He’d promised to drop them by the Chintz Bar later that day for his girl Willie to hand out to customers with his business card.  PartyAnimal was building a customer base for that bakery he hoped to open in KaiTown in March.  He was sorry Queenie was taking his and Zen's imminent departure so hard, but he wanted to settle down with Willie and start his own life.  He couldn't stay dependent on dgrequeen forever.

The sound of MyKai’s voice made him jump and nearly lose the batch of cookies.

“Party, I need your help.”

PartyAnimal regarded the Kai clone with trepidation.  “Y-you need my help?” he stammered.

“Yes.”  MyKai seemed oblivious to Party’s obvious nervousness.  “You know how to arrange things.  I have need of your services.”

“Arrange things?  What kind of things?”

“I’ve heard of something called a ‘ski resort’.  I wish for you to arrange a stay there for myself and my queen.  And travel to and from, of course.”  MyKai hesitated.  “You and Zen are invited as well,” he added reluctantly, “but I’d prefer not to take the possum, if you don’t mind.  Or the lobster.”  After a moment’s thought, he said, “Or that insufferable tin can.”

“A ski trip?”  Party frowned doubtfully.  “Well… *I* can’t go.  And I don’t think skiing is Zen’s thing.  Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes.  I have discovered that… this ‘skiing’ is a very pleasurable thing to do.  And there is chocolate at the end of it.  I wish for you to arrange it right away.”

“No, I mean… are you sure this is what Queenie wants to do?”

MyKai pursed his lips in what, for him, passed for a frown.  “She doesn’t know about it.  It’s a surprise, to lift her spirits.”

“Ah.”  PartyAnimal pinched the bridge of his nose.  Zen was right.  Sometimes, Kai clones were the stupidest animals on the face of the planet.

“Look,” he said.  “Skiing is a pretty strenuous activity.  It just *might* not be the kind of thing Queenie likes to do.  You know?  She likes working with her hands, and listening to music, and reading, and sometimes… just *sometimes*, she likes to go dancing.”

“She likes to hike,” MyKai said defensively.  “She likes to ride bicycles.  She will like skiing.”

“Okay.”  PartyAnimal sighed inwardly, careful not to let MyKai see his doubts.  “I’ll go ahead and make the arrangements, but you better check it out with her first.  You already know, when dgrequeen ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.”
  

@@@@@

dgre was doubtful.  MyKai refused to tell her anything except that she must pack enough warm clothes for a four-day weekend.  He was as excited as a kid, which made her nervous enough, but when he informed her that they did not need airline tickets, after all, and bundled her into the car, she really started to sweat.

"Where are we going, MyKai?"

"It's a surprise," was all he would say.  But when they hit the Rte. 4 turnoff toward the Xeviana Mountains, dgre turned to him.

"MyKai," she said.  "This doesn't have anything to do with what the boys have been doing up on the roof this winter, does it?"

He pouted, and she had to turn away and look out the car window to save herself.

"That PartyAnimal is such a smart@$$," he muttered.  "Thinks he knows everything.  You'll like it, I promise.  There's chocolate at the end," he added hopefully.

"It's what comes *before* that worries me," dgre said.

She had to admit, though… Wolfram's Run Ski Lodge was quite a spectacular Bavarian-style chalet, perched up on the snowy slopes of Tichy Mountain.  Ski runs cut through the thick fir forests up the side of the mountain, criss-crossing each other like spider webs.  At one side, there was a lift that went nearly to the top.  MyKai tried to act cool, but he was as astonished as dgre, which made him oblivious to the women falling into snowbanks as he, carrying their bags, led the way into the lobby.

"My name is MyKai," he said to the woman at the desk.  "I have a reserv----hello?"  He leaned over the desk to look at the woman who was now lying on the floor.

Another desk clerk, a male this time, rushed forward, and together the two of them managed to revive the woman.  She groaned, asked where she was, looked up into two hazel eyes, and promptly passed out again.

"Sorry," said the male desk clerk.  "I don't know what's gotten----" For the first time, he took a good look at MyKai, and then he, too, dropped to the floor like a stone.

"Great!"  dgre muttered.  "Now I know where to send Crescendo if he ever decides to take a vacation."

Eventually, with much fuss and many profuse apologies from Hotel Management, the clerks were revived, the reservation confirmed --- "Ah, here we go, Mr. Mike Kai," said the manager--- and MyKai and dgre were escorted to their room by a bored kid pushing a huge brass-decorated luggage cart loaded with nothing but their two small bags.  The kid waited at the door when they went in, hand out.  MyKai smiled, shook his hand, and closed the door on him.

"Friendly people," he remarked to dgre.

@@@@@

They wasted no time in getting out on the slopes.  The hotel provided skis at a nominal fee for beginners, and even dgre was beginning to get into the spirit of things.  She listened carefully while the instructor explained things at the crest of the bunny slope, but MyKai was impatient.

"I already know how to ski," he insisted.  "I skied at home.  I'm good at it.  Everybody said so."

There was one thing he hadn't taken into consideration, however.  Skiing off a roof is a relatively straightforward maneuver:  push off, keep your weight centered, knees flexible, whoosh, you're gone.  On a ski slope at a ski lodge, you are not the only one on skis.  MyKai realized, halfway down, that he didn't know how to change direction.

"ACK!" he screamed at the women and children sedately sliding down the gentle slope ahead of him.  "GET OUT OF THE WAY!!! I CAN'T STOP!"

Hotel Management was, once again, very understanding, especially after dgre made her insurance information available to all involved.  It was politely suggested that MyKai, being a Kai after all --- they'd heard vague rumors about Kais, but had naturally supposed they were safe from them, being high in the mountains --- might like to try a largely unused trail on the far side of the mountain.  It was, they assured him, barely more difficult than their own bunny slope, so easy in fact that even dgrequeen could ski it without danger if she liked.  They offered transportation to it in the form of the bored kid and a tandem snowmobile.

"Nice hairdo, dude," said the kid as they climbed on.

"Thanks," said MyKai.  "It's Brunnen-G."

"Yeah?  I think I heard a them.  Opened for the Naugahyde Thong concert at the Convention Center last year, didn't they?"

"Huh?"

They roared down the forest trails, kicking up a monstrous rooster tail of snow, dgrequeen hanging onto MyKai's waist for dear life.  Good thing he didn't need to breathe.  The kid, of course, was thinking to himself that he probably wouldn't get a tip this time either, and kicked the engine into high gear.  MyKai had to tuck his braid into the neck of his ski jacket to keep it from beating dgrequeen to death.

They slid to a stop at the top of the aforementioned slope in a shower of snow, and sat, looking down into the valley.

"Are you sure this is the right trail?" dgre asked.  "It looks awfully steep."

"This is the one.  There's a phone box at the bottom.  When you're done, give us a ring and we'll pick you up, takes five minutes."  And then he was gone in a cloud of vaporized snow and gasoline fumes.  dgre peered over the edge.

"This doesn't look right, MyKai.  This is much steeper than the bunny slope."

"I'll be at your side all the way down," MyKai said confidently.  "Besides, it's the only way to get back, unless you want to walk."

Back at the lodge, the manager stopped Bored Kid as he slouched, whistling, through the lobby.  "You took them to Sunny Meadows, right?"

Bored Kid:  "Aw heck!  I thought you said the Screamer.  Dang!  Oh, well."

And scream she did, all the way down.

MyKai tried desperately to help her keep her footing, but she began to flail in panic and pulled  him over.  Halfway down the mountain she was sitting on top of him, hanging onto his bun, and screaming bloody murder, while he cut a new trail with his face.

At the bottom, he gradually slowed to a stop.  He rolled over, knocking her off, and sat up, spitting snow.

"AGH!  HACK!  *cough *!  PTOOIE!!"

"MyKai!"  dgre blubbered.  "Don't ever do this to me again!"

Wisely, he did not call for Bored Kid to come pick them up.  He would have been obliged to dismember that miscreant, and he supposed that dgre --- not to mention Hotel Management --- would be even more unhappy with him than they were already.  Instead, he picked her up and carried her like a baby all the way back to the hotel, grim-faced and silent.  This was not turning out at all like he'd hoped.  

Back in their room, he ran a hot shower and put her in it, and then he picked up the phone and had a long, very quiet discussion with the manager.

When she came out of the shower, bundled in mounds of terry cloth, she saw that he had laid out her freshly cleaned ski outfit.

“Oh, no!  MyKai, I’m never going skiing again!”

He looked down at the outfit spread on the bed and smiled.  “No, it seems skiing is not the sport for you.  But there is something else we can do.”

@@@@@@@

The lake below the lodge shimmered in the moonlight like frosted glass.  On the slope above them, the lodge blazed with light like a fairy palace.  MyKai finished tying on dgrequeen's skates and grinned up at her where she sat on a bench, staring at the ice.

"The manager said the skates are free of charge for as long as we want them, if we just promise to stay off the ski slopes."

“Do you know how long’s it been since I was on skates?  Are you trying to kill me?”

He stood up and took her hands.  “The Hotel Manager told me it’s like riding a tricycle.  Once you know how, you never forget.”

“That’s bicycle,” she said shakily, clutching his arm as he guided her out onto the ice.  “And I’m not so sure.”

"Trust me," he said.  "I will always be here."

With unerring Kai balance and skill, he held her steady as they glided across the frozen surface.  An owl hooted in the dark woods across the lake, but other than that there was no sound except the steady scrape of runners on ice.  dgrequeen's breath rose in white plumes trailing behind as they picked up speed.  Soon, they were flying, dgrequeen braced against MyKai's arms as they circled the lake.  He looked down at the sound of her laughter, and saw her eyes sparkle like stars.  He swept her into a pirouette, laughing at her as she squealed, partly with fear, and partly in utter delight.  Then he opened his arms, and she threatened to spin out of control, but in that instant, he caught her hands and they circled, slowing to a dreamy waltz under the frosty moon.

"I know what you're doing," she said.  

"What am I doing?"

"You're trying to make me feel better, because the boys are leaving me."

He swept her into his arms and looked down at her as they continued to glide.  Then he bent and kissed her deeply.  "Is it working?" he whispered against her cheek.

She folded her arms around his neck and, sighing, laid her head against his chest.  "Nope.  I think we'll have to do this some more."

He smiled.  "As you wish, my queen."

@@@@@@@

The car was finally packed, leaving just enough room for the two of them to squeeze in for the ride to town.  Zen would be returning it later, when they had settled in their respective places.  They had even rented a roof pouch that was straining at the seams on top of the car.  The poor thing groaned on its axles, and dgrequeen wondered how they had ever fit that much stuff into her place.

Party tossed in a last duffel bag, and then came around the car and stood beside Zen, who was uncharacteristically fidgeting with nervousness.  They both shuffled their feet and looked uncertain, and then Zen lunged forward and threw his arms around dgre.

"I'm going to miss you so much," he said, near tears.

"Zen, you're just moving into town," she answered, hugging him tight.  "I'll see both of you every time I go shopping."

PartyAnimal's eyes filled up and he began to hiccup.  "I'm sorry for leaving you, Queenie," he said, practically sobbing.  "We can stay, if you like… till after Valentine's Day."

"No, you silly.  You have to spend Valentine's Day with your girlfriends.  It's only right."  She put her arms around the tearful clone and hugged him too.  "I am going to miss your cooking, though."

"I left my best recipes with FAAnboy," he said, "to pass on to the ladies in the kitchen. "

dgre smiled at him, and held his and Zen's hands.  "Take care of yourselves, boys.  Live a good life."

Behind them, 790Thirteen, observing all this leavetaking from his little cart, rolled his eyes.  "Puh-leeeeze!  My circuits are starting to clog up with all this goo."

MyKai kicked the cart, making the robothead yelp, and smiled innocently at dgrequeen when she glanced back to see what was going on.

"Y'know, I'm really going to miss the fat boys," TheKitchenPossum remarked, smoothing her whiskers nonchalantly.  "The kitchen's going to seem mighty empty now."

"Tsk!"  said LexxLobster.  "You're just going to miss the leftover lasagna and canelloni.  But *I* will fill you up, my love," he added, leering at the possum.

The FAAs climbed into the car, and with a last wave goodbye, drove off.  dgre sighed and trudged back to MyKai, allowing him to enfold her in his arms.  Together they watched the car until it was out of sight.  dgre sighed.

"Well," she said, "that's that."

"Are you sad, my love?"  MyKai asked.

"I'm feeling much better, MyKai," she said, "since our little adventure at the ski lodge.  That was a good idea."  She grinned up at him.  "I thought my heart would be broken, but… it was time.  From now on, it's just you and me." 

"And me!" piped up the possum.

"And me," said the lobster.

"And ME!" growled the tin can.

dgrequeen laughed, and the long-suffering MyKai just sighed.