Menkyu stared not at where he's going, but at the control panel as he piloted the jet bike under overcast skies, somewhere over Murgen. Holding the control stick firmly in his hands, he held the vehicle steady, until some painful thought would come to him. Then he would swerve the stick left or right, causing the vehicle to bank a sharp turn. He hoped that thrills and g-forces in sudden turns would help him to forget those thoughts. Often the thoughts lingered--thoughts which were composed of simple words such as "Why", "Accept", "Flowers", "Dream", "Yesterday", and "Appreciate". And "Valerie".

Suddenly Menkyu's thoughts shifted as he realized that the craft was running out of fuel. Why am I letting a girl do this to me?

He stared at the clenched fist next to the control stick. "That's it," he told himself, "I'm not going to let someone like her mess me up like this. I'm going to forget about her and..."

There were three knocks on the glass canopy.

Menkyu looked towards his right and saw Valerie on her cloud.

She placed a hand on her chest, then motioned towards Menkyu, then rapidly pointed at herself and Menkyu repeatedly, then clasped her hands together and bowed her head as if she was praying.

"What?" Menkyu said, opening his palms towards Valerie. "What are you talking about?"

Valerie repeated the motions, except that she seemed to be praying harder.

"What? Me-and you-talk-please?"

Menkyu nodded unwillingly. He powered down the craft and prepared to land it. It descended slowly until it landed on a lush meadow of tall grasses and the occasional tropical tree. Menkyu opened the canopy and jumped out.

Valerie landed a few feet from the foot of the craft. She jumped off the cloud and prepared to face Menkyu, whose eyes seemed to be a bit smaller than before...

She closed her eyes and explained herself, "Menkyu, I'm sorry if it seemed that I didn't appreciate the flowers you gave me. I merely felt that it was only too early for such a gift..."

Menkyu's fists clenched and his head tilted downward. "I-I thought you'd like them." he said.

"But I do!" Valerie explained. "I just..."

"Don't try to explain yourself!" Menkyu yelled, a drop of sweat coming down his forehead. "If I know you, you're just playing with my emotions."

"No, but...you don't know me that well..." Valerie replied.

But before Valerie could say anything else, Menkyu fished a small brown object from his pocket. In his hands it became a quarter staff. He pointed the staff at Valerie and angrily declared, "I challenge you to a duel, Valerie. Again. This time I won't play any games with you!"

Valerie yawned, "Why do you have to challenge me every time you get mad or angry or anything?" She neglected to bring out her own staff. "Don't you think it's improper to do such a thing?"

"You-you!" Menkyu snarled, clutching his staff tighter. "You played with my emotions! You made me care for you! You don't really appreciate me! You don't really care about me?"

"I... I don't care about you?" Valerie stood tall, frozen in confusion. She closed her eyes and sighed as a thunderbolt roared in the distance.

"Why-why do you... think that way? Why!?" she asked, stifling a sob. Taking on a more stern tone, she pointed at Menkyu with a long index finger. "I don't know what's wrong with you; if you don't think I've done enough to earn your trust, I won't attempt to change your mind. But neither will I gratify your thirst for my blood. As I have not wronged you, as you have not wronged me, I will not fight you. I decline the challenge."

Menkyu's eyes narrowed. His teeth clenched. His grip became tighter. A growl left his throat.

The rain fell. First in drizzles, then in larger drops which wrapped the meadow in a shiny, transparent sheet of water. Storm clouds gripped the skies and threatened to warp the afternoon into the darkness of the void. Sparks of smooth liquid crackled all around the place.

Then Menkyu loosed his grip. His hair drooped down into his face. "I--" he began in sputters. "...somehow I've convinced myself that you did something bad to me, that the only way I can forget about it is by hurting you."

"B-but... what was happening was just that... these past few days things were not going as I had wanted to. I hoped that by fighting you I would again take control. But I realize that... I cannot change everyone." he added in a sorrowful tone, though due to the rain melting his face Valerie couldn't tell if he was sad and crying, or bluffing.

Closing her eyes, Valerie remained still. Unbothered by her wet fur, drenched clothes, and drooping hair, she spoke, "Well, Menkyu," she said, "If you feel that you must make a lot of changes to me before you'll like me, then I must not be destined to be your friend. But I'd be happy to remain your friend, only if it would make you happy. It's all up to you. I won't even try to change your mind."

Opening his mouth wide to scream into the sky, Menkyu charged at Valerie with staff in hand. He swung the staff over his head down at his front, but Valerie simply took a step to the left. Afterwards, he threw the staff to his right; Valerie ducked under the swing. She gracefully stood still as Menkyu thrust the staff at her neck; because she knew it was not going to hit... that Menkyu could not--would not make it hit.

Menkyu let go of his staff. The metal shaft fell straight down into the not-so-tall grass, causing a sound akin to the rustling of leaves.

And then he fell. First on his knees, then on his hands. Then his head bobbed downward. Gripping the muddy grass, he remained on all fours, enduring the rain--and in the forbidding shadow in the face of the lightning-clad gray sky--the girl whose intentions he cannot grasp completely.

And then he wept. First the sobs came out, then the head gave way, followed by his lungs which, even though exhausted in the humid atmosphere, still had the power to sputter emotionally pained gasps from within Menkyu's back.

Valerie stood still. In the rain she watched, as Menkyu's saddened form begged for a mercy which was beyond sparing his life. And so she stooped down, down on her knees, next to Menkyu. She held his shoulder with a hand so wet with rain yet so warm and reassuring. And she whispered, only so loud as Menkyu could hear it, she whispered, "I'm sorry."

In his sobs Menkyu looked upward at Valerie's face. The smile was no longer there. He saw only the sadness in her eyes which invoked forgiveness. But he had to ask, "Valerie, why do you put up with a fool like me?"

"Because," she replied, "because don't I think you'd make a bad friend at all."

Menkyu lifted his head up to Valerie's, and he embraced her with heavy arms bearing all the rainwater in the world and the guilt he had inflicted upon himself. "I'm sorry, Valerie! I'm so sorry!"

Valerie's smile returned. She pat Menkyu on the back a few times. And then she said, "I forgive you, but only as long as we don't ride that accursed Space Shuttle™ again."

The rain abated a little, the clouds melted into the void, but the sky insisted on keeping his cloak on. Night did fall upon the world, but the moon was at least kind enough to peek from behind the dark horizon and cast a grin at anyone who was lucky enough to catch her.