Rio paused in her narrative and opened another bottle of beer. She took a few swallows, staring meditatively into the fire. Iroha watched her, a thoughtful look in her eyes. After a moment, she said, "So you took him in, gave him your bed, and fed him, in the hopes of nursing him back to health. Did he cooperate after that first night?"

"More or less, though he always was a stubborn man. Weren't you, Vaughn?" she said, a half smile curving into the corners of her mouth.

"Reckon so. No more stubborn than you, though," he said with a grin as he leaned farther back and closed his eyes. "As I recall...."

**************

When he woke up in the morning and sat up to look around, Rio was gone. She'd built the fire up again, and he could see a pot simmering on the stove and smelled the comforting fragrance of simmering rice. He tried to stand, but as he immediately felt lightheaded and unsteady, he quickly sat back down. He started coughing again, wincing at the pain stabbing into his chest and grating his throat. Just then, the front door opened and Rio stepped in.

"You're awake," she observed as she went straight to the kitchen, shedding her snow-covered boots and coat on the way. Her cabin was small, just one open room, so he could see her as she stood on tip-toe to pull a bottle off a shelf. She poured some of the amber liquid into a small glass, added a spoonful of honey, then pulled a container from the fridge. She took out a wedge of lemon and squeezed the juice into the glass, mixing it all together before bringing it to him. "Here, drink this," she said, handing the glass to him. He tossed it back, choking from the shock of pain on his raw throat. It only lasted a moment, though, and soon he began to feel more comfortable as the whiskey dulled the pain.

"Thanks," he rasped as he handed her the glass.

She took the glass and returned to the kitchen, where she washed and dried it, setting it aside in case of another coughing fit. After that, she took the rice from the stove and stirred in milk, spices, and sugar to make a creamy porridge. She ladled up a bowlful and poured a glass of juice, then brought them to him and took a seat in the chair by the bed, watching as she waited for him to eat.

He took a bite of porridge, then looked over at her watching him in silence. He took a second bite, then set the bowl down on the bedside table and scowled at her. "What?" he growled. She looked startled, but didn't reply. "Don't stare at me. You're makin' me lose my appetite," he grumbled, picking his bowl back up.

Shock and hurt flickered across her face, and she abruptly stood up. Snatching her coat from the peg by the door, she glanced back at him, tears in her angry eyes. "Sorry I make you physically ill. I'll go away so you can eat in the pleasure of your own company." Then she flung herself out the door, leaving him sitting in bed, startled, with the spoon frozen halfway to his mouth.

Setting the bowl back on the table, he hastily pulled his boots on and chased after her, shouting, "Rio! Wait!" He could see her up ahead of him, crossing the bridge to Verdure Island, her heavy boots pounding a staccato beat as she half-walked, half-ran across the planks. Either she didn't hear him or else she was ignoring him, because her pace didn't slow as he reached the bridge. Shivering with the cold, he started to step onto the bridge when another fit of coughing doubled him over.

She heard that, at least, and turned around. Running back across the bridge, she grabbed him and hauled him back to his feet, pulling him back into her house. "You promised!" she berated him, slamming the door closed and rounding on him, her eyes flashing.

He dropped down on the edge of the bed, feeling dizzy and breathless. "I was trying to catch you," he muttered as soon as he'd recovered some of his breath.

"I don't know why, if you find me so goddessdamned repulsive that you can't even eat with me around," she snapped, storming into her kitchen to mix up another shot of whiskey with lemon and honey. "And that doesn't change the fact that you promised you'd stay put 'til you were better!"

Scowling, he stood and strode over to her. "It's not like that at all, Rio. I... I just get uncomfortable when you stare at me."

"Right," she snapped, squeezing the lemon into the glass and giving it a final stir. "That sure explains why you've been avoiding me and acting like you can't stand to be near me." She turned and handed him the glass. He stared for her a moment before taking the glass. Her cornflower eyes were glistening with tears, and though her expression was furious, he saw hurt there, too, and saw that her lip trembled within her frown. He set the glass down, untouched, and looked at her for a moment.

"Rio, I... I'm sorry. I've been avoiding you because... well, you already said you don't remember that night we were drinking on Meadow Island, right?"

She nodded, biting her lip a little and looking down at the floor. He reached down and tilted her chin up, looking into her face. "Then... you don't remember kissing me?"

Her eyes widened and her cheeks turned scarlet. "I what? No! I... I didn't really... d-did I?" She looked away again, whispering, "So that's why... I-I'm sorry, Vaughn. I guess that explains why you've been avoiding me. If you didn't think much of me before, you must really despise me now. No wonder you don't even want me near you."

She turned away to walk towards the door, her cheeks flaming red, but he caught her hand and refused to let her go. "No, Rio, that's not it, either."

Looking at him in confusion, she said, "But then, why—"

"Because ever since that night, I've been wanting to do this," he said, and he pulled her close to him and kissed her, pressing his lips to hers as a sudden warmth unfolded inside his chest and spread all through him, thawing him from the inside out.

**************

"Ohhh!" Felicity sighed, hugging Rod's knee, "that's so romantic!"

"Darling, how could you ever think anyone would be repulsed by you? You're absolutely perfect!" Allen chided her, though he was smiling in amusement as he shook his head at her.

Rod leaned down and tossed a couple of logs onto the fire, and Amir looked at Rio and Vaughn curiously. "Were you not concerned that you might infect Miss Rio, kissing her while you were ill?"

Vaughn grinned and looked over at the exotic young man. "Naw, I gotta admit, it wasn't exactly the first thing on my mind at the time."

Rod guffawed and Allen snickered. Tina clapped her hands, saying, "Then... did you two... you know, did you...."

Allen rolled his eyes and reached over to pat her on the head. Looking at Vaughn, he said, "She wants to know if you had sex afterwards."

Rio choked on her beer, and Iroha thumped her back as she sputtered and coughed. Vaughn stared at him, then chuckled. "Well, the little lady gets right to the point, doesn't she? No, we did not—not then, anyway. But that was how it all started with us."

Iroha looked at him speculatively. "That may have been the beginning, but then, what was the end? Since clearly you two are no longer together."

Rio looked up at her friend sharply, suspecting where she was going—given certain private conversations the two had shared over the years. She said, "My Mama once told me that the kindest word ever spoken was the unkind word left unspoken. And that's all I'm going to say about that."

Vaughn tugged his hat back down over his brow and stared into the fire. "That's generous of you, Rio—you always had a good heart. But I've gotta be fair."

He leaned forward and grabbed another beer, twisting it open and taking a long pull. After a moment of thought, he said, "The things I did... all the shit I put you through... those were the biggest mistakes of my life. Everything I did that drove you away.... Well, I wish I could take it all back, make it like it never happened. But as the saying goes, 'If wishes were horses...'."

"'Beggars would ride'," Rio finished, softly. She shook her head slightly and frowned at her half-empty bottle before taking another swallow. "Well, Vaughn—"

"I know," he interrupted. "I blew it. I had the golden opportunity of a lifetime with you, and I threw it all away." He took another long pull at his beer, then slowly swirled it around as he stared ahead of him.

"Well, what happened?" Felicity asked, her eyes shining with eager anticipation.

Vaughn chugged the rest of his bottle and stood up abruptly, dropping it back into the case with the other empty bottles. Then he strode towards the river, nothing more than a shadow at the edge of the flickering firelight. They could see him stoop to pick something up and then throw it with all his might, and they heard the plopping sound of a stone dropping into the river. He threw several more stones into the rushing waters, then he stood there, head bowed and shoulders hunched, for several minutes before slowly returning to the fire.

He pulled out another bottle and opened it, and downed a third of it at once before sitting back down on the log. He pulled his hat a little lower and sat with his forearms resting on his thighs, staring down at the ground between his boots. Finally he looked up, first at Felicity, then turning his gaze to each of them in turn before it finally settled on Rio, who sat staring into the fire.

With a sigh, he said, "I got scared, that's what happened. I got scared, and I did things I shouldn't have done."

"What kinds of things?" Tina asked, breathlessly.

"I... well, I took her for granted, for one. I was reluctant to commit to her, afraid...." He took a deep breath. "Afraid she'd wake up one morning and realize she was saddled with an old man, and her still young and so full of life herself. That she'd move on to someone else—someone... someone younger. I was well aware that there were plenty of other men in the islands nearer her age who had their eyes on her. So I pushed her away. I... I cheated on her, that's what I did. Fooled around with other girls while I was away at work on the mainland. Just because I was afraid to take that last step. I'm sorry, Rio. You deserved better than what I gave you, than what I could offer you—I always knew you did."

She looked up at him, her eyes sparking with suppressed anger. "That's not what you told me after you found me," she said, taking another swig of beer as she watched him, her eyes narrowed.

"I know. Even then... even then, I couldn't admit to it—couldn't admit what a scared little fool I'd been. I guess reminiscing about the past—our past—made me realize that I had to come clean, that I owed you that much."

Iroha looked at him, tapping a finger thoughtfully against her cheekbone. "So... now you're here, and Rio has moved on and found someone else. What happens next?"

Vaughn finished his beer in one long swig. He looked at Iroha first, then over at Rio. Then he said, "Well, now, that's the real question, isn't it?"