‘Love can be cruel,’ she thought. A part of her still wished she loved Aejoa the same way she loved Joone, so Aejoa wouldn’t have to go through ...his. ‘I too am sad the Winin is upset, Maijien,’ said Mooje. ‘Broken love is a hard part of life. Did you know my mate was not the first woman I fell in love with?’ ‘Ei,’ – yes, replied Majgen, transmitting, ‘I’ve seen.’ ‘For men broken love is a very regular part of life. Many of us never get a mate to rescue us from that returning agony. The Winin is. "I paused."But why should it matter?" I asked. "That's your past. It's not who you are today. You're a healer now. A true healer, and not just a woman trying to save the world one man at a time."She laughed lightly, jostling against me. It was a contented laugh, and so I held her tighter."Still trying to save the world, mind you," I said. "Just in bigger chunks."Sherri lightly punched me in the side, so I kissed her forehead."I love you, too," I said.She laughed, harder this time. "I may. That'swhat you want, isn't it? To be a girl? I don't know how to ask this ofyou. I'm sorry." Thank you!" I took the panties and put the whole package in myunderwear drawer."How do we talk about this, son? See what I mean? This is just plainweird. How does a mother talk to his son about panties? Nobody told methat being a mother was going to be so hard!" I'm not sure how to respond, Mother." That's what I'm talking about. Before this, I was just plain 'mom.' Andnow you're calling me Mother.. They had scrubs and sneakers, but no socks or underwear.We were able to break into the service bay with a metal shop. I was surprised at how complete it was. It held a few nice toys, such as a oxy-acetylene rig with short tanks. Both gauges showed pressure. It would be messy, but I could make short work of any lock I was bound to find in a building like that. A bank vault? Not so much.A neater solution sat on a metal shelf. It was an angle grinder. A partially empty box of cutoff wheels sat.