The clarity of immediacy. As a goal a permanentcommitment looked great, even with all the legal problems we'd run into,but as it turned into a soon-c...ming reality the light changed and litsome shadowed areas we hadn't noticed before. We were still friends, andoccasionally we slept together, but we no longer lived together.It was about that time that I applied for my Investigator's license.Sigmund might make something of that, but I don't think he'd be right.Especially since I turned out to be. The noise got louder, increasingly sounding like a roaring freight train racing by right next to us at high speed. My ears ached from the sound and the air pressure. The bridge shook. The steel beams that weighed tons and tons shook at their roots right beside us. Dust and farm rubble continued past us; the eddies pelted us with detritus. At that point, I guessed the wind velocity under the bridge had passed well over a hundred-fifty miles an hour. I couldn't believe the speed would go much. "No casualties to report, Sir. Also, the squad leaders reported only four enemy healers had made it to the cliff top before we ignited their ropes. The Reborn hit the healers first and all of us had a hand in mopping up the fighters." Good work," I noticed my old Forsaken blade lying in two pieces on the ground. I nudged it with my boot. "Think we can repair it?"The young Rogue eyed the black blade, suspiciously. "I hope not!" he said, firmly. "What a terrible weapon!" There are worse," I said,. No, not holding up; they were held up. Mom had tied her hands together and pulled them up with a rope through the ring in the ceiling and was standing on the rope to keep them up."Tie it off," she said, wiggling her leg.I picked up the rope and wound it around the cleat on the wall. "Did you prepare yourself?" Prepare myself?" You know."Oh, the condom. I stumbled getting back to the drawer in my bedside table and swore twice when my eagerness to put it on set me back. I was almost back to Mom.