It's Your (New And Improved) Life (19/22)

I eventually settle down. I'm not sure exactly when she got it, but she's suddenly wiping my face with a warm, damp cloth. It feels good. After a few minutes, she stops. "Are you going to be okay?"

I take a deep breathe. "Yeah. Yeah, actually. I think I am." A thought occurs to me. "I've sometimes thought about what it would be like to just leave my life behind and start over. What you did with your new identity. Can you do that for me?"

She stares at me for a minute, just blinking her eyes. Then a smile creeps across her face. She hugs me, saying, "I was hoping you would ask!" She sits back. "Pick a name."

"No, no," I tell her. "Your turn. I did you, now, you do me."

"Not on the first date," she says, winking. As soon as I clue in, she bursts out laughing. I must look like a cooked lobster.

She closes her eyes again. Seconds later, she opens them and says, "There you are. All done."

"So, who am I?"

"Frederick David Sinclair. On his honeymoon with his new wife, Aoiyuri."

I smile, and so does she.