AUTHOR: player

RATING: PG

CATEGORY: Episide Filler, Romance, and Drama.

SPOILERS: Everything up to Fractures.

SUMMARY: Some much-needed words are said.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters, the Jim Henson Company does.

ARCHIVING: If you want it, ask me first.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: That's a pretty original title, ain't it? ;) Anyway, I was just too lazy to come up with anything else. And after reading some of the posts on the bboard about JohnB and Aeryn getting together without even thinking about JohnG, I got to thinking. I'm not a shipper and I never will be since I don't really care if J&A get together or not, but since they've gotten together and (according to TPTB) will get together again...I felt that I had to write this in response to those posts. I could've written an extremely short essay on it, but I'm not that great at writing those. So I wrote this fic instead. And I know I said I don't work on other fics when I've already got one going, but I just had to write this.

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She sat alone in the central chamber eating her small ration of food cubes and water. There was more food there that she liked since they actually had a taste to them, but soldiers didn't eat more than what their bodies required. Or at least that's what she told herself. She didn't feel like eating, but her body required it if they were going to carry out Crichton's plan to stop Scorpius. So she sat there alone eating the minimum amount of rations that Peacekeeper regulations required to keep the Sebacean body functioning.

Looking up from her tray, she watched through the portals in front of her and observed Talyn floating there in front of Moya. He really was a magnificent creature. She cared for him deeply, but that was the problem. Sooner or later, Talyn was going to leave her and hurt her, too, but she wouldn't allow that to happen. She wasn't going to let anyone hurt her ever again, especially not Talyn. She wasn't going to care about him any longer. Or at least, that's what she told herself she was going to do. Deep down inside she knew it would be a struggle to not care about him, but she wasn't going to be hurt again and she would fight her feelings for as long as it took.

A sudden movement from behind brought her out of her reverie and she swiftly turned in her seat while she switched the fork she was using to her left hand as another weapon and went straight for her holstered pulse pistol. Seeing that it was only Chiana, she relaxed and turned back around to resume her meal. She listened as Chiana opened the refrigeration unit behind her, closed it, and walked towards her to sit down on the other side of the table, directly opposite her. She glanced up at Chiana in disbelief when she noticed that the brash Nebari had grabbed some cerannine fruit and had started to peel off its skin.

"What?" Chiana asked when she noticed Aeryn's expression.

Aeryn incredulously shook her head as she dug her fork into a food cube and popped it into her mouth, not caring if Chiana wanted to take the chance of getting herself killed if she swallowed one of the fruit's poisonous seeds.

The two sat there for nearly a quarter arn in complete silence as they ate, with Chiana carefully removing the seeds from the cerannine with a fork. Aeryn had noticed that Chiana was discreetly glancing at her every few microts or so and looked like she wanted to say something. She slammed her fork down onto the table as Chiana's glances were starting to get on her nerves and yelled, "What?"

"What? I'm just eating here."

"Chiana, if you have something to say, then say it," she answered icily.

"All right," she stated as she put down the fork and cerannine. She sat there in silence for a few microts while looking down at the table and, to Aeryn, she looked as if she was trying to find the right words. Chiana rapidly looked up at Aeryn and yelled, "What the frell's the matter with you?"

Aeryn was taken aback, but she remained silent and kept a calm appearance as she waited for Chiana to go on.

"During the entire time you were on Talyn with John, did you ever think that there was another John here on Moya and that he loves you, too?"

"Chiana, we are not going to have this conversation, so you might as well stop."

"No, Aeryn, we are going to have this conversation and you're going to sit there and listen to what I have to say."

"No..."

"Pilot, shut the door and lock it," Chiana interrupted.

"Pilot," Aeryn said as she got up and walked over to the door. "Open the door now."

"He's not going to do that, Aeryn," Chiana softly said. "Even he knows that you need to talk, and I told him that I was going to try to talk to you. So he's not going to let you out until you've talked."

"Fine," she stated and walked back towards the table without any intention to talk as Chiana wanted. As she walked, she noticed that Chiana was politely waiting for her to sit down, which was something she never thought she'd see.

Once Aeryn sat down, Chiana looked Aeryn right in her eyes and started again. "Aeryn, we're all sorry that John died, but the other John is still alive and is here on Moya. He still loves you and you can't just shut him out. We all know that you're hurting and that you're angry, but you can't ignore him and his pain just because he's not your John."

Aeryn tried not to listen to Chiana's words, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't help it. She didn't want to admit it, so she just sat there, looking down at the table and picking at her food.

"C'mon, Aeryn. You betrayed him when you left. I know what you and John did while you were on Talyn. That was a betrayal because you left with someone who wasn't him. Frell, did you even think about him while you were away?"

"How dare you," Aeryn snapped, as she shot up while planting her fists on the table and leaning on them to tower over Chiana. "How dare you act as if he was nothing and how dare you judge what we did and had on Talyn. With the retrieval squad chasing us, either one of us could've been killed at any time, and neither of us knew when we would find Moya again, that's if we would find Moya at all. So, what did you expect? Do you really think that you would not have done the same if you were in our situation? But none of that really matters now. He is dead. He left me, and..."

"No, Aeryn," Chiana interrupted sternly. "He's not dead. He's here on Moya. He's the same John who came through that wormhole. He's the same John whom you followed through that wormhole when you thought he went home. He's the same John who went down to the Gammak Base and was tortured so you could get a paraphoral nerve transplant. He's the same John who stood side-by-side with you as the Venek Horde attacked that old monastery. And he's hurting, Aeryn. He's here and needs you. Just like you need him. Yes, the other John is dead. I know you're hurting and that you loved him. I'm not saying that you should forget him and jump into this John's arms. But you have to talk to him. You can't just act as if he's not here because he is. He is still John, and I know you two still love each other."

Aeryn sat there letting Chiana's words sink in. She knew everything that Chiana had said was true. But the situation was so bizarre and unlike anything that she had ever experienced before that she had trouble wrapping her mind around it.

"Pilot," Chiana said as she got up and walked around the table. "Unlock the door." As the door opened, Chiana walked up to Aeryn and added, "But if it'll help, I probably would have done the same."

As Chiana walked out the chamber, Aeryn sat there and stared out of the portals.

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