Katarina followed Lance silently across the field towards the abandomed tractor. While silence would have normally been comfortable with her youngest brother, Katarina could practically feel the tension rolling off of his shoulders and hear the weels spinning in his head. He would bring up whatever was on his mind when he felt like it, and so for now Katarina followed him along, trying to place her footsteps in his.

When they finally reached the tractor, Lance offered to help her up, ?Jist gotta steer it towards th? barn.?

?I know where th? tractor goes.? Katarina lifted her chind slightly as she settled into the seat, ?Ain?t been gone tha? long.?

?Sure feels like it.? She could still catch his mumble as he started to push the tractor back to the barn. The process would be slow, but thankfully the barn wasn?t terribly far. Katarina nearly expected the entire trip to be silent, before Lance said between breaths, ?Ya love ?im, dun?cha??

Katarina sighed quietly and rolled her eyes up for several moments, ?I wouldn?t drag ?im ?cross th? ?verse if I didn?.? She paused, before continuing, ?I thin? he?s gonna be ?round fer a long while, yeah??

?Katie, I know this ain?t gonna be news ta ya,bu? ya?ve put th? both o? ya ?n a hard predicamen?, righ?? Mean, kin?t even hold his hand, fer pity?s sake.? His breath seemed relatively easy, considering his labor.

?Look, i?s nah like I planned er asked fer it. Trus? me, I know th? situation betta ?n you?ll eva know. Ya tryin? ta argue ?bout it ain?t gonna help. I?s a li?l too late fer tha?, yeah?? Her hands tightened on the wheel as the tires followed the natural dirt rather than heading for the barn.

?I know tha?. I jist hope ya?re ready ta ?cept all tha?. Ta ?cept sharin? lives o? solitary, ?cause tha?s wha? it is. Sure, ya hav? each other, bu? really, nah ?n all th? bes? ways. Ain?t sayin? I dun like ?im, bu? ya?ll ar? breakin? my heart.? A grunt punctuated his words as they neared the barn, ?Ya gotta turn harder, Katie.?

?Well, it dun ?xactly hav? lot?sa give when it ain?t on!? Her voice was distinctly irritated as she added more strength into turning the tractor into the barn. It was like he was poking his finger against her bruise that was already sore. ?Ain?t like we aren?t tryin? ta fin? a way ta fix it. Ya forget tha? he?s th? one tha?s isolated. We?ve go? a coupl?a thin?s ?n min?.?

Silence filtered between them once more as he pushed the tractor into the barn, once it was situated, he wordlessly stood and offered his hand again to assist her down. Once they were eye=level, his words came out softly, ?I jist wan? ya happy, Katie. Ya know tha?. If there was anythin? I could do er say ta make it betta, I would. Bu? ya said tha? ya had thin?s ta work ou?, an? so I?ll take yer word tha? ya?ll ar? doin? everythin? ya possibly kin.? He brushed some of her hair off of her cheek, smearing some grease and dirt in the process, before kneeling down to try and assess the problem of the tractor.

Katarina was too stunned to follow Lance; instead she continued to stand with her lips parted slightly in surprise. Were they doing everything they possibly could? No, I?m not. The thoughts echoed instantly in he rmind, and stunned her further. All of her pronounced affections were hollow words, if she never truly acted upon them. Her fear of the modifications and selfish desire for Locke to find a way to make himself warm first stood in the way.

Slowly she knelt on the ground next to her brother. He had opened her eyes on a situation he didn?t even know existed. ?Thanks, Lance. Fer yer concern.? Simple love warmed and calmed her emotions. She looked at the tractor, and all the complications of the machine. Try as she might, Katarina never understood more than the basic construct. The warm, fuzzy feelings dipped as she reached out to lightly grasp a disconnected tube, ?Well, here?s th? problem, Wun function wit? no oil.?

?Well, tha?s good.? Lance ducked his face from her view as he reconnected the tube, ?Glad it ain?t somethin? serious.?

Katarina?s eyes narrowed on him, ?Lance Smith, ya disconnected it yerself ta try an? git me ou? here. Damnit, I?d a come if ya jist asked!? She laughed alonside him, but it felt all wrong. Deep inside, fear, guilt, and determination made the laugh feel fake.

"What precisely do you mean by that?" Locke's voice was still warm and friendly, but the smile was slowly fading into a more neutral expression.

"I mean what's the plan for ya an' Katie." Trisha tried to soften her features into a slight smile as she watched his fade, "Don't be mad for me askin' ya. She's moved in with ya and brought ya home. It get's me all wonderin'."

"You're asking about...marriage...family, children, those sorts of things, yes?" The pauses weren't made out of hesitation; rather, it seemed like he was weighing carefully whether or not he should say those words at all.

"Yes, those sort of things." She moved her cheek off of her palm so that her arms could cross loosely over the counter.

"You should ask her about them as well, but I will say my piece on the matter. I do not know what the future holds but...I find it incredibly hard to picture one without her. There are some things that still need to be resolved-" He pinched a blue cheek for emphasis. "but...but I am not going anywhere. Does that answer your question satisfactorily?"

She tapped a finger lightly against the counter top, before giving a warm smile and nodding, "Yes, it does. But one bi' of advice?" Her eyes glanced upwards for a moment before she continued, "I know Katarina's heart has been torn ta bits before. She migh' not eva tell me 'bout it, but I have good eyes, and I know when someone has touched my daughter's heart. Just 'cause circumstances change, don' mean she doesn' want some of th' same things, yeah?" She gave him a reassuring pat to a gloved hand.

"I won't do that," he said, in response to her words about heartbreak, shaking his head strongly. He placed one of his hands over his heart to add weight to the oath. "I swear it. And whatever happens, whatever we decide, we will do so together." An equally strong nod accompanied his last statement.

"Shiny." She gave a dimpled smile, "I like ya a lot, Locke. Fives days is just not long 'nough, yeah? Ya'll be gone tomorrow, an' it went by so fast. I hope ya'll come back ta visit soon. Maybe when it's colder so ya aren't stuffed up here in the house with me."

"I would like that as well. As relaxing as this vacation was, I don't feel that I have truly gotten an adequate feel for what Hope is truly like. It would be aces to explore outdoors more than I was able to this time." He half-spun on the stool, giggling a little to himself as he did so.

"Don't let Johnathan hear you say tha'. He'll put ya straigh' ta work." She chuckled, before moving away from the counter and towards the window, peering through the curtains to see if she could see anybody.

He laughed, craning his neck to look out the window as well. "If I was working, then it wouldn't be much of a vacation, would it?"

?Ya can't say I didn' give ya a fair warning." She leaned slightly out of the way and pointed to the rustling that moved through the stalks of corn, even though no one could be seen, "Looks like they a' least put the tractor 'way."

He hopped off the stool to stand beside Trisha near the window and get a closer view of the goings-on outside. "Well, that's aces, at the very least." He brushed a stray lock of white hair that had come loose from his spikes out of his eyes.

Finally, Katarina came through the clearing of the cornstalks and started for the house. Similar looks of grease and dirt were placed all over her, including her left cheek. She also was holding a small weaved basket with berry-stained hands. The slight smile on her face seemed very, very sad.

"C'mon, don't want ta look like we're spying." Trisha either missed the sad smile or acted like she didn't see it as she let the curtain fall back to its original position and moved away from the window.

"Right-o." Locke was quick to resume his previous spot sitting at the counter. He busied himself this time with palming the coin that had been set aside earlier, making it "disappear" and "reappear" in his hand.

The back door opened once more, and Katarina's smile brightened from her previous one, despite the grime on her face, "Think we go' it back up 'gain. Here, Lance said Hannah was needin' some berries fer tonigh'." She offered the basket to her mother.

Trisha pursed her lips questionably, but it eased into a smile, "Sure, dear." She took the basket and placed it in the sink to clean the blueberries.

"Was ya nice ta mah Ma?" Katarina managed a grin for Locke and almost rested her elbows on the counter, but thought better of it.

"Of course not. I was dreadfully mean to her. Made her cry stair rods and all that malarkey." He sent a quick wink over in Trisha's direction, waiting to see if she would take the ball and run with it.

"Stair rods?" Katarina gave Locke a most curious look, but when her mother gave a loud sniff and shuddered her shoulders, she laughed warmly, "Yeah, I git it. Th' lot o' ya ar' playin' me like a fiddle." She smirked.

He pointed a fake gun at Katarina and fired, with a wink especially for her. "Bingo, mate. You hit the nail on the bloody head. Tractor didn't give you too much trouble, then?"

Her expression darkened slightly, "Nah." Her answer was short, and she glanced down at the dirty jeans she had sworn to never wear again. " 'm gonna go clean up, yeah? Then we kin.. watch more holos er play cards er somethin'. Ma's real good a' blitz."

"Right-o. I will see you shortly. And you can teach me how to play blitz. If history holds up, I'll be aces at it in no time." He tossed a wink in each of their directions.

Katarina rolled her eyes and headed back up the stairs while Trisha laughed. Katarina wanted alone time with Locke, to share her discussion and revelation with Lance. But with the heat outside and the ever-present people within the home, she considered a way to avoid both.