Scarlett's Confession
Written By: Todd China <china@lava.net>

	"He's gone into a coma."
	With these words, tears fell down Scarlett's face and landed on Duke's as
she cradled his head.  Nearby, Lieutenant Falcon stared in shock as Duke's hand
slipped out of his.  
	"Duke," Scarlett whispered sadly.  An emptiness opened up inside her
heart, and she felt herself falling into a void.  She looked up at Falcon and
their eyes met briefly.  General Hawk touched Falcon's shoulder.
	"Don't worry, Falcon," he said, "We'll do everything we can... for Duke."
	Scarlett watched as Doc and Barbeque carried Duke back to headquarters. A
surge of emotions welled up within her, and they all pointed to one undeniable
truth.  Something she had avoided facing for all the years she had known Duke.
They had always been close friends, but suddenly it all meant so much more...

          *          *          *           *          *

	(the present - four years later)

	It was June 3.
	Having just finished a relaxing shower, Scarlett stepped out of the
bathroom of her nice, old-fashioned home in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Scarlett
came out of the shower wearing a pretty blouse and top.  Her hands moved behind
her head to brush her long, flowing, red hair and tie it into a pony tail like
she always did.  
	As Scarlett tossed her gi and black belt at a basket in the corner of her
bedroom, she noticed the telephone answering machine on the kitchen counter was
blinking.  She walked over to it and pressed 'play.'
	"...General Shore here.  Tomorrow's staff meeting time has been moved up
to 0800 hours.  Please inform the other staff officers."
	"0800 hours.  Jesus."  Scarlett shook her head in dismay. Scarlett
contemplated the hassles of her desk job at the Army base. Her personal desk and
bureau proudly displayed numerous martial arts trophies and medals won for
heroism in combat while a member of the G.I. JOE team. When she wasn't busy
doing paperwork, Scarlett taught a master-level class in Tae Kwon Do.  
	Scarlett was itching to go out, but she had no one to go with. Lady Jaye
was gone. Duke was not at home.  She had never felt as alone as she did on this
Friday night.  And on her birthday, at that.
	Her family was gone.  When Scarlett's father had died two years ago, her
brothers all went their separate ways, settling in different parts of the country.
One of them had sent a card.  Scarlett took out a cake
covered with chocolate
and decorated with a single candle.
	"Happy Birthday to me," Scarlett said with a wistful smile as she lighted
the candle.  As she gazed at the candle, she saw a framed photo at the other end
of the room.  She walked over and picked it up.
	It was a picture of her and Duke from the early years.  Their arms were
around each other's shoulders; they held each other close as they smiled for the
camera.  That was a long time ago.  Toward the end of their careers at G.I. JOE,
they had somehow drifted apart.  
	Scarlett sighed and fondly ran her finger over the photo.
	"Duke..."

	*          *          *         *          *

	"Duke," Scarlett said in an eager whisper.  Dressed in her familiar JOE
uniform, Scarlett touched Duke's forehead with one gloved hand and clasped his
hand with the other.
	"You okay?" she asked.
	Duke blinked several times, as if in a daze.  Then he recognized Scarlett,
and smiled.  He was in the G.I. JOE hospital recovering from the snake-spear
wound that had nearly killed him several days before.  His chest was heavily
bandaged.  
	"Doc tells me we won."  
	"We did win, Duke. Falcon saved the day."
	Scarlett paused.  Her eyes were downcast.
	"I'm so glad you're all right.  I --"
	Duke looked at her, waiting for her to finish what she had to say.
Scarlett meant to tell him how she felt about him, that she loved him.  But she
couldn't bring herself to say the words.
	"--we were all worried for you."  Scarlett said instead.  Duke squeezed
her hand and Scarlett got up to leave, when she heard footsteps outside the
door.
	"Hey, looks like someone beat us to him!  Howdy, Scarlett!"  
	It was Falcon.  He waved at Scarlett as he walked in, along with Snake
Eyes, Flint, Lady Jaye, and Jinx.  
	"Scarlett tells me you're a real hero now," Duke grinned as Falcon hugged
him.  
	"Aw, shucks, nothing to it," Falcon shrugged modestly.
	"I'm real proud of you, kid," Duke said with approval.
	"Now, we knew Scarlett was going to get here before us..." Flint said with
a broad smile.
	"...So we figured we could all celebrate Scarlett's birthday with your
help.  After all, it IS the third of June," Lady Jaye finished as Snake Eyes
pulled his arms out from behind his back to reveal a strawberry shortcake with
some candles on it.  Flint lighted the candles as he, Duke, Lady Jaye, Falcon,
and Jinx sang "Happy Birthday" to a surprised Scarlett.  Flushed with happiness,
Scarlett looked from one friend to another.
	"Thank you so much, you guys," Scarlett managed at last, a tear falling
down her cheek.
	Snake Eyes brought the cake before Scarlett.
	"Make a wish, honey," Lady Jaye whispered.

	Scarlett made her wish.


	*          *         *          *          *

	Eight months had passed since Scarlett's visit to Duke's hospital room. 
	Hawk paced back and forth before the Joes assembled in the meeting room.
	"As you all know, one of our ambassadors to the Middle East was kidnapped
last week.  Intelligence reports indicate he is currently being held on a secret
base located in the Florida Keys.  In addition, Cobra is rebuilding a huge
arsenal of missiles poised to strike multiple targets all across the U.S."
	A tactical map of the island appeared on the projector screen behind Hawk.  
	"We handed Cobra a severe defeat at Cobra-La eight months ago, but Cobra
remains a threat.  The majority of our forces will be mobilized immediately for
an all-out assault that we hope will destroy Cobra for good. 
	"An aerial strike will take down their missile arsenal, while a ground
force will pull out Ambassador Newman from below.  A skeleton crew will guard
the base here. Any questions?  All right, then. Move it out!"
	"YO JOE!!!"  Everyone in the room said in unison as they got up to go.

	The fleet of Tomahawk choppers and Sky Strikers streaked toward the
solitary island off the coast of Florida like a procession of avenging angels. 
	Scarlett sat next to Duke in a Tomahawk chopper, along with the rest of
the ground combat team: Low Light, Mainframe, and Beach Head.  Low Light was
polishing his sniper scope rifle, while Mainframe was dozing off, his head shaking 
with the movements of the chopper. Beach Head sat there glaring at Mainframe. 
In the chopper to the right, Scarlett could see Falcon with the
"Rawhide" gang: Jinx, Big Lob, Tunnel Rat, Chuckles, and Law and Order.  The chopper to
the  left held Flint, Lady Jaye, Snake Eyes, Gung Ho, Alpine, and Bazooka.  Hawk,
piloting a Sky Striker, led the others in the aerial force.
	The island was coming up fast on everyone's sights.  
	"Sky Strikers, pour it on!"  Hawk shouted through the intercom as the Sky
Strikers screamed ahead at full speed.  Scarlett anxiously observed the action
through a pair of binoculars.
	There were several batteries of missiles scattered in various places
throughout the small island.  The island consisted of a single mountain-like
edifice protected by the missile and gun batteries, and surrounded mostly by
forest.
	The Sky Strikers launched the first salvo of missiles and explosions
rocked the island.  There was no sign of resistance.

	Meanwhile, at 15,000 feet above the G.I. JOE base in North Carolina, the
crew of a Cobra transport plane was getting ready for action.  
	"Only G.I. JOE stands in the way of our eventual triumph. We must destroy
them," Serpentor announced to his army of Vipers.  Behind him was a telescreen
showing Dr. Mindbender, Zartan, Zandar, Zarana, and the Dreadnoks.
	"Dr. Mindbender informs me that the Joes are falling right into our hands,
as planned.  G.I. JOE headquarters is ripe for annihilation!  Vipers, prepare to
parachute!"
	Serpentor turned to the last of his elite: Destro, Baroness, Tomax, and
Xamot.  
	"You will accompany me in the flight pods."
	"COBRA!!!"
	The five raised their fists together.

	"Oh, man, I am getting one huge friggin' signal," Breaker shouted to the
others manning the communications tower at G.I. JOE headquarters.  
	"What is it, man?" Roadblock went over to Breaker's station.  
	"Looks like a giant transport vessel, five miles away and closing.  It's
Cobra."  Breaker said, finishing by blowing a giant bubble, which popped loudly.
	"No way, dude, if it's Cobra, we're screwed."  Roadblock said.  "Sound the
alert."
	He turned to the others crowded around Breaker's console.
	"DO IT!"

	Scarlett and the rest of the ground forces were on the move.  They moved
through the forest like wraiths and finally arrived at a sealed door to the
mountain.
	"Mainframe," Duke motioned quickly with a flick of his wrist.
	"I'm on it," Mainframe said as he ran up to the front.  He opened up the
door controls and after deftly performing some strategic cutting and cross-
wiring, the door slithered open.  Low Light and Snake Eyes had the point.  They
aimed their guns in readiness from a kneeling position as the door opened.  No
one.  The darkness was thick, punctured only intermittently by a few weak lights
lining the steel covered hall.
	"Man, I've got a bad feeling about this place," Alpine said with a shudder.
	"Beach Head," Duke called.  "You, Alpine, Bazooka, and Gung Ho guard this
entrance.  I don't want anyone following us in.  You got that?"
	Beach Head pulled up his M-16.  "I got it."

	*          *          *           *           *

	(two years ago)

	Scarlett stood in the pouring rain, wearing only a trench coat to keep 
dry.  Her beautiful red hair was completely soaked.  Water dripped from her face
as she knocked on Duke's door.
	"Duke," she said to him as he opened the door and gave her a surprised
look, "may I come in?"
	"Sure," he said, and opened the door.  Duke went to fix her a cup of
coffee.
	"Are you feeling all right? ... About your father, I mean." Duke asked.
	"It's hard.  Christmas, my birthday,... I missed him so much." 
	They both were silent for a moment.
	"There's something else I've been meaning to tell you," Scarlett said at
last, her voice faltering.

	*          *           *          *           *

	With Low Light and Snake Eyes at point, Duke, Scarlett, Mainframe, Flint,
Lady Jaye, Falcon, Tunnel Rat, Big Lob, Jinx, Chuckles, and Law and Order
proceeded further inside.  They reached a darkened circular room, where a man
sat tied up and gagged in a chair.  Order began barking wildly.
	"Law, shut the damn dog up!" Flint hissed.
	"Something's not right here, man.  Order's freaked." Law said, trying to
calm his dog.
	Big Lob and Chuckles moved to untie the ambassador and remove the gag.
	The ambassador suddenly pulled out two pistols with each hand and shot Big
Lob and Chuckles in the head. Before the other Joes had any time to react, the
lights in the room suddenly came on, blinding everyone momentarily.  Big Lob and
Chuckles lay on the floor, dead.
	Duke's hand-held radio came to life.  Hawk's voice could be heard.
	"Duke," he said, "Abort.  Do you copy?  Those missiles are FAKES -
they're nothing but a bunch of empty shells, do you hear me?  We're being
ambushed!  Get back to the choppers right away.  Abort!! Do you copy???"
	"Ah, our heroes realize too late that they've walked into a trap," the
ambassador said, and before the Joes' eyes, Newman's body became enveloped by a
strange light, dissolving into the form of Zartan.
	"The REAL Newman is lying at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean," Dr.
Mindbender's voice called out.  Several squads of heavily armed Cobra soldiers
had the Joes surrounded from all sides, from an elevated platform.  Zandar and
Zarana stepped forward, guns raised. 
	"Now, drop your weapons, or you will all die."  Dr. Mindbender said with a
sinister smile.
	Scarlett looked over uneasily at Duke.  Was this the end?
	A bazooka blast suddenly came shooting out of the tunnel, destroying a
chunk of the elevated platform where some of the Cobra troops were standing.
Screaming, they fell off.  Mindbender stood fast, as did the remaining troops.
	"Yo Joe, move, move, MOVE!!!" Alpine shouted at Scarlett, Duke, and the
others.  He, Bazooka, Gung Ho, and Beach Head stood at the tunnel exit from
which Duke's squad had emerged minutes before.  Evidently, the four had followed
them in.
	Then everything went crazy.
	The Cobra troops opened fire on the Joes, who were not yet at the entrance
to the tunnel which led outside.  Mainframe was the first to withdraw from the
circular arena-like space before a solid steel door came closing down, cutting
off the Joes' escape.  
	The Joes were sitting ducks.
	"Beach Head, get us the hell out of here!" Duke desperately shouted into
his com.
	Law and Order were both cut down in a merciless rain of bullets.  As
Scarlett and Duke fired at the enemy, Falcon got caught up in the rush of
battle.
	"DIE YOU COBRA BASTARDS!!!!!"  Falcon rolled and dove across the floor,
along with Snake Eyes, like a maniac, cutting down Cobra troops from both sides.  
	Low Light picked off Mindbender with a fatal shot to the head, before a
Cobra troop turned downed him with a shot to the stomach.  Another Cobra soldier
shot Tunnel Rat.
	From the other end of the door, Beach Head motioned to Bazooka, who aimed
his bazooka weapon and prepared to fire.
	"Duke, get back from the door, Bazooka's gonna blow the sucker open!!!"
 Beach head screamed into his com.
	Beach Head and the others ran a safe distance away from the door.
	"Fire in the hole!" Bazooka shouted.  
	"Blast it NOW!!!" Beach Head hollered.

	From Scarlett's side of the door, the door suddenly came bursting open in
a ball of fire and shards of metal and shrapnel.  
	"Fall back, Joes, FALL BACK!!!" Flint shouted as he and Lady Jaye took up
positions at both ends of the now defunct door and laid down a heavy rain of
cover fire.  Scarlett ran the few yards between her and the downed Low Light.  A
pool of blood was forming under Low Light's body.
	"Hang on, Low Light, I'm getting you out of here," Scarlett exclaimed to
the delerious Low Light before she and Low Light were both hit and went down.
	"Scarlett!" Duke shouted as he dove across the floor to reach them.  He
saw to Scarlett, who turned out only to have been grazed in the arm.  Low Light
was dead.  
	Still firing, Flint, Lady Jaye, and Snake Eyes withdrew into the tunnel.
	"Damn it Falcon, move your ass!  We gotta get to the choppers!!!"  Beach
Head screamed.  
	Falcon was still into the battle, raving like a maniac.  Beside him, Jinx
took a hit in the leg and went down in pain.
	"Jinx!"  Falcon cried as he grabbed her.  He soon found he was all out of
ammo.  Duke and Scarlett laid down cover fire as Falcon tried pick up Jinx and
carry her to safety.  
	From behind the cover of a fallen segment of metal platform, Zartan took
careful aim and fired a shot that blasted Falcon in the chest.  
	Horrified, Duke screamed Falcon's name and ran out to him.  Jinx turned on
her side and tried to shield Falcon with her own body.  Scarlett shouted to
Mainframe and Gung Ho, who had stayed behind with Duke and Scarlett, to cover
her as she ran to help Duke.  Duke and Scarlett managed to carry Jinx and Falcon
away.
	"Get going, we've got your rear covered!!!" Gung Ho shouted to Duke.
Regrouping, the enemy prepared to give chase.
	As Gung Ho and Mainframe fell back, an enemy grenade explosion took them
both out.
	"Gung Ho!  Mainframe!" Scarlett called behind her.
	"They're gone!" Duke shouted.  

	*          *           *            *             *

	(two years ago)

	Not too long before Scarlett went up to Duke's door in the pouring rain, Scarlett
and Lady Jaye said good-bye.

	"Flint and I are going to be stationed overseas for a couple of years...
Germany, I think," Lady Jaye said.  
	Lady Jaye and Scarlett walked in sandals along the North Carolina beach.
It was a beautiful day, clear skies, with a cool breeze coming in from the ocean.  
Scarlett gazed at the horizon through her amber-tinted sunglasses.
	"How do I tell him?" Scarlett asked, feeling like a child.
	"That you love him?  You just talk to him.  One day, you say, 'Duke, I love you.'
Then, wham--all the cannons will go right off."
	Scarlett gave her a sideways glance as if to say, 'are you serious?'
	"He loves you," Lady Jaye said with sincerity.  "Maybe he's just confused."
	Scarlett seemed not to hear.  She was observing the people around her, 
and noticed a young couple walking before her, holding hands, laughing and smiling 
happily.  They looked like they were so much in love.  For a terrible moment, 
Scarlett felt utterly lost in her thoughts.

	How can others be so happy, while I am alone?

	"Scarlett?" Lady Jaye looked concerned.
	"It's nothing," Scarlett answered.  "Nothing."

	*         *          *          *            *	

	Moments after their escape from the mountain base, the Joes successfully 
evacuated the complex and got onto the Tomohawks.  As the choppers lifted off, 
Cobra troops came out firing after them.  The Stratovipers and Dreadnoks were in 
the air, harassing the Sky Strikers with the RAVENs and flight pods.
	None of that seemed to matter to Duke as he sat in the chopper with Falcon 
in his arms.  
	"J-Jinx," Falcon said through his own blood.  
	"Shhh, don't try to talk, Falcon," Scarlett said.
	Jinx leaned close to Falcon.  
	"Lady, you really are bad luck..."  Falcon said, grinning.  
	"And you're not exactly a rabbit's foot yourself," Jinx answered back with 
an affectionate smile.  She clasped his hand tightly.
	"Don't die on us, kid, you're gonna make it, you hear me?  It ain't
nothing!  You're gonna make it!"  Duke said, the emotion welling up in his
voice.
	Duke stared at him helplessly, as if remembering the promise he had made
to his mother. That he would take care of him.
	"Duke," Falcon said, as if reading his mind, "You did good, big brother."
	His eyes were closing, his breathing growing shallower.
	"Th-thanks...." Falcon said.
	Duke moaned as he held his brother in his arms.  Jinx turned away in
sorrow.  Flint and Lady Jaye both closed their eyes and said nothing.  Scarlett
moved over to Duke and held him.  Duke turned away from Falcon and hugged her
back, burying his face in her shoulder.

	*           *           *           *           *

	"...there's something else I've been meaning to tell
you," Scarlett said.
	Scarlett sat on a sofa in Duke's living room, sipping her
coffee and trying to wipe down her wet hair with a paper towel.
Duke looked at her intently.
	"I've thought about you a lot lately," Scarlett began,
not able to make eye contact.  With some effort, she raised her
eyes to his. 
	"I wanted you to know how much your friendship means to
me,... and that I--I love you!" Scarlett tried to smile, only
half succeeding.
	Duke and Scarlett sat there, silent and awkward, for what
seemed an eternity.  She had said it.  She had confessed her love
for him.  Scarlett felt a lightness in her heart now as she
looked earnestly at Duke.
	He looked more confused than she had ever seen him.
Scarlett was used to seeing him as the army sergeant who led the
Joes into battle with confidence.  She wasn't used to seeing him
this way--vulnerable and ambivalent.
	"Scarlett, I--I don't know what to say."
	"You don't love me," Scarlett observed sadly.
	At that moment, the doorbell rang.  Duke got up and
opened it.  There was another woman standing in that doorway.
	Her name was Marie.  She was a slender woman, with
shoulder-length black hair and the most beautiful brown eyes
anyone had ever seen.  It was the first time Scarlett had ever
seen or heard of her.  Scarlett and Duke had not spoken  to each
other much lately.
	"Um, Scarlett, this is Marie.  Marie, this is an old
friend of mine, Scarlett."
	The two women eyed each other uncertainly as they said
their hello's.
	"I guess I... should... be going!" Scarlett said, her
voice almost choking as she put on her trench coat.  She had to
get out of there as fast as possible.  She felt horribly embarrassed.
	"Scarlett, wait!..." Duke called after her.
	But she was gone, a shadow in the rain.

	*          *           *          *          *

	Scarlett knew to expect disaster when she saw the smoking ruins of G.I.
JOE headquarters.  The Cobras had evidently come in, done their damage, and
retreated to fight  again another day.  Everywhere, Scarlett could see charred
Hovertanks and blown up aircraft. Bodies were strewn across the airfield.
Windows were smashed, steel walls had been breached, and the stench of burning
fuel filled the air.
	"Good God," Lady Jaye whispered in horror.  Scarlett was too stunned to
speak.
	They were all either dead or seriously wounded.  Hawk led the way as he,
Duke, Scarlett, Flint, Lady Jaye, Beach Head, and Lifeline moved first into the
complex.  Cover Girl was lying on her side, holding a bloodied M-16 in her
hands.  She had been shot in the stomach.  
	"Hold on, Cover Girl, we'll get you to a hospital," Lifeline tried to
comfort her.  The sounds of ambulances could be heard in the distance approaching.
	Leatherneck and Sci Fi were both slumped over their machine guns, dead. 
Shipwreck had been shot in the chest, but was still alive.
	"Roadblock..." Hawk said.  They ran to the command center.  Road Block, 
Breaker, and Rock and Roll were there.  They had all been killed.
	In the hospital, Shipwreck told his story.  Hawk, Scarlett, Duke, and 
Flint stood at his bedside, listening...

	*          *           *            *           *

	..."Deploy the Hovertanks!" Roadblock ordered.
	Cover Girl, riding the cannon seat, fired away at the oncoming Cobra foot
soldiers and STUN vehicles, as Cross Country drove.  Beside them, the Hovertank
containing Quick Kick and Psyche Out exploded as a missile hit.  Cross Country
and Cover Girl barely had enough time to clear their Hovertank as another
missile came bearing down on them.  Nearby, the other Joes took cover behind
makeshift barricades and tried to fend off the attackers with machine guns and
rifles.  
	The enemy flight pods streamed past them, taking out some JOE soldiers as
they did so.  The STUNs overran the barricades.
	"Their defenses are breached!  DESTROY THEM!" Serpentor howled.
	Roadblock and Breaker turned as the door to the command center burst open.
Both of them opened fire, cutting down a handful of Vipers and the Crimson Twins.
	Serpentor, Destro, and the Baroness took cover and returned fire, killing
Breaker and Rock and Roll and wounding Roadblock with a hit to the stomach.
	Grabbing Roadblock by the collar of his shirt, Serpentor raised him high
into the air.  Roadblock groaned in pain.
	"We have broken you now.  You Joes cannot resist the rising tide of Cobra
that will sweep across the world.  No matter how vigorously you oppose us, you
will fail, because evil will always live in the hearts of men.  Hatred and
enmity last forever... That is our power.  Don't you understand that by now, you
feeble worm?"
	Roadblock, trembling in Serpentor's vise-like grip, spat as hard as he
could into Serpentor's face.  Serpentor, enraged, pulled out his dagger and with
one quick motion, cut Roadblock's throat.

	*         *          *          *             *

	"..When I came to," Shipwreck said, "Cobra was gone.  Like that," he said, 
snapping his fingers.  
	"I saw Roadblock.  There was a still that look of anger on his face.  
His eyes closed, his teeth bared, he looked like he was ready to kill more of those 
Cobra sons of bitches, even in death..."

	*         *           *            *           *

	Scarlett's reverie was interrupted by a knock on the door.   Wondering who 
it was, she put down the old picture she had been gazing at for the last half hour 
and went to open it.  It was Duke.
	"Hello, Scarlett," he said.
	"Duke."  Scarlett gazed at him wonderingly.  Duke's relationship with 
Marie had been short-lived, for some reason.  They had parted a month after Scarlett 
had met Marie.  On the other hand, Scarlett and Duke had seen more of each other 
lately.  It wasn't much, but it was more often than in the years in which they were distant.
	Duke pulled his hand from behind his back to reveal a bouquet of red roses.
	"I wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday," he said gently with a smile.
	Scarlett blushed as she gratefully accepted Duke's flowers.  
	"Thank you, Duke.  That's so sweet of you."
	"Want to go for a walk?" Duke motioned outside.

	*          *           *           *           *

	"So you and Flint will be leaving for Germany tomorrow?"
	"That's right," Lady Jaye said to Scarlett.  The sun was setting over the
mountains.  Scarlett stood with Lady Jaye on the beach and regarded the open
seas through her amber-tinted sunglasses.  She watched a group of young children
playfully throwing around a football.
	"Just be sure to tell him." Lady Jaye said.
	Scarlett took off her glasses and Lady Jaye thought she could see in her
eyes the longing and yearning that held sway over her entire being.  The pain of
loneliness.
	"You two are meant to be together." Lady Jaye said.
	"You think so?"
	"Yeah."
	Scarlett gave a wan smile and embraced her friend.
	"I'll miss you, Lady Jaye."
	"Even if it doesn't work out... you'll find what you're looking for
somehow.  I'm sure of it."
	"Write to me," Scarlett said as they walked off together.
	"I will."

	*          *           *            *           *

	Scarlett and Duke walked arm in arm down the lighted city streets.  They
strolled through a park, chatting all the way.  Duke was also working at the
Charlotte Army base.  
	"Listen, Scarlett," Duke began solemnly, "I know you've been lonely these
past few years, and I'm sorry for-"
	"Don't be sorry for me, Duke, I don't need that," Scarlett said, turning
away and biting her lower lip.
	"I'm sorry that we've lost so much time.  I was so... blind," Duke
continued.  Scarlett, puzzled, turned to look into his eyes.  Then, to her
everlasting surprise, Duke caressed her cheek and ran his hand through her
flowing red hair.
	Duke lowered his head to kiss her and put his hands on her shoulders.
Scarlett moved closer, rested her hands on his chest, parted her lips, and
closed her eyes. 
	Scarlett threw all her passion and tenderness into that kiss, and all the
feelings she had kept bottled up inside came rushing out in a flood.  She put
her arms around him.  When they were done, they were out of breath, and their
faces glowed radiantly.
	"I *do* love you, Scarlett.  And I'll always love you as long as I live,"
Duke said lovingly.
	These words echoed in Scarlett's head as she and Duke held each other
there in the lamp-lit park.  As she gazed up at the stars in wonder, she saw the
faces of everyone dear to her--her family, her comrades. Rock and Roll, Breaker,
Gung Ho, Roadblock, Shipwreck, and so many others.  But among these, the image
of Duke shined most brightly in her mind's eye.
	She held him and never let go.

The End