"I want you to apologize to her."  She kept her eyes closed.  "You can't simply get rid of someone in order to make the pain stop; life doesn't work that way."  Her words came softly but from deep within, tapping a strength she didn't even know she had.  Maybe it was the only way she could handle everything, following her thoughts like an outsider in order to keep from screaming and crying some more.  Certainly she wanted to do that.<br/><br/>"I want her to get to see this side of you.  I want her to see the side of you that knows that he's imperfect, that he has a lot to learn about life, that older doesn't mean wiser but that you do want to be a better person."  When she finally opened her eyes to look at him, they were a dull brown.  "Will you do that for me?"<br/><br/>It was hard to tell exactly what she was thinking; she probably didn't even know herself, but the gears were turning all the same.