It turned out to be just a fruit, after all, but I wonder if that isn't because she was human.
Was.
Betina agreed to eat the fruit readily enough. I held her close as she screamed in agony. It hurt my heart. Maybe I didn't love her, but no one deserves that kind of pain.
And I had caused it.
Still, with tears in her eyes, she said it was worth it.
Anything, she said, for a chance to be with me. To raise our children, to live into old age together.
Maybe it's because she was human before and I wasn't. I find her beautiful, more so now, with the streaks of autumn in her soft leaves. Her human self was like a cocoon, and once shed, it revealed something amazing. Perhaps I could truly appreciate her now.
I suppose I'm shallow, for looks to mean so much. But it isn't just her looks - she smells differently, moves differently. Even her smile is different.
Whatever it is, I'm more attracted to her now than ever. We expressed our affections - repeatedly - and produced three more seeds in one day. She smiled as she held them in her hands.
"I can hear them," she whispered. "They're beautiful."
We planted them right away, and began planning names that didn't have a particular gender association.
Riley, Charlie, Casey ... and Jamie, just in case.
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