Crash Course In Love by AstroZombie

Fry awoke with a start.

He hadn't been sleeping well since his botched attempt to win Leela's heart with his message in the stars to her. He gave a humourless laugh to himself; the whole thing would be funny if it didn't hurt so much, Leela blowing it up without knowing it.

He just wished that he could have some luck with women, with one woman, the one named Toronga Leela.

He was still madly in love with her; he always had been, ever since he first saw her after he was unfrozen. He knew every little detail of her face, how she walked, talked and smelled. How her purple hair shone in the sun...

Fry shook himself.

Thinking about her wasn't helping.

Zoidberg had told him what was said during the conversation he had with Leela, (so much for the Hippocratic oath).

She loves my boyish charm, but hates my childishness, he thought.

My life's a joke, a bad one at that.

He got up and after a few minutes of searching finally found his alarm clock, it was 04:30am.

"Great! I don't even start work for 4 hours."

He didn't feel much like trying to get to sleep, he'd only start dreaming about her again. He started to get dressed and then discovered that he had a serious shortage of clean clothes (or at least clothes that didn't smell too bad).

He surveyed his room apart from the clothes strewn around, and his holophonor, there were few personal belongings. Lots of empty Slurm cans, beer bottles and pizza boxes though.

What a crappy life you have Phil, you don't have enough stuff to fill a suitcase.

What would Leela say about this, Fry didn't want to think about it, she'd probably call him a pig or a slob or similar. He could fix the mess. The rest might take a little work. Fry went to the bathroom, quietly so not to wake Bender, and showered.

He found a clean set of clothes; his last, and put them on.

Fry picked up his discarded laundry and stuffed it in a bag. Then he stripped his bed of its sheets and stuffed them in the bag too, before turning his attention to the remaining junk in the room.

He filled 5 garbage bags, rediscovered the carpet and found five dollars in loose coins.

He dumped the garbage down the chute and left the apartment to find an all night laundry.

He returned to Robot Arms Apartments twenty minutes later.

Doing your laundry sure was quicker in the future, or now, or whenever, He thought.

He still had trouble adjusting to life in the 31st century, mainly because his life still sucked.

Fry was interrupted from his thoughts when he bumped into Bender.

Bumped wasn't the right phrase, thrown to the ground and strangled was.

"Lousy skin tube, break in and try to steal my stuff huh," shouted Bender, "I'm gonna kill you."

"Oh, it's you."

"Gaghhk."

Bender released his grip on Fry's neck.

"What ya doing?"

"My laundry", said Fry, rubbing his throat.

"At five in the morning!"

"I couldn't sleep."

Bender watched Fry make his bed, and put his clean clothes away, in the drawer.

Now this was weird thought Bender.

"You alright, Fry?"

"Yeah?"

"You been thinking about her, ain't you?"

"Who?"

"Leela, ya dumb meat bag."

"Is it that obvious?"

"Is my ass shiny and metal?"

"Yeah ok, point taken."

"Don't you think it's time you got over her, I barely think about what's her name now, you know the one who fell in the black hole."

"The Countess?"

"Yeah, The Countess", repeated Bender looking into space with a faraway look in his eyes.

"Where was I? Oh yeah, I mean there's plenty of other women out there, and they've all got more than one eye", he continued.

"The eye thing never bothered me, I kinda like it, besides I don't know if I can… or if I want to move on", said Fry, as he went to leave the apartment again.

"Hey where ya going now?"

"Dunno, for a walk, catch you later."

"Yeah, whatever."

Fry heard Bender close the door behind him, mumbling. He found himself on the street of NNYC again; it was raining.

Fry thought about his life back in the 20th, about Michelle, Yancy, his mother and father. They weren't that bad. He just always felt out of place, hell, where didn't he feel out of place.

When I'm with her, came the answer from deep within his mind.

He knew it was true, whenever Leela was near, he always felt good, when she wasn't beating the crap out of him or screaming at him for screwing up.

Sure she could be hard on him, but it wasn't as if he didn't deserve it, well most of the time anyway.

She had hurt him, deeper than he let on, suggesting that he'd tricked her into marrying him. That really made him feel worthless, even more than usual, he knew he wasn't the brightest, but he'd always thought of himself of a 'nice' guy.

It hurt that Leela thought him capable of that. Did she really believe that he was as bad as Zapp or Alkazar?

She probably thought he was worse; she'd at least slept with them. The only physical contact he'd had with her was the occasional accidental touch of her hand or when she hit him.

It was hard to cope with seeing her at work all the time, he was getting frustrated and irritable, he was snapping at people more than usual (but it was mostly customers, so that didn't matter).

Fry checked his watch; it was five minutes to seven.

Jeeze time flies when you're depressed, he thought.

"Might as well go to work", Fry knew Hermes would be there by now; he liked to get started with his requisition forms early.

Fry arrived at the Planet Express Building ten minutes later.

Hermes was sitting at the meeting table eating his breakfast and doing some paper work regarding the correct procedure for requisitioning replacement requisition forms from the Central Bureaucracy Department. He almost choked on a cinnamon bagel when fry walked in the door an hour and a half early for work.

"Ughhh, cough, Fry? What in the name of Bob Marley's ghost are you doing here?"

"Uhh, starting work?"

"But you're over an hour early, mon."

"I couldn't sleep."

"Still pining for Leela, huh mon?"

"What! How do you know...? Has Bender been talking about me again behind my back?"

"Fry, I've been married for years now, I do know a thing or too about love and I know the look you have on your face when you see her."

"What look?"

"The one when you smile and become oblivious to everything else going on."

"Right", said Fry sheepishly.

"I know you took it bad when she divorced you, but don't give up mon, she does like you."

"Thanks Hermes."

"Now quit slacking, and start cleaning up the Styrofoam balls that you and Bender emptied into the ships hold."

Fry walked over to the ship and pressed the controls to open the cargo hold elevator. He was immediately engulfed in an avalanche of small white balls, knocking him of his feet. All that could be seen was a pair of white-stripped black sneakers and a patch of red hair.

Hermes watched Fry emerge from the deluge only to lose his footing and disappear once more, before returning to his working breakfast shaking his head.

Leela arrived at the PE building an hour later, she met Bender at the door.

"Hey Bender, where's Fry?"

"What do I look like, his mother? He went out about five this morning, haven't seen him since."

"What! You let him go out alone in the middle of the night in New New York."

"What do you care, you divorced him remember."

Leela glared at Bender, and stormed inside, she raced over to Hermes.

"Hermes I can't work today Fry's gone missing."

"Relax Leela, Fry came in early for work today."

"Early? Was he alright?"

"Yeah, he walked in at five past seven, he's fine, he's been cleaning the ship."

At that moment, Bender walked over. "See, I told ya he'd be fine."

"No you didn't!"

"Yeah, well the thought was there."

"Shut up Bender!"

Fry walked over to the group from the ship. "Hey Bender, Hey Leela." Fry looked at her and smiled, his eyes glazed.

Hermes chuckled quietly to himself.

Farnsworth appeared from his lab. "Good news everybody, there's an extra delivery for you to make today. It's to the new DOOP base on Ocelot 4. You'll be able to catch up with your friend Zapp Brannigan, Leela."

"Ughh", said Leela.

"You don't know what she caught the first time she met him", said Bender.

There was a metallic thud and Bender found himself on the floor. Leela rubbed her fist slightly.

Amy appeared from the lab. "I'll be going with you, so I can see Kif."

"And so will I", said Hermes.

"What, you want to see Kif, too", said Fry.

Amy giggled to herself.

"No, ya pointy haired loony, there's some very complex release forms to complete on delivery, so I want to be there myself to ensure that nothing goes wrong."

"What could go wrong?" said Leela.

"With Fry involved anything can go wrong", said Farnsworth.

The group shared a laugh (with the exception of Fry, who scowled).

"Yeah yeah, let's all laugh at the boy from the stupid ages", said Fry, storming off back to the cargo hold of the ship.

"Screw you guys."

He glared at the group, lingering on Leela.

Leela watched him go, the feelings of guilt rising within her again.

They heard the stereo Fry had left in the hold begin playing some 20th Century MP3s Fry had downloaded. From the sound of the noise and the vibration in the floor they were of the 'Stone'? Or was it 'Rock'? variety.

"Anyway where was I?" said Farnsworth.

"You were telling us about your plans to conquer the world", said Bender.

"Ah yes. Now, the doomsday bombs need to be placed in very specific locations. No wait, I was talking about today's deliveries."

"Crackpot", muttered Bender.

"Yes as I was saying, I too will be accompanying you on this delivery. Some of the minerals found on Ocelot 4 have been known for their ability to restore sexual vigour in those over one hundred and forty."

Leela and Amy gave a simultaneous shudder.

"So, would these minerals be worth anything", said Bender, suddenly interested.

"Oh, my yes. Why, a kilo of Ocelotanium is worth about $150."

"Oh, really", said Bender. "You know professor we've need to talk"

"What about?" asked Farnsworth.

"Free enterprise", said Bender walking off with Farnsworth, his arm over Farnsworth's shoulder.

"Well, we'd better get ready for lift off", said Leela, getting up.

She, Hermes and Amy walked into ship. Leela paused at the door the cargo hold, she looked in, Fry was sitting on a crate with his back to her, flicking small pieces of Styrofoam packing into an old box on the other side of the hold. His music was still blasting out of the stereo on the deck by the door.

Leela entered the hold and switched off the stereo.

Fry knew it was her without looking; he'd heard the familiar clump of her boots on the metal of the stairs and smelled her perfume when she entered the hold.

"What do you want Leela? What did I do now?"

"Nothing Fry, I just wanted to see if you were alright, we shouldn't have laughed at you, it was wrong."

"No, the Professor was right! I'm just a moron from the stupid ages."

"No you're not. Anyway, Bender said you had trouble sleeping, is everything alright?"

"What do you care?"

"But…"

"Look, just leave me alone before I trick you into marrying me again!" said Fry bitterly.

"Fry, I'm sorry I said that, but everybody's lives got messed up during the time slips."

"Yeah, but how many saw their hopes and dreams crushed in front of them", spat Fry, before barging past her, the slightest hint of tears in his eyes.

She did feel bad about that, but she couldn't remember what went on during the time slips and had panicked that he'd tricked her like Zapp or Alkazar. She knew that she'd hurt Fry badly by suggesting that, he would never do something like that to her.

He always came straight out with things, without thinking, like the offer of the back rub when he got rid of the worms, or the closet he turned into a shelter to stop the time slips; complete with mattress and mood lighting. There was never deliberate deviousness with him.

Leela stood there for a minute before ascending to the bridge, the rest of the PE staff were assembled in their respective flight positions, everybody but her sitting on the couches, with one notable exception.

"Fry went to his cabin", said Amy, as if she sensed Leela's question. The two of them shared a brief look of concern.

Leela sat down and eased the ship out of the hanger and out of Earth's atmosphere.

"You know, I get the feeling that we've forgotten something", she said.

In his office at the PE building Zoidberg sat at his desk tapping out a tune with his pincers."Where is everybody?"

Fry lay, face down, in his hammock, his face buried in his hands to drown out his sobs.

He remained out of sight throughout the flight, appearing briefly to carry out the day's other delivery before returning to his cabin with the stereo.

Once back in his cabin, the music started again, though not as loud as before.

"That boy has no respect for his elders", said Farnsworth.

"But it's not as if we show him much respect, with the constant jokes about his intelligence", said Leela, guiltily acknowledging that she herself was one of the worst for this.

"And, besides, technically he's our elder", said Amy. "I think we forget that Fry's actually one thousand and twenty five years old."

"Oh that just his chronological age, biologically he still only twenty-five years old", said Farnsworth.

Leela was no longer paying attention to the conversation; Amy's comment had triggered a train of thought in her mind.

I wonder how I would adapt to being frozen for a thousand years, waking up in a strange and bizarre world such as how Earth in the year 3000 must have first appeared to Fry. Probably not half as well as he has, alright some of the everyday things still amaze him, but he takes most of the changes in his stride.

Even my eye, when other men from this time have looked away or ran off screaming (mostly the latter), Fry had just asked me about it when he first saw me and accepted it. Sure, he would ask a question about it now and then, but there was never any teasing or staring. Well, I have caught him staring at me, but from the way he was smiling and the look of longing in his eyes I think it's for reasons other than finding my eye repulsive.

He never mentions his family much either, even on Mother or Father's Day when I'm usually such a mess, though he's probably quiet about them for my benefit. Fry just gets on with it. It's not because he doesn't care, I've caught him looking at the photographs of them he keeps in his wallet with a sad and faraway look in his eyes.

I wonder which is worse, never knowing your family or being wrenched away from them, never to see them again without the chance to say goodbye.

I know how alone he must feel at times. I've been in that dark cold place many times before.

And the woman he likes, loves, keeps shutting him out because she's too damn proud to admit that she could be attracted to someone like him.

It's not that he isn't cute, God no; sometimes just looking at him is enough to get my heart beating faster and cause me to have some very 'interesting' thoughts.

I just wish that he could act a tiny bit more responsibly and mature at times.

Or maybe, I should just loosen up, and stop being so damned analytical about things.

Their arrival at Ocelot 4 forced Leela to end her mental debate. The planet was very similar to Earth though only about two-thirds the size.

"Ah yes, let the mineral gathering begin", said Farnsworth drooling slightly.

Leela turned to Amy and whispered, "Lock your cabin door on the flight back to earth."

Amy nodded in agreement.

Bender opened his chest compartment and pulled out a pickaxe and a backpack and handed both to Farnsworth who buckled noticeably under the load. "Ok Professor, let's go prospecting."

Fry came out of his cabin and went past them into the cargo hold silently.

Leela and Amy went down on to the planet's surface, behind the others.

The cargo elevator came down from the ship. Fry stood on it with the DOOP crate loaded onto the hover dolly.

Hermes had completed the paperwork with the waiting DOOP guard and was hurrying to catch up with Bender and the Professor, who were now some distance away, kicking rocks around.

Leela saw the DOOP star ship, The Nimbus, sitting a short distance away in larger landing bay. Two figures were walking towards them.

"It's Kif", shouted Amy excitedly.

Leela groaned when she saw who was with him.

"Ah the lady Leela", said Zapp. "Can't keep away from the Zapper, eh? Well, you're only human."

"Actually, I'm an alien", said Leela.

"Ah yes, I'd forgotten just how seductively alien and exotic you were. Did I ever tell you what I find most seductive about a woman, Leela?"

"Yes Zapp", said Leela crossing her arms to cover the body parts in question.

"And what part was that then, Leela?" said Zapp.

"Uhhh," said Leela in disgust, "the boobies."

She turned to Amy, looking for a way out.

Amy had vanished; Kif was also conspicuous by his absence.

"Leela you being a fellow space captain, I'm sure you'll appreciate the fine feminine form of the DOOP's largest and most powerful star ship, the Nimbus", said Zapp. He gestured towards his vessel.

"It's very impressive," said Leela, "for a weapon of mass destruction."

"Yes, she certainly is, though she's not as big and powerful as my own weapon", said Zapp, a leering grin on his face. "How about we get re-acquainted?"

Time to leave this party, thought Leela. "Sorry Zapp, but I have to perform a frontal lobotomy on myself."

"Very well my lovely, I shall be in my lovenasium when you get the craving", said Zapp, running his hand over the straining velour material of his uniform.

Leela shuddered, and felt her stomach turn as she turned and walked back to the PE ship. She went into her cabin, locking the door and started to complete her entry in the ship's log for the previous delivery.

Fry, meanwhile, was pushing the crate and hover dolly along behind one of the DOOP guards.

"So, uh, what's the new base for then, is it for testing secret weapons, or something?"

"Nah," replied the guard, "it's the new DOOP Medical Center."

"Yeah?" said Fry, unimpressed.

"Yeah, the men unofficially named it The Brannigan Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinic", said the guard with a smirk.

Fry broke into a fit of laughter. "So what's in the crate?" he asked, recovering.

"Replacement medication, the idio…Zapp's here on official business, if you take my meaning", said the guard, with a knowing smile.

"Figures", said Fry chuckling.

"Ok," said the guard, "you can dump the crate here."

"No problem", said Fry.

Fry slid the crate off the dolly, and started to walk back towards the PE ship.

He saw Leela disappear through the ship's door ahead of him.

Great, he thought, sarcastically.

He lowered the cargo elevator, loaded the hover dolly on it, and then raised the elevator again.

Leela heard the elevator return to is closed position.

He's back, she thought to herself.

I'll go and talk to him, see how he is… no better wait until we get back to Earth, give him some time to calm down, then I'll talk to him.

Fry looked up at the PE ship.

I can't face her yet, not after what I said this morning.

He turned and walked over to a nearby hill overlooking the DOOP base.

Fry climbed to its summit. He was pleased to find that the exercise he'd been doing on and off (whenever he could without the others knowing; he'd wanted to surprise Leela) was actually having some benefit. He sat down on a nearby rock and surveyed the scene below him.

Off to the right Bender, Farnsworth and Hermes were busy collecting rocks. Farnsworth had managed to delegate the carrying of the samples and tools to Hermes, who was struggling to remain upright under the load, while Bender and the professor were busy pointing at the ground and scratching various body parts.

To the left he could see two small figures, one dressed in pink, the other dressed in red, with a definitive hint of green: Kif and Amy. They were sitting much like he was, but at the opposite end of the emotional spectrum from him.

He looked away, feeling he was intruding on their time together.

The nearby sun beat down him, this planet really did have a similar climate to earth, he leaned back onto his elbows, relaxing in the planet's sun's warmth.

His eyes fell on the PE ship looking dwarfed in its landing area next to the mammoth Nimbus.

I wonder what she's doing right now? he thought.

Using her punch bag in the hold, repairing the ship, washing her hair, changing her clothes, showering…

Whoa there.

I'm screwed up enough already without having those kind of images floating round my head.

He lay back, rested his head in his hands and closed his eyes. He began to think about what he might be doing now if Leela had seen his message in the stars. Maybe they'd be going out, living together, even married, again. His mind drifted through the various possibilities.

He never realised how tired he was feeling until his lack of sleep finally caught up with him.

Leela sat in her seat at the controls of the PE ship checking the status of the dark matter fuel levels.

Enough for another couple of deliveries, we'll need to refuel when we return to earth.

She hadn't heard Fry move around in his room at all since she heard the cargo elevator close announcing his return.

He's probably sleeping knowing him, best to leave him until he wakes up.

He looks so cute though, when he's asleep, I might just sneak a peek.

No, he might catch me and think I'm checking up on him, and start another argument.

No you just don't trust yourself alone with him, do you, a separate part of her mind interjected

What!

You're afraid of what you feel towards him and how strong you feel it.

He's just a friend!

That's not what your heart say's Toronga.

But Fry? He's hardly the most eligible guy I know, or the brightest.

Does any of that really matter?

You know that you'd be good together, you would make up for his faults and he would make up for yours. Two would become one

But what about his bad habits?

Big deal, you can change that! What about your meanness and arrogance towards him?

I'm just afraid of getting hurt again. What if he hurts me the way Zapp, Alkazar or the other kids at the orphanarium did?

The two voices in her head suddenly became one.

Fry would never knowingly hurt me! He loves me.

He loves me!

Amy walked into the bridge, interrupting Leela and her thoughts.

"Hey Amy, how's Kif?."

"Dreamy", said Amy in a daze. "You know, I think he could be the one for me."

Leela was shocked. "Did I hear you right there, Amy?"

"Yeah, I know never thought I'd hear myself say that either."

"Does Kif feel the same?"

"Yeah, I think so. He was trying to ask me something, but he never seemed to work up courage to do it."

"You don't think he was going to ask you to marry him do you?" said Leela excitedly.

"Yeah", said Amy giggling and jumping up and down. "I just hope he gets round to the actual asking soon."

"Oh, he will Amy," said Leela getting up and hugging Amy, "I'm sure he will."

Amy looked at Leela. "I hope I haven't dragged up any bad memories about you and Fry."

"No, its alright, I think Fry was the one who was hurt the most by that."

By me, said a voice inside her head.

"You know he must really have loved you", said Amy.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because the minute I said I liked hanging out with him, when he and I were an item, I couldn't see him for dust, until Zoidberg sewed his head onto my shoulder, that is, then he was around all the time, but he wanted to stay married to you, even though he couldn't remember what led to you two getting married. It didn't freak him out at all!"

Leela thought about this.

She's right, and she's got two eyes, yet he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me.

"Leela, you alright?" asked Amy.

Before Leela could answer, Amy spoke again, "Here's the others, don't breath a word of this to them."

"Of course I won't."

Bender appeared first, followed by Farnsworth, and finally by a gasping Hermes carrying a backpack, that was bursting at the seams with Ocelotanuim.

"Quite a haul", said Bender.

"Yes, we should get a good price for it", said Hermes, putting the backpack down with a thud.

"Hey, since when were you a partner in this?" said Bender.

"Since I kept quiet about those fraudulent unemployment cheques you claimed on behalf of deceased Planet Express crew members", replied Hermes.

"Oh yeah, well welcome aboard", said Bender.

"Will you two shut up", said Farnsworth. "Now I need to try out some of the Ocelotanium to see how effective it is at restoring my sex drive and my attractiveness to the opposite sex."

"Oh, I'm sorry professor," said Leela slamming a small door at the rear of the bridge, "but I just put it in the safe with a time lock until tomorrow morning."

"Damn it!" said Farnsworth. "Tomorrow's Saturday, so there will be no females in the building, to test the effects, just you Hermes."

Hermes shifted uncomfortably in his chair, feeling that he may just come down with a mysterious and sudden illness tomorrow.

"We ready to go", asked Leela, sitting down at the ships controls, anxious to get as far away from Zapp as possible.

"Yeah we got everything", said Bender.

Fry awoke with a start, again.

Damn these dreams.

Something flew overhead, Fry managed to regain full control of his faculties, just in time to recognize what it was, the Planet Express ship.

"Oh, s***!" said Fry, leaping to his feet and running after it.

"Wait! Wait!"

"Damn it."

He gave up when he lost sight of the ship in the clouds.

Several hours into the flight home Leela was at the controls, Amy was gazing dreamily out into space. Farnsworth and Hermes were asleep.

Leela was once again deep in thought.

Ok, maybe I am attracted to him; he has been acting more like an adult lately, when I've seen him that is.

Could he be avoiding me?

Guh! Of course he is, he was hurt and embarrassed by that whole wedding thing.

And by what he said this morning, I think I touched a raw nerve.

Bender came into the bridge. "Hey, anybody seen Fry?"

"He's in his room", said Leela.

"No he ain't."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, he's not something you can overlook."

Leela got a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Check the rest of the ship."

"Ahh, he's probably in the galley stuffing his fa…"

"Now!"

Bender went off in to the corridor muttering, "Jeeze, don't get your panties twisted."

"I'll go look too", said Amy, sensing Leela's concern.

A few minute's later Bender and Amy reappeared in the bridge, by now Hermes and Farnsworth had woken up.

"He's not on the ship", said Amy.

"Oh my", exclaimed Farnsworth.

Oh my god, I've left him behind, thought Leela.

She swung the ship around violently, throwing the others to the floor.

Leela didn't see it, but an old, dirty and very well armed space freighter, passing close by, had to swerve violently to avoid a collision with the PE ship.

"Nerf Herder!" said Han shaking his fist. "Did you get their number?"

"Naaaaaaaarrrrrghhhhh!", said Chewy.

"Damn it!"

"Naaaaaaaarrrrrghhhhh!"

"Don't you ever say anything else?"

"Naaaaaaaarrrrrghhhhh!"

A short time later the PE ships communications consol started to beep.

"We've got an incoming transmission", said Amy. "Its from the Nimbus."

"You'd better put it on the main screen."

The large viewing screen dropped down from the ceiling, Zapp's face appeared on the screen.

"Well, hello again, Leela, and might I say that you're looking even more seductive than usual."

"What is it Zapp?"

"It appears that you forgot something when you departed", said Zapp, with a smirk. "Too busy thinking about me to concentrate, ehh?"

"Is Fry alright?" asked Leela, sternly.

"Why yes he is."

"Well, can I speak him?"

Zapp disappeared off the screen; a second later Fry appeared, looking sheepish.

"Uh, hi Leela, sorry about this."

"What happened to you, Fry?"

"I went for a walk and… ah… um… I fell asleep. I'm really sorry."

"Of all the dumb things you've done, Fry, this has got to be one of the worst. You're lucky Ocelot 4's inhabitants are friendly, not like some of the planets we've been too."

"And, this means that I've got to suffer being in Zapp's presence again, when we pick you up. Try engaging your brain and thinking for once you moron."

"Look Leela, I said I'm sorry, what more do yo…"

The transmission was interrupted by the sound of an explosion.

"What the fu…" said Fry, before being cut off, his image went fuzzy and vanished, the screen showing nothing but static.

"Fry? Fry! Can you here me? FRY!"

Amy looked at Leela fearfully. "What was that… something's happened to the Nimbus hasn't it?"

"What could happen to the ship commanded by the DOOP's best officer, Zapp Brannigan?" said Bender. He thought about this for a minute. "Forget I said that."

Leela said nothing, but pushed the engines up to full power and locked on to the source of the Nimbus's last transmission.

I didn't need to shout at him, but I was worried about him, and he'd been asleep all along, yes but he did apologise for it, and I had to insult him, and now he could be dead.

No, he can't be, he isn't, not Fry.

Let's just get to the Nimbus, Toronga, before you lose it completely.

The PE ship sped on towards the Nimbus.

Fry picked himself off the floor. His head hurt.

I must have been knocked unconscious, he thought.

He looked around him. A siren was blaring. The ship's emergency lighting was on, giving the Nimbus's bridge a strange red glow. Fry saw the remaining crew leave the bridge; he was about to leave himself, when he saw Kif sitting in the Captains seat, his head buried in his hands.

"What happened Kif?"

Kif Looked up, Fry could tell he'd been crying. Kif cancelled the siren, allowing him to speak clearly.

"Zapp thought our original intercept course with your ship was too ordinary, because it went around an oncoming electrical storm, so he changed it to pass through the storm's centre", said Kif.

Kif put on a mock Zapp voice. "This will put hairs on that green pigeon chest of yours, Kif."

"The idiot's managed to destroy the ships communications array, and knock out the main power generator. The ships running on battery power alone."

"So why is everyone abandoning ship, if the only thing wrong is that you don't have full power and you can't communicate", asked Fry, watching the escape pods leave the Nimbus through the window.

"Because without full power the ship's main engines and steering thrusters don't work, it won't be able to avoid the pull of that planet's gravity", Kif pointed to a what was just now a spec in the panorama through the window.

"So the ship's going to crash?" said Fry, trying to understand what Kif had just said.

"In a word, yes", said Kif.

"Great", said Fry, in a tone that indicated that he wasn't really surprised by this turn of events.

I really could do with my lucky clover right now.

"Hey, where's Zapp", asked Fry.

"He relinquished command and made me captain," said Kif, "just like on the Titanic."

"Figures", said Fry.

"So, shouldn't we get to our escape pods then?"

"Escape Pod", said Kif sadly.

"You mean there's only one left," said Fry "but there's two of us."

Fry suddenly realised why Kif was crying. He looked at Kif, who was staring sadly out into space through the window.

"The Captain goes down with the ship", said Kif. "I'd better show you to your escape pod."

Kif trudged off, his head bowed, leading Fry down through the decks of the Nimbus, towards the escape pods.

"It's funny," said Kif, "but I was planning to ask Amy to marry me today, but I never had the guts to do it… Looks like I never will."

Fry didn't answer, he pondered Kif's fate as he followed the small sad figure.

He's never going to see Amy again, and he knows it. He's going to die because of that lard assed buffoon.

And I thought I had bad luck.

He's got everything going for him, he's an officer in the DOOP, he is, or was, second in command to the DOOP's best (hah) officer. And best of all, he's got someone who's there for him, who loves him.

And he's going to die, while a worthless sack of crap like me gets to go on living.

If you can call it living…without Leela.

Fry knew what he had to do.

The PE ship was encountering increasing numbers of the Nimbus's escape pods.

"Oh God, I hope Kif's alright", cried Amy through her tears. " I hope Fry's fine too", she added catching a glare from Leela.

"Well, there don't seem to be any wreckage, just escape pods, so maybe the ships still in one piece", said Hermes, trying to lift the feeling of dread in the PE ship.

He'd seen Leela's face when they first spotted the escape pods. She felt more than just friendship towards Fry he guessed.

I hope that orange haired fool's OK, he thought, for both their sakes.

The communications consol started to flash again, Leela immediately put the transmission on the view screen.

Zapp's face appeared. "Ah Leela, I'm requesting permission to come aboard."

"What happened to the Nimbus, Zapp?"

"Ah, eh, there was a sudden and unexpected electrical storm, and the ship mysteriously lost power, if it continues on its present course it will crash land on the planet Yavin 4."

"Where's Fry and Kif, Zapp?" asked Leela sternly.

"Fry should be in the last escape pod, I asked Kif to escort him there personally, just after I made him captain."

Amy wailed. Leela looked at her, they both knew what the final duty of a DOOP captain on a doomed ship was.

Poor Amy, Thought Leela, Things were going so well for her and Kif, yet I can't help feeling relieved that Fry's going to be alright.

"So Leela are you going to let me dock with you", asked Zapp, interrupting her thoughts.

"Uh, sorry Zapp, your signals breaking up, what was that, sorry, I can't hear you, you don't want picked up, well if you're sure, bye!" said Leela, ending the transmission.

They sped on until the crippled Nimbus loomed in the distance, getting ever closer to Yavin 4; there was a single escape pod between it and the PE ship.

"Bender, open the cargo hold elevator and bring the pod inside the ship", said Leela.

The PE crew gathered in the cargo hold. Leela and Bender forced opened the pods hatch.

A dazed Kif stumbled out from the darkness within; there was a nasty looking bruised lump on his head.

"Kif", cried Amy, half in relief, half in shock, throwing her arms around him.

"Where's Fry?" cried Leela.

"Uhhh," groaned Kif, "he hit me from behind, when I was opening the escape pod's door for him."

"Oh no," cried Leela, racing off back to the bridge, "he's still on the Nimbus."

Fry made his way through the deserted Nimbus back to the bridge. He didn't like hitting Kif, but he knew Kif would never have voluntarily got in the escape pod.

And now there's just me on board, I might as well have good look around.

After some wandering, Fry found himself at Zapp's cabin, the door was still open.

Zapp must have left it like that in his rush to flee the ship, the coward.

Fry walked in to the deserted quarters, casually looking through Zapp's belongings.

Now this is scary, thought Fry, I've never seen so much velour in my life.

Fry opened a drawer; he recoiled in horror when he saw what it contained.

Velour under wear! In a leopard skin print! Jeeze! How the hell does he get into them! He thought seeing the garments size. An image of Zapp wearing them appeared in his mind.

Uggghhhhh, he thought, as he shuddered.

He saw Zapp's bed; a pang of jealousy went through him,

So this is where it happened, he thought.

Zapp and Leela.

Fry forced the thoughts from his mind; he saw an acoustic guitar lying next to the bed.

Jeeze! he doesn't try and serenade girls does he, thought Fry, trying not to think about Zapp trying to sing love songs.

It didn't work

Fry shuddered to himself, again.

Uggghhhh.

He picked up the guitar and strummed it. He was surprised it was actually in tune.

Fry held on to the guitar and left Zapp's quarters.

Better get to the bridge for the main event, he thought. Best seats in the house!

Leela sat at the controls of the PE ship stony faced.

The crazy fool's sacrificed himself to save Kif. Why does he always have to get so noble at times like these? Thought Leela.

First he gets rid of the worms now this.

Damn him. Now I'm going to be alone the rest of my life.

Leela broke down into a fit of sobs at the controls. She felt a hand on her shoulder: it was Amy's. Kif was at her side, holding an ice pack to his head.

"I'll take over now Leela, you're in no state to fly."

Leela got out of the pilots seat allowing Amy to take the controls.

The rest of the PE staff looked on in pity at Leela, they all knew that there was a special bond between her and Fry, despite her denials.

"Kif, can we dock with the Nimbus?" asked Leela, when she had regained some of her normal composure.

"I'm afraid not, the docking bay and airlock doors require too much power", said Kif. "Only the escape pod doors can be opened manually."

Leela broke down again.

I can't think of a way to save him. She thought.

"Come on Leela, have a seat, you need a rest", said Hermes.

"How can I rest when Fry's in trouble, he might already be dead for all we know", she snapped, bursting into a fresh flood of tears.

"Why, that reminds me, we could use my new invention to see what Fry's doing", said Farnsworth, pointing to a machine that looked very like the 'What If Machine'."I call it the 'What Now Machine', it allows you to see what anyone you like is doing at that exact moment."

"Why the hell didn't you tell us about it before professor", asked Leela, through her tears.

"Tell you about what?" said Farnsworth, once again in a different plane of existence from everyone else.

Leela ignored him and switched on the machine, it asked her to type in a name.

'Phillip J Fry', entered Leela.

She and the others watched as the machine's screen went black before slowly fading in with an image of the Nimbus's bridge.

Fry sat in Zapp's chair, his feet up on the console in front of him. In his hands he held the guitar he'd found in Zapp's quarters,

He was playing it, a slow sad tune of a few chords.

"I didn't know that Fry could play the guitar", said Hermes.

"Yeah, well at least he can play it better than that damn holophonor of his", said Bender.

"He still plays his holophonor!" asked Leela.

"Yeah, he's not very good though, every time he plays it, pictures of you appear. Gets so a robot can't get any sleep. Still, that shouldn't be a problem now that he's going to die."

Bender found himself on the other side of the bridge; his internal clock showed that a few milliseconds had passed but that no record of how he got there could be found.

He did notice a boot print on his chest, that wasn't there before.

Leela returned to watching Fry on the screen.

It wasn't just the worms, she thought, remembering the images Fry had created for her with his holophonor, a few months back.

Fry put the instrument down. He got out of the chair and walked over to the window.

The Nimbus was beginning to skim the outer atmosphere of the planet.

"The ship's about to enter the atmosphere", said kif, who was watching the Nimbus through the window of the PE ship.

"Is that how he'll die? When the Nimbus burns up?" asked Hermes quietly, out of earshot of Leela.

"Oh my, no", said Farnsworth loudly, oblivious to Leela. "A battleship like that should sustain only minor damage due to its thick laser blast armour. No, Fry will die when the Nimbus goes into the ground like a dart and vaporises."

Leela wailed loudly, through her sobs.

Amy and Hermes glared at the old man.

"With no way to pull out of the dive, the ship will hit the planet's surface at a velocity, several times the speed of sound", said Kif.

Kif, Amy, Farnsworth, Bender and Hermes watched as the Nimbus began to glow at its leading edges as it plunged into Yavin 4's atmosphere.

Leela was still watching Fry on the 'What Now' machine. He was bathed in an orange glow, as the air around the Nimbus grew hot, there was the beginning of a roar as the airflow around the huge star ship increased.

His face showed a grim acceptance of his fate.

She watched as he reached down inside his T-shirt and pulled out something tied round his neck on a piece of cord.

Leela's eye went wide when she saw what it was.

"His wedding ring", she said.

Fry looked at the ring, he thought about how he couldn't bring himself to get rid of it, after he and Leela had divorced; a symbol of his love for her, endless, infinite, eternal.

He slipped it on his wedding finger, and kissed it.

"Goodbye Toronga, I Love you."

Fry sat back in Zapp's chair and closed his eyes. His knuckles white gripping the arm rests, his breathing growing quicker.

The orange glow and the roar were increasing steadily. Flames began to lick over the window.

Leela touched his face on the screen.

The What Now Machines screen began to flicker, before the image was replaced by static.

"FRY!" Cried Leela.

She sank into a chair her body wracked with sobs, her face and neck wet with tears.

Kif sat down next to her, his arm around the devastated young woman.

They watched in horror as the Nimbus was engulfed in a fireball as it began the final part of its journey, leaving a trail of fire across the planets atmosphere

"Goodbye Philip", whispered Leela.

Fry felt the Nimbus began to vibrate violently, as the atmosphere grew thicker.

The ship was being thrown around and shaken during its fiery descent.

He closed his eyes tighter, awaiting the inevitable.

This is it, the end…death, he thought.

Something began beeping off to his right. He opened his right eye and looked. A small warning panel was flashing a message at him.

'MAIN POWER GENERATOR BACK ON LINE.'

He opened his other eye. And looked again.

The power's back, the engines are working again, said the seldom used logical side of his brain.

And?

IT MEANS THE SHIP CAN FLY AGAIN! YOU IDIOT! YOU DON'T HAVE TO DIE!

OH!

Fry leaped out of Zapp's chair, and struggled over to the pilot's console. Flames were licking past the window. He could feel the heat, even through the laser proof glass.

He climbed into the pilots seat and strapped himself in. Fry grabbed the wheel and began to pull back. It wouldn't move, his arms alone weren't strong enough.

He braced his feet on the console behind the wheel and tried again.

The wheel moved a fraction. The Nimbus began to pull out of its dive.

Fry continued to pull back on the wheel with all his strength, his teeth clenched, a look of absolute effort on his face.

The fireball began to lessen. He was able to make out the features of the planet below him through the flames.

Aboard the PE ship Amy sat at the controls monitoring the descent of the Nimbus, the rest of the crew sat in silence occasionally looking at the young woman, known as Toronga Leela, who was sobbing quietly, her head in her hands.

I've lost him, he's dead and I never had a chance to tell him how I felt, how much I enjoyed having him around, how good he made me feel about myself… how much I loved him.

Amy wiped away the tears from her own face, when she noticed something on the console in front of her. She looked at the instruments closely to make sure she wasn't mistaken.

"The Nimbus… uh appears to be pulling out of its dive!" she said.

Leela looked up and ran over. "He's still alive!"

Kif joined her at Amy's side. "He must have got power back! What's the ship doing now?"

"It's still losing height, but not as fast!"

"Get us down there, Amy", said Leela.

Amy launched the PE ship at full speed towards the planet.

Fry was struggling with the controls of the Nimbus. The fireball had dissipated; the ship was no longer heading straight into the ground.

I'm still going to crash, but hey the crater won't be as big, he thought.

The light was fading; the Nimbus was flying into the onset of Yavin 4's night.

The planets surface was getting closer.

I don't like the look of these mountains, thought Fry, seeing the snow topped peaks passing by on either side of the Nimbus.

Flying the PE ships a breeze compared to this barge.

In the distance he saw an ominously large mountain dead ahead."Oh, crap!"

There's no way around it

In his panic, Fry failed to notice just how fast he was approaching the mountain, until he was upon it.

"YAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"

The Nimbus ploughed in to the tip of the peak, gouging a trench out along its surface, before becoming airborne again.

The window shattered in the impact, Fry ducked in his seat to avoid the shards of glass. He felt a sharp burning pain on his scalp as a shard cut him. A warm wetness began spreading across his head and down his neck. The wind through the window buffeted him violently, causing his eyes to water.

Fry saw the Nimbus was heading for a small valley behind the mountain.

The valley floor was coming up fast. He braced himself for the impact.

After what seemed like an eternity the Nimbus landed. There was an unholy shriek as metal and rock touched.

A huge cloud of dust and debris was thrown up, some entering the wrecked bridge through the broken window.

Fry felt himself thrown forward in the pilot's chair, his harness digging in painfully as the massive ship expended its forward momentum.

The sound of the Nimbus's hull being scoured by rock rang in Fry's ears.

The lower decks of the ship were being ground away, with flaming wreckage strewn out randomly behind the ship. Small explosions rocked the dying ship further.

Fry was finding it hard to peer out through the window, due to the dust and debris.

He recognised new dangers. The ship could hit something, something big, or explode before I get out… or both.

The Nimbus left the ground briefly, passing over the brow of a small hill. The return impact threw the ship into a flat spin.

Fry felt the sudden change in direction, the ship now travelling backwards.

He felt his head banging against the chair as the ship decelerated. He could see the trail of destruction left behind by the ship, through the window.

Again, he felt the ship leave the ground.

Fry's head slammed against the chair when it landed, knocking him cold.

The PE ship swooped in over the mountains. Night had enveloped the planet.

Amy guided the ship over the mountain the Nimbus had hit.

"Oh my," said Farnsworth, sitting at the front of the bridge, seeing the gouge in the mountains summit, "the ship can't be far now."

The PE ship cleared the summit, the valley could be seen clearly now.

"Sweet Zombie Jesus", exclaimed Farnsworth.

Leela gasped.

There was a trail of burning wreckage and furrow ten miles in length; various pieces of the Nimbus lay in the trench, where they had broken off of the ship. The shattered hulk of the crashed ship lay at the end, smoke rising into the atmosphere.

The Nimbus had dug itself deep into the ground; the bridge now only a scant few metres above the planet surface, the decks below this level nothing but a tangled mess of twisted metal.

The PE ship flew in low over the debris field, its interior illuminated by the fires below.

Leela felt the dread rising within her again.

Oh God, he can't have survived that.

Amy landed the PE ship as close to the wrecked Nimbus as she could.

Leela was first on the surface, the others struggling to keep up with the frantic cyclops.

She ran as fast as she could towards the Nimbus, stumbling in her hysteria.

"FRY!" she screamed repeatedly, her voice breaking. "FRY!"

Leela looked around her wildly, calling his name, there was no sign of life, just flames and twisted metal. The ship was on fire, flames billowing out through its portholes.

She felt her legs buckle beneath her.

"NOOO!"

She fell onto her hands, her body convulsing as she wept, gasping for breath between sobs.

Kif, Amy and Hermes reached her side; Bender and the professor were following a distance away, Bender scanning the area with his sensors.

Amy knelt down and held her close, trying to comfort her.

"I have to find him", screamed Leela, trying to get up.

Amy held her fast. "Leela listen to me, he's gone."

"Fry's gone", Amy said again, softly absorbing the meaning of this herself.

"NOOOOOO!" cried Leela again, her face stained with tears, dirt and smoke.

Hermes and Kif helped the broken young woman up.

Bender came over with the professor, Hermes and Amy looked at him hopefully.

The robot shook his head in answer.

"There's no sign of him", said Farnsworth.

"Come on Leela," said Hermes softly, "there's nothing more you can do, he's gone."

"He can't be," cried Leela, "Fry can't be dead!"

"I'm not", came a voice over the crackling of flames.

Leela and the others looked up.

A short distance away, walking towards the group over a small rise in the ground, was Fry. His hair plastered to his head with dried blood from the cut to his scalp. His jacket missing, his jeans and T-shirt, torn and now black with dirt, blood and soot.

There was a distinct limp in his right leg; he winced when he put his weight on it.

He stopped approaching, when he saw Leela running at him.

"Uh look Leela, I said I was sorry for falling aslee…"

Fry found himself on his back, with a near hysterical Leela straddling him, pining him down.

"GODDAMN YOU FRY, DON'T YOU EVER PUT ME THROUGH THAT AGAIN!"

"I… I'm sorry Lee…"

Leela kissed him before he could finish.

"Wha… mmmmmmh", said Fry relaxing into the kiss.

Leela held him close, as she kissed him. She broke off the kiss and nuzzled his neck.

"I thought I'd lost you."

He saw the trails her tears had left down her face, how her eye looked red and puffy.

She was crying over me, she thought I was dead, he thought, she cares about me at least.

"It's alright, I'm fine", he said, trying to calm her.

Leela broke off the hug when she felt something liquid running through her fingers, as she held the back of Fry's head.

She looked at her hand, then at Fry's injured scalp, and the crimson liquid staining both.

The cut was quite deep, and bleeding continuously.

"Does it hurt?" she asked gently, inspecting the wound with her fingers.

"No its…Owww", replied Fry, flinching slightly at her touch, but still smiling up at her.

"I think my ankles sprained or broken. I had to jump for it when the ship caught fire."

"Come on, let's get you back to the ship and cleaned up."

Leela helped Fry up, holding him under his arm to take the weight off his ankle, he put his arm over her shoulder.

The others caught up with them.

"How are you Kif", said Fry."Sorry about your head."

"I'm ok, it's you we're worried about", said Kif.

"I think I'll live", said Fry.

Kif looked at Amy, who smiled back, he turned to Fry. "Thanks for getting me in that escape pod, Fry, I owe you everything, if there's anything I can do!"

"Ask her", said Fry looking at Amy.

"Uh, eh, I…eh, what now?" stammered Kif.

"Yes now!"

Kif stopped and turned to Amy.

Leela, Fry and the others looked on as Kif bent down on one knee.

Amy's face lit up.

"Amy I, uh, I wanted to ask you this earlier, but I was too nervous. I wouldn't be able to do it now if it wasn't for Fry. Amy will you marry me?"

"Oh Kif yes, of course I will."

Amy grabbed Kif and held him close; over his shoulder she mouthed "Thank you" at Fry.

Fry winked back at her.

Once back on the PE ship, Leela and Farnsworth attended to Fry's injuries, healing the cut to his head and fixing his ankle.

"That was quite a nasty sprain you had Fry, I'm surprised you could stand up let alone walk on it", said Farnsworth.

"Uh, actually, I had to run on it", said Fry. Leela and the professor looked at him, slightly disbelieving. "Well, I wasn't going to hang around and wait for the ship to explode, was I?"

"You'd better get some rest now Fry, you too Leela, you've both had a rough day and you'll need to be fresh when you come back to work on Monday", said Farnsworth.

Fry went through the bridge to his cabin.

She was just worried about me, he thought, that's all the kiss was.

Leela sat down on the couch in the Bridge, she felt the others eyes on her."What?"

"I think you and Fry need to have a talk", said Amy.

"What about?" said Leela.

"Well guh? How you feel about each other! Dummy."

"I'll do it later, when we get back!" said Leela.

"Leela, that's what I said when I chickened out of asking Amy to marry me," said Kif, "I nearly didn't get a second chance."

Kif's right, I have been given a second chance with him, she thought.

Leela looked around at her friends and co-workers, they were all motioning her to go.

Silently she got up and walked back in to the corridor, she knocked at Fry's cabin door.

Fry opened it. He'd been changing his torn T-shirt; he held a clean one in his hands.

Leela saw the bruising across his chest, where the harness had dug into him during the crash.

His eyes lit up when he saw her. "Hey Leela."

Please, please, please, please, thought Fry.

"Fry, could you come to my cabin for a minute, there's some things we need to get sorted out about this whole thing", she said in an official manner.

"Uh ok", said Fry, slightly let down.

Leela led him down to her cabin, opened the door and motioned for him to enter.

Fry went in, Leela closed the door behind her. Fry stood there nervously.

What's she going to ask me about? He thought.

"Look Leela, the crash wasn't my fault."

"What are you talking about Fry?" said Leela. Fry noticed she was standing closer to him than she usually did.

"You said you wanted to sort this out?"

"I meant us… you and me… how we feel about each other. Fry I have something to show you", she said, opening a drawer. She took out a small box and opened it.

Fry gasped, when he saw its contents.

"I kept mine too", said Leela, taking her own wedding ring out of the box. "I just couldn't get rid of it, I didn't know why until today."

She took hold of his arms, feeling him tremble slightly. She felt herself do the same as they touched.

"So, uh, how do you feel about me Leela?" asked Fry.

Leela looked him in the eye.

"I love you Fry, I'm beginning to realize I always have, I was just too proud to admit it, even to myself."

"Oh Leela,"said Fry, "I've waited so long for this, I love you, too."

"I know", said Leela "The professor had a machine that let us see what you where doing on the Nimbus, I saw and heard everything, that's how I knew about the ring."

Leela pulled him close to her and kissed him, passionately.

Fry wrapped his arms around the woman he loved, returning her kiss.

He ran his hands through her ponytail and over her body, breathing her in.

"I love you so much Leela, I've loved you from the moment we met. I never want us to be apart again", said Fry.

"We won't be," she said, placing her ring on her finger, "I couldn't stand losing you again."

She fell back onto her bed, pulling him on top of her, kissing him.

They remained that way for a while, in each others arms, locked in a kiss, before Leela rolled over on top of Fry and took out her ponytail, kicked off her boots and took off her top. She looked at Fry with a wicked grin. "Now, didn't the Professor tell us to get some rest."

A short time later Farnsworth was tinkering with the What Now machine.

"Blast it, this damn thing isn't working, I want to know what's going on through there"

"Oh, that's too bad professor", said Amy.

She felt the parts she had removed from the machine sitting in her pocket. The idea of him being able to see what you were doing at any time had frightening possibilities.

Suddenly a scream was heard, coming from the rear of the ship.

"Oh my," said Kif, "something's wrong."

"Oh, I don't think so", said Amy, a sly grin on her face.

"But what would make Leela scream like that", said Kif.

"You'll find out soon enough", said Amy, looking at Kif with a twinkle in her eye.

Kif turned a slightly brighter shade of green.

"You mean Leela and Fry are… they're… uh… you know?" he said, embarrassed.

"Yes", said Amy.

"Ah", said Kif.

Bender and Hermes shared a knowing chuckle.

Farnsworth hit the top of the What Now machine. "Damn this infernal contraption."

Fry lay awake. He felt Leela stir in the bed next to him, warm, soft and naked.

I'm in her cabin, in her bed and she's here with me, and we've just made love, he thought.

"I'm the luckiest guy alive", he said aloud.

"I know," she said, looking at him, "not many people would have survived that crash."

"I wasn't thinking of that", said Fry stroking her hair.

"What were you thinking of then?" said Leela.

"You're being here with me now, and that we feel the way we do about each other, we have something special."

He looked at her. She lay in his arms, her head on his shoulder, her hair covering them both. He kissed her on her forehead. "I love you Leela", he said.

Leela looked at him and touched his face with her hand, "I love you Fry, with all my heart."

She nuzzled in closer to him, wrapping herself around him possessively.

"Sorry about your back Fry, maybe I should trim my fingernails", said Leela.

Fry looked at her a grin. "Do you think they heard me scream?"

"Probably", said Leela, giggling. "There's just two more things to sort out, now."

"What's that?" asked Fry.

"When's the best time to move your stuff over to my apartment… and to find out if Amy and Kif want to have a double wedding."

Fry look at her, a shocked look on his face that quickly turned to one of joy.

Leela met his gaze and smiled lovingly at him.

They kissed, long and passionately, before drifting off in each other's arms, dreaming of their future together.