Max and Victor walked close together, quietly, down a winding path toward the falls. The moon was full and lit their way through the park but it was the sound of the rushing water which brought them straight to the falls. They stared in silence at the water that danced and sparkled in the moonlight. Leer marvelled within himself how profoundly the beauty of parallel worlds made him long for and appreciate his own. Something about Max reminded him so strongly of Catherine Kent that he had a hard time resisting the urge to speak to her as if she really knew him. The fact that Max knew Victor so well was helpful but only slightly since Leer did not. Still, he knew that Max would be his best guide on his journey through this world and it didn't hurt one bit that she was as pretty as he remembered Catherine to be.
"You know, Max," he said, "I meant what I said. I'd really like to know what you think I should do next."
"Well Victor," Max warmly smiled,"That's a little like asking all of that water down there if it would like to go back up those falls. It would be a vast of a lot of work, and in the end, what would it matter? It would all come falling right back down again, now wouldn't it?"
"I suppose it would," Victor shrugged," but let's just imagine that it wouldn't. What if you could change just five things? You would tell me what you wanted and I would do it, and those things wouldn't go back to the way they were, and they wouldn't be taken away from you, modified, watered down, substituted or forgotten." Leer could see the anticipation in Max's eyes so Victor continued,"There's got to be a few things you'd do differently," he smiled knowingly. It was obvious that she could think of considerably more than just a few things that she would like to see changed.
Max laughed,"All right Victor, I'll play along, what're my options? Are we talking about us, shit with my daddy, the bastin' pigs or just how many times we go out for sushi in a given week?"
"Whatever you want, Max, no matter how big, no matter how small. I just want to know what you would change," Victor replied sincerely.
Max recognized that he meant it and that made her grow silent. She sighed and her eyes took on an almost wistful appearance as she inhaled deeply. "Y'know Victor, it's kinda' funny but I think you may have started a change I never would have admitted to wanting. I am just plain tired of the Alonso vs. Levito wars. How long can people keep killing each other over the same shit anyway? I mean the moment I blasted Tommy in the gut I thought, now why the Bast did I do that? Usually I don't waste anybody unless they're going to waste me. It's hard to explain." She thought for a little while as Victor just held her hand, then she looked very seriously into his eyes and said, "But you know as well as I do that my father isn't going to let ANY of the shit that happened tonight rest. Thanks be to Farb that we've got a whole week before he gets back so we can figure out the bastin' story about tonight. I think he'll forgive you for coming back from the dead, but dinner with Tommy Levito? Good Luck!"
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