12No More Fun and Games
It had been a fairly quiet weekday at the Planet Express building. There had only been a few deliveries that day, and all of them had been within the solar system, so by late-morning, Hermes had decided that it would be a good time to give the whole place a good going over.
Fry had got the job of cleaning up the lounge, since it was mostly his and Bender's mess that was lying on the floor anyway. However, it wasn't too long before Fry decided that it was time for a break, and he sat down on the couch, thinking to himself.
Fry: Well, it's been a little over a month since Leela went on her date with that Chaz guy. He remembered what Leela had told him.
(Flashback)
Leela: You know what Fry. I don't care if you're not the most important person in the universe. It really makes me happy to see you right now.
Fry: Then I am the most important guy in the universe.
(End Flashback)
He smiled as he remembered the kiss she had given him, and the warmth he had felt inside when she had put her head on his shoulder.
Then he remembered what had happened during the last few weeks, and shuddered. Last Monday, he had spilled coffee outside Leela's cabin, and when she stepped outside her door, she had slipped and fell. Boy, he had got hell for that.
Then on Wednesday, he and Bender dropped a birthday present of a crystal butterfly right off a cliff, and he had to pay for a new one with his own salary. On top of it all, Leela had really yelled at him this morning, just because he was a little late. Well, three hours, but still, it wasn't like the world was going to end, right?
Fry: (thinking to himself) Man! nothing really changes. She still treats me like a little puppy, only just occasionally throwing me a little bone of her affection.
Just then, Fry felt someone standing in the lounge. He craned his neck around and there stood Leela, in a not too happy mood
Leela: Hello Fry. What have you been doing for the last couple of hours?
Fry: Hi Leela, Yeah, I was just cleaning up the lounge.
Leela looks incredulous
Leela: Really and all those cans of Slurm just magically appeared huh?
Fry: Oh yeah, I guess I got to thinking about something, and I lost track of the time.
Leela: Well Fry, I just want to say something to you.
Fry: (perks up) Yeah?
Leela: Fry, I didn't really think that you could get any lazier, but hey, what do I know?
Fry: (starts to speak, but Leela holds her hand up.)
Leela: (with a sharp edge to her voice) You know, I had always hoped that you would start to grow up a little, but it just seems like there really is no hope for you. I don't know why you like to wallow in you own filth, but I can say that no one else here likes it at all!
Fry: (looks hurt).
Leela: (getting angrier by the second) Over all these years, sometimes I've saw you do some really nice things, and you've tried to help your friends, but you still want to act like you're at a party of some sort.
Leela: (shouting) WELL IT'S TIME TO GROW UP! You spend all your time with Bender doing silly drinking games, and then show up late for work or not at all, or you can't even act responsibly when you make a delivery. You're not at your old home anymore, and your mother isn't here to hold your hand for you. Now why don't you start to act your real age, and try to make something of yourself, because I'm tired of trying to do it for you, ALL THE TIME!
Leela had fairly screamed out that last part as she turned and stormed out of the room.
Fry looked at the empty doorway, in a little bit of shock. In all the time that he and Leela had been together, she had never deliberately used the memory of his family as a part of her arsenal. Fry sat and thought, and the more he thought, the angrier he got.
Fry: (thinking) Huh! She sure is one to preach at me. Let's see she sure was quick to give it up for Captain Dumbass, and all Alkazaar had to do was look at her and say he was the last Cyclops, and she was ready to marry him like that! But me, even though I gave up the worms, gave her my oxygen when hers was empty, and even forgave her when she thought that had I tricked her into marrying her during the time-slips, I still don't warrant more than an abusive friendship.
Fry: (standing up) Well maybe I should just go let little miss perfect know that maybe she should look in a mirror before she starts to toss bombs in my direction.
However, just as he started out of the room, he stopped and looked at himself in the small mirror on the wall, then turned around and looked, really looked, around the room.
(Flashback)
Fry is in his family's living room, his mom and dad are sitting there, giving him a lecture.
Yancy Sr.: Fry, I can't believe that you lost that job today! It was one where you could have gone on and made something of yourself! All you had to do was try!
Fry: It just wasn't what I was really interested in sir. I'm hoping that I'll find something that I like better real soon.
Yancy Sr.: (sarcastically) Oh, you hope to find something better? (Turns serious) Well, as far as I'm concerned, you don't really want to try very hard do you? Fry, I think that it's best if you were to pack up your stuff, and be out by the end of the week.
Chandra: Yancy!
Yancy Sr.: (to Chandra) This is something that we're going to have to do, if we want Fry to grow up! (To Fry) You can't act like you're still in school anymore. You'd better do something with your life if you want my respect!
(End Flashback)
Fry (to himself) Oh crap. Now I see what she means.
He looked all around the room and saw what it must have looked like to Leela's eye, well, as best as he could guess.
Fry: (to himself) Man, it's a total sty, I can't believe that I still live like this. If I would just try to do a little better in my lifestyle, I bet Leela would at least give me an easier time of it. At least Zapp, Alkazaar, and Adlai all made something of themselves, even if they are jerks
Fry thinks back to some of the dumb things he'd done over the years, like running over Amy with the dolly, or the all night drinking contests that he had with Bender, yeah, like he was ever going to be able to win one of those.
Fry: (Thinking angrily) No wonder I can't get any respect from Leela, I don't really deserve it. It means so much when she's nice to me, but it feels really bad when she gets mad at me, even though I do deserve it on occasion.
Fry (under his breath) If I can't do any better than this, then I shouldn't expect Leela to love me, especially when I can't give myself any respect. I've got to do something that'll show Leela that I really am trying, but what?
Fry stood there and thought furiously, for a little while, and after a bit, he lifted his head and smiled to himself, almost sadly.
Fry (out loud) Yeah that would probably be the best thing for both of us. If I'm going to show Leela that I do love her, then maybe this would be for the best.
He walked over and looked at the clock, 12:47 p.m.
Fry: I'd better use the videophone, and see if I can make this happen. If this works out, then I'd better call ahead to Elzars, and see if they have any available tables tonight. We may as well have fun for one more night, anyway. Then I'm going to have to talk to Hermes. Oh boy, I don't guess he'll be happy at all.
It was an hour later, and Fry was speaking with Hermes in his office in the Planet Express building. Luckily for Fry, the office was soundproofed.
Fry: (Thinking to himself) Gee, Hermes isn't that mad. In fact, I'd only say that he was really, really pissed off.
Hermes: Holy Solomon Grundy, born on Monday, Fry! Why do you think that this is the best thing that you can do mon? I know that we haven't always treated you the best around here, but you can't say that Planet Express isn't a. interesting place to work.
Fry: Hermes, it's not that. Look, it would be so easy for me to stay here, and work at this job, and just have a regular life. But, if I do that, then I'll just be stuck in the same kind of rut that I was in a thousand years ago. It's not that it's not great to work here, but, if I ever want to gain any respect from Leela in her eye, then this is probably the best chance that I have. I've already talked to Morgan, and she's got me a position all ready and waiting for me.
(Flashback)
Fry is on the videophone, talking to Morgan
Morgan (Happily) Fry! Well, what does my dirty little boy want with me? I remember what happened the last time that we met. Maybe I should come by and give another inspection at Planet Express, hmmmm?
Fry: (warily) Hi Morgan. I wanted to ax you a question, please.
Fry continued talking to her over the phone, and Morgan's face showed several kinds of emotions as he spoke, from shock to surprise to a kind of sad happiness.
Morgan: I understand what you're saying Fry, but do you think that you can handle it? It's not the same thing as working at Planet Express, you know? It means that you have to commit yourself for at least one year, and the work is a lot harder.
Fry: Yeah, I figured it would be. But if I'm going to do something, and still be a delivery boy, then this would probably be one of the best experiences that I could have, and would keep me from having to join the DOOP, if you know what I mean? With my luck, I would probably be assigned to the Nimbus, and I really don't want to be around that ship any more than I have to.
Morgan: All right Fry. I can make it happen tomorrow, if that's what you want. The transport leaves at 8:00 a.m. sharp though, so you'll have to be there on time. If you change your mind, then you can back out anytime between now and then, but once you board it, then your ass will be ours, for a year's time anyway.
Fry: OK. I get what you're saying. Thanks for the help Morgan.
Morgan: (A little sadly) You really love her don't you Fry?
Fry: (Startled) Huh! What do you mean?
Morgan: (back to business) Nothing Fry. Remember; be there at 8:00 sharp.
(End Flashback)
Hermes: Well, I guess Morgan can feel something besides ambition after all. But Fry, I have to ax you this myself; are you sure that she is the one you want to do this for?
Fry: (softly) Hermes, I'm going to tell you something, that I've not told anyone else, because I don't think any of the other guys would really have a clue. I mean the Prof., he'd forget altogether, or blab it at the worst moment and Bender, well he'd tell just to get a rise out of me. I sure don't want to tell Cubert, or Scruffy, and Amy couldn't give me advice from a guy's point of view. Of course, I couldn't tell Leela.
Hermes: What do you mean Fry?
Fry: You see, when I first got here in the 30th century, Leela was my Fate assignment officer.
Hermes: Yeah. Leela told me about the time that she had met you. What's that got to do with anything?
Fry: (speaking softly) Well, when I ran from what I thought was a horrible idea, that I was going to be a delivery boy forever, Leela chased me all over New New York for what seemed like forever. We ended up underground, and she cornered me. I was ready to give up, and then she just took out her career chip. She told me that she did it because she had always wanted to quit her job, she just didn't realize it until she'd met me.
Hermes: Wow. I've always wondered what would make a dedicated person like Leela walk away from a good job like that.
Fry: Yeah. Well, while we were there, we held hands, for just a moment, till Bender messed it up. What was great, was just that feeling . I thought that I was in love with Michelle back in 1999, but that, that was nothing compared to that feeling I had when I held her hand for just that moment.
Fry looks down nervously at his own hands for a moment, and goes on.
Fry: You know, we've come close more than once to just giving in to our feelings with each other, but something always seems to mess it up. Then, when we got married during the time slips, and then divorced like a minute later, that really hurt. But, I always thought that I would be able to do something that would make her finally fall for me, you know?
Hermes: I know Fry. You always have tried hard to do right by her, and I've never seen you try to hurt her, at least not deliberately.
Fry: But you know, I realized today, that Leela feels that she has to take care of me all the time, and as long as she feels like that around me, then I'll never be able to have the relationship that I want with her. That's why I have to do this. If I can be away from her, and still be able to do my job well, then maybe, I can gain something from her that she feels is missing from our relationship, like respect, and a feeling that she can be proud of me.
Hermes: Well mon, I can appreciate what you want to gain, but what if she finds someone else while you're gone, and you never do get to be with her?
Fry: Then I guess that what we had was never really meant to be, but I'll still always love her, no matter what.
Hermes: Are you just going to leave, or are you going to say goodbye?
Fry: I'm going to see if I can get Leela to go with me to Elzar's tonight, and I'll tell her there. I don't know how she'll act when I do tell her, but I hope that she won't be too angry. You know Hermes; I would move the stars in the sky for her.
Fry: (mutters under his breath) Again, if I could.
Hermes: Well I do understand, and I'll tell everyone else in the morning. I've got to hurry and rush the paperwork, and I can't make a mistake on this, or else you could have a lot of trouble down the road.
Hermes stood up, and Fry rose quickly as well.
(Hermes stretches out his hand towards Fry)
Hermes: Fry, I never thought that I would say this, but I'm going to actually miss you around here.
Fry: (smiling) Well if everything goes all right, then I'll be back this way in a year. Then I'm going to try again, and do the best that I can
They shake hands
Fry: Thanks Hermes, for everything.
Fry turned around and walked out of the room. He walked around the Planet Express building for a few minutes, stopped and looked at the ship, and then walked into the lounge, where Bender was sitting on the couch, holding a bottle of beer in each hand.
Bender: Fry! How's it going meatbag? Did you finally get lucky with Leela today?
Fry: (exasperatedly) No Bender that's not why I hang around her for.
Bender: Well that's good, because there's a 12 hour All my Circuits marathon tonight, and I'm going to watch it all, so don't look for to be home any time soon, cause I won't there tonight, heh, heh, heh.
Fry: Bender, I'm going to miss all your evilness.
Bender: Well, to know me is to love me, Pusball!
Just then, Fry looked up, because he heard the familiar sound of boots walking down the hall.
Fry: Excuse me Bender. Hey Leela!
Leela stopped and turned towards Fry. When she heard his voice she smiled a small warm smile for a moment, but by the time she had turned towards Fry, she had a carefully neutral expression on her face again.
Leela: Hi Fry. Did you get the lounge cleaned up?
Fry: Yeah Leela. It looks the best that it has in months, though Bender's in there now, and they have an All My Circuits marathon on that he plans to watch all night and.
Leela (rolled her eye for a moment) Yeah, I know how it'll look in the morning. Well, I'll see you tomorrow. (She turned to walk out the door)
Fry: Wait! Are you busy tonight?
Leela turned back to him, looking at him a little strangely
Leela: Fry, are you axing me on a date?
Fry: Um, no, ah, yes, no, yes, no. I mean, I won a free all-you can-eat meal at Elzar's, and I wanted somebody to share it with!
Leela: (A little disappointedly) Oh, Ok. Well yeah, I guess that I don't have any plans, so, Ok.
Fry: (smiling) Great! I'll see you there at 8:00.
Leela: (also smiling) Ok. See you then.
Fry ran home to his apartment, going over everything that he thought he should tell Leela, while getting his closet cleaned up, and leaving a note for Bender, telling him what he was doing, and how long he would be gone. Then he showered and put on the nicest clothes that he had, because he'd gotten the feeling that this was going to be a long night.
Later on that night, Fry is waiting outside Elzar's. He has on a nice suit, and has combed and styled his hair as best he can. Just then he sees Leela walking towards him.
Fry: (stunned) Wow.
Leela has on a lavender dress with light blue highlights, that fits her very well, and she has obviously taken some time to get ready. She seems to be almost in a giddy mood, as though she's been looking forward to this.
Leela (Smiling) Hey Fry. Wow, you're looking nice tonight.
Fry: Thanks Leela, and you're looking really beautiful tonight yourself.
Leela: Thanks Fry. Well, why don't we go on inside.
Fry: OK. (Thinking to himself) Oh man, this is going to be harder than I thought. I just hope that she respects me after all this, or I may as well walk into a Stop 'n' Drop and just finish myself off.
They walked inside, and were shown the table that Fry had reserved earlier that day. Both of them sat down, and waited for the menus to be brought out.
Leela: You said that you had won an all you could eat meal, Fry?
Fry: Uh yeah. You can have whatever you want on the menu Leela. Oh listen, I'm going to just wash my hands before we get started, okay?
Leela: Okay Fry. I'll see you back in a minute then.
Fry gets up and walks over towards the bathroom, and bumps into Elzar while he's walking in that direction.
Fry: Hey Elzar! (Whispering) You know what my plan is, right.
Elzar: (Also whispering) Yeah, I got you. This is an all you can eat for free meal. (Scoffs) Like that'll ever really happen.
Fry: Thanks Elzar. I appreciate it, and I'll tell Bender to not use you as his recipe source anymore.
Elzar: Thank god. I think he's going to drive me crazy if he keeps it up. Then it would just be like, Bam!
Fry walked on towards the bathroom, and washed his hands, then looked at himself in the mirror.
Fry: Ok, I can do this. I'm just telling her something that'll maybe turn her world upside down, but I've got to do this. We've got to progress, or we'll never have a real romantic relationship.
Meanwhile, as Fry was gathering his thoughts, Leela is waiting at the table for him to return, and is going over her thoughts as well.
Leela (thinking) Wow, I never thought Fry would have gone out of his way as much as he has. I can't believe that I said those mean things to him today. At least I've found my mother and father, while Fry's have been gone for a thousand years. I shouldn't have said that about his mother like that. I just wish that we could talk with each other like a normal couple, um, I mean friends, like nice, normal friends.
Just then, another part of Leela's mind spoke up.
Leela's mind: What do you mean, nice, normal friends. Why don't you just tell him your feelings, and see what comes of it. You couldn't do any worse with him, than you have with Zapp for god's sake, and I think Fry would treat you a little better than any of the other guys you've gone out with.
Leela's other side of her brain answered back
Leela: Well, if Fry would only take a little more responsibility, and be more mature, then I'd probably take him up on his offers, maybe.
Leela 2: Well, what if he does get more mature, and then someone else takes a real interest in him, and he in her, what'll you do then? Just let him go, without any kind of a fight for him? He cares for you so much, and you've let him dangle, because you see him as just hanging around forever. Would you want somebody you liked to treat you like that?
Leela: No, I'd probably be pretty resentful. Maybe I should try harder to work with his faults, instead of pointing them out to him all the time.
Leela2: Maybe you could just accept that you've got some faults of your own, and work on some of your own problems, instead of concentrating on all of his, then we could.
Fry: (sitting down) Hi Leela.
Leela's mind: Oh crap! (Out loud) Hi Fry, I didn't hear you come up. You just gave me a start.
Fry: I'm sorry, I didn't mean to spook you. It's loud enough in here that it's hard for me to make myself heard over this noise.
Leela: That's okay. I'm glad that we could spend this time together. Fry, I want to apologize for what I said this afternoon. I shouldn't have said something like that.
Fry: That's all right Leela. I realized what you were trying to get across to me, and I decided that you were right.
Leela: (puzzled) Huh? What do you.?
Just then Elzar came up and gave them their menus
Elzar: Well, what can I get you for you folks tonight?
Fry and Leela look over the menus for a few minutes
Fry: I'd like the Jovian Sea Lobster soup and a glass of beer please.
Leela: I'd like the Neptunian squid, with extra tentacles, please, and a glass of beer as well.
Elzar: Bam! I'll have it ready before you can even think of trying to take off.
Elzar goes to the kitchen
Fry and Leela continued to talk, the earlier conversation forgotten. They act like they are really enjoying each other's company for the first time, and are finally getting to do something that both of them had wanted to do for some time, but had never had the opportunity for. That is, for both of them to just be able to relax with each other. This continues all the way through their meal, and right into dessert. Finally though, Fry knew that he had to tell Leela what he was going to do, or he'd chicken out like he had done on so many other things in his life
Fry: Hey Leela? You know when you told me to grow up today?
Leela: I know Fry, and I'm sorry. I shouldn't try to change you like that.
Fry: No, it's all right Leela. You see I got to thinking, and I realized that you're right. I do need to try harder, and in fact, I've already come up with a plan of action.
Leela: That's great Fry, we'll start on it tomorrow.
Fry: (Hurriedly) Yeah, I guess. You see Leela, I'm leaving Planet Express, and I'm going to work at the Galactic Bureau of Bureaucracy, and I'm starting tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. I just wanted to say goodbye before I left Earth.
Leela looked at him, completely speechless
Fry: Uh, I hope that you and I will be able to keep in touch with each other while I'm gone, and.
But Leela wasn't really hearing anything that he was saying now. Inside her mind, her thoughts and emotions were churning
Leela: (thinking) Fry, leaving? That can't be, he's just telling me one of his dumb jokes, just to try and get a rise out of me, or maybe he thinks that I'm just going to collapse sobbing and begging him not to go.
Leela's other half: And what if he's serious? You've always been on him to grow up, though why he thinks he has to leave us is something that you should find out, and I mean NOW woman!
Leela: (out loud) Fry, why do you think that you have to leave Planet Express. I mean, I' 'll all miss you.
Fry: I know Leela. But, if I'm ever going to really grow up, then I'm going to have to make something of myself, and do it on my own.
Fry stops and clears his throat
Fry: You see Leela. I. I Love You. I don't mean as just a best friend or a coworker, though you are those to me as well. I love you, like I've never loved anyone before. I think that you care for me too, but right now, we're not really going anywhere in our relationship. If we're ever going to advance, then I can't have you feeling that you've got to mother me anymore. I want you to feel like someone that you could be proud of.
Leela: (shocked) Fry! I.I do care for you, and that's why I wish you wouldn't do this. It seems irresponsible and childish to run away like this!
Fry: (desperately) But don't you see Leela. I'm not running away from you, I'm just trying to make you proud of me. You see, when we got married during the time jumps, you thought that I had tricked you into it. But I didn't. I actually did something that showed you how much I loved you. Think of this as the same thing. I want you to know that I can survive on my own, that I can make something of myself. After I get back in a year's time.
Leela: (Surprised) A year! Fry, if you think I'm going to just watch you throw away your life like this, then you'd better think again! I'm not going to watch you try and mess up your life, and just stand by and do nothing! I.
Fry: Leela! I've got to do this, if not for our relationship, then at least for myself. I've got to earn my own self-respect.
Leela: (Gets up suddenly) Well, if you've made up your mind that you want to throw away your whole life and friendships, then I guess that I can't stop you after all. Goodbye Fry, I (sniff) I had a really nice din.(Leela runs out of Elzar's, sobbing to herself)
Fry: (to himself) Gee, that could have gone a lot better.
Fry walks up to the register, and pays the bill, and walks back to his home, so that he can just get a little sleep.
Meanwhile, Leela was walking quickly to her own home.
Leela (to herself) I can't believe that selfish little, oh! He's going to leave me, and I'm going to be all alone again. Why did he think that I'd want him to go away?
(Flashback)
Leela telling Fry to grow up, Leela saying that she hates his childishness, Leela telling Fry that they should just be friends, Leela telling Fry what she said that morning, about how she was tired of mothering him.
(End Flashback)
Leela: Oh my god! I've pushed him away from me, and he's finally decided that he should just do as I said. Fry; please don't leave me alone. I.I need you.
Leela turned and started to walk back to Fry's apartment, then stopped.
Leela: No! If Fry wants to do something stupid like this, then I'll wait till he comes calling for me to get him out of this latest jam. That's how it's always been, and how it'll always be!
Leela turned around and walked back to her own apartment
(Later that night)
Leela is sitting up in her bed. It's obvious that she hasn't slept any since she lay down for the night.
Leela: (Softly to herself) What if he does do this? Should I go to him, and try to talk him out of it, or should I. Oh, I don't know what to do.
Just then, she heard a noise coming from the air duct near her bed.
Leela: Hello? Is that you Mom? Dad?
Munda: (Muffled with a little echo) Hello sweetheart. What are you still doing up, you been crying?
Leela: Hi Mom. Yeah, I guess I have a little.
Munda: Well, tell me all about it.
Leela then told Munda everything, her feeling for Fry, what he's going to do the reasons that he gave her, and the conflicting emotions that she had for him.
Leela: (Sobbing) .and now he's going to go away and I think that I'll be alone again. I mean what if something happens to him, or maybe he decides that he likes it enough that he doesn't want to come back after all. Then I'll never have the chance to find out what we mean to each other.
Munda: Leela, what do you think that he means to you?
Leela: I think that he's warm, and kind and gentle and.
Munda: No Leela, what does he mean to you?
Leela: Well, he's Fry. I think that he's a really great guy, and feelings for him. I just feel when I'm with him that he's really wonderful, and.(Leela trailed off into silence)
Munda: Leela, it sounds to me that there is more than like in these feelings.
Leela: Mom, that's crazy, we work together, and have been together practically the whole time since he arrived in the future.
Munda: Do you remember what you told Chaz when you were at the skating rink that night? Yes that's right, your father and I were following you. You talked about how Fry waited 6 hours to get you a ticket? Do you know of any man that you have ever been with, who would be that devoted to you?
Leela: No, not Adlai, and certainly not Zapp or Al, nobody but Fry would have done that for me.
Munda: What do you think that tells you Leela?
Leela: I think it tells me that Fry would always be there for me, if I would just accept him for the person that he is, rather than trying to wish for him to be my ideal man.
Munda: Maybe your ideal man has always been there, but you didn't realize it, or maybe you were just afraid to recognize it.
Leela: (Starts to cry softly) Oh mom, I do realize that now, but it's too late to make him change his mind now, isn't it?
Munda: Leela, it's never too late. Now get some sleep, and go see him in the morning, when you feel better. I think that he cares for you enough to stay with you, if you'll show him your true feelings.
Leela: (Sleepily) Thanks mom. I'll do that.
Leela leaned back against her pillow and her eye slowly closed. Soon she was fast asleep, but had a small smile on her face, as though she was having a wonderful dream.
Munda: Goodnight little one. I know that things will work out for the best.
Later on that morning, the sun is up and it looks to be a beautiful day. Leela woke up, feeling as refreshed as her mother said she would, and glanced over at the clock to see the time. It reads 7:45 a.m. Leela is up like a shot.
Leela: 7:45! Fry was leaving at 8:00 this morning. Oh no, I can't miss him now.
Leela got up, threw on her tanktop, pants and boots, and went running outside, so quickly that she even forgot to close her door. She ran outside and checked her wrist computer, which now says 7:48 a.m.
Leela: No! It's at least 20 minutes to run to the terminal, and the morning traffic always sucks at this time. There's no way I can get to him in time, unless.
Leela looked up and saw that the tube traffic was moving along well this morning.
Leela: (Determinedly) I'll do it. I don't have any other choice if I want to catch him before he's gone, and I'm not gonna let that happen.
Leela walked over to a tube entrance.
Leela: Interstellar terminal please.
Leela got caught up in the updraft and took off. She zooms through the tube and feels a little queasy as she flies through the air.
Leela: Ah! I hate traveling with these things! Well as long as there's no !
Leela's sudden stop took her by surprise, and she looked to see what was the problem, only to see a rather large man further down the line, who was trapped in the tube. He's obviously stuck and is struggling weakly to get out, though it looks like he'll be there for a while.
Leela: Oh no! I'm going to miss Fry, and I'll never get to tell him my real feelings. (Thinking furiously) No! I won't lose this chance. I'm going to catch him, and we're going to have our chance together if I have to kill him to do it!
Leela turns over on her back and starts kicking the transparent panel.
Leela: Hiyeah! (She kicks the panel out, climbs up and starts running over the top of the tube, though she has trouble keeping her balance with her boots on. She reaches the end of the level part of the tube, and looks downward as it follows a steep slope.
Leela: I'm coming Fry!
She jumps on the downward tube and starts to glide on top of it with her boots down towards the ground. Her speed is picking up as she goes along until she can feel the air making her eye water.
Leela: Whoa! This is more intense than that Plutonian ski trip that I took last summer.
Leela finally gets near the bottom of the tube and just as she is almost ready to impact on the ground, does a quick leap and somersaults through the air, landing with a perfect dismount. Several people on the ground applaud spontaneously, and one person holds up a card with a 9.5 on it.
Leela smiled and started running towards the terminal
Leela: Ha! That should have been at least a 9.7.
Leela's smile faded as she looks at her wrist computer, and sees the time: 8:00 a.m. She looks up to see the GBB ship taking off, and keeps watching it until it looks like a small star in the morning light
Leela: Fry! Don't leave me, please!
Leela turned around and started to walk back to Planet express, crying bitterly. Just then she stopped, and slowly looked up.
Leela: I'm coming to get you Fry, and I'm going to tell you my real feelings, and if that means that we'll end up going to visit the robot preacher together, then that's what going to happen! I'll see you soon Fry. Please just wait for me a little longer.
With that, Leela turned and started sprinting towards Planet Express, and her own future.
Leela arrived at the Planet Express building 30 minutes later, after which she had to sit down at the table for a few minutes, in order to catch her breath. Hermes, who was always early, came into the room and gasped when he saw Leela.
Hermes: Great day in the morning Leela! What happened to you?
Leela: (Gasping) .this morning. We've got to go and get him and bring him back. I've got something important to tell him, and I need to tell him now.
Hermes: Well why didn't you tell him at .?
Leela (Stands up) How did you know that Fry took me to dinner last night?
Leela's eye narrows a bit when she asks this, and her fatigue seems to fall away. Hermes looks around a little nervously
Hermes: .lucky guess?
Leela: (Looking really mad now) What do you know Hermes? Tell me now, or LaBarbara will have to come and get you from wherever you end up! (She cracks her knuckles)
Hermes: (anxiously) All right! Fry told me what he was going to do yesterday. I.I helped get the paperwork done for him, so that he could leave this morning.
Leela: (Exploding with rage) YOU DID WHAT! HOW DARE YOU! I'll bet you were never going to tell me huh! Was this all Fry's idea, to try and make me feel bad, and you guys could have a laugh at dumb old Leela?
Hermes: (A little mad now) Leela! The boy loves you! He said to me that he was going to tell you that last night, and hope that you would at least return the feeling in some small way. But, seeing as you're here and he's not, then I guess that didn't happen now, did it?
Leela: (Looks shocked) Oh Hermes, he did tell me what he was going to do, but I just got upset, and didn't listen to him, and I let my pride get in the way and, ohhh.(She sits down and starts to cry)
Hermes: Okay Leela. May we should have told you, but from what Fry told me, maybe this is for the best.
Leela: (Stands up and grabs Hermes arm) What did he say? Why did he leave to be a delivery boy somewhere else?
Hermes: Leela, Fry wants to impress you. He thinks that the reason that you never really gave him more than the time of day was because you didn't respect him.
Leela: Whaaat!
Hermes: Leela, you know some of the guys that you've gone out with haven't exactly been the best guys around, maybe. But Fry, he thought that the reason that you went "out" with them was because they were all relatively successful men, and that you at least had their respect, if nothing else. Fry thought didn't really respect him, and so he's doing this to get that respect, if it's at all possible.
Leela: (looking shocked) Fry wants my respect? He's always had it, from the time that he made me realize that I hated my old job. Sure he's a little slow sometime, and lazy, and does dumb things for no good reason it seems, but I've always respected him. He's been the one guy that has always tried to be nice to me, even when I treated him horribly.
Hermes: Did you ever tell him that Leela?
Leela: (Looking down) No. I always meant to tell him. I always thought that he'd be here for me, and that we'd have all the time in the world for some reason, even though I know that that's not always possible. But that's what it felt like, and now he's gone, and it sucks! Because I realize that I miss him, and I want him to be around me for as long as it's possible. (Standing up) Come on Hermes, we have to go and get him back.
Hermes: (Shaking his head sadly) Leela, its impossible now. Fry has been sent to the planet Vektor five, which contains the largest delivery and receiving service in the whole of the DOOP. Once Fry gets there, then he has to work for at least one year, before he can be allowed to leave and return home.
Leela: (Sadly) But that's not fair. We can't just let him set there and work himself to death, not for me.
Hermes: Leela, we've got to let Fry do this. If you try to help him, then you're just going to get him in trouble
Leela: (Turns towards Hermes suddenly) I can't just stand here and do nothing! I'm going to help Fry, if I have to join up myself.
Hermes: Leela! That's not how you'd help Fry. This is something that he has to do for himself.
Leela: Can I at least pay a visit to him, and see him once in a while? I just want to see him again!
Hermes: Well, I don't know, but I guess we can try.
Leela: Good! Let's get going! (Whispering to herself) I'll see you soon Fry.
Meanwhile, on the GBB spaceship
Fry: (Thinking) I wish Leela had come to see me off today. It would've been nice to have at least her give me some encouragement
(Flashback)
Fry was waiting in the terminal, yawning and still sleepy-headed. It's been years since he had to wake up this early. He looked around and found the correct terminal number, and sees a bureaucratic officer standing at a GBB booth checking papers, so he walked up to him.
Fry: Um, hello? Is this the launch pad for Vektor Prime?
GBB official: Yeah, are on this morning's flight out.
Fry: Yeah, I'm on a one-year contract.
Official: Ok, let me see your papers please.
Fry hands him the sheaf of papers that Hermes had left for him at his apartment last night, hoping that he had gotten every form signed that he was supposed to. The official looked over them all and handed them back to Fry.
Official: Everything seems to be in order. You'll want to go to the ship through gate # 32, and from their just go on in. The ship's leaving in less than five minutes, so you'd better hurry up.
Fry: Ok, thanks for the help.
He runs to catch the ship, gets onboard with two minutes to spare, and sits next to a porthole, so he can look at the stars, a habit that he still hadn't got out of.
Fry: (Looking out of the porthole) Leela, I'll miss you so much, but I hope that you won't forget me.
Just then a standard boarding announcement starts up, and Fry turns away from the porthole, just missing seeing a familiar purple-haired figure sliding down on the outside of a travel tube. He feels the ship start to shake, and remembering what it was like in the Planet Express ship, holds on to his chair, as it launches itself into space.
Fry: (Thinking to himself) Well, I guess I'll find out what I'm made of now
(End Flashback)
Fry: (Whispering) Man, I'll miss everyone there, but I'm really going to miss you Leela. I wish I could have seen you one more time. (Fry put his head on his chest so no else would see him crying softly to himself.)
At around the same time, the Planet Express ship was traveling through space, not too far behind the GBB ship. Leela is at the controls, looking as determined as she did when she helped attack the Hubble telescope a few years ago during the Omicronian Invasion. Hermes is hanging on for dear life, as Leela pushes the ship faster that it's ever gone before.
Hermes: Leela there's no way we can get there before Fry's ship does. It's one of the fastest ships in the universe.
Leela: We'll just see about that! I haven't come this far to lose him now.
Hermes: But Leela.
Leela: (Angrily) Be quiet Hermes, we're almost there.
The Planet Express ship came roaring in at high speed and touched down in record time. Leela jumped out of her seat, and came running down the ramp, yelling Fry's name
Leela: Fry! Fry, where are you?!
Hermes came walking out of the ship, wiping his glasses.
Hermes: Leela, calm down girl. Let's go to the check-in station and we'll catch Fry there. Come on, let's go.
Hermes took Leela by the arm and they move towards the check-in station together. They walked up to it and suddenly Leela sees a familiar red head standing in the line
Leela: (excitedly) Fry! Is that you?!
Fry hears her voice and turns to see her clearly now
Fry: Leela is that you? What are you doing he.?
Fry can't say anymore as Leela has grabbed him up in a tremendous hug and he finds himself rapidly running out of air.
Fry: Ugh, Ugh.
Leela: (Putting him down, and then giving him a sweet, yet passionate kiss, like the one they shared in Parasites Lost) Fry! I thought that I'd lost you for good.
Fry: (Catching his breath) Leela! You know that you could never lose me. I'll always be around for you, and I hope that you'll feel like that about me someday.
Leela: (Happily) Oh Fry! I do feel that way! Come back to Earth with us, and we'll make up for all of the lost time we should have had together.
Just then Fry looks over her shoulder, to see Hermes sadly shaking his head no. Fry looks back at Leela, his eyes wet.
Fry: Leela, I can't go with you now. I signed a contract with the GBB, and I have to fulfill it, or else, I'll be fired.
Leela: (Understanding) You a cannon into the sun?
Fry shakes his head yes
Leela (Almost in tears) Fry, that's not fair! I've came so close to being where we need to be with each other, and now we won't be able to see each other for a year.
She starts to break down, and Fry holds her in his arms.
Fry: Leela, it won't be forever, and we can still communicate with each other. I bet it'll feel like no time at all has gone by the time I get home.
Leela: (Crying softly) But, what if something happens to you, I don't know if I could stand that you'd be gone forever.
Fry: I'll always be with you Leela, and I'm going to make you proud of me, you just wait and see.
Leela: Fry! You dummy, I'm proud of you already.
Leela then gave Fry another kiss, just as sweet and passionate as before
Fry: (Stunned) Wow, I could get used to that.
Leela: Fry, I realize what you've done for me, and I guess if you've been able to wait for me through all the years we've known each other, then I can wait for a little while too.
Fry: (Happily) Thanks Leela. We'll be together again soon. Now I'd better go check in and find out what kind of deliveries that I'll be doing. Take care, and remember, I love you, and nobody else but you.
Fry walked back to the line to finish his check in, and start his new life, as a delivery boy for the GBB, while Leela walked away for a little bit before slowly falling onto her knees, sobbing softly
Leela: (Thinking) Well I finally realized just who the best man in my life was, and now I can't hold him or be with him for a whole year. But I'll wait for you Fry, and when you get home, you'd just better watch out, because you won't know what hit you when I finally get a hold of you!
Leela: (Stands up and yells) PHILIP J. FRY! I LOVE YOU! YOU'D BETTER COME BACK TO ME IN ONE PIECE, BECAUSE THERE'S SOMEONE THAT WE'RE BOTH GOING TO MEET AS SOON AS YOU GET BACK!
Hermes: (Walks up behind Leela) Who are you two going to meet Leela?
Leela: (Smiling) The robot preacher, of course! I'm not going to lose my second chance this time! You just wait and see Hermes. You just wait!
Hermes smiled back at her and he and Leela both walked back to the ship together, while Fry continued his check in procedures. Both Leela and Fry were comfortable in the knowledge that they could be happy with each other, and that they had come to recognize their feelings for each other at last. And all was well in the universe, at least for a little while.
Well, that's my first fanfic, any suggestions on ways to improve my writing skill would be greatly appreciated. Any suggestions that you have should be made up and sent to my e-mail address, wbc31 , and I'd appreciate any feedback. Thanks for letting me post this, and I hope to do a follow up and see what happens to the principals (Fry/Leela) over the year that he is gone, and how each of them changes and grows during that time. Thanks for everything, and good night.