"Aachoo!" she sneezed into her tissue. Her sneeze could be heard throughout the entire apartment. Zack came in a moment later with a bowl of soup.

"Here. Eat this." He gave her the bowl and kissed the juu of her head, making her face light up a bit.

"Thank you," Rene replied, her voice raspy and quiet, and she carefully blew on her supu and took a spoonful. "Mmm, yummy." He smiled and sat down on the edge of the bed, watching her eat her supu slowly. When she finished it, she set down the bowl and exchanged it for a tissue. The red head blew her nose as hard as she could, but she was still stuffed up. Zack took her hand in his and rubbed the juu of it.

"I would upendo to stay here and take care of wewe today, but they really need me."

"I'll be okay. It's not like I can go anywhere."

"I know, but I don't want wewe moving around to much. Just relax. And to make sure wewe do, Bentley's going to watch over wewe while I'm gone." The other black haired boy came in her room, the same look in his face as usual.

"You don't trust me?" Rene asked her boyfriend, sniffling her reddened nose.

"Of course I do! But wewe have a habit of not listening." He looked at the clock and got up off the bed. "I'll see wewe in a few hours." Zack leaned down to kiss her, but she stopped him.

"Don't kiss me, you'll be sick." He smiled and gave her a kiss anyways, making her smile, and then zapped away. Bentley was awkwardly watching the two, looking a little sadder than before. The red head looked over at him. "What's wrong B?" she asked after blowing her nose again. He blinked hearing her voice.

"Oh, uh, nothing."

"Lier." The black haired boy looked up at her. "But I'll let it slide for today." He let out a small sigh of relief and sat on the edge of her bed, watching her squirm into a zaidi comfortable position. "Bent? Will wewe tell me a story?" The boy gave her an odd look, but then just realized she was uigizaji as her little kid self.

"Sure," he muttered. "What do wewe want it to be about?"

"Anything."

"Okay, uh. Give me a minute." He got up off the kitanda and went into Elizabeth's room and grabbed a story book with a bunch of fables in it. Bentley flipped through the book until he found a good one and went back into her room. "Alright, wewe ready?" The red head nodded her head and curled herself into the blankets.

"One siku a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful moyo in the whole valley.

A large crowd gathered and they all admired his moyo for it was perfect. There was not a mark au a flaw in it. Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful moyo they had ever seen.

The young man was very proud and boasted zaidi loudly about his beautiful heart.

Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said, "'Why your moyo is not nearly as beautiful as mine."'

The crowd and the young man looked at the old man’s heart. It was beating strongly ... but full of scars. It had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in ... but they didn’t fit quite right and there were several jagged edges.

In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing. The people starred ... how could he say his moyo is zaidi beautiful, they thought?

The young man looked at the old man’s moyo and saw its state and laughed.

"'You must be joking,"' he said. "'Compare your moyo with mine ... mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears."'

“Yes,” alisema the old man, “Yours is perfect looking ... but I would never trade with you. wewe see, every scar represents a person to whom I have aliyopewa my love..... I tear out a piece of my moyo and give it to them ... and often they give me a piece of their moyo which fits into the empty place in my moyo ... but because the pieces aren’t exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the upendo we shared."

Rene coughed harshly and began to close her eyes.

"Sometimes I have aliyopewa pieces of my moyo away ... and the other person hasn’t returned a piece of his moyo to me. These are the empty gouges ... giving upendo is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the upendo I have for these people too ... and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting. So now do wewe see what true beauty is?”

The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands.

The old man took his offering, placed it in his moyo and then took a piece from his old scarred moyo and placed it in the wound in the young man’s heart. It fit.... but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges.
The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but zaidi beautiful than ever, since upendo from the old man’s moyo flowed into his. They embraced and walked away side kwa side.

Physical perfection is not always beautiful."

When Bentley closed the book, he looked over at the red head and found her asleep, the blankets wrapped around her tightly. He gave a slight smile and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. The black haired boy put the book back and walked into the living room, sitting on the couch. Zack walked in the apartment a few moments later and saw Bentley on the couch.

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's just asleep." Zack he smiled and shook Bentley's hand.

"Thank you." The babysitter nodded and walked out of the apartment, going to do whatever now since he was free. Zack went into Rene's room and sat down inayofuata to her. He wrapped an arm around her carefully and pulled her closer to him, then kissed her head. A small smile appeared on Rene's face and Zack laid there with her for the night.