Futurama Madhouse

Disclaimer: This fic is named after one of my many favourite Travis songs of the same title. I did not come up with the title 'Flowers in the Window', this song was written by Fran Healy. 'Flowers in the Window' is from Travis' third album, 'The Invisible Band'.

Note: I would sincerely like to thank Paul A. Metcalfe and Andy Robertson for their input, suggestions and, most importantly, encouragement during the writing of this first part. Thanks.

The PE ship flew through space towards Earth, on its way back from yet another delivery. It had been a particularly hectic month for the PE crew and the ship had been making deliveries back and forth like a tennis ball, traveling to all sorts of weird and exotic worlds. At the wheel of the ship was an exhausted looking Amy, who was fast approaching six solid hours at the controls, after this especially long delivery.

Bender was the only other member of the crew on the bridge, Fry and Leela were each in their respective cabins dozing, while Bender was reading a book: 'The Art of Cooking' by Elzar.

Amy cursed something in Cantonese then conceded, "Fine." Getting up stiffly from the Captain's chair, she stretched and yawned before heading down to Leela's cabin.

Amy arrived outside the Captain's cabin and knocked on the door. "Leela, that's been six hours, it's your shift now," she called through the door, but found no answer. "Leela? Are you awake?" Still nothing. Amy then started banging on the door angrily and shouted, "Leela! Wake up! C'mon, it's your shift!"

A few moments passed and eventually a freshly woken Leela called back, "Sorry. I'll just be out in a minute."

Amy waited impatiently at the door. Inside she could hear a clatter being made by Leela stumbling around and opening drawers, trying to throw some clothes on. This was not like Leela, Amy thought. She was rarely late for work and never slept in. Just then, Leela's cabin door slid open and standing in the doorway was a shadow of the woman formerly known as Toronga Leela. Her hair was unbrushed and in a mess, her clothes weren't straightened or tucked in, and she was very pale.

"I'm fine, I've just got a slight headache, that's all," Leela insisted, as she staggered out of her room.

"Ahhh, not so loud, Bender," Leela complained, as she winced and brought her hand up to her head.

Bender yawned and stood up. "That's great. Well, I'm going to go off-line 'till we get back to Earth. Wake me when we get there."

"Sure, thanks for the sympathy, Bender," Leela added sarcastically, as Bender departed the bridge and left Leela alone.

Leela tried to shake away the pain, but moving her head only made it hurt more. This headache had been with her for a couple of weeks now, but Leela was not the type to let illness interfere with her job. She just swallowed some painkillers and soldiered on. Besides, it's not as if a little headache would kill her.

As Leela was navigating the ship back to Earth, a fresh and wave of pain flooded over her, causing her to scream out suddenly. The pain was unbearable. Leela released her control on the ship and clamped both her hands over her head, but the torture wouldn't relent. She cried out in pain, but to no avail, and once the pain became too much for her, she simply collapsed and passed out, falling to the floor with a thud.

Fry, Bender and Amy were all awoken by Leela's scream and rushed to the bridge immediately to see what had happened. Fry was the first on the bridge, and saw Leela unconscious on the floor.

"Leela!" he called, rushing over to her. He turned her on her back to see her eye tightly shut. "Leela?!"

"Oh my god!" Amy exclaimed, as she arrived on the bridge. But it wasn't Leela she was worried about. Without a pilot the ship was veering towards a nearby star. Amy scrambled into the pilots seat as quick as she could and steered the ship back on course.

"I was just asking," Bender retorted, as he quickly shoved his half-emerged chef's hat back into his chest compartment.

"I dunno, we'd better get her back to Earth as soon as possible though, she needs a doctor," Amy replied.

Leela's eye slowly opened and adjusted to the new light glaring down on her. She wasn't sure where she was or what was going on and tried to look around in the light.

"Ah, she's awake," a familiar voice spoke out. Just then, the light above her shifted away and Leela could finally see properly: it was the professor.

"Relax, you're back on Earth. You collapsed on board the ship, so Dr. Zoidberg and I have just been running some tests on you to see what's wrong with you."

"A little groggy, but okay, I guess. So, do you know what's wrong with me?" Leela asked.

"No, not yet, I'm afraid," the professor replied, but something told Leela he was hiding something.

"Tell me something, Leela, have you had these headaches for long?" Dr. Zoidberg asked.

Outside Dr. Zoidberg's medical lab Fry, Amy, Bender, Hermes and Nibbler were pacing back and forth frantically, glancing at the clock from time to time. Eventually, Dr. Zoidberg emerged looking sad and hanging his head.

"Well, the good news is Leela has regained consciousness." The whole gang, save Zoidberg, all cheered and high fived each other. "The bad news, however, is she only has about five days left to live."

They all stopped in mid-celebration, as their jaws dropped, and they stared dumbfounded at Zoidberg.

"I'm afraid so..." the professor regretfully responded. "Leela has a brain parasite. And it's in an extremely advanced stage, beyond the point of operation. I'm afraid if we tried to remove it, it would certainly kill her."

"I suppose it could have come from any number of planets you've been visiting recently. It may have crawled in through her ear when it was small and young, and Leela wouldn't have noticed. I'm afraid brain parasites have been plaguing humanoids for centuries..."

"The only way to remove a brain parasite is to surgically remove it before it's established in the brain, ideally no more than two or three days after entering the host. But, Leela's parasite has grown too large and nested too strongly inside her brain, there's no way of getting it out now without killing her. Ah, if only we'd discovered it sooner." The professor sighed, shaking his head.

"No, there must be something we can do!" Fry panicked. "This is the future!" Fry was on the verge of tears, he didn't know what to do.

"No, we didn't have the heart to tell her; but its important we don't crowd her, only one of you should come in with Zoidberg and myself when she finds out," the professor replied.

"I don't know if I can..." Fry explained. "I couldn't stand to see her face when she hears."

"Fry," Amy persisted, "everyone knows you and Leela have something special. She's gonna need you to be strong for her."

Fry, the Professor and Zoidberg all walked into the medical lab looking solemn. But Leela could see that Fry clearly looked the worst of the three. He looked absolutely awful, as if he had just heard someone had died...

"Uh, well," Zoidberg sweated, "the thing is..." Then sighing, he confessed, "There's no easy way to tell you this, Leela, so I'm just going to come right out and say it: you've got a serious illness, and I'm afraid it's terminal, I'm sorry," Zoidberg eventually told his patient.

Leela was, understandably, lost for words. Sure, the headaches had been causing her trouble, but she never could have imagined it was this bad. She didn't know what to think. She didn't know what to say. She was just stunned. Eventually she broke the silence and asked, "What is it? What's wrong with me?"

"It's a brain parasite," the professor answered. "And, it's extremely advanced. The attack you suffered in space is a telltale side effect. You won't be able to travel in space again, it could be very bad. And, we can't remove it. I'm sorry. Estimating from the tests we took, you have about five or so days until it, well, you know..."

"My God, I'm going to die," Leela announced. Her face was almost expressionless, but these words were like a dagger in Fry's heart, he felt like he was about to collapse in a heap of tears. He tried desperately to fight back his emotions; he needed to be strong for Leela. "I don't know what to say, what to do," Leela stated. "What do you do when you're told you're gonna die?"

"You spend the time you have with your family," Zoidberg answered Leela's rhetorical question.

"And friends," Fry jumped in. "With your family and friends; we're all your friends here Leela, we're here for you," Fry offered.

Amy offered to spend the night in Leela's apartment to keep her company and to make sure she was all right.

"You didn't have to stay here with me, Amy," Leela said, as the pair entered her apartment.

"It was the least I could do. Besides, I couldn't let you stay alone right now, could I?"

"Leela, relax. You need to get some rest. I can look after myself. You tell me if you need anything, okay?"

"Aww, Leela." Amy was nearly ready to cry. The pair hugged each other, and shared a moment of friendship that they both knew would be one of their last.

Bender and Fry entered their apartment, after a physically and emotionally exhausting day.

"Man, I really need some booze," Bender announced, as he reached for a beer. "You want one, buddy?"

Fry shuffled into his room with only one thought on his mind: Leela. He still couldn't believe she was going to be gone soon. Whatever could be said about his love for her, his lost or failed attempts to win her heart, the bottom line was that even without her love, she was still a terrific friend, the best he'd ever had. And without that, without her there, Fry really was lost and alone. "What will I do without her?" Fry thought painfully, as he fell onto his bed. As his mind tackled this thought, a tear slid onto his pillow.

Later that night, Leela found herself sneaking quietly towards the front door of her apartment. She hated to do this to Amy, especially after she'd been so nice to her, but she couldn't help herself. In fact, she wasn't sure if what she was doing was the right thing or not, but right now she wasn't sure about much at all. All she knew was that she couldn't take this. She had to get away. She had to escape. She looked over her shoulder at Amy, asleep on the couch, before finally deciding to open the door and attempt to abandon her problems, now that she was at the end of her life, much like she had been abandoned right at the start of it.

Fry and Bender were woken the next morning by a furious knocking on the door. Bender opened it to see Amy looking pretty worried.

"No, why would she be here, I thought you were supposed to be staying with her?" Bender replied.

What's going on?" Fry asked as he reached the door. "Amy, what are you doing here?"

"She shouldn't be out alone in her condition, what if something happens to her?" Amy shot back.

Leela walked like a ghost down the busy New New York streets, completely oblivious to what was going on around her. She'd been walking all night, just trying to get her head around the situation. Her mind was submerged so deeply in her pool of thought that she didn't even pay attention to where she was going. She just wandered around aimlessly, and each time she knocked into someone, she was pulled sharply back into reality, only to slip away again moments later.

But, she'd needed this; she'd needed to get away. Needed some time to think. She'd needed to escape.

She decided it would be best to find a place to sit before she clattered into any more people.

Fry, Amy and Bender agreed that Leela probably wouldn't leave the New New York, and so the best thing to do would be to split up and scour the bustling city for her.

The odds of finding her were gonna be one-in-a-million, but at least they'd be able to spot her easy with her big purple hair and unmissable Cyclops eye. But, they'd been searching for hours now with nothing to show for it. Fry had been trying his best to stay alert and keep a sharp eye out for her, but his mind kept searching for an answer: why did she go? He couldn't understand it, why wouldn't she talk to him? No one could help her, but he could be there for her. He could make it easier. Or could he? After all, he didn't understand why she'd run off. How could he? How could you imagine how you'd act in a situation like that? Knowing there was nothing you could do? Having no family to support you either?

Maybe he didn't understand, but he did care for her. He still wanted to help her, and wasn't that the only really important thing?

Leela had found a bench in the park to sit at. She'd sat there for a few hours now. Her stomach was crying for food but her mind was too distant to hear it.

Leela had spent a lot of time thinking about her life: things she'd done, people she'd met, things she'd lost, things she'd never had, things she was grateful for, even at a time like this. She thought about things she'd regretted in her life. There had been a few: Zapp, Alkazar, Adlai. But, above all, she'd regretted being so alone all her life. People just seemed to walk in and out of her life like that. She was so lonely. There had never been anyone there to hold her, to tell her they loved her. No one but Fry.

She cared for him, she really did. Oh, she wished he'd been more mature. She knew they could have had something special if Fry had just grown up, if he'd just shown some sign of maturity. But Leela still knew that, through thick and thin, Fry had been there with her. He'd been the only guy to really appreciate her for who, and what, she was. He was a great friend.

Leela made a decision. There was no time left for regrets. She was sick of being alone. She needed to see someone. But he'd be looking for her, how could she let him know where she was?

After nearly a whole day of searching, Amy, Fry and Bender met up to summarize the results of their search so far.

"Well, I've been everywhere I can think of that Leela could be, I don't know what to do now," Amy gave up.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna check," Fry said, and wasted no time in heading off for Leela's.

Fry knocked on the door of Leela's apartment and called, "Leela? Leela? It's me, Fry." There was no answer. Fry tried the door and found it was unlocked, so he carefully stepped inside. "Leela?" Fry kept calling, as he searched the apartment. But Leela was nowhere to be found. Fry was almost about to give up on his search, when he noticed something lying on top of the table. "What's this?" Fry asked himself, as he crossed over to it. It was an envelope. "A letter?"

On the envelope read: 'Fry'. Fry recognized the handwriting immediately: it was from Leela.

Dear Fry,

There's something I have to do, I need your help. Please meet me outside the Planet Express building at 11.30 tonight.

Leela

PS - Please don't tell anyone.

"11.30?" Fry repeated aloud, it was already quarter past! Fry dropped the letter and headed straight out the door, and toward the Planet Express building, as fast as he could.

Leela spied Fry making his way over in the dark NNY night. He was a little out of breath when he came over to her.

"Leela, where have you - been all day?" Fry stuttered, as he tried to catch his breath. "I thought - Amy was - looking after -you."

"You didn't have to run all the way here, Fry," Leela smiled. "I'm sorry I had you all worried, I just had to get away. I needed some time to think by myself."

"Yeh, but I needed to see you. I need to get away, I need to leave Earth, I just have to get as far away from here as possible."

"Leave Earth? But Leela, you can't go into space!" Fry protested. "Don't you remember what the professor said?"

"Of course I do. But, Fry, I've only got so much time left, and I'm leaving, and I want you to come with me."

"I told you, I needed to escape. I still do. I just want to go to a nice planet somewhere where I can get away from everything. Besides, there's nothing for me here."

"No, I don't," Leela confessed. "But I wanted you to come, I don't want to be alone anymore. I... I need you to come. I need you with me."

"Something's already happening to me, that's why I need to go. I don't want to spend my last days on Earth, on Earth. You know?"

"Okay, Leela, let's go," Fry conceded. He could see in her eye that this meant a lot to her.

"I know, we're gonna steal the ship," Leela said, with just a hint of playful slyness in her voice.

It was late night. Leela and Fry approached the Planet Express building and quickly scanned for activity. Nothing. No lights on. The place was empty: ideal.

Leela had prepared for their trip and had brought a backpack with her that contained some blankets, some food and something else...

The two approached the window and Leela prepared to jimmy it, then hesitated. "That's strange."

"The window isn't locked, in fact, the lock has already been forced. It looks like someone already beat us to it."

"I guess not, oh well," Leela submitted, as she slid the window up carefully and squeezed through.

Just as the hanger doors opened fully, Leela launched the PE ship off into space, on what was certainly to be her last ever journey.

After a little over an hour of searching, the PE ship spotted a planet that seemed ideal for Leela, which she'd noticed it a few times before on previous deliveries. She had been very, very curious about this planet before, and had made a note of its rough position; she was drawn to it. It was an uncharted planet, and was completely uninhabited by any intelligent species. It was, however, a remarkably similar planet to Earth. Except an Earth that had been untouched and unspoiled by civilization, and instead had simply been allowed to evolve naturally.

Leela's eye danced over the planet's surfaces, as it sought for a place to land the ship.

"Why don't we land down there?" Leela suggested, pointing to a spot by the coast of one of the northern continents.

The ship set down on a grassy plain on the surface. Fry and Leela emerged from the ship and stepped down on to the planet. A gentle breeze washed over Leela's face and through her hair, as she breathed in the fresh air and feasted her eye on the surroundings.

Nearby, a shallow stream trickled down to a soft, sandy beach, which lay before a magnificent ocean. There was a huge forest just behind the ship, which arched back and hooked along the horizon to the left, and in the distance, a spectacular snow peaked mountain range.

"C'mon, Fry, let's sit on the beach," Leela said, after absorbing the sights around her, satisfied with her choice of location.

The pair made their way onto the beach, and stopping not far from the lapping waves Leela dropped her backpack down and took a seat in the perfect sand. Breathing in the sea air, Leela let out a sigh. It was close to dusk in this part of the planet. The orange sun was causing the sand to turn golden, the sea shimmered as if drops of gold dust had been scattered among the waves. Above, the sky looked heavenly, the shallow blue was broken up only by a few gentle clouds that were drifting majestically by.

As Leela stared at the setting sun, its warm glow soothingly caressed her face, she felt something in her heart, something which shone out against the pain. It was a feeling which she vaguely remembered, a suppressed memory, an unforgotten sensation which had eluded her all her life, but had just this instant been recalled.

"Well, I've never been here before, Fry, but I just get this strange sense of, belonging. This place feels so familiar, and something inside me just reminds me of being a child, when I look up at that sky. My very first memory I have is from when I was at the Orphanarium, but this feeling pre-dates even that. I don't know, I can't explain it very well. I'm probably making no sense at all, am I?"

"No, I understand. This place feels like home to you. Everyone gets that feeling from time to time, something familiar comes along and it just reminds you of home, even if you don't know what or why."

"But this feels different, it's so much more pure. It doesn't remind me of my life at the Orphanarium, it's like...it feels like, the beginning. Which makes no sense, because now I'm at the end..."

The sun was even lower now, and the clouds had become red and orange to match its fading warmth. Fry could see streaks of purple among those clouds, hints of it which all flowed together to paint the sky in a beautiful blend of colour.

You're not alone, Leela." Fry explained, "We'll all be there with you. I, we all care for you."

"I know, Fry. What I meant was: I always hoped I'd have a family. Even if I never found my own people, I wanted to have a family. But now I'll never have one. I'll never have children, never be able to care for them, to watch them grow up. I'm gonna die the way I lived: an orphan."

By now, the sun was sinking steadily into the ocean, it was getting darker and you could just make out the first few stars in the sky, dotted among the patches between the clouds. Leela brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Cuddling her legs like a lonely child, she watched the sun fade away, drifting into darkness.

"Fry, thank you so much for being there for me. I never really said it, but your friendship means a lot to me, even when I treated you like an idiot, I still cared. I always was grateful for you, for saving me from that creep, Alkazar. For sticking by me when I was an idiot with Zapp. For everything you've done for me. I appreciated it so much."

"Don't apologise, Leela. Friends are there to stick by each other, and you've been the best friend I ever had. Even though I still miss the 20th century, the luckiest thing that ever happened to me was getting frozen, because I got to meet you."

The sky was completely dark now, the gold in the sea had turned to silver, and the stars were out. So Leela lay down on the sand, rested her arms on her stomach, and looked up at the lights dotted in the sky. Fry lay down next to her, and the two of them just gazed up at the stars above. Countless stars, hanging above, nothing more than raging balls of fire, when you get up close, but from down here they still seemed like untouchable fragments of paradise; lights from heaven. Their rays shining through the coldness of space, serving only to touch the hearts and minds of those who care to look up at them.

"Yeah, you hardly ever see them like this back on Earth, what with all the lights 'n' all."

"Yeah," Leela agreed. There was a short a silence as the two gazed up at the heavens in awe before Leela asked, "Ever wish upon a star, Fry?"

"Hehe, yeah, countless times, must have wished upon just about all of 'em by now," Fry joked. "The wishes never came true, though."

"Me too, I always wished for a family, for a mom and dad, for a home, when I was a kid. But I gave up a long time ago."

"Are you gonna wish for something now? You've got a hell of a lot of stars to choose from."

"How about that one?" Leela said, pointing to a large, bluish star almost directly above.

Leela and Fry continued to gaze at the stars silently. Lying in the sand watching the stars, Fry was reminded of the second time he lost Leela, when he'd been too late to stop the explosion which destroyed his love declaration to her. The message he engraved in the sky that was torn apart by a black hole leaving one just as big, and twice as painful, in his heart. But he still loved her; he'd always love her. And she was the only one who could mend that hole in his heart. But soon she'd be gone. Could he go on without her? Could he go on without telling her that he was still in love with her? No, he couldn't. But, what could he tell her? How could he say it? "Leela, I know you're dying and all but I love you?" How could he say that?

"I Couldn't. I thought I could get over her, but now that she's going, it only serves to show me hat I'm still in love with her."

"You have to tell her, Fry. You owe it to her. You owe it to yourself. You love her. Tell her now."

"Leela," Fry said aloud. But no answer. "Leela?" he asked again, sitting up to look at her. "Leela?" But nothing. Her eye was closed. She was asleep.

"It's a sign," Fry conceded. "It's fate, telling you no. You're too late, as always. Leave her be."

Fry sighed, he carefully crawled over to Leela's backpack and fetched out a blanket. Gently he pulled it over her and lay back down. The sky, all of a sudden, lost its charm, it played second fiddle to Leela, and Fry found himself staring at the beauty that lay in the sand next to him. The speckled light from the stars shone down upon her perfect face. As the heavenly sky bathed her in a glittering light, Fry found himself unable to take his eyes off her gentle face, off the friend he was about to lose, off the love he would love forevermore.

Leela awoke on the beach with water splashing on her face. It was raining very lightly, and Leela could feel little flecks of water just on her face. She sat up on the sand alone, noticing that Fry was missing. His footprints in the sand revealing he'd headed back on to the grass, but when Leela stood up and looked around, he was no-where in sight.

Still standing alone on the beach, she scanned around for Fry, confused by the fact he wasn't here.

"Fry," Leela half-heartedly called out, not making much noise. He never would have heard her anyway.

Leela summoned up all her strength and called out as loudly as she could, "Fry!" The level of her own voice, while not terribly loud, hurting her head. "Ahh." Leela grabbed her forehead in pain. "Fry," she called again, less audibly, but as loud as she dared. Where was he? A tear had formed in the corner of her eye, from the pain mixed with her frustratingly fruitless search for her companion.

Just then, Leela saw Fry emerging from the PE ship a short distance away. Fry spotted Leela was awake and made his way over to her quickly.

"Leela, you're up, how are you feeling?" Fry asked. He then noticed her eye was a little teary and asked, "Have you been crying?"

"No," Leela insisted. "Where were you, I woke up and you were gone, why did you go?" Leela questioned Fry.

"I'm sorry, you were asleep, and I didn't want to wake you, I just had to do something. I was only gone for two minutes, I swear."

"I don't know why, I just...I got up and you weren't there... and then I called and..." Leela put a hand to her head again, wincing slightly. "I don't know."

The two of them stood there in the shallow rain in silence for a short time, neither knowing what exactly to say to the other. Fry decided to break the silence and asked, "Leela, why don't we go for a walk?"

The two of them started walking down the shore, making their way along the sand, they breathed in the air and took in the view, without saying much to each other. The parasite in Leela's head was constantly sapping her strength, making her physically weaker, and leaving her emotionally fragile, as Fry had witnessed. Leela felt vulnerable, but although Leela had never really been able to rely on Fry before, she felt now that she could depend on him.

As they walked, Leela held Fry's hand for comfort. This was a person who had nearly lost his life foolishly on many occasions (Leela had had to save his skin countless times), and in a war, had proved himself virtually useless. And yet, for whatever reason, Leela felt safer just by holding his hand. The tiny droplets of water caught the light on their way down, like little sparkles of sunlight, splashing refreshingly on their faces as they walked along the shore. After traveling someway down the beach, Leela asked, "What am I gonna do, Fry?"

"Maybe, but don't you think we should go back to Earth? Everyone will be worried about you - and in your condition, wouldn't you be more comfortable back in New New York?"

"Hah, everyone worried about me? I find that hard to believe. Bender would sooner sell my organs than worry about me. And Amy? She... well, she and I aren't even that great friends." Leela tried to convince herself, as she remembered that Amy had put herself out for her earlier.

"That's not true!" Fry protested. "You should have seen her when you went missing. She was really worried about you. The three of us, even Bender, were looking for you everywhere, all day."

"Leela, you don't need to apologize, but you have to believe me when I tell you that there are people who care about you, please, let's go back."

"I don't know, Fry. I don't know if I could face them all, after running out on Amy, after stealing the professor's ship. They're all gonna be mad at me."

"Okay," Leela eventually conceded, "but let's just stay here a little longer, okay?"

The two of them continued walking, holding hands, down the shore, before slowly making their way back to the ship.

Just before boarding the ship, Leela took one last gaze around, knowing this would be the last time she'd be here. She wanted to make sure the view was engraved into her memory. She didn't really know why, after all it didn't seem to matter anymore, but she wanted to all the same.

The PE ship took off from the planet and set course for Earth, leaving this world far behind.

The truth was Leela was deep in thought, she was afraid to go back, and she had no idea why. Maybe it had something to do with this thing in her head, she hadn't been feeling quite right since that first attack. She was feeling scared of what would happen to her, what the others would say about her when she got back. What would they say about her after she died? How would they remember her? Would she be a "good friend that died before her time" or "that freak that got a brain parasite and couldn't hack it"? They wouldn't really think of her that way, would they?

Ahh, Leela was so confused, she couldn't even tell anymore if she was thinking right, she was so frustrated, she was so frightened, she wished it would just end...

In a reflex action, Fry instantly asked, as if he couldn't have pieced it together himself, "Leela, what's wrong!?"

Like a bolt of lightning, the pain surged through her head in a flash. Striking again and again until Leela could bear no more and once again collapsed onto the floor.

"Leela!" Fry called, and, just like last time, rushed over to her. "Leela!" Fry tried his best to get a response from her, but she was completely out. Fry then realized that the ship was still heading straight for Earth, fast, and was currently pilotless.

Fry tore himself from Leela's side and got into the pilot's seat to try and pull the ship out of its dive. It was a little ironic that Fry was using what basic piloting skills he had now (skills that he'd acquired in a bid to impress Leela, back when she was fully healthy) to save her life - and his - now that she was unable to see him and doomed to die. However, Fry was successful in pulling the ship out of its dive without catching hill disease. Now that the ship was out of danger, Fry was able to locate the auto-pilot which landed the ship for him, as he resumed his position next to Leela and desperately called out her name, temporarily unable to think of anything better he could do.

Leela could hear an echo of undistinguishable noises faintly hovering around her. She weakly managed to open her eye. Like before, she was dazed and not sure of where she was, all she could see was a blur, lights passing by. She blinked slowly and turned her head faintly to look around. Her vision was completely out of focus. On her right she could just make out some people in white. They were talking to each other; Leela could only pick out a few words, but it mostly sounded garbled. Where was she? What had happened? On her left was another person dressed in white running alongside her, and behind him-her someone in red. Red jacket, red hair. "Is that Fry?" "Fry... Fry!" Leela tried to call out, but she couldn't. There was something in her mouth. She hadn't noticed it before. What was it? "A...a respirator?" Leela managed to realize, before slipping back into unconsciousness.

The next time Leela awoke, she was lying in a bed in a room, surrounded by familiar faces. In the room with her were: Zoidberg, Hermes, Bender, the professor, Amy and Fry.

Leela took a look around her. She was in a small private room, lying in her bed she studied her surroundings, but there wasn't an awful lot to see. Four walls, ahead of her a chair, sat next to a door leading out into a hall, and on her right was a bare window, which from her handicapped position only afforded her a view of the sky. It wasn't a lot.

Fry stepped forward and stood next to her bed. "You're in hospital, you had another attack on our way back here, and passed out. I managed to land the ship and get you here. Then I called everyone else and told them we were here."

"I had another attack? At the wheel? Oh, Fry, I'm really sorry, I could have killed us both, I'm really, really sorry," Leela pleaded, looking painfully stressed and just about ready to cry.

"Are you okay? She's in a hospital bed, she's dying, she's got precious more than 48 hours left on the clock, and she's asking if I'm okay?"

"Good, I'm glad. So how long do I have to stay here then? When can I get out of here?" Leela asked.

"Cause, I don't want to stay here long," Leela said. "I mean, I haven't got long…"

The rest of the crew all of a sudden seemed to find the walls and the floor very interesting, as they desperately tried to avoid eye contact with Leela, except for Bender, who was staring straight at Zoidberg.

"Well, Leela..." Zoidberg began, but didn't finish. He just couldn't say it to her.

Zoidberg looked for as delicate a way to put it as he could, and in the end simply replied, "Indefinitely."

Leela slumped back in her bed with a heavy sigh. It was just one thing after another. Nothing was going right. And it struck her that that really was that. This was it. Nothing left for her to do but die. She looked around again and thought to herself, "Here I am, this is the last room I'm ever going to be in. This room and the people in it are all I've got left to see in my life. Maybe if I'm lucky one of them will leave the hall door open and I might get to see some strangers walk past, but that's it. That and this window." Leela thought, as she turned her head to the right, resting her cheek against the pillow, "And all I can see from it is a dark sky. I'm not even going to leave this bed alive, am I? This is the spot where I'm going to die. It's as simple as that. This is what I got out of life. This is what fate handed me..."

These thoughts rolled over in Leela's mind, and were so depressing that she just shut her eye and switched off.

"Oh, no," Zoidberg said. "You don't think I was maybe to strong with my choice of words, do you?"

"The hell would I know?" Bender replied, as he turned and walked out of the room. His exit was followed by the entrance of one of the hospital doctors.

"Um, we're gonna be running some more tests on the patient over night; she's going to need some rest, so it's best if you'd all leave for now," the doctor announced.

Fry and the others reluctantly agreed and left the room to let Leela sleep in peace.

Once outside, Hermes, the professor and Zoidberg each decided to go home, but promised to visit Leela again tomorrow. Amy, however, remained behind with Fry. She took him aside and didn't look happy at all.

"What were you thinking? Taking her into space! It's your fault she had another attack! You could have killed her, Fry!" Amy continued.

"But you just let her? You knew this would happen. And when did you know where she was anyway? We were looking for her forever. You should have told us where she was."

"Whoa, it's not like I could have persuaded her to change her mind, Lord knows I tried. But this was something Leela was going to do, no two ways about it. And since she was gonna do it anyway, isn't it better that I was with her?"

"You could have stopped her. And you should have told us where she was, when you found her."

"I know, I'm sorry, I didn't ask for any of this to happen, but it did, and I dealt with it the best I could," Fry told Amy.

Amy sighed, she was angry with Fry, but she sort of understood why he'd done what he'd done. And she knew he was really upset about Leela; she was too. Fry was looking really bad; every second that passed brought the inevitable reality of what was going to happen to Leela closer, sooner, leaving less and less time until Fry would have to say that painful final goodbye to the most important person that had ever came into his life.

"Fry, let's go get something to drink, there's a small restaurant just down the hall, you look like you could use some coffee," Amy suggested.

"I know you don't, but I think you need it," Amy persisted. Fry unenthusiastically agreed, and the two of them walked down the sterile hospital corridor together to the all night hospital restaurant, and sat there, drinking coffee, for the rest of the long night.

Early the next day, Fry and Amy went back to Leela's private room to visit her. Leela had her own room because of the parasite. She hadn't been allowed to leave the hospital, because without constant rest she'd have died even sooner than now predicted, and they couldn't risk her dying out in the public. After the brain parasite kills its host, it remains in the brain for a short time, a few hours, before it leaves and lays its eggs. If Leela's parasite could be allowed to escape, it could cause a horrible epidemic in the city.

Outside her door, a nurse and a doctor were discussing something, as the doctor periodically checked and added notes to a clipboard he was carrying. The doctor saw the two visitors approaching and quickly finished whatever he'd been saying, before leaving down the corridor, clipboard in hand. The nurse turned to face Fry and Amy as Fry cleared his throat and asked, "Can we see Leela now? Is she awake?"

"She's comfortable," The nurse answered, but seemed slightly uncomfortable herself. She gestured a hand down the corridor and quietly ushered them down the hall, away from the door, and out of Leela's earshot. "But the results of the tests we took overnight are conclusive, after comparing them with the results Professor Farnsworth and Dr Zoidberg gave us, we're certain that your friend..." The nurse carefully searched for the right words, "Isn't going to last another two nights here. I'm sorry."

Fry and Amy both looked down, they already knew what was happening, but hearing it in an official way like that was still pretty hard to take. "If it's any consolation," the nurse continued, "I've dealt with numerous brain parasite patients and I've never seen or heard of anyone surviving two attacks like your friend did. Even those who suffered one are often left incredibly weak, but your friend has shown a lot of strength in her fight against the parasite and it's really to her credit that she's survived this long. You should be very proud of her."

"You said her body has been putting up a strong fight against the parasite, doesn't that mean that there's still a chance she could survive?" Fry asked.

The nurse could see the look of desperate hope in his eyes and really wanted to say "yes there is a chance", because he obviously knew nothing about the biology of brain parasites and how to deal with them. Fry was from a different time, but Amy knew that it was simply too late to do anything to help Leela, and felt really bad for Fry.

"I'm sorry," the nurse said. "There's just nothing that we can do. I'm really sorry. Your friend can fight the parasite but she can't beat it, its inevitable. I'm sorry." Fry's little hope was duly crushed, but the nurse continued, "The only thing we can do for her is to keep her comfortable, we've given her drugs, so she's not in any physical pain, and you need to keep her in as high spirits as possible, take her mind off the parasite. That's all we can do."

"Yes, go ahead. Just one thing. The parasite is having an affect on her mind as well as her body, it's going to leave her, emotionally, very fragile. And she's not able to think in the same way she used to. If she starts to get headaches or something, slow down, tell her to take it easy, and speak to her in slow and simple sentences."

"Christ, they want us to treat her like an infant," Fry thought. The situation didn't look just desperate, it looked downright pathetic!

"Okay then," Fry said, and the two of them headed down the hall and into Leela's room.

As Fry and Amy stepped into Leela's room, Leela looked to perk up, even managed to sit up in her bed. The Sun was shining in through her window and on to her face causing her to squint slightly in the light, but she saw the two of them enter, and to both their surprise, greeted them with a very warm, "Good morning."

"Good morning?" Fry wondered. That was odd, he hadn't expected her to be so cheerful. Amy looked just as surprised, but then remembered that the nurse had told them to try and keep her in high-spirits, so she replied, "Morning, Leela."

As soon as she'd spoke, Bender burst into the room, "Hey, meatbag." He greeted. Leela barely had time to respond, when Bender was followed by Zoidberg, the professor, and Hermes (who'd brought along his wife to wish Leela well). Everyone was here now.

Leela had managed to surprise everyone with her relaxed and upbeat attitude, but it made everyone feel more comfortable. And so the crew didn't spend the rest of the day waiting awkwardly for time to pass, instead they enjoyed themselves. They talked about stuff that was happening on the outside; Bender got Leela up to speed on the happenings in the fast moving world of Blernsball; the crew reflected fondly on times past; and Leela even managed to laugh, as she remembered some of the good times the crew had had together.

Once during the day, a nurse interrupted the group to bring Leela some lunch, a meal that had completely slipped the mind of everyone in the room. But the food that the nurse brought in was hospital food [you know the stuff], and although Leela politely thanked the nurse for it.

Hermes insisted that Leela didn't eat. "You can't eat that stuff, mon!" he'd said. "We'll get you some proper food." And he, LaBarbara and Bender left to see to that. It wasn't long before they returned with a small feast for everyone, which they'd bought at a place not far from the hospital. The crew got stuck in and afterwards shared a small cake.

In general they had a pretty good time, and the best thing about it all was that it had managed to take not just Leela's but everyone's mind off what was happening, if only for a short while. In fact, if you could have ignored the setting and the situation Leela was in, it would have been a pretty fun get-together.

But, eventually, it started to get late, and as night drew nearer, the gang started to depart to let Leela get some rest. First the professor left, followed by Zoidberg and Bender, before Hermes and LaBarbara. Amy and Fry being the only one's left they stayed with Leela for a little longer. Amy had been really impressed with how Leela had been today, she'd been quite remarkable actually, but didn't say anything, except goodnight.

After saying goodnight to Leela, Amy left Fry and Leela alone in the room. Fry got up and shut the curtains over in the window, before going to sit back down in his seat.

"Leela, I don't have words to describe how impressed I am with how you've been today, I don't think I'd have been able to cope if it was me, I just wanted to tell you that I think you're an incredibly brave person, you're amazing..." Fry said, but stopped when he looked up and saw Leela's face, she was gently sobbing. Her face was red and she looked like she was ready to explode into tears. "Leela?" Then she started crying, completely breaking down, as the tears flowed down her cheeks. "Leela, what's wrong?" Fry asked, surprised by this sudden change in emotion.

"Fry!" Leela cried, in a horrible mess of tears. She wanted to say something, but found it impossible to get the words to come out. She didn't want to say it, she couldn't bear to say it, she didn't want Fry to hear, but she just couldn't help herself. She had to say it, she just wasn't strong enough, and she couldn't hold it in anymore. "Fry! I don't wanna die!" Leela cried, surrendering to her fear. "I don't want to die!"

"Oh, Leela!" Fry replied, rushing to her side and embraced her in a protective and comforting hug, holding her as she cried over his shoulder. It had all been an act. All day Leela had just put on a brave face for everyone, but deep down she was scared, she was terrified. She continued to cry, as Fry held her. "Leela, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," Fry apologized.

Through her sobs, Leela managed to reply, "It's not you, Fry, it's me! I don't want to die, not here, not in this pathetic little room, not all alone, not now, not so slowly. I'm just so scared, Fry! I'm so scared!"

This was murder for Fry. His best friend was at death's door, and she was terrified. Her whole body trembled with each tear that fell from her eye. She was hanging off the edge of a cliff, holding on with only the tips of her fingers. She was losing her grip. And each tear that fell served only as a tug from death at her feet, pulling her down, until she'd finally lose her grip completely and fall. And there was absolutely nothing he could do about it!

Leela continued sobbing uncontrollably. "Oh, Fry. I'm so sorry. You must think I'm pathetic. I just...I'm sorry!"

Every time Leela apologized for being human**, for wanting to live, for anything she didn't have to apologize for, it was like a dagger in Fry's heart. She was ripping herself up. She didn't deserve any of this. Fry wanted to cry himself, cry for his friend, he didn't want to lose her. But he couldn't cry, he wouldn't let himself. He had to be strong for Leela; he needed to be strong for her sake.

"Shh, Leela, shh." Fry tried to calm her down, very gently. Still hugging her with his left arm, he began carefully stroking the back of her head. "Leela, you're alright, it's okay to be scared. It's okay. I'm scared." Fry began, trying to get Leela under control. "But you're not pathetic, you know that. Are you listening to me?"

Leela was still in a state, but she wasn't crying heavily anymore, distracted by Fry's words. Still in tears though, she sniffed and nodded her head weakly, held in Fry's arm, while managing to mumble an agreeing "Mmm."

"Leela, you're the bravest person I know. I thought I knew that for as long as I've known you, but I know for certain now. Leela, anyone else you could point your finger at, anyone else in your position would have given up long ago, they would have, and I would have. But you're still here, you're still fighting. And that's incredible." Fry said, as Leela started to calm down. She'd stopped crying completely, and Fry gently helped her out of his hug and looked her straight in the face. He gently wiped the tears away from her eye and held her right hand. "You're so strong, Leela, and everyone admires you, really, and Leela," Fry said, "Leela... I love you."

"Yes, Leela, I've always loved you," Fry confessed. He carefully laid Leela back down against her pillow, seeing she was exhausted from crying. "I've always loved you, Leela, and I always will. I'll never stop loving you."

Leela was lying down in her bed, still looking deep into Fry's eyes. Her own very weakly held open as she fought to stay awake. "And Leela, it's okay to be scared, but you don't have to be. You don't have to give in just yet. You don't have to be scared, because I'll always love you, I'll always remember you, I'll never forget you, and I'll never let anyone else forget you either."

"Fry," Leela weakly whispered back, "I love you." Just after completely closing her eye. Fry soothingly continued to stroke her hair gently, until he was certain that she was asleep. Then he carefully let go of her hand and quietly left her to sleep in peace.

Fry left the room and slowly made his way down the corridor. Leela had faked her feelings today, but everything that Fry had said to Leela just then had been true. She was the bravest, strongest person he'd ever known. She was incredibly strong, but had just had one straw to many put on her back. She'd had to carry an incredible load and just couldn't take it anymore. And she collapsed, like any other would. She was strong enough to get back up again, though, and continue, but today she'd needed a rest, she'd needed to show that her life was as fragile as any other.

Fry on the other hand wasn't a strong person, but back there he'd had to fake it. Back there he showed that he was remarkably strong. He'd had to be, for her. He couldn't have broken down with her in there, or Leela would have just given up the fight completely. However, Fry's strength was incomparable to Leela's, and it was starting to wear off, and a little further down the corridor Fry slumped himself up against the wall, and collapsed into tears.

Very early the next morning, after a very interesting conversation with Hermes, Fry remembered something as he mulled around the hospital corridor outside Leela's room, he'd completely forgotten about it earlier, what with everything that had happened. But the chances were they were still there, and if he wanted to get them he'd have to get a move on now, he'd never leave the hospital once Leela woke up. So, Fry reluctantly darted out of the hospital and back to the PE building.

The next morning, Fry and Amy were talking, once again, a short distance down the hall form Leela's room, waiting for the nurse to admit them. Fry really looked like hell. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, which was pretty close to the truth. He had been able to get some sleep in between tears last night, but not a lot. Fry didn't tell Amy about what had happened last night, after she had left, he thought it was best not to. They were talking about something else.

"I spoke to Hermes a little earlier, he came over in the middle of the night, well it was sort of the morning really. I was still here. Anyway, he was really excited about this news, he told me..." Fry cut himself short, when the nurse approached the pair.

"Sorry to interrupt, your friend is awake now. You can see her. But before you do, I should probably tell you the results of the final scans we ran on Leela during the night."

"I hate to have to say it, but you should know so that, well, you can spend your time with her most appropriately. Leela's conditioned weakened again during the night, and there's really no other way to say this but, I'm afraid she's not gonna survive beyond today; her body just can't cope any longer. I'm sorry."

"We're certain," The nurse replied, hating herself for having to be so blunt. "With 99% of brain parasite patients, death occurs either during an attack, or at night, when the mind is at its weakest, we're 100% certain that she won't survive through tonight, I'm sorry, it's just as simple as that," the nurse apologized.

"I'm sorry, but at least she won't suffer. She'll just slip away in the night, it'll be peaceful."

"Oh yes of course, and I suppose we should be grateful that this little hell spawn inside her head is being that gracious?" Fry cursed inside himself.

"Anyway, I'll leave you to see her now," the nurse finally said, before leaving. Fry knew that she was just doing her job and that she'd been helping Leela, but he couldn't have been happier to see her walk away. In his mind she was just the bringer of bad news, news that he already knew and didn't need to hear again.

"Wait," Fry stopped her. "Please, let me go in alone first, just for a while?" Fry asked.

Amy could tell he obviously had something important he wanted to say to Leela in private and so agreed. "Okay, I'll go call the others and get a drink or something, and then visit in half an hour or so?" Amy suggested.

Leela could hear someone struggling slightly at the door and sat up in her bed. The door clumsily opened, and stood in the doorway, looking like he'd just tried to get his shoulder and elbow to team up in order to open the door, was Fry, holding a gift in his arms.

Leela, turning the full attention of her mind to answering Fry's question, replied, "A little headache-y, but okay."

"Fry, listen, I'm sorry about last night, I didn't mean to burst out like that. I just didn't feel like myself, I just needed to let something out."

"Leela it's okay. You're going through a lot, and the nurse said you'd be fragile as result. It's natural and it's fine. Please forget about it."

"Here, I got you something," Fry said, holding up his gift high, so Leela could get a good look at it.

"I'm glad you like them," Fry said. The flowers were standing in a little water in a modest glass vase. But they were incredibly beautiful. Very bright and colourful, with healthy green stems and a mixture of purple, white, red, yellow, and blue heads. Fry took the flowers over and sat them in the window. Leela looked over to her right to admire them, they brought life to this otherwise lifeless room. They were lovely.

"Do you remember, a couple of days ago, when we were on that planet, and you didn't know where I was? Well I'd woken up and went back to the ship to use the bathroom, and on the way over to the ship I saw a bunch of these flowers, just standing there on their own in the middle of this field, and I thought that I'd pick them for you. So I did, and I left them in my cabin on the ship, you know, until I could get a vase for them, and well, with everything that happened, I more or less forgot all about them, until today."

"I'm surprised they're in such good condition, when the ship lost control, they'd fallen onto the floor and against the wall, that and they haven't had water in the past couple of days, but they look just like they did when I picked them; they must be resilient, just like you," Fry said, smiling at Leela.

"About that planet we went to!" Fry said, pulling the chair up to the side of Leela's bed and sitting down.

"I was talking to Hermes earlier. I'd told him about what we did and where we went that night, and Hermes being Hermes wanted to see about this planet, cause he'd never heard of anyone like it, so he checked the ships flight log and co-ordinates or something, and sure enough, the planet was uncharted."

"Well, Hermes got in contact with the DOOP and told them about this planet, and seeing as it was uncharted and all, and seeing as how you were the first person to discover it, Hermes had the DOOP officially name the planet after you."

"Yup, Toronga Leela they called it, after you. Planet Toronga Leela. Those flowers over there are indigenous to that planet too. They're home to your planet."

"They've named a planet after me?" Leela repeated in disbelief. She was just completely surprised; she lay back in her bed and took this in. Leela took a look again at the flowers in the window and smiled. She'd had a planet, a whole planet, named after her, this was the first piece of good news that Leela had been given since her first attack. And for the first time since she'd heard about her illness, Leela was genuinely happy. And for lack of a better word, in response to what Fry had just told her, she simply smiled and said, "Cool."

Fry and Leela then talked a little before Amy and the others arrived. Today didn't pass quite like yesterday, the crew still tried to keep Leela upbeat, but everyone knew that this was it, this would be the last day that they would have to talk with her. And that kept everyone a little uncomfortable.

Leela had already told everyone that she didn't want any long or sad goodbyes. She didn't want anyone to feel like they had to put on a performance or anything. There would be plenty of time for that later. When the time came for the crew to go, Leela just wanted the crew to say their goodbyes like they would to anyone else, after all, she was still alive, and until then, she wanted the others to treat her so.

That night, the professor was again the first to leave. He said goodbye to Leela, then after a while pretended like he had somewhere to go anyways and left muttering something to himself. Then Hermes and LaBarbara said their goodbye, trying very hard to respect Leela's wish, but couldn't help but adding, "You're a great person. We'll miss you." Or something soppy like that. Bender was able to leave pretty comfortably, not one known to show much feeling. Zoidberg, however, left quite tearfully, which is exactly what Leela didn't need. And then there was only Amy and Fry again left in the room. Amy also found it hard to just say goodbye and then be on her way. In fact, she found it quite hard just saying the word "goodbye", because her throat was starting to give up on her, as she felt like she was about to cry. She did manage to quietly get the words out and delicately squeezed Leela's hand, before leaving, managing to get out before she could start crying.

Leela sighed, "I hate tearful goodbye's. Even more so when I'm on the receiving end."

Fry had already spoken to the nurse and doctors about staying in Leela's room with her, to keep her company. He sat on the chair by the door in the dark room, only a small lamp was on. The two of them continued talking for a while, but it was getting later and later and Leela was really finding it hard to stay awake. Her mind was working a little more slowly, and it would take her a few seconds to respond to Fry's conversation. They weren't talking about anything depressing, like regrets or anything, they were still talking about good times, times they'd had with others and times they'd had together.

"I'm really tired, Fry," Leela said. "I don't wanna sleep, but I need to," she said. She turned off the lamp, not thinking Fry would mind, and rolled onto her side. Fry was quiet for a moment.

"Please talk to me, Fry," Leela asked. "Please just talk, I'm gonna shut my eye, but I'll still listen."

The room was dark. There was a really low silvery light from the moon making its way through the windows; Fry hadn't closed the curtains. The light was just barely enough for Fry to see Leela.

Fry started talking again, about his past, about his time, for a while. He just started talking for Leela's benefit. He must have talked for a few hours, before realizing what time it was. He just didn't stop. The distraction of his words was as much a benefit for him as it was to Leela. She was long since asleep, when he realized how long he'd been talking, though. Not that it mattered, but he continued talking, even though he knew she couldn't hear him. He didn't care. He told her everything: about how he felt about her; about all the things he'd done; about how he never stopped thinking about her; about how he dreamed about her; about how he worshipped her; about how he loved her. He spilled his heart out and told her all about his love for her, and how he felt about the most wonderful woman in the universe.

But it didn't matter, except maybe to Fry. Cause she couldn't hear him. He looked across at her in the slivery light and thought. "There she is: the woman you love. Your best friend. She's lying there, still alive, just asleep. But at any time now, she could slip away. Just like that. Or had she already sighed her last breath?" Fry found that to be quite a disturbing thought. He sat there and watched her sleep all night, for hours. After a while, he couldn't tell anymore, he'd been just watching her for hours and he had no idea if she was dead or not. If the parasite had claimed her life yet or if she still had an hour or two left in her. He even thought about going over to her and waking her. If she was alive still, maybe he could talk to her and tell her the things he's just told her. Or maybe she was gone, and he'd be crushed. But at least it would be over.

Wake up at dawn and ask her why. A dreamer dreams, she never dies. Wipe that tear away now from your eye.***

No, that was a bad idea, he thought. And so Fry continued to sit there, watching her. Knowing that soon she'd be gone, if not already. Knowing that he'd never see her walk or talk or smile again. Knowing that he had already spoke his last words to her. And those words had been: "I love you."

Leela sensed that she wasn't conscious anymore. It kind of felt like she was dreaming, that feeling you get when you know you're asleep, but you can't wake up. All she could see was darkness, and she couldn't feel anything. All she could sense was this feeling of her drifting through empty space. Unaware of what was happening to her, where she was, where she'd come from, and where she was going, but experiencing a strange feeling of understanding, and of belonging.

She continued to drift endlessly, for what seemed like an eternity. But she wasn't scared, because she understood. She felt completely content and at ease, as if she'd just been released from something. It was so strange.

Still, all she could see was darkness. Hours and hours of this drifting. Until she could feel a light. She couldn't see it. Just feel it against her closed eye. She could feel this warm light just playing on her face. Leela opened her eye, ever so slightly, and then she could see the light, shining out through the darkness. Leela slowly continued to open her eye, as she could see more and more light until the darkness completely faded away.

Her senses were slowly coming back to her, she had stopped drifting. Now she could feel she was still. But she no longer felt that same sense of understanding, it was gone. But Leela didn't become scared, because she still felt this sense of comfort.

Eventually the bright light ahead of her began to lose its intensity and Leela could make out something before it. She could see flowers: her flowers, in the window. The light was glistening through the window, and through and between the stems and the petals of her flowers. It filtered through the beautiful flowers spectacularly. More and more of her senses started to filter back to her, like the sunlight that was filtering through the glass vase in front of her.

She now knew this much: she was lying still in a bed; she was looking at her flowers in the window; and she was pretty confident that this was all real.

She blinked once. Then once again. And each time she re-opened her eye, those same flowers were still there.

She could feel her own breathing now, and was fully aware of where she was. But it didn't make sense.

But you and I, we live and die, the world's still spinning 'round, we don't know why…why, why, why, why?***

She just lay there and ran that thought through her head a dozen times, each time it just wouldn't sink in. Then she tried to move.

Fry was still awake, still watching Leela. But his mind had slipped away into his own thoughts, but it was sharply brought back when he saw Leela stirring in her bed.

At that moment, the familiar nurse and doctor entered the room carefully, with the intent of taking the deceased away to surgery to have the parasite removed and destroyed. But when they opened the door, and saw the deceased having a, if somewhat basic, conversation with one of her friends, they were a little surprised, to say the least.

"She's alive!" Fry announced to the two that had just arrived. "She's still alive!" Fry was so happy; he had one more day to spend with her at least.

"What?" the doctor said, in bewilderment, taking a step forward to get a closer look. "Nurse, fetch Dr. Swan," the doctor instructed. "Tell him to get here now. And to bring his equipment."

The nurse complied and hurriedly headed back out the door as the doctor pulled a small torch out of his pocket and began to examine Leela. He shined the light into her eye and simply said, "I don't understand it."

Once Dr. Swan arrived, he asked, somewhat impatiently, "What is it then? What's so important?" Obviously he had not been fully briefed by the nurse that sent for him.

"Dr. Swan," the other doctor began, "you told me that this patient was due for surgery this morning. That I was to remove a brain parasite from her."

Dr. Swan then realised that the patient in the bed wasn't lying down dead, but instead sitting upright and holding Fry's hand tightly.

"I don't understand, I checked her last night there was no doubt..." Dr. Swan stated, completely baffled. He took a case he was carrying and placed it at the foot of Leela's bed, then opening it. He removed a small hand held device and flicked it open. He brought it up to Leela's forehead and asked her to relax. A blue light moved across her forehead and after it was done, the doctor read the results of the scan on the display. "This is unbelievable," He said. "The parasite is dead, it died during the night, and what's even more incredible is that the patient survived, this is unbelievable," He repeated. "This has never happened before."

"Well…it would appear so, we should be able to remove the parasite safely, now that it's dead and you should be fine," he said, directing his speech to Leela. The look of complete bafflement still hanging on his face.

"Oh, my god, Leela!" Fry shouted, he was so happy he could barely contain himself.

The two of them embraced each other and Leela smiled the biggest smile of happiness you ever saw. She had her life back. And she knew exactly how she wanted to spend it, and who she wanted to spend it with. She smiled as she held Fry, and looked over his shoulder, at the flowers in the window.

*This is a reference to another Travis song, which I couldn't resist putting in here (it just fitted so well with the mood). It's a lyric from 'Why does it always rain on me?' from Travis' second (and best) album, 'The Man Who'. It really is a brilliant song, and if you only ever hear one song by Travis, it should be this one (or 'Blue Flashing Light', that song absolutely rocks). I'm gonna stop talking about Travis for a while now

**Okay, I don't personally believe that Leela is a human as far as race actually goes (unlike some people who think she's actually a human/mutant) but you know what I mean. She's got that whole human soul sort of vibe.

***Last song reference, I promise. These two lyrics come from the song 'Champagne Supernova' By Oasis from their album 'What's the story morning glory'.

Futurama