3 Beats

Pitter patter… pitter patter… pitter pitter pitter pitter patter.

Quorra raised her head in alarm, searching for the cause of the wet sensation. There it is again…

Pitter pitter pitter patter patter pitter…

Someone, or rather something, is poking her. Poke poke poke poke poke poke poke poke…

She tilted her head upwards and was immediately greeted by hundreds of falling droplets of water. Suddenly, it clicked… and a light bulb flashed on above her head.

"It is rain!" She exclaimed, jumping for joy and raising her hands above her head, palms open as in praying. Momentarily forgetting that she was riding on the back of Sam's beloved Ducati…

"Quorra! What are you doing?" Sam yelled over the wind, worried that she might fall off when he felt the lack of arms around his waist.

She grinned at his worried tone, but decided not to retort. She re-wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder, simply enjoying the sensation of rain trickle down her skin. Who knew so many natural wonders existed in this world?

She read many superstitious theories on the subject of 'rain' back in Grid. Throughout her readings, she found the supernatural, such as shamanistic, druidism, and other pagan beliefs to be much more appealing than the monotone cause-effect of scientific analysis. The most romantic notion out of the theories she read was the belief that the Mother Earth was crying, crying because of the deaths of her children, and that each drop of rain were her tears. Mourning for their deaths, Mother Earth hoped to gather their spirits through her tears and retain them in underground lakes where the souls of the deceased can continue to exist.

What a bore that would be, she thought, to continue existing without reason, without purpose, and without any power to decide one's own fate. Then again, if it was to be with Sam, she probably won't mind as much.

They were given a booth seat by the window, each seated facing the other, when they arrived at the International House of Pancakes. Quorra placed her hands on the window, looking outside and noticing how similar the User city and the Grid city looked.

A flamboyant waiter wearing pink sweat pants and a white plaid button-up came along, bringing the menus and a matching set of notepad and pen. "HAI-eeeee! MY NAME IZ GREG AND I WILL BE YOUR WAITER THIS MORNING!"

Sam arched an eyebrow at this odd fellow, "Could you give us a minute to select our orders?"

"OH, ABSOLUTE MR. FLYNN! I WILL BE RIGHT THE-RE," he pointed to the counter at the far corner of the room, "IF YOU NEED ME, JUST WAVE AND I'LL BE RIGHT ALONG!"

"Um, yes…"

"OH! YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS SOOOO CUTE MR. FLYNN, SHE'S DEFINITELY A KEEPER!" 'Greg' winked and nudged at him suggestively.

Sam scratched the back of his head nervously… not quite knowing whether this man is trying to flirt with him or trying to get some extra tips out of him. Hopefully, it was not the former, he had enough suitors already.

"If you will, please leave and let us choose our orders. I believe you are causing Sam to feel uncomfortable." Quorra interrupted blatantly.

Greg stopped his nudging, "Oh… ahem… sorry, call if you need me." And left promptly.

"Thanks Quorra." He smiled.

"Of course, I am becoming accustomed to rescuing you from strange onlookers anyways." She replied in a matter-of factly tone.

He chuckled and handed her one of the menus and she opened it.

Her eyes bulged out of her eye sockets.

"What are these things?" She pointed at various choices throughout the menu. Her hand and eyes darting from one thing to the next

"Those are pancakes, sorta like flattened soft and fluffy versions of normal bread."

"And these?" She pointed to something else.

"Um, those are scrambled eggs."

"And these?"

"Bacon. And those to the left are sausages."

After he went through everything on the list of the menu, explaining what syrup and orange juice were... and many other objects of affection that is usually found at IHOP, Quorra came to a resolution.

"Sam, I would like to try all of these please." She looked quite determined. God help those who get in her way.

"Not in one sitting, we can come back every morning so you can try different things if you would like."

She began to contemplate, if her estimations were correct, she could finish two dishes in one visit, and by that… it would take her about thirteen User days to try out every choice on the menu.

Thirteen days. She winced, "But… I want to try every one of these now." She began pouting and desperately pointing at everything on the menu to emphasis her point.

"Sorry Quorra, the human body has limitations. How about this? We'll come back here for every meal instead of just breakfast."

She beamed in response, then, to order everything on the menu would take approximately five days. "That is acceptable."

"Hehe, good. So, what would you like to try this time?"

"Um…" So many choices… which to pick, which to pick… "Number two and number three please."

"Alright then." Sam waved to the… exotic waiter, he dashed and hopped over tables to their table immediately.

"YES SIR, I'M READY TO TAKE YOUR ORDERS!" Greg managed a salute with his open hand before he poised to take their orders.

"My friend here would like a number two and a number three," Scribble scribble, Sam blinked, "And… I would like a number five deluxe with orange juice please."

"YES SIR, RIGHT AWAY MR. FLYNN." Greg ran to the kitchen as quickly as he came over to them.

"Here, take my jacket." He noticed how drenched she was, "Tch, if I knew it was going to rain…" Sam muttered. He rubbed his hair with disdain, hating the damp feeling.

"One cannot be omniscient and human, Sam." She replied nonchalantly, now gazing upwards at the dark and shadowy clouds, how ominous they look…

Oh good, the clouds are more interesting than I am. "I'm not asking to be all-knowing, I just wish I had known earlier so I could have brought more clothing for you. It wouldn't be good if you catch a cold on the first day in the real world you know."

She turned her attention to him and smiled. "It is hard to prevent the inevitable Sam, but nonetheless, your concerns are much appreciated."

He shook his head slightly and chuckled, "It's good to be appreciated."

"Yes, it is good to be appreciated, Sam. In fact, I appreciate your presence a lot, and I would be greatly saddened if you no longer existed in this world." She paused, realizing something, "What about you Sam?"

He looked at her in confusion, "Hm? What do you mean?"

"Would you feel saddened if I were to suddenly disappear?" She raised her voice in anticipation, "Do you appreciate me?"

Her questions never fail to surprise… feeling somewhat embarrassed for having to answer such personal questions, Sam slurred his answer a bit. "Of course I would feel sad if you disappeared." He frowned, and looked into her dreamlike blue eyes, "Are you really worried about that? Yes, I appreciate you Quorra." Wow, that was cheesy, "I enjoy your company, and you're one of the few good friends I have…" Very few friends indeed.

He turned his gaze elsewhere, feeling too embarrassed to continue looking into her deep, beautiful eyes lest he wished to completely expose himself there and then. He suddenly felt two arms wrap around him, and he turned his head in surprise. She somehow managed to switch seats in an instance, sitting beside him now, he felt Quorra leaning into him, hugging him snugly, and burying her face in his shoulder.

"Huh? Am I crying" Her voice squeaked, rubbing her eyes furiously, "Strange, I'm not sad."

He enclosed her in his arms and hugged her affectionately, swaying lightly from side to side and whispered into her ears, "People cry when they are happy as well as when they are sad Quorra."

Tears continued to steadily stream out of her eyes, and she gave up trying to stem the flow. She turned her head to look at him now, a radiant smile plastered on her face "Yes, I'm happy, so very happy."

Sam pecked her on the forehead, and rested his head on hers.

She had a friend…a true friend that wanted her to stay. Sure, Sam's father needed her, but she felt like he simply adored her existence because she was an ISO, a miracle that came to be in a computer system, unlike Sam who appreciates her for who she is. Friendship, she decided was one the best things and valuable possessions in the world.

Quorra began to snuggle closer against Sam, and –

"SIR! MR. FLYNN, YOUR FOOD IS READY."

For some reason, Quorra felt like beating the crap out of this man, then 'de-limbing' him with her data disk, and then proceed to run him over several times with a lightcycle.

But knowing this would be considered illegal and murder, she simply glared daggers into Greg's head.

Greg felt an impending doom hang above him, he gulped, quickly set the food and ran away, not expecting to be tipped this time.

Sam coughed nervously, still embracing the cute girl. "So, dig in."

Quorra drooped her shoulders, feeling whatever magical intimate moment that was there, is now gone. So, she began to eat.

"RISHISH DEERICIOUSH." she managed to say before beginning ravenously devoured the rest of the food on her plates.

Sam mused; the girl looked adorable even when she's consuming food like a starved lion. Who knew one could look so graceful while devouring pancakes?

They ate in silence, Sam enjoying the moment of break and Quorra enjoyed her new found love for food.

"I wish everyday could be like this… so tranquil, calm, peaceful." Suddenly remembering what she had said yesterday. Yes, he wished for that as well. However, he had a promise to keep. His father has... deceased, all his aspirations, dreams, and work now fell onto him. At least he's not going at it alone this time, he had someone by his side now. He glancedsideways at his companion, and bursted out in laughter. Quorra has moved past the pancakes, and bacon, she is now attempting to 'transport' the scrambled eggs into her mouth with a fork. However, halfway to her mouth, the egg would fall off of the fork, causing a slight "Hmph" out of Quorra every time it occurred.

"Not amusing Sam." She eyed the scrambled eggs once more, calculating, estimating, and in a swift motion, scooped up the scrambled eggs and jammed it into her mouth.

"Victory!" She smiled as she held her hand in a V-sign.

Sam couldn't help but smile, for her to retain such innocence after what she's been through... that's the true miracle of it all. Whatever the future has in stored for them, now isn't the time to worry about.

After they were both done eating, Sam wondered…

"Hey Quorra, have you ever heard or Dance Dance Revolution?"

Author's notes: Wow, guys.

I... Absolutely... *tears up*

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU :)

Thank you so much for your support and compliments. =D =D =D =D

Forewarning: Midterms start this week, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again. :(

And for any fellow I.B'ers out there, good luck on your EE's and IA's :)