This was going to be an extremely hard thing for Jim to do.  Abby wanted to know everything about Ruby that he hadn’t told her yet.  There was a very good reason that Jim had kept certain things about his wife a secret when he and Abby were sharing their pasts with one another.  There was a good reason that Abby may not like his wife, at all.  Ruby was a kind woman, sure, but not to certain people.  There were certain kinds of people that Ruby didn’t like at all.  He could even go out enough to say that she hated those people, and Abby was one of them.

He was thinking hard about everything he could tell Abby, and he didn’t exactly know where to begin, or how to word anything.  He’d learned the day before that Abby wasn’t the strongest person in the world, when it came to emotional scenarios or when it came to certain groups of people.  She’d had a history with the AL Soldiers and, unfortunately, they would be one of the topics they were about to discuss.  He didn’t know how he could break to Abby that his wife was a member of the same group that had attacked her and killed her friends years before.

As he stalled himself more and more, he started to feel nervous.  He could feel his body heating up, his back and hair itching all over the place.  He kept his arms and hands still, though, making sure that it didn’t look like her was nervous.  The last thing he wanted was to Abby to know there was something wrong before he even got to the point of telling her all of this information and causing a reaction within her.  He had to keep his cool and stay calm.

Abby had been intently watching his movements since he talked about this next bit of information seeming important.  He was silent, though.  Why?  Was this information that hard to explain, that he had to spend full minutes, just to think about what he could say to her?  Surely that wasn’t the case, right?  Then again, the fact that he was injured could have influenced the amount of time it was taking to be able to talk about whatever it was that he was about to talk about.  Seeing that possibility, she just stayed calm and smiled down at him.

Shaking his head, he finally got the courage to begin speaking again.  He looked up at that huge, smiling face that was a far bit above him.  He almost wanted to stop right then and there and apologize for what he was about to say.  He didn’t, though.  He kept his willpower going and began to speak to her.  “Abby, umm…Ruby is a little…different than you or me.  She has, uh, certain…views about people that you I…don’t…agree with.  What I’m trying to say is…Ruby’s a little different in how she views taller people…like you.”

Jim’s facing was sweating a lot as her nervously forced out all of this information.  He already felt terrible and he hadn’t even told her anything yet!  This conversation was going to be torture for Jim, and not the good kind.  He stopped to take a few deep breaths.  ‘How am I going to tell her?’ he thought to himself.  Indeed, how would he be able to tell her?  All of this was likely going to hit her soft spot.  He was looking down at the leg on which he sat until he saw a shadow coming towards him.  Looking up, he saw the thick, long fingers the girl held coming down towards him.  Her index finger slowly rested on his head, giving him a slight rubbing.  Above him, Abby smiled and whispered down to him.  “Don’t be so nervous, Jim.  Whatever it is, I’ll be okay with.  After all, I’m your friend, and I care about you.”

Jim’s body didn’t know how to react to all of this treatment.  He saw Abby’s face start to blush as she told him she cared about him, and he blushed as well.  He saw that warm, smiling face looking down at him and couldn’t help but not want to do anything that would take that smile away.  Yet, the warmth coming from her finger and her face was helping him calm down and concentrate.  He could do this, with her help.  He could manage to pull through and tell her all of this information, so long as she was there, helping him.  She might not like some of the things he was about to tell her, but it was something he just had to do.

He took a nervous breath and spoke again.  “T-Thank you, Abby.  I…really appreciate this.  W-what I was saying was…Ruby has a set of moral values that greatly d-differs from yours or mine.  She has a certain viewpoint towards Larges that I don’t necessarily approve of or am proud of.”  He took another moment to breathe before continuing on, knowing he was about to get into the deeper portion of the conversation.  This was going to be bad, and he knew it, but he had to say it.  He had to tell her the truth before she found out on her own.

“Ruby is…no, I’m sorry.  Forgive me, Abby, but I just have to get this out.  I can’t sugarcoat it.  As much as I want to, I can’t!  Ruby is…Ruby hates Larges!”  Time stood still for a moment as those last three words flew out of his mouth.  The two of them could think during this frozen moment, contemplating the meaning behind all of this.  Abby, especially, felt a strange, nervous feeling in her stomach.  Ruby…hated Larges?  What would cause her to do something like that?  The Larges always tried to avoid contact with smaller folks and keep their business in their own place.

Abby lowered her face, readying a question for Jim, but before she could ask it, time had resumed, and he continued yelling, tears coming to his face.  “She hates Larges.  She says awful things about them!  They were awful things that should never be felt towards someone else.  She’s a part of…She’s a part of the Anti-Large Soldiers!  The ones who…did all those horrible things to you…to you, and your friends…Please forgive me, Abby.  Please forgive me for never telling you this sooner.”

Jim had then fallen on his side, tears running down his face, soaking himself into Abby’s leg.  Meanwhile, Abby was staring down at him, her smile slowly fading as she processed what she’d just been told…