He held a gun upon her. He repeated time and time again that she had to pay for killing his brother. She had to pay. She begged him to spare her. She pleaded for her life. He was in anguish, but unrelenting. He forced her to turn away from him, from the bleak despair in his eyes, from the sight of the moment when he would raise the gun to exact revenge. She stood, shaking with fear, shivering with fright, staring out into the black water, aware that every passing second could be her last. And then he told her to jump.

And she did. Without question, without hesitation, she jumped.

She jumped into that black water. She jumped into the unknown. What his plans were, she didn�t know. What he meant to do to her ... with her, she did not know. But she jumped.

Fast forward to four months later. That man is her husband. Because of that night. Because she jumped. Because he saved her life, her life that has since become inextricably linked with his. And now that life with him is crumbling around her, because everything she believed he felt has been discolored by another night. A night of honesty and betrayal. Hers and his.

And she wonders now this night how she could forgive him, how she could ever trust him again and he responds, "close your eyes and jump."

Again, he tells her to jump. And this night she hesitates; she questions it. This night she wavers because more than her life is at stake ... this night, her heart, her soul lay at risk.

But still, she jumps.

Okay, there�s the writer in me getting some pretty words out. Now, here�s the explanation. First of all, this has been wandering around in my head since May, so if I ramble a bit, bear with me. The pre/during/post shower scenes are some of my all-time favorite Danny and Michelle scenes in that they encapsulate all of which I love about these two. The love, the passion (both sexual and emotional), the humor (it�s always been there, although very buried at times -- I defy anyone to watch some of those early bridal suite scenes and not laugh their a** off!), the intimacy, the trust, the angst ... all of it is in these scenes.

I�ve watched them too many times to count and although different and new shadings grab me almost every time, one of the two things that continue to strike me * every * damn time is Michelle�s query, "can you tell me how I'm supposed to trust you?" Danny�s response, "I don't know. I guess you're just gonna have to close your eyes and jump," and then the kicker, "I can't. I can't do that anymore."

Again, it gets me every time because I�ve always thought that it was a direct reference to Danny telling her to jump all those months ago that night on the pier. She didn�t know him, she just knew that he was sent to kill his brother�s killer -- her -- and that all of a sudden he was expecting her to trust him and just "jump." And she did. She followed her instincts and she jumped.

How much more full circle can you get?

Conforti must have written the shower day episode, or if he didn�t, someone who knew, cared and understood the complexity of this pair must have. I can�t see Babs or Brown coming up with that line, that connection, let alone everything else wonderful about these scenes.

A few posters have lamented that we never saw Michelle say "okay, Danny, I forgive you," before being interrupted by the phone call. I don�t lament the lack of those words because I feel they would have been unnecessary. Once Danny said those words, "close your eyes and jump," I knew that Michelle would forgive him. With those words, no matter how casually spoken, he was reminding her of everything between them -- their beginning, all of the twists and turns and up and downs that they�d been through, their connection, their trust. Always their trust.

Despite the mangling and wrangling and constant twisting of that trust, it has been the ONLY constant between these two individuals. Danny trusted Michelle enough to ask her what happened that night on the beach. Michelle trusted Danny enough that night to tell him (mostly) the truth of what did happen. She trusted this man enough to jump when he told her to without question. He trusted this practical stranger enough to risk his life, his dreams of the future by marrying her. She trusted this �mobster� enough to marry him, to walk into the lion�s den with him. And through the months -- despite their disagreements, their fights, Michelle�s complete and utter lack of gratitude, Danny�s immense and considerable aggravation with that lack of gratitude ... that trust was there, although misplaced at times.

Danny trusted Michelle with his heart�s yearning and she betrayed that trust by using his feelings for her against his own instincts time and time again. Michelle trusted Danny to tell him the truth about the FBI, and he of course got wasted and slept with her "friend."

Which brings us back to Michelle's "how am I supposed to trust you?" and his "close your eyes and jump." Almost every step these two have taken together has required small -- and sometimes big -- leaps of faith. With Danny, Michelle has entered into a relationship, not only unlike any she has ever before known, but also one that she most likely never dreamed of herself ever being involved in.

In Tracee�s I Saw Your Tongue, It Licked My Heart, she wrote ... Was that Michelle *Bauer* who was referencing her royal NEEDS, and his servicing of them? HELLO!

Exactly. Michelle was always the good girl, even with the allegedly 'bad boy' Jesse Blue. And she (and viewers) never could have imagined her in such a carnal relationship. But here she is. When Danny said, "I know that I'm not the man of your dreams," he was right. Daniel Santos is not the man of her dreams. And when Michelle admitted to herself -- in small degrees to Drew and much more so to Meta *that* night -- that she truly cared about him, she was taking a leap.

When Danny knelt on the carpet of her girlhood bedroom and spoke of his needs, although technically referring to sex, with the delivery and his choice of words, he was also offering a piece of his heart, acknowledging that she meant more to him than he had previously admitted. That was a leap, albeit a small one.

Leaps of faith, big and small. Trust. Taking steps, sometimes warily, others hand in hand, but together. These have been the cornerstones of their relationship.

The night of Michelle�s confession, Danny made a mistake. But it was one made of miscommunication, lack of trust. If he had known that Michelle cared for him ... If he had realized that she gave up her stab at 'freedom' by saving him with her blind-act of desperation (great play on words, heh?) ... If he had listened to the truth in the delivery of her words, if he had trusted his instincts that she *did* care, he would not have done what he did.

He did not trust.

If Michelle had not betrayed him ... If she had not (through Drew) contacted the FBI ... If she had trusted *her* instincts which were telling her that it was wrong to do this to him, she never would have done what she did.

She did not trust.

Three months later, on the bed, with the two of them soaking wet, she asked, "how am I supposed to trust you?" and he said, "close your eyes and jump." In essence, what he was really saying was �you trusted me then and I saved your life and we fell in love. Trust me now and we can save each other and we can be happy.�

So, of course, she chose to jump.

Jennifer H.