"Da. Ma. Welcome back." I grinned. I was alone this time, on the summer equinox.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, as always," my Da smiled back.

"Have you seen Numair?" I asked, because I had to. Even if I was fearful of the answer.

"I'm right here," a familiar voice whispered from behind my parents.

"Numair?"

"Daine?" He asked patiently.

"How can you be here? You're dead."

"Special permission and a small amount of evading the gods." He smiled, a ghostly smile. "You're getting old," he commented dryly.

"And you look like you did when I first met you!" I snapped.

He looked down at himself. "Hawk form? I think not." I rolled my eyes, while Ma and Da laughed. "Not just special permission and sneaking around." Numair, or his ghost, looked sad.

"What?" I asked.

"I made a deal with the Black God." He looked sheepish, or as sheepish as a ghost can get. "Oh, yes." He drifted closer until we were almost touching. "Yes, a deal. With the Black God of Death."

"What does said deal consist of?" I frowned.

"The deal consists of two actions, dearest, both of which I hope you will like."

"Explain." Ma and Da had walked off, giving us a measure of privacy.

Numair smiled sadly. "The first part is done. I'm here. The second is just beginning." With that, he hugged me. But it wasn't really a hug, because he wasn't solid. His arms passed through my aged form, and suddenly stopped. He grinned with triumph, and then tugged.

It felt like I was being released from a heavy burden, or like the time I tried to talk to dolphins and died.

Wait. Died. Was I dead?

Numair's arms became more substantial. I looked behind me to see my own grey blue eyes stare, shocked, as my earthly body fell to the ground.

I looked from my body to Numair, back and forth, until my gaze settled on my parents. "Go." My ma whispered. "Make your choice and go."

I leaned against Numairs chest, feeling like I was eighteen again, when Numair and I got married.

I looked into his eyes. "Never again. Never again will we be separated." He leaned down to kiss me, then we disappeared into the Black Gods Realm. With each other, nothing could make us happier.

We reveled in each other's presence for the rest of eternity, the perfect soulmates.