I do not own Rangers Apprentice or any of the characters. This is just me trying to be creative. After Shift did so well, I decided that I would write a more upbeat Will/Alyss.

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Her eyes flutter open. A dream? Was it all a dream? Could she possibly have only thought it in her imagination, not real, not true? She hopes not, because if this is so then she wants to lay her head on the pillow and cry.

Dare she look? Dare she turn her head and look to see if she was wrong? She closes her eyes to remember. It is a precious memory…so close to her chest that it is now pumping with her heart.

Then she smells it. It smells like sky. She turns and smiles, knowing now that none of it was a dream. On the pillow next to her is a single, unblemished, red rose. The most beautiful rose she believes she has ever seen. Laying where her husband just was, is the single most perfect gift that she has ever received.

She touches its stem….its long slender stem. Pricks her finger on the thorns, and feels the touch of its soft petals. This memory rose that she will keep with her forever.

She still remembers the perfect day she received it…

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She moves through the field, stopping to see the tree's and the field flowers, all bright orange like colors, with dots of red here and there. She feels the wind caress her cheek and then playfully tug at her hair, like it is trying to get her to follow it.

The summer sun is all over her skin, warming her, making her feel alive. She can smell the air, she can smell the grass and she can hear the birds. She see's it all, all this beauty.

But most of all she see's the roses. The rose bush, just outside the field, near the woods. The Bloody red roses are such a deep crimson, and their thorns are long and pointed, daring her to touch even a single one of its charges. The stems and leaves are a dark green.

Wasn't there a story about a rose? She thinks to herself. Some fairy tale with a rose? She cant remember, and she suddenly feels a little nervous. As if taking a single rose from the bush would curse her for all eternity.

She nervously moves away from it. She slips off her shoes, in an act to be just a little more carefree. Her feet are now the ones feeling the ground, patting the grass that is smooth and cool, despite the days heat.

While her eyes scan the field, they land on a figure, coming in the distant. A smile breaks out on her face. She wants to run to that figure, run as fast as she can and embrace him and never let him go.

"Will!" She yells, holding her composure so that no one will know her silly impulse. He slides off his shaggy horse and trots over to her, barely containing his own excitement. Seeing that no one else is around, she begins to trot too, until they are both running.

When they reach each other they become uncertain of what to do. She finally smiles and tells him she missed him, and that she is happy that he is back. He gives her a lopsided grin, and she is no longer uneasy. She is with him, and right now she is happy.

They hold hands as they walk and he tells her about all the things he did while she was gone, and about what Halt was doing and new things he has learned. She in turn tells him what has happened while he was away, about Jenny and Gilan and Master Chubb and these things.

And when the speaking is finally done, she just holds his hand and they remain silent together. They walk through the warm sunny fields, and she hears the noise of nature.

But he does something unexpected. He takes her hand again, and leads her into the woods. She is not frightened. He will protect her, keep her safe from those that would harm her. She just lets him lead her quietly, away from the sunny fields into the dark and chilly woods.

The trees whisper to her, singing enchanting songs that she wishes she could hum too. The bushes rattle with rhythm, and the sound of her foot steps are part of the beat. It is a song.

He leads her to a creak, and she understands now why he has done this. Now, they truly are alone. There is only the sound of the water in her ears as she closes her eyes and begins to doze. He watches her protectively, invisible except to her eyes.

He scans the forest for intruders, not moving an inch while she dozes. He lets her sleep away her worries. They can always talk later when they get home, but right now he lets her be content.

Finally, she opens her eyes and smiles, yawning and stretching. He takes her hand and begins to lead her away from the woods. The sounds are duller now, the music of the woods is fading just a bit.

They are about to leave the field behind, to go home and leave this enchanted world behind them. Suddenly, he stops and pulls away from her. He goes to the rose bush, cuts a stem, a clean cut.

He walks back and offers her the rose, that bloody red rose that smells like the sky.

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