Okay, so I was re-reading the House of Night series, and I got an amazing idea. As I was reading, I thought about how…well, kind of boring the series gets around Tempted. From there, I just kept thinking about things that had happened in the series, and how different it is now - in Destined - than it was before - back when Tempted was the newest book. Has anyone else noticed just how easily Zoey forgets all about part of her being A-ya? Honestly, I imagined that it would be a lot harder for her to get over Kalona. Yes, Kalona tries to kill Stark, but the part of her that loves Stark isn't the only part of her. Well, I'm rambling, so I'll stop. I just wanted to say that I thought there should be way more Zalona - hee hee - so I am writing this story. Note that at first it was just going to be a one-shot about how Zoey's gang was going to get rid of Kalona once and for all. But as I started getting towards the end of the one-shot, the story just kept coming to me. It seems that this will be an actual story instead of a one-shot. So, here we go!

* Just a note here: I'm not sure how much farther the series is going to go, so I'm just going to start this after Destined.*

I hadn't said anything to anyone in a while. I needed to get my thoughts straight. Stark was worrying about me, I knew that, but I just couldn't talk about what had just happened. Of course, Stark was pretty much the only one who knew anything was wrong with me. If anyone else knew and they all started hounding me about what's wrong, I might crack. But, no, it was just Stark, and he understood that I needed time.

I knew that I should've been happy. I should be outside right now, celebrating with all my friends. Even though the red fledglings didn't like staying aboveground when it was so close to dawn, Stevie Rae had decided that it would be okay for them to spend a little time at the House of Night celebrating.

Neferet had finally been outed. That was all I'd wanted since… Well, since two months after I'd been marked. True, I didn't know just how evil she was back then, but I did know she was evil and needed to be found out. Even Lenobia had said that she had sensed it in Neferet but turned the other way, thinking she was wrong somehow. We'd all made that mistake, but now it was better.

Thanatos had helped us prove that Neferet is evil, and definitely not Nyx Incarnate. She was part of the Vampyre High Council, and the rest of the council would definitely listen to her.

On top of that, I knew that Heath was back. My Heath.

I sobbed a little. I was sitting on my bed, clutching Nala in my lap. She'd already done her ritual of sneezing on me and then complaining until she curled up and went to sleep. Now, she heard the sob that escaped my lips and opened her eyes to peer up at me.

"Oh, Nala, I'm sorry for waking you." I whispered. She sneezed before getting up and putting her paws on my chest. I swear I had a tiny flashback to the first time I had seen her. It wasn't the night I'd found her on the old oak by the east wall and helped her down. It was the night - well, day, actually - before that. I'd had a dream that she actually talked to me. She'd told me that it had taken me long enough to finally get to the House of Night.

She nudged her head under my chin so, taking that as a push to keep talking, I said, "Heath is back. He isn't how he used to be. He's…stuck. Stuck in that horrible creature, Aurox."

Aurox was a creature that Neferet had said Nyx had given to her. He looked like a really hot teenage guy most of the time, but when he got angry he turned into a half-man, half-bull creature, which scared the poopie out of me.

I'd finally looked through my seer stone at Aurox earlier that night, right after he'd killed Dragon, our fencing instructor and defender of the House of Night. What I saw there chilled me to the bone. It was Heath, stuck in that horrible body. I'd yelled out his name and he looked directly in my eyes.

Nala sneezed in my face, causing me to come back to the present. "I know. I'm done now. I can't stay in here forever, worrying Stark. Do you want to come with me?"

Nala jumped off my lap in response and padded over to her food bowl. I giggled. "You're always hungry. Okay, I'll feed you, but then I'm going to the party." I grabbed her food and poured a little in the bowl. While I was at it, I took the half-empty water bottle that was sitting on my desk and poured it into another bowl for her.

I popped into the bathroom to check my face, and saw that my eyes were a little puffy. I put on a little eyeliner to help conceal the puffiness along with my tattoo, and headed out for the party. I opened the door to my room, and was caught off guard by the Twins - who I should now call Shaunee and Erin now that they have decided to go their own ways - Damien, Aphrodite, Stevie Rae, and Stark. I couldn't tell, but I thought Darius and a few red fledglings were behind them. How they all fit in the hallway was oblivious to me.

"Oh, uh, hey." Erin said. I was still amazed whenever Shaunee stayed silent.

"Are you alright?" Aphrodite asked. She had one hand steadying her on the doorway and the other was reaching for me. Oh man. They were worrying about me more than I thought they would. There was no way in hell Aphrodite would ever do something like that under normal circumstances.

I pulled away from her - trying not to be obvious I was doing so, and failing - and said, "Oh, yeah. I'm good." I stifled the urge to slam the door and go back to my bed. I so did not want to put on a smile and pretend that everything was okay. Unfortunately, I couldn't. It was my duty as High Priestess to keep them all calm and collected, and how was I supposed to do that when I wasn't calm and collected?

When everyone gave me obvious looks that said I-am-so-not-believing-that-crap, I sighed. "Guys, I'm fine. Really. It's just been a stressful night, is all." I put on a big, fake smile.

I saw Stevie Rae's frown lift just a little bit. At that instant, I envied her. Rephaim - her boyfriend - was badly injured and back at the tunnels with, believe it or not, Kalona, his father and our enemy. How she could show even the tiniest little bit of a smile was beyond me.

"Z, don't be so stressed out. Come on out here. We're all celebrating, and you should be, too."

I took a deep breath, and said, "Okay, sure. Let's go."

We all had pizza and brown pop - yay for brown pop! - while we danced around and celebrated. Yeah, it may have been a little early for celebration, but we had to do it. I hadn't realized how badly I needed something like this until it was happening. Stark stayed by me the whole night.

We were dancing slowly in the middle of the room, arms wrapped around each other, when Stevie Rae tapped me on the shoulder. With a sigh, I turned and said, "And you interrupted us, why?"

Stevie Rae grinned and replied in her sweet Okie twang, "Hey, just trying to save everyone from havin' to watch ya'll play tonsil hockey." Everyone else grinned and nodded while she said it. "Z, it's 'bout to be dawn. We gotta get goin'."

Even though I liked being in my room a little - and I do mean just a little - more than staying in the tunnels under the depot, I knew she was right. Not only did the red fledglings and vampyres need to get underground where they felt more comfortable, it was the safest place for us.

I nodded. "Okay, let's get going. Darius?"

"He went to go get the bus." Damien said. His eyes were sad, and I thought I knew why.

"Then let's get going." I lowered my voice so that only Stark could hear me. "You go ahead. I want to talk to Damien."

Stark nodded, gave me a quick kiss, and then walked with everyone else outside. I grabbed Damien's arm and pulled him back as they did. "Hey, are you okay?"

Damien looked me in the eyes. His eyes were all shiny, and I could tell that tears were about to overflow from them. "It's just… I know Jack would've loved all of this so much. It's really hard not having him here."

Jack had been Damien's boyfriend. Yes, they're gay. Yes, we accepted it, and we loved both of them. We still do, even though Jack is gone. I felt my own eyes water as I said, "Jack would have loved it. There's no doubt about that. But we can't think about it like that. He's with our Goddess now, and she is taking so much care of him. One day, we'll be back with him, but until then we have to live our lives not just for us, but for him as well. It's what he would've wanted."

I'd known that this had been coming. I knew it from the day Jack died. Damien had gotten a lot of his sadness out that day, but every day after that he had been trying to bottle it up. I knew that it was partially my fault. Every time any of us had seen him being so low, we just gave him inspirational words, which we thought was good at the time. Now, I understood that his sadness needed to come out. We couldn't keep telling him to bottle it up.

As soon as I saw the first tear fall, I pulled Damien into my arms. He cried and cried while he talked about Jack and how much he missed him. I whispered soothing things to him and just held him for a while. Suddenly, something popped into my mind, and I knew that I had to say it out loud. I got that feeling in my gut that I knew was from Nyx telling me that it was the right thing to say.

I pulled away from Damien and kept my hands on his shoulders. "Damien, do you remember what happened earlier tonight? After Dragon…" I let my words trail off, not able to say that Dragon had died. It was just too soon.

He nodded his head vigorously, and I saw in his face that as he did, he realized what I was about to tell him. The tears stopped overflowing and every feature in his face calmed. "He was reunited with Anastasia."

I smiled even though I knew my own tears were still pouring. "Exactly. You'll see him again, Damien. We all will." I thought for a moment before saying, "Do you want to pray to Nyx for him?"

He started to nod, but someone ran in the door before we could start. "Zoey! We need you out here now!"

I turned to see Stark in the doorway. I'd thought something was wrong when I heard his voice, but when I turned I saw that his face was in an expression of wonder. Not knowing what was going on I whispered to Damien to come with me, and we jogged out the door, following Stark.

We ran all the way to the east wall, the most powerful spot in our House of Night. My friends were gathered in a circle around someone. I couldn't tell who it was because they were turned away from me. By the way their long, brown hair flew in the breeze, I could see it was a woman. All my friends looked my way as we ran to them, and the woman tilted her head our way just so slightly.

"Nyx!" I practically yelled. This time my tears weren't sad.

She turned completely, opening her arms for me to run into while she said, "Yes, daughter. I'm here."

It was the first time something like this had ever happened. The Goddess had kissed me before, and touched me, but never like this. Her hug felt like it had all the love in the world in it, and maybe it did. I felt like laughing forever and crying forever at the same time. A thought in the back of my head whispered that I was feeling the love of a mother that I had lost a long time ago.

I looked into her face and saw that she looked like she would cry, too, but she didn't. She smiled and said, "Come here, my children."

Everyone ran into her, just like I had, and we jostled a bit. I actually did hear a couple of people laughing, and a few crying, too. It felt like we really were her children, and she really was our mother. Our mother, who we had not seen since we were born.

After a moment, she let go of me and whispered, "Go on now, Zoeybird. We have much to discuss, but I have to take care of the others first."

Even though I never wanted to leave her, I nodded and stepped back. Surprisingly, Stark was there to grab me into his arms. "She's here!" he whispered, fiercely. "She's actually here!"

"I know. It's amazing." I smiled up into his face. He kissed me with passion, but it was sweet and careful at the same time. We stayed like that until we heard Nyx's voice again.

"I cannot stay long, so I'm afraid there is no time for rejoicing." All of our smiles faltered a bit, but still stayed in place. There was just no way you couldn't smile in the presence of Nyx! "I have a reason for being here, but I would like to have a word with all of you."

She turned to look at all of us at the same time, and her smile lit up when she saw Stevie Rae. "I haven't had a chance to talk with you, daughter." Even though she was talking to Stevie Rae, I felt as though my heart would burst from all the love I felt.

One lone tear slipped from Stevie Rae's eyes as she walked to Nyx. Nyx put her hands on Stevie Rae's shoulders and said, "I am very proud of you. You got your humanity back and you've stayed true to me. I love you very much, Stevie Rae." When Nyx said she loved her, she pulled Stevie Rae in her arms. Nyx whispered something in her ear, and Stevie Rae started bawling. She wasn't sad; you could tell by the smile on her face that she was relieved. I wondered what Nyx had said to her, but didn't speak up because I felt that what she had said was private. If Stevie Rae wanted to tell me later, she would, and if she didn't I would respect her wishes.

Stevie Rae walked back to her place in our group, and Nyx called Shaunee over. Shaunee looked nervous, but not afraid. She gave Nyx a big smile when she got over to her, and Nyx returned it. "Shaunee, do not be afraid to be yourself. It is all I want you to be. Be proud, and embrace who you are, but don't be afraid to love your sister. Erin?" Nyx lifted one hand towards Erin and beckoned her over.

"Yes, Goddess?" Erin said. She didn't sound like a minion or anything, like you might imagine. No, there was nothing but love in those two words. Erin's body language said that she was scared. Maybe she thought Nyx was going to chastise her for…well, her and Shaunee's falling out.

"Sweetheart, you mustn't be afraid to be who you are, either. You two may be soul sisters, but you are your own person. Do not be afraid to act together as one, but don't ignore your own opinions, either." With a kiss on each of their forehead's, Nyx let them come back to the group. I saw Shaunee and Erin give each other a hug, and do a small bump-and-grind like they used to. It made me smile.

"Aphrodite?" Nyx called out. We looked around and saw that Aphrodite was in a place she never was - the back of the group. I wondered for a moment why she would be back there, and then I realized that she was a human again. I knew she had nothing to worry about, but I also knew that Aphrodite continuously put herself down about not being Nyx's daughter anymore.

She slowly walked to Nyx, and instead of stopping right in front of her, she stopped a couple of feet from our goddess.

Nyx gave her a loving smile and said, "Aphrodite, I want you to realize that being a human isn't a bad thing. In fact, it is a very special thing to me. You are a first in the vampyre community, just as Stevie Rae is the first red vampyre and Zoey is the first fledgling to have an affinity for all five elements. You are the first human to be adored by me. I love you very much, and I would never turn my back on you. Ever."

Aphrodite looked like she was about to cry, but Nyx took her hand and when she did I saw a visible change in Aphrodite. It was a kind of jerk that went up from her toes to her head. "How could you love me and still take my mark away? I understand that I was just holding Stevie Rae's earth affinity for her, but my mark?"

I could tell Aphrodite was trying not to cry, but I could see the shininess of fresh tears in her eyes. Nyx looked at her with so much love it was contagious. I felt myself giving Aphrodite the same smile. "Darling daughter, your mark isn't what binds you to me, or me to you. It's love. Always remember that."

Nyx gave Aphrodite a hug and then let her walk back to the group. This time, Aphrodite was in front. As she walked, Nyx turned to look at all of us.

"Sons and daughters, I have come here to tell you that I am proud of all of you, and that I love each and every one of you. You each have helped light defeat darkness in one way or another, and for that you deserve a reward." With that, she turned to Damien. "Come here, darling. I have something for all of you, but you most of all."

I felt Stark tense while Damien walked to Nyx, and I whispered, "What's wrong?"

"She didn't call me over there." Stark said with no emotion in his voice.

I looked up at him and gave him a warm smile. "She loves you, you know. She didn't call a lot of people up there, and she loves them just the same. You'll see."

He gave me a small smile and nodded before we turned our attention back to Nyx and Damien.

"Sweet Damien, you have gone through such a loss. I know of the heartbreak you are going through." Nyx looked away from us all for a moment, and I wondered what she was thinking about. I realized that throughout the entire time I'd been at the House of Night, I hadn't once heard a story of something that happened in Nyx's life. I made a note to change that when I really became High Priestess, if I did at all.

Nyx turned back to Damien and said, "Although I can't give Jack back to you, I can allow you something to help ease your mind and your heartbreak." With a giant smile, Nyx stepped away from Damien and looked at the place she had been standing. A small shimmer of light appeared and rippled for a few moments before Jack appeared.

Damien gave out a cry as he wrapped his arms around Jack. I wanted to watch what was going on, but it was hard to see through the tears filling my eyes. Jack was here! As much as I wanted to run to him myself and never let him go, I knew that Damien needed this moment for himself.

"Honey, shh. Don't be sad." Jack said as he patted Damien's back.

"How can I not be? You're gone." Damien replied, still clutching to Jack for dear life.

"I'm here now. And you don't have to worry. Nyx is taking great care of me. I'm waiting for you in the most wonderful place. It will be complete when you get there." Jack was crying, too, but he'd managed to keep his voice steady.

Damien finally let go of him and kissed him hard. It was such a sight to see. I'm pretty sure that if Stark hadn't had a hold on me, I would've fallen to my knees. I took that moment to look around our group and see every single person there crying.

Jack broke the kiss and looked into Damien's eyes. "I love you, and I'm waiting for you. Don't be sad any longer, Damien. Please. I want you to be happy." Jack looked up from Damien to look at the rest of us. "I want all of you to be happy."

It seemed that everyone's bodies had taken over their minds when we all automatically ran to Jack and Damien. We took turns hugging him, and all the girls gave him small kisses on the cheek. He giggled in that little-gay-boy way of his, and that alone gave me the strength to wait my turn to see him.

"Jack." That was all I said when I got to him. I hadn't noticed until I said it that I was the only one to really speak directly to him. I ignored the fact that everyone was looking at us and said what my heart told me to. "I do miss you, so much. But I know that you're missing us as much as we miss you." With that, I closed the space between us and hugged him hard. "I can't wait to be with you again. No, I can't wait until we're all together in Nyx's kingdom."

I pulled away and wiped my eyes. "Here, give me your hand."

Jack gave me his hand while I held my empty hand out to Damien. I felt hands on my shoulders and saw that everyone had started to put their hands on either Damien, Jack, or me. "I - I mean, we - wish you the best until we can be with you again. We love you, and we will remember you until the day we get to join you again. Merry meet, and merry part, and merry meet again."

Everyone yelled after me, "Merry meet, and merry part, and merry meet again!"

We all burst into either laughter or happy tears and did a group hug. I remembered all the times Jack had tried to get us to have a big group hug but we denied it, and was happy to be fulfilling a wish of his now. Everyone but Damien walked back into a group.

Damien took Jack's hands and said, "I love you. I always will, Jack." He turned to Nyx. "Please take care of him for me."

Nyx gave him a sweet smile. "I will do just that, son."

"I know you have to go." Damien said to Jack. "And…and…"

"And we will be happy together, forever." Jack said for him.

Damien chuckled and said, "I was going to say, 'And we won't have to deal with people judging us all the time,' but that works, too."

We all gave a little chuckle, but most of us had tears in our eyes. Stark wrapped his arms around me tighter and kissed the back of my neck. "I love you so much." he whispered.

I sighed and leaned into him. "I love you, too, my warrior."

Damien and Jack whispered to each other for a while. We couldn't hear what they said, but we knew that, to them, they were the only ones here. It was so heartbreaking and sweet that I gave a little sob. Stark pulled me to his side so that he could kiss my face and comfort me. I know that it's kind of inappropriate - or maybe just right, depending on how you look at it - but I felt like I was watching Rose and Jack - Jack! Hee hee - talking to each other just before Jack died in the frozen water of the Atlantic.

I cried like a baby then, too.

Finally, Nyx walked over to them and whispered something. She turned to the rest of us and said, "Jack must leave now, but this will not be the last time you see him. Be strong, my children. You will join him one day in paradise."

Although I had heard things like this often from Christian churches, I'd never heard it in the tone Nyx used. She said it with so much love, like she couldn't wait for the day we would all be with her in paradise. It wasn't like she couldn't wait for us to die, just that she wanted us all to be together and happy, in a place where nothing could hurt us.

"I will see you again one day, Jack. I will try to be strong and live for the both of us. Please don't forget me." Damien said, just loud enough for us to hear.

"Forget you? Never." Jack smiled and gave Damien one last kiss.

"I love you, Jack. Merry meet, and merry part, and merry meet again."

Jack's composure broke then. I had been surprised this entire time. Jack was usually so emotional, he couldn't contain himself. Even though I had picked at him about it when he was alive, I had also admired him for it. This entire time he had been crying, but he had kept himself together for Damien. I guess he just couldn't do it anymore.

"Oh, I love you, too, Damien. So much. Don't ever, ever forget that." Jack's entire body shook so hard, he almost fell, but Damien's arms held him up. The kissed again, and when they pulled apart Jack said, "Merry meet, and merry part, and merry meet again."

With that, Jack turned into a rippling form, and then disappeared with a light so bright, it left me blind for a moment. While Damien and Jack had said their goodbyes, it felt like my heart had been ripped open again from Jack's death. But when I saw that blinding light Jack had left in, it felt like my heart wasn't healed, but it was better. Like it had a band-aid on it, keeping the blood from pouring out.

When I could see again, I saw that Damien felt the same way. He was still crying, but he had a smile on his face - one of hope and determination. I knew that Damien would keep his promise to Jack and live for the both of them.

Nyx stepped into the place she had been originally - the place where Jack had been - and addressed all of us. "I have loved being here and seeing all of you. You have no idea how much joy it brings me. I have to go, but I need to speak with Zoey and Stark. Alone."

It was the first time I had heard Nyx speak with so much authority. Her voice didn't sound mean. No, it just sounded like she needed to get something done and couldn't do it with all of us here.

"It is almost dawn, and I know that a lot of you cannot take the sun. The rest who can are still uncomfortable in the sun. Go, my children. Go to the tunnels. Be safe. I love each and every one of you more than you can ever imagine." Her smile was so sweet, it was almost heartbreaking. Nyx looked as if she might cry seeing us go.

Everyone started going to the front of the school as Nyx walked over to me and Stark. She got within five feet of us and then turned to our right, motioning for us to follow her. We waved quickly to the others - who waved back - and then followed our goddess into her temple.

As soon as we were in Nyx said, "Dear Stark, close the door. Zoeybird, cast a circle. Ask the elements to shield what we are saying from unwanted ears. Do it quickly, I don't have much time."

Stark closed the door as I moved to the middle of the room and faced east. "Air, come to me!" I didn't have time to light a candle or introduce air. I turned to my right and said, "Fire, come to me!" I did the same thing to water in the west and earth in the north. I faced Nyx and said, "Spirit, come to me!" I felt the elements come to me as I called them. How could this night get any better?

"Quickly, Zoey, conceal us!" Nyx whispered.

"Air, Fire, Water, Earth, and Spirit: cover this place! Don't let anyone hear what is said in Nyx's temple tonight!" As soon as I said it, the elements did as I commanded. "Thank you."

Nyx and Stark joined me in the circle. They were only allowed in the circle because - hello! - Nyx is our goddess and Stark works for her.

Before speaking to me, Nyx turned to Stark. "Stark, I am as proud of you as I am any warrior. You have protected your priestess to infinity and beyond." I giggled in my head, thinking of Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. "I love you, and I give you the greatest blessing I can." Nyx stepped into Stark's personal space and kissed him full-on on the mouth.

I paid close attention to Stark's body language. He stiffened at first, being surprised, and then he melted into the kiss along with Nyx. I know, I know. I should've been angry, or jealous, but I wasn't. I knew that it wasn't a romantic kiss. It was from Nyx, our goddess, our mother. She was just showing Stark how much she loves him. A weird way for a mother to show that to her child, but loving nonetheless.

The kiss only lasted for a few beats, but when they parted Stark had to catch his breath. "Wow," was all he said.

Nyx smiled at him and then looked to me. "Zoey, I have something to ask of you, but you aren't going to like it." She looked at Stark. "Neither of you will."

We both nodded for her to continue.

"Remember that I can't make you do anything you don't want to, and I would never think of ordering you to do something. I gave you free will and I never take something that I have given back." Nyx paused for a moment and then said, "You must realize that I only ask this of you because it is likely to help both of us."

I was confused. "I don't understand, Nyx. What is it you want me to do?"

She took a deep breath - and coming from her, I took that as a bad sign. "You know that a part of your soul is A-ya, the maiden made from the Ghigua Women to trap Kalona?"

My breath hitched. I caught it in just enough time to say, "Yes, I know." I was glad I sounded calm and confident. Inside, I knew something was wrong. I knew that she was going to ask me to do something very difficult.

"Well…I have come up with a plan."

Stark and I exchanged a look and then - after taking a deep breath - we nodded at Nyx and said, "What do we have to do?"