Bonjour from France everyone!!! Since I left my manuscript to Forever and For Always at home, I can't update it for you, but while you are waiting for that, I hope that this will keep you entertained enough to avoid bombing my house in America.

Disclaimer: I would never dare to steal from either Tamora Pierce (recognizable characters) or Josh Groban (song), and I make no profit from this. I am just a poor clarinetist, playing out in the streets, hoping to make enough money during the day to buy a dinner from McDonald's sniff .

When You Say You Love Me

Like the sound of silence calling,

I hear your voice and suddenly

I'm falling, lost in a dream.

I am lost in a dream world with no sound: my worst nightmare. You know the one, my love, my dream of the night I killed your cousin. I am standing, once again, opposite the onetime Duke of Conté, across the Gate of Idramm, and Lightning is again straining to be free of my hand….

The dream changes. I am drowning in an ocean of water, just as it once happened during my Ordeal, but rather than being coolly detached as before, I am panicked and I am not quite sure why…. I can't swim anymore, and I am having trouble breathing, when suddenly, you wrap your arms around me, and pull me back into your warm embrace, as I wake from my nightmare.

I am still trembling. You hold me, Kissing my face and stroking my hair. You whisper in my ear: "It's all right, my darling. I'm here; you're safe. Hush, my sweet. I love you…." I do not hear the rest of your words, and fall back into dreams of our days together….

Like the echoes of our souls are meeting

You say those words and my heart stops beating.

I wake to the sunlight streaming through the curtains around our bed, and to your smiling face. You lean over to kiss me, but right before our lips meet, you stop.

"I love you, Alanna," you whisper as our lips touch.

I am filled with joy once again, and my heart skips a beat, as it always does when you say those words. As we delight in each other, I can fell your soul joining with mine for all time….

I wonder what it means.

What could it be that comes over me?

At times I can't move.

At times I can hardly breathe.

How could such love come to me, the one who was so afraid of it? Whatever could I have done to earn your love? Even after all of our time spent together, it does not seem possible that you should love me, rather than some other woman, more beautiful than I….

There are times when it seems to me that my life with you is some fantastic tale that will unravel should I move but an inch or breathe just a little. It seems odd that life could feel so unreal.

When you say you love me

The world goes still, so still inside and

When you say you love me

For a moment, there's no one else alive.

Those three beautiful words – they brighten my day so much, my love. When you say that you love me, everyone and everything else disappears. You and I are the only people alive; we are the only two who can feel the world stop in its tracks….

You're the one I've always thought of

I don't know how, but I feel sheltered in your love;

You're where I belong.

I don't remember exactly when I began to love you – it crept up on my so slowly. But you were always the only one I ever truly loved, though it took me years to realize it. And why do I love you so well? You have always been there for me, when your duties permitted it. You always have been my sanity and protection, despite how bizarre it might be to hear "the Lioness" saying such a thing. Why do you laugh, beloved? I tell you, it's true! You are, and always have been my safety.

And when you're with me, if I close my eyes,

There are times I swear I feel like I can fly

For a moment in time,

Somewhere between the Heavens and Earth!

And frozen in time, oh when you say those words.

Last night at the ball, you asked me why I closed my eyes while dancing, and I would not answer. I closed my eyes because, in your arms, I feel that I am truly free of everything – like an eagle soaring above the Earth – but the dance ended, and I was brought back to reality as you lovingly whispered, "I love you so much, dear heart." Again, the world disappeared as your words echoed in my mind, and softly I whispered back, "I love you too, Jonathan."

When you say you love me

The world goes still, so still inside and

When you say you love me

For a moment, there's no one else alive.

And this journey that we're on

How far we've come and I celebrate every moment!

And when you say you love me

That's all you have to say.

I'll always feel this way!

At our wedding, there were some who said either that we would never survive one another, or that I would leave you broken hearted after a year. And, though those opinions have long been disproved, I must tell you that I love you so much, and I regret nothing – not even our fight in the desert so long ago. How much we have changed since then! I am no longer the rash young girl who earned her shield those many years ago, and you, my darling – well, you are more perfect than ever. I love you, Jonathan, and I always will….

When you say you love me

The world goes still, so still inside and

When you say you love me

For a moment, there's no one else alive.

When you say you love me!

When you say you love me,

Do you know how I love you?

A/N: How bad was it? It ended up a little bit more soppy than I wanted, but I've always thought that Alanna was a closet romantic. And the stupid document manager wouldn't put a space between stanzas... any suggestions on how to get it to behave? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed your Easter present. Now, be good children and review, or your chocolates will disappear... and reappear in my chocolate stash... um... just review, okay?