Prologue
PG

He stood patiently before her, his mysterious face hidden by the thick gray fog that overshadowed their surroundings she wished a hundred times didn't exist. The gentle flapping of his white, silver lined cape was the only sound that she could hear besides the dreadful beating of her own heart, and not one of them uttered a single word.
The stranger took a step towards her, the clicking of his boot killing the silence that only his cape was able to break just a second before, and took another and then another until he was only a few feet from her. He was so close but yet so far from her for the only thing that she could see through the fog was his eyes. She marveled at how beautiful they were, but how strangely familiar they were as well. They were the color of the skies on a sunny afternoon...their beauty equaling that of a baby blue topaz but sparkling as much as a freshly created diamond. She easily lost herself in those eyes. They searched her own, and within a second she suddenly felt a tingly sensation take over her mind. She could sense his mind connecting with hers in a way she never thought possible, and the familiarity of it caused her not to feel frightened. She was drawn to him almost unwillingly but did not feel intimidated by the stranger at all.
He took another step forward, and she began to slightly relax for she began to feel no fear towards him. She never thought they would get so close, but yet the closer he got the more completed she felt. It was as if she wasn't completely whole until a part of him joined her. She just didn't know what part.
Taking advantage of his closeness, she began to study what features she could make out. She saw he was clothed in a fully white uniform trimmed with silver, maybe that of a general, and had on white boots. She noted the strong curve of his face, but couldn't make out the color of his skin. The only thing that seemed to catch her attention every time was his eyes. They were so addicting to look at, and the familiarity of them bewildered her more and more. Some where in the back of her mind she began to wonder what he might look like without the fog, which kept from her the rest of his features...and identity.
" I've been waiting for you to come." His voice was strong and gentle, but what surprised her most was that it was in her head. She didn't see his lips move at all, and now that she thought about it she could speak back to him without moving her mouth as well. " I've been waiting so long," he continued.
" Have you?" She answered back with her mind. " Why have you been waiting for me?"
" I've always been waiting for you. You just never came until now."
She licked her tensed lips, brushing back a loose blond hair away from her face. " Are you a ghost?"
" Only if you want me to be."
"What kind of an answer is that?"
" It's the only answer I can give you...for now."
" Do we know each other?" She asked, starting to feel exasperated by the small answers he's given her. Answers that she couldn't quite put together.
He nodded, a slight smile pulling at his lips. Slowly, he reached out with one of his strong hands, and left it hanging straight out in front of him, the palm vertical and flat. " I need you desperately right now. Please stay with me," he pleaded, his bright blue eyes going dull with sadness.
She just stared at it not knowing what to do, but again just looking at the position of the hand made her feel a wave of familiarity go through her. A feeling of protection that she never before felt in such a way. Suddenly her eyes seemed to fill with anger, and the desperation of trying to find out who this man is and what he wants just suddenly came to the point of just blowing up into something she didn't want to occur. " Who are you?!"
" I am you..." he started.
" What?"
" You are me..."
" I..I don't know what you mean?" She stammered, starting to feel the wave of protection slightly ease away.
" We are one."
" We are one?" she repeated, while a strange warmth started to engulf her.
" Yes."
All of a sudden, she raised her arm and placed her hand in the same position only inches away from his. The completion that she felt earlier started getting stronger, and now she knew what to do. Slowly, she started to push her hand forward to meet his, and again started to feel the emotion of being one grow inside her heart. " One," she repeated once again, her hand almost to its destination. " We are..."

**
" SERENA!!!" Her eyes snapped open to a vision that was far removed from that of the stranger. Not surprising the vision was that of her mother. " Would you please hurry and get up before you're late to school again!" she yelled before leaving her daughter's pink-coated room in a rush.
Serena groaned and slowly and very unhappily sat up and got out of her bed, pushing away her bunny blanket in the process. " I wonder what will be in store for me today," she commented to herself as she walked out into the hallway and into the bathroom, not recollecting any dreams she experienced at all. Not even that of the familiar stranger.