ETHAN

I woke with a start. My head pounded with the frustration that ran through me. I had been so close, so close. I could almost touch her long dark hair. But as my arm stretched out just that little bit further, she faded. It was my bellow of rage that released me from the dream. I put my head in my hands and sighed. There was an ongoing pain in my heart that had not gone away. It had been three months since Rochelle's death. And the pain still lived on. Every night I dreamt of here. I would think back of the last moment we had shared, which had been the first moment we'd shared our love.

I moaned. Why was life so cruel?

"Ethan? Are you alright?" My father's voice came from the other side of my door. He must have heard me in my sleep.

"I'm fine," I replied monotonously. Swinging my legs out of bed, I grabbed a sweatshirt and some shoes. I needed fresh air. And there was only one place I could be right now.

The cliffs were so peaceful. Here I could think. I could reminisce of Rochelle. She stood here in the wind, tears running down her perfect face. And when we'd kissed, I'd known. I had met my soul mate. But she had to be taken away from me. Was it a punishment for something I'd done? Everyone I loved seemed to leave. I sat down on the dry grass and looked into the distance. The sharp winds blew my hair around, blew my thoughts around my head.

Ethan....

I got up in an instant. I looked around. There was no one in sight. The trees swayed slightly, and the grass wavered in the breeze. I turned back to my spot, and heard the voice again.

Answer me Ethan....

This was crazy. I was imagining Rochelle's voice in my head. I closed my eyes and turned around. I had this weird notion that everything might be resolved. Maybe she was standing behind me. But when I opened them, all I could see was the forest. I drew rasped breaths as I ran into the throng of trees. I was all alone; there was no doubt about that. I stopped at a clearing. I had a brainwave.

Using my power, I drew a vision of Rochelle in front of me. She blinked in confusion. She reached out. But I lost my concentration, and she vanished in a second.

I'll see you soon. I promise. I love....

ROCHELLE

"DAMNIT!" I screamed, punching the air with fury. I had been so very close, but I'd lost it. I reassessed the situation. It would take all my strength to do it again. But it had to be done. I was going insane here. Twice in the last hour I had been just an inch away, but I had failed. A tear ran down my cheek, disappearing as it fell through the air. There were no tears here. This world was supposed to be bliss, but it would never be bliss without Ethan standing by my side.

I breathed deep, the strong memory of him overwhelming me. I let it out and turned to see Dartemis approaching me.

The last three months had been hard, but they would have been unbearable without Dartemis' help. He was my light when all else was dark. He had brought me here, for my sacrifice had not gone unnoticed. I was told I was now the highest ranking one there was, after the Immortals, in this world.

"You need to stop," Dartemis soothed as he placed a hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off.

"I can't. He's everything to me. I can't just let him go."

"But you must understand. You live in two different worlds."

"Then we must find a way to be in the same one."

"Rochelle—"

"I can't move on. And I know he can't. Do you not see how he hurts inside?"

"I do."

"And I hurt too. You can kill me. But you can never stop me hurting like this."

I turned my back on him and ran, my hair flying behind me. There had to be a way. There just had to be.

I went to the one person I knew had everything to owe to me, since I had died for another of their Named.

"Rochelle?" Lorian's violet eyes glimmered with question. I looked hard at the great Immortal, now contained in this afterworld like me. I slumped onto the grass and let it all spill out.

ETHAN

I now stood at Rochelle's grave.

Rochelle A. Thalimar

Named for her courage

As a true,

Beloved girl.

Missed by all

It was a play on words. Named. For her courage. She was one of the Named, who jumped in front of an arrow to save – me. For all the days I knew her, I had never stopped loving her. But if it hadn't have been for me, she would still be alive, prophecy or no prophecy. I laid down the tulip. I broke down. I didn't even care at that point.

But my heart had shattered the day she left me, and this was all I could do.

Ethan. I'm still with you.

The voice whispered in my head again. I tried to shut it out, knowing I was imagining it; this was making my moving on that much harder.

Do I have to say it any louder boy! I'm trying to talk to you!

The voice yelled inside my mind. Well, more like screamed. It was so—Rochelle. I leapt back. This was crazy. Completely insane. But I opened my eyes and was silent. I just wanted to hear her one more time.

You can always hear me. I can hear you.

"Rochelle? Are you there?" I called out. A fellow grave goer, a man in the cemetery, looked in my direction, but returned to his business of laying flowers.

Don't speak out. Only you can I reach.

'Do we have time?' I thought.

I don't know. Which is why you need to know that I love you, and there may be a way back.

'How?' I thought, my mind frantic with the need to see her again. But there was no answer. I shook my head, I had officially lost it. But then again, what if I hadn't? I mean, I could move things with my mind, I could create visions just by will. There had to be a loophole in the threads of reality and her world...somewhere.