Oliver's consciousness was hovering in the murky space in between wakefulness and sleep, that ethereal plane where dreams seem real and time stands still. The cold of the foundry no longer registered in his mind, his body so used to the cold of Lian Yu that he never re-adapted to normal temperatures. He felt a presence next to his bed, both comforting and warm, and he felt this presence brush their fingers against his forehead. He opened his eyes slowly, tentatively, hoping up on hope to see the woman he loved sitting there, looking down at him with love in her eyes, banishing away the pain of these last few months away from her. The woman he saw was blonde, but it was not the one that he loved, though he did love her at one point in his life.

"Sara?" he whispered under his breath, afraid that if he spoke too loudly she would disappear somehow.

Sara smiled down at him sadly, the depth of grief in her eyes stoking his own. He leaned into her touch, closing his eyes again. This couldn't be possible, but his mind accepted it as real. "Sara," he repeated, his voice breaking with a sob.

"Shh," Sara soothed, comforting his heart with her susurration.

"You died," he croaked, the rational part of his mind objecting to what his eyes were showing him.

Sara smiled again, her palm traveling down his face to stroke his cheek. "The dead never really leave us." Her hand continued its path downward and rested on his heart. "We live on in here."

A tear fell out of the corner of his eye, leaving a trail down to his ear. "I miss you," he whispered brokenly.

Sara's fingers stroked his chest. "I'll always be here, Ollie."

Oliver heaved a deep sigh, accepting her words of comfort. He swallowed back his grief, even as another tear joined the first. "How are you here?"

Sara shook her head. "That doesn't matter. What does is why are you punishing yourself?"

Oliver shook his head, knowing exactly what she was talking about. "You know why. I just can't."

She gave him a wistful smile. "You belong with her. And she belongs with you. There's nothing more simple than that."

Oliver shook his head. "Not while the city needs the Arrow."

Her hand moved up to cup his cheek again. "That's not the real reason." She stroked his cheek with her thumb. "You're afraid, Ollie. Don't be. Life is too short to live in fear."

He stared into her eyes, letting her words penetrate his soul. "I don't know how," he whispered.

She smiled at him. "You have friends who can help you. And she can help you too." Her eyes went distant, and she shook her head at a memory only she could see. "She's pretty incredible that way."

He cracked a genuine smile that time. "She is," he agreed.

She stroked his forehead with her fingers, echoing her movements from earlier. "I have to go now," she murmured mournfully.

Oliver's heart broke. "Stay," he pleaded.

She just smiled at him sadly. "I'm always with you Ollie. Remember that." She covered his eyes with her palm. "Go back to sleep," she whispered.

He did, and when he woke up later that morning, he couldn't really remember his dreams. But he did wake up with a renewed sense of hope, a hope he had briefly experienced months ago when he finally got the courage to ask Felicity out on a date. This renewed hope filled his heart with a lightness that wasn't there the night before, and he made the decision that life was too short to live in fear. He decided he was going to start wooing Felicity tonight.