A/N: Hello everyone! This is my first attempt at a Prince of Persia story, so please be kind. I'll be the first to admit that I don't really have a clue what I'm talking about, so all constructive criticism is welcome!

Thanks!

Chapter 1

Tamina was going to fall.

She was dangling from Dastan's injured right arm, looking up at him. She knew she would have to let go of him; Dastan was going to have to protect the dagger.

"Let me go," she sobbed. "It has always been your destiny, Dastan."

"No!" he shouted down to her. He was trying to figure out a way to pull her up. His arm flexed, shooting pain through his shoulder and then through his entire body.

Tamina saw the pain in his face at the movement and she let go of Dastan's wrist. The warrior prince struggled to hold onto her very slick hand.

Before she could plead with Dastan any further, her sweaty hand slipped from his own sweaty grip.

"Dastan!" she called out as she began to fall into the endless black abyss.

"Tamina!" he called back, clutching at emptiness.

The shout echoed past her as she continued to fall.

"Tamina?" Dastan's calm voice said to her.

She was drenched in sweat and breathing hard as her eyes opened into the half-lit room Dastan looked at her with a concerned expression on his face.

"Tamina, are you all right?" Dastan asked her.

Tamina shook herself and pulled her long, dark hair from her shoulders. It was plastered to her forehead and neck.

Dastan put a comforting arm around his wife.

"I'll be fine," she sighed.

Tamina leaned into her husband's hard frame and took comfort in his embrace.

"Did you have the same nightmare?" he asked.

She nodded.

"It was more real this time, Dastan," she replied.

Dastan rubbed her back reassuringly.

"It was just a dream."

"I was falling. You tried to hold onto me, but I just kept falling," she said quietly.

Dastan was always remembering that moment. Always. And those of his father, brothers and Bis. But he always was able to push it far enough away so he could enjoy the moments he now had with all of them. He certainly didn't dare mention any of it to them. But it was very difficult when Tamina was having the dreams of that exact moment.

Tamina hugged him and breathed his scent. "Thank you for trying to save me."

Dastan's chest tightened at her thank you.

"I will always protect you, Tamina," Dastan said. He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Dastan and Tamina had been married immediately after Tus announced it. There was no reason to hesitate. Their union would ensure peace between Persia and Alamut despite the violence that Dastan had brought originally.

The gates had been rebuilt under the watchful Dastan and the existing walls were re-fortified so no one else could do what he had done.

And though originally Tamina had been thoroughly against marrying Dastan, watching him help rebuild what he destroyed meant the world to her. And when he showed the same amount of care for the sacred dagger…well, she knew something was different. The way Dastan looked at her that moment when he gave her the dagger back was a look she had never gotten before. He looked at her like he was in love.

They had now been husband and wife for over a month. Tamina had grown to feel the same way about Dastan, although in the beginning she was hesitant to tell him as much.

But waking up in his arms wasn't so awful; neither was having someone to comfort her when she had horrible nightmares.

Dastan was silent as she curled into his muscled chest. Now would be a good time to tell her. But how would he explain?

"What if I told you that your dream wasn't really a dream?" he asked.

She pulled away and looked up at him.

"Then what would it be?" she asked quietly.

"What if it were a memory?"

There was silence between them for a beat.

"How could it be a memory if I haven't died, Dastan?" she asked. "I think I would remember if I died."

"Not in this time, Tamina. The dagger…"

Tamina was outraged. "That dagger is not for anything…"

"My uncle Nizam was going to use it to go back in time and change things so he could have my father's crown. You and I…we…well…"

"You helped protect the dagger. You…"

"You told me that the dagger had always been my destiny," Dastan said.

It was word for word from her dream. How would he have known if it were not a memory?

Tamina felt sick.

She bolted from the bed she shared with Dastan and went out on the balcony of their room. She needed air. She needed to understand what was happening right now. Tamina leaned over the balcony and surveyed the nighttime view of Alamut. What was going on?

"Tamina?" Dastan called.

He found something to wrap around his waist for some decency before stepping out into the night air.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" she asked, not turning around to look at him.

"Well, truthfully princess, I didn't want to begin a conversation with, 'once, you were dead…'" Dastan said sarcastically.

"This is not even in the slightest funny," Tamina said. "That dagger…the dagger is so very important…"

"I am entirely aware of that, Tamina. I have seen what it can do myself. That dagger is the only reason that you are alive and with me right now. That dagger is the only reason I am able to get up in the morning. Believe me, I am not taking it lightly. And know this, I will do everything I can to protect you and that cursed dagger."

His words were so heartfelt that Tamina couldn't help but let her anger subside as she collapsed into tears. She turned around and Dastan pulled her into his arms in a tight embrace.

"Nothing can be done right now, Tamina. Let's go back to sleep, we leave for Nasaf early in the morning and you need your rest," Dastan said.

Her legs weren't moving her as she leaned into his body. She was still very upset and couldn't make herself move. Dastan picked her up and carried her inside.

Dastan knew why she was this upset. Tomorrow, they would be leaving her home city of Alamut for Nasaf, and the dagger would be staying behind. It wasn't safe to travel with it since they hadn't caught the last Hasassassin. And now she was going to have lots of questions about the time that passed between them before she died.

Dastan listened to her breathing calm slowly into the rhythmic breaths of sleeping before he closed his eyes himself. It was going to be a long night and a very long trip to Nasaf.