Jenny absently wondered what that smell was, it was divine. She also wondered what was trailing down her face but she wasn't quite ready to wake up just yet. Especially not after the dream she had last night, Julian was back, her Julian had returned. She smiled as she started to pull herself out of the blissful sleep she'd been all but drowning in. Her eyes slowly opened, instead of the white ceiling that greeted her every morning she was shocked to see a sky so bright and blue it nearly made her eyes water. Bright...blue...sky?
Her heart started thudding so hard she thought it might break right through her chest. Jenny squeezed her eyes shut and tried to wrap her mind around it. No, no she was still asleep. That was it, obviously. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes fully expecting that she would be staring at her plain white ceiling. But no, again a bright blue cloudless sky greeted her. Almost afraid of what she would see she turned her head slowly to the right and gasp, emerald green grass as far as she could see, dotted here and there with trees dripping with colorful blossoms. She turned her head left and the breath was stolen from her. Stretched out in the grass beside her, one arm propping his head up was Julian.
Julian! But...that would mean... "It was real?" Jenny blurted out as she quickly jerked herself upright so she was sitting looking down at him.
"Of course it was real Jenny," Julian said in that voice that made her feel weak all over. "You wanted me to come back to you, and I did."
Panic hit her as realization dawned on her. "You brought me back to the shadow world." She pulled her legs up and hugged them to her chest as the memories of what she had been through all those years ago came crashing down on her.
In an instant Julian's arms were around her and his lips were pressed to the top of her head. "Don't worry Jenny, nothing will hurt you here. There is no game this time. Just us, I created this world for you." He chuckled slightly, "besides it's only a day trip. You know I'm not a huge fan of daylight so I thought I'd pop us back here til the sun sets back in your realm."
Jenny lifted her eyes and looked at his smiling face. Relief washed over her, quickly followed by a flood of questions and worry. Julian scowled, sensing the sudden change in her. "What's wrong Jenny?"
"Are you really back Julian?" She asked, her voice almost a whisper. "How long? Are you just gonna disappear? Will you have to come back here and stay eventually.." her voice rising with panic at the thought of losing him again. Her questions were cut off when his cool velvety smooth lips pressed against hers. Her mind short circuited, all the questions she had were temporarily forgotten. Finally he pulled back with a smug smile on his face, she couldn't help but smile back.
"I'll be here as long as you want me with you Jenny. Just as I've always been with you. I can't stay in your world all the time, it would weaken me too much but that doesn't mean we have to stay here all the time either. We can spend the daylight hours here and the night hours in your world if you wish. Anything you want Jenny, just like I told you long ago, I can give you everything."
