Ta-daa! Hope you enjoyed chapter one, but it's not over yet! Here's chapter two. Disclaimer is on the first chapter. Review, please!

Enjoy!

Melanie POV

No, Wanda, no…

Don't do this for her!

I can't see any way to stop you…

Goodbye, my sister…

Wanda…

I love you…

No…

No! No!

"WANDA!" I screamed, sitting bolt upright.

"Melanie!" I heard several voices chorusing, calling my name, but I ignored them. The lights were so bright, and I couldn't see. I thrashed against the arms holding me, the familiar arms.

"Melanie? Melanie!" Jared's lips brushed against my ear.

"Wanda!" I screamed, fighting him. "Wanda! No! Wanda! Where is she?"

She's dead…if I'm alive, she must be dead by now…

I stopped struggling at once, all the fight leaving me in a rush. I slumped against Jared, moaning. "No…no…"

"Mel, it's all right," he whispered. "It's okay. We saved her. We wouldn't let her die. We've got her. Mel, she's right here. She's okay. You're okay. We're all fine."

A few of his words vaguely registered. We saved her…

They saved her! She's safe!

With a sigh of relief, I slumped back against the familiar arms. My eyes slitted open again, and I cautiously squinted until they adjusted. Then I turned, desperate to see Jared, see his face again, touch it with hands that I once more controlled.

He was grinning at me, his face the same as I remembered. I drank it in, memorizing every line all over again and relishing in the fact that he was all mine.

And now that my immediate fears about my soul sister had been taken care of, I leaned into his embrace and kissed him with all the fiery passion I had been saving during those months I had been trapped.

"I love you," I whispered when we finally broke apart.

His smile was as radiant as the sun. "I love you more," he whispered.

And then I turned to greet Jamie, greet my brother. I hugged him tight, stroking his hair, whispering how much I loved him and how much I'd missed him.

All the immediate and necessary hellos out of the way, I got to my feet to search for my sister.

Ian POV

"You will NEVER do that to me again." My voice was nearly a growl. "I'm not kidding, Wanda. You have no idea how scared I was! You can't leave me. I don't care how selfless you are."

A pause.

I sighed slightly. "I know you think you were doing the right thing. Still…you could have told me, you could have said something."

Another pause.

"No, you're right." My voice was grim. "I wouldn't have let you go."

There was yet another silence. "Because you shouldn't have gone, that's why!"

"Are you…talking to her?"

I looked up for the first time in quite a while. To my astonishment, I saw Melanie coming forward. I knew it was Melanie now, and not my Wanda. I could somehow tell, for a number of reasons.

Her eyes, for one thing. Melanie's eyes no longer had the silver undercurrent of a soul in them. They were just normal, hazel, human.

She also carried herself differently. She seemed more confident, more sure of herself, maybe a bit more rude…a bit more human.

And thirdly…I felt no connection to her whatsoever.

Every fiber of my being was pulling me toward the tank I held cradled in my hands, the way every fiber of my being had pulled me toward Melanie when Wanda was still in it. And I rejoiced, relaxed for the first time since I had fallen in love with Wanda.

The question was always in the back of my head. Do I love Melanie, or do I love Wanderer? Mel or Wanda? I assumed it was Wanda, but I had never been sure, absolutely sure, until this moment.

Wanda, inside her tank, seemed to sense my excitement and joy, because she expanded again like she did whenever she was happy. Her attachments waved back and forth as she twirled around in her tank.

Melanie laughed as we both watched her.

"Sort of," I murmured in response to Melanie's earlier question. "I don't know how, but I can almost…sense what she's saying to me. It's not like I'm talking to her…it's more like she's talking to me."

Melanie nodded, and we both watched her for a while longer.

"Hey, Wanda," she said softly.

Wanda twisted in Mel's direction.

"I recognize you, Wanda. You're so pretty."

Wanda was listening to Mel, I could tell, but over half of her attachments were still stretching out toward me, and I was thrilled at this.

"Can I hold her?" she tentatively asked me.

Every single one of my protective instincts locked into place, and the answer flew out of my mouth before I could think about it. "No." My voice was flat as I clutched the tank tighter to my chest.

She smiled slightly, understanding.

"All right, then," she chuckled. "I'm going to go see how Jamie's doing."

She walked back over to her brother, and I couldn't help but smile, too. I hadn't meant to be so sharp with her…but at the same time, I couldn't stand the thought of Wanda belonging to anyone but me right now. I was glad Melanie understood, and hadn't taken offense.

"She's very nice," I murmured to Wanda. "I can see why you like her."

Wanda stretched out her attachments toward me again, trying to show me that she was listening to me.

Jamie POV

"Hey, Ian!"

I bounded over to Ian, smiling brightly.

"Hello, Jamie," he responded, smiling slightly. He was still clutching Wanda's tank close to his chest. He had been having whispered conversations with her for the past two days. He could sort of understand what she was saying, though. He hadn't let go of her for those two days, either, even sleeping with her here in the hospital. I had been bringing him food, because he didn't want to bring her into the kitchens. Nor did he let anyone else even put a finger on her except him.

"Hey, Wanda," I said cheerfully, and a few of her attachments billowed in my direction, almost as though she was waving hello.

"She's happy to see you," Ian translated with a smile.

I grinned, too. "Awesome," I said cheerfully. I plopped down next to Ian and handed him some food.

"Thanks, kid," he told me, eating with one hand and holding securely onto Wanda with the other. When he was finished, he went right back to staring down at her, tracing patterns lightly on the top of her tank with a finger.

"She's awfully pretty, isn't she?" I asked wistfully, staring down at her. Ian smiled in agreement.

Then I remembered the news. "Hey, so we've come up with a plan," I told him. "We're going to try to find a new body for Wanda, but we're going to make sure that no one is inside, either. That way she isn't going to be a parasite, and she'll be happy with us." I smiled. "That's a good plan, isn't it?"

Ian was skeptical. "This is assuming that we find a good body, and there isn't anyone still left in there, human or not."

I shrugged. "I guess we'll have to see. We're bound to find a good one eventually, right?"

Ian smiled. "Hear that, Wanda?" he cooed. "We're going to find another body for you. You get to be with us again."

Wanda didn't seem to react to the news, but it was hard to tell with her in that form.

"Are you going to come?" I asked him.

He shook his head, still staring down at her. "I don't care what she looks like on the outside," he said softly. "She'll always be my Wanda on the inside, and that's what matters."