A/N - Music: Across the Burren (McLaughlin) whenever nothing else is playing. Danny Boy (any version) when Sam is singing Danny Boy. My Lagan Love played by Jim Anon (search 'my lagan love whistle' on youtube) when Sam wakes up to music. Sunrise Over the Ocean (Tim Janis) directly after this. Sleepsong (by Secret Garden) when that song is being sung (it's the only other lyrics in the chapter).

It had been a year since their best friend and teammate had disappeared… died.

Now the Fentons, Mansons, and Foleys, have returned to his last location for a memorial. Some hope it will bring closure. Some think it would just be painful.

Sam is torn between bittersweet memories of their last adventure and the heartache that surrounded the same. Nevertheless it had been her who had been unable to tear herself away from the gentle hills and fog washed glens of the Emerald Isle. By the end of that summer she had rejected her acceptance letters in the states and had found accommodations and work on an organic farm in the rocky dales of County Clare.

Now, dressed in a short green dress that flares out at her waist when she turns suddenly, and black tights, black elbow-length gloves and black boots Sam lays the first flat stone on the barren rock. Those in charge of the Poulnabron monument had been sympathetic to the families' desires and had even suggested building a memorial at the sight, but the suggestion had received a unanimous negative from the nine mourners. No they did not want the Irish government to immortalize the death of their beloved friend, son, brother… just, no.

Sam allows Tuck to give her support as the small cairn rises quickly, just out of sight of the larger monument. They stand there together as the hours slip away and soon they are the only ones left. Eventually even Tuck quietly leaves Sam to morn alone and it is only when he has trudged slowly out of sight that she allows herself to cry.

Gradually the sun slips over the horizon. When Tuck returns, worried, he is surprised to catch strains of song hovering in the gloaming.

"Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountainside
The summer's gone, and all the flow'rs are dying
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.

But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh, Danny boy, oh, Danny boy, I love you so.

And if you come, and all the flowers are dying
If I am dead, as dead I well may be
I pray you'll find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me.

And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me
And all my grave will warm and sweeter be
then you'll kneel and whisper that you love me
Oh, Danny boy, oh, Danny boy, I love you so"

"Sam?"

The soft voice wakens her from her melancholy and she turns with a sad smile on her face. "Hey Tuck. Sorry t' make ya worry."

Her friend approaches her from where he'd been standing, silently, listening.

"No, you're fine. Just though I'd see if you wanted to get something to eat. Dinner's a bit of a drive away. "

With one last glance over her shoulder Sam joins him . "Nah. Dinner sounds great."

In the car Sam fiddles with the radio and then turns it off.

"So. I didn't know you were into the local music." Tuck cocks his head in her direction, taking his eyes off the road for a moment to judge his friend's reaction.

Seeing his glance Sam shakes her head. "It's ok Tuck. I guess I didn't think it was something to write home about."

"So it's not just…"

"No it's not just that song. 'Danny Boy' just happens to be one of my favorites. You know Doolin, the music capital of Ireland, is not far from here. I go there often."
"Ah."

The conversation stalls for awhile until Sam picks it up.

"How are you and Laurine getting along?"

"Ah, alright. I invited her to come with us but she said it would be better for me to go alone."

"Good on her." Sam says softly.

Tuck turns his head to raise an questioning eyebrow.

Sam clarifies. "Sometimes the best place to grieve is with your family."

"Which is why you took off across the ocean? To be closer to your family?" The techno retorts.

"You know why I couldn't leave!"

Suddenly Tucker deflates. "Yeah, I know."

Instantly forgiving her friend, Sam squints as if trying to read him and then gasps softly. "I'm sorry Tuck- I didn't realize- You really love her don't you?"

Tucker shifts his shoulders away from her and looks away as much as he can while driving.

Sam lays a hand on his arm. "Don't feel guilty Tuck. I'm glad you've found someone."

"Yeah."

The rest of the drive is passed in silence as the two friends try to decipher the new boundaries within their friendship.

The next day Sam sees everyone off at the airport. Driving home alone she sees the turnoff for the Poulnabron. In a spontaneous decision she takes the narrow road that climbs higher into the heart of the Burren. By the time she reaches the portalstone monument it is mid afternoon. Grabbing her packed lunch Sam avoids the tourists clustered around the iconic stones and makes herself at home on a weathered outcropping of limestone.

The rest of the day slips away softly for the girl -older by years than she had been as a senior fresh out of high-school. How boundless the world had seemed then: with Danny by her side and opportunities opening up on all sides. A year later grief had stripped her of her boundless optimism, but had left her with an almost unearthly grace.

When the last tourist leaves Sam relocates herself. With the sun warm upon her face and the massive stone cool against her back she is almost asleep when a haunting melody rouses her from slumber. Gazing around in confusion she rises as if in a dream.

"Hello? Hello? Is anyone there?"

The music seems to come from everywhere all at once. Only twice had the girl with the warrior's heart heard the like. Both had heralded the arrival of the Fairy people.

"Hello? Do I know you?"

Sam grows angry as the music fades into obscurity.

"Hey! I know you're there! You could at least say 'Hi'!"

"Hi."

The mellow voice comes from behind and catches her off guard in more ways than one. Turning slowly she whispers, "Danny?"

"Who's that?"

The figure silhouetted in the arch of the great stone passageway steps forward into the dying light. Sam takes a small step forward.

"Danny? Is that you?"

The young boy before her smiles uncertainly as Sam studies him with unfathomable violet eyes. His skin is pale to the point of translucency. Aquamarine eyes gaze at her from underneath hair that shimmers a dusky grey bordering on black.

Under her piercing gaze he shivers and she watches in astonishment as he literally fades before her eyes. As if this wasn't enough, a gentle warmth against her breast draws her attention to the ring, hidden on a chain about her neck, glowing for the first time in over a year.

Joy leaps in her heart and suddenly speechless, she smiles at him. Gathering her voice she stammers faintly, "Hi. You don't need to be afraid. My name's Sam."

Shade by shade, what color he has returns to the boy's skin.

"Do you know where I am?" he asks cautiously. His instincts tell him to trust this strange girl but the stare she had subjected him to had scared him. Was she mad at him? Is she still, or not?

Sam steps forward again, still unbelieving, as if in a trance. "You're in County Clare, Ireland. Do you remember this place?"

The ghostly boy takes in the barren landscape. It is oddly beautiful, with clusters of flowers in the long shallow crevices all bathed in a pale blue light created by the last rays of sunlight reflecting off the sea some forty kilometers distant.

"I-" Flashes of light dance across his vision as if obscuring something important. "I don't think so."

Quietly, so quietly that he has to take a step forward to hear her, the girl asks, "Do you remember me?"

His silence is her answer. A tear runs unbidden down her cheek. Had she finally found him only to lose him again?

"Hey, don't cry." With one final step he closes the distance between them. Gently he catches the teardrop as it falls and wipes another from the corner of her other eye.

"Don't cry." He repeats. "I'm here. I can help."

His soft words, spoken out of no fondness for her, she is sure, but only out of the kindness of his heart break down the shields she had steadily built over the last year. Sobbing she clings to him tightly and he returns the gesture, wrapping her in a cool embrace that at the same time warms her chilled core.

"Hey, it's ok. Don't cry now. Everything's going to be ok." His soothing murmurs only increase the intensity of her sorrow.

Unbidden, a melody unknown to him rises in the back of his mind.

"Lay down your head, and I'll sing you a lullaby
Back to the years of loo-li,lai-ley
And I'll sing you to sleep and I'll sing you tomorrow
Bless you with love for the road that you go

May you sail fair to the far fields of fortune
With diamonds and pearls at your head and your feet
And may you need never to banish misfortune
May you find kindness in all that you meet

May there always be angels to watch over you
To guard you each step of the way
To guard you and keep you safe from all harm
Loo-li,loo-li,lai-ley

May you bring love and may you bring happiness
Be loved in return to the end your days
Now fall off to sleep I'm not meaning to keep you
I'll just sit for awhile and sing loo-li,lai-ley

Loo-li,loo-li,lai-ley

Loo-li,loo-li,lai-ley"

Slowly her tears subside and she leans deeper into his embrace.

"Oh Da… nevermind."

He shifts away to look at her. He doesn't know why, but he cares deeply about this strange girl who had so suddenly appeared to him. He doesn't want her to be sad. "What's wrong?"

Sam smiles through the last vestiges of her tears at the concerned boy. "Nevermind, just… just thank you."

"Ah…your welcome?"

For the first time in over a year a real laugh comes unbidden to her lips. Chuckling, he joins in with her merriment unaware that he is the cause.

Ceasing her laughter, Sam smiles joyfully at her Daniel. Even if he doesn't remember her or their adventures or anything, he is still the Danny she fell in love with. And she doesn't know how he came back to them, to her, but just now she's content to hold him in her arms and never let go, forever.