Zara blinked slowly, then frowned. She shut her eyes firmly, then opened them again. No change. Wherever she was, it was pitch dark. She opened her eyes wide, to find any light...there. Large squares that were a slightly paler shade of dark. Windows. She tilted her head, groaning, and was rewarded with a wave of dizziness.

Soft footsteps approaching her, someone moving close to her. "Zara?"

"Ouch."

"What hurts you?" Charles asked quickly.

"A lot," Zara replied flatly.

"Don't move just yet, all right?"

Her voice changed. "Oh, no..."

"What?"

"Did I fall asleep in your office?"

Charles paused. "Yes."

"Why the—why would you let me do that?"

"Erm...you needed to."

"Please don't tell me I passed out from the drinks."

"No..."

"Oh, thank God."

"Was that a real possibility?"

"Probably."

He couldn't help the laugh that escaped. "Well, I won't be giving you Scotch for Christmas, that's certain."

"Good, because I'd rather drink gasoline. Owww..." She had tried to sit up again. Charles knelt next to the sofa and gently pressed down on her shoulders. "Zara, please, just stay put for a minute, all right?"

"I'm just stiff from staying in the same position too long. It happens. What time is it, anyway?"

"It's a little after two."

"I hope you're joking. Are you trying to start rumors?"

"I'm not, but if anyone were to notice, I'd take care of it—"

"Really, Professor? My, my, my, what's gotten into you?"

"I didn't realize you could be so sarcastic."

"When I'm hurting, definitely. Sorry if you don't like it. Oh..." and she groaned again as she pushed herself up on one elbow. Charles took her shoulders and helped ease her up to a sitting position, still quizzing her. "Is it just your body that's hurting you? How does your head feel?"

She took a minute to think. "A bit dizzy. Nothing terrible."

He allowed himself a little sigh of relief. "That's good."

He could barely see her face in the dark as she turned to him. "Are you worried about something, Charles?"

"Zara...do you remember what we were talking about...before you fell asleep?" His hands were still on her shoulders.

"Ugh...not really."

He tightened his grip just the slightest bit. "Try to remember. Please. It's important."

"Okay, fine..." her face turned away from him as she thought. There were a few moments of quiet, and then her eyes snapped back to his. "Erik," she said.

"Yes."

"I know him now. I've never met him, but I know him."

"That's what I realized," he said.

"I know him," Zara began, "But...I can feel you. In my head. I can tell some of what you're feeling, wanting. Ever since yesterday. I feel things, and I know they're true, but I don't know why. And..." she trailed off.

"What?" he asked her. Zara didn't answer. "What, Zara?"

"I can feel where you..." she searched for the right word, "went looking. Inside my mind." She paused. "Without permission."

"Yes."

"I'd just like to point out that this is the second time that's happened."

"I know. I am so sorry, Zara. I haven't lost control like that...in a very long time."

"You're afraid."

"That's true, I was. I am."

"I'm all right, Charles."

His voice was soft. "I'm very grateful."

"Why are you so scared?"

"The...last time that happened, I hurt someone very badly."

"It's all right." His face in the dim light looked so forlorn and without thinking, Zara put her arms around him. "I'm all right, I promise," she whispered in his ear.

Charles sighed again, his breath hitching, and he returned the embrace, holding her close. His hands slid gently down her back. He needed to touch her, be reassured that she was warm and alive and herself. "I was so afraid I had hurt you," he confessed. "It's all right if you're angry with me."

Amusement infused her voice. "Is it, now? So glad I have your approval for that."

"I just meant that I understand."

"I know," she murmured against his shoulder. "Maybe I should be. Maybe I will be. But not now."

Charles pulled back from the embrace only so he could ease himself up on to the sofa. He had to actually think about how much distance he should put between the two of them. More than he would like. Zara turned her face to him.

"It's not like before," she said.

He tensed, afraid to meet her eyes even though it was dark. "What do you know about before?"

"I..." He could feel her hesitate. "Just that there was one. And it was bad."

He swallowed, hard. "Yes."

The desire to put her arms back around him and tuck her head under his chin rushed from her heart out to her fingertips, until she panicked with the realization that if she was feeling it, he would know sooner or later—if not already. Sure, feel free to dig around in my head, and just to show you I'm okay, how about a make-out session as well?

Change the subject. "What was it that made you so angry with me, Charles?"

Regret, guilt rippled out gently from him. "It wasn't that-"

"Of course it was. When I said his name, it was like I had stolen something from you."

"You didn't steal it. You just reminded me that it was gone. I never get used to the fact that he's really gone."

"I can feel that in you," she said, her eyes beginning to mist. "I can feel it, I don't know if I should, but it's there. Why is it there? What makes it different now?"

"Zara, I'm not sure, but I think I did far more than I realized when I cut that opening in your shield." He leaned back against the sofa, looking at the ceiling. "I only meant for it to give you a small comparison, some awareness of what was out there, without the trauma of actually removing the shield itself."

Charles took a breath. "Yesterday, when I moved behind your shield...I shouldn't have done that. You weren't ready for that. So, you reached for me, much more strongly than I thought you'd be able to, and...a new connection was forged. A new pathway. It's something that happens within everyone's mind as we learn new things, have new experiences. But this connection was from inside your mind...outside, to mine."

Words sifted through her mind, but every time she tried to form a sentence, they slid beyond her like sand through her fingers. Then it came to her.

"'So quick bright things come to confusion,'" she whispered.

He smiled faintly, turning to look at her through the darkness. Zara looked back at him, steeling herself. "Are you going to break the connection?"

He had to be honest. "I don't know."

That was the phrase that made her tears start to fall. She gritted her teeth. "Did you plan to ask how I felt about this, or did you pull that out of my mind as well?"

"Don't do that. Tell me what you're thinking, please."

She didn't know where the words were coming from, but they flowed out of her. "I think you should follow through on your promise. You opened up that shield, you said you could teach me, make the pain better. I want you to do that, to help me learn." She tried to wipe tears away. "So, let me do that. Let me learn from you."

Charles looked like he might say something, but she charged ahead. "I know you can break it, make me forget it, without even trying. I'm asking you not to. I'm asking you to trust me."

This was the hardest part to say. "Because...you need this, too. So much pain. So many things you can't say, because it would hurt someone, or it would hurt who they think you are. Who they have to think you are. You're trapped, just like me...and you made your prison, just like me." Her voice started to waver. "And it's worse now, because you didn't want anyone to ever know how much you hurt...you don't want me to feel it now..."

He choked on a sob, leaning forward and touching his forehead to hers.

"But there's also..."

"What?"

"...love."

Silence crept over the room. A single tear slid down his face and fused with one of Zara's, becoming something different. Something new.

A/N: "So quick bright things come to confusion;" Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 1, Scene 1.