"It-it can't be it," she stammered.
"I assure you, this was where you lived."
She stared at the tall, bustling building before them. "I don't understand. What are all these people doing here?"
"This is a store. A mercantile. People come here to buy things."
"But, my home...It's just - gone. My grandfather made that house!"
"I'm sorry, Amelia. You wanted to see your old house - I'm showing you. I had nothing to do with its fall."
She turned away from him. "I-I...I would have appreciated a little warning. Can you understand why I feel overwhelmed right now?"
He looked at her.
"I miss my home." She stared at the building. "I miss the simplicity of things."
"What's difficult?"
"This! All of it. This mercantile, this strange clothing - most of all, the fact that you're the only one who can see me."
"I warned you about that, didn't I? You're misplaced."
She fought with the demonic strap that pinned her to the seat.
"You're getting better with that," Cooper observed, when she had unbuckled.
"Cooper...You can leap from one timeline to another in a single bound. Can't you make me less of a...a ghost?"
"No. I'm a time-traveller, and that's all."
She tried not to panic. "Okay - t-take me home."
"What?"
"Take me back to 1819; I can't do this. I...I can't live in the future with you!"
Cooper looked at her in confusion. "But I don't want to lose you."
"You should never have found me; I'm supposed to be alive almost two centuries ago!"
He averted his gaze and nodded sadly. "Alright. Let's get you back home."
The moment came much too fast for Cooper. Before he was ready they were standing outside of the machine, and he was entering his password that would unlock the door. "Would you like me to live with you in the past?"
"No. Then it wouldn't be fair to you."
He lowered his hand and looked at her. "Then I guess this is goodbye."
She hugged him tightly, trying not to cry when his arms went around her. "I won't forget you, Cooper."
"Nor I you."
She pulled away, looking into his beautiful eyes. "Can you do something for me?"
"Of course."
"Stop time-travelling. Never do it again; just...stop messing with fate."
He gazed at her, realizing he could look at her forever. "I'll try."
She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek before stepping into the machine. Cooper pushed the door shut and looked at her a moment longer before pushing some buttons on the keypad. An ominous smoke filled the capsule, blocking him from view, and when the air cleared she found herself standing in her front yard, looking right at her home. There was no trace of Cooper - not even a trace of smoke.
She held herself tightly and tried not to cry.
This was how it was meant to be, she told herself. He was in the future, and she was back in her own, regular life. It broke her heart...but she knew it was the right thing.
-0-0-0-0-
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'd forgotten about the ninth chapter and had to put it in, after saying the story was finished. NOW, this book is done.