Greetings all! Bet you didn't expect to get this quite so soon! Or maybe you did. I'm not a mind reader. Anyways, I shall waste no more of your time! Let's get right to it!

Disclaimer: I think we all know how this works.

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"I'll never leave your side again."

"But we're here now. We're together."

"Is this something that you're willing to fight for?"

"You will destroy him."

"Elizabeth…what if I asked you to marry me?"

"Oh God, Emma. Am I cut out for this?"

"I swear, I am never letting you go."

"We'll be like sisters, Lizzie!"

"This is a new beginning. For all of us."

"Edward…promise me something."

"How could you do this to us?!"

"Please, listen to me!"

"Devil! Fiend! His curse comes!"

"Remember the music box, sweet Elizabeth."

"We cared for you all those years because we love you."

"My soul is yours."

"And mine is yours, dearest Edward."

XXXXX

Edward.

Oh, my dear, dear Edward! How could I have ever forgotten him?

As my memories came rushing back to me, his eyes were the image I held onto – dark, warm, gentle…and abounding with a love that was meant for me and me alone.

Oh, God.

All these years, he'd been here, waiting for me to return to him. He'd killed himself for me, and I…where was I? What had happened to me that night? According to Edward's story, it seemed I had killed myself, but…but that couldn't be right! I remembered wanting to be with him! I remembered deciding to run away with him!

But after that…it was gone, all gone. It was as if there was a locked door guarding the way to my memories of my own death, and no matter how hard I shoved against it, it would not open. There was something important I was missing. I could feel it.

But my frustration was swept away in the blink of an eye as I heard the fretful voice of the man I loved calling out to me – no, not to me. To Emilia.

"Emilia! Emilia!"

I struggled to push through all of the pictures flashing rapidly in my head, desperate to find him, to let him know how much I missed him. To tell him how sorry I was for leaving him alone all these years. I had to get to him.

Finally, after a long period in which I worked to separate the two lives of memories within me, my eyes fluttered open.

"Emilia? Are you alright?"

He was kneeling next to me, as I knew he would be, and behind his pale, fearful expression I could see the love that he'd been trying to show me all night. He looked scared to touch me. Carefully, I sat up, never letting my eyes leave his.

"Emilia?" He asked again, and I cringed at the use of my false name.

"Edward…" I breathed out, tears filling my eyes.

It was as if I was seeing him again for the first time, and in many ways, I was.

As soon as his name passed my lips, he froze, his breath hitching and his eyes growing wide with a mix of incredulity and hope.

"…Elizabeth?" He whispered my name like a prayer.

His eyes searched mine frantically, and I let all the love I'd ever felt for him shine through as my tears began to fall and my hand came up to tenderly caress his cheek. When my fingers touched his skin, he gasped, and his eyes glossed over with tears of his own.

"Oh, Edward!" I wept.

That was all the confirmation he needed.

"Oh, Elizabeth!" His voice broke.

And then we were in each other's arms for the first time in over a hundred years, laughing and crying and clutching unto each other as though any moment we'd awaken at to find this a cruel dream.

"Elizabeth, Elizabeth! Oh, my darling!"

He cried my name over and over, his tears soaking my neck while his arms held me tighter still, and as my fingers tangled fervently in his hair, I looked towards the heavens and thanked whatever powers could hear for returning me to him.

"I thought I'd never see you again!" I professed, burying my face into his shoulder.

Even his scent was exactly the same.

"I thought I'd lost you forever." He returned, pushing me back so he could take my face in his hands and press his forehead against mine. "Why, Elizabeth? Why did you do it?"

Such a simple question, yet it filled his eyes with an anguish that was unbearable to witness.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." I choked. "I wanted to be with you, Edward, I swear it!"

"Then why did you leave me?" He beseeched brokenheartedly.

Unable to look at his wounded expression any longer, I let my gaze fall to the floor.

"I don't know. I don't know! All I remember is being with you and dancing and wishing it could go on forever and then…nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"…You don't remember?"

I gave a small shake of my head.

"No. The next thing I knew, I was waking up at the Evers' house."

We were both quiet for a long time, brooding over this turn of events.

"Edward?" I began reluctantly.

"Yes?"

"…What did happen that night?"

His entire body went rigid, and the silence that came before his response made my stomach clench. I raised my eyes back up to his face and saw that his skin had gone immensely pale, and the sheer agony that had taken over his features made my own heart shatter with sorrow. Quickly, I placed both of my hands over his and turned my head to press a comforting kiss to the inside of his wrist.

"It's alright, Edward, it's over." I whispered. "I'm here. I'm right here and I swear I'm not going anywhere."

His eyes closed and he released an unsteady breath.

"…I need to know what happened." I coaxed him.

After another stressful silence, he opened his eyes and nodded, taking my hands in his and helping me to my feet, then leading me over to sit beside him on the piano bench.

"You've already heard the general story." He began, running his thumbs over my palms in a gesture so lovingly familiar that my tears almost started anew. "After I left you in the ballroom, I went to the study and found a note written in your hand. At the worst, I expected it might be a rejection of my proposal to elope, but when I opened it – "

He paused, his hands clenching uncomfortably around my wrists as he tried to calm himself.

"…What I read filled me with more terror than I ever thought possible. You said that you couldn't bear the thought of taking away my future, but that if we couldn't be together, then you couldn't bear to live at all. It frightened me. I ran to find you, to talk you out of it, to beg if I had to, but…but I was too late."

The last word came out as a sob and I immediately threw my arms around him, murmuring reassuring words in his ear as he pulled me to him with a desperate strength and began to press kisses over and over again into my hair.

"I'm here, Edward, I'm here. I've come back to you." I told him.

His lips kissed the skin just below my ear and we both shivered, though for two very different reasons.

"When I found you in the library, I…I felt my entire world fall apart. You mean everything to me, Elizabeth. And the thought of having to face life without you by my side – knowing that I would never hold you in my arms or hear your voice again – it drove me mad with despair. I couldn't live without you."

A single tear slipped from my eye as I was struck with the terrible reminder that Edward had died to be with me again. It should have been impossible for him to be here now, and yet, here he was, gazing at me with an expression as grateful and wondrous as my own.

"You've been waiting for me all this time?" I realized.

He gave me a bittersweet smile.

"And you brought me here knowing that I probably wouldn't remember you?"

I raced back through all of Emilia's memories of the evening; the look on Edward's face when he first spotted me, the strange affection he'd shown me during dinner, the way he held my hand on our tour – he'd spent all night telling me our own story, praying that I would remember him, and all it had taken was a few simple notes on the piano.

"Actually, I was originally after Sara."

His confession made me nearly choke with disbelief.

"Sara?" I gaped at him.

"You look surprised." He chuckled.

"Well, yes! Of course I am! I mean…"

Sara, Sara, who'd been like a mother to me, who was at least ten years older than me. And Edward had…I cringed at the image that entered my mind, of him looking at Sara the same way he'd looked at me all night.

"…I don't even want to think about it." I decided with a shudder.

Edward laughed again, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

"Can you blame me? You two do look remarkably alike and after a hundred years, one starts to get desperate."

"A hundred years…" I echoed quietly. "…I'm sorry I took so long."

"If it meant seeing you again, I'd have waited a hundred years more." He vowed.

A tiny smile crossed my lips and then I felt his fingers come under my chin, gently tilting my face upwards so that I was staring into his hypnotizing eyes, which looked on me with a yearning that made me heart melt. Slowly, torturously, he leaned in towards me, and the moment that our lips met, we were lost in each other.

Our hands were everywhere, grasping onto hair and clothing, clasping to each other's arms, drawing us closer and closer together, and yet, somehow, never close enough. Everywhere his fingers touched, my skin tingled with pleasure. When his tongue brushed against my bottom lip, I eagerly welcomed it, letting him deepen the kiss with a moan of ecstasy.

It was an eternity later when I finally had to pull away for breath, only to gasp as Edward moved his lips to my jaw and continued to kiss his way down my neck, forcing me to grip onto his shoulders for fear I may collapse in a disheveled heap. A small squeak escaped me when his lips swept over the top of my breast and I pushed him back, blushing and beaming.

"I forget that you don't need to breathe." I giggled, cupping his cheek in my hand. "You're going to be the death of me."

As soon I'd said it, I realized my mistake. Edward instantly stiffened, his eyes overtaken by the same unbearable anguish from before.

"Oh, Edward, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that! It was a stupid mistake, I swear I would never - !"

"Shhh!" He pressed a finger to my mouth with a tilted smile. "I know, love. It's alright. We're both here now, that's all that matters."

Though I was relieved by his assurances, my brow furrowed at the presentation of another problem.

"But…what do we do now?"

He gave me a curious look.

"What do you mean?"

As much as I hated to even bring the question up, it was far too important for us to ignore, and so – despite Edward's reluctance to let me go – I pulled away from his arms and turned to face him.

"Edward…I love you. I never want to be parted from you again, but you're dead and…and for some reason, I'm not. How can we be together if I'm still alive? And what if I die and it's another hundred years before we're together again? What if I don't remember you next time? Or what if I never come back and you're trapped here forever? Oh God, Edward, what if - !"

"Elizabeth!" He gripped my shoulders. "Calm down, love. I may not know the answer to all of those questions, but I do know someone who can help us. It's an old friend of yours, actually."

"Who?"

"A certain gypsy woman." He disclosed.

My eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Madame Leota? She's still here?" I asked in astonishment.

"…In a manner of speaking." He replied cryptically.

"What do you mean?"

Again, he hesitated. Then he stood and held out his hand to me.

"You'll see."

Despite my uneasiness about his answer, I put my hand in his and let him guide me towards what I now recognized as the servants' quarters.

Just how much could the gypsy have changed?

XXXXX

Edward and I were still determinedly holding onto each other when Madame Leota's door came into view, and I was only mildly taken aback at the green light that emanated from the crystal ball within.

"Now, keep in mind that things have changed since the last time you were here." Edward warned, stopping us just outside. "Most of the people you knew are ghosts now."

"I know, Edward. I'm not afraid." I promised him.

But the tentative smile he gave me in response made me wonder if I should be.

"Just trying to prepare you."

With that, he turned and led me into the room, which, upon first inspection, appeared empty. I looked to him in bewilderment.

"Where –"

"Well, it's about time you showed up."

The gypsy's voice echoed all around us, and in the next moment, I was staring into a pair of eerily recognizable green eyes, which peered unabashedly back at me from within the crystal ball. I stood speechlessly for several seconds.

Madame Leota was a head. A head. A detached, floating, very sentient, ghostly-looking head.

"Madame Leota." I managed to get out. "…You're looking well."

She barked out a laugh.

"That's quite a greeting after a hundred and twenty-two years."

"Sorry." I blushed sheepishly. "I just wasn't expecting…that is…how'd you end up like this?"

"Another story for another time, Ms. Elizabeth. You two have bigger problems on your hands." She spoke bluntly, spurring Edward into action.

"You know why we're here, then." He said.

She nodded.

"The curse, I presume."

I glanced between the two of them apprehensively.

"What curse?"

My innocent inquiry was answered with a grimace as Edward turned towards me and took my hands in his, almost comfortingly.

"Do you remember the prophecy Madame Leota gave to you the night she first arrived?" He asked.

"Of course. How could I forget? And, wait a minute, how do you know about that?" I questioned, thinking back to the many times we'd argued over my refusal to tell him.

"Because it wasn't a prophecy, Elizabeth. It was a curse. It's the reason that myself and the others have been waiting here for all this time." He explained. "It was our deaths that triggered it. I felt the darkness come on the night I lost you, but I was too grief-stricken to do anything about it. And then, when I died, it was able to claim the mansion entirely."

We had done this? We were responsible for cursing Gracey Manor?

"The others…" I murmured, looking up at Edward and anxiously gripping his wrists. "…You mentioned others. What happened to them? What happened to Ezra and Emma and Maisy and Simon? What happened to the girls? Are they here?"

"Calm down, calm down, love." He hushed me.

The reluctance in his tone regarding my questions made it nearly impossible to do so.

"I will when you tell me." I responded stubbornly.

He sighed.

"The curse took its toll on everyone. After me, the manor was supposed to go to the girls, but they refused to go near it. Most of the servants left to find new positions, Maisy and Simon included, but Emma and Ezra stayed on to try and keep the house from falling to ruin in the girls' absence – until Ezra died of an illness two years later. Apparently, Emma was only a few days behind. She told me she couldn't stand the loneliness."

I listened to his description in mute horror and with an ever-growing sense of shame and guilt.

"It's my fault, isn't it?" I concluded, my stomach twisting nauseously inside me. "I left so many people behind and hurt so many of the ones I love…and I can't even remember why!"

Edward's hands holding onto me stopped me from crumbling to the floor in misery, but I couldn't bear to look into his face knowing that I'd taken his life away from him by taking my own, and so, I clenched my eyes shut and rested my head dejectedly against his chest.

"Your memories will return soon enough, Ms. Elizabeth. The curse is almost over."

We both looked up to see Madame Leota watching us intently, and Edward released me to go and stand before her.

"What must we do?" He demanded.

"It's not a question of what you should do. The choice is hers." She revealed, staring at me.

"What choice?" I entreated her.

"Ending the curse is no simple task. It will require an act of great sacrifice."

"What kind of sacrifice?" Edward was quick to question her, wrapping his arm protectively around me.

The gypsy gave him a pointed look.

"The same sacrifice that started the curse in the first place."

Ah.

So, it was my life then.

Remarkably, the revelation didn't bring on feelings of panic or outrage, but rather an unsettling calm – as if my mind had already accepted this condition. I suppose a small part of me had always known that this was the path I was on; after all, it was far easier for me to die than it was for Edward to live. But his reply was immediate.

"No."

"Edward." I protested.

"Forgive me for saying so, Master Gracey, but what did you expect?" Madame Leota stated plainly. "In order for you to be together, you two must marry, and Elizabeth must drink the same poison that took her life all those years ago. It's the only way to break the curse."

"Then we'll find another way." Edward growled at her.

"Edward, stop. It's okay." I pulled his arm down and placed my hand on his chest, and he looked at me like I'd just gone bonkers.

"What?"

I smiled warmly.

"It's okay, Edward. I want to do it."

He gawked at me.

"Elizabeth, do you understand what she's saying? She's telling you to die! You'll have to throw the rest of your life away forever!"

"I know, I know." I spoke softly, standing in front of him and letting my hands rise up to play with the hair at the nape of his neck. "It sounds insane, I know. And…and I can see that you're scared for me. But it's like she said, Edward, the choice is mine to make. And I choose you. What kind of happiness do you think I could have knowing you were trapped here just waiting for me to come back? What kind of life would I have if I spent half of it miserable being apart from you? Love, we've waited this long to be together. Don't you think we'd both go mad waiting any longer?"

A whisper of a smile appeared on Edward's lips and I used the opportunity to press a kiss to the corner of them.

"All you have to do is ask." I told him.

"Ask?" He looked confused.

"Well, you technically did ask me once already, twice if you count the elopement, but that was a hundred and twenty-two years ago, so I think I'm entitled to a third." I smirked impishly up at him.

"And make it quick." Leota goaded him on.

Edward chuckled with understanding and nodded, removing my hands from his neck to take them in his, and then purposefully kneeling down before me, all the while keeping his dark, beautiful eyes locked with mine.

"My sweet Elizabeth," He spoke passionately, "when we were torn away from each other that night, I truly believed you were lost, gone from me forever. I had no hope, no love, no life without you in it. You are my soul, Elizabeth. And so, I kneel before you now and I ask you to let me love you in death as much as I did in life. Elizabeth, will you marry me?"

"It took you long enough." I grinned. "Yes. Yes, a thousand times, yes!"

His eyes gleamed with joy and he raised to his feet as if to kiss me, but I swiftly stopped him with a hand to his mouth, much to his bafflement.

"The next time I kiss you," I explained, "I shall do so as your wife."

The happiness in his features returned full force as he let out a hearty laugh and pulled me into his arms, then lifted me from the floor to spin us about the room in dizzying, gleeful circles; both of us positively giddy with the overwhelming sensation of the other – of simply knowing that, at long last, we were finally together.

And not a soul on earth would dare to tear us apart.

XXXXX

Thank goodness. Our lovebirds are together again! YAY! But bad stuff is about to go down! Not yay!

Next chapter will hopefully be up soon! Until then!

Elactress