I'll miss the winter
A world of fragile things
Look for me in the white forest
Hiding in a hollow tree (come find me)
I know you hear me
I can taste it in your tears

Holding my last breath
Safe inside myself
Are all my thoughts of you
Sweet raptured light it ends here tonight
-My Last Breath by Evanescence-

It was unnaturally cold for the middle of May; the ground was hard, or maybe it was the shoes he was wearing. They didn't let you feel the give of the earth as you stepped on it. The ground was flat and covered in some of the most beautiful grass you could imagine.

The only difference throughout the land was a small mound of dirt; it would take weeks for the ground to settle and the grass to grow back. Her headstone was already sitting at the head of her grave; it had been three weeks since the accident that took her life. This was the first time he'd been able to drag himself out to the cemetery.

He could smell the rain, it would be here any minute, but he really didn't care. He would stand out there even in through the storm; he wanted to be around her.

Lizzie was the one who told him, her shaking body sitting on his leather couch. Explaining how it happened. Everyone knew that Athena couldn't see in the dark, and the rain made it worse, she didn't even see the semi-truck that lost control.

She was already dead when the paramedics got there; there was nothing they could do. He liked to think that she didn't feel anything, that it happened so fast there was no pain. But he knew death better than that. It hurt like hell no matter how it happens, there is no such thing as a peaceful death.

He heard the soft steps of someone behind him and knew exactly who it was. Her small hand lay on his shoulder; she tried giving him her best smile through the tears.

"I was wondering when I would find you out here."

He nodded. "I couldn't seem to make myself drive out here…"

Lizzie nodded; the storm clouds covered the sun, an eerie shade set over the ground. She looked up at the sky as the first few drops of rain hit the ground. "I love the rain…"

Josef shook his head. "I used to…"

"I never liked it before, but I love it now…" He gave her a look of confusion. She nodded again. "I know how I could love something that caused my best friends death…" She sighed and shook her head staring at the grave. "It sounds weird, but when I rains I can feel her…"

Josef didn't say anything just continued to stare at her in disbelief.

"Don't tell me you don't believe in the afterlife Josef…"

He shook his head. "No, I really don't."

"A vampire who doesn't believe in ghost, who would imagine." He gave her a look of shock and she smiled bitterly. "I've known for quite some time now…I was after all the one that spotted you drinking that girl's blood in your car."

The rain lashed down on them but they continued to stand at the foot of the grave. Neither was fazed as the thunder crashed and lightening lit up the sky.

Lizzie started laughing. "Athena controlled everything around her when she was alive; I guess in death it's no different…"

"What do you mean?"

She sighed. "The weather…she loved it like this…"

"What's your point?" He was getting rather annoyed with the young girl, but he knew the random comments were her way of dealing with the death.

"I've been out here everyday since the funeral…and it's never once rained…the day you come out it rains, I don't know that just stands out in my mind."

He shook his head. "It's a coincidence that's all."

She sighed. "Forever is a long time to live without believing in anything."

"I used to believe in something…"

She nodded. "Athena wasn't religious, but she believed in one thing, the people we love always come back to us in one way or another…"

"Reincarnation?"

She sighed. "Sort of, I'm not sure how to explain it exactly…but maybe she's right…I want to think she's right…"

He sighed and rubbed his hands over his face, the rain was hiding any sign of tears. "Yea, me too." He could smell her, through the dirt and the oak of the casket. He closed his eyes and imagined her smiling face. He didn't want to think of her body rotting away over the years. He would be alive long after her bones turn to dust, and that bothered him.

Maybe Athena had been right, in a few years he would find her walking the streets of Los Angeles again. Or maybe find her reading in the corner of some little coffee shop.

Maybe…