Sorry about the lengthy wait! This chapter is actually a bit longer then most of my other chapters, and it took me awhile to make some decisions about which way things should go. I'd really appreciate feed-back and critique on Chiara's conversation with her sister, especially since I am still rather unsure about it. Thanks!

Chiara waited for several hours, despising every thought that came into her head, hating every moment of silence. Finally, it was broken by Amara who came in with Chiara and Aerlyn's food. Chiara thanked her and took it, first feeding Aerlyn, and then beginning on her own food herself. After she finished, she took a pit from the fruit to place in her pocket. Chiara's hand stopped half-way there, and she just stared at it. Another week of her life was gone, another week of nothing, of uselessness. Chiara angrily threw the pit on the floor and then her hand dived into her pocket, taking out all the bones, all the pits, all the spoons, even the stone. She shoved them all onto her empty platter, including the pit she had just taken. After that Chiara shoved the platter away from her, and watched it skid to a stop against the door. She had taken all the pits, all the bones, all the spoons so that when she got back she could say that she was captured for such-and-such amount of days. They were so that she would know how much time she had spent. Time. The thought nearly made Chiara give a bitter laugh. The Wraith had completely disposed of the extravagance known as 'time,' Chiara knew how much 'time' she would spend in that cell, on that ship. She had been there since Janus died, and she would be there until her own life followed.

Amara came, gathering up the platter. She gave an odd look at Chiara when she saw all the bones, pits, and spoons since she knew their use, but the woman didn't take much note of it. Chiara felt torn as she saw Amara leave. She wanted to shout, to stop her, to take all of it back, all her self-assurance that one day she would go home, and this was just counting how long she had been there. The other half of her wished it to go, not to cause her any more pain when all her hopes were dashed . . . not to know that yet another year had passed. In the end Chiara just sat there stolidly, watching as Amara left, in her hand holding everything. It all was gone. Chiara looked at Aerlyn and she felt like weeping again, something she hadn't done since Janus died. Weeping for Janus, weeping for Atlantis and the friends and family she would never see again, weeping for Aerlyn, who would grow up here, and who had an extremely uncertain future in store for her.

In the end Chiara simply slept, trying to forget it all for no matter how long. Her dreams at least were blank, she didn't see the terrible things that she saw now, she didn't see the wonderful things that made her feel all the worse when she woke up. They were just black, holding nothing for her. She awoke in her cell and sat up, stretching slightly. Her evening meal had been brought. Good, Aerlyn had been teething, and she would want a spoon to bite on. Chiara turned, startled at the sound of a voice next to her.

"You give up hope now? After all you have been through? Look at little Aerlyn! She is hardly old enough to eat solid food, and yet you give up all hope not only for yourself but for her? I never took you for a fool, Chiara." Chiara sighed. Melia. Again. She didn't want to see her sister, she didn't want to remember or hear what she would say. She didn't want to have her fruitless wishes raised again.

"Why?" Chiara asked simply.

"You are making a fool of yourself, Chiara! You are simply giving up like any coward would." Melia looked her sister squarely in the eye, at which point Chiara gave a small almost grating laugh.

"A fool who sees her sister who lived who knows many years ago, and who knows how many years from now."

"I am here, Chiara, I am here for now at the very least." Chiara looked at Melia.

"I don't even know how many years old I am," Chiara stated. "How can you expect me to constantly hold out for it all? To constantly just expect the Lanteans to dash in and save me?" Melia shrugged.

"You are 53 years, 4 months, and 21 days old. Satisfied?" Chiara shook her head.

"And how old are you?" Chiara asked. She saw Melia pale rather significantly at this.

"That does not mean no hope, Chiara, far from it. You should still wait for Janus."

"Janus died, Melia, over a year ago he died. I miss him, I mourn him, I weep for him, but he is gone, and nothing anyone ever does will bring him back." Chiara shouted this almost angrily, taking a step towards her sister. She didn't want to go through that pain again, even in her memory. And she did not want Melia digging it up again.

"Strange, that's not what he believed," Melia answered with a barely noticeable smile. The smile drained from Melia's face though and she looked around, her eyes large with almost a wary shade to them.

"I must go." she stated.

"Where? Why? When are you coming back?" Chiara asked, confused. Melia looked at her.

"Whenever I can," she responded.

Chiara sat bolt upright, looking around. No Melia, no nothing, just her cell, Aerlyn, and dinner . . . She ate it with a rather heavy heart, trying to think everything over. Was that really her sister? No, of course not! How could her sister appear in a dream? Foolishness! Chiara sighed. She hadn't seen Melia since they last left Atlantis, even if this dream wasn't actually her sister, in an odd way it felt good to see her again, to be able to feel her sister's comforting touch. But what about what Melia had said? Chiara sighed. Hope, you can't live on it, you can't escape on it, she had already tried that. She looked at Aerlyn and as she did so Aerlyn smiled up at her. Chiara felt the ship enter hyperspace again. Where to? Chiara had no idea. No idea at all.

More time passed, but now it was all a blur. Bones, pits, spoons, they were all gone. Chiara was no longer sure how long ago yesterday had been, what had happened, it was simply all one miserable black pool of memories.

The ship dropped in and out of hyperspace several times, although Chiara didn't know if they were actually flying through time or not. She was sitting in her cell one day while Aerlyn was taking a nap and Chiara was bouncing her pit against the wall again. The ship had stopped somewhere, and the Wraith had picked up several humans on which to feed. One of them was nearby, and Chiara entered the human woman's mind. She knew that it wasn't exactly right to look at the memories of another, it was just for that moment . . . it made her feel wonderful, to see their village, their lives, happiness again, she enjoyed it all, even though within a few seconds she had lived through their whole lives.

She watched almost as a bystander as the woman grew up from being a young child. As she came of age, as she drew water from her village well, as the woman fell in love. Chiara remembered that feeling and her heart almost ached as she watched the woman get married, and then months later she rejoiced when the woman's little baby boy came into existence. Then . . . then the woman's husband was shot by the Wraith and fed on before her eyes. Chiara almost cried out when she saw the little boy taken from his mother and killed. Then she saw the present, the woman sitting in her cell, not even possessing the shade of hope that Chiara herself had owned when she was first captured. The woman simply sat there, knowing her fate, knowing her death was inevitable.

Chiara's eyes flew open, but they soon closed as she relived the glory of her own wedding, the joy she and Janus had felt when they had discovered that Chiara was pregnant with a little girl. Chiara remembered the connection between their minds . . . the strength she had always felt there. It was that which made Lantean marriages so utterly different from human marriage. Humans had more of a physical and emotional bond then a mental one. They would sometimes even break that bond as well as their marriage. Chiara found that practice utterly sickening, among Ancients such a thing would be considered . . . terrible, an abomination. Marriage was for life, because once two Ancients were joined, their minds became almost one; their memories were laid open to each other, their love given unconditionally to the other. It was also this that made the death of a spouse so unbearable. It was as if your heart . . . part of yourself had been simply torn out. Part of you died with your other half.

Chiara opened her eyes a second time, still thinking over these thoughts, still recalling the touch of Janus' mind against her own. Chiara's head turned as she heard Aerlyn give a babyish gurgle. Chiara stood in near shock. Aerlyn was quietly resting in Melia's arms, gently pulling on her aunt's hair. Melia smiled and gave a little "coo" sound in response, stroking Aerlyn's soft hair. Chiara smiled at the sight and took a step forward. At the sound Melia looked up at her sister.

"She was crying," Melia explained, picking Aerlyn up and handing the child to Chiara. Chiara took Aerlyn who gave a babyish smile at her mother.

"You haven't visited lately," Chiara said, stroking Aerlyn gently. Melia sighed.

"It's harder then it seems to visit . . ." Melia said. Chiara gave a small smile.

"Really," was all she returned.

"Chiara . . ."

"Melia, I'm not going to constantly argue with myself over whether or not you are truly here. It's impossible. I looked at the log, 7,500 years . . . at the very least. The Wraith could have taken me 20,000 more years into the future by now. You are dead Melia. Just like Janus. It would be physically impossible for you to still be here!"

"Yet you're here," Melia said quietly.

"So what, you traveled into the future as well?"

"No . . . I took the longer route," Melia said. Chiara nearly snorted.

"I want you gone, Melia. Gone. Do you hear me? I don't want to see you popping in like this; I don't want to wonder if I am going insane. I don't want to look at Aerlyn and question as to whether or not she too is a figment of my imagination! Go!" Chiara turned around, taking a step away. It wasn't like she actually could go anywhere away from Melia if she wanted to. She just wanted to make it so that when she turned around again, she wouldn't see her sister standing there . . . looking as if Chiara had shot her.

"What can I do to prove I am here after all?" Melia asked quietly. Chiara sighed.

"I don't know, you can't . . . not unless you helped me escape . . ." Melia blanched somewhat at this.

"I can't do that," she stated. Chiara turned back around towards her.

"Really, and why is that?" she asked, almost bitingly.

"Because there are rules, Chiara, rules that even I must follow." Chiara laughed slightly.

"So these rules say that you are allowed to speak to me and interact with me, and yet you can't help me?" Melia swallowed and looked at the ground.

"Well . . . technically speaking . . . I'm not supposed to speak with you. However there are ways around some of the rules. But no, I can not help you, Chiara. Believe me when I say that you would not want to pay that price." Chiara looked at here.

"Then go. You can't help me, you aren't here. I don't want to be reminded any more of what happened, Melia! Just leave me!"

"The Chiara I knew would have never given up like that," Melia said, taking a step towards her sister.

"Well that Chiara is no longer here, is she? She died, Melia. A long time ago, she died. Right along side her husband." Melia sighed, watching as her sister turned away. Chiara didn't say anything for several minutes, simply staring at the wall, stroking Aerlyn's forehead. When she turned back around, Melia was gone. She realized this and didn't know what to think. Melia was right. She had turned into a fool, a withered human woman who merely cared for her own well-being. And why shouldn't she?! After all she had been through, all she had suffered, why would that matter?! In a few months the Wraith would probably steal the rest of her life away and then she would be no more. What happened didn't even matter anymore, none of it mattered any more . . . Chiara looked down at Aerlyn who reached up her hand and grabbed a lock of Chiara's loose hair.

"Mama where Auntie?" she asked with a baby-ish lisp. Chiara sank down against the wall.

"Shh, little one . . ." she said almost without thinking. She looked up, startled at the sound of alarms going off. She clutched Aerlyn tighter and listened, wondering if they were being attacked or something of that sort. She merely heard the sound of the alarms . . . and then the heavy "thud . . . thud . . ." sound of Wraith footsteps as they neared and then stopped in front of her cell door.