I felt nervous; looking around at all these high ranking people was like a reminder of the Christmas ball and that wasn't a pleasant memory- it was also not suited for a moment like this. Standing between Holmes and Watson I looked around the room; the prime ministers, the presidents and the ambassadors all chatting or dancing with their wives. The high quality waiters making the way around the edge of the room, offering everyone drinks and that faint tension as they waited eagerly for a reason to go to war.

"He'll need to pick a moment when everyone is standing still," Holmes explained, and then turned to his brother. "Is there to be an official photograph?"

"Yes, in 38 minutes," replied the elder Holmes after consulting his pocket watch.

"Excellent." He turned to me and offered his hand. "Care to dance?"

I accepted his hand, allowing him to take me to the dance floor and pull me in as we began to dance. His face showed a calm façade which was ruined only my the look in his eyes which betrayed his anxiety as they darted about in an attempt to locate Rene- my advice would be of no help here as he already knew about the surgery and I could not remember which man he was now.

"What would you do?" I asked him suddenly, bringing up the question that had been plaguing my mind since the possibility first arose. His gaze became fixed on me, an eyebrow raised as he looked at me questioningly. "If I was pregnant."

"Please don't say such things," he said, a pained look appearing on his face. "I would only like to deal with that if it happened- and even then I couldn't say I'd be pleased with it."

"And you think I would?" I queried, spotting Moran out of the corner of my eye and automatically gripping Holmes tighter. "I don't want to have children."

"You don't want to have children yet," he corrected. "It is natural for a woman to want children in her life, the continuation of the species depends on this so although you may not feel it now you will later develop the desire."

We were now getting a few disapproving looks from the other dancing couples, and anyone else who happened to overhear our conversation. Judging from the look on Watson's face as he waited with Simza on the sidelines he knew what we were talking about and I suddenly felt the need for fresh air.

"Are you sure about that? Because I want very much to disagree with you," I said, subconsciously scanning the room for Moriarty and chewing on my lip in my worry. "Wouldn't that mean men would get the desire as well?"

"Maybe so, but I am above those base instincts," the detective replied.

"And a woman can't be?" I countered, before excusing myself from him and heading away from the others and towards the door that led to the balcony. I could feel Holmes's gaze following me as I stepped through it and on to the snow-covered area. Walking over to the rail I leant over the frozen stone as I stared down at the plunging waters of the fall and took a deep, shuddering breath.

This is where it was going to happen, where Moriarty would meet his end and Holmes would fall but still survive- how anyone could survive something like this was beyond me and as I saw the falls sending up sprays out water I remembered the calm look on his face when he fell. How could he stay so calm when faced with this? Had he been expecting to die and had already accepted the fact? How could he still fall when he saw Watson come out onto the balcony?

Brushing of some of the snow, I watched it fall down and get swallowed by the falls. To think that in less than an hour Holmes would be gone, it was a harsh reality to be faced with and I placed my hand over my mouth.

"You're going to catch a cold if you stay out here."

The world seemed to slow down at the sound of that voice, and I swallowed the sudden rise of fear as I turned to face the man who would be dead within an hour- that single thought giving me consolation.

"Well we wouldn't want that, would we?" I asked coldly, folding my arms across my chest and trying to stop myself from shivering. "Come to ask me some more random questions are you?"

"So you still haven't figured out the significance of our last conversation have you?" asked the criminal, running his hand across the chessboard as he walked over to me. "Holmes already has it figured out- didn't you wonder why he dropped the case when he found out you'd met me? Or did you just put it down as another of his bizarre personality traits?"

"I'm sure I have no idea what you are talking about." I watched him carefully as he came to stand next to me, not giving him the satisfaction of my moving away from him.

"When Holmes got on to the roof, he was introduced to one of my men and they informed him of our meeting and the truth behind it- which is why he went around acting like he dislike you from then on," explained Moriarty, watching me carefully for any reaction. "But of course he had foolishly allowed his heart to rule his head and was in far too deep for him to get out, which makes him your weakness- and that means he fell right into my trap without even realising it."

"What trap?" Part of me was determined to find out what this man was dragging on about, but another part told me I shouldn't- that this was only going to end badly. I wasn't going to let him get to me and I wasn't going to let him hurt Holmes.

"How do you think you got here?" He asked, a lazy smirk appearing on his face as my eyes widened in realisation. "Do you think it was just some random occurrence that you were brought to our world? All it took was a few simple equations and the help of some old friends and I was able to do what no man has done before- I created a pathway between dimensions and went with the purpose of bringing back a young woman whose fiery spirit and independent nature could do what no other person did and make Holmes love. It was only by coincidence that I arrived in your small town, but Moran's eye which brought you to our attention. We only got a small glimpse of your personality, but it was more than enough to convince us that you were the one we needed and so we waited until you were alone and brought you back. Our little meeting later on was to make sure that all was going to plan, and to make sure that you still hadn't remembered how you had got here. Then when the time came we revealed the plan to Holmes, hoping to see him struggle to get out once he realised he was swimming into a trap- but he soon realised this would not work and so decided to pursue a relationship with you whilst proclaiming that he wasn't going to be defeated by so trivial an emotion."

"You brought me here," I said, trying to get past the notion- Moriarty had done it, he had kidnapped me and dragged me to his world in order to make me fall in love with Holmes and act as a tool of his in order for him to defeat the great detective. But it that was the case… "Then you can send me back."

"I could," confirmed the man, not bothering to hide his triumph as he watched me struggle internally. "You could go back home and pick up your life from where you left it- end the worries of your family and friends, go back to leading a normal life with no worries about being endangered or suffering at the hands of criminals. You don't belong here, and you know it is only a matter of time until Holmes loses interest with you- he will chuck you away like a broken toy once he's found out all your little secrets, and the good doctor will be too busy starting up a family of his own to bother with you. It's only a matter of time until that voice in the back of your head that whispers to you, telling you to go home will get louder and louder and life here will slowly suffocate you- and the only chance you've got to go back is by accepting my offer. I ask nothing in return, only warn you that I am the only one who can send you home and if I perish then so does your chance at true freedom. So, do you want to go home?"

I thought back to my times here, remembering my journey from the beginning to its present- would I be able to leave that? Would I be able to just abandon Holmes and Watson? Everyone I'd ever come in to contact? Could I leave behind this amazing life and head back to my own dull one? I though of my family, they probably believed I was dead- the only hope they had to cling on being one that no body had been found. They would spend their whole lives worrying over me, wanting me to come home and I had put them through this pain- was I willing to continue it? Did I want my family to suffer? To have everyone tell them to give up hope because I was probably long dead whilst in reality I was leading another life in another world without a single thought of them?

But could I really leave behind this life? Leave behind my friend Watson? He'd been kinder to me than anyone I knew, always looking out for me and lending a helping hand when I needed it. Always the proper gentleman, being so polite and dropping Victorian formalities just to comfort me when I was feeling sad? But he would have Mary, and as much as I disliked the woman I was glad that he was happy- he could enjoy a long life with her and have the family he'd always wanted. But I would miss him so much, and only know could I truly understand why Holmes didn't want him to marry- I had become so close to him that the idea of being without him was ridiculous, and Holmes… I loved him, I loved him so much that I couldn't possibly leave him. He was a brilliant man, a stupid genius who acts so childish and yet more mature than the rest of us at times. He constantly amazed me with his brilliant deductions, made me smile with his deliberate misunderstandings and made me worry his ability to always get into trouble. He was a man who was known by everyone in all worlds; the world's only consulting detective, a man who the world will never forget and who I had been given the honour of meeting, the honour of joining his adventures and the honour of falling in love with. Those two men were more important to me than anything else in the world, but I shouldn't have been here- I claimed to try on keep the plot safe when my being here threw off the balance. My presence could be the deciding factor on whether Holmes lives or not and my own selfish emotions were getting in the way.

I looked Moriarty in the eye, confidence welling up in me as I reached my conclusion.

"I do."