Hello all! My condolences to the people whose towns got hit by the string of tornadoes the past few days. Also, anyone hear that Starbucks is offering it's employees a free ride to ASU online (Arizona State College)? Disclaimer: I did not write the Bloodlines series, nor affiliated characters.

"Friendship may, and often does, grow into love, but love never subsides into friendship."–Lord Byron

SPOV

I'm about to start reciting another locating spell when my phone rings. Unknown caller, probably Marcus. "Hello?"

"Sydney?"

"Zoe?! H-how did you…I thought…"

"I'm uh, borrowing a phone from, uh a friend."

"Uh-huh, and you happen to have cell reception in the middle of nowhere?"

"Uh…yeah."

I sigh knowing I won't win this one. "Fine. What's up?"

"Nothing. Not really, I just…not that I'm not grateful for everything. And not that I don't love where I am, but I want to come home."

"Zoe, you can't. You know that."

"I know, but mom won't answer my calls."

"It's an unknown number Zo."

"I know."

"Hey, I love you."

"Love you too."

I hang up and run a hand through my hair. Out of the three of us, how did Zoe end up the one on the run? Well, Zoe and me, but I'm not technically on the run since I have a home and the people I love with me. Shaking my head, I turn back to my spell and get to work attempting to find Nina and Olive once more.

CPOV

I move onto the stage-area that'd been roped off for the talk and offer a smile. "Hey. So, it's been a while since I've been to one of these due to a family emergency. Previously, I wouldn't be about to talk about forgiveness and moving on, because I hadn't done either. A friend of mine helped with that. A lot. Because it's so damn hard to do either of those things. I haven't even forgiven the person who hurt me and I don't think I ever will, and that's ok. Some people do, some don't. Both options are cool. What is a necessity though, is moving on. Is coping in such a way that you're living and not just surviving.

"For some people, moving on could look like telling someone. It can be anyone, a friend or family member, a police officer or a teacher, a therapist or lover. Just telling someone does the trick for some people. For others, it means accepting what happened. Being raped or sexually assaulted is traumatizing, it's hard to accept, but it may help. I think what helps a lot of people, is realizing it isn't you fault. Now, those are words I'm sure all of us have heard at some point, relevant to this particular subject or not. Words like those are overused today and they lose their meaning. If they help, then it's because they've been thought about and understood. For me it was a combination of all three: telling someone, accepting, and understanding those words.

"It came in spades. First, I told my sister. Only later did I understand the words. Then, everyone has ever come to one of these talks was told. Recently, I told my friend and my friend and I, we told the police. That didn't fix the feeling though. I finally had to accept what happened. I had to mourn, to rage, to go through the array of emotions and understand, I'd been assaulted and victimized. I had to let myself come to terms. It isn't easy. Some people may never get over it, others may need medication to sleep at night, others won't. I still have nightmares sometimes, but not so bad I can't eventually go back to sleep. Thank you, passing it over to Annie."

I step away from the center of the stage and find that I'm shaking. Laughter bubbles up, but I smother it and cast a glance at my wavering hand. Ironic that the hardest speech I'd ever done wasn't my first, it was one about living again. When I told the girls what I was planning, to say they were surprised is an understatement, but they agreed. We'd never done something like that, not sure if it was because none of us had thought of it or because none of us had actually moved on. Setting my hands on my knees, I blow out a sigh. Maybe, I'm so affected because it's all fresh and new, because I'm just getting used to my new 'skin', so to say.

MPOV

Flipping open my computer, I skip immediately to the website I'd memorized and begin watching. I immediately notice something different. For one, Carly is shaking very badly. Two, the topic of her speech is different. Nonetheless, I sit back and turn the audio up. My thoughts are quiet for the entirety of her speech, but I'm completely blown away. I've seen all of her speeches since we met and never has there been talk about moving on. Grinning slightly, I grab my phone as Annie steps up to the podium.

Nice speech. I send the text and continue to watch.

Thx. Short. Simple. I figured it would be considering her current surroundings, I'll have to call later. The event goes off without a hitch and the video feed cuts off. It'll take 'em about half an hour to finish collapsing the scene, so I decide to check up on Zoe.

"Izany no Marcus." This is Marcus.

"Izaho mihevitra hoe miantso momba Zoe." I assume you are calling regarding Zoe.

"Eny. Izy dia olona ny olona liana ho ahy." Yes. She is a person of interest for me.

"Malahelo an-tranony izy. Fa izy kosa nanao namana, izy koa dia liana amin'ny fianarana ny fiteny." She misses her home. But she had made friends, she is also interested in learning our language.

"Good. Veloma." Goodbye.

"Veloma."

Hanging up with Imani, I immediately set about dialing Carly. "Hello?"

"Hi Marcus."

"You did a good job out there today."

"Thanks, I think people need to hear things like that more often."

"Yeah, yeah they do."

Argh! Thought I posted this hours ago only to find it the submission page still sitting there and this not even filled in! Couldn't help that I'm trying to buy something on Amazon and it's been 'verifying order' for the past 20 min.

R&R

Ciao