There are still things that need to be said before what all y'all want to read gets written.

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She lingered in that place between sleep and wakefulness, that soft, fuzzy borderland between the real and the imagined. She was more relaxed then she could ever remember being, completely at ease with were she was. She felt happy, good, and loved. Her heart followed that feeling, searching for the love she felt.

Before her, encircled in her arms, love radiated towards her. She soaked up that feeling, reveling in it, luxuriating in it, and returning it. For the moment she didn't care that she was an empath, that she was feeling things that she really wasn't entitled to. Rationality didn't exist where she was; she couldn't argue herself out of feeling emotions that perhaps weren't hers to feel. Instead, she just felt loved.

She expanded on the feeling, close contact allowing her to return the emotions she felt. The person in her arms could feel her return the love she sensed. As she began to reveal her feelings, the love from the person in her arms increased, a circle of happiness shared, shared and amplified.

But as she used her empathy, she began to sense a presence at her back that wasn't happy. There was a heart there that loved, and loved deeply, but the love was choked off, strangled away from being an everyday emotion. The heart felt a need to be loved, but also as if it would never see its need resolved.

Her heart ached to feel such pain, especially contrasted with what she personally felt. She grabbed the heart behind her and linked it into the love that she and the person in her arms shared. Slowly the ache she sensed eased, which helped her feel happy again, but the blockage that the person had put over his heart bothered her. Slowly she worked at it, easing it away bit by bit until she was able to coax some feeling into the gestalt she had started.

Love and happiness flowed between the three of them She tried to ease herself back into that place between day and night, but failed. Working at that blockage had woken her too much, and the cavalcade of thoughts mounted until she could no longer even pretend to be asleep. As she woke, she eased out of the link, slowly gaining control of her ability once more, remembering that she wasn't supposed to go around messing with other people's hearts.

She opened her eyes, momentarily disoriented. She blinked a few times, bringing her vision into focus. Looking down at the child nestled in her arms, she puzzled over who she might be for a moment before remembering. Ace. A smile teased about her lips as she looked down at the sleeping girl. Her childhood must have been horrible before she had rescued her, but the child was still able to be full of such love. It was a pleasure and a treat to get to know her, to be close to her. It was an honor to be loved by her.

She rolled her neck a little, feeling someone's arm beneath her head. Nestling back a little further into the arms that encircled her, she smiled, remembering the love she had coaxed awake. Then she remembered just who it was behind her.

She tensed. Then she panicked. Incoherent thought overwhelmed her mind.

What did she just do?

Knives? She just messed with Knives? Oh, o, o, o, uh-oh.

She was in so much trouble.

Maybe he won't mind.

Maybe he'll stay asleep.

Maybe the ground will swallow me now.

She felt him move behind her, a slow stretch, then he pulled her closer. His arm tightened around her waist, and she wished that there was some way she could take back what she had done. He was going to be so pissed when he woke up.

She tried to relax, tried to regain some shred of composure, but failed miserably. Her heart raced, pounding in her ears, threatening to escape out her throat.

He mumbled something sleepily in her ear, and finally she couldn't take anymore. She flew out of his arms, pushing Ace out of her arms as she ran and hid behind the closest spire. Looking out over the desert, looking towards the setting suns, she contemplated running for her life.

A hand came down on her shoulder and she flinched.

"What's wrong?" he asked, the concern in his voice making her cringe.

"I screwed up; I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I'm sorry…" She rambled, making no sense.

His hand tightened and his voice grew a little colder. "What did you do?" he asked, cutting over her babbled and incoherent apologies.

"…I was sleeping, I'm sorry." She finally fell silent and buried her head in her hands.

He shook her. "What did you do?"

"I, I, I…" she stuttered, then fell silent. "I warned you. I told you I'm an empath."

"What did you do?" he repeated as she fell silent again. He grabbed her chin and forced her to look him in the eyes. "Tell me."

"I sort was sleeping and was feeling love because Ace was in my arms and she was just radiating it and then I felt you behind me and you were so sad and I didn't like feeling the sadness behind me so I sort of let your heart know that we loved you but then that wasn't enough and I made it so we could feel you loving us too and I'm sorry I screwed up and I didn't mean to and I was sleeping." She closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see his reaction.

"You…played around with my emotions."

She tried to nod, but his hand was still on her chin. "I'm sorry. I didn't do it to be malicious or anything. It was an accident."

"So, I woke up feeling better then I have in years, and all you have to say is that it was an accident?"

His voice gave her no clues, so she cautiously opened one eye and tried to read his expression.

He was laughing at her!

Suddenly she found herself glaring. "It's not funny!" she ground out, enraged at his reaction.

"Of course it is. What, were you expecting me to bite your head off? I woke up happy; big deal. If you're worried about making me feel love, don't. I am perfectly capable of ignoring such a weak little emotion." He turned and walked back into the oasis, shaking his head.

Kiley glared at his back, but her heart slowly inched back to its proper place.

Men.