Part Six: 'Til Death Do Us Part Once More
"I don't understand why we can't morph!" Andréa shouted to Adam over the sounds of the raging battle taking place around them. "We're completely defenseless like this!"
"I know!" Adam yelled back, drawn into another fight. "This shouldn't be happening! But we have to keep trying somehow!"
Andréa's saber clashed with that of her attacker and she was drawn into a fight. In no time, she drove her assailant away, but behind her she heard the unending sound of metal against metal as Adam continued against his attacker, a seemingly reasonable opponent. But seconds later, Andréa heard an all too familiar-sounding cry, then turned around to find him laying on the ground in absolute pain, his clothing stained with his own blood. Whoever had delivered the damaging blow had somehow been able to pierce right through his armor. "Adam, no!" Andréa screamed, falling to her knees beside him.
Deep in my soul
A love so strong
It takes control
Adam looked up at her, knowing there was no way she would have been able to save him and his eyes wide with shock and terror. "No," he said in a very strained voice while pushing her away, "keep fighting. Leave me here."
Now we both know
The secrets bared
The feelings show
"Adam, I . . . I can't!" she answered, taking his trembling hands into hers. "You know that I would never abandon you, not even in battle!"
"But you have to this one time," he responded. "Nothing you or anyone else could do would be able to save me now. You have to keep fighting, Rae . . . for all of us . . . for me. It's what I would want you to do."
The tears streamed down Andréa's face. "No, I won't leave you!" she sobbed. "I refuse to go on without you. I love you too much to just walk away from you and let you die here all alone without me at your side! You don't deserve it! I can't abandon you, Adam, not when I love you the way I do."
Driven far apart
I'll make a wish
On a shooting star
Adam continued to look up at her, his eyes never leaving hers despite barely being able to keep them open. He tried to pull himself up to her level, using every last bit of strength he had, and said in a faint tone, "I will always love you too, Andréa," kissing her weakly. "You have always been my one and only true love, and it will always stay that way even after I'm gone. I regret that we never had the chance to spend the rest of our lives together, but I want you to know that I will always be with you no matter what. Ishalám senta nari kama . . . Aurora . . ." Then he fell back to the ground and let out a soft yet torturous cry of pain, his hands falling limp as he took one final breath and closed his eyes, Andréa being the last person he would ever see again.
There will come a day
Somewhere far away
In your arms I'll stay
My only love
Even though you're gone
Love will still live on
The feeling is so strong
My only love . . .
Andréa screamed out in lamentation, trying to wake Adam up, but it was no use. Her screams were drowned out by the sounds of the raging battle around her, and so no one had even noticed that one of their greatest and most loved heroes was now dead. Still crying, Andréa bent down and kissed him on the lips one last time. "Good-bye, Adam," she whispered as if he could still hear her, closing her eyes and laying her head below his. "'Til death do us part."
There will come a day
Somewhere far away
In your arms I'll stay
My only love
You've reached the deepest part
Of the secret in my heart
I've known it from the start
My only love
My only love
* * *
When Andréa opened her eyes again, she and Adam were on the floor of the Power Chamber. No one else was there except for Alpha, who stood above them, and Dimitria. Andréa looked up at both of them, not quite sure what to say. "Andréa, what has happened that you and Adam have returned so soon?" Dimitria asked. "Are the two of you all right?"
There was a brief silence in the chamber, indicating Andréa's reply. There was no need to say it as it was quite obvious. Then she broke down into tears again, unable to hold back her emotions. "We need to tell the other Rangers," Andréa said, her voice soft and strained. "They need to know what's happened, that Adam is . . ." She couldn't even say the word, as she was already crying uncontrollably over his lifeless body.
* * *
Andréa, disguised as the Purple Ranger, walked up to the Parks' front door. She looked back to the other four Rangers, who stood a few feet back on the sidewalk. They all gave her a silent and reassuring nod, all five of them knowing that this had to be done despite having to possibly reveal their secret to the family. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, little Kara opened it and looked up with awe. Adam had been right; his little sister really was starting to look like her idol, figure skater Michelle Kwan. "Wow, the Purple Ranger!" she squealed excitedly, completely unaware of the real reason a Ranger was at the door.
"Hello Kara," Andréa said softly, coming down to the girl's level and working as hard as she could to keep her composure. "Are your parents home?"
Kara nodded and immediately disappeared back into the house and returned a few moments later. From behind her helmet, Andréa couldn't help but crack a thin smile, finding it so cute as the six-year-old girl shouted, "Mommy, Daddy, the Power Rangers are at the front door!" while dragging them as well as Ryan, Adam's 15-year-old brother, to the door.
"The Power Rangers?" Mr. Park asked.
Ryan looked out towards the other four Rangers. "Hey, where's the Green Ranger?" he added.
Mrs. Park gasped. "Oh no," she said, thinking of only one reason the Power Rangers would have paid the family an unexpected visit, "it's about Adam, isn't it? He hasn't been home for days. What's happened?"
Andréa swallowed hard and took a deep breath, trying not to break down again. "Y-yes ma'am, it is about Adam," she stammered, looking down at the ground and thinking of the best way to explain all of this, her voice still soft and strained. "I-I was the only one who saw him get attacked. There . . . there was nothing I could do for him. I'm extremely sorry." She was only telling them only a half-truth, not even explaining how he was really killed. Fighting a battle on a distant planet—who would've believed such a story?
They all looked at her in denial, the parents unable to believe that they had just lost another son. "His girlfriend . . . Andréa . . . does she know?" Mrs. Park asked.
"Yes, she does know," the Purple Ranger replied sadly. "She was there." Then she did the only thing she could think of to explain how Andréa knew when only a Ranger had seen what happened: she slowly removed her helmet and answered Ryan's question. "Adam became the Black Ranger three years ago, right after you came to Angel Grove, and then he became the Green Ranger last year. All of his friends are or have been Rangers as well. He and I were on a mission on another world fighting a battle, and . . . and that's how he was killed."
The other Rangers removed their helmets as well to prove Andréa's point. "You guys are all Power Rangers?" Kara asked, definitely not as enthusiastic as before. Andréa nodded. "And Adam too?" Andréa nodded again, kneeling down and giving the girl a hug.
Finally, after not being able to hold it back any longer, Andréa broke into tears, the other four Rangers eventually walking up behind her as a means of moral support. But right then, she caught something out of the corner of her eye at the top of the stairs inside. It looked like a figure, a very familiar-looking figure. It couldn't be, she thought, could it? Is he still alive? But when she looked back up at the mysterious figure again, there was no one there. "Please let me be seeing things," Andréa whispered to herself. "Please let my mind be playing tricks on me."
* * *
The wind has taken you
You're free, finally at peace
So still you lie
Leaving all your cares behind
A few days later was the burial. It was held up in the mountains inside a cave located just below the Power Chamber. Everyone agreed that because Adam was a Ranger for as long as he had been, this was where he should have been. The ceremony was private, attended by only his immediate family and the rest of the Rangers past and present. "Man, Adam was a great friend," Rocky was the first of the Rangers to say. "I'm really gonna miss him."
"I barely knew him," Zack added, Tanya right beside him. "But I'm sure Adam made an awesome Ranger after he had to take my place."
"He did," Tommy then said. "I've been on the team the longest time of all of us, and I've seen that Adam was not only a great friend to all of us, but a very important part of the Power Ranger team."
"I never really knew Adam too much either," Trini also said, "but he seemed to remind me a lot of how I always was as a Ranger, a real quiet and reserved person on the outside yet a fierce fighter on the inside."
"After I had to give up being a Ranger," Billy began, "Adam was always there to tell me that things were gonna be all right. Things just won't be the same anymore without him."
"I know," Aisha said. "I knew Adam long before we even came to Angel Grove, and I couldn't believe it when we all became Rangers three years ago. This is probably the way he would've wanted it to be, going down doing something he truly loved and all his friends here like this to say good-bye."
"I agree," Kat continued with the comments. "Like you've all said, it just won't be the same without him around."
"Quiet, shy, and caring," Kimberly commented, "but never backing down from a battle. That's how I'll always remember Adam."
"Adam was like a big brother to me," Justin said. "I never thought that something like this could've happened after I lost my mom."
"Right away when I joined the team," Tanya told everyone, "Adam was there to show me the ropes. I had really liked him for the longest time, and though I eventually saw that Andréa was better for him, he didn't stop being a great friend to me and everyone else."
"When I first saw how Zordon chose Adam to be a Ranger," Jason said, "I saw him as real quiet and shy like Kim said. I wasn't sure if he was really cut out for it. But when I came back to the team for a while last year, he had changed a lot since then, especially after Rae joined the team." He looked over to his cousin, who was fighting hard to hold back tears, and then hugged her in consolation. "I'm really sorry that you had to lose him the way you did."
The pain is gone
Gone with the spirit in your eyes
Now you're wandering around above us
Looking downward as we cry
"You're probably all expecting me to be giving a long speech about how wonderful Adam always was to me and how we had always been made for each other," Andréa began, "but I know I wouldn't be able to without completely breaking down. To be the only one there when he died in my arms was the hardest thing for me to face, just as hard as when I saw it happen with my dad. I felt like I lost a part of me when I lost Adam, but one of the last things he said to me was that he'll always be with me in my heart." Through it all, she held a framed picture against her breast, one of her and Adam in one of the very first pictures taken of the two of them together several months before. There was so much love, so much happiness in their expressions in that photo, happiness that would never be there again. Around her neck on a black leather cord and hidden underneath her black dress was Adam's Turbo Key, something the other Rangers wanted her to keep as a lasting reminder to her and to them of their fallen teammate and friend, even though it meant that there would only be five of them instead of six. She placed a hand on the closed casket, her eyes starting to swell with tears. "We'll always remember you, Adam," she said. "And I'll always love you . . . Adrian."
One by one, each member of the family, plus all the Rangers, laid a white rose on top of the casket and walked out of the cave in solemn silence. After everyone else had left, Andréa was the only one who remained. Once all alone, she finally broke into tears and fell to her knees. "I thought that we would've been able to spend the rest of our lives together," she said as if Adam was really able to hear her, "that we would've someday been able to return home to Khalterria and pick up where we left off there so long ago. Now, none of it will ever happen." She didn't notice how the others had been standing at the entrance to the cave and listening to her, all of them feeling her sorrow. "I finally felt like we had everything we could've had, but now it's all gone." Her crying became even more uncontrollable. "Why did this all have to happen? Why do I always have to lose the most important people in my life? Why couldn't we have been together forever, Adam?"
You've flown into the wind
Escaping all the hurt within
Took to the sky
Leaving the world behind
So young to die
How could you let it all pass you by
After crying for a few more minutes, Andréa slowly returned to her feet. "Je t'aimerai pour toujours, mon cher Adam," she said in her native French. "Tu seras toujours dans mon cœur." After that, she had to add in the ancient Khalterrian tongue, "Ishalám senta nari kama, Adrian." Then, on top of the fifteen white roses left by everyone else, she placed a solitary red rose, the everlasting symbol of true love, on the casket and walked out of the cave to the others.
Just as she came out, Andréa thought she saw a figure watching them in the distance. It was along the mountains, somewhere in the near distance. She looked over to that mountain and sure enough, there was someone standing there. It looked just like the figure she had seen last time, but she still couldn't tell exactly who it was for sure. He wore an outfit similar to the one Adam had been wearing at the time he was killed, and his moderately long hair was blowing in the fierce wind. Andréa stared up at this figure for a while, not sure whether or not to believe she could have been seeing a ghost. "Andréa, what are you looking at?" Trini asked when she noticed the Purple Ranger's sudden and silent daze.
And to the wind go so many dreams
That you held inside
Now you're just a memory
Burning in my mind
"I . . . thought I saw someone up there," she said, still looking up.
"Who did you see?" Katherine then asked her.
So young to die
How could you let life pass you by
"I don't know," Andréa replied. "For a minute, I . . . I thought I saw him watching us."
And now you'll never know I loved you
"But there's no one there," Tanya said, also looking up.
And now you'll never know I cared
"I don't see anyone there either," young Kara added, wondering what could have possibly been up there that she couldn't see.
None of the others could see what Andréa could see, though. Her eyes weren't being deceived when she thought she saw Adam looking down at the group in front of the cave. "I'm sorry you have to be like this, Andréa," she thought she heard him say faintly. "I will always be with you." Then, with another gust of wind, he turned and disappeared.
I really loved you
And now you'll never know
You'll only fade into the wind.
* * *
It had been a month since the burial, and Andréa still hadn't returned to normal. She rarely hung out with the other Rangers anymore, she had stopped fighting monsters and riding, and she looked tired and frail. Not even her long-time friend Rowen, who she had known since she first came to America and had come back from Japan to be with her, could make things any better. All of her time was spent in the isolation of her bedroom, poring over pictures and drawings and lamenting her loss. She couldn't take it any longer and could no longer stand living the rest of her life in mourning.
Then late one night in the middle of a rare and terrible thunderstorm, Andréa came up to the cave morphed into the Purple Ranger, the first time she had even worn that costume since right after the death. Over her shoulder, she carried a backpack filled with pictures and other mementos and, in her hand, a handwritten note. Rowen had come with her as well (Andréa had already trusted him with her secret of being a Ranger since she first took on the powers), hoping that he could get her to change her mind about this, but it didn't work. "Rae-chan," the unusually blue-haired teen quietly asked his friend, calling her by the old nickname he used to when they were kids, "are you sure you still want to do this?"
Andréa sighed. "I'm sure, Rowen," she answered, her voice a little shaky. "I can't go on like this anymore. I have to be with him again." Without another word, Andréa took a deep yet unsteady breath and walked in, her friend silently trailing not far behind.
At the end of the path was the gravesite. It was the first time Andréa had even worked up the courage to come back here since the burial, and it was also to have been her last. A long granite block jutted out of the ground, indicating just where the body had been laid. Except for the words February 22, 1979-June 19, 1997, it was completely blank; even then, Adam's identity as a Power Ranger had to be concealed and preserved. The area was lit with candles, creating an eerie glow that loomed about the cave. Along a natural ledge and next to the gravesite were dozens of flowers the other Rangers had left behind and several framed pictures and other items nestled in between them.
Andréa stood there looking at the site, remembering how she had asked the other Rangers to bring some of the many photos here because she couldn't find the strength to bring them herself. She then knelt down beside the grave and removed her helmet. Her face was pale and tear-stained with dark circles under her eyes, and her long hair, once flowing and beautiful, was limp and stringy, unwashed for weeks. She ran a hand over the cold granite stone, the closest she could ever get to touching him again. Unable to hold back any longer, Andréa completely broke down in tears, only partially oblivious to the fact that a pair of arms soon encircled her in comfort. Though she knew it was only coming from Rowen, she wished more than anything that it could have been Adam.
But then, both of them felt another presence in the cave. It was a very familiar presence, but it was also an extremely uncomfortable one at the same time, especially to Andréa. "Andréa, why are you still doing this to yourself?" a soft, recognizable voice asked. "This isn't like you."
Rowen was the first to notice what was going on. Even though he had never had a chance to meet him face-to-face, he still knew who it was from all the pictures Andréa had sent in the past year. "Kami-sama . . ." he whispered to himself in Japanese as he slowly stood up, completely in awe by what was taking place yet still a little frightened by it, then said out loud, "Rae, I really think you ought to see this."
Curious as to this, Andréa looked up and realized just who was there. Her eyes suddenly widened in fear and shock as she crossed herself and mumbled something inaudibly in French before finally saying, "Adam, how is this possible? I thought you were . . ."
"I am," he said, "but this is only my spirit that's still wandering the earth and watching over you. Because you were the only one who was with me when I died, no one else can see me but you." Adam briefly shared glances with the blue-haired Japanese-American teen who was there with Andréa. "And apparently you can see me as well," he then directed at Rowen. Is this a friend of hers that she's never told me about? he thought. He does seem quite protective of her . . . but why can he see me as well?
Andréa then stood up and looked at him, unable to believe that she could possibly be seeing him again. "So you've really been with me all this time?" Adam nodded. "But why?"
He reached out and took her hand. Even though she was still wearing her gloves, Andréa could feel the warmth of his hands as if hers were bare and he was really there with her. "I refuse to leave this world without you," Adam replied. "I've never wanted to be away from you, not even now. Though I may be gone in body, I still love you in spirit, Andréa."
"Then you'll be happy to know that you won't have to wait much longer for me to join you," she said, showing him the note she had brought. It was a suicide note. "I've come here to spend my last moments with you in the only way I possibly can, and soon they'll have to add another marker that reads May 23rd, 1980, to July 29th, 1997. Adam, I can't bear being away from you anymore. I want to be with you forever too."
"Rae, you shouldn't do this," Adam told her, glancing over the words. "It isn't the answer, and I know you know that. You had so much potential in life. It was something I had always admired about you. Why should you throw it all away like this?"
"Yes it is the answer," Andréa sobbed. "Ever since you were killed, I haven't been able to do anything but think of what might've been for the two of us. I can't eat, I can't sleep, and I haven't ridden at all. This is the first time I've even worn my Ranger armor since I had to tell your family what happened. For this last month, my entire life has been like a living hell. How on Earth would anyone expect me to be able to go on like this? Nothing in life matters anymore if you're not there!"
Adam looked at her, stunned yet not by surprised by what she said. "I have never questioned your judgment before," he replied, caressing her cheek in the same manner he always used to, "and I still don't question it now." He then reached over and kissed her lightly on the lips. The feeling was so exhilarating to Andrea, as if a warm summer breeze had suddenly rushed across her face. "I once said that I would always be at your side if you needed me no matter what happened to us, and I still mean it. Do whatever you feel is the right thing to do."
Without another word, Andréa knelt down, took something out of her backpack, then stood back up to face her old friend. "Rowen, you've always been a good friend to me," she said. "In fact, you've been more than a friend; I almost see you as the brother I never had. Words can't even describe how much I value all that you've done for me over the years. For that, I think it's only fair that I give you this." She then took the object she was holding and placed it in his hands, then closed his fingers over it. After that, Andréa glanced back over at the spirit form of Adam, who silently nodded with approval to show he knew what she was doing. "With all that you've told me about being a Ronin Warrior, I know that you'd guard it well."
Rowen opened his hands and looked at what had been put in them—Adam's Black Dragon FireStar Crystal. Something about holding it there seemed almost right though, as if he had had something like this before. "Rae-chan," he said, still in disbelief, "are you sure you want me to have this?" If it weren't for the low light in the cavern, one might have noticed that his stormy blue eyes were beginning to fill with tears. "I mean . . . what good would it do for me?"
For the first time in well over a month, a small yet sincere smile formed on Andréa's lips. "I'm sure," she replied quietly, tears welling up in her eyes as well. "I can't think of anyone else who would be better to carry on the legacy of the Black Dragon Ranger than you. We've trusted each other with so much over the years; just trust me one last time with this. It's what both Adam and I would want you to remember us by. This is my final request."
Rowen looked once more at the crystal he now held, determined to guard these new powers with his life, then looked back up at his long-time friend with the saddest eyes anyone had ever seen, as he knew that this was the end. There had been so much he had wanted to be able to tell Andréa, to be able to admit how he truly felt for her, and now he would never have the chance. But it still didn't stop him from embracing the young woman who he had been best friends with since the fifth grade and had basically been in love with since the eighth grade, but who he could never truly love. "Arigatô . . . Rae-chan," was all Rowen could say, his eyes now very wet with tears as he couldn't help but gently kiss her on the forehead.
Looking back up at him, Andréa returned the show of friendship by gently kissing him back on the cheek. "Dô itashimashite, Ro-chan," she answered, using one of the very few Japanese phrases she had remembered learning from him years ago. "Don't ever forget me."
I never will, Rowen wanted to tell her as she turned around and knelt back down beside the grave, desperately wishing he didn't have to watch her do this as he continued to clutch the crystal in his hand. God only knows I never will forget you . . .
Taking it out from under her collar, Andréa removed Adam's Turbo Key from around her neck and placed it next to the note, then did the same with her crystal on her sash. Then after taking a deep breath, she unsheathed her saber as her armor melted away one last time and held the blade in front of her face before turning it and holding the point at her heart as she looked up to the cave ceiling and closed her eyes. As she sat there hesitating to end it all, she almost felt as though Adam was right there behind her and guiding her each and every move, a strange feeling of comfort and warmth surrounding her that she had never felt before. The thunder outside crackled loudly, lightning illuminating the cave entrance. "Mon amour, je viens à toi maintenant," she said in French—My love, I am coming to you now. Rowen couldn't even bear to watch as Andréa then thrust the blade of her saber into herself and fell lifelessly beside the grave of her lost love.
Moments later, she stood up, another strange feeling coming over her like none she had ever felt before. Andréa couldn't understand how she could be looking down at her own body beside her, her clothing and the stone stained with her own blood. Then all of a sudden, she realized what had happened—she had killed herself. "Oh mon dieu . . . Rowen, what have I done?" she whispered, horrified.
Andréa looked back up at Adam, only to find it really wasn't him anymore. He was Adrian once again, his hair a beautiful silvery white and his eyes a deep blue once more. He wore a white equivalent of the outfit he wore when they had met for the first time, much of it decorated with gold accents. "Now we're finally free to be together forever, my love," the spirit of Adrian said, taking her hands into his.
Andréa looked herself over. She too had become her former self and was dressed in white, her dress far more elegant than even the most beautiful wedding gown could have hoped to be. Her hair was also the same silvery white it had once been and her eyes the same beautiful blue. "Yes Adrian," Aurora said, "now we can be with each other. And now I know that we'll never be apart again." They came up to each other, a white light glowing around them. Finally, becoming part of the light, they kissed tenderly, their souls forever free to be together.
But even as the light began to fade, taking with it the spirits of the two ill-fated lovers, Rowen still remained by the side of his fallen friend. "Aishiteru, Andréa-chama . . ." he then whispered, looking up and hoping she would still have been able to hear him wherever it was she had gone to now.
[Thursday, June 19 (Earth date), around 2:00 am (Tashallan time)]
Andréa shot up from her bed, breathing hard and sweating intensely. "It was a nightmare," she said to herself, "just a nightmare." She looked around in the dark, still scared out of her mind. Sound asleep on the floor yet still very alive was Adam, concrete proof that Andréa's dream was nothing more than that. She stared at him for perhaps twenty minutes or so, wondering if it was all an omen of things to come. Scenes kept replaying over and over in her mind: watching him die, the burial, her confrontation with his spirit, and her suicide. As if that didn't make enough sense, the fact that her old friend from before moving to Angel Grove was in it as well made it all the more confusing; in reality, she hadn't even seen Rowen in two and a half years, and yet he had been there with her as if anything had hardly ever changed. Andréa tried not to think about the whole dream though, but she still couldn't get any of it off her mind.
Still quite frightened, Andréa eventually got up from her bed and walked over to where Adam was sleeping. Although she knew it was against her better judgment, she lay down and curled up beside him under his blanket, knowing that being next to him was perhaps the only comfort she could find after such a horrifying nightmare. It wasn't as warm or as comfortable as sleeping in a bed, but none of that mattered to her. Her tensed muscles finally started to relax when she felt Adam stirring and moving an arm to hold her as if he knew she was there, a very comforting feeling after what she had seen happen to him in her nightmare. After listening to and feeling his warm breath on the back of her neck, Andréa closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep.
[June 19, around 6:55 am]
Andréa woke up rather early the next morning and stood out on the balcony, the nightmare still on her mind. Down below in the city, the people were rushing about as if they were preparing for something that didn't look like their daily morning routine. "I wonder what they're up to," she said to herself rather distantly.
Just then, Andréa felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped at it. When she turned around to see that it was Adam, her face turned pale and a terrified expression crossed her face. "Come on," he joked, "I can't possibly look that bad in the morning!"
"No . . . it's not that . . ." Andréa said in a quiet tone of voice that completely contradicted Adam's. "It's just . . . there was this . . . oh, it's too hard to explain." How was she supposed to tell Adam about her dream? Would he even believe her? Finally, after thinking about it for a minute, the words came out slowly and softly. "I had the worst nightmare last night that seemed all too real. It . . . it started out that we were already in battle, but neither of us had our Ranger powers. I turned away for one moment and the next thing I knew you were down on the ground dying . . . stabbed to death." Her breathing became rapidly irregular as she tried to keep her composure. "You . . . you died in my arms, and I was forced to tell your family they had lost another son. Then . . . then . . . everywhere I went, your spirit was haunting me, right up to the point where I killed myself at your grave. Then . . . after that . . . we became our former selves again, and that's where it ended." She finally began to break down into tears. "It was . . . it was . . . oh my god, I can't even say how frightening it was."
Adam held Andréa next to him and let her cry on his shoulder. He could envision nearly all of her dream in his mind and could see exactly how frightening it really was. "It's all right," he said. "I'm still here. No matter what happens, I'll always be here for you. I promise."
A few minutes later, Taliana peeked into the room. "Andréa? Adam?" Then she saw how the two of them were standing there in each other's arms. "Hmm, perhaps now isn't a good time for me to say what I have to say."
The two looked up. "What did you need to tell us?" Andréa asked.
"The rumor has spread across the region," Taliana told them. "The people know that you have indeed returned, and now they are only waiting for you to reveal yourselves and begin the rebellion."
Andréa turned back to face Adam. I'm not sure if I'm ready for this, she said to him telepathically. I mean, what if . . . something happened . . .
We came here for a reason, Adam told her. We came here to show our people that we really are alive and that we're willing to fight for their freedom.
But what if my nightmare really does come true? I mean, so many of my dreams since we met have ended up becoming reality. I just don't want this one to be like that . . .
Adam lifted up her chin and looked into her eyes. It won't be. Things will be different. I promise that we'll get through this together . . . He looked up, moderately reluctant. "We're ready . . ." he said out loud to Taliana, then said to himself, ". . . I think . . ."