A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews everyone, and thanks Alexi-17-btvs for the heads up; I'm now accepting anonymous reviews. This is Syd's POV. Oh, and I should have cleared this up before, but words between single asterisks are either stressed spoken words or inner thoughts. Passages between sets of four asterisks are flashbacks and dreams.

"Syd?" Vaughn startles me from my thoughts.

"Yeah...I remember."

The sky in the picture is as colorful as I remember it. I can still almost smell the cold, sweet air of that approaching night - air so pure as to deny lies from ever pervading it. One deep breath of it could easily cleanse my mind of doubt or fear. I'm sure, of course, that having Vaughn by my side was an aid in that too.

"Lauren thinks that I'm still harboring some feelings about us," he says while motioning between us with his hand. "I told her that I've moved on, but..."

"I have too," I quickly affirm. 'Liar. Where's my breath of fresh air when I need it?'

Though he is drunk, his eyes still puncture my once fortified defenses, leaving them crumbled; the bricks that kept all of my vulnerabilities tightly sealed away are now strewn haphazardly across the floor. I wonder if he can see the mess he has made out of me. Two years ago, I would not have cared about such debris; Vaughn was always there to pick up the pieces.

As he continues to stare at me with those green compasses pointing the way to my true feelings, he picks up from where he left off, "But I'm not so sure now."

"I mean, I'm moving on," I say in unison with his words.

He is silent now, still staring at me. I look up into his eyes, but his gaze is so powerful that I quickly return to studying my feet. "Well, I'm trying," I concede.

He makes his way towards me, brushing past a table and nearly sending a lamp crashing to the floor. When he reaches me, however, he is suddenly seemingly sober, as he lifts my chin with a gentle hand bringing my gaze to his.

"Sydney, you do not have to be afraid of me. It's me. It's just you and me, and I won't let anything hurt you."

'But you've already hurt me so much,' I want to cry. Some bricks must still be intact because I am able to keep in that thought, though not without great effort. Besides, it's not his fault that he had to move on. From what he has told me, and from what I have sensed, his grief would have been the end of him. I could never want him to live that way forever - or die that way for that matter - the way I am now, miserable and alone.

"Vaughn, why are you here?" I ask for the second time of the night. "Shouldn't you be at home working this out with..." My mind wanted to add 'your wife,' but my heart prevented my mouth from forming the words. I was suddenly very uncomfortable standing so close to my ex-boyfriend who was presently cupping my chin and talking about how it was just us together. 'But he is so much more than your ex-boyfriend,' my inner self interrupts. 'He's Vaughn. He is still a part of you. The bond that was formed is still connected, forever inseparable; no matter how flimsy it feels sometimes, you cannot deny its existence and the power that it holds within its unbreakable threads - the key to your heart, your happiness.'

"I have already tried to end our fight rationally," he responds to my question, knowing what I would have said if my heart had not intervened, letting his hand drop from my face. "Then I delved into my usual arsenal of irrational methods - storming out, getting drunk, ending up at your place..."

'Usual...ending up at your place...' The words take a few seconds to really sink in before their meaning sends my emotions into a frenzy.

"What? You've been here before?!" I exclaim in disbelief. 'I would have sensed him, known he was here...'

"What I mean is," he quickly blurts out, rubbing a weary hand over his eyes, "I used to end up at your place, I mean where your place was, you know, after...after the fire," he finishes letting out a long breath.

"Oh...I...uh," I start unsuccessfully, turning my attention to floor once more. "Vaughn..." I try again. Strike two. 'Ok, deep breath.'

"I'm sorry," I finally manage.

His laughter catches me off guard, causing me to look up at him questioningly. "You're sorry?!" he practically shouts in the midst of his outburst. "God, you're sorry? What the hell do you have to be sorry about...not dying?" He is doubled over, shaking his head, and I am now the one to gaze piercingly at him. Not having the slightest clue what to say, I stand mute, not moving as I continue to stare at him. As soon as he straightens himself, I notice the tears in his eyes, his laughter turning to sobs.

"Vaughn! Oh god, what's wrong? Vaughn, please..." I grab his shoulders and shake him lightly. He responds by crying out, "Oh Sydney, I missed you so much! Why did you have to leave? I loved you. Didn't you know how much I loved you? I tried to show you every way I knew how. Telling you in simple words didn't seem like enough, but god, if it would have made you stay, I would have said it a million times and more. Anything to keep you here!"

Tears that I have fought back for so long are making their way mercilessly down my face, as I wrap my arms around him in a warm, comforting hug and bring my hand to the back of his head, pressing him into my neck. "Shh...Vaughn it's all right," I whisper as I stroke his hair. "I'm here now. Shh..."

I rock with him in my arms, as he tightly clutches my back and continues to murmur, "I missed you, Syd. I missed you..."

Eventually, his sobs quiet and my tears subside, but we stay in each other's arms, allowing ourselves to draw what strength is left in either of us. He pries his face from my neck only to have his lips return a second later to place a soft kiss against my skin. I turn my head towards his once his lips leave my neck and place a kiss on his forehead in response. Our eyes meet, and time stops. We are standing among the shattered ruins of SD-6 once again...

It was over. SD-6 was gone and I was still standing. Victory could not have tasted any sweeter, that was, until I spotted Vaughn. He was just across the room removing his mask and looking around in wonder. Our eyes met, and time stopped. There was no longer anything keeping us apart, and we both jumped at the opportunity. SD-6 was no more, the world was no more; everything and everyone around us faded into nothing so that there was only one thing left - the path between him and me. We crossed the threshold simultaneously, leaving behind any fear or worry, buried in the dust that was our past. This dust was now settled, packed down tightly so that no clouds could rise in our wake and imbue the fresh air with their foul scent.

It was the beginning. Our lips collided and there was no turning back. The taste of victory was like a mouthful of sand compared to this heavenly flavor. We drowned ourselves in it with no regrets. I had never felt anything so soft and so strong at the same time. The passion between us was building to unimaginable heights, but our touch was like a feather, airy like a whisper. Hands were roaming, bodies unable to find a way to be close enough to one another. We were memorizing each other and were mesmerized by each other. I knew him, and he me, inside and out, bodily and spiritually. We were one. And that was only the beginning...