You're all so faithful! Y'all are great!!!! Anyway, this is a pivotal chapter in the story, so buckle your seat belts and in the immortal words of Numbuh 2, "HANG ON TO YOUR UNDERWEAR!!!" (I told you I'd find a way to you, my readers!) Enjoy! BTW, this chapter is in no way fluffy, just really sweet.

Chapter 8: Repentance & Deliverance: Daniel's Light
(In Terra's Mind) Daniel found himself inside a foggy, stormy cloud; a group of them, in fact. A light radiated from him, and he was wearing a white samurai robe (like Samurai Jack). He started walking forward (On what? He thought) until he heard a combination of crying, straining, panting, and screaming all from the same voice.

Daniel quickened his pace, calling Terra's name. Presently, he found the blonde girl lying the floor(?) in a fetal position, with her arms in front of her face, convulsing and tossing as if she were being poked with a hot iron (and you can only imagine how that feels!), shielding her cornflower eyes from Daniel's light. She stopped crying at his approach, but lay shaking at his feet. Daniel gave her a pitiful, sad look. She was still wearing the Slade suit.

"Terra?" he gently asked after a short pause. She gasped and looked up at him, getting up on her knees. Daniel was also surprised, for his voice had a tiny echo to it. It's amazing what effects another's mind has on one. Terra looked up at him with slight fear and great surprise on her tear-strained face. Then she grabbed the end of his white robe, bowing to him, and sobbed,
"Have mercy on me, angel. Save me from life, and end the torment. Haven't I done my time? Haven't I suffered enough? Please show me mercy and let me die!"

Daniel neither moved nor changed his sympathetic yet solemn expression as he said,
"Don't bow to me, Terra. I'm not an angel, and I'm not here to free you from life. I'm here to deliver you from death."

Shocked, Terra immediately released his robe.
"Who are you, then?" she asked.

"I am Daniel Rose, Merlina Rose's older brother," Daniel formally explained, "Merlina, to whose subconscious you sought refuge, enlisted my magic aid and brought me here. I know what you've done, Terra, and I also know that even now your friends, my sister and I included, are still willing to take you back, for they told me of the horrible things you've done, but also of your selfless act, which you thought to be your last. Thus, I have come at my sister's request to call you home."

"No," Terra shook her head, "Not me, Daniel."
"Why not?" he asked her knowingly.
Terra teared up, remembering everything bad she'd done.
"After the things I've done," her voice cracked as she turned her head away from him, "They wouldn't want me back."

Daniel looked at her sadly. He knelt down to her and turned her face toward him with his hand. She saw the sympathy in his brown eyes, but could hardly look at him straight because of her shame.

"After what you've been through since then, Terra," he told her, "there is no reason why they wouldn't. You remember only the bad you've done. They, however, remember the good you did as well."

Terra looked back at him surprised. 'She doesn't get it,' he thought.

"I don't get it!" she exclaimed as she stood, "Why? After everything I've done to them, how can I even face them again?! How can they be so forgiving? Why didn't they just forsake me and give me up for dead?"

Daniel stood and answered, "Because they love you, Terra. No matter what you've done, they were still your friends, and they still are. They want you to come home."

She turned around, holding her arms. Daniel turned her around and put his hands on her shoulders. She didn't look at him; new tears streamed through her closed eyes.

"Listen to me, Terra," he said, "Your friends were searching for a way to bring you back. They found me. You were searching for a friend who could help you. You found my sister, who in turn, came to me. It is not justice that brings me here; that was what kept you here. No. It was mercy, love, compassion, and the human spirit that brought me here tonight. That's what Christmas is about, Terra. (He smiled) And I know you don't want to spend another Christmas all alone."

(A/N: Okay, so they didn't know Daniel could do this; I just put that in because it flowed with the story)

Terra looked at him happily and asked him,
"Can you really free me?" He nodded, "Only if you want me to."

"You know," she smiled, "Before you came here, I was thrashing around like I was being tortured. I felt like...like I was being tormented for everything I'd done. And when you came, the pain went away, because you came to get me."

He smiled back at her, "What do you say, Terra? Are you ready to come home?" Now happy tears fell as Terra choked,
"For the longest time."