Hours later, Nottingham was surprised to find that he too had slept and that it was fast approaching the time when they would have to get ready to go to the nightclub. Gently, he shook her until she woke, smiling shyly up at him. She moved off him, and he immediately missed her weight. Sitting on the side of the bed, she looked over her shoulder at him and their eyes met and held.

"Lily," he breathed softly. Her gaze softened and she waited. "Can I ... "

Whatever it was that he wanted to ask of her, it was obvious to her that it was difficult for him. A part of her ached to tell him that she would do anything in her power for him, that he didn't even have to ask, but her brain reminded her that it wouldn't be fair to him to know how she felt. She knew for a fact that he had at least some life left to live, more than her twenty-seven days. She would never do anything to hurt him.

Nottingham swallowed hard and tried again, "Can I ... touch you?"

Lilianna's heart stopped for a moment.

Fearing her silence, Nottingham sat up and started to take back his request, "I'm sorry, Lilianna. I should never have asked that of you. I've just never really touched anyone I wasn't trying to hurt or ... "

Mirroring his earlier move, Lilianna placed her fingertips against his full lips. When she left them there after he had stopped speaking, Nottingham slowly raised his own hand to grasp hers, lightly kissing her fingers before lowering their joined hands.

"Yes," she said softly.

Nottingham turned her hand over so that the palm was facing up. He brushed his fingertips lightly over her fingers, and then her palm. She shivered, smiling softly when he glanced at her face. Her palm was callused in a pattern similar to his, calluses that came from frequent and repeated use of various weaponry. He lightly traced her calluses before moving his hand to her wrist. Here her skin turned soft, softer than the silk his master made him wear in front of important people. Even better was the fact that her skin was warm, living.

Breathing hard, he lifted both hands to cup her face. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. A single tear ran down her cheek. He caressed it away with the pad of his thumb.

She opened her eyes and smiled tremulously, "No one's ever ... touched me this way before."

Nottingham smiled softly and began to lean toward her but stopped almost immediately. He dropped his left hand and traced her features gently with his right index finger. Lightly, his finger ran down her neck to the small hollow above and between her collarbones. Capturing her gaze with his, he kept his finger there for a minute, learning her heartbeat.

Her pulse quickened slightly, and he realized his own had as well. He wasn't completely naive; he had seen Irons seduce countless women, as well as the occasional man. Lilianna deserved better than this, better than anything Nottingham could give her, even if he were ever to be free of Irons.

"This has to stop."

She looked hurt at his sudden declaration. Perhaps it was better that way. Lilianna got up and walked several paces away from him. He could feel her withdrawing mentally as well, and a physical pain formed in his chest. He stood up and grasped her upper arms, turning her to face him.

When her eyes met his, he said softly, "Thank you, Lily."

Forgiveness shone in her eyes and she whispered back, "You're welcome."

He moved away from her reluctantly, heading to the kitchen to make them a quick dinner of sandwiches and soup.

When she sat down to wait for the food, he said softly, "You haven't told me how you got here and how you not being born will stop all of this from happening."

She studied him for a minute and then asked, "I've told you about a lot of things most people would never believe in, yet you take my words at face value, why is that?"

"I've seen so many things in this world that could only be described as unbelievable that I don't have difficulty learning that there is more out there than even I know about. And ... I trust you."

She looked away from him, overcome by emotion. She knew how hard it was for someone like them to trust anyone, it had taken Jarod almost two full years and a beating from Irons to get through to her, and Nottingham had been under similar conditions, but alone, for a longer period of time. Yet he trusted her.

Just as she trusted him, she realized. Wondering what other emotions they mirrored one for the other, she forced herself not to hope. Even hope was a dangerous thing when she knew very well that she wasn't going to be around long enough for it to be fair to him for them to explore their feelings.

"After Glory got the Witchblade and opened the dimensional barrier, she tried to take mine but couldn't. She let it slip while we were fighting that she had once tried to take the original from my mother but failed. She described in graphic detail how she had killed three girls known as Slayers and how I wasn't anywhere near a match for them, let alone her. She also described how she was going to kill me. Fortunately before she could, myself and a few other people who grew up in the Centre, including Marcus, were taken away by beings known as Oracles. From the safety of their Realm we watched as the world was destroyed over the course of a single day. A woman, an Immortal named Eve, was also brought there and told to send me to the past to fix things."

"Marcus offered to go with me to help and in the limited amount of time we had to make a plan we figured that the only way to fix everything would be if I never existed. Then my mother won't die trying to save me, the Witchblade will never be taken by Glory, and the dimensions won't merge and destroy each other. And my father won't die, and Jarod will never go back to the Centre. And now that we've met and you know what will happen, you won't have to die either."

"The Oracles only had enough power left to make me able to exist in this time line for a lunar month, twenty-eight days. So that's how long I'll be here. I don't know how I'll die, whether I'll just cease to exist or someone or something will come to kill me."

"I won't let them," he stated calmly as he set their plates and bowls on the counter.

She raised her eyebrows at this but didn't comment, knowing that giving voice to the truth would only lead to more pain for both of them. They ate in silence for awhile.

"So, what is your plan?"

"I'm going to follow my parents around and make sure they don't ... um ... conceive me. The Oracles couldn't pinpoint it exactly, but I was conceived within the next twenty-seven days. It's why they had me sent back to now."

"Do you really think you'll be able to stop them? How will you? Would you be willing to break into either one of their homes and attack them if they both sleep in the same bed during that time?"

She almost seemed to wilt in front of him. Softly, so softly he barely heard her, she admitted, "I just don't know."

"Don't worry. We'll figure it out as we go. One day at a time."