A/N: still working on Midway, y'all! (it gives me an excuse to type on the computer)

Replies:

prin69: yeah, Nick (the guy who designed it for me) was so funny! 'Meg, can we put-' 'NO, NICK! you can't fit anything else on it!' lol. he's a really sweet guy though, and currently is designing a Magog ship for me.

L.C. Brotherton: LUCKY! trade ya: eighth grade really sucks. but I love that you get to write more of Long Winding Road: Hope you do more soon!

Vee017: :frames Temple of Gaheris membership: lol! well, Telemachus would tell everyone Terla is going to kill him because the Rose was destroyed, and Terla told him not to bust up her ship... having a shapeshifter mad at you is NEVER a good thing! drag out angst and misery? me:P oh, you know I will because I'm evil. :P ha-ha-ha!

Jamieson Z: it'll fit in somewhere! trust in the Jade, the Jade is good! or not... :P no, that's okay, I'l let you do your paper. :P

Dancing Princess: HEYA, Samantha! that was so funny wen you sent me the review when you were siting next to me!

Iara: ghostly visitor chapter... uploaded and awaiting reviews!

Chapter 40

Telemachus watched Boa hanging upside-down, trying to repair the sabotage done to the Slipstream drive by the Dragans. "Nah," he decided. "Fett, you're on your own."

"Thanks," Boa replied sarcastically as Rhade closed the door.

Telemachus went to the small quarters that Nemay had Boa had given to him. He had only intended to rest for a short while, but fell asleep in his chair.

He was standing on a gray, deserted plain. He looked around, seeing the gray horizon blend seamlessly with a clouded ski. This didn't feel like a dream at all.

"Hello?" he called, hearing nothing but his own voice echo back at him. "Hello?"

"Hello, Telemachus," came a soft reply from behind him

He turned and saw a blonde Nietzschean female wearing a dark blue jumpsuit with the insignia of one of Terazed's orbital defense stations over her left breast. "Nefatari?" Telemachus reached out a hand hesitantly. "What's going on?"

"A crossing," came the soft answer. "I have caused both your world and mine to mix together for a short time."

He looked at her. "Is this real, or a dream?" he asked, almost too scared to know the answer.

Nefatari smiled. "It is no dream, yet neither is it reality." She reached out and gently brushed her fingers over his face. "I miss you so very much, Telemachus, as do all the children. They wanted to come see you, but could not make the journey." She grasped his shoulders in a strong grip. "We don't blame you for what happened to us, Telemachus. Know that, and move on. Don't forget us, but you must keep living your life without us."

He blinked to keep the tears from falling. "I can't ever love anyone again. The guilt-"

"You must!" Nefatari announced. "For me, for all the children. Let go."

"I can't." His voice grew raspy. "I won't."

"No!" Nefatari threw herself into his arms, crying. "You have to! I cannot bear knowing your future will crumble away because of me!" She raised her face, tears streaming down. "You are denying yourself love because of me! You can love another!" She buried her face in his shirt, soaking it with tears. "Don't ruin your life because of me."

He held her as she sobbed until she had no more tears to cry. "Please, Telemachus, for me." She lifted her face to his own and kissed him with an animal passion fueled by need and desire.

Then she began to fade away. "Nefatari, no!" he yelled, grasping in vain as she became as insubstantial as mist.

Nefatari smiled sadly. "Move on, Telemachus. I'll still be here. Farewell." And she was gone.

"Nefatari!" he yelled, and woke with a start.

The lighting in the hallway outside was dimmed; it was the middle of the sleep cycle. For the first time, Telemachus did not feel a hollow ache when he thought of his first and only wife, Nefatari Kayleen, out of Majoram by Rhade. Logic told him that what had transpired was a dream, nothing more. His heart told him that he had indeed been with Nefatari. Maybe this was all just a trick of his DNA, trying to reestablish in him the basic need of all Nietzscheans- to have a wife, to have children, to have grandchildren. He didn't know, and honestly, it didn't matter.

"Beka," he whispered. He had forsaken her, abandoned her, left her alone. Why? He felt such a profound regret, such as it could not be described in Common. Along with, and almost overpowering the regret was a profound feeling of... something that could not be described no matter how hard he tried. He could feel it in his heart. Telemachus missed Beka, and sadly realized she was light-years away.

Now that he was fully awake, Telemachus could hear the soft hum of the Shadow going through Slipstream. Apparently Boa had repaired the Slip drive, and they were on their way back to the Andromeda. He wondered what Beka was doing now.

A/N: I think this is my favorite chapter so far, with the exception of Chap42, which isn't uploaded yet.

Preview of Chap41: A joyful reunion is brutally cut short by a horrible disaster.