Karone-sakura; you know, I would, but your email address isn't on the site… (shrugs)

Midgett; I know you wouldn't, and I'd just like to say……… neither will I! Update yours soon, you evil melty witchety witch! Gah! You're evil…

(Sooky look, then gets tackled by V)

V; Gimme my cookies!

Me; they're MINE you jerk! Bugger off!

(Gets saved when Jade karate kicks him away, and the cookies are shared between all the girls, including Karone-sakura and Midgett… )

Me; um, food!

Oh, wait! I forgot Ax last time (darn my memory!) so we'll just say he took off with some female Andalites, all right? Okay, problem solved!

I was in heaven. I was getting a back massage by one guy, and a foot massage from the other. I was sitting on an old style kind of recliner, like the ones you see in roman movies, and it was possibly the softest thing I'd ever sat on. Oil was massaged into my joints, relieving a lot of the tension from the past month or so.

This was, of course, after having the best bath I'd ever had (without my two helpers). It had been just the right temperature, and smelled of lavender and rosemary. And it did wonders for my attitude.

No doubt, the others were having simular things done to them in other parts of the strange little valley. It was a utopia. Well, sort of. Garden of Eden? Perhaps.

Hey, after all the stuff I'd seen, I wasn't about to rule that one out.

"All right, I… I feel a bit hungry" I said, still in a heavenly daze. But my hunger was pushing through it all.

"All right" the red-haired one at my feet said "What would you like?"

I told him, and then they both stopped massaging my back and feet, laying me down the right way across the bed thing, then went to get me what I'd asked. So soft… felt s good… everything so nice… kind of falling asleep a little…

"Hey" Came the voice, and I managed to unglue my eyes enough to look up and see Ithiell.

"Oh… hey… wait a second…"

"No need"

"Trust me… if I stay like this and try to… listen to you, I'll be asleep within seconds" I sat up, making room for Ithiell to sit down. He managed a smile.

"Nice vote of confidence Jade. Good to know my leader skills go so very far as to inspire you"

"Okay, now you understand what I mean"

"Uh…oh. Yeah" He smiled a little, then clasped his hands together, looking down at the ground. I nudged him with my shoulder, and he looked up at me.

"So, what'd they do to you?"

"Do to… oh you mean what did they offer me? Ah. Well, let's just say before I met the Ellimist and Crayak, I didn't really believe in 'magic' like our elders do. But here… it seems perfectly natural"

I smiled "Come on, spill. I want to know where you went"

"Damn your pushy"

"I'm a female, what'd you expect?"

"True" He smiled a little "I was given the Uriv leaves, which would be like your idea of 'treats'. And then a small ritual cleansing, only for the males of my species"

"Like a bath? Cool"

"Sort of" he managed to smile for real "It was the best thing I've ever experienced, since I left my home world. It made me kind of miss it… but also realise something"

"What?"

"How lucky I am to have a friend and sister like you"

"Hey, right back at ya bro"

He smiled again, then went into his 'thinker' mode. He looked down at his hands again, doing something strange with the tips of his claws.

"Look Jade, I know this might seem like a wonderful place, but… but I've got a bad vibe here. Something's wrong, and I can't tell what"

I frowned "Now that you mention it… me too"

He looked up at me, and I put a hand over his wrist in assurance.

"Look, you think I'm not blind to the fact that this place is absolutely perfect? Ithiell, I know. I'm not a knucklehead, although I do act like it sometimes. Nothing is perfect like this. Everything has some flaw, and I'm betting this place does too"

He nodded and smiled "Good to see you've got your knack back"

"Hey, I never lost it"

"All right, we enjoy this place for now, but… keep a lookout, okay?"

I saluted him with my fancy two fingered salute "Yes sir!"

He laughed, then left, just before my delicious silver platter of food came, and one massaged my feet again as another waited on me.

There might be something wrong here, but for now… damn it felt good.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

We met at a campfire we requested that we have, telling our… um… friends… hanging around. They left us graciously, and told us that if we needed them just call. Everything was wonderful, and couldn't have been better.

"Well, did everyone have fun?" Amanda asked brightly. All of us had. I wanted to go sit by Jake, or maybe on his lap, but I felt Marco's eyes on me. He and Cassie were cuddling, and I felt bad not to have told them a little more of what had happened. I knew they both thought we'd done something before they did…

"Well, what now? Hang around here for the next… however many days until the big scientist decides to time-jump us again? Or when he decides to throw some other horrible creature our way?" Robert asked. Although there was something on his face that I don't think had ever been there before.

"I think we can spend another day here, just relaxing" Jake said, leaning back on the log he was sitting in front of.

"I sort of agree. I think we all just need a moment to breathe" Cassie agreed. Tobias shifted on the branch above us.

(I don't think I've ever seen a place more beautiful. The thermals were perfect, and… and um…)

"Tobias, it's all right if you went human for a while and went off with two girls" Rachel assured him, and I couldn't help but snort (while holding in laughter), finding that little comment was more than a little funny under the circumstances.

(I kind of did. Sorry. It just looked so good…the massages, and the food…)

"Tobias, she said it's okay" Amanda assured him. He shifted again, staring her down. She just laughed and looked away from him.

I'm pretty sure that if he'd been human, he would have been blushing.

Ax and Rtaia seemed happy as well. Wondered what they'd been given…

"I guess we might as well just stay here. I mean, we have food, water, shelter, bedding and other essentials that each of us need"

"Or want" Marco muttered. I finally gave in to the urge, ignoring the stares from everyone as I went and sat on Jake's lap, cuddling into him. He didn't seem to mind. He put his arms around me, just staring into the fire.

(That is true. Maybe… maybe we've finally reached the end of our maze) Ax said hopefully. Although Rtaia looked unbelievably happy for her, she still managed to frown a little, shaking her head.

"I do not believe this is true. If that were the case, we would be back at home, in our own time, as we were. Or… presumably"

"Interesting point. But… let's just think about this in the morning. I am so more than tired now" Jake yawned, then dug his face into my shoulder. We all agreed, and got up and left. I asked for a bed, like one I used to have, and got something amazingly close to it. I crawled under the blankets, and… well… let's just say I don't even remember my head hitting the pillow.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Oh you're a peach Adrian" I said as my dark-haired helper put the tray on my lap. I stretched my arms and legs a little, before looking down at the toast and scrambled eggs there. It was our fourth day here, and I'd taken the time to learn their names, since they were around me more often than the others seemed to be. The red-haired boy was Corey.

I'd just woken up, and already Arian was there, with my breakfast, before I could say anything.

"Glad you like it" he said sitting down on the bed beside me "After all, it's good to keep your energy up"

"Thanks again Adrian"

"Is there anything else Jade?"

"Uh…no, not at the moment"

"All right. Corey and I will come back soon, ok?"

"Ok. Thankyou, and I'll see you in an hour or so"

"Ok" he left, and inside the small, but still amazingly beautiful cavern (which looked more like a room than a cave) I quickly ate, then took a few moments to myself, before climbing back in bed. Considered going back to sleep for a while…

Adrian and Corey were back a little later, and they gave me another massage as I sat up in bed, leaning against the short headboard of the bed. I felt so relaxed I was like squiggly spaghetti. Well, that's how I felt anyway.

"Can I have some… some jasmine tea?" I asked, feeling like my head was about to drop for good.

"I'll go get it for you" Corey took off, and Adrian moved around to take over rubbing my feet. I just lay back against the headboard, letting him go. I slowly felt myself start to loose consciousness…

I became aware of something wrong when I felt those hands of his moving from my foot, and up to a place under my knee… only Jake could use that on me…

My head snapped up, and I looked down at Adrian as he started to make his way higher up my leg…

"What are you doing?" I demanded, my serenity gone now.

"Jade, I think… I think I'm in love with you"

I blinked, then shook my head. He'd stopped massaging my leg, and now made his way up to sit beside me on the bed. He looked down at me, smiling that killer smile, making my emotions start to stir.

"You can't be in love with me. You hardly know me!"

"I am. I can't deny it. You've been driving me wild ever since I saw you"

"Adrian, I think you're getting the word love mixed in with that lust one"

"I know how I feel" he replied huskily. I felt… funny… light-headed… couldn't think straight…

"You… you don't…"

I felt my face move towards his, only centimetres away… I closed my eyes…

And saw Jake's face in my mind, clear as day. I loved that… not this…

"N-no, I can't" I jerked back, tumbling off the bed. He looked disappointed.

"Uh… why not?"

"Because I'm in love with Jake!" I scrabbled up, then ran out of the cave to find him.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

I hated hurting Adrian. He was so sweet, but he just had no clue what he was saying…

I found him on one of the roman thingymabbobies, with one if his… friends. Only… what I saw made me drop behind a boulder, not far from where they were, watching in horror as one of them rubbed his bare chest.

I kind of felt like crying.

"Jake, come on… you know you want it…"

"Keisha, no"

I guess she didn't like that word. She sat on him, then leaned down, ready to kiss him…

"I said no!" He grabbed her shoulders, roughly shoving her off him and onto the floor. She looked hurt. Good.

"But… why?"

"Because there's already someone out there for me. Her name's Jade and I couldn't think of being with anyone else but her"

I felt touched. I placed a hand over my heart, feeling the warmth spread all through my body. So, this was what it was like…

He got up, shoved his shirt on, then strode off. She got up, looking at first disappointed, then enraged. She kicked the support of where he'd been laying, then stormed off.

I took that moment to run after him.

It was only by a miracle that I caught up with him.

"Jake!"

He spun around, and when he saw me coming he ran to me, his arms open, then grabbed me up and spun me around, kissing me hard.

"There you are. I was about to come find you"

"Uh… same. Jake, I think we need to talk to the others"

His face went hard, and he nodded, still clutching to me like a five-year old with a soft toy.

"Same. I think I just figured it all out"

"Ithiell first"

"What?"

"Just trust me" I grabbed his head in my hands and kissed him deeply. When I let go, he gave me that funny smile again.

"All right. I'll trust you"

Hmm, what do ya think of that?

This is going to take such a freaky turn soon, so BE PREPARED!

Get your blankets ready to hide under! Heheheeeee!