Wow, some amazing theories! You guys are so amazing! I just said amazing twice, I know! Special thanks to Astrensi for the longest review ever…I hope to get more than just one update this week because I don't have a lot of school or even a lot of homework. At this rate, I might be done before July! That's my goal, anyways…

In this chapter (sorry, another shorter one…Chapter 14 will be long, I promise!), Kitty and Nathaniel come across something else that jogs their memories. Nathaniel explains some things to Kitty about what happened at the end of my last story (some of you may want to read the chapter "Reckoning" to understand it better). Doesn't advance the plot a lot, but kind of necessary. Promotes NatKitty fluff… that sort of thing. Plus vain attempts at humour.

Disclaimer: Anything recognizable belongs to someone else…but at least I'm honest about it.

Nothing But the Truth

"So here we are, we are alone
There's a weight on your mind
I wanna know
The truth, if this is how you feel
Say it to me
If this was ever real…"

- The Truth (Good Charlotte)

They walked on, with Bartimaeus and Nathaniel on either side of her, in case Kitty fell over again. It was all a bit ridiculous to her, almost like when she had come back from the Other Place barely able to walk.

The vision with Nathaniel and the dragon had disturbed her more than anything else, mostly because she had no way of knowing whether or not it was real. Whatever happened, she had always liked to be in control of her life and what was happening around her, and it was really a fear of the unknown that was taking hold of her mind. What if it all went wrong and she had to live with the fact that she could have saved him?

"We're at the forest, now," she said, as the "sun" vanished beneath the "horizon."

"Yes," said Nathaniel.

Bartimaeus snorted.

"I have to say, you two have a limitless capacity to state the obvious. Where's that little chick I was walking with before?"

"Chick?" Kitty raised her eyebrows.

"Never picked up any American slang before?"

"Definitely not." Nathaniel said, frowning. "And she's gone ahead."

"Oh."

They walked in silence again through the trees. Kitty saw Nathaniel wince when he stumbled over a protruding root, and she wondered if maybe this whole journey was too much for his ailing body. It was amazing, really, that he had survived this long…

They reached a clearing that was vaguely familiar to Kitty; had she been here the last time? Then she saw the fairy lights in the trees and she knew. They had been happy here once…how was it that everything had to change so much?

The girl Kathleen was sleeping against a tree; or, at least, her eyes were closed. Kitty sat as far as possible from her; she still couldn't forget that her frightening vision had come barely seconds after she had locked eyes with the silent child. Nathaniel sat gingerly down beside her, leaning against a tree as if every part of him caused him great pain. She bit her lip; how must it be to constantly feel inches away from death?

"Are you all right?" she asked, knowing that it was pointless and he would never admit to anything.

"Yes, I'm fine," he said curtly, not able to hide his wince. Nathaniel…why was he always afraid to lose face in front of her? She risked another question, her throat suddenly feeling uncomfortably tight.

"Do you – well – do you remember the last time we were here?"

He looked at her, and Kitty saw his eyes fill with unwanted tears. She looked away.

"I – I do remember, Kitty." Nathaniel said quietly. "I was – we were happy. And then I ruined everything…"

"What?"

"I shouted at you, Kitty. And I never even told you why…"

"This is getting awfully sappy for me," said a voice from above. Bartimaeus, apparently, had gone up a tree. "Here's what happened: you two got frighteningly intimate in an uncomfortable matter of days, then Nat started PMSing and ruined your relationship forever…thank God. Then we all went through my portal, lost all our memories, destroyed a demons' revolt I should have been a part of, and ended up here again. There now, no more discussion."

"It was because of my parents, Kitty…they died in a commoners' revolt and you – well – you're a commoner."

"So you blamed it on me?" Kitty whispered.

"Damn you all to the bottom of the sea!" Bartimaeus shouted.

"I didn't really mean it…it's not like my parents really mattered that much to me…they abandoned me when I was five, remember?" Nathaniel fidgeted.

"I've half a mind to go set the griffins on you all!"

"Nathaniel…my parents betrayed me. To you."

He sighed. "I know, and I'm sorry for -"

"Please stop." Kitty said suddenly. "Stop apologizing. It's all over, isn't it?"

"No kidding! Shut up!" Bartimaeus seemed irritated. Kathleen looked up at him and giggled; a rare sound. "Look at that…she thinks it's funny! Well, in this overly melodramatic scene that should never be put in a movie, I'm glad someone has a sense of humour!"

"I know," he continued. "I just wish we could get back what we had."

Kitty wanted to ask him, what's stopping us? But she knew it had all too much to do with secrets and lies, and so she left it well enough alone.

Nathaniel was crying beside her, his head in his hands, but she didn't look up…if he wanted to be emotionally brittle, that was up to him. All she wanted was to get them both out of here alive.

Kitty lay down to sleep, her back turned to the boy beside her.

Nathaniel woke early the next morning, biting his lip. The pain was getting progressively worse again, but he didn't dare wake anyone. They had to continue on their journey if he was ever to get out of this.

Don't get your hopes up, the annoying mental voice that sounded oddly like Bartimaeus' own whispered in his ear. You know it's not going to work out…what about what Nouda told you?

He wanted to tell Kitty, tell her that it was pointless and she should just leave him and go off on her own way, but Nathaniel couldn't bear it. He glanced at her, sleeping beside him…already, her rest was plagued by these dreams about him.

It was best to say nothing. That was what he had always done, after all…

Aww, I told you it would be short. Ah well, it was one of those chapters I just really wanted in there, to explain about what happened at the end of the Amulet…please review! Theories, remember…