I woke up just as confused as the first time I woke up. "Was I dreaming?"

"Good morning." I hear the voice again. My hearing is back! But when I look over at him, I see his lips moving and once again there is silence. I reach up to rub my eyes.

"You still can't hear me?" Aizo asked.

"I guess not," I think. "You're not touching me. How can I hear your thoughts?"

Aizo took a seat next to my bed. "Because we've already established a rapport. Until you get used to using telepathy on your own, I can initiate and you can respond.

"Aside from that," he says, changing the subject, "how do you feel?"

"I can move again," I say sitting up. My stomach grumbles. He laughs.

"I take it you're hungry," Aizo says.

"Um… a little," I reply.

"I'll bring you some breakfast," he says.

"Thank you, sir," I say. I'm still confused. I think he knows that, but he doesn't mention it.

"Not sir," he says softly as he stands. "Just Aizo is fine. I'll be back."

I watch as he leaves the room again. I move to sit on the edge of the bed, placing my feet on the floor. Where is my armor? I am wearing only a pair of black pants and a blue soft shirt. Civvy clothing? If I'm dead… why am I hungry?

Aizo went to get a tray from the cafeteria. He'd not eaten himself, and he needed to stop by Alexander's office and remind him as well. It was on the way. When he got there, the door was open meaning that the Lord was not busy.

There was another angel sitting in one of the chairs in front of Alexander's desk.

"Come in, Aizo," Alexander said.

"Good morning, My Lord. Links," Aizo said, taking a seat. "He's awake."

"How is he?" Alexander asked.

"He's up and moving, but he still can't hear. It seems like this may be permanent. Or he just may need more time for healing," Aizo replied. "Although I'm unsure how long."

"Well I'm sure he's bored sitting there then," Links said looking at the old healer.

"I was going to see if you wanted to take him breakfast," Aizo said.

"I suppose so. I'm not doing anything else right now," Links replied standing. "Thank you, Lord Alexander."

Alexander nodded as he went back to trying to put his work in some semblance of organization. "I'll come by after you get him sorted."

I see the door open out of the corner of my eye and I look over. Aizo walks in carrying two trays and another man enters carrying his own. I'm frozen in shock. I'm staring back at my own brown eyes and dark hair.

He's a clone! Like me! But I don't recognize him. Especially not with the two black feathered wings protruding from his back.

"Welcome brother," he says sitting next to me on the bed. I see his lips move, but as always there is silence. Aizo sat in the chair, and put one of the trays on the table next to me.

"My name is Links," he says as he picks up his fork and starts on his eggs, barely sparing me a glance since he seems interested in his breakfast.

I have to ask him questions. Why is he here too? How long has he been here? He's a brother. A clone like me. Did he die too? That's not surprising considering we were bred to fight a war, but if this is where we come when we die, where are the rest of us? There are thousands of brothers who have died. What happened to them? I feel even more confused than ever. An idea struck me.

He has to know the signs. We all practically invented our own hand signals. It got passed through Ways of communicating when we needed utter silence. So I ask his name.

Then he sets his fork down to sign his name out.

Links. I remember that. I see Aizo watching us quietly, but with a faint look of interest.

"Eat. Talk later," Links mimes to me. He picks his fork back up, and I pick up my tray.

I really was hungry. It felt like I hadn't eaten in days. I didn't even care what was on the tray. I was just hungry. As we were eating, I could see Aizo and Links speaking back and forth. As I watched their lips, I could make out a few words, but there was nothing that told me more about why I was here.

"I need to return to the hospital, so Links is going to show you where you're going to be staying," Aizo said in my head again. I still don't believe I'll get used to that feeling. I suppress a shudder. Is this how Jedi seem to know what we're thinking? It feels invasive. My mind is as much privacy as I have. I just nod my head. Aizo collected the empty trays and left.

"What's happening?" I sign to Links.

He pauses for a moment then places his hand on my shoulder, and I hear a voice again in my head although this one sounds more like mine.

"You're good at learning as you go, right brother?" Links' voice, a voice so much like my own yet so different, speaks in my mind.

"You can speak in people's heads too?" I ask numbly now wondering what in the stang was going on here.

"Yes, but only with contact, and I'm not very good at it," Links says. "Come. I'll show you my place. You can stay there until you get your own. You'll learn after you grow your wings." He stands up, keeping a hand on my shoulder and walks me towards the door and out of the room. We walk down a hallway with more doors then into a small lobby with chairs. There is a desk near one wall and a man behind it. He had greying brown hair, and again, black feathered wings. He glances up at us, but Links just waves and we keep walking out the door and down another long corridor.

"My… Wings?" Wait what? "How do you have wings?" I question. That question has been bugging me since I had first set eyes on him.

"Yes wings," he responds.

I bristled. I know what wings are. I want to know how and why. I can see that Links has two large dark black feathered wings protruding from his back. I saw those earlier. "Will that hurt?" I wonder more to myself then remember Links can hear my thoughts..

"The first couple of days did," Links says. "Then the pain stopped. It's mostly just awkward until you learn to use them."

I tilt my head at him, but he keeps walking out of a pair of great oak doors and across a grassy yard towards another building. "Don't worry. It's just another one of my tasks as your guide."

"Guide?" I ask. Things were moving entirely too quickly. I feel more and more confused by the minute, and Links seems to realize that. I feel his hand squeeze my shoulder.

"I know it's a lot. Trust me. I was just as confused as you are when it happened to me." Links says. "That's why you're assigned a guide."

"Who was your guide?" I ask curiously.

Links is quiet for a moment. "His name was Vaux."

"Was?" I ask. Referencing the past tense usually means someone is dead… but we're already dead. So can we die again? "What happened to him?"

"He ah… he went away," Links says, and I see that the expression on his face was one of sadness. Then we enter yet another tall, 4 story building, and he starts up a flight of stairs and his smile is back again. "Sorry. You can't fly yet. We've gotta take the stairs for now," he says cheerfully, grinning broadly. "You're gonna learn that as fast as possible. We're on the eighth floor!"

I have returned! I know I said I'd have this up the same day as the first but I fibbed. I am sorry! Life got rough. Please read and review and let me know what you think!

I own nothing but my original characters.

Arrivederci!