PART 2

May 21, 1569

Venice

A woman with long brown hair and amber eyes stood before the high counsel. Her clothing, once elegant and a bit brazen were now tattered cloths who's only purpose was to maintain what was left of her dignity. Her crime was a dream. A dream that, once lost by the vows of wedlock, could only be re-enkindled by a mistress. She looked around at the men who once sought her services and betrayed their wives for the dream of love. All of them betrayed her now, with the exception of Lorenzo, the dark haired man with sea green eyes who was held back by two guards.

"Victoria Antonini. The Holy Inquisition has heard the evidence against you and is convinced that you are damned. This court sentences you to be put to death by fire." The Cardinal said, as he slammed his staff into the floor.

"No!" Lorenzo yelled, struggling against the two guards who held him steadfast.

The Cardinal glared at him and continued his speech. "As the Gospel of John commands: 'If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.' Guards, you make take the prisoner to meet her fate."

With the force of a thousand men, Lorenzo managed to shake off his captors and reach Victoria. "I love you. . . Forgive me. . ."

Victoria reached for him, but before they had a chance to kiss goodbye, she was being hauled off by two other guards. "I forgive you, my love." She called to him as she was taken to the scaffold where she stood, gazing out at the townspeople. They once had cherished her presence as if she were a queen. The women had wanted to be her, when they saw the intellect and respect that was given a courtesan. The men who could pay for her services, enjoyed having such an intelligent creature in there possession, if only for an evening.

Lorenzo, who'd been thrown into a cell for his earlier actions, looked on, past the bars that held him, to the woman he would forever love. She was a woman that he could never have completely. As a noble, he was duty bound to marry for his country. From Victoria, he took what he could get, and soon ended falling in love with her and she for him, breaking the one rule that she knew would damn her. Through the months that their love affair flourished, he had become horribly jealous at her other suitors and angrily requested for her to have only him.

From the distance, he saw her turn, her eyes seemed fixed onto his own, it was part of the connection that they held. Then he watched in horror as the women, including Victoria were moved to the pyre and set ablaze. He had pleaded with her time and time again to claim that she was guilty and throw herself on the mercy of the Inquisition. With a plea of guilty, she would be spared as they would attempt to save her soul. But, she could not, and would not deny what she was. With the hopes of saving him and the other men that she took to her bed chamber, she refused a confession and was declared a heretic.

The other women struggled against restraints. Victoria was quiet, her eyes never leaving the cell house that kept Lorenzo away from her. Even as the flames consumed her, she was at peace.

1845 Zulu

JAG Headquarters

Falls Church, Virginia

Mac sat at her desk fighting the need to talk to someone about her recent dream. Yes, she'd had strange dreams before, but this was something completely different. It was as if she were reliving a past life. A past life that she shared with Harm. She wondered if Lorenzo ever made it out of jail or if he perished in the same flames that had consumed Victoria.

Trying to put a reason as to why she would have such an elaborate dream, she didn't realize that Harm was standing under her doorframe. He brought a hand up to his mouth and pretended to be speaking through a radio. "Krrrrrr." He started, trying to fake the sound of static through a radio line. "Ah . . . Lieutenant Colonel MacKenzie, you are safe to come back to earth." Frowning when she didn't notice his attempt at humor, he finally walked into the office and tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey you!"

Mac jumped and turned to face him. "Lorenzo?… I mean Harm." Nervously, she stood up and straightened some of the files on her desk.

He just stood by, giving her his concerned look. "You alright?"

Mac nodded. "Yea, just . . .just was thinking."

Harm smiled. "About what?"

She looked up into his merry eyes, wondering if she could talk to him about it. Then that hurt feeling came to her again. She didn't know where they were and how they were doing. He'd only been back a few months and though, when working on cases, they were civil, she didn't know what would happen if things moved back to a personal level. Not to mention, she did not appreciate the smug look that he gave her once he discovered that her relationship with Clay was non-excitant. For the moment, she knew she had to keep her distance. "Nothing, Harm. . . did you need something?" She saw him wince and noted, a bit late, that her tone with him was very sharp.

"I guess not." Frowning, he turned and began walking out of her office and out the glass doors to his own. He'd been trying to figure out a way to open the lines of conversation. Specifically the conversation that he had tabled once again.

Mac just slid back into her chair, unable to shake that feeling of uneasiness. Each time the scenes from the dream replayed in her mind, it made her tense up. Reluctantly, after an hour had elapsed, she stood and headed into the courtroom for her confrontation with Bud.

Authors note: I got the idea for this past life from watching a movie called Dangerous Beauty. It was supposed to be a huge success, but it lost it's PR when the powers that be found the movie to be about a prostitute in 16th century Venice and not in good taste. It is a gorgeous story nonetheless, about Veronica Franco (It's a loosely based true story.) a woman who had fallen in love with the future senator of Venice but could not have him since she was poor. One of her only choices was to become a courtesan and help support her family. She used her fame as a courtesan to put out her poetry, as she was always fascinated with education and literature.

At the end of the flick, Veronica is tried for being a witch. Supposedly through her witchcraft she was able to lure the men of Venice into her bed chamber. I don't want to ruin the ending for people who haven't seen it. But, if you are into the sappy romance stories, RENT IT!!!