Summary: "That's her, Mel," he whispers fervently. "That's Wanda!"

Characters: Melanie, Jared, Jamie, Ian, Doc, Pet

Disclaimer: Don't own any of it!

A/N: All right folks. This is it. The last chapter. It's been a great experience writing this. And I feel really accomplished. I'm horrible at finishing multi-chapter works. I don't usually have the attention span. But I did it! For you guys. I thought about writing a bit about what happens after she opens her eyes, but decided against it. I can't really add much to what Stephenie Meyer's already written on that point. As always, your comments are craved. Enjoy!

~Song

The alley was dim, but clean. It was nearing the end of the day, and as the sun began to sink back towards the western horizon, I shifted restlessly. We'd been at this for several hours already, and the tension mounted with each passing moment. This was our one and only chance to secure a body for our beloved Wanderer, and time was running short.

The trickle of souls passing by our hiding spot was beginning to slow as evening approached, and they returned to their homes. Countless faces had passed before us, each wearing the same tranquil, serene expression. It was unsettling to see each new face molded into the same shape-it was inhuman, as if they were dolls or robots.

Jamie and Jared were getting restless. Jared's face was drawn into taut lines; his eyes were hard, focused. Jamie was less severe, though his focus was no less intense. Just as the bitter taste of defeat and failure rose up from the back of my throat, Jared grunted. He glanced at me, jerking his head towards the street beyond. A girl has emerged from the house directly across from us. She's so small, so delicate and fairy-like. The body across from us holds no threat of danger. Violence, anger, hate-these emotions are incompatible with the angelic, child-like face. She is innocence and goodness incarnate. Tearing my eyes from the girl, I glance at my family. Jared is grinning; Jamie's eyes are glowing with excitement.

"That's her, Mel," he whispers fervently. "That's Wanda!"

I grin at his exuberance. "I think so too," I reply.

Deceiving her was almost too easy. These souls, they are too naive, too trusting for their own good. The right words and a few smiles and she was ours.

The drive back home was filled with Jamie's triumphant chatter. I tried to keep up with him at first, but after ten minutes it became clear that he neither needed nor really expected my input.

By the time we got back to the caves, only those involved in the plan were still awake. Doc and Jeb met us at the entrance. Their faces betrayed their anxiety and uncertainty in the moments before they recognized the fourth body we were carrying with us. Relieved smiles broke across their faces like sunlight piercing through storm clouds. In near silence, our group traversed the path to Doc's cave.

Pet's removal was swift and flawless. As I tipped the silver body into an empty cryotank, I could hear Doc moving behind me, closing the incision.

The days that followed seemed to drag on endlessly. We took turns sitting by Pet's bedside, trying out all the names we could think of. For the first time, I found myself hoping that there wouldn't be a response, that the body would remain as empty and unresponsive as Jodi had been. I wondered at the human capacity for selfishness then. Wanderer, in her selflessness, had betrayed her race, and I, in my selfishness had betrayed mine.

The monotonous days wore greatly on Ian. Each day he grew more impatient, more restless. If it were up to him, I'm sure he'd have reinserted Wanda after the second day. I understood his haste, but we couldn't risk putting Wanderer into an occupied body. It would be beyond cruel to both her and the body's original owner. So we waited.

By the fourth day, he'd rooted himself in place next to Pet's cot. He refused to leave the small room even for meals, and Jamie took it upon himself to bring food down to him at meal times. Ian's absence went largely unnoticed, as he'd isolated himself since Wanderer's removal. The periodic disappearance of the others, however, was more conspicuous. Curious gazes followed us as we tried to keep up the appearance of normalcy.

The majority of the community accepted the cover story without question. The small stash of healing supplies that Wanderer had provided was beginning to dwindle, and several of the cryotanks had been filled. Jamie, Jared, and I had left the caves under the pretense of a supply run. Since there had been a recent raid, there was no need for a large group or and extended run, and we were able to finish up in a single day.

I'd been surprised that Ian hadn't demanded to accompany us on the raid when the idea had first come up. He had a vested interest in the body that was brought back, and more right than any of us to make the decision. He'd kept silent, wrapped up in his own little world that revolved around the cryotank he clutched against his heart while we formulated our plan.

It went without saying that I would go; I knew her better than any of them. Jamie had been the first to recognize our duality and the first to love Wanda, and he'd been the most adamant about her return. Jared's decision to go surprised me almost as much as Ian's apathy. It meant a lot to me-and I knew it would mean even more to her. He'd hated her the most. For him to go so far to bring her back now revealed just how much had changed.

Ian had refused to come with us. He didn't care what she looked like, he claimed, and it was impossible to doubt him when he held her Cryotank so desperately. The face really was meaningless to him-he'd fallen in love with the consciousness behind the face, with the soul that inhabited the body.

I don't think I'd really appreciated the depth of Ian's feelings up until that moment. It had been hard to respect his feelings when he so callously disregarded mine. And even after that, it seemed unlikely that he could have developed an emotional attachment that could rival mine in strength when he'd never known her as I had. Compared to my love for her-love that even warred with my love for Jared--how could he compete? Wanderer had been too confused, too overwhelmed to love him as I loved Jared, and because she was torn between two loves, I had unconsciously underestimated the potential of his love for her.

And so I watched him suffer through the last days of separation with a new understanding and appreciation for the heartache he must have been enduring. And then the day came for her return. Seven days of unrelenting anxiety before Doc intervened.

I was 'on duty', still trying half-heartedly to get a response out of the comatose body. My words had long since ceased to make any sense to me as I held this stranger's hand. The words had regressed to meaningless sounds that echoed, unfamiliar, in my head.

"Mel, I think that's enough."

I stopped my droning, glancing up at Doc. Ian blinked and looked up as well, coming out of his stupor for the first time in several hours. The look of hope on his face was radiant. For his sake, I hoped Doc wasn't merely relieving me for the day.

"It's been a week. If there hasn't been a response by now, there probably won't be."

I watched as Ian's hand disappeared into the cryotank. His expression was awestruck as he lifted the palm-sized, gleaming silver soul that was Wanderer out of the protective container. No one spoke for a moment. The cave was silent but for the soft rustle of cloth and the quiet whirr of the cryotank.

"Ian," Doc intoned gently, indicating that the body was ready. I talked him through the process of insertion, describing what to expect once he had placed her in the opening, and how to check that she was bound in the optimum position.

It was over in seconds.

A few minutes later, Wanderer opened her eyes. Her tenth life had begun.