(A/N: ~Trumpets blair~ The next chapter! Yay! I'm so happy that I've gotten such good reviews. You'll have to forgive the long break (and spelling errors), but writing takes 2 things: time, and motivation, both of which I've been short on. Anyways, on with the story!)

She came face to face with Chronos, one of the most powerful and most complex Incarnations. He, like the other Incarnations, had a strange glow of power in his eyes. They were a calm green, like the leaves of trees when you look up towards the sun through them. He had a light tan, and was perhaps a year or two older than Petra. His honey-tan cheeks were tear- stained, and his eyes were puffy around the edges from crying. "Oh, my dearest Petra," he said with a sigh, throwing a handercheif. in the luandry hamper as he looked at her. "Oh Pet, how I'll miss you when you go."

He came out of his room a few steps to hug her tightly, lift her from the ground and spin her around a bit. She was surprised, but didn't mind much and so didn't object. He set her down shortly, taking her hand and leading her into his room. It too was white, with various posters, pictures, and wall hangings that she had never seen before. "Why didn't you just carry me in while you were hugging me and spinning me around?" She asked him, curious as to his motives.

A sad smile pulled at his lips, and he turned to look at her, still holding her hand."And make you mad at me so soon before you go?" He chuckled half heartedly. "I know your aversion to being carried over *any* threshold. I still remember the first time you told me that it had been the brutish male's way of proving to the woman that he had dominance." He smiled weakly, raising his free hand to stroke her cheek. His eyes started to well over and he cleared his throat. "Could you excuse me, just for a moment?" At her sympathetic nod, he kissed her cheek and hurried into what she assumed must be the master bathroom.

She delicately touched her cheek, suddenly wondering how much closer they would be/were. She looked at the posters, some of which were for movies, others for bands, all of which she had never heard of. She sat on the bed. It was as comortble as her own, and she laid down across it widthwise, looking at the posters on the far wall upside down. She sighed, putting the heel of her palms over her eyes in her eyesockets, wondering what *ever* possesed her to take on such a responsibility, and what made her so curious about the Incarnation of Time?

He came out of the bathroom just then. Seeing Petra sprawled across across his bed reminded him of his most fond memory, that in her timeline didn't exist. He wanted to say something to her about it, but decided that he wouldn't just in case that would change his past. "I'm back Pet," he told her as he sat on the bed next to her. She sat up, and he wrapped and arm around her waist. He chuckled a bit before sighing. "Here I am calling you 'Pet', and you don't even know my name."

Petra smiled a bit, taking in his scent of musk and . . . sand? Now that she thought about it, his voice sounded a bit sandy, if such a thing were possible. She realised that such things were possible and, since the hourglass was Chronos' symbol, the sandiness about him made sense. "Well, tell me your name then. I am rather curious, now."

He smiled, lop-sidedly this time. "You always were so sensible that way. My name is Jacob, and you usually call me Jay.You've let me call you Pet, short for Petra, ever since I first realised I loved you. Things in this relationship will be weird for you, but as of right this minute I remember it all working out." He shook his head.

"Four years without you," he sighed, looking into her eyes. "I can't even imagine four *days* without you, my darling Pet." He once again nestled his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply.

"Do I smell good, dearest Jay," she asked with a smile, putting the hood of his robe over his shoulders and off his head so she could stroke his hair. She ran her fingers through his hair, then nestled her face in it.

"Yes," he answered simply. "Yes. If beauty and elegance were a smell, you would be it." He kissed her neck softly and nuzzled her gently.

Petra inhaled sharply at the unexpected kiss. He pulled away, startled and worried that he'd done something to upset her. "I'm sorry Jay. I liked it, I just wasn't quite expecting it," she blushed lightly.

"I love it when you blush," he said softly, reaching up and stroking her cheeks. "It makes you look even more like an angel." He smiled weakly, almost tearing over again. "May I kiss you, Pet?"

"Yes," she answered quietly. "Yes, you may kiss me, as long as I may kiss you back." They smiled at each other, leaning forward for their hello/goodbye kiss. It was sweet, short, and simple. Petra pulled back, blushing at how forward she was being with this stranger named Jacob. He smiled at her warmly.

"If you don't stop blushing soon, I'm going to have to ... do something that I can't put into words in the presence of a lady." He was blushing by the end of the sentence, and she blushed more deeply.

"I can't help it," she told him truthfully. "I've never kissed someone I just met before. To be honest, I'm a little worried about being in a relationship where there're no common memories."

"Yeah, it's a bit strange, but it's worth it," he told her, pleading her to continue with the relationship. "Please," he asked quietly. "I need you, Petra. Please be with me, even if it is a difficult relationship for us both."

"Alright ... I guess. You're very handsome and persuasive," she smiled and blushed. "I'll stay with you, Jay. Hopefully, I'll need you too after a while."

He nodded, thinking of how torn up he'd be if she didn't need him as much as he needed her. "Well, what would you like to do?" He asked, resting his head on her shoulder again.

"I don't know; all I usually on my time off these days is sleep. Of course I've only been in office two days, so I can't really say anything is usual." She sighed and closed her eyes. "It's strange, because I don't need sleep, and my throat never hurts no matter how much singing I do."

"Tricks of the trade, my dear, tricks of the trade." He wanted to make a suggestion as to what they should do, but he was smart enough to know that his idea might scare her off. "We could watch a movie or something," he offered.

"I see you're already familiar with one of my weaknesses," she sighed, mock-dramatically. "What do you have?"

"If I'm not mistaken, I have two of your most beloved movies on DVD." He smiled sweetly and took her hand in his. "I want you to guess what they are." His eyes twinkled joyfully as she laughed.

"You know that's not fair, I have at least 50 movies that I consider to be my favorites." She closed her eyes and thought. "Let's see now. . . can I know what genre?"

"Fantasy." He answered simply.

"Okay, that narrows it down a lot. How about. . . 'Labrynth'?" She started.

"No, but close." he said with a smile.

"'The Dark Crystal'?"

"I knew you'd get it! Yeah, I have "The Dark Crystal" on DVD, care to watch it?"

"I can never turn down that movie, you should know that. So, lead the way to your TV and we'll have some popcorn and a movie."

He stood and led her into a den on the left hand side of the hallway. There was a 30" or 40" tv on a short, sturdy table facing a soft-brown corduroy couch. On another of the walls was a shelveing unti, litered with classic movies in VHS and DVD form, and a few movies that would be released in Petra's future. She grinned and jumped over the back of the couch and landed comfortably near the middle.

"I love doing that, hope you don't mind." she said to him wiht a smile. "This is a great couch, too, really comfortable." She squeaked as the couch shook and Jacob plopped down beside her.

"That's why I requested this couch. And don't worry about jumping over the back, I do that too." He put his arm over her shoulders, turned on the TV and started "The Dark Crystal".

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(A/N: A bit odd, I realise but oh well. I may re-edit later, but possibly not. I don't own "The Dark Crystal", Jim Henson productions does [It's still one of the most awesome movies I've ever seen]. Please review, and maybe I'll write another chapter sometime.)