A/N: This is the last chapter, I told you it was short. Thanks for the reviews, favourites and follows, I'm glad you've enjoyed it and hope you'll like the ending too... and do let me know what you think ;)


Chapter Three

Five days after Linka returned the fire ring to the spirit of the Earth, Hope Island received a visitor.

Pontus' voice was always welcome to Gi and since his arrival was the first good thing that had happened since the storm began, she was even happier than usual. She ran outside to greet him and the others followed, all but Linka, in fact even when she heard the water planeteer scream, she remained impassive.

"I think you lost something." Pontus called out cheerfully as Gi rushed to greet him.

She returned his hug but looked at him blankly, a question in her eyes. The Oceanian was grinning at Kwame and Ma-Ti, who were standing stupefied beside them, and the water planeteer turned her gaze slowly to see what they were staring at. That was when she screamed.

Wheeler laughed. "Gee thanks Gi, I didn't think I looked that bad!"

That broke the tension and they quickly moved to welcome their lost companion, bombarding him with questions about his escape from certain death. He laughed again. "Guys, give me a chance to answer!" He was hugging a sobbing Gi, but his thoughts, as normal, were elsewhere. "Where's Linka?"

"In the kitchen. Linka!" Gi called, grinning broadly through her tears, sure now that the Russian girl would be drawn from her apathy. She moved away so that Linka would have a clear view of him when she emerged.

If she'd cared enough to sigh, Linka would have done, instead she obeyed the summons silently, not focusing on the group in front of her until she was right on top of them.

Her eyes widened as she saw Wheeler, a look of pure horror on her face, and she stumbled back a few paces shaking her head.

"You might at least pretend to be happy to see me!" The fire planeteer said frowning, clearly hurt by her response.

Kwame laid a hand on his arm and shook his head, saying softly. "She is still in shock Wheeler, she has barely spoken since you disappeared."

"She's been a complete zombie for five days." Gi put in.

Wheeler nodded in understanding and stepped forward, approaching the young girl as one might approach an injured animal. "It's okay Babe, it's just me, I won't hurt you."

She muttered something in Russian and Gaia, who had been watching from the Crystal Chamber, appeared next to the others, tears of happiness in her eyes. "She said you are a ghost, she thinks she is losing her mind."

"I'm real, Beautiful." He closed the distance between them and took her in his arms, pressing his head against hers so that she could feel his warmth. "I'm alive."

She stood rigid, staring out over his shoulder, not quite believing what was happening until Gaia nodded to her, confirming what her senses were refusing to believe. As it finally began to seep in, a huge sob wracked her body and she curled into his arms, burying her face in his shoulder and holding on to him as if her life depended on it.

Wheeler held her tightly, kissing her head and murmuring reassurances. After a few minutes, conscious that they still had an audience, Wheeler scooped her up into his arms and carried her into her cabin, making himself comfortable on her bed with his back to the headboard, and settling her on his lap.

Still sobbing, Linka continued to cuddle into him as if she hadn't noticed the change in position.

Worry, exhaustion and in Wheeler's case, injury, finally took their toll on the young couple and they fell asleep wrapped tightly in each other's arms.


Wheeler watched his beautiful friend as she slept in his arms, his pleasure at being with her almost overshadowed by his guilt. He had wanted her to miss him, he'd even imagined how she'd run into his arms and declare her undying love… okay he knew that was a bit far fetched but it was a fantasy of his all the same.

Seeing the reality of what his disappearance had put her through though made him feel like the biggest jerk on the planet, and the fact that he had returned as soon as had been possible didn't seem to matter. At the same time he was awed by how his supposed death had effected her and his heart couldn't help but hope that it would make a difference, even a small one, and that they wouldn't go straight back to being 'just good friends'.

Linka sighed in her sleep and snuggled closer, and Wheeler couldn't help but smile, a silly grin crossing his features. He leant down to press a kiss to her temple and her eyes fluttered open.

"Good evening Sleeping Beauty."

The Russian smiled at him but she clearly wasn't properly awake. "Evening?"

"Yeah, I guess we were tired."

"Mmmm." Linka snuggled back down. "I had a terrible nightmare, thank you for coming in to me."

Wheeler hesitated. The last thing he wanted was to distress her but he felt compelled to tell her the truth. "Er… I'm not sure it was a dream Babe… depending on what you're talking about."

She sighed, rubbing her face against his shoulder. "There was a storm and…" She froze as her mind began to clear, then she sat up abruptly, suddenly alarmed, and looked deeply into his eyes. "You were dead!"

He reached up to cradle her face in his hands. "I'm fine. I promise you, I'm here and I'm fine."

"But it really happened…?" She swallowed. He nodded and pulled her back against him, stroking her hair soothingly. There were too many questions she wanted to ask and after a moment they came out as a simple, "How?"

"Apparently Oceanus has colonies all over the world, I guess they didn't want us to know about that." He shrugged and tightened his grip on her. "We weren't that close to one really but luckily for me they had a craft out that way. They picked me up and took me back to their base but I was sick, both from the knock to the head I got and the pressure. I was pretty deep when they found me. Of course they know how to treat that, far better than we do but it still took me a few days before I could tell them who I was and where I needed to be."

He chuckled. "And then it took me a while to convince them to let me go, they thought I was just some stupid land lubber who'd tell their secret. I had to convince them to call Oceanus and get Pontus to come get me!"

Linka moved again so that she could look at his face, and to Wheeler's dismay there was fear in her eyes. "Babe what's wrong? I told you, I'm okay!"

"I know." She replied sadly. "But for how long? How long until something else happens, something worse… Wheeler, I thought you were dead! I cannot go through that again, I could not survive it." She shook her head and looked away. "Part of me wants to run away. If I am with people I do not know, I do not have to care for them and if I do not know what is happening to the people I do care for, I can just believe they are ok."

"I don't believe that for a minute, you're not a quitter."

"I did not used to be." Tears formed at the edge of Linka's eyes and she buried her face once more in his shoulder to hide them. "Yankee, I do not want to ever feel like that again. I did not care about anything, I just wanted the world to go away and leave me alone. I wished I was with you…"

Wheeler was not unnaturally alarmed. "Don't talk like that! Babe, I'd never want you to give up because of me, but I promise I'll never choose to leave you, not ever!"

"I did not choose it, it was just the way I felt… you were gone and nothing made sense anymore and what we do is so dangerous." She shivered, clinging to him as tightly as she could. "It could happen again."

The American took a breath and made a decision. "Do you want to leave then? I don't really think you'd be happy giving all this up but if you want to… I don't know, live a quiet, normal, danger free life… I'll go with you, if you want me to?"

A smile spread across Linka's face, knowing as she did what it cost him to make such an offer. Hope Island was the only place he'd ever felt that he fit in, the only place he really thought of as home. He most certainly wouldn't have an easy time of it in Russia and there was a good chance that they would struggle almost as badly in America, something he'd promised himself he would never go through again… and yet he was willing, if it made her happy… if it meant they could be together.

"You are very sweet sometimes Yankee moy, but you are right, neither of us would be happy leaving the Planeteers." She reached up to stroke the hair back from his face, gazing lovingly into his eyes. "I will just have to make sure I do not let you out of my sight, perhaps I will tie you up."

He laughed and waggled his eyebrows at her. "That could be fun… so does that mean we're staying?"

Linka nodded. "Unless you ever decide you want to leave… for the record, if I had to choose, I would choose you."

Wheeler didn't need any more encouragement, he brought their lips together in a loving embrace that was the first of many that night. He was determined to show her that love was worth the risk but that he would do his best to protect her heart from any more pain.

Linka was very serious about making the most of the second chance they'd been given and if the prospect of losing him still frightened her a little, she was at least determined that neither of them should ever have any regrets.

When the sun rose on a new day, they were still intent on showing each other their devotion and though Linka was now free to cry, her only tears were ones of joy.


The End