'Jamie, Jared, Melanie! I think she's waking up!' I called down the tunnel, loud enough for them to hear past the fields.

They all came rushing in at the sound of my voice; they must not have been very far.

And it wasn't just Melanie and Jared and Jamie, but Jeb and Kyle, Sunny, Trudy, Heath, Andy, Heidi, Brandt, Paige, and even Mandy, the former healer.

'Is she awake? Huh? Did she wake up?' Jamie said quickly, hurrying to my side.

'Not yet, but she squeezed my hand, and look there, her eyes keep fluttering. I think the chloroform's wearing off'

Melanie bent over me, leaning towards Wanda and taking her other hand, the one I didn't have in mine.

'Wanda. Come back. We aren't letting you go' she said.

'Use the awake' Sunny chirped from behind.

Doc came forward and produced a small can of 'Grapefruit-scented' Awake, spraying a mist in front of Wanda's face.

I bent down to speak into her ear.

'Wanderer?' I said softly 'We're all waiting for you, honey. Open your eyes'.

I brushed my lips against hers delicately, then against her eyelids. Her eyes twitched, and then opened slowly. They were a beautiful, pale silvery-grey.

'She's waking up!' Jamie crowed.

Her eyes were unfocused on the moment, looking blindly around before finally focusing on Jeb. I reached out my hand to brush her cheek.

'Wanderer?' I asked tentatively, suddenly worried. Would she remember me in this new body? Would she remember anything? Would she even be Wanda anymore?

Soon, her expression changed from confusion into wide-eyed wonder and surprise; and expression I recognised. It was the same expression she wore when we first found her in the desert, and when she saw all of us for the first time in the caves. It was the same expression she had when she first heard my feelings for her. This was Wanda. The body hadn't changed that.

But would she still remember me?

Her eyes locked with mine, and I could see the recognition in them. I breathed an inward sigh of relief.

'Ian?' she said in a high, lilting voice that sounded like music. 'Ian, where am I? Who am I?

'You're you' I said earnestly, my face feeling like it was going to break in two from smiling. 'And you're right where you belong'.

Wanda pulled her hand out of mine and reached for her own face, but froze as she caught sight of it. Eyes wide, she turned it back and forth, as if she couldn't believe it was hers. It took all I had not to start laughing.

After a moment, she let it fall, a little crease forming between her eyebrows as an anxious expression crept onto her face.

'Where is she?' she asked, her voice trembling slightly. 'Where is Pet?'

'She's right here' Doc replied, coming forward, a Cryotank in his hands. 'Tanked and ready to go. We thought you could tell us the best place to send her'.

Wanda's eyes flicked confusedly from Doc's face to the Cryotank in his arms, and then back to his face again. She stared at him, uncomprehending, for a half a second, before recognition flooded her features. Her expression turned from confusion to shock.

'Doc!' she gasped 'Doc, you promised! You gave me you're oath, Eustace!'

Huh?

Eustace? That was Doc's real name? Every pair of eyes turned to Doc, who grimaced. I pressed my lips together in a smile, and Kyle coughed behind us to hide a laugh.

'Why?' Wanda demanded, turning our attention back to her. 'Why did you break your word?'

A flash of pain shot across her face at the memory.

'Even an honest man sometimes caves to duress, Wanda' Doc replied simply.

'Duress' Jared scoffed from behind the crowd.

'I'd say a knife to the throat counts as duress, Jared' Doc said to him, but there was teasing in his tone.

'You knew I wouldn't really use it'

'I did not. You were quite persuasive'

'A knife?' Wanda's terrified voice broke through the friendly banter.

'Shh' I soothed her 'It's okay'. My breath blew tendrils of her hair over her face, and she lifted her hand to brush them away.

'Did you really think you could leave us that way? Wanda...!' I sighed, full of happiness.

'I told you I didn't want to be a parasite' she answered me quietly.

'Let me through' Melanie ordered from behind everyone. She stepped in front of the cot and looked Wanda straight in the eye.

Wanda's golden eyebrows shot up with surprise. Well, I understand why she must have felt surprised. How strange it must have been to see her own face, her own body standing in front of her!

Without giving Wanda time to react, Melanie said firmly;

'Listen up, Wanda. I know exactly what you don't want to be. But we're human, we're selfish, and we don't always do the right thing. We aren't going to let you go. Deal with it' she finished with a grin.

Like before, it took a moment for Wanda to remember, but when she did, a huge smile lit up her face.

'Mel!' she cried 'Mel, you're okay!'

Melanie's smile grew larger as she leaned over to hug Wanda's shoulders.

'Of course I am. Wasn't that the point of all the drama?' Mel said, rolling her eyes. 'And you're going to be fine, too. We weren't stupid about it. We didn't just grab the first body we saw'

'Let me tell her, let me!' a little voice said excitedly. Wanda had no trouble recognising this face.

'Jamie!' she squealed, taking his hand when he pushed past Melanie.

'Hey Wanda!' he grinned 'This is cool, isn't it? You're smaller than me now!' Everyone in our little gathering laughed at that.

'But still older' Wanda replied 'I'm almost-' she stopped abruptly, hesitating. 'My birthday is in two weeks. I'll be eighteen'

Wait...What? There's no way that little body could be almost eighteen. Looking across the cot, I could see Melanie was just as surprised as I was.

I studied Wanda's face, my eyes tight with suspicion, but a small smile on my lips as I held back a laugh. What a terrible little liar she was.

Before I could say anything, Jamie patted her face, stealing her attention again.

'They let me come on the raid to get you' he continued excitedly.

'I know' she said, her voice suddenly more serious. 'I remember...well, Pet remembers seeing you there' she threw a fierce glance at Melanie, who just shrugged innocently.

'We tried not to scare her' Jamie began again 'She's so...kind of fragile-looking, you know? And nice, too. We picked her out together, but I got to decide!' his excitement began to pick up once more 'See, Mel said we had to get someone young – someone who had a bigger percentage of life as a soul or something. But not too young, because she knew you wouldn't want to be a child...'

I saw Wanda hide a smile at this; like she was enjoying a private joke. Further proof that she was younger than she had said.

'...And then Jared liked this face-', Jamie went on '-because he said no one could ever dis...' he searched for the right word '...distrust it. You don't look dangerous at all. You look the opposite of dangerous. Jared said anyone who sees you would just naturally want to protect you, right, Jared?' he looked back at Jared, who smiled slightly.

I smiled ruefully in Jared's direction too. A thank you. He nodded in response.

'But I got the final say, because I was looking for someone who looked like you' Jamie stated proudly. 'And I thought this looked like you. Because she sort of looks like an angel, and you're good like that. And real pretty. I knew you would be pretty' he finished, grinning hugely. Wanda looked at me, wondering why I wasn't included in this story. Jamie, noticing this, added;

'Ian didn't come. He just sat here with you – he said he didn't care what you looked like. He wouldn't let anyone else put a finger on your tank, not even me or Mel. But Doc let me watch this time. It was way cool, Wanda. I don't know why you wouldn't let me watch before. They wouldn't let me help though. Ian wouldn't let anyone touch you but him'.

I squeezed her hand gently and bent down to whisper in her ear, so softly only she could hear.

'I held you in my hand, Wanderer' I murmured 'And you were so beautiful'

Her eyes started to water up, and she sniffed slightly.

'You like it, don't you?' Jamie asked worriedly, seeing her tears. 'You're not mad?' his voice started to climb. 'There's nobody in there with you is there?'

'I'm not mad, exactly' she said quietly 'And I – I can't find anybody else. Just Pet's memories. Pet's been here since...I can't remember when she wasn't here. I can't remember any other name'

'You're not a parasite' Melanie said, her voice firm, playing with Wanda's hair. 'This body didn't belong to Pet, but there's nobody else to claim it. We waited to make sure, Wanda. We tried to wake her up almost as long as we tried with Jodi'

'Jodi? What happened to Jodi?' Wanda squeaked, the crease between her eyebrows reappearing. She shifted her weight to her forearms, trying to move into a sitting position. I slid my arm around her back and helped her up with ease. Her new body weighed about as much as a feather.

I watched her eyes scan the crowd, slowly recognising each face. She hesitated for a minute on Jared, who was standing next to Melanie with his arms around her waist, and for a minute I didn't understand her expression. Confused, possibly a little sad, and was that a flash of...pain? Her eyes shifted to Melanie for a second, and mine followed.

I saw Melanie meet her eyes and grimace, her expression tinged with regret and pity.

Oh.

Wanda still felt something for Jared then. My heart gave a strange lurch, and a sickish feeling crept into my stomach.

This was silly. Why should that bother me? It was just because of her memories of when she was in Melanie's body, right? And even if she did feel some sort of echo of love for Jared, she'd still chosen me, hadn't she? Which meant she obviously loved me more.

Unless...

Back then, when she told me she loved me, she was planning to leave. What if...

Was she only telling me what I wanted to hear? Trying to make our separation easier by letting me believe she loved me too?

Did she really feel that way about me at all?

'Jodi didn't respond. We kept trying as long as we could' Doc's voice interrupted my musings.

Sadness took over Wanda's face, and her eyes flicked apologetically to Kyle. However, when she saw Sunny clinging to his arm, her face became puzzled. She stared for a second longer before understanding.

'Sunny!' she cried.

'I got to stay' Sunny said, almost...smugly. 'Just like you'. She glanced up at Kyle's face, noticing for the first time his expression, and added, her tone more sombre now, 'I'm trying though. I am looking for her. I will keep looking'

'Kyle had us put Sunny back when it looked like we would lose Jodi' Doc murmured.

My eyes returned to Wanda's face as I tried to make sense of my emotions. Of course I was happy, elated, by the fact that Wanda was alive, well, and here.

But the possibility that she might not love me...that she only said it out of kindness, and nothing more, it made me feel worried. Edgy.

Wanda looked in my direction, and I could see the confusion in her eyes as she took in my expression.

'You okay in there?' I asked, trying to act as though nothing was wrong.

'I...I don't know' she said. I stiffened. I was expecting a yes. Wasn't she happy to be back? 'This feels very...weird' she went on 'Every bit as weird as changing species. So much weirder than I would have thought. I...I don't know'

She was looking intently at me, but I couldn't detect any resentment or sadness in her eyes. Only confusion.

'You don't mind staying here too much, do you, Wanda? Do you think that maybe you could tolerate it?' I said to her. It was meant to be a joke, but part of me still feared her answer.

Jamie was still holding Wanda's hand, and Melanie placed hers on top of his.

So did Jared. This would have bothered me, but Wanda didn't look at him, her eyes were still locked on mine. As she swiftly glanced around everyone's smiling faces, a small smile took its place on her own face, a smile of true happiness.

I took my hand and laid it gently against her cheek, my own smile reappearing as I watched the blush spread across her face. She peeked up at me through her long lashes.

'I suppose I could do that. If it makes you happy' she whispered, suddenly more shy.

I shook my head.

'That's not good enough, actually' I said. It's not enough that she wants me to be happy. 'It has to make you happy too' I finished my thought out loud.

She seemed to be getting more and more shy, her eyes repeatedly flicking between mine, and her lap.

'I...think it might. I think it might make me very, very happy' she finally, a breathtaking smile lighting up her whole face.

That was all the confirmation I needed.

I tilted her head up slowly, beaming with satisfaction when her blush grew even darker as she met my eyes.

'Then you will stay' I said resolutely, before pressing my lips to hers. She kissed me back every bit as passionately.

'I will stay' she whispered to me as we broke apart.

I was stupid to doubt her. I was right from the start. She does love me, and I love her, and now we can be together with nothing to stop us.

A life with Wanda. Just the thought of it made my heart feel lighter than air.

Wanda. My Wanda.

My only love. My angel.

My butterfly.

...

Phew! That was a long scene, huh?

Anyway, so yeah, there's that bit as Ian sees it. Now, how did YOU see it?

!

...Please?

Okay, well that's all. Bye! xxx