Disclaimer: I don't own and will never own Bridge to Terabithia and The Scientist.

Tell me your secrets and ask me your questions,

Oh lets go back to the start

May Belle Aarons, 13, as young as one could ever be, had realized what true love is – from her brother's sorrow. That episode at Terabithia was something she couldn't fathom to forget. It was such a painful site, something she wanted to shield her eyes from. She had never seen Jess so broken before. Jess wasn't overtly emotional before, even if he was all by himself and stayed alone in his room, she had never heard him cry. Everyone in brood, except for her, ignored Jess. Brenda and Ellie were like the two wicked stepsisters from Cinderella; Joyce Ann would be a brat sometimes, and May Belle? She was just May Belle, apart from that, she was her brother's sidekick. Good ol' May Belle was second to how Jess knew what love was, Leslie was first of course.

May Belle always thought if Jess had secret – she had. Everyone kept secrets… Maybe even God kept secrets too. Maybe Leslie's death was a secret? What was her purpose actually? He took her far too early, she had so much ahead of her yet everything was taken from her in a snap of a rope. That damned rope, she gritted her teeth. Leslie was the sister she always hoped for, yet she too was taken from her. That damned rope which had connected reality and fantasy – something his brother had emotionally relied on. It was his haven. His and Leslie's haven.

Jess never returned that morning. May Belle knew their mother was going to worry about them, so she decided to go home and just leave Jess for a while. She knew him well enough that he'd come back eventually. He just needed time to breathe, almost likely because he almost forgot to.

Jess woke feeling really cold. He was shivering. He felt so wet, and when he looked at himself, his clothes plastered on him. He remembered the events from last night. How bad he wanted to kill himself and get everything over with so he could be with her in someplace else, but he knew that wouldn't be the answer – at least not yet.

He slowly rose up and took his shirt off, or else it would only worsen the coldness he was feeling. At 17, Jess' body wasn't that of the 12 year old boy he used to be – he had a well toned body. It was because he was always helping his father out, part of his daily regimen to distract himself. It was beneficial, since he had a nice body and became stronger.

Jess at first thought it was just his imagination. He never thought that he had actually ran this far and deeper into the woods. He had never been at this part of Terabithia ever.

What stood before him was a large cave. How in the world did this cave exist here? He asked himself. He was dumbfounded. He and Leslie used to explore Terabithia before, deeper he thought maybe, but they had never encountered this cave. It was like this cave suddenly popped out of nowhere. Then again, he figured that he might as well take a look.

As he entered the cave, it was like he felt as if he was being embraced. He couldn't explain the feeling, but it was like a huge blanket of comfort was wrapped all over him. He felt so safe, so warm like that fuzzy feeling he used to feel back when she was still arrive and around him, and loved… It was like he felt her presence. The feeling was really overwhelming. He had goosebumps, but not from feeling scared, but because he felt such a strong presence – Leslie.

"Leslie?" he called out. "Leslie? A-are you here?" he asked out. All he felt as a response was a cool breeze that caressed the nape of his neck, as if to say yes.

The direction of the wind blew past him, leading him further into the cave. His mouth gaped when he saw something he hadn't expected to see in a cave like that. He jumped over a few pile of rocks blocking the way and stumbled upon things he didn't fathom to see.

A stack of books.

Books, notebooks, pictures. Those were what he saw. A tear escaped from his eye as he felt the pain all over again. What were her things doing here? Did she…? That was when it struck him – Leslie had been here. He felt a little sad, wondering why she had never brought him or just told him about this place, but that doesn't matter. It wasn't like she was still alive to apologize and do an explanation. Leslie worshiped books, there wasn't a single day that he saw her without one. Novels were her favorite, especially those that were about adventures and love.

Jess took a look of the notebooks that were piled neatly. He couldn't believed they were still like that for five years. Leslie was a neat freak, and she definitely brought that trait even out here. Jess took one of the notebooks and started reading its contents. Most of the writings were poems, about love to be exact. In her poems, she wrote about unrequited love and how she badly wanted to tell him her feelings. I wonder who that lucky bastard is, Jess thought to himself. It couldn't be him. He was just a little farmer boy back then.

He took another notebook and flipped a few more pages until something caught his attention: his name. Why would Leslie write his name? Leslie's father had told him that she loved him. Friendly love, he thought. Totally platonic.

But then... Leslie had scribbled something else.

I love you... Jess Aarons. Not as a friend, but... something deeper than that... Do you love me too? I wonder...

"Oh Leslie... I love you so much," he said as tears welled up in his eyes. He hugged the notebook he was holding, as if his life depended on it. Jess had felt something back then, but he just shrugged the feeling off. Oh how he regretted those actions.

"If only I could go back and start all over again, I would."