Hey guys! It's Bella here. I'm sorry for the late update but as you may or may not know – There has a lot happening with the Fallen fandom recently, and I'm often known for posting as much official news as possible. I also wanted to let you guys know – We have fourteen days left till Comic Con! Yes, where Fallen is supposed to start promoting! And where we'll be expecting a trailer for Fallen! Are you guys excited?

But, I also wanted to thank you all for your ideas, reviews, and follows. It means the world to me that you come back each time to read this. Thank you so much! And be sure to drop a review for this chapter as well!

Love Never Dies,

Bella

Chapter 6

x

Shedding Light

When Daniel's feet finally met the ground, his hair was windblown and his tension had come to a slight ease. His mind was no longer filled with Lucinda's name or memories, or anything for the matter. He rolled his neck and shoulders, his wings stretching once more before drawing into his back, causing a breathy moan. His head was trued up at the sky, his eyes closed as he enjoyed the peace that not only surrounded him, but also filled him. It had been a while since Daniel had been able to relax, with Lucinda being enrolled into Sword & Cross and Cam coming around to purposely screw with things.

Daniel looked away from the sky and looked for the black hoodie that he had taken from the Lost-And-Found, which he found laying on the ground where had left it. He had started to pull it on, until he heard a rustle in the leaves and a voice.

"It's just a sixth sense." Teased a male voice, "If you like it, there's a seventh sense, and an eighth sense, and a ninth sense where that came from." The voice continued. For a second, Daniel didn't know who the voice belonged to, until the second voice spoke.

"Impressive." This time it was a female voice, a voice that sent shivers down Daniel's spine and the muscles that closed his wings inside quiver. Lucinda. It had to be Lucinda – No one else had that kind of effect on Daniel. Daniel quickly pulled the hoodie on and slid behind a tree, peeking around the see who was with her.

Cam.

Daniel sighed, shaking his head as he rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers. Why can't you see that is the last person you'd want to be around, Lucinda? Daniel thought to himself as he watched Cam lay out a plaid blanket, a basket hanging at his elbow. Not only was it jealousy that swelled in Daniel, but there was mixed feeling of guilt and yearning that was consuming Daniel. He wanted so badly to be Cam at this moment, to be able to take her out on long walks along the river, have picnics in a meadow, and be able to be able to listen to her for hours. But, then there was the fact he didn't want to be Cam. He wanted Lucinda to be there with Cam, he wanted her to refrain from getting close to Daniel. This was exactly what Daniel wanted, he wanted Lucinda to live a life without him.

Daniel sighed, his gray eyes showed the anguish that had suddenly ran through him, making him clutch his chest and suck in a sharp breath as he turned away from Lucinda and Cam, his back pressing against the tree trunk. It reminded Daniel of the pain he felt when he lost her, it was less painful – Or worse. Daniel didn't move for several minutes, until glancing briefly at his watch. Class was still going, and he could escape there for a while. He glanced once over his shoulder, looking towards Cam and Lucinda once more.

They were now sitting on the blanket, close enough to kiss if they wanted to, Cam was squeezing Lucinda's hand – Which left her gaping at Cam, her eyes semi filled with desire.

Daniel swallowed down the lump that grew in his throat, turning quickly away as his stomach coiled at the sight. Daniel scurried back to the quad, taking the long way to avoid detection from Cam and Lucinda.

Daniel was jogging by the time he had reached the quad, in hopes he could run away from the images that burned themselves into Daniel's mind. Daniel slowed down midway through the quad and collapsed on the ground. Sword & Cross disappearing around him as it faded black.

"Papi!" A french accent called, a warm hand placed on Daniel's upper arm as it shook him gently. "Papi! There was wreck, and a survivor." Daniel coughed, water erupting from his mouth.

"Sit him up, Lulu, sit him up." A deep voice called back, multiple sets of foot step approaching the limp body that had washed up ashore, a large ship was nearly shredded into pieces near the other end of the beach. Daniel was stirring, his gray eyes fluttering open until they met with bright hazel orbs, that forced Daniel to hold a gaze. Daniel had almost forgotten about Lucinda in the recent weeks, it had been nearly a month since her typical arrival date and Daniel was nearly certain the cycle had been broken.

But, here she was, staring down at him with awe.

Daniel reached up, his hand cupping his jaw as he coughed again, a smile spreading across his lips as he felt the warmth of her skin under his fingertips. Lulu was taken aback at first, surprised by Daniel's touch and his smile, but an embarrassed smile bloomed over her face and she looked away from Daniel's eyes.

"Don't look away, I like seeing your face." Daniel murmured, slowly sitting up and gently pulling her chin so she could look at him.

"Oh, Daniel – What happened to you?"

"What?"

"Daniel, are you alright?" It took a moment for Daniel to come back to reality, to realize that Lucinda wasn't in his presence, that he wasn't on the undiscovered islands of Tahiti, that he in present time – And that's where Luce was falling with Cam, where Daniel was feeling that heart ache then.

Gabbe was hovering over Daniel's body, a worried look in her eyes. "Daniel, what happened?" Gabbe repeated when Daniel had regained some consciousness. Daniel blinked and slowly sat up, leaning back on his elbows for support. It took a moment for Daniel to understand that Gabbe had asked Daniel a question, several times now.

"Cam happened." Daniel croaked, looking down at his lap. "I don't understand, it wasn't. .It wasn't supposed to be painful – I just want her to be happy and now that I see it unfolding I don't know how much I can take, Gabbe." He whispered, screwing his eyes shut again and his fingers digging into the ground. Gabbe sighed, rubbing Daniel's shoulder lightly.

"You love her, Daniel – To see her with someone else is going to be painful. Though she may be happy, though she may have someone by her side – You don't. You're burying yourself into your despair because you don't have her. It's only human, Daniel, it happens quite more often than you think." Gabbe whispered. "You need to make a choice, either you have to take your chances with Lucinda and make it worthwhile, or you have to let her go. You know, you're always welcome back with us Daniel. . ." Gabbe trailed, watching Daniel with curious eyes.

Daniel looked lifeless, as if his soul was ripped out of his chest and he was nothing but a being of a man. He was considering it now, to maybe release Lucinda of the curse and pick a side. But, he knew he would regret it if he did – Not only did he love Lucinda, but she chose him, she gave up everything for him. Daniel shook his head, getting to his feet.

"I'm not going back, Gabbe. I've told this to you before; I think about her, and only her. I will choose her as she chooses me." Daniel said firmly, narrowing his eyes. "And that will never change, no matter how much you all beg me to choose. Our love? Our love is worth everything to me, it's worth the pain

I have to endure each time. It is always worth it." Daniel's eyes were a lustrous violet now but still narrowed. "I'm not going back, not unless she gives up on me." He mumbled the last part of his sentence, because it was the last thing Daniel wanted. Lucinda backing out of their love. It made his heart strain inside his chest and made his violet eyes fall to their dull gray. Gabbe sighed and rested her hand on Daniel's shoulder.

"Don't beat yourself up, Daniel. I'm only letting you know that the option is open to you." Gabbe reassured before letting her hand fall and walked around him. Daniel sighed, running his fingers through his hair as he glanced briefly over his shoulder to watch her descend into the forest. He stood in the quad for a moment, trying to debate whether or not he should go to class or to go and try to sleep.

And if he tried to sleep, his nightmares would still be filled with Lucinda – And Cam, now – and it was the last thing he wanted to think about – Making class his last option. Daniel sighed and headed for the library.

XoXoX

After being settled into a station and being scolded by Sophia, Daniel sank into his seat, staring at the black computer screen in front of him as he waited for instructions. Daniel continued to stare at the computer screen, watching the blond haired boy.

He looked so. . . Lifeless. His dull gray eyes showed the boy's suppressed pain, as if he had suffered more than he should have. He probably did. Daniel couldn't stare at his reflection, it made a feeling of remorse sprout through him, forcing him to look down at his lap. He heard the library creak open, two pairs of footsteps filling the eerily quiet room, making Daniel glance briefly up.

"Lucinda, you can have station three." Daniel quickly turned his face away when he heard her name being spoken. He didn't want to look at her, he didn't want to see her, he didn't want to know if her hair was messy from Cam's fingers twisting into it, he didn't want to know if she had a hicky along her jaw, he didn't want to know if she was still flushed and heated from their – possible – kiss.

Daniel's eye glanced briefly towards Cam, who he hadn't seen come in. Cam was glaring towards him, as he had done something wrong. Daniel felt certain that it had something to do with Lucinda, and he was too far in his own depression to actually care, so he turned away from Cam and slowly sat up, his eyes wandering across the room. He couldn't help but sneak a glance at Lucinda – Who he found sitting beside Penn, who was tapping her pencil impatiently. Daniel stared at her for a moment, looking for any signs that something had happened between her and Cam. But, nothing. Instead, she looked almost guilty, as if she had done something, as if something were bothering her.

And it killed Daniel that he couldn't help her.

"If any of you have ever traced your own family tree, then you'll know what sorts of treasures lie buried in the roots." Sophia began, standing in the middle of the computer lab. "You'll have twenty minutes access to the internet to begin research your own family tree. A generation is roughly twenty to twenty-five years, so aim to go back at least six generations."

Daniel couldn't help but groan at this news. He didn't want to go back, he didn't want to look into his past anymore, that was why he came to class in the first place – A distraction from Lucinda, not a reminder and to do a 'family tree' on it.

He heard the chairs shift as they turned to face Daniel, who had a bit of a sour look on his face as his foot tapped slowly under the desk on the carpet.

"Daniel? Do you have a problem with this assignment?" Sophia asked him, raising her eyebrows in his direction. She knows damn well what the problem is with this assignment, Daniel thought, but didn't speak. He shrugged and sighed, puckering his lips.

"No, not at all." Besides the fact that I came here to get away, not to go into details. "That's fine. My family tree. Should be interesting." Interesting enough to kill me.

Sophia cocked her head to the side, a questioning look on her face. "I'll take that for an enthusiastic endorsement." Sophia spoke towards him once more before turning back to the class. "I trust you'll find a line worth pursuing in a ten- to fifteen- page research paper."

Ten to fifteen page research paper.

Daniel ran his fingers through his hair as he thought about this. He couldn't do this right now, not in this state; not with the sick churning in his stomach, not with the constant imaginary burning image of Lucinda and Cam kissing roughly on the blanket in the cemetery, and he most certainly didn't want to dive back into his past.

Daniel finally reached for the mouse and opened the browser, holding a tight poker face as he watched it open up and typed in his name. Daniel knew what was bound to come up; Possibly old pictures, old articles about how the stable boy in France was jailed for having a love affair with the princess, everything about Lucinda and him would be there.

Nothing. Nothing had come up. Daniel knew this was either A) a blockage in the internet or B) someone had erased any data that Daniel even existed before this time. But, Daniel was semi grateful for this. It meant he wouldn't have to read things he had read thousands of times before, it meant he wouldn't have to view any images of Lucinda from a past life – It meant he wouldn't have to relive the pain.

Daniel's hand reached up to his chest and his fingers wrapped around the medallion that hung around his neck; Lucinda's locket. Daniel had given it to her in a past life in the eighteenth century, he could still remember the excited look on her face when he had bought it for her when they were in Florence, how he walked with her through the streets and held her for hours, kissed for her for hours. . .

Daniel didn't know why he wore it – Perhaps it was for the sensation of her presence, or maybe because he wanted to remember her. He sighed and slouched back into his chair, staring at the computer screen as his eyes scanned the bits of information that had come up, until his eyes trailed over to Lucinda once more.

She was wearing a nervous look, as if she were committing a crime as she finally typed into the computer. Daniel wanted to know what she was looking up, how she felt about her life before Sword & Cross, if she could have had something more before coming here.

And if it was ruined, again, because of their curse.