Chapter Two

The next day went by unusually quickly, and before she knew it, Aisling found herself at the Monkees' Pad, standing on the balcony overlooking the beach. She stared at the waves crashing against the sand, her long red hair billowing gently in the wind. She shivered, the reality of what she learnt the previous night finally starting to sink in. 'How am I going to tell him?' she thought, 'He'll think I really AM going mad! Hearing voices, seeing ghosts... What am I going to do!?!' Tears welled in the corners of her eyes, "I can't do this," she murmured. "I can't do this to him, it wouldn't be right, for me or for him. I mean, he doesn't believe in all this stuff, not like I do!"

"Believe what?" a voice asked from behind her, making Aisling jump with fright.

She turned toward the source of the voice slowly, her heart pounding in her chest, to find Mike standing in the doorway which led into the Pad. Aisling bit her lip, finding herself unable to respond straight away. "N... n... nothing," she stuttered, starting to feel like a complete idiot. "It's nothing."

"Are you sure?" Mike asked, taking a step towards her. "Because it looks like you're about to start cryin'."

Aisling's hands flew to her face. "It does?" she asked, quickly wiping her eyes. "There. All gone," she said, smiling shyly. "Now, did ye want me for somethin'?"

Mike shook his head. "Actually, Peter sent me. He... uh... he thought something was botherin' you," he said, then shrugged. "Guess he was wrong."

He turned to go back into the house, but Aisling stepped forward, closing the gap between them, and grabbed his hand. "Stay."

Mike looked at her strangely. "Why?"

"I don't know, just..." Aisling sighed. "It's okay, I guess I'm havin' one of those days."

He smiled. "Bad day?"

"No, just havin' a lot of weirdness show up all at once," she sighed, "Feelin' a bit overwhelmed, that's all."

"You should've been here all the times Davy got us into trouble because of a girl."

Aisling laughed. "Like I said yesterday, I've heard the stories. Jesse told me, because Peter and Micky told him. Seriously though, does he really do that all the time?"

"More often than you think. We kept him chained to a chair once and THAT didn't even stop him!"

"Wait, you chained him to a CHAIR!?! What did you do that for?"

"Mrs. Badderly, the owner of the tea room in town, was trying to get him to go on the amateur hour with her daughter."

"And launch her career at the expense of the band."

"Yeah."

"Well, things must've turned out okay, since the band's still together."

Mike nodded. "Anyway, what I'm tryin' to say is, the fellas and I are basically weirdness magnets. We're always attractin' something we don't want and sometimes things can get a bit out of hand and we've made a lot of enemies and..."

'Weirdness isn't the only thing you attract,' Aisling thought, with a small grin on her face. "I never thought I'd live to see ye babblin'," she said.

"Hey, I don't babble," Mike said, feigning indignation, "Micky babbles."

She smiled, rolling her eyes in amusement, "Em, I was wonderin'..."

"What?"

Aisling's mind raced. 'Can I kiss you?' she thought, 'Can I spend the rest of my life in your arms? Did you know that we're soulmates? Did you know we're the reincarnated souls of a married couple who died one hundred and fifty years ago?' Listening to the words in her head, Aisling began to feel more and more reluctant about telling Mike anything she'd learned about the voice and how it related to them. "Forget it, I shouldn't have said anything," she said at last, letting go of Mike's hand. "But it is nice to know ye care, though," she added, standing on her tiptoes and hugging him. She started to pull away slowly, but she stopped when she looked into Mike's eyes. 'He's so close,' she thought to herself, 'Should I make a move? Should I wait to see if he makes a move?'

Mike looked at Aisling, indecision darkening her pretty face. The little voice in his head started yelling 'Kiss her!' as loudly as it could. He leant forward...

"MIKE!"

The pair of them jumped at the sudden outburst that had come from inside the Pad, quickly separating from one another and running back inside the house. Taking in the scene before them, Mike and Aisling found Peter sitting at the kitchen table in tears, a dry dish towel wrapped tightly around his hand. Micky was at the sink, cleaning up blood, while Jesse and Davy were trying, and failing, to calm Peter down.

"What happened!?!" Mike cried.

"Pete was doing the dishes from lunch," Jesse explained, "but he sliced his hand open with a knife by accident. We called for you as soon as it happened, Mike. I think he's gonna need stitches."

"Oh man," Mike moaned, before composing himself to take control of the situation, "Uh, get him in the car, fellas, we'll take him to the hospital."

"I'm comin' too," said Aisling, "I mean, it is my fault Peter got hurt, I shouldn't have distracted ye, Mike."

"This ain't anybody's fault, Ais, it was just an accident."

She nodded, then walked over to Peter and kissing him on the cheek. "Come on, Peter, let's get ye fixed up."

Peter smiled, despite the pain, "Okay, Aisling." He stood gingerly, allowing Micky and Davy to help him out to the car, Mike, Jesse and Aisling following close behind.

"Sure ye don't want to come with us Jesse?" Aisling asked, as Micky and Davy helped Peter get in the MonkeeMobile, and Mike got in the driver's seat. "There's plenty of room in the car."

Jesse shook his head. "Nope, I'll head past your mom's on my way home and let her know you'll be late, so she's not worrying about where you are."

Aisling smiled. "Thanks Jess," she replied before joining Peter and Davy in the back seat of the enormous car. "Always knew I could count on ye!" she called as they drove away.

While Mike drove, he thought about what almost happened on the balcony. He was about to kiss her, wasn't he? Yes, he was. Because he wanted to and, from the look in Aisling's eyes, she'd wanted it too.

It was then he realised he had to find another chance to be alone with Aisling.

* * *

A few hours later, Aisling and the Monkees finally left the hospital. Peter's hand had been stitched up and bandaged, being warned that he couldn't play the piano or his bass again until it was almost completely healed and the stitches could be taken out. This had all of them concerned, since Peter would be out of commission for a while and the Monkees still had gigs lined up, so a temporary replacement needed to be found.

"Well, I know Davy can handle the bass," said Aisling. "And I could play the piano, maybe even take over percussion when Davy's playin' the bass, so ye won't need to cancel your gigs," she smiled, "How does that sound?"

"What about your dance practice with Jesse?" Mike asked.

"He knows that Peter's hurt and can't play for a while, and he knows that ye need another pianist until he's healed. He'll understand."

Mike nodded. "Okay, but just until Peter's hand gets better."

"Of course," Aisling agreed. "Now I think it's time ye took me home, yeah?"

"Right. We'll go back to the Pad first, so Peter can get some get some rest and start lettin' that cut heal, then I'll take you home."

"That's fine by me," she replied with a wry smile, taking Mike's hand and giving it an affectionate squeeze.

Mike smiled warmly. "Good."

Micky, Peter and Davy watched the pair and exchanged a conspiratorial look. They saw the way Mike looked at Aisling and they could tell that he liked her more than he let on.

"You know what," whispered Davy, "I think our fearless leader's actually getting stars in his eyes over Aisling!" He laughed. "Speaking from personal experience, of course."

Micky and Peter grinned. "Of course," they echoed.

"Which means we've got to get them together, right?" Micky asked, rolling his eyes.

"Right."

"So, what are we going to do?" said Peter. "How are we going to get them together?"

"Well, we know something almost happened on the balcony," said Davy. "We just need to make sure that they get another chance for that something to happen for real."

Together, the three Monkees formed a plan. They would wait a week or so, invite Aisling over, then organise to get out of the Pad. It was the perfect plan, since Mike, as a general rule, usually stayed at home in case anyone called about employing them for a gig. The three of them nodded in agreement, their decision made.

In a few weeks time, Mike Nesmith and Aisling O'Callaghan would be more than just friends, if their plan worked.

* * *

"Mike nearly kissed me today, Mam," said Aisling as they sat together in their living room. "I know he was goin' to, but..."

"But what?"

Aisling sighed. "Peter hurt himself, Mam, it was only an accident of course, but we had to take him to the hospital, so the moment sorta got interrupted," she replied glumly.

"But you're goin' to try again, aren't ye?"

"I hope so," Aisling blushed, smiling slightly, "I think he was as disappointed about it as I was." She cocked her head, thinking about how close Mike had come to kissing her. It had surprised her when he'd leaned in towards her and she'd been able to feel his breath, warm and sweet, against her mouth, then the sound of the others calling Mike's name breaking the spell. She smiled a little more, "I'd love to have another chance with him," she admitted, blushing again.

Bridget hugged her daughter. "You're a smart girl, you'll get your chance again!"

Aisling looked at her mother thoughtfully. "How did ye know Da was the one for you, Mam?" she asked.

"Well, I didn't like him that much at first," Bridget replied, which caused Aisling to raise an eyebrow. "Don't look at me like that," she scolded, "Your old Da wasn't always the kind man ye thought he was, not in the slightest."

"What was he like when you met him?"

"Drunk."

"Drunk?"

Bridget laughed at the sceptical look Aisling gave her. "Your Da was the typical Irish lad, goin' down to the pub with his mates every night. That's how he was when I met him, completely fluthered."

Aisling smirked, amused by her mother's story. "Stop pullin' me leg, Mam!" she giggled.

"He was!" Bridget insisted, not even attempting to hide her smile, "Came right past me house, three sheets to the wind, every night."

"Okay, okay! I believe ye! Just tell me the story, Mam!"

"Anyway, your Da was always tryin' ask for permission to court me, but your Granda wouldn't let him."

Aisling looked surprised. "He didn't? Why not?"

"Your Granda already had a suitor in mind for me and he didn't want a drunken layabout, like your Da was at the time, as a son in-law."

"What changed?"

"Well, your Granda was away on business and tryin' to organise a meetin' with me suitor," Bridget explained, "But one night I found your Da passed out on me doorstep, so with your Nana's help I brought him inside to sleep it off."

"So you looked after him until he got better? And that's when you fell for him?"

Bridget snorted. "Of course not! I haven't finished the story yet!"

"What happened then!?!"

"He stayed the night and woke up the next mornin' not knowin' where he was or what he'd done. He didn't remember a thing!"

"He didn't?"

"Oh, it all came back to him as soon as he saw me bringin' him some breakfast and somethin' for his hangover."

Aisling couldn't help the smile that broke out on her face. "So you did take care of him."

"Aye, and it made him even more determined to court me. He told me he loved me that very day." Bridget sighed. "And I must admit, I'd started to fancy him too, once I knew how much of a gentleman he was when he sobered up. I gave him permission to court me, but only on the condition that he stop drinkin' as much. He accepted on the spot."

"So what happened with the other suitor?"

"He found another girl he wanted to marry and that was that. Your Granda wasn't very happy about it, or about me givin' your Da permission to court me, but he accepted it. Your Da and I were married a year later."

"Then I came along."

Bridget kissed the top of her daughter's head. "And the rest is history." She checked her watch. "Ye better get some sleep, Agra, it's late."

Aisling nodded, yawning reluctantly. "Yes, Mam. G'night, Mam."

"Oh, and Aisling," Bridget called as her daughter got up to leave, "Good luck telling Mike how you feel about him."

Aisling's face turned bright red. "Thanks, Mam."

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Pad, the Monkees were also going to bed. As he fell asleep, Mike started to dream. He wouldn't have found this unusual if the dreams were the ones where the band finally made it, where they were playing for hundreds of screaming fans, making hit records, being able to buy the Pad and never having Mr. Babbitt on their backs demanding the rent ever again. But this wasn't like any of those dreams. Those dreams could be turned into reality. This dream felt different from the others. He looked around and found that he was standing in the grounds of a fine house, finer than any he'd ever known, finer than any of the fine houses that the band had performed in. Where he was, Mike felt like he'd been here before. Looking up, Mike saw three people on the horizon, a woman wearing a flowing white gown, long red hair cascading down her back, standing between two young men. The woman looked strangely familiar, but the men, there was something odd about them, their faces were blurred, as if someone didn't want him to see them. Mike watched as the woman kissed one of the men, then waited until they were gone before turning and looking straight at him, walking towards him with a warm smile on her face.

"So you've finally made it," she said. "I was beginning to wonder if you ever would."

"Do I know you?" he asked. "You feel familiar."

"I do?" she replied, her warm smile transforming into an amused smirk. "Who do I look like to you?" She kissed him chastely on the cheek, "Like a friend from your childhood? She kissed him, still chastely, on the lips, "Like a friend you love, yet have no romantic interest in whatsoever?" She kissed him on the lips again, deeper than the previous kiss, snaking her arms around his neck, "Or like a friend you're in love with, but hasn't the confidence to act upon her feelings yet?" She smiled. "Regardless of how much she wants to." She kissed him again, allowing a soft moan to escape when he kissed her back. "Who do you want me to be?" she whispered.

"Her."

"Who?"

"Aisling."

"Then that's who I am."

'But you're not her,' he thought, 'you look like her. You're her, but at the same time you're not her.'

She stepped back, her arms dropping to her sides. "You don't believe me."

"I'm sorry," he apologised. "I'm still a little confused."

"It's all right."

"No, it's not," Mike said, folding his arms across his chest. "Who are you really?"

"I'm not lying," she replied, smiling shyly. "In the present you know me as Aisling O'Callaghan, but one hundred and fifty years ago my name was Radha Crane." She sighed, "You heard me once."

Mike's eyes widened. "You're the voice!"

Radha nodded. "Yes, I am."

"But if you're that voice Aisling's been hearin', why did I hear you?"

"I got a bit excited," Radha replied, a slight blush in her cheeks, "When I saw you."

"Me?"

"And one of your friends," she added. "Just as I look like someone you know, you look like someone I knew... and loved very dearly."

"Who was he?"

Radha bit her lip. "I can't tell you. Besides, uh, the resemblance is merely coincidental."

Mike looked sceptical. "So why did you kiss me?"

"I can't tell you now, but you'll understand soon enough." She kissed him once more, "It's morning out in the real world, so it's time for you to wake up now," she said, smiling brightly. "But we will see each other again, as long as you do what your heart tells you to do."

At that moment, exactly like Radha had said, Mike woke up.

* * *

The next day, Aisling went to the library again, this time to look for information about the winery. This time, instead of idly browsing the shelves until she found something that might look important, Aisling immediately sought out Annabelle for assistance. She found her at the back of the library, sorting some books to be put back on the shelf.

"Hello Annabelle," Aisling greeted, quietly enough that she didn't startle her friend.

Annabelle looked up at Aisling and smiled. "Oh, hello dear," she said. "Did you find anything interesting in those books you borrowed?"

"Yes, I did, and I was wonderin' if ye could help me again, I need to find some information about the winery."

Annabelle nodded, "I'll be with you in a moment dear, if that's all right?"

Aisling smiled. "Thank ye, that's fine by me."

While she waited for Annabelle, Aisling decided to look for the slavery book again. She wanted to look at the photograph again, to convince herself that she was doing the right thing. Was she really putting herself in danger? Was she going to put the Monkees in danger by getting them involved? But at the same time, the Monkees could be the ones Radha said would protect her, so she needed to tell them everything, especially Mike and Peter, before anything else happened.

Annabelle must have noticed the look of worry on Aisling's face, since she asked, "Something bothering you, dear?"

Aisling blinked and shook her head, as if bringing herself out of a trance, "Sorry?"

"Is something the matter, Aisling dear?"

"I... em... honestly, Annabelle, I don't know. Things have gotten really weird lately and..."

"You don't know what to think anymore?"

"Yeah."

Annabelle smiled. "You'll understand soon, dear, you're a smart girl with a good head on your shoulders. Now what did you want me to help you with?"

"I wanted to find out more about the winery the Cranes ran, if it's still there, if it's changed much since then, that kind of thing."

"Ah, that I can help you with," said Annabelle, "If you'll follow me to the card catalogue, I can probably find something for you!"

"Thank ye again," Aisling replied, "You have no idea how much I appreciate all the help you've givin' me, Annabelle."

"Oh, I'm happy to help, it's what I'm here for, after all."

When they got to the card catalogue, Aisling said, "Can I talk to you about something? There's something I need to tell someone, but I'm a bit nervous about it."

Annabelle smiled knowingly, "Going to tell a young man you fancy him?"

Aisling blushed, "Good grief, if I didn't already go through this with me Mam last night!" She sighed. "Aye, that's exactly what I'm goin' to do, but there's some other things that I need to tell him about, things he might not believe. Things about me."

"And you're afraid that if you tell him, you'll drive him away."

Aisling nodded.

"You tell him what you need to tell him and if he returns your feelings, he won't push you away," Annabelle replied, browsing through the catalogue. She pulled out some cards and handed them to Aisling, "These should be helpful."

"Oh, this is great," Aisling said, taking a look at the cards, "It shouldn't take me very long to find these. Thank ye again."

"You're welcome dear. Let me know when you've found those books and I'll help you check them out."

Aisling quickly found the books and brought them to Annabelle to check out, deciding that she would read them when she got home after rehearsal at the Pad. She hoped that she'd find something worthwhile, something that would convince the guys to help her, maybe even convince them to go there with her, once she'd told them about it.

But until then all she could do was wait and hope.

* * *

Later that night, Aisling dreamed about her past life as Radha Crane. Memories she never knew she had played out before her eyes. She stood on a hill, watching herself hide slaves in the cellar underneath the house, spend time with Gareth and Finn and do anything and everything she could to keep their 'station' from being discovered. But she couldn't help feeling like something was missing or... someone was missing. Was there another person that should have been there? Someone important? Aisling continued to watch the scene until Radha was alone.

Her past self turned, looked at Aisling and smiled, to her surprise. "I was wondering when your memories started to come to you as dreams," said Radha, approaching her double. "What do you think of what you've seen so far?"

"This place was so beautiful."

"It was," Radha replied. "It still is, a bit older, of course, but still as beautiful as it was when Gareth and I lived there."

The two of them walked down the hill, towards a pristine lake. Aisling's breath caught in her throat when she recognised it, even though she hadn't seen it before in real life. Radha smiled at the wonder in her future self's eyes as she looked at the clear water. She knew the signficance of the lake but Radha wanted to see if Aisling could figure out what was special about it on her own.

"I know this place," said Aisling, tears of happiness appearing in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away, saying, "Something happened here, to you, Radha, to us, that made us so happy we thought we'd burst!" She looked at Radha suspiciously, "Is this where Gareth proposed to you?"

Radha grinned. "Yes, it is. Isn't it wonderful?"

Aisling smiled with relief. "It is. I knew as soon as I saw it, but I don't why I should've thought anything different."

"Of course you shouldn't, silly!" Radha giggled, "I am you and you are me."

"So it makes sense that I'd feel what you feel and know what you know."

"Even t hough you don't remember much of it yet." Radha took Aisling by the hand, leading her back up the hill. "How does this place, not just the lake, but this whole area, make you feel?"

"I feel... happy."

"But that's not all you feel, is it?"

Aisling shook her head.

"You don't know yet why you feel this way, do you?" Radha continued, as they walked together, "You want to know, desperately, but something's blocking it, stopping you from remembering."

"But the winery, it's important, isn't it," said Aisling, stopping at the top of the hill, "To learn what I need to know, for me to reveal the truth, I have to go there, don't I?"

Radha nodded. "But you mustn't go there alone - no - you shouldn't go there alone, because there are others who need to know the truth as well, other that must be there to protect you in the event that he tries to harm you. He will try and stop you, just as he did when you were me," she frowned, "And if you don't reveal the truth by midnight on the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of our death, history will repeat itself."

Aisling looked at Radha curiously. "History will repeat itself?"

"It will, unless you can prevent it, to save your life and the lives of your friends."

"History will repeat itself," said Aisling, letting the words turn over in her head. Tears appeared in her eyes as she realised what her past self was saying. She sank to the ground and began to sob uncontrollably as Radha embraced her, trying to comfort her. She continued like this until she couldn't cry anymore. She stood, breathing heavily and wiping the tears from her face like she had many times before. "So we'll die again, the three of us," she said at last. "Me..."

"And Mike..." Radha said, continuing Aisling's train of thought.

"And Peter." Aisling finished, shedding a last solitary tear.

* * *