Tali is not a Mary Sue. (At this point, nobody should think so) I mentioned at the beginning that she is tortured and anguished and I mean for it to hold true.

Sorry for that really random chapter Fourteen, I realized I had to post it.

Ari came home from Edinborough one long weekend when he was exempt from classes. On longer vacations he was almost always sent somewhere even more obscure than our house in Tel Aviv. This time, however, was the only time he arrived at a reasonable hour and it was the only time he was not alone.

"Ari!" I squealed, running toward him and throwing my arms around his neck. In doing so he nearly toppled over the steps that led to the doorway. He smelt like salt and cologne and some sort of chemical. "It is so good to see you! I was not…" Ari gently let me go. "Expecting to see you." I finished coldly. A girl I had not previously noticed smiled nervously from the stoop.

"Taliah, this is Annaleis."

I mentally profiled her. She was a blonde, on the thinner side with large hazel eyes, and judging from the dazed and confused look on her face, did not speak a word of Hebrew.

"Well thank you for the notice! What are we going to do with her?"

"She will be going back to Edinborough tonight, Taliah! She was here for an anthropology seminar this week. I couldn't see the harm in letting her visit if father isn't here."

"Whatever." I sighed.

"You had better come inside." I said in English. "I am making a pie, would you like some Annaleis?"

It was pleasant having someone different to talk to, even if she did poke around a bit too much. Not in our personal lives, but the quizzical details. She observed our boringly traditional paintings of landscapes, flowers, and bowls of fruit. She watched me bake and asked about everything down to the structure of the house itself.

"In the seminar I attended about the history and culture of your city, one professor mentioned that the northern part of the city is wealthier. Would you say this is true, overall? It is good to have someone else's opinion, in my opinion."

I rolled my eyes. She may have been pretty, but Annaleis was rather nerdy.

"Well, with the exception of the Neve Tzedek neighborhood. The houses here are antiques and have been renovated."

"Fascinating!" She leaned on the counter and picked at her slice of berry pie.

I didn't know what Ari saw in her, but I knew whatever relationship they had wouldn't last long. Once he was done tolerating her presence he would regress back to his studies until she stopped talking to him or left him. He would make it seem like it was her idea.

That afternoon I went to ballet practice while Ari took her on a grand tour of the city. (She was thrilled to hear I was in the Tel Aviv ballet, and made me promise to send her tickets. But I knew her and Ari would not be on good terms when my next performance came around.)

By the time they came back I was rushing to get ready. It was a Saturday night and I had plans. Just as I was finishing my mascara the door bell rang.

"Yo, Haswari! I'm here for Tali." The guy said, waving around a 30oz. for emphasis."

"I'm coming!" I screamed down the stairs.

"She's all yours." Ari said skeptically. "It's good to see you Uriel. Have you been able to go back to Mossad?"

"Nah man, that's why I never see you anymore." The sunglasses he was wearing went askew on his nose. "I can't run and I can't lift my trigger arm higher than my elbow. Plus I got a damn titanium plate in my skull." Uriel had been hit by a grenade running black ops in Iran the year before, permanently side lining him. We all made it a point to keep in touch with him though; he didn't have anyone else after he was forced to leave.

I shot down the stairs and after saying goodbye to Annaleis, I went to meet Ari at the door. "You'll be here when I get back, right?" I asked him.

"I just need to drive Anna to the airport at midnight. You're not planning on letting him drive, are you?"

"No." I smiled. "I promise I won't. And I'll be down at the promenade* if you need me."

"Hey Tali, since when has Haswari lived at your house?" Uriel asked, stumbling sideways.

"It's a safe house, dumby. He doesn't live here all the time." I said, pushing him towards the car and waving to Ari.

Uriel's sister Rena was already in the car along with Michael. We had put together quite the party down by the beach. I spun along the boardwalk in barefeet, allowing every lucent thought to escape me. I watched as the city lights glistened from afar as well as the more vibrant ones that flickered and danced from the night clubs and the traveling carnival that had come for the fall.

Ari had once told me "When you cannot feel anything anymore- not pain, not happiness, not guilt or hope- that is when you know you are dead."

But the atmosphere was saturated with energy so intense and bright that I could actually feel it. And as my drink slipped from my hand and I fell to meet the solid boardwalk, the enduring lights continued to sparkle and live far above me.

*the promenade is like a boardwalk down by the beach where you can play games and watch the ocean and take walks. There are 4 in Tel Aviv, I think.