Okay, so this is a pretty short chapter, but I promise that there are way more to come. =]

I was barely able to tell what was going on with my body. I could feel a little bit of what was going on. Kalona wasn't moving anymore, but I could still feel him. I didn't know how that was, but I tried not to think about it too much.

I looked at my surroundings. I knew exactly where I was. I was in one of Nyx's meadows in the Otherworld. It was easy to relax here, so I climbed under a tree and laid down. For a little while it was hard to get my mind to shut up so that I could just relax. I was just too busy thinking about what was happening with my body.

But, sooner than I thought it would, my mind finally listened to me and let go of every thought. I sank into darkness that I knew was sleep.

I couldn't have been out long. Nyx had said that it wouldn't take long for her to enter my body and forgive Kalona. She'd told me that she intended to help us defeat Neferet by getting Kalona out of the way, but not by destroying him. She said that she could tell that he had held on to some of his goodness, and that she wanted to give him a chance to redeem himself.

She would enter my body while Kalona and I were making love. Then, she would hold on to him like that, because he couldn't stop himself once he'd started. He would have to listen to her. She would tell him that if he would ask her forgiveness, she would forgive him and he could come back to her kingdom.

I didn't know if he would or not, and that was what scared me. If he didn't, and I came back to my body, what would happen? Would he be mad at me? Would he still believe that I loved him, or would he think it was all just an act? Either way, it didn't look good. He would keep coming after me if he knew that I loved him, and he would be mad and try to hurt me if he thought it was an act.

When I opened my eyes, Nyx was standing over me. She smiled and held her hand out to me. I took it and stood up, feeling all my anxiety go away while I stared at her smile.

"So, what-?" I didn't finish my question because I already knew what happened. Kalona was standing ten feet away from me. The sun was shining down on him, and he looked absolutely beautiful. It wasn't a dark beautiful, like he had been on earth. It was good beautiful, light beautiful. I knew what his choice had been because his wings were the beautiful color of ivory.

Nyx said nothing as Kalona and I looked at each other. It seemed like that's all that happened for the longest time. Finally, he smiled at me. "Zoey."

"Kalona." I was smiling like a damn fool now. I couldn't stop. "You're good again." Wow, was that it? Man, I'm such a dork.

He chuckled, proving I am a dork, and then walked over to me. He took my hand and said, "Thank you for what you did. I know that I wasn't…myself."

I looked down at the ground. "It was…no problem."

"Hey." Kalona put two fingers under my chin and lifted it up so that I was facing him. It wasn't rough like it probably would have been before, but rather soft and sweet. "Do not be embarrassed. Zoey, I feel love for you, too. But you must understand that I felt it for A-ya, and therefore a part of you."

The redness in my cheeks came back. When he had said that he loved me, I saw a bright spot of hope. For some reason, I could think of nothing but Kalona and how much I loved him. When he said it was just because of A-ya, all my hope was crushed.

"Zoeybird." Nyx called me by the name my grandma used for me sometimes. "You do understand that it worked the same way for you, too, right?"

"Huh?" was my intelligent response.

Kalona and Nyx chuckled together, making me feel very young and very foolish. Kalona explained, "Zoey, you felt for me because of A-ya. That's all it was."

I wanted to tell him that, no, it wasn't because of A-ya that I loved him. I really did love him. Why couldn't he understand that? But I didn't. Instead, I just looked at the ground and said nothing. After an awful awkward silence, Nyx finally sighed and walked closer to me.

"Here, let me clear things up a bit." Nyx put her hand on the back of my head and, very lightly, dragged the tips of her fingers around the side of it. When she took her hand away, she had a ball of light like the one that came when Jack emerged the other night. She dropped it and it turned into-

"A-ya!" I exclaimed.

She smiled at me and said, "Thank you, Zoey. You helped free my love, and now we can be together."

I expected to be jealous of her. I expected to want to smack her and pull on her hair. Instead, I felt happy. I didn't love Kalona. They were right. I had just loved him because of A-ya.

I smiled back and said, "You are very welcome. I wish you two the best."

They hugged each other and smiled at me as Nyx said, "Zoey!"

I looked over at her fast because she sounded worried. "Zoey, you must get back to your body quickly. You soon won't be able to anymore."

I nodded, and before I could say anything, Nyx touched my forehead and said, "Good luck to you, Zoey."

Then everything went black again.