AN: Okay... so begins a series of sad chapters, but they'll get happier as they progress. Please don't get too mad at me. You guys are all awesome, especially if you review.

Chapter 13. The Past Emerges

As much as they both desired to remain in this atmosphere of bliss and contentment, time stopped for no one.

"Leah?"

A man, middle-aged, and dark stood before them. Tousled dark hair, full of waves that were more tangle than curl, and stubble from not shaving cast his face into shadow. Yet, despite this rugged appearance of his, there was no denying he held a handsomeness.

"Leah…" Ethan's grip on her tightened as he pulled her closer when she failed to respond. "Who is this man?"

"Ethan…" Leah took a step back, never letting her eyes go of the man, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Could you just give me a moment outside, please?"

"I can't leave you out…"

"Please," Leah cut him off.

"I'll be waiting, Leah." and Ethan walked inside to leave Leah with this stranger at the doorstep.

Dear Charity,

It is surprising how quickly one can find purpose in life in an instant when one believed life to be at an end. Never did I think that my returning into Leah's life would create something like this.

She is as amazing as ever, the same beautiful girl I remember her as. It saddens me that she still believes me to be the same when I know how much I have changed over the years. It shocks me that she does not see a stranger staring back at her.

Something is going on in her life that I know not, and each day I see the toll it pays on her. She does not wish to talk about it, and I will not press her until she is completely ready. It pains me to watch her suffer for any reason, and I feel much sadness for all that I have caused her in the past between the two of us.

As much as I want to believe it is ever the same as when we were together, I know we are not. At the moment, we are both giving into an illusion, but I believe this shall soon be gone, for this reality is one that neither one of us can ignore for long.

Leah is outside right now with a strange man that I have never seen, but Leah insists on speaking with him. Her expression was full of sadness and pain when she saw him, and I did not wish to leave her alone, Charity, but it was what she wished, and I will not restrain her from anything that she wishes to do. I just pray that all works out and what needs to be said is said so as to make sense of both our lives before we end up wasting it any further. You remain in my heart, sister, and give my love to all.

Love,

Ethan

An hour passed and Ethan felt uneasy, his letter to his sister long finished and resting in a pocket of his pants. Worry possessed him, and marching to the door, he slammed it open just as Leah was turning the door.

Face to face, Ethan looked at Leah's deadpan expression in bewilderment. Was she the same person? Who was this stranger, staring at him with an expression that seemed more dead than alive? He almost believed Leah had died and returned a zombie until she moved from where she stood to enter the house, walk by him, and sit down on the couch in front of the fire.

"Leah," he sat down beside her, not sure how to react at her blank face that gazed at the fire in an enigmatic trance that had Ethan stumped on this recent behavior of hers. "Leah… who was that man?"

Without a reply, Leah turned abruptly and kissed Ethan, bringing him down on her. All the tension between them both that had developed in the past hour was released as they proceeded with their kisses on the couch, forgetting once more of their current situation and trying only to escape from the reality that was their life.

"I've missed you so much," Leah breathed with a grin before Ethan's lips seized hers once more. "So… soo… …. … much."

"How could we have stayed apart for so long?" Ethan left her lips to place kisses wildly across her face. "These past years were nothing. It was nothing. This is what matters."

"I thought… about you… everyday." Leah was out of breath, imitating Ethan's gestures as she turned and lay on top of him on the couch now. "You were always there… in my life… I could never forget you. Never… ever… want to… Ethan… I…"

"Leah, I…" Ethan's interruption was interrupted when Leah burst out into tears.

Whatever tenderness and passion that was between them a few seconds prior dissipated rapidly until Ethan was stuck in an awkward position with Leah on top of him, her sobs causing her body to shake. All the pain that had been nestled within Leah since Ethan's arrival all leaked out, spilling out of her much like a dam that suddenly had a huge hole in it. As wonderful as it all was for her to have Ethan here, she just didn't know what to do with herself.

As Ethan lay there, he somehow found a way to move his body from underneath her and sit up, allowing her to rest her head in his lap and release her sorrows.

Compassion and sympathy for Leah overtook Ethan to the point that he, too, felt he might cry, seeing Leah in so much pain and misery. Without realizing it, he had pulled Leah up and held her against his chest as he comforted her and her tears soaked up his shirt. Not knowing the cause of all her tears, he sat there watching the flames of the fire, as if staring at the fire might provide him with the answers he sought at this present time.

Was it only a few minutes ago that they were entwined in a heated kiss, not thinking of anything else but the connection that still remained between them? Was this broken down soul weeping on his chest the same girl he remembered her to be? Was he, once again, leaving his old life for something far worse?

He looked down and saw the same beautiful girl, and these days with her made it seem like nothing existed between the gap since they had seen one another. But now… now Ethan knew not what to think. She was in every way a broken soul, torn one way or another by something, or, perhaps, someone. Her apparent despondency put Ethan in a position where he was willing to go to the extreme just to see her smiling once more in the way she had only minutes ago.

"Leah Lewis-Hall…" Ethan cooed, his hands running through her hair. "I would fly to heaven and back if it would help at all…"

"I couldn't say a thing to him," Leah's hand held his shoulder and her grip tightened with each word. "He was so helpless… begging forgiveness. All I had to do was say so and I would be free. Just a simple word, and yet I could say anything but what he wanted to hear. Ethan… I need to wake up one day and not be confronted with these kinds of things."

"Leah… you must talk to me." Ethan pleaded. "Tell me what it is that hurts you so. I hate seeing you like this…"

"In time," Leah closed her eyes, resting her head against his chest and sighing. "In time."

"At least tell me who the man is…" silence followed and Ethan let out a breath. "Please, Leah. I do not mind being left in the shadows, so long as eventually I am shown the light, but you show no ray of hope for me. But if it pains you so to tell me or you find it unnecessary or don't wish to tell me…"

"It's fine… I'll tell you." Leah looked up then, her tear-stained eyes bearing into his and expressing a desolation of about twenty years. "He's my dad."