A/N: I know I normally put these at the end, but I'm thinking it will be easier to respond to reviews at the beginning.

ernesdo: Haha ya, I just could see them being together since Ash said they were both wise in Soulmate. Hope you like this chapter!

: Thanks :) I loved writing that last bit. And if Ash was real, I would hug him too!

alissarhode: Thank you! And not exactly... You'll have to read and find out! Dahlia will be back, no worries. Lulling you all into a false sense of security :)

wishiweremary-lynette123: Holy Wow! That's crazy! Ummm there was no email address there though...

mary-lynette ash: I'm glad you enjoyed! That's awesome about your name!

starr1095: Not quite... You're beginning to realize that I love cliff-hangers though :)

Thanks everyone for reviewing and I hope you like this next chapter!

Chapter 21

Ash was upset. He had talked with Thierry and ended up telling him everything. Even though he hadn't planned on telling him quite so much; he did anyways. He had even mentioned Mary-Lynette's disease after making Thierry swear not to spread the news around. He knew that Mary-Lynette wouldn't want everyone knowing, and both he and Thierry respected that. Thierry had also given him some tips about changing Mary-Lynette. Since Ash had never changed someone, he was not completely sure about the process. Thierry cleared up all his uncertainties. Ash was now certain that he could change Mary-Lynette with no complications. The bigger issue - the one bothering him - was how he could get Mary-Lynette to talk to him again. She was furious with him, and he needed to apologize. No. He needed more than that. How could he make it up to her? He would have to think of something. Wandering aimlessly, he somehow found himself back in his room.

Hearing a knock on the door, he turned his head towards the sound. Walking over, he opened it slowly, planning on turning away whoever it was.

"Can I come in?" a shy voice asked. Ash's heart skipped a beat. He knew that voice, and it went through him like a jolt of electricity! It was Mary-Lynette's voice! The electric jolt, though stimulating, left Ash with a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. He hadn't had time to figure out how to smooth things over with Mary-Lynette yet!

"Of course!" of all the things he could say, that's all he could think of?

"Thanks." she murmured quietly.

"Do you think we could talk?" Mary-Lynette asked quietly after a few moments of awkward silence.

Ash nodded, feeling just as awkward.

"Would you mind letting me in first?" she asked, laughing slightly. Ash could tell it was forced though. Looking down, he realized that he was blocking the door still.

"Sorry." he muttered, moving so Mary-Lynette could enter.

She walked in and sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at the floor. Ash could tell that she was upset, even with her blocking him out of her mind. He wanted to walk over to her and wrap his arms around her. He wanted to comfort her and make her smile that beautiful smile of hers. He wanted to make all her problems go away. The only issue was that he was the problem. He needed to fix this - soon.

"Mary-Lynette, I just want to apologize." he began. She raised her head just enough so she could see him.

"I know it's not enough, but I'm so sorry for the way I acted! I should have told you about Poppy from the beginning. You need to understand that I just wanted to wreak havoc on my cousin. As I said before, I didn't fully understand the soulmate principle yet. I had no idea how he felt…" Ash trailed off into silence, lost in Mary-Lynette eyes. She was now gazing intently at him. Maybe he had a chance after all!

"Ash," she began, "I have something to say too." Ash looked on encouragingly.

"I've been an idiot. I know you've done things in your past, and I guess I just have to accept that."

"Mary-Lynette, you have nothing to apologize for." he said, stepping closer to his soulmate.

"Yes, I do. I was idiotic enough to reprimand you for stuff I'd already promised to forgive you for!"

"No you weren't! It was my fault for doing it in the first place!" The two teenagers were practically yelling at each other. The shouting war continued, each stepping forward as they made their arguments, until they were barely a foot apart.

Finally, Ash couldn't take it anymore. He closed the gap between them and wrapped his arms tightly around Mary-Lynette.

"We even fight over who's at fault." he said into her ear, chuckling.

"Maybe we're just destined to fight." she replied, laughing.

"So does this mean that we're not fighting anymore?"

"Well, not about that." he said, pulling her in tighter.

"You're still in trouble though." Mary-Lynette announced, pulling away. "I'm not letting you off that easily."

Ash felt his heart sink. Great. He gave his soulmate a questioning look.

"You've still dragged me here more or less against my will, and have only introduced me to two people!"

"Well, if you hadn't have gotten mad at me last night, I would've introduced you to a lot more." Ash explained. "I could go introduce you to them all now, if you'd like."

"That's not my point, Ash. The point is that I just feel out of place. I'm pretty certain that my parents feel the same way. It's probably worse for them. I at least fit in because I have a soulmate. They don't even have that."

"I don't understand how I can help that though…"

"I'm saying that maybe us all coming here was a bad idea."

"I thought you wanted your parents to come though."

"No. I don't mean just them. I mean all of us. I honestly am starting to doubt that Dahlia would have attacked any of us."

"She would have. Trust me. How about I make it easier on you all and introduce everyone to your family? Of course, I'll introduce you first, just so you get a chance to talk to them a little but more."

"I guess." Mary-Lynette said, not fully satisfied, but pleased with how accommodating and compassionate her soulmate was being.

"Let's go then." Ash said, taking Mary-Lynette's hand and pulling her towards the door. Laughing, she willingly followed. Hopefully people would be a little easier to talk to with Ash around.

Mark was pleased with himself. In the few hours that he had been awake, he had managed to befriend Thea Harman - a witch with long blonde hair and brown eyes - and her soulmate, Eric Ross - a human who had green eyes and blonde hair. Together, they had rescued a bird they found in the yard. It had an injured wing, and both Eric and Thea had allowed him to help them with the bird. Using magic and veterinary knowledge, they had managed to heal the bird's wing and sent it back on its way. Mark was amazed at how compassionate the two teenagers were. Not only did they help animals, but they helped him too. They seemed to have been able to sense that he was lonely and in need of people to talk to, so they reached out to him. After only a small time with the two, Mark was mostly open with them. He told them why he was there and about Jade, whom Thea knew. He explained how upset he was that he wasn't allowed to tell her that he was leaving, and how worried he was about her. Thea and Eric understood. As soulmates, they knew how hard it was to be apart, and sympathized with him. Mark could tell that they genuinely seemed to care about him, and that they treated him as their equal. He had found himself two friends.

Mr. Carter was finding it difficult to be at this so called headquarters. The only people there other than Claudine and himself were teenagers. He hadn't seen a single adult. It struck him as odd that so many teenagers could live in one place without any sort of parental supervision. In addition, almost every one of them seemed to have a soulmate. Nearly all of them were paired up. He didn't know much about Circle Daybreak, but Mr. Carter had a feeling that they weren't the most feared group around. Though Mr. Carter and Claudine had talked to a few people, they didn't really feel very welcome in the home, and the teenagers all seemed to be, well, teenagers. He was beginning to doubt Ash's logic in bringing them there to supposedly protect them. How were a bunch of teenagers supposed to keep them safe? Talking with Claudine, Mr. Carter had determined that his wife felt the same way.

Entering the living room, Ash's hand in hers, Mary-Lynette noticed that more couples had joined Keller and Galen. Jez and Morgead were there, as were James and Poppy. Ash released her hand, and Mary-Lynette watched as he walked over and stood in the centre of the room, commanding everyone's attention.

"Guys, I wanna introduce you to my soulmate, Mary-Lynette." he said once the room was quiet. Holding out his hand, he invited Mary-Lynette to join him. She shyly did so, taking his hand nervously. Seeing everyone staring at her, she gave a little wave, feeling extremely stupid. Ash then began with introductions, pointing to each person as he said their name.

"Galen and Keller," he said, gesturing to the two shapeshifters.

"Maggie and Delos" he pointed to a boy with black hair and yellow eyes who had him arm wrapped around a girl with auburn-coloured air.

"Jez and Morgead" Ash said, pointing to the couple.

"David and Gillian" a boy with blue eyes and black hair waved, as did his pale-haired soulmate.

"And you already have met James and Poppy." Poppy smiled widely as Ash mentioned her name.

"Actually, we've already met Mary-Lynette as well." Galen spoke up.

"Same with us." Morgead added.

Ash looked at Mary-Lynette in surprise. She had apparently already introduced herself to some of the people here at Circle Daybreak.

"What?" she said, seeing his quizzical gaze. "I had to do something this morning."

After spending some time getting to know Maggie, Delos, David, and Gillian, Mary-Lynette felt ecstatic. Her earlier worries had disappeared and she was feeling accepted and liked. Even better, she felt as though things were going to work out for the better with her and her family staying at Thierry's mansion. Even though she felt bad dragging her family along, she knew that if she hadn't, she would only worry about them. This was, she could meet the Daybreakers as they called themselves, and not have to worry about her family. Feeling a searing pain in her chest, Mary-Lynette tried as hard as she could to not bring attention to herself. Maggie was sharing a story about a soccer camp she attended one time, so everyone was distracted. Ash sensed her distress, and immediately looked over at her from across the room where he was seated on a couch.

Are you okay?

Um…. Not really…. My chest- Mary-Lynette couldn't even think because she was in so much pain.

Ash immediately got up and walked over to where she was seated. Excusing them, he helped her up and helped her out of the room before picking her up in him arms.

Come on. I'll bring you up to the room. he told her, trying to comfort her; knowing it wouldn't work very well.

As he reached the hallway where the room was, Ash suddenly noticed a figure standing just down the hall.

A/N: And, as predicted by starr1095, Cliff-hanger! I love them a little too much for my own good I think. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know it's not my greatest work, but I felt bad not updating for so long, and was determined to finish this chapter tonight!

So who do you think the figure is? Let me know and don't forget to review! I love hearing what you have to say about the story. :)

Happy Writing!