I'm really sorry I haven't been around much, guys. I've been really busy and when I wasn't doing schoolwork, I was writing a LOT of poetry because I've been really depressed and anxious lately, but it's helped. I had a whole lot of fun writing this chapter and I really missed writing this story and all of my fanfics!

Please enjoy and review!;*

The air was clear, free of pollution. The sun was beginning to set, causing an array of colors in the sky to assault Natara's eyes. A house rested on the edge of the property, looking cozy sitting there, as if it had sprung up with the very grass and trees and belonged there. Horses milled around inside of large fenced areas and a barn was visible in the distance. The grass looked greener than any Natara had ever seen, and the intense color almost hurt Natara's eyes after the muggy city. She knew Mal was smiling, watching her eyes bulging and waiting for her reaction, but she couldn't tear her eyes from the scenery. It was the most pure, heavenly scene that had ever met her eyes, and it was calming, serene, and beautiful.

Finally, Mal spoke. "It's my uncle's old horse farm. He moved away to New York City a while back, so it's pretty much abandoned. He still owns it though. He said we could hang out here for a while. The country is really healing and calming, isn't it?"

Natara nodded, understanding immediately as she smiled her first true smile in weeks. "It's so…peaceful," she whispered.

Mal put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him, holding her there. It made her feel safer somehow. She knew it was ridiculous and illogical, but she finally understood the expression of feeling safe in someone's arms, like nothing could hurt you. She consequently began to list the many things that could indeed still hurt her, and realized that this was probably not the best thing to be doing at the moment.

Mal kept one arm around her and picked up her suitcase with the other, walking inside in this manner. It wasn't like she felt better, she still was weighed down by a two hundred pound weight on her heart, but inside that crushed heart, butterflies emerged. A sign of hope.

Mal led her upstairs to her bedroom and dropped the suitcase there. She walked in and he watched her from the doorway, a curiously worried expression on his face.

"I'm…I'm sorry it's so small…" he said, as she faced the wall opposite the doorway, studying all of the furniture. "And the bed and dresser and desk…they're pretty old. I…I didn't have time to get new furniture… The wallpaper is sort of flowery…I didn't think you'd like it…but I didn't have t-"

She slowly revolved back around, now facing him, a huge smile plastered on her face, causing him to falter. His worried expression cleared. "Mal, this is beautiful," she sighed. "Thank you!" She ran to him and did a movie-worthy jump into his arms, crushing him in a hug. He held her in the air like that, as they held onto each other like lifelines for several long moments.

"So…you don't mind that it's not…not really what you'd…" Mal stuttered out again.

"Mal, it's perfect. I love it."

"It was…" Mal hesitated. "It was my sister's room. Back when we were little and we'd come to stay here with my dad." He gazed around the room again. "I miss that."

"This room holds a lot of memories for you, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, well, my sister and I fought a lot at home, but when we came here it was like all wars were off. Sometimes I'd come in here from my room at night and we'd just talk like we were best friends. Those were the best times I ever had with my sister: just talking about mom, and dad, and school. Just finally getting to connect, you know?"

"Mal, maybe I shouldn't sleep in here. It holds a lot of value with you… I don't want to mess anything up..," she looked around like standing there may cause the whole room to collapse. "I wouldn't want anything to…"

Mal smiled. "Natara, this room does mean a lot to me. But so do you. I wouldn't want anyone to stay in it but you."

She smiled and hugged him again. He said, "I'll be in my old room right down the hallway; try and get some sleep. If you don't, that's okay. I know you've been having trouble sleeping." She looked down. How had he known that? "But that's okay. We're just on one big extended vacation here." She smiled. "But if you don't get sleep, and you're not up by 8:00am tomorrow, I'm eating all of the breakfast."