The next day, Ramona got up and headed into town. She wandered around for a while and picked up a few groceries and the local newspaper as well. She also stopped by a coffee shop and bought herself a frozen cappuccino. As she walked down the sidewalk in town, she heard some people talking nearby.

"Did you hear about that girl that saved MJ in Bucharest?" one girl asked.

Another lady nodded. "Yeah, she's got some guts. I wonder if she thought she was going to die. Could you imagine?"

Ramona glanced over her shoulder as she listened. 'Yeah, I guess that thought didn't really cross my mind until it was too late,' she thought.

Would it have mattered even if you did think about it? Her mind asked.

'I suppose not,' she thought.

She shook her head and headed back to the beach. She stretched out on one of the boulders and opened the newspaper. It seemed there was to be some sort of meteor shower tonight. Good thing she had her telescope with her. That would be a marvelous sight to see.

Meanwhile…

"Okay, so I am thinking the black suit with red lining for the border. How does that sound, Mr. Jackson?" Michael's producer, Kenny Ortega asked.

Michael stared at the floor, lost deep in thought. 'I wonder how she's doing today. I wonder what she's doing. What does she write about, and who will she write about next? Hmm, Ramona. Why can't I get her out of my mind?' his mind skipped through a few images of Ramona from the previous day.

"Hello? Michael?" Kenny interrupted his thoughts.

"Hm?" Michael glanced up at him and saw that he was standing in front of him holding up a black suit in one hand and red fabric in his other hand. "Oh, I'm sorry Kenny. Black with red sounds fine," he mumbled.

"What's with you, Michael? Are you still troubled over what happened in Bucharest? I can assure you that will not happen to you again under my watch," Kenny said.

Michael blinked a few times and his mind sifted through more images. This time, it was of the girl from Bucharest. He watched the scene as it replayed in his mind. When the bullet hit her, he heard a scream. He sat up, alarmed, only to find his little cousins screaming as they chased each other just outside the door.

"You're it!" one boy yelled.

"No, you're it!" the girl yelled back.

"Nu uh!"

"Yes huh!"

Michael smiled and shook his head as he stood up and headed for the door. "We'll talk about the wardrobe later, Kenny. I need to take a break for a while. You understand, right?" he glanced back at Kenny and he nodded slowly. "Thanks," he turned back to the door and stepped outside. "Hey, no need to argue. Besides, I believe I'm it!" he yelled as he began chasing his little cousins through the yard. They squealed and giggled as they ran from him.

He chased them around the ranch for a few hours before he had finally had enough. He stopped by the pool to rest. One of the family friends had a video camera out and he started taping Michael.

"So, Michael…tell the people how you taught yourself to dance," he smiled.

Michael looked at him and grinned. "Well, it's not easy. It takes a lot of good eye and hand coordination," he paused as his cousins ran around behind him. They froze when he looked their way and gave him an innocent look. He eyed them and turned back to the camera only to be pushed into the pool with his clothes on.

He laughed with them and got out. He ringed his clothes out and pulled his hair into a ponytail to ring it out. He slipped his wet shirt off and put on a white robe and was then pushed into the pool once again. "Come on guys! I was just beginning to dry off!" he yelled and laughed at the same time. He climbed out and ran from them, sliding his robe off and running through the yard without a shirt on. He picked up a shirt on the clothes line as he ran and turned on the kids. They giggled and ran off as he chased them.

He followed one of his cousins around the ranch and thought about throwing her into the pool until she jumped onto the trampoline that was built into the ground. Michael smiled and joined her. He couldn't help himself. He loved to play.

"Michael, come inside and eat something," one of the maids called for him.

"Be right there, Marie!" he called back. He ran inside after he rounded up his little cousins and they all ate together.

Marie draped a towel over Michael's shoulders as he ate. "Looks like your little cousins are getting the better of you," she teased.

"They are definitely getting faster," Michael agreed.

One of the boys snickered. "Or maybe Applehead is getting too old to keep up."

"Hey," Michael laughed with them. They finished eating and Michael took a nice long shower. He walked into his closet looking for something decent to wear tonight when he would be going back to watch the sunset with Ramona. When he finally decided on a military style jacket and black pants and a white undershirt, he dried his hair and stepped outside. As he neared the pool looking for his cousins to say his goodbyes, they rounded the corner and began pushing him toward the pool again. "Don't do this! No! I'm a nice person! I just took a shower! And I washed my hair thoroughly! No! Ahh!" he yelled as they pushed him in.

When he emerged, they all were laughing on the floor. Michael gave them a lopsided grin and shook his head. 'This is going to be a long evening,' he thought.

Meanwhile…

Ramona sat on the coast and watched the sun as it began to set. She took in a deep breath when the breeze hit her face. "And the sun bends down to kiss the horizon, just as the stars come out to play in their own little mystical playground that we so simply named the sky," she mumbled. "Ohh, that was good," she complimented herself and reached for her notebook and wrote it down.

'I wonder what happened to Michael,' she thought. 'I guess I shouldn't be so surprised he didn't make it. I'd be crazy to think someone like him would have time to hang out with someone like me.'

Why do you do that to yourself? Her mind asked her. You're a good person and Michael noticed that. Why can't you?

Ramona shook her head at herself. She stood up as the sun finally set and she went back to her tent and set up her telescope. She watched the sky a moment before she decided to pull out her IPod and her battery powered IPod player. She played a slow instrumental song and sang as she waited for the meteor shower to begin.

"I can almost see it, that dream I'm dreaming but, there's a voice inside my head saying, you'll never reach it…" she sang out.

Michael crouched around the trees as he hurried to Ramona's tent, trying to make sure he wasn't seen. The darkness seemed to help him quite a bit. He decided to wear all black including his black fedora. He put his hat over his eyes as he neared the two boulders that hid Ramona's tent. He loved playing around even if it was just himself. He put his back against the boulder and slid across it very slowly. "Agent M is on the mission," he whispered against his wrist. He paused when he heard singing. As he got closer, he realized it was Ramona. He peaked around the boulder and saw her sitting on a lounge chair. She was singing into the sky, and it was a beautiful song, with her beautiful voice.

"Every step I'm taking, every move I make feels lost with no direction, and my faith is shaken. But I…I gotta keep trying. Gotta keep my head held high," she slowly stood up and moved to the music. Michael became almost hypnotized. He never saw anyone move like this on their own, no audience, no stage. This was just Ramona, being herself. Ramona in her own little world. Michael was completely and utterly fascinated.

"There's always gonna be another mountain, I'm always gonna wanna make it move. Always gonna be an uphill battle, sometimes I'm gonna have to lose. It aint about how fast I get there, it aint about what's waiting on the other side. It's the climb…" Ramona sang.

Michael recognized this song. He only heard it once but he knew it from watching Hannah Montana with his little cousins and his brothers' kids too. As she sang, she moved as if her body was telling the story. He watched for a moment and she barely started the next verse when he sneezed. She jumped and stopped the song.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," he stepped out and took his hat off.

"Oh, it's okay," she blushed. "Um, how long have you been there?"

"Long enough. You have such a beautiful voice, Ramona," he smiled at her and she blushed even more.

"Thanks," she looked away. 'Thank you God for the darkness. I think I'd die of embarrassment if he saw how red I am,' she thought.

"Nice telescope," Michael moved forward and ran his fingers over it carefully. "May I?" he asked.

"Go right ahead," she smiled, thankful he changed the subject. "I heard there was supposed to be a meteor shower tonight. I was hoping I would be able to catch some of it with my telescope here, but I'm not so confident anymore," she said.

"Why's that?" he asked as he looked through the lens.

"I don't think it's powerful enough to pick up meteors."

"Well, they do move fast. This telescope is pretty powerful though," he said. He moved it around and caught sight of Saturn. "Oh my, that is incredible!" he gasped. He looked up from the lens and looked over his shoulder at Ramona.

"What?" she asked.

He held his hand out to her. "Come here and see," he said.

She smiled and took his hand. He pulled her to him and she bent down to look into the lens. "Oh wow," she said. She could see the rings of Saturn very clearly. "I had no idea my telescope could pick this up. This is amazing!" she said.

"Yes, it really is. It makes life more worth while, doesn't it?" Michael said as he looked at the stars. "Just when you thought you couldn't take it anymore, you stumble across one of God's little miracles and then suddenly, you are reborn."

Ramona smiled at him. She loved the way he saw life. They studied the stars for a moment before they moved to the top of the boulder and lay next to each other on a blanket. "I'm glad you were able to get away last night. I'm sorry you had to deal with that," Ramona said after a moment of silence.

"It's okay, really. I'm used to it," Michael admitted.

"I don't know how you do it. Having people chasing you all your life. No wonder you stay in such good shape," she said.

Michael chuckled. "Yeah, I'm sure it has nothing to do with the dancing," he said sarcastically.

"Yeah, I guess I didn't really think about that," she giggled.

Michael rose up on his elbow and studied her for a moment. "Tell me about yourself, Ramona. What makes you tick?"

Ramona raised a brow at him. "Um, my heartbeat?"

Michael laughed. "You are something else, you know?"

"Well I try to be," she smiled at him.

He took in a breath and started to speak again when Ramona's eyes lit up. Michael looked up as the meteor shower began. He lay back and they watched the incredible sight together for a while before he spoke again. "I want to be honest with you. I don't know what it is, but coming here makes me feel like I haven't a care in the world. I feel like no one can hurt me here."

"Kind of like Neverland?" she asked.

"In a way, yes. But even in Neverland, I always feel like I'm being watched. I have people around me that say they are my friends, but they are only my friends because of my name and who I am. All for publicity or money. You seem completely different to me. How can you act so calm around me?"

She rose up on her elbow and shrugged. "Well, I'll admit at first I was a bit star struck, but after speaking with you one on one, and spending this time with you, I realize you are so easy to talk to and to get along with. You are only human, and you shouldn't be treated like some science experiment," she said.

Michael noticed near the end of her sentence, she sounded a bit angry. He liked that. "You say I'm just like everyone else, right?" he asked.

"No, not at all," she said. He looked at her in a confused way. "You are human, a very talented human. Everyone else means the rest of the world's population, and not everyone is talented like you. Some people can sing but can't dance, like me. Others can dance but they sound like a dying cow when they try to sing," she paused as Michael laughed a little. "But the one thing that separates you from everyone else is your heart. You have the biggest heart that most people only dream of having."

Michael smiled and rose up to hug her. "Thank you. Thank you for letting me open up to you like this," he smiled when he pulled back.

"Thanks for being here to talk to me. It's nice having a conversation with someone that doesn't look at you like they want something else that you are in no way, shape, or form even going to consider giving," she shivered and he grinned. "To be serious though, you can always come and talk to me when you need a verbal punching bag."

"You don't judge," Michael stated more than asked.

"It's not my place to judge anyone. That's up to God," she smiled and he smiled back.

Michael slowly stood up and helped her up. "Well, I'd better be hitting the old dusty trail," he added a country accent to his voice as he placed his hat on his head.

"Right," Ramona giggled. "You do that. Just make sure your old dusty trail isn't being followed by a bunch of your fans," she teased.

He looked around before they both climbed down. "I seem to be covered, but just in case…" he grabbed nearby tree branch and handed it to her. "Sweep over my footprints and cover me, will ya?"

Ramona laughed. "I'll do that, cowboy."

He tipped his hat to her and hugged her. "Same time tomorrow?"

"I'll be here," she smiled.

"Great," he winked and disappeared into the dark of the night.

"Great," she whispered to herself as she smiled. She stretched and yawned and disappeared into her tent. She curled up under her sleeping bag and breathed in deep once more before drifting off to sleep. "Great," she breathed out.