Anna had walked another eternity, a minute at least, when she heard it. Whisper-soft at first, but growing stronger. Pleading, cajoling. Come back to me. The voice was nowhere and everywhere, and she stopped to try and discern the direction.

"Fenris?" She called, her voice making no sound. "Is that you?"

Anna. Come back to me. Anna. She thought she could sense a direction, and she turned and followed it. Please. Come back to me. Anna. She walked faster, each step agony, each breath struggling to bring the air into her aching lungs. Don't leave me. Anna. Don't leave me. She stumbled over nothing, but pressed on through the redness. Fenris was calling her back. She was not going to let him down now.

There was a tiny twitch of a hand, and if Fenris had not been holding it in his he would have missed it. But there it was, a barely noticeable gesture. Slim fingers, wrapped in protective cloth, squeezed his for an instant. Then they stilled, but it had been enough. She was in there! She was on her way back! He focused on that tiny, tiny twitch as he wrapped himself around her as well as his protesting muscles would allow. He closed his eyes and tried to find her through the bond, the bond that connected his soul to hers. She was lost, but he finally had a way to find her.

Anna wandered on through the red nothingness, feeling sturdy ground beneath her aching feet and tried her best to not look down and see that there was nothing but more rolling mist beneath her feet. Fenris' voice was no closer now than it had been before, but still she kept walking in the direction she hoped would lead her back to him. She had to find her way back to him!

But the minutes crawled by like years and she was so very tired. Finally Anna sank to her knees in pure exhaustion, frustrated tears slipping without permission down her cheeks. She was so tired, so impossibly tired, and she did not even know if she had made any progress. That was when she heard the other voice, and she stopped to listen.

"Mummy" it said, and it was as clear as a bell and ringing close, as if just behind or beside her. Anna looked around, but saw no one.

"Yes?" She replied, hesitantly.

"Mummy, you must hurry back."

"I'm trying!" She protested. "Who are you?"

"You know who I am." Anna pressed her hands to her belly, and felt a flare of life in there.

"Baby?" She whispered, shocked and a little alarmed. The voice laughed, sweet and clear as a spring brook.

"Yes, mummy. Now hurry back to daddy so I can be born."

Anna laughed and stood up, suddenly filled again with energy and hope. She walked on with new confidence, hand still pressed against her belly, feeling the warmth and love from her unborn baby give her a strength she had not known she possessed.

Fenris leaned his cheek against Anna's immobile hand, kissing it lightly with dry lips.

"Come back to me. Anna. Come back to me."

Suddenly the red mist receded as if it had never been there and Anna stood on a gravel path, leading into darkness. Around it and below it there was nothing, but the path was smooth and white and seemed to be made of tiny, tiny glowing stones. She hesitated, but then she felt something tug on the frail bond. Fenris was calling her back, begging her to return to him, and she took a hesitant first step on the path. The stones crunched beneath her feet but it seemed sturdy, even though it was surrounded by this shifting, ever-moving darkness. Anna started walking, following the path, following the voice. She was going home.

The immobile, lifeless hand under Fenris' cheek turned, cradled his face. He looked up in shock. Anna's eyes were wide open and she looked at him with so much love it made his heart skip a beat.

"Anna" he whispered reverently.

She smiled back.

Fenris walked up the steps leading to Danarius' elegant mansion slowly, his feet heavy and his head hung low. He was exhausted, but had not wanted to leave Anna. He had much preferred to stay by her side and try to help her as much as possible. Eventually, a well-meaning healer had basically had him thrown out and forbidden him to return for at least a full day, saying he needed to rest and eat or he would be no use to Anna. He was in no state to help her; his energy reserves were too low to be an active participant in any sort of healing, even if he had any training in magic instead of just an unbendable will. He had protested, of course, not wanting to go. But in the end he had run out of arguments that he was willing to make and had left, after they had pointed out to him that since Anna had regained consciousness, they could move on to more advanced healing and since he was completely untrained he was incapable of assisting them with that.

He stood now in the snowfall that turned the dark skies a murky grey and the streets to silky white, trembling as his bare feet sunk into the snow. He was exhausted in more ways than one; a weariness that sank deep into his bones and made his shoulders droop, his back hunch over. Still, even though the chill wind tore at his too-thin clothes, he was reluctant to open the heavy wooden door. He had a pretty good idea what was awaiting him beyond the gate, and he did not want to face his master's wrath before strictly necessary.