"Liana, Liana," Came a voice that Liana instantly recognized.
Liana knew instantly that she was dreaming, but then when she is often did and those dreams could be very realistic, much more realistic than most people dreams.
"Mom," Liana called, desperation in her voice.
"It is so good to see you, sweetie," said a beautiful woman with Liana's brown hair, nose and cheekbones. The older woman also had her daughter's slender form, though she was a little taller. Really, Liana's mother didn't look that old, as she couldn't have been more than in her late forties at most, which was young for a witch to die, but unfortunately, it happened all too often.
"Why have you not appeared to me before?" Liana asked knowing she was being very childish, but couldn't seem to help herself. She had just missed her mother so much.
"You didn't really need me before sweetie, as you were taking care of yourself quite well. However, I have always been with you. I'm very proud of you and all you have managed to accomplish considering the obstacles placed in your path."
"But I had to become a thief," Liana protested.
"As Dave told you you did what you had to do in order to survive," The ghostly figure of Liana's mother said in a chiding tone. "It is not the life I wished for you to have, but you did what you had to in order not to starve. I know it's not something you wanted to do, but now you don't have to."
"So why have you appeared now?" Liana asked.
"I've come to tell you that you can trust Dave with anything. He is a very good man and he will never betray you. You will be happy if you take him up on his offer, but if you don't those people that have been after you, the ones that killed me, will find you and force you to work for them or possibly kill you."
"How do you know?" Liana asked. "You weren't a seer when you were alive, as far as I know."
"No, I wasn't, but when you're dead such things don't matter, as they can see the past or the present or the future. Time or reality is no barrier to the dead," the ghost answered.
"So if I don't accept Dave's offer of love and protection then the people that killed you will either kill me or force me to work for them. I will be their slave," Liana said shuddering at that possibility. To be a slave like that would be hell and it was the last thing that Liana wanted.
"I'm afraid so, sweetie, as you won't be allowed to kill yourself, unless you do so before they place a slave collar around your neck."
Liana had heard of those things and shuddered again at that possibility, which had never occurred to her, mostly because they were supposed to be extremely rare. They were very hard to make because there was a number of complex spells that went into making one and not many supernaturals had the power, the delicacy or the knowledge to do so. Really, the knowledge was nearly lost, but unfortunately, it could be revived by those of evil intent, as they often searched for things that needed to stay buried. If the people that were after her had that knowledge, then she was in deep trouble, because they would eventually catch up with her.
"Not a very happy thought, is it?" the ghost commented, as she studied her daughter.
"Are you kidding me? It's my worst nightmare," Liana said her voice hoarse, her hand going automatically to her throat.
"So accept Dave's offer and I promise you he will do all in his power to protect you," The ghost said.
"How do I know you're my mother and not someone masquerading as her?" Liana asked suspiciously. "For all I know Dave could have the power to control my dreams and is making you appear and tell me these things in order for me to accept being his mate."
The figure laughed and it was the same laughter that Liana remembered as a child. It brought up fond memories of the times they had spent together. Liana was only sad that their time had been cut so short.
"You always were the suspicious one," the figure commented with the gentle smile, the same expression Liana remembered from when her mother had been alive. There was no way that Dave could have manufactured these things, as he didn't know what her mom's smile looked like or the sound of her laughter. While it was likely that Yolanda had inherited the same color hair, eyes and other facial features, how could Dave replicate these things if he didn't know what image to project into her dreams?
"Very well then, let me tell you a few anecdotes from your childhood," the transparent figure said. The figure went into detail of some of her daughter's escapades as a child and Liana blushed several times during the recounting.
"Alright, fine," Liana huffed, her face reddening several times as her mother talked. "You made your point. You really are my mother and you only want what's best for me."
"I don't blame you for being so suspicious really," The ghostly figure said genuine sympathy in her eyes. "You've had a hard life thanks to my murder, so you don't trust anybody easily and while this is not necessarily a bad thing it can prohibit you from truly making friends or allowing yourself to fall in love. You do love Dave, even if you hadn't realized it yet. It doesn't matter how fast it happened sweetie, but trust me, you do love him."
Liana realized then that she truly did love Dave and she had been suppressing her feelings not only afraid at how fast they had appeared, but of their immediate strength. She had fallen in love with him almost from the minute she had met him, but hadn't wanted to admit it, mostly because she wasn't sure if she could trust him to not betray her and because she wasn't entirely sure what her feelings were, as she had never been in love before. All her mother had done was clarify her feelings for him and made her understand that she did love Dave. Would she really be willing to give up her freedom though?
"I guess I do," Liana said slowly.
"Believe me you do," the ghostly figure said. "I understand why you didn't realize it before. You had every right to be suspicious of his motives, but sweetie, Dave loves you with everything he has and will protect you with his life if necessary. The two of you will make beautiful babies together and I'm looking forward to watching them grow, even if they'll never truly know their grandmother. There's no reason to feel guilty for my death sweetie and don't deny it, because I know you do," The figure added, as Liana opened her mouth to protest. "It wasn't your fault that those thugs and their boss came for me. I was always a little too trusting I'm afraid and careless to boot. I displayed my power to the wrong people. It didn't take long after that for them to start chasing me and I was pregnant with you at the time. As you know, when you were 12 they found me, though they didn't know about you until then. When I refused to come with them they murdered me with no remorse, because they knew that you had likely inherited my strength of magic and you have. The strength of your magic is one of the reasons that you are Dave's mate."
"I know Dave explained it to me," Liana said blushing a little.
"So he did," The ghostly figure said with a smile of her own.
"I don't want to lose my freedom though," Liana said in weak protest.
"Oh, honey, getting together with Dave does not mean you won't have as much freedom as you desire. Dave has no interest in making you a slave or someone he treats like crap. He's not going to slap you around or abuse you like I can see you fear. No, he'll treat you with all the respect, love, gentleness and compassion he has. He's been looking for his mate for a very long time, but then all the dragons that exist have," The ghost explained.
"So have any of them them found their mates?" Liana asked curiously.
"Yes, but those type of situations don't always end well," the ghostly figure said vaguely.
Liana took that to mean that whoever those dragons mates were had rejected them and not necessarily in a nice way either. She was well aware that people could be nasty and just plain mean.
"Liana, the two of you would not be mates if you didn't share many similar traits, including ethics and morals. Dave will never mistreat you, I promise. No, he'll love you with everything he has and shower you with affection, which I know you've been denied ever since my death. Both of you know when it's appropriate to bend the law and it's always for a good cause, even if I know most people wouldn't agree with you."
"Alright mom, I understand what you're trying to say," Liana said finally.
"Good, make sure you tell him as soon as possible," the figure said. "You're not one to leave someone in agony if you can avoid it, not unless that someone has done you great harm or harm to someone you care about."
"I'll tell him first thing in the morning," Liana promised. "I'll agree to mate with him, so that I'll live a very long time."
"I'm so proud of you for such a mature decision," the ghostly form of Liana's mother praised her daughter.
"It's what I want anyway, even if I just realized it, which is thanks to you," Liana admitted. "I was all set to deny myself something I didn't need to and all because I have such trouble with trusting others."
"I know and you can blame a certain gangster for that," the ghostly figure spat the word. "He's the reason you have so much trouble trusting people, even good people who have someone's best interests in mind."
"I do trust, Dave, I always did," Liana said. "There's just something about him that tells me he isn't like most people, people who would betray their own grandmother if the payment was high enough."
"Not everybody is like that, sweetie, though I admit, there are far too many who allow greed to overcome them," The ghostly figure said looking sad at her daughter's words. It wasn't that she had wanted to keep Liana totally innocent of the world, just that she didn't want her to be so cynical and untrusting of others.
Her daughter had been about to ruin her own future, which is why she had been allowed to visit, but only in her dreams. She had been allowed to come to set her daughter straight to make sure she didn't make a critical mistake and now that she had it was time to leave.
"I'm afraid it's time for me to go, sweetie. I was allowed to come to make sure you didn't make a critical error in judgment due to your untrusting nature," The figure said.
"Can't you stay a little longer?" Liana begged, as she reached towards her mother. She had missed her so much, she just wanted her to stick around for awhile.
"I'm afraid not, sweetie," said the ghostly figure looking truly regretful. "Now that you have been set on the proper path, it's time for me to go. We'll meet again someday, even if that is many centuries away. I'm looking forward to getting to know Dave better once we can truly meet. Be happy, that's all I ever wanted for you, my daughter. I wanted you to meet a terrific young man get married and have many children and now you finally have that chance."
"Yes, I do," Liana breathed finally realizing that she had nearly made a critical error, but thanks to some ghostly intervention she had been prevented from doing so and she was grateful.
"Be happy, allow yourself to love, open yourself up to friendship. A little wariness and suspiciousness is a good thing, but do not allow it to rule your life. This is the only advice I have for you, my daughter," the ghostly figure said.
"I understand," Liana said. "I will try to follow your advice."
"That's all anyone can ask," the ghost said smiling slightly. "Remember, I will always love you and always be with you in your heart."
"Yes, mom," Liana said, hugging the ghostly form, her mom hugging her back. When Liana released her the ghostly form started to fade out and was gone in under a minute.
Liana woke with a start, remembering her dream with perfect clarity. She was rather sad that she would likely not see her mother again for centuries, but then, remembered her words too her and that was be happy and allow yourself to love. Good advice Liana knew. She would follow her mother's advice or at least try to.
She loved Dave, something her mother had helped her realize. She loved him so much it was nearly a physical ache. Her mother had been right she was only making herself and Dave miserable by repressing her feelings.
Finally, Liana drifted off to sleep content knowing she would tell Dave the good news in the morning, something he would be ecstatic about she had no doubt.
~~~Dave and Liana~~~