Hello everybody. This is Sing To Angels here with another story for ya'll. For once I actually spent time cultivating and developing it instead of just sitting down, writing it in one night, and sending it out. I have to thank my Alpha reader NiteAngel, she is a really great friend and was able to help me point out some of the really retarded errors that I made. :) You are the best dear. And to my Beta reader, Heather-Anne. I know that a lot of you have her beta for you so you all know how great she is. She knows it, at least I hope that she does. :) If it wasn't for the positive feedback from those two then this probably wouldn't be here now. As always, I also need feedback and CONSTRUCTIVE critisim from all of you. I haven't gotten a flame yet, but it will be ignored. I really thank everyone for giving me their honest opinion when they notice an error or something that doesn't sit right with them. I need that more than I need the pats on the back. For those who don't speak French, I translated the dialogue in the authour's notes after the story. Usual disclaimers apply here. I hope you all enjoy this here and everyone have a great day! Much love, Sing To Angels The air was cold. Frosty and windswept, the landscape was desolate. Snow piled up into great drifts all around her, and Natalie found it difficult to walk down the narrow pathway that led to a small cottage hidden behind the barren trees. After the warmth of the fireplace and the comfort of Nick's arms around her, the wind blowing her clothes around was even more disturbing. It wasn't as cold as it should be for snow, but because the glowing hearth of Nick's apartment was still fresh in Natalie's mind, it made the mild weather seem freezing to her. Finally arriving at her destination, Natalie knocked the snow from her white pumps and opened the door to the simple dwelling. It was cold in here too. The light from the hearth gave no warmth, only a dim illumination to the figure that was sitting before the fireplace. The woman stood and came over to welcome her. 'Who is she?' Natalie asked herself. The woman seemed familiar; she was older than Natalie, maybe 38 or 40 years old. Then she remembered and gasped. It wasn't possible. Fleur was dead. Natalie remembered seeing her die when Nick's memories washed over her. Nick! Where was Nick? Where was she? What was this place? Random thoughts and images flew through Natalie's head and she was suddenly overwhelmed--Fleur standing in front of a fire, as she was now, but much younger. Turning to greet her returning brother with open arms. Her dead form in a rough, wooden coffin. The anger at a single white rose. Gentle hands touched her shoulders, and Natalie looked into large, brilliant eyes that seemed to say 'I know, I felt this too.' "Are you Fleur?" Natalie asked, hesitating ever so slightly before she grasped the hand that held her arm. Smiling, the woman nodded. "Yes, Natalie. And this is real. You are here with me and all of the rest." "The rest? The rest of what?" Holding herself in tight rein, afraid that she would burst out upon the woman, Natalie clenched her nails into the palms of her hands and tried to keep from screaming her confusion out to the world. XXXXXXXXXXXX "The women that have loved Nicholas." That sentence stopped Natalie from making any further comments. Blindly she walked around the room, admiring the tapestry that was being created in the corner. Nothing felt right; it was as if she had no sense of touch or smell. Like everything around her was an illusion. "You are right in that, my friend. This is all an illusion, but we are real." Natalie turned quickly at the sound of Fleur's voice. "How do you--" "Know what you are thinking?" Natalie nodded quietly, not being able to think of one word to say. "I don't know really," Fleur mused. "In this place of illusion and shadow, one can never have all of the answers. But I can hear what you think as if you are speaking it aloud. In time so will you." Stopping, she bent to retrieve a snowflake that had come in the door with Natalie. Holding it on her finger, Fleur beckoned Natalie closer. "You see, this snowflake does not melt with the heat of my touch. It does not transform itself into water or steam but is constantly the same. That is the best analogy for this place, never changing." "But where is here? Where are we?" Natalie asked. Still kneeling by the door, Fleur looked up with patience showing clearly. "It is Nicholas. This is where his memories are. This is where all who have loved him come when they die." "All who have died at the hand of his passion and love. This place never changed until you came into his life." Fleur drifted off and touched her hand to the tapestry near the fire. "When you came, Natalie, he had hope. The trees outside started to bud, the snow disappeared and for the first time in centuries, I felt the cloth under my hand. It was no illusion but a real thing like myself." "What happened, then? Why is it snowing now? Did I do something wrong? Where are all of the other women? Surely there should be more than just you and I." Natalie rattled off these questions in rapid suc- cession. "The others are around. For some reason, you came to the place where I am instead of being alone. I am glad for that. And you did nothing that wasn't natural, wanting to consummate a marriage that had long been in place in the eyes of God. Unfortunately, you didn't survive." Natalie's breath left her body, and she listened, only half-interested as Fleur continued. "Now we are stuck in the perpetual winter of his grief." Something struck Natalie then. "How is it that you speak 20th-century English? You speak it as well as I do, no accent or anything." Fleur smiled gently, "I am able to speak directly to your mind in the way that you would comprehend the best. I'm not actually speaking aloud; my mouth isn't really moving. But you think that it would be logical for me to do that, so that is how it appears to you." Natalie shook her head. "I'm not quite sure that I understand. But I guess that I will.... in time. And that seems to be what we have the most of, time." Pausing, Nat looked at Fleur with a question in her eyes. "When shall we be released? When Nicholas dies his final death, he must make a choice of one person that he wants to take with him. When he dies that final death, The Powers That Be will decide whether he goes to heaven or hell." "But, Fleur...how do they decide where he goes? He has done so much good; surely that must counteract the wrongs he has done." "He will go to the place he thinks that he deserves when he dies. Deep down, my brother knows that he is a good person. He knows where he belongs." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Natalie rubbed the bridge of her nose with her fingertips, an old habit that somehow comforted her now. 'My God, Nick! What have you gotten me into this time? I didn't have to love you; you didn't twist my arm or whammy me into it. But I chose this path the day you woke up in my morgue. I just wonder if you love me as much as I love you. Even after everything, I still love you, Nick. After.... after... oh, God!' Throwing herself into a chair, Natalie's shoulders heaved as she let herself give vent to all of the emotions that were swirling through her mind. Her heart lay in her chest like a stone, feeling heavier with every tear being shed. A warm, soft hand caressed her cheek, and Natalie looked up, the tears leaving trails in the dusting of snow on her cheeks. Fleur smiled at her; even through this storm of emotions, stuck in the land of permanent winter, Natalie couldn't help but feel something in her stomach that reminded her of the butterflies she had felt beating against her insides the first time she had set eyes on Nick. They had the same eyes, she thought. Blue like the ocean, softly pulsing but on the slightest tremor turning storm-swept like a rocky beach. Such innocence, wonder, knowledge. Shining with love for Natalie. She couldn't breathe. Pulling breath into her body seemed.... somehow not necessary anymore. "Fleur," Natalie exhaled, "how can you love me so much when you don't even know me?" "But I do know you, Natalie. Nicholas loves you so much, enough that he actually had hope again. All of this around us changed. You were his light on Earth; you guided his way through the darkness and pushed away all of his fears. How can I not love you?" Sighing, Natalie rested her head against Fleur's chest and inhaled the dead air deep into her lungs. She was overcome by the sheer honesty and... well, everything. At least she had this sweet, loving woman as a companion. She didn't have to be alone. Waiting for years and years by herself... she would go mad. Guilt, something that she had long wanted Nick to abandon while on his search for mortality, slowly started to consume Natalie. Because of her selfish hopes and dreams, because she had pushed him so far, he had lost hope of redemption. Before, Nick might have had a chance, however slim, of choosing the proper place to go after he died. Now.... now that she was dead, Natalie felt sure that Nick would never be able to see again how wonderful a person he was. That he was a vampire and natural predator didn't matter--he was still the Crusader inside. His soul gleamed pure white under the ashy coating of his chosen path. But he wouldn't see, he never would. Natalie deserved to go mad from years of loneliness. Before Fleur had spoken to her, Natalie would never have been able to see just how much Nick loved her. She would have thought that she was being over-confident about the depth of his love. That the lack of his control almost proved it. She had died, and he hadn't tried to bring her across. "Natalie," Fleur gently admonished, "you know that none of this is your fault. Don't fall into the same trap my dear brother has. Everything that happens is fated. It was never in your hands, my friend." Tapping Natalie on the nose, she rose from the floor where she had kneeled and crossed the room to stand in front of the fire. "If you think about it, you will see why he didn't bring you across. It is very much the same reason why he would not let me join my love in the darkness. Our innocence, his love for us... all of these reasons that he created made him revere us. Love can sometimes blind one. He wanted us to go to Heaven; he didn't think that we would be the same person if we lived in the dark as he does. If we had to kill to survive and revel in all of the powers that his condition allowed him. He is right--we would have changed. However, the change would only have been on the surface. It would never have penetrated to our soul; that is one thing that can not be altered by the way we live, the wrongs we do. Only the way that we deal with it." The light from the fire seized Fleur's light brown hair, turning it gold. The soft glow suffused her face, catching her eyes and making them gleam as she half-turned to look at Natalie. Smiling a little mischeiviously, the fine lines around her eyes crinkling warmly, she stated, "And I refuse to spend the next couple of centuries with someone who is just as guilt-ridden as my thick-headed brother." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The spell seemed broken as Natalie laughed heartily. Wiping at the wetness on her cheeks, she rose from the chair and looked out the window. "I just don't understand how we can be here. Trapped in his memories, you say?" Natalie asked as she turned her head to look at Fleur who nodded her assent. "It just doesn't seem logical to me. Perhaps this is limbo." Sighing, she clasped her hands in front of her and drifted aimlessly around the quaint cottage. Speaking aloud to herself, Natalie started to recite. "My heart is torn. Emptyness, Sorrow, Pain. Love has left me but still remains, Yours, Forever, Truly never mine." Pausing, she picked up a small bottle of wine from the table beside the fire and held it to her lips. Taking it away, she peered down into the green glass container and set it back down, disappointed that the wine inside did not taste as good as it looked. "My soul is empty, My mind lies. Here in darkness I spend my days. Light taken away it never shines. My body is lying here, Sleeping but awaiting your touch. Only dreaming I see you, But were you ever there? Your love meant so much." Natalie looked over at Fleur, still standing near the fire. "You know, I never used to tell anyone that I wrote poetry. I didn't even want to admit it to myself. I never told Nick or even my brother. It was my darkest secret. I felt as if someone would somehow think less of me if they knew that I indulged in such a sappy pastime. I had to be strong and fearless in my profession. If I let the tiniest thing slip out, I would have been less respected. I felt that I didn't even have the right to be a woman, much less one that read romance novels and wrote poetry in her spare time. Now I guess that people have invaded my apartment and found the notebooks full of writing that I kept in my closet. Perhaps looking for some shred of evidence about who killed me, if they even find my body. The most intimate secrets are now open for the world to see. And my poor cat, Sidney, is probably half starved by now. I hope that someone found him and he has a good home now." "That all happened a long time ago, Natalie. It has already been more than 2 years since you died while we have been sitting here chatting." Natalie spun around abruptly while Fleur continued. "Time does not pass here as it does on Earth. Most of the people that you knew while you were alive are now growing old as you take breath into your lungs; they are soon to die. Your beloved pet has already gone to Heaven. He finished his life, happy and content in the company of your friend Grace, who took care of him after your death." Natalie turned back to the window and watched as the snow swirled in the wind, making the huge drifts pile up around the lifeless trees even more deeply. ************************************ She had counted the days. To Natalie, in this place, three months had passed. On Earth it must have been over two centuries since she had last felt Nick hold her in his arms. The days were spent in Fleur's company, both sharing stories of when they had been alive. Fleur told Natalie what it was like to grow up in 13th-century Brabant. Although the duchy itself was now a part of a different country than it had been originally, the scenary was the same rich, vibrant countryside it was then. Through the weeks that had passed with only their conversations to keep them occupied, Natalie had finally gotten the grasp of mental communication. The vivid pictures that Fleur showed her burned in her mind's eye. It almost felt like she was really there. The wind rose to meet her as she stood on the crest of a green hill, looking towards a castle keep in the distance. "The land that you lived in was so beautiful. It is a pity that it is now more than likely overrun with condos and skyscrapers." Natalie sighed and leaned her head back against the footstool in front of the fireplace. She sorted through Nick's memories of Fleur. She remembered the white rose that had made Nick so angry. "Tell me, Fleur, what was it that attracted you to LaCroix? I never liked him much myself, and I think that the feeling was mutual." Natalie leaned back further into the non-existant pillows that propped her back off the floor, and smiled slightly at the fact that LaCroix no longer had to worry about the 'pesky mortal doctor'. The slim, older woman before her smiled and blushed like a girl. "I think that I saw much more than anyone else saw when I looked at him. His eyes were... so knowledgable and yet he was still a child, it seemed. Sometimes that confused me--it seemed like a contradiction. That he cared deeply for my brother I could see plain as day. Lucien acted as the father that my brother and I had missed for most of our lives, as he had died when I was very young. But I loved him as more than just a father figure. I had a passion for him that was deeper than any I had ever known. I think that my boldness frightened him just a little bit." Fleur paused to smile before continuing with her narrative. "Surely he had seen bold women before, but to see it in me somehow startled him, I could tell. I was supposed to be pure and innocent. Although I had never kissed another man in passion, I just let my body take over, and it told me what to do. I was innocent, never touched. But I gave him the first flower of my passion, and in return he gave me a white rose. I guess that that represented his pure love for me; it stood for my innocence. When I looked into his eyes, I could actually feel the pain that he hid from the world. Although many thought of him as a monster, I saw the true flame burning inside. The passions that lay under the surface. What is it they say? Still waters run deep? That was Lucien. He did not show his gentle nature; it had been squashed and thwarted so many times! I felt special to see him as the man he could have been. I think that if our love had been allowed to continue, he would have been a changed man. I don't feel that anyone else had ever loved him the way that I did. I accepted his strengths and loved him for his weaknesses. There was no dark crevasse of him that I did not stroke with a careful hand. I adored him utterly and completely. Nicholas didn't think that it was true love. He assumed that since I was so young and had never known another man's touch on my lips, it was only a child's first 'crush,' as you would put it. He did not look deeper, and he didn't want to. He had justification, in his mind, as to why I should completely forget Lucien." A single tear slipped out of her eye and wound on its course down her cheek and over her lips. As it dropped on her hand, she paused to look at it shimmer and sparkle in the light of the fire. "This is all that I have left of my Lucien. This one little teardrop. I can't see his face, I can't touch his cheek or run my fingers through his hair. It was almost better when I had forgotten him. Then there wasn't this.... this horrible pain. And it isn't just in my heart, it radiates through my whole body. I can't breathe right now, I can't breathe! It hurts so much, Natalie!" She looked at the auburn-haired woman sitting across from her on the floor with tears in her eyes. Holding her hand to her heart as if she was trying to keep it from falling out of her chest, Fleur bent double onto the floor and cried out her grief. Natalie rose up from where she had been sitting and lay down next to her. Gently taking Fleur into her arms, she pulled her head to her chest and stroked the beautiful golden-brown hair. The tears flowed on and on as Natalie slowly rocked her back and forth. Eventually, Fleur fell asleep, safe and warm in the arms that encircled her. Those arms, which belonged to a very tired woman, relaxed as sleep claimed her as well. ************************************************ While the two women dozed in front of the fireplace, years passed on Earth. The centuries that Nick had been alive weighed heavily upon him and on his master, as well. There was no one left who remembered more than fleetingly who they were; all that they had loved died long ago. Except for Janette--however, she was off cultivating her own life and didn't often talk to them anymore. It had been well over sixty years since either of the pair had set eyes on her. The constant loneliness on both parts had contributed to making amends. They both walked the same path. Nicholas had given up his quest for mortality with Natalie's passing and had thrown himself back into his vampiric nature as an escape. He rarely hunted, although he did display a ruthlessness that bothered LaCroix for some strange reason. Once, long ago, LaCroix had wanted his son to be true to his nature. Now it seemed as if Nicholas was only reactionary. He wasn't truly there anymore. When Natalie died, Nick had begged to be put out of his misery. LaCroix refused to kill him, of course, and after several years, the pair decided to travel together. "He isn't the same Nicholas anymore," LaCroix mused to himself aloud one evening as he looked over the books to be done for his new business. Somewhere along the way, Nick had started to fade. He never showed a glimmer of humour, and the children that frequented the vampire club stayed away from him. If they came too near, he would show the barest hint of gold and growl like an animal. Mortals he simply ignored. Nursing a glass of blood-wine, he sat at the bar and quietly listened to the music coming through the speakers or watched the people move to and fro as they danced. In the recent years, listening to masters of the classics came back into vogue. The soft strains of Mozart or the violent intensity of Beethoven inspired the neo-beatniks that came to the club. Notebooks and pencils seemed to take the place of the flashy, metallic accessories that had been popular only 5 or 6 years ago. LaCroix had to admit that this new trend was very becoming. At least it wasn't another revival of punk rock. All of the originality had gone from humanity. Now they just copied everyone that had come before. And while it had always been this way, LaCroix seemed to take note of that now especially. He felt so old. He had been on the Earth for roughly 2,400 years, and it was finally taking its toll on him. Sighing, LaCroix closed his ledger and walked over to his son. Looking up with bleary eyes, Nick acknowledged his presence quietly. "What is it, mon pere?" Putting his hand on Nick's shoulder, LaCroix said, "I am done with the books. Would you like to go home now?" Nodding, Nick pushed the stool back and walked to the back door of the club with LaCroix. They stepped outside into the frosty air and across the alley to the back of a large apartment building. Opening the door, they climbed the stairs to the large, spacious dwelling that was at the top. "Nicholas, you seem to be more world weary than usual. What is wrong tonight?" Nick sighed as he sat down in the overstuffed, leather chair next to the fireplace. "There is nothing more than the ordinary, LaCroix. I'm just feeling restless. I think that I will go and look for some form of employment tomorrow night. I need something to occupy my time." LaCroix nodded his agreement, and they discussed some possible options for Nick to follow up on before they both gave their good nights and retired for bed when the sun rose. The fire started around 10am. The woman that rented downstairs had fallen asleep with the gas running. She was dead from the fumes before her husband came home and struck a match to light his cigarette. The entire apartment exploded in flames and quickly tunneled up the stairwell into the apartments above. It was a deathtrap, and no one was able to escape it. Fortunately it was during a weekday when most were at work. However, when the fire reached the top floor, the sleeping occupants there barely had time to wake and see final death coming for them with fiery fingers. ******************************************** She awoke, not exactly sure of where she was until she felt Fleur move in her sleep. Smiling to herself, Natalie rose from the floor and crossed the room to look out the window. The snow that had been falling as a constant had ceased. The world was white and gray, with no other colours marring the perfection of the snow globe-like picture outside of the window. Except.... what was that there? Natalie squinted to see the blur of black and crimson fumbling in the snow about fifty yards away. Rushing to the fireplace, she shook Fleur by her shoulders. "Wake up! Wake up! There is someone coming to the cottage." Sleepily opening her eyes, Fleur looked at the window and pushed herself off the floor. Together, Natalie and Fleur went to the window and gazed out upon the dismal landscape. There was nothing there. "I don't understand. Where did they go?" Fleur smiled and patted Natalie on the arm. "It was more than likely just another woman who has come here to rest for awhile. She is probably somewhere else by now. We will not see her again." Another woman. Natalie shivered suddenly in spite of her attempts to keep control of her rising anger and sadness. Nick had found another woman, and he had killed her, too. How cruel, for him to forget her so quickly. But Natalie reminded herself that he had every right. It had been centuries since she had last been alive. He had every right, she kept telling herself. Every right to be happy again while she was trapped in a place where she couldn't even drink a steaming cup of tea or feel the rough wood of the windowsill under her hand! Her angry musings were short-lived for at that moment the front door banged open and a blonde man in black and red pyjamas came through and shook the coating of white flakes from his hair. Both women froze, but Fleur was the first to recover. "Nicholas!" Fleur screamed as she ran and launched herself like a small child directly at her startled brother. Pulling back to look at the woman that had just flung herself into his arms, he gasped and tears came to his eyes. "Fleur? My sister Fleur? Oh, my sweet God in Heaven! How can this be?" He gripped her arms tightly and held her close to his heart as he wept tears that were crystal clear. "My little flower! Oh, you have come back to me! I had thought you were gone forever...." Nick trailed off as he looked up over Fleur's shoulder and saw Natalie standing by the window. The faint light gave her face a soft, silver glow and sparkled on the tears that fell from seemingly sightless eyes. He whispered her name like a prayer, so soft and respectful, "Natalie." Letting her arms drop from around his neck, Fleur stepped back to watch the reunion of the two souls. He slowly crept across the small distance that separated him from the still silent woman in front of the window. Gently, with the reverence of a pilgrim to a shrine, Nick picked up Natalie's hand and held it to his face, stroking his cheek with the back of it. Closing his eyes, Nick let the tears overwhelm him. Feeling the cool liquid falling on her skin seemed to awaken Natalie from the trance. "Nick?" The word came out a cracked whisper but expressed all of the pain and heartache that she had felt during the years of their separation. "Oh, Nick! You are here." Sighing, Natalie pulled her hand from his cheek and traced the pattern the tears had left on his face. "I feel as if it has been forever, and yet, here you are. With me. Here." Natalie buried her face in his chest, and he put his cheek on the top of her head, savouring the silky feel of her hair on his skin as he wrapped his arms more tightly around her quivering frame. After a few moments, Natalie moved her head and looked up at him. "Nick, you must make a choice, you know. We cannot all go with you. You must decide which one of us that you will be taking with you." Looking confused, Nick asked, "Take with me where? Here is where I want to be. With the both of you for the rest of eternity." Fleur shook her head. "My brother, you must make a choice of only one to take with you to the beyond. We can not stay here forever. There are more here than just the two of us." Nick blinked for a moment. "I don't care. Whoever it is can not possibly compare to the two that are before me now. I love the both of you so much. Fleur..." He turned his eyes toward her. "You are my sister. I have been waiting to be reunited with you for over a millenium." Nick paused and took a deep breath. "But Natalie! I love her with every shred of my being. She fills a vital part of my heart and brings light to my soul. I cannot possibly be asked to choose between the two of you." Closing his eyes and biting his lip, Nick shook his head. "It can't be done. I won't be forced to choose one over the other." The two women looked at each other, fearing what would happen if he didn't make a choice. Would they cease to exist? Be stuck in this purgatory where they couldn't even feel the ice form on their fingers as it crawled up their skin and made them freeze. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX "Nick, please... pick Fleur. I can accept that, and she deserves to leave this place. She has been here for far longer than I have. She is your sister, and it is your duty to take her." Natalie wasn't normally one for self-sacrificing gestures, but this one was sincere. "No! Natalie, you must go. I insist upon it. Nicholas has finally found the love he had searched for his entire life." Turning to Nick, Fleur held her hands out to him in supplication. "How could you not take the love of your soul? She is your light; without her your heart will surely shrivel and die." "Perhaps I can help you to make a decision, Nicholas?" A new voice broke in. Everyone turned to look at the platinum blonde man standing at the door. Wrapped in a dark blanket, he strode forward and came to stand in front of a startled Natalie. Pulling a furry grey and white object from under his pyjama shirt, he presented it to her. "I found this on my way here. I believe that he belongs to you, doctor." "Sydney!" Natalie squealed. Reaching up to take the cat from LaCroix, she cuddled the long-lost pet close to her chest. "Oh, LaCroix! Thank you so much." Bowing in only a slightly sarcastic way, he nodded to Natalie. "Fleur...." LaCroix fairly breathed the word, as if he was afraid to break a spell of silence that had cast itself over the small dwelling. She smiled up at him, but before he could come closer, she stayed him. "I want you to see me as you remember the best, Lucien." Closing her eyes, Fleur's form started to slowly shift back to that of a young girl, perhaps 20 years old. No blemish marred the perfection of her silken, white skin, blood flushed her youthful cheeks and the lips were once again the soft pink rosebuds that LaCroix remembered. The transformation complete, she flung herself into his arms and kissed him soundly and passionately on the mouth. "Lucien, mon amour." Fleur gasped out between kisses. "Je t'ai attendu toujours!" Another small kiss. "Tu es finalement ici!" LaCroix held her out from him at arms length. "Ma Fleur précieuse..." Stroking her cheek with his fingertips, she leaned into the carress. "Je suis ici maintenant," Lucien said seriously. "Et je ne te laisserai jamais." Capturing her mouth with his, he slowed the rising passion within him until they could part their lips. Holding her close, he nestled his face in her hair. Unknowingly, they were almost reproducing the reunion of Nick and Natalie. "Nicholas, there is no need for you to make a choice between them." LaCroix looked down at the fragile woman in his arms. "Unless I am very much mistaken, she is coming with me." From the crook of his arm, Fleur looked up into his eyes then and smiled. For the first time in centuries, Lucien LaCroix smiled back, not tinted with sarcasm, bitterness, or irony. But it was genuine and happy, contented. He started to reflect upon the irony of death bringing him final happiness, but for once decided that it wasn't worth the trouble and simply remembered the wisdom of Anais Nin. The blossom opens only when the pain from remaining closed becomes too great. Was that it? Normally he could remember a quote to perfection, but with the lovely distraction that stood by his side... well, it really didn't matter, did it? "So our decisons are made then? For all of us?" Nick surveyed the other couple in the room and they nodded. He turned to Natalie. "What about us, Nat? Where shall we go?" Nat thought it over for a moment. "Nick, I think that we should try it again. We should go back to Earth and see if we can do it right this time." Fleur spoke up."You will meet again. However," she paused, "there is no guarantee that you will recognize each other. If you both go back to Earth you could lose each other forever. You must decide whether that is worth it. You have found each other again after centuries.... just let it rest and go to Heaven where you belong." Fleur looked up at the man by her side and he nodded. "Join us in eternity. Please, we don't want to lose you again. We all deserve our rest." Nick and Nat were silent for a few moments. Nick spoke up first. "It is up to you, my love. While I would prefer for us to go with my sister and LaCroix.... I am willing to risk whatever you are. I'll do anything to be with you." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Natalie stared at the expectant faces around her. The decision was left up to her? What if she made the wrong choice? Now she knew the intense pressure that the ruler of a country went through every day. Remembering how everything with Nick seemed fated, Natalie smiled. She cupped Nick's elbow with her hand, locked with his eyes. "In your eyes I lose myself. I belong to you fully." Nat glanced over to LaCroix and Fleur. "Somewhere along the way I found my other half, only to give it away with the part I had before." She closed her eyes and sighed, silently rubbing her thumb in circles upon Nick's skin. "So I have nothing left for someone I might meet. Tell me what I'm to do now." LaCroix stood silent. "You have a point, doctor. Come with us then. There is nothing left for you on Earth." He stood a little taller, shifted his footing and gazed at the petite woman on his arm, "We are leaving you now to make your own decisions. While you and Nicholas may want to take time in choosing your eternity, we made our choice a long time ago." LaCroix took Fleur's hand and led her to the front door which was suddenly lit by a brilliant golden glow. Pausing to kiss his long-lost love once more, their forms melded together and transformed into a single shadow which glided on silent wings into the light and disappeared. The door closed behind them. ************************************************ "How is it that LaCroix is going to Heaven after all of the wrong he has done? He doesn't even believe in God." Nick asked Natalie as if she must have all of the answers. "Maybe because God is not as demanding as you may think. Besides, LaCroix rarely felt guilt for any of the things he did, both as a vampire and as a mortal. He accepted the fact that he must kill to survive because it was his nature. Like any predator on the plains of Africa would pounce on an antelope to live, so did he. He reveled in his lifestyle; it was pleasure and sustence. There is no crime in wanting to survive, Nick." She led Nick towards the glowing doorway as he seemed to consider this for a moment. "You know, Natalie, everything, seems much clearer here. I actually see your point." Natalie threw her head back and laughed. "Well good! Does that mean you are finally going to leave behind all of that guilt you carry around with you like a sack of potatoes?" "A sack of potatoes? I never carried around a sack of potatoes." "It was a metaphor, Nick." "I know, Nat, I know. But I couldn't help getting in a good jab at you." "So you are going to leave it behind you, Nick? All of the sadness and pain, guilty conscience?" Nick looked at Natalie with a twinkle in his eyes, "Don't expect a change overnight, my lady love. I'm only a man, you know. I can't be perfect." She slid one arm around his neck as the other was still holding a meowing Sidney. Natalie murmured, "Well, thank God for small miracles." Nick closed the gap between them and put his lips to hers, finally being able to kiss her with an open heart, free of any darkness. The light was so bright, and for a moment Natalie thought that they had created it themselves. Love. Shared with many but only truly cherished by a few. Twin souls, true love, whatever name you want to give to something that can not be described but only felt if you are lucky enough. Their destinies had come full circle, weaving together like a tapestry until you couldn't tell where one thread ended and another began. All those whom they knew and loved were waiting just around the corner, happy to mingle their fates with that of the soul who took two shapes. The room faded, and as the passions of the man and woman increased, they heard LaCroix's voice float over them like a gentle breeze, telling both of the love that man had always held for his son. "Half in his dreams, he saw his sire with great hands full of fire. The man had struck a match to see if his son slept peacefully. He held his palms each side of the spark his love had kindled in the dark. His two hands were curved apart in the semblance of a heart....." ************************************************** Author's Notes: The last paragraph is an excerpt from The Secret Heart by R.P.T Coffin The French that was spoken between LaCroix and Fleur is translated to English as follows: Fleur: "Lucien, my love. I've waited for you so long! You are finally here!" Lucien: "My precious Flower. I am here now. And I will never leave you"