Alex looked out at the lights of San Francisco in the distance. She opened her journal and began to write...

You know, if I close my eyes, sometimes I can still feel the warm tropical breeze on my face and smell the wonderful flowers that were right outside those French doors in Huahine...

It's a week after Valentine's Day, and Derek and I have survived the pressures so far even though he's still in London. They were not happy to learn that we have changed our relationship, but as Derek said in Bora Bora that night, "They'll just have to get used to it." We've been getting used to it as well, but we've also been doing our best to separate business from pleasure.

Not that we've had any major impediments so far. I barely see him unless they allow him to talk to us via teleconference, and I miss his bare body. We've used what excuses we can, coming up with whatever pretext we can find to contact him, but Madame Wu is making it more and more difficult. I wear the pearl necklace every day, and Derek can see it on me when we do get the chance to "visit" each other. I want to kiss him so much, but for now we can only slide our index fingers across our upper lips as our clandestine signal.

The Dragon Lady is coming up with more reasons to keep me in the Control Room. Oh, I know she's got a wonderful reputation, but there's still something about her that bothers me. Is it simply that she isn't Derek? She even tried to confiscate the beautiful white hibiscus that he sent me for Valentine's Day. Edward said that he'd dispose of it and he did -- by giving it to me. I was tempted to wear it, but I don't want to mess things up for Derek since he could be back sooner that I dared hope. Through devious means, we've learned the level of norketamine in his blood, and Rachel says it's not as bad as she feared. We're hoping it won't be more than two months until he's back with us in San Francisco. As far as we know, everything is fine.

Oh, a strange thing to note. The scratches on my back are still there, and I could have sworn that I saw several on Derek. I couldn't be sure of his because of his shirt, and I didn't want to mention it over the open line from London. Mine had gone away after Jeroen had died as a result of the spirits' revenge, so I don't know what to think. I remember Rachel had used makeup that last night to cover mine, but my mind that night, shall we say, was on other things. It's just funny that they're back...

Even when Derek does return, Madame Wu may still be here as interim precept since he would be on his sabbatical. To make things even more difficult, we've got two rookie members, new to the Legacy and in the House. Nick and I are trying to show them the ropes, but I'm not sure which one of us has the better deal. Or maybe I should say the worst deal. I think mine is the bigger idiot; all his does is talk endlessly. Mine is, I guess you would call him, prissy. And I don't mean that in a nice way!

Damn, the Dragon Lady is calling me.

I miss you, Derek, and I love you.

The End