Title: Sympathy For The Devil: How Forbidden Games Should Have Ended
Author: Puck
Email: Mish_S_Mail@yahoo.com
Parts: All
Spoilers: FG

Summary: Julian... Jenny, Puck at 2AM with loads of sugar and
caffine..you get the picture..

Song credit goes to U2, With or Without You....Because I think FG
is a totally eighties book (that's a good thing)



She saw him everywhere. But she didn't hate him. That was the
problem. If Jenny had really hated Julian, she wouldn't be half as
bothered. However she loved him; felt a void now that he was gone.
She couldn't walk alone in the bad part of town at night, and she
couldn't stop seeing him.

Yet another moonlight blonde man walked past her. She didn't stop
though, for Jenny Thornton had mastered the art of walking and
looking over her shoulder. At second glance she sighed, for she
could see the black roots of the light hair, and the bulk beneath
the heavy winter coat. Not Julian. Never Julian.

Tucking her hands deeper into the pockets of her wool jacket,
Jenny made her way down the cold and crowded sidewalk to the
little coffee shop. Tom had called her, wanted to meet somewhere
where they might be able to 'talk'. Jenny knew what this was
about. Ever since they'd returned from Pennsylvania, they'd been
different.

She withdrawing further and further into herself and he looking
for female attention elsewhere. Jenny's mother had said they were
in high school and it was normal for relationships like this to
fall apart. Especially after grand theft from your parents' bank
account, juvenile delinquency, running away and breaking and
entering (even if you did have the key) and finally, destruction
of property. How they'd ever forgiven her was beyond Jenny.

Although, Jenny's father had partially blamed this incident on
Tom and decided that it was best that Jenny and he were becoming
less of boyfriend and girlfriend and more like polite
acquaintances. Well, it's not like I don't want to break up with
him either, Jenny sighed and squared her shoulders as the coffee
shop came into view.

Pushing open the sickeningly cute wooden door, she entered and
immediately spotted Tom. Here goes nothing.



"I want him brought back," the young girl demanded. She stood in
a circle of light in the middle of a dark room. Three hooded
figures, robed in black velvet and shadows stood before her,
listening to her plead her case.

"We thought you would be happy. They cause nothing but
destruction. One more gone is nothing," the center figure spoke
and it's voice was timeless, ageless and when asked to describe
it, no words could ever come to mind.

"He wasn't like them," she stated. "Reconstructing his nature out
of his love for the girl, that should prove it."

"He did what suited him." The figure at the left inclined his
head to let her know it was he who spoke. His voice harsh and
evil, and the girl knew him well; he favored punishment.

"He saved her in the end. Sacrificed himself." The cloaked figure
on the right said, and his voice was soft and good, and the girl
knew him well; he favored a second chance.

The center figure nodded. "Then he shall be given in death what
he did not receive in life."

The girl stepped forward slightly, "NO! You misunderstand." The
figures stopped, ceasing all movement. "I want a second chance at
life for him. On earth, with her. He deserves it. He saved the
balance of the living world."

"Child, even we, those who wrote the rules, cannot make exception
for him. The Earth is under a rune of restraint against the
shadowmen. If we put him on earth, we would first have to remake
him into something else. He would no longer be her soulmate or
himself." The center figure spoke, and it was a voice that both
built cosmos and destroyed them.

The girl hung her head. They were right. "Thank you. I know that
you will do what is right."

"You may leave." The center figure dismissed her. The girl backed
up out of the circle of light and bowed before making her way to
the arching door.

"Who else has asked to speak on his behalf?" The center figure
asked of the right and left.

"Everyone else has already spoken. Stelladucta was the last." The
soft voice on the right replied.

"Then I shall pass down my final decision." The center figure
said to his right and left.

"Without even consulting us?" The left hissed. The center turned
toward him.

"I already know what both of you will say." The right nodded, and
reluctantly so did the left.

"He shall be given his rightful place on Valhalla, and so will
she when her time comes. Until then, he shall sleep, so as not to
feel the pull of years without her. I have spoken, so let it be."
The center figure said, then the entire room went dark.



"Thorny, I just can't take it anymore. You're come to a
crossroads in your life; you're going to have to choose me or your
memory of him," Tom demanded softly.

Him, Jenny snorted mentally, so it's come down to Tommy not even
being able to say Julian's name. Well, I'm not going to waffle in
my decision any longer. "My memory of Julian. I'm sorry Tom, but
you know that this won't work out anymore."

Tom nodded slowly. He knew this day would come. Even in death
Julian had a hold on Jenny that no one but God himself could
break. Abba had explained it to him the week before, told him not
to make Jenny choose because she simply would not be able to. For
once, Abba had been wrong.

"Well, we'll still be friends," he offered weakly. She smiled at
him and it warmed his heart. Tom didn't know how he'd survive if
he never got to bask in the light of her smile again. So, friends
at least, would do for now.

"Sure Tom. But, I've got to go now. See you tomorrow at school?"
She got up, and Tom rose with her, ever the gentleman.

He wasn't going to let the offer slip away, "Of course, Thorny.
We are friends." She smiled once more at him and walked to the
door. Jenny still loved him, of course, but her love for Julian
eclipsed all else.

Tom sat back down at the table, sipping a mocha latte. His heart
broke as the door closed. He loved her so much. All the other
girls he'd flirted with were to make her jealous, to make Jenny
realize that she wanted Tom more than a faded memory. He knew true
love would be to let her go and nurse his broken heart, but his
fools pride got in the way.

Jenny practically ran the rest of the way home, coat clutched
tight around her, and only slowing when she reached her street.

Something was tugging at the edge of her memory, something
important that she wasn't supposed to forget...

"Oh my GOD!" Jenny exclaimed aloud. "It's Dee's birthday!" Taking
off at full tilt, Jenny leapt over the curb and wondered if she
had enough time to throw some Cheese Wiz in the microwave.



"It's impossible," a voice like distant chimes said. The black
cloaked figure stood still, merely looking at the ugly lot of-
monsters-surrounding him.

"Nothing is impossible. You've crossed the barrier before, have
you not." The cloak figure stated more than asked. His voice was
harsher than normal, upset at the loss of Julian to Valhalla, but
eager with the promise of something new.

"Yes. But that was Julian. Have you come to bring him back? We
can't quite remember the runes to his name anymore..." A lazy
voice like a flowing stream asked.

"No. Julian is lost to you because of the girl." He paused and
turned away from them, a smile on his hidden lips. "For now,
anyway."

"We can have him back?" A figure with skin like a crocodile asked.

"We want him back...what do we have to do?" The chime voice asked.

"You must destroy the girl and capture her soul." The figure
turned back to face the deformed shadowmen, happy his plan was
working out.

"Simple enough," a squat little man, like a withered fetus
commented.

"Yes, but I have no doubt you will find some way to botch it."
The cloaked man hissed at the group. "If you kill her, the spirit
will leave and rejoin Julian and he will truly be lost to you. You
must remove her spirit before destroying her body."

"And the others?" The lazy voice asked greedily, red eyes glowing
in the darkness of the pit.

"My gifts to you." The cloaked man smiled generously, though none
could see it.

"We need a way to enter the earth." A voice like distant wind
demanded. The cloaked man smiled again, happy at how easy the
shadowmen were to deceive. Of course he would never give Julian
back to them, for Julian was almost more important than the girl
in this equation. He would have to be reborn as a shadowman then
carved off again, ensuring an eternity where the light could never
reach him.

"I know. I shall give you the tools you need." The cloaked figure
turned to leave.

"We shall lure her, steal her, then capture her soul in return
for Julian," the fetus exclaimed. The cloaked figure whirled
around and snatched the shadowman up by the throat.

"NO!" He hissed, then calmed and put the shadowman down. "No. She
must come here knowingly and of her own free will."

"Then how will we get her here?" A voice demanded, cracking like
a glacier.

The cloaked man smiled, "I never said her friends couldn't be
stolen." He turned and walked away as the shadowmen laughed
dementedly and made plans for their fresh blood and unsoiled flesh.



"Hello?" Jenny called as she entered her house. The door was
unlocked and the lights were on, though Jenny's parents never left
the door unlocked and rarely left her alone anymore.

"Well Miss Jenny Thornton, what are you doing out on a night like
this? I'm lucky your parents forgot their keys or I would have
been freezing my tush out there on your front step," Audrey
scolded from the kitchen.

"I know, I'm sorry. I had to talk to Tom and what with him lately
I totally forgot. Besides- wait, my parents forgot their keys?
Where did they go?" Jenny asked, weirded out.

"Dinner and a hotel, I suppose they haven't been able to get good
and carnal what with watching you all the time," Micheal teased
and snuck a meatball while Audrey's back was turned. Audrey turned
promptly and smacked Micheal's hand. He put down the meatball.

"Gross!" Jenny exclaimed at the thought of her parents- "Mikey,
you sure have an active imagination."

"It's just frustration," he mumbled then padded into the living
room.

The doorbell rang, "I'll get it," he called.

"You know," Jenny said, leaning against the blonde wood table.
"This is really reminiscent of the last party we had."

Audrey glanced at her a moment. "Don't you think I know? But..."
She hesitated. "We've always had a small get together before the
major party. Besides, we're not even spending the night. What
could happen?"

Jenny gave her a pointed look, then rapped her knuckles against
the wood table. Audrey rolled her eyes and huffed, turning back to
the boiling spaghetti.

"Zach and Summer are here!" Micheal called. They came into the
kitchen and sat down, exhausted, at the table.

"Hey guys," Jen smiled.

"Hiya," Summer chirped back.

"Tired? You better not be, I intend to make this a wonderful
evening," Audrey eyed them suspiciously.

"Just no games, I don't think I could take it," Zach deadpanned
and put his head down on the kitchen table with a thump.

"Oh, Zach, did you just make a joke? Tonight's looking up
already," Micheal laughed and helped Audrey drain the spaghetti
into a big metal sieve.

"So what time's Tom getting here, Jenny?" Summer asked innocuously.

Audrey and Micheal stopped in mid motion. Summer looked at them,
"What?" Jenny turned to her, plastering a smile on her face.

"I don't think he's coming Summer. We broke up." Jenny smiled
then, before anyone could say anything asked, "So when's Dee
supposed to be here?"

Audrey glanced at the cat clock on the kitchen wall and frowned,
"Any minute. So help me get this stuff ready."



Tom looked up from his wanderings and realized he was right
across from Jenny's street. He'd wandered here without even
knowing it. Or had he, Dee's birthday was tonight and Jenny hadn't
revoked his invitation. Tom just didn't know what to do, he didn't
want to make it awkward for everybody, but he didn't want to upset
Dee by not going.

He shuffled to the steps of a giant church across the street from
Jenny's street. Tom sat down and watched the darkness gather and
the streetlights flare to life. Dee's jeep pulled up and turned at
Jenny's street. Stopped at her house. Dee got out.

That's it, Tom decided, we're still friends and I'm going and
this will not be awkward. He got up and was about to go when a
brilliant light flashed before his eyes.

He was blind for a second after the light receded, but his eyes
quickly adjusted as a figure stood before him, bathed in that
golden light.

"Julian," Tom gasped. And it was Julian, from his fjord blue eyes
to his moon-blonde hair. Although his face was peaceful now, not a
touch of the former arrogance and mockery.

"Tom," Julian acknowledged, nodding. His voice was warmer, like
an ocean breeze instead of water over rocks.

"What do you want?" Tom asked, not frightened. This incarnation
of Julian seemed more like an angel then a demonic shadowman.

"I made a horrible mistake in driving Jenny away from you. Tom,
you are Jenny's soulmate, I see that now, though she no longer
does. You must win her back for either of you to be happy."
Julian's image wavered.

Tom couldn't help the smile that crossed his lips, "Thank you, I
know you didn't have to tell me this..."

Julian nodded, "My time here grows short. This is a symbol of my
blessing and apology, wear it in good luck. I am sorry for the
pain I caused you and Jenny." The golden light receded, and so did
Julian. Fading to nothing in the black of night.

Although a little of that golden light remained, forming
something that shimmered beneath the lights of the church, Tom
reached out and grasped that light. Found it solid and cold. He
looked closely and saw it was a golden necklace that shone with an
unearthly light. A three pronged trident pointing down hung from
it.

"Heh," Tom laughed, and put it on. He felt better already. Now to
Jenny's, he thought. From the shadows, the cloaked man watched him
go. The plan was going better than he thought.



The girl, Stelladucta, watched Julian as his head jerked back
fitfully in sleep. Something was wrong. The sleep should have been
peaceful and yet his expression was troubled.

She stepped forward, feet echoing off the ice floor and up to the
vaulted ice ceiling. The rounded room was large, almost pavilion
like, with giant arching doors leading out to the rest of the ice
castle. Julian, master of the castle, slept on an ice dais in the
center of the room.

Stelladucta placed a hand on his forehead and reached out with
her power. Someone had touched him as well, the darkness of evil
energy had left almost a physical imprint on him. Someone had
borrowed his form.

Footsteps sounded in the hallway, loud and purposeful. The girl
disappeared in a flash of light, and reappeared silently outside
one of the arched doors, laying in wait.

A dark cloaked figure entered the room and approached Julian.

"What is wrong my ice prince? You look troubled even in your
sleep?" The cloak man smiled as Julian's face twisted. "You can't
do anything about it. No one awakens from the sleep until their
time, and I am afraid you will awaken too late."

The cloaked man laughed harshly and walked out one of the arched
doorways, boots echoing off the ice floor.

The girl ran to Julian's side. "What have you gotten yourself
into?" She whispered. Placing her hand on Julian's forehead, she
retraced the magic and learned of what the cloaked man was up to.

"I can't stop him. But I can stop his plan," she whispered to
Julian. Julian's face relaxed a bit as Stelladucta gathered her
magic and transported herself to Jenny's living room. I hope I'm
not too late, she thought.



"Tom!" Jenny gasped, surprised. "I didn't think you'd come." She
opened the door and let him step inside.

"Of course Jen, we are still friends and it is Dee's birthday,"
he grinned rakishly. "I just hope you've got duller party games
than last time."

Jenny laughed and ushered him into the family room, where
everyone was gathered playing cards. "Yep, see, nice harmless
games like Go Fish and Rummy."

Tom smiled, "Deal me in on the next hand of Rummy, I love that
game." Micheal nodded and picked up the deck of cards to shuffle.

"You know," Micheal began. "A house of cards is a paper house..."

"Shut up Micheal," A chorus of voices said in unison. Micheal
smiled and laughed, but wisely shut up.

Tom rubbed at his neck distractedly, the necklace there was
starting to burn. Someone was talking to him, but he wasn't paying
attention, his neck felt like it was on fire. DAMN! The skin under
the trident was starting to bubble and blister, Tom swore and
jerked at the necklace. However, it wouldn't come off.

A deep, harsh laugh emanated from behind Tom. Everyone turned,
Julian's name on Tom's lips, but this man was taller, wider than
Julian and covered from head to toe in a black velvet cloak that
looked spun from shadows.

"Wear it in good luck," Julian's voice mocked from beneath the
hood of that black cloak, and then the laugh like previous. A
laugh that definitely wasn't Julian's.

"Oh shit," Jenny whispered. Dee stood up and got in front of Jenny.

"Who are you?" Dee demanded. The cloaked person took a step
forward and Dee didn't even flinch. Tom did.

"I was he loved above all others." The cloaked man growled. He
advanced another step and Tom moved back.

"What do you want?" Tom asked quietly. His bravery was coming
back as the burning receded.

"You."

A collective gasp went up around the room. Tom stepped to him
quietly, "Then lets go, but leave Jenny and the others alone."

The man turned to Tom, and Tom joined him at his left side.

"If you want him back, break this and you will find him." The
cloaked man conjured an ice blue crystal before him. It rode the
air to Jenny, and when she reached out and grasped it, she found
it cold as it's color.

When Jenny looked up, the man and Tom were gone. "Damnit. We are
NEVER celebrating a birthday again." Dee shook her head.

A bright light, like a falling star erupted above the coffee
table, in the center of all. Dee pushed Jenny back, Zach did the
same to Summer and they all got ready for what might be.

When the light dimmed and their sight returned, everyone was
surprised that no cloaked visitor or unearthly beautiful man stood
on the table, but a little girl of about eleven or twelve.

Her long golden hair, shimmering with an unearthly light, fell to
her waist. Her golden eyes matched the light she rode in on and
her clothes were of a foreign warrior cut.

"I'm too late, aren't I?" She sighed, and her voice was childlike
and clear as a bell. Dee was the first to close her mouth, then
form a sentence.

"If you mean for the cloaked guy who kidnapped Tom, you are. Now,
who are you?" This is getting monotonous, Dee thought.

"I'm Stelladucta, the Guiding Star, at your service. I'm here to
help you as a personal favor to someone," She explained.

"Was he a-" Jenny hesitated.

"Shadowman?" Stelladucta answered. "No, he is much more powerful.
And I fear he is working with the shadowmen."

"Is Julian back?" Jenny flat asked.

"Not in the way your thinking." The girl smiled secretively. "You
must be Jenny. Well? He gave you the passage...are we going to go?"

Jenny blinked, then remembered the icy orb in her hand. "Yes,"
she replied without so much as a hesitation.

"Good, I was starting to worry."

"Look, Stella, can I call you Stella?" Audrey began. Stella
nodded and Audrey continued. "Why are you here? We've defeated
shadowmen before, but frankly, we don't know who to trust."

Stella sighed, humans were always a complicated lot, though she
loved them dearly. "I know you can handle yourselves well, but
your not just up against the shadowmen with Julian to protect you.
This time your up against a great evil and I'm a fairly magical
being so I can help."

"Fairy?" Audrey asked hesitantly.

Stella laughed, "No! Everyone knows those don't exist." She
winked then turned to Jenny, "Ready?"

"As we'll ever be," Jenny sighed, then threw down the icy orb. It
exploded in a burst of blue ice crystals and light.



"Not here again!" Jenny groaned, trying for any emotion other
then those that involved crying. She had to keep her composure,
but being back at shadow Joyland Park was a complete disaster.

"Not the nicest place in the world," Stella commented to herself.

"I knew you couldn't resist." The cloaked man's voice said. Jenny
whirled and saw him standing just slightly in front of a pack of
shadowmen. Oh this isn't looking good, she thought.

"Stelladucta, so good of you to come. You're going to be the only
surviving witness to the balance of the living universe tipping."
The cloaked man stepped forward and so did Stella. Jenny fought
the urge to hold her back, shield her with both Dee's and her own
body.

"You cannot tip the balance." Stella said. She crossed her arms
and in this dark place, the glow of her aura intensified, lighting
every corner of the square around them. The shadowmen fell back a
step, but the cloaked man didn't even flinch.

"You may have everyone but Stelladucta and Jenny. I will take her
soul personally then you may have her flesh." The cloaked man
advanced, and Stella stepped out again, shielding the group with
her golden light.


"Over my unimmortal body!" Stella cried.

"That can be arranged." The cloaked man said cruelly. "Get
Jenny's soul while I deal with the immortal."

"Uh oh." Stella bit her lip, she couldn't possibly fend off this
kind of evil AND the shadowmen. Well, best to concentrate at the
battle at hand.

Cupping her hand, Stella summoned a guiding star, which flared
brilliant with the light of knowledge and destiny and threw it at
the cloaked man who rolled her with a wave of dark energy.

The shadowmen were closing in, grabbing Jenny's friend's and
prying them away from her. Finally, when everyone else was
restrained, the shadowman with gorilla hands came up to her.

"You are ours," he said to her. Jenny looked up at him and asked
Julian to forgive her for never seeing him again.

Jenny struggled in vain, but another shadowman restrained her as
the gorilla handed one conjured a black orb and brought it close
to her eyes.

Choking back on another roll of dark energy, Stelladucta looked
at the cloaked man and whispered clearly, "In trying to tip the
balance, abnormalities will occur." And with that, she poured her
energy into another guiding star and flung it up into the sky as a
true guiding star.

The cloaked figure smiled and hit her with another wave of dark
energy.



Back in the palace, a pair of ice blue eyes opened and frozen
breath exited in one word from beautifully sculpted lips, "Jenny."

Julian sat up, stretched, then jumped off his icy dais. It took
mere seconds to adjust to his newfound power as a Valhalla King.
And as soon as he did, Julian disappeared in an icy flash.



Jenny couldn't help but look at the crystal. She was getting a
headache and feeling floaty and dizzy when an icy blue flash
overtook the entire park.

"Jenny," Julian whispered and his breath came out in a frozen
gust. The two shadowmen looked at Julian, at the golden aura
surrounding him. Dropping Jenny, they advanced.

"You've returned to us," the gorilla handed one exclaimed,
holding his hand out.

"Help us take revenge on the one who betrayed you." The other
shadowman whispered, voice like distant streams.

Julian's head snapped up and he looked at them for a second,
appraising them, realizing they were no real threat now that he
was here. He walked past them and they froze in his icy wake.

"Julian!" Jenny cried almost painfully. The other shadowmen
unhanded the others and retreated to the dark shadows, watching
voyeuristically.

She ran to meet him and nearly collapsed in his arms. He looked
for all the world like an Ice King, frost blonde hair, icy blue
eyes, immaculate white leather duster and pants. Julian was cold
to her touch, but she didn't care, those steely arms wrapped
around her and Julian seemed to truly wake up.

"Oh Jenny." He breathed into her hair. "We shouldn't be together
yet, but I had to help you."

"NO!" The cloaked man yelled.

Stella looked patiently at him, "I told you, abnormalities."

The cloaked man laughed cruelly, "A minor set back. Shadowmen..."
He called. The elder shadowman, with the voice like chimes,
reached up over his head and pulled the stave of life out from
thin air. The shadowman behind him handed the elder a bone-like
knife and the elder proceeded to write on the stave.

"They can't carve your name off?" Jenny asked Julian, looking up
at him from his circle of arms.

"No, but they can carve it back on." The cloak man laughed, a
harsh staccato burst.

"OH NO!" Stelladucta screamed and hurled a guiding star at the
stave, but too late. A black aura encased Julian and letting go of
Jenny, he fell to his knees.

Jenny went down with him, swatting at the blackness, telling him
she loved him. He gritted his teeth and held his head. The golden
aura tarnished, dimmed, then faded out all together. The black
energy crackled around him, darkening the pure white leather of
his clothes black.

The aura sucked into him and he straightened, then stood.
Darkness roiled behind his blue eyes as he looked down at Jenny
who gently laid a hand on his arm.

"Julian?" She asked fearfully.

The darkness in his eyes surfaced, but so did the goodness, the
two clashed visibly as Jenny grabbed his hand with her remaining
one and twined their fingers together.

"I love you, Julian." Jenny whispered. Swift as a snake, Julian
grabbed her to him, burying his face in her hair. Jenny laid her
face on Julian's naked chest, fingers still entwined.

"I love you too, Jenny." He whispered into her hair.

He lifted his face, resting his chin on her head and looked at
the shadowmen. Smiling madly at them, he said in a cheerily
pleasant voice, "If you touch any of them, I'll kill you." They
backed off, surprised at his mercurial mood change.

"We can unmake you!" The elder screeched, and his voice sounded
like gentle chimes shattering on concrete.

"Yes, and I'll only come back more powerful and angrier." He
smiled at them, and Dee wondered just how many screws were loose.
"It's your choice." He was warm now, to Jenny's touch, not cold
like his previous incarnation.

"Yes, but if you are unmade now, you will no longer be a hero,
Julian." The cloaked man hissed. "You will be cast into eternal
darkness never again united with Jenny. Cut his name out."

"He's using you! You wanted me back, well he never intended to
give me back to you! Don't you see that!" Julian yelled.

A hesitation ran through the shadowmen, as audible as a murmur.
The elder looked at Julian. "Why would he lie?"

"Because only you could bring me back! He knew I would still love
Jenny, he knew you would have to cut my name out!"

The elder turned to the cloaked man, "You have played a game with
us. We do not like being the losers. We will not kill him, the
forfeit of blood and flesh is worth the victory." The elder lifted
the stave and knife and they disappeared above him. Jenny sighed.

"I knew you would botch it. True I could not bring him back, but
I can take him out!" The cloaked man screamed and raised his
hands. Suddenly, he held the stave and knife.

Julian looked to the cloaked man, "If you cut my name out, the
debt of blood and flesh will be paid. My protection is cast upon
all humans here; you will not be able to touch them."

"You will be apart, and that is all that matters now." The
cloaked man laughed.

Jenny grasped Julian, not wanting to see. The cloaked man raised
the knife and brought it down. The two frozen shadowmen unfroze
and Julian began to fade to an icy blue mist.

"I love you Jenny," Julian whispered, then faded to nothing.

"NO!" Jenny cried as her fingers clenched around themselves and
her head rested on nothing.

"Oh NO!" Stella screamed and whirled on the cloaked figure. He
lifted the stave and knife up, they disappeared to nothing.

"You have lost. The darkness to her light is gone and the balance
is upset." The cloaked figure stepped forward, within touching
distance of Stelladucta. She looked up at him, with her glowing,
childlike eyes and laughed.

"You fool!" She exclaimed. And her voice lowered an octave with
each sound. A brilliant light golden light encased her body, as
Stella's bones stretched and grew, her hair lengthened and her
childish face thinned.

The brilliant glow faded and before them all stood a shining
golden woman dressed in the child's clothes. Her new golden aura
was tenfold stronger then that of the child, lighting every corner
of the park.

"I am the Fate, The Guiding Star, Stelladucta. You were more than
a match for my childish incarnation, but at my full power, I can
equal you." Stella turned slightly, to check on the others. Her
eyes were a solid shining gold now and her aura was almost painful
to look at.

She threw a solid wave of golden energy at the cloaked man. It
washed over him, an unseen wind, blowing his cloak from his body.

Jenny and the others, except for Stella, gasped. He was a
beautiful man, with long, curling blonde hair, almost like
Stella's. His skin was a glowing alabaster, and his eyes were the
green of fresh cut grass.

He saw them looking and turned to the humans and shadowmen, "I
was once most beautiful and most loved. Now I will tip the balance
and only return it when my favor is restored." He turned back and
sent a wash of dark energy at Stella.

Jenny sank to her knees and grasped her left hand to her chest.
Julian's ring shone gold in all the light. She lost him again, and
it just wasn't fair. Where was the good in all this? And now he
was in darkness and they would never see each other again. A slow
tear rolled down Jenny's cheek. Others followed.

The first tear fell to her chin slowly, hanging there a second,
glittering like a diamond in the ethereal light. Then it fell and
hit the ring. A powerful golden glow burst from it, so bright,
Jenny was forced to hold it away from her and in the direction of
the formerly cloaked man. He shrunk back, even from this distance.
He couldn't stand the beautiful light emanating from it.

"Jenny!" Stella gasped. "Come here!" Mechanically, Jenny got up
and walked toward Stella, holding her hand out, letting the light
wash over everything.

The beautiful man shrunk back from the light, cowering, but found
no refuge from it. Finally, in a bright ball of flame, he
disappeared, escaping the torturous glow.

"We did it!" Stella gasped. The others crowded around, hugging
and patting Jenny.

She looked at Stella, "Is he really gone?" Her eyes were large
and clouded with unshed tears, and puffy from the ones past fallen.

Stella held her in her arms, in the comforting golden glow, "I
don't know Jenny. I'm not the one who can answer that question."

"I can." A voice said. The others tried to describe it later, but
couldn't find the words or a comparison. They remembered the
message, but could not remember what the voice sounded like.

Jenny turned, Stella bowed and the others parted. Another cloaked
man came forward. Stella and the others backed up a bit.

Instinctively, no one was afraid. "Is Julian okay?" Jenny asked,
afraid of the answer.

"Again, he died for love and the protection of others. Again, he
died a hero. You will be together again; when the time comes." The
cloaked man said.

"And the balance?" Stella asked eagerly.

"The balance was never tipped. No one with a hero's heart full of
love can ever be anything but what he is intended. I knew of the
plot and I knew of the outcome."

"Tom?" Jenny asked.

"Has changed worlds. It had to be, his time had come."

"And what will happen to the man Stella fought?" Jenny asked.
Stella put hand on Jenny's arm, but Jenny shrugged it off and
looked at the cloaked man.

"He will be what he was, what he has always been." Jenny nodded.
"Take them home, Stelladucta." The cloaked man added, then turned
and walked away.

A bright flash of light engulfed them and faded momentarily to
Jenny's family room. Stella was a little girl again.

"I have to go now, but we'll see each other again," she said
cheerily.

"Thank you," Jenny whispered. Stella dissolved in a shower of
golden light. Someone scrabbled with the door, then seeing it was
locked rang the bell.

Jenny looked up, surprised. Dee jumped over the coffee table.
"I'll get it," Dee said. Cautiously, she looked out the peephole,
face tense. The expression dissolved into a smile and laughter as
she wrestled the locks and opened the door.

"Hiya Dee, happy birthday!" Joey exclaimed, throwing his arms
around the girl.

"Hey Joey, what're you doing out so late?" Dee asked casually.

"I was going to spend the night at Jacob's, but he said Power
Rangers was better than Voltron, so I came home. Hi Jenny!" He ran
through the hall and into his bedroom, closing the door with a
thud.

"Well," Jenny said.

"Well," Audrey replied.

"Anyone up for some Go Fish?" Zach suggested.



She'd lived a full life, 90 years old. Adopted five children, had
eight grandchildren, two cats and a fish named Stella. Jenny
Thornton looked back and was satisfied. Her children wondered why
she never married but never asked. Only Jenny's friends knew why.

The hospital machines beeped and breathed and did all sorts of
things to keep her alive, spare her a few more hours, but when
your time comes, nothing will save you.

Micheal became a best selling fiction author, and you can bet
what he wrote about. Audrey opened her own fashion house in Paris.
Micheal and Audrey Cohen died at age 30 and 31 in a private plane
crash over the Atlantic ocean. They had seven kids.

Summer taught first grade for 50 years, her students became
actors, presidents, ambassadors but most importantly good people.
Zach sold his abstract artwork for millions of dollars. Summer
developed Alzheimer's twelve years ago and went to live in a home.
Separated from each other, Summer and Zach died of broken hearts.
They never married.

Dee became a ninth degree black belt, opened a dojo and taught
martial arts for forty years. Strangely enough, she married a
computer genius from the silicon valley and was standing now at
Jenny's bedside, crying and watching her die.

No one questioned Tom's disappearance, he was heartbroken after
losing Jenny and ran away, so the rumor mills went. Jenny never
married because of Tom, or so they say. Jenny had loved him, but
eventually, his face, his voice and their time together faded like
a photograph in her mind, until it was forgotten.

The beeps on the heart monitor were coming further and further
apart. Even Joey was crying now. Jenny knew the end was near, and
she looked forward to her blue eyed, moonbeam haired death.



In the ice castle at Valhalla, a pair of ice blue eyes opened.
Julian sat up, it was his proper time this time, and he knew Jenny
needed him.

He stepped off the dais, and as soon as his foot touched the
floor, the ice melted there instantaneously, to nothing. The
warmth spread like the spring thaw, melting the entire ice castle
to a beautiful white-gold.

Julian drew up his newfound powers and transported himself to
Jenny's side.

Below, in one of the newly thawed sitting room, a voice huffed,
"It's about time."

Another voice whined, "You haven't been here as long as I have,
imagine, having to put up with his incessant whining about the ice
for sixty years."

"When will she see us?"

"In another sixty years," a voice deadpanned. The group laughed,
overjoyed at seeing their old friend again.



~See the storm set in your eyes, See the thorn twist in your
side. I'll wait, for you~


"Julian," Jenny whispered as a beautiful golden light burst forth
at Jenny's bedside. A ghost-like Julian emerged and reached his
hand out to Jenny. Dee smiled as Jenny's soul, eternally sixteen
reached out from her withered old body and grasped Julian's hand.

The beeps from the heart monitor were getting further and further
apart. Jenny's soul sat up, and Julian helped her to the floor.
The beeps stopped and the monitor flat-lined.

Jenny looked at Dee, knowing the old woman could see her.
"Goodbye for now," she whispered and Dee nodded, tears shining in
her eyes.

They disappeared in the same golden light, returning to Julian's
castle at Valhalla.


~Sleight of hand and twist of fate,
On a bed of nails she makes me wait.
And I'll wait, without you,
With our without you~


The room was a beautiful golden-white, and the sun shone in
through a large balcony on the far end of the room. A large beach
stretched for miles outside that balcony, and the waves crashed
against the shore. Julian led Jenny to the balcony, and they
looked out over the water.

"I love you Jenny," he whispered to her, taking her delicate
hands in his.

"I love you too, Julian," she murmured, then reached up on tiptoe
to kiss him. He caught her lips and waves of sweet emotion ran
through the two like pleasant electrical currents.

~Through the storms we reach the shore,
You give it all, but I want more.
And I'll wait with you,
With or without you.
And you give yourself away,
And you give,
And you give,
And you give yourself away.
I can't live with or without you~

.:~The End~:.