Written By: Armina Qi Saxton

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Prologue: Sadness And Depression

Days come and go like the wind, time flowing endlessly like a river downstream. Lives are born and will die with this same flow of water, passing with lost memories and living heartbeats. Each season brings changes, both old and new, Winter's cool breeze calming Summer's flaming touch. Spring brings new hope into the surrounding world, Fall slowly allowing beats of the drum to fade into the depths of cold months and harsh winds. These four seasons come and go like time itself, leaving little mark on those that exist more then in the patterns of life. Yet not all memories can be erased with this river.

Fall had steadily slowed the land of Gaia down, as Halloween day woke those eager enough to enjoy it by the morning's first rays. All awoke to a crisp morning, fallen leaves, and an excitement of candy, pumpkins, and scarecrows. There was a little chill in the air, that swept from Durem to Aekea and back again, with the hope of filling bags of chocolate and lollipops. The fever of Halloween swept over the land like a plague, catching all in it's spread as the morning began and things fell into their steady pace. It would be a day filled with enjoyment, from the smallest to the oldest in Gaia.

And, yet, a shadow sat upon Gaia, a shadow that seemed to dim out the sun's rays and the lingering warmth that Isle de Gambino often still had in the late fall. No one seemed to notice the dark clouds that seemed to hover over them, as Gaian's went about their business as usual. Many were laughing, as they moved from island to port and back again, taking in the decorations that hung everywhere. They had no cares in their lives, no lingering thoughts on what had once been, no worries about what was to come in the future. They went on with their lives as though nothing was stopping them from enjoying it and the slightly warm October day.

Johnny Gambino stared out into the island from a second story window in the library of his sea-side mansion, his hands and arms resting peacefully at his sides. His face looked worn and old, several small, barely noticeable gray streaks swept in his blonde hair, and a faraway look in his once happy, deep purple eyes. The last four years of his life seemed to have drained all youthfulness out of him and his true age was beginning to show. He didn't care if there were one or two wrinkles on his face, or that there were wisps of gray showing in his hair; the signs of aging had finally caught up with him and he was more then willing to let them.

Four years had seen a lot of things come and go, with the good and the bad. The rubble of his tower that had fallen long ago, was all gone now without a trace of it seeing the light of day again. The mess around the island to the city of Durem, save what couldn't be retrieved from the bottom of the ocean, had been picked up and used as trash. Johnny had personally seen to it that every last bit could be salvaged and taken out of his sight, all of it dumped into Aekea where it could be sold for garbage. The memory of that event was still fresh in his mind and one that he truly wanted to get rid of. He had no intentions of building another one, as there was no need to, now that there was no one to direct it to.

G-Corp had been reinstated with new employees and a new location, which now sat far enough from his current mansion so that if anything went wrong, it wouldn't blow up the mansion again. It now sat on the other side of Aekea, facing the wilderness beyond it, where few would even bother to look for a secret underground test facility. There were different experiments being conducted at any given time of the day, yet none as deadly as the zombie outbreak of the years prior. He had made sure of it, when he set down the laws for G-Corp. If anything should go wrong in the new SUTF, then there were extra defenses that could stop it from getting any further then it had during that one Halloween.

The second Gambino mansion housed no more of the things he held dear to him or was something to be used as a place to live. Johnny had given it to Marie Von Helson as a sign of peace between the two families and because he honestly didn't need two places to live. She had quietly accepted the offer and had stayed inside of it for the first sex months she had gotten out of the hospital. The relationship between the two families had, at first, became colder then it had been before, since Marie found little reason to accept any other peace offerings from him. She wasn't about to let her sister's death stay out of his mind, not even on the day she had come to his doorstep and told him she was moving into the mansion by the sea, whether he liked it or not.

Perhaps it was a way to keep an eye on him or because he was really the only family she had left, even if it was not her immediate family, but Johnny slowly accepted the fact that the Von Helson and Gambino families were living under the same roof without a war breaking out. She had accepted it as well as best as she could, despite the arguments and the uncounted murderous glares they gave each other until they came to a trickle of insults and forced smiles. They could live together at least without attempting to kill each other and it gave him a small comfort to know that he was not the only person living inside the mansion.

Since Johnny had given the Durem mansion to her, Marie had all the rights to do whatever she wanted with it, including selling it to anyone that wanted it. A year after she had barged into the island mansion, she gave it to the Gaian Council for use as a museum for Gaian history and mythology. It was the only real use it was going to get, as neither Johnny nor Marie were willing to move from the island to the city. It would also serve as a reminder to those that lived in the land that history can repeat itself if someone was not careful to learn from it's mistakes.

The mansion soon turned into that museum only a few months later, showing the ancient history of Gaia to the legends of old. It had been something Johnny had gone to see himself, on the urging of Marie and was quite pleased to see what the mansion had turned into rather then letting it go to waste. The history of the land brought and kept him inside for hours, each exhibit of myth and history pulling him deeper into it. This had given his mind a chance to ignore the things that had been bothering him and a moment's rest without even holding a forced smile upon his lips. He had forgotten why he felt so miserable for those few hours, until he came upon the history he wished he could forget.

It was one of the last exhibits the museum had, of events of not so long ago, the destruction of the tower and half of Gaia. A piece of the tower and the former Von Helson mansion sat in a single glass display cased, both harsh reminders of a feud gone horribly wrong. Next to the case sat a list of all the names of those that had died during the event, which included Anna Von Helson. He had touched the list for only a moment before turning around and walking right of the museum. That had been the first and only time he had been in there and he vowed not to go in again, until the memories of that day had been erased from his mind.

Afterwards, he spent little to no time on focusing on that part of Gaian's history and focused more on his own past, keeping his eyes looking outwardly placid as best as he could. He couldn't help but think about what his only son was doing, rather then putting his full attention on the work he had to do for the Gaian Council and for G-Corp. Johnny's work wouldn't suffer from his lack of attention, as there was little rush to do the things that did not have importance and the things that did was just another excuse to put all of his memories aside. Instead, his mind was on his son and the reasons why he was not around the mansion.

Gino had left without even a soft goodbye to his father and placed his back towards him, walking off into the distance and away from his home. There had been no word from him since then, not even a whisper of where he was or if he was still alive. Johnny had spent countless nights in the first several weeks that Gino had walked away, pacing the length of his bedroom and wondering if his son was okay. He had sent every available guard out as far as they could go, in every direction and every mile that they could tread. He had spent days hearing of nothing, not even a single trace of his son could be found, until the guards came back again, with no Gino and little else. There were reports from around Gaia's border that a boy matching Gino's description had come that way, but was long gone before anyone could stop him. Had these far away Gaian's known that they had once housed the son of the most powerful man, they would have stopped him without hesitation.

Johnny felt nothing towards them but gratefulness that they had taken care of him when he had passed by, thanking them with more then words. He had not expected them to stop Gino even if they had known who he was and was even more grateful that they had not forced him back home again. These peasant people did not accept anything but the words of a heartbroken father and the promise that they would send him word of his father's pleas to return home if he ever was in their area of the land again. He didn't know when that would be, or if it would ever happen, as the days, weeks, and months went on without anything from the boy he missed so dearly.

Once the reality that Gino was not coming back finally set in, every thing seemed to have a shadow hanging over it. He hadn't known what to do after that, everything in his life now revolving the Council, G-Corp, Marie, and the knowledge that he was the reason his son had left. Johnny put himself into work once again, hardly noticing that Marie was around even when she was right next to him when he was engrossed in finishing things, finding little joy in anything that he did. He was surprised that Marie hadn't gone off to where she and Anna had once lived before they had returned to Gaia and he had told her she was more then free to leave whenever she was ready and willing to. Her response had been silence, followed by a stare, then the short answer that she would not be leaving Gaia or the mansion any time soon. That had given him a reason to smile then and still did now, despite the lost look in his eyes.

Now he stood in front of the window that overlooked the island from the library, staring out into the morning and at the decorations of Halloween. There was nothing for him to do, but to sulk there and wonder what life would have been like if things had not gone the way they had. A soft echo of footsteps came across the carpeted floor of the library, the quiet movements of a long dress, and a touch of a hand on his shoulder brought him back out of his memories and into the present realty. He knew who was there, yet did not turn around or acknowledge the person. It was enough for him to know that there was, in fact, someone there.

"You should be getting ready for the party," Marie said gently. "The mansion will be opening to the public in an hour. You know how everyone wants to see you as they come in."

"I'll be ready shortly. Give me a few moments," Johnny replied, as he continued to stare out of the window. Truth was, he was in no mood to throw another party, not even when Marie had nearly broken his arms just to get him to do it. The parties had never really lightened his miserable state, not even the first one had been thrown in a vain attempt to see if Gino came back.

"You can't continue to mope around like this, Johnny. It's been over four years," Marie said, resting her right cheek on his back. She had seen him sulking in his study when he wasn't working, staring at the wall when there was nothing there, and seeing the dead look in his eyes when he thought no one could see it. It was as though he was being pulled along to live, instead of doing it himself.

"I know I can't, but I see little reason to enjoy myself tonight," He said, turning his head to her as best as he could. "I keep thinking that something will go wrong somewhere and everything will come crumbling down again."

"That's not what I meant," She said in a cool tone, lifting her head up off of his shoulder. She walked to the recliner that was closest to the window, sitting down as she stared directly at his back.

"I know that, Marie," Johnny responded curtly. Gino had never really been a subject that he was willing to talk about, even to those that knew him and were still the closest to him. It had only been a few years since he had found a person he could relate to other then Edmund, even if that person had once been a bitter rival. That was the reason why he felt like nothing else mattered, like he was just a shell of a person that once lived.

"He's not coming back. It's been too long already," Marie said, pointing out the obvious as Johnny turned his head back towards the window and stared out into the ocean. He knew that, every waking moment; if his son had not returned back to the home he had lived in his entire life, what made him think he was ever coming back? That was the only thing that Johnny hated to think about his son walking away, that he was true to his intentions of keeping his back upon the only place he could call home for the rest of his natural life.

"I keep telling myself that, every day when I wake up. I sometimes walk into the room that was supposed to be his when I can't sleep, hoping that he would be there, sleeping soundly." Johnny smiled, although forced and sad. "There is nothing there, not even the things that he had as a child. They are all gone."

"You can't continue beating yourself up because Gino left," Marie told him. "My father never was around much either, and look how Anna and I turned out."

Her breath became shallow, catching in her throat when she said her sister's name. Johnny heard her choke back a sob, his eyes closing tightly for a moment before opening them again. Although he had no compassion for either sister then, he had never wished death upon them, no matter how much bitterness had been between them. There had been other things that he had damned them for, other things that he normally wouldn't wish for upon anyone, but there had been no reason for Anna to die. Not when she had been so young, despite everything that she had said and done towards Johnny. Marie knew this from the moment that she had stepped into the Gambino mansion, but had blamed him every moment that she could get. It had taken almost a year for her to stop blaming him for Anna's death, mostly due to seeing how much he regretted it.

She still was angry about it and the hurt would never go away, not when she felt the same anger towards her sister for leaving her. In her mind, Anna had ended her part of the Von Helson-Gambino feud by taking the easy way out, by dieing she left behind her sister to carry the torch on and continue the feud. Perhaps that was why Marie had made up her mind to come to the island and live with the rival she had hated so much, to put to rest any bad feelings between the two. There was still some of that old hatred between the surviving family members, yet that hatred was not as bitter or as cold as it had been years before. It had mellowed out to a point where both could look to each other for a small comfort, knowing that they had lost someone in the wake and that it had changed both for better and for worse.

"Spoiled bitches, that's how you two turned out," Johnny grumbled to himself. There was the sound of scraping against the floor, of material standing up quickly behind him.

"Do you still think that, after everything has happened?" Marie hissed. "How could you, even when I told you things that happened between me, Anna, and my father?"

Johnny turned his body fully to Marie, his eyes blazing. "I knew your father more then the two of you ever did. The only flaw I ever saw in that man was that he spoiled you two to the point where you both believed you were right and everyone else was wrong, even if there were things sitting in front of you that said otherwise."

"That's the only flaw you ever saw in him?" She demanded, her voice raising in volume. "That man cheated on my mother, which was one of the reasons she left in the first place. I don't blame her for leaving, but I still wished she had taken us with her." Marie crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a look of narrowed eyes. "I'm surprised that my older sister didn't leave you sooner, because I doubt you were very faithful yourself. Maybe that was one of the reasons my father pawned her off on you, because he saw the same man in you as he saw in himself."

"I had no intentions of cheating on my wife when she was alive and didn't even think of looking at anyone else for years after she died," Johnny snapped back at her. "I don't know what goes through your mind when you think of how I treated her, but I have never had any intentions of causing her any pain. I loved her."

"Sure you didn't," Marie grumbled, staring him down as she pressed her lips into a thin line. There was a moment of harsh silence between the two of them, as they stared eye to eye with each other. Johnny was doing all he could to hold back the anger that was threatening to boil over, his hands balling into fists and then letting go.

"Marie, don't start this with me. Not now," He said as calmly as he could, through gritted teeth. "I loved your sister and it's all that mattered."

"I know it is," She said softly, her eyes darting away from his. "I never really had much trust in my father, not even when he was being as truthful as he could be. He was a good man, he really was, but he never was the father I wanted him to be." She looked back up at him, her eyes looking less like they could kill a person and more like they had seen more then they had. "I just don't want to argue about things that were of that past. It is still painful to think about how it affected Anna. There were things that she latched onto and never let go. Maybe that was why she was so angry all the time, knowing that she couldn't change it."

Johnny took in a deep breath, watching Marie struggle with the emotions of the past. He knew how she felt, those emotions coming and going each day and night. He, too, felt those tugs of things he wished he could have changed for days on end, before it vanished and could live in peace with what he had done. Then they would come back again and the cycle would repeat itself. There was nothing that he could do about them, as much as Marie could help her own emotions, as he walked over to her and puts his arms lightly around her waist.

"Listen, I...I'm sorry. I know it's been hard, it's been like that for me too," He said quietly. "Everything has changed, not for the worse or for the best but in between it. I just wish I could show you everything, but...."

His voice trailed off, as he gulped down the words that he wanted to say. Marie stared up at him as though she had never seen him before, not even blinking at the face that looked so worn and defeated. Somehow, every time she saw his eyes looking hallow as they were, she wanted to smack him across the face and tell him to move on. It reminded her of how Anna had always kept even the smallest things from letting her go on with her life, clinging onto the past as though she was still living it. Every time, Marie reminded herself that Johnny wasn't Marie and that he was going on with the life that he always wanted as best as he could.

"I know," She said softly, placing a hand upon his cheek. "It is just that you seem to show one set of emotions to everyone else and another set to those that can see the person that isn't so intimidating and loud. Lately, I can't tell the difference between the two."

As Johnny opened his mouth to respond to Marie, the door to the library creaked open and another body entered the room. A maid stood at the now half-opened doorway and took a step in, looking uncomfortable at entering the room when both Marie and Johnny were standing where they were and as close as they were. Marie raised an eyebrow at the maid, as though she had intruded on something worse then a conversation between two people. Johnny didn't looked as agitated as she did when the maid had entered, but rather looked as though he was about to say something far worse to the maid then what he would say to anyone else.

"Yes?" He asked, biting back the urge to throw the maid out of the room.

"A Miss Moria is here, looking for you," The maid said meekly, looking as though she was about to break down from the looks she was being given. "Shall I bring her into the library?"

"No, tell her I'll be right there," He said, waving the maid off. She nodded, quickly leaving the room before either one could say another word to her.

"Moria? What is she doing here?" Marie asked in surprise.

"Her band is going to play later tonight at the party." He smiled lightly at her as he puts his right arm to his side and the left one keeping it's hold around her waist. "I would have gotten the Noobs, but seeing as they are very hard to get, I've gotten Moria's instead. Hers is a lot better then some of the ones I've heard before."

Marie rolled her eyes and shook her head, as Johnny let go of her waist and walked out of the room, her arms still crossed over her chest. He looked happy almost, as though something new had come his way and he could enjoy it for the time being. It was interesting, to how his emotions changed with a snap of the fingers and without warning. Yet, despite all the emotions he could go through, he still looked so depressed and lonely with them, no matter what he was showing to the rest of Gaia.

She wouldn't be able to understand it as she, too, walked out of the library to hear what would be said between Johnny and Moria. Those things would be words said between friends, nothing more, nothing less. A deal between them would be signed and perhaps gold would be exchanged between them, gold done for a service that required nothing more then a few songs being sung and a night filled with candy and excitement. Not the kind of excitement that usually accompanied parties like this, but an excitement that could fill the dull days between holidays.

****

As day turned to night, the lights around the island lit up and sparkled under the night's sky. The sand was alive underneath the stars, with Gaians dancing underneath moonlit waves and pumpkin torches, comparing their costumes to others and enjoying themselves on All Hallows Eve. It was one of the few times during the year that they could forget about their daily lives and become something else for a few hours at least, leaving behind their old skin and donning a new one. It was a time for apples and pies, dances and music, as the music overcame even the crashing of waves against the shore.

There were those that silently protested the day's festivities, as they stood at the edges and watched sourly from a short distance away. They had little reason to enjoy the party, unlike so many others that mingled around them. These small groups still had not forgiven Johnny for what had happened during that fateful April day, when everything had come crashing down and the land had split into two. Their anger had not gone away from that incident, not like it had during the Halloween of years ago, when that had been contained as easily as it had been. A mansion had been destroyed that night as well, but not like it had in the event that came many months later.

Some of those that protested Johnny's less insane rise back into power, had not even bothered to come to the party at all. Instead, they stayed at home and did things they had been putting off for weeks. Things that did not include the party that was across the water of the port and on an island where so many people were talking to others without worry that it would be blown up again. That fear had been laid to rest when it was known that there was no signs of G-Corp anywhere, not when there was a chance it would arise once again.

It was a protest that Johnny himself did not even care about, as he went through the Ballroom and smiled forcibly at those around him, to see how the party was progressing and if there was anything he could do to make it less pleasant for himself and more so for those that were around his home. He had no real interest in being around any Gaians, not when some looked at him with a wondering gaze and asked where Gino was. Those questions were met with a short answer and a glare, as he turned his back upon those that asked and walked away. In time, they learned not to ask about the family that was not there and just keep any questions concerning where Gino was to themselves. They knew that he wasn't there, not when it was apparent on Johnny's face that his son had left him.

There was nothing that could be done to salvage the look in his eyes, the faraway look that indicated there was something more to the smile that he couldn't get rid of. All of Gaia saw his face masking the true pain that he felt, despite it being so long since Gino had left. No one could quite understand what he was going through, not even the one person that shared a grief as she moved out of the Ballroom, through the hallways and rooms that lead out into the back, and onto the steps that sat just beyond the back door to the mansion. Here, she sat down with a plastic cup of punch in her hand and the soft sand in front of her. It was an escape from the party inside, something that Johnny couldn't do at the moment.

Marie found herself sitting alone outside, not even noticing passing Gaians as they came and went to the beach to dip their toes into the cool water. She did not answer their hellos or goodbyes, instead loosing herself into the ocean beyond her reach. There was nothing that she could say to the common Gaian, not when she had thought of them as mere sheep for so long. She couldn't shake that thought from her mind, not even when she saw Johnny looking as happy as he could with being around them. How he managed to feel comfortable around those that were not as rich as he was, she would never understand, even when it had been explained to her. Perhaps it was because her father had the same mindset at times, saying the same words she and Anna had said about the Gaian population. Not to their faces, but rather to each other when there was no one else listening.

Her mind didn't want to go back onto what parties she remembered with her sister, the times that had been spent calculating their return back into Gaian society, then having a horrible downfall. It had only lasted a few months and two parties, both memorable in their own ways yet for different reasons. She had to smile at the Anniversary Ball she and Anna had thrown, remembering how it had been ruined by one man's attempts to sway the public in his favor. In the few short months that followed, it had become a struggle to see which side could buy the support of any Gaian, rich or poor. It had worked to an extent, not in the ways that either side wanted to, but it had worked.

She had become so entangled in her thoughts, that she hadn't noticed there was someone standing next to her, looking out into the ocean and still keeping one eye upon her. It took Marie several minutes before she looked up and saw a familiar face staring right back down at her, hardly wearing any costume of any sort and a faraway smile on his lips. She smiled back at him, glad at least to see a face that didn't want to intrude into her thoughts and someone that was more then willing to sit down and ignore questions that wanted to be asked.

Edmund sat down next to Marie on the steps that lead up to the backdoor of the mansion, giving her a weak smile as they both look out towards the ocean. The music from inside is loud enough to dull the waves moving onto the shore, the near quietness of the night being shattered by the simple melodies. Neither one spoke to each other for several minutes, both seem too occupied in their own worlds that they did not even really acknowledge that there was another being sitting next to them for the longest time. Perhaps it was the cool of the night that kept them apart, or because there was no need to say anything at the moment. It was an escape from reality, even if it lasted only for a few minutes.

"Nice night, don't you think?" Edmund asked her, not really having to shout over the music like he had to when he was inside the mansion. Outside, it was less hectic and more open space for two people to talk amongst themselves without the whole of Gaia knowing what was being said.

"It's okay," Marie shrugged, quietly staring off into the wild blue ocean. "It's not what I'm used to, the ocean, but it's something."

"It's not the same without Anna, is it?" He asked quietly, staring at her for a moment or two. Instead of answering him right away, Marie looked down at the plastic cup her berry punch sat in, not wishing to even show the smallest tear to him. Not when there were others that might come out to walk along the sandy beaches and see her cry. It wasn't like her to show any emotion in public, not with prying eyes staring at her.

"It's funny that I still feel angry at her for leaving me when I should feel said. I still miss her, but...." Her voiced trailed off, her eyes moving along the opening of the cup. It was hard to think of what her sister might have had to go through before she died and it was harder still to talk about anything that concerned her. Yet, even she had to do things that she did not like doing, including talking about a past that was just as troubled as the water.

"I know it's hard to feel betrayed by different emotions after someone dies," Edmund said quietly. I've been there before."

"How did you get through it?" She looked up at him, hoping that anything he said would help her get through it. He looked out into the ocean, as he forced down any unpleasant memories that he had. Like Marie, it was hard to remember a past that shouldn't be remembered, but it wasn't as bad as the memories that she had suffered.

"I just put myself into my work and didn't let the pain affect me. I didn't want to think about it, not when I could escape from that reality." He looked back over at Marie, his face set differently. There were no serious tones on his face, but rather an aged, fatherly look that she had only seen once before. "Don't escape from it, Marie. It's better to feel the loss now then regretting wasting many years, bitter and alone. At least now I have another person to share my life with, without any more regrets."

You need to tell Johnny the same thing," Marie said with a snort, as Edmund gave her a fleeting smile.

"He's not as bad as I was and most of the pain that he went through has gone now." The smile vanished and a curious look appeared on his face. "I've been wondering about this for a while now, ever since you left your mansion in Durem. Why did you start to live with Johnny in the first place?"

"I guess because I was all alone in the city mansion and hated it. I know I had other places to go, in Gaia and out of it's borders, but I couldn't walk away from this place again." Her eyes darted away from his, as her head turned up towards the night sky. It was beautiful, with the moon and stars lighting up the darkened horizon. "And the way he offered it to me with no strings attached other then a peace offering....it just was something that wasn't normal. I am grateful that he had given me the mansion, but I don't know why he gave it to me."

"I suppose to make up for your own home being destroyed when the tower fell. He knows what it is like to be on the streets with no place to call home," Edmund pointed out casually. She gave him a sideways glance and a half smile, remembering how Johnny had looked during that Anniversary Ball, tattered and dirty. It wasn't a pleasant memory that Johnny could laugh at with her, while she kept herself amused at that passing thought.

"He didn't have to, as I wasn't about to live in the city forever or be on the streets for the rest of my life," She responded. "I didn't want to live alone, so he was the closest person I could go to without actually being in the city."

"Didn't you feel angry?" He asked. Marie blinked her eyes, not at all surprised by the question. She had been angry towards the entire realm of Gaia for the basic fact that she had lost her sister and no one seemed very interested in it. Not that she had seen, anyways, when she had come out of the hospital almost five months after the tower had fallen. Everyone in Gaia seemed to be focusing on the surviving Von Helson sister, instead of the one that had not made it through the tragedy.

There were a few that looked mournful about Anna's death and she had been satisfied with that, yet her anger wasn't fully upon those that did not remember her sister. Instead, it reflected upon the man that had caused the tower to fall in the first place, the one that had defied any logic. Her anger with him had subsided eventually, once the two of them had started to live under the same roof as the other. It was unusual for two rivals to live together as peacefully as they had, but it worked in a way that they were happy enough as it was.

"Towards him? If course I did! He took my sister away from me and took my home in the process. How could I not feel any anger towards him, after that?" Marie burst out after a few moments of silence, startling Edmund in the process. He had expected a calm answer to his question, his eyes going wide as he watched her face fall from a momentary fury to an unusual calmness that did not reflect in her eyes. "Yet, I moved into the same home as he did, without really thinking about it. Maybe it's the feeling that we've both lost someone through it all that brought me to his doorstep."

The two stared at each other for a moment, their eyes connecting in a knowledge that there was so much more that words could not describe in any way. Their eyes departed from the seas of their souls, as the night sky brought their wandering eyes up to it. Green, red, and orange fireworks lit up the dark night, reflecting off of the surface of the water. It was a sight that all of Gaia could see, as the sounds of the fireworks flying into the air and bursting in a rainbow of color sounded across the ocean. It was a calm reminder that life was not all it was, from bud to rose to petal and back again.

All watched the display of light dance across the evening sky, reflecting the hours before the sun would rise once again from the depths of the horizon and bathe Gaia and her Territories once again in brightness. Gaians could take some comfort in the display above them, a challenge to the gods and goddesses that looked down from their perches above. It was a small challenge, one that would go unnoticed by the unseen eyes that stared down below. So unlike the challenge made over four years ago, this was a display of peace rather then a boost of power that no one wanted to forget.

Not even those that did not want to remember.