Drake found himself with more and more leisure time within the Land of Dreams, yet not enough to venture down to the Alcove or roam into the city for any worthy length of time.

Instead, he took to roaming the grounds, frequenting the tranquil solitude of Elysian Fields, so aptly named for the fallen soldiers of days gone by, and from time to time, he spent a reflective moment in the Temple of Talias to ground himself once again.

Now, as he walked through the grass, the fronds brushing against his pants, he held his hands behind his back and scanned the grounds.

Though the quiet of the coming evening was refreshing, he found himself desiring some sort of company, some sort of conversation. There were few these days, save for Elliot, Tristan, Alika, and Danae that he could converse with and come away better for the time spent.

Raelin sighed as she stepped into the park, to be finally surrounded by nature instead of the jungle of filing cabinets known as MSI, it was heaven. She wore no heels today, in fact her feet were curiously bare. Her jeans fell below her ankles and became stained with grass and mud as she waded her way through the damp grass, they travled up a perfectly sculpted set of legs and ended abruptly at a taut stomach covered with satin, lace and velvet. The dark red corset was cinched tight and a jacket that matched her jeans kept her warm.

In one hand she held her missing shoes, in another she had a book of poetry that had been gifted to her by Drake several years ago. It wasn't very large or pretty but Raelin loved to read it and so it had become quite worn through the years, her favorite poems earmarked and lovingly caressed as she read the yellowing pages. This was one of the few things she kept after he left the first time, she hid it from herself, locked it somewhere where she'd forget it to save it from the destructive path she'd taken.

She found it again several months ago and had taken to reading it again, each poem one by one. Her current favorite ran through her mind over and over as she mentally recited the words.

I've tried the new moon tilted in the air
Above a hazy tree-and-farmhouse cluster
As you might try a jewel in your hair.
I've tried it fine with little breadth of luster,
Alone, or in one ornament combining
With one first-water start almost shining.

I put it shining anywhere I please.
By walking slowly on some evening later,
I've pulled it from a crate of crooked trees,
And brought it over glossy water, greater,
And dropped it in, and seen the image wallow,
The color run, all sorts of wonder follow.

Robert Frost always did have a way with words. As she made her way up a short, sloping hill she turned her head when an instrinctive feeling kicked her right in the gut. Her heart stopped and a silly grin graced her face. She frowned then, again, another instinct taking over.

"FUCK! Don't mess this up Rae!! NICE be NICE! You love the man for god's sake!" she mentally berated herself as she agonized over what she should do. After a week of sleeping in his old shirt and crying her eyes out that first night, she felt much better about things, but she was still edgy from teh last time they had met at MSI. "Though," she rationalized to herself. "I can't be blamed for that, because I didn't have any sleep the night before and I was pissy from the day before when that intern misfiled my paperwork and it took me five whole hours to find it..." she stoppe dherself from going to far, if she thought about it again, she'd probably get pissy and she really was in a good mood tonight....

"Um Hi Drake!" she waved to him from across the field when she saw him turn towards her just a little. That's when she remembered the poetry book in her hands and hid it quickly behind her back, plastering the guiltiest looking smile on her face. She really couldn't hide anything from him...feck.

He spotted her long before she spoke, and a reminiscient smile appeared on his lips, lingering for just a moment before fading once agian. Their previous encounter was easily recalled, along with all the memories he brought into her mind.

"Um Hi Drake!"

Barefoot in the grass...How many times had he seen her that way? So open, so free... He nodded his head to her, just once, and hid the slow smile that crept into his features as she tried with such graceful effort to hide whatever she possessed behind her back. Something about that smile on her face now...

Something about past loves....

"Hello, Raelin," he called, his voice soft though the distance that separated them was great.

Raelin moved closer to him, his voice, which usually had such a profound affect on her suddenly, was just a normal voice. She was actually reminded of Jacob's voice, of which she heard much of in the last few nights.

She easily found her way to the bottom of the slope and approached him. "Are you haveing a good evening?" she asked softly as she stood beside him, bringing the book from behind her back to let him see it, there really wasn't a reason to hide it from him, in fact she had the silliest urge to tell him that Jake had read some out loud to her last night before she fell asleep on him. But she stilled her suddenly girlish tongue and stood there silently.

"Sorry...about the other day." she apologized sincerely, hating the awkward silence between them, that had been between them for awhile now. With that off her shoulders she felt much better and gave herself a mental pat on the back for handling it so maturely.

He watched her, the cliche of poetry in motion coming to mind...She was strong, determined, but somewhere beneath all of that, there was a loving grace that few ever saw.

But he had...Seen, cherished...Enamored for the time he had known her, Drake wondered how he would feel when some dashing mortal came and swept her away. Twinges of jealousy rose at the mere thought as she came to stand beside him.

Glancing down at her, he gave his quiet smile, aknowledging the book in her hand with a wistful gaze. Once upon a time...Wasn't it?

"Are you haveing a good evening?"

"How could I not be?" he asked in return, tilting his head at the question. Hadn't he always told her that her presence, no matter the mood, enhance any moment in time?

"Sorry...about the other day."

The other day...Ah, of course, that most awkward encounter where he left, wondering where the chips of their lives would finall fall. "I thought no more of it," he replied, looking away, across the land that stretched out before him. He could not blame her, after all.

"Tell me, Raelin...What brings you here?"

"I just...thought I should be here I suppose," she sighed. "I really don't know why..."

"Especially that Jake's at home making dinner..." a silly little thought giggled.

The cool night hair raised goose bumps on her arm. There were so many things that she wanted to say, things that Drake probably already knew because of who she was, in fact she was surprised that they even talked at all.

But the thought of him not being there with her, the thought that he would go away from her, terrified her, so much to the point where her hand darted out and grabbed his, squeezing it tightly. She did not want to loose him, not for anything or anyone. If he were gone, truly gone, she'd die.

"I love you." she said softly. He knew it, but she had to say it, had to say it because things were changing, things were slowly spinning out of her control, ever since they parted for the second and final time things had always been set in iron, something that she herself could control. Then Jake had entered her life (forcefully, technically...but who was keeping score?)

Things didn't make sense anymore and worse...she was kinda liking it. She just stood there, holding his hand and staring off into space, enjoying the night air.

He felt her hand in his, just as he felt the warring within her mind. If he wanted, he could read her mind, her heart, see what plagued her so, what confused her, and what made her pulse quicken as she stood there with him...but he dared not break the sanctity that they shared, the gift of privacy that he had always given her...

"I love you," she said and for a moment, he let himself linger within those words...

Upon hearing her, Drake put his arm around her, drawing her closer to his side. As she looked ahead, he bent down, kissing the top of her head ever so gently before he closed his eyes. "I love you too, Raelin...I always will," he whispered against her hair and held her close for just a moment longer.

The tension within her worried him, because unlike her normal rampage that stewed so often, this felt different, every fiber of him uncertain of the way she felt beside him. "Tell me what's wrong..."

Raelin took a deep breath, she might as well tell him the truth...or at least soome of the truth. "I just...I was so lonely when everyone left but I always refused to go stay with Danae because of my god damn pride." she huffed.

"And despite it all I've finally met someone...who I think I might be happy with for awhile and all I can think about is how having affection for him somehow betrays what I feel for you!" she let it all fall out there, confessing the reason as to why she had closed herself off for so long. Other than the fact that she truly believed that letting someone into your life eventually gave them enough leverage to mortally wound you.

"I know that's not how I should feel but every time I look at him I feel like I'm cheating on you..." she murmured.

Holding her to his side, his chin resting atop her raven-cloaked head, he listened to each and every word she said, and even the ones her soft voice never let out.

"And despite it all I've finally met someone..." she told him, and as she did, a flare of jealousy rose up, sparking in his eyes. She had found someone, just as he always knew she would...but that did nothing to calm the envy stirring within him.

In his mind, none would be good enough to hold her heart, none would be wise enough to calm her mind...and never, in all this world, would any be worthy to possess her sort of love.

Clencing his jaw, he let her go on. She was opening up to him once again, spilling her words just as easily as she had once shared her thoughts with him. There was not a thing in this world that would make him jeopardize that bond now.

"I know that's not how I should feel but every time I look at him I feel like I'm cheating on you..." she murmured, the tone of her voice slowly ebbing away into a soft, barely audible sound.

Any anger or envy for this other man slowly melted away as he pulled her closer, if at all possible, and placed a chaste kiss to her temple. Raelin Lorcan deserved to be loved, to be desired...and if he could not do it, then he would have no choice but to allow some other man that gift.

As if it were his responsibility at all...

"Rae, Love...You mustn't do that to yourself. We've tried time and time again, only to suffer failure and heartbreak. I do not fault you for running to someone else's arms. I can never hold you again the way he can...I cannot be that beacon that guides you, or that heart that loves you so openly." Drake pulled back then, taking her by the shoulders and turning her around to face him. "But make no mistake...I still love you, just as much as I always did, just as much as the day those fiery eyes fell upon me, just as much as the day I dove into that complex, veiled, jaded mind. I love you...and I always will. I'll remember you every day, and wish for your happiness every night. And if this man is what you want in your life, then cherie, you have my blessing. I love you...enough to let you go, if that's what you need for me to do."

And even as he said it, Drake prayed that it never came to that. He had just gotten her back in his life, and if he could not have her, he still wanted to be able to look upon her from time to time. Never could he be 'hers', but he could be there for her. They worked together now, side by side...