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"Please?" He sat down on theher down to straddle his lap They were face-to-face He liked this Her eyes met his, and she couldn’t hide what she felt She never could if he could see her eyes Not anymore Once, she’d hidden from him, but he had conquered her fears Conquered the shadows that had haunted her He could sense the to me," he whispered "Reshon My soul Showat first Her eyes flickered away from his, and he pulled her closer She laid her head on his shoulder, but he didn’t mind She could hide in hi as she wove a story for hireat circle divided Souls reached toward each other but slipped away And as she sang, he could see it, see the circle in hisas one, and the stars beat against the sky

Then her song changed, and his heart ached There were no words, only a barely audible whisper of longing that spread along his skin The vision in his ed, and he saw them in another place and another time

"You’re so beautiful Please, Ava…"

Ava

She smiled and hid under the sheet as he turned the lens on her "No! No pictures ofpictures of me Don’t deny it," he said when she started to protest "I catch you all the ti about it"

"Do you mind?"

"Do you need to take pictures of me?"

"Yes"

"Then I don’t mind"

Ava, he mouthed silently

He opened his eyes and looked down at the woloith themarks he’d placed there His ar drifted into a soft hu over his body, and as he held her, he saw the silver talesan on the bare skin above the talesm he’d inked

The marks crawled and spread, as if an invisible hand wrote upon hi

"H, looked up, and the spell was broken "What did you call me?"

"Your name"

She closed her eyes, a frown between her eyebrows, then they relaxed and she sain

"Oh," she said "Of course I didn’t remember until you called me"

"Like you called me"

"I did?"

"You told me to come back to you So I did"