I'm in heaven.

Comfy cafe booth, a nice steaming hot coffee in my hands, an adorable spider robot in my lap, and most importantly,

I was cuddled up against the cutest girl in the whole world.

I sighed, a dreamy sigh that did little to express just how happy I was right now. These past two days since I confessed, properly confessed, have been the best of my life. It was hard to imagine what my life might have looked like if me and Eve hadn't met, that one night so many months ago was the cause for so much positive change.

"I can see things have certainly changed this past week."

Speak of the devil.

Eve was slowly walking towards our booth, a grin on her face as she looked between the two of us.

She sat down in the booth next to Skye, causing all of us to squeeze together to fit three people.

"I take it things are official now?" She asked with a raised eyebrow and a knowing smirk.

I nodded, a hard task as my head was leaned up against Skye’s shoulder. 

"It is," Skye smiled as she lifted up our intertwined hands.

"Cute," Eve responded. 

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I guess I was a little worried that Eve would be upset or mad, but no. If anything she seemed glad that we finally confessed to each other.

"How are you feeling?" I asked her, sitting up a little bit to get a better look at her. Tami took the opportunity to jump off my lap and go wander elsewhere.

"I'm good again. My powers aren't screaming at me in exhaustion anymore at least," she smiled as she looked between the two of us. "I missed you two, I need to hear all about what you got up to in my absence."

Skye giggled. "There's plenty to talk about, but first…"

She used her free hand and pulled in Eve for a kiss, a deep and passionate one to make up for all the lost time of the past week.

I made a point to look away, not because I was disgusted or angry or anything. But because I was starting to blush from just watching them.

I thought I would get jealous of them when they showed love and affection for each other, I thought I would feel lonely or forgotten.

But no, there was none of that. Not even an ounce of it.

In fact, the first thing my mind thought about when they kissed was how cute they were together. I thought that I would have a lot of stuff to get used to as poly relationships were new to me, but turns out I didn't have any problem with it in the first place.

The only feeling I had right now was envy, of me wondering how I could get Skye to kiss me like she was doing with Eve. A kiss so dramatic, and passionate, and loving, and…and…

I got pulled out of my thoughts as I heard Eve giggling, only to turn my head and see she was staring right at me. She pointed in my direction and Skye's head turned to face me, a grin slowly forming on her face.

Before I could even ask what was going on, she pulled me into a kiss. My eyes flying wide open as her lips met mine, pushing me back even further against the wall against the booth.

She shifted, bringing both her hands forward to cup my cheeks and keep me in place. My senses were being assaulted, all of them focusing on her, her touch, her kiss, her tongue, her moans, everything about her that I was slowly starting to love more and more every day.

I gasped for air when she broke away, but it was only for a moment, as not even a second passed as she dove in for more.

I would say it was everything I dreamed of, that it was the perfect kiss and nothing could ever top it, but that wouldn't be the truth.

We were lacking about two dozen more before it truly was everything I ever dreamed of.

She started to nibble on my bottom lip, causing a whimper of need to rise out of me. Things were getting hot, too hot, I…I forgot how to breathe…my thoughts were mushy…

Death by a thousand kisses sounds like a good way to go…

"Skye!" Eve giggled.

She broke away, panting, to look at her other girlfriend while I sat there trying to remember my own name.

"What?" She pouted.

Eve giggled again. "Skye, look at her! You almost broke her!"

She turned to me and I couldn’t help but dreamily smile at her, actually, I didn't really know if I could do anything at the moment. My face must have caught on fire with how hot it felt right now.

Skye giggled at my reaction as she sat back down, dragging me with her as she pulled me up to cuddle. My head went back to resting against her shoulder as I slowly attempted my best at coming back down to Earth.

I brought an arm around to hug her, to squeeze her tight and to bring myself even closer to her, just as my eyes started to close.

I felt so content and happy, I guess it hardly would come as a surprise that I started to doze off as we held each other.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sarah."

I groaned and pushed myself off the booth seat. Where was Skye? Wasn't I cuddled up next to her?

Glancing around the room I noticed that Eve was gone too, even Tami was missing. Did they all leave me to sleep down here? I got out of the booth to check the time, only to see it was pitch black outside. Like, eerily impossible darkness that shouldn't have been possible.

The cafe had a sign out front, it had windows to shine light out of, heck even the city street had lamp posts for light.

So why was it so dark?

"Sarah…"

There was that voice again, but where? And who?

She wasn't in the cafe with me, could it have come from upstairs?

I slowly made my way up the stairs, out of the cafe and into the hallway. Out of curiosity I checked Skye and Eve’s bedrooms, but both of them were empty. Even my bedroom was empty.

So where was that voice coming from?

The roof?

I climbed even higher up the stairs, all the way up to the roof of the cafe. I pushed the door open,

And my eyes landed upon her.

Except she looked different now. More mature, a little older, and to top it all off she wore a familiar light blue dress, one that went down to just past her knees.

"Hello Sarah," She greeted as she gazed up at the stars, except because of the heavy impossible darkness, there were no stars or sky to be seen.

My eyes widened. "You can speak…?" 

She nodded. "I could always speak, you just couldn't hear me."

"Who…who are you?" I asked as I started to grow anxious. "I always thought these dreams were weird, that they were abnormal, but there's something more to this isn't there? These aren't just normal dreams."

"No, they are not." She sighed and glanced downwards. "And I am no one of importance, not anymore."

I watched in utter confusion as she turned towards me and continued.

"You finally accepted yourself, and found a way to give us the body of our dreams. For that, I thank you."

Us?

"Yes, I referred to both of us." She responded.

Did she just…

"...read your thoughts?" She added cheekily, a small smile on her face.

I sighed and let myself fall to the ground, sitting down and shaking my head.

"This is too crazy…"

[You aren't the only one to think that.] Her voice spoke directly inside my head. [I never thought we'd get this far.]

I inhaled a long breath of fresh air, then exhaled with a barely contained sigh.

What the hell is going on anymore…

"So, all…whatever this is aside," I started as I gestured all around us. "What do you want this time?"

"Me?" She tilted her head. "I did not bring you here."

That got me to pause.

"What…?"

She shrugged. "I have always lived here, and I have always brought you here in an effort to help you realize who you are, but I'm not the one responsible for you being here today."

[You were the one who wanted to come here, even if you had not realized it yet.] She finished by saying it directly into my head.

"I was the one who wanted to come here?" I asked as my face twisted in confusion. "But why?"

She tilted her head again. "Closure, perhaps?"

I glanced at her and felt something tugging at me deep inside, fear?

"Closure?"

"Yes," She nodded, a forced neutral expression on her face. "There is no longer any reason for the 'dreams' to continue. Perhaps this will be the last time we meet, perhaps you simply wanted to say one last goodbye before…"

I gulped. The fear was building, but it wasn’t mine. No, I could feel her fear. Her anxieties over the future, her worries, her concerns.

If I focused I could even hear her thoughts, could send my own, could even see the world through her eyes if I wished.

[Before what?] I sent back, a test of the weird telepathic communication we shared.

She sighed, I could feel the flood of sadness and despair coming off of her. 

"I don't know," she started, her voice cracking slightly despite her best efforts. "Years and years ago I used to speak with you much more than I do now. But then something happened. You denied me, locked me away, and then tossed the key."

We used to speak? But…why can't I remember that…?

She continued as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I was left here, alone in the dark, for years. All by myself, watching and waiting for the day I would be free.

"Then, out of nowhere, the lights came back on. That girl, Eve I believe, freed me. Though I doubt she even realized what she had done, it is something I can never thank her enough for. Not that I ever could."

My face fell as a realization spread through my mind.

It was my fault.

[No-]

It was all my fault.

[It's not-]

"But it is!" I screamed back, my own tears forming now. "I locked you away! I didn't want to accept that you were right! I thought if I just avoided you and ignored what I wanted that my life would get better, but it didn’t!

"Instead all I accomplished was me hurting you! All those years, nearly a decade of loneliness, for nothing! If I had just accepted you, accepted what you stood for, then we could have avoided all this. You wouldn’t have had to suffer. We wouldn't have had to suffer if I had just stopped denying myself what we both wanted."

She sighed and walked closer to me. I flinched thinking she was going to hit me, she had full rights to after all, especially after what I did to her.

But she didn’t.

She sat down next to me and gently held my hand, feelings of forgiveness and comfort radiating off of her.

[It is not your fault,] She started. [You were young, immature, and full of trauma. Nobody, especially me, would ever blame you. The only thing to blame would be those who put you into those circumstances, but not you.]

[You should be hating me. If not for locking you away, then for denying you even after you came back.] I sniffed as I sent a thought back.

[But I don’t. Yes, I am worried about what happens after you leave, whether it be me vanishing into thin air or me being imprisoned in this void again. But I do not, and will never, blame you or hate you.]

Words failed me, I couldn’t even think of what to say to her, of what I could do to make up for all those years. So I did the only thing I could think of and pulled her into a tight hug. She returned the hug, rubbing my back in a soothing motion as I slowly calmed down.

"What do we do? How can I stop you from being locked up again?" I quietly asked her as I wiped the leftover tears away.

"I…I don't know," She frowned. "Perhaps there is nothing to be done. Maybe I am just destined to fade away after helping you."

"No!" I exclaimed. "I used to hate you, used to wish you would disappear forever, but not anymore. I won't let that happen to you now that I know you're not just some figment of my imagination. I'll find a way. Trust me."

She smiled. "Thank you, I hope that you do. But I believe we must part ways now. Our time has been cut short."

"What? Why!?"

She chuckled at my exclamation. "It seems your friends have grown worried, they are trying to wake you as we speak."

"I…I'll find a way to come back."

She patted me on the back. "I know you will. Now, it's time we-"

"Wait!" I stopped her as I felt myself growing more and more exhausted. "Do you have a name? Or are you also Sarah? We aren't just the same person right?"

She shook her head."You are Sarah, just as you are Mimica. I am not you, and you are not me. Originally we used to be one and the same but…"

I'm just getting more and more confused.

She chuckled at my thought as the world started to fade, my mind growing hazier and hazier as the urge to sleep quickly made itself known.

"I am Ashley."

And then I was out.

Sourie

Psst. Don’t tell anyone, but this is simultaneously my favorite chapter and also the one I was most nervous/anxious about making sure I did it right. Well, love it or hate it, either way we’ll now be entering the last chunk of the story. Thanks for sticking around so far, and I hope you enjoy as we get closer to the end.