The big city.

Carlisle lifed an eyebrow but didn't speak. He just watched Johanna and Darren closely, worried about any impeding news they might give that might further upset Cora.

"I'm sure he is," Ashlyn spoke up suddenly. Then she fell silent again, looking out the window wordlessly.
~~~~
Joanna was silent. She continued to hold her sister's hand so she could see the two.

"What do you mean?" Cora asked.
~~~~
Sable nodded.

"I have to go see Raven first," He said quietly. "I'll be back. Thanks," He said quietly, and then was gone. Raven was at the park, swinging quietly back and forth.
~~~~~
Lenora didn't move an inch.
~~~~
"No it's not. I don't ever want to make you doubt me again," She said quietly, still hugging him.
~~~~
Laurinda had forgotten how nice soap was.

She soon stepped out, her hair clean and her skin a shade lighter, now dirt free. She wrapped a towel around herself and walked into several rooms, looking for clothes that might fit her. She soon pulled out a pair of shorts and a t shirt that was too large for her from Blake's room. She slipped them on and put her old dirty clothes in their washer. She didn't really know how to work it. It was different from hers, and she had long since forgotten.

She put too much soap in by mistake, then left it there and went back into the kitchen for more food.

Layla walked up behind Tyler. "Tyler, thanks for trying to help me", she siad smiling at him.

~~~~~~

Alice closed her eyes and looked liek she was sleeping again.

Savanna and John started to walk towards te door. "Come on lets let her sleep". John said taking Bailey's hand.

Marybeth nodded.

~~
"I'm tring to getZane to think he needs to stay human." She said.

~~
"I'm sorry." Tyler said.

Ashlyn wondered when they would get there. She wanted to get this over with.
~~~~~
"How?" Cora asked.

"Yes, that is the question indeed," Joanna mumbled.

Cora frowned.
~~~~~
Elliot looked at Layla, and smiled.

"Are you okay?" She asked quietly.
~~~~~
Laurinda heard something down by the washer, and ran to it. Her eyes widened at the big mess of bubbles on the ground. Apparently she had used too much soap.

She ran to turn it off, but slipped and disappeared under the bubbles.

Layla nodded. "I'm fine", she said.

~~~~~~~

John turned around and looked at Walter. "Do you want to stay here?", he asked.

Lance pulled in a church.

~~
Tyler looked at Layla.

~~
\Walter nodded.

~~
"It';s not easy, but not impossiable." darren said.

"That's good," Elliot smiled slightly and nodded at her friend. Then she turned back to Tyler.
~~~~
Ashlyn's stomach turned. She didn't know if she could do this.
~~~~
"Then how?" Cora asked quickly. Joanna shrugged. "Ask her," she said simply.
~~~
Laurinda turned off the washer and took out her clothes, still wet, and threw them in the drier. She waded out of the bubbles, unsure what to do with them or how to clean them up. She may break into houses, though she cleaned up after herself. She didn't like people to know that she had been there. She didn't like to do what she did, but she didn't really have much of a choice. She was wet now, and went upstairs and took another shirt and shorts from the same room and slipped them on before going back to the kitchen.

"How can I?" Carlisle asked Darren eagerly.

"I can't really tell you how, thats up to you." she smiled.

~~
Lance and Marybeth walked into the church.

~~
Tyler nodded.

"I'm going to go back to James' house", Layla said and disappeared and appeared in James' room still holding her stomach.

Ashlyn followed silently, her black flats slapping on the sidewalk. She stayed a distance behind them, silent.
~~~~~
Joanna nodded.

"What do you mean?" Cora asked, sounding desperate.
~~~~~
Elliot nodded as well, then turned to Tyler. She was smiling.
~~~~~
Laurinda took some food that was wrapped and stuffed it in her backpack, along with her dirty, however wet, clothes. Then she was out the back door, gone.
~~~~~
Ava stopped to breathe once she was in the meadow. She didn't see Nick yet. Good.

Lance open the church door, and held it open for every one.

~~
"The way he acts decides how he is judged. Zane would have yelled at the minster in Carlisle place, the way he handle that earn him some good points.

~~
James was doing nothing.

Ashlyn hesitated, then stepped inside. She took a deep breathe. You can do this, she kept telling herself. Yet she didn't feel any better.

She stared straight ahead. Today was her birthday. She was now 18. Yet she didn't feel very happy.
~~~~~
Cora nodded slowly, though she was still a bit confused.

"Do you think they'll judge him worthy?" She asked quietly. Joanna frowned, but said nothing.
~~~~
Lenora sat up suddenly, her eyes wide. She groaned and slowly lowered herself back down, her head throbbing.
~~~~
Ava suddenly felt tired. So tired...

She lay down on the grass, closing her eyes. She wasn't asleep yet, however, though she looked it.

Carlisle rolled his eyes at the thought of the minister "Why lose my temper with him if his allegations were untrue?" he asked

Cora had no idea what they were talking about, but found it best not to ask right now. She looked back at Darren, biting her lip nervously.

Layla looked at James. "Aren't you going to go see if Alice is alright?", she asked ignoring the dulling pain in her stomach now.

Savanna, John and Bailey left the room and started to head back to the house. They would come back to get Walter later.

Alice opened her eyes again when she heard them leave.

"Most would." Darren said softly. "And as for wheather he is judge worthy, you'll have to wait. Painetnce is a very varuble thing."

~~
Lance led Ashlynn to the back pew. Marybeth walked up to the front.

They were early, almost no one was here.

There was alittle girl standing by Mason's casket, holding a brown feather. She looked just like a younger verison of Marybeth, looking to be only about six or seven. Dorthy was only visable to those who had angels and demons. The gut that was standing next to her, on the other hand was invisable to all.

Lance frowned as he wacthed the little girl talk to herself. she looked so familer. He glance \d at Blake.

Blake nodded. "She's an angel."

The girl suddenly truned around. "Lance!" She called, alittle to loud for a church. She suddenly appered in his lap, still holding the brown feather close to her. "Lance, Lance, I missed you, and Mary," She never called her twin by her whole name. "And Mason too! But I don't know if I should be happy or sad he's dead. Happy I get to see him again, or or or," HEr endless talk was cut off by sobs. "And and and and," She shallowed. "Peter is here." She finally managed to get out. Then she saw Ashlynn. "Who's this."

~~
"No." James said dryly.

~~
Walter sighed.

Alice looked at Walter. "Why so you think it was James?", she asked.

~~~~

Layla walked over to James. "Why not?", she asked. She didn't really understand why anyone wouldn't go see the person they liked especially when they had been hurt.

Penny appeared in James' room next to Layla, and looked up at her. "Layl--", she started but was interupted.

"not now Penny", she said softly to her, she wanted to hear what James would say.

~~~~~~

George wondered through the underworld. He wondered where he was but couldn't see very much. He opened a door that he faintly saw and looked into the throne room.

((Yes, yes... I know I made Adrian and Penny do the same thing but I'm not in the mood to think of what to do differently right now))

Ashlyn sat down silently. She started unwrapping and then rewraping the bandage on her hand. The cut was nothing more than a thin, puckered line across her hand. She looked up and saw the casket, and abruptly turned her eyes away. She looked back, however, when she saw the small figure of a girl out of the corner of her eye.

She looked a lot like Marybeth. She realized they must be related. That was it; she was Mason's other sister! The one he had told her about that had died.

She jumped when she suddenly appeared next to her. How...how could she...

"She's dead. An angel," Ether mumbled, in response to her question. Ashlyn had almost forgotten that her demon was here, but now she could only nod, somewhat in disbelief.

Wait....see Mason again?

Of course! Did this mean that she would get to see him again, too? Demons were real; Ether was proof enough of that. And so were angels, apparently. And they all used to be people, according to Ether. Did that mean....

"Don't get your hopes up. He'd still hate you even if he did come back. You killed him, remember?" Came Ether's voice from her side. Ashlyn flinched. She was right. this was it. This was her 'closure,' as she had heard it called so many times before on television. After today, she would forget all about Mason. At least, that was what she had convinced herself.

Yet looking at this girl before her, one who was dead, according to the others, was strange. She had only grown used to Ether over about a year, and it still weirded her out, having a dead demon follow her around everywhere.

"I'm Ashlynn," Ashlynn said quietly. She said nothing more.
~!~
Cora nodded. She knew Darren was right, but that didn't mean that she had to like it.

"Yes, although it can be hard, you must wait," Joanna added. Cora just nodded. She was a million miles away again, the reality and seriousness of the situation brought back to her all of a sudden like a tidal wave.
~!~
Ava heard footsteps, and looked up only to come face to face with Nick.

She didn't understand. Elliot had gotten rid of him, at least that's what she had told her. But now here he was, real as ever. Only he looked different. Anger was in his eyes instead of the usual glazed looked they held.

He pulled her to her feet roughly, and she pulled herself off of him, spitting at his feet.

"What are you doing here?" She snapped. "I thought that Elliot got rid of you."

"She did, but obviously it didn't last," he growled. Even his voice was different; he was furious.
~!~
Laurinda was sitting outside, her jacket pulled tightly around her shoudlers. It was still dirty, since she hadn't washed it. And it was probably a good thing that she hadn't; the washer incident came back to her, and she thought about their faces when they came back only to find the basement filled with bubbles.

She almost laughed at that. Almost.

She shivered slightly. She was still cold, and her wet hair wasn't helping. It hung loosely around her face, looking a dark brown though it was actually red when dry.

She was sitting in an alley, eating some of the food that she had taken from his house. Granola bars, packaged foods, things like that. She was eating slowly, as if savoring each bite. She knew that she might not get any more for a while, so it was important that she eat is slowly.
~!~
Elliot looked at Tyler, realizing that they still stood outside the goddess' throne room. She grabbed his hand and started to lead him down the corridor and towards one of the many caverns. She was smiling. He believed her. She was happy, so much happier than she had been in a long while. And Andrew hadn't even come to ruin it yet.
~!~
Sable was in heaven now, searching for Raven. Melody found him, and ran up to him.

"Sable, you're back!!" She cried. Sable was pulled into a tight hug by her, and laughed slightly, nodding and patting her back lightly.

"Yes, I'm back," He said. "Have you seen Raven?"

"Yeah, she has been looking for you," She said. "Come on!!"

Then she dragged him off.

Raven was sitting under the crow tree, looking depressed. First she had found out that her mom was dead, and she couldn't figure out why it was bothering her so much. But it didn't matter anymore; now Sable was gone again, too.

Then she looked up, and he was there. She rubbed her eyes, thinking she was seeing things. But surely enough, he was there.

"Sable!!" She cried, jumping to her feet and running over to him, wrapping him in a tight hug, sobbing. He was crying, too, she found, as he hugged her back.

Melody watched with a smile for a moment before leaving them alone near the crow tree.
~!~
Lenora was lost in the world of dreams.

Dust was there. He had his back to her, and she ran after him, but couldn't seem to reach him. When she finally did, and spun him around, his eyes were blank. He was back to his souless self.

She woke with a start, her heart pounding heavily against her chest and a thin layer of cold sweat on her forehead.

She looked around, and soon realized where she was. Then she started to cry.
~!~
Heather was sitting next to Link. She looked at the angel, and smiled at her. She could see her, and Heather wished with all her heart that Lance could, too.

She reached out and took his hand, hoping that he would realize that it was her again.

She shot the demon, Ether, a glare, but she just smirked at her and ignored her. She sighed and looked up at her brother, smiling lightly.
~!~
Hymn wanted to get up and run to Chris, hug him, then never let go. But she couldn't.

She was still sitting in the darkest parts of the underworld. She hadn't moved for three days since Christaphor had come and tricked her into kissing him. It was as if she was nothing more than a shell of who she used to be.

Who did she use to be, anyways?

A stubborn, stupid girl. And she still was. How Chris could ever have liked her was beyond her.

She didn't deserve him. She had gotten him by some miracle, and lost him with her own stupidity. She should have told him long ago that the goddess had told her to do it. But now she knew that there was no way that he could forgive her. How could he?

Carlisle nodded and looked at Cora, he grabbed her hand and squeezed lightly "I told you, Cora, I'm now and forever yours. Don't be upset." he asked of her.

Cora nodded. She knew that if anyone should be upset, it should be him, not her. Joanna took her sister's hand again, and disappeared with her. Cora felt ashamed of herself. She shouldn't be worried; how could they not judge Carlisle worthy? She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, then quickly looked away. She was tired now; her racing mind had worn her out.

Carlisle frowned at her but didn't push her. While keeping one hand in hers he wrapped the other around her waist, forcing her to face him. He said nothing as he stood there.

Cora stared at the ground for what could have been five minutes or five hours before finally looking up at him.

"Sorry," She mumbled, before quickly looking away again.

"Don't be. I understand it, I feel the same I just focus on what time I have left that I can hold you in my arms and people not think it means I'm trying to kill you." Carlisle said.