He was falling in love with Samara, he hadn’t recognized it at first because only one wollf had truly held his heart. But the tiny Klein woman had rebuilt him, nurtured and cared for him when he was too weak to do so himself. Rhyme owed her his life and more but he still felt himself hesitating. He wanted to give himself completely to Rara, but his adoration for Shaye held him back. He could clearly see now that she had been his true love, bloodlines be damned.

He hadn’t dreamed of her in a long time, wakeful or otherwise. He’d had to cut himself off from her lest he have been dragged from this world as well. Rhyme fell asleep on her grave more than once, but not tonight. Rhyme had Samara held tightly to his chest as he fell asleep, night terrors had been a real issue, thankfully they lessened when he held her close. As he drifted off to sleep though Samara disappeared.

Fog inhibited sight as it wrapped and danced over the ground and air. Rhyme blinked open blue and lavender eyes to find himself at the edge of the rapids. It was fall, the scenery was a perfect replica of his favorite place before the eruption, before the fire, before he had to bury his son. The old man would recognize the place anywhere. Despite where he was Rhyme felt alone, for a long moment he was the only wolf that existed.

Then the very earth beneath his feet rumbled and quaked. The rapids were suddenly torn open and with no warning Rhyme was pulled beneath the earth. He heard a scream, but it wasn’t his own. There was a crushing weight, the feeling of being unable to breathe, he was drowning above water. He coughed and struggled for the light that slipped away, becoming a pinhole, and finally disappearing. Rhyme felt nothing but darkness.

Then from nowhere another light began to appear, cool and calming, like the reflection of water on a dark wall. He couldn’t focus anywhere else as the light finally took the shape of his lost love.

Shaye still didn’t understand the world beyond, the afterlife she found herself in. Time didn’t work the same, but she remembered moments with her parents, here in the fog of death. Shai held her again, and they compared feathers, the ones she had worn in real life, still tucked behind her ear. She missed the pack, she missed her daughters, and Rhyme. A part of her still regretted the world she had been forced to leave behind. She felt the disturbance, a faint shaking as through an earthquake rumbled far away. She knew a visitor was coming to see her. At first, she thought Rhyme had died, and her heart broke for him anew. When she saw his familiar, dark form, she knew he lived still. There was a sort of firmness to him that was missed in this world. Tears filled her eyes at the sight of him. She missed him so, her Rhyme. He was the love that had gotten away. The love she had pushed away, for she had felt it was the right thing to do. Burying her tears, the old ghost stopped before him, taking a seat against the grasses of the world of their shared mind. He had brought her here, from the mists of her afterlife. He had summoned her, if he had meant to or not. “Oh Rhyme” she said softly. “Tell me, please, of the world I left behind.” she wanted to hear what she had missed. She wanted to hear his voice. She wanted to live, and be held within the circle of his arms, once more. ""

She materialized into clarity, her sweet face and healthy form. Rhyme felt both relief and sorrow at the same time as he watched the tears well up in her vibrant blue eyes. For so long Rhyme had been haunted by her memory, a shadow of the woman that he loved and craved. A soft whimper left him as he felt like his heart was breaking all over again. He froze as she pushed forward slowly to stand before him. His heart had stopped, all of the emotions returned.

Rhyme took in a deep breath, blinking back his own tears as he looked at her, afraid of what he’d summoned. Would this turn into another nightmare, ending in her being ripped from his arms? Would he return to wakefulness and fall into the same pattern he had only just recovered from? ”Shaye…” His voice was hoarse and full of emotion. His ears slicked to his head as he warred with himself. He wanted to close the distance between them and hold her like he’d been denied for so long. What would it do to him though?

”You are so missed.” He started softly, taking a cautious step forward. ”You would be so proud of our girls and Abaven” Rhyme included Theory, as she was more of a mother to her than Tana had ever been. The pack had rallied together after her death, if she could see them… ”You’d be disappointed in me.” He looked down, very aware now of what he’d allowed himself to become. Motif, Poem, and especially Theory stepped up more than they should have been asked to. He had failed so hard. ”I needed you…” He couldn’t blame her for her departure, and he’d done well to forget how low she had been laid before passing on.

Rhyme shook his head roughly as he tried to rid himself of the toxic feeling inside of him. Shaye was his true love, and losing her ripped him apart. Only recently had he regained a semblance of his whole self. ”I needed you..” He said again and lost what little control he had. As tears fell from his eyes rain began to fall. A gentle spring drizzle in contrast to the storm he felt inside.

The vague mists she had left behind were one thing. The world Rhyme brought with him seemed somehow more comporeal. Was this soft-as-dew green grass what his body lay upon, back in the world he had left behind? She pictured his form, curled up in a spot just to the side of her, sleeping, snoring softly in the rumble of a contented dream. Ah, why had he come here. He would break her heart anew. He spoke her name, his voice everything she remembered, and much that she had forgotten. It was husky with emotion, deep throated, and on the brink of tears. She felt the desire to collapse into his arms, to beg him to stay here with her, forever. To bring her back to the world she had left behind. She hadn't wanted to die, she didn’t feel she would ever be ready to move on. He stepped closer to her, and she was afraid that if he got close enough to touch, she would find his fur would move right through her. Reminding them both of the inevitable, that she was a ghost, and beyond the world he lived in. “I am always proud of our girls.” she whispered. That sounded like they were thriving, doing well. It soothed some of the ache in her heart and soul. At his next words, she took control of her fear, and moved closer. She moved a paw to cup under his chin. She expected, utterly expected, to pass through him. It caught her with some surprise when she touched him, as though she were as solid as he was. With this new founded strength and realism, she gently nudged his head upwards, to meet her eyes. “I’m not disappointed in you, Rhyme” she said softly. She kissed a tear beneath his right eye, her heart aching for him. “I’m sorry I wasn't there Rhyme. I’m so sorry, but I'm proud of you. You still have all four paws in the real world, and that’s where I need you to be” it hurt to say it. She wanted him at her side, so badly. “Our girls will need you for a lot longer yet, Abaven needs you. That's the dream we built, side by side. You haven’t let it go, have you?” she asked him softly. ""

He tried not to think about what could and should have been, it only served to hurt him more. Worse he wouldn’t want to leave her. His heart was in two very different places at once. The first part remained in the living world. Their daughters and more importantly than ever, Samara remained there waiting for him. Vaguely he remembered the fact that it was her in his physical arms and not Shaye. The second was here, with the one he most wanted in the universe.

She returned his words, assuring him that she was always proud of their children and his heavy eyes returned to her as he pushed through the tortured feeling. Then she was next to him. Her sweet scent filled his senses and he felt like he needed to gasp for breath. His heart beat heavily in his chest and he grit his teeth through his tears as he found her gaze with his own. Rhyme felt the stabbing pain of when he first lost her, but as her paw gently lifted his chin he relaxed against her.

His blue and lavender eyes didn’t leave her as she spoke to him softly, she couldn’t be disappointed in him and as she went on she reminded him of who he was. She needed him to be alive, he couldn’t stay here with her like they both wanted. He needed to be there for their girls where she couldn’t be. ”I know.” He told her quietly, closing his eyes and leaning into her touch as she kissed away his tears. ”I almost forgot though, I was too weak.” He told her as he relinquished his boundaries and wrapped her into a loving embrace. Affection that he had sorely missed. ”I just wish.. I wish you were still there beside me.” His voice was a hoarse whisper as he spoke the words that haunted him since her death.

”So much has changed.” He told her as he held her, burying his features into her soft unearthly fur. ”Theory is a brilliant alpha, Motif is finding her courage, Poem looks after Rhythm…” He sighed heavily. ”She lives in Abaven now,” he took another breath. ”I.. I almost came to join you after..” after she died. ”Samara,” did she remember the tiny Klein woman. ”She saved me and I… You know you’re my true love.” He struggled, but he had to say it. ”She’s put my heart back together.” Could he confess to Shaye how he was falling in love with Samara?

She knew she could never say the pain in her heart, never make a move that would compromise him in the world he came from. Their daughters were relying on him, needed him. As did the pack. Her heart would have to quietly break anew, and she would have to tell him that he was needed in Abaven, always.

She didn’t fight him when he wrapped his paws around her. She craved the physical too much. She leaned into his touch, breathing in the scent of her. She cried then, soundlessly, without motion, into his coat. She didn’t want him to see how much it hurt, how much she wished he had the power to drag her back to the living world.

It didn’t help her tears when he told her that Rhythm lived in Abaven now. What she had always wanted, for her Auntie to be there with her in the pack she loved. Now it was too late, and she could not share in the joy of learning healing besides the gentle healer.

“Oh Rhyme, I don’t want you to join me” she lied, drying her tears in his coat, and pulling free to look at him. She put a smile on her face, not knowing where she found the strength. “Samara, I’m glad. She’s what you need” that was the truth, what Rhyme needed, not what Shaye needed. “I’m glad you found her, and she you. Let her pull you together, you have my blessing, Rhyme” oh, but how much that hurt. The words she needed to say. She did it for Rhyme, for Theory, for Motif, and Poem. she said those bitter words, because they were what he needed to hear. She loved him too much to say anything else.

She was right in her thinking, had she even hinted at how much she wanted him to stay here with her he wouldn’t have looked back. He’d leave his earthly body and join her in this cold afterlife without a second thought. That wasn’t the right thing to do, he had so much life left to live, and not for himself but those that remained. His daughters and the woman that shared his den and coaxed him back from the brink. Rhyme would always love Shaye, for the rest of his life and for as long as he remained sentient.

They held onto each other, both of them silently mourning what couldn’t be. Neither able to leave the world they were in to be with the one that they wanted. Rhyme’s heart was still very much broken, and this too real dream made that more apparent. But knowing was half the battle. When he had been broken before he had willfully ignored Shaye’s death, he’d almost gone crazy as a result. Now he could admit the fact that she was gone and how much it hurt him. But he could see the path he needed to take now. No matter how much he wanted to remain here he couldn’t.

Rhyme could see through Shaye’s lie, but he was thankful for it. They both knew he had to go back, and they were both very aware of how much Rhyme would need Samara if he was going to remain in the realm of the living. She pulled away and smiled at him, but the sorrow was still there. He tried to return her grin but he felt the guilt pile up on his head. Tana was the reason the two of them had never worked out, now another woman was getting in between them. She was necessary though, and giving his broken heart to her had been easy. easier without Shaye in his arms.

”You always were a bad liar.” He whispered to her as he pulled her in close again. He felt the tears once more, but she had given him her blessing. A blessing to embrace what he had back in the living world. For him, for their daughters, and for Abaven. Samara was good for him, she was good to him, and as he held Shaye in that dream world he wondered how he could deserve such wonderful women in his life. He hated how much pain he was putting her through, and he hugged her tighter for it. He would have given his own life then and there if he could trade places with her.

”I never deserved you.” He whispered, pushing his features into her cheek, wanting so bad to be closer. To bring her back with him. Having her so close once more but knowing she still couldn’t be his. She was his other half and he knew he would never be whole again in this life. "I'm so sorry." For not being able to be with her, for breaking her heart now, for being too weak to cope with her loss.

The mere thought of Poem, Motif, and Theory, stumbling upon the still, cold form of their father, was the only thing that kept her on the steady course. She would spare her daughters that pain, she would keep Rhyme at arms length.. Metaphorically, because in this ghostly world, she held him close.

She lost her breath in a short, painful laugh at his words. Was that right, was it? He could see right through her. She could hardly convince him that she wanted nothing less than to hold him in her arms, forevermore.

“Rhyme, shhh, don’t say that” she said softly, resting her muzzle against his cheek, and closing her eyes. Did he really think that? Was it because of how often she had held him at arms length, back when they both were living. If only she knew how short life really was, how few chances she would have to hold him. She doubted she would have had the strength, then, if she had known. “You deserve everything good in the world, and I want nothing more than for you to find it. Hold it close, Rhyme. Don’t waste a single second with doubt, with hesitation. Don't hesitate to kiss the ones you love, to hug your daughters. Cherish this life, Rhyme, every second of it. Eventually, when fate decides its your time… not, you, but fate. Then I will be here, waiting to welcome you home.”

This was no permanent distance between them, Rhyme wouldn’t live forever. Still, he felt the sharp pain of the supernatural distance between them. He wanted to hold her forever, but it wasn’t the right time. Being able to have the strength to let her go was something he might not have had a season ago. He let himself suburge into the dream and held her while he could, and she shushed him away from his guilt ridden words. Rhyme nuzzled her back as he hung on her every word.

Goodbye Brielle
Only whispers can tell
Of the sweet dreams that we knew so well
I'll see you around our dear ocean town

Shaye encouraged him softly, she would send him back with her sweet requests. He had to take hold of life, she could not and giving up early wasn’t fair to those he would leave behind. His time would come, but he couldn’t choose when that was. With his natural death Rhyme would find his way back to Shaye and he would never have to let her go again. The dreaming man took in a deep breath, immersing himself in the moment as he felt both complete and torn.

The frozen days we set ablaze
Sent me drifting away
Like a butterfly, I floated by and now I'm alone
I wish I knew when I'll be back again


”I will.” He promised her softly, knowing his return to life would leave him feeling renewed. Shaye’s spirit returned to him, and he’d live his life for her. One day the two of them would be returned. ”I will for you. My Soulmate.” Blue and lavender eyes sought hers as he offered his amended title. Shaye was his other half, though he hadn’t realized until he’d lost her. Maybe if he’d fought harder they wouldn’t be here. What ifs only maed the pain worse, he had to stop thinking about them. ”You’ll never be far from my mind.” He promised her as well, she couldn’t physically be a part of his life but he would never lose her memory.

So until then I wish you well
For the time being farewell
My dear Brielle