Sinbad turned to gaze into the depths of his beautiful wife’s eyes; he could forever lose himself inside her, floating around in her soul, cut off from the rest of the world, content with his life. She was so beautiful, so loving and gentle, so fierce and powerful, so Maeve; how was he supposed to carry on with his life not being able to hold her, to touch her? How had he ever lived his life without her? How could they possibly be destined to be apart?

Maeve could feel Sinbad peering down at her, and she wished she could see him one last time to let him know that they would be all right. Returning her mind to only a few nights ago, Maeve grasped on to an image she held of Sinbad, laying down on the bed, staring up at her with his eyes full of love. That was the image she always wanted to carry forth with her, no matter where, or when she was, Maeve always wanted to remember Sinbad loving her. Reaching up slowly, she softly brushed her finger tips over his cheek; he moved so that his lips brushed her fingers, and tears sprang to her eyes.

"There’s so much to say...." Sinbad murmered, brushing away her tears.

"But there’s no time to say it in."

"They can wait, they owe us this time!"

Maeve shook her head. "They owe us nothing, Sinbad. We only did what was right for everyone."

"Everyone except us."

"Including us; you would have died if we hadn’t changed time; we would have lost Doubar and Dermott, plus the others. Declan would have grown up miserable, feeling hated and alone. I would have become bitter and full of darkness. Do you really think we should have been allowed to suffer like this time line wanted us to?"

Sinbad sighed. "No." He drew her into his arms; "I would sacrifice everything to keep you from turning into Mordred."

Aphrodite suddenly misted into the room. "Well, I can offer you one option beyond returning to your life before the timeline interuption."

Sinbad and Maeve raised their heads, their eyes filling with hope. "What?" Sinbad asked eagerly.

Aphrodite shrugged. "You could stay in the future."

"Excuse me?"

"Since time never changed, you never went to Thalderon, so you never travelled forward in time. If I were to return you to your lives now, you’d just meld with the spirit of the already existing Maeve and Sinbad and carry one with your lives aboard your ship with your crew. If I were to, say, arrange it so that you could stay here in the future, that Maeve and Sinbad would live out their timeline, and you would have a whole different life."

"But what would that do to this period’s timeline?" Maeve asked in concern, placing a hand on Sinbad’s chest to stop him from accepting outright.

"I don’t really know, but at least you’d be toghether."

Maeve shook her head. "No."

Sinbad looked up in shock. "What???"

"No." Maeve turned her saddened face to Sinbad. "We can’t run the risk of harming another timeline, Sinbad."

"Why not? What harm can we do?"

"A lot of harm if you think about it; who’s to say what our children would turn into for this world, the entire future could be in massive jeopardy by us merely living now... Declan could change the world, changes that weren’t supposed to happen." She reached up and kissed him gently. "We have one more sacrifice to be made, my love, and for the sake of a lot of lives, we must make it. Besides, would you truly be happy in a world without the Nomad, or Doubar; and still we must keep our vow to rescue Dim-Dim. I would miss Dermott terribly as well. They may as well be dead to us if we stay here."

Sinbad’s shoulders slumped, knowing his wife was right. He turned back to face Aphrodite. "How long until you have to take us back?"

Aphrodite looked back at him sadly. "A window in the space time continuum opens in less than five minutes. I’ll leave you alone, give you a little privacy, then when it’s time, I’ll just mist you out." She tried to smile. "You won’t feel a thing."

Neither mortals were amused. Maeve sighed. "Can you make that a promise, Aphrodite? Can you stop our hearts from breaking when the time comes?"

Aphrodite shook her head. "That’s the one thing out of my control, guys. I’m sorry." Without another word, the goddess misted away. Neither mortal noticed the sudden flash of inspiration cross her face just before she dissapeared.

Sinbad smiled over at Maeve, as he pulled her close once more. "I guess this is it."

She nodded, unable to speak around the suddenly formed lump in her throat. "We will be together in the other time, Maeve, we have to be."

Again, she nodded. "I hope so, Sinbad, I hope so." She whispered.

The world began to waver around them, and they began to feel slightly seperated from reality. So much for not feeling anything, Sinbad thought, as sudden panic filled his heart.

"We’ll leave this world together, Maeve, in each other’s arms."

Maeve wrapped her arms around him, and nibbled at his bottom lip. "Our soul’s will know, Sinbad, they will know our love, and even if it comes to be that we cannot be together in this time, we will be in the next time or the time after that. We won’t be apart forever, my love, this is my promise to you." Her mind strayed to the tiny life growing inside of her. "Declan will yet be born to us, Sinbad, he was conceived through our love, and will be again. That strength can never fade, no matter what we are put through."

Sinbad watched as the room began to shimmer and he and Maeve began to fade. "I love you, Maeve, you and Declan. I will never forget either of you."

"Nor I you, my love."

With their last moment together Sinbad lowered his head to hers, and their mouths met in a gentle kiss; a kiss that spanned all time and all life, a kiss of pure, innocent love.

As their bodies lost their physicality, the molecules of their beings were intertwined, like connecting fingers. That was the way their spirits were transfered back, linked together forever. So when their consciousnesses began to fade, when there was nothing left but total darkness, and they sensed not a thing; when their lives dissapeard from their minds, and Declan disapeared from Maeve’s body, three tiny points of light shone in the distance. Their souls would never forget, and their lives would never die.

*******************************

The sea was calm, not a wave as far as the eye could see. A gentle breeze filled the sails on the masts of the Nomad, softly propelling her forward. Firouz stood peering over the Nomad's stern with his magnascope, Rongar standing behind him to his left. Doubar stood at the helm of the ship, laughing loudly over something his brother had just said.

Without warning, a bolt of lightening flashed out of the clear blue sky, zapping the water mere inches away from the Nomad's bow, where her captain, Sinbad, was standing. A wave of water rose up and over Sinbad's head, falling to drench him to the skin. The crew paused in a moment of shock before bursting into laughter. A low growl rose from Sinbad's throat.

"Maeve!!!" he yelled, "What in the name of Allah are you doing?!!"

A beautiful red head peered slowly out from the lower cabin. Her body was racked with low laughter as she was met with the sight of her captain and friend. She grimaced. "I do believe my spell needs some refinement."

Sinbad grunted in fascious agreement. "I don't mind getting wet, Maeve, but usually only when I'm taking a bath." He gestured around him. "Somehow a bolt of magical lightening conjured by one of my own crew does not fit that image!"

Maeve's enchanting body moved onto the deck, followed by her hawk, Dermott. She smiled mischeviously as she ran her eyes over the soaked man. "And what an image."

Sinbad choked as suddenly a vivid picture of Maeve came into his mind; Maeve as he had never seen her, relaxing in a hot spring pool, clad in nothing, reaching out to him, asking him to join her. Sinbad looked at Maeve standing before him, and his heart began to pound loudly.

Doubar roared in laughter. "She's got you there, little brother!" he said, slapping Sinbad on the back.

Maeve pulled a face, "Hopefully not." But as she said it, an image of Sinbad came to mind, her sitting astride him, slowly peeling away layers of his clothing, laughing softly as she denied him his pleasure. She looked up and met Sinbad’s eyes, blushing as her mind’s image took her deeper than even her dreams had ever done.

Sinbad growled, not being able to shake the "sight" of the Maeve his mind had created, "Have you no shame woman?"

"No." Maeve attempted to shrug lightly, as she turned on her heel and hurried back to the lower deck. She had to get away from him and the mental picture before her eyes; still the thoughts wouldn’t leave her.

Sinbad grimaced, turning away, his thoughts returning to normal as she left his sight, "Firouz, keep an eye out for any more lightening bolts; I really have no wish to drown on the deck of my own ship."

"I heard that!" Maeve's disembodied voice floated over to the two men.

Doubar laughed again. "Careful, Sinbad, you don't want to get the girl angry."

Sinbad smiled and said loudly, "Why is that, Doubar? Perhaps if she were to take aim at me, I would have a chance at getting off this boat alive."

A clap of thunder suddenly roared overhead, a small cloud beginning to form directly over the Nomad's bow.

"All the same," Doubar smiled as he edged towards the stern, "I believe I'll join Firouz and Rongar in the stern. Sinbad, you should stay in the bow."

Sinbad sighed. "Very funny, Doubar."

Firouz suddenly cried out, "Land ho! We're coming up on Thalderon, Sinbad! We're about an hour off shore!"

The sound of the island’s name brought a chill into Sinbad’s heart; he knew not the reason, only that he never wanted to ever see that Island. Hauling on the tiller, Sinbad changed the direction of the Nomad. "Firouz, plot a course to Narameri, it’s the nearest Island to here besides Thalderon."

Doubar looked at his brother curiously, and Maeve came above deck, her eyes registering the sudden fear overtaking Sinbad himself. Doubar frowned at the both of them. "Why are we not landing at Thalderon, little brother. It’s one of the richest Islands in this part of the sea, we’d certainly get more than what our goods are worth."

Firouz nodded as Rongar gestured out to the sea. "Yes, rumor has it that Thalderon’s merchants pay entirely in gold, pure gold not even coins. Sinbad, we could fund the rest of our adventures if we sold our cargo in Thalderon’s markets."

Maeve shook her head. "I have no wish to see Thalderon again, myself. I have been away from here for years, and I don’t believe your rumors are warranted Firouz."

Sinbad nodded. "Then it’s settled, set a course for Narameri."

Doubar frowned but moved away. "Aye, aye, captain."

Sinbad moved over to stand behind Maeve who was peering out over the railing. "What are your reason’s for not wanting to go to Thalderon?"

Maeve shrugged, turning around to face him. She was startled to find herself pinned between Sinbad and the rail of the Nomad; the tension rose between them and she backed herself as far against the railing as she could. "Um, I really don’t know. It was just a feeling I had."

"A premonition?"

"More like deja vu; I felt like I had already gone this route sometime before in my life." She shivered. "I really didn’t want to be there."

Sinbad glanced down at Maeve’s costume, noticing something different. "Maeve, when did you begin wearing a chain around your neck?"

Raising her hand to her chest, Maeve’s fingers encountered the gentle weight of a crystal attached to a chain around her neck. Peering down at the gentle red color of the crystal, floods of emotion washed over her; warmth, safety, and above all, love. Startled, and flustered she clutched the crystal tightly, and the tension began to ebb away. The crystal relaxed her, and she sighed.

The same feelings washed over Sinbad at the sight of the crystal, and he had to fight an overwhelming urge to reach down and kiss the beautiful sorceress senseless. Her eyes glowed in recognition of his emotions, mirroring the same thoughts. She turned back to face the horizon, leaning into Sinbad’s body; his arms wrapped around her and settled naturely over her stomach; neither questioned the action.

Maeve sighed deeply, and closed her eyes while Sinbad held her closely. They both knew something substantial had changed between them, though they were not quite sure how or what it was. Still, to them it didn’t matter because for these two, though they knew not the course they would be following, or if their paths would indeed lead them into each other’s arms, as far as the future is concerned, the sky’s the limit.

Neither heard the heavenly peals of self satisfied laughter, as Maeve’s crystal glowed as red as passion, and Aphrodite dissapeared from their lives once and for all.

Well, my friend, that concludes Shared Admissions. Feel free to let me know what you thought of the story by writing to the address given here: Contact the Keeper of the Realm . Stay tuned for my next scripture, entitled Sorcerer's Blood, co-written by m'lady Talia.

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