Disclaimer: Procter and Gamble owns Another World, Bay City, and all the inhabitants who reside there. I'm just borrowing some of them for awhile--for fun, not profit.

Acknowledgements: Mike and Sandy, of course, whose performances are always among the best on AW. Celeste, Cherie, and Sharon remain my beta readers extraordinaire. You can blame Cherie for this story. Or thank her, whichever the case might be. It was her idea, after all, with a few twists of my own.

Lightning flashed in the night sky, illuminating the small garden hidden behind a small gate on the Cory estate. Thunder boomed, close enough to shake the small wooden structure. Amanda Cory stood in the center of this secret garden, eyes transfixed on nothing. A gentle rain fell from the sky, but she did not notice the dampness of her clothing or the wetness of her skin. She noticed nothing.

Chained to one of the pillars in the gazebo, Cameron gazed at her with worry in his eyes. Straining against his bonds, he tried to break free so he could protect Amanda from the monster known as Jordan Stark. But there was little he could do given his current situation. Stark had made certain that Cameron would have to be in the garden, watching helplessly as his one true love was destroyed before his eyes. "Sadistic bastard," he muttered.

Stark moved to stand next to Amanda for a moment. His fingers touched the side of her face, eliciting a cry of helpless rage from Cameron. "Soon, my love," he murmured. "Soon you will be with me again, Amalie."

"No!" Cameron cried. "Amanda! You can't leave me! Amanda!"

Turning his head to face the chained man, Stark said, "She can't hear you, Sinclair. Save your breath."

"Never," Cameron said. "Amanda! I love you. Always! Amanda!"

"I really must insist," Stark said, walking toward the gazebo. When Cameron opened his mouth to call out to Amanda once again, Stark backhanded him across the face with enough force behind the blow to knock Cameron's head against the pillar.

But Cameron smiled nonetheless as the blood from his split lip trailed slowly down his chin. "You'll have to do better than that, Stark," he said. "As long as I have breath in my body, I'll cry out for Amanda."

"It will do you little good," Stark said. "Amalie will come forth soon, and Amanda will die."

"No!" Cameron screamed from his heart, the sound tearing at his throat. "No! Amanda!"

Backhanding him again, Stark said, "Be silent!" With the same hand, he pointed his finger at Amanda, standing still and alone in the center of the garden. A beam of white light encircled her for several seconds. And then was gone.

"Amanda," Cameron sobbed, still trying desperately to free himself from the chains binding him to the gazebo.

Her head turned slowly to face him, eyes locking with his. Cameron's head sagged and he slumped against the chains. It was only their strength that kept him on his feet. Amanda, his Amanda, was gone. There was no hint of recognition in those eyes he loved so much.

The woman walked with gentle grace across the small garden to stand before him. A smile of concern graced her lips as she reached out with one hand to touch his bruised and battered face. "Conall," she whispered. "We have not much time on this plane, my beloved."

"No," Stark said. "No. You are here for me, Amalie. I brought you here so we can be together for all time."

Without taking her eyes from Cameron's face, Amalie answered, "You wasted your time, Jordan. I have no wish to be with you."

"You're my wife," he said. "You must love me. You must be with me. Forever."

"I was your wife," she conceded. "But I never loved you in the way you desired. You were my friend, but nothing more. I meant you no harm, but my heart was with another. You knew that when I wed you."

Shaking his head slowly from side to side, Stark said, "I have searched for you for over two hundred years, Amalie. Just so we could be together again. You will be mine."

Amalie stared into Stark's eyes with cold hatred, something Cameron had never seen in Amanda's eyes before. "I will never be yours, Jordan. Understand this. I share this body with Amanda Cory and would rather live vicariously through her than be bound to you for all eternity."

"Amalie," he cried out, seeking to touch her again. "I love you. I want only to be with you."

"And I loathe you, Jordan," she said, her voice filled with an icy rage. "You killed Conall when you learned of our love. And then you murdered me. Why would you think for one moment that I would want anything to do with you?"

"But you married me," he said.

"My guardian would not allow me to marry Conall," she said. "He had no prospects. But you, you were fabulously wealthy and from a good family. I was told to marry you. It was never my choice."

"You were kind and loving."

"I made the best of a bad situation," Amalie said. "I remained faithful to you, Jordan, throughout our marriage, but still you killed my Conall. I will hate you for all eternity for that act alone."

Her hand reached out to touch Cameron's face once again. "You have the look of Conall," she said. "He, too, was a Sinclair."

Cameron grinned, wincing just a little at the pain in his face. "So I was up to no good, back then, chasing around a girl like you."

"And you did it quite well," Amalie told him. Over her shoulder, she ordered, "Loosen his bonds, Jordan."

"Never."

Her gaze raked over Stark with ill-suppressed fury. "Now, Jordan."

Reaching into the pocket of his waistcoat, Stark removed a small key and unlocked the chains. "Don't get too complacent, Sinclair," he murmured in his ear. "I still have abilities beyond your ken."

"Drop dead."

His hands softly encircled Amalie's face. "You are so like my Amanda," he said, "but I can feel the differences, too. I wish . . ."

"You wish, what?" she asked.

"That she hadn't had to die so that I could know you," he told her, tears filling his eyes and glittering like stars in the night sky. He turned his head away from her, not wanting her to see his pain at losing Amanda. It was hardly Amalie's fault that Jordan Stark was so obsessed with her.

Amalie gently turned his face back to hers. Her fingers touched his lips, sending a jolt through his body. No matter who she was, this lady of his heart still had the power to ignite his soul with just one touch. Feeling rather guilty for the sensations raging through his body, Cameron tried to pull away from her, but Amalie was not about to let him go. "Do not despair, Cameron. Your Amanda is here with me. She is not dead."

"What?" Cameron exclaimed.

"What?" Stark cried out in disbelief.

"She was never in any real danger," Amalie said. "Amanda let me come forward in order to deal with Jordan."

"But my studies all said that the soul of the living vessel would die if you were to fill her body with your soul," Stark said.

Amalie shrugged, smiling a little smugly at her former spouse. "You need to return to your studies, Jordan." Her eyes glittered a little ferally as she said, "Here, let me help you." The lightning flashed, the thunder boomed, and Jordan Stark disappeared.

"What the hell?"

Amalie smiled sweetly. "I just sent him back to the beginning of his studies. He should be arriving in his prison cell any moment now."

Cameron grinned with great enjoyment. "Is this the day of his execution by chance?"

"Why I do believe it is."

"Imagine that," Cameron said. His grin faded. "But won't he just zap himself out of danger again?"

"Not this time," Amalie smiled sweetly. "This time Zak isn't around to help him." Her smile also disappeared. "Poor Zak, he deserved so much better than he received. He was a good man at the end."

She seemed to shake off her sadness. Looking a little shyly at Cameron, she asked, "I have two boons to ask of you, Cameron Sinclair."

"You name it, Amalie, and it's yours."

"Could you let Conall come forth. Just for a moment. I give you my word."

"Sure," Cameron smiled. Suddenly it was as if he were looking at her through two sets of eyes. One set admired her courage; another simply adored her.

Amalie once again stroked Cameron's face with gentle fingers, but this time she felt Conall's presence, not Cameron's. "My love," she said. "I have so longed for your touch."

"As have I," Conall said, his fingers touching his beloved's lips. Kissing her lips with long suppressed passion, Conall said, "I thought never to taste the sweetness of your lips again, Amalie. Tis tempting to stay."

"But we cannot," she said. "To stay would make us no better than Jordan. And I know you for a man of honor, Conall Sinclair."

"More to my detriment," he smiled. Capturing her lips with his yet again, Conall kissed his lady thoroughly and with great passion. The desire of two hundred years of physical separation threatened to overwhelm them both. But they drew apart, knowing that their time together was past. "I shall love you till the end of time, Amalie," Conall said, trailing his fingers down her cheek.

"And I you, Conall Sinclair."

Abruptly, Cameron found himself alone in his body. Or at least seemingly alone. Somehow he didn't think he'd look at himself quite the same anymore, knowing their was at least one man of honor residing within his soul. *You have honor of your own, Cameron Sinclair,* a voice with a Scottish brogue seemed to whisper in his head.

He gazed at the woman before him. "Amalie?"

"Yes, Cameron."

"You had a second request, I believe."

Her eyes glowed seductively for a moment, making Cameron's heart beat faster in his chest. "I do," she said. "If it is not too much bother, I would like you and Amanda to return to that place called West Key."

"You mean Key West?"

"Yes," she said, smiling with delight. "That is the place. Go there if you would. I have seldom felt so alive as I did when you were in Key West."

Cameron blushed, surprising even himself. "This is going to take some getting used to, you know. But I'll do my best to grant your request."

"Thank you," she said, touching his lips one last time.

"Cameron."

The smile on Cameron's face was so broad that he opened the injury on his lip again. "Amanda," he said, taking her into his arms, and swinging her around. "You're back. And you're safe."

"Thanks to you," she said.

"I didn't do anything," he said. "Just got waylaid by Stark so that I could watch you die. Amalie is the one who saved you."

"Because of you," she told him. "She has been 'talking' to me since the moment I met you on the hill, telling me to accept you just the way you are. I haven't always listened to her. But I promise I will from now on. I love you, Cameron Sinclair. Flaws and all."

Tears of happiness filled his eyes. "I love you, too. I always have and I always will."

The promise of their kiss was eternal. Never again would their hearts be separated by outside forces, but would beat as one for all time.

After pulling back slightly from Cameron's embrace, Amanda said, "We should go back to the house."

"Already?" Cameron said, trying to pull her closer, savoring the feel of her body against his for the first time in months.

"The sooner we get packed, the sooner we can get to Key West," she grinned.

Cameron's smile lit up the night sky more brightly than two moons. "After you, my lady."

In both of their minds, they each heard a soft, *Thank you.*