Ayalet woke with a smile upon her face. That was such a lovely memory. She felt so happy for Yelena while at the same time she was envious of her. The idea of someone proposing to her seemed impossible at this moment in time. Something like that was so far away from this point in her life. That would take getting to know someone, building a trusting, loving relationship. She barely knew what real friendship was let alone… anything else.

She ran through some of the memory again, wanting to enjoy how happy it had made her feel. Wait. That tree. The clearing. She remembered coming across that same clearing before she met Zack for the first time and from earlier memories. She wondered if it was the same place that Yelena and Jaaven had been so long ago as children.

Ayalet opened her eyes to a clear sky above her head. The sun’s light warmed her body as she lay still on the soft grass. The wind blew a sweet scent of flowers, reminding her of the garden then of Jaison and Zack. Dear god, she remembered the tornado she created and of Jaison holding her. Tilting her head to the right, she saw Zack fiddling with the hose, looping it into a circle. To her left, Jaison sat with his head between his legs on the ground. They hadn’t noticed her wake up.

What should she say? Hey guys, I’m awake from the strange visions again, sorry about that. How are you doing? Done fighting? Let’s talk through the fact that two of the three of us aren’t human. Is that okay? She sighed in frustration, causing both boys to turn to her and say in unison, “Ayalet?!”

Zack sat back in relief, dropping the hose to the ground. Jaison leaned closer and scanned her body before asking, “Are you okay?”

To her right, Zack scoffed, “Of course she’s okay. You wouldn’t know anything about that though.”

To her left, Jaison’s face scrunched up before his anger fell away and he turned his head. No argument? Interesting. . . He then stood up, “Well, if you’re okay I think I should leave.” Jaison paused for a moment before tilting his head downward toward Ayalet, he went to open his mouth then closed it again before he got up and started walking away, “See you later, Ayalet.”

Behind her, Zack waved and said in a sardonic tone, “See you later, Jaison. . .”

Ayalet jerked her head toward Zack and glared at him, “That was uncalled for Zack.” She then stood up and walked over to Jaisons form as he barely reached the gravel road. Reaching her hand out, she reached for his shoulder, “Jaison. I’m sorry. . . Things have been confusing lately and it’s hard to explain; once I get a better grip on it all, I really want to talk to you.”

Jaison stood there silently, looking at the ground. What was he thinking? How was she to explain the situation to him? Where should she start? Does he even want an explanation? Screw it, might as well give this a shot. “Apparently, I am a Seraph. One of six different elemental beings with control over air. Zack is a Merrow with control over water.”

Again, Jaison stood there in silence, “Which you probably already basically figured out earlier. . . Say something, Jaison, please. I’m confused, scared. . .” And honestly unsure why she felt the need to explain everything to him. Why was she so driven to tell him everything?

With the air thick with tension, and no response from Jaison, she dropped her shoulder and his hand as she turned to walk away, pausing as she caught a glimpse of him reaching for her, stopping short only inches away. She looked down at his hand, worried he didn’t want to touch her.

“Ayalet I… I don't really understand what's going on here. With you and him. With… well with what ever I saw a few minutes ago. I just…” He stopped and looked at her, she could tell there was something more he was trying to say.

Jaison’s head drooped downward as a heavy sigh whooshed outward. Seconds later, he lifted his head upward at a tilted angle before asking, “Have you still been having those dreams you mentioned a few weeks ago?”

Remembering the night she’d had that vision after the party, she blushed a bit. She nodded her head in response then said, “Yeah, quite often actually. . . one happened while I was passed out a moment ago” Why did he ask? Was he worried about her?

“You haven’t hit your head or been hurt because of them have you?” A small part of her perked up, he was worried. So he did care.

She shook her head, “No, Zack’s been there for me for most of them. He talks me through what I experience with them. We’ve actually begun to realize that I’m reliving my past lives. We think I’m supposed to be learning from the visions and dreams.” Shit, past lives. She said too much. Damn, why couldn’t she keep her mouth shut around Jaison.

Jaison’s eyes suddenly looked too serious as he brows scrunched in thought. Was this a good reaction? Or bad? Again, he opened his mouth as if he was about to say something but instead closed it and looked away from her. She reached out for his hand, not sure what else to do.

A sharp zap went up her arm and warmed her heart. She was growing used to the electricity between them. She rather liked it. In response, Jaison’s hand tightened around her own. He smiled down at her before letting go and turning away from her.

“Jaison. . .” Her words stopped him in place, his back to her.

“Ayalet, I just need some time to absorb everything. . .” He looked at her for a second over his shoulder before walking away. What else could she do but let him have time to think?

As Jaison faded down the road, Zack and Ayalet sat in silence. What could she say to Jaison to explain the situation? It was confusing enough for her to grasp, let alone explain to someone else.

Zack suddenly turned to Ayalet and asked, “What did you see this time?”

Remembering the feeling of pure happiness, she shut away the memories. Was she jealous? Jealous of Yelena? That was stupid. Yet she couldn’t stop the feelings inside of her, “Nothing important.” It didn’t seem important to remember the dream when so much was changing in her own life. And the look Jaison gave her when he saw her use her powers revived all she had felt about herself before.

Zack shoved his face into her line of sight, “What do you mean, not important? If you are reliving a memory, of course it’s important. I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to be learning something from these visions.” All she could do was close her eyes, turn her head from him and hope to close out the world.

The sound of Zack standing up then his footsteps walking away echoed against the side of her house, “You were finally beginning to accept who you are. Then HE comes along and you’re suddenly back to the beginning. Doubting everything. Acting like this isn't nearly as important as it actually is, like this is just some game.”

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He continued to pace around agitated, while she sat there, waiting for him to cool down. He then stopped, turned back around and focussed unrelenting eye contact on her, “Seraphs have been gone for a little over one thousand years, with fables about them appearing every few hundred years. Do you even realize that Seraphs are supposed to be extinct? How many times do I have to remind you of your uniqueness? Or better yet, do you want to tarnish what your parents hoped for you by pretending this has nothing to do with you?”

A pang of guilt stabbed Ayalet in the chest as his words washed over her. Damn, that hurt. Bringing her parent’s into the situation. She didn’t want any of this! She just wanted a normal life, one with a family that loved and supported her; one where she had friends and classmates that didn’t whisper behind her back every time she tried to open up. She wanted to graduate high school, go off to college, and meet someone who made her feel like how her parents felt towards each other. Instead she felt alien; like she’d felt most of her life. This all only reaffirmed her fear of never quite fitting in. She was starting to have something normal when she met Jaison.. Now he found out, and knowing her luck, would start whispering behind her back like everyone else whenever something strange happened.

On the other hand she had Zack. Around Zack, she felt like she could be herself, entirely. Strange new powers and all. It had become so easy to forget about how life had been despite the short time knowing him. It was like a part of her she hadn’t known about was coming into the light and now that it was there, could she live without it again? The question was, what world did she want to be in? Something drew her to Jaison, she didn’t know what exactly. Yet, it would be so easy to step into the world Zack had shown her, where she felt uniquely important. She needed time to think, to catch her breath. As much as she wanted to believe she had any kind of choice in any of this; she doubted she actually did. She was what she was, same as Zack. The difference was that Zack had a family... more than that... an entire community that could help him with what he was going through, what to expect from his powers, anything. She only had vague flashes of memories from a life long ago and some information from what Zack knew of her... species…. What else would she call it? As much as she wanted to, there was no pretending her powers weren’t there. But how was she supposed to have any kind of a normal life? What was she supposed to do?

Just as she turned toward Zack, a strong wind blew, catching her at her ankles, pulling her down along with Zack, splattering them with mud.

Familiar eerie laughter started up that she remembered hearing in the woods, as the wind slowed to a stop. Her gut dropped and hardened with unease. Ayalet looked up to find a woman standing at the end of her garden, Lilith. A mixture of anger and fear welled up. She was terrified of what Lilith was doing here as well as angry that she wouldn’t leave her alone.

After she stopped laughing, she turned to Zack, “We aren’t extinct, not fully anyway. The last of us consists of myself and this young girl you have here.”

Us? Lilith wasn’t a Seraph. At least she didn’t think so. . . Glaring at Lilith she said, “Technically speaking, you’re not a Seraph; in actuality you’re a Mara, aren’t you?”

Lilith chuckled a bit, “Very good. Now did you deduce that or have you gotten all caught up on your first life? You seem to be taking your sweet time, and I’ve been so patient. But the clock is ticking and I grow bored of waiting. I long to hear the sweet melody of your pain, it’s been far too long since the last time. And getting revenge never seems to get OLD.” With that she gestured to her face, her surprisingly youthful face. Something bothered Ayalet about how young Lilith looked. Something felt off about it that she hadn’t felt before. She couldn’t put her finger on what though. . .

Off to the side, Ayalet could hear footsteps coming down the gravel road again. Turning, she found Jaison walking back toward them, mumbling to himself. Her blood froze in her veins, no. Why did he come back? He was safer away from her. A burst of wind flew him off his feet. Anger twinging his voice he said, “Ayalet, we need to talk.”

The sounds of a grunt and him talking caused Lilith to turn towards Jaison. A look of confusion crossed over her features before a slow cruel smile crept up one side of her cheek, her pupils dilated like a cat about to pounce, “Well, well, well. Hello Jaaven, and the world comes full circle once again. You were involved in the beginning, it's only fitting you're here now. Now we’re up to three air elementals.”

At the name Jaaven, Ayalet’s heart stopped. Jaaven? What did she mean? Jaison wasn’t Jaaven, there’s no way he could be. Unless, Jaaven lived this long to find her? Was it possible? They didn’t look the same. Ayalet’s gaze looked up to meet Jaisons before his eyes dropped to the ground.

Ayalet felt utter shock and a bit of betrayal, “Jaison, what does she mean? Are. . . are you really?” She felt the words die on her lips.

In answer, Jaison’s head turned away to the side and she heard his whispered confirmation glide through the air to her ears. “I… I think so…” He said softly, looking up she could see confusion in his eyes. The same confusion she had been feeling since the moment she saw him.

Lilith started walking in her direction as she laughed and said, “This… this is all sooo fitting to your naivety. You are just as clueless now as you were so many centuries ago. . Did you not even realize he’s been in front of you this entire time?” Lilith bent over her legs in laughter. “This time I shall truly enjoy this. You both know who you are, double the fun, and double the satisfaction when I destroy you in front of each other.”

Straightening back up, Lilith ran her hand down her shirt. “Now.. enough waiting.” At that second Lilith’s wings emerged from behind her. Zack tensed next to Ayalet and dove in front of her as Lilith flew directly toward them so quickly, Ayalet barely had time to react. Halfway to them, Lilith was assaulted by a wave of water crashing into her out of thin air. When the wave dissipated, where she stood was empty. Ten feet to the right of them she spoke, “Now, that wasn't very nice.” The water vapor sizzled off of her in streams as her eyes glistened a vibrant red.

She cracked her knuckles as her fingernails lengthened to 5 inch long claws, “I haven’t needed to use these in a while. Don’t think I won’t use them to slit your throat, fish boy.” Ayalet blinked and Lilith was gone, flying at them again. At the same moment, Zack retaliated with ice shields encasing his arms and a barrage of ice shards firing at Lilith from empty space. Where the hell did the shards come from? And when did he have time to grow armor made of ice?! Zack had never shown her his own skills in fighting with his elemental power, he was amazing!

Zack pushed her backwards, causing her to stumble on one of the circular stepping stones. Lilith rushed him and slashed repeatedly across his arms, making long gashes in the ice. Tilting his body to the side, it looked like he was trying to avoid her attack; when instead he brought up his left leg which was now covered in more ice and had a 2 foot long shard of ice jutting out from the toe of his foot. In a spinning motion, he raked the tip down the length of her leg. Lilith flew backward hissing and raised her arm, shoving Zack sideways with a powerful gust of wind. Without thinking Ayalet sent a bubble of air to cushion his fall. In that split second she realized she left herself open. Lilith had rocketed towards her snarling. Before Ayalet could dive to the side, Lilith was there.

To the side, Zack was up as quickly as he landed running straight for her and Lilith. Too late though. Lilith lightly ran one of her nails up Ayalet’s neck and across her cheek before placing her hand flat on her cheek. “Let’s finish up those memories while I teach this little guppy what happens when you play on dry land.” Electricity shot from Lilith's hand into her brain, creating a small headache. That was NOT the same heart warming electricity she felt with Jaison. Her hand came away covered in blood. Lilith looked at it with pity, as if she were a helpless creature before she licked the blood from her palm.

Suddenly, Lilith was jerked to the ground, Jaison on top of her. Ayalet heard a bellow of anger from his throat as she saw him raise his hand holding a large rock. Fear welled in her gut for Jaison. What would Lilith do to him? Before she could move an inch to help, everything started to get dark as she was pulled into a vision. No! She had to help Jaison. As her vision grew smaller and her legs gave way, she begged the wind to protect him. The last thing she heard was Lilith’s laughter and Zack calling out her name. Not again, not now.