they both impact you in your life.  Mine seem to hurt worse.  But, I don't know your story."

      Cole sighs before he begins.  "I got in a fight with another lion over my girl."

      "Who won?" Em asks softly.

      "He did.  My girl, ended up going with another lion.  Not the one I fought, but another."

      Em's quiet for a second.  "Sort of how I almost treated Jay."  Em leaned against Cole.  It was as much for her as it was for him.  They laid there for a while, taking comfort in each other's company and their shared pain.  After a while, Em and Cole headed home.  They took their time, and stopped at a few places on the way, just taking in the sights.

     As they get back to the cave, the sun is just beginning to set.  They look at each other and know what they're thinking.  They go to the top of the cave and watch the sunset.  Em turns to Cole.  "You must have loved your girl a lot to fight for her like that."

    Cole doesn't pick up his head, but he does look Em in the eye.  "I loved her more than she ever knew." 

    She thinks about this for a while.  She lays her head down.  What kind of girl could leave him.  He's so sweet and considerate.  Em falls asleep as the sky turns from purple to dark blue.  She faintly remembers Cole carrying her to her spot in the cave as the stars come out. 

     Cole lays a little closer to Em tonight.  He lays there, waiting for her to have another nightmare.   He knows she will, after talking about what happened today.  He closes his eyes.  If only I could tell her the truth he thinks as he goes to sleep. 

Ch. 8

      Em wakes up the next morning confused.  She had the same dream again.  She woke up at the same time too.  Maybe it was trying to tell her something.  Maybe, the dream needed to be finished to get the message.  But when will it continue?  One thing she does know, she's glad that Cole was there.  Without him, Em would be a wreck.  Without him at all, she'd be dead. 

     She gets up and looks around.  She knows where he is.  She goes out and climbs up the cave.  She goes and sits next to him.  "Thanks again for last night.  You getting tired of calming me down yet?" 

     Cole smiles.  "No problem.  And, no, I'll be here whenever you need me.  Not like I have anywhere else to go.  What was the dream about this time?"

     "It was the same one I had the other night," Em answers.  "It ended in the same place too.  I just keep seeing Jay go over a cliff.  What confuses me the most, is that you and Jay keep switching places.  It must be because you look so much alike."  Em looks at Cole.  "It hurts."

     "I'm sorry.  I can't fix that."

     "No, it's not your fault.  I just need to accept the fact that he's gone."  But you can't her heart tells her.   Em ignores this.  She turns and leaves Cole.  

     "Hey!  Where are you going?" he calls after her.

     "To the pond!"

     Cole goes down the cave and catches up to her.  "You okay?  You seem upset."

      "No, I'm fine." 

     Cole just follows her in silence.  When they get to the pond, he lays down at the edge and watches her in the water.  He loves her so much, but he can't tell her the truth yet.  It wouldn't tell him what he needed to know.  He had to wait a little longer.  "Do you want to finish the story?  You said you wanted to get it over with.  Maybe it will help your dream."

      "Okay."  Em goes up and lays next to Cole in the sun to dry.  She thinks before she starts.  She composes herself.  "As I said yesterday, I look over at Jay.  I can't believe what I see.  He's standing up.  He's practically dead, but he stands up.  I hear him say 'I will not lose her again'."  A tear runs down Em's face. 

      "He leaps at Tornado.  Tornado lets go of my throat.  This spares my life.  But, he's too slow to get around enough to keep Jay from gettin his throat.  Right under his chin.  Tornado falls gasping for breath.  Before he dies though, he tells me Abyss has Drew.

       "To make a long story short we have an emotional talk.  I head around a corner to see where it leads.  I see a door.  I turn around to get Jay and he's gone.  I find him with Abyss.  It was true.  Abyss had Drew too.  I don't know what to do.  All I know is that I will stop at nothing to rescue both of them.

         "Abyss tells me I have to choose one out of the two if I don't just go with him.  All I say is 'I hate you'.  He lets them both go.  I hadn't realized the full intensity of the problem until now.  I was too mad before.  I run off the cliff and jump.  I go for Drew."  Em stops here.  She has trouble talking without crying now.

        "But I thought you loved Jay," Cole says softly.  He has tears in his eyes too.  He hates to see her reliving this moment.  It just has to happen.  He has to find out the truth.

        Em waits a moment trying to stop crying.  After a little while, she is able to continue.  "I do.  I grab Drew first because the hill is slanted toward him.  He would hit the ground first.  I push off the branch I land on and go toward Jay.  He doesn't see me coming toward him.  His back is facing me.  He doesn't see me get hit.

        "When I hit the ground, I get the breath knocked out of me.  I don't know what happened.  I can't feel my right front leg, but I get to Jay."  Here Em stops.  She cannot continue. 

Ch. 9

        Cole carries Em home.  She is too broken down to stand.  What Em doesn't see is tears running down Cole's face.  He wipes them off as he puts Em down.  She's asleep from exhaustion now.  He wipes the tear marks off her face and goes outside. 

        Cole is already awake when Em wakes up.  She sits next to him as the sun rises.  "When he looks at me, all I can see is pain in his eyes.  I can see what I did to him.  He doesn't care if he dies or lives.  He thought I loved Drew more than him.  He thought I didn't care if he died."  Only sheer willpower kept Em from crying now.  She wanted to finish.  She wanted Cole to understand her pain.

        "Abyss sneers at me.  He's the one who hit me.  I blame him and attack.  Before I know it, he's on the ground looking up at me.  He looks like a coward.  Then I see why.  In his eyes, I see my reflection.  My eyes are blood red.  I don't know how.

        "He surrenders to me then.  I don't listen to a word he says.  I kill him then and there.  Drew fixes my arm then I push past him to Jay.  When I get to him, I know he's dead.  There's no heartbeat.  Then I start realizing that it was really my fault."

        "Em, it wasn't your fault."

        Em ignores Cole and continues.  "I yell at Drew.  I can see I hurt him with what I say, but I don't care at the moment.  I just turn and walk away.  It starts to rain as I run.  I run to the top of the mountain that you found me on.  I lay there.  Crying out my pain.  I killed Jay, and there's nothing I can do about it."

       "Em, it's okay."

       "No!  It's not okay!  You're just like Drew!  You're so consumed with how much you love me you don't care that I love someone else!"  Em turns and runs.  She runs all the way to the pond.  There she lets herself cry again.  She lets herself cry all the tears she was holding in for the past few days.  This time, she vows never to think about what happens again.

       As the sun goes down, Em cries herself to sleep.  She doesn't even think of Cole.  Cole has decided it would be good to let herself have a good cry before he talks to her.  He listens not to far away in case something