When Dakota next awoke, she was lying on her bed in Jeff’s arms. She remembered lying on the beach watching the stars. She looked around. Jeff was just waking too. She rotated her body in his arms and looked him in the eyes. "Morning Sunshine," Dakota piped. Jeff rolled his eyes and moaned. Dakota poked him in the stomach. "Oof, what was that for?" he asked rubbing his stomach. "Cause I felt like it," Dakota replied. Jeff kissed her deeply. "Oof, what was that for?" Dakota asked mimicking him. "Cause I felt like it," he shot back. "Well...if that’s the case then you don’t want to know what I feel like doing," she said with a smile. She poked him again and leapt out of bed. She ran down the hall with Jeff in pursuit. She knocked on Edge’s door, Jeff catching up to her. "Come in," Edge called. Dakota ran in and dove behind him. "What’s wrong little one?" he asked. He saw Jeff run past the door, but he turned and stalked into the room. "He’s gonna get me. Save me, save me!" Dakota yelped. "I’m not getting in the middle of your games," Edge said, laughing. Jeff ran for Dakota and tackled her to the ground. Dakota kicked her feet out and hit Edge on accident. "Well that’s not fair," he said falling to the ground to play too.

The three of them wrestled around on the floor. After five minutes, Dakota tried to crawl out of the pile. Jeff reached her foot and pulled her back in. She struggled and got free. She stood and ran out of the room. Jeff climbed to his feet and chased her. Edge stood and shook his head. Dakota detoured into Jeff’s room. He followed her and sacked her onto the bed. He pinned her shoulders to the bed. "I win," he said. She looked up at him. "Somebody tell the boy what he’s won," Dakota said in an odd TV voice. "Jeffrey Hardy, you have won an all expenses paid trip for two to Aruba. Have fun!" "I don’t want that, can’t I have a choice?" "Well, you could always go home with the consolation prize." "Which would be?" "A 32 inch TV." Jeff laughed. "But, since you were a good sport, you can have a choice between prize one, two and three." "But I don’t know what choice three is." "Choice three is a surprise. But there are no do overs. Make your choice." "I’m shooting for three." "Well then, you get..." Dakota’s voice trailed off. "I get what?" Dakota smiled and pulled his head close to hers. "You get..." "What?" he whispered. She pulled his head closer to her so that his forehead was against hers. "You get..." Jeff gave up and just listened. Dakota reached up and kissed him, pulling his head even closer to hers. She kissed him for at least five minutes straight before he lifted his head. "That’s all I get?" he asked her softly. "If I had known that was it then I would have taken the trip to wherever." Dakota smiled and reached up to kiss him again. Jeff pushed her head back and smiled. Dakota gave him a puzzled look. He stood up and went to go close the door that he had left open. Dakota nodded her head and lay on the bed.

Jeff slipped out the door and Dakota could hear him running down the hall. She stood and chased him. He turned down the stairs and raced into the living room. Dakota chased him and tackled him to the couch. She pinned his shoulders to the couch. "I win," she said with a smile. Jeff kissed her and then reclined his head into the couch clearing his throat. His brother and Christian were coming down the stairs. Dakota shrugged and rolled over to lie next to him. He flipped on the TV. He tried to pay attention to the TV. Dakota was bored so she decided to torture Jeff by moving her feet on his legs and tickling his chin with her fingers. Jeff found it hard to watch the TV and cover up their playtime while Dakota was doing this. Matt called to Jeff. "I’m going out to work on my bike. Christian is going to finish fixing Dakota’s, want to come help?" "I’ll be out in a couple of minutes, I just have to finish up some stuff." Matt nodded his head and headed out the door followed by Christian. Dakota rotated and faced him when the boys had left the house. She ground her hips into his. He smiled and kissed her, his feet keeping her feet occupied. Jeff pulled his head back, looking in the direction of the stairs. Edge was on his way towards the stairs, Jeff could fell it. "Can this wait until there is nobody home but us?" Dakota nodded her head and Jeff was just standing up when Edge came walking down the stairs. Jeff headed out the door and left Dakota to clean up the living room. Edge headed into the kitchen and fixed her a cup of water. She graciously took it and drank it slowly. Edge saw she was thinking and left her alone so that he himself could think.

Jeff looked at his brother and then knelt to drain the motor of Dakotas bike. His mind kept going back to the scene on the couch and on the bed before. He though back to days previous when things like that happened too. He turned and looked into the living room window. Dakota was curled up on the couch reading. Jeff finished the motor. He looked up startled when he felt his brothers strong hand on his shoulder. "Can’t keep your mind of of her?" he asked. Jeff nodded. "I just don’t understand it," he replied. "When ever we are apart it is torture, but when we are together it just doesn’t feel right. It feels like something’s missing." "Maybe it’s confidence. You’re afraid, afraid that maybe she isn’t the one for you." Jeff shook his head. "I just feel like maybe I asked Gangrel to take her into our family at to young of an age. She’s not even 20. At least I was taken at 21. I could legally drink and drive. She can’t. I just feel like maybe she isn’t ready for life like us. I can tell that something is wrong with her. She used to love the forest and the daylight. Now when she goes out, she has to wear sunglasses and she hardly ever goes out. Her skin is getting pale and she is not feeding as much as she has to. I’m worried for her." "Maybe you should confront her about it," Matt suggested. "I guess you’re right," Jeff replied. With that, he went back to work on Dakotas bike.

When Jeff came back in, he found a note on the kitchen table. ‘Boys and Sire, I have gone out to my spiritual thinking place. I need to purify my soul and brood over my thoughts. If you don’t hear from me, don’t worry, my words will come. Love Cody.’ Jeff showed the note to Matt. "I’m going to return the movies and get some new ones," Jeff called on his way out the door. In the back of his mind, he could hear Dakota swinging on a swing somewhere in the forest.

Dakota looked up from her tire swing in the direction of the house. She heard a motorcycle speed off in the direction of town. She did not know who it was, but she did not care. She swung her feet and rocked herself in the swing. She knew that Jeff was angry, but she did not know why. She pictured Mike in her mind and the fun time that they had together during her mortal life. She remembered the time that they went camping and she could almost smell the fire of the camp. She closed her eyes and pictured them huddling in front of the small fire they had built. She remembered running into his tent in the middle of the night when she heard a wolf howling. She remembered crawling into his arms and falling asleep side by side. Dakota thought of her mother and the times they had shared. She remembered shopping trips and long talks in the car. She remembered her 8^th grade graduation and all the parties they had together. She tried to remember the smiling faces of Seth and Jon. She could see their smiling faces coming in through the door and hear their voices as they explained about their school day. She remembered their long bike rides and rollerblade days on the trails near their home. When Dakota opened her eyes, it was dark out. She stood up and ran back home.