"You came back for me…" She whispered almost too soft to hear. He smiled warmly.

"Of course. I love you Gabrielle." He reached a hand out to brush a stray hair from her face. She smiled at the touch and pressed her hand over his.

"I didn't know if you'd be back - Christian said you'd done this before…Jeff said you were evil…" he silenced her with a finger to her lips.

"I'm not evil, Gabrielle. I just left because I needed a rest…I needed a break. There was a lot to deal with." Gabrielle nodded her head reassuringly, as complete understanding drifted through her mind.

"Are you going to come back?" Edge shook his head and she bit her lip, wincing.

"I can't. You've gotta understand, I just can't. But…there is one thing…." She tilted her head more towards him, silently asking the unspoken question. "You…you just have to be with me - like before." Gabrielle opened her mouth to say something, but was silenced by a soft pair of lips against hers. "Sh. Just say you will…and then stay for an eternity…"

At Edge's words, a brief flickering image of Christian was lighted for a moment in her head, then dropped away. She forgot her promise from what seemed like so long ago. 'Our Eternity.' The words rang through her head but were stamped out by Edge, and then forgotten, because he willed it so. A dark sense of regret she couldn't quite grasp fluttered in her head and her heart. It was lost as the word, one single word, rose and fell on her lips and rang joyfully in Edge's ears.

"Yes."

Jeff rode at a maniacal speed, searching for some mental inkling of Gabrielle. But there wasn’t one. There was nothing as there had been before. Sighing heavily, he noticed the blackened skid marks along the road, and then, upon slowing down, noticed a small trail in the snow, a bike and footsteps. Two sets. It had to be them. He followed to a bush, where he caught a glint of metal shining, as if it wasn't meant for his eyes. He set his own motorcycle up against a tree and reached out to touch the other. Its engine was still warm, and it had the scent of Gabrielle. To the side were more footsteps, kept close together almost lost by the wind blowing at what little snow was left. They stopped near a clearing, and Jeff crouched down. Gabrielle and Edge were in each others arms on a blanket. The phrase 'star-crossed lovers' leaped into his head. That they were indeed. There was something about their intimacy that made Jeff feel even more unwelcome, as if he was disturbing something sacred. It was then he noticed the moon illuminating the sweat that sheened their bodies. As he saw Edge bend his head slowly down to Gabrielle's neck, it dawned on him what he had come just in time to see. The feeding ritual after sex. It also dawned on Jeff that Edge shouldn’t be drinking so much from Gabrielle.