The blue eyes opened – and they were bluer than she had remembered. 15 years had past, and yet she suddenly felt like she was 5 years old again, running through a wood with a tall boy gripping her hand. She caught her breath.

"Julian?" she asked, tentatively. The eyes blinked, and looked around.

"Jenny?" the mouth said, and Julian sat up. "I'm… alive?"

Jenny nodded, brushing away a tear with her hand.

"You brought me back. But why?"

"Because you saved my life when you could have left me to die," Jenny paused, "And because I think you loved me, something I didn't understand the last time we met."

Julian's ran his fingers through his hair. "I do love you Jenny. I thought I'd never love anyone, but I do love you. But the real question is do you love me? Could you ever love a shadow man, one of the creatures who were prepared to kill you when you were only 5?"

"If I didn't love you, I would never have brought you back. I wouldn't have spent the last 5 years of my life trying to find out how I could bring you back. I would have gone out with all the other boys who asked me – Tommy and the others. But I didn't, I waited for you. And if I hadn't been able to get you back, well, I don't know what I would have done." Jenny was crying now, tears of happiness running down her cheeks, "But you are back, aren't you? It is really you? Did I succeed?"

"Yes, Jenny, you did." Then he kissed her, a soft kiss that sent shivers through Jenny's spine, and her mind reeling. She felt Julian's hands on her face, wiping away the tears.

This is how the story is meant to end.

Authors Note: Just a short paragraph to round off the story, as I couldn't leave it at that, and I know you didn't want it to end that way either. So here it is, the real conclusion to the story. Thanks for reading.