Okay folks, so this is going to be in third person omniscient, sorry if it confuses you! I tried my best to make it as simple to read as possible, so you shouldn't have any problems. These chapters are getting more and more romantic, so if you're not one for some lovin', read another story! And please, if you haven't read Intruding Thoughts yet, do so! I assure you that if you have not gotten confused yet, you definitely will soon! And thank you for the review ! I really love getting them!

=)

The campfire crackled in the depths of the night, a soft hiss rising from the burning logs. Tiny embers drifted away toward the stars as a cloud drifted away from the moon. A full moon, shining bright and casting a blue glow unto the earth below. No one spoke, no one moved; all eyes were cast upon their leader. He sat as still as the rest, eyes on the letter in his hands, not saying a word. His red eyes scanned the letter for a few minutes, a rare mixture of emotions beginning to come across his face. He wasn't a man to show how he felt very often, let alone tell anyone, so the mere fact that he was showing a strange emotion on his face was startling to his men. They didn't know whether he was ill or surprised, and had no idea what to say to him.

As he finished reading, a sigh escaped from his lips; a mixture of relief and mourning. He glanced up from the paper, meeting the curious glances of his men. He smiled softy, and nodded, signaling that everything was okay. They took the hint, and went back to their chatter, a song of voices ringing into the dark night. Gannen Harst stood from his seat, making his way over to the other side of the fire where an old friend sat waiting for him. She smirked, looking him straight in the eye and seeing the emotions he was hiding from everyone. She knew what he was feeling, just by looking into the red pits of his eyes. "I'm glad you liked the letter, Gannen." Lady Evanna said through her all knowing grin. She saw the fire burning in his eyes; it was burning bright for that little woman that they had all come to love and trust so much. Even the vampaneze loved Lara Crepsley; she was one of the sole reasons they were still around. It was she who helped Evanna sway the vampires from completely wiping them out. It was she who sent letters to both sides to help them make peace with each other. It was she who gave them a reason to make peace at all.

Even when her world was crumbling down, Lara strove to not only fix it, but fix things between the vampires and the vampaneze. Her courage, her heart, and her wisdom were all reason enough to cherish the little lady. And it was reason enough for Gannen. When he first met her, Gannen saw the passion in her eyes; that tiny flicker of light that would eventually burst to flames before his eyes. He watched her grow, and took heart at the beauty she exuded, inside and out. He had never met anyone like her before.

Gannen sat down beside the lady, who watched every motion in his face. Unlike most, Evanna could read Gannen, just as much as she could read Lara. And the more she studied them, the more Evanna saw the same emotions flickering in their eyes. She had seen it earlier in the war, and she could see it even more now. In her dreams, Evanna saw Gannen and Lara; hand in hand, speaking to each other lovingly, occasionally laughing with one another. Evanna's dreams always meant something before – most of the time, they were actual visions – so she knew that something would come of her dreams soon. Whether what she dreamed was an actual vision or just a hopeful idea, Evanna was not sure.

Gannen said nothing, he simply stared at the ground, the letter in his hands. His thumbs softly caressed the letter, as the vampaneze thought of the woman who had sent it to him. Beside him, Evanna sighed, knowing that Gannen was at a loss for words, and had no idea how to tell Lara how he felt. But Evanna was hopeful; the vampaneze had gone from a sullen, silent killer to a strong willed, open minded leader in the past few years. She had watched him grow, even though she thought that he would remain sullen and silent forever. Perhaps it was the death of Steve, the Lord of the Vampaneze who ruled over Gannen mercilessly. Or perhaps it was Lara, who had deeply touched all she met. It was odd how a simple girl could do so much for those she loved. But then again, as Desmond had revealed, Lara was anything but simple.

"Will you write her?" Evanna asked Gannen, who's eyes were still at the ground. The slender man sighed, causing a lock of his deep amber hair to fall in front of his face. Of course he would write to her, but the vampaneze had no idea how to express himself. He could fight wars, save lives, and lead his men, but he could not open himself up to a woman. He never allowed himself to do so before, mainly because he was too afraid to. Gannen was not like his brother, who could woo a woman and treat her the way she wanted. Gannen on the other hand, had never even tried. He had the potential to woo a lady, he knew he did, but the chance rarely came up. Gannen was a military man, not a ladies man. He was a fighter, not a lover. Or so he thought. When Lara came into the picture, everything that Gannen thought about himself and others changed.

"What do I say to her?" Gannen sighed again, brushing the hair out of his face and glancing over at Evanna. She grinned, and placed a hand on his shoulder as a form of comfort.

"Gannen, you're a grown man." Evanna laughed, thinking of how different he and his brother were. Perhaps Evanna would get Vancha to help Gannen - but then again - those two weren't on the best of terms yet. Although they were trying to work out a peace treaty together, Vancha was still angry with his brother for almost killing him. "You should be capable to telling Lara exactly how you feel. She deserves to know."

Without a word, Gannen stood up and swiftly walked to his tent, heading inside silently. Rustling through his things, the vampaneze grabbed a slab of paper and a pen that he hadn't used to quite some time. Gannen rarely had reason to write anything down, but he was glad that he actually had writing utensils with him. As quickly as he went to his tent, Gannen headed out and back to Evanna's side. The witch watched with a smile as the vampaneze began to write his letter, silently and passionately, a fire in the red pits of his eyes that Evanna knew were burning for her little friend.

The creak of the rocking chairs made a soft rhythm that was joined with the hum of the forest that surrounded the two figures, who stared out into the starry night silently. Behind the chairs inside the giant home, the distant sound of the piano rang out peacefully, adding to the gentle ambiance that surrounded to the two friends. Both wore pleasant smiles upon their dainty faces, and both watched as the stars above glittered bright. Between them, lay a giant dog; a Siberian husky, who snored happily. Unlike most nights, tonight was quiet and peaceful, which the young red head had yet to get used to. She had become so accustomed to fighting (mentally and physically) with the government almost every night, that when she had a moments peace, it just about freaked her out. But tonight was special, she had a friend, a close friend over for company.

It had been four years since Lara had seen her dear friend Alice. The bleach blond looked practically the same; she still had the short hair, slender figure, and muscles for days. Alice was a very good looking woman – bright blue eyes, porcelain skin, slim and fit - and had not lost it over the years. Alice rocked silently beside Lara, who smiled at the peace she was engulfed in. "You've got a great home, Lara." Alice said softly, gazing over to the young woman. Alice had noticed immediately when she first arrived that Lara had developed into a woman. When Alice last saw Lara at the battle of at the arena, the little red head was still just barely a woman. Lara had been just a girl; she still had a faint blush to her cheeks, and her hair was cut like a young girl's with short bangs across her forehead. But now, Lara was a strong woman, with long curling red hair that was mature and shining, and no longer did a blush naturally grace her cheeks. In Alice's eyes, Lara had aged well. "You said that Tiny gave this to you?"

"He did." Lara replied, rolling her eyes with a grunt. Lara hated having to owe somebody something, and she felt that she owed much to Desmond. Especially now that he had given her the most beautiful estate that she could have ever asked for. "And thank you, I love it so much. It's nice to be far enough from the city that I don't hear the cars and all of the people, but I'm close enough that I can get there in under thirty minutes. This place is so convenient. And the land...why, it's amazing how untouched it seems!"

Alice nodded and glanced out to the trees that were not far from the porch where they sat. The forest was dark, but not spooky like most. It had a faint glow from the full moon, and the trees seemed to be alive and bristling with movement. Alice half expected some woodland fairy to pop out of the trees at any given moment.

"Alice..." Lara said suddenly, interrupting the blond woman from her thoughts. Alice looked over to Lara, who was gazing in a sort of fixation toward the trees. "You and Vancha," Lara said, looking over to Alice with a grin. Alice moaned internally, and grimaced to herself. She did not want to talk about her relationships, let alone give Lara any ideas. Alice was not a fan of telling people how she felt, especially when it came to relationships.

"Are simply friends." Alice replied, a stern look plastered to her face.

"Oh come on! I know there's something there, Alice. Or at least there was when I last saw the two of you." Lara replied immediately, a playful grin spread across her features. Lara had seen the way Alice cried over Vancha when Gannen severely injured him. Those were no friendship tears.

"...Why do you care?" Alice spat back, folding her arms over in defeat.

"I knew it! I knew it!!!" Lara exclaimed, jumping up from her chair and hugging (nearly strangling) Alice. The tiny red head giggled like a crazy school girl, proud that she had gotten an answer out of Alice. The blond woman sat grimacing at first, but eventually caved into Lara's antics and laughed along with her. It was certainly true, Alice and Vancha were together. What that actually meant, no one was really sure. Dating would be the human terms to it, and since Alice was still a human, that was what she termed their relationship as. "I want details!" Lara demanded, her hands on her hips as she stood before Alice.

Alice grumbled, not wanting to reveal too much to Lara. She sighed, as Lara calmed herself and sat back down in her wooden rocking chair. "After you left," Alice began, her voice distant and her eyes tracing the sky. "Vancha sort of...fell apart. He was distant and quiet, and was in a lot of pain. So I had to be there for him, he needed a friend. And...well...it just went from there."

Lara sat silent, her face in a soft distraught. She had never meant to hurt Vancha or anyone else by leaving, and no one had told her that Vancha had taken her leaving so badly. She felt a sting of guilt hit her like a bullet, and wanted desperately to see her friend. He was her best friend, and she had left him in his greatest time of need. But she couldn't leave now in the middle of chaos, she would be damning her mission. She now had people depending on her, looking up to her, and following her lead. She couldn't leave even though she yearned more than anything to see Vancha again. Perhaps she would send him a letter, tell him that she missed him and hoped that he was alright. But would he write back? He was a busy vampire lately, trying to make peace and end a war. Then again, so was his brother. Or maybe Vancha was angry with her for leaving. Maybe Vancha didn't want to talk to her at all. No, she had to stop thinking so negatively, this was a time for happiness anyway. Alice and Vancha had finally stopped being so stubborn toward each other, and that was enough for Lara to be happy for.

"Thanks for being there for him, Alice." Lara said, placing a hand on her friends shoulder and a smile on her own face. At least Vancha had Alice to keep his spirits up, in more ways than one. Lara held back a laugh at that thought, imagining Alice and Vancha...well you know.

Fast paced footsteps rang out through the house, someone was running. Lara glanced through the window in which she sat before, catching the figure of Tom heading her way. Bursting through the large wooden doors, Tom ran to his lady, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead.

"What's wrong?" Lara asked, seeing the worried gleam in Tom's eye and the distraught stretched over his face.

"There's been an attack."

The smell of burning flesh reaped through the town; death was at everyone's door. People ran from the fires that burnt through the buildings, chasing them down the streets. Screams erupted from every corner of the town, no one was safe. Bodies had begun to pile up in the streets, both human and animal alike. Birds that had once flown above the town had fallen to their deaths, littering the cobblestone streets with blood. People of all shapes and sizes lay dead, burnt beyond recognizing. Most bodies were so badly burnt that it was hard to tell whether they were male or female. No one knew where the bomb had come from, no one knew why it had hit. All they knew was the damage to the town, and the lives that were lost.

By the time Lara and Alice arrived, the screams had stopped, and the town was silent. The remaining people had left, hiding underground and in the forests surrounding the town. No living person was left in the town. Tom pulled the black car through the streets as far as he could, stopping at the large pile of bodies that lay in the middle of the street. Alice and Lara stepped out of the car, jaws dropped and eyes filled with tears at the bloody mess that surrounded them. Slowly they stepped past the bodies, both women clutching their mouths and noses to keep out the stench. Tom stepped out of the car as well, growing pale at the sight. For a while, no one said a word. They simply walked around, taking in the aftermath of the bomb. Every now and then, one of them would bend over and give a death sign to the dead, hoping that they would pass on with ease.

Eventually the officials came, coming from London and the surrounding cities. Their reactions were just like the rest, silent and mournful, and disgusted by the massacre that they saw. Once the officials had taken everything in, work began. Ambulances, helicopters, men on radios, and men in black suits came to the scene. They picked up the bodies and carried them to trucks, driving off to the hills where they would be buried. The officials – who knew of Lara Crepsley – asked her to leave, not wanting anyone other than officials dealing with the bloodshed. She did as she was told, not wanting any trouble from them. They all worked for the king, so Lara knew that if she gave his men trouble, she would have to deal with him as well.

"I'll come back later for the survivors," Lara told Tom and Alice, who followed her back to the car. She would return once the king's officials had left to help the remaining people and give them everything she could. It was the least she could do for them.

"Why did this happen?" Alice said quietly, her eyes scanning the defeated town. "Who did this?"

Lara shook her head, she had no idea who would do this. She couldn't think of any country in the world that had enough fire power to bomb Great Britain. She couldn't figure out why whoever had bombed them, bombed such a small and random town. Was this just a warning? Was there more to come? Lara didn't know what was going on, but had a bad feeling that the King had something to do with it all.

Alice left for Vampire Mountain a few hours later, sad that she couldn't stay and help. She would tell the vampires what was going on in Great Britain, and send greetings from Lara. The young red head was sad to see her friend leave, but knew that Alice had a place at Vampire Mountain, and wasn't about to get in the way of it. "Let Vancha know that I will write to him soon," Lara told Alice, hugging her one last time. "Be safe, Alice."

"Thanks. I'll let him know, I'm sure he'll be more than happy to hear from you." Alice replied, hugging her friend tightly. "I'm sorry I can't help out, but I really need to get back. I've been away from Van...Vampire Mountain for way too long. Are you sure you can help those people on your own?"

"Of course!" Lara said with a laugh, patting Alice on the back. "Besides, I've got Tom here to help me out. You'll write to me won't you?"

"You betcha, kid." Alice laughed, heading out into the fresh night. Lara watched as her friend headed down the driveway, until her figure was lost in the darkness. Sighing, the little lady glanced to Tom – who stood behind her – and smiled, a signal she was ready to go. She didn't know how much she could do for the survivors of the bombing, but all she could hope was that they would be able to start their lives back up again over the ruin that had befallen them. It was going to be one busy night.