What's that you say? A miracle? A new chapter in Zed's POV? No, it's not a hallucination, it's real, and i can't say how sorry i am at the delay - everyone's been wonderful with the support, always asking me to update, and it's really given me a kick up the arse! So here it is - only a few more chapters after this! When this fic is complete, i'll be focusing more on my other Finding Sky story, 'London Calling', which is set a few years or so after all this happens. Enjoy, and for the sake of my vanity please Review! It means the world to me, honestly!

I should have known that the battle wouldn't end with Sky; Mum was going manic, insisting that full disclosure to Sky's parents would be best, while Sky was all for keeping it under her hat. Victor was, annoyingly, on Sky's side, and I had learnt to not say a word, move my body, or generally make any movements at all to either agree or disagree with the two main women in my life. Vic finally came up with a compromise, as usual, and thus the countdown began. . .

The evening before Sky's trip to. . . before Sky's trip, I sat with my arm slung around her watching the baseball. I wasn't really watching it that much – I was, despite myself, still trying to think of ways to stop her going, save locking her in a windowless, phone-signal-less room (I considered it, but decided that letting a furious 90-pound blonde girl out of a prison cell would be the last thing I would ever do). I could see her gazing at me, the darkness of the room contrasting sharply with the almost painful brightness of the TV glare. It highlighted the curve of her cheek – was it just me, or was she looking thinner than when I first met her, all those years ago? – and cast a ghostly pale glow on her lips. It deepened the natural shadows below her eyes and made her eyelids look like caverns rather than shallow dips – a part of me wondered if this was what a corpse would look like. A part of me wanted to turn the TV off so that I would have to see Sky dead. So I did the natural thing that any guy would do in my situation – I laughed.

"Sky, you're being sappy again." I informed her, glancing at her sideways.

"Is sappy the same as the English soppy?" she retorted.

"I guess."

"But I like looking at you."

"I'm trying at watch baseball here – it's, like, a scared pursuit." Sky wriggled closer to me, her nose poking my chest.

"I'm not stopping you."

"You are. I can feel your eyes on my face almost as if you were touching me."

"You've got a very nice face."

"Why, thank you, Miss Bright."

"You're welcome, Mr Benedict." She paused expectantly, then whispered conspiratorially "Now you're supposed to say 'And yours isn't that bad either'." I looked down from the baseball at see her massive bug-like eyes focused on me.

"There's a script for this? What, in 'Romance 101'?" Maybe it was manners? English people are strange. . .

"Uh-huh." She nodded, smiling "One compliment demands one in return."

I thought "Well, then, Miss Bright, you have a mighty fine. . ." Mwahahaha "left ear." Before I knew it, a handful of fluffy white was battering my face.

"I blew it?" I asked innocently, dodging the popcorn she was lobbing my way.

"Yes, you did." She reached for more popcorn, and I snatched it away before she could get any more ammunition. Then I shifted down so that Sky was lying on my chest, her ear over my heart, our toes tangled so much that it was hard to say where mine ended and hers started. I felt her soft body press against mine, curving in smooth sweeps where I was all sharp lines, soft and gentle where I was harsh and unforgiving.

"That's better." I sighed "Then let me say, Miss Bright, you have the most beautiful left ear, right ear and everything in between that I have had the privilege of seeing. I'm particularly fond of your hair, even though it does get everywhere." I spat a thin strand out of my mouth, silvery white against the TV glow. It curled in tight little baby curls.

"Well, if you do insist on kissing it." I could almost hear the eye-roll.

"Yeah, I do insist." I nodded "I'll have it written into the constitution as my personal inalienable right. I'll send a letter to the president tonight."

"Hmmm." She sounded unconvinced and looked at the screen "What's the score?"

"Who cares?" Sky hummed happily in reply. And then we just lay there, breathing together – not watching the baseball together. It felt so good, I just wanted to stay like that fore–

"Zed?" Sky interrupted my thoughts.

"Hmmm?"

"Don't you think this attempt to get me back to Vegas is, well, a bit obvious?" that was the last thing I expected, and my body went cold. I had actually been able to forget, for just a little while, that my soulfinder was willingly launching herself into a pit of snakes tomorrow.

"What do you mean?" I asked coldly.

"The Kellys," she started, then backtracked "Daniel Kelly and Maria at least – they struck me as being clever. Surely they know you would still be keeping a lookout for me? They'd expect you to be suspicious of an invitation out of the blue like this." I ran my fingers gently up and down her back, feeling the curve of her spine and wishing that her thick jumper wasn't between my skin and hers.

"Yeah, you've got a point. So what does that mean?" my stomach tightened. Something bad was about to happen – I didn't need to be a Savant to feel it thick in the air, like poison.

"I can't work it out." She shook her head, making her hair frizz up even more "Can you see what's going to happen?"

For a second, I was silent as I dipped into the future. It was the same thing I'd seen every time I had tried to see the outcome of tomorrow – Sky, looking lost in a bright casino, a flash of loud noises, triumphant yells and desperate cries. At this stage, we were so close I couldn't even see what she would wear clearly.

"No, I can't. I see you in Vegas – a flash of a casino – but it doesn't go any further. Like I said, I don't control when I see and with you and your family, at this distance from events, there are too many variables to get a clear picture."

"What if they're using me to draw your family in again?" Sky pressed "They might guess Victor will be on hand to protect me. I might be leading my parents and your brother into real danger."

"You forgot to mention yourself." I, with a feat of superhuman strength, managed to keep my voice cool and composed "You know I'm against you doing this. If you've got doubts, it's not too late to back out."

"But that would still leave us with your family under threat." She insisted.

"Yeah, it would." But I'd rather you were safe, I thought silently.

"It's not fair."

"No, but I believe we do good work when we use our gifts together. It's worth it. No one else in the Savant Net can do quite what we do." Sky pushed up on her elbows, looming over me with the TV glow hitting her face and showing her fierce expression.

"I couldn't live that way." She slid off me, sitting far away on the edge of the sofa. I could tell something was eating her up inside – I had always assumed it was the constant threat of the Kellys. But now, looking at her so far away, I wasn't so confident.

I flipped forwards and snagged her round the waist, pulling her closer to me "I want you to be happy. We'll work it out." I insisted. Because that was what soulfinders did – they worked together, as one body, to overcome anything.

"You say that now, but people let you down, you know." She said, her voice shaking "Things change. I mean, I doubt many people stay with their high school sweethearts."

What?! What was she going on about? "You're not being fair, Sky. I've sensed for a few days now that you're shaken up by the soulfinder thing, but soulfinders have nothing in common with high school sweethearts – it goes much deeper."

Sky straightened "I think I'm being fair. I think I'm being mature." Fury pulsed through my body – at Sky? I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure.

"Is that how you see me?" I fumed "Haven't you felt what I feel? Are you still closing off your gift?" Sky's eyes were wide, and she wrapped her hands around her body, hunching her shoulders in.

"I don't know what's normal and what's not." She muttered, almost to herself "I know I love you but I just can't do this." She gestured between her and me. I was so shocked I couldn't speak for a second.

"I see." I finally choked out, moving to the other end of the sofa "Well, while I think that one out, I'll just watch the rest of the game." My lips said it of their own accord.

"Zed, please." She begged "I need to talk about this."

"We've been talking." I looked at the popcorn, and it slowly floated my way "So far we've established that I'm just a boy you're dating. You're running from the miracle that we've found each other." Sky wrung her hands, her eyes darting about the room like a caged animal, but I was too deep in my own emotional hell to notice her turmoil too.

"Look, Zed, my parents killed each other over my mother's soulfinder. I don't want history to repeat itself. I don't have that kind of strength in here." She tapped her head with her fingers. I frowned and nodded one sharp nod.

"I understand." I so did not understand "Your Mum and Dad lost it, so we will too. It doesn't make a blink bit of sense but you probably know that. The way I see it, your parents got into problems because Fate pulled a mean trick on them" – I laughed internally; yeah, right, like fate's been kind to us – "and your Mum ran out on your Dad when she should've handled finding her soulfinder more fairly. They made a mistake and you paid for it."

Sky's lips were tight as a rubber band "I'm trying to explain how I feel, Zed."

"And what about how I feel, Sky?" I snapped – I felt like all the heat in the room was rushing to my head in humid waves, making my body sweat "I'd walk across burning coals for you. Hell, I walked in front of a gun for you. But is that enough to prove I love you? That you are it for me? I don't know what more I could do." I shook my head, glancing down at the popcorn and seeing a bowl full of white flakes. I'd been crushing it in my hands in an effort to keep my temper under control.

"Please don't be angry." She whispered. I couldn't look at her.

"I'm not angry." I denied, even though I was a little bit angry "I'm disappointed."

God, that's worse "I'm sorry." I didn't know what to think – I'm not sure I could even think. I felt like that moment before you do something scary, like skydiving; I was stuck in that half-second of pure terror as your weight tips forwards and you mind freezes. Only it wasn't a split second. It was. . . forever. I tried to watch the game, but I couldn't make sense of it. It didn't matter – anything to avoid looking at Sky. If I looked at her, I don't know what I would do; probably shout, or break something, or say something I regret. Or, just maybe, I might just break down and cry, right there in front of her.

The screen went black.

"Hey!" I objected, lunging for the remote.

"Just give me a moment then you can switch it back on." Sky hid the remote behind her back, forcing me to look at her "I really am sorry. This is me – I'm not the most confident person. You said once I always act surprised when someone likes me – but it isn't an act. I don't expect people to like me – let alone love me. I just don't feel lovable and now you can see why. I suppose it's kinda you bad luck to end up with me as a soulfinder." She shrugged simply, honestly. Innocently. Oh, how could I be mad at her? I ran my hands over may face and through my hair, trying to decide what to say.

"I don't blame you." I finally decided on.

"I know you don't. You've seen what's inside me, warts and all." Sky laughed at little nervous laugh "You said you walked in front of a gun to show that you loved me. Well, I suppose I can only do the same for you." U guess I should have seen that one coming "I'm going to Vegas tomorrow – and I'll be doing it for you."

I was on my feet before I knew it "No way!"

"I'm not as sorted as you are about this savant stuff and we both have to live with that." she said, throwing me the remote – I caught it on reflex "I just can't risk being that was with you – I don't think I'll survive the life." She took a deep breath "But Victor's plan is the only way I can think of to give you proof that, despite my messed-up head, I do love you."

I was in turmoil – I couldn't choose one emotion to settle on, and things to say ran through my head like a video reel. I was silent.

"So, you can. . . um. . . get back to the game. I'm going to turn in – get an early night." She made to move, but I reach out my hand to stop her.

"Sky?"

"Yes?"

"I still love you – more than ever. I'll wait till you're ready." I said.

"Yeah, I kinda guessed that bit." She said in an unreadable tone. I pulled her closer, not bearing the distance between us. Of course, no physical closeness could rift the emotional valley that separated Sky and me.

"I'll talk to Victor about your worries. I'm gonna insist I come home. My future sense works well just before an event even with interference. I can help anticipate problems."

"From a safe distance?" she half-demanded.

"From a reasonable distance." I complied "Close enough to be there to help, but not so close to hand the Kelleys the advantage."

"Ok." Sky said, rubbing her hand over my chest comfortingly "I can cope with that."

Yes, I silently replied, but can I?