Ahkmenrah woke from a dream of the past. Well, woke as much as he could considering his body was currently a three thousand year old corpse. His eyes never opened, nor did he take a single breath in the blackness of his resting place. Still he was conscious. He could hear the museum's tour guide repeating the short summary of his life and the occasional coughs and murmurs from the group.

He had dreamt of his wife. The one wife he had actually loved, anyway. He'd had three total but the other two had been political marriages, forced upon him by his father. He felt next to nothing for them, other than a sense of responsibility. But she had fallen out of nowhere and directly into his heart. From the first moment he had looked into her ocean colored eyes, he had known that he was hers. Luckily for him, she had been his too.

A phone went off, closer than it should have been. The ring tone was catchy. The guide politely scolded the person, before continuing with the exhibit's information.

Normally he would stop himself when he started to reminisce. The pain of losing her was still too much, even millennia after. Just this one day every year, the anniversary of their first meeting, did he allow himself to remember. How he longed to caress her face again, and kiss the scar upon her cheek. What he wouldn't give just to hold her hand again.

He was forced to resign to his fate, to continue on for all eternity with only the memories of their brief time together. These were the times that made him loathe the tablet and its power. If only it would just let him rest in peace, maybe then he could be with her again. The sounds of the group gradually faded as the tour continued, and he drifted back into blissful unconsciousness.

Sighing in defeat Larry Daley sank back into his brown leather sofa. Yet another candidate had run screaming last night. This was the sixth one in as many days. There was nothing to worry about though. While a couple had threatened to tell the world, he knew the world would only put them in straight jackets. The others, he found out, had made themselves believe it was all a nightmare.

He'd warned them all before hand, about the unique nature of this particular museum, but none of them had taken him seriously. Maybe he needed a different approach. He needed to find a replacement and quickly, but being a night guard at this museum, apparently, took someone special.

If he could have continued he would have, but since his side business was taking off, it was eating up more and more of his time. Currntly stuck between the two, he rarely had time to sleep. At night he was a guard, and in the morning business calls had to be made. He had been waiting for this to happen for years, he reminded himself. As much as he loved his museum and its inhabitants, this business venture was his lucky break. He couldn't let it slip through his fingers.

He blinked dully at his reflection in the blank TV screen. He looked terrible. Right now, the only things keeping him awake were his eighth cup of coffee and the sound of the morning rush hour traffic in the street below his appartment.

Out of concern for the well being of his friends at the museum, he had decided to hand pick his successor, but it was taking a lot longer than he'd thought it would. He let out a small aggravated growl and violently ruffled his hair. This was a museum that literally came to life at night. How could anyone run away from that?

He jumped and cursed when his phone began vibrating in the right back pocket of his black uniform pants. He answered before it could ring. "Hello."

"Hi. I'm Alex Phillips. Is Mister Daley there?"

"Speaking." He tried to sound polite, but that was hard to accomplish when he'd only gotten three hours of sleep out of the last two days.

"I-I'm calling about the night guard position. I've turned in my resume to the museum already, and they said to call you." She sounded young and uncertain.

He leaned over his coffee table and rifled through the small stack of resumes that McPhee had given him to look at. "Alexandra Phillips?"

"Yes. That's me."

His eyes scanned the blurry page as carefully as they could. He blinked a couple times, finally bringing it to focus. "Wow. It says here you know karate."

"Actually, I've been trained in several forms of martial arts."

"That'll come in handy," he said, more to himself than to her. He paused, considering his next words. He needed a new tactic if he was going to convince the new night guard to stick around. "How do you feel about magic?" Maybe it was the coffee talking, but it seemed like a good idea to ask.

"Sorry, Sir?" Great, now he'd made the kid even more nervous. He held back another sigh and ran a hand through his messy dark brown hair.

"Magic. You know, like say... inanimate objects coming to life?" Telling her without telling her. Could this work? Probably not. She'd probably get offended and tell him off for treating her like a little kid.

"W-Well," she was hesitating. He closed his eyes. Here it comes. "I believe that anything is possible. I mean, seemingly impossible things happen every day. But what does that have to do with the job?" That was different.

Rather than answer, he continued the interview, "Would you consider yourself a very brave person?" He thought of Rexy and previous candidates, then pinched the bridge of his nose to ward of a headache. "Do you get freaked out easily?"

"Uh, well, it takes a lot to scare me, and I don't," she paused. "At least I don't think I'm the type to freak out easily." If she was telling the truth, then he saw serious potential here. More than the others anyway. A lot more.

Why had he never thought to ask these questions before? They were far more relevant than the ones he had been asking. "Can you start tonight?"

Larry's predecessors had dropped him in the middle of a living museum, with no warning whatsoever. Remembering the terror of his first night here, he swore he would never do that to another person. He was still pretty sure he could have died. Between the Aztec's poisoned arrows and the stampeding safari creatures it had been pretty touch and go there for awhile.

He wasn't sure what he had been expecting when Alex showed up at five. He knew from her file that she was young. Only twenty. But he wasn't expecting the very petite, pony tailed brunette that showed up. She was only five feet and no inches tall and he doubted her abilities. He gave her thirty seconds tops after the magic happened. How could someone that small really take care of everyone? Sure Ahk, Teddy and Sacagawea would help her, if she didn't run. But some of the others could be a handful. He still didn't have all the feeling back in his face.

They were currently sitting behind the service desk at the main entrance. He eyed Rexy, questioning this method of introduction. While being one of the friendliest of the museums inhabitants he was also among the most intimidating. Just ask his previous choices.

"So. What's the deal?" She asked. A small repetitive squeaking came from her wheely chair as she spun it around. Her oversized uniform jacket and high ponytail flapped in the breeze she created. The smallest of the spare uniforms they had was still two or three sizes too big. She looked like a child playing dress-up, but at least she'd had a belt for the pants. "Shouldn't we be watching some moniters or patrolling the halls or something? Over the phone, you made this job sound super exciting. I mean I'll still do it regardless. I just thought there'd be more to it."

He had already taken her through the pre-magic preparations. Making sure the doors and windows were locked. The Aztecs were closed in. She had questioned why only the Aztec diorama got locked up but he managed to skirt the issue, at least for the moment. He'd given her a modified list of instructions, but just like he had done, she'd set it aside without even looking. Didn't really matter though, he'd already decided to personally walk her through everything.

He looked at his watch and smirked at her. "Wait for it." She stopped spinning and raised a brow at him expectantly. He held up three fingers. "In three, two, one..." He pointed to Rexy, who was beginning to stir. The giant skeleton saw him and hopped off its pedestal.

She stood quickly. The back of her knees hit the chair so hard that it went gliding with a quiet rumble across the marble floor until it hit against the other desk with a thud. She leaned forward in disbelief, her palms resting flat against the cold surface of the information desk. Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly, trying but unable to form the questions wheeling through her shocked mind. The T-rex sauntered towards them excitedly. The various bones clicked noisily together with every movement.

She looked at Larry, who was calmly standing up. She returned her frightened gaze to the animated carnivorous dinosaur skeleton. Then she looked back to Larry, and found some semblance of a voice. "W-We're not going to run?" Her voice cracked badly. This had to be real. As far as animatronics had come in the past few years, none could be made to move this smoothly and complexly.

"Nah. Rexy is one of the least scary things here," he said reaching up to scratch the bony snout.

"R-Rexy?" The dinosaur turned in her direction. A startled squeak escaped her and it cocked its head to the right. If it wasn't a huge, meat eating, lizard skeleton, that would have been... actually adorable. "O-Okay," she replied, her blue eyes wide. The fact that his hand remained unharmed by the giant's sharp teeth was only a small comfort. But Larry was the one who was familiar with this occurrence. It was his museum. Sort of. So if he wasn't afraid, she rationalized, then she shouldn't be either. The world is full of unexplainable things, sometimes the best thing to do is to accept it without questioning the how or why. "Okay," she repeated, slightly calmer after taking a deep breath. She prided herself on her ability to adapt quickly, even in the strangest of circumstances. And she'd seen some strange things in her time, but nothing compared to this.

Larry gently guided her out from behind the desk and nodded his head towards the dinosaur. "C'mon, he's friendly. Like a puppy dog."

She hesitantly reached her hand towards the moving pile of fossils. She'd been to this museum probably a million times, she knew every information plaque by heart. As a child, and even now as an adult, she had always imagined what it would be like if the exhibits came to life. But this, this was... She was jerked from her thoughts, when the dinosaur pulled back just as her hand made contact. She shrank back into herself. What had she done wrong? Was she about to be eaten? She wasn't sure but she thought she might have just peed a little.

A sympathetic groan escaped her when she saw the dinosaur turn his head toward himself and yank his own rib out. He dropped it before her like an offering and crouched in front of her, his mouth hanging open and his back side wriggling. When she didn't respond he nudged it a little closer to her and looked at her face expectantly. An unintentional giggle of elation bubbled out, as understanding dawned on her. Her fear left as suddenly as it came. Grabbing the bone, she teased him for a moment before throwing it down the nearest hall. It was much lighter than she'd expected, given its size.

Larry squashed a feeling of jealousy. Part of him, a big part, wished he'd been able to take this as well as she seemed to be. But then he hadn't had himself as a guide. He crossed his arms and leaned against the desk as he continued to watch her play with Rexy. He waved a greeting when Teddy came strolling up to him with Sacagawea on his arm. "I see you've brought a new recruit," the ex-president said.

"Yeah."

"She seems to be adjusting much better than the others."

"Yeah." It was still too soon to tell, but something about the girl reminded Larry of his younger sister. She had always been so accepting, and laid back, always going with the flow, no matter what ridiculous trouble he managed to get them into. Only once had he imagined what it would have been like if he'd been able to show all of this to Abby. This was almost exactly how he'd pictured it. If Abby hadn't gotten sick then maybe... He imagined that she would have turned out exactly like Alexandra.

He had only known her for a few hours and already he could tell that the museum would be in good hands. While he was glad he had finally found someone who was at least willing to do the job, there was still a part of him that wasn't willing to trust anyone but himself with it. Yes, she was the first person who hadn't run. But who's to say there wouldn't be others? How could he really be sure that she was the right choice?

"Don't doubt yourself, Lawrence." Teddy said, clapping the younger man on the shoulder. "The others left due to their own weakness of character. It wasn't your fault."

"Yeah." But maybe it really had been? Maybe he'd just gone about it the wrong way. 'Don't doubt yourself,' he repeated the wiser man's words to himself.

Alex taunted Rexy with the bone, only pretending to throw it several times before actually letting go. Sacagawea couldn't help but laugh at the girl's antics. "I have a good feeling about this one," she said

"Yeah? Me too," Larry said, finally deciding. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair. While he was relieved to finally find the right person, the fact that he was leaving became suddenly all too real.

"Come, my dear," Teddy said to Sacagawea, patting her hand on his arm. "Let's go for a stroll, and let the young woman continue her night watchman training." They left him there, chatting quietly to each other as they went.

Ahk found them only a moment later, Jed and Octavius on either of his shoulders. Out of all of the museums inhabitants only the ones who had once been alive, were aware during the day. Knowing this, Larry had warned Ahk earlier in the day that he'd be bringing a new candidate. He'd asked him especially to help her with the transition to this new world.

Ahk had decided to leave his crown in the crypt today, actually most days. It was just too cumbersome. And irrelevant, given his kingdom no longer existed. That crown, both figurative and literal, had been one of the things that, like the tablet, had caused him to lose the love of life.

"Where's our car, Gigantor?" Jed asked, getting impatient. Ahk was snapped from his increasingly depressing thoughts. The three inch tall cowboy had discovered, as Larry put it, 'A need for speed.'

"Oh," Larry said, suddenly remembering his nightly duties. "Alexandra, bring me the bone," he called out. He unzipped the duffle bag at his feet and pulled the familiar little, red remote controlled car out, along with some twine.

"It's just Alex and here," she said breathlessly as she jogged over and handed him the dinosaur rib. The giant creature had graduated her from fetch to playful chase.

Ahk had caught small glimpses of her as she'd darted around the walking skeleton, but now he got to see her face up close. And the breath was knocked from his lungs. "Impossible," he murmured, his eyes wide as saucers. His heart was hammering in his chest but his blood was frozen in his veins. He was certain she had died, turned to dust by the lightning that had struck her. Was he still dreaming?

"Alex, this is Ahkmenrah." Larry gestured with a nod, hands busy tying the rib to the car's rear bumper. "He's our resident pharaoh." Rexy began dancing in excitement, as Larry set the car down. The force of the animal's footfalls vibrated the floor. Larry relieved Ahk of his cargo. "And these are Jed and Octavius, from the old west and ancient Rome diorama exhibits," he said as lifting the tiny models individually as he said each of their names, before lowering them to the floor.

"Nice to meet all of you," she said giving a small wave then clasping her hands behind her back. She bounced excitedly on her toes. "So what's the car for?"

"Just wait and see, Little Lady" Jed replied settling into the driver's seat. She visibly flinched at the pet name, but was quick to brush it off. Then the small car was speeding down the hallways, a tyrannosaurus skeleton sprinting noisily after it.

"The car becomes real too," she exclaimed. "Holy crap, this is going to be the best job ever." Bouncing in a circle, she gave a small squeal. Her eyes landed on Ahk and she blushed at being caught. Instantly straightening up, she cleared her throat. "Sorry. I'm Alex." She offered her hand. Their gazes locked and he thought he might drown very happily in her ocean blue eyes.

Too stunned to do anything else, mechanically he replied, "I am Ahkmenrah, fourth king of the fourth king, ruler of the land of my fathers." He clasped her hand firmly. The all too familiar shocks ran through his body, like they only did for her.

"Okay, nice to meet you. Wow. Long name. Is it all right if I just call you Ahk?" He couldn't find an answer. How? How could she be here, now? And why introduce herself?

She shrugged at not getting a response and began to turn towards Larry, but Ahk's grip on her hand stopped her, forcing her to turn back. "Do you truly not remember me?" Was she rejecting him? Had what he'd done back then been too much for her forgiveness?

Her smile faded, and her sculpted brows furrowed in confusion. "What exactly am I supposed to remember? I'm sorry, that sounded really rude." She cringed at herself, but forged ahead anyway. "I mean, I've been to your exhibit before, but isn't this the first time we've actually met?"

"No," he said too quickly. "I-I mean yes. This is...our first meeting." He let go of her hand as though he'd been burned. He wanted to be angry that she was pretending not to know him. Was this his punishment? How was she here? Had she let her hair grow out? What happened to her scar? Wait. Larry had read him her file during the day. Pieces slowly began falling into place. He never in his wildest dreams thought it would be his Alexandra. And she wasn't rejecting him, she was just...younger. His breath caught in his throat. There was no mistake. This really was her. Younger, but her.

There had been a time when he had demanded to know the truth about her homeland. But he had only grown angry with her explanations and dismissed them as one of the many stories she told to the children of the court. He'd punished her for lying to him, but apparently she'd been telling him the truth the entire time. "I'm sorry," he said finally, knowing she wouldn't understand his true meaning. "I was... confusing you with someone else." He inclined his head to her, a custom he'd only recently picked up. "Again, I apologize." Was it even possible that he had found her again? No. He smiled to himself. She had found him. Just like the first time.

"No worries," she said, flashing him a brilliant smile and his heart skipped a beat.

His sentencing her for lying, had been the last conversation they'd had, until now. It was an argument that had ultimately not only taken her but also his own life. Oh! How he wanted to reach back in time and wring his own neck. But she knew nothing of this. At least not yet. While he had met her long long ago, this was the first time that she had met him. "Wibbly wobbly timey wimey," he murmured. It had, after all, been one of her favorite phrases. Now he understood why.

"Sorry, what?"

"Nothing." He had to keep her beside him. He placed one hand on the small of her back while gesturing deeper into the museum. "Perhaps I can give you a tour while Larry warns the Huns of your arrival."

Her eyes lit up and he resisted the urge to slap himself. "I forgot about the Huns. Mr. Daley, can I meet them?"

"It's Larry. And I suppose, just stick close. Don't try to run away from them or they'll try to tear your limbs off."

"Larry, are you certain that's a good idea?" Ahk asked. If something were to happen to her before she could go to the past...

Alex answered for herself. "Oh, come on. I can take care of myself. Don't worry so much, kid." She punched him lightly in the arm. It felt like a punch to the gut. This time, he noted, she was barely three years older than he was. Or at least three years older than he had been when he died. And yet she called him 'kid.' He wanted to tell her how little she had changed. And he wanted to tell her that he was, in fact, over three thousand years old. Instead he trailed silently behind them, like a lost puppy. They made their way, the long way around, to the Hun exhibit, making introductions to those they passed along the way.

The Huns, as it turned out, were not at their exhibit. After telling Alexandra to stay put, Larry had left to go search for them, leaving Ahkmenra to keep an eye on her. They sat on a bench across from the empty exhibit. After a few moments, she could no longer take the silence. "Soooo. What's your story, Ahk?" She asked, swinging her legs back and forth, in the gap between her feet and the floor.

"Pardon?" He'd been reminiscing again.

"You know, your story. I mean I know what the tour guides always say, but how much of it is true?"

"What do the tour guides say?" He knew very well what they said, he just wanted hear her voice. After being without it for three thousand years, he couldn't get enough of it.

"Well, to paraphrase, they say you became pharaoh at fifteen years old, after your father died, and that you died shortly before you turned eighteen."

"That much is accurate," he replied. This was awkward. Nicky had shown him several science fiction movies involving time travel, so he knew he could tell her nothing of what her future held. Even if it was firmly in his past. He couldn't tell her how much she meant to him. How much they meant to each other. Or even that he knew her at all. But treating her as a complete stranger, was proving to be the most difficult thing he had ever done. Especially when every part of him was screaming to kiss her senseless.

"Really?" she asked, again pulling him from his reverie.

"Though they do tend to leave out the fact that I had three wives."

"Three? Wow. Most guys can't keep up with one." He gave a rather undignified snort. If only she knew. "Geez, three wives before you were even eighteen? That's crazy."

"Actually, I had three wives before I was sixteen." He corrected. Then nearly had a panic attack at thinking about how she would perceive him. "But please understand that was the culture we lived in. And if I had been allowed to only have one I would have gladly done so."

Before she could respond with another question, the remote controlled car came skidding around the corner. Without giving Ahk a chance to stop her, she took off after it, easily keeping pace with it. "Hey, guys, seen the Huns around?"

Octavius leaned out the passenger window. "I believe they're in the African exhibit, Milady" he shouted.

"Thanks," she replied coming to a stop. Ahk had somehow managed to at least keep up with her.

"Perhaps we should wait for Larry, before finding the Huns." Scarcely had he gotten it out of his mouth, when he found himself slammed against the wall. She held herself tightly against him in an effort to avoid the lumbering giant heading their way. A smell that was uniquely her wafted into his nose. He swallowed hard, holding his palms tightly against the wall in fear of embracing her. For her it was too soon. If he gave in it would only scare her away, and ruin any chance his past self had with her. His eyes closed tightly. The pounding of Rexy's footfalls nearly went unnoticed. The fit of her body against his was just as perfect as he remembered. He was certain his fingernails were going to leave marks in the wall behind him.

"You okay?" she asked, pulling only her head back to look him in the eyes that had hesitantly cracked open. His eyes opened fully and his heart sped up. Time stood still. After three thousand years of waiting she was right in front of him and so very close. Against his will, his head began lowering towards hers, and his hands hovered over her hips as he fought for control. He wondered if she could hear his heart beat as loudly as he did. A sudden war cry turned their heads. She quickly put some space between them. "Found the Huns," she said into her walkie-talkie.

When Alex had contacted him, Larry had sprinted to the Hun exhibit as quickly as he could. Neither she nor Ahk were where he'd left them. In fact that entire hall was empty. He picked up the talkie. "Alex, I'm in front of the Hun exhibit, but where are you? Over." What part of 'Stay here' was so difficult to understand?

"We're around the corner, in Asian Mammals, near the main entrance. Over."

Larry had taken off before she'd even finished and came skidding to a halt beside them. "I thought I told you to...What the..." He blinked at the three unconscious Huns in a pile, before turning to Alex, who was hiding behind Ahk as Atilla and two more still conscious Huns tried to worship her. Running a hand through his hair, he looked from her to the pile, to Atilla, then back to her. "Okay, what happened?"

"I'm sorry," she said in a near panicked yell. "They just came rushing towards us screaming their heads off. I wasn't thinking. I didn't mean to." Her hands gripped Ahk's shoulders tightly. She steered him so that he was bodily shielding her from both Atilla's group and Larry. Ahk was trying not to smile like a fool. Of all the people she could turn to for protection, she chose him.

"You did this?" Larry asked. She lowered one hand to Ahk's arm, peeked around it and nodded. "By yourself?" She nodded again. "Ahk didn't help." She shook her head. "Atilla, get up." He pulled the Hun up by his collar, the cronies followed.

"You should take your people back to your exhibit. They'll probably be out for a while," Ahk said, secretly remembering a similar experience with a different group of attackers. Only they hadn't tried to worship her afterwards. Atilla looked at Alex, who squeaked and ducked back behind the young king, clinging desperately to his cape. Ahkmenrah couldn't stop the chuckle that slipped out. It earned him light thump on the back.

"Why are you hiding?" Larry finally asked.

"Because I didn't want to hurt them."

"You knocked them all out, but didn't want to hurt them?" This girl...

"It was self-defense. But then they stopped attacking and started doing that." From her hiding place she pointed at the few still conscious Huns, who had resumed their worship. "I-I just didn't know how to react. It's really starting to creep me out," she whined.

Larry pinched the bridge of his nose. "You can handle a Tyrannasaurus that thinks it's a dog, but not a group of people who think you're a goddess." She was giving him the eyes. The eyes. Geez. Even Nicky wasn't that good. He cursed under his breath. At least Ahk was having fun if that goofy look on his face was anything to go by.

Atilla looked to Larry and said something in gibberish. "No, she's not a god." More gibberish. "Yes, I'm sure. She's just as human as I am." Atilla responded and looked the girl over. The smile instantly vanished from Ahk's face as he protectively hid more of her from the Hun's view. "No, she won't marry you." Larry glanced at Ahk and Alex. "Besides, it looks like you'd have to get through him first. Have you seen his guards?" Atilla mumbled under his breath as he and his henchmen each lifted an unconscious comrade onto their shoulders and started carrying them back to their exhibit. Larry returned his attention to Alex. "You okay?"

She came out from her hiding place, but kept one hand on Ahk's sleeve. "Yeah. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt them." Ahk placed a reassuring hand over hers and she glanced up at him before quickly looking back to Larry.

"Well, you two hit it off," Larry commented. He tried not to laugh when Alex shuffled away from the king.

She clasped her hands behind her back and looked at the floor. "Please don't fire me."

He had to admit, this was the first immature adult he'd ever actually liked. Who would have thought, there really was a good way to be childish. He should take notes, an act like that might get the ladies. He tried to picture it. Nope, didn't work. Not for him anyway. "Fire you for what? Should have seen me on my first night. You handled that a thousand times better than I did. Besides, they're made of wax, so no damage done." He put an arm around her shoulders, secretly noticing Ahk's flinch. "Now, do you want Ahk to give you a tour of the place, or do you want me to finish introducing you to everybody?"

She relaxed instantly, and the smile returned to her face as she turned to Ahk. "Sorry, Kid, but I've been here so many times, I know most of it like the back of my hand. So, introductions it is." He could feel Ahk glaring daggers into his back as they walked away. He had to chuckle. The girl worked fast, he'd give her that.

Alex lay in her bed that morning trying to get some sleep for her next shift. Her mind kept wandering to Ahkmenrah. She shifted under the covers for the thousandth time. Vaguely, she could hear the sounds of some of the other tenants waking up and moving around.

That look he'd given her just before the Huns attacked. What was that? Being so close to him had felt familiar and right somehow. She huffed. This wasn't some romance novel. Love at first sight wasn't a real thing. Plus, she was, at least technically, three years older than he was. Which wouldn't have been so bad, if that hadn't made him still a minor. And, according to the explanation given to her about the tablet, the age gap would only grow. Besides, she'd been taught to always separate her work life from her love life. Not that she'd ever had a love life.

Ahk wasn't just related to her work, he was her work. It was her job to protect the museum, and its inhabitants. If she did pursue this, whatever it was, with Ahkmenrah it wouldn't end well. Couldn't end well. Groaning, she kicked at her covers. It would be better to keep things as plutonic as possible.

She rolled to her side and looked at her hand. She could still feel the warmth of his fingers. For a dead guy he was pretty hot. A squeek escaped her as she threw the covers over her face to hide the blush. Apparently, keeping things plutonic would mean as little physical contact as possible. Maybe it would be better to just stay away from him. Yeah. There was no way that wouldn't work. Her decision firmly made, she finally drifted off into very confusing and slightly steamy dreams.

Ahk lay in his sarcophagus, listening to the tour groups pass through. How many times had she been in one of those groups, without him even realizing? Could mummified corpses smile? He was fairly certain his was. If he could he would be laughing and dancing too. She was back in his life again. She was alive. So very alive.

When she had been taken from him three thousand years ago, he had thought she was gone forever. He had seen the lightning strike with his own eyes. If his heart had been beating it would have stopped. For her that hadn't happened yet. But it was going to. She was going to die, and he wasn't sure he could stop it.

Was this what she had felt, when she had first encountered his past self? He wanted to save her, like she had saved him so many times before. What if he found a way to stop her from going back? But then he would never have met her. She would never have become his wife. He needed her. But his past self had needed her more.

If he told her anything about the past, how she died, how he'd died, would she try to change it when she got there? Could he change it from here, now? Could he somehow stop her from being in that place at that time? No. He would still lose her, because that was the day he had died too. And the tablet hadn't given him life until after his tomb had been rediscovered mere decades ago.

He felt a phantom twinge in his back. Lightning had been merciful compared to the end she would have received at his brother's hand. The only way to save her would be to prevent her going to the past. And he was right back where he started. If he had any blood flowing through his body right now, he was certain he would have a migraine. He wanted to sigh and massage his temples.

Keeping the bad memories meant keeping the good ones too. Memories he wouldn't trade for the world. When the time came, would he be able to let her go? Would he have a choice? He wasn't sure if he could handle losing her a second time. He wasn't even sure how much time he would have with her this time.

When he'd first met her, she had a deep, fresh wound on her cheek. Even his best healers hadn't been able to keep it from scarring. That wound would be his sign, until it appeared, he decided, he would simply enjoy the limited time he had left with her. Even if that meant making her fall in love with him all over again. He would worry about letting her go, or not, when the time came. Decision made, his consciousness began fading, as it was wont to do on occasion given his current state.