Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended.

Huge thanks to Snarkymuch and Gredelina1 for beta'ing this for me and to Arrr for pre-reading. If those ladies hadn't taken on the role of my personal cheerleading squad this story would never have been written.

Inspiration for this story was taken from many sources, notably These Walls SurroundMe by Ashkae and No Choice by . Both are great reads and you should give them a look.

21/08/2017 – Back in 2011, when this story was posted, Gredelina1, Snarkymuch and I were pretty green. We did our best, but we didn't know as much as we do now. I'm still no expert, but I am editing the story again now, cleaning up the spelling and grammar, and making little alterations. The plot won't change at all though. It'll just be little details. I hope this will make it a better read.

Simaril x

Prologue – All I've Got To Do

It was raining the day he left. Cold trickles that dripped down my face mingling with my tears.

I remember the smell of the damp earth pressed against my cheek, the chill of the wind holding me in the present even as I begged for the darkness to take me.

The crushing pain of his words was too much to bear. I had no desire to live without him, without them.

The darkness never came, though; instead there was light and voices, there was warmth. Sam had found me and cradled in his arms I was dragged back into the harsh reality of life.

I thought no pain could match the way I felt that day.

I was wrong.

This pain was worse. The feeling of being trapped, unable to move, unable to talk, held in limbo by a cruel twist of fate.

It was raining today, too, and the irony was not lost on me. Once, I had wished for the darkness, now I fought with all my will to keep it at bay, to cling to their voices and their love.

It wasn't time to go. Not yet at least.