Sansa felt her soul age a thousand years.

There was no way to describe the experience.

She could not wish for death because she was in death. Over and over. It was received to her- each time in a new and horrifying way.

She was given no relief. No peace. No stop to the horror.

Soon she forgot the world that surrounded her.

She forgot that she had a name.

She forgot that she had a body that she existed in.

And she forgot her purpose. Her journey.

Pain was the consuming thought in mind. It was a flame- the heat overwhelming and suffocating, choking out any other rational thinking.

She had no energy or power to consider the female that had put her there or the reason she had volunteered herself in the first place.

There was no time. There was no rest. There was no tranquility.

It was infinity stretched into infinity that Sansa had to look forward to- no escape. The only way to survive such an ordeal was to give in. Give in. Give in to the pain and let it consume.

And then she blinked.

The world was at her hands again. There was touch and light and sound.

Slowly, her senses came back and the horror was a memory.

She blinked.

Her name was on her lips but not in the forefront of her mind. Hands pulled her up and she looked to see a male before her.

He gazed at her with sad eyes, those broken eyes that she had remembered from so long ago. It was so long. Years. Forever. It had been eternity since she had seen those eyes.

She began to cry. Another person. How long had it been since she had seen another person?

The male's gaze held even more sorrow as he took her in. The blue, green, and brown swirled together to leave a mixture of the forest. The memory of it slowly came back to her as she was reminded of a world she had left behind.

"It's over," he whispered, bringing her closer to him as he wrapped his arms around her frame. She shivered from the contact, finding comfort in warmth instead of pain.

"It's over," he said again.

His words prompted her mind to speak their own. The first question that was on her lips- the first rational thought that came to her as her eyes darted around the now empty room.

"Night?"

The male pulled back, and that look of wonder that she had seen from him so long ago was there again on his face.

"He's safe."

"Where?"

The male only stared down at Sansa, his head tilted in a curious way as he took her in. "Not here. But safe."

Sansa swallowed nervously, realizing her whole body was shaking still, "that female...."

"Gone."

Sansa's eyes flashed up to the male in surprise.

His gaze didn't leave her though as that look of hatred- but something new- came to him. "I killed her."

Sansa felt her body turn cold as he admitted this truth, his hands still holding her.

There was a moment of silence between them. He continued to watch her. Continued to take her in.

"You need to leave."

"But Night-,"

"He is not of your world. You are not of his. Forget him."

"No..." Sansa felt so weak. The experience she had been put through left her feeling so vulnerable.

"I can't go back. How long has it been, it's been years-,"

"In your world, only two days have passed."

Sansa inhaled sharply, "that's impossible."

For once the male grinned, "time is different here."

"But...the flames...the pain...it...it felt like...." Sansa clung to her chest as she freely remembered the horror.

The male's grip on her tightened. "It is meant to be slow. Each hour- was a second. And each day- was a minute. There is no concept of time. You were not in pain. Not really-," his shattered eyes seemed to reflect Sansa's as he taped gently the side of her head, "it was all in your mind."

He rose, lifting her with him to help her stand on unsteady feet.

"I can't leave him," Sansa moaned. She tried to pull away from him, but she was too weak. He was too strong. She pushed him and resisted but it was useless.

"Don't make me leave him. Not when I've found him. Not after going through this."

He ignored her cries and continued moving forward. They were in darkness. Darkness and darkness until Sansa saw a light. In that light there was a hole- a dark formation that she knew was the exit. The way she needed to go, but couldn't.

"He's my mate. He's my soul."

The male finally released her. Sansa tried to run away, but his grip came back, anchoring her to him.

"You don't belong here."

"Can I? How can I make it so that I do belong here?"

The male shook his head. "I have never seen someone like you. A person like you- who loves so deeply."

He paused, thinking. "There is a way you can stay here. A way you can be with him forever."

Sansa stilled. Her heart seemed to leap at the words that had just been said.

The male stared down at her, "Kill me. It's simple. If you kill me- then you can take my place and stay here."

The silence filled between them. Sansa felt her shoulders fall in despair. She shook her head.
"I'm a healer."

"Don't you want to be with him?

"Yes," she admitted her truth to this male.

"Then kill me. I won't mind. I don't care."

Sansa felt something tight squeezing at her chest at the male's words. She felt tears come back to her- her emotions scattered and her weakness causing her to break down further.

"I can't kill you. I put a bandage on you. I healed you. How can I take away that life? I took the time to treat you. You're my patient."

A low sound of surprise left the male. He shook his head, staring down at her in something close to awe and disbelief, "you may think you are making the right choice, but because of it you will live a life of regret knowing you had a chance to be with him and didn't take it."

Sansa felt a weak laugh leave her, "you don't know anything about me do you?"

She looked up to meet the male's gaze. This strange male in the underworld whose name she would never know. Maybe he was like Night. Maybe he did not come with a name. He was not blessed with such a thing.

"I didn't use my medical supplies on you, just to waste them by killing you in the end- now that would be something I would actually regret."

Sansa turned to face the exit. She would find another way. A different way. Hadn't her travels taken her this far? She had done the impossible already by transcending worlds and finding him here.

She had found him once. Twice. Now she could do it again.

She was willing to spend her whole life chasing his shadow.

Before she took that step outside, Sansa turned back to face the male, "Will you take care of him like how I took care of you?"

The male did not look away from her, "yes."

Sansa smiled up at him, "thank you."

She took a step forward and felt herself become captured in the darkness. Her foot still raised, the slowness of its descent did not go unmissed.

Before it had been dark stone that it rested on, but in the split second of moving on, Sansa blinked and landed in the forest.

She looked around, feeling as if everything had been a dream.

But it had not been.

It had not been a dream.

*grins* I'm excited for the next chapter