A/N: I can't stop writing!!

Demetri relaxed, leaning against the frame of his stone window overlooking the beach. Finally, after a thousand years of existing he was living. He truly felt like he had a place to call home, it was just funny how he had found his way back to Greece. Though he wasn't born on Crete, it still had the same scent and feel as his birthplace. He had spent his teenage years on the streets of Athens and knew it like the back of his hand, but before that. Before becoming 'the Hunter', he was just Demetrius, the little boy who lived in a small shack in Sparta with his mother.

The tracker was thankful to his masters for letting him go even though it was a little against their will. He could tell Aro was not pleased but Andy made sure that all parties were happy with the arrangement. His thoughts travelled to the Greek coven. He wouldn't consider them his own yet, but they were his mate's coven and they were loyal and loved her. They were all still relatively young in his eyes though, none of them had a decade to their names yet, but he knew if Andy had her way, they would get much more than that.

He didn't forget what he had left behind though. Namely Carina, who couldn't leave as she was bound too tightly to the Volturi and the twins. He promised that he would visit her and knew he would have to make frequent trips to Volterra to help with her training as she's not the easiest vampire to teach.

His eyes wandered to the shore where his mate was watching the waves rolling in gently on the sand. She stood so that the water kissed her feet a small shell in her hand and a wave of nostalgia overcame him.

She was wearing a simple white dress that fell to her ankles and reflected the moonlight causing her form to glow like a goddess. Her posture was tense, and he recognised that she was lost in thought as he made his way to her. His hands were buried in his pockets as his bare feet sunk into the cool sand.

Andy had told him she had been remembering things from her human life more and more every day, but this image had him remembering as well.

He didn't realise until his mind was thrust back into the past.

A scrawny boy of the age of nine made his way along the shore his feet leaving prints in the sand. The sun was shining brightly above him as he picked up shells. His mother liked the shells he brought home for her and he hoped it would somehow make her better. He picked up his feet spotting a conch the size of his hand resting in the water being pushed gently towards him by the waves. With excitement, he bagged the shell and continued his path.

He jumped in surprise as a girl around the same age as him ran out from the trees on the shore tears streaming down her cheek as she frantically looked around at the sand for something. She was dressed in the finest fabrics and her hair was braided up intricately.

She was so distressed she didn't even notice him approach.

"Do you need some help?" He asked the girl with golden hair. She looked up at him with sky blue eyes that sparkled with tears as they met his own bright blue orbs.

"I can't find it." She said through sobs.

"I can help you if you want." He told her. "What are you looking for?"

"It's a coin." She said her eyes still darting around the shore. "My mama gave it to me before she died, it's all I have left."

"What does it look like?"

"It has Hermes on it." She told him and he nodded turning to search the sand with her. A glint of metal reflected the sunlight and he rushed over to it picking up the coin.

"I found it." He said approaching her. He placed it into her palm and gave her a smile that she returned.

"Thank you." She told him sagging in relief onto the sand. Her fingertips traced the design on the metal and looped a chord through the small hole before tying it tightly to her wrist. "I'm Meda, what's your name?"

"Demetrius, but you can call me Metri." He replied.

"Do you live here?" She asked and he nodded. "Do you like shells?" She indicated to his bag and he nodded again.

"They're for my mother, they make her better."

"Is she sick?" Meda asked concerned and he nodded again. "You don't talk much, do you?" He shook his head. "Do you want help getting shells? You helped me." He nodded once and she stood taking his hand she dragged him to the rock pools with a small giggle.

~~~~~

"Mother," Demetrius entered the small hut he lived in and searched for his mother. She was sitting on a chair with a blanket draped across her legs as she patched up some of his old clothes.

She forced a smile in her son's direction trying to hide the fact she was getting worse and worse every day. Her time was up. "Demetrius, did you have a good time on the shore?"

"I found you these." He says pulling out the large collection of shells. She would fashion them into jewellery later to sell and hopefully gain enough money to feed her son. She was worried about him, his father had died, and when she passes he'll have no family left. He would be alone.

"That's a lot my son," she says looking at the shells. "And they're all beautiful."

"I had help." He said scratching the back of his neck.

"Help?"

"Her name is Meda," he said explaining his encounter with the girl to his mother.

"She sounds lovely my child." She told him. She had heard of the girl before, she was a distant relative of Emperor Basil II, her relation was through Basil II's mother. She was a highborn lady, and Demetri's mother had heard rumours of her kindness and innocent nature. Her father was a cruel though, and planned to marry her off to the highest bidder when she came of age.

~~~~~

Demetri was excited, every day he met with his new friend on the beach and she would teach him new games to play. The most recent was where they took turns finding each other, and he always won that one. Everything they did was innocent and childish fun.

"Catch me Metri!" Meda sang skipping through the shallows.

He tried, he did, but she was sly, her movements akin to a cat. Her blue gaze held so much childish joy as she danced to her own tune. "I can't you're too quick," he complained huffing behind her.

"We can play another game." Meda told him as they sat on the rocks.

"What's this game?" Young Demetri asked.

"I don't know, I haven't named it yet." She replied. He could feel the rocks beneath him as his feet kicked back and forth in the cool salt water.

"Now what you do is count and I'll hide, and when you're ready you have to come find me." She tilted her head slightly assessing him. "You said you're good at finding things but I bet you can't find me."

Demetri covered his eyes and began to count as he felt the hot sand shift slightly beneath his feet. He knew her well enough to know she would be half way up a tree by the time he finished counting. He just had to pick the right tree.

~~~~~

Meda had smiled brightly at him every time they met and would visit his mother with him. She also was not a fool and could easily tell his family were starving and struggling to make ends meet so she would steal food from her kitchens to give to them. They were true friends, of different classes, but the world was going to stop them eventually.

"Child," a cruel male voice sneered and she shuddered in response her hand tightening in Demetri's as the imposing male approached the pair on the beach. "So this is where you've been disappearing off to. I will not tolerate this friendship," he forced her hand from Demetri's and pushed him away from his daughter. "You are to return to the house; I will not have you disobeying me again."

"But-" she protested and he cut her off with a glare.

"As for you," he said to Demetri, "you will stay away from my child. I do not want your filth to rub off on her. You and your whore of mother will not influence her." He wrapped his hand around Meda's wrist and dragged her struggling form away.

~~~~~

One of Meda's maids showed up at his house later that night and told him that she wanted to meet with him to apologise for her father's actions and that she had something to tell him.

He returned a couple of days later as asked at midnight.

She stood looking out over the sea in a plain white dress the warm water kissing her feet as she held the coin he had found for her turning it over in the palm of her hand. "You came," she said smiling up at him as he approached. "I'm sorry for what my father said."

"It's okay," he replied.

"But it's not," her voice was sad and defiant, "we're leaving. He said he wants me to grow up in the cities and become a proper lady. I don't wanna be a proper lady Metri, they can't make me."

"I bet you'll make them all suffer the wrath of your games." He replied trying to cheer her up but both were very sombre.

"But I want to stay here with you." She said sadly.

"I'll miss you Meda, you're my only friend." Demetri whispered in resignation, there was no stopping her father.

"I'll miss you too Metri." She said and pulled out a handful of coins and a collection of seashells. "It's for you and your mother, I know how much you need them."

He took her gifts and hugged her tightly resigning to the fact that this would be the last time he would ever see her again. "I love you Metri," she said.

"I love you too Meda."

~~~~~

His mother died that night.

The memories were too painful.

That's why he forgot her too.

~~~~~

"Meda," He said out loud remembering the little girl he used to play with as a child.

Her voice was timid and full of surprise a look of realisation crossing her face. Venom pooled in her ruby eyes as they met his.

"Metri?"

His mind clicked as he pulled the Hermes coin from his pocket. Meda was a nickname, he never questioned it. He was just a child who wanted a friend. A friend whose name was Andromeda.

"I found it." He said approaching her and he placed the coin he'd carried with him since they'd met in Paris months ago.

"Thank you," she took the coin and leant into his touch, the contact igniting sparks on her skin.

Demetri wondered how closely their lives had been entwined before fate determined it was right for them to meet. He loved her, there was no doubt about that in his mind. Every moment in his life had led to this as he moved to seal their lips in a tender kiss.