Just over the horizon, the sun was beginning to set, filling the tiny cabin's living area with glorious hues of oranges and yellows, but all Michael could do was watch her.

Since his arrival nearly an hour prior, he had chosen to stand against the wall next to the doorframe. Ellette, who had been standing in front of the window, had turned her head to the side and offered him a simple greeting, but had not looked at him once. And as they both waited in silence for Zanna to arrive, she only continued to stare out the window, and he had done nothing else but stare at her.

It was not hard to do when the dark red cloak she was wearing looked eerily similar to the one she had worn when they first met—the same one he had burned not long ago. Had he not literally watched it erupt in flames and turn to ash, he would have believed it to be the same one.

But it was not.

So, much of that silent hour was spent reminiscing on the past. Regretting his choice of destroying the only physical thing he would have had left to remind him of her after she was gone. Wondering if death would be a better alternative than enduring a life of only memories that would undoubtedly fade in time.

Michael was pulled from his thoughts when Ellette finally turned from the window, her back no longer to him. He straightened up, anticipating she might approach him, but she did not move. And she would not look at him.

After a few seconds, she turned and walked over to the crackling fireplace. She knelt down in front of it and stared into the flames, which greeted her with a ferocious dance he was certain only she could appreciate. She whispered something he could not make out, and within seconds, the fire shrunk until it was no more than a glowing ember she extinguished with a single blow.

Ellette then rose to her feet and turned to walk to the other side of the room, stopping in front of the blank wall. She stood there for only a few moments while hushed whispers left her mouth, then turned to walk to a different part of the room. The cycle repeated for minutes until she made her way back to the window.

It was clear she had been saying goodbye. But the fact she still had not spoken to, nor looked at him was making his body tense. The few hours they had left in this world together he hoped would be spent with unguarded looks and loving sentiments, but it seemed that was not going to happen.

Was she not planning on offering him a goodbye?

Michael pushed himself from the wall and headed straight over to her, his approach deliberately slow. If she truly was avoiding him, his intention was to give her a chance to move to another spot in the room before he reached her. But Ellette remained in place, her back only stiffening slightly once he stopped right behind her.

"Are you not going to talk nor look at me all night?"

His question was answered with only silence.

"Will I not get a proper goodbye then? 'Tis not fair that every part of this room received one."

Silence.

"Ellette," he whispered, hoping the desperation in his voice would get through to her. But when the seconds turned into a minute without a response, he began to fear what her indifference could have meant.

Perhaps, she saw no purpose for a goodbye.

"Little fairy—"

"If I look at you, then I will cry. If I talk to you, then I will tell you that I am scared of leaving you. Scared of hurting you. Scared of living life without seeing you again. So, that is why I cannot look at you, nor talk to you. So, please, do not make me."

Because he had been so afraid their final moments of just the two of them would be filled with silence, it took him a moment to understand what her confession meant. But once he did, once he replayed her words over and over again, he knew there was only one correct way to acknowledge her feelings and respond.

"Then close your eyes, and close them tight. And let the only words to pass between us be conveyed through this."

Michael reached for her arm, turned her around and claimed her mouth. It took a moment for her to kiss him back, but once she did, she slid her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. His arms slid around her waist in response, pulling her against his body.

After Michael pulled away first, her eyes slowly fluttered open and sought out his. They were filled with tears as she stared up at him, and even as she slid her hands from around his neck, she still did not look away.

He could not do so either, so, for a few moments, they just stared at each other. Saying so much, yet saying nothing at all.

Eventually, she buried her face in his chest and just cried. He slid a hand from her waist and placed it at the back of her head. When his own tears began to form, he had to tilt his head back to prevent them from falling.

His heart was breaking because there was nothing he could do. He could not runaway with her. He could not buy more time. He could only stick to the plan, remember why he had come this far, and let that keep him grounded.

Michael rested his head on top of hers, and tightened his hold as her body continued to shake with her cries.

"You have nothing to fear, little fairy. Do you know why? After tonight, you will be surrounded by love and light. You will sing songs on Moonrise, dance and laugh to your heart's content. You will meet someone who cherishes you and always makes you feel protected. You will love and be loved. You will start a family, and every memory of this world will quickly fade and all the pain and hardships you endured will be forgotten. I will become a figment of your imagination, nothing more than a dream you cannot remember when you wake up. You will be happy, little fairy, and you will fly free."

* * *

He would not let her go.

Michael held on tightly to Ellette's hand as they stood outside on the cabin porch. He had not let go when they had walked the snowy grounds surrounding the cabin as a continuation of her final goodbye. Even now, as night drew near and the setting sun made way for the chilly wind to begin wreaking havoc, he would not let go and used his free hand to slide the hood of her cloak onto her head.

Although he was grateful that Zanna's tardiness gave him more time to spend with Ellette alone, it did not change the fact that these final moments would soon be their last. And he absolutely would not let go until the moment he would be forced to.

Ellette smiled up at him as he tucked the few strands of hair that had escaped her braid behind her ear. And when he placed his hand on her cold cheek, she placed her free hand on top of his and leaned into his touch. Whether it was his warmth or just his touch she sought, he could not say. But the look in her eyes conveyed a promise that she, too, would not let go until the end.

"Should we go back inside? I have a feeling the cold will not let up anytime soon."

She nodded and pulled her hand from on top of his. "Okay."

Michael dropped his hand from her cheek, turned and began to lead her towards the cabin door, but Ellette's abrupt stop forced him to stop and look back at her. Her smile had faded and her gaze lowered. "What is it?"

She looked up at him. "Zanna is here."

Michael shifted his gaze from Ellette to the open space behind her. Just as she said, Zanna stood about fifty-feet away from the cabin, staring in their direction.

The moment his eyes met the witch's, it was as if the hands of time that had been frozen thus far began to move. All of the worries and fears he had managed to keep at bay began to surface.

The countdown had begun.

He tightened his hold on Ellette's hand before looking down at her. "Ready, little fairy?"

She did a quick look around, the cabin the last sight she took in before settling her eyes back on him and nodding.

With him in front and her behind him, Michael led Ellette down the steps. As they began to make their way towards Zanna, the wind suddenly picked up, howling loudly and whirling around them so violently that it managed to lift the snow from the ground. When it became so intense that he could not see anything around him, Michael turned to face Ellette to shield her from the attack.

After a few seconds, everything stopped and the night erupted into silence. All around them, snowflakes remained suspended in the air as if frozen in place. It was only when he lifted a hand to touch one that they slowly began falling to the ground. Before he could process what just happened, a blood chilling voice called out to him from behind.

"Second son of Aaron, I now see why you were so determined to keep me from claiming the Woodlands."

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

Aria.

Michael turned to see the red-haired witch standing by Zanna's side.

She stepped forward, her black eyes narrowed in on Ellette behind him. "A fairy. How wonderful."

Michael moved to block Ellette from Aria's view. "Zanna, what is this?"

"A dent in your plans, of course. Zanna has told me all about your plans of opening the door to the Fae world and sending your lost fairy to her people."

Michael's eyes would not move from Zanna, whose gaze was lowered to the ground. "You told her? Why?"

She would not look at him, and her refusal to do so only made his blood boil.

"Look at me! Look at me and tell me why!"

Zanna lifted her head, the look of indifference on her face he was not expecting.

Had she no regret? Did she feel no shame? She had brought them this far only to betray them? He needed to know why.

"To save my mother."

Despite her stoic expression, Zanna could not hide the pain in her eyes, and even with the bit of distance between them, Michael saw it.

Of course, his heart ached for Zanna and all she had been going through. Mad as he was, betrayed as he felt, his love for her was the only thing keeping him from hating her to, instead, understand the choice she had made.

But that did not mean he would or could ever forgive her. Especially if she could not see that Aria was the enemy.

"And is this what Moreena would have wanted?"

"Why is the life of the one you love most more important than the life of the one I love most?"

"Wolves have always been selfish creatures, child. Caring only about themselves. Never wanting to share power with those who helped them gain it in the first place. My plight is to put an end to their wicked ways, and tonight will be the first step in making that happen."

Michael scoffed. "By claiming the Woodlands?"

"By taking the remaining light in the Woodlands." Ellette moved from behind him to stand next to him. "You wish to turn it into dark magic."

Aria's black eyes widened as she smiled at Ellette. "What a smart little creature you are. Then you must know what I intend to do with all that power."

"You will fail."

The confidence in Ellette's voice made him look at her. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze but kept her eyes on the witch responsible for all the hardships and pain she had been forced to endure.

Aria let out a menacing laugh, pulling Michael's eyes back towards her. "Will I? Because you, the dying fairy, will stop me?"

"Because darkness is only the absence of light. You may be able to take our light, but you will never be able to contain it."

"Then I shall use you to test that theory."

Aria lifted her hand and stretched it out towards them. Michael quickly moved in front of Ellette and gripped onto her hand, but before he knew it, it was no longer in his. In the blink of an eye, she disappeared from his side and reappeared next to Aria.

He moved towards them, but a blinding pain erupted inside his head and forced him to his knees. His hands clutched either side of his head, hoping the pain would stop.

"Michael!"

Ellette's distraught voice managed to slice through the pain, giving him the strength to lift his head and seek her out. Spotting her being held back by Zanna forced him to his feet. He stumbled towards them and managed to take a few steps, but the pain only worsened the closer he got until it became so unbearable that he fell to his knees again, then onto his back.

His vision blurred as he heard footsteps crunching in the snow. Aria stood over him, just like she had after she had stabbed him and left him for dead in these very Woodlands a year ago.

If this was it, he had no shame in going down begging.

"Please, do not hurt her. Please."

"She pleads for you, and you plead for her. How touching."

Michael tried to move, but his brain was in no position to command his body to do anything. And Ellette crying out his name was the last thing he heard before the pain forced him to black out.