Ella: 

I stared at my husband. 

He stared back, his mouth parted, as if he wanted to say something, but didn't know how. "Oh," Raymond managed to get out at last, his legs giving out as he sank onto the bed. 

I looked around the room, if only to distract myself, "You like to read," I remarked, noting the multitude of novels that littered the other side of the room. 

My husband nodded mutely, still in a visible state of shock. I played with the ruby bracelet Jayce had put on me, "Well, um, perhaps we could talk about this in the morning? Maybe some sleep would do you good, you know?" I stammered out, afraid that any wrong word could trigger Raymond's temper or insanity. 

He nodded, not quite meeting my eyes and I slipped out, as silent as a whisper. 

The walk back was a struggle- mainly because I couldn't decide if I was an idiot or a genius for standing up. Then, I thought of my unborn child and placed a delicate hand on my still flat stomach. If the baby did turn out to be James's... I knew that all of my young motherly instincts screamed at me to do whatever it took to protect my poor child from Raymond's wraith. 

Pushing open the door, Jayce and Lucy turned in surprise as I dismissed them without another word. The sky had the beautiful colors of sundown painted abstractly, the pink-orange colors rousing a long forgotten smile on my face. 

I layed down in my bed, suddenly exhausted. With a final thought that I still needed to eat dinner in my mind, I succumbed to the nagging exhaustion.

~

"Ella?" A voice called, the sound echoing in the darkness. I blinked, not quite believing my eyes- a dream. This had to be a dream. 

"Ella," The voice called again, and the darkness parted enough so that I could see Evelyn. 

"Evelyn!" I exclaimed, causing her to turn her head to see me, "But how is this possible? I mean, this-"

It was then I noticed her puffy eyes, her sorrowful expression. "What's wrong?" I asked, concerned. 

My stepsister took a step closer, spreading her hands out, "Jem is dead." 

My brow wrinkled- Jem? "Who is Jem?" I quired, "Your lover?" I remembered that Eve had vaguely mentioned a lover that night I had begged her to let me go to the ball, and when she said yes, I asked why. 

Eve had smiled bitterly, 'Because my lover chose to choose someone else over me to accompany him to the ball. You're lucky that your lover puts you first,' 

The mention of her lover seemed to break Eve's heart even more, "James. Your lover is dead."

The world came crashing down as shock struck me dumb, "J-james? It-it must be a different James. You called him 'Jem,' surely that can't be my James," I stammered, praying that I was right. No- not James. Never anyone but James. 

She shook her head, and her eyes gleamed with heartbreak and pity, "I knew your James as my best friend a long time ago..."

I shook my head, denial coursing through my body, "Not James, can't be the right person." Eve suddenly appeared next to me, and gave me a hug. It had to be a dream, I begged, even as my heart cleaved into two. 

"How," I breathed out. 

Eve hesitated, and I snarled, "How." Not a question- but an order. 

She took a deep breath, "James and his crew sailed toward Neverland to battle Peter Pan and his Shadow Army." 

I cried out, "He could still be alive! He'll make it, I know he will," My voice was full of fool's hope and tinged with a bit of hysteria. 

Eve just gave me sorry look, "He gave his essence of life to vanquish Peter, so his crew would have a greater chance of defeating the now weakened Shadow Army." 

The reality of the situation sank in, and great heaving sobs wreaked my body over and over again. I had given everything to the man I loved- my first kiss, my innocence, my heart, and was that all for nothing? 

My stepsister read all that and more on my face, "He was your everything, and that is a fact. The only thing left to do is to move on, Ella. Did he make you happy?" 

Sniffing, I managed a short nod.

"Then treasure the best memories. Laughs are so rare these days for all of us... don't you think that we deserve to happy?" Eve whispered, a forlorn expression on her face.

I cleared my throat enough to say, "What about you? You and your lover?" 

Eve's eyes grew even more sadder, "Gaston was my world, or so I thought. But I don't resent him for the sole reason that he made me happy and made me forget about my problems. That, I'll forever be thankful for. But the hardest part? It's moving on. It's finding out that your world doesn't, and cannot revolve around your lover. That... that you have to open up your heart to love again."

Moving on. I couldn't bring myself to think that anyone other than James would feel right. "You know, after, Gaston, I thought moving on meant that I had to move on physically."

Anything to keep my mind off James, I asked, "Who?"

"This man named... Pairs. He-he showed me that sleeping with someone doesn't help. Paris taught me so much, but above all, he taught me how to move on."

Almost begging, I asked, "How?" 

Eve looked at me sadly, "I'm afraid that's what you have to find out by yourself."

The shadows suddenly pushed Eve and I apart and sent me tumbling into a whirlwind of darkness and I-

sat up in my bed, raggedly breathing. I turned my wet face toward the balcony. Outside, the sky was completely dark, shinning an infinite amount of stars. What had I said to James once? 

"Look at 'em stars, just dots of fire, really." 

James. He was dead. But seeing Eve had to be a dream. It had to. 

A voice whispered, no, it's not. And I knew it in my bones that the voice was not lying.