My legs shake as Lachlan hauls me up from the ground. He holds me in an embrace so tight it stings my tender wounds. He shakes against me as he silently sobs.

"Promise me you'll never leave me again," He whisper into my hair. I would promise him. For what do we have left to fear? But I look at that glowing orb, and I know that my danger has just begun. Lachlan is still crying. He pulls back, holding my face in his hands. He's looking at me so intensely I want to look away. He whispers to me, "I love you."

"I love you too," I whisper back. Lachlan grins. I knew he's wanted to hear those words from me for so long. He takes my face, and kisses me passionately. He never wants to let me go. I look at the orb, and my stomach lurches. "Can we go?"

Lachlan nods, takes my hand, and starts walking. My legs are shaking, my knees buckle, and I fall to the ground. Lachlan tries to help me up, but I'm so weak I can barely hold onto him. He tucks his arms under my legs, and armpit, and lifts me up from the ground. The world turns hazy, and I can barely stay awake. I grin at how strong Lachlan is, and let my head nuzzle into his chest. He smells like happiness. I happily drift to sleep...

~~~~~~~~~~~

I wake up, and I hear beeps, and buzzes of machines close to me. I can also hear a murmured whisper. I close my blurred eyes and listen.

"She's been weak," A man says. It's Lachlan.

"Fatigue. Shouldn't be a big deal," A feisty voice quips. It's Flame.

"She's passed out though," Lachlan says again. He sounds troubled.

"Lachlan! It's fatigue. She didn't get sleep last night. She hasn't eaten. She's severely dehydrated. She crossed the desert too. Lachlan, she's tired. She isn't dying," Flames voice suddenly sounds soft, and caring. "Lachlan, I know you've lost her so many times...but you will never lose her again."

I hear Lachlan sigh. I think those are the exact words he needed to hear. It's funny that a woman, once so non comforting, is now so solace. I hear Flames heels click as she walks away. I feel a rough hand clutch mine. I do a good impression of waking up. Lachlan smiles, looking down at me.

"Hey, I'm sorry. Didn't mean to wake you," He says in a whisper. I smile.

"Where is everyone else?" I ask. He brushes the hair out of my face.

"They already saw you. They're taking care of the injured," He says. I frown.

"Why are you here then?" I ask.

"I'm the only one who can explain what happened," Lachlan shrugs, grinning at me sardonically. I look at my surroundings. I'm in a room at the Elders Hall. The wall opposite of me is complete torn down though. There's left over ash from Lachlan's escape.

"Courtesy of your escape," I tease Lachlan. He grins. He starts to lean in, but our kiss is disrupted by a shriek.

"Rook!" A woman cries. I now see that Rook is in the corner of my room, leaned against a wall. When he hears this cry he immediately snaps into attention.

"Fox!" He cries back. A gorgeous young woman, maybe twenty one or twenty two, with brown auburn hair steps into my room. She is a second child. She is wearing jeans, and a white blouse. Rook lets out a small grunt of relief. He runs to her and pick her up in a hug. She sobs into his shoulder, and Rook holds back tears. I look to Lachlan and he has a crease between his eyebrows, he's just as confused as I am.

Rook sets her down, and holds her face in his hands. He wipes away her tears, and looks at her hungrily, like he's memorizing her face. I look at Lachlan, and we both grin. He's looking at her the way a man looks at a woman he's in love with.

"I thought you were dead!" She cries. She pushes him, and tries to slap him, but Rook grabs her wrist. Rook kisses her hard. She pushes him away. They scream, and argue for several minutes. Lachlan and I exchange amused looks. If only they could hear themselves!

"I haven't seen you in two months, two bikking months!" She says. "Where the hell have you been?"

"I had to help the second children! I couldn't go on a wild goose chase searching for you! I thought you were dead!" Rook yells back. I've never seen him in such anguish.

"Oh, great Earth! I bikking love you!" She cries throwing her arms around him.

"I love you too!" He says back. They embrace then start to kiss passionately. Lachlan and I exchange shocked looks. Get a room, Yarrow mumbles in my head. Seeing there happiness brings a stab of pain into me. I love two people dearly. How could I let one of them go? How could I even feel the happiness Rook feels? Lachlan clears his throat disruptively, and they break apart. Rook is blushing, and has a stupid grin on his face. He looks like a schoolboy after his first kiss.

"Care to introduce Ro to your friend?" Lachlan says teasingly to his brother. Rook continues to grin and blush.

"This is Fern. I call her fox, but thats only because..." Rook and Fern exchange an amused look. Fern flushes red. Lachlan and I exchange an appalled look. I don't think we want to know where the origin of that nickname came.

"Fern, I've known you for years. I thought we were friends. Why didn't you tell me you were bedding my brother?" Lachlan asks. We all gape at Lachlan's boldness, then start laughing till our guts hurt. "Seriously though, when did this all start?"

Rook and Fern tells the story together. Rook and Fern met after the attack and were immediately friends, they spent all their time together. A few days after they met they slipped up and slept together. They tried to stay friends but there was no denying they were madly in love after that. A day shy of three weeks after they met, Fern was captured, rescued, but never reunited with Rook. Rook thought she was dead. Fern thought he gave up on her, but died eventually himself. They look at one another with tear in their eyes. Rook squeezes her hand. They've missed one another. Tears fill my eyes. Will I ever feel love like that?

You already do. Yarrow reminds me. You love two people like that...but I know what you meant.

Suddenly my mom, Ash, and Lark are rounding the corner into my room.

"Oh, Rowan!" They all cry. Hugging me, kissing me, telling me how sorry they are, and how happy they are to see me. I hug them all back with admiration and gratitude. Lark kisses my cheek, and lets her face linger close to mine, just a bit too long. I can feel her lovely breath on my face. She looks at me doubtfully. I know what she must be thinking.

I pull her closer, and whisper into her ear, "It was real." Lark gasps at my words. She pulls back and stares into my eyes, searching for truth.

"Okay. Rowan has been through a lot the past few days. She need rest," Lachlan says gently from the other side of the room. They nod in agreement, say their goodbyes, and start to leave the room. Lark looks back at me one more time. Her hair still full of different colors, and her skin still full of life. I have to look away from the perfectly symmetrical version of the woman I love...it's still painful. Lachlan kisses me lingeringly on the head, and leaves with the others.

"What happened to her?" Ash asks as they round the corner, not knowing I can still hear him.

"I'll explain in a minute," I hear Lachlan say then I can no longer hear them. I let my head hit the pillow. I thought that my head would whirl with thoughts about the past few days, but it doesn't. Instead, I immediately go into a deep sleep, as if it wasn't my will at all.

~~~~~~~

I wake up and my heart drops. I'm not in the beautiful Elders Hall like before. Instead I'm back in the stark white room I was in after entering the Ecopan.

Rowan, I hear Aaron Albaz's words echo throughout the room. Except it isn't a room, it's an abyss. The words echo throughout it. They echo throughout me. Rowan, Rowan, Rowan

Rowan, He finally says standing in front of me. I'm afraid...but glad to have some answers.

"What's happening?" I ask him trying to rise to my feet. Aaron grins. I'm already annoyed by his cocky, know-it-all, arrogance. He grins wider, raising his eyebrows. I flush, realizing he can hear my thoughts.

Rowan, it's good to see you again...but you're not in the mood for pleasantries, are you? Well, let's jump right into it, shall we? I know after seeing the world as the Ecopan it must be pretty underwhelming going back to your normal life, He says as if he is the most logical, reasonable person.

Some of that is partially true...after seeing the world, and experiencing such true life, being Rowan is underwhelming. Aaron grins again. I squirm, feeling dirty that he can hear all my thoughts.

Lucky for you, you and Lachlan's plan didn't go like you thought it would.

I suck in a breath. There was so much at risk! If something went wrong that could mean that...

Fear not. The only one who will be effected is you. I breath out, relieved. It doesn't matter what happens to me. Do you remember that blue orb the wires made, Rowan?

I nod. How could I forget them? As soon as I saw them I knew something was wrong. I saw that Aaron wasn't the only thing the Ecopan was connected to. Still, I didn't expect to get answers this quickly. Aaron chuckles.

Yes, Rowan! The Ecopan is powered by more than just me...it's also powered by you. I gasp. This has to be one of the the worst possible things he could of said.

Lachlan, as clever as he is, did not get you out in time. I had already connected with you, bonded with you. You cannot be without me-ever. I am now a part of you.

I feel uncomfortable at the thought.

"I have enough personalities in my head, thank you. I can do without a psychopath!" I say with disdain. Aaron only laughs, further enraging me. I try to keep my anger in check. I still don't know what all of this means.

Oh, Rowan, you foolish child! I'm not choosing to bond to you. It's simply science. I cannot stop science.

"Oh, really? You let Elena control people, their lives, there emotions, themselves. Will you deny that, that is science?" I ask.

You humans really are so small, aren't you? I didn't do that to those people Rowan, you know that. And you also know why I didn't stop it, wether you agree with it or not. Besides, this has nothing to do with Elena. This has nothing to do with Eden. It's about the world! It's about the future of humanity! Aaron says as if it's so grand. I roll my eyes. He isn't grand.

Anyways, back to the point. We are now one. He states simply. I swear I see the slightest hint of a shrug.

"What the hell does that mean, Aaron?" I yell getting fed up. Mostly it's cause I'm scared.

Rowan. I still hold a piece of your heart. A piece of your mind. I cannot reach you fully, so for the purpose of storing power I will only disturb you when you sleep, your brain will be more vulnerable then.

"What does this mean?" I ask, my lips quivers and my voice cracks. I think I know the answer...but I'm praying I'm wrong. I'm willing to be the the Ecopan. I'm willing to be Rowan. But I'm not willing to be Rowan: The Ecopan. Those two things need to stay separate.

This means, Rowan, that you are still the Ecopan.