Where Dreams May Take Us

Title: Where Dreams May Take Us

Author: Suz W.

Spoilers: After Fragile Balance (episode tag)

Feedback: Always welcomed and gratefully appreciated!

Old Stories Referenced: None

Rating: PG-13, S/J Friendship, Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Action/Adventure, and sexual situations.

Summary: I’m going to let the title speak for itself on this one!

Disclaimer: All publicity recognizable characters and places are the property of MGM, Sci-Fi Productions, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended.

Copyright: The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. Copyrighted on May 1, 2007, by Suzanne R. Whitmarsh. Please refer to a special copyright statement at the end of this particular story pertaining to the content of it (but only after you’ve read it!).

Author’s Notes: This story follows “Reminiscing”. I’m going to try and pull out all the creative stops for this one, so be sure and fasten your seatbelt. Considering the episode this story is based on, I thought I would take the opportunity to try a fun direction in which only our dreams could take us. The song featured in this story is by Enya called "May It Be" (Download it here...right click, save target as...). And I’ll only give you one more thought about this story…don’t forget it! There is a reason behind the madness!! I hope you enjoy this latest edition to my series and I’d love to hear your thoughts on it should you have time to send them to me. Thanks for your continued support and Happy Reading!!

Dedication: This story is lovingly dedicated to Dee. Thank you so much for always being such an amazing source of strength for my series with your kind words and your constant feedback. God’s blessings to you, my dear friend, and may your dreams always take you far!

The hallways were empty, with only the sound of his shoes echoing off the cement walls that were lined with lockers. Everywhere he looked, he found only neutral colors of tan, off white, black, and gray, a kaleidoscope of dull hues that seemed to mimic his life at the moment. Nothing exciting ever seemed to happen to him, and he found himself trudging through the same routine day after day. And it was this general lack of enthusiasm that had made him late to class…again.

Reaching his classroom, he decided on the second door, hoping that he could just sneak in unnoticed. Mrs. Talbot would every once in a while become so excited over a history lesson she was chattering on about that she would write on the chalkboard with such ferocity, it would do one of two things: rather break the piece of chalk pierced between the white-fingered grip of her right hand, or she’d wear the entire piece down to a small stub that was impossible to grip, no matter how tightly she held onto it. It was in one of these moments that he was hoping to find her in…it would make getting to his seat a lot easier and hopefully without notice.

As he turned the knob and pulled the door open, he poked his head in slowly and breathed out a sigh of relief to find her back turned to him, doing just what he had hoped she would be doing. As he entered, John, one of his classmates looked up and snickered at him. Putting a finger quickly to his lips, he tiptoed in and then turned back to the door to close it as quietly as possible.

“Mr. O’Neill!” Mrs. Talbot’s voice grated over his ears like nails on a chalkboard. “I’m so glad you could join us today. Perhaps you would be also interested in joining the detention group on Saturday…that is if your schedule will allow for it. I do believe this is your sixth tardy this month!”

Jack turned around and kept his head down to hide his contempt for her at embarrassing him in front of his classmates yet again. Nodding ever so slightly, he made his way to his seat. “Yes, ma’am.” His voice came out low and grumbling. Letting his book bag drop to the ground with a thump, he dug out his history book and opened it to whatever page came first, propping it up in front of his face to avoid her stare.

Moments later, a red painted fingernail appeared over the top edge of the book, pulling it down to unveil a view of the classroom, along with all his classmates, who were looking at him and trying to hold in their laughter. Looking up, Jack finally met her grey-green eyes. Letting the book fall the rest of the way, he sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, deciding to finally stare her down, prepared to take any other humiliation she deemed necessary for him.

Hesitating for a moment, Mrs. Talbot finally spoke up with a frown on her face. “We are on page 117…I suggest you catch up with us. You never know when I may call for your assistance on the board up front.” With that, she turned on her heels and walked back to the front of the room. As she did this, everyone around him quickly faced the front and dropped the faces they had been giving him only moments before.

As she picked back up on her writing and endless lecturing, Jack rolled his eyes and then looked down at his book, but not before catching out of the corner of his eye someone watching him. Looking over, he noticed the nerdy Daniel writing as fast as he could to keep up with whatever nonsense Mrs. Pain-in-the-Butt was talking about. But as his gaze drifted, it came to stop on a vision with long blond hair and sparkling blue eyes.

She had been watching him with an acute interest, but when his eyes had met hers, she broke eye contact and returned her gaze back to the front of the classroom. As Jack sat there, he found himself glancing back every once in a while and met her eyes once more. When he caught her watching him, she turn away, but not before a small smile appeared on her lips and her cheeks seemed to color to that of a pink rose. She was new to school and from where he was sitting, a definite reason to arrive to class on time.

When she looked again, he gave her a half smile and then mouthed the word hi. But the moment was quickly shattered at the sound of his teacher’s voice in his direction. “Mr. O’Neill…I believe now would be an excellent time for you to demonstrate the knowledge we have just gone over. Why don’t you come up to the board and draw out a timeline for the Civil War.”

Jack rolled his eyes and groaned as he slowly got out of his chair, knowing full well that he was about to make an ass of himself, and to top it all off, he was going to do it in front of a girl he hadn’t even met yet. And thanks to Mrs. Talbot, he figured the chances of her talking to him now were going to be slim to none.

Walking down the street later that afternoon, Jack kicked at a small rock that had been lying in front of him on the sidewalk. Bringing a hand up to his forehead, he wiped at a trickle of sweat as it ran down the side of his face. Glancing up at the sun, he shook his head as his mood only got darker. Not only had he had a crappy day in almost every class he’d managed to make it to, but Mrs. Talbot had insisted that he pay her a visit after school. Sitting there enduring her lecture about the importance of education and his participation in it, Jack found his eyes drifting over to the windows, watching as the buses departed from school and leaving him to fend for himself.

And so now he found himself walking the five mile trek back home because he wasn’t about to call his parents to let them know that yet again he’d screwed up. To top it all off, the sun was beating him down to a pulp with its penetrating rays heating up everything around him to an almost intolerable level.

Reaching an intersection, he turned onto his street and peered down it. His house was a cookie cut-out of all the other homes around his, with the only difference in its middle income appearance being the cars that were parked outside, along with his mother’s incessant need to have the landscaping appear nothing short of perfect. Continuing to move towards what was sure to be another lecture by his father, Jack made his way to his house. As he did, his eyes wandered across the street and noticed the big yellow Penske moving truck parked out front of the house directly across from theirs.

Curiosity getting the better of him, along with the driving need to prolong disappointing his parents yet again, Jack moved over to that side of the street. As he approached the house, he stopped short. There, standing outside next to the moving truck, was the same girl from his history class that he had never had a chance to talk to. Since he’d seen her last, she had changed into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt and had pulled her blond hair up into a high ponytail. Her skin had a nice tan on it, and as he continued to watch her, she took a small hand-held fan out of her pocket and began fanning the back of her neck.

Figuring he’d be the last person she’d want to be seen with, he took a few steps toward the street when her voice stopped him. “Hi there!” Jack turned his head in her direction only to find that she had not only seen him, but was now walking towards him, her blue eyes shining against her tan face as she gave him a sweet smile.

As she reached him, Jack nodded awkwardly. “Uh…hey there.”

She cocked her head at him and crossed her arms over her chest. “You were in my history class weren’t you?” Her voice was like sweet music to his ears, cutting through the heat of the day with its soft, lyrical tones. When all Jack could do was fumble over his own words and nod, she stuck her hand out in a greeting. “Samantha Carter…nice to meet you.”

Jack managed to take her hand. It was warm and soft as he held it in his, with a firm grip that showed him she had both strength and confidence. Clearing his throat, he finally found his voice. “Jack O’Neill.” As they dropped hands, Jack could sense her wanting more from him. ‘You idiot,’ he cursed himself internally. ‘What was that…just your name?! Com’ on, you can do better than that!’

Nodding at her house, he pointed out the obvious. “So…you’re moving into the Trent’s house, huh?”

Sam gave him a little smile. “Yeah, I guess so. I didn’t know the family who’d lived here before, but it seems to be a great house.”

‘Good one, Jack,’ he told himself. ‘You’re making another great impression!’ Wanting to just disappear, he instead steeled himself to the sidewalk and forced another sentence out of his mouth. “Well, welcome to the neighborhood. I live just across the street from you.” Nodding with his head, they both looked over at the two-story white house that was trimmed with pale blue shutters on every window.

Sam spoke up. “How long have you lived here?”

Jack looked over at her and shrugged. “Pretty much all of my teen years I guess.”

Sam wanted to giggle just to get rid of her nerves. “So you’re what…15?”

Jack nodded. “Good guess. You?”

Sam smiled and looked down at the ground. “I’m 13 actually.”

Jack furrowed his brow as he looked at her. “How are you in my class then? Aren’t you a bit on the young side to have to put up with Mrs. Talbot’s crap?”

Sam laughed. “Well, I guess you could say that I skipped a few grades back in elementary school.”

Jack could feel himself beginning to relax a little. “Oh, I see...you were too good for them, huh?”

Sam gave him a playful smile. “Not exactly…I just guess they felt I wasn’t being challenged enough.”

Jack adjusted the backpack on his shoulder. “Well, Mrs. Talbot at least will challenge you for sure!”

Sam nodded. “I got that much from class today…are you always one of her favorite targets?”

Jack rolled his eyes and sighed. “Yeah…try her only target, or at least that’s the way it seems so far this year.”

Just then, a voice broke into their conversation. “Sam, honey…we’ve got a lot more to do before dinner. You’re mother could use your help in the kitchen.” They both looked over to find a slightly balding man standing on the front porch watching them.

Sam cringed slightly as she gave Jack an apologetic look. “Sorry…I’d better go. When my dad gets an idea in his head, there’s no stopping him.”

Jack eyed her father for a moment before turning his gaze back on her. “Well, you’ve got to take a break from unpacking at some point. You know…it stays light pretty much until around 9 pm still. Do you think he’d let you take a tour of the neighborhood? I could show you some of the usual hangout spots around here.”

Sam glanced back at her dad. “I don’t know if he’d approve of that or not. Besides, Danny’s coming by after dinner to help me catch up on what I’ve missed so far in class.”

Jack crossed his arms over his chest. “That nerd? You could run circles around him!”

Sam could see his disappointment, and she couldn’t deny herself that she hated to turn him down. “Well, you could always join us. I’m sure that would really impress Mrs. Talbot next time she calls you to the board and you can show her up.”

Jack allowed a slow grin to plaster his face. “Yeah, it’d probably knock her right over.” Nodding after a moment, he continued. “Okay, I’m in. What time are you starting?”

Sam was happy to hear him accept her invitation. “Come by around 7pm. It’s such a nice night out tonight, I think we’ll study on the back deck…especially since my parents basically have the house in pieces right now. You can just walk around the back if you want and up the stairs.”

Jack nodded. “Sounds good,” he said, eyeing her father once again. This time he had moved from the porch to the driveway. “I’d better let you go or your father might have me for dinner.”

Sam laughed. “He’s not that bad. I promise his bark is worse than his bite.”

Jack gave her an unsure look. “Yeah? What does he do?”

Sam stuffed her hands in the pockets of her shorts. “Oh, he’s a police officer, although he’s been in training with the FBI. That’s why we moved up here, so he could be closer to headquarters.”

Jack adjusted his backpack again. “Great…so I guess I’d better make sure all those skeletons in my closet are well hidden.”

Sam giggled as she moved towards the house. “Don’t worry…you’ll like him once you get to know him. I’ll see you later.” And with that, she turned around and walked back to the house, joining her father at the moving van.

As Jack moved across the street, he glanced back only to find Sam’s dad watching him. He could see that it was not going to be easy to win him over, but he was determined to try. Samantha Carter was turning out to be more interesting than he’d ever imagined…and he was looking forward to getting to know her a lot better.

After enduring a painful lecture from his dad about self-discipline and taking responsibility for one’s actions, Jack inhaled his dinner and then announced to his parents that he was going across the street to the Carter’s to study. His mother sat there dumbfounded for a moment before finally smiling and praising him for his efforts. His father simply gave him a look of disbelief and then proceeded with 20 more questions on who, why, what, when, and where, before finally coming to the conclusion that Jack was only going there to flirt with the new girl across the street.

Jack’s only saving grace was his mother. No matter how in charge of the family life his father liked to appear, it was his mother who had the ultimate rein, and Jack’s dad knew it. After a few words passed between them, it was decided that Jack could go, provided he was back no later than 9:30 pm.

Grabbing his book bag that had been dumped by the front door, he ran out before anyone had a change of heart. Exiting the house, he gratefully took in a big breath of fresh air, no matter how drinkable it was. The sun was setting lower in the sky as Jack darted across the street. Electing to avoid Sam’s father, he moved around the side of the house as Sam had suggested to the set of stairs that led up to the top level of the deck. Taking two steps at a time, he reached the top and made an abrupt stop as he spotted her. She was sitting at a glass-top patio table, her mind obviously engrossed in whatever she was reading because she had yet to look up at him. She had let her hair down, which was flowing gently all around her, its blond color shimmering in the early evening light. Her tan seemed even deeper in the low light, making her even more beautiful than he could have thought possible.

As he approached her, his nose picked up the faint scent of lavender and vanilla coming off her skin; at that moment he chose to believe that she had put it on just for him. “Hey,” Jack said quietly, his voice sounding odd.

Sam jumped slightly at the sound of his voice. “Oh…hey, Jack. Sorry; I didn’t hear you come up the steps. I’ve been reading through some really great information in my Physics book. Don’t you find the whole concept of gravity just fascinating?!”

Jack wasn’t quite sure what to say. “Um…sure.” Feeling suddenly out of place, he took a step back. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea…”

Sam suddenly laughed. “Don’t worry, silly. I’m not going to make you go over quantum mechanics!” Waving him over, she continued. “Come on…sit down. Danny should be here anytime.”

Jack couldn’t help but grin along with her infectious smile. Moving forward, he plopped his bag down on the ground beside his chair and sat down. “So…what are we going to be studying tonight?”

“Um…hi Sam.” Daniel’s voice came from the same direction that Jack’s just had.

Sam and Jack both turned around. “Oh, hey Danny! I’m glad to see you found the place. Come on over,” Sam said with surprising cheer in her voice considering the hour of the day.

Approaching the table, Daniel gave Jack a cautious look. As he took a chair opposite Sam, he wasn’t able to shield his obvious disappointment at Jack’s presence. “What are you doing here, Jack? I didn’t know you knew how to study.”

Jack just looked at him. “Well, as a matter-of-fact, my nerdy friend, I can and obviously do study.”

As they two of them faced off with each other, Sam eyed them both carefully. After a moment, she cleared her voice. “I’m really sorry…I had no idea that the two of you didn’t really like each other.”

Jack looked over at her and gave her a lazy smile, waving off her apology. “No worries. Danny here can handle being around me…can’t you Daniel,” Jack said, strongly emphasizing those last words as he retuned his eyes back to Daniel’s face, scowling slightly.

Daniel, after a moment, rolled his eyes slightly and shook his head. “Yeah, Jack, whatever…let’s just start, okay?”

Jack couldn’t help but smile to himself as he opened up his book. Not only was he going to get to learn a few things from his pretty new friend, but he was going to get to annoy the heck out of Daniel, and that suited him just fine.

One hour later, Sam and Daniel were deep into a friendly debate over something historical that Jack hadn’t paid the least bit of attention to. Allowing his vision to drift past them, he took in the incredible sunset that was happening all around them. With colors of red, orange, pink, and yellow, Jack couldn’t believe he was the only one enjoying this.

Suddenly inspired, he got up from his chair, forcing a pause in the conversation between Sam and Daniel as they both looked up at him in surprise. Sam gave him a curious look. “Jack…are you okay?”

Jack looked down at her and shook his head, giving her one of his half smiles. “No I’m not…I’m bored. Come on…let me show you one of the really cool hangouts here in these very woods behind your house. It’s worth your efforts, and the sunset should be just about right when we get there.”

Daniel groaned softly and sat back in his chair. “You see, Sam? This is what I was talking about…he doesn’t care. You’re just wasting your time with him.”

Jack just ignored him and held out his hand for Sam to take. “How about it, Carter? A little study break never hurt anyone...right?”

Sam looked over at the patio door leading to the inside of her house. Not readily seeing her parents, she figured they were upstairs doing some more unpacking. Sam knew her father would be furious if he discovered that she’d left without his permission, but she also knew that if they were indeed working on unpacking things upstairs, her mother would keep him occupied for hours with chores and tasks. Looking back at Jack, she thought for a moment and then decided to throw caution to the wind. “Sure, why not,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders and a smile. “But we can’t be gone long, otherwise my dad will freak out.”

Jack took her hand with a triumphant smile and helped her up. Once on her feet, Sam released Jack’s hand and looked over at Daniel. “Are you coming, Danny? It might be fun, and we won’t be gone long. I know we still have a lot to go over before the quiz on Friday.”

Daniel looked between the two of them and then down at his paper. Not wanting to give Jack the satisfaction of time alone with the girl he’d been thinking about since he’d met her earlier that morning, he got up and nodded. “Alright, I’ll come along.”

Jack’s bubble of excitement over getting a break from studying with Daniel was suddenly popped. Deciding not to let it deter him, he offered Daniel a fake smile and then moved towards the stairs. “Let’s get going before it gets too late and someone discovers we’re gone.”

Despite herself, Sam laughed softly as she followed Jack down the stairs. “I can tell you’re going to be a bad influence on me, Jack O’Neill.”

Jack reached the bottom of the stairs and turned around to face her as she joined him. Offering her a wide grin, he responded. “Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet, Samantha.”

As they took off for the woods, Daniel did his best to keep up with them. He wasn’t enjoying the new found friendship between Sam and Jack, nor was he much of a nature boy. Swatting at some late summer gnats that had become insistent on circling his face, Daniel tripped over a small tree root that was jutting out of the ground just as he was entering the woods. Falling forward, he caught himself, but not before his glasses flew off his face and landed in a pile of soft leaves in front of him. Reaching forward, he put them back on and looked up, only to find he had been left behind in the adventurers’ dust.

Sam turned around briefly and noticed that Daniel wasn’t with them. Coming to a halt, she spoke up. “Hey, Jack, hold on…Danny’s not with us.”

Jack stopped and looked back in the direction they had come from. Waving his hand, he looked over at her. “Don’t worry. I’m sure he just decided to wimp out. He’s probably back at your house sulking over his history notes.”

Sam gave him a tolerant look. “Jack, you know that’s not nice. Danny seems like a really nice guy…maybe a little nerdy, but then so am I.”

Jack just gave her a smirk. “Yeah, but your cute.” Catching his breath, he felt his body go stalk still. He couldn’t believe he had just said that. Unsure of what to do next, he looked up at the treetops, doing everything he could to avoid looking into her eyes.

Sam felt the heat rush to her cheeks, coloring it to what she was sure was a bright red. Crossing her arms over her chest, she smiled to herself as she watched Jack try and avoid looking at her. “Well, thanks, Jack,” she said, “that’s really sweet of you.”

Jack glanced down at her and offered a quick smile. “Yeah…um, let’s keep going. I’m sure Daniel’s fine, and we need to make it back before dark.”

Sam nodded. “Lead on.”

They walked in silence for a few minutes before coming to a path in the woods that was darker than the rest. Sam looked at it with hesitation. The shadows seemed to be moving, and for whatever reason, the vegetation had grown so thick that it wasn’t allowing any light to penetrate its gnarled and twisting limbs and branches. Rubbing her hands over her bare arms, she spoke up. “I don’t know, Jack. How much further is this place?”

Jack sensed her uncertainty. “Hey, no worries! I know this place looks scary, but I promise you after just a short walk down this path, it opens up into this cool meadow. Heck, the dark part here just adds effect to what you’ll see beyond it.”

Sam gave him a slow nod and a soft smile. “Okay…I trust you.”

Jack couldn’t help but smile at that. Reaching out, he took her hand in his. “Come on. I’ll protect you.”

Sam loved the feel of her hand in his. Looking down at their hands as they remained intertwined together, she looked back up into Jack’s eyes and smiled at him sweetly.

Jack could feel his heart begin to pound harder as her blue eyes probed his. Trying to regain his wit, he tugged gently on her hand. “Come on, let’s get going. You’re going to love this.”

Allowing Jack to lead her on, they only had walked a short distance before the woods began closing up on them and the light began fading before their eyes. As the trees and bushes around them became thicker and tighter, it began to feel as if all sound had been pulled from existence. Nothing moved…not a leaf, animal, or even a breath of air.

Sam could feel her step naturally slowing as her ability to see diminished. “Jack,” she said in a shaky whisper, “I’m no so sure about this.”

Jack squeezed her hand. “Hang on…we should be about there. I think around this bend in the path, you will see…” Without warning, the ground suddenly disappeared from under their feet and they found themselves falling, tumbling through a darkness that seemed to have no end. Jack held onto Sam’s hand with every ounce of strength he had. With both of them screaming, their spiraling only seemed to get worse, making Jack’s stomach extremely nauseated.

And then, just when they thought the end was near, their falling abruptly stopped as they impacted something warm and soft. Afraid to move for a moment, they just laid there on their stomachs breathing heavily, with their hands still connected. After awhile, Jack began to notice the breeze that was running up the back of his neck, lightly fluffing his hair. Finding the courage to slowly look up, Jack had to blink a couple of times before he began to believe what he was seeing.

Looking over at Sam, who was lying next to him, also face down, he squeezed her hand again. “Sam…hey, Sam…you okay?”

Sam, who felt like she was shaking all over, gently lifted her head. As she did, not only did she notice the wind through her hair, but the site before her made her catch her breath. Looking over at Jack after a moment, she finally spoke. “Where are we?”

Helping her to sit up, they sat huddled together as they realized that they were not lying on solid ground. What was beneath them was made up of a large bubble-like structure put together in rows, with tuffs of what appeared to be white fur sticking out from random groupings. Looking to either side of them, they suddenly realized that after only a very short distance, the “ground” dropped off into total blackness.

Jack was about to crawl over to the edge and look down when suddenly they heard what sounded like someone clearing their throat. Looking behind them, they noticed that what they were sitting on wasn’t a form of ground at all. It was attached to an oversized head with huge ears. It was then that Jack and Sam finally realized that they were flying…and flying on some kind of very large, white-furred creature with a dog-like head.

Just then, a huge, deep voice came from the creature. “Well…you’re awake! It’s a good site to see!” With the exception of the deep-throated sound, the voice was anything but intimidating. To their surprise, it was warm and very friendly, with undertones of carefree happiness.

Sam and Jack, who had turned around to face the back of the creature’s head, sat dumbfounded for a moment before looking over at each other. After a long silence, Sam finally spoke up as she carefully moved forward a little more before placing a delicate hand on the back of the creature’s neck. “Um…could you tell us where we are, and more importantly, how we got here?”

The creature actually let out a lighthearted laugh. “Well, you’re in Fantasia of course…and as for how you got here, well, that question you’ll have to answer for yourselves.” Apparently knowing the next inquiry on their minds, he spoke up again, answering it. “I’m Falkor, a luckdragon, and apparently you were in need of a little luck!”

Jack, still having trouble believing what he was hearing and seeing, finally found his own voice. “Are we flying?”

Falkor laughed. “Of course! That’s what luckdragons do best!” Letting out a little groan, he started moving his right ear up and down. “Ohhh…do you think you could possibly scratch behind my ear. I’ve got an inch that just won’t leave me alone.”

Sam looked over at Jack, who just shrugged. Taking her hand, Sam reached out and carefully placed her fingers near the spot that seemed to be itching the most. As she applied pressure, Falkor let out a contented sound. “Oh yeah…that’s the spot. That feels so good!”

Sam and Jack suddenly found themselves giggling at the antics Falkor was displaying over having his ear scratched. After another minute, Sam stopped when the creature seemed to be better. Falkor smiled. “Thank you so much, Sam! I can never quite reach that spot.”

Sam was startled to hear her name. “You know who I am?”

Falkor just nodded. “You’re Samantha Carter, and you’re Jack O’Neill.”

Jack moved up a little closer to the front where Sam was. “But how do you know that?”

Falkor turned his head to the side and gazed at Jack with one of his huge eyes before turning forward again. “This is Fantasia. I guess you could say we know because we do.”

Sam then spoke up. “What do you mean? How exactly do you know us?”

Falkor took a moment before replying. “You see that lightning off in the distance? That is apart of what we here in Fantasia call The Nothing. It is a plague in our world that is slowly destroying us. It was formed from a lack of caring and despair in humanity that is eating away at the dreams and goals that form your world. If it is allowed to continue to grow, it will eventually destroy what makes up hope and love.”

Sam, who had been hanging on his every word, responded. “So this is a dream?”

Falkor smiled and laughed. “Perhaps, but Fantasia itself is very real. Be careful what you call a dream, for in a sense it may also be reality.”

Jack just shook his head. “I don’t get it.” Moving onto his stomach, he gripped Falkor’s neck. “What I do get is that I’m flying, and dream or no dream, it’s amazing!”

Sam looked over at Jack. “Jack, don’t you want to figure this out?! It might be all a dream, but if it’s not…just think of what that means!”

Jack glanced over at her. “I’m trying not to think, Sam. That’s the point.”

Sam continued to look at him. “Don’t you want to figure out how we got here in the first place…or rather how to get back home?”

Jack pondered this for a moment and then looked over at her. “Well, if it’s a dream, we’ll wake up eventually…and if it’s not, well then, I guess you’ll have to figure that one out for both of us.”

Falkor laughed. “You will figure it out...just give it time. Now, let me show you a little bit of Fantasia most never get to see.” Picking up speed, he dove through the darkness and then up again as Sam and Jack held on for dear life, screaming and laughing with joy. As time passed, they found the streaming air almost soothing, and as Falkor leveled off and slowed his speed, Sam and Jack laid down on Falkor’s back, exhausted from their journey and suddenly incredibly sleepy. With no light around them except what was coming from the stars above and the sliver of a moon that hung beyond them, little notice was taken when they closed their eyes from that darkness to the next.

It was quiet. Not a breath of wind moved around them, but the air temperature was decisively colder. Shivering, Jack opened up his eyes and stared up into a black sky as soft snowflakes fell from invisible clouds, kissing his cheeks in a cold whisper as they touched his skin. With more of his senses coming alive, he realized that he was lying in a blanket of snow, his body cradled gently against its icy surface.

Sitting up, he looked over to find Sam asleep next to him. Taking his fingers, he slowly and very gently brushed some fallen snow from her porcelain cheek which was lightly colored in a soft pink from the heat of her body. Stirring slightly at his touch, he retracted his hand and just watched her for a moment, taking in the beautiful face before him. Though they had only barely just met, he knew there was one thing he could not lie to himself about…and that was that he was already falling in love with her.

Moments later, she opened her eyes and met his. Their sapphire blue color glowed against the white of the snow as the low light that surrounded them caused them sparkle. Transfixed, he slowly began to lower his head to hers in an action that was almost not his own. With their lips inches apart and breaths of anticipation crossing each other intimately, they barely made out the voice that seemed to float suddenly in the air around them.

“You must hurry. There is little time.” It was a ghostly voice, and as it struck their ears, they both suddenly sat up straight and looked around them. Clinging to each other, Sam for the first time seemed to take in their surroundings.

“Jack, where are we? Where’s Falkor?” Shivering against the cold air, she allowed her body to instinctively move in closer to Jack’s.

Jack pulled her to him, putting his arms around her protectively. “I don’t know. I just woke up right before you did. One thing’s for sure…we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

As they looked around, their eyes suddenly landed on a huge and very ancient-looking mirror half hidden in the shadows that sat around them. Standing up, they moved a little closer to it in hopes of a better vantage point. When they had come within 10 feet of it, a boy with dark, shoulder-length hair suddenly emerged from the shadows. He was dressed in a shirt and pant set made of tanned animal hide, and despite the cold snow blowing around them, his arms were bare, revealing a body that could not have been much older than theirs. And around his neck lay a gold medallion with a symbol carved into it that they could not quite make out.

With dark eyes probing each of theirs, he finally spoke up in a quiet but urgent voice. “You are here…there is little time. You must proceed on your quest before it is too late for you.”

Jack held up a hand. “Hang on…who are you, and what quest are we suppose to be on anyway?”

The boy did a small bow before them. “I am Atreyu of the Plains People. I am on a quest of my own for the Empress in order to save our world, as you must save your own.”

Jack looked over at Sam and then back at the boy. “What are you talking about? Look, I’m just trying to pass History…I don’t know anything about a quest or saving our planet.”

Atreyu shook his head. “I have said too much and stayed too long. Please…you must come before the mirror.”

Sam finally spoke up. “What for?”

Atreyu answered her. “This is the Magic Mirror Gate. It will show each of you a true version of yourself...one that may terrify you. Just be aware that what you see might be your true future to come, or it may just be nothing more than a misperception designed by your deepest fears. But whatever you do see, it will be impossible to tell you if it is a truth or just a lie.”

Sam furrowed her brow. “If it’s called a Gate, does that mean it will take us somewhere?”

Atreyu nodded. “Yes. You must have the courage to accept what you see and walk through the mirror. What lies on the other side is something that only you will determine.”

Jack dusted some snow off his arms. “Whatever that means…look, Atreus…”

“Atreyu.”

“Right…why do we have to even walk through this thing?” Jack knew his tone was less than amicable, but he was getting tired of the mystery, and was also cold and hungry.

Atreyu just looked at him. After a moment, he spoke up in a dead tone. “Because if you don’t, Gmork will be upon you.”

Jack threw up his hands. “And who the hell is Gmork?!”

Atreyu seemed unphased by Jack’s irritation. “Gmork is a servant of the Nothing. He wishes to end your quest, just as he does mine.”

Sam glanced over at Jack and then continued with the questions. “What does he look like?”

Atreyu spoke in a low voice. “He is a dangerous and cunning creature…a wolf by your standards, with a huge body and large fangs. And he moves very fast. I can hear his footsteps even now. He is constantly tracking me, as he now is you.”

Jack looked behind him into the dark. He could see nothing beyond where they stood, and as he listened, he could swear he heard a low, throaty growl. Turning his head back around, he nodded at the mirror. “Well, that’s motivation enough for me. Sam? Are you ready?”

Sam, obviously as unnerved as he was, shook her head in agreement. Moving forward, they both approached the mirror carefully, watching as their images appeared before them, just as they would expect to see them. But as they continued to stare into its smooth surface, the images changed, and to each of them appeared a different perspective.

Jack watched as their images faded and were replaced by a scene that immediately grabbed his heart. He saw a man with silvery grey hair, dressed in tan cargo pants and a simple white T-shirt. He was kneeling on what appeared to be a gravel road and was bending his head against the sun that was shining all around him. But as he continued to watch the image unfold, he discovered that the man wasn’t just bending his head against the sun…he was hunched over someone that he held tightly in his arms. He could not see the face of that person, but he could tell it was a woman with short blond hair. She appeared to be lifeless as her arm draped haphazardly onto the dirt road and her body remained motionless. But what confirmed his thoughts was when the man raised his face to the sun…it was as if a knife had been place in the man’s heart. Jack had never before seen such an expression of utter pain and misery, as he watched the man’s tears fall freely down his face.

Jack suddenly felt like he couldn’t breathe, and then felt a hand close in around his heart. He didn’t know anything about the people in the mirror or even who they were, but it was as if he was experiencing the very same pain that man was…and it scared him half to death. Unable to look away, he continued to stand there watching the scene as tears from his own eyes suddenly formed of their own accord and began to fall.

As Jack stood helplessly against the horror of his own vision, Sam stood just as still, observing her own. Instead of the bright, sunny scene Jack was experiencing, her vision unfolded into darkness. For a moment, she thought the mirror had just gone black, but then as she continued to stare into it, she discovered that in the center of that darkness a woman slowly appeared. She was tall and lean, with short blond hair; she was wearing a long-sleeved black shirt and green cargo pants. Her eyes were open and she seemed to be staring straight ahead of her, but looking at nothing. As the image cleared, Sam felt a chill run down her body as she continued to observe the woman’s face. It was expressionless, yet despite the void that seemed to fill her eyes, Sam could also see extreme pain in them.

But what wretched at Sam’s heart the most and placed a fear in her soul she couldn’t explain was the fact that the woman seemed to be in some sort of clear pod, encased completely without a visible means of escape. She seemed to be frozen in place, except for a single tear that was making its way very slowly down the left side of her face.

As Sam and Jack stood there transfixed in horror over the images individually placed before them, Atreyu suddenly spoke up in an urgent tone. “Please…Gmork is coming! You have to walk through the mirror. I will do what I can to hold him off. But go!”

Jack barely registered Atreyu’s voice in his head with his body still paralyzed in an unknown fear. But something inside him told him to move forward, to go through and to not be afraid. Where that bravery came from he didn’t know, for he’d never really considered himself brave at all. He had disappointed his parents too much up to this point in his life to consider himself anything but a total screw up.

Reaching out for Sam’s hand, he interlocked his fingers with hers and gave her hand a gentle tug without taking his eyes off the mirror. Together, they moved forward, hand in hand, walking towards the visions before them. As they reached the mirror, Jack took a breath, closed his eyes, and walked through the glassy surface, pulling Sam with him.

Opening his eyes a moment later, Jack found himself, along with Sam, standing in front of what he assumed was suppose to be a piano. But what made it so unusual, not to mention creepy, was the skull that hung above it. The musical instrument itself had been crudely constructed, and the keys of the piano were not made of ivory…they were formed out of actual bone. Cobwebs hung from every angle and a thick layer of dirt and dust told the story of its age.

As they continued to look beyond the piano, they discovered they were now in some sort of cave. Taking a small step back, Sam suddenly felt nothing under her feet. Waving her arms wildly in front of her, she tried reaching out for anything that she could hold onto. Finding nothing but air in her frantic search, she started to fall backwards.

Jack, who had been taking a closer look at the piano, caught Sam’s motion out of the corner of his eye. Whipping around, he quickly reached out and grabbed onto her right hand just before she fell out of reach. With nothing beneath her, gravity pulled her down into a freefall amid her screams that only Jack was going to be able to counterbalance. Dropping to the ground, Jack used all his strength to stabilize himself so they both didn’t go over the edge.

Hanging off the edge of a sheer drop off, Sam held onto Jack’s one hand for dear life. Looking up into his face, Sam could see he was doing everything he could to keep from losing her. She knew that even though she didn’t weigh more than the average 13 year old, the weight pulling on his arm must be tremendous. Trying her best to not completely lose it, Sam spoke up. “Jack, please, you’ve got to pull me up!” She knew she’d failed at keeping a calm voice, but she didn’t care. There was nothing but complete blackness beneath her and all that kept going through her mind was falling into it…forever.

Jack looked down into Sam’s frightened face. “Hang on, Sam. I’m not going to let you fall…that’s a promise!” Ignoring the pain in his arm, he anchored his feet as best he could and using both arms, pulled up with all his might. As he did, the motion threw him off balance, and he fell backwards onto his butt. But thanks to his sheer grip, Sam came up over the edge, and landed straight in his arms.

Lying there for a moment, they held onto each other, saying nothing, but instead listened to their own labored breathing and the beating of each others hearts. Finally regaining some ability to speak, Jack sat up and brought Sam with him. “Hey,” he said as gently as he could, “you okay?”

Sam still felt like she was shaking like a leaf and frankly wanted to just cry. But desiring to put on a brave face for the boy who had just risked his life to save hers, she looked up at him and nodded. “I think so,” she said as he helped her to her feet. Deciding that he deserved more than that, Sam threw herself into his arms. Placing a light kiss on his cheek as she embraced him, she hugged him tightly. “Thank you so much. God, that was scary…and totally unexpected!”

Jack, reeling from the feeling of her soft lips on his cheek, held onto her for a moment longer before finally saying anything. “Yeah, well I guess we need to start anticipating that kind of thing. It’s turning out to be a little theme on our unexpected quest.”

Sam drew back out of his arms, surprised at the disappointment she suddenly felt at being away from them. Crossing her arms over her chest, she nodded. “My dad’s gonna kill me. I’m sure he’s just sick with worry right now, and he’s probably giving poor Danny the third degree.”

Jack frowned. “No, what he’s going to do is kill me and ask questions later…that is if this isn’t a dream.”

Sam looked at him. “You think it is?”

Jack shrugged. “I don’t know. But if it was, don’t you think we…or at least one of us…would have woken up by now? I mean I thought that when you experience something scary in a dream, it wakes you up.”

Sam nodded. “It usually does.” Realizing that they still hadn’t checked out their latest surroundings, Sam looked back at where she had taken her misstep and shuddered. What little ground they were standing on with the piano was the only solid ground they could find. Everything else around them had fallen into the abyss below. The ground didn’t pick up again until the other end of the cave, which was not within jumping range.

As Sam looked to the left of the piano, she suddenly noticed a huge slab of rock that had been partially lowered over the vacant space, almost like a bridge. It offered a doorway into another room, a room in which some light was coming from. Looking over at Jack, she nodded. “Jack, look over there. That might be a way out! Should we try it?”

Jack looked around at their options. “I really don’t see any other choice, unless you want to keep the piano company.”

Sam looked back at the grinning skull and shook her head. “Not really. It gives me the creeps! Let’s try our luck with the next room.”

Jack looked at the narrow edging that led to the door/bridge. “Okay, but let me go first. I think you’ve had more than your fair share of testing the floor and it’s stability.”

Sam smiled. “My hero!”

Jack could help but smile back. “Come on, but be careful. I really don’t want to test out our luck again.”

Sam fell in step behind Jack. “Agreed.”

After a few tense moments of holding their breath and creeping along the edge, they reached the bridge that would lead them into the next room of the cave. With only a small space of air to step over in order to get onto the bridge, Jack went first and found it to be stable. Turning back, he smiled and offered his hand to Sam. “Shall we?”

Sam smiled back at him, happily accepting his hand. She knew she was allowing herself to fall hard for Jack…but rather it was just a crush or real love, she didn’t really care. She’d never experienced anything close to how he made her feel, so she was treasuring it all the more, and not passing up any opportunity to be close to him.

Just as Jack had helped her step across onto the bridge, a craggily old female voice suddenly shouted at them from the other opening of the cave, the one they couldn’t get to. “Hey, you kids! Stop right there!!”

Startled by the sound of another voice, especially one that was so angry, they both turned and found a gun trained on them, held by an ugly old woman who had a sour expression on her face. Her hair was thin and stringy, with grey streaking harshly through her natural black hair coloring in various places. She was a heavy set woman with enough wrinkles to show that the years she had seen had not been kind.

Sam and Jack were frozen in place, unsure of what to do next when an opportunity presented itself. Following almost directly behind the old woman came two younger men, one tall and the other short. The shorter one had been balding for some time and a pair of wire-framed glasses sat awkwardly on his nose. The taller man had dark, thick hair, with a strong jaw line and a muscular frame that would tell the casual observer not to mess with him.

As they joined the old woman, the two men had been arguing back and forth, causing enough commotion for the old woman to turn around and glare at them, waving her gun at the same time. “Will you two shut up?!! Stop acting like sissies!!” Whipping back around, she pointed the gun at Sam and Jack again, who had been on the verge of moving. “We have some of those meddling kids to deal with!”

The tall man whipped out a second gun and pointed it at them as well, giving them a twisted smile. But as he did this, the shorter man pulled out his gun and in mid-stream knocked his arm into the other gun, causing the tall man to lose hold of it. As it dropped to the ground, the impact forced a round out of the barrel. The sound of the gun going off had them all quickly ducking as the bullet zoomed around the room, pinging off a rock before finally settling into the wall not far from where the three strangers were.

Sam and Jack, who had dropped to the ground and covered their heads, looked up just in time to see a fight ensue.

The tall man yelled out first. “Francis you moron…why can’t you watch what you’re doing?!!”

Francis yelled back his rebuttal. “Well, Jake, if you weren’t always in my way, maybe we’d actually get something right! It’s not my fault you’re such a big ogar!!!”

At that comment, Jake brought his fist up and punched the man in the side of the left cheek. Running up against the closest wall, Francis held his jaw for a moment before charging back. The two men collided and tumbled to the ground, amazingly showing no concerning for the large hole they were rolling closer to.

The old woman, who had been watching Sam and Jack with an evil eye, turned around and started hitting the two men with her gun. “Oh you idiots!! Get up…stop fighting!! You’re going to let them get away!”

Sam and Jack took that as their cue to leave. Getting to their feet quickly, they both made their way over the short bridge and into the other room. The people behind them would have to carefully walk all the way around the ledge in order to get to them, so they knew they had a chance to escape.

Entering the room first, Jack stepped down, but instead of meeting dry ground, he found himself in water up to his calves. Sam splashed in right after him and they stood there looking at a room that was obviously more of a channel for whatever water source flowed through the cave. There appeared to be only one way out, and that was the same direction the water was going.

Sam looked over at Jack. “Who are those people? And what do they want from us?”

Jack shook his head. “Beats me…but their guns are motivation enough for me to leave without asking questions.” Jack could hear the trio still arguing, but their voices were getting closer, and he knew they couldn’t stay there. “I guess we go where the water goes.” They both looked at the rounded-out opening into which water was steadily moving into. Jack looked over at Sam. “Um…ladies first.”

Sam put her hands on her hips. “What happened to your bravery?”

Jack grinned at her. “Don’t worry…it’s still there. I’m just going second to shield you from any stray bullets that may fly our way.”

Sam gave him a fake smile. “How thoughtful!” Looking over at their means of escape, she took a breath. “Okay…here goes.”

Jack grabbed onto her hand as she passed him. “Hey, I’ll be right behind you.” Giving it a small squeeze, he was relieved to feel an equal pressure returned to him.

Sam smiled back. “You’d better be. Alright…I’ll see you down there…wherever there is.” Sitting down on the edge, she pushed off the slick rock surface beneath her and let the water take her. Not expecting a drop, she went spiraling down, screaming all the way. As the water continued to whip her down to an unknown location, she could hear Jack’s screams echoing her own. In her mind, she felt like she was in an enclosed tube at a water park. Crossing her arms over her chest, she found it became easier on her body, but only increased her speed. And it was dark, with only brief moments of light streaming in from some unknown light source, showing her a tunnel that was dotted with algae and other plant vegetation.

It felt like they would go forever when suddenly out of nowhere, the end of their water ride appeared in the form of growing light. Without warning, Sam was shot out of the tunnel like a cannonball, splashing down in a body of water about four feet below the hole she came from. Coughing and sputtering, she surfaced just as Jack came shooting out of a neighboring hole that was next to the one she had been in. Moments later, he surfaced as well, and after taking the time to catch his breath, he moved over to where Sam was treading water.

“Whew! That was a ride and a half! You okay?” Jack was grinning wildly, obviously having enjoyed the adrenaline rush.

Sam ran a hand over her hair to slick it back from her face. “A little on the wet side, but I guess I’ll live.” They were now in a large cave with high ceilings; rock formations jutted out all around them, and the center of the cave was open, which contained the body of water. But what caught Sam and Jack’s breath was when their eyes landed on something they would have never expected to see: a pirate ship.

It was anchored in the center of the cave and was apparently extremely old. The masts appeared to have rotted with age, and the sails were now a torn and thready version of what must have been once a majestic site in the wind and the setting sun. Cobwebs could be seen strung all over different parts of the ship, and a fine layer of dirt had settled comfortably on all its surfaces.

Sam and Jack looked over at each other. “Well there’s something you don’t see everyday,” Jack said, unsure of what to do next. Their little adventure kept getting more unpredictable by the minute.

Sam wiped at a drip of water running down the side of her face. Looking over at Jack, she suddenly had a light in her eyes and a smile on her face. “It’s amazing! We have to go check it out. The ship is living history!”

Jack nodded. “Well, you can look at it as history and I’ll look at it as a great place to explore!” Looking over at Sam, he gave her a half smile. “Come on, I’ll race ya!” Taking off into a freestyle stroke, Sam picked up right behind him, staying close but never overtaking his lead.

When they reached the hull of the ship, Jack stopped swimming took hold of the rope ladder leading up to the deck. Looking over at Sam, who joined him, he tipped his hand to her as he caught his breath. “Good effort, Sam, but I do believe I beat you.”

Sam gave him a soft smile. “So you did, but I believe you got a head start, so I think it’s only fair to call it a draw and try next time.” Seeing Jack’s slight frown, she laughed. “I’m only kidding! I may need to tutor you from time to time in your studies, but you’ve definitely got the upper hand when it comes to athletics…so you win.”

Jack gave her a coy smile. “So what do I win?”

Shaking her head, Sam replied. “Now that’s your fault. I guess you should have set up those rules first! Who knows what you could have won.” Batting her eyes at him, she smiled and started climbing up the ladder.

Jack watched her climb, and when there was enough space, he started up after her, mentally kicking himself as he went.

Reaching the top deck, they both stood there for a moment catching their breath and taking in their surroundings. The ship was wearing its age for all to see, and as they moved forward, they were careful where they stepped because they could see a variety of visibly rotten wood dotting the flooring around them.

“Wow! This is amazing,” Sam said as she moved forward with the deck creaking beneath her feet. “I never thought I’d find myself on an actual pirate ship!” Looking up to the mast, she could still make out the white skull and crossbones on the faded and torn black flag that had always been used to identify a ship such as this one. Looking over at Jack to see if he shared her same enthusiasm, she was surprised to find him looking perplexed. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Jack looked over at her and then shook his head. “Nothing really…it’s just that this all looks really familiar for some reason.”

Sam smiled at him. “So you go on these little adventures often then, huh?”

Jack relaxed his face. “Hardly…about the most adventure I ever get is detention hall on Saturdays.”

“Well,” Sam said, “maybe you can change the busy schedule you keep for Saturdays…there’s more to life than just spending time staring at a chalk board.”

Jack gave her a half smile. “Are you offering up possibilities?”

Sam just laughed. “Come on, Romeo. Let’s go explore this piece of history before we’re whisked away to someplace else.”

“After you, Juliet,” Jack said with a light in his eyes.

Just then, something banged against the deck just inside the closest ship enclosure. Looking at each other, they moved carefully forward, with Jack taking the lead. A narrow but tall door framed an entrance for them, and as Jack reached for the handle, it suddenly swung open of its own accord.

Entering the room cautiously, they allowed their eyes to adjust to the darker interior. Once they could start making sense out the shapes of objects around them, Jack began scanning the room and stopped midway when his eyes connected with that of someone who wasn’t Sam. A young boy was kneeling next to a skeleton that sat in a chair, wearing a pirate’s hat and an eye patch over its left eye.

The boy jumped up in surprise. “Who are you?!” Having problems catching his breath, he whipped out an inhaler, shook it a few times and took a puff. The boy was shorter than Jack and obviously a few years younger, with short brown hair and a guarded face.

Suddenly, it dawned on Jack why everything looked so familiar. “Hey! I know you…you’re Mikey, right?”

The boy looked as surprised as Sam did. “Yeah, but how do you know that?”

Just then, a deeper, more masculine voice sounded in the room. “Hey, Mikey, who’s this?”

Jack looked over and watched the approach of a tall man, followed by two girls and two other boys. The one Jack had addressed as Mikey answered. “I don’t know, Brand. They just showed up.” Pointing at Jack, he continued. “But he somehow knows my name.”

Jack smiled proudly. “You guys are the Goonies!” Looking over at Sam, he could see she still didn’t know what he was talking about, which didn’t surprise him at all. They were from a movie that she more than likely had never seen since it wasn’t something he couldn’t see her watching.

Another voice spoke up. “How do you know that?”

Jack looked back at the group. The one he knew as Mouth had spoken. “Because I’ve seen the movie a half dozen times…you’re Mouth, that’s Brand, she’s Andy, he’s Data, she’s Stef, and of course you’re Mikey.”

“We’re in a movie?” Data, the young Japanese kid said with amazement.

Brand just shook his head. “This guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Come on, how do you really know us?”

Jack waved him off. “It doesn’t really matter…but what does matter is that now I know we’re dreaming!”

Sam, who had been quiet until now, looked over at Jack. “Are you sure? I’m mean, I believe you about the movie bit, even if I’ve never seen it, but how can we be for sure? As far as I knew, we were walking through the woods and just fell down that hole that started this whole mess.”

Jack shrugged. “Well, I guess I really can’t say for sure.”

Mouth broke into their conversation. “Look. All you need to know is that we were the ones who found this ship and the rich stuff….so hands off.”

“Chill out, Mouth,” Brand said, “There’s plenty to go around.”

Jack spoke up. “Not if the Fratelli’s get here.” Looking over at Sam, who was taking it all in surprisingly well, he continued. “Those were the people who we ran into, or rather, ran into us.”

“You saw them,” Mikey said in a voice that had yet to reach puberty.

Sam finally joined the conversation. “Yeah, and I would bet their not too far behind.”

Andy, who had been quiet until now, suddenly spoke up nervously. “Well let’s get what we need and go. They’re not exactly the kind of people you want hanging around.”

When everyone continued to stand there, Mikey spoke up. “You heard her; let’s get going!”

Sam and Jack stood back and watched as the Goonies went to work on gathering up what they had been searching for. After a few minutes, they had started up a discussion on how to lose the Fratelli’s when a low moan suddenly echoed through the bowels of ship, causing all of them to stop dead in their tracks and listen as their hearts pounded in their ears.

“What was that?!” Data said with audible fear in his voice.

As if answering his question, another moan resounded, this time louder than the last, along with a laugh that chilled them all to their bones. Then, without warning, the skeletal form that represented One-Eyed Willie, the pirate who had captained the ship, suddenly jolted to life and stood up from the chair he’d been seated in. Dust from the passing years and from decomposing bone flew everywhere, casting a white haze in the air.

Everyone screamed and backed away from the skeleton. Pocketing what they had already gathered, they made a beeline for the door leading out of the cabin. With the Goonies having been closer to their escape, Sam and Jack followed on the heels of Brand, who had pushed his friends out ahead of him. With the skeleton making its way towards them, they tried to move faster, skirting around things on the floor that had been dropped there during the ensuing chaos.

But only a few feet from the door, Sam’s toe tripped over something, and she went down hard on her hands and knees. Knowing the skeleton had not been far behind them, she whipped around and screamed as it now stood over her. With a movement not thought possible of such a long-since deceased form, it reached down and took hold of one of her wrists with lightning speed.

Jack, who had heard a thump on the ground behind him, turned around in time to see the skeleton reach out and take a firm grip on Sam, who was now sitting on the floor. “Hey! Let go of her!!” Jack closed in the distance between himself and Sam in the blink of an eye and attempted to knock the skeleton away from her by throwing a punch. But the only thing that resulted was a throbbing hand. The skeleton then took one of his own bony hands and placed it squarely on Jack’s chest, holding him back.

As Jack struggled to get at the supernatural creature, he yelled out again as it pulled Sam up closer to its face. “Let her GO!!”

One-Eyed Willie, or at least what was left of him, ignored the struggles and outcries that Jack was giving off. Pulling Sam up until her wide blue eyes met the hollowed out shapes where his eyes used to be, he spoke up in a haunting tone that both Sam and Jack could hear. “Beware, Samantha….beware of Grace!”

Leaving only a moment between them, the skeleton suddenly and ungracefully let go of Sam, allowing her to fall back to the ground with a loud thump. Pushing Jack away, he stood up to his full height and just stared at both of them. Jack, immediately recovering his senses, moved over to Sam and quickly hooked his arms under hers, pulling her to her feet. Drawing her to him, they both stepped back together as the skeleton continued to watch them with an eerie expression.

Sam, beginning to clear out the fear in her heart long enough to think, spoke up in a shaky voice. “What do you mean…who’s Grace? What’s going to happen? How do you know my name?!”

The skeleton just moved its head slowly from side to side, indicating that he was going to give her nothing more. Jack squeezed her arms gently. “Sam, let’s just get out of here. He’s not going to tell us anything more…besides this has to be a dream, right? After all, the Goonies are fictional characters.”

But as the skeleton continued to stare at them in silence, the unsettling feeling in the pit of their stomachs only grew. Something in the way he kept looking at them created doubts in their mind about everything being just a dream.

As they both took another step back, the floor beneath them suddenly gave way, and without any warning, they both fell through the floorboards screaming in terror. But instead of impacting the bottom of the ship as they expected to have, the bowels of the ship seemed to disappear, and before they knew it, their bodies plunged into water that was as black as night.

Moments later after fighting their way to the surface, Sam and Jack emerged from beneath the water line, coughing, sputtering and gasping for air. As their vision cleared and their minds found the point of rational thought, they looked around them to discover that they were now in a totally different place from where they had just been…this time it wasn’t in a darkened cave with an old pirate ship looming above them.

As they looked around, they found that they were in a large, circular structure almost similar to a pool that contained water as clear as a white diamond. In the center was an almost fountain-like structure from which water was trickling from, and floating around them in fluffy clumps were bubbles that sparkled off the light coming from high windows in the room.

Jack got his feet underneath him and made his way over to Sam. “Hey…you okay?” Without even asking, he drew her into an embrace and held her close as they continued to take in their surroundings.

Sam nodded stiffly. “I guess so. I’m still a little freaked out over that skeleton and what he said.”

Jack hugged her a little tighter. “I know. It’s going to be okay. We’ll figure it all out…I promise.” Drawing her back, he looked into her eyes and smiled, hoping to reassure her. “We’re going to figure this stuff out together.”

As Sam gazed back into his brown eyes, she felt truly warm and safe for one of the first times since this craziness had begun. She wasn’t sure why she trusted him so completely, or why she felt her heart telling her this boy before her was going to become her whole world. She had only just met him, but yet it felt like they’d known each other their whole lives. Smiling up at him, she gave him a soft nod. “Together.” Sighing contently, she drew back into his embrace and looked up at the high ceilings and porcelain walls. “So where do you think we are now?”

A voice not Jack’s answered her in high, wispy tones. “Why, you’re in the prefix bathroom of course!” The voice giggled with an odd delight as it seemed to float all around them.

Sam and Jack looked around them in all directions trying to place the voice when suddenly a girl with long, straight brown hair that had been pulled back into pigtails popped out in front of them from beneath the waterline. She was plainly featured, with glasses that framed her face into almost a square shape. But there was one feature that stood out more than all the rest…and that was that they could see right through her.

Not waiting for Sam and Jack to respond, she gave them a coy smile. “Hello. I’m Moaning Myrtle.” Her voice was so high-pitched, it almost hurt their ears when she giggled. Taking only a sidelong look at Sam, who was still standing right next to Jack, she set her gaze on Jack’s as she moved in next to him on the other side. “Umm…you must be Jack.” Laying her ghostly head on his shoulder, she looked up at him from beneath her lashes. “You want me to give you a tour? I could hold your hand.” At this she giggled again nervously.

Jack tried to politely shrink away from her, moving closer to Sam as he put an arm behind her back. “Um, how did we get here exactly?”

Myrtle gave him a slightly pouting face. “I don’t know,” she said, and then brightening her expression, continued. “But I’m glad you’re here. It gets so lonely in here when there’s no one to talk to.”

Sam finally spoke up. “How do you know his name?”

Myrtle barely looked at her but answered her question anyway. “Well, I really can’t say…after all, you’re the ones who appeared in my bathroom.” Giving Jack a sweet smile, she looked him over before continuing. “Poor baby, you’re all wet. Don’t you want to get out of those wet clothes? You don’t want to catch your death of cold.”

Jack wasn’t quite sure how to respond, but didn’t have to answer her as another boy suddenly appeared at the edge of the bath they were in. “Myrtle! I think I can take it from here, thank you.” The boy had a slender frame with long legs and arms, and a thin face that was framed with wire-rimmed glasses. He had a mop of dark brown hair that appeared to have been combed through with his fingers instead of a comb.

Myrtle immediately brightened up. “Harry!” Floating away from Jack, she transferred her doe-eyed expression to the boy now before them. “Where have you been,” she said in a whinny tone, “I haven’t seen you in days!”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Myrtle, you know I’ve been busy.”

The ghost girl then changed her expression from whimsical and carefree to angry and upset. “To busy to see me?! I thought you liked me…but I guess I was wrong!” With a high pitched wail that echoed all around them and forced everyone to plug their ears, the girl flew off through a wall, emerged on the other side and entered a bathroom stall, where she slammed the door shut.

The boy flinched as she did this and looked over in her direction. They could hear a low, sobbing cry coming from where she had gone. Sighing, Harry spoke up in a soft, tolerant tone. “Myrtle, you know I like you….please stop crying.”

Sniffles gradually overtook the crying. When the air around them became silent once more, the boy turned his attentions back to Sam and Jack. “Sorry about that…she tends to get carried away sometimes.” Taking a breath, he gave them a kind, boyish smile. “I’m Harry. Harry Potter.”

Sam and Jack gave him a careful look. Not quite sure of what to say, Jack cleared his voice. “Well, I’m Jack and this is Sam,” he said hesitantly, “but then you probably already know that don’t you?”

Harry nodded. “I do.”

Jack raised his hand. “Now see, how is that possible?!”

Harry just motioned with his hands. “You might be more comfortable talking when you’re not so wet. If you want to step out of the water, I’ll assist you in getting dry.”

Deciding they would like to at least get out of the water before turning into prunes, Sam led the way and stepped out of the bath, with Jack close behind. Slicking her hair back, she wrung out the water from the ends of her hair and then tried to do the same thing with her clothes. Harry cleared his throat. “Um, if you’ll allow me…” Without waiting for an answer, he reached beneath the cloak he was wearing and pulled out what appeared to be a stick.

But as Jack and Sam soon found out, it was much more than a stick. After saying a few words that they couldn’t understand, let alone comprehend, he flicked the end of it. A small, bright light grew out from the end of it, and suddenly a wind from nowhere began whipping around them. Within what could have been no more than a few seconds, Sam and Jack found themselves completely dry once again.

“Wow!” Sam exclaimed as she ran her fingers through her hair. “That was amazing!”

Jack’s response was just as enthusiastic. “Nice! What is that thing…a magic wand or something?”

Harry gave him a shy smile. “You could say that. I’m a wizard, or at least a wizard in training. Welcome to Hogwarts, the school of witchcraft and wizardry.”

Sam and Jack looked at each other and then back at the boy before them. “Witchcraft and wizardry? How did we get here?” Sam asked, profoundly confused and desperately wanting some answers.

Harry hesitated. “Um, that answer is not something I can tell you.”

Jack could feel his previous frustrations suddenly begin to mount again. “So what’s with all the secrecy? I mean, none of this makes sense!” He knew he didn’t have a right to be getting an attitude with a boy he didn’t even know, but he just found it hard to contain his feelings.

Harry held up a hand. “I promise you everything will become clear in time. But only time will truly be able to give you the answers you’re seeking.” Taking a breath, he continued. “As for me, I’m just here to help you along to the next part of your journey. Some friends of mine are trying to find the right spell to take you there.”

Jack raised his brow. “I’m not so sure I’m comfortable with someone putting any spell on us.”

Harry tucked his wand away. “Oh, not to worry…it won’t do anything to you…just send you someplace else.”

“Yeah, see, that’s what I’m not so comfortable with.” Jack could see he was beginning to frustrate Harry, but he couldn’t help sharing his reservations. But then he also knew they’d already flown on the back of a strange but surprisingly friendly creature, walked through a major mirror, and met some of his movie icons, along with a dead, walking pirate. So a little spell should be the least of their worries, or at least that’s what he was trying to convince himself of as he stood there in a bathroom of a school for wizards and witches.

Jack was just about to point this out when two people coming through the door caught their attentions. “Ron, just let it be! Who spends more time in the library…me or you?” A slender young girl with a head full of reddish brown hair could be seen coming through the door, followed by a young boy about her same age, with straw red hair and a face that was pinched in frustration.

“Come on, Hermione, give me a break! You know that you spend more time there, but I still don’t think you have the right reference book! You should have at least considered the one I found.” The boy, Ron, had barely noticed where they were until he practically ran into Sam and Jack when Hermione stopped next to Harry. Looking up in surprise, he gave them both a good look and then turned his eyes on his two friends. “Golly! They’re really here!”

Hermione just rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Ron, why do you have to question everything I say?! Of course they’re here, and thanks to your blabbering, now we don’t have much time.”

Harry looked apologetically at Sam and Jack. Clearing his throat, he spoke up. “Um, these are the friends I was telling you about…this is Hermione, and that is Ron.”

Both Ron and Hermione gave them a quick smile before Hermione went back to glaring at Ron.

Jack nodded. “Yes, well, they instill my confidence! Sam…how ‘bout you?”

Sam just gave him a quick look and then looked back at their hosts with a smile. “Look, we really just want to find a way home. Can’t you just send us there instead of wherever it is you’re going to be sending us?” Knowing her parents now had to be beside themselves with worry, she decided it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

But Harry just shook his head. “Sorry, but that’s not up to us. We’re just giving you a little push in the right direction.”

Jack intervened. “Well who is it up to? Can we talk to them?”

But this time, Harry didn’t answer him. He suddenly looked up at nothing in particular and then looked back at his friends. “We have to hurry…time is almost up. Are you ready?”

Hermione nodded. “Ready.” She then pulled out a huge, old book with a layer of dust an inch thick from underneath her arm. Opening it up, she flipped through a few pages before coming to the one she wanted. Pointing, she spoke up. “There…Harry, Ron…each of you take an arm and we’ll say this together.”

As they opened their mouths to speak, Jack quickly yelled out. “Hang on! That’s it? No instructions, no warnings, no lessons to learn?”

Harry then looked up with a serious yet strangely sympathetic expression that chilled Jack to his bones. They boy’s eyes searched only his, seemingly looking for something in them that would give him an answer to a puzzling question. And then he spoke up, his voice soft but strong. “Jack, you must remember one thing: everything is not always as it appears to be.”

Without giving either Jack or Sam any time to contemplate what Harry had just said, the trio before them quickly spoke the words in unison from the book Hermione was holding. As they did, the world around them began to dissolve like watercolors being washed away from a canvas, and Sam and Jack once again found themselves in complete and total darkness.

Sam slowly opened her eyes to a world full of bright, beautiful light glowing all around her. Focusing her vision, she found herself staring up at a ceiling of white chiffon that was hanging above her. There was a light breeze floating through the room and it smelled fragrantly of lilac and fresh pine. The air tickled the hair around her face, and she brought her hand up to brush it away. Bringing her hand back down, her fingers brushed something next to her.

Looking over, she smiled with relief to find Jack sleeping peacefully next to her on a bed covered in a white down comforter. She wanted to just roll over onto her side and cuddle in close to him, but she didn’t want to overstep her bounds too quickly. She had a suspicion that he felt something for her beyond their new friendship, but she couldn’t be sure.

Sitting up carefully, she looked around a room that had been decorated with simple items: a vase of wildflowers, a plain stone table with a wicker chair, and a clay washbasin that had been painted in blue and white patterns that were pleasing to the eye. The windows in the room were huge and open, allowing for the occasional leaf to float in and find a resting place temporarily on the floor before being picked up again by the breeze.

Looking back down at Jack, she placed her hand gently on his shoulder and lightly shook it. “Jack,” she said in a soft tone, “wake up.”

At the feel of her warm touch, Jack awoke to a pair of beautiful blue eyes looking down at him. Giving her a smile, he sat up next to her and looked around briefly. Between the wonderful light, the fragrant air, and the peace that seemed to have settled in all around them, everything seemed almost magical; and for the first time since their crazy adventure had begun, he felt no fear.

He looked over at Sam, whose skin seemed to be practically glowing. Her long blond hair was flowing freely around her shoulders, sparkling in the light that was coming from the windows. And as he continued to gaze into her eyes, the moment suddenly seemed to become molded just for them. With his heart racing faster than he could ever imagine it doing, he took her hand in his and moved his head in closer to hers.

Sam could feel the heat radiating from the skin of his hand, and the gentle pressure of his fingers felt wonderful. As she stared into Jack’s chocolate brown eyes, her heart began to sing a tune as she realized he was about to kiss her. Closing her eyes, she felt the first touch of his lips on hers and it sent an indescribable thrill throughout her body. His kiss was light and gentle, but caressing at the same time, and it lasted long enough to where she had to quickly draw breath once it was over.

Jack was astounded at how different that kiss made him feel from any other kiss he’d ever had with a girl. It was surreal, as if they were floating on air, and he was convinced that his heart was going to burst from how much it seemed to have swelled since kissing her. And at that moment he knew that he would never experience anything close to what was going through his heart unless it was with her. But what caught the breath in his throat was that he knew with an unwavering certainty that he loved her.

Sam looked down at their intertwined hands and prayed that the natural blush on her cheeks wasn’t too red. When she felt a gentle finger under her chin, Sam looked up at Jack through long eyelashes and smiled. “That was…wonderful.” Her voice was soft but steady, and she found herself hoping that his thoughts were the same as hers.

Jack stared at her a moment longer, running his index finger over her cheek. “Yes, it was.” Mesmerized by the moment, he decided to dig out the courage to say the next thing on his mind. “Samantha, I hope you know how beautiful you are.”

Sam, completely flattered and also a little embarrassed by it, managed a few words. “Thank you. You’re rather handsome yourself.” With nerves getting the best of her, she suddenly started giggling. Smiling wildly at him, she apologized. “I’m sorry…I guess I’m just not use to…any of this.” Lowering her voice, she went on. “And I’ve never been kissed before.”

Jack, astonished, shook his head and grinned. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t tell me that before I kissed you!” They both laughed and squeezed each other’s hands. After a few minutes more, Jack decided they’d better figure out where they were at.

Getting up off the bed, he went over to the window, only to be joined by Sam a minute later, who slipped her hand into his and placed her head on his shoulder. The scene before them was like something out of a dream. The landscape was majestic, with beautiful dwellings and structures of a city built right into the hillside of a deep and protective valley. Everywhere they looked they saw something of beauty: lush, green trees, spiraling vines that had wrapped themselves protectively around part of the buildings, brilliantly colored flowers in all hues, birds singing freely in the trees, and halfway down the valley flowed a misty waterfall, filling the river below it in a sparkling display. Everything seemed so peaceful…as if nothing bad could ever touch this place.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Sam and Jack both whipped around at the sound of the unknown voice. Before them stood a tall and slender man, with long, dark hair that went halfway down his back. His face was hard in appearance, with a firm, set mouth, but eyes that though darker than his hair, seemed both kind yet unwelcoming. But the one feature that they both saw was the point on the back of each ear. He was dressed in robes spun of a beautiful maroon velvet, with ornate stitching on the sides of each sleeve, along with the front where it buttoned. And crowning his forehead was unique headband made of silver in an intricate design.

Seeing that the two before him were at a loss for words, the man spoke up again in a soft tone. “Welcome to Rivendell, young Samantha and Jack. I am Elrond, Half-elven lord and master of this place.” Bowing before them, he looked back up at them and waited for a response.

Not quite sure what to say, Jack hesitantly spoke up. “Elven? As in elves? Like…the Keebler Elves?”

Elrond just looked at him. Sam smacked Jack lightly on the arm. “Jack,” she said, keeping her voice low, “don’t offend the man! Does he look like a Keebler Elf to you?”

Clearing his throat, Elrond took a step forward. “I’m not sure of what elves you speak of, Jack, but I can assure you, there are none of those here.” His tone was one of no nonsense, and Sam and Jack weren’t quite sure what to say next. Sensing this, Elrond attempted a short, stiff smile. “If you’ll follow me, I should like to explain a little of why you are here.”

Not really seeing any other choice, and with curiosity getting the better of them, they made their way across the room. Once they were standing in front of Elrond, they suddenly had an overwhelming sense of his power and importance. Humbled, Jack ran a hand through his hair. “Um, sorry if I offended you with that crack about the Keebler Elves…it’s a bad habit of mine…being sarcastic.”

Elrond simply raised his eyebrows at Jack’s comment. “Please…follow me.”

Doing as he asked, Sam and Jack left the room they’d woken up in and followed Elrond outside into the beautiful day. The air was warm but the breeze was cool, and the sun was shining high above their heads, its rays soaking into their skin in a welcoming warmth. As they walked in silence, Sam and Jack suddenly realized that the utter peace around them was due in part to the utter silence of the city. No one else could be seen, and Jack was just about to inquire about this when they came to a building that Elrond stopped in front of.

Turning around, he looked down at both of them. “I’m sure you both have a lot of questions concerning the adventures you’ve been on so far.”

Jack and Sam both gave him a hopeful look. “You could say that,” Jack said.

Elrond went on, keeping his face stone serious. “What you have been experiencing thus far has been a dream.”

Jack gave Sam a knowing smile. “See…I knew it was too weird to be anything but a dream.”

Sam gave him a small smile. Leaning over towards him, she put an index finger to her lips. “Shhh…I don’t think he’s finished.”

Elrond waited until he had both of their attentions again. “But though it may be a dream, it also has real implications for your future.” Turning around, he proceeded forward into the building, indicating with a flick of his finger for them to follow him.

Sam and Jack went inside and found themselves in a room that was basically a library, except that it was incredibly beautiful. Books lined shelves from floor to ceiling from one end of the room to the other, and there were beautiful sculptures and ornate decorations that made this room almost the opposite of where they had just come from. Hand-woven rungs spun in various colors lined the floor where they walked, giving just enough color to the room to make it beautiful.

They followed Elrond in silence, gawking at everything around them. Reaching the end of the room, they then moved into another room that was much less formal and apparently a place for comfort. Ornate benches lined several walls, fitted with red velvet cushions. Elrond indicated for them to sit; they did so without question.

With his hands behind his back, Elrond paced back and forth before them for a moment before finally turning and facing them. “I cannot tell you your future, nor can I tell you what part of this journey applies to it. But what I can do is give each of you a gift, a gift that will hopefully help to guide the future that awaits you.”

Sam looked up at him with innocent eyes. “But why give this gift to us, Sir? Is our future so bad that you hope to steer us away from it?”

Elrond gave her a sympathetic look. “What awaits your future, child, is out of my hands. It will happen regardless of anything I tell you. I only hope to give you a bit of hope for your journey ahead.” Taking a breath, he continued. “Rather you realize it or not, this shall we say ‘dream’ has already hinted of your future in several ways…you have only but to recognize those elements.”

Sam looked over at Jack with concern and confusion. Jack took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He suddenly felt very protective of Sam and could see that what this man was saying was scaring her. Looking up at Elrond, Jack took a breath and gave him the bravest face he could muster. “Look, Elrond, no offense, but the cryptic speech is getting a little creepy. Can’t you just tell us what we need to know so we can do our best to avoid it?”

Elrond just looked at him. “I am sorry, young Jack, but what the future holds for both you and Samantha has already been decided. It is now up to you to rather use the gifts we give you, or move past this moment as if nothing ever happened.”

Jack didn’t like the feeling he was getting in his gut, as if there was something in the way Elrond was speaking that put fear into his heart that he couldn’t shake. But unable to look back now and forget, Jack nodded. “Alright…what is it you have to give us?”

Elrond moved closer and stood in front of Jack, towering above him in a regal display of elegance and power. “My gift is for you, Jack. It would be wise for you to remember it…keep the images close to your heart, for one day, they may just prove to be they very key to your future.”

Slowly but decisively, Elrond placed his hands on either side of Jack’s head and closed his eyes. Jack at first felt nothing more then the steady pressure of the man’s hands on his head; but then a vision grew in his mind, and his eyes involuntarily shut, closing out the rest of his surroundings except for what he was seeing in his mind’s eye.

There were slow flashes of three specific scenes: a great planet, covered in an atmospheric condition not unlike that of Earth; a field glowing golden in the sun, with grasses that flowed in a steady breeze, lining the banks of a crystal clear steam that wound its way quietly through the center of the land; and finally a great and towering waterfall: the rocks beneath the waterline at the very top of the cascading display had created a perfect spiral in the center of the flowing water, making it not only beautiful but incredibly unique.

When Jack’s mind went dark, he felt Elrond’s hands release his head and he opened his eyes. Before Jack had a chance to speak or question, Elrond injected his voice. “Do not question nor ask me for answers I cannot give you. Simply remember what you have seen…for it will possible save your life one day, or that of someone else’s.”

Sam, who had been studying Jack’s face throughout what had just happened, spoke up. “So, what did you see?”

Jack just shook his head. “I wish I could tell you, but the images seem to be fading from my mind.” They both then looked up at Elrond for an explanation.

Elrond brought his hands together in front of his chest. “What gift was given to you is only for you, and though the images and memory of them fade from your mind for now, in time, when they are needed, you will remember.” Looking over at Sam, he bowed slightly before her. “For your gift, my dear Samantha, I present my daughter, Arwen. Your gift is not mine to give.”

As if she had been waiting unseen in the shadows around them, a woman appeared before them dressed in an elaborately designed white gown that almost glowed as she moved. Her hair was jet black and long down her back, shimmering in the sunlight that was filtering though the windows. And around her neck hung a necklace that seemed to contain life itself; it was uniquely shaped into something close to the figure of an angel, and set with white sparkling diamonds in the center of it. Elrond’s daughter was beautiful, and unlike her father’s hard features, her face was soft and her eyes kind and gentle.

Sam and Jack just starred up at her as she approached as if she were a vision from a distant dream. They watched her as she stopped in front of Sam and then reached down and took her hands. Her smile was warm and her eyes sparkled as she began to speak. “Samantha,” she said in a soft, loving voice, “both you and Jack are destined for greatness. But as life often dictates, tragedy and heartache must be yours to bear as well. Now while I cannot show you what your life will hold more of, I can give you a light to carry in your heart when you find yourself in dark places, with no apparent way out.”

Releasing one of Sam’s hands, Arwen reached up and touched the necklace that she wore. “This is the Evenstar. It represents beauty, hope, and most of all, enduring love. A portion of it’s life and light I now give to you to carry on your journey, wherever it may lead you.”

Sam was so enraptured by what she was saying that she almost forgot to breath. Without words to say, she watched as Arwen took both of Sam’s hands in her own, knelt down, and gently placed Sam’s fingertips on the Evenstar itself. Without realizing it, Sam closed her eyes, and she sat perfectly still, her mind and soul a blank canvas as beautiful music suddenly spun its chords throughout her heart:

May it be

An evening star

Shines down

Upon you

May it be

When darkness falls

Your heart

Will be true

You walk a lonely road

Oh how far you are from home

Mornie` Utulie` (Darkness has come)

Believe and you

Will find your way

Mornie` Alantie` (Darkness has fallen)

A promise lives

Within you now

May it be

The shadow’s call

Will fly away

May it be

You journey on

To light the day

When the night is overcome

You may rise

To find the sun

Mornie` Utulie` (Darkness has come)

Believe and you

Will find your way

Mornie` Alantie` (Darkness has fallen)

A promise lives

Within you now

A promise lives

Within you now….

A bright light suddenly encompassed Sam and Jack, blinding them from seeing anything but a bright white. A wave of emotions from what they had just experienced rolled through them, and suddenly it felt as if they couldn’t breathe….

Sam and Jack sat up in bed practically at the same moment, both breathing heavily and sweating profusely. It was still dark in Jack’s bedroom, indicating that the dawn had yet to come. Gripping the sides of his head where a dull ache was forming, Jack ran his hands over his face and then looked over at Sam, searching her out in the darkness.

“Hey,” he said, his voice still rough from sleep, “you okay?” He reached out and found her, instinctively wrapping his arms around her. “God, Sam, you’re shaking like a leaf!” Holding her tighter, he stroked the back of her hair gently with his hand as she leaned into his chest.

Sam was doing her best to collect her thoughts, but the headache she had was almost overwhelming. “I don’t know,” she said into his chest, holding him tighter. “I don’t know what I was just dreaming, but it really scared me!”

Jack kissed the top of her head. “Well, we must have been having similar dreams because something sure scared the hell out of me too. And the headache isn’t helping.”

Sam pulled back from him and looked at the outline of his face that she could now make out in the faint light coming from the windows. “I’ve got a headache too. Do you think that’s a coincidence? “

Jack mulled over her question for a moment, but he knew what his gut was telling him. “Not really…and that’s the scary part.”

Shaking her head, Sam laid back down on the bed and was relieved when Jack did the same thing. Spooning her to him, she held onto his arms and took in the warmth of his body as a soothing balm to her troubled soul. She had elected to spend the night at his house since it had been at least a week since they’d had any time alone together. Desperate for each other, they’d left the base and met at his house. The evening had been just what they’d needed, and after what they had just apparently dreamed, she was incredibly happy that she was now wrapped up in his arms instead of being alone in her bed on the base.

For the rest of the night they did nothing else but hold onto each other, unable to close their eyes for at least an hour until sleep finally claimed them once again. But this time it was void of dreams, leaving their hearts and souls time to rest more peacefully.

High above the Earth, nestled among the stars of the heavens in his flagship, Thor found himself wondering if he’d done the right thing. But knowing the hand of time could not be turned back, he moved over to his consol and pulled his ship away from the Earth, jumping it into hyperspace only moments later.

Special Copyright: The original characters, places, and storylines not belonging to the author of this fiction are the property of the production companies, writers, and its subsidiaries. This copyright is inclusive to the following movies/books: “The Neverending Story”, “The Goonies”, “Harry Potter (et all)”, and “The Lord of the Rings (et all)”. No infringement on copyrights or trademarks from these movies/books was intended.

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