“When I, the part that is me, Lysette, died, it collapsed the paradox, and created a new one, one where there was only one version of me, my Melissa alter ego, still with one soul, but now existing in two places at once; one, outside time, and the other, unknowingly, inside Melissa, waiting for the time that I had created to be right, that would bring her here, where you could touch the stars and release me. That was the price I agreed to pay; part of the agreement was that only you could bring me back; if she had never met you, if she had never come here, if you had never touched the stars, Melissa would have remained Melissa, with a life and future all of her own.”
Mike stirred.
“Agreement with who… Lissa, if that’s who you are? How do I know I’m not strapped to a hospital bed somewhere, drugged to the eyeballs and that this isn’t just a psychotic fantasy?”
Lissa stared levelly at him until he turned away.
“Just for the sake of argument, let’s assume I’m not insane, and this is really happening. Who did you bargain with? God? The Devil? The Grim Reaper? Shazam? Who, Lissa?”
Lissa smiled as she nodded slightly, as if glad he’d asked the question.
“I don’t know, Mikey; not God, I think; somehow I don’t think the King of the Universe goes and hunts around for a wrench when he gets the equivalent of a leaky toilet; one of his people takes care of it, I think; he may see the fall of every sparrow; I don’t think he actually feels compelled to anything about it every time it happens. In my case, there was obviously a higher plan, so I was offered this chance, and only this once, to get it right.”
“So who made you this offer?” he persisted, and Lissa grinned.
“Well, Mikey, I really don’t know; the potential for the deal was suddenly there, and then suddenly it had always been there; somehow I knew what to do, I always had, like the deal had always existed, just waiting for me to show up, and I knew what to do to make it all fall into place; if I’d been breaking any rules, I think something might have showed-up to put a stop to it, so yes, sanction came from somewhere higher up, of that I’m sure.”
She giggled, that same, throaty chuckle that had always made the short hairs on his neck stand on end.
“I took care of both of you, did you know that? I had to make sure that Melissa would live, that no harm would come to her, to keep gently nudging her so that she could be here today; I had to watch over you, Michael-boy, and I had to keep an eye on her, and one on me too, as I grew up. Believe me, I’ve been busy this last year; a year has passed for you, but I’ve been around for two parallel lifetimes, making sure nothing happened to Melissa, you, or me to make sure we all got to this point!”
Lissa leaned back slightly and rested her hands on his shoulders.
“Mikey, I have loved you every day of my life. Now I know why. I was born to ensure that you would be happy and safe every day of your life; I have died and seen what the future holds for us, and I know now that love does endure beyond death, and it will overcome death if it has reason to. That I did, and so I’m back with you, where I was destined to be. Will you love me again, Michael-Fionn Cormac Sheridan?”
Mike tried to answer, but his mouth could only work as the swelling in his breast locked the words in his throat. His arms encircled her, dragging her against him as a storm of harsh, braying sobs burst from him, all the rage and pain, despair and need finally venting, finally releasing him. Lissa clung to him as he cried out all his loss and grief.
“Mike…” she whispered as he crushed her against him, one hand buried in her hair as his other held her tightly, deep, shuddering sobs wracking him.
“I lost you, I lost you, I needed you so much, and you were gone, I wanted to die too…” he sobbed, and all she could do was stroke his hair as his long-held grief poured out of him.
“Ssshh Mikey, it’s all over now, I’m here Mikey-boy, I’m back, and I’m never leaving you again, I promise!” she breathed as she stroked and caressed his hair, his face, the small of his back where her arms encircled him. “I’m never leaving you, not for one second, that I promise you, Mikey!”
They remained motionless for long seconds, Lissa holding him tightly as tremors shook him, growing less with every minute as catharsis set in, her caresses becoming gentle kisses on his cheeks, his neck, and on his lips.
As his paroxysm of grief calmed, Mike became aware of another feeling altogether; it had been a year since Lissa’s death, and he’d had no intimate contact of any sort since that day, nor any wish for it, but now, as he cuddled her on his lap, he could feel the stirrings of another sort of need. Lissa felt it too, squirming happily in that way she’d always had.
“Feels like you finally believe me, Mikey-boy!” she grinned, and Mike, on a sudden impulse, pulled her close, his lips finding hers as his tongue rubbed gently against her tongue. As they kissed, Mike could feel that old frisson, the subtle tells from her kiss that gave her identity away. My God, he thought, it really is her; somehow, it really is her!
Lissa broke their kiss to smile at him once again, watching him as all the barriers he’d erected finally crumbled. She scrambled to her feet and held her hand out to him, grinning all the while.
“Come with me, Mikey, there’s something I want to do,” she whispered, once more tugging him to his feet. He looked quizzically at her and she grinned her old, mischievous grin.
“Race you to the bedroom!” she taunted, grinning as Mike once more smiled at her challenge, one he’d heard so many times before. As he too scrambled to his feet, he glimpsed her in the mirror; the brunette was gone, and only Lissa was there next to him. He quirked an eyebrow at her, and smiled as she reached up to lightly pinch his chin.
“Where is she…?” he began, and Lissa’s smile broadened.
“She’s still there, Mikey; the rest of the world can see her; all they’ll ever see is her; only you will ever see me as I truly am. It has to be this way; Lissa Sheridan is dead, so it might raise a few eyebrows for her to be seen wandering around Newbury with you, don’cha think? To you, I’ll always be me; the rest of the world will see Melissa, and hear her voice. This is also part of the price, and I think I can live with it. Now come with me; we have one more fence to mend.”
Mike still held back, staring in the mirror.
“So what about her? Really? What about who she was, her family? Is she still anywhere at all, or did you just swamp her and take her over?”
Lissa held his face in her two hands, looking up at him.
“Mikey, no-one took anything; without me, Melissa would never have been. She lived a full life; she has no living family in her home town, which is why she came to London, but she had a happy life, and she loved her parents, and I remember that, because she was me and they were my parents too, and I loved them as much as she did; parallel lives, remember? She lost her parents and I couldn’t do anything to stop it, because sometimes there isn’t any way to stop these things, and so I grieved for them with her, and I grieve and feel their loss even now. So I will keep their memory alive for Melissa, it’s the very least I can do for her. All she was, it’s all here, in me. Don’t forget; we’re both the same person, and all she was, or remembers, or wanted, those were me too; she’ll always be a part of me, here inside me.”
Lissa paused to watch him take this all in, then resumed talking.
“Melissa never really existed in her own right; she was born to be part of me, but she’s being rewarded for her part in this; don’t worry about her; something bigger than me is watching over her, over who she could have, would have, should have been, and I know, without knowing how I know, that the soul that was denied her is being reborn, and she will have a proper life and destiny this time around, one that’s completely hers. I have a feeling she will be a very special person; when you play by the rules, you reap the rewards, and I can feel her happiness; believe me, she’s being rewarded. Now come with me, baby-boy!”
As Mike followed her up the stairs, his eyes were fixed on her bottom, twinkling enticingly at him in tight jeans, and once again he marvelled at the fact she was here, alive again, against all hope or expectation. He could feel himself responding more overtly to her body, his need for her suddenly leaping high inside him. As they reached the top of the stairs, she turned to say something, and Mike pulled her close, unable to stop himself as his lips crushed against hers.
Lissa squeaked in surprise, then her lips curved against his as she smiled, and her hand curled around his neck to hold him tightly against her as she kissed him back with equal vigour.
“Whew, that came out of the bank!” she gasped when Mike broke their kiss, smiling broadly, his expression unreadable, as true happiness, something he’d thought he’d lost forever, flooded through him. Lissa nodded, a faint smile on her lips.
“Make love to me, Mikey,” she whispered, “I’ve waited a whole lifetime to be with you again, Michael-Fionn, will you take me back?”
Mike was almost trembling with need as he gently pulled her close, feeling her soft, remembered body moulding itself to him. His hands slipped down to cup and squeeze her taut, neat little buttocks, making her sigh even as she wriggled contentedly against him. He fumbled with the button of her jeans as she shrugged-off the delivery company bomber jacket, and then he was pulling her t-shirt over her head even as she tugged his shirt open.
Lips locked together, they tumbled out of their clothes and dropped onto the bed naked, hands holding, touching, squeezing and caressing, remembering with their fingers, lips and tongues, until finally Mike found himself on his back, Lissa straddling him. Her hand sought him out, and with their eyes locked together, she sank down on him even as he thrust up into her, joining with her, her sleek moistness enfolding him as she clasped and squeezed him with her internal muscles. They began the well-remembered rhythm, the silence of the room broken only by the slap of flesh on flesh, and the muted sighs and gasps of lovers making love.