Image (Insight #3)(59)

“They don’t know,” Olivia said in a frustrated tone. “They can tell you what you’ve done before, and they can tell you where to put your thoughts. They can even tell you where the thoughts you’re having ‘may’ lead you - but our fate isn’t sealed.”

“What are you guys so worked up about? Venus is over. Do you think I’m weaker? That with Mars I’ll finally fall?” I asked.

“Aora has her doubts,” Felicity answered.

“Does she?” I said sarcastically.

“She feels that the planets are a gateway for the darkness, that if you’d chosen to go with Drake during the Blue moon or Mercury, the darkness would have overtaken him. The only way both you and he would have survived would be if you truly did love him,” Felicity said.

“And you don’t,” Olivia said. “Aora’s fear - our fear - is that your sympathy for Esterious will cause you to sacfice yourself into his arms. Without true love, you both will die, and Esterious – the entire universe – will fall into darkness.”

“All of you are insane,” I said, frustrated. “I don’t really care about planets or choosing – because that choice was made since before I can even remember. I’m sick and tired of the doubts all of you have.”

“We don’t doubt you, Willow,” Felicity said. “We just want you to know what we were told. Aora said she knew of one life that you had with Drake in detail. You married him because your father wanted you to – for the benefit of your family. She said you sacrificed your heart.”

“The photo we found, that was the life she was talking about,” Clarissa added.

The photo they were referring to was the one that was found in my old house in Franklin. It was the first time I realized that there may be truth to what Drake had said, that we’d loved before. It had caused me so much turmoil.

“No matter what, you have to be with the person who completes you - not the one that you think will benefit the world,” Clarissa said.

My head started to spin; they were driving me crazy. I didn’t know how many times or ways I had to say it; I just wanted them to get it through their heads that there was no reason to doubt me. I was more than sure that whatever decisions I’d made in past lives were what I had to do. I felt overwhelmed; one minute they were telling me to get over who I was - and the next they were telling me not to make the same mistakes I’d made before. Which way did they want it? If they wanted me to avoid my past mistakes, that meant I’d have to deal with who I was – and all of it included the way I felt about Drake then.

Suddenly, they all froze in place, and a mischievous grin spread across my face. I looked over my shoulder and saw Landen standing on the balcony.

He smiled impishly at me. “I thought you might need a break,” he thought.

I carefully maneuvered around the girls and went to the balcony. Landen opened his arms, and I fell into his embrace, hiding my face in his chest. “I don’t know what they want from me,” I said quietly.

“To be happy, I’m sure,” he answered, raising my chin so I’d have to look at him.

“You don’t think I’m hiding anything, do you? That I have doubts?” I asked.

He turned his head from side to side, smiling. “They don’t understand us, Willow; they’re trying to place themselves in our shoes and imagine how they’d react. There’s no one in this universe that’s walked our path. I know you struggle with your emotions - not because you doubt our love, but because you’re a good soul who wants everyone to be at peace, to feel the way we feel when we’re together.”

I turned in his arms and looked at the frozen figures of Stella, Felicity, Carissa, and Olivia. “Maybe you should tell that to my council,” I said, amused by my words.

“Sure, then you can tell mine,” he answered. “Good luck with August, Marc, Brady, and Chrispin.”

“Are they your elements?”

“So they tell me. Apparently, Pelhan was trying to give us some peace; he told them they all had a role and that they should stay in it and not overwhelm us.”

“What about everybody else? Our fathers?”

“They were told to give us only the insight they were clear on, that their main focus is the children. Apparently, with each adversity there’ll be something that at least one of our elements can help us with.”

“If that were true, then we should have taken Olivia - not Dane.” I said, staring at her frozen image.

“Maybe so; honestly, Drake protected you more than Dane did,” Landen said, looking over the balcony.

“He kept me calm; he helped,” I said, defending Dane.

Landen turned and smiled at me. He knew that I’d depended on Dane for strength before I found him. Dane was my best friend.

“I won’t be able to keep Brady home again; his intent is strong,” Landen said.

“He needs to take care of his daughter,” I argued.

“He feels that by taking care of us, that’s what he’s doing.”

Landen turned me in his arms, then leaned down, kissed me, and held me as tight as he could. “I love you, Willow; don’t let them get to you,” he thought.

“I love you.”

He released me and smiled. He then nodded his head, and time resumed. Behind me, I heard Clarissa continue her argument - only to be halted by the shock of not seeing me standing in front of her anymore. Their gaze found me on the balcony in Landen’s arms, and their emotions of surprise and bewilderment made us both smile.