Sage smiled when Anya rolled over, laying her head on his shoulder. He squeezed her hand slightly, still breathing too heavily to wheeze out words. His face still had a bright red blush that was lingering, and didn't seem like it would go away any time soon. They'd had a good time, though, and while he'd be sore later, it was definitely worth it. She'd done what he'd asked her to do, and more...she'd not only covered up his old scars, but had made her own, and he was glad about that. He probably looked a mess, at least his neck, but he didn't care. He didn't care what people thought about it. He knew what had happened, and he knew that he'd have changed nothing that had happened.

The girl let an arm wrap around his side, still a little too breathless to say much. It wasn't awkward though, not like she had expected it to be... the only sound that filled the air was their heavy breathing and Anya's heartbeat, which was still going wild. Eventually, she managed to push out half a sentence. "Sage..." She trailed off, her voice but a whisper. She assumed he would know what she meant, even without saying anything more. She closed her eyes slightly, letting the silence sink in again. Everything had been so... lively... and now the silence made her realize just how much it had taken out of her.

Sage glanced over at her and nodded, not needing to say anything to let her know he felt the same way. Her arm was warm, comfortable, wrapped around his still bare skin. It seemed crazy that in the middle of winter, when his life seemed to be at it's absolute worst, something this amazing could happen. Maybe he should be rethinking dying. Though, he knew this would probably never happen again. But Anya had left her mark, not only in his skin but in his heart, and even if they never saw eachother again, he knew he'd never forget her. He closed his eyes too, tired but happy. He didn't want to sleep, Anya would have to leave soon, but they both seemed to be slipping away anyway.

For a long time, Anya tried to fight off the sleep that was coming over her. She wanted to be with Sage until the last moment she could, even if they weren't saying anything... just being in his presance was enough. It was crazy that this could be her last time seeing him... that this time, they really went out with a bang. Unlike the last time, she felt that she'd have him in her head for years to come... maybe even forever. She almost wished that she didn't have to go... that they could stay together, to spend the rest of her days with him. But they knew this would come... and when Sage woke up, she wouldn't be there.

Sage eventually did fall asleep, but not until after he glanced over at Anya one last time. He knew she'd have to leave, knew that tonight was the last time he'd probably ever see the girl. It hurt like crazy, but he knew he wasn't really losing her. He had a part of her with him, permanently now, both physically and inside. He'd have to let her go, though, so he let himself fall asleep. At least his last memories with her would be nice. Peaceful. And then he'd could go be at peace for the rest of eternity. Unless there was a hell, in which case he was screwed. But it couldn't be worse than the living hell he was in now. Anya and Lizzie had made it better. She'd done more than her part, and now she was leaving. She wouldn't have to see his corpse, he was just thankful for that. He'd let her think he died peacefully, though he knew he was more likely to die bleeding out on the ground and then be eaten by the rats after a fight he purposely lost. But he'd let her think he was fine. That everything was alright.

Eventually, morning slowly rolled round... daylight replaced the mesmerizing sight of the stars, flooding the cave with an uncomfortable bright light. Maybe she had been asleep longer than she had intended, but that just meant she gotten longer with Sage. When she opened her eyes fully, she felt their legs entwined, and an arm wrapped loosely over her side. God, she was going to miss him. She let out a soft sigh before carefully wriggling out of their cuddle, cautious not to wake him before grabbing her own dress and slipping it on. There was no way she could go back in the other one... it would almost hurt too much, having it as a memento of him. She wanted her last memory to be nice... warm and settled, and she wasn't going to ruin that by getting all gushy with her good byes. She just wandered over and placed a small kiss to his cheeks, getting one more look at him before forcing herself to walk away, back towards the castle... where she belonged.

Sage woke up a while later, and sat up with a light groan. He had expected Anya to have left by the time he woke up, but it still hurt. He sighed and slid over into the pool, letting the coldness of the water come over him. It soothed him, just a bit, and he stayed under the water for as long as his lungs would let him. He surfaced and crawled out, drying himself off before reluctantly slipping his old tattered clothes on again. He was glad his last memory of Anya was a positive one ... Wrapped up in her arms, warm and safe. Satisfied with his last night. And now he could go do what he'd been meaning to do for a while. Find a fight. And be at peace. He left the dress Anya had left in the cave ... He wouldn't need it, and he wouldn't ever be going back to the cave. Not unless he dragged himself there, dying. But no...if he was to drag himself anywhere to die, it would be back to the lake. Back to Lizzie, so he could say goodbye.

The whole way back, Anya had an reminiscing smile on her face. Her last night with Sage... god, it didn't seem real... she had just had one of the best nights she could imagine, and now she was walking away from him... and she knew how he was feeling... not about her, but about life. Even if she wanted to come and see him again, the chances were that he wouldn't be there at all. That thought jarred her heart. There was nothing she could do... nothing she had ever did or said would sway him, and as amazing as last night was, unless she could stay she doubted it would make much of a difference... she had wanted to make

life bearable when they had first met... but she quite obviously hadn't done an amazing job. She should have never have left him in the first place, especially not now. But that wasn't her place... if he chose not to die, to live out the rest of his years, then that was up to him. If he did go get himself killed... well, then he wouldn't be suffering any more. She was pulled away from her thoughts as she entered the little woodlands towards the tunnels, hearing a few sets of feet scampering around. Shit. These definitely weren't animals. And they were eyeing her up... like a meal. But they weren't moving... not for a while. She took a few backwards steps before feeling a larger presence behind her, blocking the way to the tunnel. Double shit. She made a move to run, get around them, but on her first step she saw a fist come at her face, and then there was nothing but darkness... she could feel movement, hear voices... but everything was but a blurr.

Sage had decided to say goodbye to Lizzie first. He wanted it to be real, not while he was delerious and dying. He walked slowly back to the lake, and stood by her grave for a moment before sitting down by it. He saw a piece of wood nearby and grabbed it, scratching the words 'she helped everyone and no one helped her' on it before placing it at the head of her grave with a sad smile. "Bye, Liz. I don't think I'll be going where you are, so.." he trailed off, not knowing what else to say, so he just sat there in silence for a moment. "I hope wherever you are, you're finally happy and in good hands." He obviously hadn't been enough, and that was what hurt the most. Slowly, he stood up, and turned around, walking away from the lake. He wouldn't be back. The last place he'd be was the alleys and streets in which he'd lived his whole miserable life. He couldn't find anyone, though, until he ran into a group of men. "Took you a while, rat," one of them muttered. Sage went for his dagger but they all fell on him at once, not giving him the chance to start a fight before beating him half unconscious and tying his arms behind his back. One man stood him up and shoved him forward, uttering "walk." Sage could barely walk, and he resisted as much as he could, though it didn't do much. Crap. This wasn't exactly what he had in mind when he said he was looking for trouble.

Everything was so dark... Anya tried to move, to flinch at least, but she hadn't managed anything. She felt her head bobbing up and down though, which sent seering pain through her. She must have been carried... or maybe she was being dragged. Most likely carried though, because she felt fingers gripping around her shoulder... and it hurt. A lot. every movement stung. Eventually, she had come to a standstill, heard a few more voices before being let go and hitting a concrete ground. She landed a little funny on her arm, and her hip had hit the ground first, which would without a doubt swell up. Her arm though... it was alright at first but then a sharp pain ran though her. It hurt so much... but she still couldn't move, despite wanting to scream about it. "Our pretty little guest was an easy catch," she heard from not too far away, a voice snarling it out as insult. Another voice chimed in. "She barely got a step before we grabbed her... didn't even put up a fight." The other chirped, as though it were proud of herself. One more voice spoke up again, only it was more... formal. Refined. "I should hope it was easy. She's just a teen where as you have training... not to mention the fact you're fully grown men. Now, make sure she wakes up, and that she's well. We'll have the boy here soon." He grumbled before everything went quiet. She didn't have s clue what was happening... but she was finally staring to be able to open her eyes, only to be in the smallest room... maybe ever, no bigger than her closet.