"Ma’am, would you like something to drink?" the flight attendant asked Mahleah.

"A water, please," Mahleah requested, gratefully.

Clutching the cool cup in her hands, Mahleah stared out the window as she took a couple of pills for her headache. Her stomach tried to turn over as she looked down so she pulled the shade down and leaned her head back against her headrest.

Was she doing the right thing? Mulder had told her to follow her heart, but did he truly mean this? He would have no reason to think she would interpret his words in this way. Still, it almost seemed like a sign or something. An omen that this was the path she was to follow. Her head told her to follow her heart and so she was headed again for California.

She supposed she could be accused of repeating a pattern once more, but she would take exception this time. The last time she’d broken up with Mark, she had gone to California but she’d gone to see Diana. That had not ended well and things had quickly deteriorated.

So much had happened since that time, she wasn’t sure she’d ever fully processed everything that had occurred in the past. Closing her eyes, she let her mind escape to a time when she was younger and confused. It was a time when she’d felt betrayed by all her loved ones and that anger had led her down a dark and twisted path that eventually blossomed into a strange, wondrous time when she’d found herself and her heart.

TBC…