Here it is! The third and final part of my Ben and Evelyn trilogy that started with Perceptions and Wreckage.

I own nothing and no-one that you recognise.

I hope you enjoy it and please review if you can :)

Prologue

July 1994

The journey seemed to take forever and though he tried to distract himself with in-flight entertainment and the book he had purchased before boarding, he found that he couldn't concentrate on anything. Even watching the clouds drift by the window did nothing for him. He felt restless, anxious, making so many unnecessary trips to the bathroom that he was sure the woman seated at the aisle thought he had some sort of prostate problem. Each time he checked the little map on the television on the back of the seat in front of him, it seemed as though the plane had barely made any headway at all.

He tried to sleep, but he couldn't.

She was there, in his mind, all the time.

Hours later, as the seatbelt sign eventually came on and they started making their descent, he felt a peculiar sensation in his stomach, completely unconnected with their passage down through the sky. It was uncertainty. What was he going to find? How was she going to be? What would she say when she saw him? His thoughts were so preoccupied with questions that he barely noticed the wheels hitting the tarmac, barely felt himself being pushed back into his seat as the pilot hit the brakes, barely heard the smattering of applause at the safe landing.

"Ladies and gentlemen welcome to London Heathrow," the pilot's staccato, almost robotic, voice came over the intercom. "The weather is a mild 18 degrees Celsius and the local time is seven twenty-seven pm. Please remain in your seats until the aircraft has come to a complete stop and the seatbelt sign has been switched off. On behalf of all of the flight crew, we wish you a very pleasant onward journey and thank you for flying United Airways."

A very pleasant onward journey...he thought to himself...but to what?

By the time he was making his way through the terminal towards immigration, his heart was thudding. What if this was a huge mistake? It was too late to turn back now...too late to just ask the pilot if he would mind if he got back on the plane and went home and yet he felt like running and hiding somewhere like the kids used to do when they were little and knew they were in trouble.

"Business or pleasure?" the immigration officer asked, glancing at his passport.

"Pleasure," he replied, though he felt ridiculous saying it.

"Enjoy your stay."

The baggage hall was crowded, the result of many flights all landing at once and when he reached the right carousel there were already people muttering about how long it was taking for the bags to come off. Part of him agreed with them. Part of him wanted to be on his way by now. But another part of him couldn't help but hope that there would be some sort of problem that would delay him further.

His case was one of the first to appear and as he pulled it off onto the trolley to sit with his hand luggage, he thought again about how difficult it had been deciding what to bring with him. He was only going to be in London for five days and God only knew what those five days were going to be like.

The arrivals lounge was equally as busy as the baggage hall and he scanned the faces, looking for anyone he might recognise...looking, wishfully, for her.

"Ben!"

He turned at the sound of his name and saw Sarah pushing through the crowd towards him, her face etched with both concern and relief.

"Thank God," she said, stopping in front of him and letting out a long breath. "Thank God you're here."