Anyway, I just wanted you to know that if I don't come back from this battle thing . . . I really care about you."

He stopped, and I thought. I thought about the way I noticed things about him. I thought about the sense of protection that had come over me when I smashed the Rat King over the head with a baseball bat. I thought about the possessiveness I'd had over him as a nutcracker. And after a while of that, I knew that I couldn't possibly go back to the way my life was before I'd met Danny. He'd never been anything but kind to me. He'd only yelled once, and that was even for my own safety. It was more than I could say for anybody else I knew.

Just before I could reply to his lovely words, deep, thunking footsteps resonated from down the hall. Danny moved to go fight and I grabbed at his arm. Tears started rolling down my cheeks and I leaned back against him, trying to keep him from going. He moved his hand from my mouth and I sobbed, "Don't go, please, don't go." He brushed my hair out of my eyes and put his hands on my shoulders. "Don't worry, Clara," he muttered, "I'll come back and we'll get out of this place forever, okay?"

With that, he slipped away into the shadows for a sneak attack, and left me alone underneath the table. "No,don't go," I wept, "Please, come back . . . Come back . . ." I sat by myself and silently cried until I heard a loud yell. Then, there was scuffling and sneakers squeaking, then a gasp, then quiet again. I crawled forward as far as I could without revealing my position to try and see what was happening. To try to see what had happened to Danny.

The only thing that was in front of me was two pairs of feet. Then, one pair was severely close to the other. A choking sound echoed through the hall. Without warning,