When she entered the lounge room of the forest house, Amneris felt all those in the room tense at the sight of her. She was covered in cuts, some of which were dripping with gold, and her clothes were ripped in a variety of places. They would have no further use in barely-in-tact state. 

She glared at the four people in the room - Leo, Dan Yzuka, Colt Kymmer, and Jay Winston - in turn. Her presumably icy stare remained on one in particular. Amneris threw the scroll at her General's face. He caught it in one hand, not bothering to look up at whatever he was writing. She collapsed on the lounge beside her with a groan.

"You look like you jumped out a window," Jay joked.

"That would be because I did."

He went back to his book with a cringe.

It was true. In order to shake the guards, Amneris had kicked down the door to another building. She allowed the guards to chase her around the building for a few minutes before crashing through a window, rolling to her feet, and bolting. No doubt they were pissed.

Colt spoke next, only it was directed towards Leo. "What did you make her do?

The General pointed at himself, his face set in a portrait of innocence. 

The Terpolite nodded.

"Nothing!"

"You sent her to a no-magic zone to retrieve that scroll in your hand," Dan said flatly. He didn't take his eyes off a board on the low-lying table between himself and Colt. It looked like they were playing chess. Again.

Colt raised a hand to his head. "You're crazier than she is!"

Both Leo and Amneris glared at him.

Taking no notice, Colt stood. He took one step towards Amneris then stopped, turned back to the board, and moved a single piece. "Checkmate."

Dan slumped in his chair. Amneris barely heard the Dragonoid mutter "Not again."

Once he was beside her, Amneris placed her head on Colt's shoulder. His arm slipped silently around her waist. Taking another look around the room, she tilted her head back to look at her boyfriend. "Where are the others?"

"Around." He pressed a kiss to her hair. "They'll be back for dinner."

A frustrated cry came from Leo. All eyes in the room looked toward him. He looked as though he would rip up the scroll in his hand.

Amneris sparked, making Colt jump and swear under his breath. "I swear to the Gods, Leo," she said, "if you made me do that for no reason-"

He waved a hand towards her. 

"What does it say?" Dan asked, suddenly over the loss of his chess game. Either that or he was jumping in before Leo said something stupid.

The General dumped the scroll on top of the chessboard. "Something about the Frozen Ones waking and the Dark Ruler stopping them."

"Frozen Ones?" Colt asked at the same time Jay snickered, "I love vague prophecies."

* * * * * * * 

Amneris closed the door to her dark room, making her way to the large room. As she walked, she tried not to think about the way things felt in this new body. The wrongness of it. It bothered her more than the fact she'd been allowed to return to the world of the living. Almost. She stepped into the wardrobe and glanced around. Turning on her heel, Amneris wandered towards her bed. Clothing could wait until afterwards. 

She deposited a variety of weapons on her bed - daggers, swords, a small hand gun, and her staff - before dropping her ruined cloak on top. She liked that cloak. Buying a  new one would only add to the wrongness. More from memory than sight, Amneris walked to the bathroom, stripping her clothing and dropping it on the floor as she went. It could go onto the washing pile later. There was no rush. A tendril of her power had steaming water pouring into the bath. 

Gods she was exhausted. Amneris wanted nothing more than to take a ridiculously long bath and collapse on her bed. Sadly, it seemed only the bath idea would be happening. There was too much to do. Every day, there seemed to be more. Never mind that she had a Court to do most of this work, Amneris wanted to do it. Well, sort of. Working herself beyond exhaustion was the only way to sleep these days. She stopped mid-stride, catching her reflection in one of the full-length mirrors.

Her body was thinner – too thin – though she supposed that had something to do with her year long slumber. Lines of cyan twisted around her arm as she removed the glamour that had been hiding them. A side effect of using so much power. Her eyes were hollowed, lifeless, and had black smudges under them. Or maybe that was the light. Either was possible. Amneris turned. The tattoos covering her front had vanished, as had the ones on her back. The twin scars there were also gone, though those burns marks down her spine from her childhood remained. Clearly, the gods had a cruel sense of humour. She sighed.

The bath was filled. The water turned itself off. Amneris climbed in, hissing as the hot water singed her skin. She was still getting used to having a body since the last one burned away. She could still feel it. The sensation of returning to her energy form. The way her skin and bone had torn away from the inside. A part of her though – had hoped – that she would stay dead that time. She had been wrong.

Her energy dispersed before reforming, much like the way universes destroyed themselves and then recreated. Her body regenerated over time to take on this new form. Amneris glanced back to the mirror, observing another one of those new features. Once, black ink had marked her skin. Had covered half her body. Now, golden marks covered that half of her face and body. The design was different but only slightly. She turned back to the water and sighed again.

There was a light knock on the painted door, followed by Colt's muffled voice. He sounded concerned, as per usual. "Are you alright, Tali?"

"Fine," Amneris called back. She stretched out her legs, lowering herself into the deep tub until only her head was above the bubbly water. 

Silence was followed by the sound of the handle moving. Colt let himself in. She didn't mind, of course. He'd seen every inch of her, more so after she reformed. As he came closer, Colt swiped a washcloth and bar of soap from the bench. He sat beside her, dunking the cloth into the water.

Amneris raised an eyebrow at him. "I am capable of bathing myself, you know."

He smirked. "Are you really?"

She snatched the cloth away, squeezing the water over his head. 

"I love you too."

She rolled her eyes, turning away to wash the cuts on her front and arms.

"How are you really feeling?" he asked.

"I told you. I'm fine." Even though she wasn't looking at him, Amneris could see Colt's frown. "Don't give me that look," she muttered. 

"What look?"

"The one that says 'you're lying and I know it'."

Colt took the cloth back from her. He nudged her forward. She obliged. "Then don't lie to me," he said, rubbing the cloth down her spine.

She hissed as it went over her sensitive skin. "Okay, so I'm not fine," Amneris started, "But can you really blame me?"

"Of course not."

"I'm . . . Working it out and sometimes it can be difficult to do said working it out." Because that made sense.

The movement of the cloth on her back stopped. She turned around. Colt took her face in his hands. "If you want me to, I can help you work things out."

"I know."

"Good." He kissed her. "Have you eaten today?"

"Not since breakfast." she admitted.

"Are you hungry?"

No. Yes. "A little."

"I will go get something ready for when you're done in here." He kissed her again before standing. When he reached the door, Colt turned back to her. "Don't spend the rest of your after life in there, okay?"

She blew him a kiss. "Anything you say."

He stuck his tongue out at her. She returned the gesture.

Once he was gone, Amneris ducked under the water. She came back up just as fast, tossing her waist-length hair from her face. She sighed once again. She knew it would be hard once the War ended. It was all she'd know throughout her life and afterlife. Coming back after certain death . . . It only made things more difficult. A part of her wanted to hide under the bed for the rest of her existence. Another part wanted to run to Colt and beg him for help. The rest of her wouldn't allow it.