𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄

𝘐 𝘙𝘌𝘔𝘌𝘔𝘉𝘌𝘙 𝘕𝘖𝘞

━━━ MEILANI STOOD IN THE BUNKER WITH MALIA AND LYDIA, THE THREE GIRLS STARING AT THE CHAMBER LIKE DEVICE THAT RESTED BEFORE THEM. It was what Parrish had been trapped in when Melissa and Chris had initially gone to rescue the man before Douglas had inevitably sent both Melissa and Chris to the other side and stolen Parrish to use for his own personal gain. The machine was supposed to freeze you up as if you were stood inside of an industrial freezer, chilling up your bones and turning them into long icicles so you couldn't move a muscle or inch. Something about the cold was supposed to help trigger forgotten memories, which was a concept that Meilani didn't fully understand, but she trusted Lydia Martin with her entire wolf being so . . . here she was!

"So . . . how cold is this thing supposed to get?" Meilani questioned the strawberry blonde warily, stalking closer to the device once Malia had confirmed that the trio should be the only ones that can get into the tunnels and give them enough time to remember more and more of Stiles to bring him home.

"Cold enough for a Hellhound. It's not the same as the ice bath you gave Isaac when he remembered about the bank back in sophomore year, but it can lower your core temperature past anything a human can survive," Lydia explained to the alpha, her own wary eyes shifting between Meilani and the machine. 

Malia scoffed, walking closer to the two girls and crossing her arms across her chest. She looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but in this room with the machine that was about to make her into some bootleg Captain America when he'd been frozen for seventy years. If only Meilani had the built body that Chris Evans did, cue her sighs. "So, what does freezing our asses off have to do with our memories?"

Lydia shot Malia a look, hearing the skeptical and disapproving tone her voice had taken over. "It'll slow your heart rate and put you in a trance-like state."

"Like hypnosis," Meilani supplied, tearing her brown eyed gaze from the device and over to Lydia and Malia again. "Exactly like how we got Isaac to tell us where Erica and Boyd had been kept . . . just minus the icy water."

"Hypnotic regression," Lydia said, smiling in appreciation at Meilani for at least trying to understand where she was coming from. "If we can figure out how to work it, then this thing should help you both pull memories with Stiles that are still stuck in the metaphorical vaults in your minds."

Malia hummed as she swept her eyes along the machine and stopped on the right hand side when she noticed two buttons in red and green that read START and STOP/RESET on them. Buttons that Meilani nor Lydia had noticed until Malia pointed it out to them. "This says "start" so maybe it's not that complicated."

Meilani chewed the inside of her lip as she inspected the other side of the machine that had a gauge that read off the temperature that the device was at, which was currently at around seventy degrees which was more than likely the temperature of the room they stood in. A bunch of dials and other buttons dotted along below the gauge and Meilani shook her head, knowing they must have to do something with the buttons on that side of the machine as well. "No . . . it's that complicated."

"So, optimistically . . . how much time do you think we need to do this?" Malia questioned, dropping her hand back to her side with a heavy sigh.

"As much time as Liam and Noah can buy us," Meilani informed her friend, referring to the fact that Liam and Noah both were on the duty of making sure they distracted everything and gave the trio enough time to do what they needed to do. Typically, the pack's plans usually fell through so Meilani was just hoping this one fell through significantly slower than it typically would.

Malia shrugged at this while Lydia turned to Meilani, suggesting she take off her leather jacket and leave her in just her t-shirt and jeans so she could feel the effects of the machine more. While the two girls talked amongst themselves for a moment while Meilani did what Lydia suggested, Malia stepped back over to the other side of the machine and pressed the START button, kickstarting the machine as it whirred and hummed with active life. 

"Okay, it's doing something," Malia defended herself when Meilani and Lydia both gave her exasperated expressions for trying to touch anything on the machine. "At least, I helped. You ready or what?"

"No," Meilani mumbled to herself, feeling the nerves kickstart inside her and buzzing to life much like the machine in front of her did. She didn't know what memories she'd trudge up and bring back to life, but Meilani knew she needed to get through this if she wanted to see Stiles again. So, with a deep breath and mental pep talk, Meilani reached forward and unhooked the latch on the machine, swinging open the door and stepping inside with the door shutting behind her.

Lydia pressed her hand to the glass and offered Meilani a reassuring smile when the true alpha placed her own hand on her side of the glass, thankful for the strawberry blonde's support. She gave Meilani a single nod before she pushed one of the buttons to Meilani's right and sealing Meilani inside. "Remember . . . this will get cold enough to kill you. So if something feels wrong or like, it's not working . . ."

"It's going to work," Meilani assured her best friend, though Meilani wasn't really sure if she was trying to assure Lydia more or herself.

"Oh, Mei, I really hope you're not saying that because you think I know what I'm doing here," Lydia whispered, fear striking across her face and Meilani could smell her anxiety even through the glass and the sealed off door between them.

Meilani shook her head and let out a breathless laugh that lightly fogged the glass for a moment before it dissipated as if it were never there in the first place. "I'm saying that because I know you can figure it out . . . and I need something to calm myself down so . . ."

Without another word, Lydia reached forward and turned all the dials on the side of the machine which emitted a burst of vapor and a loud hissing sound as the white mist blew out of the tiny holes inside the machine. A shudder instantly swept through Meilani's body and she rubbed her arms that prickled to life with goosebumps and her hair stood up. She didn't know what she was expecting — especially with already knowing it was going to be freezing —but, for some reason, Meilani didn't expect this kind of chill. Which was probably stupid on her part now that she thought about it.

Meilani squeezed her eyes shut while her back fell back against the back of the machine, shivering violently now as the temperature only continued to drop and drop and drop so she felt like she was in some sort of frozen tundra somewhere. She half expected snow clouds to form next and to rain down frozen little white dots so they would layer her next in an icy blanket. A part of her screamed and begged for her to kick open the door and invite the warm air back in, but Meilani tried to block out that vulnerable part of herself as she needed to see this through. She needed Stiles back.

"Meilani, you have to think about him. Concentrate on Stiles," Lydia yelled over the hissing of the machine, her hand blurry through the fog and mist in the machine while she splayed her hand along the glass again. As if to tell Meilani her and Malia were still there with her and they were going to continue to be there. "Try to picture him in your head. Think about what he looks like, things he said."

Meilani felt herself slipping into the numbness, her usual control over her wolf self slipping further and further the longer she stood in the frozen arctic. She whimpered to herself as she felt her body fighting against her to even stand. She could hear Malia and Lydia's distorted voices on the other side of the door that separated them. A weird sort of sensation took over her, almost like one that would resemble someone fainting as her legs wobbled and she could see the red flash of her true alpha eyes in the glass of the machine. She could hear Lydia and Malia's screams to stay awake as her eyelids fluttered and she fought against the fainting sensation that continued to slam into her.

However, this time when Meilani closed her eyes, she snapped them open once again and gasped when she found herself back in her house in the living room. It was dark minus the brief trickles of light that the moonlight provided and she could hear sniffles coming from up the stairs. She furrowed her eyebrows and skirted around her dining room table and made her way to the stairs that she took two at a time until she was on the landing at the top. 

Taking one step forward, she could hear voices coming from her room. Voices that sounded a lot like a sophomore year her and . . . Stiles.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about, Meilani!" Stiles snapped, slapping his hands to his side. "For the past three hours, I have been worrying about you and how you were doing. You couldn't even give me the time of day today. After practice, you rammed two guys and then hit Danny in the head with your lacrosse stick. Danny of all people, one of the few guys who actually supported you when you came to the team because you were actually a really good player whether you were a girl or not. You wouldn't even let me talk to you after that happened either and I was just trying to help you. I keep thinking to myself that this is just the full moon talking. That you will be back to normal tomorrow and not this twisted person you're acting like right now. This horrible sister and girlfriend. This isn't you."

Meilani darkly stared up at Stiles. "I'm a horrible girlfriend? What's so great about you, Stiles? You're the reason this happened to me in the first place!" She yelled and Stiles shook his head and walked out of the room. That didn't stop Meilani from continuing, however. "If it wasn't for you and your stupid desire to find the body in the woods that night, I wouldn't be losing my brother or my sanity right now! This is all because of you, Stiles Stilinski!"

Meilani watched brokenheartedly as a light suddenly flicked on across the way to reveal a slumped figure of a teenage boy across from Scott's door that was conveniently opened and dark. He must have been at Allison's house or something that night as a buzzcut haired Stiles Stilinski sat with his legs drawn close to his chest and tears shining in his hazel eyes, chewing on his knuckle to stop himself from getting up and coddling Meilani. This caused another tug in her heart as something reminded her that he always coddled and held Meilani. Made sure she was protected and safe even though Meilani never needed anyone to protect her as she did perfectly well on her own.

Meilani continued to pull and tug on the handcuffs, desperately trying to get loose. A chord suddenly snapped in her and she was able to push through the wolf and get herself back into her body. She tried to ignore the stinging of her wrist that was now red and bloody from all the friction being rubbed against it. "Babe, please this isn't me okay? This is the full moon talking. It's not like the first time because it's more than that. Scott hates me. He fucking hates me. I know this isn't just him being pissed at me, he's acting like I don't exist. He doesn't want to act like we're related anymore. It's killing me because my best friend wants nothing to do with me, Stiles. It hurts. Please, please let me out, Sti. Please."

"I can't, Lani . . . I'm sorry," Stiles whispered and covered his ears to block out whatever else Meilani said. He couldn't let her go, he just couldnt. He didn't want her hurting anyone else or more importantly, herself. He had to be strong and keep her chained up until the moon went away and she was okay again.

Meilani could hear her screams in her room, remembering how the effects of the full moon when the cloud moved away from the full, shining moon hit her. The way her body contorted in pain and her canines pushed through, her then yellow eyes flashing as she ripped free from the radiator Stiles handcuffed her to and ran out into the night and leaving Stiles behind.

When Meilani blinked, she was back in the chamber as even more of Stiles' statements flashed through her.

"Why is it starting to feel like I'm Batman and you're Robin? I don't wanna be Robin all of the time!"

"You have something, Lani. Whether you want it or not, you can do things that nobody else can do."

"Babe, there's got to be something else, okay? We always have a plan b!"

Meilani's hands dropped to her sides and a deep frown took over her face as she took in the sight of her very frustrated and agitated boyfriend. He usually did go a bit paranoid anytime he thought someone was a threat, but he'd never gone this far before and it worried her. "Stiles, why can't you trust anyone?"

"Because you trust everyone, Meilani!" Stiles yelled, finally hitting his patience's end with the conversation. He reared his fist back and punched the inside of the hood, yelping squeakily when the pain radiated through his fist.

"Where were you?!" Stiles voice boomed from down the hall and Meilani's head whipped around to see Stiles storm over to her and Isaac from where he left Melissa, Scott and Liam's step-dad at the end of the hall. His hazel eyes were red rimmed and dark as they focused on Meilani, his jaw setting at the sight of her hand gripping to Isaac's jacket sleeve for support as she could barely stand at the moment. "You trusted him and you fucking believed him! Right, huh? So where were you? Where the hell were you?"

Meilani frowned as she gulped, hating the way that, for the first time, Stiles looked at her with such disappointment, hurt and anger. A look she never got from him in all the years they'd been best friends or girlfriend and boyfriend. A look that she figured she'd be getting a lot now. "He's not the only one that got hurt, Stiles."

Stiles scoffed, eyes flickering to the spot of blood on her shirt that only continued to grow by the second as more seeped through the bandage beneath her shirt. "Oh, you'll heal, Meilani."

Meilani slowly laid Stiles back down on his pillow and when she went to move so she could make herself comfortable again to help Stiles back to sleep, Stiles' hand quickly latched around her bicep when he thought she was getting off the bed. "Stiles?"

"Don't leave me," Stiles whimpered and the brokenness in his tone created tears in Meilani's eyes. "Please, don't leave me. Don't die."

"What? Stiles, I'm not going to die," Meilani assured, loosening Stiles' grip around her bicep and laying down in his arms once again. "I'm not going anywhere. Ever."

"I just . . . I always thought that if it were to happen, then it should be me," Meilani admitted quietly, fiddling absently with the hem of her t-shirt. She frowned further when Stiles only deflated more at her confession, the sadness pooling in his own hazel eyes as he stared at her. "I'm the one that's constantly putting all of you guys in danger, risking your lives for people you don't even know. All because I have some stupid hero complex and have the need to just save everyone, even though I physically cannot do it. It should have just been me, Stiles."

Stiles stepped closer to her and he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, sending another jolt and flutter through her as she gasped quietly at the soft touch. A touch she hadn't had from Stiles since their fight and their . . . break up? Meilani still wasn't necessarily sure where her and Stiles stood at the moment as neither one of them really mentioned it out loud. "Come on, Lani. If you want to make things right and find Kira, then . . . we only have another few hours until sunrise. We'll figure it out like we always do, okay?"

"Try to remember that Peter is the one name missing on the list, babe. Which either makes him incredibly lucky with a Benefactor, she finds out about him she's going to go to him. You know she will and then he's going to twist his way into her head like he does with everyone else. Including us. We let him walk around like nothing ever happened, like he's one of the good guys . . . Meilani, he's not one of the good guys. If she finds out about him then she's gone next. That's probably what he's waiting for and if he wins, we lose."

Meilani chewed on the inside of her lip because she knew Stiles was right. Peter wasn't a good guy in the least bit, but she also knew that they were already too in over their head. She didn't know which way the surface was at this point and she was grasping at loose straws to try and save everyone around her. "We're already losing, Stiles."

As if the situation wasn't dire enough, Meilani lifted her hands to show Stiles the black liquid that began to seep up out of her nails. Some even began to dribble out of her lips and stain her lips to look like a badly done lipstick job. She wiped at her mouth with a hoodie sleeve and could feel her cold tremors take over her body once again as the virus took a turn for the worse. Black even began to stain Isaac and Malia's lips and she could tell they'd need to do something soon.

"I'll go up there and see if I can distract any of them long enough," Stiles offered after a tense silence between the couple.

"You'll come back, though, right?"

Stiles cupped Meilani's cheek and offered her the same smile that always got Meilani's heart racing, his thumb stroking her cheek gently. "I'll always come back for you, Lani."

Meilani's eyes fluttered closed when Stiles bent down to press a soft kiss to her forehead and he pulled away after a second to go tell Scott where he was going, but not before offering Meilani his jacket in case she got cold. 

Meilani cried out as her head felt like it was being split into two, pressing her hands to either side of her head. She screamed and screamed, hoping to stop all of the memories slamming into her at once. 

Her and Stiles' first kiss. 

Stiles fumbling over his words on their first date and profusely apologizing about the dented rose he'd had on him as he'd accidentally sat on it when he got into the car with his father to pick Meilani up for their date. He'd offered to get her another one and Meilani had just sweetly smiled instead, taking the dented flower and called it beautiful. Saying that she looked the way it was different from other roses, which only resulted in Stiles turning bright red.

Stiles holding Meilani every other night when she'd stay at his house, jokingly whispering into her ear about his father having the night shift that night and they were alone. Effectively, this earned a squeal from Meilani when he turned her onto her back and dove in for a heated kiss that tingled Meilani's lips and sent a heat wave through her entire form.

"Meilani! Can you hear me?" Lydia's distorted voice shouted again, hand slamming against the glass in a desperate attempt to lure Meilani back into the present. "Meilani, listen and imagine this for me, okay? Imagine you're in the high school. Visualize yourself in the high school, in the corridor where all the lockers are. Just try to imagine standing there. That's where your memories are. Each one is in a different locker. They are locked behind each one and you have to open them. Meilani, you're there. In the high school. You're standing there now!"

Meilani whimpered as her eyes flew open again and, much like Lydia had said . . . she was stood in the halls of the high school. On either side of her were rows of lockers, each one closed over and shut just waiting to be open. Each one containing a memory that would lead her to Stiles and more of their memories together. It was now or never and Meilani opened the first locker.

"Baby, where are you?" Meilani choked out, her voice slightly muffled by the soft fabric of Isaac's gray thermal shirt he had worn to bed. "Can you see anything?"

"I don't know. I don't know, it's too dark. I can't see much and something is wrong with my leg. It's stuck on something and it's . . . I think it's bleeding."

Meilani gasped and stumbled back from the lockers, hearing Stiles' voicemail echo in her ears as a frantic Meilani tried to call Stiles again and again after he suddenly hung up on her. However, no response ever came again and she'd collapsed to her knees, only to have Isaac run in moments later when he heard her excelling heart rate. He'd cupped her face and gotten her to calm down enough to think straight and he'd gone out with her after that to go on a manhunt for Stiles.

Words kept slamming into her mind, trying to jam themselves into teeny tiny holes that they couldn't properly fit as there were too much. Almost like trying to shove a circle shaped block into the square hole.

"Lydia!" Meilani called out, voice echoing around in the dark, empty hallways around her. "I can't do it! I need memories, but I don't know which ones I need!"

"Find another memory. Just find another memory," Lydia coaxed gently.

Meilani exhaled heavily and moved forward to open another locker, but the words and memories were fuzzy this time. She couldn't really make out the words or the images that tried to shout out to her. So Meilani the locker closed again and let the loud CLANG of it boom down the hall.

"Lani? Lani, can you hear me?" Malia's voice now pierced through into whatever trance like place Meilani stood in. "Listen, I remember something. At the start of the year, Stiles was trying to find a place for you guys to live after graduation, remember? He said you, him, Scott and Isaac would get an apartment together. Even though he really isn't a big fan of Isaac, but he knows how much your friendship with Isaac means to you. And I remember saying something to him after that about how sometimes it's not a good idea to live with your friends. Even your best friend and your girlfriend. But Stiles told me it wouldn't matter because him and Scott aren't just friends, they're brothers now. And — and you weren't just some girlfriend to him . . . he — he wanted to marry you, Lani."

Meilani flung open another locker, blinking in surprise when she saw a flaming flare inside that usually was kept in buses so they could alert people if they were in danger. She slowly brought out the flaming red stick and sucked in a sharp breath when she felt another memory slam into her.

Scott took a stumbling step forwards with his arms out as Meilani raised her arm to drop the flare at her feet. "Mei, listen to Stiles and I, okay? You aren't no one. Okay? You're someone. You're — "

"You're our best friend," Stiles sniffled, slowly walking closer to Meilani with Scott at his side. "Sure, you're Scott's sister and my girlfriend, but you're also our best friend. The one person that we love with our whole being. We need you, baby. Meilani, you're my entire world and I dream about the day I can make you mine forever and have little Stiles and Meilanis running around."

"So . . ." Scott trailed off, taking the final step into the gasoline that pooled at his twin's feet with Stiles. "So if you're gonna do this, then . . ."

"Then you're just gonna have to take us with you," Stiles finished for Scott, wrapping his hand around the flare while Scott placed his hand over both Stiles and Meilani's. "Alright?"

Before Meilani could see any further into the memory, she was snapped back to a reality with a blaring alarm sound. She yelped as her knees crashed to the cement with Malia holding onto her and Lydia scurrying away from the opened chamber door. Her brown eyes snapped between her two best friends as she snapped at them for taking her out of there.

"Your heart rate was dropping! You were gonna die if we didn't take you out," Lydia said, seeming to relax when she saw that Meilani was okay as she cupped the true alpha's face and twisted it this way and that.

Meilani collapsed onto her ass on the wet ground, ignoring the way the small patch of water that had been on the cement flooring soaked into her jeans. She barely even felt the way the water stuck her pants to her skin and stared up at the hissing machine, mist funneling out of it as if it were a big ice box. "But then . . . but then nothing happened, did it? It didn't work. I have to go back in there!"

"I think not!!" Lydia chastised Meilani like she was a small child who had just said she wanted a cookie right before dinner. She stood before the chamber with her arms stretched out as if Meilani wasn't a werewolf and couldn't easily move her to the side without even thinking about it.

"It was working!" Meilani yelled at Lydia, jerking her finger in the direction of the chamber she'd been tugged from. "It was working. Something was happening. I could feel it."

"But nothing was happening out here. Nothing! All Malia and I saw was you freezing your ass to death."

Malia hummed in agreement with Lydia and tugged Meilani back when the true alpha tried to rush back at the chamber and seal herself back inside again. "You're still too cold, sister. Take it easy."

Meilani huffed when Malia let her go, ignoring the way her fingers still barely moved and felt like they would fall off anyway if Meilani were to try and make them into fists. "We can't give up now."

"We're not," Malia corrected, tossing off her flannel to reveal her gray sports bra beneath and shrugged. "It's my turn now, anyway. I have plenty memories of Stiles, too. If it's all about connection, then Stiles was the first person I connected with in a long time. I mean, we spent hours talking on that stupid couch in Eichen House as I helped him go over photos. He made me feel . . . human for the first time in eight years."

Meilani nodded in agreement and turned to Lydia with a pleading look. "She can do it, Lyds. Please? She just needs a visual like you did with me."

Lydia exhaled heavily like an extremely tired parent and shifted her green eyed gaze to Malia. "Okay, fine, I have an idea. But Malia, if your heart drops like Meilani's, or if we think you're going to freeze to death . . ."

"Then get me the hell out of there," Malia agreed instantly, nodding her head.

Much like Meilani, Malia had stepped into the chamber and the door was closed behind her while Lydia and Meilani coaxed her much like they did with Meilani. This time, Lydia guided Malia through the library rather than through the lockers. Books were supposed to litter the entirety of the space of the library and each book was just another memory that would help Malia remember all the memories they had together.

Neither girl knew what Malia was seeing as she saw it, but Malia did confirm that she connected somehow. Seeing memories flash across her brain in the same way it did with Meilani. However, the longer Malia stayed inside, the more the ice around the glass began to freeze up which only meant the inside would be getting too cold for Malia about now. 

As soon as the alarm started going off, Meilani threw open the door and tugged Malia out of there and into her arms. She held the shaking werecoyote close to her still cold body and sighed in relief that they were able to get her out of there. Both heads snapped up when they heard hissing and whirring come from the chamber along with turning of dials to see Lydia sealing up the chamber once again with a satisfied nod.

"Lydia, what are you doing?!" Meilani exclaimed, helping Malia to sit down on a nearby chair and try to help Malia rub some heat back into her body the best she could in her still cold state.

"It's too dangerous. We're not going to save anyone by freezing you two to death," Lydia denied, clearly hating the way both girls just nearly froze themselves off just to remember Stiles. Even though it worked.

"But it was working, wasn't it?" Malia asked incredulously.

Lydia shrugged and motioned to the window above. "I mean, there was a strange greenish light and some noise, but no Stiles."

Meilani shook her head at Lydia, feeling the way her heart freely fluttered at any mention of Stiles. It was like she had truly been woken up for the first time in weeks and it was like Stiles was just on some random lonesome vacation by himself. She remembered everything now. From the way he smelled to the way he kissed to the way he sounded when he laughed. "But I remember him now. I can see him perfectly in my head almost like I can reach out and touch him."

"So can I!"

"He's more real now than he's ever been," Meilani argued to Lydia who still didn't look too entirely okay with the chamber behind her. "If we can bring Stiles back, we can bring everyone back."

Lydia's eyes nearly bulged out of her head and she slapped her hands to her sides with a humorless laugh. "Yeah, Meilani, but there's a huge difference in being a vivid memory and an actual corporeal human being."

Meilani stepped forward, slowly letting go of Malia who huddled in on herself to try and preserve some warmth that she needed back. "I know . . . which is why I think it should be you. I — I may be his . . . his soulmate, but you're — you're connected to the dead, Lydia. You can get him out."

"I won't last two minutes in there."

"Then think of something else. Malia's right. It's all about the connection. When I was remembering him, I also remembered how close you and him got even though you've always said that you wouldn't be caught dead being his friend. You're the last piece here, Lydia. We need you to help and remember him, too, so he can come back. Please help me bring him home."

Malia nodded her head along in agreement, wiping tears that sprung from the freezing that had taken over and caused tears to build up. "I saw it, too. You guys were always trying to piece things together and . . . he trusted you more than anyone when leaving Meilani behind with anyone. You're his female best friend, Lydia. You have to try."

Lydia was silent for a long moment, but girls holding their breath as they watched Lydia's face for any indication of what she was going to do. After a moment, Lydia stood up straighter and nodded slowly. "Okay . . . but we're gonna have to do it the old fashioned way. We're going to have to actually hypnotize me."

"My mother had a hypnotist who helped her quit smoking," Lydia told the two girls a bit later while they tried to gather up items from the bunker that could help them with hypnotizing Lydia. She stood near one of the desks and scribbled something along a spare notepad she had found along with a pen. "She had me see the same one when I was ten."

Meilani scoffed out a laugh and glanced over her shoulder where she stood near one of the lockers in the room, digging through it for materials. "Please don't tell me you were smoking at ten, Lyds."

Lydia froze in her writing and shot Meilani an odd look. "What? No. I bit my fingernails. Just find a lighter or a candle, please!"

Malia stood up from where she'd been crouched down on the floor and brandished a torch, switching it on to reveal the powerful blast of the fire. "Too much?"

At the same moment, Meilani just so happened to run over with a small white candle and grinned. However, when her eyes landed on the torch in Malia's hand she glanced down at her candle and frowned. "We're gonna need a bigger candle."

"Oh, stop," Malia huffed, snatching the candle from her and placing it down on the table and setting it aflame with the torch in her hand. Luckily for them, it seemed to do the trick as a spark ignited and they had a tiny lit candle to use like they needed.

Lydia sat down before the candle with the notepad she'd been scribbling on for the past few minutes and flicked her hair back out of her face while Malia and Meilani stood across from her with their arms crossed. "This is an induction script. One of you is going to talk me through this."

Malia blinked in surprise when the pad was handed to her and not to Meilani, but took it anyway after Meilani encouraged her to take it with a rotation of her hand. "So . . . I just read?"

"Well, you have to soften your voice. Keep it relaxed but not monotone. Go for clarity, not volume. Try it."

Malia shifted on her feet hesitantly and cleared her throat, starting off in an awkward sort of voice. "Take a deep breath and look at the candle."

Lydia rolled her eyes and took the pad from Malia, holding it out to Meilani to do it instead. 

Meilani took the notepad silently and waited for Lydia to give her the go ahead to read from the pad. "Take a deep breath and look at the candle. Feel the muscles in your body begin to relax. Your hands relaxing. Your eyelids relaxing. As you relax, imagine you're sitting in front of a TV.  When you turn the TV on, it's going to play memories from your life. The remote gives you total control. You can play any memory you want. All you have to do is hit the play button."

Meilani watched as Lydia's eyes eventually fluttered shut and her thumb began to move in an up and down motion. Almost like she truly was pressing play and flicking through memories with her and Stiles in her head. "Find any memory. A memory where you felt a connection with him."

Lydia mumbled something out that neither Meilani and Malia could really comprehend, but that didn't stop the girls from encouraging Lydia gently to keep going through her memories. To keep looking for Stiles and get the connection. Another memory that would help bring the hazel eyed boy back to them.

It was only another minute before Lydia startled and her eyes snapped open, glossy and shiny as she looked up at Meilani. There was almost what looked like guilt in her eyes as she she shook her head, a sob tearing through her lips brokenly and emotionally full. "Meilani, I — I'm so sorry. I — I was the last person to see him."

"Where? What? When did you see Stiles?" Meilani asked, laying down the pad and leaning her hands on the table. "Lyds, when did you see him?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I — " Lydia cupped her mouth as another sob broke through, fearing Meilani would never talk to her again if she knew. "The Ghost Riders, they . . . when they took Stiles. He — he begged me to remember to tell you that he — that he loved you. That — that he was going to come back for you. That you'd saved him because you always do."

Before Meilani could open her mouth to respond  ( more than likely through stutters as her brain tried to work through what she'd just said ), a bright green light flashed through the room as it began to shake. The flame on the candle blew out and knocked over and the three girls slowly made their way to the vault door they'd closed themselves in with.

Meilani used the latch to push through the door and held her arm up over her eyes at the blinding white light on the other side. She stepped through first, squinting while trying to peer below her arm at what was coming down the long tunnel, but it was hard to see against the harsh light. Lydia and Malia weren't too far behind her, though they both stopped outside the door while Meilani took a few more steps forward just as a figure began to form and come out of the blinding white light.

A warmth seemed to wash over Meilani then, the same warmth she experience anytime she was around Stiles. Her heart seemed to pick up at a rate that surely should have killed even her with how fast it was going. Almost like it wanted to burst free and throw itself at the figure that appeared and began to walk towards the girls, the blinding light still making it hard to see anything but his silhouette. However, Meilani did catch a whiff of familiar cologne and a bit of gum and the smell of Roscoe. 

And that could only mean one thing.

"Stiles?"

word count: ( 6.4k )

CHAPTERS REMAINING: 11

— YOU GUYS I AM SCREAMING!!! STILES FUCKING STILINSKI IS BACK . . . NEXT CHAPTER! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW BADLY I WANNA GET TO CHAPTER TEN AND WRITE MY PARENTS REJOINING WITH EACH OTHER. I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT SINCE CHAPTER ONE AND IT'S FINALLY HERE. UGH! EXCUSE ME WHILE I GO SCREAM INTO A PILLOW OVER MY FEELS. THANK YOU!

MEILANI FACT OF THE CHAPTER:

FORGOT IF IT'S EVER BEEN MENTIONED, BUT MEILANI DOES LOVE ROSES! SHE ACTUALLY STILL HAS THE ROSE FROM HER AND STILES' FIRST DATE. IT IS HEAVILY DISCOLORED AND IF YOU TOUCH IT, IT CAN AND WILL BREAK APART AND DISINTEGRATE BUT SHE'S STIL GOT IT IN A SAFE BOX SOMEWHERE WHERE IT CAN'T BE RUINED BY ANYTHING OTHER THAN AGE!

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