He moved his foot off mine, shrugging. "I don't. It's too much information. Kyle was the first one I ever tried to help-at least the only one I felt like I could reach. It's like people and events came together so I could at least try. If it happens again, I'll help if I can."

What if he couldn't help them? I didn't want him to be devastated because he couldn't do the impossible. "You can only do so much. You don't have to save the world."

"Yeah. It's hard to know when I'm being apathetic or just realistic, you know? I'll just do the best I can."

I twined my fingers in his. "Maybe you could surf a lot to get away from it."

He raised his eyebrows. "Definitely. But you'll have to come with me. How do you feel about lots of sun and the beach?"

Remembering the bone chilling cold of this morning. I smiled. "Sounds horrible. When can we go?"

"In two years. When we graduate."

"That's forever," I complained.

"Not to me. It seems like the blink of an eye, and I'm going to love every minute."

He squeezed my hand, and then we had to go. I turned back to watch him walk through everyone in the crowded hall, ignoring their Yurei, I knew. He moved easily past them, somehow comfortable with knowing too much about them, their lives and his own. I watched him until he disappeared.

I couldn't see the future like he could and I knew there was more he wouldn't tell me. The future wasn't made of far off decisions and exotic circumstances, though. It was made up of moments. Whatever Ren and I went through, hopefully we'd take it one moment at a time. We already knew it was going to be good, and that gift should help us handle anything unexpected. Then again, life is supposed to be unexpected. We were up for the challenge.

TWO YEARS LATER.

MacKenzie.

I sat under the shade of the massive oak tree in the middle of the campus green, watching other students pass by. I was wearing a t-shirt and my favorite jeans and flip-flops. Pretty much what I wore everyday now. The rings on my finger sparkled-the tiny diamond on the engagement ring Ren had given me on our high school graduation and the simple wedding band. We were only nineteen and married, going to college.

I loved the weather here in California. I had a permanent tan and my hair was bleaching to a white gold color. It was mid-summer, and would have been sweltering hot back home. Here it was warm with cool breezes. No wonder he missed it so much.

It seemed like an eternity since he walked me through the high school revealing all the Yurei that surrounded us. Some of what he saw was already starting to happen, like an iceberg breaking off and the pieces floating out to sea.

Katie and Noah went to different colleges and eventually called it quits. Katie was dating a guy in the Air Force who wanted to be a pilot. I hadn't met him, but they looked cute together in the pictures she put online.

Crystal was still dating BJ, but I think they were having problems. He drank a lot and probably did other stuff. She was pretty cheerful about it when I talked to her online every now and then. I wasn't too worried about her because I knew she was going to be okay. She was going to need her friends, though, so I made sure we kept in touch.

Steve was at MIT, complaining about the food and his smelly roommate. His first year he flunked two classes because he was assisting his professor with a project that kind of sucked him in. He tried to explain it to me but as soon as he said stuff like freeing electrons and electrically conductive channels I asked about his calculator. He still loves that thing.

Noriko was at Stanford. She's really enjoying college and started partying her first semester. She pulled herself back in line, though. She hates to be mediocre in anything, especially school.

Everyone seems to be doing okay. Kyle is in therapy and on anti-depressants. He's going to Juilliard right now but says someday he wants to help kids that are like he was.

An unexpectedly cold wind hit me and I looked up. The happy California sky was clouding over for a thunderstorm. I closed up my books and took one last bite of my apple.

Everyone thought Ren and I were crazy. Too young to marry, won't finish school, get divorced in six months...blah blah blah. Well, I say everyone but I really mean people we hardly knew that decided to give their two cents. Our friends were thrilled.

My parents weren't that shocked when we told them we wanted to get married after graduation. My mom, at least, was expecting it. My dad had to go mow the lawn before he could be full-hearted about it.

Ren's parents were surprised but they've gotten used to it. They can't wait until Christmas when we go back for a visit.

Derek is back in school. He's regained his ability to read and write, but it's been an uphill climb. He'll always have trouble with words, but we're so amazed by how far he's come it doesn't matter. He wants to come out here and live with us after he graduates, which we would love. He and Ren have been like brothers the past two years.

Derek hatched up the plan on our wedding day, of all things. Mom was adjusting my veil as I stood in front of a big mirror in the hotel room we'd rented for the reception. The dress was everything I'd ever imagined-a fitted silk bodice with crystal beads and a long train that swirled behind me when I walked. My hair was swept up into a knot at the back of my neck and I wore a pearl necklace. The girl in the mirror was a dream come true. I was so magnificent my mom was just about to cry. Then Derek burst through the door.

At seventeen he was tall and handsome, his dark hair curling because he liked it a little long. He looked good in the black tux, his white shirt crisp against the silver-gray tie and vest.

"How did you get in?" I asked him as Mom blinked away her tears.

"Wow," he said, staring at me in my wedding dress. "That's beautiful."

I took it to mean that he thought I was beautiful, not just the dress. His words would always come out a little askew.

"Why, thank you. How did you get in?" I repeated.

He flipped the door card up in his fingers. "I have it."

Mom hurried to the door and opened it, peeking out. "Dad gave you that? Where is Ren? He's not supposed to see her yet."

Derek rolled his eyes. "I won't let him in. I know."

He was always more coherent when he was amused.

"Good," she said, relieved.

"I want to go with you," Derek said.

I exchanged an alarmed glance with Mom. "Uh, you mean to the wedding, or the uh...honeymoon?" I asked. I didn't mean to blush, but I did.

He gave me a disgusted look. "Of course not. When you go...away..." he gestured out the window. "To the ocean."

I stared at him for a moment and he waited patiently while I put the pieces together. Ren and I had talked a lot about going to college in California, so everyone already knew our plans. The marriage was a bit of a surprise, but school wasn't. The light must have dawned on my face because his expression relaxed.

"You want to come with us to college," I said.

He nodded at me like I was a dense pupil who finally figured out that two plus two equals four. Maybe that's how he felt while he waited for the rest of us to decode his new language. During the weeks and months of rehab he'd lost his childish impatience with his inability to speak and had become incredibly patient with himself and everyone else.

I was surprised he wanted to tackle college, though. School was a lot of work for him.

"Sure." I stopped, remembering that it wasn't just my decision anymore. If I wasn't part of a team before, I was about to become one at the altar. "I'll have to ask Ren, but that sounds like fun."

He sighed, apparently relieved that I figured it out. "You have to go and do the ring now."

My mom looked at her watch and gasped. "Oh dear, he's right!"

We rushed out of the room, my dress rustling through layers of crinoline, tulle and silk. My stomach flip-flopped and I grabbed Derek's hand for comfort as we walked down the long hall and out to the car. He held my hand firmly and looked down at me.

"It's okay," he said. His eyes were calm, but not the dead serenity of the amnesia he had before. It was just simple, quiet confidence.

I nodded, swallowing the nervous lump in my throat. "I know."

Ren confessed later that he wasn't nervous until he saw me in my dress. Then he thought he was going to faint. The thought of Ren fainting always makes me laugh. He speaks with ghosts of the future so I was sure a bride was not that intimidating. I told him he was exaggerating but he insists he's not.

During the ceremony we held each other's hands. We stood facing each other, everyone watching us and waiting. The minister spoke the words that Ren was supposed to repeat. Ren stared at me and suddenly there were tears in his eyes. My own eyes started to water, but I wasn't sure why. Was he overwhelmed? He ignored the awkward pause as everyone waited for him to repeat the first phrase the minister gave him.

Instead, he leaned towards me to whisper, "I only see you."

I stared back at him and the realization hit me. In this room full of people with so many futures to tell, all the Yurei had faded away, giving us this one moment for just us. We gripped each other's hands, in awe of the rare peace, until the minister said the words again.

Ren repeated them, but he didn't hear them and neither did I. We were in our own world, just the two of us.

It wasn't until the last word was said and we kissed that the peace was broken and all the Yurei returned. It was a miracle we couldn't share with anyone, and that made it even more special.

Derek has graduated from high school and Ren and I are waiting for him to come next month. My mom and dad are helping us with our rent so we can have a bigger apartment he can share with us, at least until Mom and Dad feel sure he can handle college on his own. I'm looking forward to having him with us.

James has taken to watching medical shows that gross out my mom. Dad says James is so smart it's scary, and even though he's only twelve, my parents are researching medical schools for him.

A raindrop fell on my hand and I looked up. A handsome young man in a blue button-down shirt with his sleeves rolled up to his perfect elbows was coming towards the tree. His coal-black hair was spiked in his mysterious, dark, beautiful eyes and he was smiling at me. Because he loved me.

I walked up to him and kissed him with great enthusiasm. He still makes me dizzy.

"Been waiting long?" Ren asked, smiling down at me.

"No. I just barely finished lunch."

He looked down at the apple core in my hand. "Wow. A fruit. Are we out of pop-tarts at home?"

"No. I think I like apples now."

"So California is getting to you, huh?"

"A little," I confessed, tossing my hair. I'd read that a man's heart rate goes up when a girl flips her hair. I liked making his heart beat faster.

He put his arms around me and gave me a quick squeeze and a peck on my nose. It must have worked. "Let's go, Beautiful."

I don't know everything about our future because Ren doesn't know. He's looking for a part-time job right now and can't seem to find one. There's some kind of weird mold growing in our bathroom that might be toxic but the landlord keeps saying he isn't responsible for mold growth. One of my professors hardly shows up and when he does he gives exams that have nothing to do with what we studied. I might be failing.

Life is not quite paradise. So what? I've got everything that matters to me, beside me every day. We sort of know what we're doing, and the stuff we don't know only adds to the mysterious charm of it all. Of course, being married to a guy who sees future shadows of what will be is always interesting. I just try to be the dull, familiar part of his life.

"I'm making dinner tonight," he said, pulling me along.

"Mmmm. Fast food, Baby. You're the best."

He laughed, "So you can see the future now?"

"Am I wrong?"

He smiled. "Not when it matters."

end.