All right, everybody, you don't have to tell me. I've taken WAAAAAYYYYYY too long in the typing up of this next part. But here it is! Oh, and I changed the name of the episode (obviously).

~~~

     Unseen by any human eye, Elenya moved silently through the crowd, making her way to a small ice cream parlor she'd seen two days ago when she'd gone to McDonald's with Rembrandt to get some food. She didn't know where the other Sliders were at the moment, but she was sure that she could use her angelic instinct to find them later, when she felt like it. She just needed to be alone for a little while; but of course Quinn wouldn't understand.

     Quinn was the one who'd made up the "stick together" rule in the first place, and he'd been trying to hammer it into her head ever since she joined up with them. But Elenya didn't care. Quinn didn't know anything about how it was to be completely alone in a group of people who didn't believe the truth of her identity. Wouldn't he be mad, though, when she got back to their hotel room? Elenya grinned mischeviously at the thought.

     Elenya became visible once again as she approached the little ma-and-pa shop christened "Dari-King" by the family who ran it. A bell tinkled above her head when she pushed the door open, and she felt right at home already. She would always feel at home among the kind, old-fashioned type of people like the middle-aged woman standing behind the counter with twinkling green eyes, wispy carrot hair, and a wide, sincere smile.

     "What'll it be, hon?" Darby asked.

     "Just a vanilla ice cream cone, please," Elenya answered, taking a seat on one of the high, red, swiveling stools before the counter. "One scoop."

     Darby shouted back to the kitchen for her eigteen-year-old son to "whip up a White Russian, plain an' simple." When he brought it up front, he gave Elenya a lopsided smile and shook his shaggy dark hair out of his eyes so he could get a good look at the beautiful girl sitting on the other side. His mother slapped him on the rear and told him to "get them eyes back in his own head", and he sauntered back to the kitchen.

     "Here, on the house," she said, handing the cone to Elenya. "I can tell somethin's troublin' ya, hon. Wanna talk about it?"

     "It's kind of complicated," Elenya said. "I'd rather keep it to myself, but thank you anyway."

     She was silent as she slowly devoured the vanilla ice cream, savoring every last drop. Her wandering gaze was attracted to a certain booth next to a window. There, a man with messy blond hair and a beard, who had the smack of the sea about him, was talking earnestly to the scarlet-haired girl who sat in the seat opposite of him, staring down into a sea of melting strawberry sundae.

     "C'mon, missie, you won't have no ice cream anymore if you let it set like that for much longer," Captain Austin pleaded with her.

     "I'm sorry, Captain, I'm just not hungry," Andrea said sadly, not taking her eyes off of the faraway world. "I...Mom and Dad were taking me to get ice cream, when the accident happened." A tear or two slid down her cheeks, but she wiped them furiously away. "I suppose I haven't acted very grateful to you, but I am, really. It's just that..."

     Austin put a work-roughened hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, little Andi," he said gently. "I understand."

     "You do?" she asked with newfound interest, looking at him.

     "Yes, I lost my own mama when I was jest a young'un, and then my daddy died in 'Nam. Got sent off to a foster home. I have to admit, I was a really bitter young man---til I met God, that is. " Austin looked at her hard. "God can help you with all your troubles, Andi, if you just trust him."

     The sad expression on her face almost immediately transformed into anger. "Oh, really?" sdhe said, getting out of her seat. "I used to think the same thing myself, Captain. But let me tell you something. My mother didn't die in the car crash. No, she lived for three more days after that. And during those three days I asked God, I begged him to let me keep my mother. She might still be here, if God hadn't decided to abandon me right when I needed him the most!" She spun on her heel and stormed out of the ice cream parlor, while a crestfallen Captain Austin followed her.

     "I didn't know it was so bad, Lord," he prayed aloud, lifting his eyes heavenward. "That poor girl's gonna need an angel to save her soul."

And Elenya, still sitting inside, heard him clearly.

     Captain Austin loved the sea. He loved its creatures; he loved the crisp, clean sea air; he loved watching the sunrises and sunsets scatter millions of rosy shades across the waves; he loved the feeling of solitude it gave him when he was alone and far away from the loud noises of civilization. But most of all, he loved Andrea Shephard, whose mother was the woman he would have died for.

     Yes, once upon a time he had loved Maylie Lighthouse fiercely, with her pretty ways and the smile that could light up a whole room. But she hadn’t returned his love, and a few years after meeting him she married a rich young Californian. Yet in spite of his broken heart, when Captain Austin received word that Maylie’s one daughter had been robbed of her parents by a terrible car accident, he was more than willing to take her in. There was a couple of extra cabins on his little boat for passengers, so everything seemed to work out just fine.

     She’s the spittin’ image of her mama, Captain Austin decided, rubbing his chin thoughtfully and watching the sixteen-year-old lean over the starboard side and gaze wistfully into the water. The same rich, glossy hair the color of a bloody sunset, the same ocean-blue eyes. Yet, there was a difference in those eyes. Instead of dancing like Maylie’s had, they were everlastingly melancholy. She never smiled. Captain Austin wished he knew how to make her happy.

     Suddenly, Andrea stepped back with a start. “Captain Austin!” she gasped, wide-eyed in astonishment.

     “What is it?” he asked, striding across the deck to her side. She grabbed his arm fearfully.

     “There-” she said barely above a whisper, pointing a shaky finger. “There’s something in the water!”

     Austin wondered for a moment if the girl had just been imagining things, because as he peered into the midnight-blue depths trying to see what she could see, nothing out of the ordinary could be seen. Then he could make out a dark shape moving at an incredible speed through the water. He squinted his eyes, staring harder; and what he finally deciphered was unlike anything else. It was a creature of colossal proportions, somewhat like a turtle in shape, but armed with two great tusks in its mouth, and spikes all over its enormous shell. It had a slight orangish glow about it, and that was what told Austin its identity.

     “Sweet mother of Pearl!” the captain gasped in wonder. “It’s Gamera!”

     We have only a few ends left to tie up before this little story of salvation is over. After Dakol gave the Sliders her terrible condemnation, they asked her if there was any way they could go back and rescue Elenya and Lynette, not bothering to ask how she’d known there was a second girl. She answered rather doubtfully that only a warrior armed with an Everlasting Stone could make his way into that Godforsaken land and make it out alive; then she remembered that she actually did know a certain boy, Jimmy by name, who had one of the legendary jewels. He, as you have probably guessed, was the boy who had saved the two girls and brought them to the convent in Dar-Bazel.

     When next Lynette and Elenya met, the angel told her what had really happened so many years ago, on the night they had both been dubbed “Monster.” When she knew the truth, the old Lynette felt like murdering her; but the new Lynette, the one who had just become a Christian, felt the reassuring touch of her newfound Savior and found the strength to forgive Elenya’s horrible mistake. From that time on, the girls became good friends, even after Elenya slid into the next dimension.

     Just as Elenya was getting ready to slide, she and Lynette embraced, and caught each other’s gaze. Elenya was astonished at what she saw there.

     “Why, your eyes are brown!” she exclaimed. And she was right; Lynette’s eyes no longer had that ominous bloody tinge, but instead there was a rich, chocolaty brown.

     The girl laughed. “Yes, Elenya. ‘If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.’”

“You’re starting over now, under the sun

You’re stepping forward now, your new life has begun

Your new life has begun

There’s only grace, there’s only love

There’s only mercy and believe me, it’s enough

Your sins are gone, without a trace

There’s nothing left now, there’s only grace

                                  ---Only Grace by Matthew West

Copyright © 2009 by Elenya Súlimë