Prelude

'I only know because I carry you around in the background,
'cause I felt you long after we were through.' — 'The Background' by Third Blind Eye

Chris watched as Sheva's eyes lingered on the floor, not daring to look at him. Clementine was fast asleep in the other room, finally allowing the two some time alone. He looked around the room, not wanting to scare her away with his scrutinizing gaze. He knew things were not right. Not right with her—she was acting odd. Granted at a time like this she was allowed to, that much was expected. Not right with him—she was there physically but gone mentally to a different place, yet he still found himself leaning towards her slightly, attracted by her aroma. And finally, not right between them—ever since he got back, things were never to be the same. Sheva was lost and hurt and he was tired and guilty. He blamed himself for the state that she was in because he knew if he had been more responsible, more aware, she would be alright and she would be the happy Sheva he had always known. But he was the one who took her happiness away. He's the one who took her vibrancy and luminescence away.

Now left was a frail woman trying to get by. Trying to deal with life as it came and took blow by blow that reality hit her with. But the way she was coping was not alright. She was slowly but surely losing her grip on reality and she was falling.

He looked back to her to find her head bowed down and her eyes shut tightly. She was murmuring something under her breath. It sounded as if it was a chant or prayer, but he couldn't make it out. He placed a hand on her shoulder and he was surprised to see her jump and push his hand away. Not once did she open her eyes to look at him. She continued on with her silent chant and ignored him.

Chris sighed heavily as he watched her crumble. "Sheva, tell me what's wrong?"

She shook her head; eyes still closed and went on to repeat her own personal psalm to herself.

He bent down to eye level and dared to grab her arms, cradling her elbows in his hands. She didn't flinch this time or try to push him away.

"Please, Sheva, talk to me," he begged.

"He's going to come back."

Chris blinked and gently shook his head trying to wrap his mind around what she had just said. What did she mean by that?

"Who's coming back?" He knew exactly who the man in question was but he didn't want to believe that that's who she was talking about.

She opened her eyes and looked to his. He shivered from the emptiness that was occupying her gaze. She rubbed her temples trying to ease the building headache. The silence was almost too much to bear anymore for Sheva. She had grown used to the constant cries and wails from Clementine.

"He's going to come walking through that door and he's going to say, 'I'm home'. He's going to tell me he missed me and that he loves me. Then he's going to pick up Clementine and he's going to hug her and kiss her and tell her how much he's missed her. He's going to walk through that door and I have to be ready when he comes home."

Chris listened and watched as she softly nodded her head, trying to convince herself of the words she had just spoken. He couldn't believe his ears. What had happened to the woman that he fought with years ago? To the woman that told him to be strong and that things would fall into place? To the woman he had so much history in just the few years they'd known each other? To the woman that he had tried to show affection to, but she was always running away?

"Sheva…" he spoke her name defeated. He pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. He was hurt when he felt how tense and stiff she was against him. If only he could turn back time and take the place of the man Sheva was talking about, then things would be fine. Sure, he himself wouldn't be here, but she would be happy and in control of her mind. He was willing to die for her happiness and good fortune. But going back was not possible. He needed to accept the fact that what happened was not to be changed and he was the one here to protect and comfort her.

Sheva lifted her hands to his arms and pulled on them gently. He loosened his grip around her only a little; he was not willing to let go of her completely and watch her fall. He looked down into her empty dull hazel eyes and felt an unbearable imaginary weight on his shoulders weigh him down.

She gripped onto his arms for support and also to gain his full attention—as if she didn't have it already. She parted her lips and spoke almost inaudibly, "Chris?"

He unwrapped one of his arms from her waist and lifted his palm to her forehead, sweeping her disheveled hair away. "What is it, Shev?"

She nearly chickened out and almost pushed him away, but she told herself to be strong. For herself. For Chris. For Clementine. For him. "He's not coming back, is he?"

Chris was still. He didn't want to say the answer to her question, because he knew she didn't want to hear it. He cupped both his hands on her cheeks and forced her to look into his eyes. He sighed sadly and held his breath, "I'm so sorry, Sheva…he's not coming back."

Author's note: I wasn't going to be publishing this for a while, but I was watching a walkthrough of Revelations and I just needed a Creva fix. If you have played Revelations, you'll understand how annoying it is for us Creva fans. So what better way than to write one myself and get your guys' motivation to write more?

I'm sure you can tell this is a prelude. This prelude is set somewhere near the middle to ending of this story and it's to give you a sneak peak of what's going to happen. Hope it's not too confusing. I haven't written much for this one as of yet, so I won't be able to do my normal two-day updates, sorry. But you guys always manage to motivate me to write more so I'm sure I'll get to writing more for this very soon.

I'll see you all as soon as possible. Pretty please give me some feedback and also, I'd love to hear your guesses on this mystery man who Sheva is referring to, who you think Clementine is, why Sheva is in such a low state, and lastly, what has happened between Sheva and Chris through the years. I can already tell you, this story will probably be long and it'll be a real drama. I think most of you know my style. I've been working really hard on improving on my writing and I hope it shows! Oh, and the chapters will be longer than the prelude.

Till the next update,
Sarai