A/N: Just something I thought of and wrote. Very short. I'm thinking of doing something with Pretty Little Liars and Sandman, but I won't until I have a clear idea of what I want to do.

The familiar sound of wings…

Another girl gone, then. I'm about to depart to another place when I hear a girl crying, and I turn and I'm suddenly in another moment. A long time later, I know.

Emily. I remember her.

I follow her crying form back to her home, and I appear in her bedroom. She doesn't say anything, she simply buries her face in her pillow. I sit on her bed and run a hand through her hair. "Hello, Emily," I say softly. "How are you?"

"Who are you?" Her tone is sharp and slightly fearful. I can understand. I've taken many loved ones. Not many accept me.

I stroke her hair gently. "I think you know who I am, Emily. I was there for Maya… I was there for the other girl, too. Alison. I'll be there for you, eventually."

"So you're the Reaper?"

I chuckle. "I guess. I don't… reap, Emily. I take people to the afterlife, whatever sort of afterlife they believe in."

"And sometimes console the grieving widows." It's sarcastic, hiding the pain she feels. I can understand that, too; Dream can be a little repressed on occasion.

So, understanding, I only murmur, "Sometimes."

We both are silent for so long that I'm about to get up and excuse myself to continue my work, when Emily asks, "Why? Why Maya?"

Slowly, I sit down again. "Well… it was just her time, honey. Right now a child is dying in India; an old man is taking his last breath in Tokyo; a teenaged girl is about to be crushed by a car. And why? Because it's just time for them to die. Everything has just one lifetime to live, Emily. Everything dies."

I can sense her surprise. "Even you?"

I nod. "Yes. After the last cell has gone and the last star has burned, even Death will die. And the universe will end and… well, I'm not sure what happens after that."

Emily nods slowly, and then she whispers, "Was it… was it terrible? Her death?"

She doesn't have to expand on that. I grab her hand. "She didn't suffer too much. We talked before I sent her on her way, and she loved you, Emily. With all her heart. If that helps any."

Emily starts crying and I hold her until she stops and asks, "You don't have any say in who lives or dies?"

"No. I just be there for them when they do die."

"Is there any way to…"

"Yes. There is. But actions always have consequences."

Emily nods slowly. "Then… I won't."

I smile warmly at her. "You're a very brave girl, Emily Fields."

She shrugs. "No, I'm not. I just… it's not what she would've wanted. I know that. I shouldn't have even asked." She glances up. "Do you know… do you know when I'm going to die?"

With a chuckle, I stand up and stretch out. "It doesn't work like that, honey. I'll be there when you die, but I don't know about it in advance. My brother would, but he wouldn't tell you. He wouldn't tell anyone."

"Not even you?"

"Not even me."

Emily sniffles. "You know, I think my friend Spencer would like to meet you. She'd question you about everything…"

"I wouldn't tell her anything. I don't usually stop to talk to the widows, Emily."

"So why me?"

I shrug. "I don't know, really. But sometimes, I do."

We're silent again, but this time I gently coax her into laying down and kiss her forehead. "Go to my brother, Dream. He'll give you a memory of her. You won't remember this in the morning, and you won't fully remember the dream. But you'll remember being happy."

When she's asleep, I leave.