For several months Maeve had been studying magic on a secluded island protected by Dim-Dim. And, like so many times before in the past few months, she took a break from her studies, sat by her scrying pool, and called up a picture of the Nomad’s deck.

She sighed as she saw Sinbad’s face in the water. She didn’t like his new look; he was overdoing it with the leather and stuff...although he did look gorgeous in the outfit. It was just that, in this new image of his, Maeve couldn’t see any trace of the Sinbad she had known and cared for. This Sinbad was standing at the tiller, staring up at the sky. The wind was blowing fiercely, blowing his hair around and giving it a slightly mussed look.

"Sinbad," Maeve whispered. She reached a hand toward the pool, stopping just short of touching the surface. "Where are you?"

She didn’t just want to know where he was located, though she ached to see him again. No, she ached even more for the old Sinbad. The Sinbad with a real lust for life, an odd sense of humor, a kind brave heart that showed even when sometimes he irritated her to no end. She didn’t see any of that in the new Sinbad. And it hurt so much to see him like that.

She wanted the old Sinbad. Or at least, traces of him. She wondered if there was a way for him to be both his old self and new self at the same time. Was there a way for him to have the best of both?

Maeve waved the picture away, blinking back tears. She couldn’t bear to see him like that anymore, not while her heart reached out for the Sinbad she loved so much.

Maybe there was some way to get him back. Maybe he would meet someone who could bring out the best in him. Maybe she was that person.

Then again, maybe she wasn’t.

And that hurt her most of all. That she might have to give him up in order for him to be happy, in order for him to be the wonderful man he had been and could be again.

Maeve hoped that she wouldn’t have to do that. "Sinbad, come back to me," she pleaded, remembering the year she spent on the Nomad with Sinbad and how it had been one of the best times in her life. Gods, she needed him so much. He had been the one to kindle her heart, to make her feel emotions that she never had before.

But it was because of that love that she might have to let him go.

Whatever brought the old Sinbad back, whatever made him happy, Maeve would do. Even if she did have to lose him. Even if meant she would be crying herself to sleep at night. She made up her mind to do whatever it took to see Sinbad as he once was, happy and whole.

She called another picture up in the scrying pool, a picture of Bryn. From watching her, Maeve had gotten to know the gentle sorceress better than Bryn knew herself. She also suspected that Bryn might just be the one to make Sinbad happy again.

As she saw Bryn watching Sinbad, Maeve knew.

She knew, without a doubt, that she had to let him go.

Oh, it hurt. It hurt so much. Maeve felt the tears coming as she thought of him being happy with another woman. Even though seeing him happy would make Maeve happy, it would hurt her even more.

'Give him up, Maeve, give him up,' her inner voice told her. 'Let him be happy again.'

Maeve looked back down into the scrying pool and saw that Sinbad had come into the picture by moving to talk to Bryn. For a brief moment he seemed perfectly at ease, with no troubles plaguing him.

He turned his head slightly, his eyes looking directly at Maeve without being aware of it. In that moment Maeve finally made a decision.

'I can't do this! Not yet!' she thought to herself. For when she had seen the expression in his eyes, she saw a glimmer of the Sinbad she knew and loved. And she saw exactly what had changed him.

How could she have even thought of letting him go? She couldn't, not yet. Maybe one day, she would have to give him up. But not now.

And as Maeve caught one more look into his eyes before he was out of the picture, she knew, somehow, that he had decided the same thing about her.

It was not yet time to let go.