Follows

The weather was sunny that day. It was the day Jonathan gave her his heart. He knew Angelica loved him as she had shown it in so many ways. Some say you cannot love when you are so young, not the everlasting kind anyway. But he knew better. And, in her own way, she did too. However, that he would choose to love anyone after Tania was a miracle in and of itself.

He had sworn off women after the last one disappeared mysteriously. Her name was Tania. She was beautiful as only the young can be. Pure, innocent, with eyes that shone like diamonds, and long hair that followed behind her, all the way to her ankles. It was only last year that he had given his heart to her. It was a beautiful locket he used to present his love to her, a cherished heirloom given to his mother, from his father, on the day that she disappeared. One moment, she accepted the jewel, the next moment she was just... gone. His father never remarried, and spent his life looking for his wife. The townsfolk would gossip and say she'd run away to seek fame and fortune, but Jonathan's father knew better. And he saved that locket, that cursed thing, until their only son had become a teenager. Jonathan learned from his father the danger of this locket, but he also believed that it would bring him his one true love, and so he accepted it. In the back of his mind, he also hoped that it would lead him to his mother one day... And then, he met Tania.

He knew she was the one, and she knew the same about him. As they walked through the park, hand in hand, he held out to her the locket. It's beauty made the sparkle in her eyes light up, and she turned around to let him attach it to her lovely throat. As she turned around, smilingly, to thank him, he had one last glimpse of her when she disappeared, right into thin air! Jonathan was shattered. He went home and told his father and his father crumpled into the recliner. For his father knew that, if the story got out, the gossip would start all over again. Sadly, they both decided they would never speak of it, and Jonathan swore he'd never seek companionship again. The only solace he allowed himself, the only glimmer of hope, was that, if he were able to find his mother and Tania, he would finally be happy.

And then, he met Angelica. It was about a year later, in that same park where he had lost Tania. The relationship was grudging at first, but grew into the type of lasting love he never thought he'd feel again. He knew he must give his hearty to her, as he had done with Tania, because it was expected in this family he came from. But this time, he'd planned it all out. As he spoke to Angelica of his all-consuming, undying love, he held out the pendant for her to behold. Eerily, she turned around in the same fashion as Tania had done, and he clasped the locket behind her. As she turned toward him, all smiles, he grabbed her waist and they both shimmered into non-existence.

Two things happened, simultaneously. First, in a hospital room, a woman in labor screeched at the top of her lungs as a baby burst forth from her loins. As the doctor delivered the child, and handed it over to the nurse, he realized the woman was in process of bringing forth a second child. Sweat poured down her forehead as she pushed with all her might, heard a baby cry for the second time, then laid back to take a breather. Again, the familiar pain shot out and she almost fainted as she birthed a third child. Finally, she could rest. No one ever knew she was pregnant with triplets except she herself. She knew from the time she'd had a vision when she was but a teenager that she would have triplets. She even had their names all planned out. She knew she would have one son and two daughters, and she would name them Jonathan, Tania, and Angelica.

Second, as the shimmer around the teenagers in the park disappeared, along with them, they found themselves floating in the air, toward a lady who looked strikingly like the photos young Jonathan had seen of his mother, in the old faded photo album his father had shown him once, so long ago. As they met in the air, they touched hands for a moment. The locket was attached to her throat, bright and shining as the one he'd given Angelica. The lady held her hands out to both of them and told them what was to be expected of them. She didn't use words though, it was all meshed in their heads. They just sort of knew the wisdom she was imparting to them. She showed them visions of a war-torn planet, where children were the military, and fought for freedom. She showed them other things as well. Many worlds appeared, a flying object that looked like a water tower flew into the air, and carried two passengers, Jonathan and Angelica. They were also privy to a huge lion, sitting in a park, accompanied by a lamb. It was all too much and Jonathan broke free of the spell he seemed to be under, gasping and swaying as her almost lost his balance.

Jonathan looked toward Angelica and witnessed a look of amazement on her face. It was as if she knew something he couldn't quite grasp, not yet anyway. He then looked toward this lady, this beautiful lady, his mother maybe... for guidance. As she spoke the words filled the universe. She said only one thing, and it changed everything. Her words were like fire and ice. They were, 'You have both been chosen since before time began. Your journey starts here and now, and it will take eons. You will face danger, but you will always know from whence your help cometh. You may feel alone, but you will never be alone. And finally, at journey's end, you will come face to face with the lion and the lamb, and all will be as it was supposed to be'.

With that last word spoken, the lady let go of their hands and unclasped her own pendant. As she clasped their hands again, placing the locket in them, the locket itself grew into a bubble, encompassing the pair. As the lady then spoke three more words, 'It has begun', the heart and it's passengers blinked out of existence...