My What?

Shadow Hearts: Covenant

By: The Shadow Hawk

Pairing: Kurando/Anastasia

Disclaimer: Just because I really want Kurando doesn't mean I really have him. I don't really want Anastasia to kick me either…

Summary: Kurando and Anastasia dream of each other before meeting, neither one knowing why. Advice from friends and family doesn't help either. When they meet under different circumstances, everything begins to make a little more sense.

The Boat to Japan

Yuri lay in a corner, groaning. His seasickness had completely incapacitated him. He only moved when he had to throw up. Karin was the only one willing to stay near the sick fusionist. She tried to make him as comfortable as possible despite the conditions. The others did their best to get comfortable as well. Joachim sacrificed his room to Lucia since it was too small for him and slept in the cargo area with Blanca. Gepetto had the best room since he was oldest and probably wouldn't be able to move in the morning if he slept in a regular room.

Anastasia was making herself as comfortable as possible in her little cabin. But little didn't even begin to describe her 'quarters.' She'd seen bathrooms bigger than the room she was in now. If she put her suitcase under her cot, there was just enough room to walk two steps from door to wall.

Trying to suppress a yawn, she took off her hat and placed it on top of her suitcase. There was no way she was putting it on the floor. She didn't want to think about what was on the floor. The cot was uncomfortable but it was all she had to sleep on.

Resigning herself to her uncomfortable resting place, she covered herself with the sheet, thankful it seemed clean enough, and drifted off to sleep. No sooner did she slip into unconsciousness did she begin to dream.

She was sitting on a bed in a house she'd never seen before…no that wasn't right…she'd seen the house before, but where? A glance in a mirror showed her clothes she knew she didn't own. She also looked at least 5 years older.

"Wha…what is this?" She fingered the edge of her garment…what was it called? A kimono! That's what it was…but why was she wearing one?

"Anya? Are you here?" A far off voice filled her with a sudden joy. Someone important was home…but who? It was the voice of a man, but unlike any she'd heard before. No…that wasn't right either. She knew the voice from somewhere…

"In the bedroom!" The words flew loudly from her mouth before she could stop them. Immediately she got scared. She didn't know who was at the door. Why tell the strange man where she was?

A few moments later, her questions were answered. The door opened and a tall young man walked in. He was absolutely gorgeous, wearing dark blue pants and a top to match. They were traditional Japanese style, she knew, but she didn't know the exact name. He untied a sword from his waist and set it on a shelf next to a golden mechanical egg before coming to her.

She smiled and jumped into his arms without really knowing what she was doing. "I missed you." She gazed deep into his ruby eyes. Ruby eyes? Like Yuri's? But this wasn't Yuri… "You were away too long."

He returned her hug and kissed her forehead. "I missed you as well. Next time I have to leave I would like to take you and Akiyama with. What do you think?"

She grinned and nodded. "It has been a while since I've been to the city. And I think Akiyama would enjoy going as well."

"How is he?"

She took his hand and led him to another room. "He missed his daddy."

Inside the other room, a young child, maybe two years old, was asleep in a small bed. She watched him approach the bed from the doorway.

What was going on? Who were this man and child? Why did she know them so well? Had she met him before? No…wait…yes…in a way…he'd been in her dreams before. Not always the same age, but definitely the same person. She'd even had the dreams before she had met Yuri and the others. Why was she taking care of a child this time? Was it hers? His?

But these questions didn't stop her from walking over to them when the child woke up and was ecstatic to see his 'father.' She studied the child as the man spoke to him. He had black hair like the man's only streaked with cinnamon highlights…the same color as her hair…and his eyes. They were ruby colored just like his father but flecked with jade…jade like her eyes…this was her child…and his…she just knew.

"I'll tell you more of my trip tomorrow. Go back to sleep for now." The man smiled again and put his son back to bed. The boy pouted but obeyed his father.

He offered her his hand and they went back to their own room.

"Did everything go alright?" She asked him quietly.

"Yes. It was only a minor issue."

"I'm glad. I was afraid you would get hurt." She lowered her head a bit.

His hand brushed her cheek. "I can't get hurt. I have to come back to you." He gently raised her chin to look into her eyes. "I love you Anya." Before she could respond he lowered his face to hers and kissed her passionately…

Anastasia nearly fell off the cot when she woke up and sat bolt upright. The room was dark. She was alone. Her fingers rose, trembling, to her lips. That man…his kiss felt so real. But who was he, this dream man? Yuri was the only person she'd ever known with red eyes and that was definitely not Yuri. It would be really creepy to have a child with Yuri anyway.

She shivered a little. It was only a dream but it was so real. And it wasn't fading away the longer she stayed awake. The more she thought about it, the more real it seemed. Pulling her sheet around her shoulders, she got up and left the room. She quickly decided to go see Lucia. Perhaps the fortuneteller could make sense of her dream.

Lucia was still awake in her room, checking her tarot cards and oils while Karin talked about Yuri. Anastasia knocked on the door, making both women jump.

"Coming!" Lucia let the young princess in. "Hi Anastasia! Why are you up so late?"

Anastasia looked at Karin. "Was I interrupting something?"

"No. I was just talking about Yuri. He finally went to sleep." Karin moved over on the bed so that she could sit down. "You look pale. Is everything alright?"

"I…had a strange dream…and…I've had it before…but this one was the most real yet…"

The mention of dreams got Lucia interested. "Well, tell us! This could be good! Maybe it's an omen that we're all going to die!"

Anastasia and Karin gave Lucia a look. The little princess sighed. "I don't think children are a symbol of death…"

"Children? What children?" Karin looked curious.

While Anastasia told them of her dreams, Lucia rummaged around in her pack for some crystals.

"I see him all the time…sometimes we're in a house together…sometimes we're outside. He tells me he loves me a lot. And I feel like I love him when I'm with him. But I don't know his name. He knows mine but…and this time we had a child. The dreams have never gone that far." She buried her face in her hands. "Who is he?"

Lucia found a crystal globe and handed it to her. "Think about him while holding this."

A few months ago, Anastasia wouldn't have believed in Lucia's power, but now she'd seen too much not to believe. So she thought about the young man, his hair, his face, his eyes, everything. Slowly, his image began to form inside the crystal. "That's him!"

Lucia and Karin peered into the globe. He was talking to someone outside the scope of the globe. He looked at little confused. Lucia giggled. "He's handsome."

Anastasia looked at him again. He seemed younger than he had in the dream. Maybe that's how he really looked. Once or twice, he looked like that in her dreams. And he was very handsome. If he was anything like he was in her dreams, he would be nice as well. "So is there anyway to tell who he is?"

Lucia looked thoughtful for a moment. "Oh that's easy. He's your husband! Or he will be anyway."

"My what!" Anastasia shrieked and dropped the globe. It hit the ground hard, breaking in two, shattering the image of the young man. Anastasia started shouting franticly in Russian. Lucia and Karin looked at each other, confused. Karin recovered first and put her hands on the princess's shoulder.

"Anya, calm down. I'm sure Lucia was just joking." She turned to the fortuneteller. "Lucia, that's awfully mean of you. She's looking for answers. You can't joke around like that."

"I was being serious! Dreams are a serious matter! That boy will eventually be Ana's husband!"

Anastasia suddenly started laughing. It was a very bitter laugh though. "Oh, I get it. You're trying to cheer me up with this ridiculous story aren't you?" She buried her face in her hands again. "Sure…I'll fall in love with and marry some handsome stranger. That way I can forget about my lost home right? That's the kind of life fairy tale princesses lead. I'm no fairy tale princess." The depressed girl got up and ran from the room back to her own room and bolted her door.

She crumpled to the floor and started sobbing, willing herself to go to sleep and see the man again. Maybe he wasn't real, but she always felt happy when she was with him.

Inugami Village

Kurando lay awake in his own bed. Every time he closed his eyes, the girl was there, the young jade-eyed goddess that haunted his dreams. Sitting up in bed, he reached for something on his nightstand. His fingers found a piece of paper with a charcoal sketch on it. He'd done the sketch himself after a few nights of seeing the girl in his dreams, though he felt the simple sketch didn't do her justice.

The girl was beautiful but he had no idea who she was or why he always dreamed of her. His mother always said that people in dreams were important but he'd never seen the same person so many times in so many places. The girl was important. He already felt like he knew her, except her name though. His dreams never offered him a name.

He yawned. Sleep was coming and undoubtedly another dream of the girl. Perhaps this time he would get a name. He put the paper back on his table and settled back into bed.

He was walking somewhere quickly, maybe to the girl. He was in his own home. He had to find her. Before he could call out to her, she called to him. It was like she knew he was there.

"I'm upstairs Kurando!" He quickly climbed the stairs and went to his…their room. Inside, the girl was on the bed with a baby, no more than a year or so. A strange egg buzzed above the child's head making him giggle joyfully. She laughed as the egg came back to her hand.

Kurando smiled. His wife and child were everything to him. Wait…wife and child? When did a child enter his dreams? They never had a child before. His relationship with his dream girl was getting more serious.

"Kurando! You got up here quickly." She put the egg on a table stand and greeted him with a hug. "Are the villagers alright?"

"Yes. It was just a stray tengu that wandered too close." He spoke without really knowing what he was talking about. Sometimes it felt like he was just a bystander in his own body. He never knew what was going on in the dream but his dreamself always knew and that was all that mattered.

Back on the bed, the little boy was starting to yawn.

"Akiyama's tired. I should put him to bed." She was about to pick up the child when he stopped her.

"I'll do it. You look tired."

She laughed. "Your son is a handful, you know."

He chuckled softly. "So he's just my son when he's being bad, eh?" Kurando picked up the child on the bed and walked to the child's room while his wife lay back on the bed.

The child's room was connected to their room. While he was tucking Akiyama in, Kurando studied the child. Black hair streaked with cinnamon, ruby eyes sprinkled with jade, there was no doubt this child was his and hers.

The child went to sleep with very little fuss and Kurando returned to his dream girl. She looked so peaceful, asleep there. He hated to wake her but the urge to brush a few loose pieces of hair from her face was too strong…

When his fingers grazed her skin, she opened her eyes and smiled. "I wasn't sleeping, you know." She grabbed his hand and pulled him down to the bed.

"You looked like you were." He leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"I can't go to sleep as soon as you get home. That would be rude."

"It's alright." He shifted them in bed so that she was lying on top of him. "I'm tired too."

She yawned. "Maybe I am a little tired…" She looked up at him. "I love you Kurando…"

Just as he was about to say the same, she kissed him, preventing him from speaking. He could feel her hands run through his hair as the kiss deepened…

Kurando woke up with a gasp. He never got used to how serious his relationship with the dream girl was. He was very close to Sayori but he'd never even kissed her. He'd never kissed anyone before. And now he was dreaming of having children with this girl he'd never meet before.

Why did the child appear this time? It had never been there before. Could it be that he would get to meet her soon?

He lay in bed for a while trying to sleep but it soon became obvious that sleep was gone.

"Never hurts to have an early start." He sighed and kicked back his blankets. Still in his night clothes, he walked to the Fountain of Sukune. Maybe it could offer some answers.

When he reached the cavern, he was shocked to find that his mother was already there standing in the middle of the pool. "Mother…what are you doing up? It's not even dawn yet…"

"I know. But I wanted to be here before you."

This confused Kurando but he knew better than to wonder about his mother. She had her secret ways. He accepted that.

"So what brings you here so early my son?" She smiled knowingly. She probably already knew the answer to that question.

Kurando knelt near the edge. "In my dreams…there is a girl…I see her often. I think we're married…in my last dream we had a child. It's never been so serious. I want to know who she is."

While Kurando spoke, the waters in the fountain shuddered. Images shifted, looking for something. Then it settled on something. He looked down and gasped.

The girl was there, talking to someone the Fountain wouldn't let him see. She seemed distressed, perhaps asking for advice from the other person or people with her.

"Is that her?" Saki smiled at the image of the young girl. Kurando could only nod. She looked fairly young but his dreams offered him no real idea of how old she was at the present time. It could be that this was the first real image of her he'd seen. "I'll take that as a yes?"

Kurando tore his eyes from the water and looked at his mother. "Who is she? Have I met her before?"

Saki laughed lightly. "You haven't met her yet, but she will come to you in a time of great need. And she will be your wife."

"My what? W-wife? B-but Sayori…" He still thought of the beautiful girl he'd known all his life. Some part of him always felt they would one day be married.

Saki's smile faded slightly. "I'm sorry Kurando, but Sayori is not a part of your future. She has her own path to follow and you have yours. And yours is with her." She gestured to the girl in the waters. "When you meet her, you will accept this more easily."

Kurando lowered his head again. It was bad enough when his mother advised him in riddles but her straight forward answers had to be the worst. He stood up after a moment. "Thank you for your advice, Mother. I'm heading to Mukyo-An today. I am not certain when Master will allow me to return for a visit."

Saki nodded. "Very well Kurando. Be careful. All is not well here in Japan."

"Yes Mother." Kurando bowed and left the cavern, contemplating his mother's words. If something was happening in the country, maybe there was a good chance this foreign girl would be part of it. People didn't just come to Japan. They had a reason. Hopefully, this girl wouldn't be on the wrong side of the trouble that seemed to be coming.

Next chapter: Kurando and Anastasia finally meet. It's already written, I just don't know when I'll post it. Nothing like being a college girl and a writer at the same time. I should so be writing papers. Review please. Reviews make the world go round. Well...not really, but they are fun. :)

The Shadow Hawk