The moon; it is what the Pekoponians call that floating dust ball orbiting Pekopon. They treasure it like a sacred artifact, worship it as if it were a god, and even hope to one day live on it as if it could provide a home. There was absolutely nothing special about that piece of rock as far as I can see. But, I cannot help but wonder; why does Natsumi stare at it so intently every night as of late?

These were Giroro's thoughts as he sat on his cinder block polishing his weaponry before turning in for the night. He occasionally looked up as he heard a subtle sigh escape from Natsumi's mouth. What are you thinking about? He wondered. He watched as Natsumi gave one last look at her precious moon before going back into her room and turning out the light. He listened as Natsumi shuffled around in her bed making little effort to get comfortable and he waited till he knew she was sound asleep before he put away the gun he was polishing and crawled into his tent to get some sleep himself.

Natsumi was ever present in his mind as he himself readied for sleep. I wonder how she sleeps. He thought, pulling his blanket over him and laying his head down. I never hear a peep out of her in the night. She must sleep well. Giroro smiled at the thought, and finally drifted off into a light, but comfortable sleep.

CHAPTER 1 - DREAMER

Giroro woke suddenly to a sound coming from above his tent. He sat up quickly and listened carefully. The sound was faint, but it was definitely the sound of heavy breathing. He stepped out of his tent and looked around. Nothing is there… wait, there is something. He stilled his own breath to listen harder. A whimper was heard, then more heavy breathing. A hard shifting in cloth, sheets… a bed.

"N-…" There came an audible noise. "No…NO! G—gi-…" It sounded again.

"That's Natsumi's voice!" Giroro looked up at Natsumi's window. "It's still open." He jumped upon his skimmer and floated up to the second story of the Hinata house. He leaped from the skimmer onto the balcony where Natsumi's room was. Peering into the window he could see that nothing has been disturbed in her room. That is, nothing except Natsumi.

"Gi-…giro..." she was panting in her sleep, speaking half words and half nonsense.

She seems to be having a bad dream. Giroro was beside her now, watching her sleep. He watched her toss from one side to the other, panting and trying to shout something out to nobody. She seemed frightened. Giroro came closer to her, trying to understand what she was trying to say. She lay still for a moment, though her breathing was still heavy.

"Don't." Natsumi breathed out. "Don't go." She became more restless, shaking her head from side to side, drifting about her pillow. "Gi-…Giro-…."

Giro? Giroro was confused by this word she said. He carefully climbed on her bed and leaned over her. What about giro? What is it you are trying to say, Natsumi? He looked closer at her face. Is she- crying? Giroro's eyes widened. Tears were indeed falling from his Natsumi's eyes. Yet he watched still, unable to do anything. Why are you crying, Natsumi? He could stand this no longer. He did not like to see his Natsumi this way. He reached out his hand, wanting to touch her; he wanted to wake her from this terrible nightmare. His hand inched closer and closer to her trembling body, he could almost feel her.

Natsumi shifted again, first away from the reaching frog, then toward him again. Sweat fell from her face along with tears onto her pillow, her tossing became more frantic. She gripped her bed sheets and pulled them hard. "Don't go. Don't go. Don't go!" she said over and over again. "don...gi. Gi—GIRORO!" she screamed into the night, sitting right up in her bed she flung her eyes open.

Giroro just stood there, shocked at what she had just said.

Natsumi sat there, still panting from her fit, trying to regain her composure after having just woken up from such a terror. She did not realize that Giroro was right next to her. Tears still fell from her eyes and onto her lap. She began to sob softly, gripping her bed sheets beside her. After a minute her crying ceased as she realized that she was not alone in her room. She turned her head to see that Giroro was next to her, on her bed, looking at her in both awe and sadness.

"Natsumi…" he spoke softly. "Natsumi, are you—" He began, reaching out to her once more. Though, his hand trembled and moved slowly toward her.

Natsumi looked at him, stunned and relieved. "Giroro." Her voice cracked. She saw that he was reaching for her, but looked too scared to touch her. She immediately lunged toward him and scooped him up into her arms, crying harder than before, and holding him tightly, never wanting to let go of him.

Giroro didn't know what to do. He was being held by his Natsumi in a way he never even dreamed possible. Instead of punching him into next year for even being in her room like he expected from her, she picked him up and held him, hugging him so tight he could hardly breathe. He didn't want this moment to end, but he feared he would suffocate if she did not release him soon. "N-Natsumi… I-I can't breathe." He managed to say.

Natsumi did not speak. She did not apologize; she only loosened her grip slightly on the gasping frog and sat there holding him.

Giroro was stunned. He did not know what to think of his current situation. Natsumi, his Natsumi, was crying on his shoulder. He finally wrapped his arms around her neck and embraced her tightly. "It's ok, Natsumi." He spoke softly into her ear, making his best attempt at calming her. "Please don't cry, I don't like to see you cry." He instinctively began to stroke her long pink hair, softly as his soldier hands could.

Natsumi stopped crying. She sniffled a few times, and then took a deep breath and released it slowly. She let Giroro go and sat up. Giroro, still holding onto her silken hair, let it slide out of his hands as she moved back. Such beautiful hair… Giroro mused. He looked up as he noticed Natsumi looking at him. He stared into her teary eyes. "Natsumi…"

Natsumi smiled as she saw Giroro standing before her on her bed. "I'm sorry." She began, her voice was shaky. "I—I don't know what came over me." She fidgeted with her hands on her lap. "I didn't mean to…" She suddenly felt a small hand holding onto her fidgeting ones. Looking to Giroro holding her hands still, she saw something in his eyes, but she couldn't place what it was.

"Don't be sorry for your tears, Natsumi. I know you are strong and willing to fight on. You are a good soldier" He blushed. "Now tell me, what's the matter?" He looked up at her with determination, hoping he could heal her sadness.

Natsumi smiled and brought him into another hug. "Thank you, Giroro, but I don't think I'm ready to talk about it yet… maybe another time. For now, you should go back to bed before someone notices you're in here. If mama saw you she'd throw a fit." She giggled and scooted Giroro back to her window and watched him go back to his tent. "Good night, Giroro." She said happily before retreating back to her room and crawled back into bed.

Giroro couldn't say anything else. He was stunned. He didn't know how to react to that whole play of events. I've never seen her like that before. She held me so tightly that I could not breathe. She cried on my shoulder. She… Giroro was still flush in the face as he floated back down to his tent on his skimmer. Once it was parked and he hopped off, he looked back up to Natsumi's window and saw her go back into her room. He listened to her slinking back into bed and wrapping up tightly in her blankets. She was so sad, but would not tell me why. He went into his tent to lay down for another attempt at sleep. But it was hard to do. For most of the night he heard Natsumi's heavy sighs and tossing and turning, not really sleeping herself. It wasn't until daybreak that she finally fell into a deep sleep.