"Hayate? " she whispered. Himeno Awayuki sat up in her bed. The early
morning sunrise made hues of pink and orange dance on her bedroom
wall. A light, fragrant breeze drifted through the open window, making
her pink-red hair flutter softly. No, it wasn't Hayate. She knew it wasn't
him, but she couldn't help but call out his name. She got up and walked
out onto the balcony. The soft morning breeze was never Hayate, it was
always just a dream. "Good morning Mom." Himeno said. The flowers
seemed to sway in response to her greeting. She hated those dreams. It
was the same one every night too. She was the white Pretear. She poured
all of her power to the great tree of Fenrir. She gave everything she had,
to save everything she cared about. To save her friends, to save her
family, to save…Hayate. She sacrificed herself for all of them, and as a
snow of pure leafe fell from the sky, she slowly slipped into darkness.
She could feel her self falling gently, losing her grip on reality. Someone
caught her as she fell, probably one of the Leafe Knights, and laid her
gently on the ground. She could hear her family and friends call out her
name, their voices faded and distant. She knew they were all safe, and
she let the darkness swallow her completely. She was dying, or was she
already dead? Everything was dark, utter darkness, utter silence, and
nothing more. All her senses had left her, she was left with only her
thoughts. She was simply trapped in her body, waiting to move on to
whatever was next, but something had stopped her. The silence had been
broken. She could hear one voice, soft and so distant. But it was the one
thing that was keeping her soul from slipping away "I'm sorry Himeno.
I'm a great big failure as a Knight. While I knew what was in my heart, I
never had the courage to tell you face to face. But I'll keep the promise I
made now." Through the darkness she felt a warm energy, emanating
from her lips and flowing throughout her body. Slowly she regained
conciseness. She opened her eyes to see Hayate's face above her. His
hand upon her cheek and his own eyes filled with tears. As she looked at
him, and astonished smile spread across his face. She was back, she herd
the laughs and gasps as her family and friends ran to her side. The funny
thing was, she felt more alive then she ever had.
The thing about the dream, was that it really did happen. Well she wasn't
so sure about the kiss, or that near death experience. What bothered her
the most, the one foolish romantic though, was that maybe Hayate had
kissed her, and maybe that kiss is what brought her back.
She sighed and walked back inside to get dressed. 'I really shouldn't get
my hopes up like that. I'm such a fool. Why would Hayate ever feel that
way about me?' As much as it pained her she knew that she had to give
up on him. This was the main reason that she had been avoiding him
lately. It wasn't very hard,. He had been spending a lot of time in
Leafina, trying to return it to normal. And when he wasn't their he was
working for her father. It wasn't hard to avoided him at work either. It
was a very big mansion. She finished dressing and looked at her watch.
8:00, 'That's strange, the maid usually brings my breakfast tray at
7:00...She's probably sleeping in today, I'll just grab something from the
kitchen. She needs to rest a bit anyway, she works too hard.' Himeno
thought. She walked down to the kitchen an rummaged through the
fridge for some breakfast. As she grabbed an apple and closed the door,
she spotted the calendar on the wall. "Oh great." she said. "So much for
avoiding him today." It was the 25th, she had agreed to go shopping with
him for Shin's birthday since they both hadn't gotten anything yet. Its
not like she minded completely, she was only avoiding him because she
should, not because she wanted to. 'Well I'm not supposed to meet him
until 10. I might as well do some gardening to pass the time. At around
10 she went down to the fountain near the mansion gates, the one where
she had first met all of the Leafe Knights. She sat down on a small stone
bench, finished her apple ( she had taken an extra one in case she got
hungry) and waited for Hayate. And waited, and waited, and waited, and
waited, and waited.