Disclaimer: These characters are from the story Magic Knight Rayearth created by CLAMP. I do not own any of them.

Hikaru floated within the darkness of her dreams, unable to stop. As she floated downward her feet hit something solid and she collapsed down upon it. The surface began to glow and she saw her reflection. Above her, she could make out a faint shimmering in the darkness coming from small shapes hovering in the air.

"Like a mirror," thought Hikaru ponderously, "and crystals.."

Suddenly, the glowing on the surface stopped and the crystals shattered as darkness completely engulfed everything. Everything, except a lone figure and the large mass behind him.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Hikaru woke up with a start and sat up slowly still thinking about her strange dream. She stretched and yawned, but she still couldn't shake her thoughts off the dream that was so cryptic.

"I wonder what that was supposed to mean." Hikaru mused to herself out loud as she got up. "I haven't had any dreams like that since the first time I came back from Cephiro. Cephiro?!"

Hikaru raced over to her dresser and found her watch.

"11:15! I'm supposed to be meeting Umi and Fuu at 12:00 to go to Cephiro! Ah, I'm going to be late!!"

Hikaru then raced about her house changing quickly, tidying herself as fast as she could while she ate a small snack and rushed out onto the street nearly colliding with a few people as she headed towards the Tokyo Tower.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Umi and Fuu had both arrived at the Tokyo Tower early, eager to go back to Cephiro. It had been four months since that final battle where Hikaru abolished Cephiro's pillar system. Since then all three of them visited Cephiro as often as they could and today was their first visit in a long while. Umi placed a basket carrying her homemade cake on the ground and checked her watch, which read 11:58.

"Looks like Hikaru's going to be late. I bet she overslept again." Umi stated with a sigh.

"No, I would not say that she is going to be late." Fuu said smiling knowingly. "She still has time to get here and with her speed we are sure to see her from a mile away, running straight towards us with and screeching to a halt before greeting us."

Just as Umi's watch said 12:00 a large cloud of dust could be seen coming straight towards them, caused by Hikaru running towards them with unprecedented speed. She screeched to a stop, breathing hard as Umi and Fuu felt a strong gust of wind blow past them, an effect of Hikaru's running.

"Umi, Fuu," Hikaru said still breathing hard as she looked up, "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting."

"No, you were right on time, Ms. Hikaru." Fuu replied as Umi chuckled to herself quietly. "Now, if you are ready let us proceed to Cephiro."

Umi picked up her basket and Hikaru finally caught her breath as the three girls gathered together in a close circle and headed to Cephiro.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

The three girls opened their eyes and were greeted warmly by Ascot and Ferio, who always seemed to have a six sense about when the girls were arriving.

"Yo! Long time no see." Ferio greeted as he gave a loving look at Fuu, tapping his earring meaningfully. "You really should come by more often."

"We come as often as we can manage, Ferio." Fuu was blushing as she replied to him, slowly turning the golden ring that rested on her finger.

"Still, we can't help wishing for you to visit more frequently." Ascot commented as he stole a glance at Umi, blushing slightly before noticing the basket in her hand. "Another cake for us to eat, Umi?"

"Of course!" Umi held up her basket and smiled proudly. "After all it is my expertise and Cephiro doesn't have anything quite like it."

"Yes, and we have lots of people who can enjoy it." Ferio gestured them onward down a passageway to lead them to where the others were. "The people from the other countries are still here, though most of the major negotiations have been reached. Mostly were just enjoying each other's company in the new serene Cephiro."

They were almost to their destination, talking cheerfully to one another, when Hikaru abruptly raced passed them in a blur of crimson towards a tall figure with dark hair and blue eyes.

"Lantis!" Hikaru yelled stopping just before they would have collided. "It's wonderful to see you!"

Lantis looked into her crimson eyes full of light and happiness that he had fallen in love with and could only smile back, trying to control his overwhelming feelings for her.

"Our feelings are mutual then," he replied as the others caught up to them. "Would you like to visit Eagle with me?"

"Of course!" Hikaru turned around to tell the others where they were going and Lantis began leading Hikaru towards Eagle's bedroom.

The group finally arrived at the castle gardens where all their friends were assembled around a table, talking cheerfully among themselves. Their arrival caused a storm of greetings and hugs from everyone there, which always made Umi and Fuu wish they could stay longer in Cephiro then was possible. After her particularly boisterous greeting, Aska noticed the basket in Umi's hand.

"Umi, is that another cake?" She nearly shouted with excitement, eyeing the basket ravenously while Umi nodded her head. "Yay!" Aska exclaimed bouncing up and down in her chair so that Sang Yung had to steady it. "Those are delicious! We should really come up with a recipe for them!"

"Lady Aska, the last thing you need is more sweets," Chanan said dryly.

Aska glared and laughter sprang up around the table as Umi set everything up with Ascot's help. Hikaru and Lantis returned shortly after and they began to enjoy themselves heartily in Cephiro's peaceful garden. Hikaru, however much she was enjoying herself and trying to relax, couldn't shake off the twinge of uneasiness in the back of her mind that had been there ever since that morning.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

After everyone had finished eating and the chatter had died down, they all went their separate ways about the castle and Hikaru chose to go lay in one of the grassy areas in the garden and try and sort out her uneasiness. She stared up at the ceiling, trying to relax, but that feeling in the back of her mind that was plaguing her wouldn't go away.

"Strange, Cephiro has been completely at peace since that battle four months ago. So why do I feel like something's wrong?"

Her thoughts wandered until finally her eyes closed and she was overtaken by sleep.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Hikaru was once again floating through the darkness of her dreams, except both the shimmering surface and the crystal like shapes were gone. Above her she could still make out the lone figure from earlier, but this time he was holding a large sword. The figure raised it high, and it began to shine, the light reflecting off of the large stone mass that they in the distance beyond him. Suddenly, the darkness began to rush towards him, swirling into his raised sword rapidly smothering the light, until finally the darkness shattered.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Hikaru came back to herself quickly as if she had been released from a spell. She sat up quickly, looking for the opaque meaning to the dreams that had overtaken her. Little did she know, these strange dreams wouldn't be the last of the surprises coming at her that day.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Eagle had also been very troubled during the day for reasons he had yet to comprehend. Now he was drawn into a peculiar dream very similar to Hikaru's and, as Eagle thought, not of his own making. The dream had overtaken him just as Geo and Zazu had come to visit him. The old friends had been able to exchange pleasantries and nothing more for Eagle had abruptly fallen into an unconscious state, leaving his two friends curious and bewildered.

"I wonder if he's okay? Eagle usually gives us a warning before he falls to sleep like that," Zazu said sounding frustrated and worried. "I know he needs his sleep, but that was a bit unusual."

" I agree with you, but there really isn't much we can do about it." Geo replied as he gazed at Eagle's sleeping that seemed to have a slightly troubled look about it. It was worrying Geo because Eagle usually looked so peaceful. "Maybe we should see Clef and-"

The rumbling under his feet interrupted Geo as a huge earthquake struck, nearly making both Geo and Zazu lose their balance. Amid the crashing of objects and the merciless shaking, Geo grabbed onto the bedpost with one arm and Zazu in the other in an attempt to stabilize both of them. Zazu held on tight to Geo as the rumbling and shaking finally subsided.

"Good, its over," Zazu sighed as Geo relieved his grasp upon the young mechanic. "This is very strange though! There haven't been any earthquakes like that one since Cephiro didn't have a pillar. How could that have--"

Geo waited for him to finish, but realized he was gaping at something with a look of disbelief with his mouth slightly ajar. Geo looked in the direction Zazu was and gasped. Sitting up in his bed was Eagle, his golden eyes gazing out in the distance as if they were trying to get their focus back. Their commander was finally awake!