Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copyrighted to Bandai, Toei, and of course its Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copyright for it.

A/N - Sorry for this being so late life happens though just remember that I promised that no matter how long it takes me to update I will not leave a story unfinished. It is something I hate more then anything!

Original Characters descriptions will be gone through again as a general refresher since its been awhile for some of them when they are actually met face to face. Seems silly to do them during flashbacks and such.

Also, this is not a stand alone story. To understand what is going on you need to read Guardian Angel and Endangered Hope in that order. There is also a one shot called Winter isn't an Ending, but it's not as important as the other two. If you want to read it the order is Guardian Angel, Winter isn't an Ending, and Endangered Hope then Burning Hope. (I hope I made that clear enough XD.)

Chapter One

When one refers to Burning Hope is one referring to the fact that it is being consumed like a log in a fireplace or does it refer to that moment when ones emotions are so intense that one says they are burning?

Burning;

[bur-ning]

Verb (used with object)

1. … To be consumed partially or wholly…

Adjective;

5. Intense; passionate.

Of course there is a third option that most do not think of. It could refer to that single beautiful moment that occurs right before one succumbs to oblivion. It is that moment when one shines the brightest burning everything up that they are in order to do whatever it is they need to do.

The question is… Which one does this story refer to?

…

The sky was dark as if it were nighttime yet there where no stars in the sky nor was there any moon. This was a place with gently slopping hills covered in grass so high a child could easily hide within it beneath that starless sky. Yet there was nothing else to this place, just the hills and the grass making it somewhere that one would easily get lost in whether one wanted to or not. What was most strange about this area was despite how dark the sky was, one could still see as if the grass or the very ground itself somehow produced light.

Then, in one of the flatter areas of the fields, there was a flash of light that once it had vanished a doorway had appeared in its place. Except for being in the middle of nowhere in such a strange place the doorway appeared to be entirely normal with a very normal wooden door. Almost as soon as it had appeared the door was thrown open and a blond in his mid teens came barreling through the door nearly falling flat on his face when the long grass attempted to trip him up. Before he fell he managed to balance himself out then stood up sort of straight as he slightly leaned forward a hand on his chest while he took deep breaths. In his other hand was clenched a dark purple skeleton key. A look of confusion appeared on his face as he looked around breathing heavily. This had not been where he had been aiming for when he had made the doorway appear.

Behind him, from the doorway, came the sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath. Confusion turned to panic as he turned to face the direction he had come from and ran at the door slamming it shut. Something impacted against the door causing it to bow slightly and the force knocked him backwards causing him fall onto his backside. He kept his blue eyes focused on the door his muscles tensed until it finally vanished and he fell onto his back with a relieved sigh.

"That could have gone better," he mumbled to himself then winced as his bruised chest muscles spasmed angry at what he had forced them to go through. He had warn the brace the hospital had given him for his chest yet it could only do so much when he kept irritating them like this. It was not like he had much choice either. It was either be in more pain or die simple as that. Between the two he would rather deal with the pain.

With a groan he sat up slowly ignoring the protests of his muscles as he did so. There was a chain attached to the belt he wore and he took hold of it attaching the skeleton key to it then stuffed the key into his pocket as an extra measure. The last thing he needed right now was to lose the key after the owner had been kind enough to lend it to him. He really did not want to see what type of reaction she would have if she found out that he had lost it. "Now to find out where I am," he said as he rolled onto his hands and knees. He knew full well with the way his chest felt it would be easier to stand this way then to try and push himself into a standing position while sitting.

However, before he could even move to where he was on his knees only a wave of exhaustion washed over him. Takeru Takaishi had been warned by Luna, the owner of the key, and her twin, Trace, about the cost of opening one of the doorways with the key. The problem was that the two had believed he, a normal human when compared to those two, would be able to open at least one without any problems. As his arms gave out on him he realized that their guess had been wrong or maybe his body already weakened by the bruised ribs just did not have enough energy to support a single doorway.

Either way, as he laid there trying to stay awake, he could only hope that the others part in the plan had gone off without a hitch even if there where complications on his part. His last thought before he fell asleep was that this place was most certainly not his apartment.

Their plan had been a simple one as it had been decided that the more complicated a plan the more likely it was to fail when it came to this particular foe. Trace, along with his younger brother Lee and their two Digimon Rascmon and Bearmon, had been sent to Primary Village ahead of time to make sure that Kitsumon, the demonic Digimon that he was, did not kidnap a Baby level Digimon to replace the one they would be "trading" Takeru for, Aiden's Botamon. Since they had a few days before the trade was to take place Iori had gone there the day before with Digmon to create a small base where they could keep an eye on the trade to make sure Kitsumon did not pull a fast one. If something did indeed go wrong Iori was to contact Daisuke through their D-terminals and back-up would arrive to try and make things right.

Takeru's part in the plan had been fairly easy. All he had to do was stand there and wait for Kitsumon to agree to the trade. Then once it was completed and Aiden had his Digimon he was supposed to use Luna's key to open a doorway to his apartment where he was to wait until he heard from the others.

That part of the plan had failed, obviously, and as Takeru slowly woke up he could not help but be worried. For one thing he had no clue where he was. He had never seen the place he was now and as he rolled onto his back a glance at the sky told him he was not on Earth. Secondly, he was alone as he had been forced to leave Patamon with his brother to keep Kitsumon from thinking they had set up a trap somehow. With a sigh he thought back over what had happened to try and figure out if something had occurred then…

Aiden and Takeru had arrived at the spot the trade was supposed to take place as specified by the letter without any trouble. The only reassurance Takeru had about this trade while he had stood there waiting for it to take place was Luna's key which he could feel against his left ankle. He had hidden it in his boot afraid that any other place might be searched. Both the teens where nervous, but showed it in different ways. Aiden would play with the strings of the dark green hooded vest he wore that was meant to tighten down the hood while Takeru kept looking around them.

Aiden's other Digimon, Punimon, had been left behind at the hotel under the watchful eye of the Luna and Trace's uncle Kyte since there was nothing those two could really do to help. The two teenagers had arrived as soon as school had let out that day though Aiden had not actually been there that long before he had to leave. Takeru found out from Aiden later that he had been suspended from school due to the trouble his Digimon had caused there which was why unlike Takeru he wasn't in his uniform.

The two would have to wait over an hour before Kitsumon would finally show up. As the letter had stated he had indeed come alone with the small Botamon in his hands. The poor baby Digimon was shaking pretty bad from what Takeru had been able to see but he was not hurt from what little Takeru had seen of him.

"You know if you're going to schedule a time to show up it would be nice if you actually showed up on time!" Aiden had snapped his arms crossed over his chest.

Kitsumon had just shrugged. "I would have been if a certain Digimon hadn't been so hard to catch. You think he would appreciate it more that I fed him and even gave him an entire room to run around in before this trade. Instead he ran around spitting bubbles at me," he had said with a shake of his head. The information had caused Aiden to grin for a moment until Kitsumon had spoken again, "So I assume you have picked Takeru for the trade since he's here? Though knowing him he likely volunteered himself since he seems to have come of his own will. Seriously I will never understand why you would so willingly put yourself in harms way for the sake of others."

Takeru had clenched his fist then and had shouted, "What does it matter if I volunteered or not? You're getting exactly what you wanted!" Kitsumon had simply ignored him.

"How are we going to do this?" Adien had asked at that point. He wanted to get this done as fast as possible. Takeru could not really blame him and a part of him wanted it over as well.

"Both of you will approach me and when Takeru is by my side I will simply hand over Botamon to you," Kitsumon had answered Aiden. Both of them had starred in shock at Kitsumon with how simple the trade was going to be. Takeru had thought he would make them do something complicated to make sure it had not been a trap.

He remembered asking Kitsumon about it, "That's it? We just walk over to you and you hand over Botamon to us nothing more?"

"That is it," Kitsumon had responded. Takeru and Aiden had looked at each other. Takeru had thought there had to be some type of trap and maybe there had been since the doorway had failed. Still the two had begun to walk towards Kitsumon once Takeru had nodded his head. When they had reached Kitsumon Aiden stopped while Takeru continued until he had stood beside Kitsumon. It was then Kitsumon had handed over Botamon to Aiden. "Now… back off," Kitsumon had ordered.

Aiden had held his Digimon tightly then had looked at Takeru before he had taken off in flat out run. Takeru had known then the red headed teen was trying to get out of there before Takeru used the key. It was because of this Takeru had not used the key right away. He waited until Aiden had almost reached the spot Iori was hidden with Digimon before he had taken the key out.

At the time, he remembered the warnings all three of the Star siblings had given him. Heck even Kyte had made sure he had known it by heart. He was not to think about one of their realms he was to go someplace he knew by heart. Which was why Takeru had chosen his apartment yet he had ended up here.

He laid on his back for a moment longer trying to think of what to do next. Luna and Trace had both agreed that if Takeru had to use the key more then once in a day he would pass out and remain asleep for the rest of the day. If he knew for certain that using the key would actually guarantee that he would get home he would just use it, but more then likely if he did use it he would only end up back here, wherever here was. There was, of course, the option of just waiting for his friends to come find him yet something told him if they could find him they already would have. He had no way of knowing just how long he had been asleep but he doubted it was a short nap. He just hoped it wasn't to long otherwise his friends where probably panicking by now.

With a slight groan, as his chest muscles had seized while he was out, he rolled onto his hands and knees pushing himself onto just his knees. The world seemed to tilt for a moment and his head pulsed slightly so he stayed where he was until things had calmed down. Then carefully and slowly he stood up afraid if he did it to quickly he would end up on the ground again. He stood there for a moment head in his hands as it throbbed. When it had stopped again he took a look around him once more.

Something about this placed seemed to stir something within the back of his mind, but he could not quiet take a hold of whatever it was. "Now what?" he asked himself as he looked around his voice low. From just looking around he could tell that it really did not matter which direction he took. It was all the same from what he could tell. A part of him thought it might be best to just stay where he was, but for the most part he thought that walking would be better then nothing. He was about ready to close his eyes and pick a random direction when he heard the grass rustle behind him.

"Well this is certainly interesting," he heard a male say and Takeru turned around to face them. There stood a man that was older then Yamato by a few years wearing clothing that Takeru had never seen before in subdued colors. It almost looked like a robe he had seen wizards wear in movies yet at the waist in the front the robe like thing split leaving the cloth pants and boots he wore exposed. His face was blank and his posture was relaxed which Takeru found strange since he was approaching a stranger. His black hair was in a crew cut while his brown eyes seemed alert. "How did you get here?" He asked as he took a few steps towards Takeru, but stopped when it was obvious the blond teen would bolt if he got to close to him. He might be calm about approaching a stranger, but with the way things had been going for Takeru he was not going to be so calm about it.

"Who are you?" Takeru countered. Depending on what his answer was told Takeru if he would need to run or not.

The man smiled slightly and answered, "I am Taylor keeper of the Key of Balance. Now.. Tell me how did you get here? No human should have been able to get here without a key. Especially someone such as yourself from the realm you live in."

Takeru blinked wondering how he knew where he came from just by looking at him. The only thing that might even slightly give him away was the black gaukren uniform and even then he doubt that was the reason. He figured it must have something to do with the ability Taylor had whatever it was. "I borrowed someones Key," Takeru answered not wanting to mention Luna by name in case it would cause her trouble later on. The older teen had done a lot for him and the last thing he wanted to do was get her in trouble. "Also, I wasn't trying to come here I was kind of aiming for my own bedroom, but the door that appeared lead me here," Takeru added as an afterthought as it was some information he could give without causing trouble for anyone.

Taylor nodded as he folded his arms across his chest. "I'm not surprised that it did. The Key's are not meant to be used by those who are not connected to them. Anyone who used it who was not the owner or somehow related to the person would be sent here," he told Takeru and the teen tensed up a bit. What he had just said had set off a red flag in his head big time. That was not how Luna and the others had explained the workings of their Key's to him. Also if that had indeed been true Kitsumon would have ended up here a long time ago as Shaitanmon. That would have prevented all this from happening in the first place. "If you hand over the Key to me I'll get you home and then I will return the Key to its owner," Taylor said as he held his hand out to Takeru as if that would make him just hand it over. It actually kind of made him angry that he thought he would just do as he was told.

Takeru took a few steps back fighting the urge to put his hand over the pocket the Key was in. He was getting the feeling that he knew this place again but chose to ignore it at the moment as there where far more important things for him to focus on at the moment. "I'd rather give the Key back to its owner on my own, thanks," he told Taylor who retracted his hand a small frown on his face. "If you really want to get me back home why don't you just open a doorway for me back to my own realm" Takeru asked keeping a close eye on the man. He had already lied to Takeru once as far as Takeru was concerned and Takeru just did not trust him at all. Something just felt off about this entire situation.

The man shrugged then said, "That's fine, but it would be best if you let me take you home. From what I can tell if I just drop you off some place random in your realm you would not be able to get in contact with your friends." Takeru starred at him for a moment knowing he was partially right. He had left his cell phone and D-terminal back in his room to keep them safe. He didn't even have his D-3 with him since he had handed it over to Iori in case something bad did happen during the trade so hopefully he would be able to get close enough to Takeru that Patamon would be able to evolve and help fight. However, he had no doubt that once he stepped foot in his own world that his own friends would be able to find him. Still that also meant it would give someone else the chance to find him so going directly home would be the better option between the two.

Before he could make a decision, he heard someone scream his name as loud as they could. He recognized the voice and it sent a jolt through his mind. It was then he knew where he was. This was the place he had meet and spoken to Aderes at. Takeru turned to see the girl as she flat out ran towards him Frimon's tail wrapped around her neck tighter then normal to keep from falling off her shoulder.

"Aderes!" he heard Taylor yell and Takeru turned to look at him. No longer was the man calm nor was his face blank. He was very clearly angry and Takeru could not help but wonder how he knew who Aderes was.

Aderes ignored him as she ran up to Takeru and took hold of his hand not even slowing down. "Run!" Aderes told him as she herself had not stopped and began to pull Takeru behind her. Takeru let himself be dragged along despite knowing he would not be able to run far. It was obvious to him that Aderes was frightened and if the girl thought it was best that they ran then he was not going to disagree with her.

"Aderes stop!" Takeru heard Taylor shout as they ran past him but Aderes did not listen to him as she continued to run dragging Takeru behind her. Takeru glanced behind him in time to see Taylor attempt to grab his other arm. Not only would that cause Takeru severe pain he had no intention of letting the man stop him when Aderes obviously wanted to get away from him. He quickly pulled his arm out of reach then turned his focus to where they were running to. It was then the small group heard several strange noises behind them, but Takeru did not turn back afraid of what he would see.

The two had been running for awhile to where Takeru thought he would have to force Aderes to stop to catch his breath. By then the muscles in his chest had seized again making it very hard for him to breath. He was about to dig his feet in to stop her, as he could not spare breath to speak, when she stopped herself letting go of his hand. He nearly doubled over hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. In the mean time Aderes had turned around to face him. "Takeru, why are you here? Why did you come to this place outside of a dream?" she asked him.

Still unable to speak Takeru held up a finger to ask for a minute to catch his breath. The young girl noted that he looked pale and that his lips where partially blue due to lack of oxygen and decided it would be best to wait for her answer. Not very patiently though as Takeru could see her fidgeting where she stood just barely in his field of vision at the moment. Frimon was not any better, but then again the Baby Two Digimon very rarely stayed still from what he had seen of him.

Takeru lifted his head slightly to get a better look at Aderes noticing something different about her. The last time Takeru had seen the girl Aderes had looked to be around eight or nine years old. Now that she stood in front of him in the real world she could have easily been around eleven or even twelve years of age. Her white hair once long was now in a tight braid that ended at the base of her neck and she wore a lose fitting black t-shirt with jean overalls as well as black tennis shoes. As he looked at her Takeru could not help but wonder why her age kept changing on him the closer he approached her in the real world. Was this right now her real age or would she get older still? There would be no way for him to know for sure and he had a feeling if he asked she would not answer him.

When he finally caught his breath he straightened up slightly with a wince. "I didn't mean to come here. I was trying to get to my own room," he answered her deciding it would be best to worry about the change in her age later. There where more important things going on right now then her fast aging. "That man said I wound up here because I a mere human tried to use a Key. However, my friends told me as long as I had permission from the owner I would be able to use it without any problems."

Aderes kept her focus on the direction they had came from when she spoke, "They where right he lied to you." As for Frimon, the small Digimon kept an eye on their surroundings his eyes never staying in one spot for very long. "Why did you need to use a key any way?" Aderes asked him as she looked at him for a moment before turning her focus away from him again. The way the two where acting was making him nervous and he had to wonder just how much trouble the three of them where really in.

"To save myself. One of my friends Digimon was captured by Kitsumon and the only way he would give Botamon back to us would be if we traded him something too dangerous for him to have or if Patamon or I surrendered to him. The best plan to get Botamon back that any of us could think of was for me to surrender to him then use a Key to get away from him again," Takeru answered her then asked. "Why did I end up here any way?"

"I don't know! Taylor most have done something to the Keys," Aderes answered him. Then she looked at him again and asked, "Can you run again?"

Takeru honestly was not sure if he could so instead he asked her. "Just what is going on Aderes? And where are we going?"

That look she got when she did not want to talk about something appeared on her face. She remained silent for awhile and Takeru thought she would not answer him when she spoke, "Taylor was the one who choked you in that one dream of yours. I don't know what he was planning to do with you this time, but I knew that we had to get you away from him." She looked away from him her hands gripping the sides of her overalls tight enough for her knuckles to turn white. "I can't trust him not to hurt you anymore!" she said as she looked at Takeru again a look of fierce determination on her face. "So I am going to lead you to one of the bridges that connects this realm to one of the others! The bridge for the Nightmare Realm is the closest one from here and if we go there I don't think Taylor will be able to do anything to you." Takeru realized she had changed a bit since the last time he had saw her in the dream. At that point she had seemed content to help from the sidelines as she did not seem to know what else she could do. Now, however, it appeared she was going to do whatever she could to help.

"Now are you ready to run again?" she asked him again. While Takeru had caught his breath by then his chest throbbed from the pain he was in. Running was only going to cause him more pain yet he knew staying here would not be safe. He simply nodded his head and Aderes took off running again Takeru following after her. He still had more questions he wanted to ask her but decided they could wait until they where some place safer. Not that he thought the Nightmare Realm was safe. Still it had to be better then where they were right now.

Takeru found it was strange that no matter how far the two of them ran the scenery never seemed to change. It was just the same gently rolling hills with tall grass that made it very difficult to run. The hills were not helping much either making it difficult for Takeru to keep up with the uninjured Aderes. She really did not seem to mind when Takeru slowed down a bit doing her best to match pace with him. It was obvious that she did want him to keep going however and he was doing his best to do so. The problem was one can only ran so far and so fast when ones chest feels like its being clamped down by a vice.

Without warning Aderes stopped in her tracks throwing her arms wide in an attempt to stop Takeru from passing her. Forget passing her, however, he nearly ran into since he had not been keeping that much focus on her more worried about continuing forward then anything. At least he did manage to stop in time though. He was grateful that they had stopped once again nearly doubled over as he tried to breath. He knew it would be easier to do so if he straightened up with his arms up above his head, but with his bruised ribs he just was not sure if it was a good idea to do so.

Takeru lifted his head slightly to look at Aderes who was starring intently at something. Frimon's fur was fluffed up slightly but since he was not actually growling Takeru was not to concerned at the moment. "Aderes… What's wrong?" he asked her in between breaths. It was a little alarming that she went from running one second to standing so still that he could barely see that she was even breathing. He had to wonder just how she could even run for so long without breathing heavily. Even if he wasn't injured he probably would still be breathing heavily and it wasn't like he was out of shape either.

"That," she pointed ahead of them causing Takeru to stand up straight to see what she was pointing at. "It wasn't there before," she answered him looking over her shoulder at him for a moment before returning her focus to the front of them. Takeru could not see what she was concerned about. The direction she was pointing to looked like every other part of this realm as far as he was concerned.

"What wasn't there before?" he asked hoping that she would either clarify what she was talking about or give him a better direction so he would actually be able to spot whatever it was that had her on edge now.

"That Shimmering! Shimmering is only supposed to be around What has Been! There shouldn't be any around here," Aderes told him as she took a few steps back forcing Takeru to back up as well. At least her way of not making things understandable when asked to explain what she meant was the same. Just what did she mean by a shimmer any way?

It was at that point that Frimon began to growl deep in his throat the fur on his tail began to stand up with the rest of it despite the fact that it was still wrapped around Aderes's throat. Takeru kept his attention in front of them trying to see just what had the two on alert when he soon spotted the Shimmering that Aderes must have been talking about. There a bit in front of them was like the illusionary affect one saw on very hot days that tricked the eye and the mind into thinking there was water in front of you. Since there was no sun here and it was not hot at all, in fact it was rather nice, mixed with the way Aderes was reacting to it a Shimmer must have been worse then what he could think of.

"Just how bad is a shimmer?" Takeru asked her as Aderes took a few more steps back forcing Takeru to do the same or have her trip over him. At this point he was doing his best to make sure he did not trip and fall back down the hill they where part of the way up.

"Shimmers here usually mean there are things connecting to this realm that are not quiet normal or something has been changed. In the first case you will never see them in other places as this realm is a bit unique in that aspect. In the second case, which this is the second case, you might see them in other place. I guess you can say that a Shimmer is a type of warning if you know to look for it," Aderes answered as she took a few more steps back and it was then Takeru realized they where backing up because the Shimmering area was actually growing. Each time Aderes had stepped back it was to avoid the Shimmering from over taking them.

Takeru was about to turn and walk down the hill when he tripped and fell backwards. Momentarily stunned by the pain the fall caused he could not warn Aderes what happened causing her to trip over him and fall on top of him. Aderes tried to get up as fast as she could while Frimon moved to Aderes's chest growling his tail fuzzed out as bit as it could go at this point.

Aderes did not manage to stand up in time as the shimmering over took them. Takeru groaned then looked around them unable to see anything different about the area they where in. "Did something happen?" he asked Aderes who turned around and shushed him. Takeru starred at her for a moment before she turned back to face in front of them. Frimon hoped off of her landing in front of the two of them so he was now in between them and where the Shimmer once was.

The two humans watched as fog slowly began to roll in and around them. By the time it had reached them Frimon was bearing his teeth growling at whatever was hidden in the fog.

"Takeru… We have to get out of here," Aderes whispered as she stood up. The girl turned to face Takeru and helped him stand up as Takeru's chest muscles no longer wanted to work with him. Once he was standing the two of them began to walk keeping the area that the shimmer had first appeared in front of them. As they walked Aderes kept herself in front of Takeru while Frimon, who hopped along with them, stayed in front of her despite not really being able to do anything at his level.

Takeru knew he shouldn't be because it meant they where in danger but he was extremely grateful they where now moving at a slower pace. With the way his body was feeling he doubted that he would be able to run again if he even needed to. He was not at all surprised that Aderes seemed to know where she was going. The fact that she had even known which direction the bridge had been in the first place had shocked him. Why should he be surprised now that she still knew how to reach it? If it was not for their movement forcing the grass to lay down he probably wouldn't have been able to point in the direction they had come from.

The three continued to slowly make their way carefully circling whatever had been contained within the Shimmer trying to make their way back to the path to the bridge. They had only been at it for what felt like a few minutes to Takeru before they began to hear laughter that seemed to echo all around them. The laughter sent a shiver down Takeru's spine and it seemed eerily familiar to him, but he was too focused on not falling again to pay it much attention.

From the corner of his eye he saw a shadowy figure in the area in front of them that Aderes was trying so hard to keep them out off. Frimon jumped up into the air and shouted, "Bubbles!", spewing his attack at the shadowy figure. The bubbles connected exploding on impact causing the figure to dissipate for the moment. The three continued onward as Frimon kept an eye out for the Shadowy Figure. When it appeared again he released another attack causing it to vanish once again.

Nothing was said between the three as Frimon watched out for the Shadowy Creature, Aderes kept her eye on whatever path she was trying to lead them to, and Takeru kept his eyes on their feet to make sure they did not fall. Just what was going on Takeru was not sure, but he had a feeling he was not the only one. "Bad, bad evil thing…" Takeru heard Frimon mutter at one point causing him to turn his focus on the small Digimon. He was doing his best to keep himself in between them and whatever it was that he kept attacking.

"Takeru we need to start backing up. The bridge should be behind us now," Aderes whispered to him when she stopped. Takeru glanced behind him only able to see more of the rolling hills.

"How fare are we from it?" Takeru asked her keeping his voice low as he turned side ways and began walking in the direction she wanted them to go now. He kept his focus that way to keep from losing his way. "Aderes?" he questioned a little louder when he did not get a reply from her. However, when he still did not get a reply from her Takeru turned around only to find out she was gone. "Aderes!" Takeru shouted as he turned in a full circle to make sure he had not somehow gotten turned around in the few moments he had looked away from her. It did not matter, though, which direction he looked because he was once again by himself. For the most part anyway as he heard the laughing echo around him once more.

A/N - This time around I am trying to break the conversations up a bit more, do better description and a few other things you guys may or may not notice. Let's just hope I can keep up this quality all throughout this story. Also this and the next chapter are thanks to Guest who gave me a lot of great reviews on Endangered Hope as they are the ones that gave me the idea for them!