Hey, guys and gidgets! Please, do read this! I know the first chapter needs work-ok, well, a LOT of work, but the rest of it is SO much better! Please give the rest of the story a chance! I promise you won't regret it! I will fix this as soon as I can! 3

~EmberAmberFirdausXD

Serena: Oh, and Brawlers? Be sure to watch out for Kazarina's newest invention, a gas that will make you relive your worst moments in life-over and over again.

It is torturous, and after hours of it, you will pass out and be out for days, having nightmares about all of that.

The poison inside of it will make your brain remember deaths, and twist and warp them so it seems that you are the reason they died.

Many of our Castle Knights have experienced this. It is not a pleasant way to spend the week.

Brawlers: Week?

Serena: The poison inside will knock you out for a week, with terrible nightmares. If a large enough amount is inhaled, it will kill you.

There is no known antidote, just some anti-poison to ease the poison away, not the dreams."

Fabia: Let's go, then! (hurries off)

Dan: What's with her? (all glare at him) What?

Shun: It's the anniversary of her engagement to the former Commander Jin, am I right, your Majesty?

Serena: Yes, you are correct. You will be split off into groups. Dan, Jake, and Marucho will be one group, the other Ren, Shun, and Fabia. Good luck Brawlers!

Ren: (to Shun) We better go find Fabia.

Shun: Of course.

Fabia: (Appears on screen) Not necessary. Meet me in the teleportation room. We're going to the castle, while the rest of the Brawlers battle Gil and Airzel as a distraction, outside the castle.

Ren/Shun: Right!

(Meet her in the room, and all three teleport out. Unnoticed, a single tear slides down Fabia's face as they teleport out)

(Inside the castle)

"Bakugan, Brawl! Stand, Haos Lumagrowl!"

Kazarina, while Fabia, Shun, and Ren are distracted, throws out a little metal ball that starts beeping softly.

All of a sudden, Kazarina jumps on Lumagrowl's back and he runs away.

"What was that all about" asks Ren suspiciously.

Before Shun or Fabia can reply, the ball explodes and a green gas starts heading toward Ren and Shun.

Fabia, realizing what it is, and also that there is no way they can get out of the way in time, throws herself at Shun and Ren, knocking them out of the way.

"Huh? What was that for?" Asks Ren, surprised.

"It's the gas. She just saved our lives!" Exclaims Shun. "Now she's suffering because of our carelessness!"

While the two boys talked, Fabia started to see things.

Terrible things, things no child should have had to endure.

Dark memories, from the darkest places in her mind, started to resurface.

She saw her parents, brave, beautiful, and kind, be murdered in front of her eyes once again.

She saw Jin, loyal, handsome Jin, be shot down in front of her eyes, leaving her alone in the world.

It was a cruel slideshow, never ending, and terrifying her.

"Fabia!" Shun yelled.

He raced over to her as she began to cry, tears streaming down her face, but yet she never made a sound.

Her always friendly green eyes were dark and sad, and she was obviously suffering.

"Fabia, talk to me! Fabia, what are you seeing?"

She reached up and touched Shun's head with her second finger, and he started to see what she was seeing.

He was shocked.

Not only had her fiance been murdered by Kazarina, but he had been murdered right in front of her eyes, while she was held back by guards.

Her parents, of whom Shun had always wondered about, had been tortured in front of her when she was a child, after she and they had been captured, and had died just as her rescuers burst in.

She had been captured many times by the Gundalians, including Ren, when her guards betrayed her, and even her impressive martial arts couldn't save her.

They had electrocuted her, whipped her, and even starved her, to get the secrets that they needed, like where the Sacred Orb lay, and how the shields surrounding Neathia worked.

Every time, she had refused to say anything, and every time, she was electrocuted for it. That wasn't even the worst part.

She would be tortured up to the point of dying, then one of Kazarina's potions would bring her back, just so they could torture her again.

Finally, Commander Jin took control, and saved her, and kept her safe from any harm.

Her savior.

Her knight in shining armor.

When he proposed to her, she immediately said yes, and thought all would be well, that she and her people would be safe from harm.

There were many more memories, but when Fabia fainted, her finger slipped, and Shun found himself and Fabia lying on the floor, with a very concerned-looking Ren peering down at them anxiously.

"What did you see?" Ren asked.

Shun replied slowly, "Even my past, anyone's past, couldn't compare with hers. She has known so much sadness. She is...going to be in agony, and she already is."

"I didn't help with that. To me, she was just a spoiled brat, a protected Princess. I thought my life was so much more miserable than mine, so she deserved to know misery. I can't believe how wrong I was. I was so stupid!" Ren looked miserable.

"Not...your...fault...Barodius...his fault..." Fabia weakly woke up for one moment from her torment.

"Fabia!" The boys exclaimed.

"How are you awake?"

"Are you still seeing things?"

"Need...to keep...moving..." Fabia tried to stand up, but her legs wouldn't support her.

As she started to fall, Shun caught her, with Ren close behind.

"We're taking you back to the palace. You need to go back. You'll kill yourself if you try to go on!"

"No...I'm...Fine!..."

"No, you're not! You're still under that poison." Shun replied, upset.

"Shun's right. You're top priority right now." Ren said to her.

"I command you...to...keep... moving! I will have them arrest you if you don't! I don't matter as much as all the people in Neathia who will die if we don't get those documents explaining...Ahhhh!"

Fabia groaned and started to collapse, but somehow managed to get back up and started walking.

"Princess, Shun and Ren are right. If you don't go back, you will die! Please, Princess! You must go back." Aranaut started to plead with her.

"We're almost there...anyway." Fabia weakly tried to argue. "Please. I can't let their...deaths...mean...nothing..."

The last comment was directed towards Shun, and all eyes, Gundalian, Neathian and Bakugan, turned to him.

"What do you think, Hawktor? Linehalt? Ren? Aranaut?

Do you think she'll be able to make it?

Aranaut, you know the Princess the best. Will she make it, or will she collapse if she keeps trying?"

"The Princess can be very stubborn if she doesn't want to do something. She thinks of herself as meaningless, compared to you, and the rest of the Brawlers. I think...I think we should do as she asks." The Haos Bakugan replied.

"All right." Shun turned to Fabia. "We'll go, but only on one condition. You have to promise you'll tell us if you get any worse, okay?"

"Fine...I..promise." Fabia tried to get up by herself, and fell.

Shun picked her up, surprised at how light she was (he could quite easily have held her with one hand), and started to run, with Ren close behind.

"I...don't need help...to...run!"

"You need to relax, okay?"

Fabia shuddered, and tears ran down her face.

"The visions! They must be getting worse!" Shun exclaimed.

"Keep...moving...I'm...fine..."

Finally, they reached Barodius's lair, grabbed the documents, and took off.

Noticing that Fabia's condition was getting worse by the second, Shun told Ren to find the rest of the Brawlers and tell them what was going on, while he teleported back to Neathia with Fabia.

"Hang on, Fabia. Just...hang on."

When they got back to the Royal Palace, Castle Knight guards, Commander Elright, Queen Serena, and Linus met them at the door.

The guards tried to take Fabia from Shun, but he refused, holding on to her like she was his lifeline.

"Shun, what's wrong?" Asked Commander Elright.

"Are you okay?" Shun shook his head, swallowing.

"I'm fine. Just...Just let me take her to the infirmary. I just...can't..."

Commander Elright looked at Queen Serena, and she nodded her head.

"Very well. Linus, prepare a hospital bed for the Princess."

"I'm...fine...Stop fussing...I'll be...okay...not worth it...nooooooooooo!"

As she was talking, Fabia started to drift off, muttering about what she was seeing, and Shun could only imagine how painful it must be for her.

"Of course, Commander!" Linus was obviously worried about the Princess, and hurried off, with Shun on his heels.

"Here. Put her in this bed. I'll give her an IV filled with an anti-poison fluid, but the effects will still be the same. Hopefully, she'll survive."

"Hopefully!? I thought you said that..." Shun started to freak out.

"Calm down. Getting upset will not help her. Unfortunately, if one has a terribly difficult past, the effects of the poison can...destroy their minds, and body. The Princess is very strong, so I wouldn't worry if I were you."

Linus sounded worried, despite what he told Shun.

"I'll leave you here. I have to go back to fetch the rest of the Brawlers. They don't know how to teleport here on their own."

"All right. Linus?"

"Yes?"

"I can't lose another person, especially not her."

Linus didn't have a response for that, so he left with one more piece of advice. "If she seems to be having a particularly bad memory, hold her hand. It will put her slightly more at ease."

Before Shun could reply, Linus hurried out...with a...was that a smirk on his face?

Shun's face blushed bright red, and he wondered if he could help her any other way.

Suddenly, he remembered how she had put her fingers on his head, and he had seen what she was seeing.

He wondered if he put her fingers on her head, if the results would be the same.

Well, it was worth a shot.

Slowly, carefully, ever so carefully, he started to reach toward her head...when all of a sudden, the rest of the Brawlers burst in.

Shun, not expecting this, shot up, and tripped over all the wires and machines attached to the bed, and to the Princess.

The Brawlers, kind of confused at the behavior their usually silent and graceful ninja just displayed, started to laugh.

Dan stepped forward, and helped a now stony-faced Shun untangle the wires.

Shun's face was bright red, though, giving away his embarrassment.

"Jeez, did we interrupt something?" Dan chuckled.

"No."

"Okay, not to change the subject, but...how is she? Will she be ok?"

"I hope so."

Worried, the rest of the Brawlers crowded around the bed.

Fabia suddenly woke up, and asked for Shun and Aranaut.

"Shun, come here...take...care of...Aranaut for...me...Don't let...him...get...hurt...Aranaut,...you have...to listen...to Shun...for me...ok?"

Both answered, somewhat quietly, "Of course, Princess."

"Dan?"

"Yeah, Fabia?"

"Don't get hurt out there. And do not go into the jungle unless you've got Shun or Commander Elright with you. The Brawlers need you."

"Thanks."

As Fabia said this, she became visibly weaker. She started to fall back, but Shun caught her and lay her down carefully, as though she was a piece of china.

Her eyes slid shut, and stayed shut.

Even when she was sleeping, she was still suffering.

Her fists bunched up, and relaxed, and she started mumbling sadly.

The Brawlers, except for Shun and Ren, left the room, sad.

"Shun?"

"Yeah, Ren?"

"Don't beat yourself up. It's not your fault. She knew what she was doing..."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"No, I guess not. Listen, if she needs anything, call me down. It's partly my fault she's so hurt. I...I never should have hurt her...I was so stupid. Aranaut, I'm so sorry."

"Huh...I...I suppose she would forgive you. If that is so, then I will forgive you as well. You are very lucky the Princess is compassionate...As a warning to both of you, do not go outside in your Gundalian form, not at all if you can help it. The people of Neathia...they still remember you hurting the Princess, broadcasting it live, and so they may not be as forgiving. They already do not understand why she would forgive you. Regardless, just...be careful."

"Thank you, Aranaut." Linehalt was talking now.

"We both appreciate it. If you need anything, just call us."

"Thank you."

Ren and Linehalt left.

Aranaut started shaking, and making strange noises, like he was trying not to cry.

"Aranaut, what's wrong?" Asked Hawktor, worried.

"I...She...It's nothing."

"No, it's not." Said Shun. "What's wrong?

"The Princess is...very strong...and very brave. Very often those admirable qualities get her into trouble. Once, disguised as a commoner, she tried to stop people of other planets from smuggling slaves, Neathians, out of the planet. She was captured, too, and managed to escape, along with all the slaves who had been captured. When she came back, her uncle had died. I'm afraid that she thinks she is worthless.

But, she's not! If she hadn't saved me from that awful place in Kazarina's experimentation, really, torture chamber, I would be dead. Now she may be having terrible dreams and pain because of my inability to protect both Jin and her."

Both Shun and Hawtor were shocked.

It was the most Aranaut had ever said at one time, at least to them, before.

Also, the fact that Fabia thought so little of herself.

Shun thought, 'How can she think so little of herself? She's the most amazing person I've ever met! I wish that I could tell her that...'

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhh! No, please, stop! Don't hurt them! Hurt me, instead! Mom! Dad! Nooooooooooo!"

Fabia started screaming at the top of her lungs, her eyes still closed.

"Help! Somebody! They're-They're DYING! Please! Oh, God! No! There's so much blood. Please, somebody, help them! Help me! Please!"

Castle Knight guards came bursting in, with Commander Elright at the front of the line. "Castle Knights, go back to guard the Queen. If you hear any more screaming, do not come. She...There's nothing more we can do for her."

Everyone, except for Linus, left. "Linus, are you sure there isn't more we can do...?"

"Yes...I'm sure."

They both left, looking back at the Princess miserably.

"Oh, Fabia." Shun whispered. "I wish that I could...wait, maybe I can! I'll try what I was going to try earlier, when Dan interrupted me!"

Shun was talking excitedly now, to no one in particular. The two Bakugan looked at each other, befuddled.

As he reached toward her head, there was no hesitation.

Fabia was obviously in agony, and he wanted to know what she was seeing.

He thought that maybe some pain might transfer to him, easing her.

As soon as his fingers touched her head, he was transported to a whole new world, a dark new world.

'Mommy! Daddy!' An adorable little girl runs toward her parents, obviously excited about the picnic sitting on the ground.

All of a sudden, her parents are replaced by terrifying, huge monsters, with bits of human leg and flesh sticking out of their mouths.

By the looks of the scepter hanging out of one of the beast's mouths, the monster has eaten her parents, the King and Queen.

The little girl starts sobbing, and is scooped up as the monsters start to eat her, still alive...

"Aaah!" Shun screams. "What happened?" Asked Aranaut. "A very, very bad dream-or memory! I've got to go back!"

"Woah, are you sure that's a great idea, buddy?" Asked Dan.

Shun realized suddenly that wasn't alone.

Dan and Jake were standing there, arms folded, looking very worried, and slightly confused.

"Whats'-What's going on here, guys?" Asked Jake, looking somewhat scared.

"Yeah Shun, what's going on?" Asked Dan nervously. Shun answered, "If someone touches her head, they can go into her mind, and see what's going on in her head."

"She seemed less agitated when you did that." Says Aranaut. "She calmed down a lot."

"Should we come, too?" Asks Dan.

"I-I don't know. The dreams were terrifying. I only saw one." Replied Shun.

"Uh, okay. We'll try." Replied Dan and Jake.

Suddenly, Marucho and Ren burst in, saying, "We'll try too!"

"Were you guys eavesdropping?" Asks Dan, somewhat angrily.

"Calm down, Dan. That's not important right now. If we're all going to go, then we should go now!" Shun put his fingertips on Fabia's head, and the other Brawlers followed his lead.

'Serena! Hello? Anybody?' A young, beautiful girl, comes running into the throne room. 'Hello?'

'Hello, Princess.' A younger version of Gil appears, and Fabia gets ready to fight. While she's distracted, fighting Gil, Kazarina silently teleports behind the girl and electrocutes her, knocking her out.

As they teleport back to the ship, Fabia starts to mumble incoherently, but Kazarina shocks her, enough to silence her, but the pain wakes her up, and Fabia starts screaming.

Every time Kazarina shocks her, the power increases every time, until every time the electric device touches her, it leaves a blackened burn mark.

"Jeez! I can't believe Fabia had that happen to her!" Exclaims Dan.

"And it only gets worse from here." Shun quietly replies. "Huh!?"

They travel forward in time, about a day. Fabia is held by four electrical rings, two holding her hands, and two holding her feet.

Her normally purplish hued skin has been replaced by a much lighter color, almost white, and all over her body, there are blackened scorch marks.

She desperately needs medical attention.

Her spotless dress, made from the finest fabric, looks as though a wild animal attacked it, and her, making the beautiful fabric stained with blood, and she is unrecognizable as even a Neathian.

Her green eyes tremble, and her eyelids lift, staring straight at something with unmistakable terror.

They Brawlers realize that someone is walking towards her.

It turns out to be Ren, of all people. He comes toward her, seemingly shocked at the state of the beautiful princess. Linehalt jumps on his shoulder, also shocked.

Fabia opens her eyes completely, and move as far away from him as her bonds will allow.

As soon as she does so, however, the bonds electrocute her. Even her hair is smoking when she stops struggling.

Breathing heavily, the Neathian girl eyes Ren with distrust. He moves closer, and she starts-rather, she tries to scream, but her throat is too sore from the hours spent in agony. 'Sssshhhhhh! Shut up!'

And with that, Ren slaps her across the face. Tears well up in her eyes, but she, to her credit, refuses to let them fall.

She spits in his face, and with a final backhanded slap across the face from Ren, falls into blissful darkness.

The Brawlers turn to look at Ren, and are surprised to see him crying. "It's my fault she's suffering like this. I shouldn't have done that. I should have jumped out of the way myself, instead of her jumping in to save us. This is my fault."

"You're right. But I am also to blame. I should have noticed the poison creeping up on us. I wish there was something more I could do." Shun said sadly.

'Aranaut!' Fabia, now grown to her current age, calls.

'Aranaut, I'm so sorry! I am so stupid! How could I be so careless?'

Fabia had been battling against a Castle Knight for training, and had let Aranaut be severely injured, and he wouldn't come out of the ball he had enclosed himself in.

'Aranaut, you deserve much better than me. I'm so...so...disgusting! I let you get hurt! I should be better than this. I'm a terrible Princess, and a terrible person.'

Aranaut comes out of the ball form to find Fabia shivering.

'Princess, don't worry. I'm fine, just tired. You are a wonderful Princess, and an even better person.'

'How can you say that? You just took a terrible beating, and it's all my fault!' Fabia replies, as the temperature in the room drops.

'Princess, are you all right? You look cold. You look sick.'

'Aranaut, don't worry about me! You should be worrying about yourself. I don't deserve your kindness.'

'Princess, you do deserve my kindness.'

'Thanks to me, you are hurt! I'm so sorry.'

'It's all right.'

"Hey, what's going on? We're being pushed out of the memory!" Dan exclaimed.

Back in the hospital room, Commander Elright pulled the sleeping teens away from the bed as Fabia's heart started to beat faster and faster, going dangerously high, on the verge of having a massive heart attack.

"Elright, why did you do that?" Asked Shun, furious. "We were trying to help her!"

"Because, Princess Fabia is waking up!" The Commander replied.

With Aranaut hovering close to her face, the Princess slowly opened her eyes and sat up, to find more than two dozen people crammed into the room.

Brawlers, the Queen, Commander Elright, Linus, and many Castle Knights were there.

"Princess!" Aranaut nearly tackled her, almost knocking the already unstable Princess back to the bed.

"Hey, Aranaut."

"Princess, I-we were so worried!" Aranaut exclaimed. Fabia smiled.

"What the-Shun, Ren, did we get the documents?" Fabia asked worriedly.

"Calm down. You don't want to relapse, dear." The doctor warned.

"Yes, Fabia, we got them. More importantly, how are you feeling?" Shun asked, not able to keep a hint of anxiety out of his voice.

"I...am fine." Fabia glanced down, unable to meet his eyes.

"Fabia!" Queen Serena said.

"Are you...Castle Knights, please leave. Elright, Linus, Brawlers, please stay."

They did as she asked.

"What did you dream of?" This was asked hesitantly.

Queen Serena motioned for the others, except Aranaut, to back away a little bit.

"Did you dream of...our parents?" Fabia nodded, and hugged her sister, eyes bright with unshed tears.

"Princess Fabia needs her rest. Please leave quickly!" Said the bustling doctor.

The Brawlers said their goodbyes, and Queen Serena kissed her sister on the head.

Shun was last out the door, or he would have been, but Fabia sat up and tried to get up, but started to fall.

Shun appeared by her side and caught her.

"I'm so sorry." Said the Princess.

She started to cry, and Shun, alarmed, and asked "What hurts?".

Fabia mumbled something incoherent, and Shun asked "What was that?"

Fabia replied, "My...heart. It hurts."

She had tears running down her face, something Shun never expected to see.

To say he was shocked that the tough ninja he usually knew opened up completely would be an understatement.

He hesitantly gathered her up in his arms, not sure if that would be okay.

It...felt right.

She just cried harder, and threw herself more into his arms.

"You saw, didn't you? You saw what I was seeing. I'm sorry." Fabia said, after she had calmed down a little bit.

"Fabia, don't be sorry. I'm the one who should be sorry. I should have jumped out of the way. I'm sorry that all happened to you."

Shun started to shake with anger. "I'll kill them! You-how could they hurt you, of all people!"

"Shun, please, don't...I'm so...tired..." And with that, Fabia fainted dead away.

But in her sleep she murmured "No more...alone...please! Nooooo...no more being alone."

Shun, torn, decided he could stay, at least for a while.

While she had been asleep, poisoned, for an entire week, he just hadn't been the same.

He didn't sleep, wouldn't eat or drink until the Brawlers forced him too.

He had realized something. He couldn't lose her.

"I'll stay. I'll never leave...don't worry." Shun said softly.

Suddenly he gave a start. Aranaut had been watching him carefully.

Shun hadn't realized that he and Fabia weren't alone.

The Bakugan looked at him with a smirk on his face.

"You know, the Princess likes you. She thinks very highly of you." The Bakugan said.

Hawktor chipped in: "And you like her! Perfect."

Aranaut said "Be careful with her. Although she may seem strong as a rock, she does have feelings. She is still very upset over Jin's death.

She may feel that she's trying to replace him, and she will feel terrible. You must care for her as though she is a piece of china, very valuable, and very breakable. Her parents were murdered in front of her eyes when she was still very young, and impressionable. So much destruction at an early age...it is a miracle she turned out the way she did, instead of a monster. If you hurt her, I will make sure you pay dearly, in blood, got it?"

Shun shivered slightly. Even tiny, the Castle Knight Bakugan was powerful.

"Of course. I would never dream of hurting her. She so...perfect. I'm so lucky to be even in her presence."

Aranaut chuckled lightly. "That's exactly what Jin said before he proposed to her."

With that, the Haos Bakugan went to sleep on Fabia's shoulder, while Hawktor sleepily went around in circles, until Shun caught him, and put him in his pocket.

"Night, Shun." "Good night, Hawktor."

Shun woke up with a start, staring into the face of Dan.

"Uh, Shun? You okay?" Dan asked.

"Wh-where am I?" Asked Shun.

"Well, apparently you slept in the hospital room-in Fabia's hospital room...Huh...Ah-HAH! You like Fabia, don't you?"

"Don't say anything." Replied Shun with a sullen face.

"Oh, sorry, man, I-" Dan was cut off short by Shun tackling him, laughing.

"Oh, real funny!" Dan exclaimed, laughing as well.

Fabia started to mumble, and Shun went to her side.

Holding her hand didn't seem to be working, so he picked her up as though she weighed nothing, and put her head on his lap, stroking her hair.

That seemed to calm her down a bit.

Suddenly, she woke up, screaming, and crying out.

"What's wrong?" Shun asked, panicked.

"Just...Just a bad dream, sorry.." Fabia replied, shaking.

"I'll leave you guys alone...Oh, and Shun?" Said Dan.

"Yeah?" "I won't say anything, 'kay buddy?"

"Sure. Thanks, Dan."

As soon as he left, Fabia started to cry, obviously terrified of something.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"I-I dreamt that I killed you.

I-I hunted you down and I...I...killed you! I'm such a terrible person!" Fabia cried.

"Shhhhhh, no you're not. You're perfect. I...I love you, Fabia."

Fabia stopped crying, a little taken aback.

"I'm sorry. I know, it's stupid to think that someone as cool and smart and graceful as you could ever like someone like me..."

Shun was silenced by her kissing him.

He responded back, carefully, so as not to hurt her many cuts and bruises.

"You're perfect, and I...I love you too, Shun."