HaveYouSeenTheSea; Thank you so much for that review. I'm glad you like the story so far, and i hope you'll still like the story as it continues, and thank you so, so much for pointing out that flaw. I honestly completely didn't even think of it. I wrote that chapter during a time when my mind wasn't working very well, but thank you for pointing that out. I've added some bits in this chapter which suggest Touko called a doctor to see if she needed a hospital straight away. Hopefully that will fix it up a little bit. But i still hope you'll continue helping out in the story, pointing out any mistakes in plot. But once again, thank you.


Darkness crept into his vision, blurring his thoughts as a scene played out in front of him.

"What is with you!? Why do you keep shutting me out!? Please, I'm not a child anymore! You don't need to protect me all the time! I finally understand why you kept your distance, and you don't need to anymore! I'm here and I'm not afraid!" called out the girl with long, pale curly blonde hair. Natsume couldn't see her eyes, but he could see the woman standing in front of her. The woman retreated back a little, cowering in what looked like fear.

"Hana, please, go home. I've already hurt you once, don't make me hurt you again! You know what my role is, I'm the Ice Queen from the fairytale! I know nothing but pain and coldness. You're the blazing fire of the tale that evaporates the ice and leads the village into summer! Don't you get it Hana!? You and I are enemies!" the woman shouted, her voice shaking. Hana balled her hands into fists.

"We don't have to be though! You're my sister! You raised me from a child! We can change the story, we can give it a happy ending!" Hana snapped back, stepping forward as the woman stepped back.

"No, we can't… And I'm not your sister. I lied… I knew when you were born in the village that you would be the one to kill me in the end, just as the story dictates, and because of that, I stole you away from your parents. I raised you from a baby and made you believe you were my sister so you would never turn against me, but that's all it was. I never once cared, I'm the Queen of Ice, and I never care about anything. Now leave, before I truly hurt you" the woman replied, glaring down at the ground as she turned her back on Hana.

"Yuki… Don't turn your back on me please… Can't you just undo the spell on the village and bring summer around every now and then?" Hana pleaded, reaching a hand out to Yuki. Yuki turned to look at Hana, looking almost hopeful.

"I… I can't… I… I don't know how! Now leave!" Yuki stated, turning back around as Hana stepped forward.

"Sure you can! I know you can Yuki! Cause I'll be right there to help you!" Hana encouraged, about to walk further forward to Yuki when Yuki suddenly turned, swiping her hand at Hana, darkness spreading around them as the vision cut suddenly. However Natsume didn't wake up then, instead he saw an ugly looking demon's face suddenly appear, offering out a hand.

"You want to help your sister? Very well, there's just one thing I ask for you in return" stated the voice, chuckling before Hana's scream echoed and vibrated through Natsume's head violently as he woke with a start.

OOOOO

Natsume let out a loud yelp of fright as he sat upright, panting from his nightmare. He glanced down at the sleeping girl in the bed next to him. She hadn't stirred or moved in her sleep besides the constant rhythm of her chest rising and falling as she breathed. Suddenly, as if on cue, her eyes fluttered open to reveal pale brown pupils. Natsume gasped, scrambling forward so he was kneeling by her bed. When the girl's eyes locked on him and she saw he was looking back down at her, she gasped silently, jumping up and scrambling to get away from him. She looked desperately for something to throw at him, biting her bottom lip in fear.

"Hey, it's okay! Calm down!" Natsume tried to say to relax her when a book flew in his direction. He managed to block it from hitting his face, wincing at the pain in his wrist. He crawled forward to her, giving her his signature gentle smile, offering her a hand.

"It's alright… I won't hurt you. I just want to help you. I found you by the lake in the forest, you're in my home" Natsume said softly, seeing the girl hesitate. She paused, looking between the new book she had raised to ditch at him and his extended hand. Was she really willing to trust him? She looked at Natsume's face, seeing the expression on his face and his eyes, before looking back up at the book again. She frowned, ditching the book at him, scrambling to her feet and dashing out the room. Natsume covered his face quickly, looking up and gasping when he saw she was missing. He jumped to his feet, running after her and down the stairs to where the front door was wide open. He slipped on his slippers, running after her. He knew he couldn't get far in the condition she was in, but he had to hurry before she hurt herself more.

A sudden crash sound caught his attention and he ran to see a tossed over trash can. He looked up, seeing the tail ends of her hair disappear behind a fence. Natsume frowned, walking slowly to the fence and saw her peeking out from behind it. He grabbed her wrist firmly, but not tight enough to hurt her, stopping her from running off. She struggled against him, but he never once heard her make a noise. Her mouth was moving, he could clearly see that, but not a single sound came out. Not even an audible gasp or whine. Natsume paused, blinking in shock at her when he realized she had no voice.

"Calm down, please! I'm human, look at me!" Natsume pleaded, trying to restrain the struggling girl. He had to resort to pressing her against the wall to get her to look at him.

"Well I'll be a monkey's uncle, I didn't know you'd resorted to pinning injured girls against walls in the middle of the night. Fallen far from grace, haven't you Natsume-kun?" asked a voice and Natsume turned to look at the source. He saw a tall man standing there with glasses and a hat on his head. Tips of blonde hair came out from under the hat and a black lizard crawled around his cheek.

"Natori-san!? What're you doing here?" Natsume asked, completely unaware that the girl had stopped struggling and was staring at him in disbelief. What were her chances of being saved by the person she was trying to save herself? Before Natori could explain why he was there, the girl slipped out Natsume's grip, suddenly grabbing his sleeves near the elbows, making him look at her. She began trying to say something frantically but not a single sound came out. Natsume blinked in shock, startled by the fact that just a minute ago, he'd been struggling to just hold her there, and now she had him pinned instead.

"Just what is going on here Natsume-kun?" Natori asked, walking to them. The girl looked up at Natori, frowning. Natori just beamed a smile at her, taking off his hat and glasses, sparkles appearing around him. Natsume just sighed, unimpressed as the girl rolled her eyes. Natori blinked in shock at this.

"Don't tell me you've never heard of Shuuichi Natori?" Natori asked in disbelief. The girl just shook her head then began trying to talk to Natsume again. She seemed desperate as she gripped his arms tightly. Natsume winced as his circulation was cut off, then he grabbed her arms back, making her pause.

"I get it, you need my help, right? Let me get you back to the house and you can rest up, okay? Touko-san said she wants to take you to the hospital tomorrow for a checkup" Natsume stated. The girl blinked, then shook her head furiously. She then pointed at herself, then at him, then shook her head as she pointed at him then at her. Natsume blinked in confusion.

"I think she's trying to say she doesn't need you to help her, she's trying to help you. Is that right dear?" Natori guessed. The girl nodded, smiling as she continued nodding.

"Oh, well if that's the case, then I'm okay. Please, let me help you first. Natori-san, I found this girl washed up and injured by the lake in the forest. Touko-san bandaged her up and called the doctor to come see if she needed the hospital, but I don't know what was chasing her" Natsume explained, turning to look at Natori. Natori frowned, examining the girl.

"Hm… Girl, I don't suppose you can see demons, can you?" Natori asked. Natsume gasped in shock, in disbelief that he'd ask such a question straight away. Before Natsume could yell at Natori, the girl began nodding furiously. Natsume let his mouth hang open in disbelief. He'd met someone who could see demons just like he could, and this person happened to be a girl, no older than him. She began trying to talk again, getting more frigid with her movements as she grew more and more frustrated. Natsume noticed this and grabbed her arms gently, making her stand still.

"Calm down, I know it's hard to get your point across, but continuing to move like that will reopen some of your wounds! I'll admit, I was shocked by the time I'd made it home. Most of the cuts had settled and begun healing over…" Natsume admitted, looking down at her bandaged arms that he was holding.

"Do you even know this girl's name?" Natori asked, looking puzzled. Natsume paused, realizing he hadn't even found out her name. He looked at her, thinking to himself as he recalled the memories that had flooded into his dream. He recalled the name Yuki had said.

"Is your name… Hana-chan by any chance?" Natsume gasped and the girl gasped, looking at him in disbelief. She nodded with a smile on her face. Natori looked at him in shock, blinking in stunned disbelief.

"Amazing Natsume-kun… How did you know?" Natori asked. Natsume looked at him, smiling gently.

"Her memories entered my dream… I heard someone call her Hana" Natsume answered. Hana relaxed, blinking at the two of them before gasping silently, falling forward on Natsume's chest. Natsume gasped, looking down to see her face contorted in pain.

"What's wrong?!" Natori exclaimed, rushing to the two of them and helping Natsume sit her down. Hana calmed her breathing down now that she wasn't standing on her feet, and looked up at the two of them. Natsume gasped loudly suddenly, looking horrified.

"Uwah! Your feet! Touko-san just bandaged them all up, guess you really will need to go to the hospital tomorrow then…" Natsume exclaimed, seeing the bandages on her feet loose and dirty. Natori chuckled, adjusting his hat.

"Guess you'll have to take her home and get her fixed up. I'll visit tomorrow and see what I can do to help in the afternoon" Natori stated, helping Natsume get Hana up on his back. Natsume stood, holding Hana tightly on his back, feeling her grip around his neck and shoulders tighten. Natsume noticed again how light she was, barely feeling her weight on his back.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then Natori-san" Natsume said, turning and beginning to walk back to his house. He felt Hana shift slightly, glancing over his shoulder to smile at her. She gave him a questioning look.

"Oh, Natori-san? He's an exorcist, that's why he can see spirits and demons. We don't always see eye to eye though…" Natsume explained, giving her a gentle smile. She smiled back, yawning silently. Natsume chuckled, approaching the door and entering, closing and locking it behind him. He crept up the stairs, making sure not to wake Touko or Shigeru, and entered his room. He turned the light on, sitting Hana back on her bed.

"Alright, I'm going to have to check your feet, okay?" Natsume asked, looking up to see Hana nod. Natsume undid the bandages, grabbing the first aid kit Touko had left there, then begun cleaning the cuts on her feet. Hana winced from the pain, but remained silent regardless.

"That's one tough curse to break…" said a voice suddenly and Natsume looked up to see Madara sitting up and watching them.

"Nyanko-sensei… What do you mean?" Natsume asked. Madara studied Hana carefully, narrowing his eyes.

"Haven't you questioned her not having any voice? You saw it, didn't you? The creature that took her voice? That's because she's been cursed by a powerful demon, one who stole her voice. I've heard that demons that do that only take someone's voice because they don't have one of their own, and it's almost impossible to get it back" Madara explained, looking at Hana closely. Hana glanced back down at Madara, then gently reached forward, petting his head. Madara gently began purring, leaning into her hand, directing her to a spot between his ears.

"Well, we have to get it back, Nyanko-sensei, please help me! I want to get her voice back, she needs her voice back!" Natsume pleaded. Madara glanced up at him, studying his expression for a few minutes. Madara sighed.

"Very well, but don't say I didn't warn you about how hard this will be!" Madara stated, sighing as he gave in. Natsume sighed happily, turning to smile at Hana as he finished tending to her feet. Natsume finally realized what she wearing, looking away with a slight blush.

"O-Oh… those are my clothes you're wearing, sorry that they're too big…" Natsume apologized, seeing she was wearing his white shirt which was a bit too big, and a pair of his pants that Touko had tied around with a piece of string to hold in place. Hana just smiled at him, grabbing the blanket and laying down.

"Well, tomorrow Touko-san's going to take you to the hospital to check over your wounds. She called the doctor while you were unconscious and he came around to check on you, but for now we should get to sleep" Natsume stated, turning the light off and crawling into his own bed. He glanced to his side to see Hana on her side, looking at him as well.

"Scared?" Natsume asked. Hana shook her head, her lips turning into a small smile, then closed her eyes as she snuggled into the blanket. Natsume decided not to press the topic, closing his eyes and drifting to sleep himself.