Chapter 3 ready and waiting!

"Sake? Sake... wake up, Brianna's here to see you!" Her mother peeked into her room for just a moment then left her once more so she could sleep. A low growl emitted from the bundled up blanket that hid the dark haired figure as an arm reached out and slammed down on the off button of the nearby beaping alarm clock. God she hated that thing...

"Wakey, wakey!" That voice... its high pitch tone... it was none other than her best friend...Brianna..."C'mon sleepy-head... get up!" She slowly lifted the blanket, but 'Sleeping Beauty' snatched it back over her head.

Then came another low growl. "I don' wanna... 5 more minutes mommy..." She chirped, half awake, half asleep. She REALLY hated it when Brianna gave her a morning wake up call...especially on a saturday... during summer break away from school.

"Your hopeless..." She turned to leave the room, but instantly turned back around and began to poke Sake over and over. "Wanna go skating today?"

Finally, the lump on a log rose from the bed. Hair tangled like speghetti noodles, covering her face partially. Dryed drool was caked on the side of her mouth and the pillow. "Yeah... after I wake up...I feel like crap..." Slowly she reached up to rub her head hefore growling lowly once more.

"Sake... what's wrong? You look like death warmed over..." Brianna pointed out as she noticed Sake's paled skin and vacant expression. "Are you sick... Did you drink any last night?" Questions of all kinds rushed out of the girl's mouth, which was moving a mile a minute.

"Yeah, I had ONE... but they never usually hit me like this..." With a little more effort, she managed to crawl out of the bed and wobble over to the closet... She was still in her bathing suite...She SLEAPT in her bathing suite... now that's just WEIRD...

"You sure you didn't have anymore?" Her green-eyed friend looked scared, really scared for her.

"I only had one... I'm sure of it... 'k? And, PLEASE don't tell my mom... she'd kill me..." She slipped on a skin tight shirt and a pair of black cargos wth several chains hanging from them. "The only time she lets me drink is on the 4th of July and New years eve, and even then, it's just a wine cooler or two." (ditto) She began to brush her hair in front of the mirror in the hallway.

"Well, I'm gonna go get my gear really quick... be back in about 20 minutes." With that, Brianna left and drove back to her house to get her gear. This gave Sake some time to gather her own gear... wherever it was.

She knew it wasn't the alcohol doing it to her... it was something else... Something no one else would know about... unless of course they were a fan. She could feel her energy slowly wisping away... She needed more of it... it was like a drug to her... without it, it seemed she would die... No, without it, she would surely die. She had grown to rely on the energy it gave her and she desperatly needed it.

"Sake honey... Are you okay?" A head popped into her room. Great, now her mother was asking questions... just the thing she DIDN'T want...

"Yeah." Lies and slander. Every single solitary word... er one anyway was fake. It fooled mommy though.

"Okay, well, I put your skates in the garage..." She left the room, leaving the teen alone once more... No... never alone. She had that thing living in her. She couldn't even look in a mirror without seeing it's horribly paled face staring back at her.

"Thanks." She left her own room and headed out into the garage. Right were she thought it would be... behind 3000 other boxes of crap... And so... the digging began. She later found a box labeled "Skating Gear" just as Brianna drove up.

"Getting out your old gear, huh?" Sake nodded as a reply. "Also, You still wanna learn how to skate board?" Yet another nod as a reply.

"Actually, I don't need to learn anymore. I KNOW how." She said with a confident smiled. "C'mon, lets get out of here. I wanna do some serious skating today." She threw her skates, pads, and helmet into the trunk of the car and went inside to get some money for admission to the skate park. She came out waving goodbye to her mother and the two left.

While at the skate park, they were able to try out the knew ramps and rails. They were having a blast until something odd began to happen.

Sake slowed to a stop in front of a bench and sat down, complaining of a sick stomach. Her skin paled in color as she began to cough painfully. She bent over, expelling her breakfast and anything else in her stomach from her system. She hit the ground hard, barely able to hold up her own weight. The vile substance had a black ooze mixed in with it.

"Sake, are you alright?" Brianna bent over, resting a worried hand on her friend's back. The girl's body convulsed once more, expelling even more of the oozey matter. Violent coughs rocked her entire body as her arms gave way, causing her to collapse to the ground. Her world spun rapidly around her as she tried to focus on Brianna, but that was impossible. Loud screams could be heard as several other skaters rushed to her side. "...Dark Eco..." She whispered before all went black. Nothing existed.

Nothing.

Two sets of worried eyes watched her sleeping form as her chest rose and fell with each labored breath. A machine next to her gave a constant "blip, blip, blip..." indicating a slow but steady heartbeat. Slowly, a weak old and haggered hand reached up and stroked her cheek ever so gently. "Please come back to us..." She whispered before placing a kiss on her forehead. Slowly, the woman stood, leaving the room with a broken heart. Outside the door, a man confronted her, asking her if he could speak to her daughter. She nodded and let him by.

He entered the room and slowly walked towards her bed. He sat in the chair and looked at her form in its entirety. 2 days she had been unconcious in critical condition. The doctors weren't sure if she had slipped into another coma, but they hoped she would wake up soon. The stranger rested his hand on Sake's wrist. "Sake... I know you can hear me...Listen... I want to talk to you..." He began slowly, just above a whisper. "It's about someone very important to you..." Then, the skin on his palm glowed a faint blue but only he could see it.

Somethig flashed through her mind... an image of a man; His yellow green hair streaking behind him in the brisk wind. His face was tear streaked as he eyed something in his hand. A small picture of her... He kissed it before wiping away a stray tear. "Please... come back to me..." He said looking towards the stars. A small orange creature stood next to him, resting a furry paw on the blonds arm. "I miss her too buddy... C'mon... Damos wants to see us..." The vision began to fade. She tried calling out to him but all that came from her mouth was faint whispers.

"No... Jak... please... don't leave me here... Don't leave me to die... I need you..." She opened her eyes to find the stranger staring down on her with a soft smile.

"Welcome back." His voice was incredibly low and it cracked a few times, giving him a wise feel to his aura. "How do you feel?"

"Better... who-are you?" She asked in a low tone before smiling faintly. His hands were warm and soft. Oh how comforting that was... to just have someone there to guide you through your troubles.

"Oh, i'm dreadfully sorry..." he had a bit of a Bitish accent to his old voice. "My name is Kaolinth..." He smiled from ear to ear as he raised his eyebrows. "I'm a Precursor here to take you home..."

"Home?" She looked towards the window to see her mother looking in on them. But she was home...

"You know as well as I do that you can't stay here..." Slowly, he stroked her hand with his thumb. "You can't survive here..."

"I know... but I don't want to leave... I don't want to leave behind my friends... my family... my life..." She could feel a tear welding up in the corner of her eye.

"Jak-he's waiting for you..." He wiped the tear away and smiled. "I can tell you miss him dearly... I can see it in your eyes."

"But how can I get back?" Some reason, she believed Kaolinth. Probably because he knew about everything. "The Oracle said that the tear would heal once I returned to my own world, right?"

"No... that's how I got here..." He held up a bracelet identicle to Sake's. "With this..." Her eyes went wide. "The gap is small, and if you do go back, you can never return." His haggered voice took on a deeper and darker tone, one that resonated seriousness.

"Never return?" No... it would kill her to not see anyone again... but her heart longed to be with the one she loved. Jak... she saw his sweet smile... then she heard his soft voice as he whispered into her ear. "I love you..." Her mother peeked into the room for just a moment, but neither of the two noticed her,

"Yes... we need to leave within 4 days if you wish to return... or else that rip will be healed completely." He stood from his seat and turned to leave. Sake also sat up, but she was a little weak from the incident.

"Where are you going?" She asked him. He simply smiled.

"Just call me when you need me." He waved his own bracelet in the air, and in an instant, he was gone...

"Where did he go?" Her mother took a seat in the chair once more and rested a hand on her daughter's shoulder. It hurt her to see Sake cry like that. "Is something bothering you?"

"Everything..." She sobbed lightly. "Mom... I should have told you this earlier... So I think you should hear it now..." This was it... the moment of truth.

And so the unbelieveable, but true, story began, ending about an hour later. "I don't want to leave you again Mom... I missed you so much at first..." She flopped over, resting her head on her shoulder.

"Sake. Look at me..." Her voice softened as she lifted Sake's chin to match eye level with her. "Sometimes you just have to follow your heart..." She placed her hand over Sake's heart then pulled her into a warm hug. "If your heart is telling you to leave and go to the man you love, then follow your heart. At the end of the road... you will find nothing but happiness..." Stroking her daughter's back for comfort, she also began to cry lightly.

"Do you mean it?" she sobbed back, pulling away to look at her mother's face once more.

"Sake... If I had stayed in San Francisco back in 82, I would have never met your father... and you would have never been brought into this world... I followed my heart... Now its time for you to follow yours." With that said and done, they hugged once more. Sake watched as her mother left the room, giving her a little bit of time to herself to think.