Only a week this time! I'm getting better.

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ROXAS

I stared out the window as the plane moved down the runway. This was it. I was going. Whatever reservations I had had, there was no turning back now.

Surprisingly enough, I felt quite calm. I would be gone nearly a week, with nothing to worry about—no fruitless job search, no Ansem breathing down my neck. Just so long as the nightmares didn't make a return…

I suppressed a shudder and pushed those thoughts away. This was a vacation. I was supposed to relax. And, with any luck, relaxation would provide the necessary calm in my psyche to dispel the nightmares. Or however it worked.

The plane continued to gather speed, until I felt the top of it lifting from the ground, soon followed by the rest. I couldn't help but be impressed at how such a big and heavy object could not only get off the ground, but remain in the air for several hours. Must be a lot of work for the engineers who design them.

A trace of bitterness crept into my mind. If it weren't for that fiasco at college, I might be doing work like that, helping with the construction of vehicles, or a multitude of other things. But life had just decided to bend me over and—

I gritted my teeth. Damn it, Roxas, lighten up, I thought to myself. Vacation, remember? This is what Ienzo—your roommate and friend, who knows some things about how the human body works—advised. Just take it easy, and work things out when you get back.

I really hoped my entire trip wouldn't be like this.


SORA

I really hoped our entire trip wouldn't be like this.

Fate seemed to want to cancel out the chance that the mysterious woman had given me. First, we found our plane was delayed, so Riku and I were stuck in the airport for two extra hours, waiting for the damn thing to get in. Then, when it finally did get in, the airport had some issue with the luggage, which they had to take a long time to sort out, so that it was after midnight by the time we finally got off the ground. "It'll happen, Sora," Riku tried to reassure me. "It's just a few hours."

But a few hours could mean the difference between life and death for Naminé. As far as I was concerned, any delay at all could make me fail to rescue my little sister, and I was barely able to control my irritation.

But, as if that wasn't enough, during our layover in Denver, I got a mild case of food poisoning after eating a ham sandwich offered in one of the airport stores. I nearly missed the airplane because I was in the bathroom, but, after I was done, I started to feel better, and made it onto the plane feeling tired and with a headache, but not much more. Riku even picked up a couple of medicines for me, which helped a bit, as well.

Still, though, I had a bad feeling about all of this. Our trip seemed to be destined to catch on snags. Why now? Why this trip, when the life of someone I hadn't seen in years hung in the balance? Was all of my good luck over the years (i.e. still being alive) taking its payment now?

Riku didn't seem as concerned, but, then again, he doesn't always exactly wear his feelings on his sleeve. Still, I could tell that he was on edge, too. He was right; he was concerned about Naminé, like me (though perhaps not with the same intensity), and was also intent on saving her life. He did, though, manage to get some sleep on the plane, while I remained awake the entire time. I knew it might hamper me later on, but I couldn't manage to fall asleep. In fact, I didn't think I'd be able to relax at all until Naminé was safe.

Finally, we touched down in Juneau, and I had to fight the instinct to leap out of my seat before the plane had stopped. Next to me, Riku had just woken up, and was looking around. "We're here," he said.

"Yeah," I said.

He blinked a few times as the implications of this seemed to really sink in. He sat up, and his face grew more alert. "Let's hope this contact of yours isn't far," he said.

Let's hope, indeed.


We disembarked from the plane and went to get our luggage. Thankfully, no time-consuming inconvenience awaited us; I guess my bad luck had decided to take a break after trying to stop me in Denver. As we went along with the rest of the voyagers to Alaska, I continuously scanned the area for any sign of a woman who looked like she might be looking for us. Of course, in an airport, you'll find no shortage of people looking for other people—but any one of them could be the one that could help us save my sister.

Riku took note of this, and, when I started towards a woman who was standing around with the air of waiting for someone to arrive, held out a hand to stop me. "Hold on, Sora," he said. "Are you really going to ask everyone here if they're waiting for us?"

"We don't know who she is, Riku," I replied. "How else are we supposed to find her?"

"I thought the plan was for her to find us." He waved a hand at the giant crowd that filled the airport. "If we try looking for her in this, we'll only be wasting our time."

"Well, where are we supposed to look for her, then?"

Riku gave a slight grimace. "I don't know. We came here with very vague ideas of what to do. Right now, we're hoping that she'll somehow find her way to us. And if she doesn't, we're on our own."

I continued to cast my gaze around. She had to be somewhere around here. I needed her to find my sister—a thought that, sometime during our trip, had worked its way firmly into my brain. My instincts were telling me that she was the solution, and my instincts were rarely mistaken.

We wandered aimlessly around the airport for a little while longer, drifting towards the exit, in case our contact was waiting outside. Then, suddenly, we heard a commotion ahead. Several people seemed to be shouting. "What's that?" I asked, tensing up.

"Don't know," said Riku, also readying himself for something.

A moment later, it came into view. A small dog was dashing through the airport, with a handful of security guards pursuing it. The dog was white, with a dark stripe down its nose and gray paws, and had what looked to be a grey goatee—almost like a goat. And it was easily evading its pursuers. Any time a guard tried to come at it from the side, or nearly caught up to it from behind, it nimbly leaped away and kept running. "Just a dog," I said, relaxing. Then, I noticed that it was headed straight for us, and felt myself tense again.

"Don't worry," said Riku, noticing my reaction. "It's probably just—"

But he was cut off when the dog came up to us. It jumped up, barked, circled us twice, then jumped and barked again before it had to make another dash away from the guards. One of them, who looked like he could stand to lose a few pounds, knelt near us, panting. "You fellas know that dog?" he asked.

Riku shook his head. "No. Never seen it."

"Seems to like you," said the guard, looking over at the dog. It had turned back to us and barked again before running towards the exit.

A suspicion crept into my mind. "Hey, Riku," I said in an undertone, "you think we're supposed to follow that dog?"

He blinked. "Seems unlikely." His eyes narrowed in thought. "But…"

The security guard had directed his attention back to the dog, which seemed to not want to get too far away from us. "Come on, we can catch him!" he shouted, and forced himself back into the action.

"I…I think it's trying to lead us somewhere," I said.

Riku looked skeptical for a moment. Then, "Hm, maybe." He gave a slight shrug. "Well, let's give it a shot."

I nodded, and the two of us strode towards the dog, which looked as though evading its pursuers had become more difficult. However, upon seeing us walking in its direction, it gave another bark and dashed off, towards the exit.

I began to feel hope. Could, somehow, this dog be leading us to our mysterious woman? It was the best chance we had.

As the dog continued to run, we found ourselves increasing our pace. By the time we had gotten to the exit, we were nearly running.

At the door, the dog darted in between a couple of pairs of legs and slipped out the door before anyone could stop it. Upon its doing so, the security guards stopped chasing it, and stood, panting, at the entrance. "And don't come back, ya danged mutt!" shouted the one who had spoken to us before.

Slipping around them, Riku and I exited the building, barely able to see the dog. But we managed to keep it in our sights, and weaved through the crowd of people, following it.

"This had better lead us somewhere," muttered Riku next to me.

I silently agreed, but I was coming to believe that it would. Why else would this dog seek us out like this? Every now and again it would look behind it, see us, bark again, and continue on its way. There had to be a reason for that.

Then, it ran up to the side of the road and stopped. We caught up a second later, breathing heavily, and I was able to take note of the surroundings. A taxi was parked right next to the curb, but what most caught my attention was the woman the dog had stopped next to, and now was looking up at.

She was younger than I had expected, probably around my age. Her skin was a pleasant color of brown, and her thick black hair fell down below her shoulders. Deep green eyes were looking over me.

She hadn't said anything, but I could tell—this was the woman.

She knelt down and scratched the dog behind the ears. "Good job, Djali," she said, smiling. The dog looked very pleased with itself.

"That's your dog?" Riku asked.

The woman nodded and straightened up. "Best companion I could ask for."

"Did you send him to find us?"

She smiled. "You catch on quickly." She turned to me. "I assume you're Sora Parker?"

I nodded. "And who are you?"

"Esmeralda," the woman said.

Riku turned to me. "She's the one?"

I nodded. "I recognize her voice."

"And I yours," Esmeralda said. She turned to Riku. "I'm afraid I don't know who you are, though."

He hesitated a moment, then held out his hand. "Riku. I'm a friend of Sora's."

She shook his hand. "And you've come to help him?"

"Yes."

"You understand the situation?"

"I know everything he does."

She nodded. "Good." Gesturing to the taxi, she said, "Come, let us go somewhere more conducive for conversation."

"Wait," I said. "When can you start helping us?"

She answered as she knelt down and led her dog, Djali, into a plastic dog carrier. "We are in no great rush. We can afford to discuss things when we get back to where I'm staying."

"Where are you staying?" asked Riku.

"Just a nearby hotel."

"Hold on," I said, frowning. "What do you mean, we're in no great rush?"

"I mean that we have until Friday night, and we do not need more than two days to find the ones you are looking for."

"Why Friday?"

She opened the taxi door. "I will explain shortly." She got in, carrying her dog with her.

I got in after her, not eager to let her get away so easily. "I want answers," I pressed, seated in the back with her, the dog carrier in between us.

"And you will get them. But, like I said, this is not the best place to talk. My hotel is only about five minutes away. We can talk there."

I wanted to press the matter further, but the part of me that knew that it was pointless held me back. So I sat in grudging silence for the short trip, which seemed like a lot longer than five minutes.

Sitting down, however, brought on the fatigue that had kept at bay until then. I had gone a long time without sleep, and being motionless made my body yearn for the rest it had been denied. I tried to fight it, but couldn't hold back a few huge yawns.

I was curious about Esmeralda, though. Who was she? Was she really a medium? How would she be able to help us? Did it have anything to do with that dog of hers? It did seem to display unusual intelligence for a dog. Was it a dog? Maybe it was some other creature that could transform into a dog.

My thoughts became more muddled as weariness continued to settle in. By the time we got to the hotel, I had gotten comfortable in the seat, and my body was reluctant to leave. But I managed to force it to do so and retrieve my luggage from the trunk.

Esmeralda paid the driver, then led me and Riku into the hotel, down a hallway, and into a room. It was a standard two-bed hotel room, and I had to fight the urge to lie down on one of those beds and fall asleep. "All right," I said when she closed the door. "What's going on?"

She looked at me with a slightly amused expression. "I'll tell you," she said, "but I think there's something else that needs to be addressed first."

I had to stop myself from groaning. "What?"

"You." She glanced at Riku. "And you, too. You're both exhausted after your trip. You need sleep."

I shook my head. "I can sleep later."

"Not if you want to get through this, you can't. You're going to need to be alert, and that means getting a decent amount of sleep." She gestured to the hotel beds. "I have two beds here, one for each of you. Take a few hours to rest."

I started to voice another objection, but Riku cut me off. "You want us to sleep here?"

Esmeralda turned to him. "Is that a problem?"

He folded his arms. "No, if you really do mean us no harm."

She raised an eyebrow. "You don't believe me?"

"I have some doubts."

She held his gaze for a moment, then gave a small shrug. "Well, I suppose I would be, too, in your situation." She put her hand up to her chin. "Hm…any way we could arrange things to make you feel comfortable?"

"I'm pretty good at telling when people are lying to me," said Riku. "Look at me and tell me that you don't intend for either of us to get hurt."

"That's all it'll take?"

"We'll see," he said noncommittally.

"All right." She faced him. "I don't intend for any harm to come to either of you."

For a moment, Riku held her gaze, as if evaluating her. Then, he nodded. "All right. That's good enough, at least for now."

Esmeralda smiled. "Good. Can you two get some sleep now?"

I tried to resist again, but, again, Riku interrupted me. "She's right, Sora," he said. "You look like you could collapse on us at any minute. You didn't get any sleep last night…and how much did you get the night before?"

Not much. "Enough."

He shook his head. "Who knows what we'll be doing, Sora? You'll need to be rested up."

"I've gotten work done on little rest before," I argued.

"Well, then…"

Before I could react, Riku grabbed me by the arm, dragged me over to one of the beds, and threw me down onto it. "There," he said. "Now, stay down for a while."

Immediately, I felt my body relax as it sunk into the soft mattress. "No…" I said, but my eyelids were already feeling heavy. Mustering my strength, I pushed myself up, but Riku only pushed me down again. "Riku, come on…"

But my tired self's needs finally caught up with me, and I couldn't rise again. Within moments, I was out.


ROXAS

The in-flight entertainment provided was minimal, in my opinion. A small selection of movies (none of which I was interested in) and a few episodes from a couple of TV shows (which were pretty good, but only lasted thirty minutes each) comprised the bulk of what we had to keep ourselves occupied. Fortunately, I had brought a book, Pride and Prejudice, to keep me occupied. I didn't anticipate getting much sleep, since the plane wouldn't be flying through the night. Then again, I did have to get up pretty early this morning, which cut back on my rest from last night.

But it would all be okay. I could get some rest up in Alaska. I had no obligations up there. Nothing to do but whatever I wanted. And, from what I had heard, there were a great many things to do in the area, opportunities that arose from the state's abundant wildlife, both flora and fauna.

Nevertheless, despite myself, I found my eyelids getting heavy a few hours into the flight. Well, I thought as a large yawn came on, I could try getting a bit of sleep, I guess.

And so I put away my book, leaned back in my chair, and closed my eyes.

Unexpectedly, it was easy for me to fall asleep. However, also unexpected was what came next.

I don't remember how my dream started out. But I do remember that it was interrupted. By a vision I had hoped I would never see again.

Him again. The tall, silver-haired man. With the red eyes. Once again, within my dreams, I found myself frozen in terror, unable to do anything as he drew closer and closer. The aura of power coming off of him was unmistakable—almost like he wasn't human. Like there was something else to him, something powerful. Something very dangerous—and unstoppable.

I jolted awake, breathing heavily, which got me a glance from the passenger next to me. I tried to force myself to calm down, but, suddenly, I felt vulnerable, cramped into a small seat with strangers on all sides of me. Quicker than would have seemed natural, I rose and made my way to the bathroom, which was, luckily, unoccupied.

It wasn't an ideal location—I was still enclosed in a small space—but it did provide me with some temporary relief. Which I desperately needed. The dreams were back. After leaving me be for a small while, they had returned.

I gritted my teeth as I looked at myself in the mirror, a hint of pallor in my face. Why was this man still coming back to me? Who had he been?

And when, oh when, would I be free of him?

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I probably won't be able to make very frequent updates due to my job, but I'll keep the story going. Hope you all keep reading!