Sora Rei could sense there was someone in the room with her. She struggled to lift her head. She felt sick. Her mouth was dry and there was a dull thudding in her head, like a monotonous hum. She couldn't move. It took a few seconds for her to identify the fact she was sitting on a chair now, her arms pulled tight behind her back and her ankles strapped to the wooden les. There was a slight movement, a creak of the bare floorboards as someone shifted position.

"Qui est là ?" Who's there?

Her palms were slippery with fear. A trickle of sweat ran down the small of her back. Rei forced her eyes open, but she still couldn't see. She panicked. Shaking her head, blinking, trying to bring back the light until she realized the hood was back on her head. It smelled of earth and mold.

Was she still in the farmhouse? She remembered the oncoming blow, the surprise of the sharp pain. The same man from before. Surely someone would come and save her? Wouldn't they?

"Who's there?" No one answered, although she could feel them close. The air was greasy with the smell of sour ale and the sickly sweet aroma of cigars. "What do you want?"

The door opened. Footsteps. Rei felt the change in atmosphere. An instinct for self-preservation kicked in and she struggled wildly for a moment to get free. The rope only tightened, putting more pressure on her shoulders, making them ache.

The door shut with an ominous, heavy thud.

She fell still. For a moment, there was silence, then the sound of someone waking toward her, closer and closer. Rei shrank back in her chair. He stopped right in front of her. Like an animal circling his prey, he walked round the chair a couple of times, and then dropped his rough hands on her lithe shoulders.

"Who are you? Please, take this blindfold off at least."

"We need to have another talk, Sora Rei." A voice, cold and precise, cut through her like a knife.

He suddenly jerked the chair back.

Rei screamed, plummeting backwards, powerless to stop herself from falling. The back of her head hit hard and a searing pain shot across her temple. Then, without warning, he suddenly righted the chair. Rei's neck snapped forward with the force of it.

"Where is Natsuki Kuga?"

"I can't breathe," she whispered.

He ignored her. She heard him click his fingers and the sound of a second chair being placed in front of her. He sat down and pulled her toward him so his knees were pressing against her thighs.

"Where is Natsuki Kuga? We know you were with her."

"I don't know," She cried. "I told you everything I knew two days ago, I swear it."

The blow came out of nowhere, striking her right cheek and slamming her head back. Rei could taste blood in her mouth, sliding over her tongue and down the back of her throat. Tears of frustration welled up, threatening to spill over.

"Where is Natsuki Kuga?" The same question that they repeatedly asked her; but one she didn't have an answer to.

She screamed in a high pitched whine, "I don't know! Please, I don't know!"

He hit her again, this time with his fist, not the flat of his hand. Blood spurted from her nose and poured down her chin.

"This will stop if you just answer the question."

Sora Rei just whimpered in response and flinched as he placed his hand on her throat and started to squeeze, harder, until it felt like an iron collar tightening around her neck. She thrashed from side to side, trying to get some air but he was too powerful. Just as she could feel herself starting to lose consciousness, black tinting her vision, he released her. She felt him fumbling with the buttons on her shirt, undoing them one by one.

"Ce qui sont toi faisant?" What are you doing? she choked out, then flinched at his cold, clinical touch on her skin.

"No one's looking for you." There was the harsh and unmistakenable sound of a blade being drawn. Terror flooded through, rising higher and drowning her thoughts. "No one's going to come."

"Please. Please, don't hurt me…"

"Shizuru…"

At that simple name spoken, Shizuru had already tossed the covers aside and quickly proceeded to the dark shadow that still stood unmoving. Another flash of lightning sparked the room into light and the former princess once again saw the object of her desire for a split second before the room was once again consumed. But the sudden sight of her beloved made her stop short and slowly, tentively, move forward with an outstretched arm; shaky fingers reluctant to find that the shadow was nothing more than a cruel joke of the gods.

After a moment's hesitation, she brushed the tips of her fingers against…cool skin. An audible gasp forced its way through the sudden swelling in her chest and her emotion-constricted throat. She was so overwhelmed by the realization that this was not just a dream; that Natsuki was really standing an arms length away; a distance that, now, seemed too far for her liking.

Shizuru was considering on closing the distance, when the shadow suddenly shifted. A dark hand was placed over her own, still ghosting over the smooth flesh of Natsuki's cheek, and pressed her hovering fingers more firmly against the clammy skin.

This action caused the red-eyed woman to return from her momentary relapse and embrace the shadow that stood before her. Hot trails of tears leaked down her face and mingled with raven locks.

"Natsuki," She managed to choke out pathetically; sounding more like a feeble newborn that was stumbling over its first spoken word. "Natsuki…"

A slender but firm finger pressed against her lips and thwarted any sounds the tawny-haired beauty might have made. A slightly questioning look adopted into her features. The shadow once again shifted and Shizuru could feel hot breath stir close to the sensitive skin directly under her ear. A course whisper sounded.

"Shizuru, I would like nothing more than to hold you close and bless my selfish lips with your own but we can not afford that luxury just yet. I'm sorry but we must leave quickly."

Another quizzical gaze was thrown her way.

"Shizuru? Remember those stories that you told me about? The ones about how I was a goddess that had watched over Hime for centuries? Well…what if I told you…what if I told you that all of those stories held some truth in their words?

So, I know I've been kinda bitchy lately and I would like to apologize. I should probably consider anger management or something...I don't know. Anyway, lets just forget everything I said and blame it on PMSing or Raging hormones.

--BlueIV