Chapter 12
I Promise

Griffin was running down the hill as fast as he could with Haru in his arms. Her face looked troubled as she lay still, her loose arm swinging as he ran. He knew he had to get her inside to safety as soon as he could, but there was so much distress running through his mind it was all he could do to keep from breaking down. He couldn't understand exactly what had happened to Haru or why, but he only wanted her to wake up and be herself… and he never wanted to hear that foreign voice come from her lips ever again. As he skidded down the long hill that sloped down to the lane, the wind blew viciously around him, chilling him to the bone. He was turning the corner when he lost his footing suddenly. He stomach dropped out from under him as his feet slipped and Haru was tossed from his arms and hit the ground hard. Griffin landed hard on his elbow and chin, but didn't stop for a moment to worry for himself. Haru had landed on her side, her enlarged stomach grazing the ground.

"NO!" Griffin yelped crawling over to her desperately. She was still unconscious, but he was worried if the baby inside of her was going to be all right. He picked her up again and rested her on his slanted knees somewhat, gripping her by the shoulders. Her face still bore the angry red mark from where Romana had slapped her. She was bruised and dirty from the fall, but she appeared unharmed. Griffin ran his hand tenderly over the bulge in her abdomen. It felt warm and alive as he shivered next to his fallen wife in the blustering night. The moon kept passing under clouds, which drenched the entire valley in an inky gloom.

"Haru…" Griffin shivered, his face in deep worry, "Please wake up, Haru… Please be okay… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to drop you… Please Haru… wake up…" Griffin moaned a little helplessly, the yellowish light from the houses some ways off shining on him. A strong voice split the night and the whisperings of the wind and Griffin's heart leapt painfully.

"What did you do to her!?" Cried the voice. Griffin's eyes snapped up to where the well was and saw a man standing there, looking full of conviction and anger. The man stepped into the murky lamplight with a sharp look on his face, his flashing blue eyes were filled with ire. It was Haru's sandy-haired friend.

"I… I didn't do anything… she… this just… sort of…" Griffin stammered, not quite sure how to explain Haru's condition. Phillip stepped forward with his fists balled up and looked warily upon Haru's limp body. He bit his bottom lip and shot a venomous look in Griffin's direction.

"How dare you…" He hissed, his voice mixing in with the harshly blowing wind. "How could you even dare hurt someone like Haru…"

Griffin looked up, his eyes watery and full of pain.

"I didn't touch her, I swear… she needs help…"

"Yes! She does need help! She needs help getting away from you!" Phillip shouted angrily, noting the red mark blossoming on Haru's cheek. "You're a terrible man… and I swear you shall rue the day you ever raised a hand to this gentle creature." Phillip said pointedly, a fire blazing behind his cool blue eyes. He gave Griffin one last look, then stomped off towards the inn. Griffin squinted in Phillip's direction, still shivering.

Indignant anger was now added to Griffin's list of turbulent emotions and he picked Haru up from the ground and carried her balefully to the Blue Bar. Her chest was barely rising as he opened the door with some difficulty and stomped in, feeling overly weary. Muffy was sitting back in a chair with uninterested disdain until Griffin came stumbling inside. When she saw Haru lying deathly still in Griffin's arms she nearly fell off the chair she was sitting in.

"H-HARU!" Muffy gasped, scrambling to a stand and rushing to Griffin's side. Skye's mouth hung open and he dropped his ladle into the pot of curry where it sunk into the steaming mixture.

"What's happened!?" Skye went as pale as a sheet as Griffin carried Haru into the back room without saying a thing. He crossed the room and gently laid Haru down on what used to be his bed, but was where Skye slept now. Skye had truly changed Griffin's room while he was staying at the bar. There was now a large mirror in the room with a good amount of cosmetics and such piled around it. Glittering objects and an airy, floral scent hung about the room.

Griffin didn't have time to inspect it though, he turned back hurriedly and explained what had happened at Romana's house to both Skye and Muffy in a few gruff sentences. They both looked thoroughly shocked by the end of the story.

"Sh-she called her Molly?" Skye repeated incredulously.

"That's odd… isn't that…" Muffy put a finger to her lips. Griffin nodded darkly.

"Yeah… Lumina's mother's name." Griffin elaborated. Muffy swallowed and played nervously with a strand of her hair.

"She's been dead for years though… I don't think Haru ever met her… How could she know about Molly?" Muffy asked in a quiet, pinched voice. Griffin's expression was subtly grim.

"She couldn't have… that's what worries me most… " Griffin sighed, looking back at Haru with a worried glance. Skye stepped over to Haru gracefully, his luminous silver hair swaying as he went. He knelt at her bedside with a doleful look in his radiant, sea-green eyes and grasped her smooth, white hand.

"Dear little Haru… Won't you please open your eyes that do shine like unearthly jewels." Skye caressed her hair tenderly. Griffin felt a wave of annoyance pass over him and he went stepped behind Skye and gripped his shoulder firmly. Griffin gave Skye a dangerous smile and spoke.

"What did I say about 'Rule Number One'…" Griffin said as Skye looked up at him with wide eyes. Skye gave him a weak smile and backed off, giggling nervously.

"Sorry, Mr. Bartender… your wife is just so beautiful and sweet… I can't bear to see her this way." He told him as if it were an acceptable excuse. Griffin stepped by Skye with strength and stood above Haru with a protective look on his face. Skye cleared his throat slightly and reached into his pockets.

"Err… this may not be good time… but here." Skye pulled some coins out of his pocket and tossed them to Griffin who caught them in midair. Skye smiled jauntily and sighed. Griffin noted his look with curiosity.

"Why do you look so pleased with yourself?" Griffin asked defensively, inspecting the coins for authenticity. Skye tossed his silver hair and posed somewhat.

"Oh, you didn't realize it, Mr. Bartender! That's the last of what I owe you! I'm finally free of your tyranny!" Skye chided triumphantly. Muffy gasped and covered her mouth a little.

"Already? But you've only been hear for a couple seasons." Muffy was slightly shocked. Skye gave a low laugh and looked quite happy with himself.

"It seems the curry-cooking business suits me well... Or maybe it was because my co-worker's beauty helped me along…" He gave Muffy a tiny wink and she blushed somewhat, looking disgruntled. She had since built up a sort of immunity to Skye's sweet talk. Griffin would have smiled himself if Haru hadn't of been so bad off.

"Well… does that mean you're going to leave here, then?" Griffin asked Skye with a tone of relief. Skye looked a bit apprehensive before he replied.

"I-I was actually wondering… if I might be allowed to stay a little longer… until I get enough money to build my own restaurant here in the valley… is... that okay?" Skye asked with a toothy grin. Griffin sighed and considered the thought.

Skye wasn't a bad person, really… even if he could be a little annoying and haphazard… people were coming in more and more for his curry and seemed to enjoy it… and this in turn brought more business to his bar… it seemed like it wouldn't hurt to keep him for a little bit longer. Griffin sat down on the bed beside Haru and grabbed her lifeless hand absentmindedly.

"… Sure, Skye. You can work here as long as you need… but can I ask a question?" Griffin chanced, feeling slightly inquisitive. Skye spun around on his heel in a full circle and beamed.

"Oh yay! Sure, ask anything." Skye clapped his hands together. Muffy was sitting in a chair with distant apprehension… she seemed lost in her own thoughts, but kept glancing over at Haru occasionally.

"Why do you want to stay in the valley? I thought you'd want to be out and about like usual… or at least start your restaurant in the city." Griffin posed the question to Skye. The former thief's face fell a little, but he answered quickly enough.

"Well… I've grown to like it here… there are so many lovely ladies and I've gotten to know the customers well… I'll be sure to have regulars… a-and I daresay… that I've made a few friends here… that is... I haven't really got any other friends… I mean… I guess I could call you two my friends… after all this time…" Skye said with a sort of flustered shrug. He hesitated for a moment then spoke again, "Also… I don't think people would come looking for me here…" Skye finished with a nervous giggle. Griffin didn't have any time to feel awkward because Haru's hand suddenly sprang to life within his and she sat up behind him, coughing a sputtering.

"HARU!" Skye, Griffin, and Muffy all cried out at once and crowded around their waking friend.

"Are you feeling okay, beautiful?"

"Can you hear me!? We were all so scared!"

"Take it easy, Haru… Don't try and sit up just yet…"

Haru coughed and lay back onto the pillow, looking miserable.
"Wh-what happened… I feel like I got hit by a truck…" Haru croaked, looking around with a confused glance, "Did I pass out? The last thing I remember is sitting on the couch at the mansion.

Haru felt beyond exhausted as she lay on the bed, her body aching. There was a sharp stinging and burning on the back of her neck, but she did not have the energy to check it out. Griffin grasped Haru's hand tightly and looked her soberly in the eye.

"You don't remember any of it…?" Griffin asked her gently. Skye and Muffy were watching her with wide-eyed stares. Haru was beginning to feel quite alarmed.

"Wh-what happened…?" She dared to ask, her voice weak. Griffin, Skye and Muffy exchanged glances. Griffin looked back at her again.

"Let me get you home first, okay?"

Fifteen minutes later Haru was at home in her own bed. She had changed clothes before getting into bed and noticed that there was raw burn around her neck. It was thin and in a sort of elliptical shape that ended at her neckline. It took all of her remaining strength to get into her bed clothes and by the time she collapsed onto her bed she felt as though she had just run for miles without stopping. She quietly listened to Griffin's explanation of what had happened at the mansion and by the end of the story she was trying her hardest to fight back tears.

"All that really happened…? I couldn't even remember anything… it was as if there was static in my head… I lost control…" Haru murmured, utterly exhausted. Griffin lay beside her and stroked her hair.

"Haru… I don't know what's happening to you… or why… but I promised you a while back that I would always protect you…" He told her in that special voice he used when they were alone together, "I will keep that promise no matter what… you know that right? I'll be here to help you through this entire thing… I'll help you find out what's wrong… and I won't let anything hurt you…" After Griffin finished speaking Haru let a single tear fall from her eye. She let Griffin hold her tightly to his chest as the blankets from the bed creating a sort of soft barrier around them.

"Wh-what if you aren't around when it happens again?" Haru said miserably into his chest, her voice somewhat muffled. He stroked her hair softly and smiled underneath his mustache. He took the silver star pendant and pinched it delicately between his weather fingers.

"…The person who gave this to me says this has a special power? If you just grab it and think of me, I'll know you need me and I'll be right there in no time at all…" Griffin told her. Haru looked up from the soft confines of the blankets.

"Who gave it to you, anyway?" Haru asked. Griffin's glance did not falter.

"Remember the day before our wedding we found that old photo?" He reminded her. Haru recalled it with ease and nodded. "The girl in that picture… Willow… she gave it to me before she left the valley… She told me it was made from a fallen star and it had great magical power. She said to me that it made her dream come true… and that I should give it to the woman I fall in love with, one day."

Haru closed her eyes. Her entire body was aching in dull pain and she exhaled a bit. She could not believe what she had done… or what had taken her over… but it seemed so far away suddenly.

"Promise you'll always be there Griffin?" She mumbled as she was starting to drift off. Griffin grinned slightly.

"I promise."