PianZoe: Oh... wow. I am so sorry. I have no good excuse as to why we completely abandoned this fan fic, except that... well.. shortly after we posted the last chapter, my computer died, and we had to put in a new hard drive. Then, I was going to have my Dad put in the old hard drive, with all of our information about these stories (and when I say all of the information, I mean that there were over twenty files about them) - along with the next chapter to this one - in the new computer. But... unfortunately, we'd lost it. After a few months, we finally found it, but he'd wiped it, so all of the information was gone, and so I lost the desire to write on this story. Plus, I got more interested in Fushigi Yuugi, and other animes and stuff. I'm so sorry! But, on Sunday, Cia and I were playing the Sims 2, and made an Anthony and Georgia family, which made us want to reread DTD. So, I did, and then I reread this one, and when I finished it, my desire to write on it reignited! Yay! So, yeah. Most of you that read these before probably barely remember them, huh? Four years.. I mean, the last time I wrote on this, I was fifteen, and now I'm nineteen. Wow. And, sorry if this is the only chapter for a while, I'm still not that good at updating regularly. Heh...

Disclaimer: Still don't own WA, WA2, WA3, WAACF, WA4, or WA5, or any of the characters or towns or anything therein. Do own copies of them, though.

Erica could hear her Mom calling her name, but she didn't care. She really didn't care. So what if she had been about to kiss Kevin? It wasn't as if she were still eleven, and he were still thirteen. Plus, nothing was going to happen. It was a simple kiss. A kiss that felt like it had been a long time in coming, but had been forced to be, yet again, put off until another time. She let out a hiccuping sob, and wiped at her eyes, trying to get the tears to stop flowing, but, yet more leaked out as soon as she wiped the first ones away.

She knew that her parents trusted Kevin, so why shouldn't they trust him with her? Maybe she was being childish about this whole thing. I probably am, she thought to herself, shaking her head, but not slowing down - if anything, she sped up. No, it's not me. It's them. They could let me have one kiss, it's not that big of a deal. Jacqui would have let me kiss him; she would've let me go anything I wanted, she thought to herself, beginning to want to go back to the only person she really remembered ever living with. It wasn't as if she were attached to her parents, or any of the others, except Kevin. She couldn't remember them, at all, whereas she had... slightly pleasant memories of being with Jacqui. Many of them weren't pleasant. But she could get past that.

Again, she heard her name being called, and she growled, shouting back, "Forget it!"

She didn't know how long she'd been running, but she did know that it had been for quite a while. Long enough that her lungs were beginning to burn, and her legs were beginning to tell her to stop, to rest. But she wasn't going to listen - she'd been on the run for the past for years, she could outrun anyone. She'd gotten to where she could outrun any sort of feline monster that was thrown at her - everyone knew the feline type were the fastest. So, she had confidence that she could outrun her mother, who was at least eighteen years older than herself - the exact number, she didn't know.

Suddenly, she heard her name shouted again, but this time it sounded fearful, almost frantic, and it made her look back in confusion, wondering if her Mom was alright. It didn't look like anything was wrong, she was still running towards her, but she seemed to be trying to speed up, and really trying to tell her something. But what?

Then, the world disappeared from under her, and she felt a falling sensation. No! Her thoughts screamed, and she let out a scream to accompany them, twisting around to grip the edge of the cliff. She had forgotten there was a cliff near Boot Hill. Of course there's a cliff, you idiot, you have to get to this island by train or sandcraft! She mentally cursed herself out, searching for footholds in the rock, to keep herself up. Her hands couldn't hold her forever, after all, and they were already beginning to slip. "HELP! Mom, help me!" she cried, feeling panic beginning to set in. Finally, her foot managed to fine a rock jutting out slightly, and she stepped on it, lifting herself up a bit, to get a better grip on the ground above. Her eyes drifted downwards, and she let out a scared squeak, seeing the churning sand below her.

Soon, she heard footsteps approaching, and when she looked up, she saw her mother's worried face just above her. "Don't worry, Erica, you'll be alright! I won't let you fall!" Georgia said, fear evident in her voice, and Erica nodded her head, trying to keep herself from crying. Oh guardians, please don't let me die like this.


Ran wasn't in the best of moods. No, oh no. In fact, far from it, really. She was beginning to think about actually killing the child, but every time she thought about it, that strange little voice in the back of her mind said 'don't do it!', and she just had to go and listen to it. With a slight twitch, she turned her head to look in the direction the human child was, and nearly growled, at seeing him kneeling on the ground, playing with a lady bug. It was a bug, for crying out loud! It couldn't be more important than his life, or getting home, now could it?

"Child! Get over here!" she snapped, and he jerked up, looking at her fearfully, before jumping up and running over, looking up at her with big, curiously fearful emerald eyes. She took a long, deep breath, and reached up, rubbing her right temple. "Edan. Now, remind me. Why are you with me?"

"To hewp me get home."

"Yes. And, why is that?"

"Becauthe, I can't do it by mysewf."

"Yes. And, is it smart to get on Miss Ran's nerves?"

"No."

"Then, why are you?"

"Why am I what?"

Ran let out a growl, and smacked her forehead. It was useless. The child was a dense little brat, and he didn't pay any attention to anything she was saying. It was beginning to wear her thin, and she wondered how her mother had done it, if she was half as bad. Gave her a new respect for mothers.

"Why are you getting on Miss Ran's nerves?!"

"I don' know.. why am I getting on youw newveth?" he asked, tilting his head rather cutely to the side. Ran really, really hated to admit that he looked cute when he did it, but he did. Maybe it was the fact that he was only four. That was probably it. Even human children could look cute at four. Of course, she wasn't going to admit it, but dream-demons were humanoid in shape, and really did look more like humans than anything else.

She opened her mouth to reply, then stopped, and thought about it. Why was he getting on her nerves, exactly? Oh yes. Because he was inconveniencing her. She was helping him, and all he did was slow her down, making everything much more difficult. "Because, I am helping you against my better judgement, and you are torturing me for it."

Edan was silent for a moment, before he pursed his lips, and frowned, looking like he was thinking really hard about something that just didn't make sense to him. He tilted his head to one side, then the other, and then he stopped frowning, shrugging at her. "I don' know what ju.. Ju... thothe wordth you thaid mean." he stated, blinking his large, pretty eyes at her.

She blinked back at him, and then snorted. The snort was followed by a snicker, and then a chuckle. Pretty soon, she was laughing, and covering her mouth to keep from letting it through. No! She couldn't laugh at him! It didn't make sense, and she hated it, she couldn't laugh at him. It was too human, and she was more dream demon than she was human. "Haha, ha.. Ha... oh, Edan... hahaha.." she snorted, snickered, and continued to laugh, trying to stop herself, but she just couldn't seem to do it. The more she laughed, the harder it got to stop, and she was beginning to scare the four year in front of her, who hadn't ever seen her in a genuinely good mood before.

The laughing fit lasted far too long, in Ran's opinion, but eventually she began to calm herself, and she took deep breaths, trying to completely stop the chuckles from coming, though the occasional snort or snicker would escape. Nodding slowly, she patted her chest, before looking down to the four year old, who was looking at her with a slightly nervous smile. Rolling her eyes with a smile, she reached down and ruffled his hair, before sighing. Stupid human child, bringing out the human side of me. I hate that part, she thought to herself, before telling the boy, "Never mind. Okay, from now on, how about I carry you on my back, okay? That'll make getting you home go quicker."

A bright smile flashed across his face, and he nodded his head vigorously, stretching his arms up to her. "Yeah! Yeah, piggyback, wike Mommy and Daddy give me!" he exclaimed, and squealed happily as Ran picked him up, swinging him around, onto her back. "Yay!" he cheered, wrapping his arms tightly around her neck. "Go fatht!" he requested, and she smirked, nodding her head slightly.

"As you wish, child," she replied, before crouching down slightly, and then taking off as fast as she could go towards the nearest town - Boot Hill.


Georgia was scared. She was really scared, and she didn't know what to do. Her only daughter, her child was dangling over twenty feet from the sand below, and even if it wasn't that far down, the sand would kill her anyway. When one got sucked under, they never came back up, and even if they did, they would have to deal with the monsters, which were far, far larger than those on land. "Don't worry, Erica, you'll be alright! I won't let you fall!" she shouted to her daughter below, and she saw Erica nod her head, before clenching her eyes closed.

What could she do? She didn't know if she was still strong enough to pull Erica up. If she was still as strong as she was when she was eighteen, it was going to be an easy task to pull the fifteen year old up over the side. After all, she'd carried Anthony around, and he'd been quite a bit heavier than herself. And she'd saved him from a similar situation to her daughter's, now. But it was less serious.

Biting her lip, she glanced back in the direction they'd come from. Anthony and Kevin were too far away to get there quickly enough. She had to help Erica herself, whether she had her old strength or not. Taking a deep breath, she braced herself, and then turned around again. "When I tell you to, Erica, grab my arm, alright?" she called, and saw her daughter nod again. She could see the tears trickling down the girl's face, and she felt a fresh wave of fear for her daughter's safety wash over her. She was going to save her, no matter what.

Bending down, she placing her hand on the edge of the cliff, and then reached down, grabbing her daughter's wrist. The main thing she was worried about, was losing her balance and causing them both to fall over the edge.But, that was better than just letting Erica fall. So, with another deep breath, she said, "Now! Grab my arm!" It was practically a blur to her - Erica letting go and grabbing her arm with her other hand, pulling her daughter quickly up over the edge, and nearly falling over the edge herself, once she got her daughter up.

But she was safe. Erica was safe again, and Georgia couldn't stop herself from pulling her daughter into a tight hug, crying from the relief. She'd already lost her once, she didn't think she could handle losing her again. "Mom, I'm sorry... th-thank you.." she heard her daughter whisper, and she nodded slightly, petting the girl's long black hair gently, comfortingly, shushing her quietly. Right now, she wasn't going to concentrate on her own relief, she was going to concentrate on her daughter, and making sure the young girl was alright.

"Shh, Erica, it's okay.. I'm not mad at you. I'm the one who should be sorry... I guess I thought you were still eleven.. I haven't seen you for four years, and, I just.. need to get into the groove of taking care of a teenager, you know? I'm not as good at it as Mom and Dad were... your father's going to take a lot more work to get him to agree to it, though." she chuckled, leaning her cheek against her daughter's head, and she could feel the younger girl laugh lightly, though it was mixed in with a hiccuping sob.

"I-it's okay... y-y-you're right, I wa-was being a little.. childish." Erica muttered quietly, and Georgia nodded her head lightly, petting her daughter's hair again. She didn't care that much at the moment. Her daughter was alive, and that was all that mattered right then. Maybe she would even let her have her first kiss with Kevin. Or was it her first kiss? Well, either way, it was the first kiss with Kevin, and everyone knew the two had loved each other practically since the black haired girl was born.

"It's alright, you're fifteen.. you have the right to be a little childish at times. I was still childish at eighteen, just ask your father. Of course, he was still childish at twenty. It's only natural you're still a little childish." Georgia laughed a bit, and squeezed her daughter, before pulling back a bit, tilting Erica's face up to look into her own. "Okay, now... you feeling good enough to go back to our search?" she inquired.

The violet eyed maiden's eyes averted for a moment, then raised again to look into her mother's eyes, and then she nodded, before pulling away, wiping at her face again. Georgia smiled happily, and nodded her head once, before climbing to her feet, brushing off her skirt, then extending a hand to the younger Bernadette. The teen smiled shakily, and took the hand, pulling herself up with it, quietly thanking her mother, brushing her cloak off as she did so.

Then, the two women turned, and began walking back towards the two men they'd left, determined to find the four year old they had originally set out to find.


A/N: Okay... I was going to write more, but since it's twelve thirty on the nose, I think I'm going to stop there for now. Aren't you glad I didn't leave her dangling there until the next chapter, though?