Hey again. Here is Chapter 7, right on time. 2 in a row and a week, right? Not bad at all. Please go on and enjoy reading it, I know I did writing it.

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

It had been three weeks since Tai and Tori and returned from helping Genki with rebuilding the fort, and had forgotten things such as problems even existed in their weeks of bliss. The job of a messenger and helper was fairly easy, especially with Genki and Pixie as the bosses, and they enjoyed the time they had messing around together when they weren't on call.

Tai dashed along the edge of the camp at a good pace, Tori a few steps in front of him. No matter how hard he tried, he could never Keep right in front of her or even catch up to her at times unless he was on his blades. Genki had time him to save those, though, for important times since they didn't know when they would get to replace them or if they would ever have a chance to at all.

It was after dinner, and they were running a message for Pixie to the other side of the camp, a good twenty minute walk from where they lived, to a Captain she needed to see. The two young adults rushed into the tent of the Captain, getting a glare from him as he sat behind his desk.

"Hey, what's this?" he asked roughly as he got to his feet, his tail lashing back and forth. "You ruffians rushing in here like that, get-"

"A message from the Advisor, Captain," cut in Tori, bowing respectfully as she held the envelope out to him.

"Yeah, what she said, sir," added Tai, bowing as well.

"A message from the Advisor herself, eh?" replied the monster, his dark skin turning an interesting shade of red as his wings flexed nervously. (guess who?) "Let me see that." He quickly scanned the note, his skin turning back to its normal shade. "Thanks Tell Pi- the Advisor that I'll come by in the morning after breakfast for those files and to give a report. If that is not a good time, have her send me one and I'll come then. I can shuffle some things around if I have to for her."

"Yes, sir."

"Aye, sir." They rushed out the door, stopping to check the sun.

"Let's take short cut through that one alley, over by the tavern," suggested Tai as be began to head back home. "We'll make it to Pixie's tent sooner, maybe even before the sun sets."

"We won't either way,
 sighed Tori, checking the sun once more. "We have two minutes, three at the most, before its completely dark."

"All the more reason to hurry and take the short cut, right?" Tai turned and headed towards the alley, which was still a ways off, not even bothering to check if she was following.

"I guess so..." Tori didn't want to admit it, but she was a distinct feeling that something wasn't right as she followed him down the path.

The alley was pitch black when they reached it, the sun already set and the lamp lights not reaching back into its dark recesses. It was almost a long hallway that was between the local tavern and the garrison, a deserted place that most avoided because of the fact that it was easier to take the main paths. Right now, though, the pair was in a hurry and neither one face a thought to their safety at this point as they started through it.

Tai went in first, running hard as Tori followed him close behind. She couldn't see him, but could hear his hard breathing and followed him by that. A flash of light blinded her suddenly, and she gasped as Tai was thrown back into her. He hissed as he tried to open his eyes, bright lights dancing before them.

"Lookie here guys," said a familiarly gruff voice from behind the light. "I think we caught our lost fiancée and her little friend." He laughed loudly, his friends who surrounded him laughing as well. Tori grimaced a the smell of scotch and beer drifted towards them. She didn't need to see whoever it was to know they had been drinking more than was good for them.

"Go away," growled Tai, rising quickly to his feet as his vision cleared. He rubbed his chest where they had hit him with a board. "It's cowardly to hit someone when they can't see it coming."

"What do you mean?" mocked the man who had spoken first. "We turned on a light for you before you were hit, a nice bright lamp we kept hidden until you were close enough. Did you like it, sonny?"

"Thank goodness I'm not your son," spat Tai. "Scum like you shouldn't be allowed to multiply and dirty this land even more."

"Did ja here that, boss?" said a voice to their right, cutting off the entrance  to the alley and those in front of them blocking the exit. "He thinks we're scum. What should we do about it, sir?"

"I don't know, Soun. What do you think we should do, Kuno?"

"Let me handle him, Jen. He did, after all, steal my little lover."

Tai's eyes got huge. "Little lover?" He turned around, looking at Tori, who was trembling where she stood.

"I never loved you!" she cried angrily, rushing past Tai with her fists balled as she tried to hit Kuno. "Father may've eventually forced me to marry you, but at doesn't me I love you!"

"Shut up, woman!" Kuno struck her across the face hard enough to send her crashing into the wall. "Looks like we'll have to make you remember who's boss after we deal with this twerp."

"Tori!" Tai tried to run across the alley to her side, only to have the back of his shirt caught by the older man. "Hey! Let go of me you bully, I never did anything to you!"

"You and your brother caused trouble for my group of pals," growled Kuno, holding Tai's face close to his own. "You got her pa put in jail, and had him demoted so some fruit cake is now in charge of us. We've got some scores to  settle with both of you, boy. Might as well take care of a few right now." H e back handed Tai across the face, leaving his hand print on the boy's right cheek.

"Coward," gasped Tai as he tried to fight back, his hands and legs grabbed by some of the other men. "Bully. You can't even fight by yourself., you have to have your groupies help with a small kid because you can't take care of him yourself."

"Shut up, whelp!"  shouted Kuno, blackening one of his eyes and punching him in the stomach.

"No," wheezed Tai, barely able to breath at his point. "You are and you know it. Have them let me go, just me and you without any of this sly stuff and see how you fair then-"

"I said SHUT UP!" bellowed Kuno, laying into Tai even more as he gave him bruises and bumps that would stay with him for sometime.

"Stop! Stop it!" cried Tori," from where she lay, unable to stand up and help him. "Let him alone! He never did anything, stop!!"

"Drop him over in that heap of trash," said Kuno coolly as Tai's eyes began to get a glazed look, his pupils, dilated. "That's where he belongs, after all." He sauntered over to Tori, who sat there whimpering in the shadows, all the fight knocked out of her as she struggled to breath with bruised ribs. "Now as for you, my dear, you will now learn the true meaning of pain for what you did to me." He lifted her up to his face, forcing her to look him in the eye. "You will never be able to run from me again when I'm done with you."

He reached down and grabbed her arm, snapping her wrist in one smooth motion despite his drunkenness. Tori cried and screamed, but it made no difference to him. Having two of his buddies support her on either side, he skillfully broker her shin bone with a sweep of his leg. She was then dropped to the ground, gasping painfully as she tried to stand and failed.

"Let her alone!" screamed Tai as he heard her cry out again. He struggled to his knees, grabbing a piece of wood in his hands. "You big bullies, let her alone!" He chucked the wood at Kuno, only to get kicked in the face for his actions.

"Shut yer trap, pretty boy," taunted Jen as he smeared some filth in Tai's face. holding him down with his free arm. "No one's gonna help you and your girl friend now, you hear me? No one."

"That's what you think." A fist came out of nowhere to connect with Jen's jaw, knocking him out cold beside Tai. His eyes were huge as Holly laid out the rest of the hand with a staff, quickly reducing them to a heap of whimpering cowards. "Help her," she said gruffly, helping him to his feet. "Leave them to me." Twirling her staff in her right hand, she began to strike at them again until they scattered out of the alley and into the night.

"Why didn't you go demote them or something?" yelled Tai angrily as he helped Tori sit up.

"Maybe because the bruises will hurt more, and I'll be able to tell who they are in the morning," growled Holly, giving him a hard look. "What happened to her?"

"My leg..." gasped Tori, her eyes rolling in their sockets from the pain. "And my wrist..." Holly frowned with concern when she saw the angel Tori's shin was bent at.

"Steady," she whispered, getting on her knees in the alley as she removed her cloak. " We'll get you back-"

"We" cut in Tai, pushing her out of the way. "What do you care about us? Why should be trust you at all?"

"Have you any reason not to?"

"Well, you're mean to people and you don't have any friends."

"Says who? Pixie's my friend."

"So you have one friend, big deal."

"Can we save this discussion for later?" wheezed Tori, "I'm kind of bleeding here..."

"Where?" demanded Holly immediately, tearing her outer tunic into strips. "Is it a deep wound?"

"I can't tell," replied Tori faintly, her shirt turning scarlet. "I can't see it..." Holly moved her arm, revealing a slice through her shirt that had a matching cut on her stomach that was bleeding profusely.

"That's not good," muttered Holly, binding it as quickly as she could. "Tai, take this staff and start back to the tents. Go to Genki's if you can make it."

"What about her?"

"I'll be right behind you carrying her."

"...fine." He got up and hobbled down the lane, glancing back to see Holly surprisingly careful and gently as she lifted the fragile bundle and hurried after him down the road...

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

Genki sat in his room looking through a book Pixie had given him, reading about some of the adventures he had had last time he was in this world. Apparently someone who had survived the whole ordeal from the sidelines had recorded everything that had happened and had it written out for the generations to come. He flipped back to the front, curious as to who the author was.

"Moochi?" he gasped, running a finger over the printed letters almost tenderly, as if to make sure it was real. "Moochi wrote a book about me..."

"Genki!" cried a voice from outside, the sound of someone hurried shuffling towards him reaching his ears. "Genki! Oh gosh please say you're there, Genki!"

He got up and opened the tent flap, squinting into the darkness. "What? Who is- Tai! Tai, what's wrong?" He rushed to his brother's side, helping into his room. "What happened Tai? Who did this to you? Just say the word and I'll-"

"No time for that now," gasped Tai, almost completely out of breath. "Tori and Holly..."

"Were they hurt too?"

"Only Tori. They're-"

"Genki! Tai!" came an urgent voice from the main room.

"It's Holly," said Genki quickly, pushing his brother into his bed. "Stay here, we'll take care of everything, ok?"

"But Tori-"

"You're too hurt to do anything," cut in Genki, pulling the blanket over his little brother.

"Genki, Tai, are you here?!"

"Stay here, Tai."

"...I will." Genki rushed back out to the main room, blanching and his eyes going wide when he saw Tori.

"Oh my gosh..."

"Tai made it here?"

"Yeah, take her to my room. I'm going for Pixie and some supplies."

"Fine." Genki rushed out the door as Holly did as he said, quickly removing Tori's over tunic and shirt as soon as she had laid her down. Cleaning off the blood from the girl and herself, she dressed Tori in one of Genki's shirts and began to tend to her other wounds as best she could with the supplies she had. Those fifteen minutes were an eternity, and eternity Holly would remember forever as she did her best to help the younger girl survive...

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

Genki ran as fast as he could, hoping everything would be alright as he almost ran into Pixie a she came out of her room.

"Whoa, careful, Genki. What's the-"

"No time to chat," interrupted Genki, a wild look in his eyes. "I need that elixir you told me about, the one that helps keep humans and monsters alive when they're healing."

"Why?" asked Pixie suspiciously. "What's happened that-"

"Pixie, please," said Genki urgently, giving her his most sincere look. "You know I wouldn't ask for a favor like this if it weren't important."

"Fine," she consented. "Just two questions: who and why?"

"Tai and Tori, they were hurt by something or someone while they were running your message. Holly found them and we need it to help them along."

She nodded and walked over to a cabinet in her tent, taking out a bottle and giving it to Genki. "Only a teaspoon for both, got it?" And the moment I get out of this meeting I have to g to I am coming by you tent and figuring out what happened., ok?"

"Sounds good," called Genki over his shoulder, already running out the door. "Don't take too long, Tori and Tai may be hurt beyond what Holly and I can treat."

Pixie's eyes got huge. "They're hurt that bad? What happened..." But he was already gone.

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

Tai laid there quietly, wondering if he had done the right thing be leaving Tori in Genki and Holly's care. She was his friend, after all, and a very close one at that. He couldn't just let anybody take care of her. He fought the urge to sleep as he struggled to sit up, get out of bed, and walk to her room. Still, nature won that fight and he was peacefully dreaming by the time Genki came with the warm water and bandages to clean him up.

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

Genki ignored Holly as he ran into his room, uncorking the bottle and pouring out a teaspoon into Tori's mouth as fast as he could without spilling it. "What's that ?" asked Holly suspiciously, taking the bottle and sniffing it cautiously.

"Something of Pixie's to keep her alive until we can get her all patched up," explained Genki, taking the bottle from her and recorking it. "She'll wake up in a few minutes. Do you want me to fix her up or you?"

"I will," said Holly, pushing him towards the door. "It's not right for you to take care of her since you're a guy. Go check on your brother."

"You're sure you'll be fine?"

"Yeah, now go."

"I am."

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

Tai sat up suddenly, something waking him up with a start. "Easy," said Genki, pushing him back onto the bed as gently as he could. "Just relax. This water will be ready in a second and we can start washing off all the blood and crap you're covered in."

Tai just nodded and sat back for a second, almost certain for a minute that  he was forgetting something before he sat up again and tried to bolt for the door.

"Hey!" cried Genki, catching him and holding him there. "What's gotten into you? You don't need to-"

"Tori," croaked Tai, tears forming in his eyes. "Where's Tori? She shouldn't be left by herself, she was hurt real bad and-"

"Shh, its ok," said Genki comfortingly, giving his brother a hug. "She's with Holly in the other room, since she can take better care of her than I ever could."

"What?! You left her with that cold hearted b-"

"Watch it!" said Genki warningly, tucking Tai back in bed. "I won't have you talking about Holly like that. She'll be nice and kind to Tori, trust me. She's really not as mean as she seems..."

"So says you," scoffed Tai, regretting all the moving he had done as his muscles began to protest painfully.

"That's right, so says me," teased Genki. "You can go see her whey I'm done checking you over, ok?"

"....fine."

"Good." Genki checked the water, seeing that is was hot enough to begin, "Ok, take off your shirt-"

"I can wash myself you know."

"Not when you're this banged up."

"What? You saying I can't take care of myself or something, rib? Genki sighed.

"Just take off you shirt so we can get this done with, ok?"

"Or what?"

"Or I won't let you go see Tori when I'm done."

"...grr."

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

Tori opened her eyes as Holly finished getting everything ready to begin bandaging her wounds and setting her breaks. "Hey," said Holly softly as Tori's eyes rested on her. "How are you feeling?" Tori's eyes got huge as she shied away from Holly's touch, pressing herself against the cloth wall of the tent.

"Stay away," she whispered fearfully. "What am I doing here? What happened? Where's Tai?"

"Sh," whispered Holly, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. You were attacked in the alley, remember? I need to set you breaks for you, and take care of your cuts and bruises as well."

"Why you?" asked Tori. "Where's Pixie and Genki? Why are you taking care of me?"

"Genki is taking care of his brother, Tai, and Pixie had to go to a meeting, she'll be here soon," said Holly softly, pushing Tori's bangs out of her eyes. "I know you're afraid of me, and I've never done anything to change that, but I would never hurt someone who's been unjustly attacked."

"...why?"

"What why?"

"Why do you care what happens to me?" I'm just Pixie and Genki's messenger girl."

"You're a close friend of Genki's and Pixie's, and you work hard at what you do to live. Why shouldn't I care about you at least a little bit about you? Now, will you please trust me enough to take care of you at least for now? Genki and Pixie will eventually be free, they can take over then if you want."

"I...I guess so. It's not like I have a choice right?"

"If you want to put it that way..." Holly was unusually gentle  as she wiped away the fresh blood from makeshift bandage she had used on the girl's stomach, putting a new one in place when it was clean. "Give me your wrist," said Holly, holding out her hand. Tori did reluctantly, wincing as Holly put the bones back in place.

"Ow..."

"Sorry," apologized Holly. "If I could take away the pain, I would. But there's no way for me to do what without getting drunk. I can assure you right now I'm not doing that."

"I'll be fine...I think..." Tori sucked in her breath as a bone pooped back into place loud enough for bother of them to hear it.

"Hold still," cautioned Holly, putting a light layer of cloth over it before putting the special slats over them and binding it in place. "You won't be able to take that off for awhile, he completely snapped the main bones in half. I'd take you to a healer pixie if it weren't for the fact we sent them all to the springs to help with an epidemic..."

"How do you know all these things?" asked Tori  as she watched Holly move onto her shin, wincing just at the sight of it. "You're not a doctor or anything..."

"I did a lot of patching up in the first journeys against Moo and since then have learned a lot as well," explained Holly quietly. "Often times there weren't any doctors or towns near by, so I would improvise as best I could."

"That was when Genki was here the first time, right?"

"...yeah." Both of them fell silent, Holly quickly binding the slats to her leg when the bone was back in place.

"You took some hard knocks," sighed Holly as she inspected ass of Tori's other hurts. "Why were those men attacking you? Or do you even know?"

"I don't," lied Tori, keeping her eyes on the wall. "They just came out of nowhere and began to beat on us."

"I see." Holly gave her this 'I know you're lying, but I'll let it drop for now' look and bound a length of cloth around her ribs, keeping the salve from rubbing off the bruises that were there. "Well, regardless of the reason they're being thrown in jail tomorrow after I figure out who they are."

"Why are you so mean sometimes?" asked Tori out of the blue, cowering slightly after she did.

"Easy, easy," said Holly quickly, giving the girl as odd look. "I'm not going to hurt you for being curious."

"You have in the past."

"What? When did I ever-"

"Not to me. To others."

Holly paused, picking up a cloth and twisting it in her hands. "I...I don't know," she replied at last. "There's a really long story behind it, and I'm not sure you'd understand it all, but I will tell it to you someday."

"Why not right now?" Tori tried to sit up, her muscles screaming in pain as she fell back on her pillow from Holly's light push.

"Don't try that again."

"Then answer my question."

Holly looked at her stubbornly set chin and smiled faintly, her eyes twinkling in a way they hadn't for years. "You're as stubborn as Genki was at your age," she said quietly, turning away as the memories came back. "I can't ell you know because I can't. You'll just have to trust me on that one."

"Just like I had to trust you to bring me back here safely?"

"Yeah, something like that..."

Tori thought about it for a moment, staring at the ceiling as Holly applied some poultice to her bruises and cuts. "I understand," she sighed at last. "Or at least I think I do..."

"Eh, who knows?" Holly smiled wryly as Tori grinner herself. "So, you're no longer afraid of me, then?" Tori winced as she by accident touched a large bump on her head. She shrugged, turning over so she was facing away from the General of the army as tears began to sting her eyes. Holly went and rinsed out the bowl of water she had used and left as the extra supplies on Genki's desk.

Returning to the room, she was greeted with the sound of Tori sobbing quietly, causing her to freeze in her tracks for a moment. She rushed over and pulled the smaller girl close, trying to comfort her as best she could. "Shh, shh," she repeated over and over. "It's alright. You're fine, see? Everything's going to be ok..."

"What did you do to her?" demanded a very upset Tai as he stood in the doorway, already bandaged up and leaning on a staff. Walking over as quickly as he could, Tai shoved Holly out of the way and wrapped his arms around Tori protectively. Tori cried into Tai's shirt as he glared at Holly, his poisonous look giving her the creeps.

"Fine, fine," she muttered, shrugging her shoulders. "I'll leave..." Going to the main room, she found Genki getting all the supplies together from both of their jobs and getting ready to leave with them.

"Hey," he said as he glanced up at her.

"Hey."

He frowned at her troubled look and stood up straight from the bandages he had been getting together. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong..."

"Yeah, and I'm a cold-blooded killer." He quirked his eyebrows the way he had as a kid, tugging as her heart for a moment.

"I'm fine, Genki," she insisted, turning her back on him. "Why wouldn't I be? There's no reason for me to be upset."

"You're shaking," he said quietly, coming up behind her and putting a hand on her arm. "What's going on, Holly? I've never seen you like this before." Holly shrugged off his hand and walked to his room's doorway, watching the two as Tai comforted Tori as she cried into him softly.

"Were we ever like this?" she asked quietly.

"Eh, what?" Genki walked up beside her and watched his brother and Tori for a moment.

"Like this," she repeated, motioning at the pair slightly. "Us...and the gang...were we ever like that?"

"Yes, and more." He paused for a moment as she turned a walked away, sitting on one of the chairs in front of his desk. "We still would be, I think, if they were all alive and well..."

"He cares for her so much," Holly whispered, his face hidden by her long bangs. "He stood up for her in the alley despite the many injuries he had, just like you used to do..."

"Tell me what happened at the fort," pleaded Genki quietly, standing behind her chair. "I want to know, Holly, I want to know what happened to my friends."

"No," she said flatly, rising quickly and heading for the door. "I won't."

"Wait," he said, catching her wrist with his. "Holly, seriously, tell me what's bothering you. We could always talk before, remember? No matter what, I've always been here for you..."

"What about all those years when you weren't here and I was on my own?" she demanded angrily, yanking herself free. "Genki, you left me here for all you know when you got back I could be dead. Don't you get it? I had no one, Genki, I was the town leader, then in charge of a dozen towns or more, and then General of this army. I couldn't let anyone know that I was sad, or something was wrong. I had to stand true and firm or they would lose faith in me. It wasn't like before, Genki. It was far from it, in fact. And at this point, I would give anything to just make it all disappears."

"Holly..."

"You really want to know what happened at that fort, Genki, when everybody died?" demanded Holly, glowing a fierce red. "Then I'll show you what happened." She grabbed his right hand with her own, pressing their Phoenix prints together as a bright flash of light engulfed the two...

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

Tori stopped crying after awhile, Tai still holding her close as he held back tears of his own. "See?" he whispered. "We're safe now, and those bad men can never hurt you again. I promise I'll make sure they don't."

"We need to thank General Holly," she whispered quietly, almost exhausted as she leaned into him wearily. "She did save our lives back there."

"But she's-"

"I don't think she's that bad, Tai," said Tori, rebuking him gently. "I just think she needs someone to help her become who she used to be."

Tai scratched his head. "Hm...you mean like my brother?"

Tori sighed. "I guess so..."

"He's still hooked on her." Tai glanced at the door, hearing the low murmur of voices from the main room.

Tori looked at him in surprise. "You can tell?"

Tai nodded. "Yep."

"Wow."

"You're feeling better than?" he asked, changing the subject quickly.

"Yeah," she replied, nodding slowly. "She knows how to take care of injuries real well. I was surprised."

"Then she didn't hurt you or anything?" asked Tai as he leaned back from her, looking at her face.

"No, she didn't."

Tai face-faulted. "Then why were you crying?"

"Well, she was being so gentle and kind that...well...she kind of reminded me of my mother... Being so young and pretty and all....I could've sworn it was her..."

"Oh..."

"Yeah." Tai was about to say something else as a bright light began to glow outside the door. "What the...what is that?"

"I don't know..." Then came a bright flash of light and both young teens were blinded momentarily as a loud, rushing wind filled the room...

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

Pixie rounded the corner as a bright light and a gust of wind that almost knocked her over came from the tent she was headed towards. Sprinting the rest of the way, she thrust open the flap of the tent to see both Genki and Holly kneeling on the floor and Tai and Tori stumbling out of Genki's room supporting each other with confused looks on their faces.

"What's going on?" she demanded, noticing the Holly was crying silently and Genki was outright sobbing.

"I don't know..." whispered Holly, her voice cracking as she spoke. "We were talking and I began to glow....and then we going the marks, and there was that bright light and the wind...he has my memories of the fight...." Pixie didn't need to ask what mark by the way Holly was cradling her hand or what fight as Genki cried something about Moochi dieing.

"He's reliving it through you eyes," Pixie whispered, shaking her head. "Kids, go back in-" She stopped as she saw Tori half stumble/half crawl t Holly's side with all of her cuts and bruises and put her arms around the older girl. She decided that they would just have to handle whatever happened next and figured she might as well find out why Tai and Tori were so banged up to begin with. "What happened before all this, Tai?"

"Tori and I were attacked in the alley on the way back from delivering the message, ma'am."

"Did you get an answer and do you know why you were attacked?"

"He said he'd be by in the morning with the report, ma'am."

"And...?"

"...no, ma'am."

"Fine." She moved over to the still sobbing Genki and shook him gently, hoping he could just be snapped out of it. Finding that she was getting nowhere, she lifted him up gently and carried him to his room.

"Wow..." whispered Tai as he watched her. She acted like his brother weighed no more than he might as she laid him on his bed and walked back out.

"Hopefully he'll snap out of it eventually," whispered Pixie as she went over and sat next to Holly and Tori, putting her arms around both of them.

"And if he doesn't?" asked Tai, a tear sliding down his face as he turned towards his brother's door.

"I don't know, Tai, I just don't know..."

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

Holly slept lightly beside Genki's bed, Tori and Tai sleeping together on his bed and Pixie sleeping on the floor below them. Genki had settled down about an hour after everything had happened and had then fallen into a restless sleep. They had agreed to just let him wake up in the morning, but Holly had insisted that she near him incase the memories came back.

Genki slowly opened his eyes several hours later, the sight of Holly triggering everything he had been through the night before. Tears fell silently for a few moments before he wiped the away and swung around to put his feet on the floor.

Holly woke from her short slumber at the noise, sitting up straight and looking at Genki anxiously as the night before registered in her mind as well. The two young adults stared at each other for a moment, neither one sure what to say.

"Morning," said Genki at last, running his hand through his very messy hair. "You sleep well?"

"Not really," she replied softly. "How are you feeling? I was ready to hurl after my last round of nightmares from that..."

Genki gulped, biting back the tears that threatened to come once more. "I don't know how you do it," he whispered, hanging his head. "I'm so sorry. I...I didn't know how bad it really was..."

"What do you mean?" whispered Holly sarcastically. "You think that is would take anything less to change who I used to be?"

"No! That's not what I meant..." Genki put his head in his hands, at a loss for words.

Holly sighed. "I know." They sat in silence for a moment, both wishing they could find something to say. "Do you understand now?" asked Holly at last, looking at the floor sadly. "I truly lost everything that day."

"Yeah," replied Genki, nodding his head. "I truly had no idea...you were right when you said it wasn't anything like before..."

"I can't go back, Genki," she sighed. "Not now. Not ever. This is who I am."

"No, it's who you have become," he replied quickly, his words forcing her to look up. "I knew the real you, the one that cared about others and was strong even though she couldn't protect her closest friend."

Holly frowned. "That Holly could never lead an army."

"Says who? She did before the battle at the fort, didn't she?"

"With the help of great strategist named Allen and warriors like Tiger and Big Blue," she argued. "They were the power behind the General then, I never was until now."

"That's what you think." Genki looked at Holly, and knew she was reliving more of her memories by the faraway look in her eyes. "It won't be easy," he said gently, scooting a bit closer to her. "I know it won't. But I'm here for you, and so is Pixie and Tori and even Tai. Some of us do want the old you back."

"I don't know if I can, Genki, I really don't..."

"Then all you can do is try, right?" He gave her a smile and left the room, taking some fresh clothes with him.

Holly looked after him, tears shinning in her eyes. "Yeah, but I don't even know if I can do that any more, Genki, I just don't know..."

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

That's all folks! A bit longer than usual, but I think it'll do. This story only has a few chapters left, so I'll be concentrating solely on it so I can get it done before school starts. Not that I don't enjoy writing it, but I need to get it finished so my attention is not split 6 ways, only 4 or 5 (big difference, I know x_x;;). That does mean ZW will not be updated until this is done, sorry.

Hey, I wonder if I work really hard if I can get both done before school starts... (Lili from ZW pops in, hovering over head)

Lili: About as much chance as Holly becoming a cold hearted General and leading a huge army for the sake of their homeland.

Me: 0-o

Lili: What?

Me: Uh, never mind...

Lili: Ok, then you're not getting it done before summer ends regardless, I mean that would never happen, right?"

Me: ^_^;;;

Lili: What???

Me: Just get back to your story, I never gave you permission to leave!

Lili: Fine. (Vanishes into thin air)

Me: *blinks* Right...anyways I'll see you later and don't forget to review!!

~crosseyedbutterfly~