I'm back from all the partying. Huzzah for the new year and bishie goodness!

I was on the verge of tears and hoping it didn't show. I didn't want to think about *them* but Albert had forced me. It had been so long ago... It didn't matter now though. We knew each other's deepest, darkest secrets.

A soft thud made me aware of the real world again. Albert had fallen because of exhaustion and didn't look at all like he was going to try and get up.

"Albert?" I asked, taking a few steps towards him. He didn't move. To make matters worse, on the horizon behind us there was a storm building.

I tried again to wake Albert but it was clear he wasn't going to regain consciousness for a while. I lifted him uncerimoniously and slung him over my shoulder, only to drop him agian because that was the shoulder he had injured.

Cursing myself for being so stupid, I picked him up again and carried him along the path as quickly as I could. It was clear I wasn't going to out run the storm and if I didn't find shelter, we were going to freeze into a very strange sculpture.

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I came to a small cave just as I was sure we were going to be over taken by the storm. I lay Albert down and tried to make him as comfortable as I could. He was sweat soaked even though it was freezing. I saw a wound he probably didn't know he had. There was a slight scratch on his cheek, just deep enough to draw blood. He'd been poisoned by something and I didn't have anything for it. I lit a fire and lay his cape over him as a blanket. His face took on a placid look and he slept fairly peacefully.

"This is going to be a long night..." I whispered to myself, checking the door one last time and then returning to Albert and the fire.

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I woke up tense and in cold sweats, not knowing if I was asleep or not. Albert was breathing softly, his cape still blanketing him. I tried to recall the dream, but it was too late. I heard Albert whisper something, but I wasn't sure what. I went over by him to see what I could do.

He whispered it again and then thrashed a bit.

He finally settled down and I replaced his cape. His eyes fluttered open and even thought he was looking at me, he was seeing someone else.

"Father?" he asked, "am I dead?"

"No. You're still alive." I couldn't think of anything poetic that would do justice to the moment.

"Lavitz... How is he? Is he okay? Is he-" I cut him off.

"Albert, you have to move past that. You can't live stuck in a time warp. The world is passing you by and you don't even realise it. You have to pull yourself together and get over it. He's not coming back and you know it." I said. Albert became as downcast as a man inside a feverish halucination could. He frowned and abruptly went back to sleep.

Okay, so I think the fluff has officially begun. Some chapter soon I will chronicle both Lloyd and Albert's dreams, but I don't know when...