"Mecale!"
Mecale's eyes shot wide open and she was surprised and relieved to see Kouji bending over her. Without hesitation, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly while tears ran down her cheeks.
"Kouji…" Mecale whimpered as he sat down on the bed and pulled her into his arms.
"Are you okay?" he asked and pulled back from her a little.
Mecale nodded and wiped the tears off of her face. "Yes, I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" Kouji persisted, "You were calling out to me in your sleep and you sounded upset."
"It was just another nightmare," Mecale told him.
"Nightmare about what?" Kouji questioned, "and what do you mean 'another'?"
"I've been having nightmares for the past four nights," Mecale explained, "they are all the same, well actually, they are continued from the one before."
"Do you want to tell me about them?" Kouji asked while gently stroking her hair.
"No," Mecale shook her head, "I just want to forget about it."
"Okay," Kouji relented, "Do you feel up for a jog?"
"Yes," Mecale replied, "I think a jog will help clear my mind."
Kouji let go of Mecale and gathered his jogging outfit, then left so she could change. She quickly put on her jogging clothes and hurried out into the living room. The most recent nightmare had scared her more than she cared to admit and she didn't want to be left alone, even for a minute. Kouji smiled at her when she emerged from the hallway.
"Let's go," she said and smiled slightly. She started to walk past Kouji to the door but was stopped by his hand around her wrist. She was momentarily reminded of the way the man's cold hand had snared her wrist in the dream and she suppressed a wave of terror as she turned to Kouji. His face was serious.
"Mecale," he began and gently stroked the blue streak on the left side of her face, "If you want to talk about the nightmare later, just let me know and we'll talk okay? I can see that it's still bothering you."
"Okay," Mecale agreed. Kouji smiled again and kissed her forehead gently, then they left.
The morning jog went like it did every day. The two of them were silent until they reached the overlook. There, they watched the sun rise and talked about various things. On the way back to the apartment, they were quiet once again so they didn't wear themselves out while running.
When they got back to the apartment, Kouji had a message on his answering machine from his agent. It said to call him back as soon as Kouji got the message. Mecale went to take a shower while Kouji called his agent back.
After Mecale had emerged form the shower, Kouji explained over breakfast what his agent had said. The producer that Kouji had met with yesterday was going to Kouji's agent's office to fill out a few papers in order to purchase Kouji's script. His agent wanted Kouji to be home in case he needed to go to the office and do anything. His agent said that he would call once the papers had been signed and let Kouji know.
"So I guess there's nothing we can do but sit and wait," Kouji concluded.
-------------------------------
"Are you sure you have to leave so soon?" Adrina questioned, "You barely just got here."
"I know," Millerna agreed, "but with the threat of the shadow, word will spread fast. We should be in Asturia to maintain control."
"We understand," Folken assured.
"Remember," Allen told them, "You are welcome in Asturia at any time. If this threat grows too close to Fanelia, come to Asturia and maybe we can figure something out together."
"Thank you for your generosity," Adrina said.
"We had better get going," Millerna commented, "we have a long journey ahead of us." Millerna turned to where all of the children were saying goodbye. "Riley, Kolena, Erika, Alexia! Come, it's time to leave!"
"Send word as soon as Mecale returns," Erika told Siri.
"I will." Siri hugged Erika, then Kolena.
"If things get too bad here, promise me you'll come to stay with us," Kolena urged.
"I promise," Siri swore, "goodbye."
The three princesses hugged again and then the Asturians made their way to the carriage. Alexia was already there, bawling her eyes out into her mother's skirt, just as Dolyn and Zara were doing to Merle. Riley was the only Schezar that was still standing with the Fanels.
"Come on Riley," Allen called, "We need to get moving."
"I'm not coming with you."
All eyes turned to the blonde man. "What?"
"I'm staying here," Riley confirmed, "to wait for Mecale."
"That's really not necessary," Folken insisted, "You'll be informed as soon as she returns."
"I want to be here when she returns," Riley stated, "I am still waiting for her to reply to my proposal."
Adrina and Folken looked at each other worriedly. "But Riley, it is becoming dangerous to stay here…"
"If Mecale must face this danger, then I will too," Riley told them, earning some skeptical looks from the gathered people. "I will be Mecale's knight, just as my father was to my mother."
"Very well Riley," Allen agreed, "You may stay."
The rest of the Schezars got into the carriage and started on their journey back to Asturia. Meanwhile, the occupants of the Fanelian palace and the remaining Schezar had gone back inside to attend to daily tasks. In the parlor outside their bedchambers, the King and Queen were deep in discussion.
"This is a big mistake, letting him stay here," Folken said as he paced the room in front of where Adrina sat on the couch. "He will not react well when Mecale returns with her samurai."
"I know," Adrina admitted, "but there is nothing that can be done about it now."
"What if we sent him back to Asturia, claiming it is too dangerous here?" Folken suggested.
"What about the other children?" Adrina inquired, "Golan and Siri and Zara and Dolyn? If we send Riley by himself, they will know something is up."
"Then we just send all of them," Folken concluded.
"There is no point," Adrina told him, "Golan and Siri would fight it as much as they could and in the end, Riley would end up staying anyway. He truly believes that Mecale will accept his proposal."
"Is that boy blind?" Folken questioned, "Does he not see that Mecale can't stand him?"
"He sees what he wants to see," Adrina said, "You know how love is."
"But he doesn't love her!" Folken insisted, "He want her to sit next to him on the throne as a trophy and show her off."
"I know that and so does Mecale," Adrina assured, "that's why it doesn't matter if Riley is here or not. Mecale has already chosen her samurai and it isn't Riley. There is nothing he can do about it."
Folken sighed. "I hope you are right."
-------------------------------------
The ringing of the telephone jarred Kouji from his doze on the couch. He looked down and found Mecale resting on his chest, asleep as well. The tow of them had been cuddling on the couch and watching TV when they had obviously fallen asleep at some point. Kouji gently slid out from beneath Mecale and answered the phone. When he hung up a few minutes later, he saw Mecale looking at him over the back of the couch.
"Was that your agent?" she asked.
"Yeah," Kouji answered and walked back over to the couch. He sat down next to Mecale. "He said everything is finished."
Mecale smiled. "Congratulations."
"Thank you," Kouji said, "Well, now we can go do something. What time is it?"
"I don't know," Mecale replied, "I fell asleep."
"Me too." Kouji grabbed the satellite remote off of the coffee table and pushed the "info" button. The channel and program name, as well as the time, popped up on the TV screen. The digital clock read 6:03.
"Whoa, it's 6:00 already," Kouji commented, "it looks like it might rain too."
Mecale looked out the window and saw huge gray clouds covered the sky.
"Well, I guess anything outdoors is out," Kouji surmised, "We could go out to dinner and then to a movie? What do you think?"
"I think I like that idea," Mecale agreed.
"Good, let's get going," Kouji said.
"It's not going to be too cold is it?" Mecale asked. When it rained in Fanelia, the temperature dropped twenty degrees, in winter or summer.
"It might get a little chilly after dark," Kouji replied, "You might want to grab a sweater."
"Okay." Mecale went into the bedroom and came back a moment later carrying a dark blue zip-up sweater. She put it on over her white tank top that depicted a red sunset and black palm tree and they left the apartment.
In the car, Kouji left the top up in anticipation of the impending rain. Kouji drove them to a nearby restaurant called Sizzler's (AN: I don't own Sizzler's) where they had dinner. After dinner they made their way to the movies. By the time the movie let out, it was around 9:30.
Kouji and Mecale walked out of the theater and were surprised to see that the entire parking lot was soaked. The parking lot lights caused the water on the cars and the rain still falling to sparkle like polished jewels.
"Looks like we're going to have to make a run for it," Kouji commented, "Unless you want me to go get the car and bring it up here."
"No way," Mecale shook her head, "I love the rain!" She grabbed Kouji's hand and drug him out into the downpour. The two of them ran hand-in-hand through the parking lot, splashing into puddles and getting their shoes wet. By the time they reached the car, they were both completely drenched.
"That was fun," Kouji joked as he started the car. He let it run for a few minutes in the parking lot, then turned on the heater.
"That feels nice," Mecale told him as the hot air blew onto her wet clothes and skin.
Kouji backed out of the parking space and pulled out into traffic. "Aw man, the road is going to be crazy. People are always crashing when it rains. I'm taking a detour."
Kouji turned left at the next light and they found themselves on a quiet, barely lit road that wound around through a neighborhood.
"This way is longer but with the traffic there is bound to be, it'll probably be quicker than taking the normal route," Kouji informed.
As they drove down the nearly deserted road, the two of them talked about the movie they had seen. The road they were on wound in and out of the neighborhoods and barren land. After a while, Mecale began to get hot and took off her sweater. Kouji offered to turn the heater down but she declined.
After about fifteen minutes, they came to a stretch of road that ran through uncultivated land. The rain was still coming down and it was quite dark. The only lights that could be seen were Kouji's headlights illuminating the road in front of them.
"We're almost home," Kouji stated, "As soon as we get around a few curves, the road will slope back down to Main Street."
Mecale nodded but was watching the road around them. The strip of road they were currently on was barely wide enough for tow cars and had a one hundred foot drop on each side. Metal guardrails lined both sides of the road but didn't look like they could stop a car. Down below on the left side, lights twinkled and Mecale figured they belonged to houses.
As Mecale looked back up at the road in front of them, an uneasy feeling came over her. She had the sudden urge to get out of the car and walk the rest of the way. Kouji must have noticed the uneasiness on her face because he spoke.
"Mecale? What's wro…"
He never finished his sentence. Suddenly, the car hit a slick patch of road and began to fishtail. Kouji tried to correct it but he ground was too wet. Mecale watched in horror as the car careened towards the left guardrail. There was an intense impact as the car slammed into the metal and then nothing.
*****************************
This chapter is short only because this and the next chapter were originally going to be one but it was way too long so I broke it into two parts.