Warning! This is a very, very, long chapter. If you have something important to do, I suggest you do before reading this... It won't go anywhere for a while anyway.

¿* Pinked * Memories *?

¿* Chapter Three * The Violet Message *?

Dawn has broken.

The white gentle rays made its way to the land, the darkness was but a memory of last night...

Of last night.

Cha-cha's eyes opened to the light that was now smiling in her face.

She turned to her right and saw the fresh sun ascending to its throne, a smile formed on her lips. She got up and was about to greet her Teacher when she realized that her teacher's bed was empty.

With a jolt she remembered what had happened last night... "Ohh no!! I fell asleep!!!" she said and jumped out of her bed. She ran out of her bedroom and looked for Shiine.

She saw him almost instantly, sprawled on the seat in the living room, sleeping peacefully with his mouth open..

Cha-cha came closer, and saw him clutching a picture of his teacher in his arms, his grip on it was tight.

"Shiine..." Cha-cha thought. So he was finally able to sleep... the night before, they had talked about whether to sleep or not, Shiine had suggested that Cha-cha go to sleep, for she'll need the energy in the morning, he'll stay awake to wait for Seravi's return, she didn't want to agree to his terms however, he was firm. Here was a side of Shiine that she never knew. He made her go to the bedroom and lie on her bed. She couldn't speak against him longer, for she knew that the situation must be hard on him and resisting would do no good, it would only pain him more. So she sort of agreed and went to the bedroom, however she vowed not to sleep, and wait for her teacher while pretending to be sleeping.

She was successful in the first few seconds that she lay on her bed, however, she didn't last very long. She was off to dreamland in less than a minute. A sweatdrop ran down her head when she remembered it.

Unknown to her, while she was sleeping, Shiine came in to check up on her a while later, and when he found that she was sound asleep, he was able to relax more. He couldn't even sit still when Cha-cha left, and whenever he tried to sit down, he'd end up crying. After seeing Cha-cha's sleeping form, he was able to ease his mind a bit and dozed off to sleep after sitting down.

As Cha-cha looked on at him, a frown formed on his forehead.

"Oh Shiine..." Cha-cha said while looking at him asleep, lying there. Even in his dreams he must still be thinking about his teacher. "Miss Dorothy... where are you?" she asked as she looked out the window.

"Please, come back soon..."

¿¿* *??

He was running, running hard and breathless... His knew that his body would not be able to keep it up forever, somehow though, the fatigue that he had anticipated never came. So he just kept on running.

He was running towards his teacher.

She was in front of him, he knew this much. But she could easily disappear among the countless others that were there walking with her. Somehow in his eyes, she stood out from the rest, so he was able to follow her.

He paid no attention to the others that he passed, for they seemed not to exist, he only knew that he had better get to his teacher, and he had better do it fast.

"MISS DOROTHY!!!!" he screamed as loudly as he could.

It fell on deaf ears. He continued running.

"MISS DOROTHY!!!!" he shouted once again. No use.

He figured, he would just save his energy and focus it all on running, so as to get to her, before its too late.

After seemingly an eternity of running, he was finally gaining on her.

They were coming nearer and nearer towards a white door too, but this escaped from his attention.

"Miss Dorothy!" he reached her as she was almost through that great big white door. Without thinking anymore, he flung all of himself towards her and embraced whatever he could grab.

The light grew and went all around him.

He opened his eyes.

He saw a place so familiar to him, he focused his eyes more and it dawned on his groggy head this place looked like the living room of Seravi's cottage.

Then he grew aware that someone was in his arms. He looked a little sideways to see the back side of the red hood that his beloved Cha-cha wore...

A tint of crimson ran across his cheek, a dreamy expression clouded his eyes.

If this is a dream, never let me wake up...

He continued holding her in his arms, he closed his eyes and still pretended to be sleeping.

Cha-cha was entirely red and was paralyzed, unable to figure out what to do. She thought of throwing him against the wall, but she also thought that he might be sleepwalking and if so that she should gently remove his arms from her.

She was about to lift her hands to pull Shiine away from her when the door suddenly opened and was thrown hard against the wall. In came Riya with a cheerful "GOODMORNING!"

He looked and saw Shiine with such an intimate position with Cha-cha.

In a second, Shiine made an authentic body mark on the wall.

"Cha-cha! What has he done to you?!" Riya asked, turning Cha-cha's red face to and fro, looking for scratches. "I'd pound him for you, just give me the signal!" he said.

Shiine meanwhile, slowly slid from his dent on the wall and gave a low moaning sound when he fell to the ground.

Cha-cha just laughed. "That's alright Riya," she said in her most cheerful tone. "I think he did it involuntarily since he was still sleeping..."

"Lucky guy," Riya murmured.

"Of course!" Shiine said, dancing a Japanese dance.

Their eyes met and they were behaved in a second.

"What are you doing here at such an early hour Riya?" Shiine asked in sarcastic tone. "School won't start for more than an hour more..." he said.

Riya turned red. He opened his mouth to answer but his stomach made a grumbling sound.

Cha-cha seconded the prelude. Her stomach made a loud grumbling noise too. She laughed. "That's right, we have to eat breakfast..." she said.

"Where's the food?" Riya asked, sniffing around for its aroma. "Hasn't Seravi cooked yet?"

Shiine and Cha-cha looked at each other. A shadow fell on both of their faces.

"Wha--what happened?!" Riya asked them both.

"Teacher Seravi left last night, he hasn't come back yet..." Cha-cha said.

"What?! There's no food?!?!" Riya asked and grew desperate.

Shiine punched his head and he fell down the ground, "Stop worrying about your stomach for a moment and listen to what we have to say. This is serious!"

"You mean it involves food?" Riya asked in all innocence.

"Uhh..." Cha-cha said in despair. "You see, Miss Dorothy's missing, and Teacher Seravi went out alone last night to look for her..."

"What?! No grown-ups?" Riya said. Then he turned to Shiine, "So that's why you were so bold in making a pass at Cha-cha!"

Shiine turned deep red. "I DIDN'T DO IT ON PURPOSE! I THOUGHT I WAS GRABBING MY TEACHER!!!!" he said, shouting at Riya.

"Right..." he coolly replied.

Then Shiine suddenly fell quiet. He remembered the situation that he was in now more than ever. His mood had risen for a moment, for he had awaken with Cha-cha in his arms... but now, he remembered the position that he was in... His teacher might be...

"Please stop it, you guys," Cha-cha said. "Don't give him any more rough time Riya, Shiine has been through a lot already..." she pleaded with him.

Shiine went to a corner as if he heard nothing and sulked there. He didn't want to do anything, even listen to them because he could already feel his tears coming up again.

"But what about me? Aren't I in terrible suffering already? There's no food, there's no grown-up to cook. All my brother's ate my breakfast for me... I can't go to school on an empty stomach!!" Riya said, throwing himself at the floor in front of Cha-cha, crying now too, because of his hunger.

"Oh, I know how you feel Riya," Cha-cha said. "I know I'll magic a food for us!"

Sweatdrop appeared in Riya's head. Shiine was still in one corner, facing the other way.

"Breakfast for three appear!" Cha-cha called out.

A beautiful set of nutritious breakfast for three appeared. And for a moment they were fooled, but Riya, jumping to to dig in, hit his head on the glass of the television where a cooking show was on.

"Oh no, not again!" Cha-cha said.

She was just about to try when Riya stopped her in midair just when she was just about to cast a spell. "Wait a minute Cha-cha! Why don't we let Shiine cook?!", Riya suggested, fearing for more tragedies, his brain worked for a moment.

"....." Shiine was still in his trance.

"Hey Shiine! Snap out of it!" Riya said, giving him a punch on the head. "It won't do good being like that everyday! We have to eat! You have to cook for us!"

Shiine recoiled and shouted as loudly as he could to Riya "Stop hitting me in the head!! I'm in enough pain already!!".

"Oh Shiine, we're really sorry," Cha-cha cut in. "But don't you think that we could think better after we've had our stomach's filled?"

"Ohh Cha-cha," Shiine said, tears edging in his eyes. "If it's for you, alright I'll cook. Even if we're faced with such a tragedy, I'll do it for you... after all... at least... at least... I've learned something from my teacher...." Shiine turned away, his tears freely flowing down his face.

Riya punched him on the head again and said "Snap out of it,".

"Please stop it Riya," Cha-cha pleaded with him. "It's no joke what Shiine's going through. Miss Dorothy may never return..."

"Honestly Cha-cha, I'm not worried a bit. I mean, Dorothy's not a normal woman. There's no other woman who's more barbaric than her (in his mind was an image of Dorothy dressed like an Amazon woman). And besides, you said that Seravi's out looking for her, so you shouldn't worry, I mean, he may be a nutcase and all that (in his mind, another image, Seravi laughing like a madman, in his shoulder is Elizabeth, he's looking at a child image of Dorothy), but if there's someone who could find her wherever she is, it's him."

Shiine heard all of this and began to wipe his tears. "I suppose you're right Riya..." he said. "Alright, I'm off to cook now..." he said, taking a step towards the kitchen.

Cha-cha cheered behind him and they both followed him to the kitchen.

Shiine then began looking for food to cook. To his dismay, he found the kitchen empty.

The refrigerator only contained a pitcher of water.

"No food?!" Riya cried out, he was losing his logic due to his hunger, well it wasn't like he ever had one in the first place.

"Ohh no... Teacher Seravi forgot to shop yesterday, he told me he was going to shop today but... Ohh noo... there's no food..." Cha-cha started to panic.

Shiine's stomach started to growl as well.

"There's no food?!?!" Riya repeated, his eyes wide with disbelief.

After a moment of stunned silence, all of them fell on the floor and started to bawl like crazy.

There's no Dorothy
There's no Seravi
THERE'S NO FOOD!
The world is coming to an end!!

Shiine got up and wiped his tears. "We should all go to school guys, it's almost time, we'll be late if we don't go now," he said, putting up a brave act.

"I don't want to go to school, I'm too weak and hungry," Riya said, his statement sounded perfectly reasonable in his ears.

Cha-cha thought for a while then agreed with Shiine. "Right you guys, we shouldn't miss school," she got up and turned to the dizzy Riya. "At least we'll be able to have lunch there!" she said.

At the mention of food Riya immediately got up and agreed. "You're right, Cha-cha you're so smart!" He then trod off ahead of them.

"Are you coming or what?!" he called out from beyond the cottage door.

¿¿* *??

¿**? Later in school

Mr. Rascal was teaching as usual, busy reading something from the book.

In their seats, the trio was in different positions where hunger was the main concern.

Shiine had his head on the desk, Suuzu was fanning him.

Riya was sprawled backwards on his seat, mouth open as if expecting food to just fall into his face.

Cha-cha's head was moving in time with her swirling eyes.

His eyes narrowed and gleamed and he immediately began whipping around in the classroom, "Cha-cha, Shiine, Riya!!! What are you doing, not paying attention to what I'm saying in front?!" he said, and he jumped into their table and looked at all three of them.

"You don't look so good," he said upon close examination of their dizzy-from-hunger faces. He settled at Cha-cha's side.

"That's be..cause... we didn't... have... breakfast.... teacher..." Cha-cha answered as politely as she could under the circumstances that she was in.

Mr. Rascal stepped down from the table and looked at her. "Why's that? Didn't Seravi cook breakfast for you?!" he asked.

"He wasn't there... he... went out.... last night.... and... hasn't return...e...d.... yet...." Cha-cha continued.

After Cha-cha whispered the last few words of her sentence, Yakku threw a fit as well.

"What do you mean Prince Seravi didn't come back last night?!?!?!?!!?!?" she pulled Cha-cha up straight to level with her. "What have you done to him, huh Cha-cha!!!!!" she said as she slapped both of her cheeks to make her straighten up.

Shiine made an effort to continue Cha-cha's story. "My teacher Dorothy was missing,... this is the third day now see,... and... Teacher Seravi went out.... to look for her last night and... hasn't returned yet..." he said, trying to snap himself out of his fatigue as well.

"What?! This is terrible, you mean two of my former students are missing?!" it was Principal Urara who spoke. She had snuck up from behind Mr. Rascal and had heard the whole thing.

"Uh-huh," the three of them said in unison. Nodding.

"Oh, we must do something about it," she said. "Cancel all classes! We must use all the students and the faculty to look for them all day!" she declared. All the other students rejoiced as to the class being canceled.

"Alright class! We'll search in groups! Pick a partner and stick to it!" Mr. Rascal said.

"But Principal, what about lunch?!" Riya asked, snapping out of his reverie.

"We'll have it when we come back..."

Riya, Cha-cha and Shiine all slumped to the floor.

¿¿* *??

¿**? A little while later

They were all in the forest of the kingdom, all searching.

Riya was leading the group in his white wolf form. He was closely followed by Cha-cha and Shiine.

"Can you smell anything yet Riya?" Cha-cha asked him.

"Where---where's my Riya!!" Marin piped in, appearing out of nowhere. "Ohh, my darling Riya, if you were the one who was lost I'd spend all my waking hours of the rest of my life looking for you! Ohh, my Darling----" then she was pushed to the side by Yakku, coming out from the bushes.

"WHERE'S MY PRINCE SERAVI?!?!?!" Yakku growled like a dinosaur. "This is all your fault Cha-cha! I couldn't continue interrogating you when the teacher's were here, but now that we're alone, where did you hide him you witch?! You want to keep him all to yourself!!!!!!!!"

Suuzu was following closely and was restraining the furious Yakku. "Yakku, please, I don't think Cha-cha or anyone can hide Seravi..."

Sweatdrop ran down Cha-cha's face.

"I can smell someone, but its too faint to figure out... Seravi's been busy last night, I can smell him all over..." he said.

"Huh, so my teacher's here?!" Cha-cha asked.

"Where's Seravi? Whe-he-heerre's Prince Seravi?!?!" Yakku was still in her state of confusion.

"No, I don't think so, the scent's too weak, I'm not sure if he's still here..." then he acted up. "Wait a minute..." he raised his head and started sniffing really loudly. "I can smell Dorothy!" he said then started to run off.

Cha-cha and the gang followed immediately. Cutting through the deer path.

Then suddenly, they found Riya, growling at someone... or something... He was in a stance as if preparing to attack someone.

"What's the matter Riya?" Cha-cha asked.

"Stay back Cha-cha..." Riya warned. "There's something there... Dorothy's just beyond those bushes!"

"Huh, my teacher!" Shiine said, immediately taking a step forward.

Suddenly, in less than a second, something rapidly came out of the bush and dove for Shiine! His sight rapidly was altered, from the bush that we was going to go through to the clear blue skies that he could see very well now, and there it came to his view... The wolf from his dreams. The red eyes, the hot breath which smelled of blood from the meal it recently ate, the warm saliva that dropped on his robes... the violet piece of clothing that was caught in between it's bared teeth...

Violet piece of cloth...
Torn from a violet dress...
The violet dress that his teacher often wore!!

Shiine realized this... and fainted in a second.

¿¿*!*??

¿¿***?? You will, I hope forgive me for the delay... well... I had little time to tend to this as the Midterms and papers and all the other frightening exams are piling up... ohh... Anyway, next chapter comes after the 12th post ok? This time I won't fail! I'm sorry but I won't be able to finish this story this month... next month maybe... Thank you for all the compliments! I tried to stay as true to the story as possible (except the whole sequence of events). By the way, this takes place before the wedding... I know its timing is off, but hey! Who says a good story has to be on time?! :P