A/N: Yeah, I know Amon is a little OOC, but he's just too hard of character to keep in character, you knw what I mean? Eh...anyway, not much to say again. I think I'm talking--er, typing--just for the sake of it. Well, whatever. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Still don't own it......sadly.....Or maybe its a good thing I don't own it? Hm...

By The Ear

Chapter Three

Would you protect her...or would you turn against her like you did to Kate?

Karasuma's words echoed in Amon's head as he returned to the present. He looked over at Robin and her frail appearance. At times, she seemed so mature and older than she was. At other times, she was just a little girl that wanted assurance and a place in the world. "Amon..." she whimpered softly before falling silent, as if she had said nothing in the first place. He knew, then, what he had to do. No matter what was to come, he would protect her through everything. He would make her a place in the world even if all else casts her out.

He got up from the chair at her bedside and instead seated himself next to her on the hospital bed. He lightly brushed her cheek and kissed her gently on the forehead. "When will you wake up, Robin?" he whispered, his face still hovering inches above hers. "You are the promise of something better to come... the hope of a future better than the one I'm heading towards... my hope... Will you wake up and embrace this future with me?"

He sighed sadly and went back to his old chair beside her. He had never expected himself to say something as gushy as that. Well, not out loud anyway. Robin had that effect on him. Always able to make him say what he didn't want to say and do what he didn't want to do. Even when unconscious she was able to do that to him. Is this what love feels like? he wondered.

Robin smiled happily every time she heard Amon's voice. Although she was lost in darkness, his voice always provided a light out into momentary daylight. Besides, they were words that Robin knew Amon would never say under normal circumstances. "What was it that he had called me earlier? Oh yes, his hope." Her lips twitched into a small smile and her voice lingered on hope.

However she frowned when darkness engulfed her again. When will she ever find her way out of this dark abyss?

"Robin Sena..."

She spun around in surprise. The voice seemed to be coming from every corner of her dark world. "Who's there?"

"Do not be afraid." Suddenly, a door opened and pure light flooded the area. A hooded figure stood outlined in the doorway. It walked forward until it was in right in front of Robin before stopping. It slowly lowered its hood and Robin gasped in surprise. Her mirror image stood before her, gazing at her with crisp cobalt eyes rather than her own emerald ones.

"Who are you?" she managed to whisper.

"I am you and you are me," the other her replied.

"I don't understand."

"I am the you that you have repressed for so many years. I am the part of you that remains untapped, unused." Robin could only stare at her in confusion. "I am the power that you refuse to admit to having. I threaten you by my very existence because you refuse to embrace the power within you, which is me. You are afraid you will not be able to control me once you have sampled my power and that you will lust for more. Even now you are contemplating whether or not you should destroy yourself now lest you fall victim to me."

Fear gripped Robin's heart for her mirror image spoke was the truth. Yet, she did not want to admit that. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You could have awakened a long time ago yet you forced yourself into a fake coma as a punishment for enjoying your power. Tell me, when you thrust your power at that witch, did you not relish in the power? Did you not lust for more?"

"No...no! It's not like that!" She gripped her ears in a pitiful attempt to drown out the inner voices of her mind. "It's not like that."

"Oh? Or did you force yourself into a coma to run away from your very being? Are you so afraid that you cannot face who you are?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" she screamed in frustration.

"You are a witch, Robin, the Eve of witches. You cannot deny your very being."

"I am not a witch!" With that, Robin turned her rage-filled eyes upon her own image and flames licked away every last trace. She broke down in tears while her own words, in a sense, inundated her mind. You cannot deny your very being.

"I am not a witch and I will prove it to you...to myself," she whispered as she passed out.

Another week had passed and Amon was off his crutches, but Robin showed no signs of awakening. The white gauze had been removed to reveal minor burn marks etched lightly into the tender skin around her eyes. Most of the other burns were little more than light discolorations by now except for a rather large and dark scar on her left arm that ran from elbow to wrist. It was strange because it was not caused by a fire but by a sharp object with jagged edges. No one knew where it had come from. The most probable scenario would have been that the witch caused it with its powers but the problem with that was that the scar had appeared the week after the hunt.

Just another oddity among the growing list of strange occurrences.

Amon stayed by Robin's side ever so vigilantly, staying at the hospital for nearly all twenty-four hours of the day. The rest of the STN-J members were worried as well, but they had a job to do and had to continue hunting without Amon or Robin. It was difficult, but not impossible. They came to visit whenever they had spare time, but even the ever optimistic Dojima was beginning to lose hope of Robin ever awakening.

After all, the doctors still didn't know what was wrong with her. Nurses came to check up on her but the visits were becoming less frequent. They figured that other than the fact that Robin was still in a coma, nothing else serious was wrong with her. Well, that and the damaged nerves in her eyes.

This day seemed to be no different from the others and Amon had developed a steady routine. Karasuma would drop him off at the hospital early in the morning and he'd go see Robin for a couple of minutes before heading off to physical therapy. When that was done, he'd grab a cup of coffee and stay in Robin's room until lunchtime. Then he'd head off to the hospital cafeteria and snatch a quick bite to eat. After lunch, he went back to Robin's room again and watched over her silently, sometimes holding her hand or running his fingers through her long dark-blonde hair. Her hair had grown a good couple of inches during her unconsciousness, but it suited her well, fanning out beneath her head and cascading down her shoulders with curled tips. When the hospital visiting hours were up, Karasuma would drop by to pick him up and the cycle would repeat the next day.

But this day would be different.

The moment Amon left for his lunch break, Robin began to shift uncomfortably in her bed. She kept on mumbling words that made no sense when strung together and her stirring grew violent. She thrashed about on the bed and ripped off the cords connecting her to the heart monitor as well as disconnecting herself from the IV that kept her hydrated. Monitors and machinery fell crashing to the floor before getting incinerated by a eerie blue fire that would disappear as quickly as it appeared. A strange draft of wind whipped up around her although the windows were shut tight and prevented any stray debris from striking her.

Doctors and nurses streamed to her door but no one could get inside. It seemed like someone had locked door from inside which was impossible. Not that anyone would really try and go inside with the chaos Robin was unconsciously creating anyway. Finally, one of the Robin's regular nurses had the bright idea of finding Amon and did so.

He was in the middle of a sub sandwich when the nurse came running to him out of breath and streaming a bunch of words and sentences together in slight hysteria. He took her for crazy until he heard "Robin" and "trouble." Dropping everything, he took off for Robin's room as fast as he could.

By the time he arrived, the hospital staff weren't the only ones gathered around the door. Patients and the families of patients had come out to see what the ruckus was all about. Thus, a rather large crowd had formed, barring his way to the entrance. He shoved and pushed through them more easily than he expected. Most people jumped out of the way in alarm when they saw his frosty gaze fixed to the door.

Someone--a nurse he presumed--tried to tell him that the door wouldn't open but he disregarded it. Just because they couldn't open doesn't mean that he couldn't.

He tested the handle and found that it wasn't locked but that it seemed like something heavy was pushed up against it on the other side to prevent people from entering. Pushing down heavily on the handle, he leaned back to gain leeway and slammed his shoulder into the door. A loud crack echoed through the halls and he wasn't sure that it was from the door. He tried it again, but this time the door unexpectedly gave way easily and he stumbled into the room, nearly falling flat on his face.

When he steadied himself and turned to look at Robin, his heart stopped and jaw dropped open in surprise.

The woman that stood--or rather levitated--before him was taller and more developed than Robin but there was no doubt in his mind that she was still one and the same. But then again, there was something different about her presence. Something cold and inexplicably chilling. Something frightening beautiful. Something sinister.