Return of a Princess
Chapter Three: Sweet Dreams

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I fell into what I thought would be another night of dreamless sleep. Well, considering the darkness that I am now standing in I would say that it won't be like that. I looked around at my surroundings, nothing but blackness and space. But I could hear something. I don't know what it is. It's like a whisper, someone whispering very softly and from far away.

I could only hear a whisper sound. I could not distinguish what the person or whatever is saying. I looked around again, trying to find the source of the faint sound but I could find nothing. What's going on? I thought to myself. A soft wind blew past me and around me. Now I'm annoyed.

The whispering steadily grew louder but I still couldn't tell what they were saying. The voice sounded familiar but I couldn't quite place it to a face. No one I was in contact with had a voice with an accent and was soft and sweet. The wind blowing around me started to grow stronger but somehow managed to stay soft and calm.

"What's going on?! Who's there?!" I shouted. I was beginning to become angry at whoever was whispering what I could not hear.

The only thing I received, as a reply was the wind picking up again and the whisper grow louder. I strained to hear and I could almost make it out. It sounded a lot like Hiei. Who was calling my name? Why? All these questions were floating through my mind. The whisper became clearer.

"Hiei..." It called. The voice sounded like... Amara?!

"Amara? Is that you?" I asked, stepping blindly into the darkness that surrounded me. I couldn't sense anyone around me and I couldn't see. Was this some sort of a trick that my mind was playing? Or was it really Amara? But it couldn't be her, could it? I mean she's in a coma and has been so for the past six months.

I stopped moving around and thought about this new idea. I thought back to what I had seen in the mirror back in Atlantis. But that and what is happening now have no connection do they? Amara can't be able to contact me through a dream. She doesn't have telepathy. If she did then she would have no way of using it because she is not conscious. With that thought in mind, I felt myself lifting out of the depths of sleep and into the waking world where the sun was rising.

I opened my eyes and looked out the window to see where the sun was in the sky. My eyes widened when I realized that the sun was nearly overhead. Meaning I had overslept! Kuso! I cursed mentally. How could a dream keep me in sleep that long? Who was calling my name? All these questions and more swirled around my head. I shook my head in an attempt to rid myself of the plaguing questions.

In a hope that I was seeing things last night, I walked over to Amara and gazed down at her expression. Much to my dismay, her expression had indeed changed from what was originally. She looked lost and confused somehow.

I growled in frustration. I didn't have time for this, I was late as it was! Resolving to talk to Kurama and Meera about it later, I left. Within a minute I was at the newly restored palace. I looked around quickly, and saw that everyone was working as hard as ever.

"Sleep late Hiei?" Kurama asked from behind. I turned and sent a glare in his direction and he simply smiled.

"Everyone is happy about what you are doing for them." He said as he stared out at them with me.

"Hn. I did nothing. It was them and Meera that did everything. All I did was oversee." I mumbled. I didn't feel like talking at that moment. Hell, I never feel like talking, but that's not the point.

"You seem troubled, Hiei. Anything you'd like to talk about?" Kurama asked, his voice full of concern. I regarded him for a moment, deciding whether or not I wanted to tell him what had been going on. True, I had resolved to talk to him about it but I never said I wanted to do it right away. Then my thoughts drifted slightly to Amara and desiring to see her beautiful eyes awake once again.

"Hn." I said and turned to walk into the palace. I knew Kurama would know what I wanted without having to say it. The damn Kitsune was too smart for his own good. I led him into the dining hall and sat down at the head of the table and Kurama sat on my right. Suddenly Meera came into the room. She gave us an odd look.

"What are you guys doing?" She asked curiously.

"Sit." I commanded. She didn't look too happy about being bossed around like a dog but I couldn't have cared less.

"What do you want to talk about Hiei?" Kurama asked trying to keep the peace. Meera looked confused for a moment but then looked at me for an answer as well.

"Last night before I left I saw a message written in the mirror of the main hall. It read, 'help me'. I shook it off as my eyes playing tricks. I went home and checked on Amara. In the darkness I could tell that her expression had changed, she looked lost and confused. But, I didn't really pay much attention to it thinking it was just my imagination.

"I went to sleep and I had a dream where everything was black and there was a wind that kept blowing and I kept hearing someone whispering something. I couldn't make out what it was until the whisper grew louder. It sounded like Amara's voice and it was calling me name. I knew it couldn't be Amara and when I woke up the sun was already overhead. That's why I was late. Before I left I checked Amara's expression and I was right. Her expression did change." I explained. They stared at me for a moment taking in everything I had just told them. I was unsure of what their reaction would be.

"Are you saying that Princess Amara changed her facial expression and then tried to contact you in your dreams?" Meera asked. I nodded once. She looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking again. "What does that have to do with the message you found in the mirror?"

"I'm not sure." I answered.

"Could it have been Amara that wrote that message?" She asked.

"She couldn't have though, not while in a coma." Kurama said. "And I highly doubt that she would have been able to contact you in your dreams."

"I agree with Kurama, Hiei. Do you think that you could have been working to hard?" She suggested. I was getting annoyed and this was getting me nowhere. I had been thinking that they would have an explanation for what was going on but they didn't.

"Did you see the person who was calling out in your dream?" Kurama asked. I shook my head in the negative. Suddenly someone knocked on the door to the dining hall. The person came in after a moment. It was one of the older Atlantians.

"Sir, the remaining parts of Atlantis have been completed. All we need is for Lady Meera to use her powers and our city will be complete." The man bowed low. I looked out the large window that adorned one wall of the dining room and saw that the sun was already beginning to set.

"Very well." I said as I stood. Kurama and Meera followed suit and walked out to the completed city. The old man had been correct in the sense that everything that had remained to be completed was now outlined and awaiting Meera's spell. I watched as she cast the spell and fell into Kurama's arms.

I flitted to the tallest tower in the palace and looked at the vast expanse of Atlantis. Everything sent off an aura of purity and good. The place looked like it shimmered. Had it always looked like this? I wondered in amazement. In the setting rays of the sun the entire land of Atlantis shimmered, as though calling out to someone, perhaps to its lost Princess? I wasn't sure so I left and went back to Amara.

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I passed through the portal and into my room. The last rays of the sun shone through the window and onto Amara. I gave a sad smile to her before going to sit on the window. When I reached the windowsill I noticed something shining in the sun. I walked over and saw aqua crystals on the sill. They were the same crystals as the one that hung around Amara's neck. The crystals spelled out a message. It read, 'Help me, Hiei.'

My brows furrowed in confusion. Who had put those there? No one in the temple had gone to Atlantis because Genkai was gone and Yukina wouldn't go through it. No one could have had the opportunity to place the crystals there. If someone had been in here I would be able to sense remaining traces of their aura and the only aura's I felt in this room were Amara's and mine.

I swiped the crystals onto the floor, deciding to pick them up later. But I watched in confusion as the crystals reformed themselves to speak another message. It said, 'Please, I'm lost.' My eyes widened at the fact that they just wrote another message without someone moving them. I growled and set the crystals on fire in an attempt to end the pleas for help. I had no idea as to who wanted help and I wasn't fond of moving rocks either. But, instead of disintegrating like they should have, they simply formed another message. This time they read, 'Hiei, I'm scared.' Then they began to glow with an intense light and they levitated in the air for a moment, shaking from the light and then they exploded without a sound. Okay, that was strange, I thought. This was ridiculous. I would find out who was messing with me later. I was too annoyed to anything about it tonight.

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I looked around the same darkness that I had the previous night. The same wind and the same whispering were here. Only this time I could clearly hear the person who was whispering. The voice was definitely Amara's and she was calling out to me again. This was getting really old, really fast.

"Alright! Come out! You've messed with me long enough, show yourself!" I yelled into the darkness. I whirled around, searching for any form of demon or human. Suddenly, the wind picked up and left me and swirled around in a spot a few feet from me. The wind then disappeared all together and it its place stood Amara.

"Amara?" I asked carefully and cautiously in the event it was a demon. But all she did was smile.

"Hiei, I can't stay long, this type of connection is difficult to keep up. You must listen and please believe me." She pleaded. I eyed her for a moment and realized that it was her. I walked up close top her nodded that I would listen. But I had to know something first.

"How are you here?" I asked.

"I don't have time to explain right now. I'm lost and I'm scared. I need your help to find my way home." She said, her voice pleading and lost. I gave her a confused look.

"You're in a coma." I stated.

"No. I'm in Atlantis and everything is different. I can't find my home." She said. Now I was confused.

"How do I reach you?" I asked. I decided to go along with it, see where she took it.

"I don't know! Please hurry! They're coming!" She shouted before she vanished completely.

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My eye's shot open. I was drenched in a cold sweat. I recalled the dream. Was that really Amara? If it was she was in trouble. But the real Amara was right here, in Genkai's temple. I looked out the window and saw that it was pitch black outside. Was it her that sent those messages? She was the only one that would have access to Atlantian crystals but how? Did she manifest them while she was in a coma? Possibly. It would make sense to a degree. She was the only one that I know of that needs help and those messages only appeared to me, asking me for help.

I remembered the suggestions that Meera had thought of. She said that Amara could be lost in her own mind. But she had also said that it was highly unlikely. Well, obviously those chances just got a whole lot higher. I decided to go to Atlantis and tell them what had happened. They would believe it, they had too, and even if they didn't, I would find a way to help Amara. She was clearly in trouble wherever she was.

With that in mind, I passed through the portal and ran as fast as I could to the palace where Kurama and Meera would be.

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Author Note: Okay, I think I'll leave it there... I love cliffhangers, don't you? They always leave you craving more. ::smirks evilly:: Anyway, thank you to all those who reviewed, I appreciate it greatly. I never thought this story and it's sister story would be so popular. And to HieiFan666, I could tell ya whether or not you are right but then that would ruin the story and besides, you'll find out soon enough....LOL. Review people! Ja ne.

Oh yeah, incase i forget later, i will be going on vacation for a week on the 26th. So, i won't be able to update during that week. I'll try to update Silent Storm, it's already written and such but the chapters are like 20 pages each some are more. So, it will take a while to type. LOL.

Ja ne.