Usual Disclaimers Apply.  Konami own Suikoden 2 and all it's respective characters, places and names.  But they are really nice people who wouldn't dream of doing anything to the poor helpless fan fiction writer who is doing this for fun, not profit.  Their only fault is their inability to release Suikoden 3 in Europe, but I'm not one to bitch about things like that…more than once…_

Other Disclaimers: Some slightly violent scenes.

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Chapter 51

His Nightmare, Her Choice

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The first thing Elaine realized when she regained consciousness was the fact she was no longer lying face down on the ground, but now on a remarkably comfortable bed.  The second thing she realized as she finally opened her eyes was a small, yellow groundhog sitting on her stomach and staring at her.  Logical thinking returned, and Elaine looked around the room, scanning it.  There was no-one else in the room apart from herself and...

Wait a second... groundhog? The hell?

Logical thinking may have returned, but it means very little when you're still hazy from awakening.

"Bonaparte?" She asked, but it was a rhetorical question.  There was no doubt the yellow groundhog was Millie's pet.

Meaning that it was Bonaparte that found her before, and the voice she heard before she fell unconscious was Millie's.  Unmistakable really, now Elaine had regained the ability to think about it, well, guess that means she's nearby.  Fantastic...

Bonaparte cocked it's small head as it realized Elaine had woken up.  With a reasonably excited "squeak" he leapt off of Elaine's stomach and hopped out of the open window.  Elaine heard footsteps approaching almost immediately afterwards.  Fighting the urge to just close her eyes and feign sleep, Elaine waited to see exactly who was going to enter the room.  The door swung open theatrically as Millie walked in, the groundhog in her arms. 

"Yay!  You're awake," Millie exclaimed, causing Elaine to flinch involuntarily, "Everyone was worried!"

Elaine rubbed her forehead, feeling the first stages of a migraine beginning.  She sat up and took in her surroundings more carefully.  It was obviously a room in an Inn, it certainly explained the tacky décor. 

"Millie..." Elaine said it slowly and deliberately, "Where am I exactly?"

"You're in that bed silly!"

The fact that answer does not surprise me as much as it should worries me...Elaine fought the urge to sigh and tried a different approach, "Let me try again...which town are we in?"

"Two River," Millie answered, "Bonaparte found you outside, Chris and I had to carry you back here."

Excellent...how convenient...Elaine thought sarcastically. 

"I'll go tell the others you're awake then!" Millie chirped.

"No, wait!" Elaine said, but it was too late.  Millie had already bounded out of the room.

Elaine waited in silence, expecting somebody else to appear momentarily.  She knew exactly who was going to show up, it didn't take a genius to figure it out.  Elaine heard his rushed footsteps approaching, and shook her head sadly. 

It's time...

---

An Hour ago...

Andrew sighed as another poor creature was fried to a crisp by one of Avara's Lightning spells.  Avara hadn't said anything since they departed from Lakewest, but as they say, actions speak louder than words.

"You know," Andrew heard Nanami say, "We'd have reached Two River ages ago if Avara hadn't stopped to blast every last monster in sight."

Riou said nothing in reply, which worried Andrew slightly.  Sure, he's pretty quiet and reserved, but Riou...since Jowy...

Andrew shook himself out of his thoughts, not particularly wanting to think about Jowy.  The traitor who killed Lady Anabelle, and had some ninja knock him unconscious.  It was obviously preying on Riou's mind though, which worried Andrew even more.  With a single sigh, he moved on, the others close behind. 

"Oh look!" Nanami exclaimed happily, "I can see it!  I can see Two River!"

It was all rather unnecessary though, it was pretty clear that Two River was insight.  But leave it to Nanami to over hype the event.

"Yes, it is," Avara replied, almost cruelly, "When we all turn blind you can tell us again."

Avara walked on ahead silently, not noticing Nanami stick her tongue out at him, "What a jerk!"

Again Riou said nothing in response, and simply walked on after Avara.  Even Nanami noticed something was wrong, as her puzzled expression gave her away as she dutifully followed Riou.  Andrew shook his head miserably, and soon followed after his three traveling companions.

He knew that something was seriously wrong when he saw Millie rushing up to Riou and the others.  For one thing, the damned Groundhog wasn't there, and there was also the unusual expression on her face.  Andrew never expected that look on Millie's face, but the usually sprightly girl looked absolutely serious.  The boy, Chris, was standing not too far away from her, looking slightly worried.  Andrew was quick to notice that Fitcher was absolutely nowhere to be seen.  Then he noticed that Millie was leading the others towards a building, obviously the town's Inn.  

The swinging sign with a bed on it was the dead giveaway.

Andrew also quickly noticed the look on Riou's face as he walked over to him.

"It's Elaine."

That's all the young master could say as Andrew rushed towards the Inn, almost knocking Riou over in the process.  He also managed to step on Avara's right foot, causing the arrogant young magician to swear quite violently and accidentally (or so he said) blast a nearby building with a thunderbolt…Everyone was shocked at Avara's little mishap, though not half as shocked as the people who happened to live in the building that got blasted…

"Oops." Avara said, although you could tell from the tone of his voice that he didn't really mean it…

---

Andrew looked sadly at the prone, unconscious form of Elaine.  She seemed at peace, which was a helped Andrew a little bit emotionally.  Andrew was a little surprised to see the Groundhog standing vigil beside Elaine, but as he thought back to the incident at the Sindar Ruins, he could think of no better set of eyes to keep watch over her. 

Even if it is a creepy little monster that I *REALLY* can't stand…

And that's just Millie.

He was quick to quiz Chris about this, knowing he'd have better luck getting proper answers out of him than anything he got out of Millie.  His replies had been vague at best…

"Look, there's not much to tell here," Chris had said, a little irritably in Andrew's opinion, "Bonaparte found her unconscious in the woods, Millie and I carried her back here.  It doesn't look like she was attacked or anything, just…exhausted.  That's all I know."

From that Andrew had guessed that Elaine had smuggled herself over on that other boat to Lakewest and made her way, unsuccessfully, here.  Andrew had millions of questions that he wanted to ask Elaine, they kept replaying themselves in his head…over and over again.

What were you thinking?  Over-exerting yourself like that after what you did in Kuskus!  Why are you even here?

Is it for Riou's sake?

…Is it for mine?

"It won't do you any good you know."

Andrew sighed to himself as he turned around to face Millie.  She still had a pretty serious expression on her face, which stopped Andrew from interrupting her right away.  She continued.

"There really isn't any point staying here and watching her sleep.  You'll just make yourself feel worse by thinking about it.  That's not the way Elaine will want to see you when she wakes up."

And without another word, or even to give Andrew the chance to respond, Millie turned right back around and walked away.  Andrew blinked in surprise at the retreating girl, and slowly coming to the conclusion that she, hard as it was for him to admit, was correct.  He wistfully looked back at Elaine, who was still blissfully unconscious.

"Goodnight sweetheart," Andrew said under his breath as he left the room, and Elaine in the capable paws of Bonaparte.

---

"We can't wait around for Elaine to wake up," Riou said to the assembled party, there was nothing but sadness in that voice.  It was obvious to all that Riou would quite happily have waited around for Elaine to regain consciousness.

"That's right," Chris added, "We gotta find Fitcher and then meet the boss of this town."  And then I get my money…Chris thought happily to himself.

"Andrew, could you stay here," Riou said, before hesitating a bit, "Take care of her.  Millie, you stay too.  I don't know why Bonaparte won't leave Elaine's side, and since Bonaparte won't move, I have the feeling you won't either…"

"Got that right," Millie responded in her usual bouncy manner.  It was quite possible that she winked after saying that too.

"Fine, then that means that Riou, Avara, Chris and myself will all go and meet this guy," Nanami chorused, standing up quickly and dragging Riou to his feet.

"Oh fabulous," Avara muttered, "You have *NO* idea what a thrill this is for me…at least there will be no clumsy barbarians defiling my feet."

Avara and Andrew traded venomous glares as Avara stood up and promptly stormed out of the Inn.  Riou, Nanami and Chris soon followed suit, leaving Andrew and Millie all alone to wait and see when Elaine would wake up… I think I'd rather take my chances of survival in a duel with Avara than being driven insane by Millie…Andrew sighed, feeling the beginning of a migraine creeping up on him.  Millie was sitting quietly, staring into space, which suited Andrew fine.  Expecting a scintillating and intelligent conversation from Millie was like expecting Luca Blight to start wearing fluffy pink bunny pajamas and playing with puppies and kittens.  An amusing mental image, but ever so slightly unlikely.  

Oh well…Andrew thought sadly to himself, nothing left for it now but to wait…

Andrew's eyelids closed gently, they didn't reopen, as cruel sleep overcame Andrew…

"Oh, boy," Millie said to herself, "I hope he doesn't snore…"

---

Where the hell am I…?  Andrew thought as he glanced around.  There was no point to it really, there was nothing but mist, and Andrew couldn't make out anything in the gloom.  Unable to rely on his sight, Andrew tried to rely on his other senses, but they too seemed to be dimmed with the haze.  He reached for the Star Dragon Sword, looking for some sort of comfort, but it was gone.  This is beyond creepy…The mist seemed to get denser around him, Andrew shivered and began walking…somewhere.  There were no evident structures or pathways.  Certainly there seemed to be no living creatures there aside from Andrew.  There didn't seem to be any breeze to move the mist around, yet it swirled around ominously anyway, chilling Andrew's skin as it nipped at him.  And worst of all, it was quiet.  There was a complete absence of any sound.  Andrew attempted to speak, but no words came out.  Just ineffectual air that quickly became part of the mist. 

Am I…dreaming?  This can't possibly be real. 

Then, like claps of thunder, he heard something running towards him.  The footsteps were approaching, but Andrew couldn't determine from which direction.  They echoed around the mist.  With no weapon, Andrew could only rely on his natural abilities and instincts.  Andrew crouched low to the ground; he couldn't even make out the surface through the mist.  Then he employed his greatest weapon.

The ability to wait.

Andrew remained perfectly still, as the footsteps gradually got louder, and consequently echoed around him more violently.  They gradually became too loud for Andrew's unprotected ears, and he was forced to cover them with his hands.  It did little good, they kept getting louder…and louder…and louder…

And then…Silence.

Andrew blinked in surprise and stood back up cautiously.  The mist began to clear away at almost exactly the same time as the noise ceased.  Yet despite the absence of the mist, Andrew could still see nothing.  There was nothing to be seen but an empty void.  Andrew gasped in surprise, and was further surprised that he could hear it. 

The footsteps began again.  They were slowly approaching Andrew's position, slowly and deliberately.  No echoes this time, just a single set of soft footsteps.  Andrew looked around in the direction of the steps, and smiled as he saw Elaine walking towards him.  Elaine's face was utterly expressionless, and there was no trace of emotion on it anywhere.  She walked right up to Andrew and hugged him.  Andrew finally felt secure again…all sense of doubt and worry gone.

Then Elaine stabbed him in the back with her knife.

Andrew's eyes widened in shock as Elaine quite unceremoniously flung him down to the ground.  He looked up at her face, still free of emotion or expression.  Like a living doll…Andrew thought silently to himself, as his eyes closed over for the last time he saw the knife, covered in his own blood…he heard her walking away from him…

Forever.

---

"GAH!"

Andrew's eyes opened in a snap, and he was up on his feet just as quickly.  Unfortunately that drew everybody's attention directly towards him.  With a mumbled "sorry," Andrew sat back down, rubbing his temple…which was coated with sweat.  Andrew wiped it away and looked down at his scabbard, the Star Dragon Sword was still there.

So it was just a nightmare then…Andrew thought to himself, drawing immense comfort from that   He was quite obviously still in the Inn at Two River City.  Andrew quickly glanced around the room to find that Riou and the others hadn't come back yet, and Millie was now absent too.  That also brought comfort to Andrew, who sighed wistfully as he remembered the nightmare.  How stupid…like anything like that could ever happen. 

…could it?

Andrew turned his head as he heard somebody running down the stairs, and he wasn't too surprised to find it was Millie, who was smiling in that all too perky way of hers. 

"Hey, guess what!" She chorused, as Bonaparte jumped down beside her, "She woke up while you were sleeping!"

Andrew had resolved to remain calm at this point, but he rather ruined the effect as he leapt back up to his feet and ran right up the stairs to Elaine's room, knocking down Millie in the process.  She winced as she crashed into the wooden floor bottom first and in a very unladylike manner…

---

Elaine knew Andrew would be the next one to appear at the door.  Therefore she didn't bother congratulating herself when he did appear, looking completely flustered and with a smile on his face, it had been too easy.  Elaine managed to pull herself up to a seated position and looked right at Andrew.  She was undeniably sad, but once this was over Elaine wouldn't have to worry about emotions again…

---

Elaine's stare unnerved Andrew slightly, causing his smile to slowly disappear.  Something's wrong…He thought, silently wishing that he was wrong about that.  Andrew walked a little closer to Elaine, realizing with slight anxiousness that her expression had remained the same since he got there.  She looked sad, as if she were about to do something horrible, but ultimately necessary.

"What's wrong?" Andrew asked, soon realizing Elaine wasn't going to initiate the conversation anytime soon.

A small tear fell down Elaine's cheek.  She quickly wiped it away, but she knew Andrew had seen it.  Cursing herself for showing weakness at this crucial moment, she shook her head and looked directly into Andrew's eyes.  She wavered slightly, but her resolve returned quickly…

"Andrew," She said, her voice almost cracking…Andrew waited expectantly for her to finish.  

"It's over."

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