Chapter 1

Dreams

wow, people reviewed! wooooh! okay, then my happy readers! here's the first chapter of my stoooorrryyyy! please enjoy! and review! this is now after the game.

Albel woke, shaking. Not another one. Not another dream. It was becoming too much, seeing her die every night like that.

He stood up and walked to the window, gazing out at Airyglyph spread out in front of him.

It had been a year since they had defeated Luther and restored sanity to the 'eternal sphere'. Everything was back to normal – as normal as it could be. Every now and again Fayt and the others would visit, and insist that they talk about whatever happened to them during their five-day absence. It was driving him insane. The only reason he went was because she would be there.

He stared out over the battlements, and imagined her walking across them, her red hair shining out to him and drawing him to her like a moth to a flame. He watched as she prowled across the stone, moving with all the lithe grace of a cat. She stopped, as if sensing she was being watched. She turned at looked directly at him, her emerald eyes flashing first with annoyance, then…something else. She smiled and waved at him, before racing towards him, not bothering with the ladders; instead leaping of the wall to land lightly on the ground, her eyes sparkling with joy…

He snorted. Now he was being stupid. Why would she smile at him, a cold-blooded killer?

The woman disappeared, and he sighed and rubbed his head with his right hand. He looked at the device on his wrist. Fayt had called it a 'watch', explaining that it was for telling the time. At first, he had laughed and regarded it with scorn, but it was actually quite useful. The numbers read 03:35.

He sighed. It was far too early. He slipped back into his bed, and the last thing he saw before the darkness of sleep, was a pair of emerald green eyes.

Strange, he thought. The dream's different. He was in a courtyard, Aquios' courtyard to be precise. He walked through the door and entered the castle.

The chapel's huge doors towered over him, and he went through. He hated anything to do with religion, thinking it a waste of time, but it was the only place that he could get some peace. However, as the door opened, he found he wasn't looking at the inside of the chapel, but at the main hall again. Confused, he stepped through, and was once again facing the chapel doors.

Obviously he wasn't meant to be going in there.

He wandered about for a bit, and opened a door. Inside, he found Nel. She was sitting on a bed, book in her lap, glasses perched on the end of her nose...funny...he had never seen her with glasses... This was her room.

She looked up and smiled. "Hey, Nox. What brings you here?"

He hesitated, then shrugged. It was a dream, after all. It didn't matter what he said or did. So he said "I wanted to see you."

She put the book down and took off the glasses. "Me too," she murmured, surprising him.

"Really?"

She nodded.

"Nel…" He trailed off, unable to speak. It wasn't that he didn't have anything to say; in actual fact, he was almost bursting with things to say, he just didn't know how to put then into words. "I missed you," he said finally.

She smiled again. "Really?"

He stared at the floor. She got up and stood in front of him. She gently pushed his chin up. "Just say it," she whispered. "Just say it, and everything will be alright, I promise."

Suddenly all of the barriers that held him back disappeared, and he hugged her tightly, holding her slender frame to his. His mouth found her ear, and in a dry, rough voice, he whispered "I love you."

He poured all of his emotion into those three simple words.

He felt her hand slide beneath his hair, caressing the nape of his neck, and he pulled back slightly so he could look into her eyes.

She leant forward and kissed him…

Albel awoke for the second time that night covered in sweat. The reason this time was completely different, though. He flushed as he remembered what they were doing just before he woke up.

He stood up, determined. He couldn't take it anymore. He had to see her. Now.

(giggles manically) albel's thinking naughty thoughts...tee hee! please review, otherwise i'll be forced to...STOP WRITING ALNEL!...okay, that was an empty threat, but still! review or i'll cry, and you do not want that. trust me.