Greetings once again from the land of the procrastinators. First and foremost, I want to sincerely apologize for the unacceptable amount of time in between updates. This time, however, I have an explanation.

As most of you ought to know by now, I recently have suffered from a terrible case of the bane of authors everywhere, the writers block. Much thanks, of course, is due to my reviewers and friends for keeping me aware of the passage of time. While this in itself could have been responsible for the lack of update, several other factors made it inevitable.

The first of these factors is my own lazyness. While I wish to attribute it to my schoolwork, as well as the ACT's and SAT's, the truth is I had plenty of opportunities, and never seized them.

The second and most important was that before I could type out this chapter, I lost the written copy.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm very sorry for neglecting you all for so long. Thank you so much for your patience and kind words, and I hope to never again go so long without an update.

Time's Mortal Enemy

Chihiro moaned as a stream of light pierced through the darkness. She sat up, groaning as she lifted her arm to shield her eyes against the blinding rays of sunlight. Suddenly, she froze. In an instant, all of the memories from the past several days came rushing back into her mind. Hastily, she jumped out of bed and raced for the door, only discovering halfway across the room that she was dressed only in a nightgown. She glanced around the room, and, upon spotting an outfit lying across a chair, hurried over and got dressed. Just as she finished, a knock came on the door, and it opened to reveal her young attendant. Over the past several days, Chihiro had grown rather fond of the young girl, and often found herself going out of the way to do small kindnesses to her.

"M'lady, I was wondering if you desired to go for another walk this morning." Grace (Chihiro had learned her name only the other day) asked. Chihiro nodded. Ever since her arrival in Kanrika, it had become clear to her that if she didn't find a way to pass the time, she would go crazy. She had carefully considered her options, which, of course, were rather limited, and decided that the best course of action would be to take up walking. Not only would it allow her to get some excersise, but she would be able to get out of the dreary palace that had become her home, and explore her surroundings, that is, as much of them as her ever-present escort would allow. Although his official job was to keep her safe, she sensed that he was really there to keep her from seeing the less pleasant portions of the city. Today, however, she was determined that that would change.

"Very well. Shall I go get Captain Winters, then?" Again Chihiro nodded, and Grace bowed low before leaving the room. Chihiro walked over to the window and opened it, stepping out onto the balcony. She gazed out as the golden fingers of sunlight pierced the deep azure blue of the morning sky. Her thoughts, however, were elsewhere.

Haku. . . are you looking up at the same sky as I am? Are you any closer to finding me? Have you given up? Where are you, my love?

Slowly, a shadow of a cloud drifted through the sky, blotting out the sunlight and causing the land to fall back into a melancholy darkness. A knock came at the door.

"Lady Chihiro?" The voice that came to her ears was a smooth, silky baritone. Chihiro stepped back inside and walked over to the door, opening it to see the youthful features of her specially appointed bodyguard, Captain Gael Winters. (Yeah, hang in there Fireruby) He was a handsome young man with long, silky hair that reached down to his waist. However, the thing that had stood out to Chihiro most when she had met him had been his eyes. The right eye was a magnificent, almost crystal blue, a blue that pierced the soul, while the left was a soft, warm amber color. He was built rather thin, almost lithe, and was extremely fast and graceful. He wore a specially tailored outfit, a black uniform with special golden symbols woven in to indicate his rank. At his side were two daggers, weapons with which he had already often proven himself more than proficient with them. He was truly a soldier who took his job just a little too seriously.

"Come in Captain." Chihiro said, stepping aside to allow him entry. "I wish to go to the market today." She eyed him carefully, expecting a reaction. She was not disappointed. His head snapped up and he looked at her with something akin to fear on his face.

"M'Lady, I have the strictest orders as to where and where not you may go. . ."

Chihiro, however, would not be deterred. "Captain, I wish to go to the market. Whether or not I go alone is up to you." Gael sighed with resignation.

"I can see that you won't change your mind about this. I only ask that you make sure to stay close to me, and do as I tell you, no matter what. The streets are not as safe as they used to be, not since. . ." His voice trailed off into silence, leaving the young woman beside him to wonder what it had been that he was going to say.

Far above them in one of the palace's many lofty towers, a man gazed into the silvery orb before him and cursed.

In yet another tower, Keetra finished off yet another bottle of bad rice wine and poured herself another glass, cursing.

Haku and Nami stepped out onto the rickety and rotting dock to which the boat was tied. Each step they took was carefully calculated for fear of a broken plank underfoot sending them hurtling into the black water.

It happened in an instant. One moment Nami was putting his foot down, and the next he found himself falling through the plank that had broken. Haku turned and looked into his eyes, reaching out his hand toward him, and then Nami was gone without a trace into the Icy depths.

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