The second chapter. Thanks for those who reviewed. I apologize if my writing style… well, plain sucks…. To me that is. No pairings. Phew.

Disclaimer: Don't own. Except Laleyena and the plot.

Awaken

The young girl searched frantically around the house for more bandages. Never in her life has she seen such injuries and it amazed her that the three men she found were still alive.

The house she lived in was a rather cozy house where civilization seems far from its reach, mainly because of the harsh weather currently. It was a two story house with 5 rooms. The house itself painted white and the roof, black. Next to the house was a barn and stable, which house two chocobos, a wagon and many tools used for gardening.

"Oh, come on. Where is it?" she asked herself, getting slightly upset as she looked through the cabinet in the bathroom.

"Ah-ha!", she cried, "Found it. Hopefully the bleeding didn't start up."

She ran back to a room with three beds where the three brothers lay. Kadaj has a bandage wrapped around his chest and neck, Loz had a bandage wrapped around his head, arms and left leg and Yazoo had a bandage on his cheek and many others around his left arm, right leg and stomach.

"Good. He's not bleeding anymore."

She pulled up a chair and sat on the right side of the bed where Kadaj rests. She carefully wraps the bandage around his right hand as she thinks about how she came to find them.

Flashback

The young girl was strolling through the forest in her wagon, pulled by two chocobos, as she is returning from a trip for supplies when she spotted three black figures up ahead.

"Hm? What is that?"

As she got closer, she could make out that the black figures were three silver-haired men. She would have realized it earlier but their hair blended in with the snowy ground.

"Oh no." she whispered to herself.

She halted the chocobos and got off the wagon. She approached the first man, upon further examination; he looked to be about in his teens. She knelt down beside him as he struggled to keep his eyes open and stared at her.

"Are you all right?' she asked. He tried to speak to her but he couldn't. That's when she noticed his injuries.

"Don't say anything, you're hurt badly… and you're not the only one I see," she looked up from the teen at the other two men, who were also injured and unconscious.

The way they were hurt, it pained her to see how badly beaten the three were. It reminded her a little bit about her past but she snapped out of her thoughts as the teen finally was able to speak to her.

"My… Brothers…" His voice was barely above a whisper as she looked back down at him.

'Brothers?' she thought, and she looked back at the other two men.

She noticed that the three of them looked very well alike. And she saw that the other two were more injured than the teen.

'I have to… I can't leave them here.' She nodded to herself and looked back down at the teen.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of you and your brothers. Just hang on."

She saw him nod as his eyes were slowly closing. But something slightly spooked her about the teen and she took off her hood to get a better look at his eyes. They were cat-like.

"Please hold on. Don't go."

"I-I… Won't… leave you…"

She could have sworn that his eyes flickered with a green light before he closed them and fell unconscious.

'Huh… that's strange. Well, I better get them back home or they'll freeze to death.'

To her, the teen was fairly easy to get on the back of the wagon; the other two… were a different story. She had difficulty getting the long haired man on but was successful, the last one was very heavy and she almost fell back into the snow, but succeeded.

"Okay. Let's go Amarillo, Oro."

The two chocobos chirped and pulled the wagon. She looked back at the three men and frowned. Who could have done this to them? What did they do to receive such brutal treatment? And where did they come from?

End Flashback

She closed her eyes and thought about that to herself as she held the teen's hand.


Kadaj slowly opened his eyes as he felt something warm on his hand. He could have sworn that he was in the cold but was in a room as his eyes opened fully and adjusted to the surrounding area. He looked to his left and saw his brother, Loz, lying in a bed next to him. He was bandaged up. Then he looked to his right and saw Yazoo. He too was on a bed and bandaged up, but he immediately noticed someone else at his side.

'It's her.' He thought.

The young girl that found him was sitting in a chair by his side, eyes closed and she was holding his hand. She wasn't wearing the hooded black cloak but rather a long sleeved, black and white dress. The pink ribbons in her silver hair kind of stood out from her color coordination of black and white and she looked to be about the same age as he was.

The young girl snapped back to reality as she looked at the teen to find him awake.

"Hey, you're awake. I was afraid that you weren't going to wake up."

She smiled at him; her crystal green eyes were almost on the verge of tears.

"You're… going to cry." He told her.

"No I'm not. It's just… I hate to see such violence inflicted on a person and on the verge of death. What happened to you and your brothers?"

Kadaj closed his eyes and sighed.

"I can't remember."

"Well… where did you come from? Who did this to you?"

"I… can't remember."

She frowned and looked down in her lap, her hair falling onto her face, obscuring her eyes from view.

"Do you," she began again. "…Have a name? Can you at least remember that?"

He opened his eyes and looked at her. Finally, a question he can answer without hurting his head, but somehow, he was reluctant to tell her his name. He barely knows her but a complete stranger just helped him and his brothers from death. She had to be a trusting person, what with that innocent face she has. So he replied.

"…Kadaj."

The girl looked up and brushed back her hair as she smiled at him.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Laleyena."

She shook his hand, which she still has a hold on but Kadaj winced, feeling the pain shooting up from his hand throughout his arm. Laleyena immediately let go of his hand and bowed her head in apology.

"I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you?"

Kadaj shook his head, "No, I'm just a little sore."

"Okay. Would you like something to eat?"

"I'm… not that hungry."

"Well, I'll just get you a glass of water. Would that be all right?" she smiled that innocent smile of hers.

"Sure."

"I'll be right back." She said, as she got up from the chair and walked towards the door.

Once her hand was on the door knob, she stopped and turned back to Kadaj.

"You know… You look so familiar… Have we met before?"

He shook his head, trying to remember if he has ever seen this girl before.

"Oh, okay." And she left.

Kadaj stared at the door for a moment then directed his eyes to the ceiling. Those pink ribbons… it somehow brought back memories to him but from where? And the way Laleyena treated him with such kindness and warmth. It reminded him of this woman he saw in a field of flowers…

"Wait a minute…" he stopped his thoughts from going any further. Pink ribbons? Woman? Field of flowers?

He heard a voice, seemingly out of nowhere and he knew it was the same one from before.

Ah. You just barely figured it out.

'You again. Who are you?'

Just an observer. And I have observed this girl, Laleyena. She's nice, isn't she?

'…yes, she is.'

Very nice indeed. And very cute, what with the pigtails and pink ribbons.

He narrowed his eyes, unsure of where the conversation was going.

'What are you getting at?'

Whoa. Down boy, just voicing my opinion on the girl.

'…You're sick.'

Am I really? Oh I am no different than yourself.

'What do you mean?'

Nothing. Just enjoy the kindness while it lasts.

That last part said, it was so malicious sounding, like a sinister event is brewing. Kadaj shook his head to rid the voice from his mind.

"You leave her alone."

"Leave who alone?"

Kadaj almost jumped at hearing Laleyena's voice. She was standing by the door with a glass of water in her hands and a confused look on her face.

"Nothing."

"Are you feeling all right?" she asked, tilting her head to the side a little.

"I'm fine." He lied, he wasn't feeling all right.

That conversation with the mysterious voice made him sick to his stomach. The way it was talking about Laleyena… like it wanted her or something. Well voice or no voice, it won't get near her. It wasn't like he actually cared about her, in the 15 minutes he's known her, but he felt obligated to keep her safe at least, she did help him and his brothers after all, and he owed her.

'I'm not protecting her. I just don't like the way the voice was going.' He repeated that in his mind.

"Here," he got out of his thoughts to find Laleyena sitting by his side, handing him the glass of water, "Drink up."

"Thank you."

He took a sip, feeling the cool water splash down in his empty stomach. Laleyena was looking at his brothers, her face frowning again.

"I guess it will be a while before your brothers' wake up. I can't blame them, what with the condition they are in. I can't imagine what you all have been through."

"So," he handed her the now empty glass, "Before you found us… Where did you come from?"

"Well, I was coming from a place called Midgar to get some supplies and tend to a garden there, then stopped at a chocobo ranch to get some more feed for my chocobos, after that, some friends of mine escorted me across a marsh and I crossed a mountain to the other side of the continent then headed off for Junon to take another boat to Costa De Sol and left that town and got a boat ride to an island up north and… here we are."

Kadaj stared at her blankly. By the way she mentioned those places; he guessed it would have been more than 3 days travel. But the place she first mentioned, Midgar, somehow it was familiar to him.

"Did you say… Midgar?"

"Yes," she nodded her head, "Why do you ask? Is that where you came from?"

"I don't know… I feel as if I've been there before."

"Maybe when you're all better I can take you there and then you might remember something."

He sort of dead-panned. He didn't like the idea of traveling half way across the world and he didn't want to trouble Laleyena with so much more than she can handle now. Taking care of him and his brothers was enough. But then again, he wants to remember at least something, and maybe going to Midgar will help bring back a few memories. Still, he was feeling reluctant again.

"I don't want to cause you too much—"

"Oh it's fine," she interrupted. "Really. I want to help you and your brothers out in any way I can. Just don't hesitate to ask."

Again, she put on that innocent smile of hers. Every time she smiled at him, he felt very relaxed and warm inside. Kadaj has no idea of where the feeling came from but if she was going to keep smiling at him like that and in the time it takes for him to recover, he better get used to it.

"Very well. Thank you again, Laleyena."

"It's nothing. I'll let you get your rest."

She got up and walked towards the door but she stopped and turned to him like she did before.

"Actually… if you're having trouble saying my name, you can always call me Lele or Yena."

"It's not hard to pronounce."

"Okay, just letting you know."

Again with the smile and she left the room.

"She worries too much." He said to himself as he looked up at the ceiling, yet again.

It will be a while before he can actually move and lift himself up but he is still unsure of where he got the injuries and who inflicted them upon him and his brothers. Speaking of which, he looked to his left then his right and back to the ceiling again.

"It's a long road to recovery from here, Niisan."

After a few moments, he drifted to sleep.

(---------------)

Finally. A long chapter. Once again, thank yous to the reviewers. Wonder what will happen when the other two wake up. But that remains to be seen.

Sin the Dark Priestess