Disclaimer: If I owned these things, I'd make another anime, not a fanfiction. Though I do own a tuna sandwhich I stole from a hobo. Drool...Tuna... I really hope that all of you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 2: Awakening

After Hikaru had Fuu use some of her healing magic on Gohan, which did little to aid him on waking up, they set up camp and waited. Though Umi and Fuu were talking to her, Hikaru would often find herself averting her gaze from them so that she could cast it upon the still figure a couple meters away.

Her friends would notice what she was doing, every single time that she did it, and they would say nothing on the subject. After all, of all of the people they knew, she and Goten were the only ones without a completely happy ending to the fiasco a year before, and Hikaru was worse off than Goten they knew. Well, actually, Fuu knew it and she told Umi. Because of this, Fuu did not wake him up for answers, and Umi did not complain about his presence.

They turned in for the night, and Umi noticed that Hikaru was bringing Gohan inside the decent-sized cottage that Mokona had provided them with.

"You aren't actually going to bring him into a cottage in the middle of nowhere with us three girls are you?" Umi asked, sounding a bit flustered.

Hikaru, in all her innocence and joy of being near Gohan again, verbally made it known that she didn't understand the implications. "What do you mean"

"He could try to molest us or rape us or ... or..." Umi trailed off, suddenly feeling embarassed and guilty as she saw the disbelieving look on Fuu's face. "I know he wouldn't do that, but still, it's just not right"

Hikaru and Fuu seemed to understand where she was coming from, so Fuu talked Mokona into giving them another bed inside the cottage. The three girls got into the larger, original, bed after they had placed Gohan in the second, smaller bed.

Hikaru was had a bit of trouble sleeping, and since her friends had been worried about her, she had to feign sleep so that they could rest. But even after an hour, rest could not find her, for too many questions were buzzing in her head, creating a static in her mind. Sighing, she tried to calm down to answer them one at a time. But everytime she would try to answer one question another wouild pop up.

How is he alive?

Why was he in the spring?

How will Goten react?

Why hadn't he come back yet?

It was at this point that she sighed again and climbed out of the bed. Hikaru then staggered wearily towards Gohan's bed. She noticed that he was having a very fitful sleep, due to the fact that his face was twisted in pain. Other than that, the only sign of life was the faint rise and fall of his chest.
Hikaru, being the person that she was, decided on she thought was the best course of action. She lifted the covers and climbed in next to him, put an arm over his chest as a final question came to her before sleep overtook her. "If Clef looked like a kid and his age is seven hundred and forty five, then how old must Gohan be if he looks three years older?" Hikaru mumbled under her breath.
Sleep had her in its grasp so soon, she didn't see how the pain left Gohan's face.

Gohan wasn't normally one to worry, in fact, since traveling through space, he had sort of prided himself on the fact that he could take care of everything, especially after he had met and helped Hikaru. But, back then, he was insanely powerful and he could literally obliterate anything that got in the way of the best solutions he could think of. But that universe was much more logical than this one. Gohan continued thinking in the dream world for a long time before a special thought crossed his mind. If Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu are here, and they acquired the three parts of my sword, then they must be the Magic Knights. Oh Emeraude, please don't tell me. . . he cut off his train of thought to thoughts of Clef and Presea, who had to be quite old by now. Unfortunately, another bad thought struck him. Clef was never one for telling others bad news, I wonder, did he tell Hikaru and the other girls the true purpose of the Magic Knights? Last time he didn't, and I can still see the desperation on Lantis and Zagato's faces, though now that I think about it, Rose didn't seem all that bothered by it. But who did it this time? How . . ?

Thoughts of Emeraude's possible death bothered him, for he was there when she was born, and he had chosen her to be the pillar of Cephiro. He was the cause of all of her problems. Not to mention what Hikaru would have to go through.

All these thoughts pained him, until he felt a comforting warmth next to him. It eased his pain, and the dream world went away, allowing him to sleep peacefully.

Hikaru woke up feeling more refreshed than she usually did after waking. While part of it was that she had been so tired after all the running and fighting the day before that she must have slept for a substantial amount of time, the rest of it was that ubiquous feeling of emptiness that had inhabited her heart and mind for so long had been quelled. No matter the reason, she was more than ready to face the trials and tribulations of the day. Not to mention that the so far difficult journey would surely be much easier now that Gohan was by her side.

But he wasn't, Hikaru realized, as she opened her eyes, he was somewhere else. She found nothing as she looked around, the bed was empty, with the exception of herself. She ignored her suddenly protesting muscles as she sat up fully to look around the room. Umi and Fuu were already up, Hikaru deduced because of the made bed and the feminine voices from outside. She tried using her undeveloped, but existent, ability to scan the area for Gohan's ki and found it off a ways, near a ki level that was slightly more powerful than Gohan's own. Gohan must be hiding his ki level, Hikaru thought, but why? I don't think that anyone here uses ki, so no one could probably sense him. Hikaru shook her head to forcefully rid herself of the thoughts, figuring that it would be a bit easier to just ask Gohan. She stood up off the bed and gave a little stretch, and then donned her armor and clothes before heading out of the mokona cabin. She saw Umi and Fuu immediately, and apparently both were cooking lunch over a camp fire. They also seemed to be having a good time, if their laughs and giggles were of any indication. They stopped shortly after noticing Hikaru's arrival and offered her lunch. Hikaru eagerly accepted the offer, and suddenly felt a little embarrassed.
Well, Hikaru thought while chewing on her food, if they noticed anything about where I was sleeping, at least they have the decency to not outright judge me. Hikaru decided to take the time to thoroughly enjoy her food before heading out to check up on Gohan.

Ferio stared grimly at the slightly older man in front of him, while at the same time he stared in wonderment. He had heard from Fuu that this man hadn't even managed to stay concious the day before, and that he was feeling extremely weak this morning. That his muscles were less defined than the last time she had seen him and that he seemed too have lost some weight. That Umi girl had also commented that he seemed to have an extremely less frightening demeanor than he had had the last time they had all seen him. So why was this man up to his six hundreth one-finger push-up with an extremely angry look on his face? Ferio sighed, suddenly realizing that he didn't even know the man's name.

" Hey dude, I'm Ferio, what's your name?" Ferio asked as politely as he could while still retaining some of his personality. When Ferio noticed that the man still had an angry look on his face while staring off into space, he repeated himself. "Yo, I'm Ferio, what is your name?" Ferio asked, this time articulating the last four words loudly. This time the man looked at him before he dropped the angry look, and Ferio saw Destruction Incarnate before the man took on a more friendly demeanor.

" Who is the one who has taken Princess Emeraude hostage?" The man said, completely off-topic. The man then noticed the slightly fearful look in the boy's eyes. The man laughed, the rich sound echoing slightly. I still got it. "I'm sorry about that, but I can feel the man's energy and I know that I have felt it before, I just can't seem to remember exactly where I have sensed it before. It frustrated me, sorry if I scared you." Not really.

The boy seemed stupefied for a moment before taking on an indignant attitude, "I ain't scared of nobody, pal." Then Ferio seemed to calm down a bit. "The man you're talking about is Lord Zagato, High Priest of Princess Emeraude." Ferio said this with a vicious sneer.

" Zagato, no! It can't be!" The man shouted out, as if he were being torn apart from the inside.

"That traitorous bastard, if I ever get my hands on him I'll . . . I'll . . ." He took a deep breath to calm himself down. I can handle this, all I have to do is get stronger, so that I can face Zagato. He stopped his train of thought immediately. Hikaru and her friends were summoned here. This is their battle, and they'll have to finish it. But that doesn't mean I can't help them along the way, like last time.

He stood up, and started to walk towards camp, leaving Ferio in a temporarily stunned silence. Before he was out of earshot however, Ferio called out, "You never answered my question, what is your name?" Ferio chased after the man in full sprint after he heard the man's response, which left the rest of the normally loud and wild forest in thunderous silence.

" It's Gohan Daimo, what's it to you?"

Hikaru was about to go out to go see Gohan, when he came walking in, a panting Ferio following behind him. They both sat down for a rest, and Ferio even started to eat the lunch, when Gohan instigated conversation.

" Well, Miss Shidou," Gohan Daimo started, looking towards her while donning a genuine smile that lit up Hikaru's day, "Cephiro is the last place that I expected to see you. Though I must say it is an extremely pleasant surprise."

Hearing him speak for the first time in a year seemed to be too much as she broke down suddenly and pounced on him, then proceeding to hug the Daimo while also crying into his shoulder.
Figuring that she wouldn't want her friends to see her like this he glared at them. Not one of them hesitated to leave the two alone.

" I thought I would never see you again my tenshi." Gohan whispered to the sobbing girl.

" Why didn't you come back?" Hikaru cried, " We all thought that you were dead! Goten didn't stop crying for weeks, and even though he tries to hide it, I'm sure that he still cries." Hikaru sniffled, "Even Goku cries sometimes"

" . . . And you, didn't you cry yourself, away from others so that they couldn't hear you?" Gohan felt Hikaru nod meekly against his shoulder.

" Yeah, but how did you know?" Hikaru asked.

Gohan Daimo considered telling her of the times he would suddenly feel extremely sad and downtrodden, and he would instantly know that Hikaru was crying herself to sleep, but he decided against it. She had enough stress already, with the job of Magic Knight, and letting her know that she was the cause of much of his grief, of not being able to help her when she was in so much pain, during his time on Cephiro, just seemed cruel.

" Sorry, but I guess I was just hoping for it." Gohan settled for that. A bonus was that it drew a laugh from Hikaru.

" I missed you so much Gohan." Hikaru confided. "Did you miss me?" Call it natural insecurity or curiosity, but she just had to know.

He had spent nearly twenty thousand years in this god-forsaken world of Cephiro. But only about six-hundred years of those had he been concious, after the first magic knights had been summoned, he had to train to survive as well as support Cephiro while finding a pillar to take his place. Not to mention his trips to the other three worlds. Six hundred years, and without Hikaru each one felt like a meaningless existence. He had no purpose without her or Goten, life was pointless with the exception of striving towards seeing them one last time, even if it would be in heaven or hell.

" You have no idea."

Author's Note : Been a few months, but I ain't dead yet . . . yet. This chapter has been worked on a few paragraphs at a time. Finished 12:10:45 AM, February 3, 2006. In any and all reviews, give criticism for this chapter, suggestions on where the story should head, and any other opinions you think are necessary. I especially liked the last section, because after I wrote it I was quickly reminded of the Magic Knight Rayearth scene in which Lantis talks to Hikaru after she asks him to hit her.

Author's Note 2 : Also, if anyone wishes to adopt this story inform me first, and then send me a link to a sample of your own fanfiction. If no one wishes to take on this task, I will continue it myself until it is finished. Oh, also, if you do 'apply' for this story's adoption, I will inform you whether or not you get to adopt it.