Title: A Moment in the Woods
Author: Amm-chan (SoulSeeker)
Pairing: Awayuki Mawata/Sasame
Fandom: Prétear
Theme: #1—look over here
Rating: Teens (PG-13…ish)
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Prétear, I am just playing 'Barbie' with them, cause god knows they're a lot more fun than real Barbies.

I am never writing angst again. Ever.

And kudos to you if you know what the title alludes to... HA! I said Kudo! I'm not obsessed with Shinichi, nooo…

"Mawata!"

"Mawata!"

"Mawata!"

Her name echoed a million times within the four walls of her room, but they would never reach her ears. Nothing would; the banging on the door, the negative energy that fluttered around her, the worry of her loved ones—she was completely oblivious. It was only fair; her family had been pretty damn oblivious as well. To her feelings, to her depression—to everything.

The only thing she could hear was her radio; and who else's voice could pierce through the darkness to reach her ears?

Sasame, of course.

She crawled through the mess that was now her floor, panting heavily, finally reaching the radio. He was addressing 'Miss Silk' again.

Miss Silk; her alias she used when she decided she was too weak to let him know who she truly was. Now she regretted it; but it didn't matter. He knew, and she knew he did.

Upon trying to concentrate, she finally realized the million things that were going on around her, as if trying to distract her; and if they were, it was working. Well.

It was the whining of her name first…then the obnoxious knocking sounds.

She was slowly snapping back to reality, as the negative energy around her began to slowly subside. Her mind became fixated on the voices; they weren't ones she recognized or heard regularly, and whoever they were, they had to be young. Very young.

She slowly approached the door, her shaking hand reaching out to grab it, and suddenly, the door burst open with a loud bang, sending Mawata's heart rate up even higher than it already was.

She panted heavily, nearly losing her balance, and her eyes widened as she put her hands over her chest to keep her heart from ripping right out of her. Her piercing green eyes stared at the three figures who dared to invade her privacy.

And suddenly, reality hit her again, and she remembered everything.

"Mawata? Why didn't you open the door?"

She continued to stare at them as if they were strangers, her gaze unwavering; Shin, Hajime, and Mannen stared back with innocent confused looks on their faces. Himeno had asked Mayune to care for them while she was gone, and her parents had left not long after.

But evidently, Mayune had neglected her responsibilities.

Mawata slowly stood up right again, her heart rate and breathing slowly becoming normal. "W—what do you want?" she asked coarsely. "Where's Mayune?"

Something about seeing the innocence on their faces had maintained her sanity.

Mannen made a face. "She's too busy," he replied discontently. "We wanna play hide-and-seek!"

"Yeah, come on, play with us!" Shin squealed cheerfully.

"Why?" she replied. "Why would you want to play with me?"

Hajime grabbed her arm excitedly. "Himeno said to make sure you weren't lonely! Come on, we can play something else too, if you like!"

Mawata blinked. "L-lonely?" she replied. "Himeno said that?"

The three of them nodded in unison.

"Come on! Let's go play!" Shin smiled. "I bet you can't find me!"

Mannen just scoffed, sticking out his tongue. "Yeah, just don't look near any of the trees—or anything gre—"

Hajime smacked his mouth closed as he noticed Shin's eyes start to become watery. "Shut up, Mannen!" he demanded. She turned to Mawata and smiled. "You count, and we'll hide. Then you can come looking for us. Okay? Let's go!"

Before Mawata could even react, all three of them had run off in all different directions. She fell to the ground, unsure of what to do….she began to feel the negative energy pulsating, taking her over once more, but she stood up suddenly.

Himeno said to make sure you weren't lonely!

Impossible. Someone like Himeno could never understand her; she'd never understand how she felt. She had a father, she had love—she had Hayate.

Mawata suddenly ran, bursting out of her room, dashing down the stairs passed all the hiding places where the little ones may have hid. They were practically screaming for her attention, almost commanding her to look over there. And she may have looked, had she been in the right state of mind; but for now, she had forgotten all about them.

She needed to get out.

She ran until she got outdoors, and then ran more. She could've very well been blind—she had no idea where she was going, and she didn't much care. She needed to find someone—someone who would understand her. Someone who could salvage her sanity and keep her new family members from ruining her life.

She finally slowed down to a walk and somehow found herself amidst trees. Tall trees whose shadows consumed her and concealed her from the world; just the way she wanted.

But still, she wasn't at ease. She walked on, being cautious with every step, looking around her. Any stranger would have called her paranoid.

"Freedom and understanding…someone to help you… aren't those what you want?"

A gasp escaped her dry lips, as she turned around trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. "W-who are you?"

A silhouette appeared in front of her, and it was getting closer. It wouldn't take her long to recognize him. "You mean in all this time of listening to me, you can't even recognize my voice, Miss Silk?"

Sasame put his hands on her shoulders, sending shivers down her spine. He was the only one who ever had that effect on her.

"S...Sasame…" she said, her voice shaking in anxiety. "Sasame!"

He wrapped his arms around her protectively, stroking her hair as he felt tears soak into his clothes—his dark clothes that he begun to wear after he quit the Leafe Knights, for his love. But Mawata didn't need to know that.

"I need you Sasame…you're the only one…" She hugged him, looking up at his eyes. "You're the only one who sees me for who I really am…You know what I need. I can't take it anymore…I can't—"

She felt a set of warm lips come over her own, and she fell silent immediately. She felt her problems melt away, and she never wanted the moment to end. The warmth of his love; he was everything she needed and more.

He broke away from the kiss suddenly, looking up into one of the trees nearby. She followed suit to find out what had caught his attention so abruptly. "What is it? What happened?"

Her questions went ignored, and Sasame suddenly rose up and headed right in the direction he had been staring. There was no question about it—he had seen someone.

Long wavy chocolate-brown hair, beautiful eyes and a smirk set upon the reddest lips anyone had ever seen; the Princess of Disaster herself had graced Sasame with her appearance, and Mawata had still been left to wonder who in the world she was.

"Sasame, w-what are you doing? Who is she?"

Her voice began to quiver, her eyes watery, and she began to felt the same loneliness and doubt she had not ten minutes before.

"I can save you Mawata…but it'll take more than just a moment in the woods…"

"No…no! I thought you understood…but you're just like the others!"

Mawata collapsed to the ground, and she thought she saw their lips meet; but she wasn't sure what was real anymore. She was running again, but it was too late.

Suddenly, she felt everything inside her shatter.

Before she knew it, she was the very core of something that threatened to destroy the entire Earth.

And all she heard was silence.