Disclaimer: Daine, Numair and Onua are characters belonging to Tamora Pierce. I wish I owned them but sadly I don't. I own the fun fair guy though! That's something :)

SeventhSpanishAngel12: Now that would be telling ;)

Anonymous: Since Peter is a character I kind of threw in on a whim he kind of is Perin and he kind of isn't. You'll see what I mean in a few chapters…

Water

They spent the day enjoying the rides and looking at the stalls. Daine loved the fact that despite the age difference, Adam was still young at heart and didn't mind indulging the childishness that emerged in her because of their surroundings. After some coaxing, Daine even dragged Adam into the stall of a fortune teller. Daine didn't know what she was expecting but the woman in the tent said nothing overtly ominous, claiming that Daine was soon to come into some fortune. I guess it's not like in the movies where the fortune teller tells me everything I need to know about what's happening to me.

"So Daine," Adam's warm voice began, "what exactly are you intending to do with this large fortune you are about to acquire?"

Daine thought about it for a moment. "Well if I do get stumble across some wealth, a new apartment wouldn't hurt."

"What's wrong with the one you have now?" He asked curiously.

"What's right with it?" Daine joked. "Anyway, the lady didn't say it would be a large fortune. For all we know I could find a dollar lying around somewhere." She pointed out pragmatically.

Adam tugged his nose then shook his head at her pessimism. "Or you could win the lottery."

"Mouse manure."

Adam almost choked on the water he had been sipping at. "What?"

Daine blinked, and then giggled at herself. "Sorry, I don't know where that expression came from. It just seemed like the right thing to say."

The fair around them was a cacophony of music, shouts and laughter. They walked some more, not talking much. Oddly, they had already come to that stage in their friendship where they felt comfortable together without feeling the need to make needless small talk. If neither was in the mood to talk; they didn't.

What am I doing here anyway? Daine wondered. Aside from the obvious reasons- to have fun and hang out with Adam she had previously felt an inexplicable urge to come today. When that flyer had been blown against her leg it had seemed only natural to impulsively follow the direction it sent her in. But now that clarity was eluding her.

Daine glanced around, wondering what they should do next. Or maybe they should just call it a day and head home? A dog cut across their path causing both Daine and Adam to halt, watching the flurry of fur and paws dart past them followed by its owner, looking frazzled. The woman threw a quick "Sorry!" back at Adam and Daine and in that moment Daine caught sight of a round friendly face and grey-green eyes before the woman disappeared into the crowd.

That face. Daine stared, feeling shocked at the chord it struck in her memory. The image almost burned the inside of her retinas, leaving an imprint there, sending her mind into a whirlwind of something akin to deja vous.

A woman, standing in the middle of a fair. Annoyed. Tired. Looking for a trainee. Onua Chamtong.

This time was different from when her mind had registered the duplicate of Adam in Numair. She had had dreams about this woman way before she'd ever set eyes on her. There was no way her dreams could have captured that woman so perfectly when Daine was sure they'd never met before. There was no denying it now- these dreams were not normal.

Not normal? Who am I kidding? We're dealing with the downright supernatural.

She suddenly realized she was still standing stock still and forced herself out of the daze she has fallen into. Adam was at her side staring in the direction the Onua look-alike has ran off into. Daine frowned, wondering what he could be looking at. Then she saw a buxom blond in his line of sight and had to force down an odd feeling and coughed loudly. Adam jumped, a slightly guilty look on his face, which made Daine chuckle.

"Caught you." She accused.

"Huh?"

"You're not a complete gentleman after all, looks like." Daine teased, gesturing to the blond. She was grateful for the distraction from her previous stream of thoughts.

Adam laughed, "She's not my type."

Daine frowned, looking at the woman properly now. She looked so polished. Slim, curvaceous, blond haired and blue-eyed. "Beautiful isn't your type?" Daine raised her eyebrow disbelievingly.

Adam shook his head and nudged her chin with his fist, making her face a few inches to the left of the woman. "Married isn't my type." The girl watched as a tall dark haired man joined the woman with a passionate kiss.

"Oh," She muttered, feeling foolish. "But how could you tell?" They weren't close enough for him to have noticed a wedding ring.

Adam gestured for them to start walking again. "As you get older you become better at reading people. I won't lie to you; I've had my experiences with women. Some were great."

Daine nodded, noticing the diminutive look in the man's eyes. "And others?" She asked softly.

Adam met her gaze and smiled. "Water under the bridge."

Daine realized that was all she was going to get out of him for now and decided a change of subject was in order. She saw something that might be fun for them. "Win me a teddy bear?" She asked him.

Adam saw a stall he thought might not be rigged and pulled her towards it.

As they got closer Daine saw that it the only thing behind the portly man running the small stall was a large target with a red dot in the center. Hung above and all around were teddy bears of various shapes and sizes, but all brown with a small gold cupid insignia embroidered onto the posteriors. No one else was queued up here; most people were rushing about trying to get their fill of the rides before it rained. The clouds were darkening threateningly.

"Hello there sir, are you gonna try and win your lady friend a bear?" The large man asked cheerfully.

Adam grinned. "I might, or you could save me the embarrassment and just give me one for cash?"

Daine shoved him playfully. "Seeing you embarrassed is almost as fun as winning."

The man shook his head. "Just for that, I'm going to play and win." He turned to the patron, "What do I have to do?"

"Simple sir, shoot one arrow into the gold circle and you win a prize. You get three arrows for a dollar." He handed Adam a large bow and took a dollar in return.

Daine almost lost her balance as she stumbled backwards at the sight of the archane looking object. No way. No way is this all a coincidence. First the Onua look-alike and now a bow? This is just weird.

Adam glanced at her, "You alright?"

Daine swallowed and forced back that odd feeling again. You are Daine Sanderson. Daine Sanderson. Daine Sanderson. "Yeah I'm fine. Quit stalling."

Adam grinned and returned his attention to the contraption in his hand, awkwardly brining the arrow up to the bow and notching it there. He leveled it at his target said to Daine, "Just call me Robin Hood," Before letting it fly. Unfortunately the arrow nearly missed the target all together, landing on the outermost ring.

Daine couldn't quell an eruption of giggles. "Robin Hood? More like Friar Tuck!"

Adam was momentarily abashed but recovered fast. "If you're so smart then you try." He handed her the bow.

Daine shrugged and took it, notching an arrow and letting it loose before she even had time to think about it properly. It hit dead center. She did not want to think about the implications behind that, nor the fact that she had never used a bow and arrow in her waking life and so accepted her prize in silence, hugging the soft artificial fur to her face.

Adam shook his head. "There's going to be no living with you now, is there?"

Daine laughed, happily. "Pirates of the Caribbean?"

"One of my favorite movies." He admitted.

At that moment, the heavens saw fit to end their impromptu outing. After days of heat the weather finally broke and it rained. Heavily. The water quickly soaked Daine and she gratefully accepted Adam's offer of a ride home.

In the car they talked of inconsequential things so Daine was not given the opportunity to linger on the day's weirdness. She could see Adam becoming one of her closest, maybe her best, friend in the near future. Never before had she connected too fully and so quickly with another human being.

When they reached Daine's apartment she smiled easily at the man sitting next to her. "Thanks for everything, I had so much fun."

Adam returned her smile, "Me too."

"I hope we can do this again soon. Hang out I mean."

"Definitely. I'll call you." Adam winced as soon as the words left his mouth, that sounded like something he would tell any of the random women he dated. Daine was a friend, not one of those women. "I'll be seeing you soon, maybe I'll stop by Rosie's again sometime." He amended. "You owe me an ice cream."

Daine nodded and grabbed her teddy bear from the back seat, not noticing that her cell phone slipped out of her back pocket in the process. "Bye!" She jumped out of the car and made a beeline for her front door, trying to be as quick as possible as the rain beat down at her and the pavement around her.

She didn't hear Adam getting out of the car and running after her with her cell phone because a moment of panic swept through her as she felt herself lose her footing and slip, her feet flying upwards in front of her as she fell backwards, letting out a loud yelp.

And then suddenly she was suspended.

Adam had caught up just in time, managing to obstruct her fall by catching her under her arms. She stared up at the upside-down image of him as her eyes began to fill with rain water and began to laugh, seeing the irresistible humor in the situation. Adam pulled her to her feet, laughing with her. "Thanks."

"I said I'd see you again." He jibed.

She smiled. "You timed it perfectly."

Time suddenly seemed to stand still.

"I said I'd see you again," Numair quipped, leaning on a nearby tree.

Daine grinned up at him. "You timed it perfectly"

They stared at each other.

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