Everything comes like a flash before my eyes: the Dreamscape, the man I hate, the portal; and the sentence I've just read. And when I think about him, another person comes to my mind, the one who he tried to kill several times: Jake.

I panic inside.

"Dad" I jump on my feet. "Take mom to he hospital to see if she's got any infections. I… Have to go." I don't know if my voice sounded shaky, but I don't care.

"No, you're not going anywhere! We still have to find out who's the responsible for-"

"I know, dad, I know. But not right now, I REALLY have to go…"

"Rose…" My mother says. "We won't lose you again."

I walk towards her and take her hand in both of mine. "You won't. I'll see you guys later, ok?"

With a huge afford, my mother nods; and I get out of my apartment. As soon as I'm out of their sight, I start running as fast as I can. If those guys were after something, I bet they had looked for it in another place before they went to mine; and thinking about it makes my whole body turn cold.

When you're in danger, adrenaline helps to increase your physical resistance, as a defense. And I can almost taste it right now.

—

I run so fast that, when I stop, I can't fell my legs. But I don't hesitate: when I spot the door I'm looking for, I kick it and it falls to the… Floor?

If it had been a floor once, I can't see it. It's covered by pieces of broken glass and TVs and fans and all the stuff that once was on the shelves. I climb on the door, which fell on a fan. I can hear my own heartbeats.

"JAKE!" I shout, in the hope of hearing something back. I'm really stupid; of course they're not here; whoever did this must have taken them away. Looking at the bright side of this situation, obviously.

I start looking for something; any clue, anything. Just think about the moment: when did they do this? How long has it been since they left?

I spot a cup of tea, which must be Grandpa's. He used to drink it hot every morning; hotter than a human being can support. Dragons… When I touch the cup, it's cool; so Fu got here after the chaos.

"FU?! Gosh, where are you?!" I hear noises coming from behind the curtains, which hide a small room. I walk towards it, being careful not to hurt my feet and raising my arms so that I can keep my balance. And as soon as I open the curtains, I see Fu sitting on the ground, with his eyes focused on something beyond the floor.

I stare at him for a while until he finally speaks up.

"I failed, Rose… My mission… To be their animal guardian… I-" And he stops.

"You didn't FAIL-"

"Really?! HOW CAN YOU HAVE A DROP OF HOPE THAT THEY'RE STILL ALIVE?"

I freeze. My voice sounds cold and quiet. "I was trying to hold on to that."

He looks away. I've never seen Fu shout like that.

"The Huntsman must have taken them away" I say, breaking the silence. "So, maybe, we could ask for help. Maybe someone who has already located his lair once or twice…"

He looks back at me. "Spud…"

I smile. Or, at least, try to. "Yeah. So are you taking your dirty butt out of there or what?"

He smiles and picks a notebook from a shelf. While he makes some notes, I truly don't know what for, I look at the stand and spot a small piece of paper, with something written in Lao Shi's handwriting: TOWSD. I don't even know if it's a word.

"Ok…" Fu says. "I have to go somewhere first. Meet me at the Long's in 30 minutes."

"Where are you going?"

"East."

I cross my arms. "How exact."

"You want me to go to your place? It's East. And closer to me."

"No, that's fine. Thanks."

He raises his paw to the right side of his forehead and moves it quickly at my direction, as saying goodbye. And then turns around and leaves.

I've walked during 20 minutes and now I'm standing in front of Jake's home. That's enough time to remember there's some time I don't take a shower.

Fu arrives and there's a backpack with him.

"That's for you." He says and hands it to me.

"How…"

"I did go to your house. I brought clothes, in case you wanna take a shower here."

I stare at him. "Am I smelling that bad?"

"Nah…" He shakes his head and then puts his index finer and thumb close to each other. "Maybe THIS little…"

"Won't you ring the bell?!"

He goes up the stairs and rings it. Some seconds pass by and I hear a voice that, as I recall, it's Spud's. But when the doors open, it's not him that I see.

There's an Asian girl staring at me, with her eyes wide open. She's really pretty – must be around 18. What-

"Rose…" I hear a male voice as a man shows his face, beside the girl. He has a little beard and his hair is messy. And then, only then I begin to link the points: I didn't know how long I've been away. Now I do.

Cause I'm in front of Haley Long and Arthur Spudinsky.

6 years. I've been lost during 6 years. I can't believe it.

"H-How…" She says. I smile and gesture at Fu.

I run towards them and hug them really hard. This looks like a dream - all the hugs and tears I've always wished for. But I know it's not; 'cause there's someone missing.

I let go and see Haley is crying.

"Hey..." I say, holding her face in both of my hands and drying her tears with my thumb. She may be a woman now, but I'm acting like she's still that little girl.

"You're… Jake... Gramps..." She says.

"I know. I know, we'll get them back."

She nods and I let her go. We walk in and Spud slaps me on the back.

"It's really good to see you."

"It's good to see you too."

"Ouch!" He says when I slap him on his back.

"Sorry..." Guess that one came out too strong.

We explain to Spud what we need him to do.

"Wait..." He says. "But how do I find them? Ya know, there's no clue this time."

Fu smiles. "Actually, there is. A few years ago, we implanted a microchip inside his head."

"You what?!"

"Yep. We did it so that we could track him. It made things a lot easier. Anyway..." He puts his paw inside his folds and takes a paper out of it. "Here's the code."

"You REALLY did this?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

Fu nods.

I shake my head in disbelief. "Awesome... I wish we had done it before."

Fu blinks one eye while doing a lay down L with his hand and a click with his mouth.

"You know what... Guess things have just started to work out." Spud says, smiling at us.

That's when we hear the doorbell and a boy calling Haley.

"And... My good thoughts collapse."

"Who's that?" I ask.

"Alex. Haley's evil boyfriend."

She lets her head fall to one side while looking at him. "C'mon! He's not EVIL..."

"Haley! Are you there?!" We hear the boy again, and she turns around to get the door, while Spud looks at her with sad eyes.

I get closer to him.

"What's up with the evil thing?"

"He's a jerk. And disgusting. And stupid. And an asshole."

"So it has nothing to do with your..." I mutter the following words. "Feelings for her?"

"What?" He seems shocked. "You've just come back, what the hell you're talking about- no, no, this is sick and wrong..."

I raise an eyebrow. "Is it?"

"Just like when you watch a show and there're those two characters that no one would ever think of them as a couple, and then one day you read a fanfic that ships them and you're like 'this is sick and wrong!'"

I keep staring at him and he stares at me back, until she's back with the evil boy, and I shrug it off. Fu puts his front paws on the ground and barks.

"So, girl, friends of yours?" He asks her.

"Yeah, guess you know Spud..."

"Of course." He lowers his head and raises it again. "Baked Potato Head."

Spud smiles. "Mind and ass made of plastic..."

"Too long."

"Three Longs and you're out."

"AND," Haley cuts them off. "This is Rose."

"WOW!" He walks to me. "You're THE Rose?! Finally, I've always wanted to meet you. Why couldn't you answer our messages?"

"You see, there was A LOT of interference around where I was..."

"They have to fix those communication problems..."

"You tell me..." I raise my shoulders and let them fall back into place. "So, I must take a shower. I'll go back home-"

"No, what? Does she really have to go all the way to her house just to take a shower?!" Alex says.

Haley nods. "That's right Rose. You can take it here, if you want to."

"Are you sure?"

"No kidding. C'mon."

She walks up the stares with me and points at the bathroom.

"I know you remember where the bathroom is, but I wanted to show you the towels are inside this closet now. I'll lend you some clothes."

I smile. "You don't need to, Fu brought me some of mine. But thanks, Hales. Really, thanks."

She hugs me again. "I just wish he was here."

"Me too..."

She smiles sadly and goes back to the living room.

I get inside the bathroom with my bag and lock the door, taking my clothes off afterwards. I open the closet and, when the towel is on the stand, I open the glass door and stand under the shower, closing it later.

The water starts to fall when I turn the shower on. It falls cold at first and I feel a shock - but it warms up as the time passes by. I open the little window, next to my head, so that the vapor won't damage the closets and the door, which are made of painted wood.

That's when something back appears on the corner of my vision. And, without time to react, I feel my neck is being squeezed.

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Author Notes:

Thanks for reading, guys! Really, that means a lot.

I hope you're liking it :)

See ya ;) xoxo