Fire. It was everywhere, seeping to the untouched and unknown corners, engulfing everything in its path, consuming it entirely. Smoke billowed everywhere, causing her eyes to sting and breath to catch. She had no idea where she was and how she came there. All she knew was that there was a reason why she was here. Darkness surrounded her, she wasn't able to see anything at all, not even the floor upon which she was standing. Fog, lots and lots of it shrouded the place, reducing the visibility even more. She turned her back towards the fire and started running, but she never seemed to get away from it. It was as if the fire followed her where she went. Then, suddenly, she felt the presence, of another being in the Dark, with her. She stopped and turned back, facing the fire. Right in front of her was a window, larger in size than a man, which she knew, wasn't there when she started running. But what she saw beyond the window stopped her heart beat. She looked into the all to familiar face, with its ever messy black hair and starling green eyes, brighter than the brightest emerald. The figure was dressed in black, completely, so it seemed camouflaged in the darkness. The figure tilted it head to the side, a gesture so familiar and loved that it brought tears to her eyes. Then it gave a wistful smile, which got her jolting back.

"No." she said softly. "NO!"

She screamed as she tried to summon each and every ounce of power in her body to extinguish the fire, eliminate the darkness. One moment, the figure smiling at her glowed bright, its eyes full of knowledge, and it disappeared. The next moment, she was lying on something soft and was staring at the dark ceiling, tears rolling down her cheek.

Orion was looking at her, his puppy eyes full of concern for her. Mikan was in her room, on her bed, suffering from another one of her nightmares. She stood up, and moved across the room to get herself a glass of water. The view out of her window was peaceful, exactly opposite of what was happening in her mind.

"Its getting worse day by day, Rio. More vivid."

She leaned back against the wall, the hand holding the glass shaking. Tears welled in her eyes again, promising to fall down her cheeks. Orion yelped somewhere down at her feet, nudging her. She took a deep breath and kept the glass down. "But I think I've already had my share of sorrow today, eh? So why don't we just head back?" She picked Orion up and laughed when he started licking her face. She'd already put him down on the bed when she first heard the noise. She wasn't sure what it was or where it came from, but she knew that it came from outside her room. Then she heard the sound of a door opening. A hundred possibilities flashed in her mind; thieves, some Natsume fan stalking him or some mad axe murderer... or another girl that Natsume had got to spend the night with. Her nose flared at the latter, but she assured herself that it was just because Natsume wasn't respecting her privacy. I couldn't care less about what he did or with whom. Right?

She swore ripely as she walked outside her room and slammed on the lights of the drawing room and noticed that Natsume's door was slightly opened. She swore again as she made her way across, promising herself that she wasn't going to alow any of this crap to occur, at least as long as she was there. She pushed the door open, "Hyuuga, if you are..."

But whatever she was wanting to say just died away in her throat. Natsume was there, his shirt unbuttoned, but there was no girl with him. She tried her best to ignore the surge of relief that she felt, and blushed deep when she felt Natsume's eyes on her. She just blinked when he raised one eyebrow at her, before she realised that she had forgotten her robe in her urgency. Somehow, realising that she was clothed in something light and sleeveless made her cold.

"I must have known. You are so in love with me aren't you Polka?"

Mikan glared at him, before she took note of the raspy voice in which he spoke. She took a proper look at him. He was dressed in black, black shirt that was completely unbuttoned, black jeans, that was torn at several places, he had taken off his shoes and had pieces of twigs and leaves stuck in his hair. She was puzzled but it soon turned into shock when she saw the wound in his abdomen. It looked as if somebody took a knife and mistook him for a curtain that they had to slash. She gasped loud enough to make Natsume wince.

"Keep it low will ya Polka? Its nothing much. Now why don't you just--"

"Don't you dare order me around Natsume. I wield the healing Alice, so obviously I know a serious case when I see one. That slash has to be at least an inch deep you idiot! What were you thinking when you went ahead and got yourself slashed like that? Ah, but of course you must behave like Lord Brat, don't you? Now wait here and don't you dare move an inch from where you lie. Get it?"

Natsume mouthed 'Lord Brat' and shook his head as she marched out of his room. All the time, as she was speaking, she had helped him move to a more comfortable and safer position on his bed. The wound hurt him like shit, but of course he wasn't going to tell her that. He grinned at the thought of her fluttering all around him, fussing about him, as she walked in. She was holding a vial in one of her hands which contained something pale green and shiny, and an engraved goblet in the other. She handed the vial over to him, and filled the goblet with water from the jug on his cabinet. She turned back and noticed that he was looking at her and the vial, back and forth. She raised an eyebrow at him and asked, "What? This a soap opera or something. Drink the medicine from the vial. Go on... I don't think it tastes bad."

He looked at her questioningly, before he uncorked the vial and drank the entire content in one gulp. The look on his face showed that he had rather liked the medicine or whatever it was. She kneeled on the floor beside his bed and took one of hands into both of hers. She closed her eyes and concentrated, hard. Soon, a gentle light engulfed both of them, and spread warmth all over. When she opened her eyes and smiled at him, he gasped and looked at his wound, which was almost healed. The cut was still there, but it was shallow now, almost just a scratch according to Natsume, and it didn't hurt anymore, it just stung. He looked back at Mikan, whom he thought looked wary and tired all of a sudden. She was even biting her bottom lip, causing him to smile.

"Polka, Thanks." He said, but frowned when she didn't reply. "Polka. Polka, you alright?" He shifted a bit, which made her come back to her senses. "Don't move. That's all I can do for the wound. The vial had the medicine that would make it... well, less messier. What? Do I have something on my nose?" She asked, rubbing her nose when she noticed Natsume staring at her. Again.

"You din't hear me did you? I asked you if you were alright." He said.

Mikan stood up and turned her back to him. "Of course I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be? You were the one who got slashed..." she said as she turned back to face him. This time, she had the goblet in her hand, which she gave him.

"What's this? A goblet with... what are these things on it?" The cautious voice in which he spoke made her smile. She just shook her head and replied, "Its Runes. The goblet has magical powers. Too complicated to explain right now. Now as we know, or rather, as you know that you've been through something tough today, we'll presume that you deserve a good night's sleep, without any nightmares... So that's what the goblet is for." He still looked unconvinced. "How do I know you haven't poisoned it?"

She glared at him, hard. "You're right. Why didn't I poison it?" When he looked at her apprehensively, she held out her hands. "Fine! Fine! I'll drink it first. If I don't die a painful death you can drink it yourself. If I do... then just bury me!"

She snatched the goblet from him and gulped down half of it. She waited for a two seconds before shooting Natsume a 'here! what did I tell you?' look. Natsume simply scowled as he drank the rest of the water from the goblet. His head slumped back to the pillow and he started feeling drowsy. Pleasantly drowsy.

"I don't think there's any point in me asking you what happened today, right?"

He looked at Mikan sitting on the floor, beside his bed and noticed that she still wasn't wearing her robe.

"You could've worn your robe when you went back into your room you know?"

Her eyes widened as she replied, pouting. "I forgot. I just remembered the goblet, the vial and tucking Orion in the bed."

"Orion? The pup?"

She smiled widely. "Yup. Zue and Kyoko, his sister gifted it to me for my sixteenth birthday, earlier this year." She yawned. "Well, I think I'll be heading bed now. It's late. Just give me a shout if you want anything." She stood up to leave, gathering her stuff. "Well then, good night, Hyuuga."

She took a step ahead when she felt a tug on her gown. She turned back and saw Natsume looking at her, his eyes half open, and his mouth slightly parted. She tried hard to ignore the somersaults her stomach was doing.

"So, it's back to Hyuuga again, huh? No. Don't say anything." He said when she opened her mouth to reply. "And I'll have no need to call you if I need you.. need help from you in the night." He said, with a slight smirk on his face.

Mikan pursed her lips. "And pray, may I know why that's so?" she asked.

Now he smirked, fully and sinisterly. Seductively.

"Because you're going to spending the night here. In my room."

A/U- Fine. A bons chappie as a sorry sign! Remember! Don't forget to review!