A/N: Hey, hey! Sorry for the long wait. This was a really tough chapter to write, character-wise. How I would have them act and react and such . . . whew. Next chapter will be a little less hard, I think. If it seems a bit disjointed, I apologize. I will try to fix it . . . later. I just really wanted to get this out there!

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Bad Dream

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"K-Kyoko . . .?" Ren choked. That was all he could really get out. His mind was awhirl. He almost felt like fainting himself.

I . . . she . . .

Ren's legs gave out from under his and he ended up sitting down next to the prone Kyoko. Anger was his first feeling, but then an odd sense of relief swept over him.

Good God, she knows . . . everything . . . well—almost everything.

Maybe he should leave. If he did perhaps she would wake up thinking it was just a dream . . . All just a bad dream . . .

Would it be a bad dream to her? No. He wouldn't let it be.

No.

It was time to stop running.

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Kyoko found herself running through a familiar glen. A flash of gold made her head turn.

"Corn!"

But the Corn before her was a man. A man with beautiful gossamer wings.

"Corn! You've grown! You're not gone from this world! Just like Tsuruga-san said!" She threw herself into the fairy's open arms. "I thought I'd never see you again, Corn!"

"I'm here now, Kyoko-chan. I've been here for some time . . . right by your side."

Kyoko gazed up into the face of her beloved fairy prince and saw Ren staring back at her.

"Corn?"

Ren leaned down toward her, his golden hair fluttering in the breeze.

"It's me, Kyoko."

His lips were about to touch hers when . . .

Kyoko's eyes snapped open. She found herself in the passenger seat of a parked car.

Whose car?

Kyoko turned her head to see Ren in the driver's seat. He was apparently napping. Distracted from her situation, Kyoko watched the gentle rise and fall of Ren's chest as he slept. Her gaze traveled up to the unbuttoned collar of his dress shirt, to the peaceful face of a sleeping Ren.

"It's me . . ."

The events of that afternoon came flooding back to her.

This man is . . . was . . . Corn . . .

Kyoko smirked as she reached into her memory all those times she discussed Corn and the stone of the same name with Ren. How he must have felt and there she was, just prattling on in her own little world. Of course he had been sure Corn was still in this world; that he grew . . .

I bet he had a good laugh about it in his dressing room.

Kyoko's cheeks burned with embarrassment.

But, wait—wasn't there something else he had said . . . something even more important?

Kyoko shook her head in an effort to clear it, but it was no use. She still could not remember.

She had to get away.

As silently as possible, Kyoko crept out of the car. That was when she finally took a good look around.

The Koishikawa-Korakuen gardens!

He had taken her to the location of the final scene in the drama and their final day of shooting. The director had decided to shoot it in chronological order.

Kyoko made her way to a large flat stone by the lake and sat down. She knew she really shouldn't be out there. It was night and who knew what kind of creeps were lurking around in the forest.

As if on cue, she heard grassy footsteps come up behind her. She tensed and spun around to see Ren's tall figure coming down the slight slope. It was not Ren's usual confident movements. It was almost clumsy, like a normal person.

He eased himself down onto the grass beside her. He was silent for a moment then,

"I'm sorry, Mogami-san."

"Oh, it's alright, Tsuruga-san." Kyoko replied, a hint of bitterness in her tone. "I really feel like an idiot, but that's nothing new, so, it's alright. I'm sure you got a good laugh out of it all."

"No, I did not!" Ren said, so vehemently that Kyoko jumped. "You don't know how many times I wanted to tell you, how I almost told you . . ."

"Almost," Kyoko said wryly.

"I can be a coward, Mogami-san, despite this confident façade I call Tsuruga Ren."

"That isn't your real name?"

"No. And neither is Corn." Ren paused, as if reluctant to go on. But, Kyoko was staring at him expectantly. Ren sighed then took a deep breath.

" My name is Hizuri Kuon . . ."