SailorStar9: Chapter 3 goes up. This is Chapter 4.

Disclaimers: I do not own both the animes. However, I do own the pairing, I hope.

Chapter 4: A Place Far From Home

Shun's Dream Sequence

Shun's eyes widened on horror as he saw Eva, in her Mercury Princess form, standing on a crumbling piece of rock, the area around her falling into ruins. Eva then turned to look at him with a sad and pleading look in her eyes.

Shun snapped his eyes open.

What is this strange sense of over-protectiveness I feel around that girl? Like I know her from somewhere. He wondered.

"Everything's alright, Shun." Skyress snapped him out of his thoughts.

"We're here?" Shun inquired.

"I guess so." Skyress replied as Shun sat up. "The last thing I remember is the Legendary Six Soldiers and then I woke up next to you."

"What?" Shun blinked. "A train?"

"This is not what I imagined the World of Tests would look like at all." he noted. "This could be any place back home, except of course, there is no one around, like you and I."

"It's like a ghost town." Skyress remarked on her partner's shoulder. "Look, everything is so rundown. I wonder if the other Brawlers are around somewhere."

"No, we're supposed to be here alone." Shun corrected.

"Then, let's keep moving." Skyress suggested.

"I don't know why those Legendary Soldiers sent us here." she added, as Shun continued walking. "But I do know we're in this strange place for a reason."

"Yeah." Shun agreed. "If being alone is the test, then this is way too easy. It doesn't bother me being on my own. I don't need anybody. I can take care of myself, no problem."

"Oh, hello." a girl who looked like she was eight, appeared.

"I guess your train was late, huh?" she added at Shun's confused look.

"You were expecting me?" Shun inquired.

"Yeah, I was getting bored." the girl replied. "I need someone to play with."

"Play what?" Shun asked.

"How about tag?" the girl giggled.

"You're it." she laughed some more and took off. "Come on."

"Try and catch me." she sang.

"Catch you?" Shun echoed.

"You can't catch me." the girl taunted, hiding in a wooden maze "You can't catch me."

"Who is she?" Shun asked.

"I don't know." Skyress replied. "But she seems to know you."

"Yeah, she does." Shun agreed. "Well, I guess it won't hurt to play along for a while."

If this game is part of the test, then we're already passed for sure. He mused as he went off after the girl.

"I'm over here." the girl ran through a cross-junction.

Knowing that he would not be able to end this game of tag if he kept running, Shun leapt onto the wall on the side and landed before the shocked girl.

"Now, you're it." he told her.

"Uh ah, you have to step on my shadow to win." the girl struck out her tongue.

"What?" Shun echoed.

"Those are the rules cos we're playing shadow tag." the girl replied.

"Just kidding." she smiled at Shun's blink.

"Hey wait!" Shun called out as the girl took off running.

Growling, he went off after her with his ninja speed.

The girl turned around to see that Shun was not behind her. Confident that she had lost him, she hummed as she walked forward.

"No, I've got you." Shun grinned, resting his hands on the shocked girl's shoulders.

"Hey, you're fast." the girl giggled. "Okay, onto the next game."

"Another one?" Shun groaned.

"Yeah, 'Kick The Can'." the girl replied, kicking an empty can on the ground. "Come on, follow me."

"She sure seems happy to have you here." Skyress noted.

"I'll say." Shun agreed.

"You're up! It's your turn now." the girl waved at him.

"Okay, here I go." Shun let out a rare smile.

"That was a good one." the girl chuckled as Shun sent the empty can into the air.

"It's more fun to play with someone than it is to be alone all the time." she remarked, the pair climbing up a hill.

"Sometimes." Shun added.

"You mean you like to be alone?" the girl inquired.

"Yeah, I guess it's okay." Shun replied.

"Oh." the girl blinked.

"I have a bunch of friends." Shun explained. "But they can be a handful."

"You're lucky." the girl chuckled.

"I don't think I've ever heard you laugh before, Shun." Skyress noted after hearing her partner's laughter. "It's good to see this side of you."

"Hey, look over here." the girl interjected. "This is my favorite place of all. I always come up here and look at the sunset. As long as the sun is in the sky, I never feel lonely. It makes me really happy."

"Shun, don't you think it's beautiful?" she asked.

"Yeah." Shun nodded. "I haven't seen a sunset like that, well, since I was your age. This really brings back a lot of memories."

"Something's not right about all this." Skyress pointed out.

"And what's that?" Shun asked.

"I'm not sure how long we've been here, but the sun is still in the same position in the sky." Skyress remarked. "It's as if it's never going to go down."

"Yeah, it isn't moving." Shun agreed. "I wonder what that means."

"I know." the girl replied "If the sun always stays up in the sky, we can keep playing forever, if you want to."

Shun was struck be a flashback

Flashback

"Hey mom! I'm home!" the younger Shun called out as he returned from school.

"Mom?" he shouted when he received no answer.

"Mom?" he called. "Mom?

"Oh no! What's wrong?" he asked his coughing mother, having found her by the kitchen counter.

"Wait Shun." his mother started, after letting off coughing on her bed. "I thought you were going over to Dan's to play after school today."

"No, not today, mom." the boy shook his head.

"Oh, come on." his mother chided. "You know you can't fool me."

"Well, I..." Shun started.

"There now." his mother scolded. "It's my job as your mother to know what you're up to."

"I'm sorry." Shun apologized. "I knew you weren't feeling well and I didn't want you to be here all by yourself."

"Thank you, Shun." his mother smiled.

"Oh, look at that." she looked at the setting sun. "When I was young, I used to wish the sun would never set. That way, I could play as long as I wanted to. I had so many friends back then. Almost as many a you do now. That was a really happy time. My friends and I would play all kinds of games. We had so much fun. Sunsets like that don't last forever, so enjoy them while you can."I

"She's just like, my mom." Shun realized.

"Don't let it get to you." Skyress chided. "This is only part of the test."

"I'm glad you're here." the girl said. "I've been really lonely without anyone to talk to. When I got here, there was nobody around. I looked everywhere, but I couldn't find anyone. I tried to keep myself busy, but pretty soon, I got bored. It's not much fun being alone. Oh well, at least I have the sunset to look at. Then, I saw you and I hoped you'd stay and play with me."

"Please?" she smiled.

"What are you going to do, Shun?" Skyress asked.

"Please, Shun?" the girl begged. "I have another really good game we can play now."

"Look at this." she revealed a Bakugan ball in her palm.

"Bakugan?" Shun exclaimed.

"This is it." Skyress realized. "This is the test Oberus, the Vestroia Soldier, was talking about. And you'll have to battle this little girl."

"You want to play?" the girl smiled. "It's lots of fun."

"Shun, if this little girl is your mother, then you'll have to focus if you want to make it through this." Skyress reminded him.

"I'll try, Skyress." Shun replied. "But this test has gotten a whole lot harder all of a sudden."

"Okay Shun." the girl brought them to an abandoned railway. "It's time for a showdown. Let's play Bakugan."

"Gate Card, set!" the pair started the duel.

A/N: I'm skipping the Bakugan battle because I know you guys know what happen.

Finally, after a burst of emotions from the normally stoic teenager, Skyress evolved into Storm Skyress and defeated Oberus.

After the battle...

"What happened?" Shun asked, when they were transported back. "Where are we now?"

"I don't know." Storm Skyress replied. "But this looks familiar to me."

"Look around you." Oberus appeared before them. "This is what my world Vestroia looks like now. The Princess' prayers could only do so much. I sometimes wonder what kind of future there will be for this place, but I haven't given up hope yet."

"Please don't." Shun told her. "I know tomorrow will be better. Hopefully, for both our worlds."

"You can trust him, Oberus." Storm Skyress assured the Ventus Guardian.

"I know I can." Oberus replied, her suspicions on Shun being the Princess' Soul Twin was confirmed

"Thank you." Storm Skyress remarked.

"You and your friends have many battles ahead of you, Shun." Oberus warned. "If you're true to one another, you'll win them all. May the light of the Princess be your guide. Good luck."

With that, she disappeared.

Back with Eva...

"Princess, you felt that?" Exedra asked when he sensed a surge of energy from Oberus' domain.

"Yes. Eva nodded. "Yet, another one of them has started to evolve."

"Oberus has lost then." Exedra concluded after another sharp surge of energy.

"Yes." Oberus admitted, transporting back after a while.

"My suspicions were correct, Princess." she reported to Eva. "He is really who he is. But..."

"He doesn't remember." Eva finished the Ventus Bakugan's sentence.

"Unfortunately." Oberus replied.

"I see." Eva noted. "Guess only time will tell."

SailorStar9: Now that's done, read and review. Before I sign off, I'll like to explain something. A Soul Twin is akin to a soulmate. However, the bond between Soul Twins is much stronger than a soulmate's.