Chapter 2

"This place hasn't changed much, huh…" Jowy sighs, grinning. "Still as lively as ever."

"Yeah." Smile back at him.

Just as Jowy said, the village market really hasn't changed much. I still recognize most of the vendors here. I even remember seeing some of them when I used to come here with Grandpa Genkaku.

"Ne, Kenji, look at this." Jowy beckons me to come closer. He's peering at some of the seafood lined up at the wooden table. There's squid, then prawns, and then clams, and…

"Geh!" Jowy suddenly grabs my arm.

"Jowy?" Blink at him curiously.

"Fish… moving… It kinda startled me. Hehe…" He grins sheepishly.

"Jowy…" Cover my lips to stifle my laughter.

"Hey!"

Too late.

"Don't laugh, you!" He traps me into a headlock.

"But you know…" He looks at the fish again after he releases me. "These don't look that fresh, really. Maybe we should go back to the castle sometimes and try fishing on the port."

The castle? But that's… I… After what happened. After what I did. That place is…

"Ow!" Jowy pinches my cheek. "Jowy! What'd you do that for?"

"If you're not ready to go back there, just say so." He looks at me sternly. "You… You rarely speak up. Sometimes, it makes me feel like I don't understand you. But, even though you're not saying anything, you'd have this sad look in your eyes. And I hate seeing that." Then he gently caresses the spot he pinched earlier. "If there's something you want to say, talk to me, okay? I don't want to see that kind of face anymore, ne?"

"Okay." Lean on his touch.

"That's about it, right?" Jowy asks as we near the market's exit, double-checking the contents of the straw bag Nanami gave us before we left.

"Yup." I check on the list she gave us along with it. All of the items have already been crossed out. "I think we got everything she wrote."

"Right. Let's go. Nanami will beat us up if we take too long. And… Hm?"

Jowy frowns. I follow his gaze and see that at the town's entrance, there's a group of kids huddled together.

"I wonder, what's going on…?" Jowy mumbles.

"Let's go see." I grab his wrist and we dash towards them.

"What's up?" The kids look up at Jowy upon hearing his question.

"We saw this neechan (1) walk in just a while ago. And then all of a sudden she just passed out." A little girl in pigtails tells us.

The fallen figure is wearing a white cloak with a fuzzy trim and underneath that, she's also wearing a white robe with silver linings on the hem and sleeves. Beside her is a staff bearing the shape of a crescent moon on one end, and with curious patterns carved all throughout the handle.

"Can I see…?" Jowy kneels down beside her and starts checking the pulse on her neck and wrist. "She seems fine. Maybe she's tired 'cause she traveled from far away, or maybe she fainted from the heat."

"Could be both…" Kneel down beside Jowy then lay my hand on her forehead. "It's not much, but…" Close my eyes. Feel the beating of my heart and slowly, let warmth flow from my heart and into my palm.

"Kenji, your palm…" He touches my shoulder. "It's glowing."

"Mm… I know." My rune has the power to heal and it lights up whenever I use it. When it does, it feels so warm.

With my free hand, I reach for her wrist and feel her pulse as the warmth travels from my other hand into her unconscious form. In just a matter of seconds, I feel her fingers start to move. And then she groans.

When I open my eyes and look at her face, her eyes slowly open too. Her eyes are blue like the sky, perfectly complementing her short, light gold hair like the sun.

"Was it you?" She asks with a gentle smile. "You healed me, right?"

"Mm!" Grin back at her.

"Thank you… AH!" She abruptly sits up and grabs my arm. "I have to go to Orange Castle! If you know where it is, can you please give me directions? I have to go there immediately! If I don't go now, I won't be able to go back to our country soon and I'll be scolded again!" She babbles breathlessly.

I look at Jowy questioningly, and he answers. "Well, it's kind of a long way from here. Let's see, you just…"

"But you know where it is, right?" She asks insistently.

We nod at her.

"If you'll let me, I'll just look it up in your memory. It'll be faster that way." She looks at me with puppy eyes.

"Eh? O… Okay."

It can't be harmful, right?

"Excuse me…" She closes her eyes and touches my forehead with her index and middle fingers. I immediately feel a sort of force pulling something out of my head. It stops for a moment. Is it over? Ah, but why isn't she pulling her fingers back yet? And then I feel the same force come back into my head, and it stops again, as if it hit against a wall, but I can still feel it. It's still there.

And all of a sudden, I feel a sharp pain at the back of my head.

"Kenji!" As soon as I grimace, Jowy slaps her hand away. "What did you do?" He calmly asks her. His voice is quiet, but cold. And he's looking at her with a dangerous look in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" She bows repeatedly. "I'm still an amateur so… But I honestly didn't mean to hurt you. Please forgive me." She looks at me pleadingly.

"I'm okay, so don't worry about it." Smile at her.

"If your carelessness will just hurt other people, then don't use that power at all." Jowy scolds her, but the sad gleam in his eyes makes it feel like he's telling it more to himself than her.

"I'm terribly sorry." She bows again. Then she turns to me. "But I was able to find out the directions through the help of your memory. Thank you so much!" She bows, this time, out of gratitude. "I'll be on my way now, then. AH!"

"Wha… What?"

"How rude, I haven't even introduced myself yet! My name is Seisuke. I'm from Harmonia. Nice to meet you!" She extends her hand for a handshake.

"Um… I'm Kenji." Shake her hand.

"Jowy." Jowy does the same.

"I know." She beams. "Saw it in your memory." Then she winks at me.

"Well then, I'll be off! See ya!"

She picks up her staff, which we quite ignored up until now. She raises it and begins to draw strange symbols in the air. And with a puff of smoke, she disappears. Just like that. As if she was never here.

"Wow… That was so cool…" The kids around us gape in awe.

Oh. Right. I almost forgot that there were kids all over. It's a good thing only these kids seemed to have seen what happened. If there were adults around, it would've been quite a scene.

"And that neechan was so pretty."

"Seisuke, wasn't it…?" Jowy frowns slightly.

"And so you're telling me you two came back late because you were flirting with some mysterious pretty woman who was lost and fainted in the streets?" Nanami raises an eyebrow, arms crossed and right foot tapping on the floor. She began interrogating us as soon as we walked through the door.

"Look, I know it sounds dramatic but it's true." Jowy answers defensively.

"Hmph! Whatever." Nanami turns away with a huff and walks off to the kitchen. "But because you're late, don't complain if we eat a late dinner." She yells from the kitchen, while checking the ingredients we got.

"Hai…" Jowy and I sigh in defeat. And we march off to the kitchen to help.

Nanami then opens the drawer to get two peelers. I reach for the chopping board then Jowy passes me a knife, with him holding the sharp edge and offering the handle to me. "Ah, thanks." And then I pass it to Nanami the same way Jowy did to me. Nanami then hands the peelers to us. And so we start preparing dinner.

"Oh, by the way…" Nanami stops in the middle of chopping the potatoes Jowy and I peeled. "Isn't Seisuke a boy's name?" She tilts her head to the side.

I look at Jowy. And Jowy looks back at me. And we blink. And blink.

"EH?"

"This is so unfair…" Jowy sighs theatrically. "Why'd she have to make us wash the dishes, eh?" He rubs the sponge on the plate with more force than necessary. And… is he pouting?

That's so…

When he hears me chuckle, he looks at me and scowls.

"You… This again." He rubs the plate harder and then… hey!

He just put soap bubbles on my cheek! "Jowy!"

"Serves you right." He mimics Nanami's huff.

"Che." Pout at him.

And he starts pinching my cheeks. With soap bubbles and all.

"Jowy!" Pry his soapy hands off me. It's so itchy!

"Sorry sorry." He sniggers. "Just now, you looked so cute."

"You…" Scowl at him.

"That's… Kenji! Quit it! You look more adorable than scary like that." And he breaks into a fit of laughter. The bastard.

Fine. If he's going to be like that, I'm not talking to him for the rest of the… Eh?

Just now… Squint my eyes to get a better view. There's a window situated right above the sink where we're washing the dishes right now. And when I glanced outside, I thought I saw a silhouette under the tree. Was someone standing there…?

"Kenji? What's wrong?" Jowy looks at me questioningly.

"Ah, no… I thought I saw someone near the tree just now." Rub my eyes then look out again. There's nothing there. No one. "Must've been my imagination."

"Are you tired?" Jowy smiles gently at me. "We're almost done. Why don't you go to bed? I'll finish this myself."

"Mm-mm" Shake my head. "We'll finish quicker if we do it together."

"Are you sure?" He looks at me skeptically.

"Yeah."

He looks at me longer, as if studying my face. "Okay." He nods. Then he shifts his gaze to the tree. "Kenji. Last night, under our tree… You remember, right?" He asks me, looking outside with a gentle gleam in his eyes.

Last night…?

All of a sudden, I feel heat rushing to my cheeks. "M… Mm."

The plate I was rinsing suddenly slips from my hold. But Jowy catches it just in time then softly lays it on the sink, right beside the plate he was soaping. Then he turns to me, reaches for my hands with his soapy ones, and looks at me straight in the eye. "I wasn't joking. And it wasn't out of whim. And I wasn't just caught in the moment, either. I think that, at the back of my mind, it was something I've wanted to do for a long time. Just that… I never realized it until last night." With a sigh, he gives my hands a gentle squeeze. "I meant it."

"I know." Lean on his chest. Um… As much as I want to hug him right now, I really don't want to be hugged back by his soapy hands.

"Right. Now let's finish this off."

"Mm!" Beam at him.

And Jowy smirks at me. "And after we're done, maybe we can continue what we were talking about when we go to bed."

My head probably looks like a tomato by now.

Stupid Jowy.

It's so hot… What's going on? The last thing I remember is, we were just washing the dishes. And then we went to bed and I think I passed out as soon as we got into my room because I was so sleepy already.

For some reason, I can't breath. What is this smell?

… Smoke?

My eyes snap open. Fire… The whole place is burning!

"Jo… Jo…!" I want to call out Jowy's name, but my voice won't come out. It can't. All that's coming out of my mouth is my coughing and I could barely breathe. No, I don't have time to worry about this now. Jump out of bed. I must find Jowy and Nanami first, and make sure they're okay.

A door? When did my room have such a big door? Wait… Wha… What it this place? This isn't my room. It's too big. And…

When I look around, it's only then that I realize that everything here is foreign to my eyes.

And yet… it feels strangely familiar. As if I've been here before.

Where…? Oh, so the bed I was sleeping on is actually a four-post bed with royal blue curtains hanging from them. Big framed pictures are hung on the walls. There's a pair of curtains being blown by the wind. Behind it are opened glass doors leading to… Squint my eyes to get a better view… A balcony?

Amidst the crackling of flames, I hear the door open with a creak. When I turn to look, a boy comes in. He closes the door behind him and locks it. He looks around the room and as soon as our eyes meet, he runs to me. His eyes… They're the exact same color as mine. Looking closer, his hair is just the same as mine too. His cheeks look tear-stained. "We don't have much time." He sniffs. "Hurry, put this on."

He puts something on my forehead. And it perfectly fits, just like the gold circlet that I've always worn since I was a child. Wait… my circlet…?

"What is this?" I ask him. Strangely enough, my voice sounds so small. As if it were a small child's…

"This will protect you. Even if they come looking for you, they will never find you."

Suddenly, a series of loud banging resounds from the door.

"Go!" He gently pushes me away. "Run to the balcony and jump. Someone will catch you from below. Hurry!"

"But…" Hold on to his arm. "Let's go together."

"No. I'll make sure you get out of here safely first. Go!" He pushes me, more roughly this time. "I said go!" He yells.

"No!" Shake my head at him. I don't want to leave him. I can't remember who he is, but somehow, my heart pangs just at the mere thought of being separated from him.

And then with another loud bang, the door opens. Outside, there's a group of people whose faces I can't see, because the hoods of their blood red cloaks are pulled over their heads.

"I won't let you get him." He stands in front of me, blocking me from the intruders. With a sad yet determined look in his eyes, he closes his fingers over a his pendant- that strangely looks so familiar to me yet I can't remember when or where I saw it- then yanks it off. "Mother… Please protect us."

He starts to mutter some words. Words that are- again, though I don't recognize- sound familiar to me for some reason. In the middle of his chanting, I notice one of the hooded guys raise his hands. A chill runs down my spine, as if I knew what he was about to do. And then I understand why when red needles start forming out of nowhere. The needles are pointed at us. And with bullet like speed, it shoots off towards its targets.

Close my eyes. Here it comes!

All of a sudden, I hear something like metal hitting against glass. A very hard glass. Open my eyes a little and peek. I see the needles scattered on the floor right in front of us, and I see something like a glowing barrier, right between our bodies and the fallen needles.

"There isn't much time." He swiftly grabs my arm and hastily drags me across the room, carefully avoiding the scattered fire and falling debris. As soon as we reach the balcony, he closes the glass doors. From behind I can still see the hooded people trying to break through the barrier he created. And then he pulls me close and hugs me tightly.

After but a brief moment, he pulls away "Go." He whispers.

And he pushes me off the balcony.

As I feel myself falling, I hear my voice calling out to him.

… Before everything turns black.

I can feel someone firmly shaking my shoulders.

"Kenji! Kenji, wake up!"

That's Jowy's voice. He's calling me so loudly.

"Don't… Don't yell. I can hear you."

Open my eyes. Above me, I can see Jowy looking at me with such a worried face.

"Are you okay? You were groaning in your sleep. And your face was grimaced… It looked as though you were in pain, so I woke you up."

Now that I'm awake, my senses start to come back. My eyes are a bit blurry. And my head feels like I walked into a brick wall. And my heart… It's pounding so hard as if I've been running so fast.

Jowy runs his fingers through my hair. And whenever he does that, I feel calm. I can feel my heart slowing down, starting to beat normally little by little.

"Jowy… What happened?" I usually forget my dreams. But this dream felt so real.

"I was just watching you sleep, then you started groaning."

It's as if… It was trying to tell me something.

"And then, you started mumbling."

It's as if… It wasn't just a dream.

"I couldn't make out the words, so I leaned closer to listen to what you were saying. You were calling out to someone."

It's as if… It was a part of me.

"You were calling out to your 'older brother'…"

It's as if… It all happened before. A long time ago.

A/N: No no… this fic isn't dead yet (sweatdrops) I'm so sorry for the long wait. I'll try to update faster this time around. Err… hopefully. (shrinks)

Translations:

(1) neechan -in the family context, it is used to address to an elder sister; can also be used to address to a young girl