Eld welcomed Etsu into his arms as she climbed into bed with him. "I have trouble falling asleep without you, too," he admitted. Only exhaustion had gotten him to bed at any reasonable hour the last few nights, and it wasn't uncommon for him to have stayed up well after dark after she left. Sometimes he'd simply lay in bed, other times he'd give up and try and read until he fell asleep or even go outside, sit on the hill. He no longer feared the darkness, but he still didn't like being alone.

You won't have to sleep alone anymore. Next time, I'm going with you. He didn't say it just yet; in case she objected, he didn't want to bring it up until this whole mess was over. But he hoped she'd understand; he loved her, and she needed him more than Hillcrest did. If anything, he only brought danger to the town by staying.

Etsu let out a content hum as she nestled into Eld's chest and enjoyed the warmth of his arms around her. It felt like forever since she had this, even then it had only been a couple of evenings.

"Arigatou gozaimasu, Tsukimono Er-rd-kun," Etsu whispered contently.

Why she thanked him, not even Etsu knew for sure. She just felt like she should be thanking him right now . . .

She was content, yes. Very much so! Sleepily content was a good way to describe her, even. She was happy enough to shut her eyes and think of nothing else, to just enjoy being in Eld's presence like this again, with his arms around her and her head upon his chest, happy again. Etsu would fall asleep, even, if Eld did not intentionally rouse her.

"No...thank you," Eld whispered lightly. Of everyone in Hillcrest, it was Etsu who understood him the most, Etsu who supported him, and Etsu who believed in him, even when he didn't believe in himself. If she had not been around to guide him, chances are he would be a very person--and not a better one, perhaps even an Ame Voleur.

Even though there was much to think about, with her curled up beside him he could always be blissfully, obliviously content. It was perhaps one of the few situations he could consistently bring himself to enjoy without worrying about what was going on, what he needed to do. Etsu made him feel secure, a feeling that was all too rare these days.

And soon he too would drift off to sleep, happy in the arms of the girl he loved...

Darkness. A constant shadow, extending, perhaps, for miles-- an abstract existence which bore no meaning nor identity. A lifeless, purposeless blackness, presenting no inky reflection, just an eternal nothingness; existence without persistence: identity's shadow.

There were no figures. Only voices. Voices that had covered the darkness before, that had trawled the oily blackness of this blank existence, the host of the shadow and the cold intruder.

"Erase them."

"Why?"

". . . why? You needn't know why."

"A cause."

"What?"

"Give me a cause."

"Yes--yes, of course. To erase them is your cause!"

"Justification."

"What?"

"Give me justification."

"I--wh-what? You've never asked for . . . nnhhh! Wh-what the hell are you doing?! S-stop it, you . . . you piece of . . . GRAGH!"

And for a long moment, there was silence.

"Justifica--"

"Fine! Revenge! To take away his justification!"

Silence persisted. Here, time was menial. It was pointless. An hour became a minute, a minute became a second. Here, existence was a shadow; form meant nothing. Time meant nothing. Function meant nothing. The mind, and the identity, was all that remained.

That evening, Eld was not greeted by the shade he knew so well. When he went to sleep, his thoughts were elsewhere, unrelated to her. He hadn't expected to see her, and just like one previous night, she hadn't specifically drawn him in to her dark world. No; that night, Eld was left to his own devices, to dream another dream--a dream that would come naturally to him, without the guidance of anything or anyone.

A strange dream, it would be. One that couldn't be described or understood. There was wind and rain, claps of thunder and falling trees. No one could stand; they could hide, they could try to escape, but those that stood were bowled over. Those that hid were crushed under the weight of the world baring down upon them. Those that tried to escape found their routes cut off, and soon all hope was lost. Brush, trees, earth, structures of all sorts--homes, buildings big and small, everything-- all taken away by nature's fury.

It was . . . a hurricane.