"You don't have to be here, you know. Nothing is tying you down here. Your training may have been too extensive, but you could handle yourself wherever you go. You don't have to be here." The girl was sitting on a wall in an empty field, sitting next to a green eyed boy. The girl was kicking here bare feet through the crisp spring air.

"You know I can't leave you, Trinity," the green eyed boy said, "I could never leave you." The boy gently stroked the side of the girl's face. "It's been hard and it's going to continue to be tough, but we can handle anything, together." He leaned in closer, their breath hot on the other's face.

"But Takeo..." the girl was interrupted with an explosion off in the distance. The debris was carried in the wind through the field. A blast of wind enveloped the two as the girl was blinded, for a moment, by her own hair.

"King Aurelius." The boy snarled. "He found us. We have to get moving!" The boy grabbed her arm and pulled her off the wall. They both landed with catlike ease and started down the hill in a sprint.

"How did he find us? I haven't used my magic in weeks!" The girl cried.

"I don't know. Keep moving." The boy was practically dragging the girl at this point. She was struggling to keep up.

The boy led them through a city and down a slim alley way. Beggars grabbed at the girl as she ran, trying to take something for themselves. They ran into a towering wall. "How did we make a wrong turn?!" The boy hit the wall in frustration, frantically looking for a way out.

"It's ok. I'll just shift." The girl closed her eyes.

"You can't now. I know the town better than anyone else. There is a slim chance he will find us, but he will have an advantage if you use your magic. There has to be a way out." He was searching the wall for bricks that might lead them to their hideout.

"Takeo?"

"What?" He snapped. He turned to face what the girl was pointing at. There was no king standing at the opening of the alley, but another dark figure.

"Father?" The girl asked, not able to keep the shock off her face. "You are dead. You can't be real."

"It's time to come home, Trinity." His smile was genuine, but not his own.

A robed figure loomed in the darkness behind him. The figure stepped forward to reveal a crown. "I've been waiting a long time to meet the two of you."

Trinity awoke startled. Her dream, she knew it hadn't happened in the past, but it was an odd thing to dream of if she didn't remember much of her past in the first place. Takeo was still asleep next to her. She took a deep breath then ran her fingers through her hair. She started to stand.

Takeo's eyes started to open. "Trinity? Are you okay? What's going on? It's still early." He rubbed his eyes.

Trinity laughed, "You were trained to battle, to experience wilderness skills and who knows what else, but you never learned how to wake up early? That amuses me."

It was his turn to laugh, "I've been trained to work on no sleep for a week, I was never taught how to actually wake up early. I like sleeping in." He pretended to roll back over and go back to sleep. She knew that he must've been up all night.

"Well, since we are both up how about we get going? Early bird gets the worm, right?"

Takeo laughed again, "How can you possibly remember all the useless sayings, but you can't remember hardly anything from home?" He sighed and stood up as well. Then he just yawned and stretched.

"What can I say, the brain's funny that way." Trinity started to pick up all the belongings and shove them into the backpack. A blue scrap of cloth fell out. "What is this?" She picked it up and examined it. She knew exactly what it was. "Takeo you didn't!"

He stood up and snatched the backpack from her, "I'm sorry, your whole dress wouldn't fit and I know how much you liked it so I thought I would bring at least some of it. I thought maybe you could use it for something else." he started to pack up the camp site. "I'm sorry I didn't consult you first."

"That's not what I meant, I'm glad that you thought of me." Trinity smiled at him.

Takeo paused what he was doing to return her eye contact. With a smile he said, "I'm always thinking of you."

Trinity had to turn away to hide her pink cheeks. "We better get going before it starts to warm up." She started to cover the fire pit and put the stones back in order to try and cover their tracks. After her dream she wasn't going to take any chances with anything. If there is even a slight chance that her dream was possible, then anything could happen.

Takeo came up behind her and gently put his hand on her back. "Would you like to try leading this time?" A smile spread across his face.

She was shocked, "I don't know where to go. I would just get us lost."

"Trust your instincts. I swear to you that you know where to go." He grabbed her hand and held onto it tight. "You can do this."

Trinity didn't believe in herself at all, but seeing the hope in Takeo's eyes was enough to get her to try. Plus, if she went the wrong way Takeo would probably just direct her back to the correct path. "Fine, but you better know how to get there in case I start to get us lost." She tore her hand from his and started walking in a random direction.

"Uh, princess," She stopped dead in her tracks. She whipped her head around to glare at him. Takeo just chuckled and nodded toward a different direction. Trinity held her head high and turned on her heels to start walking in the direction Takeo had motioned to. His eyes were filled with one thing: amusement. It took all his strength to keep from bursting out laughing.

Other than that, her adventure went pretty well. Takeo only had to correct Trinity's direction once or twice more; which was far less than she had anticipated. She felt something tugging her further and further into the forest as if she were tied to an invisible string. That feeling became stronger and stronger until she got to a clearing of trees. She looked around.

"Whoa," was all she could say. The light flickered through the trees, creating a path in the air. The light pointed at a cluster of weeping willow trees, their leaves touching the ground. She approached the nearest one and pulled back its branches like a curtain. What she saw was indescribable.

A river so clear that the rocks at the bottom looked as distinct as if they were on the river bank beside her. The sky reflected in the water, the clouds seemingly moving along with the current through its twists and turns. She saw fish the color of a rainbow swimming through the river. She knelt down beside the water. The sand was fine and soft, the grass felt like a shag carpet. The river flowed down the side and off the edge, forming a long waterfall. The water made almost no noise at all, Trinity had to strain to hear it. She could hear the soft chirp of the birds flying above and the wind rustling through the willow trees, but no sound came from the river.

Takeo knelt beside her, "Your mother had the power to control the water. She could control the direction, the temperature, the stillness, and even the noise. When she stumbled upon this river, she knew it was safe place, so she hid it. With some help from your father she silenced the river." He ran his hands through the water, "Your father took it upon himself to create the clearing. He controlled the forests, anything with life. He used the willows like a door to this place. Only those from our world can come to the clearing. They created a maze with the trees, one that would ensure its safety." When she turned to face him, he was smiling, "Their main goal was to always keep you safe. Whatever it took."

"It took too much, apparently." His smile faded as she said this. She decided to change the subject, "I remember how she used to call me her duckling. I think it had to do with the first time I shifted. Can I still do that here?" It was her turn to run her hands through the river. It felt so familiar.

"There is only one was to find out." Takeo rested his hand on her leg.

"But I don't know how. Even if I could remember how to shift, we don't even know how much of my magic I have here."

"Your parents had all of theirs." He raised an eyebrow at her.

"But that's different. They were very skilled at what they did. They had more control. They also had their memories."

Takeo's smile came back, "Then how about we go home? You'll get back your memories and then we'll be all good to go." He looked hopeful, even excited. It seemed as if he was eager for her to get her memories back, but honestly, Trinity didn't even know if she wanted her memories back.

"Do we even know how to get home?" she questioned.

"Yeah, about that..."

"What?"

"So the portal is sorta inside of the waterfall. We will have to climb through it." He gave her a nervous laugh. "Surprise, it's arm day?"