~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A Match for Anything

In a few minutes, Hayase regained consciousness. "You were just kidding, about being lost, right?" he laughed, sounding somewhat less than sane.

"I wasn't kidding, you jerk," Hikaru spat. "Mokona hasn't got a clue."

Hayase grabbed Mokona by the ears, shaking him madly. "Stupid little rubber rabbit! Where the hell are we?"

Hikaru snapped the terrified Mokona out of his hands, and cuddled the poor whimpering animal. "It's not his fault! If you hadn't have wandered off in the middle of the night, this would never have happened!"

"Well, if you hadn't brought me to Cephiro, I wouldn't have wandered off!" Hayase shouted back.

Hikaru turned her back. "I had nothing to do with it," she muttered. "If I had my way, you'd be back in Tokyo right now, and I would be where I belong, with the other Knights."

"Well, I'm not! And you can't just turn your back on me! Hey! Come back here!" Hikaru was walking away.

"I don't need your help. I can find my way out of the forest quicker without you," she replied. "If you want to follow, shut up and keep up!"

"You can't just order me around! I'm a Kawakami!" Hayase ran after her. He stopped short when Hikaru whirled to face him.

"That means nothing here. However, you are still a whiny brat, and I'm sick of it. I honestly don't give a damn what happens to you."

"Well--I don't give a damn what happens to you, either!" Hayase shouted back. "I have my own sword! I have magic! Ha! Maybe if you're lucky, I'll be waiting for you at the exit! See ya!"

Hayase looked over his shoulder, panting. How could you be sure something was gone, when you weren't sure it was there in the first place? It was the third such shadow that had chased him off course that day--not that he had much of a course to follow in the first place. The forest seemed to loom around him, and he was constantly checking his back.

Now he heard something else crashing through the brush. He brandished his sword and cried out, "Whoever you are in there, I just want you to know that I don’t mean you any harm, so you can just stay away from me, especially if you’re a monster. I’m sure we’ll be much happier that way…"

"Hayase?" It was Hikaru who emerged from the bushes, looking as worn and harried as Hayase felt. "You have any idea where we are?"

Hayase shook his head. "Like I’d tell you."

"Like I need your help!" She turned to leave, but Hayase grabbed her arm.

"Wait!" he said.

"I’m not going to be your baby-sitter, Hayase." She turned around to lecture him. "I thought we went over this before. We should leave each other alone." Then she noticed that Hayase’s face had gone pale, and his eyes were wide.

"Hikaru…"

"What is it, Hayase? Quit blubbering like an idiot." She put her hands on her hips and stared at him, annoyed.

"Hikaru—there’s a—there’s a—" Now he was pointing with a shaking finger, and Hikaru looked behind her—just as a giant tentacle lifted her off the ground. She shrieked, and the monster roared.

"Oh man, what am I—what can I do?" Hayase stammered, looking around desperately. "Someone help!"

All of a sudden, Miata was in a tree behind him. "You’ve got a sword, dimwit," she said lazily. "Use it."

"I…I can’t! It’s so much bigger than me…"

"Coward!" Hikaru shrieked. "You…damned…coward!"

"It’s up to you," Miata said. "Or are you going to let yourself be what she called you? Are you a coward? Are you too arrogant to do what’s right? Or will you put your stupid feud behind you? Choose carefully, or you will not get out of this forest alive!" Miata vanished.

Hayase’s breathing came in heavy gasps, but he felt stronger than he’d ever felt before. "I…am…not…a…coward!" He dashed towards the monster, slashing off the tentacle that held Hikaru. The monster screamed in pain, and Hikaru was free, holding her sword.

"Let’s take care of this thing!" Hikaru said.

"Right!" Hayase replied with a short nod, and they leapt at the creature together, slashing it apart.

"All right!"

"Not bad," Hikaru replied, looking at Hayase with respect—and surprise—in her eyes. "Not bad at all."

"Same to you," Hayase replied. He clasped her hand and they smiled at each other, but then Hikaru’s expression turned to worry.

"Another one!" she cried, pointing up into the sky, where a flying monster was swooping down towards them.

Tiny bolts of lightning began crinkling between Hayase’s fingers. "Thunderstorm!" he cried out, sending bolts of white lightning at the creature.

"Red lightning!" Hikaru added, and her magic assailed the monster as well. The bolts of red and white surrounded the creature, and it fell lifeless to the ground.

"We got it!" Hikaru cried, doing a little victory dance. Hayase grinned and gave her a high five.

"I think we could be a match for anything, now," he said.

"You know, you’re not so bad when you aren’t whining," Hikaru said. "Let’s find a way out of this place."

"Puu puu-puu-puu puu!" Mokona hopped out of the brush cheerfully.

"The little marshmallow decided to hide from the fight, huh?" Hayase said.

"Mokona!" Hikaru said, but he hopped right by her and jumped into Hayase’s arms.

"Oh, hello!" Hayase said. "Have you figured out a way out of this place?"

"Puu!" Mokona replied, and a beam shone from his forehead.

"It must be that way!" Hikaru cried.

"Finally!" Hayase replied, as they ran in the direction of the light. "You know something, Hikaru? It’s strange," Hayase said to her as they were running, "but when we were separated, I always felt like there were things watching me, but now it’s like they’re gone!"

"That’s funny—now that you mention it, I felt the same way!" Hikaru said.

"Now, why do you suppose that is?" Hayase asked.

"It’s probably that Miata," Hikaru replied. "We were supposed to pass some test to get through, right? It must have been those monsters we fought. That’s strange, though—I’ve fought more difficult battles. When we worked together, though, those were easy! I expected more of a challenge."

"Well, maybe it wasn’t the battles themselves that were testing us," Hayase replied thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" Hikaru asked.

"I mean, maybe the test was to make us get past our fears and anger and force us to work together."

"Puu-puu puu!" Mokona replied cheerfully, nodding his little head. A light broke through ahead of them.

"The exit!"

"All right!" They threw their arms around each other at once, then blushed, pulled away, and shook hands.

"From now on, we work together," Hikaru said.

"Together," Hayase agreed with a short nod.

The ground beneath them began to shake, and they looked around them for a clue as to what was happening. Mokona even looked frightened, so it wasn’t another plot of Miata’s.

"Magic Knight," a vaguely feminine voice that seemed to come from everywhere whispered, and Hikaru pulled her hand away from Hayase’s grasp. "Come to me, Magic Knight…"

"Where are you going? Hikaru!" He ran after her, but she walked away as if in a trance. The voice sounded like bells, or ringing crystal.

"Return…to the Cathedral…"

"Hikaru, no!!!" Hayase cried.