It was a dark and stormy night. An unnatural haze lingered over the shrine. In his bed, Dynamis shivered. For a summer night, the air was cold and the sky was black. It was almost as if something evil lurked out there in the shadows.

Dynamis rolled over, clutching his pillow, and tried to fall back asleep. But a worry nagged in the back of his mind. Something was not right. No matter how hard he tried, some ghostly force prevented him from sleeping. It made him uneasy. With a sigh, he rolled out of bed and pulled on his shrine robe. Then he quietly left his room.

The halls were silent as he walked in the dark. He did not know where he was going, or why, but his body seemed to move on its own accord. He was being drawn by an unseen power. Past the dining hall, past the kitchen, and out onto the terrace. With the moon hidden behind thick clouds, it was nearly impossible to see in the inky black night. But something lying on the path to Dynamis's right made him gasp in shock. A body!

'Whoa!' Dynamis shouted. He leapt over the terrace railing and onto the ground below, running toward the fallen form as fast as he could. Tree branches scratched at his skin and pulled at his clothes, but he paid them no mind. Heart pounding, he fell to his knees on the pathway and placed a gentle hand on the figure's face.

Now that he was closer, he could see that this was Hikaru one of Ginga's friends. But she was in dire need of help. Her clothes were torn and bloody, and her hair was matted with blood. She needed the attention of a doctor, immediately. Without a second thought, Dynamis picked up the wounded girl and, cradling her in his arms, then carried her inside to seek the help that she so desperately needed.

'Her situation is severe,' the doctor said in a worried voice. 'Whether or not she will live until morning is beyond my sight. My team of nurses will do the best they can, but...' his voice trailed off.

Dynamis could sense his fear. There was a good chance the young woman might die. 'Is there anything I can do to help?' he asked.

The doctor sadly shook his head. 'Nothing the nurses are not already trying. But it might help if you just sat with her. She will need to see a friendly face when she wakes up from this, and you are the closest thing she has right now.'

'I understand,' said Dynamis. 'And I will stay with her for as long as it takes. I will not let her die.'

With that, Dynamis turned and hurried to the room where the wounded woman was. She was surrounded by nurses, all of whom wore the same concerned expression. They had washed her body and dressed her wounds with healing salve, but still the woman showed no signs of improvement. Her breathing was shallow, and her pulse was weak. One of the nurses turned to Dynamis with a defeated sigh.

'It will be an uphill battle,' she said. 'We have done all we can at this time. Now, we can only wait and see if she wakes.'

Dynamis nodded. 'I will stay with her through the night and keep watch as she sleeps.'

One by one, the nurses left the bedside, the last one closing the door behind her. In the flickering candle light, Dynamis dipped a square of cloth in the bowl of warm water left by the nurses, and gently used it to stroke the injured woman's hand. Then, taking up the woman's limp hand, he settled into her bedside chair and prepared to wait through the remainder of the long, cold night.

'Where... where am I?'

Dynamis jerked awake with a start when he heard the words being spoken. He stared down at his patient, an immense wave of relief coursing through his body. "Hikaru was alive! And from the looks of things, she was on her way to making a full recovery.

'You are in the hospital,' Dynamis told her. 'I found you last night, lying unconscious and nearly dead on a path coming from the forest. I carried you here, and some nurses tended to your wounds. Please, tell me how you ended up outside the shrine'

"I was on an errand from the director, to deliver an important message to Kyoya. But last night... All I remember is that I was walking through the forest when suddenly I was attacked by a group of bladers. At least 10 surrounded me. I tried to escape, but there were so many, and I had only my bey for protection. And that is the last thing I recall. I don't know why I am not dead.'

Dynamis smiled at her. 'The stars must shine favorably on you. To live through such an ordeal... that is more than mere luck.' It was more than luck, too, that Dynamis had found her. Now that they two were together, it felt almost like fate had lent a hand. Hikaru was meant to be here, and Dynamis was meant to have found her. Why, Dynamis did not know. But it felt so right.

It also did not hurt that Hikaru was one of the most beautiful individuals Dynamis had ever seen. His sleek blue hair contrasted with large, violet eyes set in a lovely face. And her sculpted body, half-hidden by the bed linens and bandages, was a further attraction. Dynamis could hardly suppress his desire to run his hands over that perfect body. But he kept his feelings under control. Hikaru had just barely survived a nearly fatal encounter. Now was not the time for romance.

Within three days, Hikaru had improved enough to leave her bed. The doctor gave her a new set of clothes, and she was able to wander the corridors by herself. But the one thing that troubled her was Dynamis's absence. Since the morning when she'd first woke up in the hospital, she had not seen Dynamis at all. It was as if her rescuer had simply disappeared. She had asked a nurse where Dynamis could be, but she had no answer. Dynamis was gone without a trace.

Hikaru desired to speak with Dynamis again, and properly thank him for saving her life. But she also just wanted to see the handsome man once more. She could not explain it, but she felt a deep connection to Dynamis either forged by the lifesaving bond or some other power. She knew that Dynamis was someone special. Someone she had to see again.

It wasn't until the sixth day after Hikaru had recovered that Dynamis returned to the hospital. He walked up the same path where Hikaru had been found, dragging a sack with the beys of bladers behind him. All 10 of them.

'Here are your beys!' he called to Hikaru. 'I found them hiding out in a cave not far from here.'

Hikaru stared in surprise, eyes going wide. 'You defeated all of them...by yourself?'

'I cannot let such dangerous people roam free,' Dynamis replied. 'And I did it for you. They nearly killed you. I do not want anything like that to happen again.'

Hikaru could feel her heart pounding as Dynamis spoke. Dynamis defeated those bladers... for her. Before she could stop himself, she leapt at Dynamis and threw her arms around his neck, kissing the brave man on the cheek.

Dynamis laughed in surprise and blushed, but did not pull away. 'What was that for?'

'Just a thank you,' Hikaru said. She smiled, but when she saw the suddenly serious look in Dynamis's eyes, the smile faded. 'What's wrong?' she asked, worried.

'Hikaru' Dynamis said, 'I have to confess something to you. That first morning you were here... I thought you were so beautiful. I wanted to kiss you then, but I didn't know how you would react.

Hikaru gasped in shock. 'Kiss... me?'

'I told myself I must not, because of the terrible ordeal you had just suffered. It was not the right time. But these past few days while I was gone, I could think only of you the entire time. And now...'

'Dynamis...' Hikaru sighed his name. 'I thought about you too. All the time, while you were gone. I was worried I would never see you again.'

Dynamis lifted his hand to gently stroke Hikaru on the cheek. 'I am sorry I ran off like that. I should have said something to you.'

Taking a deep breath, Hikaru said, 'Dynamis, there is something I have been considering over the past several days. I think we were meant to find each other. What happened to me... it was no coincidence. I was meant to come here. You were meant to rescue me.'

A bright smile broke across Dynamis's face as soon as Hikaru had spoken. 'You know,' he said, 'I had been thinking the same thing. That night when I found you I had been worried and unable to think. Some strange power led me out to the terrace, and that was when I saw you.'

Hikaru took Dynamis's hand. 'So you think... we are meant to be together?'

'I have no doubt of it.' Slowly, Dynamis leaned in and kissed Hikaru softly on the lips. 'I love you,' he whispered.

'I love you too, Dynamis,' Hikaru whispered in return.