(A/N) Hello, dear friends! I hope everyone has a great 2010. Okay, so I'm calling this AU because we're going to pretend that when Col was taken in The Gorgon's Gaze he and Connie were both about sixteen and were in the awkward "we like each other but don't know what to do" phase. Hope you guys are entertained by this.

When he dreams, he dreams of her. He often dreams that he is walking and laughing with her. He imagines seagulls flying all around them, and he watches in fascination as they all find a way to communicate with her. In every dream, however, she is a fuzzy image, one that is hard to bring into focus.

Though he does not know who she is, he knows she is very special. He wishes he could remember. The only two things that he can distinctly recall about her are her eyes and her hair.

Her eyes are peculiar, and yet painfully familiar. One eye is a bright and sparkling emerald, whilst the other is a comforting chocolate brown. One eye reflects intense beauty, and the other reflects warmth. They are astonishing, more so than his own eyes which are so ordinary compared to hers.

The girl's hair is always blowing. It takes no shape, because it is so long that the wind constantly whips is around to look different every passing second. Her hair is the darkest possible ebony, and in his dreams looks almost blue and purple because of the way the light reflects off it. Her hair is beautiful.

He tries to remember who she is, and why she is important. He wants so badly to know her, to be near her. He remembers bits and pieces of her personality, but to the dreaming boy, it is not nearly enough.

Once, in his dream, he asked her who she was. He could tell she was smiling, but he could not see it. She told him, "I'm your best friend, and I promise to save you." And she began to fade into the distance before the boy could even think of a response.

Every night in his dream, he hopes to see her. And every night she is there. He wants to touch her face, to hold her in his arms, but she is only an inaccessible memory.

Tonight, he is lost in a sea of darkness. There is no light. He calls out desperately, "Where are you, friend? Where have you gone?"

A small laugh, but it doesn't sound right. It sounds as though she were underwater; it is unclear what the real noise sounds like. "I'm here!" She says.

A flicker of light basks the girl in an unearthly glow and he looks into those eyes and fights with himself to find a name.

Her eyes are serious as she tells him, "I'm coming soon." His heart becomes light as she tells him this. He wonders if she will be angry for not knowing who she was.

He lifts a hand and grabs a few of those raven-toned strands of hair. The girl's cheeks suddenly become red. He feels himself flush too.

He wakes up and suddenly he is a monster. The tenderness from when he dreams about her is gone; the terrible creature forces him to shove it in the back of his mind. He does. But some small part of him knows he does it only out of fear for the nameless girl so this horrid thing won't try to take her too.

He laughs coldly as he trains on the stupid birds flying by. He does this every day, but the cruel satisfaction of causing harm to another living being still gives him that same rush.

"Excellent." His master whispers. The boy smiles, glad that he is able to please the one he serves. "When the girl comes, you will be ready."

The smile falls off his face. The girl… why did that phrase stir such despair and worry? He was a servant of the most powerful being in the world; he should not fear or worry.

His master reprimands him. "Do not forget your cause. She is your friend no more."

In his mind, he hears her telling him, I'm your best friend, and I promise to save you.

She would save him. He suddenly knows her name. And he grins, full of joy and satisfaction that only that one six-letter word can bring.

Her name is Connie.

Connie…

(A/N) Did you like it? I tried writing in a serious tone, and I was going to add some humor but I liked it better this way.