Chapter 1.

She saw him sitting in her backyard by a fire. He wasn't human. It was that red Keronian from the Teleprompters, only he wasn't scowling like he normally was. He had a strange smirk on his face as he was concentrating on whatever he was roasting over the flames. The scent was familiar, but distant to anything she had tasted recently. It had been so long since she smelled that sweet smell. She looked at the knife in her hand, knowing that it would be a great victory for the Earth when she slit the little bastard's throat.

Her mind was made up.

She looked up at the frog-scum. She approached him cautiously and cat-like, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. The stupid toad was too engrossed with his cooking to pay any attention to the earth girl sneaking up on him. It wasn't until the knife pierced the flesh on his back that he even made a sound.

"Nat…sumi… why?" The red frog coughed up blood. He hadn't even had to look to know who she was.

How did the stupid frog know her name?

He fell on his wounded back and looked up at her, his piercing blue eyes slowly filling with tears.

"I made… you a swee… sweet potato… my love… your… favorite…" More blood came up as he coughed between words.

Natsumi dropped the knife, not knowing why she was ashamed at what she had done. Memories of a life she had never known, a life she never had, were shooting in and out of her head. As soon as she saw them, the memories were gone. She didn't know that tears were falling from her eyes until she bent down to hold him.

"Stupid frog…" She whispered, and her world went black.

Natsumi Hinata woke with a start. Her clothes were drenched with sweat from that strange dream she had. Why would she cry for one? She hated those frog bastards and what they did to her home.

"Baby, what's wrong? Are you all right sweetheart?" Aki Hinata sat beside her daughter on the lumpy cot. "Did you have a bad dream?"

"It was nothing, Mom, I promise." Her mother was so genuinely concerned that Natsumi almost felt bad for lying.

The pink-haired girl slipped on her torn, orange, sweater and headed outside to the camp.

When the Keronians first invaded Earth, or Pekopan as they called it, most of the world's population was killed. The humans that weren't killed in the first wave were sent to live in work camps until their fate was decided. After all, Ear- I mean, Pekopan needed to be cleaned up before it could be sold to the highest bidder. Some of the humans would remain on the planet to be slaves for the new owners, but the rest would be sold to different planets for profit. Invasion is expensive.

Natsumi spotted her younger brother, Fuyuki, talking to his only friend, Momoka Nishizawa. Momoka was still the richest person in all of Tokyo. Once it became clear that their paper would soon be worthless, Momoka and her guardian Paul bought food and survival supplies. Only the weapons were taken from them.

It was good that Fuyuki befriended such a powerful person, his friendship to her would help their family survive, Natsumi was sure of it.

In a broken world one would think that being rich or famous would get you the same treatment as everyone else, but Momoka was allowed to continue living in her mansion on the condition that her father's top scientists work for the Keron army. Momoka, supervised by toads and loyal Paul, would often visit their camp to bring food for everyone, as the frogs had them eating bread, water, and a weird supplement paste that tasted strangely like insects.

Fuyuki was happy for Momoka's friendship, though he didn't think he would ever understand it.

"I brought you some books about ghosts from my library Fuyuki." Momoka practically threw the books at him. "I know you were president of the paranormal club before it happened." She whispered the last part.

Stupid stupid stupid! Now he'll think you're an insensitive jerk!

"Wow! Thanks Momoka!" Fuyuki smiled brightly. "They really let you keep all of your books?"

"Mmhmm."

"This really means a lot to me! Once we're free again your books will really help rebuild history!" Fuyuki always looked at the positive side of things. He was devastated when the invaders burned down most of the libraries. Slaves weren't supposed to think on their own, you see.

Natsumi smiled at her brother. All of her friends were killed or missing, so seeing him happy brought a sense of joy to her heart. Natsumi spent her free time walking alongside the chain link fence separating her from the forests and rivers, from her freedom.

Suddenly she stopped moving. Her heart leapt in her throat when she saw it on the ground just outside the fence. It blended in with the rocks and dirt so well, that if Natsumi hadn't known every rock that lay just on the other side of the fence she would have missed it.

A small, hand crank, radio was on the ground. She had walked those same steps thousands of times and had never seen it. Natsumi also saw a small cut near the bottom of the fence just big enough for her to slip her arm though. As fate would have it, no patrols were in sight… the invaders were too busy fixing the broken security cameras. Surely these two things couldn't be connected… Carefully she dropped to her knees and grabbed the radio. As soon as she grabbed the treasure Natsumi ran as fast as her legs could carry her back to her tent.

Static. She adjusted the dial ever so slightly. Static. Hysterically she began to search for something. Anything.

"Just give me a fucking break!" Natsumi screamed suddenly as tears started to form in her eyes. She hated feeling this helpless. Someone had left the radio there for a reason, for her to find.

"I can't cry. I won't cry. I need to stay strong. I have to be strong." Hyperventilating, she rocked back and forth, not letting the tears fall from her eyes. If the tears fell from her eyes that would mean that this pain was real.

"I am a warrior, not some sniveling baby." She hid the radio under her thin blanket and left her tent to check on her mom.

Natsumi was too distracted to notice two sets of eyes staring at her from within the trees.