[color=D6CC88]It had been a long day, and Amuné fell asleep without any trouble.  Only a few hours had passed when she woke with a scream, reaching for Ethan only to find him gone.  For a moment the girl panicked, still caught in her nightmare with Cecil and her parents and Ethan all dying over and over and her unable to do anything to help.  But Wyth put his head and a heavy paw on her, and the weight and his familiar presence helped the girl get herself together.

After a few minutes, when her heart no longer pounded in her chest and she didn't feel like she might shake right out of her skin, she slid out of bed and grabbed the jacket more or less belonged to her at this point.  Draping it over her shoulders, she padded out into the hall and went searching for Ethan.

It was late, but there were still some people up and about, and eventually someone pointed her outside.  Unworried by the prospect of rocks and uneven ground, Amuné hurried over to where the Muran lay on his back in the grass.  She curled up next to him without comment, wanting to stay near him for both his sake and her own.  It had just been a nightmare, it was none of it real, but she was still trembling.  Having him nearby made her feel better, and with Wyth stretched out on her other side it wasn't long before she drifted off again.  She had Wyth and Ethan to keep her safe, and in the morning she'd been promised that Cecil would be better and she could go see him.  And he [i]would[/i] be better, just like she was absolutely going to find her parents and then they could be a happy family again.  Maybe they couldn't go back to their village, but there were other places to live.  Like Mutebo -- they wouldn't mind her daddy, and nobody ever objected to a healer.  The mean lady was wrong about the Saints.  The Saints did care, and they'd make sure things worked out in the end.

---

Kensen had taken Ethan and Nymira off to clear out some sort of minor pests, the sort of thing that might be expected in return for food and shelter.  Amuné wouldn't be much use, and she couldn't stand leaving Cecil alone any longer.  She got Ethan to promise he'd find her when he got back, and then said goodbye and went to find where they'd taken her Machina friend.  She hoped he wasn't too scared, all alone in a strange place.  Maybe he was better but sleeping.  Sick people needed a lot of sleep, after all.  She couldn't quite hold back a shudder, remembering how he'd been, all still with his arms and legs not attached right.  Cecil was [i]fine[/i], he was just hurt really really bad.  There were Machina doctors that would help him here.

Finally she located the right place, and knocked firmly on the door.  She'd hurried and now was a bit out of breath, but the rapid beat of her heart was from more than just dashing.  She kept thinking of what-ifs, of things that might have gone wrong, and she was starting to be really worried again.  "I'm here to see Cecil!" she called, when the door wasn't opened fast enough.  "Is he better now?"[/color]