It was raining heavily out in the streets of Cairhien and on the roof of the Chapter House in which Celeste lived. But she did not notice, as all of her attention was focused on the small bundle in her arms. It was a difficult birth, but well worth it in her opinion. A man walked into the room and stood behind Celeste. His attention also was focused on the child.

"What shall we name her Mahdi?"

Mahdi looked down at his new daughter, then at his wife. He was smiling as he replied, "I think we should name her Akiko. A beautiful name for a beautiful child".

And so my life began.

I led a normal life, or as normal as a child of an Illuminator could have. I lived in the Chapter House with my parents and the other Illuminators that were situated in Cairhien. We were not rich, but more what would be called comfortable. My parents did everything they could for me to make sure my life was comfortable also.

Not long after my 20th birthday, when my parents were beginning to teach me the more difficult aspects of firework design and creation, and on the odd occasion, actually letting me make my own, my life drastically changed and my dreams of becoming an Illuminator were blown away like so many leaves on the wind. This was when I discovered I could channel the One Power.

My parents tried to keep my ability a secret, and even succeeded for a few weeks, until late one night, they were overheard talking about what to do. Soon everyone in the Chapter House knew. Most of the other Illuminators were not particularly fond of Aes Sedai and so were not much pleased to learn this news.

It soon became evident that they didn't want me living in the House, and so my parents started making plans to take me away someplace until they could find means to get me to Tar Valon. But it was not going to be as easy as walking out the front gate. My parents were fairly high in the rank of Illuminators and so knew everything there was to know about fireworks, all the 'secrets' that Illuminators kept. And me being their daughter, I knew quite a few myself.

Late one night, not long after my secret was out, my mother woke me and told me to get dressed. Not knowing what was going on, but doing as mother told me, I got dressed and went into the kitchen to find my parents packing food into a bag.

"Come Akiko. We must leave. This is the only way we will get out alive", my mother said, as tears streamed down her face.

I grabbed a bag off my mother, and with one last glance at the house I had lived in for the past 20 years of my life, I left.

We traveled by foot, as we had no horses and could not afford to buy them, and after a few days of travel, and no trouble, we started to believe that maybe we had escaped. Just maybe we would be able to start our life anew somewhere without the fear of being hunted. But we were wrong.

One night, as we were sitting around the fire we had made in a small clearing some way from the road, we were attacked. There were only two men, but we had no weapon save for my father's two knives, which we had tucked away in one of our few bags. As he stood to fend the men off, he screamed at my mother and I to run. We just stood there, not knowing what to do, until one of the men broke away from the fight and came towards us. I grabbed my mothers arm and ran.

We ran until we were exhausted, then walked until our legs could carry us no further. Once we stopped to rest, the situation finally hit home. My father may be dead, and the two men were probably still after us. What were we to do? I'd never been far from the Chapter House, and I doubted my mother had either.

For weeks we traveled with no real purpose, continually hoping my father would catch us up and everything would go back to normal. But the weeks continued to pass and my father didn't return. So we walked on, fearing to stop and rest too long at any one time, in case we were caught. Sometimes walking all day and all night. My mother soon fell into a state of deep depression over the loss of my father, and it was then that I realized I would have to be the one to be strong and lead us to safety. It was only at this point that I remembered where we were headed in the first place, Tar Valon. I could channel. The safest place for me, for both of us, was the White Tower.

So for the next few months we walked, hitching a ride on a cart now and again, always headed towards Tar Valon. But over the weeks, my mothers depression grew. She stopped eating, stopped talking, and eventually stopped wanting to go on at all.

One morning I awoke early and went over to wake my mother. We didn't have much further to go and I wanted to get an early start. I shook her and shook her but she didn't wake. I tried again but to no avail. My mother's depression had become so great that she had given up living.

For days and days I sat there, just weeping and trying not to think. How could I live without my parents? They were my world. I even contemplated giving up myself, but I knew deep in my heart that my parents would want me to go on. To live and be the best I could possibly be. So with a heavy heart, close to exhaustion, I set off again.