Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Draw in the Rain ❯ Chapter 6: Dying of the Storm ( Chapter 6 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

AN: Hi, everyone - Just a note, I've had a series of family issues and health problems hit me hard these past several months so I haven't had time in the way of fandom. Thus, the reason for my virtual disappearing act. I'm still recovering but the process seems to be going slow. I know I have a lot of things I need to catch up on, but it'll take time so updates in pretty much anything else may be a while in coming.

I just had this chapter written up before all the problems started cropping up and I finally had time to actually post it. I hope you enjoy it - just another chapter or two left to go! =D

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CHAPTER 6: Dying of the Storm

"No!" Keiko cried desperately. "Stop!"

Even as she voiced her protests, deep inside she knew that they'd do no good, not against beings that were so filled with evil intent and took such obvious joy in their wicked actions. As she watched the youkai around Kurama close in on his silent form, horror continued to well within her because she knew that he wouldn't do anything to stop them.

And it was all her fault.

He wouldn't let anything happen to her, not if he could help it. And with Roki's recent threat ringing in her ears, she had a terrible feeling that while her life hung in the balance, Kurama would allow himself to be killed before her eyes even on the slimmest chance that Roki would keep his word about letting her live as long as he died. It was a noble sentiment but…

Keiko simply couldn't stand by and just watch as he got himself killed - not over her.

She'd never forgive herself.

But the only way that things would change, that would enable Kurama to move and defeat the enemies that she knew he could were it not for her…the only way that could happen would be…

She had to break free!

Somehow.

Mind racing as fear, anger, and terror threatened to overtake her, her gaze bounced frantically around in search for something, anything, that might be able to help them both out of this dangerous predicament. A dark object caught her eye, hidden in the gore and bloodshed that lay in waste all about her, and she stilled, focused.

An instant of calculation was all she had. There was no more time think, not for Kurama whom she so desperately wished to be safe. If it worked, then it worked and the two of them would both be the happier for it. And if it didn't…

She'd be doomed even if it didn't kill her.

Without hesitation, she sent up a quick fervent prayer for luck even as she put her hastily concocted plan into action. Letting her entire body go limp as if in a faint, she slumped to the side, away from the direction in which Roki had placed the knife-like objects at her throat.

The motion suddenly put the full weight of her upon Roki's tense grip. It forced Roki to instinctively shift his grip on her lest he immediately skewered his tentative leverage over the furious kitsune's head on the spot.

It was just what she'd been waiting for.

As fast as her human capabilities would allow, knowing she'd never get another chance should she let this one pass her by, she took immediate advantage of the slight loosening of Roki's hold. Her hands snapped up to close on the wrist at her throat and she pulled away from her with all her might while, at the same time, she twisted her head around and sank her teeth into his upper arm as hard as she could, feeling the skin break under the ferocity of her actions. Even as she cringed as foul tasting liquid washed over her tongue while the youkai in question gave a howl of surprised pain, she made use of the sudden slackness of his constricting arm.

As instinct told her that were she to make a break for it, she wouldn't be able to get very far before the youkai recovered and used his greater speed to catch up to her, she selected another plan of action. Instead of using the opportunity to dart away as far and fast as she could from immediate danger, she whirled around in Roki's loose embrace before his surprise could wear off until she was facing him. With the same motion, never stopping, never hesitating, she kicked outwards and up.

"GYAAAAAA!"

The pained cry rent the air as Roki immediately doubled over in intense agony after Keiko kneed him in the groin with all of her might. With Roki temporarily incapacitated with the blinding pain he was suffering, Keiko finally darted away.

But she didn't go far.

Dimly aware of the sounds of fighting breaking out behind her, she hoped that Kurama had taken the initiative in making use of the distraction she'd provided. But she couldn't risk taking the time to look back, afraid that if she stopped then she'd only be slowed down and captured again and they'd be back to where they had started.

It was only an instant, even if it felt like forever. Fear riding her, adrenaline pulsing through her while her heart pounded madly, she made a mad dash to her destination just a short distance away, skidding across the slippery mess of slaughter littering the earth until -

"You BITCH!"

- she lunged!

As the enraged roar thundered behind her and she could feel his furious presence looming closer, she gratefully closed her shaking hands on the object of her goal. Ignoring the sickening wet suctioning sound as she pulled it free of its fleshy entrapment, sensing the black presence behind her as a darker shadow cast its way over her, she didn't give herself any time to think - only to react.

Whirling around, she swung with the same motion, putting all the energy and power she could muster within it just as Roki made a wipe at her with one razor-tipped claw.

CRACK!

"Keiko!"

Kurama's cry reflected all the worry and fear he held for the young woman as he watched with disbelieving eyes when her swing hit the youkai bearing down on her before he could slice her to ribbons. With amazed relief coursing through him, he took in the sight of her smaller figure wielding a club almost half her size as if it were nothing, connecting with the youkai's head with a solid crunch that had enough force behind it to lift the larger form off its feet and send it sailing to crash amongst the barrier of leafy vegetation a short distance away.

`Beautiful,' Youko purred lustfully. `Now I want to kiss her even more…'

Kurama barely heard him.

Consumed by conflicting emotions, he stepped towards her, winding through the carnage of enemies both old and new around him, he didn't stop until he was beside her. She was turned away from, facing the direction in which her enemy had fallen as she panted heavily, body tense and trembling with her exertions. Wanting her attention, but unsure as to how she'd react in light of the fast-paced fury of recent events, he addressed her cautiously.

"Keiko?"

At the sound of his voice, she slowly turned, revealing her features to him. Glimpsing the pallor of her skin and the glassy sheen to her wide eyes while she continued to tremble, Kurama became concerned, a sentiment he could feel echoed by Youko.

"Keiko?" he ventured again quietly. "Say something please."

In growing alarm, Kurama and Youko watched with a horrified sort of panic while those dark eyes glistened and pooled with a sheen of tears. As her lips trembled unsteadily, the two souls she was unknowingly affecting so strongly were caught completely off guard when she suddenly launched herself at him, the club she held dropping to the earth with a dull thud as she threw her arms around him, squeezing with a grip that was surprisingly strong as she buried her face into his chest.

"Kurama!" came her muffled voice. "I'm so glad you're alive! I was so scared!"

"Shh," he murmured soothingly. "It's okay now. Everything's alright."

He continued soothing her with words, the comforting tone more important than the meaning, while his arms came up instinctively to wrap around her, holding her close to him as he rocked from side to side, hoping the motion would help to settle her agitation. But as the trembling form lessened, some part of him was surprised to note his own turmoil at seeing her in danger, at coming so close to losing her, was abating with continued contact in her presence as well. Relaxing against her, feeling Youko within him basking in the sensations as well, he could have stayed like this forever.

Which was why he was startled when she suddenly pushed him away!

"Oh, gross!" Her pretty features contorted. "Yuck!"

Confused, arms feeling empty without her, he gave a questioning, "Keiko?"

When he would have taken another step closer, a hand shot up, palm out, and stopped him. Perplexed, worried, and feeling somewhat hurt by her actions, he continued gazing at her with a baffled confusion when she shook her head, features reflecting her disgust as she opened her mouth and -

Spit!

The two souls trapped within one body experienced the same sort of mystified bemusement at seeing their beloved behave in such an unlikely manner. As they watched, she did it again, tilting her face upwards and catching the rainwater pouring down into her open mouth only to spit it out and then repeat the process several more times.

"Jerk," she muttered. She turned to look at him, face set in lines of irritation. "Why didn't you warn me?"

He gave a slow blink. "What?"

"Why didn't you warn me that youkai tasted so bad? I don't think I'll ever get it out of my mouth!"

Torn between amusement and bafflement, Kurama's reply was absentminded. "I'm sorry. I had no idea you'd try to eat him. If I'd known beforehand, I would have warned you."

"Oh, you!" she sputtered angrily. "It's not like you gave me time to come up with anything else! And you!" She glared accusingly. "You should have fought back - not just kneel there like a sacrificial lamb at slaughter!"

Green eyes narrowed. "And get you killed in the process?"

"Yes!" Dark eyes glittered furiously. "That's better than watching you die while I watch!"

"That is a matter of opinion."

She snarled at his seeming obtuseness. "Don't try talking your way around me. You were an absolute idiot - it was like you were trying to get yourself killed!"

"Then it's a good thing you did what you did so that I didn't, isn't it?"

It took her a moment to process that confusing statement as recent events seemed to have scrambled her wits, but when she did, she was even more furious than she was before.

He was trying to talk around her again!

The lingering fear she still felt at almost seeing him die before her eyes fueled her temper at his word games, heightening it to a dangerous point. So consumed was she with her own roiling emotions that she failed to take heed to the dangerous edge that crept into his voice, indicative of his own anger that was only sparked off by hers.

As much as Youko and Kurama enjoyed the way she glowed in her fury, her suggestion that they should have saved their life only to throw away hers made them feel violent. Fingers curled into tightly clenched fists as they struggled to hold back, to reign in the remnants of anger and fear at the memory of her life so close to ending in an instant, to control the opposing volatile urges that wanted to both kiss her until their fear and fury abated or to shake her until she had some sense knocked back into her. However, emotions were a slippery thing, and their control and determination to hold back, to be as considerate as possible of her after the recent events that had left their mark on her, were stretched to their limits.

And her continuous tirade did nothing help.

"Honestly," Keiko was saying heatedly. "I don't know if I want to be with anyone who keeps pulling such asinine stunts. Risking yourself like that, almost getting killed - really!" Recklessly, paying little heed to the unnatural tenseness of his body, she poked him in the chest with one accusing finger - hard. "What you did was completely suicidal, you idiot! And if you had even a shred of common sense in that empty kitsune-brained head of yours, you would have-"

She broke off in a gasp as she found herself suddenly jerked forward by a strong grip on her shoulders. A blur of red and flashing emerald eyes was all she had time to register before she was caught up in a maelstrom of whirling emotions when his lips claimed hers.

Taken by surprise, her mouth instinctively opened with a tiny shocked gasp to his aggressive demand. He took immediate command, thrusting and sweeping in as his arms slid around her and pulled her against him so tightly and forcefully that her toes barely brushed the grass as he pinned her to him, carrying her weight easily with his strength.

But the initial surprise was quick to wear off, and it wasn't long before she was kissing him back just as furiously, arms winding around his neck tightly to draw their mouths even closer, the tumultuous emotions she could feel rolling off of him and pouring into hers adding fuel to her own. All the anger, all the fear that had been building in her for herself, for him, since this adventure began channeled itself into another outlet. The heated words she'd planned to castigate him with faded away and the only thing in her thoughts was him and the intensity of emotions he was making her feel.

With a yearning mewl, her fingers threaded through his hair, clenching tightly in a demand for more. More she wanted, needed, but she was left aching when he slowly pulled away.

She gazed up at him questioningly when he pulled back to see the indecipherable expression on his features as he slowly lowered her until her feet were flat on the earth once more. She swayed unsteadily, shaken, but he held her, supporting her until she was feeling solid enough to stand on her own without his help.

"Kurama? Why…?"

A muffled sound from behind her had her whirling around. But Kurama was quicker and nudged her behind him as he placed himself between her and the direction of the noise. Though somewhat irritated by his highhanded actions, she was too worn down by the day's events and offered no protest. Besides, after everything that had happened, they deserved a break. Whatever that noise was, it was probably nothing, something harmless and -

The sound came again and this time Keiko was able to identify it. It was -

A groan?

She felt a chill skirt down her spine as the brush before them rustled alarmingly. A motion caught her eye and she looked just in time to see Kurama draw forth another rose - `How many does he have of those, anyway?' - and with a flick of the wrist, the flower was transformed into another whip that snaked outwards before coiling down to the ground at their feet, at rest but prepared to spring into action at moment's notice.

Another low groan, another faint rustle of vegetation, and then a shock of pale hair emerged from the surrounding green. Kurama's body tensed, his arm drew back to send his weapon slicing through the air -

Only to stop short at the touch on his wrist.

He turned back to gaze at her with disbelieving eyes while she looked back with an uncomfortable but, nevertheless, somewhat determined expression. As the rustling before them became louder, more pronounced, Kurama growled at the young woman holding him back with a simple light touch.

"What are you doing?"

"Please." She shook her head. "There's been enough violence today."

"You're asking me to just let him go? After what he did to you?"

Incredulous, he could only stare back at her contrite features and wondered if the stress from recent events had made her go a little crazy. Inside, Youko, who had been observing the entire situation, had a different insight to offer.

And it was just as unappealing.

`That bastard,' came Youko's snarl. `Kill him quick, Kurama. She's still attracted to him.'

`Wha-? What makes you think that?!'

`Why else is she pleading for his pathetic life? After everything he's done?'

`Keiko just has a soft heart.' Doubt crept into his tone. `That's just the way she is.'

`Soft enough that she tried to bash his head in, even while she's speaking out against violence?' Youko made a rude sound. `Did you forget so soon how intently she was staring at him before? Obviously some affections still linger.'

Kurama frowned. `She's already declared herself to us. She wouldn't stray.'

`No, she wouldn't. Not after an official claim is made. But it's not official yet.'

`She admitted her love for us. Said she wanted to be with us. What other `official' is there?'

`You know, Kurama. Though you shy away from it, instinct that you cannot ignore is there no matter how much you avoid listening to it.'

`What are you-?'

`We claimed her love, her promise. But we have yet to place that same claim on her body, to seal the claim in all ways. Once that is done, then and only then will she be completely ours.'

`It doesn't work that way among humans, Youko. There are steps involved, dating, waiting-'

`We've waited long enough, curse you to all the layers of hell and back! Damnit! You feel it too no matter how desperately you continue to cling to those human values of yours. But you forget, you are not totally human and such rules do not apply.'

`They do…because even if I'm not, she still is.'

`You're blinding yourself to the truth. If she truly is mired in such human values as you seem to think she is, she would have been more protesting to our advances up to this point. She would have been more vocal before we kissed her, before we touched her even as words of our affection had yet to be said. But she did not protest, did not tell us to forever leave her alone. She merely chided us for our lecherous behavior.'

`You're forgetting the many interruptions we've had. Who knows what she might have said before the fighting started?'

`Why do you constantly refuse to see?' Youko made a low frustrated sound. `I will not let her slip away because of your squeamishness. I will not allow the chance to pass by and another to claim her - she is ours and she must be made to see that she is not allowed to cast her eyes at another man, be it youkai or human. And if you will not help me, then move aside without further argument or else I will take control by force and do what must be done - with or without your consent!'

"Kurama?"

Keiko's gentle call broke into the internal discussion and Kurama found her gazing up at him uncertainly. The gentle pleading in her expression, in her voice, would have instantly swayed a lesser person and Kurama was tempted - were it not for what it was that she was pleading for.

"No more fighting," she said softly. "Please?"

"If it were anyone else but him…"

"Eh?"

"If it were anyone else but him - would you still ask that?"

"What?" The growled words left her blinking in confusion. "Who?"

A heated response rose to his lips, but before he could voice it -

"Bitch!"

The angry curse snapped their attention ahead as the brush gave another alarming rustle as more of the body attached to that pale head of hair emerged. Visible from chest up, blood running down the one side of his face, sapphire blazed in fury at the one who did this to him, the one who had humiliated him so.

One.

Tiny.

Female.

HUMAN!

Keiko flinched beneath that furious regard while Kurama growled in both irritation at the threat to his beloved goddess and at the fact that the enemy was ignoring him and the more obvious danger that he presented. But then, for some youkai…

Brains were not much of a necessity.

Surprisingly, it was Keiko who addressed the youkai first. Though her voice was wavering as she half-hid behind Kurama's form, peering cautiously around him at Roki, her voice was strong.

"I'm sorry for what I did," Keiko said apologetically, "but you didn't leave me much of a choice."

The two males regarded her with varying amounts of disbelief and suspicion.

"And…we don't want any more trouble," she continued. "So…you have a choice. You can leave if you want…if you agree to stop fighting."

"Girl, you expect me to believe that? You think your would-be youkai lover will let me walk out of here just like that with no hard feelings?"

`No fucking way.'

`Not a chance,' Kurama inwardly echoed Youko's sentiment…in a more polite fashion.

"To kill you now would be cold-blooded murder," Keiko replied firmly. "I don't hold to it."

"Tell that to the rest of my comrades," Roki responded derisively, sweeping his gaze around the clearing splattered with bodies and blood. "Your tenderhearted words don't hold up."

"That was in self-defense! And you were trying to kill us first!"

"Not you. Just the kitsune."

"That's no better!"

"Not for you, maybe."

"Oh!" She glared. "Forget it. You're all alone now and you have to admit that there's not much of a chance for you to win without any help. Trying would be suicidal."

"Are you threatening me?" growled Roki in disbelief.

"No! Don't put words in my mouth! All I'm saying is…there's no meaning in continuing to fight any longer. If you…just leave now, no harm will come to you."

Roki regarded her with narrowed eyes. "Why should I believe you?"

"Because I'm not like you."

Sapphire clashed with brown as gazes caught and held. An indescribable something seemed to vibrate between those two for one brief moment, enough to have Kurama and his other tensing at some foreboding that went unseen. It was an ominous emotion within them that had grown along with their fury at the continued banter between their lover and the potential threat to their relationship that instincts urged them to destroy immediately before whatever invisible tie, which seemed to be connecting the two, grew too strong.

But then the moment was broken as Roki rose, causing Kurama to tense anew in battle readiness, prepared to defend against any sudden attack the enemy might attempt. However, Roki seemed to ignore the kitsune as he stood, the brush stopping at thigh level as he swayed slightly for one wavering moment before he steadied. Through half-closed eyes, he regarded Keiko silently in a manner that two male souls were finding increasingly infuriating, especially as the one being regarded seemed to be returning the attention.

"I appreciate your offer," Roki finally said as he rotated an arm absently, muscles popping audibly even through the sounds made by the falling rain as he worked out the kinks in his body. "The sentiments behind it are honest, and you're not half bad for a human. Or a woman."

"Thanks…I think." Keiko studied him with a quizzical half-smile, unaware of the inward growls the youkai's backhanded compliment inspired within her companion.

"In light of the circumstances," Roki said casually, "it's an offer that only a fool would turn down. I'm not a fool."

Keiko inclined her head. "I was hoping you weren't."

"I'm not." A handsome smile creased his features. "I'm not. But-"

A slashing motion, the glint of rain and light on razor edges -

"I'm sorry - but I have my pride!"

A powerful lunge -

A blur of motion -

The sound of a crack splitting the air -

The spray of red misting the rain -

A dull thud impacting the earth - and then…and then…

Everything was silent, still but for the motions made by the continued falling of the rain from the darkening skies above as late day sought to turn to night.

It was finally over.

Allowing his stained weapon to slide through his fingers and fall to the grass with a barely audible sound, Kurama turned to regard the young woman beside him silently. She was staring at the remains of what had once been the enemy, expression reflecting pity and…regret.

That last visible emotion was what had him, them, trembling with a renewed fury at having their lover's attentions turned towards a fallen foe. It made them brash, reckless, desiring recompense for the pain her sentiments visited upon their bruised emotions as their voice sliced through the encroaching darkness with its silky sharpness.

"Will you miss him so very much then?"

Startled gaze jerked to his. "Wha-? What did you say?"

"You heard me - will you miss him so very much?"

Brows creased in confusion, becoming somewhat alarmed by the odd tone to his voice and the expression in his eyes, her reply was halting and uncertain. "W-why are you asking me that?"

"Stop evading and answer the question!"

The sharp command surprised a gasp from her as she found herself suddenly gazing into furiously swirling gold-green eyes. Confused, worried, and a little scared, she stumbled back a half step.

But even that little action infuriated them, instinctual anger overriding any reason and seeing the small motion as an attempt to get away, to break free of them.

And that was something they could not allow!

Quick as a flash, they gripped her upper arms, in a steely grip hard enough that it would leave bruises later. They prevented her escape as her wide eyes looked back at them while theirs bored into hers with disturbing intensity as if they could pierce beyond and pull all the secrets out from her very soul. If it had been possible at that moment, they would not have hesitated so strong was their need to know.

Instead, they settled for trying to intimidate the answers they wanted from her. It was a good strategy that had succeeded many times against an opponent in innumerable skirmishes that had been graced with kitsune tenacity. And even in this situation, it did not fail to intimidate -

Up to a point.

It was unfortunate that their current intended prey was not one to be intimidated for long.

"What is your problem?" she finally hissed at them once she'd had enough of their attitude. "Why are you acting like this?"

"Why?" they drawled slowly, as if testing the word. "Surely it should be obvious."

"Not so much, no."

"Then let us put it this way." They leaned in, nuzzling her rain-slicked cheek, taking pleasure in the slight hitch in her breath. "We are jealous creatures, and you have agreed to be ours. As such, no other is allowed to touch you and you…you are not allowed to cast your eyes at another, be it male or female. And we find your flirting bordering on breaking this basic rule."

"Allow? Flirting?" Her head was whirling. "Wha-?" Her eyes widened. "You think I was flirting?!" Anger rose. "What the hell made you think that?!"

A soft growl rolled over her ears. "Do not try to deceive us, we who are masters of the deceptive. Do you think we did not notice that way you looked at him, the way you admired him.? And he…he could not take his eyes off of you and, while that in itself was galling enough, the way you returned his interest is a thousand times worse!"

She jerked back enough to view his tightly drawn features with narrowed eyes as she sputtered angrily. "You - you idiot! Who was admiring? I wasn't admiring anybody!"

"Do not take us for fools." His fingers tightened on her. "We saw the way you were gazing at him, attracted to him. If we had not been there between you and him, you would have -"

WHAP!

They winced at the stinging sharp pain that slapped upon their chest, the thin material of wet cotton offering little protection against the attack. Sharp points dug into their flesh through the cloth as she curled her fingers inwards while her dangerously narrowed eyes shot off sparks with enough heat to give them pause.

"I would have what?" she growled impressively. "And let me warn you now - you'd better be very, very careful about what you say next."

They were silent, their anger abating slightly as they regarded her warily.

"Silence - good choice." She fisted her hands into his shirt, tugging forcefully until they were directly eye-to-eye. "Now, listen here. Maybe you were hit enough times to cause you temporary brain damage in that otherwise normally intelligent mind, so I'll try to be forgiving and let this one incident pass. Because it's perfectly obvious that something has made you go a little crazy to even think of accusing me of what you seem to be accusing me of!"

"We-"

"Nuh-uh," she interrupted sharply. "Listening, remember? Your job right now is just to listen while I talk - and try to use that mind of yours to actually understand what I'm going to say."

Green-gold eyes narrowed, but they did not speak.

"I've had it with your asinine ideas and continuous doubts. I'm in no mood for it - especially after a day like today." She rapped a fist against their chest, right over the heart. "Your weird jealousy fixations are skewing everything out of proportion. What you saw as an `admiring' look was a `studying' look."

"And you had to `study' so closely."

"Now what did I say about talking?"

She rapped his chest again and they fell silent.

"As I was saying before - you were wildly misinterpreting what you saw and twisting it to fit your own misguided conceptions. What you saw was me studying him, comparing him to you. And you know what? He was coming up short, although with the way things are going now, I'm more of a mind to change that particular opinion." Her expression was cross. "As for me being `attracted' to him, you couldn't be farther off base on that one."

"Oh?" Their tone was suspicious, but willing to be swayed.

"That's right. I didn't feel any attraction whatsoever, even if I do admit that he looked nice."

They tensed.

"But even when was admiring his looks, I was thinking that he still wasn't as pretty as you."

They blinked, bemused. `Pretty?'

A small smile formed on her lips at their expression. "Yeah, pretty. You must have had a similar thought at one time or another."

"We prefer to think of it as `handsome,'" they muttered as their anger continued to abate.

"I'll bet," she snorted. "But that's all it was. I had no feelings whatsoever for him."

"Then why did you try to save him?" they demanded. "We saw that you regretted his death."

"I regret the death of a lot of people that I don't particularly know very well," she said with an arch look. "And I felt sorry for him."

"Sorry?"

She nodded. "It was sad. He wasn't like you. He was so…empty."

"What do you mean?"

"Pride. He had nothing else. Even though it was obvious he couldn't win, he chose to die stupidly with it rather than turning away and finding something better to live for." She cocked her head. "You're not like that though."

They were affronted. "We have pride."

"I didn't say you didn't." She rolled her eyes. "You show too much arrogance at times not to."

They frowned.

"But what I mean is that you have a stopping point. You have other things that make you want to live, that will allow you to set aside your pride to do something that you wouldn't normally do depending on how desperate the situation is. You have pride, there's no denying that - but you don't let it control you to the point of death."

"And you felt sorry for him because of this?"

"Yes, because he wasted his life because of it. I could sense it from him from the start, and I'm sure you could too."

They nodded.

"And what you saw me regret…was the needless waste of a life."

"Then…you are not angry with us for his death?"

"No," she replied, shaking her head. "He was given a choice and he was smart enough to realize the consequences. I was hoping he'd take the opportunity I gave him and make a choice other than the one he did. But I could see it in his eyes before he attacked, he knew what he was doing." She sighed. "And that's the pity of it. He threw his life away. He knew it, and he still threw it away like it was nothing." She sent them a sharp look. "Just like you almost did."

They scowled. "We explained already-"

"No, you didn't! You distracted me - kissed me! And then-" she broke off abruptly, lips compressing as she remembered what happened after. "Listen," she told him in a more subdued tone, "I only love you. I told you that. And that's why it's impossible for me to even think of anyone else in that way, not when I've had these feelings for you for so long that I almost can't remember a time when I didn't."

At her words, they went absolutely still.

"And I know why you did what you did, risking yourself for me like that. I can appreciate it more now that I'm a bit calmer, even if I still don't approve. But…" She gave a small laugh. "If our situations had been reversed, I would have done the same. Even so," her voice wavered, "I was terrified that I'd lose you so soon, that I wouldn't be able to do anything while you…"

Arms wrapped around her gently as her voice trailed off in a choked sob. Emotional strain from the day's events, both good and bad, caught up to her as she trembled within their embrace, quaking like a leaf caught in the wind as she melted into him and allowed herself to be soothed by his comforting embrace. And as she quivered in their arms, their lingering anger and doubts faded away, if only just for this moment, and they were simply content to have her safe with them once more as the rain continued to fall around their figures, entwined in flesh as their souls drew close and kept each other warm with their loving heat.