AAN: this is a special birthday gift for Rocky, albeit a late one. Hope you enjoy it as it's based off your recent story.

Short Fall

The sun rose filling the sky with a rosy hue, the sky clear as far as the eye could see. Holly found he suns rays waking her from her peaceful and deep sleep. She always rose with the sun so she could make breakfast. Deciding to wash up and clean her clothes before her chores she gabbed her bathing stuff and sauntered off towards a near by river. Though not large it would do for the purpose she had in mind. Each step reminded the girl of the previous days events. Though she hadn't enjoyed the short fall she had taken she did enjoy the outcome of her efforts. Genki was relaxed and happy again, having cried it out the night before. Holly blushed slightly remembering his words, she could never of predicted what had ended up happening. But it worked out better then she had planned and she knew that Genki had become closer to her because of it. She hissed in pain as she peeled her soiled clothing off. She hadn't realized she would hurt so much this morning. Gazing into the water she realized there was a large bruise on her back around her shoulder blades. * That must have been where I hit… wow I didn't think I hit that hard. * Making a mental note to use some bruise balm when she returned she set about washing her clothing and then washing up herself. After relaxing in the cool water she dried off. Her timing was always perfect, her clothing pretty much dry by the time she finished. Returning, she put her things away and pulled out the balm she needed. Though difficult she managed to get the balm on most of her bruise. She then set about he normal chores. She found lifting the pot full of water painful though; she nearly dropped it on the way back. Making a mental note to ask for help later that night, she set about making some porridge. * I hope this doesn't last too long, otherwise Suezo will know something is up… as it was he was concerned last night. * The wondrous smell of food woke everyone in the camp; Holly smiled as eager eyes fixed on the food. She didn't keep them waiting too long though. As soon as they had their dishes each was busy eating.

"Wow this is wonderful!"

"I'll say!"

"Did you add… something… to it?" Golem asked knowing Holly liked to improve on her dishes.

"Yes, I added a few more spices this time."

"Well it turned out great Holly." Genki beamed at her, a faint blush became visible on her cheeks. Though the others thought nothing of it, Holly always blushed when she was complimented. After finishing their meals and cleaning up the group packed up and set out for the day. Holly kept her pain to her self, though her slight flinch when she lifted something heavy alerted Tiger and Genki that something was wrong. They both nodded to each other, an agreement to watch over her.

As the day progressed the sun gave way to heavy clouds. They darkened in time and thunder rolled through the sky, alerting everything around that rain would come. The group hadn't obeyed these warnings fast enough though and found themselves dashing for cover, they found it in the form of a ruined building, and everyone was soaked. What they were not aware of was that they were not the only ones caught out in this storm. A troop of Evil Hares were also caught in this down pour. They soon found the rebels and took advantage of their good fortune in both shelter and their prey.

"Ah found you at last!" the captain proclaimed, his troops surrounding the rebels before they could escape.

"Baddies!" Genki hissed as Tiger and Golem provided protection for Holly. A battle ensued; the rebels had the upper hand though. Holly found herself unexpectedly attacked while the others were distracted. She brought her arms up taking he machine gun punch the Evil Hare delivered. She felt her back slam into a near by tree, her body freezing in pain. She couldn't even breath for a moment, let alone register that the Evil Hare was ready for the finishing blow. Genki came to her rescue and moved her out of the way just in time. With the grass so slick though, he couldn't stop and ended up tumbling over a steep hillside. Genki pulled Holly to him, taking as much of the fall as he could for her. Both hitting the bottom of the hill hard, knocking the air out of their lungs and sending them into a world of darkness.

The rain continued to beat down on the teens, its icy cold grip unrelenting. Genki woke with a moan, his head pounding and a shiver running through him. He felt something on top of him, opening his eyes he saw Holly. Memories came flooding back as he began to shake her gently, not sure if she was hurt.

"Holly! Holly wake up!" he heard a soft moan escape her lips, a shiver running though her body, her eyes slowly opened and found his. "Are you alright?"

"I think so…" a sudden rush of heat brought a blush to her face as she realized their positioning. "I'm sorry…" she attempted to get up, "Argh!" her cry of pain worried Genki, she seemed unable to use her arms with out pain.

"Easy… let me help you." She obeyed, though deeply embarrassed. Genki managed to slide from under her then pick her up and get her into a sitting position. Glancing around he noticed a small out cropping and headed for it, it didn't take long to realize it was a shallow cave. He brought her inside and carefully sat her down. "Where does it hurt?"

"My upper back…" she said at length not really wanting to reveal the extent of her injury to him. Seeing her shivering he sighed, his blanket was soaked; it would be of little use. He sat down and pulled her into an embrace gently. "Genki?" she felt his fingers move along the bare skin her spine purposefully, checking to see if her could feel anything out of alignment.

"Holly… you have two discs out of place… is this just from his attack?" his voice was gentle and full of concern.

"I think so…" her voice was soft, her face holding a slight blush. He pulled back now; she could see a faint blush on his cheeks as well.

"Lay on your stomach… I'll try to put them back for you alright?" Holly stared at him for a while then finally nodded. He helped her lay down, getting her to take her thick vest off. He straddled her legs making her blush heavily, and then placed his hands on either side of her spine. "Take a deep breath and let it go slowly." Holly obeyed, as she did he pushed down and forward causing an audible crack to be heard in the small cavern. After a second crack was down he finished checking her spine and helped her get up. He had noticed holly had felt quite a bit of pain during the procedure and wondered what that was about. "Holly… are you bruised from your fall yesterday? You said you fell out of the tree right?"

"Yeah… the branch couldn't hold my wait…. I ended up falling so fast that I couldn't even scream."

"Where did you hit?"

"On my back…"

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want to worry you guys…" she looked down making him sigh and run his fingers through his wet hair.

"You know we don't like to see you in pain. Its not about us worrying… how bad is the bruise?"

"It was quite big when I saw it this morning… I put some bruise balm on it…" he nodded and sighed,

"We should probably stock back up on that at the next village…. you should put some more on, it'll help." a thought popped into his mind then, "could you reach it all?"

"No…" her voice so soft he almost missed it.

"Will you let me help?" his voice gentle and soft. She stared at him a moment, the heat of a blush filling her cheeks.

"Yes… I guess you can help…." Genki waited for her to dig the bruise balm out of her pouch then carefully lifts her shirts so he could see her back. Holly's face turned red as he did but he too wore a blush. She felt him very gently spread the salve over her injured flesh. She realized the bruise was larger now by where he was putting it, and that she couldn't reach it on her own that well. Once finished she tucked her white shirt in and put the balm away as Genki used a handkerchief to wipe his hand off. Genki glanced out side, glaring at the downpour; he hoped it would stop soon. He moved to join Holly again, pulling her to his side for warmth. Reaching in to his pack he pulled out his still dry cloak and wrapped it around them both. Holly blushed profusely as she felt his hand come to rest on her side.

"Just relax and get some rest. We'll try to find the others after the rain stops." she nodded,

"Thank you Genki…" he smiled to her, both teens blushing now. Genki rested his head against the cavern wall and let himself drift off; Holly reluctantly did the same.

After being trapped in the cave for hours the teens grew hungry, Genki dared not leave Holly's side though. He grinned all the sudden catching his companion's attention. He pulled out the apple she had given him, and smiled.

"How about we share this Holly?" she stared at him a moment.

"Are you sure? I got that for you…"

"I'd rather share it with you." he blushed again, but it was nothing compared to the tint on Holly's cheeks. She nodded slowly and gave him her dagger. He carefully cut it into pieces and gave her half.

"Genki… you don't have to eat the bruised part…"

"Its fine Holly… sometimes it makes them all the sweeter." he smiled, his words had a duel meaning but he wasn't sure Holly had caught it until a deep blush appeared on her face. She hadn't realized he would flirt with her so much until now. the teens ate in silence for awhile, until Genki grew worried that he had offended her. "Holly is everything alright?"

"Yeah… why?"

"Its just you are so quite…" she glance over at him seeing genuine concern, then smiled.

"I'm fine I was just thinking about a few things…"

"Like what?"

"Well like the fact that I'm useless in battle. I couldn't do anything against that Evil Hare…."

"Holly you were already injured… that wasn't you fault."

"It was… I'm not good at climbing trees either… managed to fall out of one doing something simple…"

"Holly I know you are afraid of heights…. besides we all have are short falls, I mean I can't really cook or clean well… Suezo… couldn't stay quite to save his life. I doubt Hare would even be able to get us out of a situation that didn't involve money or battle. And Tiger… well he can't seem to hold his temper well… especially with Hare…" Genki sweated a bit. "It doesn't matter… you said it before, we all contribute what we can… and we balance each other because of it." Holly stared at him a moment then smiled,

"I guess you're right…" he grinned,

"Of course I am… now no more of that type of thinking alright?"

"Ok." she beamed to him, knowing he indeed was right. He pulled her closer as he saw her shiver, a blush appearing on their faces again; his free hand moving to take hold of hers. Holly looked into his eyes seeing concern for her well being but there was something more. Before she could react Genki gently placed a feather light kiss on her lips. He pulled back whispering,

"I really care about Holly… please don't be afraid to talk to me…" Holly stared at him in a daze, her hand moving to touch her lips in awe of what he did then she smiled to him slowly.

"Alright… I won't be anymore." he gave her one of his wondrous smiles. The pair spent their time relaxing and chatting as they waited for the rain to stop. Knowing their relationship wouldn't be the same after this.

AAN: I hope you enjoyed it! Based off my experience with back injuries and not thinking you are hurt when you are… and you find it out the hard way. A little fluff for all of you to survive off of ^^ lol.