Rose: Shh! This is a surprise fic for Setsumi-san. I know she likes Nichrom/Mari, so I came up with this. Oh, and just pretend-please-that there was a huge explosion that sent everyone flying into the sky, and Ren just so happened to come upon Nichrom and Mari.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King.

"AAAAAH!" Nichrom sat up in bed. "Whew...what a terrible dream." He flopped back down onto the bed. It sure was a terrible dream...there was a really big explosion that sent all of them-Yoh, Hao, Mari, Kanna, Macchi and himself-flying up into the sky!

But now he was safe in his nice, soft, warm bed...

Wait. Nice, soft, warm bed.

Those four words didn't go together in Nichrom's vocabulary! He sat up and looked around wildly. "Where am I? Where am I?!"

Nichrom jumped out of bed, flung the door open and rushed down the hall. Yup, he was right-this house looked totally unfamiliar!

"WHERE AM I?!"

"Calm down, calm down." He turned to see a figure sitting at a table in what looked like the kitchen.

A figure with purple hair and golden eyes. Tao Ren. "You!" Nichrom pointed a slightly quivering finger at the Chinese shaman, who favored the brunette with a thin smile. "Me."

Frowning, Nichrom put his hand down. "You think you're safe now, but just wait till...till..." Curse it. Nichrom was too out of ideas to threaten the Tao. "So, you brought me here after the explosion? Do you know where the others are?"

"Hm...yes and yes. Sort of. There was you and another one a few feet away, so I brought you both here."

Finally, the question that had been eating at Nichrom's insides burst out. "Where is Mari? Have you seen her?"

Ren raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

Nichrom stomped his foot on the floor. "Mari! As in Marion Phauna! Long blonde hair, a stuffed doll as her shamanic medium, black dress...ring a bell?"

Ren smiled. "Yes. Come with me."

Ren led Nichrom to a room that was just a few doors down from his. Quietly, Ren placed a hand on the door and gave it a light push. Nichrom peeked inside to see Mari sitting on her bed and holding Chuck, a faraway look in her eyes.

"Mari..." He whispered, so as not to startle her. She looked up. "Nichrom is here to see Mari?"

Nichrom nodded as Ren stepped aside to allow him entrance to the room. "Mari, I missed you." He knelt down and let Mari wrap her arms around him.

"Mari...was scared." She rested her head on Nichrom's shoulder. "Mari missed Nichrom, too."

Ren closed the door and walked back to the kitchen. While he held Mari in his arms, Nichrom made a mental note:

Tao's weren't all that bad.

Well, thanks for reading. Please don't have my head on a silver platter, this was my first Shaman King romance story.

The reason I put the "Nice, soft, warm bed" comment is because the Patch tribe is dirt poor, and I don't think that they'd have enough money for a comfortable bed.

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