Hey guys! I'm back! I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, but life, y'know? Well luckily this is a long chapter, so I hope it satisfies you for a while! Special thanks to BlackAndCrimsonDreamer, furelise, complicatedmind21, and xD for the reviews! Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 2:

"The Calm before the Storm"

As the years passed on in the Kyoyama household, things began to change. Firstly, the house was only filled with Koshiro, Alicia, and Anna (and, well, of course their maids and servants). Then Yoh came along, and Anna was happy. A couple of years after that, Alicia Kyoyama opened up an etiquette class for children around Anna's age. A lot of students joined, most notably Tamao, Pirika, and Manta. Yoh would sometimes sit-in to some of the classes and ended up befriending Manta, while Anna befriended Tamao and Pirika. And shortly after that, another student came to join Koshiro Kyoyama's style of swordsmanship. His name was Ryunosuke (Ryu, for short), he was older than Yoh by a year, but not stronger. Sometimes Anna would worry that if Ryu ever passed up Yoh, she would have to marry Ryu and she would often get jealous because she saw that Tamao too had her sights on Yoh. But no matter what, somehow Anna knew the boy with deep brown eyes was always hers and that he would never let Ryu get better than him.

"Anna?" Alicia knocked on her daughter's door, "Anna, it's time to come out now."

"No. I'm not going out in this!"

"What do you mean?" Alicia put her hands on her hips, "Your grandfather got you that dress especially to be worn on your 12th birthday, and so help me Anna, you are going to wear it!"

"No!" Anna did not unlock her door and sat pouting on her bed. She knew her grandfather meant well, but this dress was too flashy and too puffy. The only thing it had going for her was that it was red; her favorite color.

"If you don't come out here, I'm getting Yoh."

"And do what? He can't make me unlock this door!" Anna shouted. She definitely didn't want him of all people to see her in this dress. She had never even worn a corset before. She was only barely 12! Why did she need one?

"Come on, Anna! You can't be late to your own birthday party!"

"Just tell them I'm not feeling well!"

"Anna!" Her mom yelled, but it was no use. So she started walking down the hall, if she couldn't get her daughter out, maybe her father could.

"Good Morning, Mrs. Kyoyama," Yoh smiled as he was about to pass her down the halls, but noticed her exasperated expression, "What's wrong?"

"Anna." Was all she said, as if he should already know.

"What's wrong with Anna?" Yoh's expression changed from happy to worry.

"She says she's 'not feeling well'," Alicia said as she crossed her arms, "But really, she just doesn't want to come out in her new dress."

"Why not?"

"Heaven knows!" Alicia shrugged, "Be a dear and go see if you can get her to come out?"

Yoh nodded, "Leave it to me, Mrs. Kyoyama."

Anna stood in front of her mirror and looked at her dress. Okay, so it wasn't so bad, it wasn't ugly in the least…it was just…embarrassing. She missed wearing a simple dress that just tied in the back with a bow, not this complex costume. It was too flashy…too "look at me". She didn't want to wear it at all. Yoh always made fun of her whenever she was so fancy and proper. Maybe he wasn't attracted to fancy flashy women? Oh what was she worrying about? She was only 12, not even a teen yet! But he was…that shouldn't make a difference, should it?

"Good Morning, Miss Anna, you sure look lovely today!"

Anna just about jumped out of her skin when she heard Yoh's voice somewhere behind her. She immediately regretted not locking her window.

"What are you doing in here!? Get out!" Anna yelled as she tried to hide and threw a pillow at him.

The pillow hit his face, but he laughed, "What's the big deal? I came here to give you a present before everyone else starts piling theirs on you!"

"No you didn't," she said as she hid behind her mirror, sticking her head out, "My mother sent you here."

"Well she did ask me," he decided to be honest, "But I was on my way over here anyway to give it to you." Then he pulled out a box wrapped in red paper. "See?"

Anna looked at it from behind the mirror, deciding whether it was worth it or not. Then she looked at him, "It's a trap, isn't it?"

"No. If you don't want to come out, then I will give you the present and leave, then tell everyone that you really aren't feeling well."

Anna looked carefully at him, and then stuck her hand out, "Well then, give it to me."

"No," Yoh smiled, "You have to come out from behind the mirror to get it, then I will leave."

"Then no." Anna said as she put her hand down and got back to back to the mirror.

"Oh, c'mon, Miss Anna!" Yoh dared to step closer to the mirror, "At least let me see the dress!"

"No!" He was the one she didn't want to see it!

"It can't be that bad!"

"It is! So leave!"

"Please, Miss Anna?" He asked as he kept stepping closer to the mirror.

"No!"

"I'm going to see you in that dress…"

"No you're not!" Anna got shivers as she heard his voice get closer, "I'll…I'll call my father!"

"Then do it!" Yoh laughed, "He'll make you go outside!"

"Oh, Yoh I hate you!" Anna shouted.

"Well, I don't see what's so bad about this dress," Yoh said as he was now right next to Anna, "Red always suits you best."

"Yoh!" Anna screamed as she pushed him away, "I hate you! Get out of my room!"

"What's the matter? It looks fine."

There was no use in trying to hide now, he saw it. He was lying, she knew it, he was probably just trying not to laugh. Anna pouted and sat on her bed.

"Miss Anna?"

"Just give me the present and leave, I'm not feeling well."

"Well now you have to tell me what's wrong," Yoh said as he sat next to her.

"You're such a nuisance," Anna mumbled.

He laughed and smiled, "Whatever you say."

Why did he have to be so damn charming? Anna contemplated as she looked down on her dress. "I look ridiculous, don't I?"

Yoh was taken aback by her rhetorical question, but then he laughed, "What would ever make you think that?"

Anna glared at him.

"What?" Yoh was confused.

"You think I look ridiculous, don't you?"

"No!" Yoh said as he stood up, "You look beautiful! That dress really suits you!"

Anna crossed her arms. Shouldn't he be making fun of this dress? Why wasn't he? "You're just saying that, aren't you?"

"No!" Yoh almost laughed at her statement, "Why do you think I'm always lying to you? Haven't I gained your trust by now?"

Anna looked down, now she felt bad for doubting his words. He had never lied to her before…

"And when I say I think you look beautiful, that means go out there and show everyone!" he said as he smiled.

Anna gave a little smile, "I'm sorry I doubted you…it's just I feel ridiculous…"

"Why?"

"Because it's so flashy and fancy…"

"Well that's okay," he smiled, "It's only for today and everyone is dressed fancy, I mean, look at me!" He pointed as he saw his nice pants, white blouse and vest…now dirtied from climbing up to her window. "Besides, you shouldn't feel ridiculous, you should feel proud!"

"Why?"

"Because, you're becoming the Lady you always wanted to be!"

She smiled, "Thanks, Yoh."

"Now here," he shoved the red box that was in his hand onto her lap, "Open it!"

Anna carefully peeled back the wrapping paper and opened the box. Inside was a necklace made out of blue beads. She picked it up and looked at it, "It's so beautiful…"

"I was going to give you red beads since it's your favorite color, but I thought since you're usually wearing red, I'll get you a different color."

"I love it!" Anna said and she quickly put it on.

"It goes well with your dress!"

She smiled as she looked at the mirror. Then she looked at Yoh, "Oh! You're wearing yours too!"

"Of course! I wear it everyday!" Yoh said as he looked down at the necklace Anna gave him for his birthday. It was very simple, just three bear claws attached to string, but it meant a lot to Yoh. She had said it symbolized strength and courage and he wore it proudly everyday.

"I thought for sure my mother would tell you to take it off since you're dressed so fancy too."

"Well, I'm going to wear it away," he sheepishly smiled. Then he grabbed her hand, "C'mon, it's time for everyone to see the beautiful birthday girl!"

Anna smiled and left without complaints. Everyone complimented her dress and as long as she had Yoh by her side, she had a good time. As time went on, that fact became almost painfully clear: If Yoh wasn't by her side, then she was restless and bored. She almost hated admitting that, she wouldn't be happy unless she knew that Yoh felt the same way. She had to find out how he felt.

But as time went on, Anna found it hard to tell. Yoh was always nice and kind to everyone, not just to her. He also had to be nice because if he wasn't, her father would surely kick Yoh out onto the streets. So how was she to tell? Was she supposed to just ask him? No. In all the books she's read, the boys make the first move. If he liked her, he would show it, and he would tell her, right? But what if he doesn't? She couldn't wait forever! Anna always found a way to get what she wanted…and he should be no different.

Slowly, though, Anna realized that he was different. Somehow he was the exception to all her rules. She suddenly felt worried about her plans on marrying him just because he was her father's top student. She wanted him to want her. It just wouldn't be fair if she liked him more than he liked her. No, if she wanted her perfect future that she planned out, he needed to love her too. But wanting that just drove her insane. She knew that if she wanted the successful future she planned out she couldn't put love into the picture, but somehow it ended up there and it showed no signs of leaving.

When Anna was 14, she was sure that those feelings would not go away. She tried to ignore them and push them away; she would not show them unless Yoh showed them first!

"Anna!" Her mother called out, "We'll be leaving now!"

Anna opened her door to see her mother and father standing outside of it. She nodded, "Have a good time."

Her father smiled, "We won't be back until late, so behave."

Anna crossed her arms, "I always do."

Koshiro let out a chuckle and her mother sighed, "Right. Well if you need anything, just ask the servants, or call your grandfather."

"Alicia, she's 14, I think she can take care of herself," Koshiro smiled as he put a hand on his wife's shoulder. "Besides, Yoh is here too."

"Yes, that boy," Alicia sighed, "Don't let him talk you into anything, you hear?"

"'Talk me into to anything'? What are you talking about, mother?"

"Alicia…"

"You know, mischief!" Alicia said as she crossed her arms.

Anna rolled her eyes, she didn't care if it was lady-like or not, "Yoh's not evil, mother."

"I know…but he's—"

"He's not a pirate anymore, mother! He's already been here for four years, you should know that already!"

"—a 15 year old boy," Alicia said as she was determined to finish her sentence, "I wasn't going to say 'pirate', Anna, I was going to say "15 year old boy"."

"What has that got to do with anything? Shouldn't you trust him more because he's older?"

Alicia sighed, "Never mind, we're going to be late, Koshiro."

Koshiro chuckled, "Let's go, dear. You don't have to worry about Anna or Yoh. I've raised Yoh to be a fine and respectable boy, he knows how to behave." Then they turned to leave while waving a goodbye to their daughter. Then Koshiro mumbled to his wife: "Besides, it's Anna you should watch out for."

Anna crossed her arms as she watched her parents slowly disappear from her sight. Just what did her mom mean? Besides, it wasn't Yoh who made the plans, it was her, and she had already decided what she and Yoh were to do today. She wanted to go out to sea. Her parents had never really let her go out to sea before. Well, a few times, but she was never allowed to leave her parents sight or go off exploring on her own. And it wasn't like Anna wanted to go far, she just wanted to go to this little island that everyone called "Mu". It wasn't very far at all, actually a small rowboat could take them there and that's just exactly what Anna planned to do. In fact, if they left soon, they would be able to make it there and back before her parents came home and still have time to explore the small, close-by island. Anna quickly got dressed and went over to Yoh's room.

"Yoh!" She knocked on his door, but there was no answer. So she knocked again, and still there was no answer. Maybe he wasn't in his room? Or maybe he was playing a trick on her? So she knocked once more, but when he did not answer she shouted "I'm coming in!"

She opened the door and stepped into his room. After a quick surveillance of the room she turned to leave. Maybe he was in the kitchen? Then she heard a door open, so she turned only wishing now that she hadn't. Right in front of her was Yoh standing in the doorway of the bathroom, half-naked.

"I…I—uh…"

It took all of Anna's strength to subdue a scream while she quickly turned around and exited the room. She slammed the door behind her and yelled "Hurry up and get dressed!"

She heard a frantic "Yes ma'am!" Then she leaned against the door and covered her face. She ordered her blush to be gone from her face by the time Yoh opened the door to let her in. But the more she thought about what she saw, the more she felt the heat on her face. It wasn't that bad, his lower half was covered by a towel but barely. The only thing she really got a look at was his chest. Quite muscular for a boy his age, but what really took her attention was the scars that he had on his abdomen. He never told her that he had scars before…He probably never told her because knowing her, she would ask to see them.

Thinking about the scars rather than his chest made the blush on Anna's face disappear. But then he opened the door and said, "I'm dressed now!" which only made Anna's blush reappear. She took a deep breath before entering the room, hoping that her blush had faded, instead she tried to play it off as though she was flustered, not embarrassed.

He was sitting on his bed, so Anna went and sat at the other side of the bed. He noticed her narrowed eyebrows, crossed arms and "humph" when she sat down. He laughed, "Are you mad?"

She turned her head the other way, "You should've said something and the little incident we just had wouldn't have happened!"

"Wait," he laughed, "You walk into my room while I'm taking a bath, and it's my fault?"

"Well I knocked on your door and called out your name several times," she hastily turned her head towards him, "Surely, you had to have heard me! I even shouted 'I'm coming in'!"

He chuckled and knew that he could not win arguments against Anna. So he settled the dispute with: "I'm sorry."

She un-crossed her arms and sat closer to him; there was something more important on her mind, "Why didn't you tell me you had scars?"

"Wh-what?" He tried to hide the fact that she saw them.

"Your scars," she said as she pointed to her stomach, "The ones you had around here."

He knew there was no hiding, if she thought she was right and he denied it, she would ask to see, "You saw that, huh?"

"Yes. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, I thought they would go away…" Yoh said as he sadly looked away, "They're not pretty and I would rather not have anyone know about them, I can't even stand to look at them."

"But how...?" Anna wanted to ask how he got them, but he probably wouldn't remember, or if he did, she could tell by his face that he didn't want to talk about it. "Never mind."

He gave her a smile, "Thanks for not asking." She kept her mouth shut because she really wanted to know, but decided that he would tell her if it was important…right?

"So what is it you want to do today?" He smiled as he lay back onto his bed.

"I'm glad you asked," Anna said with her poisonous smile which immediately made Yoh wish he could take back his question, "I want to go to Mu."

"Mu?"

"Yes, you know that little island that is not too far away from here? If we leave right now, we would have time to go there and explore a little and come back before my parents come home."

"Ehh…I dunno if that's a good idea, Miss Anna," Yoh said as he sat up a bit. "Why don't we just stay home and not risk getting in trouble?"

Anna pouted as she looked at him, "What fun is that?"

"I know what we can do!" He was now sitting up straight, "We can invite some friends over, like Miss Tamao—"

That was all Anna could stand to hear. Why didn't he want to go out with her? And why did he have to name Tamao first! He should know that while Tamao was a student of her mother's and very polite, Anna was annoyed with her most of the time. Well she couldn't really blame Yoh for not knowing how annoyed she was with Tamao because he was always practicing with her father, but that wasn't the only thing that was bothering her. What was really bothering Anna was the fact that it was painstakingly obvious that Tamao liked Yoh! And either he didn't realize it, or he did and was just being nice! Or worse…maybe he could've liked her as well! No! He can't! He absolutely could not! That was against all plans Anna ever had!

"—and even Ryu if you want!" Yoh had finished what he was saying but Anna heard none of it, she was too busying thinking about what would happen if Yoh liked Tamao. "Miss Anna? Are you all right?"

She didn't answer, she couldn't get her mind off it, and the more she thought about it, the more frustrated she became. All she wanted to do was to go to the island Mu because she had never been there without her parents before! Was that too difficult of a task to ask?!

"Miss Anna?"

"Well I'm going!" Anna stood up, "If you won't come with me, then fine! I don't need you to come with me! You can just stay here and invite Tamao!" Then she stormed out of the room.

"Tam—what? Miss Anna!" He ran after her trying to understand why she suddenly got so mad.

"Go away!" Anna said as she tried to walk quickly to the front door. She wanted to go to that damn island!

"Miss Anna, why are you so mad?"

She ignored his question and walked out of her house, forgetting to let the servants know that she even was leaving.

"Miss Anna!" Yoh asked as he followed her out the door towards the docks. "Please slow down and tell me what the matter is!"

She stopped and turned towards him, "Why don't you want to go to the island with me?"

"I'm only thinking of your safety, Miss Anna! Your parents would kill me if something happened to you!"

"Then you're not thinking of my safety, you're thinking of yours!" Anna crossed her arms and continued her way towards the docks.

Yoh let out a frustrated sigh. Why did girls have to be so complicated? She didn't even give an excuse as to why she was mad! "Besides, Miss Anna, you said that there's a storm coming!"

"Not until later! We still have time, and besides, it's not a bad storm or else I would've had a headache!" Anna stopped to look at him and crossed her arms. "Please take me to that island, Yoh!"

"But…Miss Anna…your parents told me to keep an eye on you…"

"And you will! If you come with me, then you're fulfilling your duty!"

"But they told me to keep you out of trouble…"

"Going to this island isn't going to be trouble!" Then she uncrossed her arms, "Please, Yoh? I never get to go out without my parents and especially not to Mu!"

Yoh struggled. He knew the right thing to do would be to take her home and make sure she didn't sneak out. But seeing her now made him really want to take her to that island. He had to look away, he couldn't let her sad face sucker him into saying yes. He had to be firm. "M-Miss Anna, w-we…"

Anna put a hand on his face to make him look at her. She gave a solemn face, but her eyes showed sadness that was all too familiar with him and he couldn't stand it.

He sighed, "Miss Anna, we're going to go to Mu, are you ready?"

Anna gave her poisonous sweet smile and let her hand slowly came off his face, "Yes, I'm ready, are you?"

"Yeah, let's go," he sighed again and walked ahead of her.

She walked next to him with a triumphant grin on her face. "Don't worry, it'll be fun."

"No more talk on the matter, please?" Yoh yet again sighed and seemed to walk slower than he usually would. Just seconds before he had his bath this morning, her parents came and gave him a firm warning that he and Anna were to stay at the house and to behave. He was trying very hard to obey her parents. They were giving him shelter, food, an education and most importantly something to call a home. The least he could do for them was to obey their rules, right? He tried very hard, but it was even harder to obey the rules and please Anna. Anna wanted a lot, and if he could, he would give it all to her…but he had to obey her parents. If he didn't, he would most likely end up on the streets and worse yet, away from Anna.

When the two reached the docks, he smiled when he saw Anna eagerly get into the small rowboat. She got in and sat down, waiting for him to follow, "Well? Are you ready?"

"Yes, Miss Anna," he smiled as he got into the boat. She actually offered to help row, but he just chuckled and told her that he would do it. She shrugged and sat back. If he didn't want any help, then she would just enjoy the ride.

Their short little trip was filled with small conversations at times, but something was bugging Anna. Why didn't he tell her about the scars? Did he like Tamao? And why didn't he want to go to this island? Sure, her parents told them to behave and to stay put, but that's never stopped them before. Why now was Yoh suddenly being a 'good boy'? Or…what if he was just tried of her? Was he tried of telling her stories? Is that why he wouldn't tell her about the scars? Was he so tried of her that he didn't want to tell her about the relationship between him and Tamao? He hadn't even visited her lately at night…

"Is something wrong?" Yoh said, startling Anna a bit.

"Why would you ask that?"

"You've gone awfully quiet and you're playing with your beads," he said as he nodded at her.

"Uhm…I was just thinking about how I haven't been here since before you came into our lives," she said to cover up the fact that she was really thinking of him.

"Oh, I see," he said sadly, but then smiled, "Well then I'm glad we're here."

They reached the small island and it was absolutely beautiful. It was full of trees, rocks, and all together very green. It reminded Yoh of a little mini jungle. But all this beauty passed up Anna, she was having trouble deciding whether or not she should confront Yoh on the problem she was having. She knew she wouldn't enjoy herself if she had this problem floating in the back of her mind.

"Yoh?"

"Yes, Miss Anna?" Yoh asked as he tied to boat to the dock.

Anna sat on the dock, "Why don't you visit me anymore?"

"What do you mean?" He asked as he looked at her.

"Why didn't you want to come here with me either?"

"What are you talking about, Miss Anna? I told you why…"

"Was that really the truth?"

"Of course it was, Miss Anna!" Yoh said as he sat next to her on the dock, "Why are you asking this?"

"Why didn't you tell me about the scars?" She suddenly felt the urge to ask all the questions at once, just to get it off her chest.

Tiny little droplets were starting to fall and Yoh thought it couldn't have been worse timing. If it was starting to rain, then they needed to get home as soon as possible, but if he told her that, she'd get even madder. Trying to figure out what he should do and trying to answer Anna's questions correctly were starting to make him agitated. "Why would I need to tell you about the scars?"

Anna wasn't expecting a question from him, but then again she wasn't sure of what to expect. His voice calmed down and he gave a sad smile, "I don't like them…and I thought that you would never have to see them, so that's why I didn't tell you."

At the sound of his voice, she felt a little guilty for asking him, but she was still angry from her other unanswered questions. "Well what about my other questions, hm?"

"Miss Anna, I told you why I didn't want to come…and the proof is falling on us right now! We have to go home now before it starts pouring and it upsets the water!"

Indeed the rain did start coming down faster and faster with each passing minute. But Anna would have none of that interfering with her answers. She stood up, "You just want to go home, don't you? Home to Tamao!"

"What does Miss Tamao have to do with any of this?" Yoh asked confused.

"Hmph," he either just proved her theory that he was clueless or he was just acting dumb. "And the other question? Why don't you visit me anymore?"

"Ah, Miss Anna!" Yoh was getting frustrated with her pressing questions. He was already feeling guilty for not visiting her, but he couldn't let her know why he wasn't. "Miss Anna, I train hard everyday with your father, I return very tired!"

"That never stopped you before!"

"Well I'm older now and the work is harder…you want me to be the best, don't you?"

"I do! But…but you told me…you promised me that you would visit me when I got lonely…" Anna sadly looked down.

He couldn't stand it…The guilt was so strong that it was pouring out of him, but he couldn't tell her the reason. No, if he told the reason, he might break down and start visiting her again. He had to be firm. "Miss Anna…the only reason why I am allowed to live at your home is because I'm learning swordsmanship from your father. I'm not staying at your home to keep you company!"

He didn't mean for that last sentence to sound as harsh as it did, but Anna took the blow hard.

"…Is that so?" Was all Anna could say before she slapped Yoh, turned around, and ran.

What an ungrateful brat! After all, it was she who found him and suggested he lived there! Anna ran as fast as she could away from Yoh. She couldn't stand to see him at the moment and just wanted to hide, she was so angry at him that tears might actually surface. The rain started to pour and it only helped her in hiding.

So it was true, wasn't it? He was tired of her, wasn't he? She was bossy and selfish and he no longer wanted to be her friend! He only stayed at her home because he got to eat and learn swordsmanship for free! Anna covered her face in frustration as she sat down between two bushes; she could care less if her red dress got dirty.

The second after the sentence left Yoh's mouth he noticed that it wasn't worded correctly. He froze when she slapped him and saw her run away as the rain started to get heavy. He got up as soon as he could and ran after her, but surprisingly she was quite fast and had a good head start.

"I'm such an idiot!" He mumbled to himself, "Why didn't I just tell her the truth?"

"Miss Anna!" Yoh yelled looking left and right, though the rain was making it hard to see. "Miss Anna, please answer me!" When there was no answer, he called again, "Miss Anna, please! You'll catch a cold if you're out in this rain!"

Was that all he cared about? Anna thought to herself as she hid behind her bush. Did he only want her safe because if he didn't keep her safe, he would be kicked out of her house?

"Miss Anna!"

"You don't even care about me!" She shouted from her bush, "You just want me safe because you love living in my house!"

In the rain, Yoh couldn't tell where her voice was coming from, so he just shouted back, "That isn't true! That's not the only reason, and I care about you very much! More than I should!"

More than he should? Anna sat there flabbergasted and tried to think of what that meant. "What do you mean?" She shouted back at him.

"I'll tell you if you come out."

"Promise?"

"I promise, Miss Anna, but you need to get out of the rain first."

Anna stood up and found that they were directly across from each other. He smiled at her and offered his hand, "There's a cave close by, let's go there."

She took his hand and let him silently guide her there. Once there, he sat her down and wiped some of the hair from her face and smiled. She couldn't take it anymore, "What did you mean?"

Yoh sighed as he sat next to her. "You mother…she came to talk to me a while ago and she told me that it was my duty to keep you safe, and I plan to do just that, Miss Anna." He said it with a smile that soon faded, "She also said that it was inappropriate for a boy my age to be alone with a girl your age and that if I ever was, I'd be living somewhere else…"

"Why that old…" Anna angrily looked down.

"Don't fret, Miss Anna," Yoh smiled, "I understand, she just wants her precious only daughter to be safe. A-and she said some other things…" he trailed off as he blushed.

"What other things?"

He sheepishly grinned, "It was for my ears only, Miss Anna."

She pouted and crossed her arms.

"In short…It is my duty to protect you from harm, and that is all. No more than that." Then he looked down at his hands, "And I'm sorry that me not visiting you is making you unhappy…but I can't risk it, Miss Anna. I…I care about you too much. And I want to stay at your house because I want to be with you."

It was Anna's turn to blush as she looked at him.

"What your mother said to me…what she said was that I could be nothing more than your friend."

"And you're going to listen to her?!" Anna suddenly shouted as she stood up. "But…but…"

"Miss Anna?"

"Why would you listen to her? I don't care what that old bat thinks!"

"Because I want to stay with you…I know that if I live anywhere else, I won't see you."

Anna sat back down. That certainly was true…but…but… "Then we'll just have to be sneaky!"

"But, Miss Anna…!"

"I don't want you to leave either, but I can't stand it if you're only there to protect me. Yoh, I…I…" It was hard to say that she cared for him back. It was her turn to look at her hands, "Yoh, I was so lonely without you…I thought that you were tired of me…I thought that you started to prefer Tamao…and I couldn't stand it." Then she shivered because of her wetness and the wind blowing into the cave.

Yoh wrapped his arms around her, "I'm sorry I caused you grief."

She shook her head but then shivered. His wet clothes were just making her colder. So then he sat back and took off his shirt. Anna covered her eyes, "Yoh! Just what do you think you're doing?!"

Then he wrapped his arms around her again, "Trying to warm you up!"

She blushed profusely and tried to hide her face, but only found it more embarrassing because she was trying to hide her face in his chest. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on something else. Yoh was probably freezing as well so slowly she wrapped her arms around him. When she was finally calm enough to speak, she opened her eyes. "Yoh…I…I like you too."

He smiled and his grip around her got tighter.

"But," Anna said as she sat back a little to look at his face, "Since I like you that means you can't like anyone else! You got it? If you ever end up liking someone—"

Then Yoh quickly planted a soft kiss to Anna's lips, shutting her up momentarily. "I get it, Miss Anna."

Anna blushed and quickly resumed laying her head against his chest, "W-well good!" After getting over the embarrassment that her first kiss was to shut her up, she smiled. So her plan wasn't totally ruined, and with Yoh on her side, it seemed to be a very promising future.

After thinking for quite some while about herself and Yoh, she thought about how her life would have been different without him. She didn't even want to imagine it, she just thought about how much better things were with him. He was her best friend and she never wanted to be without him. She desperately hoped that he wished for the same thing.

She looked at rain outside. She was actually very thankful to the rain. If it weren't for the rain, she probably wouldn't have ever even had meet Yoh. And if it weren't for the rain, they wouldn't be here now in this cave.

She pulled back a little bit so she could look into his face. She wanted to see those mysterious dark brown eyes that first intrigued her interest and see if they were indeed the same. Much to her fortune, they were the same eyes that she adored and before she knew it, she was leaning in to kiss him. When she first touched his lips, it finally registered in her head of what she was doing. She, for a second, doubted that this was what Yoh wanted and was about to back out of it when she felt Yoh kiss her back. It made her feel assured, but most of all it made her feel safe. It made her feel that this is where were she belonged, and this was where she will stay. She had never felt like that before and she wanted to know that she could always feel like this.

The sound of the rain was loud, but then it got softer and softer until finally the sound came to almost a complete stop.

"Miss Anna," Yoh said while rubbing a hand against her back, "The rain has stopped, we must go home now."

Anna held onto him tighter, "I don't want to. Let's stay here a little longer, please?"

"We've been here long enough. I'm afraid that your parents might get home before us."

Anna froze at that statement. If they did, Yoh would be kicked out for sure. What made everything worse was the fact that their clothes were soaking wet.

"C'mon," he said as he stood up, taking her with him since she didn't let go, "We have to hurry."

Anna finally let go of him as he bent down to pick up his shirt and quickly put it back on, for the first time, she saw his bare back and noticed that he had scars all over there too. She decided not to mention it to him, but she couldn't help but wonder again how he got them. She wondered what he was hit with to make them, or even who dared to hit him? Before he came to her home he was younger than 11…who would hit an 11 year old? It looked like those scars were made by a sword of something. She knew that her father couldn't have hit him, he was found of Yoh, so…who else? Was it the pirates Yoh was with before? Had he really been in that dangerous of a situation? And, did he even remember how he got them? Maybe he was just embarrassed of them and had no clue of where they came from.

While Anna was speculating, Yoh had guided her back to where their boat was. They got in quickly, but Anna was still dwelling on the scars and making up scenarios in her head as to where he could've attained such scars.

"What are you thinking about?" Yoh said suddenly stirring Anna from her thoughts.

She looked at him rowing and tried to decide whether or not to tell him that she was thinking of his scars and that she noticed more on his back.

She hesitated so he decided to speak, "If it's about your parents, don't worry, I'll take the blame."

"That isn't fair! Besides it was my idea, I should be the one to take the blame!" Anna crossed her arms, slightly relieved that he didn't guess what she was thinking.

"That's noble of you, Miss Anna, but don't worry about it," he smiled, and then he smile lessened, "And don't worry about the scars. I don't remember how I got them, but I'll try to make up a story for you to make up for lost time."

Anna tried to suppress a blush as she uncrossed her arms. He's gotten much better at being able to know what she was thinking. "I'm sorry," she mumbled as she struggled to get those words out. She normally didn't apologize, but she felt that this may be a time to since Yoh didn't like the subject of his scars.

He gave her a smile and continued to row home. Soon, with much effort coming from Yoh, they reached Funbari. Yoh helped Anna out of the boat and held onto her hand as they quickly walked home. She had not realized how late it actually was. It must've taken more time than she thought to arrive at Mu and since they got into that little spat; it didn't seem like much time at all.

Yoh and Anna stopped in front of her house. Yoh reluctantly let go of Anna's hand and gulped. No doubt he would get in a lot of trouble…maybe even kicked out of the house.

Anna noticed Yoh's strained expression and instantly felt bad for talking him into going with her. She was thankful that out of it she got Yoh's confession, but she hoped that that didn't risk everything for it. She took a hold of his hand and squeezed lightly, "It's not your fault."

He smiled at her sweetly, but then freed his hand from her grasp to open the door.

"They're home!" One of the servants exclaimed. Instantly, footsteps could be heard coming from the stairs. Alicia, practically running down the stairs shouted: "Where have you two been! I've been worried sick!"

"I'm sorry, Mrs.—"

SWAP!

Alicia slapped Yoh hard across the face.

"Mother!" Anna shouted in absolute astonishment.

"How dare you!" Alicia yelled at Yoh, "We let you stay here; we give you food, shelter, an education, all for free! And what do you do? You take advantage of my daughter, even after I explicitly told you to stay away from her! You are no more than a bodyguard, understand?!"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Kyoyama," Yoh said as he held his swollen cheek.

"Mother, it's not his fault!" Anna interjected, "He was being my bodyguard! I wanted to go to Mu! I left and he followed me to make sure I was safe! It was my idea and not his!"

"Do you have any idea of how worried I was to come home to find my only daughter and some once-pirate gone? Your father is out there looking all over for you! How am I supposed to know that he didn't kidnap you and try to sell you for ransom?!"

Just then Koshiro entered the house and gave a relieved sigh, "They're home!"

He was ignored as Anna fired back, "Because Yoh is a good boy! He would never do that, why won't you trust him?! He's been here for four years already!"

"Because I can't take chances like that, Anna! Our town has been terrorized by pirates before and the perfect target for them is the governor's young defenseless granddaughter! I was protected like you were too when I was little and I'm thankful for it!" Then she turned her attention to Yoh, "Then this boy comes along! No background, no solid story, there is nothing on this boy and we're suddenly expected to trust that this isn't a trap? What if he was sent here to get information on us and is just waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike! He—"

"Mother, please!" Anna begged, "Yoh is not bad, not at all! I wanted to go to Mu, he argued against me not to go, but I decided to go anyway so he followed me! The reason we were gone so long is because we couldn't get home while it was raining!" Then she turned to her father, "Father, you believe me, don't you?"

He looked at his daughter sympathetically, "Anna, go take a bath before you catch a cold, then go straight to bed. Your punishment will be decided tomorrow." He said with a stern look, then looked at Yoh, "Son, go change your clothes and come right back here."

"Yes sir," both Yoh and Anna said in unison.

"And, Anna?" she turned towards her father, "You go to bed right after you bathe, understand? If I catch you snooping around, your punishment will be 10 times worse."

She gave a nod and went up the stairs. She was hoping to talk to Yoh, but he was already gone. She tried to hold back the tears as the realization that Yoh might not be there when she woke up and it was all her fault struck her. She didn't like crying and thought it was un-lady for a girl to cry in public, but she couldn't help it. When she was done bathing, she laid in her bed, still trying to fight back the tears. Her bed seemed especially large tonight. She finally just closed her eyes and let the tears fall.

It was all her fault. If she weren't so stubborn, they could've just stayed home. She could've argued with him while they were home, they didn't have to go all the way to Mu just to admit their feelings for each other. Why did she have to be so stubborn? Why couldn't she just listen to him for once?

She started to sniff as she tried not to make noises as she cried. Yoh was her best friend and what he said was true, if he moved out, then they wouldn't see each other. The only hope she had now was in her father. Her father knew Yoh, her mother didn't! What did her mother know?! Her mother was just paranoid! It wasn't fair! How could she just judge Yoh like that?!

The more she thought about it, the more she couldn't hold in her cries. She covered her mouth to make sure no noise escaped, she had to calm down and not make a scene. Crying could maybe get her sympathy, but she didn't want to get Yoh to stay like that. If she was going to fight for him to stay, she was going to do it in a dignified way!

"What are you crying for, Miss Anna?"

The voice made her jump out of her skin. She immediately sat up to see Yoh sitting on the side of her bed.

"You aren't crying for me, are ya'?"

"N-no, of course not!" She wiped her eyes. "Me, cry? I've never heard of such a ridiculous thing!"

"Good, because you shouldn't."

She threw her arms around him and didn't care if that was un-lady like or not. No one was around and no one was watching, she could do whatever or be whoever she wanted. "Yoh, what happened?"

He wrapped his arms around Anna, "I can stay. Your father vouched for me."

Anna couldn't exclude her happiness as she hugged him tighter. "Good. I was about ready to fight that old bat for you!" Then she looked up at Yoh and touched his cheek gently, "It doesn't hurt, does it?"

"No," Yoh smiled as he shook his head, "And don't be mad at your mother for protecting you."

"Why not! She's so judgmental! It's not fair, Yoh!"

"She wants you safe, and I want you safe. That's all that matters. It's good that she cares."

Anna crossed her arms, she was still too mad to accept what Yoh was saying.

"Now, get back in bed, Miss Anna."

"But…"

"I will stay for a while, don't worry."

"When did you get here? I didn't even hear you come in." Anna asked as she crawled back in bed.

"Your window was unlocked." Well, she knew that, she kept it unlocked just in case he would come visit her, "And I guess you didn't hear me because you were too into your thoughts."

"Oh…" Anna said slowly while Yoh laid beside her.

"I'm going to stay here until you fall asleep, okay?"

Anna nodded, already semi-exhausted by the headache she was getting from crying.

He smiled as he started to tell her a story of how he got one of his scars. She listened intently but eventually fell asleep. When he was done telling the story, he called out her name gently. She didn't answer so he kissed her on the forehead and said goodnight.

Her parents told him that it was wrong to love Anna; that he had no background, no family, and no money. It would be wrong and a waste if a beautiful Lady like Anna was to marry some nameless ex-pirate like Yoh. And nobody was even sure if Yoh was an ex-pirate, so he didn't have anything stable at all. All he had was skill in swordsmanship, so becoming Anna's bodyguard was logical, but becoming Anna's husband? Ridiculous. Even if he were to stay Koshiro's top apprentice, it wouldn't change her mother's opinion. If things went her mother's way, Anna might marry Ryu, who was wealthy and just under skill from Yoh. So Ryu, in Anna's mother's eyes, was a perfect match for Anna.

Even though Yoh was warned, he couldn't help but love Anna. He knew he shouldn't and that her liking him back was even worse, but he thought that if he proved his love was pure, her parents might accept it. He just wanted Anna to be happy and he knew that what she wanted more than anything was to go out and have an adventure. He would gladly give her the world if he could, but knew that she had to stay in this little town and become a Lady.

He decided right then and there that he would take her on an adventure no matter what and he would make her happy. He would prove to her parents that he loved her purely and honestly. He would even go out there and work hard to earn money to take care of Anna. Hell, he would even run for governor if that meant he could be with Anna.

"Anna, we'll be together someday. We'll have plenty of adventures and you'll be happy, I promise."

With that, Yoh got up and decided to go back to his room. As his punishment, his training was going to be harder and his studies would be longer. But it was worth it if it meant he could stay with Anna. He just knew that even though things might be hard now, he and Anna would be together, and they would have their great adventure.


Well? What did you think? Any comments, questions, suggestions, or constructive criticism? Like I said this is my first time trying to do an Action/Adventure fic, so I will gladly receive any comments or suggestions on the matter! So please make sure that you do review and give me some feedback! Any feedback will be considered and help me write faster!

Until next chapter, thanks so much for reading! Stay tuned for chapter three!