Heartbeat

By AnitaB

Chapter four: Keeping Company

Mika couldn't help but smile. Even now, Raizo never came into her room by the door. Usually she simply looked up expecting it to be Ryan back from his smoke break and there the ninja would be. "You do know that you're allowed to come in the door, right?"

He simply gave her that gentle twist of a smile, mostly in his voice and sat in Ryan's chair to take her hand. "But what fun would that be?"

"So how long until Ryan gets back? Since you track us both like a hawk." Mika didn't struggle against his grip but felt no guilt in trying to get a rise out of him.

"About two minutes, I'd say. Just long enough to change his smell." He gave her that little smile and stroked calloused fingertips over the back of her hand. "He doesn't like to leave you alone. Very protective man."

"Yeah, keep teasing. You know he's my boss." She believed it when she said it, but even she knew without a shadow of a doubt that Ryan was more to her than that.

"A very good boss to investigate Ninjas and follow you all the way to China. Very understanding of him." It was amazing how much their personal Ninja could put into his voice and his face without even changing expression. "You should figure out a way to thank him for that."

"Raizo!"

"Raizo," The second voice saying his name made Mika look up with a smile. She could feel the man in question lift her hand and brush smiling lips over the back of her fingers. Ryan was back, of course she was smiling and Raizo was teasing. It was the norm. "Get out of my chair… again."

"Of course, Agent Maslow. Just keeping our Mika here company while you were gone." Raizo stood and faced the agent in the doorway.

She loved it when Ryan smiled just like that, but it was always a sign of something coming. "How interesting. I've brought someone to help keep you company. She found me outside." Ryan stepped further into the room in time with the sudden tension in every line of Raizo's body. "Mika, this is---"

"Kiriko," The woman hadn't even crossed the doorjam before Raizo was inches in front of her, one hand on her heart and the other cupping her face. "How can this be?"

"I told you, Raizo, that Father could never touch my heart." Mika couldn't help a smile at the look on the woman's face. She knew what that expression felt like from the inside, envied her the ability to reach out and touch the man that inspired it. Kiriko's fingers shook, but they spread out to rest against Raizo's heart.

Ryan smiled, too, finally crossing the room to take his chair and her hand. Maybe she could reach out for someone too.

The man she'd watch fight with strength and grace after injuries that would have killed anyone else collapsed to his knees at Kiriko's feet. He wrapped both arms tight around her waist and clutched fistfuls of her clothes in trembling fingers. With a low, harsh sound Raizo buried his face against her heart. "Kiriko,"

"I'm here, Raizo. I'm right here. I'm safe and alive. Can you hear it?" Kiriko's fingers ran through his hair, holding him closer against her ribs.

"I could always hear you. Even when I knew you were gone." His face angled up to give Kiriko his eyes. "Kiriko, I thought I'd lost you, but I could still hear your heart."

She'd never heard anything like that in Raizo's voice. Ever. Looking up at Ryan, Mika came to a decision of sorts. "Ryan, take me for a walk." Accepting his help out of the bed, she knew Raizo and Kiriko wouldn't notice them leave, even with the heightened Ninja senses. They had something far more important to focus on right now.

Leaning into the circle of Ryan's arm, Mika let herself cling a little closer than she should as they took a stroll through the hallways. "We're going to have to tease him mercilessly for this."

She loved the sound of his laughter. "Yes, Ryan, we will have lots to tease them both about."

000

"How interesting. I've brought someone to help keep you company. She found me outside." Raizo heard the teasing in that voice. But he also heard something else… something impossible. Something precious. "Mika, this is—"

"Kiriko," His body moved completely on its own. Before Raizo's heart had taken another beat, he found himself listening to her heart with one palm and holding her dear face in the other. "How can this be?"

"I told you, Raizo, that Father could never touch my heart." But he could. Here before him stood the miracle truth. Under his fingers he could feel both the scar of her wound and the heavenly rhythm of her heart. His Kiriko was here.

His knees went weak but he couldn't let her one inch out of reach. Raizo wrapped his arms around her tight and listened to the racing of her heart through her ribs. She still wasn't close enough and he found himself clutching at the fabric at her waist like he could pull her even an inch further into his arms. "Kiriko,"

"I'm here, Raizo. I'm right here. I'm safe and alive. Can you hear it?" Delicate fingers ran through his hair. Strong arms cuddled him closer against the heart he would never ever get enough of.

"I could always hear you. Even when I knew you were gone." Raizo needed her eyes, needed to see the face he believed he would only see in his dreams. She was so beautiful that she stole his breath. "Kiriko, I thought I'd lost you, but I could still hear your heart."

"Raizo," There were tears in her eyes, but no more than he could feel in his own. His Kiriko sank to her knees, not once losing contact. His arms helplessly pulled her even closer, until he could feel the warmth of her body against his own. "Because it was yours. My dear Raizo, this heart is yours." His hand was once again on her chest, fingers spread wide under the guidance of hers. "It's always been yours."

"Kiriko," He was not letting another chance with this precious woman, this special heart pass him by. Resting his forehead against hers, Raizo led her palm to the center of his chest. "And this heart has always been yours. My dear Kiriko." It felt like he'd been holding himself back from this his whole life. But there was no holding back anymore. Cupping her precious face in both hands, Raizo pulled her to him for a sweet, simple touch of lips. Just like the first kiss in the rain.

But she wasn't about to let him go. Strong hands fisted in his hair in the instant before Kiriko deepened this amazing kiss, giving him the warmth and sweet taste of her on his tongue. It wasn't enough. Raizo found his fingers sliding up the smooth heat of her back under her clothes. The trembling of her body in his arms made him break the kiss with a slow smile. "Raizo,"

"I'm here, Kiriko, I'm right here." He spread his fingers wide over her skin, pressing her closer against his chest. Raizo adored the feel and sound of her heart racing in perfect time with his. "I'm safe and alive and with you. Can you feel it?"

She smiled and laughed. Every nerve in his body responded to the sound of her laughter. Raizo had never heard anything so beautiful in his life. His every muscle fought to get her closer just to feel a little more of her. "Yes, I feel it. And I want more."

"Kiriko," He was completely helpless before the heat in her eyes, leaning forward for another taste of her kiss and the leap in her heartbeat against his own.

000