A few days later, the two of them went outside one spring day to play while Lilly was with her florist clients and Raymond painted in his art room. Natalia ran up to her swing that was on a tree branch that stood right next to the driveway. "This is my favorite pastime when mama is gardening and daddy is painting," she explained. "Can you give me a push?"

"Okay," Alan responded as the girl sat down on the swing and held onto the rope.

He began to push on Natalia's back, slowly at first, but then harder when he heard her call "Push me higher Alan."

The Shinigami watched as the girl swung on her swing and saw her smile. Alan found warmth in Natalia's smile, and felt his heart begin to pound as he looked at her. No, this wasn't right, he'd just met this girl a few days ago, and he knew that feelings between a human and a Shinigami were unlawful in some places. But he couldn't stop this growing feeling from inside his heart.

Natalia raked her feet across the ground to try and slow down. She then jumped out of the swing, but a little too high, because she lost her balance and landed on her knees on the gravel driveway. The girl yelped at the pain in her knees. "Are you alright?" Alan asked as he knelt down beside her.

"Yes I'm fine, I just scratched up my knees some," Natalia winced as Alan helped her stand up.

"Come with me, I know what to do," the Shinigami informed as he led her back into her house and towards the bathroom.

When they got into the bathroom, Alan hoisted Natalia up onto the countertop as he began to search the drawers for medicine and gauze. After finding it, Alan asked "May I please tend to your wound?"

"Of course, do what you think will help it heal faster," Natalia agreed with a smile.

Luckily Natalia's skirt that she was wearing ended at her knees, so Alan didn't have to feel the embarrassment of rolling up her skirt any, so he immediately went began to wash off the cuts with a cold washcloth. He then applied medicine to her wounds before wrapping them gently in gauze. "Thank you Alan," Natalia said and moved as though she were about to hop down of the countertop.

"Wait, please," Alan stopped. "I'm not finished yet."

Natalia remained still as Alan nervously took one of Natalia's legs in his hands and placed his shaky lips on the gauze. He then did the same to her other knee. "I heard that kissing wounds helps them heal faster," Alan informed while still holding the girl's leg in his arms. The Shinigami felt nervous. He knew he wasn't allowed to touch a human like that; especially not a human girl. Alan embraced himself to feel the sting of Natalia slapping him on the face.

But instead he felt his heart began to pound when Natalia started to gently stroke his brunette hair. "I have the best Shinigami in the world," she said quietly. This made Alan blush and kiss her knee once more before looking up at Natalia's iridescent blue green eyes.

"What the hell are you doing to my daughter?" the two heard a voice say from the bathroom entrance. Natalia and Alan turned to see Raymond standing in the doorway staring at them.

Immediately Alan let go of Natalia and stood up. "Daddy he was just helping fix up some cuts I got while we were outside," she informed.

"Yeah it looks like he was doing more than that," Raymond stated as he walked into the bathroom.

"Daddy he didn't do anything," Natalia defended. Her father refused to listen as he grabbed Alan by his hair and began to drag him up the stairs. Natalia followed and started to yell "Daddy don't hurt him, he didn't do anything!"

Raymond threw Alan into his art room and slammed the door shut, locking it. Alan quivered in fear as he tried to scoot behind one of Raymond's easels. "I bring you into my he and what do you do?! You try to take advantage of my daughter?!" he screamed as he grabbed Alan's throat and pulled him over to his work table.

The man took out a rope and tied Alan's wrists together against a leg of the table. He then proceeded to retrieve handkerchief that he had lying on the table and stuffed it into the Shinigami's mouth. Raymond took out a pair of scissors from the drawer in his desk and cut off the shirt on Alan's body. The Shinigami lay there on the floor naked from the waist up. From outside the room, the two could hear Natalia screaming at Raymond to not hurt Alan. How Alan prayed that this man would listen to his daughter.

"I told you what would happen if you stepped out of line boy, did I not?!" Raymond screamed. "Now you'll see what I'm capable of accomplishing."

The man then picked up one of his wife's candles that she'd lit that morning, blew out the flame, and then poured the hot wax onto Alan's back. The Shinigami tried to scream out in agony, but couldn't because of the handkerchief in his mouth. Instead he let tears well up and fall.

"How does it feel you piece of trash; this is what happens when you think that emotions have no boundaries," Raymond stated as he watched Alan cry.

Raymond then walked over to the sink and filled a bowl with cold water. He then took a leather strap out of a drawer and soaked it in the cold water. From outside the room, Natalia had tears rolling down her face. "Daddy, please stop, Alan didn't do anything wrong," she pleaded.

The man ignored his daughter's pleas for mercy for the Shinigami as he took the strap out of the water and walked back over to Alan. "You will learn to control your feelings, and you will learn that Shinigamis do not have feelings for humans!"

Raymond then began to beat Alan with the now toughened leather strap. Everywhere Raymond saw the Shinigami's light tan skin, he would hit him there. Natalia heard Alan whimper and groan in pain, and wanted so badly for it to be over soon. The girl fell to her knees and covered her mouth as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Finally, after beating Alan close to fifty times, Raymond stopped. He placed the leather strap back in his drawer, and left the halfway unconscious Shinigami lying on the hardwood floor. Natalia had gone back and was sitting in her bedroom when she heard the art room door open and shut.

Peeking out, the girl saw that Raymond had left the room, but Alan hadn't. Natalia tried to go into her father's art studio, but he caught her. "No, Natalia you are not allowed to see the Shinigami right now. He has to think about what he's done."

"Daddy he didn't do anything, he was helping fix up my wounds, that's all," the girl tried to explain.

"From what I saw, that thing was trying to make a move on you, and you know what the punishment for Shinigamis that fall in love with humans is," Raymond reminded.

"When may I get Alan?" Natalia asked.

"After dinner, now c'mon, let's go eat. Your mother just got home and brought us home food."

The mother, father, and daughter all ate in silence that night. Lilly could tell that something was wrong with her daughter, and somehow knew it was something Raymond had done. She made a mental note to ask her later. When Natalia finished, she turned to Raymond and asked "May I please be excused?"

Raymond nodded twice, indicating that she was now allowed to get Alan out of the art room. The girl wasted no time running out of the dining area and up the stairs.

Natalia opened the door to the art room and saw Alan lying on the hard wooded floor. She rushed to his side and saw he wasn't moving. "Alan?" she whispered as she placed her hands on his cheeks.

The Shinigami opened his eyes and looked tense, but then relaxed when he saw it was Natalia and not Raymond. Natalia gently pulled the handkerchief out of Alan's mouth, allowing the Shinigami's lungs to refill with air.

"N-Natalia, y-you came," Alan stuttered quietly. The girl looked at the damage her father had done to the Shinigami. There was dried wax all over his back, and developing bruises everywhere else.

"I'm so sorry Alan. I'm very sorry that this happened to you," Natalia cried as she grabbed one of her father's art knives off of the table. She cut Alan free and then felt him wrap his arms around her as he started to sob into her chest. Natalia helped Alan to his feet as she took him into her room and lie him down on the bed on his stomach.

She left the room for a minute and returned with a bowl of cool water and a washcloth. Carefully, Natalia worked to get the wax off of Alan's body. He would wince at the pain ever so often, and it hurt Natalia to see Alan this way.

As she was cleaning up Alan, Lilly walked in. "Alright Natalia, it's almost time for –" Lilly stopped short when she saw the scene before her. "What happened?"

"Daddy hurt Alan," Natalia stated.

"For what reason?" Lilly asked.

"Because he tended my wounds after I skinned my knees," Natalia informed.

"This will not go undealt with. I will talk to your father about this, now why don't you go get some lotion that will make his burns feel better," Lilly suggested.

"Okay," Natalia agreed as she walked out of the room.

Lilly knelt down beside Alan and asked "Is there anything you'd like me to do to make up for my husband's actions?"

"Could you please get me some Moonlight Lily seeds?" Alan requested weakly.

"Sure," Lilly said as she stood up and left.

Natalia returned and whispered to Alan "This will help your burns feel better." She began to rub a cooling lotion over his back, which did in fact make Alan feel a lot better.

When she'd finished, Natalia sat down on the bed and pulled Alan into her arms. She looked at his bruised face and into his yellow green eyes. "I can't imagine what your past life has been like."

"It's been hard, but now, seeing you, and feeling your comforting touch, it almost makes any pain I receive seem like nothing," Alan remarked.

Natalia kissed his forehead before running a hand through his brunette hair. "Like I told you earlier, I will take care of you, and I intend to keep my promise," the girl responded. "C'mon, it's almost time to go to bed."

She helped Alan into his bedroom and tucked him in under the comforter. "Now if you need anything during the night, you know where I am," Natalia reminded. She placed a kiss on Alan's cheek before saying "Goodnight my sweet Shinigami."

As she walked out, Alan whispered "Goodnight my beautiful angel."

When Natalia heard those words leave Alan's mouth, she felt her heart begin to pound, but then remembered what her father had told her earlier. There was a severe punishment that was given to any Shinigami that fell in love with a human, regardless if it was the owner or not. She didn't want Alan to be punished for loving her, but Natalia just couldn't help but begin to feel some emotion for Alan as well.

He was very sweet, caring, beautiful, and Natalia enjoyed being around him. But not only was it illegal for Shinigamis to have feelings for humans, but it was also illegal for humans to return the feelings. However, Natalia had heard of a place where they could be together; a place where Shinigamis and humans were treated like equals and could be together without fear of punishment.

From what Natalia had heard, it was difficult to get there, but it was worth it when you reached the destination. Sitting in her bed, Natalia said to herself "I know that Alan likes me as a friend and caretaker, but I sort of wish there could be more than that. I, I think I'm in love with him. And even if I decide not to stay, Alan will be in a place where he won't get hurt by daddy anymore."

Alan Humphries lie in bed staring at the wall that was connected to Natalia's room. The Shinigami knew that he had feelings for the girl, but was scared to tell her out of fear what her father would do to him. "I don't care anymore, Natalia is the center of my universe now, and I will do whatever it takes to make her happy," he whispered to himself. Closing his eyes, the Shinigami drifted off to sleep.

*Alan's dream*

The Shinigami was thrown against the wall for the second time that day. He gasped as he tried to get the wind knocked out of him back. "Boy, I told you that if I caught you trying to get water again, then I'd punish you, did I not?!" Alan's previous owner yelled.

"I'm sorry sir, I just haven't had any in two days," Alan squeaked as his raspy voice ejected from his dry throat.

"Oh, you think you deserve water every day do you now? Well, we'll just have to fix that. You know what you get every day right Alan?" the man asked as he walked over to the Shinigami.

Alan's eyes widened as he tried to crawl away from the man. He grabbed Alan by the back of his shirt, lifted him, and turned him around to face him. Tears were rolling down Alan's cheeks as he quietly pleaded "No, please not again."

"It's too late for pleading Alan. You knew what was coming," the man whispered as he ran the back of his hand across Alan's face.

The Shinigami quivered as he was led upstairs into the man's bedroom. Alan felt himself be pushed down onto his back as the man climbed on top of him. The man took Alan's wrists and tied them above his head. "Please sir, please not again. It still hurts," Alan cried as he turned his head away from the man.

"Now, now Alan, you must know what the punishment is by now," the man stated as he took Alan's face in his hands. He violently placed a kiss on the Shinigami's lips, biting into him until blood began to drip down Alan's chin.

"Please, please don't!" Alan screamed once more with tears and blood streaming down his face.

The man began to rip Alan's clothes off his body as Alan cried louder and louder. "Shut up Alan!" he yelled as he slapped Alan's face. He then began place kisses on Alan's chest.

Alan shook his head quickly as the man said with an evil smile "Now then, why don't we have a little fun?"

As the man began to move lower and lower on Alan's body, the tears just kept coming and coming. Then Alan began to whisper "Please, please Natalia, please help me."

"Alan, Alan wake up," Natalia called quietly.

The Shinigami opened his eyes and saw the human girl sitting there on the bed next to him. He was panting heavily and tears were flowing down his face. "Are you okay?" she asked as she wrapped her arms around him.

Alan began to shake as he nestled himself in Natalia's arms. "I had a nightmare," he answered.

"Here, drink some water," Natalia suggested, handing the Shinigami a plastic cup.

He gratefully took it and drank down the liquid that he'd once been denied. Alan gave her back the cup and muttered "Thank you Natalia."

"What happened?" Natalia asked as she put the empty cup on the bedside table.

"I saw . . . him," Alan replied clutching Natalia's shirt.

"Him, you mean your previous owner?" the girl questioned.

Alan nodded. "He tried to touch me again," he said.

Natalia looked down at the emotionally ragged Shinigami and whispered "It's okay, he can't hurt you anymore. You're safe now Alan."

"Forgive me for saying this, but I truly only feel safe around you Natalia. You make me feel like the safest person in the world," Alan remarked as he looked up at the girl. He placed his hand on her face and added "I wish sometimes that I could be in your arms forever."

Natalia felt her heart pound against her chest as she looked into Alan's yellow green eyes and he looked back into her blue green ones. The Shinigami removed his hand from Natalia's face and tucked it against his chest. Natalia put her hand on Alan's face and whispered "You can be."

She leaned her head down and placed her lips on top of Alan's.