Lalalalaalalalalalalaaa… Yep. I'm back bitches! :D

The Spell of Love- Chapter Four

A soft groan escaped the scaly lips of the Prince of Darkness as his eyes opened. Lifting his head a little, Chase was instantly confused when he saw he was back in his sleeping quarters. A soft padding came from a lion that approached him. Chase reached out a leathery green hand and let the cat rub its head against it.

The lion, once down purring, looked up at Chase, then turned its head and stared into the corner of the room. Chase followed its gaze and blinked a few times when he saw the Xiaolin Dragon of Fire sleeping soundly, with five or six cats snuggled up with her, in the corner of his bedroom.

He made a move to get out of bed, but stinging pain stabbed his side, and Chase collapsed back onto the bed with a shriek of agony.

The scream woke Kimiko with a start. She jumped to her feet and gasped, "Oh no, I fell asleep!" She ran to the bedside and once she was close enough, Chase hissed darkly.

"What are you doing in here?" was his question.

She swallowed and replied with a shaky voice, "This was where the cats led me… I had gotten you up the stairs and then a few of them came to help me… I'm sorry I fell asleep… I tried to watch over you the whole night, but…"

"You were here before now?" Chase hissed in disbelief.

Kimiko blinked and fought back cringing, as he was gripping and pulling her hair. "Yeah, I came with the guys and I found you in a horrible condition…" Chase stared at her in confusion. "Don't you remember anything?" she whispered, moving closer to him, "You were making jokes because I asked if you were in terrible pain… And I yelled at the guys because they wanted to just leave you here…"

"All I remember is being attacked by Hannibal… then a flicker of light… and then that's all…" he muttered. Chase released her hair and immediately morphed himself back into his human form.

Kimiko smiled softly and she said, "You weren't human the entire time you were asleep… It was cute to watch your tail swish under the blankets…" Chase scowled at her and threw said blankets off of his body.

He stared emotionlessly at the gashes that had been stitched shut, the bruises that were green they were so bad, the cuts and scrapes and scabs that looked fresh as new- he felt so weak just thinking of how Hannibal was able to do this to him.

Chase made a quick movement to try and throw his legs over the edge of the bed, but it ended in them moving only a small amount.

"You really shouldn't get up," Kimiko whispered, "But if you really want to, I'll try and help…" She took hold of Chase's ankles and carefully slid them over the edge of his bed. Chase pushed his upper body into an upright position with his elbows, then hands, and tried to get to his wobbly feet. He noticed splints on both of his legs.

He couldn't stand the pain that flared up in his legs told him it wasn't going to happen. He collapsed back into his sitting position on the bed, gasping and fighting against his own injuries.

Kimiko slipped her arm around his back and she carefully helped him to his feet. Chase stared at her in confusion, but quickly began trying to walk.

"Where do you want to go?" she asked calmly.

"I need to see the damage," Chase stated plainly. Kimiko nodded and helped him hobble out to a balcony overlooking the main room of his palace. Chase mentally cringed- there were dozens of bodies of his warriors scattered about. Other warriors were attempting to clean up the rubble and move the bodies so that they could have proper burials- but Chase got the major picture. He had lost; badly. Hannibal had been able to destroy everything he held close to him and nearly himself as well.

He closed his eyes and turned his head away. Kimiko looked at Chase and felt a pang of pity. He must really have cared about his cats and his palace…

Kimiko helped him back to his room, and Chase sat on the side of the bed in silent thought.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of silence, Chase whispered, "Why did you save me…?"

Kimiko blinked and swallowed at the same time. So he really didn't remember… Inhaling deeply, she said softly to him, "I told the guys that I wanted to help you because nobody deserved to die this way…" Chase frowned- she felt pity for him- he needed no one's sympathy… "And… you came to me… when you were hurt…" she continued. Chase looked up at her, not really thinking of anything at this point. She inhaled sharply and said, "Besides, ever since the first eclipse all those years ago, I didn't want you getting hurt because of me again… I didn't want Hannibal to win…"

"I appreciate your help…" Chase breathed. Kimiko looked at him, and Chase said, "But you can go back to your friends now. I don't need you here if all you're here is to keep your conscious clean… I can take care of myself now…"

"No!" Kimiko lurched forward. Chase stared into her eyes, and though he could see she was frightened, he couldn't tell by what. "The Heylin eclipse isn't over until tonight at midnight…! If Hannibal comes back, he really will kill you!"

Chase chuckled a little before asking, "And that would upset you?"

"Well, yeah…!" Chase looked up at her when she said that. Kimiko flinched backwards at his gaze, but she whispered, "I-it would upset me…"

"You're lying…" he whispered.

Kimiko quickly argued, "It's not lying!" She quickly lost her voice and she looked at the ground. Chase gave up and got to his feet again. She hurried to his side, but Chase didn't let her help him this time. He used his bed to support himself and he stumbled to the door.

Looking down at his warriors, Chase felt anger. Hannibal had been able to do so much damage. It was infuriating… And having this girl around babysitting wasn't helping him relax any, either.

A single thought crossed his mind as he recalled her words and explanations. She had said his tail was cute… Cute doesn't come anywhere near words he himself would use to describe any part of his body. Perhaps it was just because she was a girl and girls thought everything was cute… Right?

"Kimiko…?" he spoke her name and she immediately hurried to his side. "How many times have you and I fought…?"

"More times than I can count," she replied.

"And yet here you are, still trying to help me… You do realize that at any instant I could kill you?" he asked, smirking wickedly.

"Well, yeah, I do…" she said, "But you haven't yet, so I guess I'll just wait until you try before I leave…" Chase frowned.

She was going to make his recovery a living hell, that much Chase was sure of…

Blah blah blah… I just want to get this idea out of my brain so I can focus on my other stories…