A/N: Thank you stiffkittens101, Every thorn has its Rose, and RagamuffinSundrop for your reviews. I feel so warm inside when I see reviews, and I appreciate your time in reviewing. I guess this has a bit of a so-called fluff in it. This chapter might not be as good as the rest, but I wanted to have a settling feel for this one. I hope it works. I had to do a little of time-skipping in this chapter as well.

Chapter Eight

Graverobber sat quietly, watching Shilo as she sweat and shiver. Four hours had passed by since the morning Mia announced Shilo had a fever. It was the first time he was this quiet or still for that matter. He would once in a while wipe away the sweat on her face. As for the change of clothes, Mia did that after she returned with the pills and immediately gave it to Shilo. The cracked wall was closed, thanks to Graverobber. He made a makeshift cover using a small cardboard and tape. He will have to use his handiness after he got some materials to cover that crack permanently.

As he watched Shilo squirm, he comes over and soothes her with sweet words while smoothing down her hair. It helped a bit as she lessened the crease of her brows.

He continued to keep a watchful eye on her, and he seemed not to mind at all about this task. Actually, he was quite fond of having an alone time with her. He felt quite useful actually. As a Graverobber, he helped himself. But after meeting Shilo, he was the one doing the protecting for someone else. But as much as he liked it, good old Graverobber wasn't used to this domestication style. He was more of that out and about type, not the nursing type.

"I don't know what you did to me, Kid, but I only hope you get better. I'm not the type to do the caring," Graverobber whispered before he smoothed her hair once more and giving a light kiss on her forehead.

Meanwhile, Lina and Mia were inside the children's room. The children crowded all around the two women as Lina gave a big smile at everyone.

"Okay, kids! Your Mommy is sick, so I want each and every one of you to make a get well gift for your mom. Here are some supplies so put all your love into your artwork. Are you all ready," Lina yelled energetically.

The children looked at each other for a moment before they all yelled, "Yeah!"

The children got in line to get whatever they could get their hands on and sat on the floor to make something out of all the materials that they had. Lina watched them happily before she patted Mia's shoulder. Mia nodded before Lina left out of the room. She let the task of observing the children to Mia as she was much more skilled at watching than Lina.

It was Lina's task to watch over the Largo brothers. Well, actually, the task for this came down to rock, paper, scissors, and Lina was the one that lost. She let out a surrendering sigh and sat on the couch in front of the Largo brothers. Pavi watched as Lina tapped on her chin as if thinking. He wondered what she was thinking and spoke.

"What makes bella think so hard," Pavi asked. Lina ignored him completely as she was in her own world of thoughts.

"Leave her alone, idiot," Luigi advised Pavi. Luigi usually wouldn't care about Pavi. But if he annoyed the woman in front of them, he would also get punished and he didn't even do anything. Twice has that happened and it annoyed him very much. He wishes he could stab to let out his steam. But alas, he couldn't. The thing that annoyed him the most was that the girl in front of him took away his leather gloves. He could feel all the germs getting on his hands. He wanted to wash it all off, but the stupid woman was smart enough and wouldn't allow it. Now, Luigi had to get used to it.

"Ah hah," Lina said quietly as if an idea popped into her head. "I could make puppets and make a puppet show. Not only that, the puppet show could entertain the kids as well."

A childish grin was placed on her lips as if she thought the most fantastic gift ever. She nodded to herself as agreeing. Luigi and Pavi looked over as if she was crazy. She then looked up at them and smiled.

"And you guys are going to help me make up a storyline," Lina said.

Luigi and Pavi frowned. They do not want to involve themselves with unnecessary stuff. But it seems, they would not have any other choice. Pavi let out a sigh while Luigi growled. Lina would not take a "no" whatsoever. If they did, wrath will fall upon them, and they already had enough of that abuse.

As everyone, other than Graverobber, worked on their gifts for Shilo, time continued to tick relentlessly. By the time most of everyone finished with their projects, it was already bed time for the children. Lina and Mia tucked the children to bed in place of Shilo. Unfortunately, the two women could not replace Shilo's usual bedtime tucking. The women knew that but comforted each child that Shilo would get better very soon just as long the children took care of themselves while Shilo tries to get better herself.

After the tucking and comfort was done for the children, Lina went upstairs and lightly creaked open the door to Shilo's room. Lina watched as Graverobbers head lied on the edge of the bed. She patted his shoulder for a bit, and he woke up sleepily towards Lina.

"Go to sleep in your room. We don't want you to get sick too," Lina told him. Graverobber yawned and shook his head.

"I don't get sick easily. I gave up my work for her, so I'm not leaving her side," Graverobber replied. Lina chuckled as quietly as she could.

"I guess you are grown enough to make your own decisions. Just take care of yourself. We don't need two people getting sick," Lina advised before saying, "Night." She then left the room and closed the door.

Graverobber turned back to Shilo and let out a sigh. There were a few strands of hair on her soaking face before he tucked them behind her ears. He took a clean rag and wet it inside the bowl of clean water he just changed a few hours ago. He squeezed all the excess water and wiped Shilo's face.

Shilo's brows soon creased, and she shivered once more. It seemed like she is doing the same thing like she did hours before, but the difference is that she was muttering in her sleep. She started crying that it made Graverobber wonder if she had a nightmare.

Shilo watched as her father lied on the ground with blood continuing to spill from his body. Shilo ran to him and held her father. Tears started to fill her eyes. She thought it was her fault. It was her fault that her father was on the ground, bleeding to death.

"Dad," she uttered through choked tears.

"Shi, always remember, I love you," her father whispered before his body suddenly disappeared into thin air. Nathan Wallace died in her arms; Shilo could never forget that.

"Shilo," someone's voice called out. She turned to see her godmother hanging up in the sky like a puppet. Her beautiful eyes were no longer in their sockets, it was completely empty.

Her godmother opened her arms towards her, trying to reach to her goddaughter. Shilo tried to reach towards her in return, but her tears blinded her trail towards her. And before she knew it, the strings that held up her godmother were cut. She fell down to her death on a sharp-pointed fence. Mag continued to try to reach to her. Shilo cried as she was finally able to hold onto Mag's hand.

"Shilo never give up. I will always watch over you," Mag said to her before she disappeared as well. Shilo's legs felt like jelly before she fell on her knees and wept. Her godmother died because she couldn't save her in time.

"Darling, do not cry. It will be okay," a different sort of voice called out to her. She looked up to see her mother. Her mother kneeled down to her level and softly soothed her by smoothing her hair.

"M-mom," Shilo stuttered. Marni merely smiled and nodded.

"Your father, godmother, and I are watching over you. It will be okay, darling. Move on and forget the pains of the past. You have children to protect. Don't let your past stop you from taking care of them," Marni told her before she kissed the top of her head. When she stood up, her stomach was wide open as if someone cut open her stomach.

Shilo gasped in horror before her mother, too, disappeared. She felt her breath getting tighter and tighter, and she could hear that alarm that told her to take her medicine. Shilo shook her head with her hands covering her ears to stop the alarm from telling her.

"Shilo, you idiot," a voice yelled out her name again. She looked up to see Lina, Mia, Graverobber, and her five children standing over at the side where a white light appeared. Graverobber let out his hand for her to take. Shilo looked at them for a moment before she willed herself to stand up. She took a couple of steps before she took his hand and everything went bright.

Shilo gasped before she opened her eyes. She felt groggy though it was from all the tiredness. After she adjusted her sight, she noticed something heavy on her stomach. She looked down to see an arm and looked to her right to see Graverobber. Her eyes immediately widened as if it would pop out of her eyes. Why in the heck is Graverobber sleeping next to her?

She found her clothes were changed and many dirty thoughts went into her mind. She felt her heart racing and her face turning redder at each thought. The thoughts soon disappeared as she felt Graverobber started to move and his leg suddenly went on top of her legs, and he pulled her closer to him. Her head was now on his shoulder, and she could feel his hot breath on the back of her neck. She didn't know when but her breath halted as soon as Graverobber held her closer to him. Shilo did not want to wake up in this way, though she didn't really hate it either. Well, she didn't know what she felt about this, or whatever this is!She had to do something but found it hard to do that with that big muscular arm around her waist and him holding her tightly against him.

A few minutes later, Graverobber started to stir and slowly his eyes opened. He yawned before he looked down and saw Shilo in his arms. His eyes widened at what he had done and slowly moved his arms away, careful to not disrupt her slumber. He sat up and sighed. He looked over at Shilo to see if she was still asleep. She was and he let out a relieved sigh. It had been three days since Shilo had been sick. He never left her side and continued to take care of her. It was when she was thrashing like crazy the night before that Graverobber held her in his arms and softly spoke to her in her sleep. It was then that he felt sleepy himself and slept on the bed next to her. Graverobber cleared his throat quietly and checked her temperature. It seemed her forehead has cooled down, which in turn, made him relieved.

He got up and started his way downstairs. He could smell the scent of breakfast in the air. Even though Mia was a good cook, nothing could compare to Shilo's food. And actually, Graverobber missed it and missed her smiling at him as he comes into the kitchen. He gave a sigh once more before he entered the kitchen. He saw Mia and found her already almost finished with breakfast.

"How is she doing," Mia asked, without looking at the guy.

He wondered if this is a woman thing to know who he was, yet he shrugged it away. Not good to think. Not good at all.

"I checked her forehead, and it feels cool," Graverobber reported.

Mia nodded and looked up at him.

"It must have been a tiring job for you," Mia said before Graverobber got a glass of water, plopped onto a chair, and sipped on his drink. "But then again, you held her close to you, so it must not be tiring at all."

The comment, in turn, made Graverobber spit out his water. He looked over at Mia, and Mia didn't seem at all fazed. Unlike Lina, she didn't let out a mischievous smirk or let out a snicker. Her face was cool, unrelenting, and void of all expression.

"I do not appreciate you taking advantage of my friend, but… you deserved to at least sleep by her side for all you've done for her the past three days," Mia told him before she gave him plenty of food on his plate. "But next time, hands to yourself where it shouldn't be. And please, do not scratch your bottom when you sleep. That is unhygienic."

Graverobber was speechless, and all he could do was stare at Mia before she left the kitchen. There was something wrong with this picture. Mia, the usual expressionless and non-caring person, is just as dangerous as the carefree and loud Lina. Graverobber, somehow, felt like he got the short end of the stick. Poor Graverobber. Poor good old Graverobber.