Chapter Ten: In His Arms

By the time Josh was ready to lead Lea to her new home, the sun was starting to set. "Took ya long enough," the elf commented. Josh just shrugged and explained that he'd wanted to keep her in suspense. He then asked Kurama if he'd like to stay with them for the night.

"I wouldn't want to impose..."

Lea grinned at this. "If anything, I'll be the imposition!"

"But it's your home."

"My point exactly." Lea didn't take the conversation further. Although she didn't regret staying in Japan, she was feeling homesick. And she knew she would miss living with the fox demon. All was silent until Josh pointed ahead, exclaiming that the elf's home was just ahead. Lea gasped when she saw it. For it's design was almost exactly like that of an authentic dojo. Lea took out the key she'd recieved earlier, ran to the front door, and went in. There were boxes in the floor already and very little furniture. She explored a little then put the groceries up. The electricity was working so Lea didn't worry about the ice cream. Once that had been taken care of, the elf asked, "You already set up the beds? Why?"

"'Cause I knew I'd be staying here and I wanted you to sleep on the floor."

After that, Kelly, Lea, and Josh told Kurama all about their home, mother, and a few very embarassing moments from Lea's past. They talked well into the night until Lea randomly asked, "Wasn't dad a faery?"

The question took Josh off guard, but after a moment he replied, "Yeah. I took mostly after him, while you mostly took after mom. As a matter of fact, I'm almost all faery."

Lea saw that look in her brother's eyes and joked, "I suppose I got mom's beauty?"

"Yep!" Josh exclaimed as he took the elf's hat.

"Hey! That's my favorite!" she protested. She wanted to say more, but yawned instead. She was starting to feel the effects of very little sleep. Josh ruffled her hair affectionately.

"I assume you pulled an all-nighter, again? In any case we should all probably get some sleep. I call sleeping in the room with Kelly!"

Lea smirked. "Finding yourself in love with her, eh? Good for you!"

"Hey, better than a some fruity guy."

Lea looked at her brother in horror. "Kelly's a ghost! At least I like someone living, no offense meant, Kel." She yawned again and stood. Josh and Kurama both noted that her legs were about to give out, so they stood and Josh steered his sister into her new room, ignoring her protests.

"So that's Youko, huh?" Lea nodded and he left just as Kurama entered. The elf knew better than to say anything so she got under the covers of the bed, not even bothering to change. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Kurama took off his shirt, shoes, and socks. Wow, she thought as she caught glimpse of his chest. She felt herself blush and turned to hide it. She tried to will herself asleep, but she found herself wishing for Kurama to put his arms around her. The fox curled into bed and Lea decided to wait until he was asleep. But after a while, he just got up and left the room. Lea sighed. Maybe if I steal his spot.

So she scooted over to the other side of the bed. It was still warm and soon the elf was half conscious.

When Kurama got back to the room, he found Lea laying where he'd been only moments before. He smiled. She's beautiful, he thought. He then climbed into the bed and wrapped his arms around the elf. When he felt sure she was asleep, he kissed her cheek lightly and allowed the darkness to take over.

Josh was watching this from the doorway and smiled. His sister had grown so much since he'd seen her last. And no matter how much she disagreed, she had grown beautifully. The faery turned to Kelly and whispered, "Don't disrupt them tomorrow. Let's see how things turn out." The ghost nodded, and then they both went to the guest room to sleep.

Lea awoke sometime in the early morning. She'd had another nightmare. They'd been plaguing her alot more than usual. The elf sighed and got out of bed, being sure not to wake the fox. She went out on the porch and whispered to the stars, "I guess the past never leaves us." It was a bit chilly out and Lea shivered. She was suprised to feel the kitsune's arms around her a moment later.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I will be."

"What's bothering you?"

"Nothing I want to talk about." Kurama nodded, in complete understanding.

"We need to go back to sleep," he said. "Especially you."

So the two went back and crawled under the covers. Lea was a bit disappointed that the fox didn't put his arms around her. After a moment, she spoke.

"Kurama?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm still a bit cold. Do you mind?"

"Not at all."

And with that, the kitsune wrapped his arms around the elf again and they both drifted into a deep and peaceful sleep.

A/N: Finally! Rewriting a whole chapter takes a while...Well, hope ya liked! God Bless!!!