Gabe returned to Chastity on the hill, near the edge of the forest. "Bad news," he said gravely.

"What? Where is she?" Chastity asked innocently.

"Kisshu has her," Gabe replied. His little sister gasped in horror. "Yeah, I know. It's terrible," he added.

"So... I guess this is the end of the line, huh? I mean, we can't make all the way to the District of Cynclonia and back safely. It's impossible," Chastity sighed sadly.

Gabe gave his sister an incredulous look. "Did you forget who you were talking to? This is your big brother, Gabe. I never give up. Not when there's still a chance."

Chastity looked at him like he was stupid. "You gave up on me."

Gabe looked appalled. "I found you, didn't I?" He elbowed her gently in the side.

Chastity smiled. "Alright, I'll give it to you. So we're really going to D.C.?"

"You betcha," Gabe winked at her.

"This girl is that important to you, huh?" Chastity teased.

Gabe blushed. "I have no idea what you're talking about." He stood up, pulling his blackberry stained shirt with him.

"Sure you don't, sure you don't," Chastity teased some more as her brother pulled his shirt on over his head.

"Let's go," he said when he finished. And so the two of them began to trek east through the forest, along the tree line. "I'm coming for you, Lizzie. Just hang on."

Lizzie had been teaching Eliza ballet for about a week now. The redheaded girl was slowly (and rather clumsily) learning the art of dance. But Lizzie admitted that it was a difficult thing to do without music. Eliza agreed.

Over the past seven days, Kisshu had pleasured himself with her seven times, and Ryss had added a new tattoo for each of Kisshu's that had developed because of this act. One on Eliza's right forearm read, "Passion." The back of her right wrist said, "Strength." Her left shoulder read, "Pleasure." Her left bicep said, "Affection." Her left forearm said, "Greed"; the back of her left wrist, "Desire." And across her midriff, the word "Mine" was displayed in bright, rustic orange. These words were all written in Cyncloni, and all of their meanings disgusted Eliza. As much as she had tried to enjoy those moments for the sake of her left-brain, she had not been able to. The concept was much simpler than the action. Some things are not allowed in the minds of innocents, even those who have been soiled against their will.

So Eliza was feeling rather melancholy each day, and the only thing she ever had to look forward to was her dance practices with Lizzie. But dancing was difficult without music.

So Eliza came up with a plan. She would ask Kisshu for music of some kind. An iPod, a CD player, a string quartet; she didn't care, as long as she had music. And so, that night, she approached him with the idea.

"Sure, you can have music," Kisshu responded with a sly grin. "You just have to pleasure me first."

Eliza blushed, but nodded. He was going to do it anyway. She might as well get something out of it. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the inevitable. But… nothing happened. When she opened her eyes again, Kisshu was still reclining against the pillows like he was before. She looked at him in confusion.

He smirked. "I believe you misunderstood my meaning," he explained. "I said that you have to pleasure me. Instigate this evening, and I'll let you have your music."

Eliza shook her head. She mumbled, "Forget it."

Kisshu frowned. "You're not supposed to say that, Ichigo."

Eliza was fed up with it. How long was he going to pretend? She scowled at him. "I'm not Ichigo. Ichigo's dead."

A trace of sadness flitted through Kisshu's golden eyes and he moved his hands from behind his head to rest on his lap. She barely heard him whisper, "I know."

"What?" she looked into his face, and he looked back at her.

"I said, 'I know'." He smiled ruefully and leaned in close to her face. "You don't think I know? Trust me; I am very much aware that you are not Ichigo. I know that she is dead. I watched her die. I know. You're not Ichigo."

"Then… why?" she asked, trying to keep the tears from spilling over.

"Because it hurts," he replied, backing away and reclining against the pillows again. "To know that she would rather die than be with me… I loved her. I still love her, even though she's gone. I betrayed my entire people for her, d*mmit. And what did she do?" He glared at the wall. "And now it hurts. And I'm a prince. What can I do to ease to the pain now that I'm responsible for more than just myself? I can't drink or get stoned in order to forget her. I have to rule everyone. So what else can I do but pretend that she never left me? What else can I do but make you be her?"

Eliza was quiet for a long while. When she finally spoke, it was softly. "You could honor her memory. You could make sure that your subjects hold her name in the highest esteem. You could make sure that's she's happy with you when she looks down on this world from wherever the afterlife is. You could show her how much you care about her by distinguishing her as an individual from the rest of the girls in the world, even if she is no longer in it. If you really do still love her, you can prove it by showing everyone."

Kisshu looked at her. "And how would I do that?"

Eliza shook her head. "I don't know. Name a city after her. Build a golden statue of her. Make her story required learning for every school in your sector. I don't know how you do it. But I know how you don't do it. And you don't do it by making her memory into something you can replace with a cheap imitation."

Kisshu stared at her. "So you're telling me this to benefit yourself?"

"Not completely - "

"But that's part of it. And what is the other part?"

Eliza looked at her lap. "We humans admire her too. She fought for us. Even if she did give up at the last, she still fought for us until she felt like she had nothing left to fight for." She chuckled ruefully. "It sucks that she didn't think the human race was worth fighting for. But she lost the person she loved. Who would want to fight after that?"

Kisshu groaned. "So you're saying it's my fault that she's dead? Because I killed him?"

"No," Eliza shook her head and looked at him. "I think that he would have killed her. From what I've heard of that battle, the person she cared for was already gone and she was just in denial." Eliza gave an ironic smile. "… Kind of like you are now."

Kisshu exhaled sharply. "So you're trying to tell me… what?"

"That there's nothing you can do to bring her back and nothing you can do to replace her. Don't dishonor her memory by trying."

Kisshu leaned back and closed his eyes in thought. After about thirty minutes, he finally opened them. "Thank you, Eliza." She jumped a bit at her own name coming from his mouth. It was the first time he had said it. "You were a great help just now. I know exactly what I'm going to do to honor her memory." When he looked at her, she smiled at him. He continued to speak. "However, it's an unfortunate consequence of being my species: the fact that we mate for life. We're like – what's one of those earth animals? – eagles. We go crazy without our mates. And blinded by my own passion, I regret that I forced you to be mine, and I don't even know who you are. Will you forgive me?"

Eliza stared at her lap yet again. Could she forgive him? She believed so, but she knew it would be hard. She looked back up at him. "Eventually."

He laughed. "I'm glad you're being honest. Well then, what do you say to me starting to get to know you? The real you, Eliza."

Eliza felt her throat choke up with the feeling that comes before you cry. She nodded happily. He was going to try to love her, to actually love her. Even though he wasn't her idea of an ideal husband – not even close, really – he was the only option she now had. And she was elated that he was going to start loving her instead of pretending that she was Ichigo. She was so happy that someone was going to start loving her. Truthfully, she had never been loved before by anyone outside of her family. This wasn't how she expected it to start – not even close, really – but she was glad that it was finally starting.

He leaned in close to her and started to kiss her. And this time, for the first time, she kissed back. This time, she responded to him in everything he did to her. And when it was over, they both reclined against the pillows with a smile. Kisshu looked over at her with a grin. "I think I like you," he said seductively. A mark appeared on his left eyelid like all of the other marks had appeared on his arms and stomach. She saw it when he blinked.

She reached out to touch his eyelid, and he closed his eyes. This time, for the first time, she asked. "What does it say?"

Kisshu laughed. "I don't know. I can't read it. It's on my eye, silly." And Eliza smiled in embarrassment. Kisshu looked at her again. "I'll be sure to get you an iPod, Eliza." She blushed because she had forgotten all about that.

Author: Aw! Thanks Littlespottedcat! Your review made me get all these little warm, fuzzy feelings inside. "Your characters have a quality that I can't find anywhere else." I seriously almost had happy tears. You guys, I have the authoress X-factor. I'm one of those characters-of-awesomeness people. Aw. Yay!

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