SEQUEL TO "A RETURN TO THE SEA" This makes no sense unless you've read that one already.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters.

Please R&R

Kohaku had noticed the singer getting more and more quiet after dinner, but didn't ask him anything until the blonde suddenly groaned and squeezed his eyes shut. "Lucille? What's wrong?" Worriedly, he embraced him. And got even more worried when the blonde didn't respond. "Hey, Lucille? Answer already!"

"T-think… gonna t-throw up," Lucille choked out, pressing his face against the violinist's chest. "Nng… Kohaku, help…" A gag made him stop talking, and his face paled.

"Keep it in!" As carefully as he could, Kohaku took the frail blonde into his arms and ran to the toilet. "Eles, get a wet towel!" He felt Lucille letting out a dry gag against his shoulder, not throwing up yet, but his entire body shaking from the effort it took him not to. As soon as Kohaku lowered him by the toilet, though, his dinner and probably also his lunch came out. Refusing to feel disgusted by that, Kohaku wrapped one arm around the singer's thin body to steady him, using his free hand to keep Lucille's hair out of the way.

For a moment, he felt his own stomach turning, but when he got a look at Lucille's face he forgot all about that. The singer's beautiful face was sickly pale, shining from sweat, and tears were dripping from his eyes slowly. Every time he vomited, his entire body tensed up, only to collapse again when his intestines calmed for a moment. When it finally stopped, Kohaku automatically pulled him onto his lap, cradling the frail blonde against his chest.

"S-sorry…" A dry gag. "M-my head hurts so m-much…"

"Calm down, just try to relax," Kohaku whispered. "Do you need a doctor?"

"N-ngg… no…" A pained sob came out. "Don't… s-scared…"

The fact that Lucille couldn't seem to bring out a full line without stuttering, made Kohaku want to personally drag the doctor to here, but he didn't want to decide for Lucille. "I really think you should let yourself be checked," he tried to convince him, taking the wet towel that Eles handed him over. Gently cleaning Lucille's face with it, he continued; "Please, just let me call the doctor. You shouldn't feel so sick while you haven't done anything unusual."

"Stay…" Finally, the blonde opened his eyes a bit, glancing at the violinist with a hazy look. "C-call. But then… stay with me." A shaky sigh, which ended in a faint sob. "I'm s-scared…"

"H-he seemed fine during dinner," Eles stammered, nearly crying with worry. "How has he gotten this sick in just a little over an hour?"

"Don't know, hold him for a moment while I call the doctor," Kohaku commanded. Lucille didn't even respond when Kohaku handed him over to Eles, his eyes had already closed again. "I'll be right back."

The doctor promised to come to them immediately, when Kohaku explained the sudden problems. "It might be just a case of over-exhaustion, but… with everything that happened, and the internal injuries he's had, this shouldn't be taken too lightly. Just put him in bed and try to keep him calm, I'll be with you as soon as I can."

"All right," Kohaku replied, before putting down the phone and rushing back to the bathroom. Eles was still on the ground, holding Lucille in her arms, but the singer seemed a bit less tense than he had before. "We need to get him to bed, and then wait for the doctor."

She only nodded, stepping back to let Kohaku lift the blonde into his arms and carry him to their bedroom. Lucille didn't even look at him, only groaned softly. "Hey, are you feeling any better already?" the violinist asked worriedly.

"Yeah, a little. My head just feels like someone's hitting on it with an hammer." A somewhat shaky sigh. "But I feel less nauseous."

"That's a start," Kohaku remarked softly. "Just try to rest for a bit, but try to stay awake."

"Okay." Even when Kohaku had put him in bed, he kept holding onto the violinist's arm. "You're not leaving… right?" The faint fear in his voice was almost painful to listen to. Kohaku merely nodded and sat down at the edge of the bed, holding the singer's slender hand, and using his free hand to gently caress the silky blonde hair. Lucille leaned into his touch a bit, evidentially feeling calmed by it. His eyes didn't close, probably because he knew he'd drift off if he'd close them, but the look in those beautiful crystal blue orbs became somewhat hazy, and his soft lips were slightly parted as he breathed quickly. Honestly, he looked amazing. Too pale, but undoubtedly beautiful.

"Lucille?" Kohaku asked softly.

"Hm?" the blonde mumbled, turning his head a bit to look at him.

"Would you feel worse… if I'd kiss you now?"

A faintly surprised smile. "I don't mind. But you do realize that I taste like vomit right now?"

"I do." Carefully, he leaned over the frail singer and gave him a long kiss onto his lips. Just when he sat up again, there was a soft knock on the door. Eles immediately ran to it, coming back with the doctor within a few moments. The man carefully examined Lucille. "Have you been experiencing this headache for all of the day already?"

"Well… it's been feeling a bit achy all day long, but it just got bad suddenly," Lucille replied unsurely.

"It seems to me that you're having a migraine. I can't give you any medication right now, but I'll make someone deliver some medicine later on tomorrow," the doctor promised. "If you get another attack, just take a pill and then sleep for about an hour or two. That should work."

"But he's never had any migraines before," Kohaku remarked, holding Lucille's hand worriedly.

"It could very well be a result from his recent trauma, which means the attacks might disappear completely over time. It'll probably get worse before it might get better, though," the doctor explained.

"Well then, thanks." Lucille sighed. "Just one question, though, how long will the headache and nausea last without medication?"

"It could be a few hours, but it might last for a few days," the doctor told him. "It'll get worse of you move around too much, and you might want to stay clear of any bright lights or loud sounds until you feel better."

"Trust me, he won't have a chance of even sitting up until he's all right again," Kohaku said, protectively squeezing the blonde's hand. Eles let the doctor outside, and then went to her own room to sleep, leaving Kohaku and Lucille together in their room. The violinist still kept holding on to Lucille's limp hand. The singer's eyes were closed now, and Kohaku had let go of him for a moment to close the curtains, making the room dim. "You still okay?" he then asked the blonde.

"Mmh… yeah. I feel a bit better already. Can you… come kiss me again? It's nice when you're touching me," the singer admitted, looking at him shyly. "Especially when it's… somewhat intimate."

"Usually women use a headache as an excuse not to get intimate," Kohaku couldn't help but to remark, with a soft chuckle.

"Well, I'm not a woman, am I?" A faint glare. "So come here and kiss me."

"Yes, master." Leaning over the blonde, Kohaku chuckled. "Or will you hit me with a whip if I don't obey?" At that, Lucille's cheeks went bright red and his face tensed a bit. "S-sorry. I shouldn't have…" Kohaku quickly started, realizing that considering his past, the singer probably wouldn't like that remark.

"Don't apologize, I can take a joke," Lucille interrupted him with a slight smile. "You making all my blood rush to my cheeks just made my head throb. But weren't you going to…"

This time it was Kohaku's turn to interrupt him, with a gentle kiss. Almost immediately, he felt Lucille relaxing underneath him, his eyes falling shut. Still, no matter how much the blonde seemed to enjoy this, Kohaku didn't make it a long kiss. "So, you got your goodnight-kiss. Now you should go to sleep, then hopefully the migraine will be gone tomorrow morning."

"Yeah, I hope so," Lucille sighed. "Will you come to bed too?"

"Duh. What else do you expect me to do if I'm the only one awake?" Lucille merely chuckled at that, his eyes still closed. Not knowing for sure if the blonde wasn't already falling asleep, Kohaku redressed as quietly as possible and then quickly made a trip to the bathroom to brush his teeth. When he came back and closed the door behind himself, Lucille finally opened his eyes for a moment. "You should be asleep already, you know?"

"I know. But I'd rather fall asleep in your arms, if you don't mind," the singer mumbled, snuggling against the taller man as soon as he got into the bed. Well, not that Kohaku minded that. Tenderly, he wrapped his arms around the blonde's small frame and pulled him even closer. "Goodnight… Kohaku." It was barely more than a sleepy whisper.

"Goodnight, babe," Kohaku mumbled back, spotting the faint smile flashing over Lucille's face at that nickname. But it felt nice to call him something only he could call the singer, and he really didn't feel like calling him 'dear'. That sounded so old, in his opinion. Besides, even for a guy, Lucille definitely could be defined as a 'babe', with his beautiful face and well-shaped body. Another suiting nickname would be 'doll', but that'd be kinda scary, considering their job of killing undead dolls.

"Mmh… honey," Lucille sighed. "You're warm."

"Well, my warmth is your warmth," Kohaku grinned, waiting for the blonde to get fully comfortable against him before closing his eyes himself. Though the sudden stress about Lucille had made him tired, it took a while before he finally fell asleep. The singer drifted off within minutes, breathing softly against Kohaku's cheek. Still, even that didn't manage to get him to relax completely. After some minutes of trying to sleep, he sighed and opened his eyes. Now that they'd adjusted to the darkness of the room, he could see Lucille's face with a bit of an effort.

He looked so cute when he was sleeping, his thick eyelashes brushing over his cheeks, his soft lips a bit parted. The blonde seemed to be dreaming, his eyes moving faintly behind his closed eyelids. Well, at least he was sleeping peacefully, so hopefully his migraine would be gone in the morning. Suddenly, the singer let out a deep sigh and laid his arm across his forehead, softly rubbing his eyes. He didn't seem to have awoken, though. "Mmh… Kohaku…" Another sigh, after which he mumbled something incoherent.

"I'm right here," the violinist whispered, just in case Lucille was having some kind of nightmare. In response, the blonde smiled faintly in his sleep. Kohaku couldn't help but to smile back at him, even though Lucille couldn't see that. Still, having seen the singer smile so carelessly had finally managed to make him feel able to completely relax, and letting out a yawn he closed his eyes. Feeling the blonde's warm body against him, feeling him breathing steadily, that helped too, and within minutes he drifted off to sleep.

When he awoke the next morning, the singer was still sleeping deeply, his face now buried against the front of Kohaku's nightshirt. For a moment, the violinist wondered if he should wake up the small blonde, but decided against it. He'd find out soon enough whether Lucille felt better now when he'd wake up on his own. And making him wake up might worsen his headache, if the migraine hadn't left yet. So he just kept laying there for a while, tenderly brushing through the long blonde strands of hair with his fingers.

"Mmh…" Moaning softly, the singer turned over onto his stomach, his body tensing suddenly. "Ouch!"

"Lucille? You okay?" Kohaku asked worriedly.

"Y-yeah. Shouldn't have laid on my stomach." With a somewhat sheepish smile, the blonde turned back onto his side. "It's still quite sensitive."

Yeah, he'd noticed that when he had Lucille taking a bath yesterday. "Then be more careful, moron," he grumbled. "How's your headache?"

"As good as gone." A soft sigh. "And I can't be careful when I'm asleep."

Instead of replying, Kohaku leaned over him and gently kissed him. "I just don't like seeing you in pain," he whispered afterwards. "But you're still a moron."

At that, the blonde chuckled. "Then you're a bastard." That fact didn't stop him from weakly wrapping his arms around Kohaku's neck to pull him down into another kiss, though. "By the way, shall we go on with the Christmas stuff today? Some strings of colored paper with some glitter? That should be easy enough."

"Sure, but if you get an headache again, you'll tell me. All right?"

"All right," the singer replied, smiling again. "But first, can we get some breakfast?"

So… again they didn't really do a lot, but as soon as Lucille has recovered there'll be more action ;)

I'll update soon^^