(A/N: Can you BELIEVE that it has SO LONG since I updated that I had to GO BACK and REREAD my own fic? It has... it was... I did... never mind. I'm just hoping that not too many people dropped this fic while thinking that I would never update again, because this is my favorite chapter to date. D Yay.

HUGE thanks to Storms-winter, my ever faithful beta reader! Much love, Storm!

And now, without further ado... Faith, Chapter nine! -salutes-)

Chapter Nine: Kana's Tears

Where was the discordant song of the rain when needed to desperately drown one's thoughts in the sound of its voice? Nothing but a light, complacent drizzle remained, streaming gently over the roofs, making not a mark on the sweet grass below nor on the glass windows, sparkling with the light of the moon in their panes.

It was too quiet in the house, and yet the sound of his sister's last, dry sobs seemed to fill the space, blooming in the silence rather than dying away. Why was she crying? He could not remember. Was it a dream, like the ones that he had so many times prior? Was his memory forsaking him as he shook sleep from his eyes?

"Kai?"

That voice and that name, they called to him, on the distant. Was he still dreaming scattered elements, even now?

"Kai."

More firmly now, it came. Was it a warning?

He is not speaking, Rei. Leave him be.

He knew that voice. It was like the first rays of sunlight, dissipating the fog of the night.

Kai seemed to jolt forwards in his seat, almost throwing Kana from his lap. The girl did not seem to have noticed the disturbance and continued to cry onto the front of his shirt, the sound muffled against his body, but still excruciatingly loud in the stillness that had permeated the room.

"Kai…"

That voice again. It was quiet, as though the speaker was making a special effort to keep their voice down.

Vaguely, Kai nodded, casting his gaze randomly around the large sitting room before turning his attention to his kid sister. Rei's gentle amber gaze was settled on her as well, and he seemed to want to do something to comfort her, but did not dare reach over. Was that guilt in his eyes?

For the first time, Kai realized that Kana's sobs were not exactly that, but strings of words that he could not quite understand. Nonsense words? No, it was a mix of halting Japanese and broken Russian; the Japanese which both siblings had learned from their father, a frequent traveler due to his profession, and the Russian of their homeland.

He remembered the way that his mother had used to speak. That pleasant, trilling note in her voice; the way that she had rolled her rs so delicately, like placing a snowflake upon her own tongue. Why could he not forget? It hurt so much to even think of her in this frame of mind. Was it human nature to refuse to let go of what pained them the most?

"Kana…"

At the sound of her brother's voice, she tried to raise her head from his chest, but seemed heavy from the weight of her tears, and did nothing except whisper something unintelligible into his shirt. The elder frowned. "What did you say?"

"Mat…zetsumei…mat…"

"Death…" Rei spoke, sighing. "It is ill to speak of death…"

"Then what have you been doing?"

Rei held his silence and looked away, avoiding Kai's eyes as he avoided the question.

"Well?" There was a note of ferocity in Kai's tone, but Rei let it pass, knowing that he was doing nothing but venting his frustration on someone else.

"I should go."

Waiting for an answer but receiving none, the raven-haired boy sighed again and rose, walking past Kai's seat and towards the door. Aria floated after him, casting the siblings a concerned look before leaving as well.

Rei's pace went from slow to swift once his feet hit the tiles of the main hall, as though he was suddenly eager to leave. Aria sped in his wake. He did not even stop moving as he pulled on his shoes, left at the doorway as was the custom, and did not speak until outside and having closed the door behind himself, pausing as he stared ahead blankly.

"I don't want to do this anymore, Aria."

He continued walking as though he had not uttered a word, and the spirit rushed after him again, grabbing his upper arm and pulling him back with uncharacteristic firmness.

If you are guilty, then you should have stayed with them. We must carry ou—

Rei halted her mind word with an unusually dark look. "If I had stayed any longer, I would have given us away. You knew that. Or else you would have stopped me before I had left."

Aria sighed, but did not relinquish her grasp, and he did not attempt to free himself from it.

It is your duty now, child. You have sworn it.

"I know."

Then you cannot turn back. Not now.

"But why do I have to lie?" He burst out suddenly, turning hard in her grip as though in pain. "Why do I have to make their lives so much more burdensome than they already are? Tell me!"

You know well that I cannot, Aria replied, and this time her voice was stern. It was no choice of mine to begin with child, and you know that. You know better than to complain.

Giving a short cry of rage, Rei twisted his arm from his spirit's hands, glaring into her placid expression with dangerously flashing eyes. "You…you came with me!" He all but spat. "I wanted to do it myself, but you came with me, and now you…you…aargh!"

His hands flew up to hold his head and he would have collapsed to the pavement had he not been caught by Aria. Instead of a word of thanks, however, she was met with an awful scream, so that she nearly dropped him in fright.

Rei!

He hung rigidly in her arms, giving another inane yell, then a gasp.

Flashes of pain. Someone was screaming. Was it him? Was it her? World spinning, ground sliding from under him. Another scream. Sharp stabs, everywhere, like a thousand knives. Writhing, twisting, squirming. Agony, burning, scalding; screeching in his ears, in his chest. Aria...

"ARIA!"

I am here, Rei! I am right here!

Her voice broke into his prison of pain, and he fell to the ground. The shock of the drop was what shook him from his waking nightmare, and he slowly got to his hands and knees, trembling from every limb. Aria knelt by his side, but did not touch him.

Rei? Has it passed?

"Y-yes…"

Both remained silent for a few moments, and the whole street was quiet, save for his sharp, shallow breaths, echoing as though they were the only thing that could fill the noiselessness.

Rei?

"…I'm alright…"

Just as slowly as before, Rei regained his footing, reeling slightly before his balance returned. Aria rose as well, looking so worried that Rei forced himself to smile, though it felt more like a grimace stretched taut across his features.

"I'll be fine." He assured her, taking a few steps and finding himself thankfully stable. "It was just…just a warning…"

She could have done worse to you. You must not take it so lightly.

"I'm not…taking her lightly, Aria."

Taking a stab at confidence, he started to walk, and the spirit had no choice but to follow, grief shining in her eyes as a single crystalline tear fell, disappearing before it touched the pavement.

The next morning was sunny. Why was it that the weather chose to contradict itself from one day to another? Kai would have given anything to keep the skies monotonously clear for the rest of eternity. No more fluctuating winds or rumbling clouds that turned feather white the next instant. No more change.

Had everything really changed so much since the previous night? He had already known that his parents were dead…

…but murdered?

He turned in his bed, shutting off his alarm clock without remembering hearing it ringing. The house was silent. Kai wondered if he had gone deaf in his sleep. Usually Kana and Nicolai were up at this hour.

"Kai?"

Whose voice was that? It could not be his sister's; it was so low, and solemn. It could not…

"Kai?"

It was her, standing just outside his bedroom door, which was opened but a crack so that a sliver of her tiny body was visible. Kai sat up.

"It's okay, Kana. You can come in."

She did, silently and without looking at him, her ruby gaze going instead to the surroundings, as though seeing them for the first time. Frowning, the elder Hiwatari pushed himself out of bed.

"Kai…were…Mama and Papa really killed?"

That foreign voice again. So different from her usually high, musically cheerful tone. How he loathed it, coming from her lips, as though she was possessed by another, sadder being.

"I…I don't know, Kana."

"But Rei-chan said!" The little girl screamed, facing him, her entire frame shaking from her pent up emotions. "Rei-chan said! How could it not be true!"

"Kana, you only met Rei last night." Kai reminded her, trying to be gentle. "You can't possibly know…"

"I know!" She retorted, seeming fierce now that her brother questioned her beliefs. "I believe him! He gave me his word of honour! He gave it!"

"Kana…"

"No! Don't talk like that about him!"

She fled the room in a swirl of midnight blue hair. Kai heard her crying from somewhere on the hall staircase, then Nicolai's voice came to soften the noise, and silence fell again.

Kai rose, dressed, and left for school without even pausing for breakfast or Kana.

He had to find Rei.

Noon was cloudy that day; every building was skirted with fog as humidity rose lazily to the sky, though not enough to spare the world of some suffocation. Phoenix Hills Children's Hospital was no exception to this. Even the trees dotting the grounds seemed to choke 'air!' as their leaves drooped, heavy with wetness.

The sole window of Carmen's permanent quarters was damp from the air, but she did not see it, or feel it, nor did she want to or care. Still, at this hour, she lay curled in her blankets, unmoving, as though dead, although the occasional, fitful shiver proved otherwise.

Neither of the nurses had dared entered her room that day, for some odd reason that none could explain. Several of them strode down the hallway, determined at first, but once their hands met the doorknob, all heat and courage seemed to be seeped from them, and the knob would not turn.

Suddenly, she gasped, convulsing in the sheets before settling, though this time her body shuddered with something akin to pain, though it was distant and cold, as if she were witnessing it instead of living it.

A breeze passed in the closed room. Carmen thrust herself up to a sitting position, feeling the air, her sightless eyes wide with loss of self.

"Tarian…"

The air was cold.

"No…"

It was too cold.

"Stop it… give him… give him back!"

Cold…

…cold. Cold flesh against her face, like ice, like Death. Like her. She smiled, soundless, wicked.

Then, softer. Cold, but less cold.

Her voice.

"Yes… one more chance, child…"

Her eyelids fluttered, as though she was in a trance. Instantly, the room warmed, and Carmen fell back, exhausted. She reached out with a trembling hand. Her chapped lips parted.

"Thank you…"

A pause. She settled again, closing her silver eyes as a gentle wind washed over the space. A touch. She opened her eyes, and within them, tears shone, more silver than the underlying shade.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Tarian. I know I promised."

Carmen…

"I'm sorry…"

Without another word, Tarian embraced her with his unsubstantial arms. Spent, she slept, and as he brushed away the tears that still clung to her lashes, a nurse entered with a tray full of hospital lunch.

Then, Tarian raised his eyes from the girl as a flash of presence grazed him. He gagged, horrified, when thoughts entered his mind; thoughts not his own.

Too late, boy.

She is mine now.

The moment that Tala saw Kai that morning, his sole impression of him was that he looked ready to kill. His eyes, dark, but not aggressive, but hollow and haunted, as though nothing mattered but one thing. Like there was no more conscience behind those eyes.

Tala could not help but shiver as he felt those eyes meet his.

"Morning. Man, you look beat."

Ordinary conversation, Tala believed, would be enough to dissipate the sense of loss in his friend's demeanour. It always had been.

"Where's Rei?" Kai asked in a low, exhausted voice, as though too tired to go on, but having no choice to.

"Uh… I didn't see him," Tala answered, thrown off by the non-change in Kai's attitude. "To my great and powerful knowledge, he hasn't gotten here yet. Wh—" He was cut off as Kai swerved around and cursed, following his actions by a muttered phrase: "…have to feel her… wait…"

"What? Kai… who do you… what!"

But Tala was not granted an answer as Kai rushed off in the opposite direction, features determined like that of a hound on a trail.

They met abruptly, on the main sidewalk, so that they nearly ran into each other, but at the last moment, Rei avoided him with a grace that Kai suddenly suspected to not be entirely his. He stood for a moment, staring at the strange boy with the amber eyes.

"Good morning, Kai." Rei greeted simply, giving a slight smile.

"You're lying to me." Kai spoke haltingly. "You lied to me and my sister last night, didn't you?"

"And what reason would I have to do that?"

"Don't play with me! My parents were ordinary. They were normal. There's no reason that they could have for being part of such a… a thing!"

"They didn't choose to be part of anything." Rei corrected mildly. "They were chosen. There's nothing for you to be angry about…"

For the first time since the night before, hot, leaping rage flared in Kai, and he grabbed the other boy by the collar, jerking him off his feet. The gold eyes widened, but he did not resist.

"Nothing! Are the lives of two good people nothing to you!" He yelled, ignoring the passer-by's who gawked. "What about you? If this is true, then your parents were killed too, right? Is that nothing to you!"

"Of course not…"

"Then what?"

Rei… Aria's delicate voice whispered, concerned.

"…Kai, we shouldn't talk about this here."

"Fine."

Roughly, Kai, his hand still fisted in Rei's shirt, pulled him away from the school, walking at a brisk pace that caused the trapped boy to trip. He shook himself from Kai's grip, frowning slightly, then fell into step with him. Invisible, Aria followed.

"What's she so worried about?" Kai muttered, alluding to the spirit.

Rei's brows lifted. "You can tell?" He queried, impressed despite himself. "Usually, the bond must be stronger than a single meeting's worth for that."

Kai shrugged, uncaring. Rei sighed, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them and seeming suddenly wearier. "So what do you want from me?"

"It was because of your story that my sister was crying, last night and this morning." Kai replied, gritting his teeth. "And it's because of her stupid trust in you that she's so affected. Fix her."

"And what do you suggest I do?" Rei asked, oddly polite as always.

"I don't know! Talk to her, tell her you were lying, anything! It was your fault in the first place."

Rei has nothing to do with how the little child is feeling! Aria piped up, defensive all of a sudden. Is it not your job to care for her when she is like this?

"She won't listen to me."

Regardless…

"Look, I don't know who you are or what the hell you're supposed to be doing." Kai snapped, deeply aggravated. "But you screwed up something in our life, and now you have to fix it so that Kana and I can go back to the way it was before!"

"You can't do that." Rei answered.

Something palpable in Rei's voice made Kai stop in his tracks. He stared, but Rei continued to walk. His steps were clipped.

"Rei."

"You can't do that." Rei repeated, and his tone seemed to contain something deeper than sorrow. "You can't, and neither can I," he paused, glancing at Kai. "And neither can that girl in the hospital."

"What…? But… how do you…"

Suddenly, he understood. The wind in Carmen's hospital room. The presence that he could not see: Tarian.

"Carmen has a spirit!"

"Yes." Rei stopped to face the other boy, his eyes steely and his expression grave. "She does. As do you and I. She is looking for you as we speak, and if you do not find her soon, Kana—"

He whipped his head around in mid-sentence, searching the vicinity for something that Kai felt too, in his bones, tingling in his skin, a steady thrum coming from somewhere near his heart, but not quite. Deeper.

In a burst of flame seen only to three, the spirit Ceridwen materialized before the teenagers, her countenance heavy with grief, though her crimson eyes sparked.

She has the girl.

"Carmen?" Rei asked sharply.

No.

The fire-wreathed woman cast her glance on Kai, who stood back, and even then he felt her gaze burning into his like a veritable flame. He choked with realization.

"Kana…"