Back to Rufus' PoV again~

Alright~ trying to get something more light hearted in here.

Thanks for all the nice, and not so nice reviews, and please people. Be patient. I update as fast as I can. Try to write a story with 20k+ words in less than ten days. Most of you will give up half way, am I right?

I think it took about an hour until Zero calmed down. I'd probably never know what the real reason was, but I didn't think I wanted to know. What did it take to make someone as strong-willed as Zero cry? It couldn't have been the conversation. Lime was now sitting next to me, hands around my waist, hear chin on my shoulder.

I saw Arme walking over to Zero and Dio. She crouched down in front of them, seemed to sure if she should move or not. Dio looked up, took her arm and pulled her into the hug.

"Don't do it again…"

"If you want to yell at me…"

Zero looked up, ears hanging. He was still pretty depressed I guess. He said something but I got distracted as Lime grabbed my ears and pulled them down.

"Hey!" I yelled at her, shoving her away.

"Aw I just wanted to see if your ears can do that too…"

"Of course they can!" I hissed.

"Show me!"

"Lime I-"

I couldn't finish. She had taken my left ear and bit into it.

"Ow!"

"Hey look at that." I heard Dio.

I saw Zero turning his head, while I was still trying to get Lime away from my ear.

"I believe Lime is trying to copy someone." Zero answered. Was that a joke?! I didn't know why, but I felt better now. It just wasn't like him to be sad.

"She'll never be better than the original! And I bet your ears taste better!" Dio grinned.

Lime backed away, obviously embarrassed that everyone was now looking at her.

"I err… was just…"

My father started to chuckle. "So the depressed part is over? Can we move on to normal emotions now?" he asked.

Dio seemed to want to yell something, but Zero held him back and stood. "I apologize. This shall not happen again."

"Ah don't worry… We're used to crybabies, right kid?" Sieghart said, pointing at Dio.

Dio glared back, then stood as well. "Hey shorty, you still want that picnic?"

Arme flinched, bit her lip, then nodded slowly. Dio grinned, took Zero's hand and walked into the kitchen. I turned away, not wanting to know what they were doing there. Lime had curled up into the blanket next to me, still trying to play with my ears. I missed this closeness. All those years I never knew that I was longing for it.

"…I want to be alone with you…" I muttered, hoping no one else heard it.

"We could go into my apartment, it's under Lass'"

That was a nice thought. Finally being with her after so many years… However, I was still wounded and I couldn't walk at all. Arme couldn't heal me and Lime had no idea where her powers went to. The others were missing. If they'd ever come back? I didn't know.

"I can't…" I muttered. I wanted to, really.

"You should rest before doing anything with your girlfriend."

"She's my wife you idiot!" I yelled at my father.

He laughed nervously at my outburst. The ring was hidden under my shirt, attached to a necklace, save from people's eyes. I didn't know who bandaged the wound but they must have noticed the necklace. Slowly I was moving my hands towards it to make sure it was still there. It was.

"This is… unexpected." My father muttered.

"It's actually pretty obvious. If Luca would be here you could see it. The last time I saw him he looked like a mix of both." Lass replied.

"Luca?"

Did I forget to tell him?

"You see… Rufus and I… we…" Lime muttered, biting her lip and staring at the carpet.

"You don't have to tell him, he doesn't care about kids." I hissed. I would poke that wound whenever I could. He should regret it until there was nothing left to regret.

But he didn't seem irritated or anything. His eyes moved from Lime to me and back. Then he smiled and placed a hand on my head.

"How old is he?"

"Sixhundred-"

"Sixteen." I interrupted.

"That's too bad… You don't have a picture do you?"

"Why the hell do you care?!" I yelled.

He shrugged. "I'd try to convince him that I'm not that bad daddy you probably made me seem."

"I never told him about you. Didn't want him to know that his Grandfather is an asshole."

"What about the flame?" He then asked, ignoring what I said before.

"He knows about as much about it as I do. Which is not much… still more than Lass knows."

My father sighed deeply. "It's a cursed power… "

I rolled my eyes, then moved back towards the pile of pillows as Lime stood and went to talk to Arme. I didn't want to talk anymore. It was exhausting and in the end we would fight again anyway. I was about to drift into sleep when Zero appeared next to that tall man. He wasn't really that much different from back then. He didn't look older… nothing had changed. But I still couldn't forgive him. He took a paper from Zero, then looked at me and back to the picture.

"It's true… he looks like you."

I sat up again to look at the picture, biting my lip at the pain in my chest.

"Well… he's a bit taller now… And less… baby-like."

"Taller than you?"

I flinched. "Just a bit!" Every full grown demon I met was taller than me.

"What is he doing?"

"Bounty hunting." What else? There wasn't much to do there and as a Haros it was more or less normal to become a bounty hunter.

"You taught him?"

"Of course."

"Are you still so slow?"

I glared at him.

"You weren't fast enough for that dragon."

"If you want to fight me, we can do it right now."

He smiled and poked me chest, shoving me backwards. "I'm not fighting against an injured demon."

Sighing I crossed my arms and stared outside the window. "We could fight with paint. Like back then." I suggested.

"Do you have paint bullets?"

"Somewhere…" That was getting silly. I was acting like a kid!

A little later they had everything ready for a picnic. My plans of staying there because I couldn't hold myself up long enough were ruined when Lass suggested taking a car and someone carrying me. I glared at him, but he grinned. Traitor.

At least I got to wear my own clothing again and could take my guns. Sieghart carrying me bridal style wasn't exactly what I had planned though. And why were they taking me outside anyway? I was injured!

The sun was burning down on us, making me feel more uncomfortable than I already did. I didn't care about the plate in front of me and the disappointed faces of Lime and Arme as I refused to eat. I wasn't hungry, and I didn't need sweet stuff. I hated it anyway.

"Just try it." Dio muttered.

The thought of him standing in the Kitchen still was hilarious. But I saw him earlier. He knew what he was doing, and was handling it quite well even without that arm.

"I'm not hungry." I replied.

"You don't have to be."That smile made me angry. He was like… a kitten. Yes. A cute little kitten. Nothing left of that proud Lion that tore everything apart he disliked.

"Fine!" angrily I grabbed a fork and attacked what seemed to be some kind of… cake?

It didn't taste as bad as I thought, but I wouldn't admit it. Dio and Zero then stood, walking over to some trees. No I didn't want to think about whatever they planned to do. And I didn't have to as a guy dressed in a black uniform came closer. He had a sword attached to his left side of the belt, long black hair tied into a ponytail, a white hat and looked like someone that was with the law. A tax collector or something. They still existed? My father was reaching towards his guns. No one else noticed, but I knew the sounds. The soft clicking of metal that was barely audible.

"I believe we have a problem here." The man said. His blue eyes glaring at everyone, then fixing on me. What the hell did I do?

"What kind of problem?" Sieghart wanted to know and stood.

"I am afraid you are in company of a demon."

"Two and a half currently. No just one." My father said as he stood as well and moved in front of me, and if trying to protect me in case that guy attacked.

"If you don't want to cause trouble I have to ask you to follow me."

"Too bad we're trouble loving persons." Sieghart grinned.

I had the urge to punch him. Why messing with this guy! He could have reinforcements around! The man looked behind him, then put a finger to his lips, telling us to be quiet. What kind of guy was that?

He crouched down, then let something blue appear in his hand. A second later the area was covered with a big shield. A mage? But how?

"Alright. We're invisible to them now." The man smiled, took off his hat and his black hair turned to blue.

"In the name of Lady Gaia…" Arme whispered. "Ronan! What the hell are you doing here?!"

He laughed. "Watching the park. What are you doing here?"

"Enjoying nature?" Sieghart muttered and sat down again. My father paced behind me, making me nervous.

" I just… saw Lass and got curious. Was pretty lonely all those years… knowing who I am but not knowing where everyone was." Ronan said.

"How long can you hold up the shield?" Arme asked.

"It's there until I deactivate it."

"Draw your sword!" Sieghart yelled.

"What? Why?"

"Dio's-"

There was no time to finish. A shadow raced towards the former knight, he managed to escape in the last second and was drawing his sword.

"You fucking bastard!" Dio shouted, blindly slashing his weapon around.

Scythe and sword met with a screeching sound. Arme Jumped to her feet, fireballs floating around her. My father shot on the air. Ronan got distracted and Dio tossed him to the ground, pinning his arms with his legs. I was about to stand up then Zero showed up and pulled Dio away.

"Dio, This will not solve anything."

Dio didn't seem to listen as he tried to break free of the grip.

"Let go of me!"

Ronan was standing there, still ready to attack if he had to.

"Could someone please explain what the hell is going on?" Arme said, her voice barely audible over Dio's raging.

Ronan seemed as confused as she and Lime were. Only when Dio slowly calmed down and Zero retreated, the knight seemed to understand.

"Your arm…"

Dio jumped to his feet, this time too fast for Zero to catch him, and charged at Ronan once again. Lass and I moved at the same second. He was dashing towards the scythe and took hold of it, trying to stop Dio. But he was tossed away, with a quick slash, rolling over the grass. Dio turned, having noticed me. My chest stung as I tried to get enough distance to attack, but I wasn't was enough to escape, stumbled and crashed to the ground. I rolled over the grass, barely avoiding the scythe.

"Dio no!" Lime shouted on top of her lungs.

He didn't listen. I couldn't get back to my feet and ended up blocking the sharp blade the my eyeteeth. My sight was getting blurry, breathing was too hard to concentrate on anything else. Something silvery his Dios head. He turned around, glaring at the attacker.

"The next time I use knives." Lass hissed.

My father, Sieghart and Zero were now standing quite close to Dio, Arme was sitting on the blanket, fireballs dancing around her. But that was all I could see before my eyes decided that I was too tired to keep them open. Someone picked me up and carried me back to the blanket on the grass. I was freezing, hoping someone would notice.

When I opened my eyes again my head was resting on someone's lap and had someone's jacket on. I turned my head, noticing Zero sitting between Dio and Ronan, ready to keep them apart when it was necessary. They seemed to have calmed down though. At least something.

Alright. My motivation has faded at this point. Not sure if i get it back... I had a lot of things planned... But I don't know if it's worth to write things for people that don't appreciate the effort.

Take a look at the reviews. you'll understand.