Chapter 11!! YAY!!
Please review, it really makes me want to work on the story you know? If anything is confusing let me know. Lots of fluff!!
Hiro sat next the princess as she slept, one hand on her shoulder holding her still on the couch. She looked exhausted and she had an apron on that was splattered lightly with blood. The last few hours they had been running all over the place in the infirmary. There were few people who were severely injured but enough people had been injured in someway that there was blood all over everyone. He ran a finger down her cheek and brushed her hair out of her face. His heart clenched in his chest and he frowned at the odd emotion. He knew that, as a commoner, he probably shouldn't be so close to the princess but when she'd sat next to him and curled into his side he could only feel a surge of protectiveness.
Kyo flopped to the floor in front of Hiro and sighed. "How are you two?"
Hiro looked down at the prince and tried not to sneer. "Tired of course. Why would you ask that?" He muttered.
"Look kid, we are all to tired to deal with this, cut it out." Kyo said glaring at the younger boy. He leaned back and closed his eyes his mind going over the last few days and all he had learned.
Yuki's older brother had disappeared because a sorcerer had taken over his castle. The same sorcerer had attacked Tohru and her mother. He'd placed a curse on Tohru, Yuki's brother and two of his friends that turned them into animals.
He felt fury rearing up into his chest as he thought about Tohru being stuck at the lake, her body changing from human to animal. His poor Tohru…he looked to the side to try to keep the rage from overflowing and met Hana's eyes. She looked at him understandingly and he watched as a lone tear fell from her eyes before she walked out of the room.
Hana could feel every emotion swirling around, not as strongly as she used to but with so many people in pain, grieving for those few lost, and Kyo's rage and despair over Tohru, she was beginning to feel the drain on her mind.
She rested against the cool marble of one of the rooms further from the infirmary and let her mind retreat inside of her. A hand touched her shoulder gently and pulled her against a chest. Without opening her eyes she knew it was Yuki. With a heartfelt sigh she wrapped her arms around him as well.
"I'm sure Tohru is alright. We'll kill the enchanter and have her back in no time." Yuki murmured holding Hana tightly against his chest.
"I hope so." She murmured.
Yuki held her for a few more moments before taking one hand and lifting her chin so she could see his face. "She'll be alright. I promise."
She could hear the determination in his voice and realized that he truly did care for Tohru as a friend. A wave of emotion swamped her from him and her eyes widened when he started to lean towards her. "What are you doing?"
Yuki smirked slightly. "I thought you were a mind-reader." He murmured before kissing her lips gently. It was the first time that he had allowed himself to do it but oh how he'd wanted to for so long. He'd loved her from almost the first moment he'd seen her. With her dark eyes and dark hair she was absolutely beautiful. When she'd glanced at him and he'd seen the power hidden in her eyes he'd fallen head-over-heels, the admiration at her beauty had turned to a deep consuming love even at his young age. He was nothing though, if not honorable and he had pursued her in an honorable manner while also gaining the respect of her two close friends. Tohru was an adorable and admirable girl, but she was too meek for Yuki's tastes and Uo was too violent. But Hana was everything he ever wanted. So he worked hard to prove himself to her. He slanted his lips over Hana's when she moaned softly and kissed her deeper as a coil of joy and love rampaged through him.
Hana clung to Yuki as he kissed her. She'd known that there were strong feelings from Yuki to her and she herself loved the young man, so much so she'd already talked to Kyoko about the political impact if they had married. Nothing bad, everything good and her mind was swirling in fifty different directions at the moment. She could feel his own feelings, a mirror image to her own swirling inside his skin and she leaned back slightly needing air. When he gave her room to breathe she moved her hands up around his neck. "So my dear Yuki…does this mean you want to marry me?"
Yuki gave her a small smile before kissing her gently, a small taste of the passion from before. "Again…I thought you were a mind-reader. Of course I want to marry you my dark beauty."
Hana smirked lightly. "Beauty? Is that it?" She asked her words Tohru's own.
"Not even close." Yuki murmured and keeping a close arm around her he led her to the kitchen. "Let's get you something to eat then to bed. I can see how exhausted you are."
Hana smiled softly as she leaned into his shoulder. "You really need to teach Kyo some manners." Yuki laughed and placed another kiss to her forehead as the neared the kitchen. Tohru…you were right. Hana thought to herself and joined Yuki's laughter.
Uo and Haru peeked around the corner after Yuki and Hana then leaned back and grinned at each other. "Go Haru!" She said standing on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "Good thinking sending Yuki after her."
Haru gave his fiancé a lazy look. "Of course. Now that they are settled can we tell them about us?"
Uo smirked and wrapped her hands in the collar of his shirt to pull him down to her. "I guess so. Now that the last of us have caught up." She kissed him gently.
Haru smiled as he returned her kiss but pulled away slightly. "Well that last actually haven't. Tohru and Kyo are still up in the air."
Uo frowned. Damn that bet. She stared at the man she loved so fully and cursed that he had such an interesting sense of logic. They'd been engaged for almost a year now but since Kyo and Tohru were possibly going to be the ones getting married this year Haru decided to hold off announcing their engagement until each of the three couples had decided on their own relationships. Haru had interesting but a twisted sense of logic, if not for him wanting Kyo to be happy, they could have been married by now. Of course she wanted Tohru to be happy but Tohru wouldn't be affected to badly if Uo happened to get married first. She sighed when Haru rolled his eyes down to her and leaned up to kiss him again. "Alright we'll wait to tell them until after Tohru and Kyo get their official engagement." She started off towards the kitchen not turning when she heard Haru hit the wall. A smirk crossed her lips and her eyes dazed as she thought about what marriage would be like to the volatile man, oh what fun! (Not S&M you perverts)
Tohru landed in the water gliding slowly toward shore. When she saw that it wasn't Akito, or anyone else she knew, she was uncertain how to respond. She stayed in the water and simply stared at the man.
He was tall, probably in his late thirties, early forties, though she would have to guess he was older than her mother by only a little bit. He had green gold eyes and light brown hair and was watching her with curiosity. Suddenly another bird leapt onto his shoulder and stared at her. "Ahh! It is the princess!" The bird declared and Tohru stopped gliding to stare in shock. The bird was a snake neck darter, a beautiful fast swimmer and it leapt from the man's shoulder and swam out to her. "Hello Princess! I am Ayame! I have been trying very hard to find you! My dear friend over there has been searching for you as well!" When she started going further away from him he started flapping around quickly. "Wait wait! We do not want to hurt you!"
"Who…are you?" Tohru asked coming further forward. The sun began to set and she looked around hoping that Akito was still away on whatever trip he went on.
"I am the Lord Ayame!" The snake neck bird said coming out of the water and bending his head in an exaggerated bow. "This was once my home until that bastard Akito came and took it." He went of flailing and muttering while Tohru turned her head to the quiet man on the shore.
"And you?" She asked, he didn't answer at first though as the moon hit her wings and she began to shape shift. She stumbled from the pain of the transformation and the man on shore caught her.
"You change! I didn't believe Shigure when he told me that Akito had perfected the transmutation…" The bird went off on another rant as Tohru turned to look up at the man holding her.
"Yasu…" The man said quietly. "I was friends with your mother."
Tohru straightened too fast and almost stumbled again. "I know your name! You're also Kisa's grandfather! She looks just like you!"
Yasu looked away for a moment then pinched the still chattering birds mouth closed. "How is your mother?" He asked trying to sound nonchalant.
Tohru's eyes filled with tears and she gazed up at the man she'd grown up hearing stories about. "She is injured but Kyo said that she was alright. She was injured when Akito kidnapped me."
Yasu nodded releasing Ayame and looked the princess over. "So how do we get you out of here?"
"Yes! We must free you for if we can free you than me and my dear friends can be free as well! How is my darling brother, he is alright isn't he? I thought that having him live with my king and prince was the best idea after our father died but that I do so worry that maybe he wasn't happy." Ayame's conversation came to an abrupt stop as Yasu gripped his mouth again.
Tohru laughed lightly. "Yuki is fine. I think he and one of my friends are in love with each other. I don't know how to get out of here. There is a cure to my curse at least but…I don't know what it is. I can't get to Akito's spell books in the tower. Or at least I can get to them but I can't look in them. I was unable to open them." She paused for a moment before narrowing her eyes on the two of them. "How did you get past the barrier Akito put up?"
Yasu smiled slightly. "I left to learn how to become a sorcerer as well. I never trusted Akito to stay away. Though it took me much longer than I thought it would. I can't remove spells but I could adjust the barrier to let us in. However…I think I know how to break the spell on you."
"OH WHY DOES THIS DISASTER HAVE TO HAPPEN TO ME!! WHY COULDN'T IT WAIT UNTIL QUEEN KYOKO WAS HOME!! I'M SORRY KINGDOM!! I AM SOOO USELESS!!" Was heard throughout the castle as the castle as the queens advisor ran around screaming. They knew that a few villages had reported stolen stock and food but no one had been injured. They whispered magic and demons had done it but were unable to decide why no one had died.
When word reached Kazuma he knew that it was part of Akito's plan, though he wasn't completely sure how…
Please review!! lol how do you like Aya being thrown in now? He is supposed to be the puffin but since he was a snake and snakes don't fly I compromised.
