Chapter Thirteen, Always On My Mind
(Thanks to reviewer Smile-Evily for catching some name swap typos, here is the revised version!)
"Hey, obaasan, she's awake!" Aurelia heard as she began to open her eyes. Her vision was still blurry, but she recognized that rice ball hairstyle anywhere, even in the dim and still fuzzy light of the healers cave. Reaching up to touch his face, she jokingly asked "Have I died? Is this heaven?" Laughing, he took her hand in his and placed a small cup of water into it, assisting her in taking a drink. "No, sister, this isn't heaven. Not quite yet anyways. It's good to have you back." He said as she raised herself up and leaned into him for support. Rubbing her eyes, her vision began to clear as she took in her surroundings. "Where's Kouga, is he okay?" she asked, looking around.
Spotting a long ball of furs on the mat a few feet from hers, she caught the scent of warm earth and pine. "He hasn't woken up yet." Ginta started, "Those Naga overdid it with the venom. We almost lost him once already, but he's stronger than any of us know. Any other demon would have succumbed to it and died by now, but he's still fighting it, I can only assume because of you. Consider yourself lucky, he's never been this determined to live, not for anyone." Still uncoordinated and wobbly, Aurelia crawled over to Kouga's mat, curling up under the furs against his bare chest and crying into his bandages.
"So she's awake, is she?" The tribe's healer, an elderly wolf demon affectionately called "grandmother" asked. Aurelia turned her tear-streaked face towards the voice, finally getting a glimpse of their caretaker. She was small. Much tinier than any other adult in the tribe. Standing perhaps at 4'9", her short, shapely body was topped with a quite possibly longer than her braid of snowcapped coffee colored hair. Her face was soft, with wrinkles around her pale green eyes and mouth that look like she had done much smiling in her time. Aurelia hoped she could take that as a good sign. "You've been out for the last two days dear, you're hungry I'm sure." She said, handing her a carved wooden bowl of warm stew.
Sitting upright, Aurelia accepted the food gladly, and questioned the sagely healer. "What do you think will happen to him?" she asked, halfway not wanting to know the answer as she began downing the stew. "Ginta, go get me another bowl, she's making me hungry." She spouted at Ginta, who sighed before complying. "He should be okay. I could tell when Ginta and Hakkaku brought you two in that it was Naga venom. You were both deathly pale, and looked like your veins were running black with ink. You were lucky, child. If you'd been bitten more than once it would have most likely killed you. Kouga is strong, but he is also very hardheaded. Provoking more than a few bites was foolish of him but I suppose he had his reasons. He still has a ways to go, especially since one bite in particular still has not been extracted." Lifting the blanket of pelts, Aurelia could see the inky black web of veins branching out from a pair of puncture marks on his inner thigh.
"I love the boy, I truly do, but he is like a grandson to me, and that is much closer to some things than I'd ever want to be. Perhaps you could assist me with that." She chimed, eyeing Aurelia deviously. Aurelia was startled by the request, but was determined to help him. "Anything to save him." She said, voice thick with determination.
The elderly wolf only laughed. "I was only joking child, that single bite won't kill him. He'll be fine in a few days once it passes through his system. Nothing to worry about dear. You should go get some sleep in your own bed instead of fretting over him in here." "Not without him." She opposed flatly. The old woman shook her head and sighed. "If you're going to be difficult about it I suppose I have no real choice but to move him too then. Ginta!" she called out into the cavernous hallway. "Coming!" she heard echo in response. Stumbling through the woven mat in the entryway with two more bowls of stew, Ginta caught his breath and handed the bowls to the women. "Yes baasan?" he asked. "I need you to help carry Kouga back to his den, Miss Aurelia has decided to monitor him from this point on for me." Groaning, Ginta huffed as he hauled the dead weight of his Alpha over his shoulder, mildly struggling with his brother in arms' limp body. Luckily their destination was a short distance down the corridor from the healer's chamber.
As Aurelia held the woven door aside, Ginta walked through and carefully set Kouga down on his pile of furs. "He looks so fragile like this, like any sudden movement might break him…" Ginta sullenly noted. "Take good care of him for me would ya? That meathead means a lot to us." He added as he wrapped an arm around Aurelia's shoulder and hugged her before leaving. "Don't worry, I will." She whispered as he walked through the doorway.
Aurelia carefully draped a fur pelt blanket over her sleeping lover, watching carefully to avoid the tender area on his discolored thigh. Maybe she could speed his recovery along by pulling out the venom, or maybe it was too far spread to help. Either way, she was determined to do something. Pulling just enough of the blanket back to view his wounds, Aurelia gently felt the swollen area around the inky black puncture wounds in his leg that had yet to heal over. Leaning over the side of the bed, Aurelia dug through one of her duffle bags that she still hadn't unpacked, and pulled out a fresh bottle of Patrón Silver she purchased before their return, uncorked it, filled her mouth, swished it, swallowed most of it, then went to work pulling the venom from his thigh.
The tequila did wonders masking the foul taste of the venom in her mouth, along with cleaning the wound. Kneading the area around the bite to pull the venom towards the center of the wound, Aurelia pulled as much of the thick, inky substance as she could, spat it into her empty bowl, and took another swig of tequila. Just as she was almost finished with the second bout of venom, Ginta stepped into the room, utterly confused at what he was seeing. "I'll just come back another time, I didn't mean to interrupt!" he awkwardly blurted as he tried to look away from the pair in the bed.
Aurelia picked her face up, chin lightly coated it black liquid, and spat once again into the bowl. "I'm extracting venom Ginta, I wouldn't do that with him unconscious." She said, wiping her face, and taking one last swig of liquor. Ducking her face back down onto his leg, she sucked the last bit of venom she could before finally tasting blood in her mouth.
Spitting the last bit of the thick venom out, she took a rag from her duffle bag, poured some alcohol onto it, and rubbed his wound clean. "Grab me some clean bandages would you?" she asked, gently wiping his inner thigh clean. "That's what I came in here for anyways. Obaasan asked me to bring you these so you could rewrap his leg later." He responded, walking over to the bed where his Alpha still lay lifeless. The inky black web of veins were hardly visible anymore under the tan skin of his leg. "Wow, nice job there Aurelia. He should be up and around in no time." He chimed, much happier now that Kouga at least looked better. Aurelia smiled as the color slowly began returning to his skin. Wrapping his leg to keep the wound covered, she placed the blanket carefully over Kouga before stretching and sprawling out over the bed, still exhausted from her own recovery. "I'll just leave you two alone now. Thank you Aurelia, I knew he'd finally settle down someday, but I'm glad it's with you." He said as he leaned down, lightly kissing her on the forehead in thanks before leaving the room.
Curling up alongside Kouga, Aurelia nuzzled into his neck and inhaled the warmth that was his scent. "You know," she whispered, "I know you probably can't hear me but I'm really considering staying with you. You make me feel so alive; so grounded. I love you Kouga. I really do. I hope you wake up soon so I can tell you that."
As she faded into sleep, in the faintest of whispers, he replied, "I love you too."
Waking up the next morning to an empty bed, Aurelia panicked. Frantically searching the darkness of the room, she almost overlooked the dark mess of hair sticking out of the indoor spring, backed against a rock. "You're awake. I was starting to think you were gonna sleep all day." Kouga teased as his closed eyes became visible. "Not like I was up most of the night trying to take care of you or anything." She shot back with a smirk. "How're you feeling anyways? You were in pretty bad shape." "Sweetheart, it'll take a lot more than some punk ass snake to take me down." He responded smugly as he folded his arms behind his head.
"I'm glad you're okay. You really scared me for a while there, I thought I was going to lose you." Aurelia said calmly as she forced herself to smile. "Don't worry princess, I ain't goin anywhere anytime soon." He assured with a pearly grin. Tilting his head towards the water, he silently beckoned her to his side; an invitation she immediately accepted. Stripping herself of her nightgown, she pulled her hair into a quick, messy bun atop her head, and slid into the water beside him.
Leaning her head against his shoulder, he wrapped his arm around her, and kissed the top of her head. "So," he started, "I know a lot has happened in the last couple of days, and I know we were kind of unconscious for most of it, but have you thought any more about my offer?" Aurelia pondered for a moment, her silence unnerving Kouga all the more. "I have, and I've been thinking that even though this is all happening so fast, I've never felt this sure about anything in my life. I'm happy with you, despite the danger of being here, and would actually really like to stay. I feel like this is where I really belong. I mean, if you'll still have me of course." She said with a nervous smile. Kouga pulled her into a crushing embrace, nuzzling his face into the messy bun of hair atop her head. "I will always want you by my side."
Burying her face into the warmth of his chest, Aurelia let out a sigh of relief. Stroking her hair, Kouga spoke, "I want to do this right, I need to meet your family and know that I'm worthy of you in their eyes. It's only right." Nervously, Aurelia pushed herself away from him, and settled at the edge of the pool, uneasy about the subject of her estranged family. "I honestly don't know them at all, but if you're that determined, I have no real reason to stop you. She sighed as she contemplated their eventual journey. "When my grandmother passed, in the letter she left behind for me, she left instructions for finding that side of my family; I just never really tried to meet them. I mean, they never had anything to do with me before, why would they now?" and as she lowered herself halfway up her face to mull in the hot water, her exasperated sigh sent bubbles to the surface, splashing her messy platinum bangs as they popped.
Before Kouga could attempt to comfort her, however, none other than Ginta and Hakkaku would decide to pop in to check on their brother in arms and his prospective mate. "Good to see you up and lively boss!" Hakkaku gleamed, "Yeah Kouga, you looked like hell last night, Aurelia really sucked the death out of you didn't she?" Ginta teased. "Shut your traps you two, I'm doing just fine. It'll take a lot more than a couple snakebites to kill me and you know it." Kouga snapped. Before he could dismiss the two mischievous males, Ruka and Tomotsu had entered to check on their supposedly recovered alpha. Shortly after, Biruda, Yotogi, and Bengosha all entered the spacious den, each clamoring in joy over their lord's survival.
All of the unwanted eyes, however, had Aurelia ducking under the water and holding her breath, trying her hardest not to be seen naked by any of the encroaching demons. As Aurelia swam as quickly as she could to the other end of the large pool, none of the others, Kouga included, acknowledged her absence. Attempting to evade the searching eyes, she silently crept behind large bath stones back toward the bed she shared, and redressed herself in a crisp white button up with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, and a faded pair of dark navy high-waisted skinny jeans. After hunting for her spare white canvas slip-ons, she packed a small overnight bag, and made her way towards the door of their den. "Where are you going?" Kouga asked as he nonchalantly rose from the water, stark naked before the most elite of his followers, and wrapped one of Aurelia's towels around his waist. How he could be so comfortable being seen naked by all those people was beyond her.
"If you want to meet my family, I need to get back to Tokyo and get some papers drawn for you. People are registered in my time so everyone knows who you are and where you belong. My friend Mamoru used to work in the local government office and can help me get you put in the system so we can travel. I can't exactly buy plane tickets for an illegal alien." Huffing, Kouga walked towards his individual bag on the floor and pulled a black v neck shirt, a faded pair of close fitting boot cut jeans, a pair of boxer briefs, socks, and the boots Aurelia had purchased for him, and began dressing himself, still very much within the eyesight of everyone in the den. "Well then wait up for me, I'm going with you." He said firmly as he pulled the shirt over his head.
"Then I suppose I'll have to pack a bag for you too then." Aurelia added as she walked over and prepped an overnight bag for him. "We'll keep an eye on things here for ya boss." Hakkaku said, as Ginta coolly ran his hand through his hair and added "Yeah Kouga, you go get your stuff under control, it's about time you settled down, so we'll make sure the pack is kept in line while you're working on that. You're due for a couple cubs of your own by now anyhow." "Shut up you two!" Kouga grumbled as his face reddened at their teasing.
Tossing his bag over his shoulder, Kouga took Aurelia by the hand and led her towards the much less suffocating open air of daybreak. As they approached the main den, Kouga announced their departure to the members of the tribe present, knelt down for Aurelia, then shot off like a bullet into the wilderness, determined to reach the shrine within the hour, and put as much distance between his meddling pack mates and them as he could.