Wolf felt as if he was floating in a haze. He mad a futile attempt to look around, when he opened his eyes he saw nothing but strange glimpses of light and the occasional jumbled up figure or shape.

"Am I dead?" Wolf asked himself.

"Not dead yet young one," a strange voice answered him. The voice sounded distant yet beautiful.

"Who are you?" Wolf queried, hoping the voice would answer back.

"I am everything yet nothing….strong yet weak…cold yet warm…distant yet close….I bring chaos yet order I am all of these things." The voice replied, seemingly closer this time. "I have watched you for some time little one. I keep you safe when in other times you would have been caused harm." The voice drew even closer causing a strange stir of emotions to rise within Wolf.

"Are you, my guardian angel?" Wolf said as he reached out toward the strange spirit.

"In a sense young one, I am. I am a Keitsha, or protector. The last of my kind, I have aided you throughout your life."

"The last of your Kind, what happened to the rest of you?"

"The one you call viper has captured us from our world and harvested us for our power. We Keitsha are attracted to those with strong hearts and souls. Viper once was a decent being, he had the strongest of all hearts, yet his heart was corrupted. He then took his Keitsha and harvested her, giving him immortal life." The spirit ended sadly.

"That's…terrible," was all Wolf could say almost choking on his tears. Only a true monster could take a creature so beautiful and harvest it.

"Shh young one, now you must rest. For your heart although powerful needs rest to deal with the hardships ahead. For now I shall leave but I give you a gift, perhaps it shall be just enough to help you conquer your enemies." Wolf could see the ethereal being begin to disappear before him, He wanted to scream for it to stay but couldn't find the strength. He could feel himself being pulled away from this realm.

Wolf could feel the softness of a pillow behind his head. He reluctantly pried open his eyes, he could make out random shapes here and there, but most of it was just a random blur. He wasn't aware of much, just the fact that his upper part of his back under both his shoulders were in searing pain. After a few more blinks he could see his surroundings. He was in the room he and Fox had spent the night in when they were staying at Mung Dall's a while back. He was there alone, the sun setting outside of his window. He forced himself out of bed, despite the angry protests of his body.

Wolf limped up to the door and put his ear to it, still in his sneaky survival state for some odd reason. He could hear faint voices on the other side. His head was still cluttered but through a fair bit of concentration he could place the voices.

"I just want to see if he's okay." Wolf could hear Fox protest on the other side of the wooden door.

"You've been sitting in that room with him for four days, give him some time alone girl." Crow did his best to reason with her, clearly to no avail. As he could hear Fox slam her fist into the wall, feeling the vibrations of the collision from behind the door, Wolf had nearly forgotten that Fox could muster up some serious strength when she wanted. He half expected to step outside and see part of the building collapsed.

"Damn it old man! You've been keeping me at bay for too long, I want to see him! After what happened," Fox paused for a moment and stopped shouting "I want to make sure he doesn't change while I'm gone."

Crow noticed the sadness in her voice and tried his best to sound comforting.

"Listen, I know how it feels to care for someone as you do." Wolf could hear Crow take a couple of steps forward towards Fox. Perhaps to put his hand on her shoulder, it would be the most compassionate thing he'd ever seen Crow do. "But believe me when I say that I am only keeping him from you for your own safety."

"What do you mean?"

Crow let out a sigh before he spoke. "It's been four days, you have to come to terms with the fact that he just might not wake up." Crow's voice grew solemn.

Fox pushed his hand away. "Shut up! He can't die." Fox sniffed as tears began to form in her eyes. "He promised me he would never leave me." Wolf heard her collapse to her knees and begin to break down, repeating the same thing to herself over and over again. "He can't die…..he can't die."

Crow bent down to be at her eye level.

"I'm sorry, but you must face the facts. When he changed he used up so much of his strength that it's surprising he didn't die right there on the spot. He can't have more than an hour left of life in him."

When Fox heard this she burst into tears.

Wolf quietly opened his door and stepped into the hallway.

"Don't count me out yet old man." Wolf said in a dry and cracked voice.

Fox wiped the tears away, not sure if he was really standing there or if her mind was just playing a dirty trick on her. Once she was sure he was actually standing there, she ran towards him and clung on to his shirt. Nearly knocking him over as she pressed her muzzle into his fur. Despite the overwhelming happiness the tears didn't stop flowing, they spilled out onto his shirt. Fox could feel his strong hands brushing the back of her neck as he whispered into her ear.

"Shh don't cry, I'm alright, don't worry I'll never leave you." Wolf whispered, trying to calm her overflowing emotions.

Fox smiled as her love spoke calmly to her, yet the tears seemingly increased. Fox had never cried tears of joy before, but the feeling was amazing. Wolf cast one quick glance at Crow. Crow had that look on his face that said.

"We'll talk later."

Wolf looked into Fox's emerald eyes, showing the deepest love only thought imaginable. He led her into their room; they spent the time lying in bed together. Fox with her head resting on his chest as they lay in a wordless bundle under the thin blanket, when Fox decided to break the calm and peaceful quiet.

"Wolf, why did you leave without telling me?"

Needless to say the question caught Wolf completely off guard. He thought for a short while before he spoke, hoping what he said would not send Fox's emotions spiraling out of control again.

"I…just wanted to make sure you didn't get hurt." Wolf said quietly.

Fox shifted her body and looked at him with her beautiful round eyes. Wolf tried to read her expression, but found that her face was unreadable.

"You're lying," Fox said plainly.

"What, why do you think that," Wolf recoiled from her answer, his ears giving a slight twitch. This, as Fox knew meant that he was embarrassed.

"I said you're lying, I can read you like a book Wolf. Now I'll ask you again, why did you leave without telling me?"

Wolf swallowed hard, the last thing he wanted to do was upset her. But there was obviously no use in lying. He took a deep breath before he spoke.

"I guess…I honestly didn't want you in the way. If you were there I wouldn't have time to bail you out of trouble." Wolf forced the words out of his mouth.

Wolf braced himself; he didn't know how she would respond. Sadness maybe anger, he couldn't tell. Instead she laid her head back down on his chest and said only one thing.

"Thank you for being honest." Was all Fox mumbled.

Although Wolf was puzzled he decided not to ask why she wasn't angry.

Wolf eventually settled into an uneasy sleep.

Fox stood alone on the balcony that overlooked Marzipan city, the moon was shining brightly in the sky. She sat and pondered what Wolf said; perhaps she was just in the way. Maybe, if she hadn't called his attention away from home his sister could still be alive. She closed her eyes, and for the first time since they had met she contemplated leaving him. Then she almost hated him. She felt as if he didn't trust her to defend herself or others. Her anger slightly faded. Maybe that's not what he means. Fox thought to herself.

Fox could hear footsteps coming up from behind her. She sighed as Wolf stepped into the moonlight and leaned over the railing next to her.

"What are you doing out here?" Fox asked still looking out at the city.

"You know I don't sleep well." Wolf replied quietly. "Listen, about what I said."

"Save it, I know you don't trust me to protect myself." Fox said, avoiding his hurt gaze.

"How could you say that? Fox you're the most important thing I have, if I didn't trust you how could I even trust myself." Wolf tried to grab her but she just moved away.

"You said it yourself; I'm just in the way. You'd be better off without me."

"Fox…I couldn't bare to live without you. You're everything to me; you're all I have left. My brother, my sister, both of them gone, but I keep fighting. Do you know why?" Wolf asked, his gaze showing nothing but deep emotion.

"Humor me." Fox replied trying to sound angry, though she was nearly choking on tears.

"Because I have you, and nothing will ever change that. And even if you leave me right now I want you to know this. I will always keep fighting to keep you safe, because you are the world to me."

Fox didn't look at him, she couldn't look at him. The tears fell off the balcony, though Fox did her best to hide it.

"How do I know your being sincere about what you say?"

Wolf felt for his sister's small locket that hung around his neck. She'd had given it to him right before she died. Wolf walked Toward Fox and put the pendant around her neck. She looked up at him through tear strained eyes. After a few seconds she spoke.

"….Your sister's locket."

"It's all I have left to remember her by. And now I want you to have it."

The tears were coming harder now, Fox held the little heart shaped piece of metal in her hand. When she flung her arms around Wolf and broke down.

"I'm so sorry for what I said…please forgive me!" Fox managed to choke out.

Wolf didn't say anything but his strong hands stroking her back said it all.

"I know,"