Disclaimer::::

I do not own the characters from Harry Potter or Uninhabited planet survive. Only my OC character (s).

I don't make any profit from any of my stories on this website.

Rated M due to future sexual content.

"Characters Speaking"
Characters Thinking
/Authors Comments\

~~~Chapter Twenty-Three~~~

~~~Previous~~~

Chako holds up the rope she is still holding. "So, should we take in the rope 'n go home? What's up, Howard? That's not a rope."

Howard stops crying and pulls on what he was holding. He tugs a few times before some kind of potato is in front of him. We dig around that area and Chako tastes a bit of it. "They're sweet potatoes! Full of starch!"

Shingo has pulled up some more. "There are lots of them!"

"They were uncovered when the avalanche moved the snow off them. Howard, nice work." Chako praises.

"Nice work…" Howard repeats. "Nice…work? That's right! It was nice work! Making the slope and getting the food was both all thanks to me! Of course, since I'm so kind-hearted, I won't keep them all to myself! I'll give a little to each of you. But in exchange, you'll all call me Howard-sama from now on!" He laughs loudly.

Kaoru goes in the other direction and I follow behind him.

~~~Luna's POV~~~

Yup, we listened to Howard-sama's bragging…twelve times over.

~~~Present~~~

~~~Brienna's POV~~~

Kaoru and I are out hunting. We found a Tobihane. We both kneel and stay silent. Kaoru gets his bow and arrow ready. When the Tobihane gets in front of us he lets it lose. It misses and hits the tree while the Tobihane runs off.

We tried hunting more food but with it snowing not many animals were out. We head back to Star Hole. When we walk in everyone looks up at us but Sharla is the first one to look away, especially from looking at Kaoru. Luna looks at Sharla briefly before looking back at us. "Welcome back."

Kaoru removes his arm from around my waist to put his bow and arrows down. "Cold outside?" Chako asks.

Howard and Shingo appear in front of us. "Welcome home!" They both say at the same time.

"How was it?" Howard questions.

Kaoru shakes his head causing Howard and Shingo to let out a sound of disappointment and drop their heads to the ground. "There are just days like this." Luna points out.

"So, it was no use?" Bell asks.

"And you?" Kaoru replies.

"Nothing for us either. The ice on the river was too thick, so we couldn't catch any fish." Bell admits.

"I see," Kaoru says.

Kaoru and I sit down just before Kaoru once again wraps his arm around my waist.

"A zero-harvest day. How many days in a row does this make?" Shingo whines.

"Who has cooking duty today?" Howard asks.

Bell perks up. "It's me." He goes to stands up and I see him wince.

"What's wrong?" Menori asks.

"I sprained my ankle earlier," Bell admits. "But it's nothing serious."

Menori stands up. "No, I'll take care of cooking today."

"What's on the menu?" Howard asks.

Menori looks behind her to where the food is stored. "Let's see…I'll make soup with potatoes and dried meat."

"That again?" Howard complains.

"It sounds fine, but I almost can't eat that anymore," Shingo admits.

"I could even go for a steak made of Pague," Howard says. Adam lets out a gasp. Howard laughs. "And even Adam would eat until he was stuffed."

"No, I wouldn't eat it!" Adam denies.

"Howard, don't be ridiculous!" Luna scolds.

"Yes!" Sharla agrees. "It's mean to Adam."

Howard lets out an awkward laugh. "It was a joke!"

Kaoru stands up and walks over to the door. I went to follow but he shakes his head. I nod my head in understanding and sit back down. Adam comes over and climbs up onto my lap.

"Where are you going?" Luna asks Kaoru.

Kaoru stops to reply. "I'll give it another try."

"Right now?" Luna questions.

"Great! That's our Kaoru!" Howard praises. "We'll be waiting for you!"

"Howard!" Luna warns. "It'll be pitch dark soon."

"I'll be back before then," Kaoru says, stepping back slightly to kiss me on the forehead before heading back to the door. "Promise us!" Luna says.

"Be careful," Sharla says softly.

He picks up the bow and arrows and leaves the cave.

It has been a while and Kaoru still isn't back. Menori has already cooked the food but we haven't eaten any yet.

"Let's hurry up and eat." Howard whines.

"Once Kaoru gets back." Menori states.

"For crying out loud, what's he up to?" Howard shouts.

Chako raises her paw. "He's searchin' for food, ain't he?"

"You even sent him off by saying 'We'll be waiting for you,' Howard," Sharla adds.

"That may be true, but I didn't tell him he could be late for dinner." Howard denies.

"Maybe something happened to him." Shingo points out.

I lift Adam off my lap and stand up. "I'll go look for him." Luna looked like she was going to say something. "I'll be fine, Luna. Don't worry." I say as I put on my cloak.

Bell walks up to me. "Just in case, you should take some live embers and oil."

I take them off Bell giving him a small smile. Sharla stands up and moves next to me. "Brienna, take this."

I take the package of Sharla and I quickly leave the cave and follow the footsteps Kaoru left behind.

~~~Luna's POV~~~

Not long after Brienna left the snow came done more heavily. Adam, Sharla, Bell, Chako and I crowd around the vent and look outside. "It's started coming down strongly again," Sharla observes.

"Will they be okay?" Chako questions worriedly.

"Brienna…" Adam mutters.

~~~Brienna's POV~~~

As I continue treading through the snow, it starts to snow heavily. I start to shout Kaoru's name. "Kaoru! Kaoru!" I look down a ledge to see him there. "Kaoru!" I call again causing him to look up.

I tie the rope to the tree and throw it down to him. "Grab on to this quickly!" He slowly climbs up. When he gets to the top I pull him up. "Kaoru, are you okay? You're not too cold are you?"

"I'm fine. Let's head back." He replies.

I nod my head in agreement. We start to walk back. "But to think there'd be that big a fissure in a place like that…" We walk until we get to the cliff. "Kaoru, what should we do? It would be too dangerous to climb the cliff with the wind like this."

"Let's look for somewhere we can bivouac," Kaoru states.

~~~Luna's POV~~~

Bell abruptly stands up. "I'm going out after all!"

"In this blizzard?" Shingo queries.

"Give it up!" Howard says.

Chako stands up and places her paw on her chest. "Bell, I'll go with you."

"Me too," I add worriedly.

Menori stands up. "No way. If someone goes out to search now…there's a danger they might be in an accident as well. I know you're worried about Brienna and Kaoru…but I won't let you put yourself in danger right before our eyes."

"Menori…" Chako trails off.

"We'll wait for them to come back," Menori states finishing the conversation.

~~~Brienna's POV~~~

We eventually find somewhere far away from the snow and the cold wind. I quickly gather some rocks and use the embers to make a fire.

"You even brought embers," Kaoru says.

"Bell said that I should bring them just in case. And also, here. From Sharla." I add softly. I lean against Kaoru side. "Kaoru, can you tell me about the boy that the ID belongs to? You don't have to if you don't want to."

He was silent for a while before speaking. "He was…the first opponent I ever lost to. Before I came to Roca A-2 I lived in a space station. There was a training school for space pilots there."

I stay quiet as Kaoru continues talking. "In the first year…the hundred and sixty students who entered were thinned by half…and halved again each year…so by the last school year, we had been reduced to ten. I hated him. I couldn't get over how he could help the weaker students while handling everything perfectly. I hated that smile of his too, overflowing with moral sense and never twisted by hardship."

I snuggle closer to Kaoru side to keep him calm as he continues talking.

"Until the end, I thought the encouragement he would sometimes show was just an act for marks. So, I planned to take that mask off him someday. But…he was perfect."

Oh, my. Louis was lost in space. Looking at Kaoru it still affects him, especially if he is saying that he killed Louis. Which is a total lie.

"At the academy, there was a rumour that I let go intentionally to get my rival out of the way. I didn't want to make up an excuse or anything. I decided to drop out of the academy. Right now, he's still floating in the darkness of space. And he will forever. There's no reason I who killed him should be here in the light."

"You didn't kill him, Kaoru," I say softly.

"We might have both made it if Louis had been piloting. My pointless pride killed him." Kaoru states.

"But you didn't let go of Louis's hand on purpose, right?" I question softly.

"I'd never be so cowardly as to use an excuse like that!" Kaoru denies. "But once in a while, a strange thought creep over me. Back then, why couldn't I hold on tighter? Maybe…I let go unconsciously!"

He clenches his fist and hit the ground. Tears fall from his eyes. I move forward and pull Kaoru into a hug, his head against my neck. We stay that way for a while until Kaoru calms down and we start to head back.

We come up to the cliffs. "The rope blew away somewhere." I point out.

"Then we'll have to climb up by ourselves," Kaoru observes.

I nod my head in agreement and we start climbing up, Kaoru in front. The ledge we were on breaks causing us to fall down the cliff. Kaoru catches part of the cliff while holding onto my other hand.

I lean my other hand forward trying to grab onto the cliff but I can't reach it. My other hand begin slipping out of Kaoru's. "Kaoru…"

"Don't let go," Kaoru says before he pulls my arm upwards, helping me grab onto the cliff next to him. "Wait here." Kaoru climbs up an edge before grabbing my hands and pulling me up.

I take a deep breath and calm my raising heartbeat. "Can I ask you one thing?"

"What is it?" Kaoru replies.

"What did Louis say at the end?" I question softly.

"I don't know! Even though I've been thinking about it all this time." Kaoru answers.

"Maybe he said, 'Live!' My Mama, Papa, Pa, and Uncle Moony said the same to me. They died to save my life. So…" I trail off and watch as Kaoru's eyes widen.

The sun shines through the dark clouds and we stand in silence, well for a while. Kaoru breaks the silence. "Brienna, How old were you when you lost your family?"

"Hmm, I lost Mama and Papa when I was 15 months old and I lost Pa and Uncle Moony a few years later," I answer getting lost in my memories.

I am snapped out of my memories when Kaoru pulls me to his chest. I place my hands on his chest and gaze up at him. To my surprise, before my mind could catch up, Kaoru had leaned down and gently kisses my lips. When my brain finally catches up I kiss him back.

When he pulls away slightly we both are panting and have saliva connecting from our mouths. He leans down to peck me on the lips before pulling away. I stay in his arms as we look in front of us.

We hear our names being called. "Brienna! Kaoru!"

We look behind us to see everyone else running towards us. "Brienna!" Luna and Sharla shout. I turn to look at Kaoru. "Our friends are here. Let's go."

Kaoru smiles and nods his head. "Yeah."

We turn around and run towards the others.

/Thank you for reading this chapter. Please leave a review. Your opinions are appreciated.\