Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Kyo Kara Maoh, this is purely fan-made.

Note (02/09/2018): Yeah so, I decided to rewrite that last part anyway once I realized it was just a bit TOO random. But either way I'd still love to hear your thoughts! No seriously! The silence is killing me! I miss seeing reviews in my inbox!

P.S. Oh and I renamed the chapter too...

Chapter 26: Turbulent Emotions

Sara's POV

As soon as that man Yosak left to 'report back' as he put it, albeit a little hesitantly since he wasn't sure he was making the right call leaving me alone with Ash, I assured him as best I could given my history with Yuri that was making him skeptical of my true intentions. Not that I blame him. Still, the Demon King was the last thing on my mind at present as I turned my attention to the clearly distraught girl. I could only sigh as I offered my hand to her and told Ash sincerely, "I did try to warn you, Ash, that you are simply not capable of hurting anyone without also hurting yourself. Namely, your heart. Its the same...short coming Yuri has unfortunately. You are too forgiving, even to strangers, and you care too much for the fate of others who have only brought their demise upon themselves."

Hearing those words caused Ash to flinch and look at me with those shining eyes of hers. And by that I mean she was still actually glowing from within. What struck me as odd was that her tears were glowing too, like molten metal and unlike before she didn't seem to be like her 'other self' at all, but rather was disoriented by a sudden rush of memories that were buried until now and suddenly brought to the forefront of her mind, confusing both her thoughts and feelings...

To further prove my theory, she averted her gaze and in that same distant voice replied, "How can you say that? You know that I never asked for this. I never asked to..."

"To what?" I urged gently, as eager for answers as I was curious about her odd behavior so I knelt down and took her by the hand while Berias diligently kept watch for us.

That's when I suddenly noticed the pendant His Eminence had given her was already starting to crack. Well that couldn't be a good sign. If this was meant to suppress her powers, then this emotionally traumatic memory that had been triggered, it must be frightening indeed. And if this broke...the entire ship might go up in flames.

"Your Highness, should get moving," Berias commented, staring intently at the now shut doorway behind us. "If we tarry here any longer we risk getting caught."

"I know, just give me a moment," I called, dropping Ash's hand and looking straight into her eyes, searching. Then, for reasons I cannot explain, I decided that only one thing would snap her out of this strange memory induced trance. So without thinking much of it I brushed away her tears with my thumbs before lifting her chin and I pressed my lips to hers.

What I did not expect was the reaction I did get which was that she tearfully kissed me back instead of jerking away in surprise as I expected. Her warmth enveloped me and when she pulled away from me, she was smiling in a sad but knowing way and said, "You did always know what to say back then to bring me back down to earth and remind me that I cannot be held accountable for the actions of those already set on their path. That's what I've always loved about you. But even so, I still hope that someday I can change the way people see me. I want to live to see the day when we will be able to walk in a world without war and without death. A world that we can live in together, in peace. A world where we can see each other for who, not what, we are..."

Opposite from what I had intended, I was the one who was completely shocked by her words and actions. Ash was acting as though she knew me, or rather like I reminded her of someone else. I cannot safely say if it was the contentment that washed over her face or the fact that Ash had finally calmed down from the whole ordeal but she finally stopped glowing then turned to look at me again, blinking in confusion.

"Sara?" she asked, blinking some more and looking around some more. Then a gasp escaped her lips and she shot to her feet, covering her mouth. Raising a skeptical brow, wondering if she remembered that I just kissed her, I was almost disappointed when Ash dropped her hands and clenched her fists as she glared at the floor. "What's happening to me? Since when have I- Yosak was right, no, you were both right. I wasn't prepared for something like this and I should have listened and let you guys handle this. But no, I just HAD to prove you wrong and show you how strong I am only to fall apart like that when-"

"Enough," I cut her off sharply, knowing she was feeling guilty over what happened to that man who attacked her and feeling ashamed of her fear. But both were natural, and all things considering Ash had done the right thing in the end. Things would have taken a turn for the worst if they managed to capture her after all that. "Lord Weller's friend was right when he told you you did what you had to. And the fight is not over yet. So don't trouble yourself over what's already been done because there is still much left to be done," smiling, I stood and offered her my hand, feeling a faint but noticeable warmth ripple through my chest at the sight of Ash returning to her strong fiery self and asked, "Yuri and the others are waiting for us and need our help. Once they know you're safe we can put a plan in motion to strike back. Now, will you let us protect you properly this time? Ash?"

Her gaze alternating from my face to my hand she briefly glanced over at Berias who was paying us no mind and finally sighed, blushing as she accepted my hand though I noticed she was still trembling. And finally, Ash sighed in defeat and nodded, allowing me to escort her out of the room once Berias declared that we were in the clear. There were a few fallen White Crows literally the hallway and at first she shrunk away from them, however, after a point Ash merely followed my lead, ignoring her fears for now to focus on the bigger picture. Which, again, only made me admire the young girl beside me that much more.

Ash's POV

I actually felt relieved once we managed to sneak outside to the deck where the open sky helped me feel less trapped and the scent of the cool night air mixed with the natural saltiness of the sea calmed my frazzled nerves. Really, aside from the whole blurry memory part when I was clearly freaking out, I was finally starting to get my head back in the game. Though this was anything but a game. This was serious. And if we had any chance of beating these guys, this time I had to listen to reason and work with everyone to solve the problem instead of thinking I could handle anything thrown my way since clearly I hadn't.

I seriously messed up back there, but I'm glad that Yosak guy didn't let me beat myself up over it either. Sara wasn't letting me either. I was still troubled and even scared of what I'd done, just not to the point of breaking down again. I had to focus on what I could do, not what I have done just like Sara told me.

As we made our way down the hallway out into the open his hand never left mine. His reassurance made me feel safe, though at the same time I didn't let that fool me. Sara was a sneaky sort of guy and he was obviously trying to win me over for some reason but really, he still had to do that NOW of all times? Seriously whenever he sent one of those handsome smiles my way my face flushed with a wave of heat blooming across them so strongly I almost thought I was literally glowing again. The way his eyes sparkled adventurously at me and how his smile gave me the impression of him laughing at something only he knew about made me kind of annoyed to be perfectly honest.

Was this his idea of excitement? We were dealing with crazy cultist-like weirdos trying to kidnap me and spirit me away to god knows where and there Sara was grinning like a cat whenever Berias got the jump on someone and knocked them out with a swift jab to the gut with his swords. I was grateful though they were trying not to kill or seriously injure anyone if they could avoid it for my sake. Although I wished we could have done that from the beginning, which I know is a stupid wish since everything happened so fast and the White Crow guys were up in arms almost before I could blink...

"Just how many of these guys snuck on the ship anyway? There's no end to this," I frowned, looking around and seeing how many people were laying on the ground either dead, unconscious, or seriously injured though thankfully it was too dark out to make out anything else.

"I don't know, but from what I can tell they planned this out VERY well. Suppose we should have remembered exactly who we're dealing with now," Sara replied offhandedly, watching Berias scan the area for either more enemies or-!

All of a sudden, the ship lurched to the side and I staggered against Sara, looking around wildly. "What in the-"

"Oh my. Did someone make Yuri angry?" Sara wondered aloud with a creepy sort of glee shining in his eyes as he held me close while waiting for the ship to steady itself.

"Cut it out Sara," I frowned again, pushing him off of me which earned a look of bafflement from the young king. Feeling like I needed to distract him instead I scoffed, "Just because the ship lurched doesn't mean Yuri's using his own magical mumbo-jumbo. It could be his brother for all we know or it even could have been a sea monster or something. You have those here right? Well lets hope not because I'm pretty sure fire is weak against water."

Clearly not expecting that sort of remark Sara chuckled, "You really are a strange girl you know that? Sea monsters? Really? Those have been extinct for hundreds of years because poachers hunted them for their luminescent scales. Not even the Great Demon Kingdom was able to stop them in time before they killed the last one."

With a sigh, I just shrugged, "Just because you haven't seen something in a long time doesn't mean it's completely gone, especially since you don't have the technology here for deep sea diving to see that for yourself. Anyway I think Berias has found a clear path so lets-! Aaaaah!"

All of a sudden the ship lurched again in the opposite direction and I was sent skidding across the deck into the railing. Momentarily stunned, I blinked the stars out of my eyes but when I looked up, a cascade of water came crashing down on me. It was only then that I realized just how stormy the ocean had become all of a sudden. The moonlight above up above us was suddenly blotted out by pitch black clouds and threads of lightning lashed across them and occasionally struck the open sea, illuminating the water.

Calling above the now howling wind I admitted, "Ok, maybe you're right! This storm isn't natural!"

Unable to keep the smirk out of his voice Sara called, "Of course I'm right, unlike you I've actually seen his power first hand on several occasions. Either way I suppose this means Yuri has decided to wrap things up for us himself. Still it's dangerous out here so lets hurry back inside, here, take my hand!"

Half-blinded by the heavy raindrops blurring my vision, I began fighting my way over to him when several men burst out of the hallway we had just come out of and pointed at me, drawing their swords. Seriously how many of these guys were there!? Desperately trying to avoid a repeat of what happened earlier, I had a sudden idea and smirked, not noticing the crystal around my neck crack a bit more when I willed my power into the now soaked deck to evaporate the water and create a mist to block us from their view. Then I finally made it over to Sara, my expression serious when I shouted for him to run.

He nodded and took my hand and the moment we made it over to Berias we made our way to the opposite side of the ship where the captain's cabin was. Because that's where the others were heading to retake the ship or defend it FROM being taken. Either way, something had obviously happened if Yuri was using magic like this. Then again, I still had this sinking feeling it might actually be Shori's doing after he explained how he'd lost control of his powers a few times before and has been training hard since then to keep it from doing just that.

However, almost everyone here has already warned me of the dangers of having an emotional outburst effect my powers so I was worried that Shori might have done the same. After all, he had a history with these people. Or at least their order in general. And because I knew that a new dread filled my chest. What if...what if Shori knew the man I killed? Did I kill someone Shori could have saved...?

All this time, I've been underestimating just how badly these people want me. When put into words it sounded so simple but they were right. If these people were willing to threaten a child to force me to submit or trick me into using my powers so they could watch my every move, if they were going to hurt me to bend me to their will, and if they were going to plan such an elaborate scheme to take over the ship I was on to reach this ruined village, then there was a lot more to this then we first thought. Which posed the question we were all still asking ourselves...

Just who am I?