The last person I want to see is waiting for us as I walk down the steps carrying Noriko in my arms. She's looking over my shoulder, watching our backs to make sure no soldiers see us. Banadam is brave. He's willing to look me in the eye, but he knows. He saw me.

I don't want to frighten him, but I still can't help but dare him with my eyes. Dare him to take what's most precious to me. It's still Noriko that will fight him, not me, but he'll never understand that. His hands clench at his sides, but his posture is one of knowing he's lost already. It's just hard for his heart to give up.

I set Noriko down on her feet, knowing that I'm unleashing the weapon. She turns to look and see what I'm looking at and her lips press together and she stiffens. I'm quite sure her eyes flash their fire as well, but that wasn't directed at me. It was directed to the man who was looking into those eyes.

His shoulders slump slightly and he looks away from us both. He's finally seen the truth of what I told him this morning. Noriko will hear none of what he has to say. She's already lost her patience with him. When she relaxes slightly to speak with him, I can hear in her voice that she's also sorry we've made him and everyone else afraid of us. "Thank you for coming to help us, Banadam."

She leads me as we continue our walk. We still need to escape the area. As we reach him, he looks me up and down. "That's awful, Izark, to destroy your clothing ...and the temple." His eyes shout his frustration at me, then he turns away.

"Go hide in the woods. I'll bring back some clothes for you. You'll be the laughingstock of the city if you walk back to Zena's that way, and she'll never be able to show her face in public again." He's already on his way, unable to stay in our joint presence any longer, no longer able to hide his tears of frustration and pain, and not wanting us to see them.

The woods are part of the temple and government complex and are part of a series of gardens. I take Noriko's fingers lightly in mine and lead her into them where we can hide from anyone who comes searching the area. She turns to me, "Izark -" she begins, but I have felt a familiar feeling.

I turn quickly, "Who's there?" I demand, hunting through the trees, up in the branches. My eyes lock onto a woman standing in one of the trees. Long blond locks fall from her head and her high nobility is very obvious. Her beauty is incomparable, but it's filled with pride and vanity. I'm both attracted and very repelled at the same time and a part of me wants to quail behind Noriko and hold her forward as my shield.

"Izark, that is Tazasheena, the seer." I recognize the name immediately and all the stories of her, and of Zena, click into a full understanding. "She was the one who plotted with Wazalotte to sacrifice me to Lord Silent Mask. She knows what you are. She was watching you with her sight. I'm sorry."

There wasn't anything Noriko could have done about that, but I immediately want to kill this woman, and then find Wazalotte and smash him into dust. They were the source of me being dragged into turning into the Sky Demon for the first time, and they threatened the life of Noriko.

"So," Tazasheena's voice might entice some men, but to me her voice is cold and insincere, mocking, "no one knows who the Sky Demon and the Awakening are because no one is looking for humans. It is interesting that you can hide your signature." She knows how to recognize demons. But then she worked with Lord Silent Mask. I'm hunting, looking for the opening.

Noriko grasps my hand before I can leap. "Izark, she can teleport. I left her in the chamber."

I pause. That's important information. My eyes lock onto the creature on her shoulder. It's the same kind as the chief of thieves used. I relax slightly. We need to plan. "If I leave you she'll come take you, but she must die. If she escapes, who knows who she will sell her information to?"

Noriko thinks quickly. "I have my knife. If we let her grab me, I could use it on her in surprise. But, I can't be sure I can kill her."

I understand Noriko may not be able to kill. We've trained her to if she must absolutely do it, but she's always hesitated. Still, she must if we're going to survive. "I will give chase. When you've injured her, keep her in place and I'll finish it." If we can do that, it would be best.

"Okay. ...Why do you think that, Tazasheena?" Noriko asks aloud, still holding on to my hand. As long as we stay holding hands, Tazasheena can't steal her away. "I am merely a human woman like yourself."

"Because his power was sufficient to nearly destroy a demon, and pull down a large building as well," Tazasheena answers.

I've taught Noriko, although she already understood it, that making your opponent talk both gives them time to rethink attacking, and gets enough information out of them to perhaps give us an advantage over them if we can learn something from them. The woman with the cloth weapons was a failure of that attempt. She refused to talk.

"There are more men that have special powers or strengths," Noriko is unimpressed for our sake, to perhaps keep hiding what we are. "Didn't Lord Silent Mask give ten men different powers of strength? Izark is my protector, my guard. If a demon can give ten men strength, can't one give one man the strength of ten?

"The buildings in this land stand, but are poorly constructed. It couldn't be helped that it fell down when it's supports were damaged." The Teacher has made her attack, and lets me know what she learned.

"Izark, she said 'nearly destroyed the demon'. Is it possible Lord Silent Mask is nearby, like the one after the village in the White Mist Forest, waiting for you so he can try again? If he captures you when she grabs me, you won't be able to come. What should I do if that happens?"

I go cold and very angry, although this time I'm able to control it. I have her holding my hand, to remind me to remain in control so that we can plan properly. "Prevent her from teleporting and kill her after you have damaged her."

That makes her nervous but she answers, "Okay. I'll do my best."

Tazasheena disappears. I take Noriko by the waist and take one step. Noriko pulls out her dagger and slashes hard as soon as we see Tazasheena appearing in front of us. There is a cut-off cry and she disappears and reappears at some distance from us.

Blood is blossoming on her arm. With a knife it wasn't close enough to really damage her and now she knows, but Noriko is unafraid and unconcerned and gives her next attack. "I warned you, even in the temple, Tazasheena." My ears prick up. I wonder what happened in that room? "He is my guard, and you've made a grave error to think I am prey. You aren't strong enough. Ten demon-strengthened men, and the demon itself weren't sufficient. You cannot be either."

I've felt another thing I recognize while she was talking. The demon is using her talking to sneak up on me. "Noriko, the demon is coming. I'll let it take me. I can't face them both at the same time. Let her take you, then on the next physical phase finish it." Noriko needs to be in very close range to kill Tazasheena with her knife. If Tazasheena is holding Noriko that's plenty close, and her arms will be too full to defend herself.

Noriko swallows. "I'll try. At the least I'll prevent her from teleporting again."

"Okay." That's all I have time for as a water spout surrounds me and picks me up off the ground. At the same time Tazasheena disappears and is reappearing behind Noriko, and they're disappearing. I focus on my fight, determined to see it end as soon as possible.

I'm so surrounded by water that the demon must believe I can't breathe. Does it still not understand what I am? Not only do I not actually have to breathe, I'm an air demon. Even water contains air, and it's been stirred up quite nicely and has lots of air I call to me to breathe.

That makes me think of what I can do to finish it off. It will take a little time, but it will use less energy than trying to blast it away again, which was mostly ineffective without the full strength of the Sky Demon. This will be better.

I call upon fire, heating up only my body first, and the space just around it. Slowly, I send the fire out from me, feeding it the same air that I'm drawing for my lungs. The air from outside the demon comes into it as I call for it as well. It's unconcerned about both. I can feel it changing from a killing intent to prideful mocking. I smile grimly to myself and merely continue my work.

The water is trying to crush me as it puts pressure on my body. I begin to stir the water, sending the air and fire through it to distract it from it's task, and increase the strength of my energy shield a little. Doesn't it remember I could do that before? It's only attack against the physical is pressure, and it's not enough to damage me.

Then it changes attacks. The water comes at my face forcefully and tries to climb into my nostrils, slip through my lips and down my throat to drown me, to enter me and take over. I prevent it with the same energy shield and all the air in the water can now be fed to the flame. I'll breathe again when this thing is dead.

There's another presence in the woods, one I don't recognize. That will be bad. If Tazasheena has reinforcements, or someone discovers us, we may not escape. I pull on the power and feed the fire to make it heat the demon faster. I pull the air in more quickly as well until I can stir the water that holds me and the two combine and it's suddenly boiling hot.

Angry and impatient, I pull on more power and the fear of the demon finally rises until the most heat it can hold is reached and it's being burned away into a mist. With a final burst of power filled with fire, I burn away the demon and I know it's dead this time.

I land on the ground and seek Noriko along our heart connection. I'm running that way as fast as I can, relieved she's still in these garden woods. There's a shriek from closer by and I hear Tazasheena cry out, saying they need to teleport immediately or they'll die.

By the time I reach the place they were, not very distant at all, they're gone - Tazasheena and the other person who came to help her. We're alive, the demon is dead, but an enemy who knows us has escaped. That's going to be a problem.

First, though, is getting to Noriko. I hunt through these different woods of thin trees set very close together. That was intelligent to hide here. It would be easy to die if one teleported into these woods. The trees even give me troubles. I have to hunt through the rows to find Noriko, even though I can feel where she is generally.

She's holding on to two trunks and is resting her head on them in despair. She's crying. "Noriko, I'm sorry I took too long."

She turns and puts her back against the trees and shakes her head. "No, I'm sorry I didn't protect you properly, and she got away alive. I'm sorry, Izark.

"I'm sorry that you have to keep protecting me, even though it hurts. I'm sorry I made you angry and that Banadam said hurtful things. I'm sorry that I can't trust myself, even though I asked you to trust me." The words come tumbling out of her mouth and the tears pour from her eyes.

My eyes widen and I reach for her, wanting to comfort her, to tell her that wasn't it at all, and not sure what all of her words mean. But she can't bear to face me. She turns and flees. "I'm sorry, Izark!" she calls out as she runs away from me.

It's the first time ...no second, she's run away from me. She was also in this sort of pain then. I slump slightly and let her run, but I follow just closely enough, walking, so that she can't get away completely. I have things I need to say to her.

When she finally collapses, I continue close enough to hear her sobs. It hurts, to hear her cry like this, to take on her shoulders things that are not hers to carry, to have wounds she doesn't need to have when this path is already hard enough.

I wait until her sobs calm down enough she should be able to think clearly, and hear me. I'm not sure she wants to hear my words, regardless, not when I couldn't tell her myself the most important words she had to learn from others. "Noriko."

"Mmm."

I stiffen. I'm not sure, but that wasn't a good sign in my understanding, that she won't use words at all. I hesitate, then say softly, a little sadly, "I won't come there if you dislike me so much, but will you listen to what I have to say?"

There's a pause, then she answers, "Yes." I'm relieved she'll at least grant me that much. I grasp hold of a tree next to me, holding on to it to hold to courage so I can say what needs to be said.

Humbly, I say, "Noriko, if I could set you free, I would. I love you and it hurts me to see you this way. You came into this world against your will, and everything that has happened to you has been the same. I chose to save you and bring you out of the Sea of Trees. Since then, you've had no choice in anything that happens to you.

"But you've still made choices. You've chosen to live - time and time again. Everything you've done has been a choice to live. I wish I could set you free so that you could choose to live the life you wish you could live, and not the one of pain and danger my life brings to you.

"I have chosen to continue to protect you because I want to protect you. You also choose to help me and protect me. I wish I could set you free of that also, but I need you. Only your words, only your presence gives me hope. Even still, if I could do it, I would." I clench my hand at my side. It's hard to say it. I could only do it because I love her and want the best for her.

Even more than ever I need her next to me, to know that she will help me not turn into that again - ever. I was almost lost and am even more afraid than ever of myself. If she is free to be gone from my side I may not have a choice. This time it is I who would choose death. Death over becoming the Sky Demon now that I know what it is. And I know I will become it if she's taken from me again.

But they aren't the only words I have to say. I also need her to not be the servant. "You are not mine. You've been placed where you shouldn't have to be, but I do not own you. You may choose whatever you can choose - I don't want to prevent it. ...You may even choose to hate me." To be hated would be better than the cold stiffness of the servant that opposes the warmth of her that I need, or so I feel, but regardless, she has that right.

I feel her coming closer, and when I can see her, her expression worries me. It's closed yet firm, as if another lesson is coming. I suppose it probably is and I should bear up under it.

"Izark, I do not hate you. But what I do feel, I can't trust. The heart connection we have wasn't created by you or me. We still don't know what it was created by. Until we can understand that, how can we know if we are choosing to love because it's what we really desire? If it's an [artificial] love, what will become of us when it's removed? Will we regret making that decision - to believe a thing that was forced?"

I shake my head. That's a thing she doesn't know that I do. "I didn't choose to love you because my heart hurt when you were gone. I learned of your gentleness and kindness, and that touched me. Even still, I had to be sure, to test you to make sure you weren't hiding other reasons to be nice to me. I had to make sure you weren't trying to make me love you artificially in order to gain power over me.

"It was very difficult to overcome the distrust I have of everyone, but even more of the Awakening. I still don't know what the purpose of the Awakening is in my life, because you changed what I was told it should have been, but I am sure of one thing. You are good. I can trust you.

"It's from these things that I've chosen to love you, to continue to protect you. If I didn't believe these things, I would have already killed you and set myself free. I went into the Sea of Trees to do that, and I couldn't. Now, I won't. I'll protect you until we're both free and you can choose whatever you wish to choose for yourself."

Her eyes are uncertain, surprised. Then she's thinking, remembering, teaching herself from the words I've given her, what little I can teach her that I learned and did. I barely breathe, holding on to hope as tightly as I can. My hand holding the tree next to me tightens its hold as well. I can't lose her. I don't know what feelings are hiding behind the servant. Her worry wasn't said so I could know.

When she's decided what she'll do, she looks back up at me. "Izark, I love you, but if I make that choice, then I'm choosing it for the rest of my life, not just until we are free of the heart bond. I will not go home. I need to know that you're willing to choose it to that level also ...and for you, it will be most difficult.

"From what I understand, demons do not die. I will die. Can you love a mortal whose lifespan is so short compared to eternity? Can you go on living and not hate me for having to leave you, but instead remember me with at least fondness after so many years have passed?"

She's thrown too many heavy words at me at once again. I take a half-step back, trying to carry them all and not lose them. It was hard to keep listening after the first four words. I decide to not address them right now. I'll think of them later, when I can properly savor them.

"Noriko, if we can learn how to make it so I don't have to be the Sky Demon, I may not be immortal, but stay mortal. It's another thing we can't know yet. But even still, I will owe you my life. If I can share all of yours with you, I would be very happy, and still not have repaid you."

"It's the same for me," she says soberly, "I am yours because I owe my life to you. You chose to save me that day in the Sea of Trees, and you've kept me alive since then, a thing I couldn't do on my own, and can't repay. It's not enough in itself to make me love you, although I am very grateful. I love you because you are kind, warm, and gentle. I don't want to be apart from you."

It's too much for me, to hear those words that fill me and chase away the fear of having her hate me or worse to leave me. My hand reaches for Noriko, taking hold of her arm and pulling her close to me. "We'll need to leave the others and go into hiding alone again. They want to do good things that we would bring trouble on, now that we're discovered."

She nods, understanding. I am drowning in her and her words. I lean down close to her, and her hair is soft on my hand that slides into it at the back of her head. "Noriko, will you come with me and love me, and let me love you?"

"Yes." Her word is breathed on my lips as they touch hers softly. She returns the kiss and I am lost in her warmth and love so much so that I can barely breathe, but her warm arms and her promise hold me anchored to hope and light. Silent tears of relief drip from my eyes.

I tuck away the bright red blush on her face to enjoy and savor later as well. Right now I need the gift of peace she is giving me.