Summary/Disclaimer: Time for another chapter of The Lioness and the Wolf. Enjoy the 1200-Word chapter. I don't own AGK, Takahiro, Square Enix and a few others do.

(Unknown Location)

Jace learned not only was he terrified of Leone… But he would gladly earn more money just so he didn't have to have this embarrassment again.

"You can stop cuddling me," Jace stated only to remember that Leone was passed out.

Because her Tengu was still fixing itself together? She stayed in her transformed state. That meant she stayed somewhat in her lion-like form.

Leone decided to curl up into a ball as a cat would… Using him for warmth meant curling up into a ball around him, wrapping her arms around his bare chest, and pulling his face into her stomach. It also drove his Tengu up the wall. Jace had no idea how Lionel was so good at clawing its way into Lupusnal… But it was, and it angered Jace to no end.

Leone had cold feet which didn't help because Jace's Tengu clashed with the coat he wore… That, and it wasn't as if he had the money to buy many clothes. He usually had to wash them down at the river.

Leone continued to playfully lap at her neck. She explained that she did it with Tatsumi to 'mark' him as 'hers'. Now she did it again to mark Jace as hers since they were partners.

"This sucks to hell and I hate it," Jace muttered to himself, aware of the fact that he couldn't be heard. He couldn't tell if Leone was messing with him…

"Hmm, don't stop… Kiss me there again. ~" Leone purred as she tightened her hold on Jace. He sighed as hugged him tighter.

Jace knew for a fact that Leone was trolling him now. He just couldn't do a damned thing about it which annoyed him to no end.

Jace thought about how to kill the colonel who escaped the war. Jace guessed he had probably promoted himself to being general or such.

He did have an imperial arm, not an assassination tool, but a weapon. Jace wondered if he had switched it out because of damage or such. He had used a Tengu capable of making fists that could cause small earthquakes… Now he seemed to use a Tengu that appeared to be a sword. Jace didn't know much, but he did know it was capable of shooting out acid and could corrode anything it touched.

Jace also knew the officer rarely attended to business that he considered 'beneath him.' He was like Honest, he only cared to fight someone if he could beat them to death… Not like Esdeath, who Jace knew indulged in cruelty as she enjoyed suffering. No, Jace knew for a damned fact that the Colonel did that because he felt inferior and pretended to hide it behind a veil of sadism.

"Just one more reason for him to be put in the ground," Jace muttered, not noticing Leone's golden orbs open. She let out a yawn-like purr which made Jace blink and turns his head. He looked at her with a tilt of his head.

"You still up?" Jace questioned as Leone hummed and nodded.
"What's up?" Leone asked with a yawn as Jace titled his head.

"I'm thinking of the colonel and how to kill him," Jace stated while turning to look at Leone as best he could. She was taller than him by a few feet. "He's been waiting until the dust cleared… Now that Night Raid is gone? He's finally confident to rip through the countryside. He's not going to stop till he either establishes the empire… Or he wants to be the top of the food chain." Jace put in and cracked his neck.

Leone looked at Jace. He wanted to sleep, but there was a gleam in his eyes that told her this was knowing at him. It reminded her of the nights she would drink herself under the table. Anyone who thought the war didn't affect Night Raid? It did, Leone loved to smack around the thugs, soldiers, and agents of the empire.

But what she saw would often cause her to be sick to her stomach.

"How much do you know about Night Raid?" Leone asked, curious about how much someone from the Resistance army would know about them.

"Only the stories my dad told me," Jace stated as Leone hummed. "I'm not exactly someone who got to fight on the frontlines against the empire. What do you think we would have done against Esdeath if someone wasn't killing her for us? She butchered us even without our army." Jace added which caused Leone to sigh.

"I lived in the gutters, Jace…" Leone put in as the former rebel soldier cocked his head to the side as he looked at her. "That's kind of where I was planning to die… I'm not exactly a hero." Leone added while Jace hummed and rolled his eyes.

He started to shake as memories from the battles for the empire replayed in his mind. Soldiers being shot with rifles, people getting diced up with swords. Explosives, rudimentary or not tore people apart which covered the battlefield… The people who were fighting in the war would fight surrounded by their dead or dying.

"Tell that to all the people who are alive because of Night Raid," Jace stated while he looked to the side. He leaned his head on Leone's stomach. "I've seen soldiers ripped apart by spikes of ice. I've seen people gutted on the swords of Imperial swords. Do you want to know how many soldiers we lost just holding the front gates?" Jace questioned as he looked up into the woman's eyes.

"I guess we both got battered by the war, huh?" Leone asked Jace. She had originally cuddled up to him as a joke. A way to fluster him.

The way he shook? It felt like she was comforting him more than anything. Leone decided not to mess with Jace at the moment.

"He took my father, Leone." Jace pointed out as Leone said nothing. She didn't want to insult Jace. "But yes, I did get battered by the war… I…" Jace said while he looked at the ceiling.

Leone fought for the rebellion to make sure people didn't have to live in squalor. She had a hunch that Jace's family wasn't exactly well off.

She would ask tomorrow when she didn't have to worry about insulting him. Leone settled for simply hugging Jace to her and hoping he would pass out peacefully.

Jace didn't resist the pull and simply slumped against her stomach as he passed out.

Little did they know they'd be getting much closer over the days.

Author Notes

Phew, another chapter is done! I want to point out Jace and Leone will be getting closer. I want to point out there be flirting here and that. The next chapter will be in a week or so and will show Jace and Leone training and bonding more along with more of Jace's origin and such. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!

P.S: Akame might be made soon.