Ch. 2

After a night of restless sleep and dreams of a certain orange-haired bandit, Sara awoke in
a cold sweat. She sighed loudly, and prepared for the day ahead. Sara perused her traps,
making sure that none of the bandits would be able to penetrate her forces. That's when
she heard it. CRACK. "Shhhhh…. Be quiet you idiot!"
'Yes! They were coming… they are here…' a huge grin drifted across Sara's face. She
watched as a few bandits walked directly towards the pit she had dug. SHWAAA… Two
of the men fell into the pit followed by a loud thump. She looked at the remaining six,
which included Tasuki and Kouji.

Sara followed the bandits, intent on proving her worth to Tasuki. She heard a scream and
saw one of the bandits fly into the air. He had apparently stumbled upon the spring trap
she had set. Then one of the other bandits, who had been standing next to the one that
had been shot into the air, tripped over a wire which sent a large basket of rocks tumbling
down on three of the unsuspecting bandits. Now there were three, and Tasuki and Kouji
were still among them.

Sara frowned. Tasuki and Kouji were going to be very difficult to outsmart and
outmaneuver. Sara watched as the one bandit fell into another pit she had dug. Tasuki
then looked at Kouji and smiled. "I know you're out there, watching us. You better start
worrying because those cheap tricks won't work on us!"

'Ha! What a show off!' Sara mused to herself. She pulled a makeshift slingshot out of
her pocket and loaded it with a small pebble. She pulled the elastic back and let the
pebble fly. SMACK! It hit Tasuki square in the butt cheek. "OI!" he screamed and
rubbed his rear. Then another pebble whizzed towards him. Tasuki ducked, and the
pebble hit Kouji right between the eyes. He went tumbling to the ground.

"Now you're gonna get it!" Tasuki fumed. Sara let one more pebble fly, but this time
Tasuki saw it coming and dodged. "Ah ha!" he pointed to where Sara was crouching in
the bushes. "Eeep!" Sara darted from her hiding spot and off into the woods to escape
the wrath of Tasuki.

"Shit, shit, shit…." She breathed as she ran down the path towards her camp, dodging
trees and stumbling over rocks. She feared Tasuki was gaining on her.
"GAAAHHHHH!!!!" She screamed as Tasuki appeared in front of her. She fell
backwards onto the ground. Tasuki leaned down on top of her and pinned her to the
ground.

"Damn it." She whispered. "What?!" Tasuki said intelligently, "You put up a pretty
good fight. Hell, you even knocked out Kouji!" Sara sighed and looked away from
Tasuki's gaze. "I wasn't good enough to beat you though…." "Hey, this was your first
training mission. I'm shocked that you almost beat me. But, I guess I'm just too much a
man for you to handle." He said smugly.

"What?!" Tasuki demanded. "Get off of me already!" Sara yelled. "Nope! You're my
prisoner now and I intend to deal with you." Sara's eyes grew wide, and she looked up at
Tasuki. Suddenly, he covered her mouth with his own and lightly kissed her. Sara
fumbled around like crazy. She had never been kissed like this before.

Tasuki broke the kiss and they both gasped for air. "Tasuki? What?" "I… I… I didn't
mean to do that to ya. I mean I just wanted to tell ya that…. That I love you." Tasuki's
gaze dropped and he was ready for rejection. But, to his surprise, Sara leaned up and
kissed him. When the kiss broke she stared at him and smirked. "Tasuki…. I love you
too. I've always loved you. Even when I was living in my own world, I longed for you.
I love you so much." Tasuki pulled her into a hug and held her lovingly. "We're
together now. That's all that matters. I'll never let us be apart again."

After retrieving the bandits that had fallen victim to Sara's traps, Tasuki and Sara retired
back to their room in the bandit stronghold.

"I love you…" Tasuki held Sara close. "And I you…" Sara snuggled up against his
warm chest. They fell asleep together, in a loving embrace. Neither of them ashamed of
what they were or how they came to be. All that mattered now was that they were
together at last, for all eternity.

~ Owari


Rant: I finally finished it! Kind of corny, but I like it. Please tell me what you think! ^-^