~~~
"What do you mean, she killed herself?!" shouted Rem.
"She tried to. Yuy interfered." Waterweed corrected.
"Why didn't you grab her then?" Rem snarled.
"Sir, even demons have to follow a code, if you've forgotten," Caprice replied coolly. "She tried to kill herself and her soul mate tried to save her life. Demons aren't allowed-"
"I know the code, Caprice," Rem stated sharply. "Very well. If any of the others are found alone, nab them."
"Yes, sir," both bowed and escaped the room.
~~~
So this was the Spirit World. I guess. Whitewash walls, bright lights, bustling all about. This seemed more like a hospital. People rushed by on either side of me, taking my temperature, checking my pulse, wrapping my arm. A sudden shoot of pain made me cry out. Wait a moment! Pain?
"She's awake!" cried someone joyously.
So I wasn't dead. Joy. This was going to be hard to explain.
"Leave," said a cold but familiar voice.
"But Mr. Yuy, she needs to rest and-"
"I said 'leave'. Or do you not understand English?" Heero's voice was perfect monotone. Just peachy.
"Y-Yes, sir, M-M-Mr. Y-Yuy," stammered the doctor. I had a bad feeling that Heero had the gun pointed at him. I heard the door shut, making a sudden stab of pain reverberate through my head. Oh...what a headache.
"Capri?" Heero's voice had suddenly gone softer. "Are you all right?"
"Hell no," I murmured, my eyes still closed against the light. It was gone not three seconds afterward.
"Try to open your eyes, Capri."
"I just want to die, Heero," I moaned, opening my eyes to mere slits. "Will you just let me die?"
"No. I will not," he scowled at me. "You have every right to live, Capri, it's me who deserves to die."
"That's not true," I grumbled, attempting to sit up. Using my good arm, I propped myself up and stared at him, my eyes still screwed to slits. "You killed out of honor."
"You've never killed anyone, no one," Heero shook his head. "As far as I know, you've had a pretty good life."
"Good?" my eyes went from narrow to wide in a nanosecond. "You consider being considered a boy and being ignored and then being raped and beaten a good life?!" My bewilderment was beyond comprehension.
"I know being considered a bo-did you say rape?!" There was a note of panic in his voice.
"Duh," I scowled. "You didn't figure that one out?"
He blushed.
"It's inevitable," I sighed. "No one truly cares about what happens to me. If things had gone through, the others would have mourned me for a few days, then went back to their semi-normal lives. And it's not like you guys care about what happens, either."
Heero blinked several times.
"Capri, we all care about you. How can you think something like that? It's me who doesn't have anyone who truly cares about me. They all think I'm a gun-crazy psychopath."
"You are a gun-crazy psychopath, but there's no way they don't care," I growled at him. "Give me one person who cares about me, just one that you can name off and give a good, solid reason."
Heero seemed to think about this a moment.
"Ha!" I shouted in bitter triumph. "You see? No one-"
"I care."
I stopped short.
"How can you care about someone as lowly as I?" I snarled. "You barely know your emotions on other people's faces, let alone decide what your own feelings are."
"I don't know what..." he continued, ignoring my words. He seemed deep in thought. "I can't explain it, nor predict it...and yet. Yet every time I see you, I get this warm feeling in my heart, as though you set me on fire on the inside."
"As though time itself can stop just for us to see the other..." I whispered under my breath.
"As though time itself can stop just for us to see the other," he said, but he couldn't have repeated it.
My stomach did a flip-flop. What was going on? I knew I loved Heero, but why do his simple words send me over the edge, yet calm me like nothing I'd ever known before? He sat down on the bed, right next to me, still thinking, muttering things under his breath now.
I pulled my legs out from beneath the covers and winced as I sat down properly next to him, trying to hear what he was saying. Yet right beside him, I still couldn't tell what. His eyes were closed, his eyebrows furrowed furiously in thought, his messy umber hair messier than usual. I could tell I'd been here at least a few hours, because he must have dosed off.
The way his lips were moving, though...I wondered. I wondered how his lips would taste. He was always so stiff and proper, so I suspected they may taste of mint, like toothpaste. Seeing his hair, I wanted nothing more than to run my fingers through his gentle locks. Feeling weary, I settled my head on his shoulder and immediately, he shut up.
"Capri?" he asked.
"Hmm?"
"Are you all right?"
"My arm hurts like hell."
He chuckled. "It will, crazy baka." It suddenly struck me that he'd laughed. Not all out, but still.
"Hey, Heero?" I asked him slyly. "What would happen to Duo if Wufei ever actually did cut his braid off?"
"I dunno."
"Duo would become normal and Wufei would suddenly find himself cornered by a very peeved Shinigami."
It wasn't nearly as funny as I had thought it would be, but Heero still laughed. It was music, sweet, bass music to my ears. I wanted to hear more. I do wonder...is Heero Yuy ticklish? I swung an arm around him and ran my fingers on his side ever so slightly. He didn't laugh, but I suddenly found a powerful arm around my waist as well.
"Heero?"
"Hn?"
"Do you really care about me?"
"More."
"How much more?"
"Can I show you?" I hesitated at that. Would Heero go too far? As far as I knew, he wouldn't, but I didn't know him as well as I'd like. Then I stopped to think. I loved Heero. Why did it matter if he went too far? It wasn't like I wasn't already tainted.
"You may."
Heero leaned in on me, searching my green eyes with his blue orbs, as though searching for a lost soul among hundreds. Closer and closer he came, slowly, slower, millimeters at a time. He closed the last three inches in an instant, placing a short, quick butterfly kiss on my lips. The electricity it caused sent waves of chills down my spine. My stomach felt as though there were a billion butterflies inside, all bursting to be released.
Another kiss, another shock wave. I had as of yet to truly taste him. His lips were soft and smooth and absolutely wonderful against mine, in nanoseconds of time. His third kiss stayed longer, short, sweet, and chaste.
A fourth left me in the dust as the kiss continued, no longer short, but still so sweet. So very sweet. I had been wrong; he tasted like strawberries. Sweet, home-picked strawberries, eaten right off the bush. He smelled like roses for some reason, but what, I didn't care.
The kiss was finally broken and I leaned against Heero.
"I love you, Heero," I whispered, finally screwing up my courage.
He paused a moment before answering, in the words I'd never thought I'd hear from anyone, let alone the one I'd once thought to be a lost angel. "I love you too, Siri." He'd finally said my first name.
I fainted once again.
***
"Siri!!!!" Seven voices chorused immediately when Heero carried her into the house, fast asleep.
"Heero, what the hell happened?!" Telex shouted.
"You mean what the-"
"Tari!" Raine stopped her before she said something she regretted.
"Just shut up and let the man talk," Toraneko finally broke in. Silence fell.
"She tried to kill herself."
Gasps rang out.
"Heero...why?" Raine finally choked out.
"Not certain," he gave a very slight shrug. How could he tell them that she did it right after she yelled at him? That she tried because she had been defiled and destroyed in ways that even he couldn't completely understand.
"Take her to her room, Heero," Tari stated calmly, being the only one who knew Siri well enough to know that she had plenty of reasons. The only one wise enough to do the right thing in this sort of crisis. "We'll figure this out later, after she's gotten her strength back."
Heero gave a single curt nod and made for her room, settling her into the warm sheets. Pausing but a moment, he grabbed her desk chair and sat down next to her. He made his decision abruptly, one he knew was wise. He would never leave her side again.
***
"Why on Earth would Siri try something like that?" Telex's voice trembled. She had seen friends leave through death one too many times, and as close as Siri had come to kissing death was far more than she wanted to think about.
Tari wrapped her arms around herself. Siri had been her friend for such a short time. Before herself and the others, Siri had never had any friends. She had always told her that.
Telex's lips were in a tight, thin line, one the others doubted would come back to smiling any time soon. The young girl was far more worried about Siri than she planned to release. She looked up at Toraneko, who rocked back and forth nervously on her toes, standing beside Shin as though he would protect her from anything, even the mighty Shinigami himself.
Raine was no where to be found, but the others knew quite well where both she and Trowa were. It was easily told; both were with Heero, watching over the silent Siri.
Quatre and Duo remained silent as ever.
A sudden ringing noise broke them all out of the silent reverie that had overcome them. They looked to Shin, who was answering what seemed to be a cell phone. Why did a god have a cell phone?
"Yes, I understand," he said after a moment, then hung up gravely. "We've got another problem. Apparently another demon escaped unnoticed while we were still chasing the five we knew about. So there were six instead."
"This is so frustrating!" Une shouted, punching the wall in anger. "What the hell do they want with us?! With Siri!? Why need a Holder of Power when she herself doesn't even know she has it or how to use it?!"
"Ashley, please, calm down," Tari said to Siri's mother. "It's not helping any of-"
Laughter. Duo, Quatre and Releena were...laughing. Why were they laughing?
"Such fools these humans are," Releena finally said, chuckling under her breath. "So little do they know of their own ally."
"What do we do to humans, mistress?" asked Duo, eyeing the others with a playful smirk.
"Yes, mistress, what shall we do?" Quatre followed suit.
Eyes widened in sudden terror.
"The demons!" Wufei hissed, backing away from them. "They've inhabited Maxwell, Winner, and Peacecraft!"
"Run!" Tari shouted.
"No," Toraneko growled. "We stand our ground. They won't get us, not as long as they inhabit our friends. Duo, Quatre, and Releena will fight them."
"They've been fighting us," Quatre smirked, looking almost bored. "It was quite a nuisance for a while, but now that our plan has unfolded-"
"-we will take you!" Duo finished. (AN-Oh! I wish I hadn't done this now! My baby's evil!)
"We'll hold them off," Wufei shouted, wielding his katana, followed by Shin's mass of energy as he powered up. "You go warn Yuy and the others!"
"I don't think so," Releena snarled, and the group was as suddenly surrounded, almost the instant her hand had lifted. A triangle of yellow light surrounded them, extending from each of six hands. Every person was gone in a flash of light, leaving only four of the original group.
***
~~~
When I finally came around again, I found three worried faces staring down at me. Well, one worried face; the other two were passive, but I could see the anxiety and then relief in their eyes when I finally opened mine.
"Siri, finally, you're awake!" Raine cried. "Jeez, girl, don't scare us all like that. What on this crazy planet happened? One second you're fine, the next, we hear you tried to kill yourself!" Her breath was caught in her throat as I slowly sat up.
"Why's it so quiet?" I mumbled almost incoherently.
"Not sure," Heero grunted, looking toward the living room.
"They stopped talking about an hour ago," Raine said, suddenly worried. "What if something happened? We completely forgot about the others!"
"Then let's go see," I said, rising. My arm still hurt, but I knew without a doubt it still would. Somehow, I also knew the others were no longer in the living room. Somehow, I knew exactly where they were. And I didn't like how I knew it without knowing it.
My breath caught in my throat as we walked into the empty room. Raine covered her mouth in horror.
"They have been taken."
***