Okay, thanks for the review. (Last time I checked, only Chasm gave me one. Is noone reading it anymore?!?! Thanks for the suggestions, Chasm. I forgot about the infestants, by the way. You gave me a few ideas. Heh, heh, heh. And yes, Raith is cool, but only if you're not on Dyne and Dante's side. You'll see. . .I'd like to let Chasm know also that I just like to pick with you. No hard feelings, I just get bored.) Okay, on with this thing!

Chapter 18 Tye's Crush

Tye got out of the shower. He grabbed a towel that was hanging on the wall. As he dried his hair, his mind wandered.

"I hope Dyne and dad are alright. Knowing Dyne, they've probably had some fun. . ." He thought. He wrapped the towel around his waist after finishing his drying.

There was a rattle at the door. Tye turned and saw it open to reveil Saia. She had an armful of clothes.

"Here. I got your clothes washed." She said kindly, handing him his clothing. Tye was a little surprised that she had come in. She didn't seem to care that he was almost naked. He, on the other hand, was about as red as a cherry.

"Um, uh, thanks. . ." He said. There was a slight tone of embarrassment in his voice.

"Sorry, I didn't think you'd be done yet. I didn't mean to make you mad." Saia appologized.

Tye rubbed his face. "I'm not mad, just. . .a little embarrassed I guess."

Saia walked to the door and opened it. She left quickly saying "Sorry, really. . ."

Tye grabbed the clothes and began putting them on. He had just gotten his pants on when a quick thought came to his head.

"She sure is cute. . ." He thought.

Tye didn't think about women very often. Girls didn't like him too much. They tried to keep their distance. He wasn't even very good at talking to them. Even so, Saia didn't seem to mind him. At least she talked to him.

After getting all of his clothes on, Tye left the bathroom. He began down the hall.

"Hey. . ."

Tye turned around to see Saia coming down the hall. She came up to Tye and looked up at him.

"What?" Tye asked.

Saia shuffled her feet a little. "Um, would you like to come up to the roof with me?"

Tye cocked his head. "I guess. What for?"

"Just to sit around and watch the sunset."

Tye shrugged. A sweet smile came across the girl's face. She began to lead him down the hall.

* * * * *

"So, you come up here often?" Tye asked as he climbed out a window on the second floor. He stepped down onto the roof and looked around. Saia was climbing up the wall to the next roof level.

"Yes. I come up here just about everyday." She said as she sat on the edge of the second level roof. Tye jumped up and joined her.

"Anyone come here with you?" Tye asked, sitting down too.

Saia smiled and looked toward the sunset. "No. I come here alone. I usually don't want any company."

Tye nodded and followed her gaze. The sun looked huge. It was a beautiful shade of orange.

"Do you watch sunsets?" Saia asked after a few moments.

Tye shook his head. After that, the two were silent again. After a few more moments, Saia spoke.

"So, tell me about yourself."

Tye turned his attention away from the sunset to Saia. "Well, I don't have much to say."

Saia smiled. "Come on, don't tell me the son of the great Dante Sparda has nothing at all to say about himself. I'm sure you can tell me something."

Tye laughed. "Well, if you wanted to know anything exciting, you should ask Dyne. He's funner to be around. I just sit back and try not to get in trouble. Unfortunatly, my brother usually gets me into it anyways."

"I don't wanna hear about Dyne, I wanna hear about you. Come on." Saia said, nudging him.

"Well, you already know all there is."

"Come on, tell me about your parents then!"

"I'd rather not. . ."

"Come on!"

"Naw. . ."

"Please?"

Tye had a mournful look on his face.

"Well, you know about my dad. He's pretty cool, I guess. Dyne wants to be just like him."

Saia gave a laugh. "Okay, what about your mom?"

". . .She's dead. . ."

Saia's smile turned into a frown. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Tye sighed. "Don't worry about it. It isn't your fault. She died when I was young."

"How?"

"We don't know. She just. . .got sick. Noone could figure out what was wrong. . ."

"Was she nice?"

Tye gave a weak smile. "Yeah, from what I remember, she was the nicest person in the world. Dad said if she hadn't been a demon, he'd thought she was an angel. . ."

"She was a demon?"

"Well, kind of like my dad. Ya know, half. Even though, dad says she was different. There was something about her that my dad just loved."

"What was her name?" Saia asked carefully. She didn't want to upset Tye to much by talking about his mother. She could tell it was bothering him.

"Her name was Schala." Tye answered after a brief pause.

Saia nodded. "Pretty name."

There was once again a long pause, then Tye spoke

"What about your family?"

Saia smiled. She could see that Tye was no longer sad. "Well, Skail is my adopted father. I don't know my mom."

"You're adopted?" Tye asked, a little surprised.

"Yep. Skail said he found me in a forest when I was just a baby. He accepts me as one of his clan though."

Tye just nodded. He watched the girl. Her long hair blew in the light breeze. Her face looked almost elvish.

"So, are you a demon too?" Tye asked to break his stare on Saia.

Saia shook her head. "No, I don't think so. I'm not sure though."

The two sat there for another ten minutes or so. Tye stretched his arms out in front of him. He saw that Saia was looking at his right wrist.

"What?"

"I like your bangle."

Tye gave her his hand. She began studying his bangle. She rubbed her fingers over the dragon head.

"Where'd you get this? It's nice."

"My dad gave it to me for my birthday yesterday. I don't know if it has any meaning."

"Well, it sure looks like it."

Saia stood up finally. Tye did as well.

"Thanks for coming up here with me. I really enjoyed your company."

"No problem. I didn't have anything to do anyways."

Saia walked up to Tye slowly. Tye watched her. She put her arms around his chest and hugged him. Tye just stood there, not knowing what to do.

"Thank you." She said softly.

". . . . . ."

She stood on her tippy toes to get face level with him. She brought her head forward and gave him a short kiss on the cheek. Tye was completely dumbfounded. He felt like he was about to have a panic attack. He definetly wasn't good with girls. His face flushed deep red.

Saia backed away a little. "God, you look like a tomato!" She started laughing. Tye felt his face burning and began rubbing it ferociously. Saia just laughed. "You're so cute!" She said through a spurt of giggles. After a good minute of laughing, Saia took Tye's hand and jumped off the roof to the lower level roof. When they got to the window, Saia jumped through. Tye followed.

"Thanks for your time." Saia said soon after Tye was through.

". . .Yeah. . ."

She gave him a nudge. "Come on, don't be such a sour puss."

Tye stood for a moment, then smiled.

"That's better! I like to see you smile." Saia said, a big smile crossing her face.

"Well, I like your smile too." Tye slipped. He didn't mean to say that, but it came out anyways.

Saia hugged him again. Tye once again stood there. She grabbed his arms.

"Come on, are you paralized? Hug back!" Saia practically demanded. Tye put his arms on over her shoulders. He felt a warm feeling in his body. He could feel something about Saia that he liked. She was warm. He felt her hair, which was as soft and silky as it looked.

"God, I can't believe how beautiful she is." He thought.

"I like you." Saia said suddenly.

Tye relized what was going on. He'd lost his head when he hugged her. He let Saia go slowly and backed up a few steps.

"Sorry. Did I startle you? I didn't mean to say that. . ." Saia said blushing.

Tye was flushed too. He turned around.

"Never mind. Let's just go."

Saia smiled childishly. "Yeah. Dinners probably ready."

"Great. I'm starving."

Tye let Saia leave first. He trailed behind a little, thinking.

"Wow. I really think I like her." He thought. "What should I do?"

Tye had so many things going through his head, he couldn't think straight. Besides his thoughts about Saia, his main concern was if Dyne and Dante were all right.

"I hope they get back soon. . ."

That's it. THERE!! I FINALLY TOLD YOU A LITTLE ABOUT THEIR MOM!!! I'll tell even more in the next chapter. (After the next chapter, it'll start getting more exciting, I promise for there to be more killing, carnage, and decapitation!) I'll have the next chapter up Monday, along with another one hopefully.