© May 2003

DISCLAIMER: You know what these say, so I'm not going to bother. Read on.

Her green eyes followed his movements as he paced back and forth in front of her like a caged animal, the rage in his eyes should have been a warning. A warning she didn't heed as she smirked knowingly at him.

SLAP!

Her hair had fallen over her turned face, the sting in her right cheek throbbing, but she didn't utter a sound.

"It was about time someone wiped that self-righteous smile off your face," he growled at her. "It's annoying."

She knew that she was going to have an ugly bruise where he'd just hit her, so she didn't push him and bit back the smart remark she was going to make. For now, anyway.

"Why do you constantly insist in getting in my way?" he demanded.

"Why do you constantly do things that you know will catch my attention?' she retorted.

Now Korin was smirking at her. They both knew what the answer to their questions were, but neither would be the one to voice it.

He stepped closer to her, peering into her face, taking advantage of the fact that her arms and legs were shackled between two posts.

"This could have ended long ago," he whispered in an almost kind voice, much as if he were a father scolding his stubborn child. "We wouldn't have had to do this dance for so many years if you simply would have consented to let me do as I wished."

Now it was her turn to be enraged. "What kind of imbecile do you take me for? If you think that I would ever let a madman like you get away with doing all the things that he was programmed to do, you've got another things coming. And it makes you as crazy as I've always said you were."

The fury in his eyes made her prepare herself for another slap, one which didn't come.

"It was a stupid mistake then, wasn't it?" he spat out, walking away from her and over to a small table and picked up the sword that lay there. He carefully unsheathed it, letting it catch in the light as he brought it parallel to his face.

"This is where it ends, Iko. The way it should have ended long ago," he said to her in a voice that sounded almost bored.

Her green eyes held his, as she frantically searched for something in them. It wasn't the first time that Korin had threatened to end her life, but something within him always seemed to stop him. She began to panic when saw that, unlike all the other times, his eyes remained cold and full of hatred as he came advancing towards her.

This was it.

He was really going to do it, this time.

She was really going to die.

I'm sorry, Van.

All I Need

By Youjibaracuda

~*~Nineteen~*~

A crash from the outside froze Korin mid-swing, and one of his men stumbled inside, slightly bleeding from the arrow lodged in his shoulder.

Irishiko recognized Ero's signature firing and was filled with such unwarranted relief that her knees nearly gave out.

"Sir! We're being attacked!" the man cried, fear evident in his voice. "It's just two men, but I've never seen such voracity! They've already taken down half of the men here!"

Korin quickly grabbed the scabbard of his sword and tied it to his belt, seeming to completely forget about Irishiko at the moment.

"Get out of here," he barked to the man, "Tell everyone to scatter for now, since it's obvious that our hideout has been compromised. Lay low for a while, but get out of here, NOW!"

The man obeyed and rushed out to give the order. Korin spun of his heel and made his way quickly over to another door on the opposite end of the room. He glanced at Irishiko briefly before disappearing.

And she felt a twinge of hope as she finally found in his eyes what she'd been looking for before she passed out.

~*~

Van and Ero were moving quickly, Korin's men posing no real threat to them, which truly surprised Ero. He would have thought that a man like Korin would surround himself with more adequate people. Oh well, he shrugged it off. It just made their job easier.

Van had to admire Ero's fighting instincts, and since Van knew that Ero was too young to have been in the War of Fate, he briefly wondered just how many times the Akan had to put up physical resistance.

As man after man went down, Van noticed that one of the ones that had been hit in the shoulder by Ero had run hastily into a room down the long hallway where they were fighting. A short time later, he saw the same man run out of the room and head away from them, shouting orders of evacuation.

Somehow, Van knew that there they would find Korin.

He fueled the rage within him, but being careful to keep it in check. No need for heedless mistakes. He quickly motioned to Ero of his intentions and they made their way towards the room as they finished off the last of their attackers. For some reason, more weren't appearing. That must have been that evacuation call, Van mused for a second until Ero came to his side. He nodded to the closed door before them, and they prepared themselves for what they would find.

However, they weren't at all prepared to find what they did.

Irishiko, tied up between two posts at the far end of the room, her arms bound and spread out to her sides so she couldn't move.

Van's heart nearly stopped when he caught sight of her dropped head, how her body remained motionless even though their entrance had been noisy. His breathing quickened as he made his way over to her, dropping his sword to the floor.

"Hitomi?" his voice was shaky, and his hands hovered over her, afraid to touch her. There was a bit a relief when he noticed her shallow breathing.

He pushed back the tears that stung his eyes and turned to see that Ero wore the exact same expression. Van motioned for him to cut down the ropes that bound her as he slipped an arm gingerly around her waist to hold her up. Once she was free, he lightly lowered her onto the floor, kneeling and cradling her head in his arms.

He brushed her hair away from her face gently and Ero knelt by them, glancing at her briefly, but keeping a lookout for any danger while Van attended to her.

"Hitomi, can you hear me?" Van asked, softly stroking her head.

To both his and Ero's relief, she groaned and moved her head slightly, opening her eyes.

"Van?" she asked in a raspy voice.

"Yeah, it's me," he said smiling at her, "Everything's fine now. I'm here."

"You sacred us there for a while, Iri-sama," Ero quipped with a smirk.

She didn't answer, only shut her eyes tightly once more, pushing back the massive headache that was trapping her brain. He ran his eyes over her, searching for injuries. Sitting down and laying her head in his lap, Van moved to remove the rope from her wrists.

The fear for her life now gone, all that was left was rage and pure hatred for the man that had done this to her. It only escalated as he saw the raw flesh where the rope had bit into her skin. He also couldn't ignore the red and white mark in the form of a hand that was looking ugly on her right cheek.

She lifted her eyes to her forehead, and avoiding the eyes of both men as she sat up shakily.

"Are you alright?" Van asked, frowning and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine," she said, subtly shrugging his hand away and rubbing her sore wrists, her loose dark hair falling over her face.

Ero was now getting a good look at her injuries and an angry frown came over his features.

"Where is he?" he asked quietly.

Her eyes flickered to the door she'd seen Korin disappear into, but looked away quickly.

"I'm not sure," she lied.

Van hadn't caught her tell-tale glance, but Ero had, and he wondered why she was lying. It was almost as if she was trying to protect Korin in some way.

"Are you sure, you're alright?" Van asked her once again.

"Yes, Van I'm fine," she insisted, "Just…just get me out of here."

"I will," he told her, kissing her forehead lightly, "But not before I get him."

With that he stood up and grabbed his sword, walking towards the door where Korin had gone through earlier.

Her eyes went wide, her breath hitching, but before she could protest, she caught sight of Ero's probing stare. She shut her mouth and looked away, and Ero silently followed Van.

They'd been gone for a few minutes before she picked herself up off the ground, grabbing one of the poles she'd been tied to earlier to steady her when she was overcome with a wave of dizziness. After a few deep breaths to steady her nerves, she made her way to the doorway Van and Ero had walked through. She entered an empty room that connected to another hallway. The room was dark, lit only by a small candle that was burning steadily on a nearby table. She glanced around and found no signs of a struggle. Obviously Korin had not been here when Van and Ero had passed through. Her mind told her to keep moving, to find him before they did, but something drew her to the table. Her eyes ran over the various vial and liquid concoctions, much like what would be found in a science lab. She focused, pushing back the often nostalgic thoughts of her life back on Earth, looking unknowingly for something. That's when her jade eyes landed on a small brown vial, the only one that was uncorked and empty on the table. She picked it up, curious and brought it to her nose.

Her eyes went wide and her heart sank to the floor.

Quickly, she looked around for a weapon, just in case.

~*~

Van and Ero had finally found Korin and had been able to corner him a small room. Much to their disappointment, he didn't put up much of an opposition.  He was quickly disarmed from the sword that he had (in retrospect, it was something both Van and Ero found strange…almost as if Korin wasn't even trying to defend himself).

Korin backed slowly away, a grin on his face, but fear in his eyes.

"Really, what do you want to accomplish here? Defend the honor of that tramp?" his smile grew when he saw he'd hit a nerve, "You have no idea what she is, or what she's done. Once you did, I'm sure you wouldn't be defending her so quickly."

"Perhaps. But whatever she's done is nothing compared to all that you've done," Ero growled.

"Sacrifices had to be made," Korin shrugged. "It was a price to be paid."

"You will pay with your life," Van said darkly. Korin continued to smile and said nothing.

"Now is when you die," Ero growled with a raised crossbow. Ero shot the arrow straight at Korin's chest. True to its mark, the blow brought Korin to his knees and Van prepared to make the final strike.

"NOO!!!"

Both Van and Ero froze, recognizing the voice. Irishiko ran into the room, a sword gripped tightly in one hand and a small brown vial in the other. She marched over to the fallen man.

"Why?!" she demanded angrily, "Why are you baiting them into killing you?"

The man raised his amber gaze to her, gasping for breath as he bled on the floor, but didn't respond.

"And if you knew that they'd kill you, why the hell did you drink the only poison that could kill you?" she asked, holding up the brown vial.

Ero blinked in surprise. The man had taken poison? What for? Things were not making any sense.

"Because I knew you try to stop them, just like you're doing now, Iko," the fallen man said almost tenderly accompanied by a small chuckle.

"Son of a bitch," she muttered as she smashed the vial into a thousand pieces on the ground. Tossing her sword aside, she knelt down in front of him and pulled Ero's arrow from his chest, to which he gave a grunt of pain.

"How could you do this to me?" she demanded as she ripped off the hem of her dress to try to stop the bleeding, her movements quick and rough to hide the way her hands were shaking with both rage and fear. "Why would you be so damn selfish?"

"Do you think I wanted this to happen?" the man snapped back at her, suddenly with surprising strength. "Believe me, it is not my wish to die!"

Van didn't understand what was going on. He glanced at the redhead beside him and saw that Ero was equally lost. Van's mind said he should finish all of this now, his fingers itching for revenge upon Korin. He had ruined everything for him and Van was going to make sure that he paid for the suffering he had caused to all the valuable people in Van's life. But he had an unshakeable feeling that he was intruding on something private, like a moment he shouldn't be witnessing, much less be a part of. And that unsettled him, since it had to do with the woman he loved and her arch-enemy.

It was quiet for a while, before Irishiko lowered her gaze and concentrated on trying to stop his still bleeding chest. At the same time she was trying to keep herself under control. He was losing so much blood…

He placed his hand over hers, gently removing the pressure she was applying over the wound. "Don't bother, Iko. We both know it's no good. This is going to end one way or another."

Silence once again.

"Why then?" Irishiko's raspy voice broke the silence.

The amber eyed devil smiled at her sadly. "Because I have to put a stop to Korin once and for all," he said gently, "All this time I've been afraid to it because I knew that this was the only way. I selfishly nursed the idea that we could be together again, despite him because I could always control him. But just now, what he did to you, I realized I didn't have control anymore. I decided it had to end, even though it meant my death." He ran his fingers across her cheek lightly. "He won't hurt you anymore."

Van's hands tightened around the handle of his sword. How dare he touch her like that? So tenderly and warmly, calling her by a sickenly intimate nickname. How dare she allow it? Who exactly was this man?

"Mohku," Irishiko answered the unvoiced question, "There has to be a way to stop him and save you. I refuse to believe…"

"Look at me, Iko," Mohku interrupted, lifting her chin to see her green eyes, "This is the only way."

She vigorously shook her head and flung her arms around him, pressing her body to his, ignoring his blood seeping through the front of her dress.

"No, please," she pleaded, the edge in her voice gone, only desperation in its place as tears spilled from her eyes. "Don't leave me again, Mohku. Not again."

He wrapped his arms around her, closing his eyes and breathing into her hair in such a way that it made Van's blood boil with jealousy and rage. Even so, he remained rooted to his spot, not wanting to look, but unable to move his gaze away. He didn't want to think about the way she had begged for him not to die. Or what she said next.

"Take me with you," Irishiko begged, still holding on to Mohku.

He shook his head sadly. "You can't. Not—not yet," his breath was beginning to become struggled, "You still have so much to do in this world."

"I don't care!"

"Yes—yes, you do. I know you, Iko. Promise me…promise me you won't ever give up what we started."

The woman remained silent.

"Irishiko!" he said with urgency.

"I promise," she said softly, moving to look into his eyes.

Mohku seemed to relax at her words but his eyes looked past her to rest on the men behind her.

"Do—Does he know?" Mohku asked raggedly.

Irishiko looked over her shoulder to see that he was referring to Van. She nodded solemnly and turned back to look at her husband once more.

"I'm so sorry ab—about all of this, Your Highness," Mohku addressed Van. "Please make my ap—apologies to Sezarina. You…you're a very lucky man to have the love of two wonderful women." Mohku closed his eyes for a minute to the pain. "I also wanted to thank you. If not for—for you, I would have never known complete happiness."

Van opened his mouth to respond but found that he couldn't due to the conflicting emotions he was feeling at the moment. But he couldn't help but be once again overwhelmed by the feeling like he didn't belong there, as if he were a stranger that had stumbled upon something he was not a part of.

"It's almost over," Mohku whispered.

Irishiko snapped to attention, her breathing rapid, near panic.

"I d—don't have much more time," Mohku told her, grabbing her face with both hands, fear evident on his features. His eyes looked at her as if memorizing her every feature, knowing that he would most likely never look upon her again.

"When you came into my life," he told his wife, "I thought that there was no way I could have p—possibly deserved you. And even though your true self belonged to him, you found a place for me in your heart. I—I could never ask for m—more from the world. Then…then you gave me Ehli…an—and I never knew that I was capable of f—feeling so much."

Irishiko was sobbing now at the mention of her son but remained silent, letting Mohku continue.

"I c—cannot be selfish and ask to keep you with me forever. I'm content with the knowledge t—that you carry the whole of my heart…and that I carry a s—small part of yours."

Irishiko flew forward and crushed her lips to his in a kiss that was mixed with tears and grief, meant to be a last reminder of what they had been. They broke apart, foreheads still together.

"I love you," he whispered to her and after looking into her eyes oncemore, he closed his eyes, letting the hands that held her slip to the floor, lifeless.

"No…" Irishiko shook her head and caught his head before it made contact with the floor. She lowered it slowly to the floor, shaking his slightly. "Mohku…" she murmured his name over and over, each time with more urgency, as if her calling to his would bring him back to her.

Then she bent over and bitterly wept over the dead man, her hands gripping his shirt tightly.

Just then, Ivan and Pye burst through the door with Sezarina in tow. They had come to give their help to Ero and Van but they stopped in their tracks when they stumbled upon the scene before them: Ero and Van were standing as if dumbstruck looking down at Irishiko, who was still dressed in the queen's wardrobe and weeping over what appeared to be a dead body.

Sezarina, also still dressed in Irishiko's clothing, pushed past Ivan and Pye when she caught sight of the platinum blonde head that was cradled in the other woman's arms.

"Good heavens! Mohku!" she cried, rushing to kneel at Irishiko's side. She saw the blood that seeped through his shirt and that also clung to Irishiko's garments and felt a wave of nausea, having to fight back the urge to scream in horror. Unlike her husband, she wasn't used to seeing bloody deaths.

"What happened?" she asked shakily.

Van moved and brought his wife to her feet.

"I'm sure everything will be cleared up later," he said in a voice that sounded raspy. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what were the exact circumstances under which Sezarina knew the man.

Sezarina frowned at him before returning her gaze to Irishiko.

The latter's crying had ceased and she placed a kiss on her dead husabnd's forehead before completely letting him go.

There was an awful silence for a while as no one dared move or speak.

Finally Irishiko gathered herself together and stood up, keeping her face hidden from everyone as she left the room.

~*~

TBC…

 Baracuda here. I know, I know, probably my most evil chapter ever. But I promise things will be cleared up, and soon. Boy, the next chapter will have a ton of explanations…

Anyhoo…

I'M FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOT As IN ALL MY CLASSES ('cept for Japanese, I got a B) AND NO MORE SCHOOL TILL AUGUST BABY!!!!! AND AX'03 IN JULY!!!!! PARTY!!!

 Okay, I'm feeling *extremely* guilty about pretty much stuffing this fic in a corner while I tried to finish school. And even after I was done, I didn't touch it because I was so frustrated about the Alias season finale that I plunged head first into the fanfiction. Of course, I love the non-conventional Sarkney variety, just because, quite frankly, Sark is damn hot. I love little white boys like him. And the British accent just makes me completely melt along with those gorgeous blue eyes and crocked bottom lip and…*realizes she's drooling*

*ahem* sorry. My point is, that I've been distracted. ^_^ but no more! (well, until someone updates, and of course, re-runs. Not to mention all that stuff I have on tape….O.O but I digress…)

We are in the home stretch of this fic, so sit tight while the next four or five chapters are written along with three different endings. Yeesh. I have yet to decide which one to use. -_-;

So thanks for sticking with me, all of you! (especially you, Cece. Remember that I luv you! And that you luv me…^^;)

*huggle*

anyhoo, I'm going to take a trip back to the place I love so dear: the big apple. So, don't be surprised if I go MIA for the rest of June. Gomen.

--Youjibaracuda

"I don't think you'd accept my help, since I'm only waiting around to kill you."

"That does put a damper on our relationship. I'm afraid you'll just have to wait."

"::mumbles::I hate waiting. ::shouts down:: I could give you my word as a Spaniard!"

"No good. I've known too many Spaniards."

--The Princess Bride