Chapter 34

-Two Weeks Later-

~~*~~ Francesca

I opened my eyes slowly, hearing the sounds of the world around me waking up. The first physical sensation I was aware of was how cold my nose was. I crinkled my face and turned my head, burrowing under the covering and closer to the warmth beneath. That was when I noticed the warmth moved. I blinked quickly as it took my brain that time to remember where I was. A few days ago, I had made the offhand comment about how the nights were getting colder and Keitaro took it upon himself to sleep with me instead of up in his tree. Not that I minded too much, he was a comforting sight to fall asleep to and a warm one to wake up with, but it was still a little surprising to see those eyes watching me when I woke.

This morning I seemed to wake before him and I took the moment to watch him. He mumbled lightly under his breath and rolled on his side, draping his arm over my waist. He mumbled again and leaned closer, burying his nose into my neck. I felt a hot flush rush through my system as he sighed heavily, his lips making my skin tingle. I felt a pulse like throbbing rise from my mark as he moved closer. My heart fluttered rapidly in my chest as I tried whispering his name to wake him up. He growled against my skin and I felt sharp butterflies lace my stomach. He fell quiet for a moment and I carefully pressed my hand on his shoulder, trying to roll him off of me without waking him. His grip tightened and I heard his soft supple voice ripple over my skin, "And where do you think you're going?"

I gasped softly as he shifted again, moving above me, his arms resting on either side of my head. I felt like I couldn't breathe as I stared up at his sly smile. I opened my mouth. I couldn't breathe.

"Kei, I can't breathe," I whispered and he grinned, leaning down on me.

"I know," he replied, his eyes glowing.

"No, I really can't breathe!" I winced. He blinked and pushed himself up a little, alleviating some of his weight from my chest, and I took a deep breath. He stared down at me, and a slow flush drifted across his cheeks, causing me to laugh.

"Gomen Keitaro, I didn't mean to embarrass you," I said warmly and he smiled, leaning back down to kiss me gently on the tip of my nose.

"You didn't embarrass me," he replied and I smiled even brighter. He didn't move however, resting on his elbows above me, his chest resting lightly on mine, a warm comfortable weight.

"If you two don't mind, some of the rest of us are still trying to sleep," came a grumble, Kei lifted our blanket with one hand, bringing a draft of cool air to our warm nest. Kaemon was lying across the dying fire pit from us, one eye open and barely focusing. I turned my head and made a face at him, before pulling the blanket down, giggling softly. Kei looked down at me in surprise as I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him down against me in a close but less pressing position.

"Rose," he whispered softly and I could hear a strange tilt to his voice, "Y-you might not want to do that," he stammered softly and I loosened my grip.

"Oh, sorry," I whispered, feeling a deep blush rise to my cheeks. I began to move away, when he stopped me with a deep kiss. My entire body tingled with enjoyment, and as he very slowly broke the kiss, I stared up at him with a look of pure contentment on my face.

"Mmm, Good morning," I purred softly, closing my eyes, as his lips descended on me again, this time planting very soft kisses along my eyelids, along my check, and tracing a very slow progressive line down my neck. I tilted my head back, feeling the muscles in my neck stretch out before him, and felt the trail stop along the marks. He kissed them gently and I felt my blood boil with a wave of heat that surprised me.

"Mate," I heard him mumble, and along the sensitive hairs of my arms and neck I felt his youkai surface over his human blood, not enough to scare me, but just enough for that wildness to send small currents of energy along my skin. The air around us became charged, both from his youkai and what I was beginning to recognize as my Empathy's response to its power.

"Mate," I whispered back and felt his lips caress the marks sensually. I felt a purr rise up in my throat, as his teeth grazed my skin. I felt a sense of deja-vu rise up in my mind and quickly reached for it, as I had been doing the past few weeks whenever a memory, no matter how small, surfaced. A similar scene, similar sensations, and images flashed over my mind. I opened my eyes and quickly pushed him away from my neck, feeling his teeth just barely scratch my skin. He growled and looked down at me.

"I remember that day. I remember how much it took out of you. You don't need to mark me again," I gently ran my hand along his cheek, feeling his power flow across his skin like water, and down along my hand. It recognized me, my position and I knew I was safe. Anyone else would probably have been harmed by now, but he would never hurt me.

I watched as his eyes slowly focused on me, and his breathing began to slow. He looked at me a minute before moving away from me.

"I should go look for some breakfast," he said quickly, tossing the blanket off of us, driving the cold morning air over me with his swift departure. I pulled the blanket up to my chin and watched his hasty retreat, feeling embarrassed. I knew how hard all of this was for him, I could feel his frustrations and angst over our situation, and I wanted to make it better for him. I just didn't know how.

I tore myself away from the dying heat of the blanket with a sigh and rose, stretching out the muscles in my legs and arms carefully. I began building up a fire for the meal, making sure to use the smoldering remnants from last nights fire to start the new one, carefully blowing on the coals and the bits of dried foliage till it sparked.

Aki and Maeko shared another blanket to my right, and Kaemon and his brother the last one to my left. I knew that Naoko would have preferred another companion, but even I couldn't convince Keitaro to go along with it. Kaemon had drifted back to sleep, and I carefully let my new senses reach out, and brush them lightly. They were all comfortably asleep. I grinned and carefully stepped away from them, stopping at a nearby tree.

I glanced around again, making sure no one was going to see me, and crouched down to the ground closing my eyes. I felt the stir of that foreign power inside me, the tingling of wild power that flowed so freely through Keitaro. It was getting harder and harder to find it and I had a feeling that it had to do with the lack of closeness between Keitaro and I. I wasn't fulfilling all the requirements of a mate, and the mark only lasted for so long.

I came to this conclusion when I began to notice Mistero and Kirara's behavior. Every other night or so, they would disappear by themselves, and when they returned the energy around them had changed. It wasn't only the obvious, but they were more connected.

I returned to my original thoughts, concentrating on pooling together the power that my mark had transferred to me, gathered it all in my legs, and sprang into the air. I flew upwards and just as the momentum began to die, I grabbed a hold of a branch and pulled myself up. After gathering my breath, and feeling the power fade from my muscles, I glanced down. I was a LONG way off the ground. With a grin, I began to carefully scale the tree, going branch by branch with great attention.

When I finally reached the tallest branch that could support my weight, I was at the top, holding on to the thin trunk with both hands. The morning sun had risen over the horizon, and the whole of the land before me was covered in a blanket of light. I smiled and absorbed the sight and smell of the new morning as deeply into my soul as I could. A breeze pushed my hair from my face, and I could feel the brisk sting of cold kiss my cheeks. I turned my head to the north, and my eyes widened.

We had been traveling through woods for so long, that the land before us had been forgotten, but there before my eyes, and no more than a day's walk if we started soon, was the glistening snow-covered tops of the mountains. I took a deep breath and could almost taste the snow on my tongue. Giddiness soared through my blood as I quickly began my descent. We were almost there, we were almost there, was the mantra I kept repeating in my head as I slid from branch to branch. I glanced up to see if I could still see our destination through the foliage when my foot slipped on a branch. I felt the air rush up around me, and was vaguely aware of something hitting my leg as I fell, then all went black.

~Memory~

"Come on Francesca, come climbing with me!" I heard a young boy's voice say and I saw an eager pair of blue eyes and a head of scruffy blond hair before me, taking my hand and leading me to a pair of trees.

"I'll beat you to the top," I heard a young girl challenge, and watched as I began climbing the nearest tree, a young tree, thin and scrawny. I reached the top, and stood out on the branch.

"Watch me, I can touch the power lines," I heard the girl say cheerfully, and saw a small hand reach out before me, and very lightly touch the thick black vines that lay before the tree.

"I let you beat me cause you're a girl," I heard and glanced down at the boy, who was still half way up his tree. Merriment surrounded me, as I turned to make my way back down the tree. I barely heard the crack, never felt the give of the branch beneath my feet, and never felt the pain as my body hit the branches on my way down. All I knew, was nothing.

~Memory Ends~

I opened my eyes, and saw several pairs of eyes staring down at me, all wide with worry, and one dark with anger. I opened my mouth to speak when I found that all the air was gone from my chest. I tried to breathe in, and even that didn't seem to work. Slowly the pain I felt through my body reached my head and I closed my eyes. The pressure in my chest began to let up and I took a very shallow breath, reaching up to press a hand to my collarbone.

"What?" I gasped and Keitaro's face filled my vision.

"I told you not to use those youkai abilities anymore Rose," he snapped and I felt like cringing inside. "What were you thinking? You could have been seriously hurt, or worse!"

"I just wanted to see," I began but his look cut me short. I lay there, staring up at him helpless against the waves of worry, fear and anger that flowed from him.

"We're almost to the mountains," I finally said, and saw everyone else blink quickly.

"A day's walk, if we hurry," I added, "I could taste the snow on the wind, we're almost there."

The faces left my line of sight, all accept Keitaro's and I looked away, "I'm sorry Kei, but I'm losing the power, I wanted one last taste of it, before it was gone." I whispered. He sighed and gathered me up in his arms, "You gave me the worst scare, I came back just in time to see your body hit the ground. I thought you were dead."

"I'm too stubborn to die it seems," I joked softly, as he pulled me close, my chin resting on his shoulder. "At least its good for something."

He laughed faintly at my own sarcastic joke, and helped me to my feet. I winced, feeling the stinging pain in my legs from where the branches had wiped me in my descent.

"I had another memory," I said softly as he helped me into the saddle.

"Oh?" he replied, climbing up behind me, as we waited for everyone else to get their mounts ready.

"Yes, it seems I have a habit of falling out of trees," I said with a soft laugh.

He gently kissed my shoulder in response, and squeezed me around the waist. Everyone joined us on their mounts, and I saw that Mistero and Kirara were riding tucked into Maeko's bags, making room for Aki to ride with Maeko. I nudged my horse into a run and we took off towards the north.

Just past mid-day we finally reached the end of what seemed to be an eternal forest, and there before us, loomed the large, grey, and cold rocks of the mountain, rising above us like giant overseers of the land. The air was significantly colder, and I shivered slightly as it cut through my clothing. Kei pulled me closer, and I felt the enormous heat from his body radiate through me. I was eternally thankful for Maeko's bright suggestion a few days ago that we stop and pick up warmer clothing for our trip through the mountains. The villagers seemed content enough to sell us some heavier kimonos, lined inside with fur to keep out the bite of the cold. I hadn't changed into mine just yet, but as soon as night fell, I was sure that it would be my first priority. The thin summer kimono that Maeko had picked up for me from the village where they found me was no longer warm enough.

I saw smoke curling up from the base of the mountains, and pointed it out. "We should get supplies from there, before we head up," I advised to which everyone agreed. I could see their faces already growing white with the change in temperature. We slowed our horses down to a gentle trot, to keep the locals at ease, but the closer we grew, the worse I began to feel. I cringed inside, but tried to keep my face neutral, gently pressing a hand against my stomach. It wasn't so much as an ill feeling, but a cold ball that was beginning to swirl around in my gut.

Finally I couldn't ignore it anymore and stopped my horse, bending over in the saddle. Nothing in my surfacing memory could compare this feeling, and I felt Kei's hand on my back.

"Rose," He whispered and I flinched, as a cold sensation shot through my body. Oddly enough, he seemed to react to it, as his hand pulled swiftly away from my skin.

"The Sorrow," I whispered, as something akin to deja-vu finally registered in my system. They were the only things that could possibly affect me like this, like a ball of lead in my stomach. "The Sorrow, they know I'm coming!"

Kei immediately sat at attention, his body tense as he looked around, and I could feel him trying to pick up anything. I did the same, as the pain in my stomach grew deeper.

"Where are they," Naoko asked softly, and I saw he had moved closer to us. I shook my head as another shiver of cold ripped through me and I felt something warm touch my forehead.

"Focus Francesca-sama, take slow breaths and let your senses expand outwards, as if you were reaching out your hands," he guided me with his soft, gentle voice, and I closed my eyes, following his advise. Very slowly, I felt my senses reach beyond my physical form, stretching out past the pain inside. Something reached back and I opened my eyes quickly.

I'm still not sure how I did this so quickly, but my right foot found the stirrup, and my left leg swung up and over the saddle, catching Kei around the waist and knocking him from the horse, just as I felt something cold and dark grab me around the neck and pull me up and off. I struggled against the grip, kicking my feet wildly in the air.

"Rose!" I heard Kei scream and felt the air ripple as he pulled Tetsusaiga from its sheath, transformed before him. I opened my eyes, ignoring the Sorrow that had me in its grips. Something about the situation seemed almost too easy. I had already proven I could defeat just one of these things, yet it was hesitating, waiting.

I felt the air grow colder, and I knew exactly what it was doing.

"Kei, don't!" I called back, "There's more than one, and I'm the bait! Remember Akame! They're going to try and use me as bait for all of you, don't let them?"

I knew that it was pointless the minute I saw Kei's face go from red to white, when I mentioned Akame's name. Akame? The image of the dead kitsune filtered through my amnesia and I flinched. Not the best example to remember right now. Kei was probably adding the numbers and not liking the answer. I saw his eyes start to bleed red, and a deep growl flowed to my ears.

"Naoko, control him," I shouted, as I felt the air begin to grow even heavier. I didn't want to think of these creatures getting a hold of him, especially when his youkai blood was beginning to take over.

I looked around, and felt the hand around my throat begin to tighten. My vision blurred as I quickly tried to recall the feeling I had that day in the village. I felt lightheaded, and my vision blurred again, bringing up that world of colors that I remembered from before. There, slowly approaching my friends, was more of the Sorrow than I could ever remember sensing. My eyes widened, the concentration shaking as I realized that even if I could kill the one who held me, I was no match for all of them. Fear began to grow inside me and I felt the ripple of contentment from the one who held me.

Suddenly, it felt like a hand went straight through my chest, and grabbed a hold of my heart. I felt my concentration slip completely as depthless pain took control of me, and my body reacted in the only way it could. I felt the soulful scream echo through my throat, as the hand around my heart squeezed tighter. Everything inside me burned hot and cold at the same time, and the pain was so great I thought my heart would explode in my chest."

I felt the anguish around me, as Kei reacted to my pain, and deep within the well of pain, I felt a swell of sadness, because I knew that Kei's anger would give them the power they needed over him.

Suddenly, the pain inside me was released, and I fell to the ground, never feeling the pain as my body was still too cold. I stared at my friends, who all watched me, the horror naked on their face. I saw Kei rush forward and pull me into his arms, but I never felt it, it was as if I was inside my own body, a part of it yet never truly with it. Something inside me kept me detached, as if I were afraid of what would happen. Kei held me close, and I wished I could wrap my arms around him, and let him know everything was alright. I felt a rapid swirling in my head, and as I tried to speak, I felt myself fall forward into the darkness.

Review Comments:

AN: I noticed my reviews were very few this time. Did I scare everyone away?!

Emania: As always, you're the best beta I could ask for. Where you find the time to read MY stuff, and write your own excellent chapters is beyond me! You are a credit to FanFiction, and I'm so glad to get to talk to you every night on AIM.

Bunny-Butler: I got the idea, from my own brother actually. He's younger than me, but he has the same protective streak in him. This summer we were at a party and one of the guys in his class (who was obviously tipsy) was hitting on me. My brother kinda gave him this "back off " look and said, "That's my sister, watch it!" Not as hostile as Kei, but it was kinda heartwarming. I think all brothers are protective of their sisters, younger or older. I'm glad you like the amnesia, the way I'm playing it out. I didn't want Francesca to be all weepy and pathetic, she really is a strong person, just going through something diffcult right now, but not for longer *eep* did I just suggest something?

Tiranth: *laughs at the pompoms* I'm glad you like the Naoko scene. I kept laughing when I was playing it out in my head. It was kind of a mix of two scenes from the anime mixed together. I kept seeing Inuyasha and Miroku (when they first fought in the village) in my head, with Miroku/Sango's fight scene (when Sango was under the control of Myoga's girlfriend). Besides the fact, Naoko is 18 to Kei's 25, and it's scary when ANY guy older than you comes after you for any reason!

SilentDark: I'm so glad you're enjoying this! Keep reading and reviewing, I really appreciate feedback

Pruningshears: LOL, believe me, EVERYONE has already paired up Aki and Kaemon, something which Aki isn't quite sure how to react to this , and Kaemon keeps shaking his head at you guys. *laugh* Read my comment to Tiranth about where I got the inspiration for the fight scene, and you'll see *grin* you were right!

del-kaidin: I'm glad you laughed, that was EXACTLY the reaction I was going for! As for Aki and Kae, let's not play matchmaker JUST yet, *laugh* I have plans for those two!

Funky Nassau: LOL I love your opening line "Men are stupid". I'm sure they'd say the same thing about us, and I have to agree with them. *laugh* I tried to do the lyrics in Italics actually, but I couldn't get it to save right, and I found it was taking so much room with line breaks, but I really do appreciate your advise! Of course Kei wasn't evesdropping right? He was just 'making sure they were okay'. *wink* Just like he wasn't trying to spy too. *laughs and ducks an angry swipe by the hanyou*

Inu Girl(): I'm so glad to hear the puppies are doing good, I'd buy one but A) I don't have the money and B) I can't have pets here *sob* Thanks for the review and keep reading!

Grizabella: Well, when I was looking up names, Naoko came up as honest child, and it ended it -o so I took it for a guy's name like Akito. I think the list said it was either male or female, but I could be wrong, thanks for pointing that out.