Disclaimer:

I do not own anything from Love Hina or any copyrighted material. Any other characters used in this fic are mine, however.

Chapter 7 – Aftermath

All was quiet in the woods once again. The mortar barrage had ended some time ago and everything laid still – only the sound of a gentle breeze could be heard. Smoke rising from the burnt remains of grass and wood shrouded the area, swirling in all directions. The survivors of the nightmarish event slowly began to make their presence known to one another…

Kitsune slowly opened her eyes, regaining consciousness. She was confused on what had happened to her. Why was she lying on her back? After a few seconds elapsed, the memories of earlier that night replayed in her head – the shelling…Sandy…everything up to when she blacked out came back to her. Kitsune tried to get up, but a sharp pain prevented her to do so, followed by something dampening parts of her clothes. Instinctively, she reached over and ginger touched her midsection and instantly her hand came in contact with something warm. Moving her hand to her face she saw it – blood…her blood. As gently as she could, she lifted her head and saw the extent of her injuries. Kisune's eyes grew wide as she fell back to the ground, breathing harder and harder…

Gus and Jay slowly lifted her heads from the crater. Not wanting to expose themselves too much, they surveyed the destructions. It was horrific and awe-inspiring at the same time; the once peaceful forest now lay in utter ruin as splinters of wood and shrapnel dotted the ground.

"Maybe we should check if any of the girls are okay?" said Jay.

"I don't know Jay…no one could've survi–" started Gus.

At that moment they heard the faint cries of a woman in the distance. Neither of them could tell whom the voice belonged to, but it didn't matter.

"Hold on!" shouted Gus. "We're coming!"

Getting out of the crater, they both made their way to where the voice was coming from. Picking their way through the debris, they found Kitsune lying in a small pool of blood.

"Holy shit," Jay said softly.

Her injuries made both men cringe; Kitsune hand nearly been disemboweled…her abdomen had been peppered with shrapnel causing blood to flow from the many gashes. Her left leg had small bits of shrapnel protruding from it as well as the bullet wound she received, soaking her pant leg completely. She also had several cuts and burns on her left arm as well as a couple gashes on her face – dried blood and dirt caked her forehead. Her teary eyes not only showed the pain of her injuries but the emotional pain as well.

"It h-hurts," Kitsune choked. "It hurts so much."

"Hold on Kitsune," said Jay, "you'll be alright."

"Stay with us Kitsune," added Gus. "Before you'll know it, you be in a hospital with clean sheets eating decent food."

Pulling out the med-kit, they both began the arduous work of treating her wounds. During that whole time, both Jay and Gus took turns talking and comforting her…trying to keep her from slipping into shock. Tying the last bandage into place, Jay gave her some painkillers to dull the pain temporarily while Gus checked up on Sandy. Moments later he returned, a sad expression graced his worn features.

"Is…is Sandy…" whispered Kitsune.

Gus knelt down to her. "I'm sorry…she's gone."

At first, Kitsune didn't know how to react…she didn't know what to feel – not because she didn't want to, but she couldn't. Kitsune wanted to shed a thousand tears of mourning for Sandy, but it was in vain. These past few days had already taken its toll on the fox girl emotionally. Like a dripping faucet, she felt the energy to express herself slowly drain away into nothingness. All she could do is close her eyes in an attempt to shield her mind from reality.

"Kitsune?" said Jay.

Kneeling next to Gus, she heard her whisper something in Japanese. He turned to Gus and gave puzzled look to him. Gently placing a hand on her head he looked down on her once more.

"Kitsune…what did you say?"

She opened her eyes as a few tears streamed down her face. These tears were different however…they weren't meant for Sandy, the war, her friends, or her wounds – these were tears for her alone.

"I want to go home," Kitsune sobbed.

~~

The sun began to rise, as the earth greeted a new day. Jay and Gus carried Kitsune on a crude stretcher fashioned from their rain ponchos. The walk was silent – no one wanted to talk about what had happened. Sometime before they started out, they had to make the hard choice of leaving Sandy's body. Before they left, they took what personal possessions the young girl had on her person – placing all of it in her bag. It would've been impossible to carry her as well as Kitsune back with them, so instead they marked the area and covered Sandy up as best as they could. Once they reached the proper authorities, they'd send a team to recover the remains…none of them wanted to have the Morello family to have an empty casket to bury and only Sandy's bag to remember her by.

After about two hours of walking, Gus spots something – a truck. At first none of them could tell if it's hostile or not. Moving into some tall weeds on the side of the road, they waited silently as the truck approached. When it was less than a hundred yards away, they saw it – the Red Cross flag that graced atop the truck's cab.

"We did it!" cried Jay "We actually goddamn did it!"

"Looks like we're going to be alright from here!" added Gus.

Kitsune could only stare in disbelief. As much as she wanted to join in their joy, she lacked the drive to do so. Gus and Jay flagged the truck down and spoke with the driver. Explaining their situation, two Red Cross volunteers steeped out. Kitsune then felt strong hand pick her up and shifting her onto a real stretcher. The voices of everyone melded into the background as she was carried to the truck. One of the volunteers pulled out a syringe and injected a sedative into Kitsune's arm while the other inspected her many wounds. The medicine began to take its affect almost immediately, causing Kitsune's vision to blur. Gradually the world all around her quieted and she passed out once more…

~~

One week later…

Naru and Keitaro sat in the back of a truck bound for a Red Cross field hospital. It had been a rough four days ever since they came to Albania, and the situation was becoming steadily worse for the two.

"Are you sure she'll be here Naru?"

Naru sighed. "This is one of the last Red Cross places that's near the border – Kitsune just has to be here."

Keitaro could only nod to her as he looked out the window. This had to be the fifth camp they'd be visiting that close to the border, and he could tell the strain of travel was getting to both of them. They had already checked the major hospitals in Tirana, so it was possible that Kitsune's still out in a field hospital. They had asked all the volunteers at each camp so far, and so far failed to turn up any leads. There were dozens of other camps left, so he and Naru remained optimistic.

"Hey we're here," said the driver.

Sure enough, the truck pulled into the camp. It was a buzz with activity as people, wounded and doctors alike, shuffled from one tent to another. Getting out, both Naru and Keitaro searched where the patients were being kept. By a process of elimination, they narrowed it down to a rather large tent near the edge of the perimeter.

"That must be it," said Naru.

Walking over to the entrance, both of them were stopped by a doctor that was watching the door. Standing up from his chair, he blocked them from going in.

"I'm sorry, but we cannot have any unauthorized people wandering around here," he stated.

"Please doctor," said Keitaro, "we won't be a bother…but we need to see if our friend's there."

"We'll…"

"Sir please…it important to us to see if she's in there," pleaded Naru.

The doctor sighed. "Alright, you convinced me – but please try not to disturb any of the patients," he said.

"Thanks doctor," said Keitaro.

Stepping aside, Keitaro and Naru walked in. The sight wasn't a pretty one – the beds occupied many refugees who got caught up in the shooting…many had to have some of their limbs amputated. Some of them were so badly hurt that this tent could be mistaken as a morgue as the two made their way between the beds.

"This is horrible," commented Naru.

"Come on…let's keep looking," replied Keitaro.

They began to search each row of beds for their friend, taking their time as they looked from one patient to the next. Ten minutes had elapsed and it was becoming clear that Kitsune might not be here at all. Walking to the back of the tent, Naru and Keitaro looked through the patients there. AS the approached the last few beds, their eyes caught a glimpse of a familiar face just a few beds down.

"Keitaro! It's Kitsune!" cried Naru.

"That's great!" he exclaimed.

Making their way to the bed, overjoyed to see their friend once more. It was not long until joy turned to concern as the saw the injuries the fox girl had. They moved as quickly as they could to be at Kitsune's side, hoping to comfort the girl.

It was clear that Kitsune went through hell… Naru and Keitaro hoped that they and the rest back at the Hinata Sou could bring her back.

***

A/N – Believe it or not, it took me awhile to think about how I'd write chapter 7, so I hope it met everyone's expectations.

I'd like to thank i won't tell, and Gotenks01013 for reviewing chapter 7 as well as those who read my work thus far! Hope you guys enjoyed my latest chapter!

Alrighty then! Please read and review and I'll try to have the next chapters up ASAP!     ^_^