Jared slowly prowled through his house. He could almost hear her warm laughter, feel her caressing his face, taste the warmth of her creamy skin. Remembering those things increased his hatred. Hatred for the insignificant, expendable man who stole her from him.

Kitsuyami, his beloved, his property. She should have stayed, should have belonged to him and not that pathetic excuse for a man. She was his until she became frightened of him. She just could not seem to understand how much of a man he was, to his way of thinking. Maybe she just got overwhelmed by him.

"Well, you may have her now, but I know who you are. I marked you and she'll be mine again, some day. Enjoy her while you can!" he sneered.

He continued his prowl through the halls. Upon reaching the wing where his study was located, he noticed that someone was leaning indolently against his study's door frame. As he came closer, he realized that it was Allen. A tiny, malicious smile on his lips, Jared strode with arrogance towards him.

"I see that you have 'thought' about my offer, right?" Jared asked as he walked up to Allen. Seeing Allen nod slightly with a tiny smile on his face, he turned to open the door to his private study. He gestured him to enter and followed, closing the door behind them.

"Over the past two weeks I've thought long and hard about your offer," Allen's smile widened as he recalled how he thought about it. The servant girl's fear and revulsion was absolutely delicious during those two weeks. His smile turned malicious when he recalled having the caster they kept chained in the basement look at the girl. What the caster had told him made his eyes harden with barely contained anticipation. He had said that the girl was pregnant and the baby would be a girl.

Jared became somewhat impatient and cleared his throat. The noise snapped Allen out of his pleasant memory. "So, you thought about it. What do you want?" he said slightly irritated as this display of inattention.

"Well, for one, quit being such an ass, Father. I'll get to want I want when I want to," Allen snapped. "You said you had resources that you would be willing to extend to me. Well, what are those resources?!"

"Well, well, well, my son. I have more resources than you seem to think. And, I might add, I will be willing to extend them to you if you'll be willing to help me."

"Help you? Why should I help you?!" he said with a put-upon look. Seeing the flash of anger, Allen relented, "Alright I'll help you. If I know what you're asking me to help you with, can we deal with my problem first?"

Jared nodded. Smiling maliciously, he detailed the kind of resources he was willing to offer Allen. Among them, skilled assassins who would kidnap their intended targets for the right price.

Daemon had been walking around the academy gardens for the past twenty minutes. He just could not seem to find a release for the anxiety that he was feeling. All the while, his thoughts circled around Miki, Kelly's sudden concern for him, and Kelly coming home last night crying. The circle never stopped.

He realized that he had stopped when he didn't feel the wind on his face for a few minutes. Just as he was about to turn around and continue his restless prowl of the gardens, he noticed a woman at the end of the path. She had her back to him, but he could not help noting that she had red hair. As his heart started to race, she turned around and saw that there was someone else there. His heart bled.

Her hair, although was red, it was faded and more of a copper color. Her eyes made him ache. They were blue, not quite the same color just a shade darker than the person he had thought her to be. She smiled pleasantly as he came towards her.

Daemon bowed respectfully. Careful to keep his voice neutral, he said, "Lady Urameshi, it is a pleasure to meet you."

"Daemon Satsune. Congratulations on your recent achievements," Kitsu's eyes danced a little with merriment. "What brings you to the Peace gardens, my lord?"

"My thoughts are troubled. Mostly, I can't help but wonder if there is anything I can do. A friend of mine is hurt and she won't say why, and someone I just met not all that long ago invades my every thought. I barely know the person and yet at the same time, I feel like I've known them all of my life." Daemon shook his head, "I'm sorry. That probably made no sense."

Placing a hand on his upper arm, Kitsuyami smiled gently. "On the contrary, young man, it makes perfect sense to me. Look in your heart and you'll see that you know the answers. A young woman's heart is riddled with worry when business can interfere. Another," she shrugged, "Well, only time will tell and I cannot help you there. But don't deny yourself the answers and gifts you have."

He frowned slightly not quite sure he understood her. Why do some people talk in riddles? It drives me up the wall sometimes. He smiled and lifted her hand to his lips. Kissing the knuckles in an ancient gesture of courtliness, he said, "Thank you for your wisdom and advice, Lady Urameshi."

"I suggest that maybe you should stop by the Observatory. I would heartily urge myself to do so if I were you."

Dropping her hand, Daemon frowned again. He thought that he had seen a twinkle in her eyes as he heard the hint in her voice. "My thanks again, Lady Urameshi."
The Observatory was one of her favorite places in the academy. It was placed close to the green house where her grandmother once tended the saplings, close to the ocean that her mother loved so much and the wild forests that bordered both. Miki smiled as the late afternoon sun colored the sky with oranges, pinks and purples.

The Observatory was just that, a place that one could observe things. All things, not just the stars. It had a telescope to view the distant constellations and planets. It had a wide earthen patio that was filled with luxurious plants grown to about waist high, pleasantly tame and yet wild enough to tease the senses. Along the border of the patio, there were small raised balconies from which people could look out at the gardens, school, ocean or even gaze at the immense forests surrounding the academy on three sides.

"Almost twilight," she sighed with pleasure, her eyes focused on the ocean, "Almost time to give back to the land."

As was tradition, she was taught by her mother a ceremony. The ceremony, preformed at a certain time of the day, was to give back to the land energy that was used. She had used that energy, along the water and earth branches, to help heal a sick child. So, she sat there, on a bench, waiting for the right time. A gentle breeze came blowing off of the ocean's waves as she waited.

As tradition dictated, twilight was the perfect time to sing to the land. To sing to give back to the land, to sing herself to the land. Giving back the power that she had used.

With about an hour left until the sun seemed to touch the waters on the horizon, Miki turned towards the forest. Wild and free, it called to her. Just like the sleek and powerful ocean called to her. They both seduced her senses, teasing the wild part of her.

Turning towards civility, turning towards the academy, she froze. Standing near the door to the patio, just watching her, was Daemon. He looked just as he did the last time she saw him and it took her breath away. All she could do was smile shyly at him.

"Hello, Daemon," she said quietly.

He bowed slightly as he returned the greeting, "Nice to see you again, Miki. May I join you?"

Slowly standing up, she nodded. "For a little while. I… umm… have something to do soon." She shifted her feet, silently wishing that it was already twilight to help her hide her blush.

"Thank you, my lady," he said with a warm smile.

"No need for formality, good sir," she joked a little. Her cheeks colored a darker red. Casting a look over her shoulder, her eyes widened slightly. The sun was already a quarter gone.

Almost too quietly, Daemon said, "The song you are about to sing usually has a partner, does it not?"

Miki's head snapped around and caused a muscle in her neck to spasm. Eyes wide, Miki stuttered, "Usually… Usually it does… Usually my mother, sister or father… I haven't sung with anyone else, and on many occasions I've sung alone. Why do you ask?"

"I ask, for have you forgotten that I, too, am like you? Have you forgotten that the land calls to me as it does to you?" Or that you call to me, he thought.

Miki just stared at him for a moment with her mouth hanging open slightly. "I guess that I have… I'm sorry, it's just that a past hurt got in the way. I am sorry, but I'd rather do this alone," she said quietly. Turning towards the horizon, she watched the sun sink further down.

Daemon watched her turn away from him. A sense of failure welled up inside of him. She doesn't trust you yet… Give her time, a voice inside of him said. "Would you like to be left alone?"

"Please."

"As you wish, my lady," he said. He turned around and walked out the Observatory door. A single glance back at her and he was gone.

Sensing that he was gone, Miki's shoulders sagged a little in defeat. A couple of tears fell at the hurt she had heard in Daemon's voice.
Daemon sat at the bar in his kitchen, sipping a hot cup of coffee. He couldn't stop wondering what he had done wrong, couldn't stop thinking about how skittish Miki seemed when he saw her a little over an hour ago. He could remember how her cheeks and hair glowed in the setting sun's light, how her eyes held a bit of fire in them. That is, until he mentioned what she was about to do.

What's wrong, Dae?" a quiet voice at his elbow asked.

"I feel like I'm going about this whole thing the wrong way… I feel like I scare her," he despaired. Silent tears slipped down his cheeks from saddened eyes.

"I know that I'm a pest and all, and that you probably don't want my advice, but I do have a suggestion that you might like… That is if you're willing to listen," Kelly said quietly.

Daemon sniffed once loudly as he wiped the tears away and turned to face her. He shrugged, "I've got nothing else to do."

"Why don't WE, as in you and me, go back to wherever it is that she is and invite her out? It's still earlier and she can't've eaten already," she smiled in a slightly mischievous way. "Besides, I doubt she'd feel threatened or scared by you with another girl there."

Daemon frowned, then smiled a little. "Why not!?"

Grinning from ear to ear, Kelly waited patiently as he washed his face and freshened up. Slipping a companionable arm around his waist, she led him towards the front door.
The final note of her song died as the first star glowed brightly in the midnight blue sky. The light of the song's power faded with the sun's light and a harvest moon glowed in its place.

Miki felt a little better than she had when Daemon left. She didn't mean to be frightened of him, not after the talk she had with her mother. Her song only made her realize that she's afraid of loving again, afraid that once she gave all of her heart that somehow he'll twist it and change. Then, she realized that she was being silly, that Daemon isn't Allen, and that she was wrong to even think of it.

Having thought about that, Miki turned towards the main entrance of the Observatory and pulled her forest green cloak tighter to her body. The wind had picked up and it cooled her quickly. Passing through the doors, she stopped at the desk.

The chief librarian stood behind it. His black eyes taking in her own blood-shot ones and her loosened braid. Before attending the academy, Miki had never seen a man like him before. His black hair formed a widow's peak on his brow, black eyes, pale skin and the most sensuous blood red lips she had ever seen. His feathery black eyebrows accented his widow's peak as he frowned at her in concern.

"Thank you, Geoffrey," she said quietly, handing the book she had borrowed over to him.

"Not a problem, Ms. Urameshi," he replied, accepting the book. "Please tell your mother that I said congratulations on two accounts."

"Two? I know that one is for me recently becoming a master, right?" Geoffrey nodded. "But what is the other for?... Oh! That would explain a lot." Her face showed her surprise and pleasure.

"Also tell your mother that her plants will be well tended should she decide that she needs to take leave for a while," Geoffrey smiled warmly.

"I will Geoffrey. Thanks again," she turned and sprinted down the long hall that led to the academy and the world outside.

Slowing her pace to a walk as she neared the door, Miki was glowing with pride. Her fair cheeks colored a pale cherry blossom as she couldn't stop smiling. She reached for the door handle and she wanted to find Luna as soon as possible. The handle turned beneath her hand almost unexpectedly. At first, the door opened to the girl she had ran into yesterday. Then, it opened further to admit Daemon.

Both were in a deep conversation with one another, looking around and at each other. Miki's cheeks turned a shade or two darker red as her smile became shy. The girl took half a step before noticing her and stopped mid-stride. Her eyes were shining with interest again. Daemon noticed Miki a split second after Kelly stopped talking.

"I see we meet again," Kelly's quiet voice hinted at the immense knowledge that she had and her young age.

Miki's eyes shifted to Kelly and noticed the arm that was still wrapped companionably around Daemon's waist. Turning her eyes away from the arm, she saw Kelly's eyes narrow slightly and realized that she had seen the sorrow she felt. Fighting to think that maybe they're just friends, Miki smiled at them and noticed the sorrow and amusement written in Kelly's eyes.

"I see we do," Miki said. "You'll have to excuse me, I know we met yesterday and all, but my memory is rather poor when it comes to meeting new people. And I don't seem to remember your name."

Kelly shrugged, "It's okay. We just met then, and I can understand. Had it happen once or twice myself. I'm Kelly Savage." She removed her arm from Daemon's waist and offered her hand to Miki.

"Miki Urameshi," she accepted Kelly's hand and shook it once.

"Urameshi? Are you in any way related to THE Dianne Urameshi?" Kelly looked intrigued.

"Yup, she's my grandma. Why do you ask?" Miki's full attention was on Kelly, so she didn't notice Daemon shifting from one foot to the other nervously.

"Oh, she taught a class that I was in a while back…" she shrugged. "If you see her, ask her if she remembers me, please. And if she does, tell her I said hi!"

Daemon cleared his throat once, trying to politely interrupt the girls. Kelly's eyes narrowed slightly and she jabbed him in the ribs with a pinky nail. Miki became quiet and her blush returned.

"Kelly is my best friend's little sister," he said in an explanation. "She wanted to go somewhere and we ended up here." Daemon shrugged as he shifted his feet again. "We… I mean I, was just wondering if you'd like to join us for something to eat."

"We're going to one of my favorite restaurants," Kelly piped in.

Miki considered the offer for a moment. Shrugging, she said, "Why not?! I've just one errand to run, so could you give me a few minutes?"

"Mind if we tag along?" Kelly asked, seemingly like a younger girl.

Shrugging again, she said, "Sure."
Luna walked towards the windows at the far end of the library. She had spent the last few minutes wandering through the many aisles of the Natural Science section and was on the last one. Stopping at the end of one bookcase, she looked to her right as she heard someone approaching.

She smiled as she saw who it was. "Hello, Randy."

"Hmm… Oh, hey there, Lune," his gray-green eyes were tired and troubled.

Frowning with concern, Luna folded her arms across her chest. "Something on your mind that you need help with, Randy?"

"Huh?... Oh, no. I have to try to figure this out myself," he seemed to be thinking in a circle.

Luna shrugged. "Well… Okay, but if you need someone to talk to, let me know…" She gave him a searching look, before turning back to what she was originally doing. "Oh, Mother wanted to know if she could get these books." She turned and gestured to the stack of books on the table and the ones she held in her arms.

Randy turned and read the spines quickly. Half of them he had read last night… Before Kelly had showed up and gave him something to think about… The other half, he didn't think of pulling out those books. I should have remembered that it's good to know fauna as well as the flora. Now, why didn't I think of that? The books were on animals.

"Sure. I'll just make a list of them and give it to Geoffrey."

"Oh, no need to worry about that. Mother already made one and signed it so he'd know who had them. Trying to hold the books with one arm while she dug in her pockets, Luna scowled a little. After digging through almost all of her pants pockets, she finally pulled a slip of paper from a back pocket. She flipped it open and smiled, turning the piece of paper over to Randy.

He reviewed the list with a half-smile. "Okay Luna. Tell your mother that I said hello."

"Sure thing, Randy. See you later?"

"Yeah."

She walked off and passed through the mythology section. Her eyes quickly scanning the titles for future reference. I think that I'll come back tomorrow for a better look at those books, she thought with a smile. Besides, I haven't had a good read in quite some time… I'm pretty sure that Miki won't be reading for a while, though there's no telling with her. With the way that she's always got her nose stuck in one book or another she'll never have a social life.

Luna shrugged as she left the library, remembering that you can't really change someone. Not when you already like them for the way that they are. It was something that she had taught herself a long time ago. She smiled to herself as the library doors closed silently behind her.