A/N: Well, I intended to update yesterday, but my computer crashed, leaving me more than a little irate. (Read as: riderofdragons got so pissed at his computer he blew it away with a gattling gun and then danced for joy through the burning wreckage) Ok, maybe I over reacted a bit. ^-^ Anyway, it took most of the night to reload my files from what I archived to CD, unfortunately chap 9 wasn't one of those lucky files. _  So, sorry for the delay.

On an unrelated note, when I started this fic, I honestly didn't think that anyone would give it much consideration. So, I was quite surprised to find that I've gotten such support. Some of you even listed me as a favorite author, and I am honored. I was surprised that I was listed as such because you guys until now I didn't know about the stats page, and you guys haven't left a review. So to those who are reading in the background, I wish to thank you for your silent support. Thanks too, to all who have reviewed thus far.

Ok, I'm done now. Enjoy everyone!

Love Hina: Healing Hearts

Disclaimer: You guys know the drill by now, but here we go again just in case. I don't own Love Hina, but the original characters are mine.

Chapter Nine: Only In Dreams or Why We Are The Way We Are

The young girl watched as the adults fought. She remained silent hoping that if she was quiet, they would stop yelling. She couldn't even tell what they were saying anymore, but she knew it had to have something to do with her. It was always her fault, her mother had told her so. Even when they were on vacation, she couldn't be a good girl.

Suddenly a plate shattered against the wall, leaving a trail of food sliding down the wall. She ran from the inn room her family was staying in. She wasn't sure if the adults had thrown the plate, or if she had, but either way she couldn't stand the fighting any more. She pulled a small note from her pocket as she ran up the stairs to the deck, holding it tight against her chest as she climbed over the railing and onto the roof.

It was raining. Not any ordinary rain, but a thunderstorm unlike the region had seen in years. She couldn't let that stop her though; she had to get this to the secret spot. He had to know that she had been there, that she hadn't forgotten about their promise. She couldn't break her promise to him! If she could get her note to their spot, he would know why she couldn't come. Suddenly, the wind gusted strong once again. Her foot slipped, and she began to fall. She screamed out for help, and then the world went black.

***

The young girl awoke to find she was laying on a futon covered with a blanket. "Where am I?"

"Oh good! You're awake!" A boy looking at least twice as old as her came over to her bedside from where he sat at the table. "You scared me half to death falling off the roof like that." He smiled down at her. "Luckily you fell on me, rather than the ground!"

The little girl sat up slowly and looked at the boy a moment before hanging her head. "I'm so sorry."

The boy smiled. "Don't worry about it. See? Only a small bump." He leaned down to let the girl see the small welt. "My granny says that I'm invincible."

The girl smiled and then franticly began looking through her pockets for her note. "Oh no! Where is it? I can't lose it! Not now!"

The boy pulled a wet, but intact envelope from his back pocket. "This?"

The girl sprang up suddenly and grabbed the letter out of his hand and turned away.

Though surprised, the boy was more concerned that the girl was crying. "What's wrong?" He circled around the futon and crouched next to the girl, wiping the tears from her deep blue eyes.

She looked up as her tears continued to fall. "It's ruined." He voice was soft and sad. "Now he'll think that I broke our promise, and he'll hate me just like everyone else does."

The boy frowned, he new how important promises were. "I'll fix it up for you. I'll even put it up on the roof for you so you won't fall again."

The little girl looked up at the boy. "Really?" Her face broke into a smile as the boy nodded. "Arigato gozimasu onii-chan!" She leaned forward giving the boy a hug.

The two children turned as an old woman entered the room. "Ah, there you are little one. Your father has been looking all over for you. It seems that it is time for you to go home now."

The little girl nodded. "Hai."

The young boy watched as she left the room and slid the door shut. "Grandma? How come that girl was so sad?"

The hold woman sat down at the table and sighed heavily. "There is much in her life that she cannot control, and it rips at her heart."

The boy frowned. "That's terrible! Why can't we do something to help her?" His grandmother reached out and patted him lovingly on the head.

"Alas, there is nothing we can do, not yet anyway. There are things already set in motion that you do not yet know about. Do not worry, you will help her by delivering that letter to her friend." She smiled. "When the time comes, you will help them both to heal their hearts."

They boy cocked his head to one side, completely confused. "I don't understand."

The old woman nodded. "Nor should you yet. Now, didn't you make a promise to fix that?" She pointed at the letter.

The boy nodded and got to work. With in a few hours he managed to recreate the letter along with the drawing that had been inside, although a bit crudely. However, he couldn't decipher whom the letter was intended for. "Hopefully he'll know by her name, Shinonome." He smiled. "What an unusual and pretty name."

He placed the papers in a plastic bag and headed up to the roof. Once there he found a small passage hidden beneath one of the shingles, and placed the bag there, before walking away content with his work.

The letter would remain there for the entire summer, and many more after that.

***

"Onii-chan!"

The boy looked down from where he sat in the tall, overgrown tree, to see a young girl with short, light brown hair and hazel eyes. "Nani?"

The girl cupped her hands around her mouth, to increase the sound of her voice. "Papa wants to talk with you!"

The boy frowned, but hid that fact from his little sister. He jumped down from the tree branch, occasionally slowing his descent by flipping from the other branches, landing softly without a sound.

"You're getting pretty good at that." The girl complimented. "The others might soon think that you're the Avatar of Wood rather than me!"

He smiled. "That reminds me," He reached beneath his jacket. "I was wondering if maybe you were ready to take care of Genseiri now?" He held the long dagger with the handle towards her.

She stared at the ornate carvings of roses and ivy on the dark wood of the handle. "But, I'm not ready…"

The boy smiled. "Yes you are. Onegai, imouto." He smiled as she took the blade. "Take good care of it, ya?"

"I will!" The girl nodded.

The boy turned and began to walk away. Now that his face was hidden from her again, his frown returned. "I suppose it is time." He whispered softly.

He moved quickly through the hallways that were a part of the place he had once called home, until he came to the door of his father's "study", as he called it. His father allowed no weapons into this room, with good reason. The boy rested his swords against the wall, gazing at them a moment. They were nearly identical except for the fact that one was sheathed in white ivory, while the other was encased in black onyx. "Good bye my friends." Though bereft of his swords, he was not unarmed. He fingered the subtle shape of his weapon hidden beneath his sleeve. He clenched his fist and entered the room. "I won't allow this to continue."

"You're late." Stated his father. "When I send for you, you're response should be immediate."

The boy felt his lip twitch. "My apologies, My Lord." He spat out the last to words in disgust.

The taller man walked over to his son and roughly backhanded him. He frowned as the boy's head turned from the force of the blow, but otherwise did respond. "You disappoint me boy. You've changed ever since you befriended that girl at the inn. You are not to see her anymore, it interferes with your focus."

"I'll do whatever I want to old man." The boy's head snapped back the other way as he was hit again. His father stepped away.

"I would have thought that you would have learned that it is not in your best interests to challenge me by now." He picked up a long katana up from where it hung against the wall. "Too much of your mother in you I suppose. Still, your resilience is admirable, though it will also be your undoing." He turned to see that the boy still had not moved since being struck. "Get over here boy!"

At last the boy turned his head. "Go to hell. I found the logs you kept hidden in library, you lied to me, to all of us." He gripped his hands into tighter fists, causing his nails to cut into his palms. He continued to talk as small rivulets of blood fell to the floor. "All this time, you lied to us. Everything we've been denied, everything you inflicted on us in the name of training, it wasn't about justice, you just wanted revenge for being beaten." He looked up and smiled at his father. "Well I quit. I'll be damned if I'm going to follow a liar and a murderer."

The older man was furious now. "I said get over here! Or shall I let your siblings take part in this punishment as well?"

The young boy snarled. "I've never let you touch them, and I won't now either." He reached for his sleeve where his shinobi throwing stars were. Suddenly his father was right before him, and roughly grasped at his sleeve. The boy howled in pain as the sharp blades cut into his flesh.

"You insolent brat!" The old man squeezed harder. "I will beat this defiance you inherited from your mother from you once and for all!" He unsheathed the long sword and brought it down upon the boy.

The boy cried out in pain as the steel bit into his flesh. He felt the wind at his back as the blade was raised again, before piercing his skin again.

Something began to crack in the boy's mind. A small, white flame suddenly grew larger, yet it did not brighten or grow hotter. Instead it cooled down and paled to a dull gray color.

The old man laughed at the cries of pain as he raised his blade for a third strike. "It seems you're not as strong as you think my son. I'll even bet that your sisters are stronger than you!" He began to lower the blade again.

The flame darkened further and grew larger still. The boy cried out in pain as he saw his blood hit the floor.

"Ahh yes." The father laughed. "That will be a fitting punishment. I will make you watch as I punish them as well."

The blade fell again.

At last the barrier broke down. The flame transformed into a raging fire, but the flames were black and cold. He felt it spread through his body until it consumed his heart. He cried out against everything he had been put through out his young life, and felt his pain explode from his body.

The old man tried to attack again as the barriers cracked and were thrown a way. His blade was stopped mere inches his son's flesh, as the scream reached his ears the blade flew back striking him in the face, leaving a bloody gash. He stumbled backward and fell to the floor staring at the young boy. A moment later the room was consumed in an explosion of black energy. "It cant' be! He's awakened his rei! He'll kill us all!" A moment later a second explosion followed and the world went black.

***

Shinobu woke up to a chorus of screams echoing through out the Hinata-sou. It was only after a few minutes that she realized the one of the voices was her own, and that she had tears falling freely down her face. After she felt that she had calmed herself enough she when in search of the others. She heard the clamor of footsteps on the stairs and rushed to meet Motoko, Su, Kanako, and Hotaru. A moment later the doors on the second floor opened as Kitsune, Naru, and Keitaro entered the hall.

"Is everyone ok?" Asked the landlord.

Shinobu nodded as she held onto Hotaru, comforting the younger girl as she continued to cry. "I think so, what happened?"

"I don't know about the rest of y'all, but I must have had one freakish dream." Kitsune admitted as she tried to pour herself some sake to calm her badly shaking nerves.

Su climbed up and perched herself on Motoko's back. "Me too."

Motoko nodded. "It felt as though someone invaded my dreams, forcing their thoughts upon me with a force like I've never experienced."

"I agree." Concurred Kanako. "Someone's ki is responsible for this."

Motoko shook her head. "It was similar to ki, but all together different at the same time, it felt to powerful." She shivered. "It was also ice cold."

Naru looked around at all the tenants, who nodded their heads in agreement. "Well, at least everyone seems to be unharmed."

Shinobu looked around nervously now. "Where's Ken?" She gently separated herself from Hotaru and ran down the hall to Ken's room. "Ken?" She pressed her ear against the door and heard something on the other side. She opened the door and took a step back in surprise.

His room looked as though one of Su's larger bombs had been detonated with in it recently. The windows were either cracked or completely blown out. There were scorch marks on the wall as well as the floor, and the few pieces of furniture that had been in the room were fragmented everywhere. The most shocking sight however was that of Ken sitting in the middle of his room, the seeming epicenter of what ever had occurred, and he was curled into a ball, rocking back and forth.

"I'm not him…I'm me…I'm Ken…I'm strong…He can't hurt me anymore…" Ken chanted this over and over as though in shock.

Hotaru pushed her way past where Shinobu stood at the door. "Onii-chan?"

Ken reacted violently and scrambled over to the furthest corner of the room. He faced the wall and began to rock back and forth again as he tried to cover his back with his hands as he hugged himself. "No more, please no more…I've bled so much for you all already…so much blood…no more blood…I have no more blood…it's all gone… no more…no more blood…no more life…I'm dead…no more…"

Hotaru began to cry harder. "Onii-chan! What wrong with you?"

Ken rocked faster. "No more…so much blood…no more blood…how am I alive with no blood? …it must be his blood…it's not my blood…he has no blood? …I'm still here…"

Shinobu raced across the short distance that separated them, and wrapped her arms around him. The moment they touched he instantly quieted. "Shh, it's ok, no more, you're with friends. Please Ken, calm down? You're scaring Hotaru…and me." Ken looked up into her eyes, but the eyes she saw weren't the confident, playful, and sometimes secretive eyes that she had come to expect to see. He was afraid. These eyes belonged to a scared little boy. At last he nodded and rested his head against her shoulder. A few minutes later he was asleep.

***

The others all went down stairs where Kitsune put up a pot of coffee. "Are you sure we should leave the three of them up there?"

Kanako looked over at the resident fox. "You want to try to pull Shinobu and Hotaru away from him? The damn little kid nearly clawed my eyes out when I tried to take her out of there. She's as psycho as her brother."

Naru raised an eyebrow. "Like you're so normal goth girl?"

"Shut up you cockroach!" Kanako shot back.

"Why you!" Naru stood up quickly ready to fight.

"Come on!" Kanako taunted.

"Ano…" Keitaro tried to catch their attention. "Are you sure this is the best time for you two to be doing this?"

Kitsune poured everyone a very large cup of coffee. "So what happened anyway?"

"It will take some time to understand fully, but someone invaded our home somehow using ki." Motoko stated as she sipped at her coffee. "It affected our dreams, that's why we all reacted the same way."

"But Ken's reaction was a lot more violent, the poor guy seems like he's about to have a nervous break down." Kitsune rested her head against the table. "Oh, thinking this early in the morning is exhausting."

Kanako took another sip of her coffee. "But, why did Ken react that way?" She glanced over at Motoko. "Is it possible that he was the cause? And weren't you the one that said it wasn't ki?"

Motoko nodded. "I did, but the more I think about it, it's the only thing that makes sense. What else could possibly affect us on that level?" She paused and stared at the contents of her mug. "As for Ken being the source it's impossible, he has no ki of any kind. I've been trying to sense him on a regular basis, but there is simply nothing there."

Naru looked concerned. "I take it that's a bad thing?"

Motoko nodded. "The only things that I have encountered in my training with no ki are dead bodies. Everything else gives off at least a little bit."

Su picked her head up out of her mug where she had fallen back to sleep. "Hey! Didn't he say something about being dead during his going crazy thing?"

Motoko suddenly remembered those words. "He did…" She turned to the others. "Everyone listen, once Ken wakes up we need to separate him from Shinobu and Hotaru long enough for me to talk privately with him. There are to many questions he needs to answer, but it will be to dangerous to let any of you near him when I confront him."

Keitaro leaned forward. "Shouldn't I be the one to talk to him then? I have proven to be near immortal after all."

Motoko shook her head. "You're body is impervious to harm, but you have no defense against spiritual attacks."

"Based on the fact that we all woke up crying like babies suggests to me that you don't either." Pointed out Kanako to the other girl.

"And when did Ken become public enemy number one in this little endeavor?" Remarked Kitsune. "You did say he wasn't the cause."

"I'm not as certain any more." Motoko sipped again at her coffee, and glanced at Kanako. "I wasn't prepared for such an attack before, now I will be able to be on guard. It won't happen again. And I didn't cry like a baby."

Kanako grinned. "Oh yes you did!"

"No I didn't!" Motoko yelled back.

Su's head popped up again. "Yes you did. Remember? We were lying right next to each other in bed when you…"

"Shut up Su!" Motoko yelled at the other girl.

A light bulb suddenly turned on in Keitaro's head. "Wait! You mean you and Su still sleep together?" A small trickle of blood leaked down from his nose.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Demanded Naru as she strangled her fiancé. "Did you forget that I'm right here? Hentai baka!" She executed an impeccable uppercut that sent Keitaro flying up through the roof.

Kitsune sat back and drank deeply from her cup. "It's so nice to see we're all so serious in the face of this seemingly catastrophic threat to our home." She laughed as she heard Keitaro begging for his life and finished her drink. "Where's my camera?"

***

Shinobu's eyes fluttered open and she immediately bolted upright. "How did I get back to my room?" She quickly made her way to the room beside her own and threw open the door. "Ken? What the…"

The room was immaculate. The furniture was clean and polished. There were no burns that could be seen anywhere. There wasn't even a stray shard of glass from the windows that had been destroyed. Ken was also gone.

Shinobu rushed down stairs to the kitchen, thinking that maybe he was hungry after missing breakfast, but he wasn't there either. She ran to the third floor to Hotaru's room. "Where's your brother?"

Hotaru groggily pulled the covers down from her head. "Huh?" Her eyes widened as she recognized her surroundings. "What the hell…"

"Later, where's Ken?" Shinobu asked again.

Hotaru jumped up from her futon. "Did you not see me just sleeping? How should I know where he is?" She turned as she heard the sound of a motorcycle was heard on the street, and glanced at Shinobu.

Nothing was said, they just started running toward the door. They crashed through Naru and Keitaro, sending the unfortunate couple into the wall as they passed. Su looked up long enough from her magazine on the couch to see the girls run passed and followed behind. Motoko and Kanako made the mistake of poking their heads out to see what the commotion was, and were instantly flattened by the three girls. At last the front door was reached and thrown wide where the girls crashed into Ken.

"Hey! What's the rush?" Ken somehow managed to prevent the girls from falling to the ground, but was forced to sacrifice his bags in his arms to the force of gravity, with an audible crash. "I was only gone a couple hours, but if this is the homecoming I'm going to receive, I'll have to do this more often." He teased.

The four trampled members of the Hinata-sou suddenly appeared from thin air. "No you will not!"

Ken let go of the girls and began to collect the items he had dropped on the ground. "So what's got you all worked up anyway? Did something happen while I was out?"

Shinobu looked at him in shocked silence for a moment. "You mean you don't remember?"

Ken blinked in confusion. "Remember what?"

A/N: I realized that I forgot to note something from chap seven. Hiraishin, the name of the nunchaku weapons used, translates to "lightening rods". And in this chap you have Genseiri, which means "virgin forest". Also, name meanings made an appearance here, so I hope these won't be spoilers, but rather teasers. Shinonome means "daybreak or dawn", and Ken means "strong and healthy". Hope that adds a bit to the story. If not, it will have more meaning later.

Good? Bad? Other? Drop me a line and let me know. 'Till the next, live well all.