Dark Love

By: Padfoot-chan

I am in the same boat as everyone else. My father hates gay people and people who like gays. There were these woman talking about it on the television and he called them sick. He should meet some of my friends, I have this flaming gay guy friend…who I love and adore :3 because he's funny as fluff…and he would scare the living fluff out of my father. Scared it out of me more than once. Also, thanks for the wonderful reviews, everyone :3 They always make my day 3

Sorry about the long delay on this. I was getting out the ideas and outline for this chapter as fast I as could and then the Ghost! Manga volume three got in the way. This is longer than the other chapters so I hope that made up for it.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Golden Sun characters. They belong to Camelot.

Warning: Shonen-ai has landed! Run for the hills, it's going to get pretty intense from here on out :3 You know I'll be loving ever minute of it too evil laughter Time to corrupt some children. Sorry, I'm rebelling against all yaoi-haters as much as I possibly can.

This chapter is dedicated to all my wonderful reviewers of Dark Love. I love you guys! You're the best :3 Read and Review please! Oh, and about the picture…I'll try to fix it as soon as I find the time. Most of the free time goes into working on this or thinking up more ideas for it XD

Chapter 4: Truth be Told

I stumble into my darkened room and clap my hands twice, turning the lights on before leaning out the doorway and waving to Garcia and Picard as they wonder off down the hallway to their bedroom. Turning back around and closing the door behind me, I spot my bag sitting at the foot of my bed, my laptop sitting on a small desk in the corner of the room, and about three or four boxes set in front of a large mahogany dresser. My mother must have sent my things here while I was in China.

That pillow fight we had a couple of minutes back really woke me up so I might as well do something to get me sleepy. I flop back onto my new bed, grabbing a book from the dresser as I go. I grab the silver remote control off the bed and turn the television on as I open my book, lying on my bed with my feet on the pillow.

"The police say that Takamori Shinichi was a criminal in league with one of Japan's biggest crime lords. Even though it looks like a suicide, Takamori's death was in fact a murder. It is quite similar to the other cases that were at first thought to be suicide cases but a young woman has informed police that she saw a young man walking away from the scene of the crime earlier." I look away from my book at this and stare at the screen upside-down. "Police around Sendai are on the lookout for a man in his late teens with white-blonde hair, pale skin and is around six-foot-one. If you encounter this man, do not confront him. Call police immediately. He is thought to be armed and dangerous."

I flip over onto my chest, nibbling on my bottom lip thoughtfully. A young man in his late teens…six-foot-one…with white-blonde hair and pale skin? I am almost five-foot-six now and that man that I ran into this evening was a little over six-foot. He fit the description perfectly but he seemed so sad, almost as if he had lost something very important to him. It could not possible have been him. He was…somewhat nice to me and he made me feel so lightheaded.

My heart starts to pound faster as I form an image of the man in my mind. I sit up quickly, touching one hand to my cheek to feel that my face has grown hot again. I fall forward onto my pillow, hugging it close to my chest as I toss the book haphazardly back onto the dresser. His eyes…those were what I remember the most about him. They were a piercing, pale blue, almost unearthly in their beauty, just as he had been. Strange…normally my mind does not linger on one person for so long, especially if it was someone I had just met. There was something else. He did not seem human. Why was that? Who was he?

As my eyes begin to lull, I fumble around for the remote and turn the television off, clap my hands twice over my head to turn off the lights and flop down onto my bed again as I drift off into sleep.

--

Strong hands grasp my shoulders gently from behind and he pulls me to his chest, my head leaning back against his shoulder. His hands drift down from my shoulders, slowly fingering the buttons of my shirt. One of his hands trails down my chest before moving to my hand, our fingers entwining as he presses his lips to my cheek. "Are you so sure that you can love someone like me?" he whispers into my ear, his voice full of pain.

I turn around at this, gazing up into his pale blue eyes for a long moment, making sure that he knew I was looking at him and not just his eyes and then I grab the back of his neck with my free hand, pulling him down into a heated kiss. He hesitates to return the action until he finally gives into the motion, looping his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

I feel his tongue begin to dance along my bottom lip as he lets go of my hand, brining his newly freed hand up to cradle the side of my face. He parts my lips with his tongue to deepen the kiss as he pushes me back toward his bed. The back of my knees hit the edge of the bed and he continues to push me until I am lying on my back with him on top of me, neither of us ever breaking the kiss.

He removes his hand from my waist and begins to undo the buttons of my shirt as I tangle my fingers into his hair wanting to pull him closer. He pushes his tongue deeper into my mouth before he finally breaks away, his breaths coming out in ragged gasps as he gazes down at me, something new burning in his eyes.

"I hope that answers your question." I whisper, smiling up at him. He pushes my bangs out of my eyes, stroking my cheek with the back of his hand. "Will you make a promise to me?" He leans down, kissing my forehead lovingly before making a reply.

"Anything, my sweet angel, anything you ask. You have only to name it and it shall be yours in a heartbeat."

"Please…stay with me. I love you more than anything and I only want to be with you, please…" He smiles and leans down again, pressing his lips to mine in a gentle, chaste kiss and he begins to whisper to me, his lips moving against mine as he mouths three words.

"I am yours."

--

A loud knocking cuts into my dream and I sit up quickly, throwing myself off my bed and onto the floor. My cheeks are hot with the embarrassment of throwing myself out of my own bed and also the memory of the last nights dream coming back to me with such clarity that I am surprised to see I still have my clothes on.

The door creaks open and Jasmine pokes her head in, probably checking to see if I am dressed. She smirks when she spots me on the floor before pushing the door open further and entering the room. She crosses the large room in a few strides before pausing at the window and throwing the curtains open and letting the morning sunlight burst through the window, illuminating the room. I groan and throw my arm up to shield my eyes from the sudden bright light. "Ivan, dear heart, may I ask you what you are doing on the floor?"

"You…uh…just startled me, that's all." I climb to my feet, swaying slightly and leaning back against the dresser behind me. Jasmine makes her way toward me and smiles again. I arch an eyebrow at her as she continues to stare at me with a curious smile. "What? Have I got something on my face?" She nods and I quickly spin around to look at the mirror that is connected to the dresser. I finds that I am still blushing, profusely so. I bow my head and she pats my shoulder good-naturedly.

"So, what's up, Ivan? Have a wet dream or something?" I stagger away from her, my face heating up more than before as I drop onto the floor again, tripping over my stumbling feet.

"N-no! Jasmine, how could you say such a thing?" Oh, God, someone just shoot me now and get this embarrassment over with before she finds out I am bi. She waves a finger in my face, making a tutting noise in her mouth before she continues.

"It is perfectly normal for a boy of your-"

"I did not have a perverted dream, Jasmine!" I yell before she can finish her parental speech. At first she looks taken aback but then she lets out a sigh, folding her arms over her chest and tapping her foot on the ground. I climb back to my feet and sit down on the edge of my bed, staring at my bare feet as I swing them back and forth in front of me until I feel Jasmine sit on my bed next to me.

"Some of the higher students in the academy are going to away for a little trip for a while. There is supposed to be this big, important uh…test in Nagasaki a week from now and we will are going to stay there for a couple of weeks afterwards. A week before to study up as much as we can and then we will stay there after the test to just goof off." She seems to be struggling with something, as if this was all just a façade to cover up a greater, more dangerous truth. She was acting like people were going to die at this test, a lot of special people to her. She brakes her fiery eyes from the wall and smiles at me, her natural 'I am just fine, do not worry about me. I'm supposed to be worrying around you.' Smile. I hate that smile. It makes me feel weak, as if there is nothing I can do to help out one of my best friends. "Picard and my brother are going to stay behind and so will my parents. My parents have to of course; they are running the academy even if the students are going to be leaving. Anyway, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask one of them."

I nod to her and she pulls me into a quick hug, startling me. "Try not to do anything reckless while I am gone, got it, prodigy-boy?" There is something in her voice. Is she crying? "I swear, if I come back and find you have gone and gotten yourself raped and killed by some weirdo, I am going to kill whoever murdered you, bring you back to life and beat you up until you are black and blue all over and cannot move without feeling a blinding pain in every part of your body. Understand?" Her way of showing just how much she cares about me. Threaten me until I am too scared to leave my room without thinking 'Oh, shit, is Jasmine watching me from around the corner?'

I shake my head and smile at her as she pulls away, her eyes sparkling. "Yeah, I got it, Jasmine." She kisses my cheek and hops off my bed, smoothing out her skirt before dancing to the door. She curtsies to me when she reaches the doorway.

"Okay then, see you in a couple of weeks, kiddo. Make sure you stay cute as a button for me. I don't want to come back and find a hot, buff Fukui-boy has come to replace my baby." I roll my eyes as she pulls the door halfway closed. She pokes her head through the doorway before closing it all the way. "One more thing, prodigy-boy, remember, no sex before marriage!"

I groan at her and throw a pillow at her face. Jasmine closes the door before it can hit her. I hear her laughter drifting down the hallway as she walks away. What does she think of me? Seriously, no sex before marriage. Was she trying to be my mother or something? I should be telling her and Gerald that. I bet they are going to have so many babies, they will not know what to do with themselves. I am not babysitting for them, that's for sure. I smile to myself before it turns into a weak smile when I remember something. Mother…

Speaking of my mother though…I would really like to see her. She was so weak and frail when I left for Sendai. I have not heard from her, she was so sick that she could not bring herself to talk on the phone to me. She was grief-stricken when she found out that her mother had passed away. I could not bring myself to tell her that it had been murder. I still do not think that I can tell her even now. I do not want to see what the thought of her mother being murdered would do to her.

I want to make sure that she is being taken care of. Our house is built right by the Sea of Japan. We live in a large lighthouse on the shore near the water because my mother had always loved the sea. She loved the creatures there, hearing a bird's song as they passed overhead. More than anything, though, she loved the smell and the sounds that the waves made as they crashed against the shore. That was why my father decided to build a lighthouse near the sea so that my mother could wake up each morning to the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks and smell the sea air.

My mother loved to tell me that story. How they had been going out for almost five years before my father took her out on a long drive, taking her to a city she was never able see before. My mother was originally from Morioka and her parents hated to travel so she never got to go to another town unless it was when her parents flew her to her grandparents' house, but that was in Hong Kong.

Mother told me how my father blindfolded her before they turned into a large plot of land near the sea and continued to talk about boring things, like how his works was going well and that someone had thrown a copier out the window—my mother was a very weird person, she thought that the moon was truly made out of cheese. She would believe just about anything someone told her and very little surprised her. My father lead her out of the car once he had parked and made her walk for a couple of steps before stopping her, spinning her around once to give her a quick kiss and then undid the blindfold. She said that it had been the third happiest day in her life. The first being when I was born and the second when my father asked her to marry him.

My father had built her a lighthouse, the same lighthouse that she lives in to this very day. She loves it so much. It is the only thing of my father that either of us have left. I remember when I was little, before my dad died how I used to wake up to the sound of his voice singing to my mother. My father had a strong voice and he loved to sing but he would only sing for family, no one else. He said it was his gift to the ones that he loved and no one else needed to hear him because it was enough that he made us happy and no one else mattered to him.

That was one of the things that had made my father such a great guy. Life can be cruel sometimes, taking the best of them when they are young. Instead of being sad and depressed all the time, moping about the place crying and bitching to people about how my father died, I smile because I know that is what he wants me to do. He told me so himself, before he left on the plane trip to China to visit my grandparents. He said that if anything ever happened to him, he did not want me to be sad or mourn over his death for the rest of my life. He said he loved my smile that I had my mother's smile and he never wanted to see that smile die just because of him.

For some reason, maybe it is because of what he said to me before he left, but I think he knew that he was not going to come back to my mother and me. He wanted us to be happy, though. That was always what he had wanted more than anything else in the world. When the news that my father's plane had crashed into a mountainside, the whole family took it pretty hard but more than anyone else, my mother had taken the news about my father's death the worst. She clung to me for almost a whole day. It was almost as if she felt that if she ever let go of me, I would disappear as well.

My aunt Hama, my father's sister, came to Fukui a few days after the funeral and offered to live with us, to look after me and my mother. She was a doctor and had planned to transfer to Fukui earlier so she could be closer to her family but when my father died, her plans were placed on hold until everything could be squared away. Hama is very nice. She taught me a lot of what I know now and I owe her a lot, especially for taking care of my mother in my absence. The older I got, the more I started taking care of my mother but when she sent me away to Sendai for a year, my mother became dependent on Hama once more.

I sigh and run my fingers through my hair, trying to comb out the tangles. Oh well, no reason to think about something that happened a long time ago. There is nothing I can do to change things and as for taking care of my mother…she wants me here now and all I can do is honor her wishes by staying here in the academy and learning as much from the teachers as I can. I should at least do something productive while the other students are gone for a couple of weeks. For starters, I should get my things unpacked.

I slide off my bed and drop back onto the floor, crawling over to the nearest box and peeling the duck tape from the top of the box. Pulling it open, I find some of my clothes folding nearly inside the box. There are clothes in the next two boxes as well. I lift myself onto my knees and begin putting my clothes in my dresser, mildly wondering just how my mother was able to get so many clothes into those tiny boxes. I get to my feet once I fill the bottom drawers with my clothes and as I open the top drawer, my toe brushes against another box, this one smaller than the rest.

I push the drawer close after I set the last of my clothes inside and kneel down in front of the box, pulling it open. Three framed pictures are lying inside of the small box, each of which had been on my dresser at home. The first one is of my mother and father on their wedding day, standing near a serene lake surrounded by blooming sakura trees. I smile down at the picture before placing it on top of my dresser and turning to the next picture. It is an old picture of my mother when she was younger. She is standing in front of a temple with my grandmother and grandfather standing on either side of her, holding her hands and lifting her up into the air. I shake my head laughing and put the picture across from the first one. I turn back to the box and smirk at the last picture before pulling it out into the light. This picture was taken a couple of years after my father's death. I am standing with my back against my cousin, Susa's, both of us looking like complete idiots in the kimonos Hama had made us. Hama is standing behind us, her hands on our shoulders and a look on her face that might say to us 'laugh and I'll tickle you to the ground right here'. I have not seen Susa in a while now; I really should give him a call sometime.

I pull myself to my feet and stack the boxes on top of each other before placing them in the closet and glancing back at the digital clock sitting on the table next to my bed. That killed about two and a half hours. Now what to do for the rest of the day? I grab some clean clothes out of my dresser, head out of my room and to the bathroom that Garcia showed me last night. No one else seems to be awake so I tiptoe to the bathroom as quietly and quickly as I possibly can.

I slip into the bathroom and lock the door behind me. Tossing my clothes onto the counter, I remove my clothes silently and turn the shower on, stepping inside once the water warms up. I step under the showerhead, letting the lukewarm water soak my hair. It is always the same when I shower, I have to think of something else, anything else as long as it does not pertain to showering. The only think that seemed to be of any real interest to me was that dream. Why would I have a dream like that about some guy that I just met? I barely thought about him last night because of that whole pillow fight Gerald had started. I have never met anyone with eyes that color, though. They seemed so surreal. I shake the water out of my eyes and put some shampoo on my hand before working in through my hair, a little too roughly.

His motions were too fluid, too graceful to belong to that of someone of his age. His speech…he was definitely not from Japan but he spoke it fluently. There was a faint hint of…British to his accent but it was very hard to recognize.

I lean back, letting the water wash the suds out of my hair. That dream seems so real and the room that we were standing in…I have never seem a place like that before. I lean my shoulder against the shower wall, the water running into my eyes as I stare at the dark curtains. I wonder if I am ever going to be able to see him again. I bet he thought I was pretty stupid last night, running into him and then staring at him like some lovesick ditz. Oh, God! That was so impolite of me. I…I need to apologize for doing that! Mother told me never to stare at people. I cannot leave that between us. I could go around and look for him after I finish taking a shower and eating breakfast.

I smile to myself, my stomach fluttering with the thought of being able to see him again. Even though it was discourteous, I did like being able to look into his eyes, even if it was for only a short while. He is probably the kind of person he likes to go out at night, he was quite pale, so I should try looking for him tonight. As I work the conditioner into my hair, I try to figure out how much time that gave me before I could start looking for him. A little under six hours before sunset. I sigh and rinse out my hair. I turn off the water and step out of the shower, grabbing a towel to dry off with.

I run the towel through my hair, my mind drifting to more practical matters. Would Garcia and Picard actually let me run around Sendai looking for someone I had ran into. They would, of course, want to come with me to make sure that I was not murdered. For some reason, though, I don't feel as if I have anything to worry about from the murderer. On the news last night, a little after they had given the description of the murderer, the reporter had said that the killer was only going after people who had committed murders themselves. It sounded like the act of some sort of vigilante to me. A vigilante who had taken this a little too far but still…it was just like the old laws of an ancient king. An eye for an eye and a life for a life.

I hang my towel up and begin to dress. As long as the killer is still out, they are not going to allow me to leave the house alone, especially during the night so I have no choice but to let them accompany me on my search. Maybe that way, he won't be too harsh with me when I go to apologize for what happened last night again. When I finally pull my shirt over my head, I glance in the mirror to make sure my hair is neat before walking out of the bathroom. It still does not sound as if anyone is awake yet, but this house is big so someone could be downstairs already.

I wonder down the stairs and enter the kitchen to find Garcia's mother already there, cooking. Garcia is leaning against the counter near his mother, engaged in conversation with Picard who is sitting at the kitchen table, smiling at him. "I am still worry about Jasmine. She has not been on a mission without…" Garcia stops in the middle of his sentence when Picard turns to me. He follows Picard's eyes and freezes when spots me standing in the doorway.

"Good morning, Ivan." Smiles Picard, waving to me, "We were just talking about the students leaving for Nagasaki this morning to take that test." I look at Garcia to see if this is true but he turns away from me before I can catch his eye. "I trust that you slept well? I hope that no one woke you up. They were making such a ruckus this morning, Garcia had to get out of bed this morning and yell at them to keep it down." I smile as Picard starts to laugh at the look on Garcia's face.

"Actually, Jasmine served as my wakeup call this morning." I say, sitting at the table in the chair across from Picard. "She told me about the trip and how they would be in Nagasaki for a couple of weeks." We fall into an uncomfortable silence at this. I tap my feet along the ground, listening to the sizzling of whatever Garcia's mother is cooking.

Suddenly off-key singing drifts down the hallway toward us and Garcia's father enters the kitchen, breaking the tension in the air, still singing a strange little tune about turtles. He ruffles my hair, pats Picard on the shoulder and then hugs his wife around the waist, kissing her on the cheek happily. "Have the three of you planned on doing anything today?" he asks, smiling back at us. Garcia and Picard look at each other before turning to me. Great. They are going to want me to play third wheel. I do not want to ruin their "alone time" by tagging along with them.

"Well, Picard and I were planning on going out, we haven't gotten a chance to just go around walking the park or something in a long time. If Ivan does not have anything he wants to do here, we were thinking that we could take him around, show him some of the new sights." Smiles Garcia, winking at me. Whoever does not think Garcia is a nice guy deserves to have their head dunked in a toilet bowl. "We could head over to the Shinto Shrine and get some good luck charms or ask one of the itako to channel one of the dead." Picard rolls his eyes playfully at this.

"Oh, that's so romantic. Sounds just like our first date, Garcia." We laugh as Garcia makes hurt face, putting his hand to his heart.

"I happen to think that I am romantic enough for the both of us, thank you very much." Picard shakes his head, smiling as he turns away from Garcia and smiles at me.

"What do you think, Ivan? Could you stand to humor us for a couple of hours? We promise to make it worth your while." I laugh and nod. It would be nice to spend time with them again.

When we finish breakfast, I return to my room for half an hour before boredom drives me downstairs again. I wander into the common room to see Picard lying down on one of the couches, his legs hanging off the arm of the couch as he holds a book in front of his face, golden eyes moving down the lines of the pages quickly. I watch him for a moment longer, an idea popping into my mind before I lose my nerve and start to walk out of the room again. "Do you want to talk about something, Ivan?" I pause with my hand on the door, looking back to see Picard lifting himself onto this elbows. "If something is bothering you, kiddo, you should get it off your chest." I let out a sigh and walk over to him, dropping onto the couch next to him. "It isn't like you to brood so much. What's up?"

I blush faintly, bowing my head so Picard cannot see my face as he readjusts himself in his seat, pushing his ponytail off his shoulder. "Well…you see, I met this guy the other night, when I went out for a walk and…well, it's kind of embarrassing to say this but when I looked into his eyes, it was as if time had suddenly stopped all around us. I felt lightheaded and my heart started to race. I don't know why either. I mean, I just met him last night and I don't even know his name or anything…Plus, I feel sort of guilty because I bumped into him and started to stare…"

I look up at Picard and watch him carefully, searching his eyes for what he thought about it when he smiles at me. "Well, it sounds to me like love at first sight." I blush and open my mouth to say that that is so cliché but nothing seems to want to come out. "You know," he continues, saving me, "that is how Garcia and I ended up with each other. I was worried that I was just being shallow, that I did not like him for him at all but that was only for a fleeting moment. I could sense something deeper inside of him, that there was more to it than just his looks. I knew he felt it as well." He smiles and sighs reminiscently before he ruffles my hair fondly, something I can remember my father doing when I was confused or frustrated by something that continued to elude me even after hours of concentration on that one thing. "But only you know what you want or what is good for you. I cannot tell you what to do, what you should feel. Just do not bottle your feelings up inside or hide them from yourself, because even if you think what you are doing is going to protect him, you will only end up hurting yourself, maybe him as well. Have hope that everything will work itself out in the end. Do not wait too long, though. You do not have forever in this world. No one does." He nods to me and rises from the couch. "Garcia wants to leave in half an hour, do you think you can be ready by then? There are a lot of things he wants us to do today. Sorry to say but he can be such a brat sometimes. Always wants things to do the way he planned them to."

"That's okay." I whisper, his words are still on my mind. "I'll go get ready now." I jump off the couch and run past him, hurrying up the many stairs to my room. What did he mean by those words? Talking to him just confused me even more.

I look over at the picture of my mother and father, smiling lovingly. I doubt I am ever going to run into him again anyway. Sendai is a crowded city and I do not even know where to begin to look for him. I rub my arm, letting out a tiered sigh. Well, there is no use it worrying about someone I might never see again. I should forget about him and get on with my life. I am still young, besides, I doubt that he is even into guys. That sucks. I laugh to myself, grabbing my wallet and shoving it into my pocket and then hopping out of my room.

I start to walk down the steps when a strong pair of hands grab me from behind, one arm curled around my stomach and the hand of the other arm covering my mouth so I do not make a sound. The owner of those arms turns me around and I spot Garcia standing there in the hallway. I sigh, as he lets go of me, running my fingers through my hair to comb it back. "What's up, Garcia?" He waves his hand, walking past me and heading down the carpeted stairs.

"Oh, nothing. I just felt like scaring you. Are you ready to go?" I turn around, lifting an eyebrow at him before hurrying after him, muttering a quick yes as I caught up with him. "I hear the fair is in town, it sounds like fun, do you want to check that out?" I nod.

"If you and Picard want to go there, of course." He ruffles my hair, laughing at me.

"You are too polite for your own good, Ivan, you know that?" We reach the entrance hall where we find Picard already slipping his jacket over his shoulders. He smiles as Garcia kisses his cheek, fixing the collar of his leather jacket so that it is standing up. "There, that look better." He teases, patting his shoulders. Picard rolls his eyes and hands me my coat.

"Come on, we need to get to the shrine before the sunsets. You said that you wanted to go to the fair, right, Garcia?" Garcia nods as the three of us head out the door, moving down the driveway and out the front gates. "We can do that after we go to the shrine then."

We do just as Picard said. We went out to one of the Shinto shrines, each of us buying one of the good luck charms from the shrine maiden and after a quick debate whether or not we should ask the itako to channel someone for us, we head off to the fair shortly after. I have never been to a fair with Garcia and Picard before, but it is great seeing two people about three or so years older than me running around like they are kids in a candy store.

"Ah! Let's go on this ride, Ivan!" Garcia grabs onto my arm and starts to pull me towards a ride called 'The Scrambler' but Picard grabs onto my other arm, pulling me toward a different ride called 'The Starship'.

"No, I want to go on this one over here! See? It's bigger and faster than the one you want to ride, Garcia." Garcia puffs up his cheeks, poking Picard in the side.

"So? I want to go on this one. Which one, Ivan?" I back up, laughing nervously as they turn to me, wanting me to decide for them.

"Well…eh heh…" We spent three hours running around the fairgrounds, making sure that we rode all the rides that they had there at least twice before we left, both Picard and Garcia carrying giant stuffed animals they had won. I carried a giant, multicolored snake with giant eyes around my neck, laughing as the two men next to me debated where to go next.

"I wanted to check out that café that just opened up a couple of blocks away from the academy. We can stop them on our way home." Suggested Picard, leaning forward slightly to make sure that he did not drop any of the stuffed animals he was carrying. "And it isn't too far from here."

"Sounds good to me. I'm tiered from keeping up with the two of you. It is just like trying to keep up with a couple of four-year-olds on a major sugar high." I laugh as Garcia playfully bops me on the back of my head with a small pink rabbit he had 'won' as a consolation prize. "I told you we had not been out in a while. I was more surprised when you told me that you've never been on The Scrambler." He comments. I shrug my shoulders.

"Mom never took me out to the fair, either she was too busy or too weak. I did go to one a while back with Susa but we didn't go on a lot of rides when we were there." I scratch the back of my head and glance at my left wrist, yawning when I see the time. "We've been gone for a long time. Are you parents going to be worried, Garcia?" He shook his head.

"No, they knew we might be out a little late. It's cool." Picard points over to a small café down the street, almost dropping the items in his arms. He apologizes quickly as Garcia catches them for him.

"There's the café. Ah, good it's still open. Hurry, we don't want them to close before we get there."

We race down the rest of the street, seeing who could reach the café first. I burst through the door before Picard and Garcia, skidding to a half before I can run into the waitress standing there, a little surprised to see my hurry. Picard and Garcia ran through the door after me, Picard managing to stop before slamming into me. Garcia is not so lucky. His heel slips on the rug and he grabs onto Picard to keep himself from falling to the ground, but catches Picard off guard and only manages to take him down to ground with him, a dozen or more stuffed animals flying into the air after them. The waitress blinks at them before giggling, her laughter brightening her yellow-brown eyes. Picard grabs one of the stuffed pandas and starts hitting Garcia with it as they both apologize to the waitress for the ruckus. "I don't think you hitting Garcia on the head with a stuffed panda is going to help matters much, Picard." The only reward for this I get is Picard throwing the panda in my face.

"It's quite all right." Laughs the waitress, bowing to us respectfully, "This is my parents café and all of our customers have left already. The night customers should be coming in soon. Let me show you to a table." After Picard and Garcia manage pick themselves from the floor, gathering their stuffed animals with them we follow the waitress to one of the tables near a window overlooking the street outside. She hands us three menus before walking off to get us hot coco.

"She seems pretty nice, a little young to be a waitress, though." Comments Garcia, looking at the menu. I lean out of the booth, watching the girl as she gives the order to a man.

"Actually, she looks around my age." I mutter before looking down at my own menu, wondering what I should order. This is the part I hate about going out with my friends. They always pay for it so I try to find the cheapest thing on the menu, no matter what it is, so they don't have to pay too much for me. I look down the menu, searching the prices for the cheapest thing they made.

"What's up, Picard?" asks Garcia, breaking me away from my searching. I peer over my menu and look at Picard, noticing that he was staring down at the cover of his menu. He had not even touched it since the waitress laid it down in front of him. Picard looks up and smiles, waving his hand in hopes to make us stop worrying about him.

"I'm fine, I was just a little tiered from running around the fair today." Garcia hesitates for a moment but lets it go. Something tells me that he is going to continue this conversation with Picard in private. I lift my menu up to my face, using it to hide my yawn as the waitress returns carrying three cups of steaming hot coco.

"Here you go. Have you decided what you want yet?" We shake our heads and she continues to smile, "That's all right. When you have decided what you want, I'll be right over there." She bows to us again and walks off to the other side of the café, sitting in one of the chairs at the bar.

I zone out as Garcia starts to tell Picard and me what looks good on the menu. I turn away from them and look out the window, watching some of the people pass by. I yawn again, blinking sleepily when someone catches my eye. I sit upright, my eyes widening in shock as I stare at the man passing by. It's him. A bored look on his face as he walks past the café, his hands slipping into the pockets of his leather jacket. I jump up, startling Garcia and Picard. "I-I'll be right back, I just need to check something out." Before they can stop me, I run out of the café, looking around before heading off in the direction I saw the man headed.

I see him turn into an alley after someone else, my heart stopping slightly as I slow my run to a walk. I edge around the wall, leaning around it and widening my eyes in shock again as I see him pushing a man against a wall. The heat rises in my face and I turn to run back to the café when something stops me. His lips curl back and twice, razor-sharp fangs slide out of his mouth. Oh God. I run forward, slamming into him. He seems unaffected as I stumbled backward from the force and fall onto the ground.

He turns to look at me slowly, a gasp escaping his lips when he spots me sitting the floor ground. He backs away from the man slightly, removing his hands from the man's shoulders and moving toward me. I look up at him as he holds my eyes with his own. Hundreds of emotions pass through his eyes as he drops down to his knees slowly, one of his hands moving to cradle my cheek. I let out a soft gasp, a mixture of surprise and something else when his hand touches my cheek. Flashes of my dream come back to me and I blush more, wanting to break the contact between our eyes but I cannot pull away now. "I…I wanted to…um…"

He watches me, studying me as his other hand moves up slowly, his fingers touching my hair uncertainly before traveling down my face. He watches my reaction as he runs the pads of his fingers over my lips, most likely wondering what I would do. "So strange." He whispers to me, his voice slightly husky, but it still carries that smooth note that makes my stomach flutter. "You sought me out after one meeting. What do you want from me?"

"I…uh…" He keeps his fingers on my lips, making it difficult for me to speak. I swallow and go to say something. My heartbeat is speeding up and my breath is becoming labored. This is strange. This is the first time anyone has made me feel like this. It is as Picard says? Am I in love with this man? "I…wanted to know your name." I whisper without thinking about the consequences of my actions. I need to know his name. I cannot continue to think about him without even knowing his name.

He hesitates for a moment, his hands still lingering on my face before he blinks at me. Was I too abrupt? Was I too forward with my question? Does he really hate me now? I should not have stared at him but I cannot help myself, he makes me feel so strange. "Robin." I blink, a little surprised that he would actual tell me his name. It takes me a couple of seconds to clarify that he just told me his name. "And you would be?"

"I-Ivan. My name is Ivan." He nods simply and continues to watch me, his eyes never leaving mine. He lightly trails his fingers down my lips, touching my chin before his hand moves to my shirt, feeling the fabric there. I swallow again. I am enjoying this way too much. I bite down on my bottom lip to keep from saying anything else, anything that might embarrass me more than I already am. A small smile tugs at the corners of his lips when he sees me biting my bottom lip but it disappears when I hear footsteps echoing behind me.

He looks up and narrows his eyes, rising from the ground and backing away from me. I turn around and see Garcia and Picard running toward us, both of them freezing in place when they spot Robin standing a few paces away from me. I feel the men around me tense up for a moment before Garcia speaks, "Did he hurt you, Ivan?" there is an edge to his voice that is normally not there. I shiver in spite of myself at the tone in his voice and shake my head in reply, unable to make my voice cooperate. What is going on? Why is Garcia so angry?

Suddenly Garcia is between me and Robin. When did he move? I turn quickly to watch as Garcia and Robin glare at each other, neither moving. Picard drops to the ground next to me, his hands on my shoulders as I hear his voice in my ear. I do not hear what he says, just the sound of his voice like a dull, meaningless buzzing in my ear as I continue to watch the two men in front of me. What is going on here? It is as if they are in an intense mental battle, the loser being the one to break away from the stare first. Picard lifts me to my feet and holds onto my shoulders, keeping me rooted in the spot.

"I know what you are." Whispers Garcia after a long moment. Nothing changes on Robin's face, he merely continues to stare at Garcia as if nothing had been said. "You may be able to fool Ivan, you may have been able to place your demonic spell on him but it will not work on myself." He takes a step towards Robin. Still nothing changes on his face, no emotion in his eyes. "Tell me, how many people is it now? Do you even know anymore? You are the oldest one I have met but even so, I cannot allow you to just go and continue this blasphemy." Robin bows his head slightly, before letting out a cold laugh, the sound piercing into the strangely silent night.

"Blasphemy? You dare to speak of blasphemy to someone like myself? Do you truly believe that I am doing something so wrong that you would put such an audacious title on it?" His shoulders shakes with his laughter before he points past Garcia and myself to Picard. "Would you rather me become like him? I am surprised that the strain of the thirst has not driven him to insanity yet. It is what we are, child, we cannot fight it no more than you can fight breathing. We cannot fight it regardless of what gets in the way." He drops his hand back to his side. "You are only hurting him by allowing this to continue. You call that love? Do you want to lose him? Watch him wither away before you?" I look back at Picard as he closes his eyes and turns his head to the side. Garcia turns back to look at him, surprise flashing in his russet eyes. Robin's eyes soften for a moment as he continues to speak, "Of course you did not know. So simple…"

Garcia spins around again, glaring at Robin, his shoulders shaking with his anger. "Shut up." He seethes, "You know nothing about this. You are nothing like him. You are a cold, heartless monster and you do not deserve to walk this earth any longer." Garcia pulls out a thin dagger and in a blink of the eye, has it pressed against Robin's neck. I gasp, reaching out to stop him but Picard's grip on my shoulders tightens, stopping me from moving from the spot. Robin narrows his eyes again, grabbing Garcia's wrist, making him push the blade deeper, the edge biting into his neck. I fight against Picard's hands, trying to push him off but his grip is too strong. I want to turn my eyes away from the sight of the blood dripping from the wound but Robin turns his eyes to me and catches my eyes with his, holding them once again. Even though they look dead, emotionless on the outside, like a star that has lost its spark long ago, I can feel sadness there, mingles with just a bit of hope.

"You have no right to say that to me. You think I enjoy this life? I was human once too, you know. We all were." What is this? "It is far worse for the old ones." He releases Garcia's wrist and Garcia stumbles back as Robin places a hand to his neck, touching the thick crimson liquid there. "I tried to starve myself once. I grew weaker, dizzier. Any kind of light would hurt my eyes. I began to hear voices all around me. I lost my mind to those voices. You truly think that young one is strong enough to fight it off to remain with you? Just wait and see how long he can hold on."

"Don't go anywhere near Ivan again, do you hear me?" hisses Garcia as Robin turns away, pausing at the scathing tone in Garcia's voice. He glances back at him, studying him for a moment before replying.

"That is for him to decide, hunter. If you worry about him so much, tell him not to seek me out. As for me not seeking him out…you are not my keeper. Until you understand what I have said to you tonight, you have no right to consider yourself my equal. I am far above you, child. You had better grow up before you are killed like your other hunter friends." After saying this, Robin walks down the alley, disappearing around the corner. I hold out my hand to try to stop him, try to call out for him, but my voice still is not cooperating with me. This is all too confusing. What is going on here?

I bow my head as Garcia turns around. "I think…there is something that you need to explain to me." I whisper, making him stop. Picard squeezes my shoulders once before nodding to Garcia behind him.

"He is right, Garcia. We can no longer keep this from him. It may not be our place but he is in danger now. His mother would agree with us telling him now. Why else would she have sent him here for so long? Two years is the training time for someone of Ivan's intelligence, it was as if she was planning on telling him." I glance back at Picard, furrowing my brow. He shakes his head. "Let's go back to the academy first. We can answer all of your questions here, right, Garcia?" I turn back to Garcia to see him nod solemnly.

"I guess it is time that we told him the truth."

We stop at the café to gather our things before we leave, the waitress saying goodnight to us as we walk through the door. I feel numb all over. My mind is racing with so many questions whose answers I cannot even begin to think of. Only one thing comforts me. I know his name now. Robin. I bring my hand up to my lips, lightly tracing the pad of my thumb along my lips.

I am so confused now. What is going on? Picard said that my mother would agree with them telling me now. Telling me what? They were keeping something from me. What are they not telling me? What are they hiding from me?

When we return to the academy, Garcia and Picard lead me into the common room. Picard pushes me into a chair as he and Garcia sit next to each other on the couch. "Mother and Father must have gone out for dinner." Mumbles Garcia, rubbing the back of his head as he looks around the room for something to stare at before he can answer my questions. I need to know everything now.

"Why did you lie to me? What is going on here? I want to know the truth. I think I deserve that after tonight, after that little…conversation with Robin." Garcia stops his search, sighs and turns to Picard before he looks at me. I do not look into his eyes, instead, I stare at the fire burning in the fireplace, the brilliant flames dancing before my eyes. The fires of Hell. Ultimate purification of the soul. Burning the sins away, punishing the soul for the crimes they have committed in life. Forever burning in death.

"We did not lie to you, Ivan. We were just keeping things for you because your mother did not want this life for you. She did not want to place you in danger." Replied Picard when Garcia had to spoken. "And you are right, you need to know the truth so that you can avoid the danger that you have fallen into." He turns to Garcia, giving him a look before Garcia takes a deep breath.

"The best place to start this off would be from the beginning." He starts slowly, turning his eyes up to the ceiling. I look away from the fire and watch him. "You understand that you and I are related, correct?" I nod, not knowing what that had to do with anything. He sighs again, "What I am about to tell you may confuse you…it may even scare you, but please do not overreact. As Picard said before, your mother did not want me or anyone else for that matter to tell you of this. But again, there had to be some reason why she sent you here to live at the academy for so long.

"Ivan, our family…is very special. You can trace our family line back for centuries, back to the time of the first vampire." My breath catches in my throat, and I recall the image of Robin's lips curling back, those two fangs flashing in the moonlight before I had stopped him. "I suppose you could say that our family was created for the sole purpose of becoming vampire hunters. Not everyone in our family had the ability to become a hunter. It was our family that became the first hunters. There were always vampires, though. Our work was never over.

"That was when my great-great-great-grandfather, your great-great-great grandmother's brother, built the mansion. It was his way of fighting back against the growing vampire threat. He would seek out special people with the abilities of a hunter, be it healing, tracking, or slaying. He wanted to hone in on their abilities and turn out strong hunters who could fight against the vampires or at least protect themselves against the vampires if they were ever attacked.

"I am one of the vampire hunters, Ivan. A slayer, which means I kill them if I find them." He pauses for a moment, "You are a hunter as well. That test you took when you were here last time, it was not an entrance exam like we told you. It was to see if you had any abilities. You do have powers, one of the strongest for someone your age. Your mother did not want to place you in any danger by becoming one of us so she asked us not to tell you about the true purpose behind the academy. To you, it was just some prep school for college."

"And…and what is Picard? Is he a hunter as well? Robin said…" Garcia cuts me off before I can say anymore.

"Picard is a vampire, just like Robin." Garcia looks to Picard for a moment before he continues, "Picard was the first vampire I met. We were both considered new at what we were, it was so awkward. I was mad at myself at first for falling in love with him but Picard is different from the other vampires I have met. He is still so human…sometimes I forget that he is a vampire."

"I joined the hunters to help out because it hated what I had to do…I really had no right to live if I had to kill someone each night just to sustain myself. I was able to fight it off with each passing year, though." Whispers Picard, bowing his head. "I am afraid that Robin is right though. I am feeling weaker…and I do hear strange voices. I just never said anything about them. I did not want to worry you."

"Idiot," mutters Garcia, "You should have said something before, instead of having me find out like this. From that guy." I stand up abruptly at this, startling them. I smile weakly at them.

"Thank you for telling me all of this. I…I am very tiered. You would not mind if I went up to my room and go to bed, do you?" They watch me for a moment before letting me run off to my bedroom. It did not help. I do not believe them. I cannot believe them. Not yet. I need to hear it from someone else. The only person left that will be able to answer my questions, all of these questions finally. My mother.

When I reach my bedroom, I lock the door behind me, open my laptop and plug it in before writing out a letter on my laptop, telling Picard and Garcia where I am going and what I plan to do once I get there. I turn away and hurry over to the window, throwing it open and poking my head out the door to look around. Being on the fourth floor of the mansion does not help escaping it much. I spot a nearby tree limb and climb out the window, jumping from it and narrowly managing to grab onto the branch. I swing up onto it and climb down the tree, dropping into the bushes before running through the yard and down the driveway. The train station is only a couple of blocks for the academy so I should get there in no time.

As I step out the wrought-iron gates, something catches my eyes. My heart skips a beat when I see a black motorcycle across the street from me and leaning against that motorcycle is Robin, a helmet in hand almost as if he was waiting just for me. I cross the street after making sure that none of the cars were going to run over me and pause when I reach his side, looking up at him. "Need a ride?" I nod and he puts the helmet on my head and then climbs on the back of the motorcycle. I glance back at the academy before hopping on behind Robin, slipping my arms around his waist as he starts his motorcycle up.

"Fukui." I whisper over the roar of the engine. He nods and takes off down the road, weaving in and out of the night traffic. Hopefully Garcia and Picard will not be too worried about me while I am gone, nor too mad at me when I return. I lean closer against Robin's back, forgetting everything as I hear the gentle beating of his heart, even with the noise of the engine. It is comforting for me to listen to something that seems so familiar to me.

Normally it would have probably taken days to reach Fukui from Sendai but somehow we managed to make it there before the sun rose over the horizon. I point down a road and Robin turns into it, following my directions even though I am too tiered to even look at where we are going. I can the seconds off in my read, pointing the way down the road from memory. He finally slows into a stop and shakes my shoulder lightly before getting off, holding me up so I would not fall. "It this the place?" I open my eyes, stumble off the motorcycle and leaning against him, too tiered to care what he would think of this anymore.

A pale blue lighthouse stands in front of us, the sound of rushing waves reaching my ears. I smile happily, waking up at the familiar sight. It has been too long since I was last here but everything looks the same, everything smells the same. The sweet, salty sea air entering my lungs after a few deep breaths. I pull the helmet off my head and turn to Robin, "Thank you so much." He blinks down at me, almost as if wondering what to say to this. "This is my house. I…I wanted to ask my mother something but I am a little afraid of the answer that I will get."

"If you came this far, I think you are brave enough to bare the burden of the answer." He says, moving forward and walking past me toward the lighthouse. I hurry after him, falling into step beside him until we reach the door to the lighthouse. I stand on tiptoe, feeling above the doorframe for the spare key.

When the cool metal brushes against my searching fingers, I grab onto it and pull it from its hiding place. I stick it in the keyhole and turn it in the lock, pushing the door open once I hear the telltale click. I enter the room to the sound of wind chimes ringing in the darkened room. Robin enters behind me, closing the door as I move forward, cutting off what little light the night had provided. I turn around, startled and bump into him, grabbing onto his arms to keep from falling down. "S-sorry." He laughs, sounding oddly amused by my behavior. I pull away slightly and look up at him, trying to catch his face in the darkness but all I can see is a faint outline.

Just as I go to turn away, fumbling through the darkened room for the light switch, I hear a distant click and the lights flicker on, my aunt standing in the hallway leading to the bedrooms on the other side of the room in her nightgown. She blinks at me for a moment before looking at Robin and smirking. "I see you came back, Ivan, and you brought a friend with you. He sure is a handsome one, isn't he?" I glance back at Robin to see his expression but he just blinks a couple of time, looking a little confused.

Hama sits us down around in the living room and hands us warm tea as she settles in one of the chairs across from us. "Alright, Ivan, what are you doing here exactly? Your mother told me that you were in Sendai, studying at the academy run by some of our relatives. Did it get to be too much for you and you ran away with your friend? Who is he, if you do not mind my asking." Robin shakes his head and quickly tells her his name. "Ah, Robin is it, nice to meet you. So, Ivan?"

I stare down at the tea for a long moment, lost in my own thoughts. "Well, Hama…I wanted to ask my mother something important." I look back up at her, "Hama, I know about the truth of the academy, that it was built to train vampire hunters." Robin tenses up on the couch next to me but does not say anything, which I am very glad for. Hama is my father's sister; she could be a vampire hunter herself.

"I was afraid this day would come, but I knew that your mother could not hide it from you forever. Ivan, she is very ill at the moment. I think that something like this would upset her. You do not want her condition worsening, do you?" I stand up, dropping the cup of tea to the ground where it shatters.

"Upset my mother? What about me? I have been lied to my whole life! Why have you all been keeping something like this from me? Every single one of you knew what I was, what the academy was all about but you still kept it from me. What were you trying to protect me from?" I ask, waving a hand to an old picture of my father standing in front of the academy with Hama. "If you had not wanted that life for me, you should have allowed me to be the one to make that decision."

"Your mother knew you would be like your father. She knew you would want to fight against them." Whispered Hama, wanting me to calm down, lower my voice so I would not wake my mother. It made me angrier. I clenched a fist, shutting my eyes. "You have so much more going for you, Ivan. You are a very smart young man. The world has so much more to offer you aside from the life of a hunter. They could kill you so easily. She did not want to lose you as well. You are all that she has left of my brother."

"She is being selfish." I snap bitterly.

"You are right, Ivan. I was being selfish." I lift my head to the doorway and see my mother standing there, leaning heavily against the side of the hall. "I sent you to the academy because I knew you would soon figure everything out. I had not expected you to return, though, but I am glad to see you again." She moves towards us slowly, pauses here and there to gather her strength before she falls into a chair near Hama.

"Mother…" She looks up at me and smiles weakly, coughing after the simple movement. I turn my head away. It is painful to see her so weak like this. She had always been such a strong woman, I hate thinking that it was all just a mask. That mask is gone now, worn away by the passing of time and the loss of hope. She makes a weak hand gesture for me to sit down and I slowly sit back in my chair.

"I am sure that Garcia has already told you most of what you want to know, so why are you here?"

"I…I wanted to hear it from you. I could not believe it unless you were the one to tell me what is going on, what I am." I slowly begin to recount everything that Garcia told me, telling it to my mother word for word. It seems so unreal. Is this really my life? Am I really the one telling this woman all this bizarre happenings? When did this all start? This downward spiral into confusion.

I take a deep breath when I finish with my tale and my mother nods, smiling at Robin. "Thank you for escorting my son here. I am most thankful for your trouble." Robin bows his head next to me and my mother giggles. "I suppose you would like to know more about your father, the truth of him at the very least." I nod. "Your father showed signs that he would become a great hunter at a young age. His parents sent him to the academy as soon as he was old enough to begin the intense training. It lasted until he was seventeen, when he was finally released from the academy and joined the hunters at night.

"I have already told you how we met so I will skip to the end. Your father did not die in a plane crash like we have told you so many times before. He was killed by a vampire on a mission." It does not surprise me as much as it should have. I just sit there and continue to listen, trying to make my mind soak it all in. "Garcia's mother called me the other night and told me about how my mother died. It seems as if she was killed by a vampire as well, a vampire she knew. My mother was a vampire sympathizer. She hated the fact that I had fallen in love and even married a vampire hunter. She was even more angry when she discovered that I had a child, you. I suppose she knew that you would have your father's powers and abilities. I am sorry to say that that is the reason your grandmother hated you so much."

"Nasty old bat." Hissed Hama, "She deserved what she got, hating my brother so much…and even you, Ivan, when you had done nothing but be born. And you could not have been more sweeter to her when you were around her." Hama sighs. "There is nothing we can do about it now, of course."

"And you Auntie, are you one of the hunters?" Hama pulls the pin out of her hair, allowing her long, pale violet hair to fall onto her shoulders as she shakes the tangles out of her hair. She laughs at my question, as if I had just told the funniest joke in the world.

"Me? A hunter? Heavens no. I have none of the abilities that my brother had. I admit that I was a bit jealous of him at times but he really loved it. The training was hard and he would complain to me just for the hell of it but he enjoyed it, saying that he would be able to save lives." She frowned, "However, after you were born…he started to say strange things to me. That he was not so sure that your grandmother was so wrong for sympathizing with the vampires." I fight the urge to turn to Robin and stand up. My mother and Hama look at me, surprised for a moment.

"I'm really tiered. Do you think I could go to bed, just for a little while?" My mother smiles at me happily.

"Of course not. It is great to have you home again, Ivan." I nod to her and look down at the shattered teacup, opening my mouth to say that I would clean it up. Hama waves her hand to me.

"Don't bother. I'll get it in a second." I nod, apologizing as I stumble out of the room and push the door to my room open. Everything looks relatively the same, except the three pictures now sitting on my dresser at the academy are missing. I push the door close behind me and lean against it, letting out the breath I had been holding. So it was all true. I am a hunter and so was my father. My grandmother had been on the vampires' side and that had gotten her killed in the end. I hear the faint buzz of familiar voices and press my ear against the door, thankful for the walls being so thin.

"Robin, is it?" I hear my mother ask.

"Yes."

"Can I ask you why you helped my son here? What was in it for you?" My mother continues to say. There is a long pause before Robin replies to this question, a soft rustling sound as someone stands up.

"I…I cannot explain it myself. I just ended up helping him." Another pause as I wait, holding my breath again, my heartbeat speeding up in anticipation. Hama is the next to speak.

"Please, protect Ivan. He is all that we have left of my brother and he is very important to us. I can see it in your eyes as well, that Ivan is special to you."

I flush and lean against the door more. Robin does not reply to this and I can hear heavy footfalls from the hallway, headed toward my room. I curse under my breath and dash toward my bed, jumping into the air and landing on my bed, closing my eyes just as the door opens and closes softly behind someone. The same heavy footsteps reach my ears as the owner moves towards me as I pretend to sleep. I feel someone's eyes on me, watching me with a familiar intensity. Robin.

I hear him drop to his knees next to my bed and I feel something brush against my hand before retreating as soon as it touches my skin. I bite down on the inside of my lip to keep from opening my eyes and saying something to startle him. Must keep quite. Must keep quite. Please hold my hand. Please just…

After three or so failed attempts, he finally takes my hand into his own. My heart races as I feel that all too familiar fluttering in my stomach. I smile in spite of myself. I think I could die from happiness right now. He touches the back of my hand to his cheek before lightly brushing it against his lips. This is the best! If only he thought I were awake…

The door creaks open and Robin jumps up, stumbling back away from my bed as he drops my hand. Sucky timing! You just ruined the best moment in my life!

"You are in love with my son, aren't you?" I blush at my mother's words.

"I…well…I…you see…" Robin trips and stumbles over his words, searching for something to say. And here I thought he was so calm and composed. "I wouldn't say that exactly…I mean, we just met…" My mother crosses the room and I feel her cool fingers brush against my forehead, pushing my bangs away from my closed eyes.

"It is quite all right. I see the way you look at him. I have seen it so many times before, in my husbands eyes each time he looked at me." She sighs nostalgically. "I know what you are, Robin. You are a vampire, but even so…you are still the only person that Ivan has ever shown such strong emotions for." She giggles and walks out of the room without another word to Robin.

I sigh and sit up slowly, startling Robin as he turns back around to look at me. "How long have you been awake?"

"The whole time." I mutter, looking down at the hand he had been holding in his only moment ago. "I…um…I am a light sleeper when I have things on my mind." I blush as I trail a finger lightly across the spot of my hand that Robin had brushed his lips against.

"S-sorry about that…I…" I shakes my head, smiling up at him as he blushes.

"It's just fine. I didn't mind at all." We watch each other for a moment before he clears his throat.

"What are we going to do now?" I blink at the question, confused. "You are a hunter and I am a vampire. And…according to your mother, we both have strong feelings for each other. What do we do now?" I blush and turn away from him, drawing my knees up to my chest and wrapping my arms around my legs.

"I don't know. All we can do now is just wait and see how things play out. Garcia is definitely going to be pissed at me when I get back to the academy, though. That much I can be sure of now." I sigh and smile at him. "I guess it was all worth it, though. I got the answers that I came for. All of them."

-TBC-

::cat-like smirk:: I am sure you all can tell which is my favorite part in this chapter. Ah, I love and adore Robin and Ivan so much. They are so much fun to play around with since they are younger than Picard and Garcia and do a lot less. The dream sequence is my favorite part, if you couldn't tell. I didn't know how far to take it but I didn't want to take it too far. I knew I would have to give you something good to make up for how long this chapter was going to take and I did know it was going to take a long time before I actually turned it out. Dark Love is my baby, my pride and joy. Sorry about all the typos but I didn't think it was fair to keep everyone waiting for so long. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, especially with that part at the fair and afterwards in the café. Those yellow-brown eyes are not as strange as you would think. That's how my eyes are. I've also been told they were an amber color in the sun by one of my friends, and an orange color by another friend of mine. Enough about me, in the next chapter it will be from after Robin ran into Ivan a second time, maybe a little before that. Also Rainstorm Memories my new Robin/Ivan fic is up and ready to be read. :3 I hint at Robin and Ivan getting a little…:"coughcough::frisky::coughcough:: toward the end…so…eh heh…yeah. Thanks for reading! Hopefully the fifth chapter will come out sooner than this one did!

Alex: I want in this already. Don't just mention me. Feh. Oh, Robin's dark and tormented. At least he's mentioned a bunch of times.

::sweatdrops:: Give it a rest, Alex. Bai bai! Read and review please!