Chapter Sixteen:

Forbidden

Disclaimer: You all know it. Whoop dee do!

Damn it, she was was dreaming again. She knew she was by the strange, floating feeling she always seemed to get. The one that always gave her a pounding migrane when she woke up.

Robin tightened her already closed eyelids, as if she were frustrated.

If this is a dream, then why do I smell flowers? She asked herself. She had never been able to smell anything in her other dreams, so what made this one so different?

"I can't be dreaming..." Robin suddenly said out loud as she reached her hand out to feel for something, though she didn't know what for.

Imagine her shock when she felt her fingers curl around someone's wrist.

"Funny. It sure seems like I'm dreaming." A deep voice said to her, the light sarcasm evident on the edge of the owner's words.

Robin's eyes shot open; the emerald orbs taking in her surroundings. She was laying in a vanilla-colored, silk bed. A field of iris flowers covered the rolling, green hills on either side.

Robin was stunned by the beauty of it all, but she knew none of it compared to the man sitting next to her on the edge of the bed...

"Amon." She whispered, trying her best to sit up. She then suddenly gasped as pain gripped her entire body. Feeling the exaustion, she flopped back down on the pillows.

"Amon... What's going on?" She panted out as she tried to regain some of the breath that had left her.

Amon, his grey eyes soft, frowned at her question and reached out his ungloved hand to stroke her cheek.

"Don't you remember? You were badly injured. You were right next to my car..." He explained to her as he brushed his thumb along her jaw.

Robin's eyes widened and, realizing her hand was still gripped on to his arm, squeezed Amon's wrist.

"You mean...that was your-" She trailed off as the dark-haired man nodded his head. She noticed that his eyes looked dark and baggy, as though he hadn't had much sleep.

Sighing out in frustration, the young witch turned her gaze away from Amon and focused on her free hand, which was resting on the pillow beside her head.

"Why? Why didn't I recognize it?" She asked herself, feeling slightly angry with everyone and everything.

Amon furrowed his eyebrows in sympathy and he stretched out his other hand to grip on to Robin's chin. It took a few minutes, but he finally managed to get her to face him.

"It's alright. You don't have to worry about anything." He told her as he bent down to place his lips on her forehead.

Robin closed her eyes; her body tingling with the onslaught of emotions that suddenly gripped her. Letting go of Amon's wrist, she used both of her hands to clutch on to the front of his trenchcoat and force him down on the bed with her.

With a surprised grunt, Amon landed heavily on top of Robin's small body. It didn't take either of them long to figure out how awkward the position was.

Robin blushed and turned her gaze away, releasing her firm hold on Amon's jacket.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pull that hard." The young witch apologized softly, clearly thinking that the dark-haired man above her was angry. But that couldn't have been farther from the truth.

It was pretty obvious that Amon was actually enjoying this new position. His eyes were almost glowing and his lips were pulled into a sly smirk.

"Well, I'm not complaining." He said gently, placing his hands on either side of her face and forcing her to look back at his face.

Robin let his hands guide her emerald gaze back to his grey one, but she remained in an embarressed stupor. Her blush was more apparent than it had been before and had crawled all the way up to her perfect ears.

Amon couldn't help but let his smirk become a amused grin.

"Robin..." He whispered, catching her attention with his breathy tone. Once her eyes were focused on his, he bent his head towards hers in a move that suggested he was getting ready to--

"Amon, what are you --" She was cut off by a loud screeching noise coming from somewhere in the hills surrounding them.

Amon raised his head, a disappointed expression clearly evident on his usually stoic features. After a couple of moments, he sighed sadly and lifted his body away from hers.

Robin's eyes widened in panic.

"Amon. Wait, please don't leave." She begged trying to ignore the pain that ground into her as she tried to leap off of the bed to go after him.

Amon stopped his slow departure to turn and look at her. His smile had returned.

"You can wake up now, Robin." He said simply as he turned and continued his trek away from her.

Robin, heartbroken, tried her best to climb out of the bed, despite the great pain that it was for some reason causing her. Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes and fall down her cheeks.

"Amon! Wait! Amon, come back!" She called out desperately, waching his back as he disappeared over the farthest hill. She never even realized how fast he had been traveling.

"Amon..." She sobbed out as the pain became to much for her. It wasn't long before she blacked out.

"Robin? Robin... Robin, wake up, please." The monotone voice pleaded with her softly. It sounded like it was full of concern and worry.

Robin let out a moan, feeling her weak hand raise itself from its position on the bedspread as she reached towards the voice. She nearly jumped when she felt another hand grasp on to hers.

"Amon?" The young witch called thickly, letting her eyes flutter open. She could just barely make out the blurred figure in front of her shaking what seemed to be his head.

"No, it's Ian. How are you feeling? Any better?" The blonde-haired man asked her kindly as he gently squeezed her hand.

Robin sluggishly thought about his question for a moment before nodding her head.

"Yes, I think so. I mean, at least I'm not dead." She said, clearly showing that she was still a little woozy. This earned her a chuckle from everyone in the room.

"Yeah, that's true." Ian said in between snickers. Robin noticed that his eyes seemed dark around the edges, as if he hadn't had any sleep. She looked around the room until her gaze landed on Rain, who was standing near the window overlooking the street outside. The expression on her face didn't look every happy.

"Rain... How long was I out?" The young witch asked, her voice thick and cracking from sleep.

Rain, turning away from the window, gave Robin a forced smile and walked over to the edge of the bed.

"About ten hours and fifteen minutes. It's almost two thirty in the morning." She said, her face becoming grim again.

Robin's eyes widened. How could she have been asleep that long? As she looked around at everyone else in the room, she noticed that all of them had the same dark lines under their eyes as Ian.

"Have-have all of you stayed with me this entire time?" The young, Craft-user asked softly, her voice full of sympathy. She really hadn't meant to make them all worry and lose sleep.

Andy, who had been standing behind Ian, nodded an affirmative.

"Yup. We all stayed up to make sure that you would pull through. Even Kitten here, whose normal bedtime is around seven." The young boy said, giving Robin a tired smile.

Robin blinked in semi-surprise as she looked over at Kitten standing near the doorway. The young blonde smiled and brought up a slim hand to rub at her voilet eyes.

The young witch frowned and turned to gaze at Bree, who looked the least tired out of all of them. Probably because of all of her black mascara and eyeshadow was covering the lines under her eyes. Robin quickly changed this idea when the dark-haired girl let out a huge yawn.

Letting out a sigh, Robin turned away from all of them in shame.

"I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to make all of you worry. It's just that..." She trailed off, the memory of the dark figure in the cloak coming back to her.

Rain let out her own sigh and sat on the edge of the bed. Though her expression was drawn back from lack of sleep, she managed to give Robin a smile.

"It's alright, Robin. We're here for you. Even if if does mean losing sleep." The mahagony-haired woman said as she placed a comforting hand on the young witch's knee.

Robin smiled, but her green eyes were still troubled with doubt. And it only increased when Rain added-

"Of course, your attack kind of put us in an awkward position. We might have to wait a few days for the heat to pass over before we go looking for Amon." She said, her face becoming a serious mask again.

Robin's eyes widened in horror. Ripping her hand from Ian's, she pushed herself up from the bedspread and into a sitting position.

"No! We can't. Amon's in danger and I have to be there for him." She tried to insist, but Rain cut her off with a stern glare from her almond eyes.

"I'm sorry, Robin. But until this blows over, we're going to have to wait. Someone knows your here and we don't want to put you into any more trouble. Plus, your wounds need time to heal. You're just going to have to be patient." The older woman told her firmly as she raised from the bed.

Robin glared at Rain for a moment, wanting to say something that would really make her hurt. Thankfully, she bit on her tongue and finally nodded in agreement.

Though she didn't admit it out loud, she knew Rain was right.

No one even cared to noticed the almost happy look flash over Ian's face before he covered it with his usual, emotionless mask.

Michael sat at his computer, tapping lightly on his keyboard. After all the excitement with Amon, everything just kind of slowed down and became quite boring.

The hacker yawned, showing off all the cavities he had gotten from eating junkfood. You couldn't really blame him. Since he hardly ever got off of his computer to go and brush his teeth, but that's another story entirely.

Just as Michael had closed his mouth to preserve his dignity, a certain auburn-haired girl came walking down the stairs; a worried expression covering face.

As Eri chewed nervously on her nail, she shuffled over to where Michael was sitting and lightly tapped on the shoulder with her free hand.

"Michael, have you seen Shitari?" She asked him wearly, her eyes becoming wide with fear when he shook his head.

"Not since Amon came in this morning. I'm sorry, Eri." The boy said, jumping when said girl suddenly broke down in tears.

"W-where could she be? I'm supposed to be keeping a eye on her! Gods, Amon is going to kill me!" She said in between choked sobs, her shoulders shaking. She put her tear-streaked face in her hands to hide it from the hacker.

Michael watched Eri for a moment with wide eyes. After a couple of seconds, he finally regained his composure and stood up from his chair.

"Hey, come on. Don't cry. Maybe she just went upstairs to help Misha with her customers." He said, putting a reassuring arm around Eri's shoulders.

The auburn-haired girl just shook her head vigorously.

"No, she's not. I just came from up there and Misha hasn't seen her either. Oh, Michael, what am I supposed to do?" She cried, adjusting herself so that she was now crying into his shirt.

Michael furrowed his eyebrows as he wrapped both of his arms around Eri thin shoulders. Using the top of her head as a chin rest, he gently tried his best to comfort her and calm her down.

"Hey, it's okay. We'll find her. Maybe Amon won't be as mad as you think he will be and he'll help us. Just take a deep breath and let's think about this for a moment." He said, trying to be a leader and take charge of the situation.

Eri nodded into Mchael's chest and pulled herself away from him; rubbing her eyes as she did so. Streaks of black mascara were now running down her cheeks. She smiled through her tears at the hacker.

"Thanks. I kind of needed that." She said with a sniff. "Damn, I must look a mess." She then added, furiously wiping at her cheeks.

Michale smiled and shook his head.

"Of course, you don't. You're perfect." He said, grabbing on to her wrist and pulling her hand away from her face.

Eri smiled back up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Since when did you become Mr. Sensitive? You're not usually this tolerant with me." She said, gazing at him for a moment before turning away. A noticeable blush had appeared on her cheeks.

"In fact, I kind of thought you hated me." She added after a few seconds of awkward tension.

Michael let his mouth drop open to show that he was clearly taken aback by this. Before he could stop himself, he had grabbed on to Eri's arms and had crushed her back into his chest.

"Of course, I don't hate you. Why would you think that?" He asked her, his eyes nearly glowing with unshed tears.

Eri, a little perplexed by the hacker's behavior, tried to pull herself away so that she could look at his face. Unfortunetly, since Michael had her in such a death grip, she couldn't really move.

"Uh, Michael...you're kind of crushing my spine." She said, clearly uncomfortable by how the tables had turned. Her small complaint, however, only caused said boy to hold her even tighter.

"Answer me, Eri. What would make you think something like that?" He questioned, each word he spoke sounding as if he were biting down on them.

Eri's heart was racing. Something was going on with Michael and she didn't like it. Not one little bit.

In fact, she had a feeling she would rather take on a furious Amon...

"Michael, you're scaring me. Please, let me go." The auburn-haired girl demanded as gently as she could. She could feel his arms loosening their hold ever so slightly, but it wasn't enough to let her move away.

Eri... Are you afraid of me?" His voice had come out a breathy whisper and had a hidden edge of something that sounded like guilt.

It took her a moment to answer, but she then shook her head in his chest.

"Not normally; but considering the present, you are acting strangely. Please, just let me go-" She was cut off by a gasp escaping from her own lips. A similar gasp came from Michael. Eri could feel his arm slipping away from her.

It wasn't long before Michael was floating in the air, grunting and holding his stomach as if in pain.

Eri panicked.

"Michael!" She cried, jumping back in fear as the hacker just as suddenly fell down on to the ground.

Tense minutes ticked by as Eri watched the still form of Michael sprawled out on the floor. After a few more seconds of waiting, she slid to the ground and slowly crawled over to his side.

"Michael? Michael, can you hear me?" She whispered, reaching out a timid hand to touch the top of his head. As soon as her fingers had touched his scalp, a soft groan issued from his throat.

"That's some power you have there." He said thickly as he turned over. One of his hands were still clutching his stomach and his glasses lens were slightly cracked from the impact of hitting the floor. Despite all of this, he was smiling.

Eri's eyes softened and she smiled, though tears were beginning to fall down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry. Sometimes I don't know my own strength." She admitted, turning away from him to look at her hand. "My element is earth." She added after a moment.

Michael blinked and smiled.

"Funny. I didn't know earth Craft-users could do what you just did." He said, chuckling slightly as he picked himself up.

Eri let out a breathy chortle of her own as she stood up and looked up at him.

"Yeah, well. I'm pretty sure a lot a people don't." She said, getting another smile from the hacker.

The sound of somebody clearing their throat suddenly caught both of their attentions and they gazed up to see a very disturbed-looking Amon holding what seemed to be an unconcious seal dressed in a playsuit.

Amon stared emotionlessly between the two of them, clearly knowing something but not wanting to show it. He hefted the 'seal' higher up in his arms and then dropped it heavily into Michael's arms.

"I believe this belongs to you." He said simply, indicating that he meant Eri.

The auburn-haired girl's eyes became so wide, they could have made nice hubcaps on a car.

"Shitari! Amon, where did you find her?" Eri cried, squishing up next to Michael so that she could look at the unconcious girl the hacker's arms.

Amon just shrugged.

"I think she followed me. You might want to look at her back. She has got a nasty wound from probably an unkonwn witch." He said, though his face showed that he probably could have cared less.

As commanded, both Michael and Eri turned Shitari over to find the horrible gash running diagonal across her back.

Eri gasped and quickly brought a hand to her mouth to cover it. More tears were gathering in her eyes. Michael couldn't help but notice that they were a dark brown.

Oh, brilliant, Michael. You're more concerned about the color of Eri's eyes than you are about the little girl. Just wonderful, you stupid bastard The hacker mentally cursed himself as he tried to awkwardly deposit Shitari into a nearby chair. After a few unsuccessful attempts to keep her sitting upright, he finally managed to get her to stay straight without flopping over.

"Hey, Amon. How do you know that she was deffinately attacked by a witch." Michael asked as he slowly stood up, waiting to jump into action should Shitari's limp body fall over again.

Amon considered his question for a moment before he shrugged his broad shoulders again.

"I know because had it been a normal person that attacked her, she would have easily blown him away without getting a scratch. If either of you recall, this girl is a witch herself. My insticts tell me that she was assulted by a much more powerful witch." He said, explaining his opinion as he would have had he still been working for the STN-J and had just finished a hunt.

Michael nodded in understanding while Eri stood still; still too shocked to really do or say anything.

They all stood still and silent in the small basement. What was there to really say? Besides: "Let's hope Shitari doesn't die.", nothing.

After a couple of moments, Amon grunted and looked over at Michael; his face becoming quite different from his normal mask. It almost looked like he was concerned about something.

"You know, the little girl said something to me...before she lost conciousness." He said slowly, almost timidly.

Michael looked up at the moody ex-hunter. His eyebrows were furrowed in question.

"What was it?" The hacker asked in a low voice. Eri gazed at Amon out of the corner of her eye as she nervously chewed her fingernail.

Amon lowered his head slightly, not wanting see their faces. His voice shook slightly as he spoke.

"She told me...that Robin has come back..." He told them both quietly.

As he expected, Eri gasped and Michael shouted out something that sounded like, "No way! You're joking!"

Amon raised his gaze slowly, looking purposefully over at Michael.

"No, I'm not joking. It's what she told me. And I have reason to believe that someone else has found out about it and is after her. That someone was probably looking for her and attacked a girl right outside my car. It might make the news." Amon paused here, taking in a breath before he contiuned.

"Now, if either of you don't mind, I'm going out to look for Robin." He said as he turned around to head back up the stairs.

Michael, though still a little shocked from all of the information he had just recieved, tried to regain his composure and quickly ran around Amon to block him from exiting.

Amon gazed down at the young hacker, who quickly and nervously realized how small he actually was compared to the dark-haired man.

"Something on your mind, Michael?" Amon asked softly, which was a sure sign that he was getting impatient.

Michael cleared his throat and timidly spoke in a quiet voice.

"Uh, Amon. Why don't you stay here for a little while. I mean, you've been really busy these past few days and I think you've earned at least a day's rest. You know, to get your strength up." The boy said, really hoping that Amon wouldn't read between the lines.

Said man sighed and rubbed his forehead with a gloved hand. He never even noticed how tired he actually was.

"Maybe you're right..." He said as he turned around and headed for a nearby chair.

Michael breathed out a sigh of relief. He didn't really want to disappoint Amon, but he had a feeling that Shitari only told him that Robin was back because she was a tad delerious from the shock of her wound. Robin was supposed to be dead.

And even if she was alive, there was no way Robin would jepordize her safety just to come back here.

Would she?

"Here, Amon. Why don't we look up the possible witches that could have attacked Shitari." Michael finally said as he walked back over to his computer and pulled out his keyboard.

Amon nodded and pulled his chair up next to Michael's.

While they did that, Eri tended to Shitari's wound and thought to herself about the close call she had with the hacker.

Could he possibly love me?

Me: Bum bum BUM!!!! Here is chapter sixteen! I hope all of you like it.

Solaria735: Yes, I wanted everyone to be on the edge of their seats for this chapter. :)

Amon's Angel of the Darkness: Of course, you can put my story on your website. I'd be insulted if you didn't... :) I'm J/K.

I originally didn't have a love triangle, but then I decided, "What the hell?". So, I stuck Ian into the story.

Wow... You must be a mind reader. That whole "Robin-thinking-Ian-is-Amon" thing is exactly what I have right here. Though she doesn't kiss him in this chapter... That's just amazing.

Yeah! Do another story! And if you want to make it OC, it's alright with me. :)

AnimeReviewer790: The song in this chapter is called "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson. I thought the lyrics fit Amon for some reason. (Shrugs).

And, of course,one of my bestest buddies! :D

Angel425: Amon doesn't find out that Robin was the girl outside the store until way later. When everything is coming together. Sorry if that disappoints you, at all.

I hope you enjoy my story. I'm going to go listen to some "Nightmare Before Christmas" music. :)