Chapter Twenty-Three:

Fire and Ice

Disclaimer: I don't have to do this, since you all know it. So, I'm not going to write it! :D

"Okay, so I almost had him..." Michael said bitterly as he tried to fix the disconnection on his computer. He had managed to reach Amon's cellphone for about five seconds before he was cut off.

Robin was peeking eagerly over his left shoulder, while Bree was leaning like a shadow over his right. The dark-haired woman had a grim expression on her face.

"Are you kidding me? You just had him and now you lost him?" She growled, trying to get a closer look at the monitor.

Michael sighed, giving her an annoyed side-glance. Bree had been giving him crap all day (actually, more like all week). She and Andy, both being hackers themselves, kept telling him about the stuff he was doing wrong and frankly, he was getting tired of it.

"Unless you have a better way to put it, yes. I've lost him. Now, will you quit nagging me so I can try to reach him again?" The hacker told her loudly, going back to typing on his keyboard.

Bree let her mouth drop open in shock and was about to retort when Robin laid a small hand on her shoulder.

"Perhaps he's right, Bree. We have been breathing down his neck all week. We should give him a break." The young girl said softly, her eyes pleading with the other woman.

Bree narrowed her eyes for a moment before scoffing and turning away, heading for the kitchen to find something to eat.

Andy was already there, looking through the refidgerator with Sakaki standing behind him.

"How do you guys stay here for hours on end? There's hardly anything to snack on." The brown-haired boy shouted, grunting painfully as he hit his head hard on the roof of the fridge.

"That's because Michael has eaten it all." Sakaki muttered, his lip curling into a smirk as Andy rubbed at the newly-formed bump on his head.

"You know, Misha might be able to get all of you something to eat." Said hacker stated, wanting nothing more then to get everyone out of the room for some peace and quiet.

"I'm going with the nerd in the chair." Bree drawled as she ran up the stairs, Andy and Sakaki not far behind.

After hearing the soft click of the basement door closing, Michael let out a heaving sigh and slumped back in his chair.

"God, I thought they'd never leave." He said roughly, picking himself up and going back to typing on his keyboard.

Robin watched the boy's fingers as they flew across the keys, her emerald eyes thoughtful.

"Michael...where are Doujima and Karasuma?" She asked after a minute, bringing up a chair so that she could sit next to the hacker.

"I think they went with Rain and Kitten to Eri's apartment. You know, Amon's partner of sorts? She's been missing all week as well, so we've decided look for her." Michael replied, his voice somewhat hitched, as if he were wanting to cry.

Robin noticed his change in attitude and glanced at him. Her eyes were wide with curiosity.

"Partner...? Who is she, Michael? What does she look like?" She asked softly, adjusting herself so that she could face him.

Michael tried ignore the questions, but couldn't shake off the imploring look that the young witch was giving him. After a moment, he finally sighed and gazed sadly over at her.

"She's -- my entire world..." He murmured quietly, his eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

Robin gasped at his anwer and was about to interigate further when the basement door opened. Karasuma, Doujima, and Rain all filed down the stairs from the tallest to the shortest (which was strange, since all three were pretty tall).

Rain was the first to step off the last step, her platform shoes making quite a racket as they clapped against the tile floor.

Karasuma came down next, heading immediately over to the computer with Doujima right behind her.

"Robin, Ian is here. He says he has something to show you." The older woman said, her voice taking on a businesslike manner. Doujima just nodded her head.

Robin cocked her head slightly before standing to her full height.

"W-what is it?" She stammered softly, blinking in confusion.

Karasuma just shrugged one of her lean shoulders.

"I don't know. He wouldn't show us. All he said was that it had something to do with Amon and that it was for your eyes only." She said as Doujima continued to stupidly nod her head.

Robin stared hard at the other three women for a moment before finally nodding her head and walking towards the stairs with Rain following.

Karasuma watched the two of them go. After a couple of seconds, she turned to look at the back of Michael's head. Her face was grim.

"Hey, Michael. I just wanted to let you know that we've still found no trace of Eri." She said, being interrupted as Doujima brushed roughly passed to her sit in Robin's now unoccupied chair.

"I know. I mean, it's just like she vanished off of the face of the planet. Her apartment was totally empty and had no furniture in it at all." The blonde said, instantly reaching her hand over to grab at a fashion magazine.

Karasuma nodded to show that she agreed.

"It's true. And get this. The landlord of the apartment complex told us that no one by her name had ever lived there. It's like she never even existed in the first place." She stated, suddenly shivering from a chill that had just slithered up her spine. "It's almost scary to think about."

Michael listened to all of this in silence, his chin resting comfortabley on his folded hands. It was a good two minutes before he spoke.

"Are you sure you checked the whole apartment? I mean, really just gave it a complete search?" He asked, narrowing his eyes as he thought.

Both women nodded.

"Yes, we're sure Michael. Kitten even asked all of the neighbors if they had seen her. We turned up nothing. Eri is just...gone." Karasuma said, her voice edged with a certain, serious tone that signaled that she wasn't joking around.

Michael limply nodded his head, slowly bringing up a finger so that he could chew on his fingernail. Something he didn't normally do.

"I see." He said quietly, sighing as he closed his eyes in defeat.

Karauma watched him for a moment before letting out a sigh of her own and walking back up the stairs.

Hearing the door closing, Doujima raised her head. Her eyes were sympathetic as she laid her gaze on the hacker.

"Hey, don't worry. Maybe she'll come back. I mean, it's not completely hopeless." She said as she placed a tender hand on his arm, trying to comfort him.

Michael just let out a grumbled reply before returning to typing on his computer. His face was set in determination.

He had to search for Amon. No sense in letting Robin hurt the same way he was right now.

Robin narrowed her eyes at Ian as she stepped out of the little convienient store. He was leaning against the outside wall, a toothpick sticking out from in between his lips. Kitten stood on the other side of him, telling him of how their investigation of Eri's apartment went.

The young witch furrowed her eyebrows and let out a huff. Ever since the little incident with her and Ian a week ago, things had been a tad icy between them (More like frigid). Ian had even taken to giving her ugly looks when nobody was looking. He mostly did it when someone mentioned Amon's name, but there were other times, too.

Well, she couldn't exactly keep the bastard waiting now, could she?

After smoothing out the wrinkles in her dress to make sure she looked presentable, Robin clasped her hands together and walked slowly up to Ian. She stopped right next to him, plastering a forced smile on her face.

"You wanted to see me, Ian?" She asked softly, emphesizing his name as if he were a bug that she just really wanted to step on.

Ian caught the small snarl in her voice and narrowed his silver eyes at her, now looking more like Amon than he ever had before.

"As a matter of fact, I did, Robin." He replied, almost hissing out the last word of his sentence. Robin heard this and gave him the most hateful glare that she could muster.

Kitten noticed the animosity between them and raised her eyebrows until they disappeared up into her bangs. She glanced back and fourth at the both of them.

There was a few moments of awkward silence before Rain suddenly stepped into the picture, carrying a bag of Cheetos in her hand.

"So, Ian. What did you want to show us?" She asked, bringing a cheese puff up to her mouth and crunching on it noisily.

She obviously didn't know what was going on...

Ian swivled his slitted gaze over to Rain, staring at her for a moment as if he didn't even know what she was talking about. He then let his eyes return to normal before reaching into his coat and pulling out what seemed to be a -- ?

"What the hell is that?" Kitten inqired, her violet eyes wide as she stared at what appeared to be a damaged soda can.

Ian just shrugged one of his broad shoulders.

"No idea. I found it in the back alleyway behind the theater that Robin had told me about." He said, gazing over at said girl as soon as he had said her name. The toothpick he had in his mouth kept switching between the corners of his lips as he chewed on the end of it.

Robin stared at the at the object in the older man's hand, her emerald eyes wide with curiosity. She then raised her own hand, indicating that she wanted to see it.

"May I --" She whispered, getting a nod from Ian as he dropped the thing into her open palm.

The young witch brought it up to her eye level, turning it this way and that way as she examined it.

After a couple of seconds of silence, she gasped. Tears began coming to her eyes as she raised her gaze to the three people surrounding her. All of them had their focus trained on her.

"Well...?" Rain asked through a mouthful of Cheetos.

Robin let out a sob, holding the object to near her chest.

"T-this is...Amon's cellphone..." She rasped, lowering her gaze so that no one could see her tears.

Everyone backed away from her in shock, risking glances at each other in the process. They knew now that their only chance of locating Amon was now gone (basically because that chance with them).

There probably wasn't any real hope of finding him, now...

It was about this time that Karasuma walked out of the convienient store, her face grim. Apparently, she had heard the whole coversation from just inside the door. She knew everything.

"Robin, I--I'm so sorry." She whispered, downcasting her gaze and staring down at the pavement.

There must have been something interesting about the sidewalk today, because after Karasuma had lowered her head, the other four had followed in suit. All of their expessions were identically glum.

After a few minutes of silence, Robin suddenly brought her head up. Her eyes were wide with something that seemed to be realization.

Turning to Karasuma, who was standing next to her, the young witch held up the damaged cellphone.

"Karasuma. Can you use your power to scry this? Perhaps it will gives us some answers as to where Amon might be." She whispered timidly, as though afraid to ask such a favor. Her eyes shown with a certain determination, however.

Miho stared at Robin for a moment before sighing and taking the little phone in her hand.

"Alright. I'll try. I need to warn you, though. I may not get anything, since this thing was probably laying in that alleyway all week. Just don't get your hopes up, okay?" The older woman said, gazing sternly into the young girl's eyes to make sure she undertstood.

Robin nodded her head stiffly, her own stare just as firm.

With one, satisfied nod of her own, Miho closed her eyes and concentrated her hard on her power. Her fingers were squeezing on to the cellphone so hard that they had begun shaking.

Robin, Rain, Kitten, and Ian all watched this with interest; crowding in and around Karasuma as she worked her magic (pun intended).

Ian, however, looked rather nervous about something.The blonde-haired man was gnawing nonstop on his toothpick and he was sweating bullets. It almost seemed as if he were afraid that Karasuma would actually find something from scrying the phone.

God, please don't let her uncover anything important... He mentally begged himself as he raised his gaze to Karasuma, who had opened her eyes. Her facial features showed that she hadlocated something disturbing.

"Well, did you --" Robin trailed off, unable to finish her sentence in all of the anxiaty. Bree and Rain were looking over both of her shoulders (Rain still holding on to her Cheetos bag).

Karasuma shook her head, frowning as she looked up at everyone.

"It's not much, but it feels like an intense anger. Then a blinding pain like I've never felt before in my life." She answered, her eyes narrowing.

Robin gasped at this remark, her eyes wide with horror.

"You -- do you think he's --" She paused, gulping as she thought of the worst.

Miho shrugged, gazing back down at the cellphone in her hand.

"I don't know, Robin, but I'm not finished, yet." She said as she closed her eyes a second time.

The others waited with baited breath (Actually, Rain waited with Cheeto breath); no one hardly even dared to breathe. After a couple more minutes, Miho opened her eyes again. She raised her head to everyone. Her face was blank.

"It's more pain, but not as bad as before. Mostly, there is a feeling of being tired and weak. Then more anger..." She paused here, gazing intently at Robin as she added, "But the most powerful emotion that I've felt so far...is love. And wonderment. He's been thinking on whether or not he'll ever see you again, but it's the feeling of his love for you that felt the strongest."

Everything became silent again as the older woman ceased her talking. Everyone glanced at one another, taking all of this new information in.

Robin kept still, her eyes narrowed in thought. Her hands were clutched into fists at her sides and were shaking uncontrolably.

After a couple of seconds, she raised her head and revealed the tears that had appeared at the edges of her emerald orbs.

"T-thank-you..." She stuttered as she ran back into the convieniet store, her hands covering her mouth so that no one would be able to hear her sobs.

The other four watched her go, their faces showing all of their sympathy.

Miho turned back to the other three after a few moments, her eyes narrowed seriously.

"I didn't want to tell Robin this, but when I scryed this thing...I felt another presence in it. I think someone else had picked it up before Ian did." She said quietly as she glared at them all.

Kitten and Rain gasped at the same time, gazing at each other fearfully.

Ian just stared at Miho emotionlessly, taking the toothpick out of his mouth and twirling it between his fingers.

"Are you saying someone planted it there for me to find it or something like that?" He asked in his deep voice, his silver eyes flashing.

Karasuma nodded her head, her lips nothing but a thin line on her face.

"Unfortunetly, that's exactly what I'm saying..." She replied.

"So, what do you think? Is this Ian someone dangerous. Or do you think he's just obsessed with our Little Bird?" The red-haired witch inquired as he watched Robin's friends as they coversed outside the covienient store across the street..

Shitari stood behind him, her little arms crossed over her chest. She had bruises and dried blood all over her skin from where she had ripped the IV's out when she had escaped the hospital earlier that morning. Her expression showed intense concern.

"I'm not sure. The bastard attacked me when I tried to chase after him a little over week ago. I got put in the hospital because him and now I have this damn scar for life." The blonde-haired girl said in a voice unlike her own. It sounded more womanlike then the normal, high-pitched tone for a child of her age.

The man with the red hair turned around to look at her as she showed him the ropy scar on her back. He frowned as he stared at it.

"I'll kill him for doing that to you. I swear I will." He said as he whipped his head back to the small group down below on the street.

Shitari's facial features softened as she came up to stand next to the man and looked out over the side of the roof of the building the two of them were currently standing on. After a couple of seconds of silence, she sighed.

"We're not doing a very good job as Guardians, so far. Are we?" She asked as she looked up at the taller man. "Akamu?"

Akama gazed down at her as she spoke his name, raising one corner of his mouth in a smirk.

"We're not doing bad, but we're doing great, either. Don't worry, though. If this Ian guy wants to fight, then a fight is what he gets." He said, turning back down to stare at the people across the street. His left eye twitched as he watched them go back into the convienient store.

Shitari nodded as she tried her best to agree with Akamu. She did want to agree with him, of course, but for some reason, it was difficult to manage.

He knows what he's doing. Just give him a chance. She tried to tell herself. After a couple of seconds, however, she sighed again.

But what if he doesn't?

It was later that night. Robin and her freinds were back at the Holiday Inn, gathering their stuff to check out. It had been decided earlier that the young witch and the other three girls would be staying over at Karasuma's, while the guys were staying at Sakaki's.

Robin sat on the edge of the bed nearest to the window; her hands folded in her lap as she waited patiently for the others to pack.

Kitten was taking the longest. She only had one suitcase ready and had about three more to go.

Bree was sitting on the lid of one of her two large, black suitcases, trying her best to shut it on top of all of her unfolded clothes. So far, she was having no such luck.

Rain was calmly folding her garments and neatly placing them into her own luggage. After taking about ten minutes to do that, she finally just sloppily tossed all of her make-up stuff in and slammed the top lid closed.

"Alright. I'm all set. Robin, would you mind going down the hall and checking up on the boys?" The older woman asked kindly as she proceeded to adorn her wrist with all of her bracelets.

Robin immediately stood up, becoming a little excited over the joy of finally having something to do besides sit.

"Of course. I would be honored." She said softly as she walked quickly over to the room door and stepping out into the hallway.

The young witch took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly before turning to the right and making her way towards the guy's room. It felt good to get out of her own room and just stretch her legs.

After a few seconds, she reached their door. Straightening herself so that she looked presentable, she raised a small, pale hand and timidly rapped on the door with her knuckle.

She listened for a few moments to the grumbling and whispers coming from inside. She then suddenly jumped as Ian opened the door.

"Shit!" She squeaked, instantly covering her mouth right afterwards. "I'm sorry..." She apologized quietly, her voice muffled from being caught behind her hand.

Ian smiled, the first one he had really given her all week.

"It's alright. You'd be surprised by how much I do that, too." He reassured her, stepping out into the hallway and shutting his room door behind him.

Robin smiled and nodded, bringing down the hand that she had used to cover her mouth.

"Um...Rain -- Rain sent me to see if you two were packed, yet." She stuttered, blushing as if this were a question that she was forbidden to ask.

Ian nodded, closing his eyes as he leaned back against the door. He crossed his arms across his chest before he answered.

"We're nearly ready. Andrew's just being lazy and watching the damn T.V. He's such a bonehead, not to mention a procrastinator. I really don't get why Rain thinks he would be a good leader." The blonde-haired man said, opening his eyes and gazing down at Robin with them

The young girl smiled and nodded, agreeing with him on something that she really knew nothing about.

"Oh -- I see." She whispered, bringing up a finger to scratch embarrassingly at her left cheek as she blushed a little.

Ian noticed this and smiled.

"Something else on your mind?" He asked, crossing his right ankle over his left. He looked as if he were trying to prepare for a long discussion.

Robin's blush deepened into a cherry-red color. It was pretty clear that she did have something else that she wanted to say.

"Yes, um, well..." She paused, looking up at at the ceiling as she searched for the correct words to say. After a couple of seconds, she brought her emerald gaze down and looked up at the older man.

"Ian, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for the way I've been acting lately. " She said timidly as her hands clasped nervously in front of her out of habit.

Ian just nodded his head and raised a hand to rest on her right shoulder.

"No problem at all. I should be apologizing as well, any way. I've been quite the jackass this week." He said as he gave her a smile.

Robin smiled back softly.

"I accept your apology." She stated calmly as Ian just nodded his head in agreement. "I also want to thank-you for finding Amon's cellphone." She added after a few moments as she blushed even deeper.

Ian frowned and cocked his head slightly to the right out of confusion.

"Now, why would you waste your breath on thanking me for something like that?" He asked with a little grin.

Robin just shrugged one of her thin shoulders.

"Well, you've been a big help to me on this mission and I'm just now realizing it. I'm a tad bit ashamed that I've just now noticed. So, I'm making up for it by thanking you." The young witch said, her fingers now fumbling with the fabric of her dress.

Ian just grunted as an answer.

After a couple of seconds of awkward silence, he pushed himself away from the door and stood up to his full height.

"I'm going to go for a short walk. I need the air." He said firmly as he began to side-step the small girl in front of him.

Robin, startled by the sudden change in his demenor, quickly reached out and grabbed on to a fistful of his jacket.

"Wait. Does Andy --" She began to ask before the blonde man interrupted her quite rudely.

"Andrew already knows. Don't worry about me. I'll be back later. I promise." He said as he turned himself around and bent down towards her. Once he was close enough, he let his lips rest on hers for a second before pulling away.

It took about five minutes for Robin to actually realize that Ian had kissed her. And by that time, he was already half-way down the hall.

She remained silent for a few moments, not sure whether to run after him or to just stay there.

After a few seconds of quiet debate, Robin finally raised her head and cupped a small hand around her mouth.

"Ian!" She called, succeeding in getting him to stop just before he reached the elevator.

"Yes?" He called loudly back, indicating that he was listening.

Robin took a deep breath, trying to gather her courage before she spoke to him.

"I just want to let you know that I love Amon and nothing is going to change that. I-I'm truely sorry..." She said, her voice trailing off into a whisper.

Ian didn't not move for a few, good seconds. This caused Robin to become anxious and she began to shift uncomfortabley on her feet. She jerked her gaze up when she finally heard him talk.

"I know." The blonde-haired man said before disappearing into the elevator.

Me: Well...things are beginning to heat up. ;) Any way, I'm sorry for not updating for awhile. I have a very tight schedule, now that school has started back up again. I hope all of you can forgive me.

Solaria735: Yeah, I'm sorry for the confusion about what language they were speaking. I would probably get confused, too, if this was someone else's story. :)

Yeah, I added some parts into the flashback. I wanted Amon's point of veiw on somethings that happened in the series. I had always wanted to know what he was thinking everytime he was was with Robin.

Yes, I made Amon a wind craft-user. I think it seems plausible. I mean, think about it. In the first episode of WHR, he jumps down from a building in front of a witch and when he did, a gust of wind came up. It seemed to happen again when he jumped off of the bridge in "Smells Like the Wandering Spirit". And again in "Loaded Guns", when he's watching Robin as she stands on her balcony. I don't know, it just seems that Amon could be a great wind user. :) Thanks for listening to me ramble.

Angel452: I can't really tell you who the man who took Amon's phone was. It might spoil the ending. Please understand. Thank you for reveiwing, though.

In True Meanings: I'm glad you like my story. Thanks for reveiwing. :)

Kerigan: Yes, Amon lives. I wouldn't kill him. I love him to much. ::Squeezes the badass bishie:: :)

Cyber hug is good... ::Hugs Kerigan::

trekkiexb5: Thanks for reveiwing. :)

Sakura Blossom-Cilla-85:P: Well, since Amon is a mostly derpressed person, I made his dreams depressing. :) Yes, Robin brought a knife to school...on accident of course. ;) Thanks for reveiwing.

Amon's Angel of the Darkness: I'm sorry you two were so late for school. And I hope Tommy's hair is nice and spiky. :)

I hope Tommy isn't offended that I called him a girl. It was an accident...seriously.

Yes, I didn't know what to do for chapter 22, so I put a flashback. A long, but good flashback. Me likie. :P

Thanks for reveiwing. :)

AnimeReveiwer790: Buddy, you reveiwed! I'm so happy! ::Clears throat:: Alright, that aside.

Yes, you have to reveiw. You're one of my best reveiwers. If you didn't revew, I crash and burn. :o I'm J/K.

Any way, I'll try to e-mail you later. Peace.

dArKaNgEl A076: Thank you for all of your wonderful reveiws. Unfortunetly, I don't have time to comment on every one of them. I hope your not upset. I'm glad you love my story so much, though. :)

Kris and Kitty: I'm sorry about your computer not working. Thanks for reveiwing before the teacher caught you. ;)

i think you know: Ah, come on. AAOTD can't be that bad. :)

Well, at least I know that your a guy, now. I serious thought you were someone's sister. I'm sorry. Please forgive me.

Any way, thanks for reveiwing.

Trevor X1: Yes, I tried to make Ian a shootable character from the very beginning. :) At least I know now that my method is working.

Thanks for reveiwing

AnimeFreaks13: Thanks for the titles of your stories. I'll check them out just as soon as I have time. I hope I can find a way to let your sister reveiw.

I'm glad you like my story. :)