Chapter 14: The Night

I forgot to ask you guys something in my last update. Do you guys mind lemons? I was thinking of including one, but I wasn't sure how you guys would take it, you know? Anyway, that was before I realized that I don't write lemons. I don't know how, lol! I wouldn't want to make it totally raunchy and perverted, so yeah. Hmmm, so this author's note was for nothing? Why am I still rambling on?

Kiba: (shakes head) She's a blubbering idiot.

Little Zeppelin: …but I could try to write a lemon…

Tsume: She should stop while she's ahead.

Little Zeppelin: …do you guys know what a lemon is…

Toboe: I don't know what a lemon is? What's a lemon?

Kiba: Uh….you see, it's like this. When-when-when… Tsume, tell him.

Tsume: Huh?

Kiba: Tell him what a lemon is.

Little Zeppelin: Looks like I've got to save the day here, not looking to get much from these pansies over here. (Kiba and Tsume glare at Little Zep) Now, come here by boy, and I will tell and a little story about the birds and bees…

Kiba sat in silence after Tsume left. He couldn't leave her, he couldn't. If Tsume felt what he was feeling, he wouldn't be asking him to. If Tsume loved anyone the way he loved Yuri, he would understand that leaving her was not an option, it was not impossible. He closed his eyes as he remembered last night. The warmth of her body, the taste of her skin, her scent in the air…

After three days of awkwardness, Yuri decided to end it all by apologizing. It had been difficult, Blue's words touched a nerve and she didn't know how to explain herself or her behavior to him to make him understand. Not only that, but Hige and Blue's sniggers and giggles every time they saw Yuri and Kiba make fools of themselves replayed in her head every time she approached him. "Thanks a lot guys," she said, her face burning, after she accidentally poured hot soup on him after he came up behind her and offered to help her carry the large pot.

"Pull yourself together," she thought. She stopped pacing her room and moved toward the door when there was a knock on the door.

"Yuri, it's me. Can I come in?"

"Oh!" she exclaimed. She hadn't expected Kiba to come see her; she was caught unawares by his arrival. She threw herself on the bed, brushing her hair out of her face and trying to look nonchalant. "Sure, come in."

Kiba entered slowly. "I was afraid you'd be asleep already."

"No, I was just…thinking. Actually, I was about to look for you—I want to talk to you."

Kiba looked at her, nonplussed. "Really? What about?"

"Come sit with me," she responded, patting the bed next to her. Kiba approached slowly and sat next to her looking nervous. "I wanted to apologize, you know, for the way I acted. You were just—"

She looked up to see Kiba shaking his head. "No, I shouldn't have assumed you wanted my help. I'm sorry. I got carried away I guess and I forgot about what you wanted. I promise, I'll back off from on, I'll—"

He didn't see it coming, his eyes opened wide with shock, his head swam as Yuri leaned forward and softly pressed her lips against his. She pulled away slowly and whispered, "Don't."

"Yuri…"

She placed her finger over his lips, "I got mad because I didn't want you to think I was weak—too weak to be with you."

"But you're not. I know you're strong and you don't need me hovering over you all the time."

"No, I was lying," Yuri said, shaking her head. "I do need you, I do. I need you for-I need you to…" She trailed off, not knowing what to say next. Words were not what she needed now—words were not enough. She had to show him. She had to show him how much she needed him, how much she needed his love—how much she loved him.

She leaned in to kiss him, but this time she was caught off guard. Kiba slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her toward him. He kissed her with the same tenderness she had kissed him. He broke the kiss and nuzzled her nose. "I need you too, Yuri. You've given me so much, I don't understand all of the things I'm feeling right now, but I know that I can only be happy as long as I'm with you. Nothing else matters, nothing," he whispered, eyes closed, holding her closer, now enclosing her entirely in his embrace.

"Kiba…" she breathed. She kissed him again, her passion growing in intensity, her love manifesting itself as heat radiated from her body. She put her hands behind his head, deepening their kiss. She poured more of herself into the kiss, her mind racing. This was it; she knew what she had to do. She had contemplated this for days, now she was sure it was exactly what she wanted. She would show Kiba how much she needed him. She would show him her love the best way she could think of. She would give herself to him, give him everything she had: mind body and soul. She would leave no doubt in his mind, leave nothing to question, this was her gift to him.

She could feel his passion building against her belly as he held her tighter, parting her lips with his tongue, uttering a feral growl as he moved down her neck, consuming her with his hunger for her—he could understand this. Their hearts pounded in their chest, their bodies sick with want. She smiled through their kiss and leaned back, pulling Kiba with her.

A violent wind blew through, shaking the houses with its fury. Stronger and stronger it grew, ripping through the landscape. The clouds cleared. The earth sang in bliss, it heaved, and finally released. A gentle breeze played through, the earth cooled.

Yuri gasped, trying to catch her breath. Kiba held her to him, breathing hard. He looked down at her face—there were tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his features riddled with concern.

Yuri shook her head. "Nothing, just…" She was at a loss for words. Never had she imagined something so…beautiful. Heaven itself could not compare to the all-consuming bliss from lying in her lover's embrace. Let the earth swallow her up as she lay now, she would have it no other way. Since her parents' death, her life had been one of solitude, fearing the worst as she tried to fend for herself. Living alone wasn't easy. How many tears she had cried silently into her pillow at night, yearning for her parents—anyone—crying out for a savior, a protector.

She kissed his chest lightly, "Just to make sure," she thought, to make sure he was there—to make sure she wasn't dreaming. She stroked his smooth, firm chest, beautifully pale skin. She looked up into his face—his eyes were closed, a smile of serenity lay soundly on his face. "I love you," she whispered, settling her head softly on his chest, falling into a deep, placid sleep as she listened to the steady beating of his heart.

Kiba's eyes opened, noticing Yuri's slumber—he had not fallen asleep, merely wanting to enjoy the feeling of her slight frame in his arms, her silken skin brushing his. Kiba recounted Yuri's words in his mind, the softly whispered, 'I love you.' At that moment, he thought he did not know what he had done to deserve such happiness, to deserve Yuri, but he was eternally grateful to whatever it was that brought her to him. "I'll have to thank Jagura for kidnapping Cheza," he thought. He caressed her cheek fondly, enjoying her reaction to his touch. He ran his fingers slowly through her hair, admiring each beautiful strand, sniffing the air, filled with his and her scent, fused together as one.

"I love you," he murmured, taking in her small form. "More than anything, more than anyone. You've given me happiness, true peace—I will never leave you."

Kiba sighed in remembrance of the moment. He meant what he said; he would never leave Yuri. But how could he abandon his friends, the only ones he had ever known? "Damn it," he cursed under his breath. He didn't want to leave them, but what choice did he have?

Yuri jumped out of the way as Tsume stalked into the kitchen. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Oh, I was…just getting… a glass of water!" Yuri responded, indicating an empty glass in her hand. In truth, that had been her initial intent, but her attention had been caught by the conversation outside. Yes, it was wrong to eavesdrop, but… "It's perfectly natural. Anyone would do the same thing," she concluded, listening intently.

"How much did you hear?" Tsume asked, fixing Yuri with a piercing gaze. Something about his eyes told Yuri that he would know if she lied, so it was better to just be honest about it.

She gulped nervously, "You asked Kiba to choose."

"Do you know why?"

Yuri shook her head. Frankly, the conversation had left her with many questions. She really didn't know much about Kiba to begin with and now he was arguing with Tsume about some paradise of sorts and she had no idea what they were talking about. "Paradise?"

"Yes," Tsume said, not taking his eyes off her. "Do you know what that is, what it means to us wolves?" Yuri shook her head nervously, her knees shaking slightly under his scrutinizing gaze.

"What is paradise?"

Tsume shook his head firmly at her. "That's for Kiba to tell you, not me. I thought he would have told you by now," Tsume said. He added with a smirk, "But I guess he hasn't been telling anyone much of anything lately."

"What do you mean?" Yuri asked, hoping to get a better answer this, as she had been a little disappointed with the last one.

"Your scent," he said simply, grinning. "It's changed since last night—you reek of him, you know that?"

Yuri blushed furiously at his comment. "So he knew!" she thought. He knew that she and Kiba had… She started suddenly, noticing him approach her.

"It's been driving me and Hige wild. He almost jumped Blue this morning, that's why she had to clobber him on the head with the pan. Toboe is still too young to understand what it means, but he's been extra energetic, if you know what I mean." He reached out and took a lock of her hair into his hand, brining it to his nose and breathing deeply. "Just as I thought. I really figured Kiba would have been more careful about this, we knew it was only a matter of time, but he should have known better."

"Are we that obvious?" she asked and Tsume let go of her hair, crossing his arms over his chest.

He nodded affirmatively. "It's not so much your behavior. We could smell the changes in you and Kiba. It explains why he's been more antsy lately, he should be more laid back from now on, not such a snobby jackass." Tsume smirked.

Yuri chuckled. "You really care about him, don't you? I mean, you're really good friends, right?" She asked, realizing this was the first conversation she had ever had with Tsume. He always seemed so surly and introverted, she had been afraid to approach him.

"Yeah, that's one way of putting it," he answered. "We've been traveling together for a while now and…" he trailed off somewhat, remembering the ultimatum he had left Kiba with. He contemplated the girl standing before him, the portrait of innocence and beauty, she seemed like a flower maiden herself yet her eyes displayed such a strength and wisdom, it was impossible to look away from their infinite depths—it was no wonder Kiba had fallen so hard for her.

"Yuri," he said, throwing caution to the winds as he grabbed hold of what seemed to him his last chance, "you need to talk to Kiba."

"What about?" Yuri returned, furrowing her brows in concern.

"He's about to make a decision he may regret and I think you're the only one he'll listen to anymore. Ask him about Paradise. Ask him about Cheza. Ask him how much Paradise meant to him when he met us and ask him how much it means to him now." He turned to leave.

"Wait!" she cried, grabbing his arm as he retreated. "Why are you asking this of me? What did you ask Kiba to choose? What does this have to do with me?"

"Everything," he said, turning to face Yuri, his hand still clenched in hers. "He's meant for great things, Yuri, but he can't do them from here." He reached out to stroke her cheek, his featured softened for the moment by the distress in Yuri's eyes. His features hardened the next moment as he held her chin firmly with his thumb and index finger, tilting her head up so he could look straight into her eyes. "You have to let him go," he said softly, "I hope you understand."

He let his hand drop, waiting for Yuri to release the other. She slowly did, letting her arms lie limply at her sides. He walked away, his hands stuffed in his pockets. When he reached the door leading to the living room, he stopped. "I'm sorry," he murmured, quietly exiting. Yuri turned her head slowly to the door, knowing Kiba was still outside. She breathed deeply, turned the knob, and stepped slowly outside.

There you guys and that's as close as I'm going to get to a lemon, really. I mean, unless I get requests that I write a lemon, in that case I will do my best to write one worthy of your time, and that's that, but that would probably be a one-shot type of thing, not actually part of the main story since it's already been written. Anyway I hope you guys liked this one, I've had it planned for a while! The next chapter is the last one, so let's hear predictions for what's going to happen! Thanks for reading guys! Please review!