Garnet & Amber

XO'MagickMoon'OX

I Love You …

"What do you want?" Kohaku whimpered.

"Satan has demanded your permanent removal from this world," one of the demons surrounding her replied.

There were five demons floating in a circle around her. They were powerful demons, each strong enough to stay in their original form all of the time, like Koryu. They had ambushed her while she was tending to the garden, knocking her to her knees and placing her at their mercy.

She was no magician, not a warrior … completely helpless.

"God, please help me," she began to pray, tears rimming her amber eyes.

"Don't waste your breath!" a female, violet-eyed demon laughed. "He's not going to help you!"

"B-But why? Why are you doing this to me?" she asked.

"Because you are chaining Koryu to this realm, and Satan needs him back in Hell," another explained.

"I … I d-did what!" Kohaku gasped. "What are you talking about?"

One of the demons flung his dark hair behind him, sighing wearily. "Ugh … this is a waste of time. Let's just get this damn thing over with!"

The demons nodded to one another and held their palms towards the angel cowering before them. They recited:

"INAZUMA YASHUU!"

A blinding light engulfed the area, and energy shot through the air with a deafening crack.

Kohaku closed her eyes stinging with tears. This is it, she thought. Koryu, I …

"BAKUEN GOUKA!"

The light faded, and a smothering stillness settled into the area. Startled, Kohaku looked up.

Koryu was standing in front of her, his hands raised towards the sky. A shield of swirling light was slowly dissolving into the air. His breath was panicked and heavy, his body trembling.

He had blocked the attacks.

His arms fell to his sides, and he collapsed to his knees. He peered over his shoulder at Kohaku.

"You … all right … bubblehead?" he asked, forcing a weak smile.

He didn't feel like smiling. He felt like crying. Had he gotten here one second later …

He turned around on his knees so that he was completely facing the angel. Falling forward, he wrapped his arms around her.

"…" Kohaku was speechless. She felt him tremble harder, his body racked with … sobs?

He buried his face in her chest, stroking her flaxen hair, holding her as if he'd never let her go.

"K-Koryu," the angel mustered warily. What was wrong with him? She'd never seen him cry. Never.

"I'm not going to lose you," Koryu sobbed, his voice muffled against her chest. "I'm not going to lose you … not again!"

"A-Again?" she muttered, baffled.

"What's the meaning of this? Where is the succubus? She was supposed to be keeping you busy!" one of the now-enraged demons cried.

But Koryu didn't respond. He just held Kohaku tighter, his sobbing now reduced to silent tears. Kohaku pushed him away a little and cupped his face in her hand. She forced him to look up at her, to look her in the eyes. She leaned in and kissed the tears on his cheeks, his flushed face warm beneath her lips.

As she went to pull away he slipped his hand behind her neck, holding her in place. He shifted his head so that their lips met. She was surprised and tense at first, but then gave in and kissed him back, her heart racing.

Koryu felt his stomach flutter. Her lips were soft and warm against his, her touch gentle as she wrapped her arm around his back, pulling him closer. He ran his fingers through her golden locks, savoring the taste of her lips …

Vanilla.

He gasped, pulling away. "K-Kohaku!"

Kohaku blushed. Had she done something wrong?

"It was you last night!"

"L-Last night?" Kohaku repeated, not sure what he was talking about. Before Koryu could say another word, Kohaku looked up and cried, "Watch out!"

Koryu turned and jumped up just in time to block another onset of attacks.

He looked back to the angel, pulling her to her feet. He held her against him and nuzzled his face in her soft hair. "I'm not going to lose you again," he repeated in a soft whisper, tears returning to his eyes.

Kohaku smiled. She felt safe in his arms, a place she had been longing to be for a while now. He was so warm, so gentle …

She closed her eyes. Her surroundings seemed to ripple and fade, no smells but that of Koryu's sweet, calming scent, no feelings but the love in her heart and Koryu's arms around her, no sounds but the rhythmic beating of Koryu's heart …

Which was pounding faster than normal at the moment.

She was pulled back to reality by the scornful outbursts from the other demons.

"Koryu! You bastard! We have direct orders from Satan! Either you come back to Hell or the angel dies!" the violet-eyed vixen shouted.

"I'm not liking either of those options," Koryu responded sharply despite his fatigue.

Blocking so many powerful attacks at once was taking a great toll on him. Were these demons any regular underlings, they would've been no problem.

But these demons were just as strong as he.

Also, his magic was tied to his emotions. The more intense his emotions, the stronger his magic. The more strained and twisted his emotions, the more strained and twisted his magic. And right now, after almost losing Kohaku, his emotions were jumping around from fear to anger to sorrow to pain to relief to love … he couldn't keep his head straight, let alone his magic.

The emotional strain was also taking a toll on his physical endurance and strength.

So, with three factors working against him, Koryu was not in a very good position.

The demons began to gather their energy again, preparing for another attack. Koryu couldn't help but groan wearily.

Kohaku looked worriedly up at the demon. She turned to the others and demanded angrily, "Leave him alone!"

They just laughed.

The resounding sounds of their mocking laughter sent a wave of white-hot rage flooding through Kohaku's body. She'd never felt such anger before.

"Kohaku," Koryu said. "You have to leave … run. I can … hold them off for a little longer."

But it was too late.

The demons fired their attacks:

"INAZUMA YASHUU!"

Kohaku raised her palms. "FUEN FUBOO!"

Light shot from her fingertips, swirling around her and Koryu in white torrents, blocking the demonic spells. Her eyes widened, her jaw dropping at her own power. She could scarcely breath as she watched the demon's spells ricochet off of her shield and dissolve into nothing. Kohaku had never felt so much power before emanating from herself. It was an incredible feeling.

She felt Koryu collapse to his knees, clinging desperately to her shirt. She kneeled down with him and hugged him tight.

Now it was her turn to protect him.

Once the light had faded, Kohaku looked up. The demons were furious, preparing yet another attack.

"I won't let you hurt him!" Kohaku shouted. She felt Koryu's labored breathing against her chest, his trembling body. His eyes were closed, but she was sure he was still conscious.

He was in no condition to fight.

She'd have to take them on her own.

"INAZU –"

A deafening crack followed by a burst of blinding light filled the area. Kohaku shielded her eyes, and the demons shrieked.

"That's enough!" a familiar voice boomed.

The angel looked up. "Master Ransho!" She smiled, such relief filling her heart that she thought it would carry her away on a cloud.

The Angel Master smiled, slowly descending, followed closely behind by Touki and Ryuki.

"Angels!" a dark-haired demon hissed.

"Angel Masters!" the violet-eyed one amended, her voice wavering with fear.

They were strong, but they were no match for three archangels.

"Leave!" Touki commanded the demons, her voice tight and her tone formidable.

They seemed to show a small flicker of defiance before Ryuki glared daggers at them. That was when their common sense got the better of them, and they fled.

Kohaku stared. "W-What are you doing here?" she asked, trying to make her question sound as respectful as possible.

"Kohaku, did you really think that God would let you down?" Ransho asked.

Kohaku paled. "N-No! Never!"

"Calm down. It wasn't an accusation," Touki said.

Ransho explained, "God wanted to test your love for Koryu, and vice versa. He knew what Satan was scheming, and he had complete and total faith in your feelings for the demon. He knew that neither of your would let anything happen to the other."

"You see, angels and demons aren't supposed to be together," Ryuki said, his voice tight as Hisui flashed through his mind. He shook the image away. "But in matters of true love, there are exceptions."

"But God has to be sure of the true love before He can allow such a couple to be together," Touki added. "He knew what Satan was plotting, and He let it go rather than putting a stop to it in the beginning, using Satan's plan as a test for Himself. He only intervened when He was sure of His decision."

"Which is to let you and Koryu be together," Ransho said gently with a warm smile.

Kohaku beamed, looking down at the demon in her arms. Joyous tears blurred her vision. "Thank you," she whispered softly.

The Angel Masters nodded and returned to Heaven, leaving the two alone in the yard.

Koryu's eyes flickered open. He was breathing normally again, and he had stopped shaking for the most part, but he was still weary.

"K-Kohaku," he said, forcing himself to sit up. "I … I need to tell you something."

Kohaku nodded, smiling at the raven-haired demon the smile he so adored …

The smile she saved for when she was truly happy.

"I love you."

"I need to tell you something," Kohaku said softly. She leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips. Pulling away, she finished, "I love you, too."