Sorry about the wait everyone. I've been so busy with my research paper for English/History. I have to write a seven-page report on the conquest of the Plains Indians. I was up one night until three in the morning typing it. The teacher told me I had to pick a topic during the Civil War, and this seemed like and interesting topic. But enough of my problems. I've been quite a few reviews that say you like the story. So I will continue this amazing story. Let's start.

The Ribbon

Kanami woke up when she heard the van come to a stop. She had cried herself to sleep after she was captured by the men in red jackets. Once again, she didn't have any dreams about the courageous, cool person that she used to dream about. Instead, she had a pleasant dream about her and Kazuma.

Kanami was running after Kazuma, yelling his name over and over again. "Kazu-kun, Kazu-kun, wait for me!" Kazuma turned around and looked back at the small girl running towards her with an irritated frown. "Kazu-kun, don't leave me!" She ran right into his body and embraced him. Kazuma hated it when she got like this. She was so clingy. Plus, that name aggravated him so much.

"Kanami, how many times do I have to tell you? Don't call me Kazu-kun. My name is Kazuma, not Kazu-k…" He stopped when he felt water seep through his shirt. He could hear her muffled sobbing as her tiny body shook against his. He couldn't help but feel compassion for her. "Kanami, don't be this way. I'm only going to be gone for a week." Kanami looked up at him through her red, puffy eyes. She looked so sad with those green, teary eyes. It broke Kazuma's heart to see her like this.

"Kazu-kun, can't you take me with you? I don't want to be alone again. Please stay here." Kazuma couldn't believe she was acting like this. It wasn't like he left her by herself before. He guessed she wanted to go with because this would be the longest he would be gone. He wanted to take her, but he couldn't let her see his alter. Besides, it would be dangerous and she could get seriously hurt. He couldn't bear it if anything happened to her. "Kazu-kun," she continued to cry. "Don't leave me!" Kazuma kneeled down to her eyelevel and gave her a big smile.

"Kanami, I can't take you with me. You know my job is dangerous." Kanami looked away, but he brought her eyes back to his by turning her chin gently. She knew that it was dangerous, even though she didn't know exactly what he did. She didn't care. All she wanted to do was be with her Kazu-kun. "Tell you what. I have something for you," he said as he pulled out an orange ribbon out of his pocket. "I want you to wear this ribbon for me. When you're lonely, just think about how happy I'll be when I return. I will always be with you as long as you wear that ribbon. I promise to come back just so I can see how pretty you look with that ribbon in your hair." Kanami smiled and wiped away the tears from her eyes. She stared at the ribbon as Kazuma left with Kimishima. When his car was gone, Kanami tied the ribbon around her ponytail.

Kanami touched the ribbon in her hair. She couldn't help thinking of Kazuma. She knew he would come back for him if he could. But what if he couldn't? What if he was hurt?

The door swung open and light was let in. Kanami squinted as the men pulled her out of the van and untied her. She looked around at her surroundings. There were a couple buildings that looked like small dorms. The place was surrounding by a wall with watch towers on each corner. Inside the walls there were people working; some were carrying bags of rocks while others mined in the caves. The entire camp was surrounded by mountains so it would be sure of no escape or attempt of rescue. She knew where she was. She was in one of those dreaded labor camps that Kazuma talked about.

The guard pushed her forward and forced her to march to a cave where other children were working. She saw one prisoner talking to one of the guards. He looked so tired, but the guard didn't seem to notice.

"Please, sir," the prisoner said. "Some of the workers are tired. Could we please have a break?" Kanami was surprised when she saw the guard hit him over the shoulder. Another man ran to him and helped him up.

"Why did you do that?" the man yelled. "All he wanted was a break." The guard just laughed.

"He broke the rules," the guard replied. "If you break the rules, you're gonna get hurt. We give you food and shelter, and all we ask in return is that you do a little work for us in return. Leave him there or we might have to get rough with you." The man sighed in defeat and put his partner down. Kanami could see that the only way she would survive in this camp was to obey the guards and not complain.

The guard gave her a bag and pointed into the cave. "You are going to go in there and bring out the rocks that the miners are digging up. Just move quickly and you won't have any problems with us. We'll get along just fine." Kanami nodded and started walking away. Just when she entered the cave she felt a tug on her head. She turned around and saw the guard holding her hair ribbon. "A poor girl like you doesn't need a ribbon as expensive as this." Kanami dropped her bag and ran to the man, trying to grab the ribbon back.

"Please give me my ribbon back," she begged. "My Kazu-kun gave it to me." The guard just pushed her away and laughed. As she tried to sit up, she saw the man pull a lighter out of his pocket. He then put it under the ribbon and dropped it to the ground, allowing it to burn to nothing. "NO!" Kanami yelled. She tried to grab it, but the guard held her back as the ribbon disappeared in the flames.

"You won't need it anymore," the guard whispered in her ear. "You don't need to look pretty now that you are our slave. Now, be a good girl and carry those rocks out." Tears started to form in Kanami's eyes. The one thing that tied her to Kazuma had gone up in flames. It was the only gift that she had received from him, and now it was gone. It was as if Kazuma had been burnt with the ribbon, but there was nothing Kanami could do about it. She had to survive this camp. She knew Kazuma would save her. She just had to stay strong. She picked her bag up and headed into the cave, trying to hold in the tears so no one would see her pain.

Like I said, I'm sorry it took so long to update this story. At the moment, I think I have about four stories to update. I'll try to keep my promise to update once a week, but please bear with me.

Alice in Blue: Thanks for all the compliments. Don't worry. That wasn't even close to a flame. I have people curse and harass me for no good reason for my fiction. Your advice is good. I'm more of a straight forward writer, but I'll try to make the chapters more in depth. I don't know how long they will be, but I'll try to make this story worthwhile.

Once again, thanks for all the reviews. I'll see what I can do if you have any questions. Cya.