Hi, I'm lazy! You've been waiting (or ditched the story) for a… whole month…? I hope it's less. But hey, if I get it going again, hopefully I'll get more reviews!

Disclaimer: Don't own. I do NOT want to do these disclaimers anymore, 'ya know. It hurts ;-;

Bound Souls: Golden Festival

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"If you can carve a huge jewel into a dragon?

Veronica raised her eyebrows.

"And why would Xelloss-sama want a jewel dragon?"

Xelloss put on his cheerful face and waggled his finger. "Sore wa, himitsu desu!"

Veronica sighed. "Alright, but I have to know the pose, color, and shape. And of course this would cost a lot."

"Yes yes, I have all of that," Xelloss replied, with a wave of his hand.

He grabbed his brown bag that he always kept with him and took out a picture of a golden dragon sleeping with its head and tail curled around it. The very tip of the tail went a small curve outward, disconnecting from the body, and around it was a pink ribbon. Its wings weren't folded, but lying fragilely to its side, opened, and its ears were perked up, listening for any sound that might bring danger. Coins were also taken out of the bag.

"Make this dragon's pose in your style- I know you are picky about beauty," Xelloss smiled.

He teleported away, leaving Veronica very confused and worried.

"I should report this to Juuou-sama right away," she whispered to herself, "But first to make the dragon. He did pay for it after all."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"That was awfully long, Xelloss."

Firia's worried voice rang through the kitchen as soon as Xelloss teleported back.

"Firia-chan, I'm not a child you know… I'm older than you!" Xelloss smirked.

"Being a Mazoku brings a lot more trouble. Plus you were gone from early morning 'till dusk. I was afraid something attacked you like it usually does when you're out."

"You're now just as much Mazoku as me, just as I am as much dragon as you. It's bound in our soul, 'ya know."

Firia went silent at that and continued making dinner. She hated when he was right!

"Why's Firia-chan making dinner by herself?" Xelloss asked, teleporting onto the counter and leaning over, his face a couple inches from her nose. She stumbled back, startled. But before she could say a retort, Xelloss was off the counter and on the floor, with his hair tied back, his pink apron on… and a spatula in his hand.

It took all of Firia's willpower to not laugh out loud, and Xelloss's blank look didn't make it any easier. So she ran past him, giggling, and said to put the spatula away. Then she started quickly giving instructions and cutting the vegetables and meat.

Xelloss got out a pot and spoon and started to fill the pot with water. He then placed it on the stove and waited for it to boil.

"So… where did you go today?" Firia asked while chopping up turkey. She had a feeling that it would be a secret.

"A jeweler," Xelloss draizely said.

"What were you doing in a jewelry shop?" Firia asked, almost positive that he wouldn't say.

"Sore wa, himitsu desu, curious Firia-chan. You'll find out soon enough."

Yep. She was right.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After about an hour, the soup was ready, and Firia put it on the table; along with two bowls, spoons and, of course, teacups and a teapot for… tea.

"Hm…" Firia hummed, looking at the tea supplies, "I don't feel like having tea right now. How about… milk?

Xelloss was surprised. Milk? Since when did Firia pass up tea for milk!

Despite his light confusion, Xelloss nodded and Firia replaced the tea sets with two clay cups that looked like small vases- in fact, they probably were. They were almost plain except for thin-lined, small designs, and were colored a dull… yellow.

Firia happily skipped back to the table with a jug of milk in her hand. She poured the white liquid into the cups, then grabbed the bowls, which were also yellow, and scooped two spoonfuls of soup into them.

They ate in silence for most of the dinner, but eventually Firia was thinking about where Xelloss went. Pestering him about it seemed like a good thing to do at the moment…

"Xelloss," Firia started, "could you please tell me where you went?"

"A friend of mine's jewelry store."

Wow. That was easy. Now maybe what he was doing there?

"Are they a Mazoku?"

"Maybe."

That meant… yes?

"What were you doing there?" Oops… maybe a little straitforward?

"Now now Firia-chan, don't think you can trick me into telling you!" Xelloss scolded.

"Well, I got tricky because of you!" Firia playfully snarled back.

"Hardly!"

Firia started laughing, with Xelloss looking at her, confused again. Firia was changing a ton since the soul binding… was he really half of what she was now?

After dinner, Firia really wanted to get going on a new vase style she had seen, so left the dishes unwashed. She could do them later! And confuse Xelloss once again. Boy, was that fun!

Xelloss tuned down a lot in the vase and mace making, which was fine with Firia, because she was still trying to sell the previous ones.

She managed to stay quiet for a while… but once again, she spoke up.

"Please… just a little hint?" She pleaded.

No answer.

"Xelloss?"

Still no answer.

"XELLOSS!"

"Hm? I'm sorry, I think I dazed off."

"No duh, stupid namagomi!"

Xelloss was untouched by her words.

"So, what did you say?"

Firia resaid her words, irritated. "Just a little hint?"

Xelloss turned back around and muttered above his breath, "Bad Firia."

Firia sulked. "Pleeeeeeeease?"

"One-word hint: Firia."

That left her puzzled. It had something to do with jewelry, the jeweler might be a Mazoku, which definitely meant trouble, and she was included in it. Wonderful.

Xelloss smirked. That really got her confused! She probably thought she was in some great danger because he was involved, but he was really just getting her a jewel dragon. In some ways, he REALLY wanted to tell Firia what he was planning, but this way was more fun.

"I'm not part of one of your…. plans…. am I?" Firia demanded.

"All will be told within a couple of days, Firia-chan," Xelloss answered, and stayed silent as Firia ranted, swore, and threw questions and objects at him. She didn't want to wait and see if she was going to be killed or something for a couple days.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"EH!" Firia's annoyed cry rang through the house, "He's gone AGAIN!"

Yes, he was gone once again, wandering through the streets of a town a couple hundred miles away. There was a festival in the town that day, and he was eyeing all the booths and happy people, no longer having to worry about getting sick as fast as he did before the binding.

He liked not having Firia near him to boss him around. He could actually do things, like walk instead of pausing every five seconds to go look at a booth. But the white side got to him after watching a happy couple hug, and got a huge longing to bring Firia here. She would love it. Looking at all the jewelry booths, playing the games…. she would like it here, just for today. Now if he could just persuade her to close shop and come.

Nope. He had to fight that urge. He wanted to have some time alone, and here he was, alone. He shouldn't get Firia.

Despite his efforts, suddenly, there he was, in Firia's shop, right in front of her. Firia jumped back, surprised, then when she gained her posture, lectured him.

"Xelloss! How many times do I have to tell you-"

"Firia-chan, there's a festival I thought you might like." Screw persuading her, he WOULD take her. Xelloss locked the door, shut the blinds and took Firia's wrist.

When he teleported, Firia gasped. It felt like she was being greatly compressed to the point of squishing for a split second, and then there she was, in a different town with all these different booths full of games and items. She looked around, clutching her stomach from queasiness, then looked up at Xelloss with a questioning look. She knew he hated festivals.

Xelloss shrugged and pushed Firia along with one arm. She looked up and saw a banner that said 'Golden Festival' and below it 'The Festival for Golden Fun'. She shook her head. What a lame festival this was going to be! The 'Golden Festival'… Why did Xelloss bring her here?

Then Firia actually looked around at the booths and shrieked. These were all jewelry shop booths, with the occasional food booth. After beaming up at Xelloss, Firia ran off to one of the booths, leaving Xelloss to toil after her.

Throughout the day, Xelloss realized one thing more and more. He was having fun. Fun chasing after Firia, who was purchasing all the jewelry she liked at a bargain price, having fun eating until he couldn't eat any more (which is surprising, because Mazoku don't have stomachs), and looking at and even purchasing a couple gems that he liked.

When it was nearing sundown, Firia looked at Xelloss's gems.

"Oh, you have gems, but nothing to mount them on! Let's get you clips for those."

Xelloss nodded, and followed Firia to the nearest booth. She scanned the shelf, then, finding what she needed, called a worker.

"I need that one… NO! THAT ONE!" Firia screamed when the worker picked the wrong clip. Xelloss hoped that he wouldn't try too big of a price for the clip, because it was getting late, they hadn't stopped to rest once, and Firia was in a semi-bad mood. Luckily, the worker didn't try anything sneaky; in fact, he agreed to haggle down to one gold for five silver clips. Firia turned around, smiling. She took Xelloss's gems and placed them carefully in the clips.

With one quick movement, Firia swiped Xelloss's cape and attached two of the five clips, one to each side of the cape, and snapped them together. She replaced the cape and held the rest of the gems.

One by one, she deposited power into each of the three clips and gems. Then she put one on each of his wrists, and the last she placed in his bag. Without saying a word, she pranced off to get something to eat. Xelloss stared after her, then followed.

After a quick meal, voices echoed from the town square. "Ladies and gentlemen! (Xelloss snickered at this) We are now going to play music for our young couples out there!" With that, slow music started playing.

Firia, while slightly blushing, took Xelloss's hand and ran towards the town square. When she got there, Firia stopped and looked around. There were a hundred people, almost all of them dancing with a couple, a few wandering around, looking for one.

"Excuse me Miss, would you like to dance?" a handsome stranger asked Firia, glancing momentarily up at Xelloss.

"No, if you haven't noticed, I already have a partner," Firia said without thinking, then, blushing fiercely, motioned to Xelloss.

"So sorry," the stranger bowed and walked off.

"You already have a partner, huh?" Xelloss smirked.

"S-sorry, I just hate jerks like that, who just come up to you and ask you to dance," Firia responded, stuttering a little. Xelloss changed his smirk to a smile and lightly bowed.

"Would you like to dance, Firia-chan?" Xelloss innocently asked.

Her reaction was better than he thought it would be. Her knees shook and she collapsed slightly, then nodded, too embarrassed to say yes. Xelloss took her to the middle of the square and Firia turned around.

'He must be planning something to humiliate me' Firia kept thinking to herself while she danced with Xelloss. However, no matter how much she fought to convince herself, she couldn't help but keep dancing.

Xelloss enjoyed dancing with Firia. His surroundings gave him a perfect meal: a couple was quarreling whether the girl could dance with a different boy, the love around him, and, of course, Firia's constant battle with her own feelings. Firia's emotions were the best of all of them, of course.

After a couple minutes, the song stopped, and another came on to replace the last, this one's beat faster, and more wild.

Firia loved this song. She broke away from Xelloss and started to dance by herself. Xelloss looked over her. She did know how to dance, and blended quite well with the surroundings… in fact, she over-blended. Quite a few men stopped watching their own girls and stared over at Firia, amazed with how graceful she was. Noticing this, Firia grabbed Xelloss, blushing once more for using him as 'cover up' and started dancing with him. The watching men were straitened out by their girls, who noticed them staring off at another girl.

After the song, Firia was breathing heavily, despite her greater endurance and strength. Xelloss was also breathing deeply, and took Firia away to a table nearby.

"This has been great, Xelloss! Thanks for taking me!" Firia exclaimed hugging Xelloss. It was Xelloss's turn to blush.

"Oh, it… it was nothing," he replied.

"Ugh… I'd absolutely love to stay longer, but I'm tired. Could you please take us home?"

Xelloss nodded grabbed Firia's wrist, then teleported back to the house. Firia was holding her stomach again.

"How can you stand the feeling?" she gasped.

"Just get used to it. Now I think it's time for you to get ready for bed, Firia-chan."

Firia nodded and ran upstairs to get to bed. Xelloss shook his head and sighed.

"It was fun and all," he whispered to himself, "But what the heck was I thinking?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! –Ah. I planned this as I went along (kinda) and I felt in the fluffy mood. - ;;; Sorry if it's a little sudden with fluff… but we all love fluff, don't we? OoO

Dang reviewers section…. I don't want to EMAIL everyone! growl