Mikau: Hello everyone! I'm back! Again, sorry about the inconsistent updates. I've been very busy with homework, play auditions and musical practices. I've also been trying to do more things with my grade-school friends to keep an eye on the one that has been talking about suicide. She seemed better today at the movies (we went to see Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants.), but about an hour ago when I spoke with her on the phone, she seemed depressed again. Sigh…Well, now my three friends and I have a pair of 'traveling pants'. We didn't really like the movie that much, but we did like the idea of four close friends sharing a pair of pants that fit all of them. Since our friendship is so much like the four from the movie, the four of us had to go and get a pair of pants. They are a pair of gray track pants with white strips going up the sides. I'm wearing them at the moment.

Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King.

7777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777

Blushable

I was down in the lab with Faust, trying to come up with a cure for my un-Ivy-like appearance. I wanted my brown hair and dark eyes back. Anna had suggested mixing something with some-such thing, so the mad doctor and I were experimenting to make a new body for me. The concoction blew up, and I was still left with silver hair and blue-green eyes.

I ran up the basement stairs, shouting for my sister, but she didn't seem to hear me. "GOD ANNA, WHERE ARE Y—" I stopped in mid-sentence when I noticed who was in the room with my twin: Hao.

Our eyes locked, and I found myself unable to look away. In the sixteen years we had been apart, he hadn't changed. He still had the same mahogany, waist-length hair, and chocolaty eyes, but something in his eyes made him seem older. He dressed similarly too. He wore blue jeans with red chaps, and no shirt, but the floofy stars and dangling belts were missing from his attire.

A slow, but steady thumping resounded in my chest for a minute, but it didn't last long. My heart had beaten for only a few fleeting seconds. If I had blood in my veins, it would have been running cold. My breathing slowed to the point where I could scarcely tell I was breathing anymore. My whole body shook at the sight of him. He seemed to be scrutinizing me as carefully as I had been him.

I wondered if he recognized me? I couldn't tell. All I knew was that I was going to faint. My fake body couldn't handle the amount of stress I was putting it through, and the result was my entire system shutting down.

I don't know how long I was out, but it couldn't have been long, because when I woke up, Anna had just made it over to me. Hao had probably teleported over to catch me, since he was the one propping up my body, but he had been further away from me than Anna had.

Hao gingerly brushed a few silver bangs out of my eyes. He carefully readjusted the white veil I was wearing so that it didn't dangle in my face. "Are you okay?"

"Mmhmm…" I didn't trust myself to speak. I didn't want him to know it was me if he hadn't already figured it out. I didn't want him to see me in this fake body. I didn't want him to know that I had been here at Funbari Onsen for sixteen years hiding from him. I couldn't take all the guilt and overwhelming emotions that surrounded me. It was almost unbearable.

"I'm glad…" His face was inches from mine, and the gap was closing fast. I would have gladly kissed him if not for the fact that he pulled back at the last minute, looking away with a heated blush upon his cheeks.

I too blushed, though I don't know how that was possible, for I had no blood, so it couldn't possibly have risen to my cheeks. Finally we were awoken from our trance-like state by Anna clearing her throat. Suddenly the odd position we were in occurred to us, and Hao jumped to his feet, releasing his hold on me, and blushing even more profusely.

He offered his hand to help me stand, and laughed nervously in an apologetic tone. "So sorry…My name's Hao Asakura. I'm Anna's brother-in-law."

Thinking nothing of it at first, I took his hand, but once my flesh made contact with his, I jumped back. His hand was so warm, and mine—well, mine was as cold as death itself. Corpse bodies never offered much warmth. Hao too shuddered a little at my touch, but only at first. As soon as I pulled back, he reached out, grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. He pulled a little too hard, and I found myself pressed up against my X-husband with one hand braced on his chest and the other around his neck.

His arms automatically went to my waist, and for the second time that day I found myself close enough to brush his lips with mine. This time I didn't wait for him to change his mind; I kissed him.

Anna rolled her eyes as she slipped out of the room, saying partially to herself, "Figures…get you two together, and it's only a matter of time before you're all over each other." I ignored my sister's comment.

Somewhere off in the distance a gunshot, followed by a yelp of pain sounded, but Hao and I didn't hear any of it. We were too far caught up in the kiss. We didn't even hear the sound of the screen door opening from the backyard into the kitchen until we heard the voices.

"OUCH! Don't do that; that hurts!" Hana's voice yelped.

"It wouldn't have hurt in the first place if you would have held the gun the right way like I told you to." Thorn hissed back at her cousin.

"Well, how was I supposed to know that it would burn me!" Hana whined in response.

"Because I told you not to hold your hand too close to the barrel of the gun, or else when you fire it, it will burn y—DAD!"

Hao pulled away from me, and gasped for air at the sound of his daughter's voice. I stepped away from him and blushed.

Thorn, Hao, Hana, and I just stood there staring at each other for a solid minute before Thorn again broke the silence. "Well…I see you've met Valerie."

"Actually, no…" Hao turned toward me, causing my blushing cheeks, as well as his, to redden. "Is that your name? 'Valerie'?"

"Ahem…yes, I'm Valerie. Valerie Kyôyama. I'm Anna's cousin." I lowered my head so that I wouldn't have to look at him. It was killing me not to be able to tell him who I really was. Smiling apologetically, I lifted my face to meet his gaze. "About what happened, I'm really sorry…personally, I blame this stupid wedding gown. It makes me act totally insane, and I really shouldn't have done that—besides, the dress doesn't even look good on me anyway." I strung my sentences together, rushing straight through them, and spiting out all sorts of information at once, only stopping when Hao placed a finger over my bright red lips.

"Shhh…don't say that; the dress looks ravishing on you. You'll be a gorgeous bride." Shivers ran up and down my spine at his words.

I blushed again. "Y-you think so?" I was just so 'blushable' around him.

"Of course…" He removed the index finger from my lips.

I snapped back from my look of utter bedazzlement, and launched into another rushed blabber. "About the kiss…if you really wanted to, we could just pretend that that didn't happen—if you really wanted, that is. 'Cause I would be fine with it, if you—"

Two lips met mine to shut me up. He had done it to me so many times before when we were married, but back then, it had always been quick kisses; this one was a longer, more passionate kiss. "If that's what you really want, we can pretend that you didn't kiss me, but that kiss I just gave you now, you can't just wish it away like the other…You're really beautiful, you know?" We both look in opposite directions, blushing.

"Wow…you two are just as awkward as teenagers." Thorn commented, and Hana snickered.

Hao threw a glare at Hana, and I threw a shoe, which hit my nephew square in the center of his forehead. Suddenly Hao remembered why he had come in the first place, and rushed over to inspect his daughter. "Thorn! Are you okay! Anna said that your gun went off on you, and…" etc. You get the picture.

It broke my unbeating heart to see my X-husband and daughter together and him fussing over her like that. I regretted letting him go, and I hated the woman who had gotten him in my absence. I couldn't help but feel jealousy toward his new wife.

"Auntie I-er-Val? Are you okay? Auntie Val?" I awoke from my thoughts to the sound of Hana's voice.

"Uh…yeah. Sorry…just spacing out there for a minute." I shook my head a little to clear my thoughts.

"You're still in love with him." Hana teased as he ran his burnt fingers underneath the cold-water faucet.

"Oh shush…He's not mine anymore, and I've come to terms with it." I shunned the younger Asakura boy.

"Have you now?" He asked skeptically of me.

I didn't answer, and instead tuned in on Hao and Thorn's conversation just in time to hear Hao say: "What happened to your leg!"

"That's where the bullet got me when it went off…" Thorn tossed an uninterested glance down toward her calf.

His reply was almost an unintelligible whisper. "Your left calf…and it'll leave a scar…" I detected a depressed tone in Hao's voice, and a dazed, glassy look came over his face. However, as soon as the look appeared, it was gone, and Hao went back into his worried father speech. "Anyway, I was so worried!—Hey, where did you get those clothes?"

"Oh, Valerie gave them to me. Since we wear the same size, and she was cleaning out her closet this weekend, she gave me a whole new wardrobe of my very own!"

"What kind of clothes? More like the ones you're wearing?" Hao's eyes skimmed questioningly over his daughter's apparel. He didn't seem to like the thought of his youngest wearing skimpy tank tops and tight-fitting capris.

"Yeah, most of the shirts are tank tops, and there are a lot of capris, but she did give me a few skirts." Thorn excitedly launched into a speech about her new attire.

"What length skirts?" Hao asked dreading the answer.

"Mid to upper-thigh. Is that a problem, Dad?"

"Yes!" I saw the father side of Hao for the first time in a long time, and I had to admit, it was adorable. "You know what perverts boys can be, and the shorter the skirt, the easier it is to look up, believe me."

"Aww, come on Dad; how would you know? Guys don't really do that do they?" Thorn complained, not knowing the extent of Hao's expertise in the subject of pervertedness.

I could hardly stifle my laughing fit. "It seems that your daughter is grossly misinformed about men." I chuckled.

"I'm just now noticing that…" Hao sighed.

"Well, Thorn, I'll tell you, your father's right; you should listen to him. Always wear biking shorts underneath when you wear one of those skirts. I do believe that Ivy has some that you could borrow." I laughed good-naturedly.

"How do you know Ivy?" Hao looked at me suspiciously.

"I'm her." I cut my sentence short without meaning to, getting a few odd glances. "Her cousin, I mean. Not her. I told you this wedding gown makes me act weird." I smiled sheepishly back at them, trying to make up for my oddity.

"Oh, hey, Dad. Where's Hoshi?" Thorn turned to her father.

"She's at home; I left her a note."

"She's probably worried about getting back those clothes I borrowed from her. We'd better go." Thorn stated sadly, clearly unwilling to leave.

"Hmm…you're right." Hao was also reluctant to go.

"But I don't really want to go home." Thorn complained. "It's really fun here, and everybody is really nice. I'd like to stay."

"Maybe you could come back and visit sometimes, but you can't just stay here forever." My X-husband argued.

"I'm sure that would be fine." I supported Hao's decision. "I'd love to see you from time to time. As long as you don't mind Anna giving you chores to do, you're welcome anytime."

"And the guys and I would love to hang with you, so just know that you're always welcome to join us any time you like." Hana smiled his Yoh-like smile, making her feel like one of the gang.

"Thanks coz, but doesn't Akira hate me?" Thorn raised a questioning eyebrow at Hana.

"Nah…he's always like that." Hana waved off her concern.

"Akira? As in Ren and Pilika's son?" Hao threw a question at me.

"One and the same." I nodded.

"Well, maybe I will come here more often." Thorn smiled brightly at me.

All of the sudden, a mass amount of red smoke started to pour out of the memorial tablet inside Thorn's back pocket; out of the smoke appeared my old guardian ghost, Isabelle. "And I'll come with 'er!" Isa happily chirped. "I'm really gonna miss you, Miss I—er—Valerie."

Hao ushered both my ghost and my daughter out the door, but he himself hung back for a moment in the doorway.

"Do you need something?" I cocked my head to the side and stared into his eyes.

I could have sworn I heard him say 'a wife', but before I could ask him, he said, "Yeah, I hope you don't think I'm being too forward, but I'd really like to see you again sometime."

Again he got me blushing. "I-I…um…I'd…I'll—"

"—She'll see you tomorrow!" My elder sister reappeared behind me, and shoved a business card into Hao's hand. "Come to the Masquerade Ball tomorrow night at the Onsen, and your bound to run into her! I'll make sure of it."

"AN-NA!" I whined. "We've been over this, remember? I specifically told you that I wasn't going! I'd much rather work in my lab where I can accomplish something."

"Nonsense. I said you were going to the party, and that means you're going to the party." The blonde glared icily at me, and I had no choice but to comply with her wishes.

"I suppose I'll be going to the party…" I shrugged awkwardly.

"I suppose I'll be seeing you there." Hao smirked flirtatiously back at me.

"Hey Thorn? You're coming too, right?" Hana glanced at his new favorite cousin.

"Sure." She smiled brightly.

"Oh no you're not." Hao instructed his daughter firmly. "You've had enough excitement for the next few weeks."

"But Dad!"

"Don't give me that. You heard what I said." Hao glanced disapprovingly down at his youngest's arguments.

"Sounds like you'll have to sneak out if you want to go anywhere." I suggested off-handedly.

"Exactly." Hao agreed. "You can ask your sister about sneaking out tactics once we get home." He winked as he smirked at the suggestion. "For now, just say goodbye Thorn."

"Okay. See you all tomorrow!" Thorn waved over her shoulder as she headed for the car.

"See ya!" Hana called to Thorn before running off to leave me alone with my former husband. "Bye Uncle Hao."

"Bye Hana. Anna." Anna nodded, then exited the room, leaving me truly alone with Hao.

He hesitated as he looked at me, unsure if he should just leave, or if he should say something. "Goodbye—Valerie? Wasn't it?"

"Uh…yeah…Valerie…Goodbye Hao." I placed a quick kiss on his cheek before running back into the house. "I really have to change out of this dress before it makes me do something really stupid."

Even after I had closed the door, Hao stood there on the porch, dazed and lightly resting a few fingers on his cheek. "Ivy…No…It can't be. Don't kid yourself Hao."

7777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777

Mikau: Okay…what did you think? I personally thought it was really awkward between them, but giving the circumstances of the relationship, I think it turned out to be a pretty good reunion. Thank you all for your support; it really helps me. Also I would like to welcome back my favorite flamer: D: otherwise know as 'Lyserg Must Die'. I missed you and your pointless flames about how I should kill off Lyserg even if he only makes brief appearances in my fics.

Thanks To: DarkPisces33, yo wuz up, Hemila-Rose, hannah, morgan000, glitter galz, Kiva Kyoyama, ShadowYasha, Shamanbabe, ChibiAzn3, D, Andrea Nefisto, Lizzie, KaZuYA MiNeKuRA, HAO-Addictive, and Strawberry.

To Shamanbabe: HEY! Welcome back! I missed you! How was your trip? Did you have fun? Good luck with all your homework and etc. I know what that feels like…

To Andrea Nefisto: Hello! The phrase 'son-of-a-gun' means about the same thing as 'son-of-a-bitch', only it's not cussing. I'd respond more fully to your review, but my parents are yelling for me to go to bed. Man, I miss responding to my reviewers! See ya!

PLEASE REVIEW!