Forgotten Memories Chapter Three

Chrono Crusade

Date Started: November 8th 2004

Sora Kazuma

A week passed. Gradually over the days I started getting up earlier and earlier, started practicing again. Started training my skills with a gun again. Yugo gave me my alone time to get back into the shape I needed for my job. I didn't know whether it was because he thought I needed it or because he still was determined not to help me in my devil-hunting career. Either or, he never brought them up when I was around and continued to be the carefree, stubborn demon I had known him to be.

I decided to tell Lena about Joshua. I chose my words carefully, explaining that I had awoken to find him leaning over her bed, whispering goodnight to her while she was sleeping. She nearly burst into tears when I told her. She told me that she was planning to meet up with him in the next day or so and spend time with him, and I smiled. Lena deserved to be happy.

Rosette and Chrono were around less and less as the weekend approached and Chrono had not mentioned a thing to me since the incident in our room when Lena had first returned. He was his sweet, loveable self, helping out with the chores and asking if we needed anything. For whatever reason he seemed to have forgiven Yugo and tried making conversation with him. Yugo was wary at first, but as the days passed, they seemed to build up a fragile friendship to one another.

"Hey guys!" I called, racing across the green to the two devils coming toward me.

Both of them blinked. Yugo, taller and more muscular then Chrono in his sealed form, was carrying pails of buckets balanced on a long wooden board over his shoulders, while Chrono's arms were filled high with bags of flour, salt and sugar.

"On kitchen duty?" I asked with a grin.

"Yeah." I heard the agitation in Yugo's voice and tried to hide my giggles.

"It's not that bad though." Chrono admitted with a sheepish smile.

Yugo snorted, looking over at him. "Sinner, we're stuck with the bubbly-headed nun girls. Yes, it is that bad."

Chrono sweatdropped. "I see your point."

I smiled at the two. I knew exactly what they meant. Not all the people at the church were demon slayers. We actually did have a few totally devoted religious people who had decided to stay and help our cause, and about a year ago, we got a handful of young fourteen-year-old girls, orphaned from the war and needing a place to stay. The poor guys probably had to ignore a dozen young women, batting their eyelashes and running their fingers flirtingly through their hair.

"Well, you all should be relieved of your duties soon." I tried comforting them, though I found this quite amusing.

"If they don't kill us first." Yugo muttered.

"You'll be fine." I brushed my fingertips across his arm. "I'm heading back to my room. I will see you two later."

"Oh," Chrono's crimson eyes sparked. "Lena was looking for you."

"Alright. Bye guys!" I called running off toward the boarding houses.

I had just gotten to the door when Yugo's presence picked up in my mind. 'Save me.' He pleaded.

'You will be fine, I can assure you.' I told him, looking for my key.

'You don't understand. There's this one girl…she won't leave me alone.'

I giggled. 'Aw, poor baby. Being picked on because you're good-looking. Must be so hard on you.'

'Actually it works well for the ego, but she has the most annoying voice on the planet…makes me want to strangle her.'

'What does she look like?'

'Short…about 5' 3" maybe? Long chocolate brown hair. Green eyes.'

I blinked, surprised. 'That's Andrea. She's supposed to be the prettiest girl on the grounds.'

'Well that's a lie, because I know two of the men who think differently.'

'Who?'

'Chrono and me.'

I blushed. 'And who do you two vote for?'

'Our contractors of course.'

My face got redder, and I fumbled with the pouch on my side, trying to find my keys. 'If you're trying to save yourself from hurting my feelings, don't worry about it. I've met Andrea before, and she is a beautiful girl.'

'That's funny…she looks rather plain to me.'

Heat was rising into my face and I sighed, trying to stop my heart from racing. 'Don't joke Yugo.'

'I'm being serious Sora. I only have eyes for you.'

I let out a small gasp as I felt his emotions again inside my head. He wanted to be by my side and hated the fact that he was stuck on the other side of the grounds. I tried to comfort him as much as I could. Finally I found my door key and edged closer to the door. That's when I heard voices in the room beyond, two familiar voices that rang in my head.

'Joshua…' Yugo's voice was dead serious, cold. 'Sora, is he here?' When I didn't reply I heard him stir. 'I'll come to you.'

'No Yugo. Stay where you are.'

'You and Lena are in danger.'

'Actually, we're far from it with him around.'

I immediately felt the confusion radiating from him, and tried to respond to it with my determination. 'I'm fine. If you trust me you will stay where you are. Do not let Chrono pick up on this at all. There's something I must find out on my own.'

He was reluctant, but he gave in, concentrating on his work in the kitchen, but leaving his mind open to mine incase I needed him. 'You will tell me what is going on, later.' He responded

I slid the key in the door, turned the knob and opened it as casually as I could.

Lena was sitting on her bed, her eyes wide with fear at who could be entering the room. Joshua was standing in the middle of the floor, leaning against the foot post of my tall poster bed, his hand stuffed in his pockets. He smiled over at me. "Good afternoon Sora. I trust Yugo did not give you to much trouble?"

I shut the door behind me, locking it once again. "No not at all. He believes that I know what I'm doing. I'm sorry to interrupt." I told them, swallowing.

"Actually, we were waiting for you." He told me.

I hesitated. Unlike the other night, he was not trying to hide his power at all. Where I had felt gentleness from him before there was a raw, intimidating demonic aura. I got the feeling that he could kill me before I could even realize he had moved.

'I told you dear, there is no reason to fear me.' His voice resounded in my head again, calm and warm as always. It was so sweet and so sure, that my guard dropped again. I felt trapped to his voice, although I was positive he was not using any magic. There was suddenly a sharp stab of jealousy in my head, coming from Yugo's mind. Dropping my guard meant dropping my barrier and with him reading my thoughts, he was trying to control his anger.

'I apologize for upsetting him.' He spoke again. He smiled. "Now, where were we?"

I swallowed. "You said you were waiting for me."

"Ah, yes." He glanced at me with those beautiful bright blue eyes. "We need your help."

I blinked, surprised. "My help?"

"Sora," Lena spoke up, a bit unsure. "I want to ask Sister Kate for a day off this week. But if she catches wind of Joshua, there won't be any meeting, more like a capture and death type of thing. I need a reason to get off the grounds for a few hours and I was hoping that that reason would be you."

"Me?" I stared at her. "How? Why?"

"You're just coming back from the country, correct?" Joshua asked me. I nodded. "You've been given time off until further notice. Perhaps Lena taking you out into the city to get you off grounds for a day could be the perfect excuse."

"I don't want to lie to Sister Kate about this, so perhaps we could take one of the cars out to the city, see some of the sights and meet up with Joshua somewhere." Lena looked at me with pleading eyes. "Please Sora? Father Remington said he would help us out anyway he could-"

"Father knows about you two?" I asked, glancing back and forth between the two.

"He doesn't know that it's Joshua, but he knows that there is a man…that I like…" she blushed, ducking her head slightly. "Please Sora? Will you help us?"

I crossed my arms. "I don't really have a choice in the matter do I?" a faint smile came onto my lips. "If I don't help you, your going to sick your demon boy on me."

Joshua, double-blinked, surprised that I had cracked a joke and then shot me the most gorgeous smile I had ever seen. "Thank you Sora."

"No problem. It will be nice to get out of her for a while." I smiled back.

"Well love, I must be going." He pushed off the poster bed, closing the gap between him and Lena.

"Joshua, no…" she whimpered.

He sank down, squatting so he was the same height as her. "Hey, it will only be a few days, alright?" He leaned in stealing an affectionate kiss from her. Lena's eyes widened, a hot blush spreading all over her face. "Till we meet again…" he whispered vanishing slowly into thin air, his body dissolving into nothingness.

Lena sighed with his going, smiling up at me with a fractured smile. "Thank you Sora, for helping us."

"I'm your friend. Anytime." I blinked. "Hey, don't be so sad. You'll see him again soon."

"I know…" she said softly. "Sora… I don't like having to hide this from people. Mia, Rosette, Chrono…they deserve to know."

"Mia doesn't know yet?" I asked, sitting down beside her. She shook her head.

"She and Father Remington are planning on another long-distance trip. They just got back from England last month and already their planning to head off again." She explained.

I nodded. "I see. Hey, Lena…" I swallowed. I was chancing this, but I mine as well ask. "The other night, when Joshua was here, he went over and wished Rosette goodnight. Is there something between them?"

She blinked. "You don't know?"

"Know what?" I asked again.

"That Rosette and Joshua are twins."

"What?" my voice got serious. Now that I thought about it, they looked remarkably the same. The same golden hair, the same pretty blue eyes. Rosette was even built similar to Joshua, tall and lean. And the personality- the same kind, caring personality. I was surprised I hadn't seen it before.

"I didn't know at first either." Lena admitted. "When he told me his full name I recognized it. Joshua Christopher. Same last name as Rosette's."

"That's why he doesn't want them to know…because if Rosette has been bound for a long time to Chrono then, he would be close to Joshua as well, and he doesn't want his family to know he's around."

She nodded. "He misses Rosette a lot."

"Its understandable." I stood up, flashing her a smile. "So when do you want to go ask Sister Kate for time off?"

"A day off?" Kate raised her head, golden eyes shining behind her glasses.

"Y-Yes Sister." Lena swallowed. "Sora's been cooped up here on the grounds for over a week, and she was out in the wilderness for much longer. I thought getting her out of here to see the city again might be good for her."

"That sounds like a good idea." Father Remington spoke up from his spot on the couch. He put down his newspaper, flashing us a smile. "Poor Sora's had it rough lately."

"But Father, we're understaffed already. What if something serious were to happen-"

"We could be on call, should anything happen that you need us for." I cut in with a smile.

"Excellent plan." Remington winked at us, and I couldn't help but let my face go red.

Sister Kate sighed, knowing that with the odds she was not going to win. "Fine. You may have tomorrow off Hirelena. And Sora," she swallowed. "You will be placed on duty again by the end of this week."

"Yes mam." I bowed before grabbing Lena's hand, getting us out of there before Sister Kate changed her mind.

"Oh Sora, thank you!" Lena cried as we exited the main office.

"It's no problem. Now, how do we get in contact with Joshua?" I asked her.

"He already knows." She smiled. "He hangs around this place more often then you think. Well, I'm going to head to the bathhouse. It's getting late and dinner should be ready in an hour or so." She dashed off down the hall, passing by a man walking through the shadows of the corridor. "Hi Yugo." She waved as she continued dashing off.

I swallowed as he nodded to her, continuing towards me. He looked so serious, so strong… My face went red at the thoughts in my head and I immediately got rid of them. "So, you done your potato peeling job for the day?"

"Yes." He responded, looking down on me, getting straight to the point. "Now, where can we talk?"

After collapsing on the green watching the last remnants of the sunset, I explained everything that was going on, everything I had learned. Yugo kept his emotions a mask and heard me out. "So," he said finally. "You're going to leave me here tomorrow by myself?"

I heard the pain in his voice and winced. "Sorry Yugo. I'm just going along so that our plan works."

"I've missed you the last few days." He said after a moment, softly. Before I knew it, I was pulled into his arms, into his lap. "You've been doing your own things all day and I only get a few minutes with you before you fall asleep at night."

"I've been training. You're more then happy to come with me, but I know how you feel about killing your own kind. I respect your wishes Yugo, but this is what I have to do." I told him, leaning my head against his chest.

He growled softly, but fell silent for a long time. Finally he let me go, standing up. "Dinner's ready. I can smell it from here. Come on, let's go."

Gathering in the busy, noisy hall, we grabbed a table where Mia, Lena and Rosette were already gathered.

"Evening you two." Mia smiled. "Rem and Chrono are getting our food for us."

"Well that was nice of them." I replied, glancing around. "Where is everyone sitting?"

"Yugo!"

Him and I turned, as well as everyone else at our table at the loud obnoxious call cutting through the menial conversations at the other tables. I blinked. It was Andrea Thomas, the girl Yugo and I had been talking about earlier. She had let her habit fall back, exposing her long silky curtain of chocolate brown hair. Only fourteen, she probably had the skinniest waist of any of the girls her age, pale ivory skin and bright shining green eyes. I saw the head's turn of many of the young men at the other tables as she dashed past them.

"Yugo." She stopped in front of us her eyes staring up at him in admiration and a tempting to glance over every part of his body. My face flushed red, and this time, it wasn't from embarrassment.

His eyes sparked interest suddenly, so instantly that I felt my heart stop. He was…interested in her? "Good evening Andrea." His voice was so full of masculine charm that it was causing my insides to melt. I could tell it had affected her the same way and I caught Rosette's eyes blinked wide in surprise.

Andrea blushed slightly. "Yugo, I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with me this evening? I've got a couple of seats open over at my table with my friends."

I watched Lena's mouth drop open slightly. Meanwhile I was resisting the growing urge to yell "WHAT!"

He smiled, a smile that had put Joshua's one earlier to shame. "Thank you for the offer, but I've already made plans with my friends tonight. Perhaps some other time though."

My mouth started to open in protest and I closed it firm, my teeth biting into my bottom lip.

Andrea's eyes shined and she started to say something then closed her mouth again. She couldn't believe he was willing to make plans with her later. The problem was, neither could I.

"Alright." She said finally, beaming at him. "I will talk to you again soon." Turning, she dashed back to the table filled with all the other younger girls.

"Well," Yugo said after a moment. "That went well."

I started to open my mouth but Remington and Chrono returned, balancing bowls of chicken noodle soup and breadbaskets on their arms. I sat down, waiting for prayer to begin. Nobody was saying anything and Chrono blinked, wondering why we had suddenly gone quiet. "Did I… miss something?"

"No you didn't miss anything at all." I said quickly, forcing a smile.

"Miss nothing but Yugo acting like a complete idiot." Mia muttered

"I was only being polite," he responded calmly, lifting the spoon of soup elegantly to his lips.

"Any more 'polite' and you would have been undressing her with your eyes."

"Mia!" Lena gasped in shock.

The blonde stood, pushing in her chair. "I'm not hungry anymore. If you'll excuse me." She replied stalking off through the hall.

"I better go see what's bothering her." Remington explained, flashing us all an apologetic smile as he followed after her.

Chrono swallowed. "I'm sorry I asked."

Rosette leaned over, ruffling his spiky violet hair. "You should have just kept your big mouth shut."

Yugo was keeping his thoughts to himself and for once he was staying out of my mind. As soon as I was done eating I stood up. "I'm heading to the bathhouse before I turn in for the night." I explained, turning away from the table.

Entering the small outhouse, I found that steam was rising from the tub around the corner. Someone was in here, yet the lights were turned out. Edging around the corner I caught sight of a few of the altar candles, candles that we used exclusively for mass, placed around the tub and from the glow I caught the figures of three women soaking in the tub.

One of them laughed. "Nice plan Andrea." She spoke up.

My eyes widened. Andrea?

"You'll have no problem stealing him away from Dog-eyes, I can assure you." Another told her. "You're the prettiest woman on the grounds. I don't think there's any man who can resist your charms."

There was an audible sigh. "I know." There was arrogance in the girl's voice I hadn't heard before. "It's sad because I don't really have any competition. And Yugo-" she sighed again. "He's so handsome, and he's so sweet… It makes me wonder how he got stuck with Dog-eyes in the first place."

I backed off into the shadows, sneaking back out into the lobby and leaving the bathhouse, making sure to slam the door behind me. Let them know that someone was there, eavesdropping on their conversation. I ran back to the green, collapsing on the grass and staring up at the starlit sky. So, Andrea was going to steal him away from me huh? And Yugo was urging her on. I put a hand over my eyes, as the sky suddenly got blurry from tears.

I hadn't been called Dog-eyes in a long time.

Lena and I left the next morning before the sun rose. Yugo was still asleep on the bed but I felt his consciousness begin to stir as we pulled off the grounds, and then I hit a mental wall again as he continued to block me out.

"I can't believe he did that to you." Lena hissed, turning onto the main road. "He knows your feelings for him and he has the nerve to flirt with another woman."

"He… doesn't exactly know how I feel about him, because I don't even know how I feel about him." I admitted quietly.

"Still," she shot back. "He knows you care for him. That should have been reason enough to resist Andrea."

I leaned on the passenger side door, staring out on the fields still blanketed with darkness. "Where did Mia go last night?"

"She spent the night in Remington's quarters. She was upset that he would do such a thing, to the point that she doesn't want to see him until he apologizes to you." She explained.

I hung my head. "I…" I swallowed. "I went to the bathhouse last night. Andrea and her friends were there and I overheard them talking. They all think that Yugo is going to drop everything and become Andrea's lover." I turned my head looking back out onto the road. "They kept calling me Dog-eyes."

Suddenly I grabbed the seat to keep from going through the windshield at her spontaneous slam on the brakes. "What!" she looked over at me, her eyes wide.

I nodded. "I don't know where they learned it, but they brought up my old nickname, more then once."

"It's not a nickname Sora, it's an insult." She replied, finally speeding the car up to normal speed again.

"Well, I have two different eye colors." I pointed out.

"So?"

"I'm color-blind in one."

She swallowed. "Still, they were meaning it to hurt you. They had no right. And Yugo is yours. He's your contractor. He offered his life to you and you to his." At my startled response she smiled. "Am I right?"

Blushingly I nodded. The jewel around my neck thumped up against my chest as if echoing my agreement.

"Hey," she leaned over, locking her hand with mine. "Today's supposed to be fun."

"I know…I just feel like I did something wrong to make Yugo act this way." I told her.

"Well, we're heading into downtown NYC. Let's find something to get him to make him not act this way." She grinned. "Kay?"

We left the car at the train station, taking the subway into central NYC. I really had been hoping to find Yugo something to make him feel better. He only had a few outfits in his human form and because he had to act like a human while sealed, he needed clothing just like I did. We walked from store to store picking up more bags of stuff as we went along, spending most of the money I had left on me.

"Look there!" Lena cried, running up to the front window of an expensive clothing store. The girl's eyes widened on a beautiful pale yellow dress, done up in ruffles and scarlet ribbon. "Wow…" she smiled, her hands on the glass. "That has got to be the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen."

"More beautiful then me?" We turned, seeing Joshua lean over her shoulder, smiling down on her. I hadn't even heard him approach, but in the busy air of the city I wasn't surprised.

"Joshy!" she turned, wrapping her arms around his waist as she dropped all her bags.

"Joshy?" he chuckled. "If you say so." His arms encircled hers and he lifted a hand after a moment to tilt her chin ups to his, dropping a kiss on her lips. Turning his head while Lena was still in shock he straightened, smiling at me. "Morning Sora. Thank you for your help."

"It's nothing." I smiled. I had to admit, they were a very cute couple.

"Let me get these." He leaned down, picking up the three bags she had dropped. "And these too." He slipped the two out of my hands before I could protest. "Now love, what were you looking at?" he replied, scanning the shop window.

"That dress." She pointed, letting out a sigh.

"Why don't you go ahead in and try it on? I'll buy it for you if you wish." He told her.

She gasped. "Joshua, no. I couldn't ask you to do something like that for me." I raised an eyebrow. That dress had to be more then three months salary and probably even that would fall a little short.

"Yes you can." He replied. "Besides, you're going to need something to wear when I take you out to the opera tonight and that dress is more then fitting."

Her eyes lit up. "The opera?"

"Balcony seats, just for you and me, my dear." He smiled at her.

"Joshua…" she blushed.

"Go on, try on the dress. I won't take no for an answer." He told her. She nodded, dashing into the store. Looking back at me he held the door open. "Well, shall we?"

I brushed past him watching as Lena began talking to the store merchant. She turned back to us with a sad smile. "I'm sorry Joshua. The dress is way to big for me."

It was a problem that we had had before, trying to find clothes to fit her small form. He tilted his head to the side, smiling at the store clerk. "Surely there's something you can do about it."

The man nodded. "We'll get right on it." He smiled to Lena. "Miss, if you'll follow me this way."

As they headed toward the back room, I glanced over at Joshua. I hadn't even noticed he was dressed in a pair of black slacks and a red shirt made of silk. He looked handsome and rich and I hadn't even noticed it about him before. His eyes were staring after Lena well after she had left the room. I smiled. Joshua might be dangerous, but he was just as gentle.

"You might want to check out the store too Sora. See if there's anything you want." He said, finally tearing his eyes away from the back door to look at me.

It was too interesting not to. The place was lined with racks of clothes everywhere. I took his advice, looking around and through fabrics and outfits. Everything was so well made it had to be very expensive. Pulling over a lovely scarlet dress, my breath caught in my throat.

"What is it?" Joshua was up behind me the next moment. I should have figured his hearing was as good as Yugo's.

"All morning long, I've been looking for a coat to give to Yugo. He would look so good in one if it fit him well. This-" I pulled it off the rack, showing it to him. "This is perfect."

It was a thick gray trench coat. It had a high collar, but instead of having lapels down the front it had black cloth that kept it shut across the front, latching to tiny circles sewn into the material with hooks sewn into the black cloth. They were about every three inches or so down to about the waist area where the coat opened up, flowing wider to touch the floor. It reminded me of Yugo's true transformation clothes, the long sleeveless coat he wears when he battles at his best.

"That's a beautiful coat." Joshua smiled. "Why don't you go ahead and buy it for him? It'd be a way to get on his good side again."

I didn't want to know how he knew about that, but I got the feeling Joshua had been with us since long before this clothing store. "There's no way I could pay for this. It would have to be half a year's pay." I explained.

"I'll handle it then." He said, taking the coat from my hands.

"Joshua-" I started and got cut off.

"It's fine Sora." He replied, taking the jacket from me.

"Joshua!" We turned as Lena reentered from the back hall, glowing in the yellow and red dress.

I heard Joshua's breath stop and his eyes lit up as we stared at her. "You look gorgeous." He replied, pulling her into his arms and kissing her.

"We found a copy of the dress in a smaller size. All we had to do was tailor it a bit." The clerk replied.

"Thank you, very much." Joshua smiled at them. "You have the perfect dress to wear to the opera tonight my dear." He told Lena.

I looked down at my own dress of navy and white and felt a little envious of her new gown. I had the feeling Joshua was going to be spoiling her from here on out.

He paid for our purchases without blinking an eye, a sum of money that would take me almost two years to save up. He then whisked us away to a ritzy restaurant in the heart of downtown.

"Morning David." He called to the bar owner who was cleaning glasses behind the counter.

He looked up, his brown eyes dancing behind his glasses. "Ah, Joshua. Who are your beautiful friends?" he asked with a smile, setting down the glass.

"David, I'd like you to meet Hirelena." He said with a smile. "And this lovely woman by her side is her best friend Sora. Ladies, this is David McHopson. Mr. McHopson owns this establishment. I'm… a regular here." He explained.

"Nice to meet you girls." He smiled. "Are you heading upstairs Joshua?"

"Yes sir." He smiled. "If you could, please send a waitress up to see us."

"No problem." He nodded and Joshua escorted us upstairs.

"I want you two to listen to me carefully." He dropped his voice as he led us up the stairwell. "Stay close to me. Do not bring up the fact that you're from the order. In fact don't act like a pair of demonslayers."

"Why Joshua?" Lena asked, blinking.

"He's taking us straight into the hornet's nest." I replied softly.

"It couldn't be helped." He replied. "I had a meeting I couldn't get out of this morning. It's still relatively early so the place should be pretty empty, but I don't know who's going to be here and what else is going on." At Lena's grip on his arm, he looked down at her. "I'm sorry love, but I'd rather bring you here then leave you out on the streets alone. Downtown is crawling with devils and just because its light out does not mean that you're safe. I'd rather know your near me then far away if trouble calls."

We entered the upstairs floor and for a moment everything stopped. Three of the many tables housed demons, sitting around in conversation. One group was playing cards. I didn't realize I was holding my breath till one of the demons got up from the table, walking over to us. He cracked a grin, yellowed fangs showing through his pale lips. "Joshua. Mornin."

"Hey Jack." He smiled.

"You've got a nice set of arm weights wit ya. Where'd ya find such prutty lasses?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He said warmly, flashing him a smile. "Jack, this is Lena, and Sora."

"Hello," Lena curtseyed in her long black skirt. I nodded my head, forcing a smile.

"The Boss is waitin for ya. We'll keep your friends company." He said. I saw his eyes flash over me and sided closer to Joshua to avoid the temptation of decking him.

'He's harmless dear, I can assure you.' Joshua told me calmly.

'Yeah, about as harmless as a devil can be.'

'Jack was once contracted to a human. He's not one for the slaughter, but he's a great watchman.' He told me.

'Still, if he lays a hand on Lena or me he's out the window.'

'He won't.'

Joshua dropped a quick kiss on Lena's forehead, and brushed a hand over my arm in possessiveness before stepping away. "Jack," his voice got cold. "No one is to harm them, you understand me? The first devil to touch them loses his head."

"Yeah, yeah, I git ya." He nodded, his eyes widening as Joshua walked by. "Here ladies, let me get your bags for yas."

He set our bag over by the large round table and pulled up a few chairs around the table. He then introduced us to the three other devils at the table, all middle-aged battle-scarred men. There was Marcus, Kail and Briton. Marcus resided from New York, but Kail was from Ireland and Briton from England. They were shuffling the decks, looking at us with the same interest Jack first had.

"Men, this is Lena and Sora, friends of Joshua." He replied.

At that statement all their glances seemed to change. Kail stood, offering me a chair and I hesitantly sat down beside him, Lena taking the seat by me. "Do you Ladies know how to play cards?" Briton asked, his thick English accent evident.

Lena and I looked at one another. Her, me, and Mia had spent evenings in our room playing speed till we couldn't stay awake anymore.

"Yeah, sure." I spoke up for the both of us.

I spent the next hour playing blackjack with a group of devils. I found it ironic and amusing, but by the second round we were so into it, I hardly noticed the rugged scarred faces of the devil's human forms. Lena kept looking over at the door that Joshua had passed through, waiting for him to return. Still I felt we were in no danger.

That was until the front door opened again. We all looked over just in time to see a bulky, muscular devil walk into. He stood about eight feet tall and his skin was dark gray, a wall of rock solid material. Long fangs protruded down his face and his eyes were slited like a snake's, a bright crimson red. He was followed by three lower devils that stood by the door while he came over to the table. "I smelled human blood. Now, what are two pretty young human girls doing in a tavern for devils?" his voice was deep, rusty, hollow.

"Azel, these two are being protected by Joshua. He's ordered no harm come to them." Briton stood up, passing on the command.

The creature growled, picking him up by his throat. "And you think I care about what Mr. Pretty-boy says? He's no better then human anyway." He threw the man backward into the rock wall with enough force to dent the stone.

"Don't insult Joshua!" Lena stood up, glaring up at him.

Azel grinned evilly. "Well, well, well, what do we have here? A little raven-haired spitfire eh?" He reached out to grab her and I knocked his hand away, knocking the chair over when I got up.

"You…" he growled and before I knew it he had me by the throat, lifting me off the ground.

"Sora!" Lena cried.

"Let her go Azel. You've already sealed your fate." Jack barked.

"My fate?" he laughed. "It won't be decided by this human or that pathetic definition of a devil you all like to follow. Anyone who defies me dies. That simple."

His grip was getting tighter, and I could hardly breath as it was. It took mere seconds before I realized that the wide window that looked out on the city had been shattered by the impact of someone slamming through it from outside and a dark green blur streaked past before I was dropped to the ground, gasping for breath and clutching my head. The burning sensation that seemed to have caught my skull on fire was way to familiar.

"How dare you lay your hands on my contractor."

That voice… I glanced up, trying to get my eyes to focus. Yugo was standing in front of me in his true form, shielding me from the enemy. Lena was by my side, pulling me into her lap. Then chaos broke out, fighting as Jack, Kail and Yugo tried to fend off Azel and his thugs. He had transformed back to his human form, beating the crap out of Azel with punches and kicks to his stomach. One thing Yugo had learned was that in his human form, there wasn't much that could beat him in speed.

I was just coming back to when I heard the charge of thick footsteps.

"Lena!" Yugo called out. "Sora, look out!"

"You will die, now!" It was Azel's voice as he raced toward us, building energy in his hands. I turned my head into Lena's stomach, eyes closed ready to accept death if it was going to happen. There was a blinding light all of a sudden, a horrorific scream and suddenly a wave of liquid splashed onto me. Sitting up, I realized I was covered in demon blood. A pool of it seeped from what was left of Azel's body. The devil had been cut straight down the middle. I blinked, noticing Joshua standing there in front of us, his back to us.

"Joshua…" Lena whispered staring at him.

"Fine effort in saving your beloved's life, Wanderer." He spoke up, and for the first time I heard anger and arrogance in the blonde's voice. "Your powerless, and you almost cost me the life of my own."

"And where were you? Having tea and cookies with your lord?" Yugo shot back. "If I hadn't shown up, they were both as good as dead."

Joshua turned his back on him, walking over to us. "Sorry that you had to see that girls." He said gently. Placing his hand on my head, I felt a warm glow and was surprised to find that my head and throat were feeling much better. The blood was even gone from my clothes as if it had never been. "You should be much better now Sora. I'll let you leave with your contractor." He smiled at me, helping me up. Turning to face Yugo again, he glared.

"Just because your contracted to her does not mean your fangs have been ripped out and your wings have been clipped. You are weak. If you truly want to protect her, do something about it. Reverting to your true form every time you have to play hero is only going to kill her quicker." His eyes narrowed. "Unless you'd rather run tail and hide like a little lapdog."

Yugo growled at him but I quickly put a hand over his mouth to stop him. "Joshua, please. That's enough."

"I apologize." He replied. "Go on, you should be safe getting home. I'll bring your bags by this evening when I drop Lena off."

I grabbed Yugo's hand and led him out of the restaurant, back out on to the street. "What were you doing here?" I asked him.

"You think I'd just let you off unprotected with him?" he hissed. "I've been following you all day. If I hadn't been watching when that Azel guy walked in-"

"That's funny. I thought you'd be spending the day with your new girlfriend." I cut him off trying to ignore the fact that he had saved me.

"What?" his eyes blinked wide, his voice startled. "Who?"

"I don't know you tell me. You were the one telling Andrea that you be making plans with her later." I said coldly.

He huffed, glancing away. "I was upset because it seemed you didn't want to spend any time with me."

"Stop acting like a child. And don't lie." My emotions were getting out of wack and I didn't care if he picked them up on them or not. I was so mad and yet my eyes were stinging with tears. "I saw the way you were watching her last night. You couldn't take your eyes off her."

"I was doing it to prove a point."

"Yeah?" I snapped back. "What point, because I didn't get it."

He looked down on me his eyes revealing his true feelings again. "That I can be just like any other guy, chasing after and leading on women with ease. The thing is, I choose not to be like every other guy. I only have eyes for one woman, and that's you Sora. My heart beats for yours." He took my hand and put it up to his chest, so that I could feel his strong heartbeat underneath. "I am yours, whether you want me or not. I couldn't breath without you."

I blushed, smiling slightly at him though my eyes were filling with tears. He was so devoted, so loyal…so loving. I ducked my head. I didn't deserve his affections, his attentions.

'Of course you do.' He responded softly. 'Come here.' His arms pulled me closer, till my body was firmly up against his.

I blushed, staring up at him. He was so handsome…so gorgeous, and his eyes so sincere… 'There's got to be someone else for you Yugo. I'm so awful to you. And besides,' I bit my teeth into my lower lip. 'You deserve to be with someone so much better then a Dog-eyes.'

The tears slipped down my face as I said it but he pulled me closer. His finger brushed them away gently. 'You are the only one for me Sora. There's only and always you. And don't say that. You have the most beautiful eyes.' He kissed my right cheek just beneath my eyelid. 'Amber brown…' He did the same for the other eye as well. 'And silver blue. A perfect combination if you ask me. And besides, even if you do have Dog-eyes as you say, they're perfect for a weak little lapdog like me.'

His eyes shut halfway and he dropped his head slightly before locking his lips with mine.

My eyes shot open, hot blush spreading over my face. Before I knew it, they were sliding closed and I was melting in his arms. His lips were so soft, his breath warm on my face. My hands tightened on his white button down shirt as his fingers trailed off my cheek, down my neck to grasp a fist full of my long crimson hair in his hand. If there was one thing I knew about our relationship that I felt sure of, this was it. Being in each other's arms like this, the entire city gone and the swirling buzz of downtown drowned out by the own pounding of my beating heart, this felt right. And I got the feeling as he pulled away and looked down on me with desire-filled golden eyes that he felt the same way.

Author's Notes- Waaaahhhhhh! Aw, I love my Yugo-pounces him- You all will have to excuse me. I wrote the last part of the story to Suteki da ne, so it got undeniably mushy. Come to think of it, this entire chapter was mush, starting with Lena and her pretty boy Joshua. Dunno what will be in chapter four, cuz I'm totally making this up as I go along. Probably more mush knowing me. Eventually we'll see into Mia and Remington's interesting little relationship (that should be fun) and Sora will get sent back out on her first mission since she's returned to New York. But for now, later all!

-Sora Tokumi Kazuma