Notes: I forgot to mention it, but the quote 'Many waters cannot quench love, nor can floods drown it' is from the Bible, though I don't know the reference.

Outside Luna Mountain

Gaga simply lay there for a few minutes, panting, exhausted. Onua lay on top of him, her weight on his chest; but although her weight complicated his breathing, it was comforting as well, because it meant that she was safe. After a while, Gaga shifted her off gently, and sat up. He looked around and saw that they were on a rather wide ledge that was easily large enough for them and their belongings.

Luckily they had managed to keep their bags somehow, and the contents were intact. He took the bags and laid all of their contents out to dry. He took off his jacket and shirt and wrung them out, and then gazed forlornly at the holes in the back of the jacket. The shirt would be easily repaired, but it would be nearly impossible to sew the holes in the jacket shut without the seams showing. He sighed and put the shirt back on, it was better than nothing. He laid the jacket out to dry and looked over at where Onua lay.

She looked to be in relatively good shape, besides being unconscious and soaking wet. Actually, she looks rather good in wet clothes…Ack! Gaga stopped that thought before it got any further. I'd best check on her, if she was hit on the head, she'll need help. He moved over to her and knelt by her side. Lifting her head from the ground, he looked for a bump, which he found just behind her left ear. It didn't look too serious, and she'd be as good as new in a few hours. I'm glad, if she'd been seriously injured, I'd never have forgiven myself.

He took a look at her left wrist, and saw that the wounds she'd gotten when he grew claws weren't serious, but he wrapped them with bandages anyway. How had he grown claws anyway? It was almost like when, as a demon, he transformed into his cat shape, except that he didn't shrink, and his body was still very much human. He'd gotten claws, fangs and wings, like his demon-cat shape, but he'd stayed almost entirely human otherwise, very strange.

He took a wet towel and folded it into a makeshift pillow and laid it under Onua's head as support. The sun was bright enough and hot enough that their clothes should dry out in less than an hour. He laid his jacket over her, and then lay back on the ledge, hands behind his head. Within a few minutes the combination of warm sun and tiredness caused him to fall asleep.

When he awoke it was a whole hour and a half later, just after noon. He sat up, wincing; he was stiff and sore from overexerting himself like that, and then not moving while he slept. He turned to see how Onua was doing and saw that she was up and looking much better. She smiled at him and said, "Good to see you awake, Gaga-san. Are you feeling okay?"

"Just a bit stiff, thank you. Are you alright, Onua-san? You had a bump on your head, is it better?"

"Oh, yes, I'm fine now. However…" She stood and came towards him, and then sitting directly behind him, began rubbing his shoulders. When he winced, she said, "It looks like you're not in as good of shape as you thought. Don't worry; I'll work those knots out."

"But…"

"No buts, that's the second time you saved my life, I at least owe you a shoulder rub, and you need it."

His shoulders and neck were cramping, and his arms jittered painfully, so he couldn't really argue the point. He let her work on him, all the time aware of a feeling of guilty pleasure. Her touch was sheer delight, and soothed his cramping muscles. Her hands rubbed his shoulders and the back of his neck, moved up and down his arms, and massaged his temples, where the beginnings of a headache were forming.

As his aches eased, he finally began to relax, and let his head fall forward limply, simply basking in the pleasure of her care and company. I wish this could last forever, and I wish…I wish that she could do this all the time, I wish that I could let her do this without my feeling so guilty.

Her hands moved back down to his neck and stroked firmly, yet gently, massaging all his aches away. They slid upward to rub under his jaw, feeling the blood pulsing through the jugular vein, making him more aware of it. He closed his eyes and simply lost himself in her touch. Her hands dropped again, rubbing his shoulders and back, moving gently, rhythmically, soothingly, until he was only half awake, and aware of only the sensations she sent through him. Slowly, her arms slid around him, and she merely held him, as her soft breasts pushed gently against his back, and she laid her head on his shoulder, so that his cheek rested against her head.

They stayed like that for awhile, and then Gaga stirred, sighing, and gently removed her hands, turning and facing her. "Onua-san, I wish we could stay like that, I wish we could really be in a relationship like we pretended, I wish we could go even further than that, but we can't, so you need to stop putting me in positions like that, okay?" He spoke gently, sadly, but the look in his eyes begged her to understand.

Onua looked back at him, eyes just as sad, but determined to find a way. "Why? Why can't we? What is there to stop us?"

"Onua-san…It would never work. For all that I'm in a young body; I'm still old in reality."

"But that just means you have years of experience that a normal young man wouldn't. You're the figurative old head on young shoulders."

"And I'm a demon; for all that I've a human body now."

"So? I don't care. You're everything I love in a man, demon or not."

"And I'm from the serving class, while you're the gypsy equivalent of a princess."

"Gaga-san, you're the steward for the Princess of Hell, that's got to be at least as good as being the daughter of a gypsy caravan boss, at least in the eyes of most people." She was starting to become amused, while he seemed annoyed at her. He knew it couldn't work, he knew it and yet…all the reasons it couldn't were being neatly countered by her. As much as he wanted it to work, he didn't want to get his hopes up, when he was sure they'd be dashed.

"But… what about your father? Do you honestly believe that Niko would approve?"

Onua thought about it, and then replied, "Yes…yes, I do. I think that Papa would be delighted that his best friend was courting his daughter, regardless of the things you said before. And I think Mama would approve as well."

Despite himself, Gaga was beginning to hope, and then he had one devastating thought. "Princess Grenda would never allow it."

"Princess Grenda has no jurisdiction over your personal life, and even if she did, I doubt she'd stop you. She's much nicer than she likes to pretend."

"But, but…"

"I know you've known her for far longer than I have, but you never know until you try."

As Gaga thought about that, Onua stood and packed their belongings back into their bags, since everything had dried out by now. "Now then, we should start on our way home. Can you help me figure out how to get down from here?"