Hi everybody! It's time to update this story I suppose. I suggest to everyone who is able to go to a big college. I don't care what other people tell you, it's awesome. I am at a very large university and it really doesn't feel that big once you get in there. Anyway, thought I'd say that, and that I am loving it here. Probably a big reason for why this doesn't get updated too often. Sorry... Anyway, here's your next chapter.

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Chapter 9: The Morning After

Storm woke up with the soft sounds of the birds chirping outside. She also felt someone next to her, their arms wrapped around her. Momentarily, she forgot about the night before and the fact that she wasn't back home. Her mind automatically registered the body next to her as her husband's. She smiled softly at the thought as she cuddled closer to the warmth that they were providing her.

Slowly she opened her eyes when she realized that she wasn't going to get back to sleep. When she opened her eyes she realized that she was not where she thought she was, and that she wasn't lying next to who she thought. That's when all of her memories from the night before came flooding back to her.

Storm sat up in a panic as she stared at the sleeping Yuan next to her. She tried to recollect why she had done what she did. She knew that she obviously felt something for him, but why did she let her feelings take her over? It's not that she didn't feel anything for him, or that what happened between the two meant nothing, it was just that she had no idea why she had actually acted on her feelings.

It was then that her thoughts switched from the night before to what would happen in the future. What would happen if Zelos found out? She didn't think she could take him leaving her. Sure, she had feelings for Yuan, but at this point there was no way that those feelings could compete with her feelings for Zelos. She knew that she had to get out of the tent and get out into the fresh air to think things over for awhile.

She gathered up her clothes and quietly put them on. She didn't want to wake Yuan, in fact, at this point she didn't really want to face him period. It was a little too soon, and the whole situation was a little awkward for her.

She took her first steps into the fresh morning air. She breathed it in deeply, letting the smell of the fresh dew take over her senses. Everything was so peaceful outside yet. The sun had barely risen above the horizon and the troops hadn't woken up yet. She walked into the woods where she knew there was a small stream. She felt the morning sun on her back, and the dew tickle her feet as she left the clearing to go into the forest. She wished that her life was as simple and peaceful as that moment. Unfortunately, she knew that it had never been, and now it probably never would be.

She soon found a small log sitting close to the bank of the stream as she sat on it, listening to the birds chirping their playful morning songs. She stared at the small stream sadly as she went over all the things that happened that led up to the night before. She still couldn't believe that she would do something so reckless. Not only that, but she couldn't believe that Yuan was the one to initiate it. She knew that what she had done was wrong, but for some reason it felt so right to be with him and she couldn't seem to shake him out of her thoughts. There was something deeper between the two than what happened last night, and she knew it too.

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Yuan woke up slowly as he searched around for the person that was supposed to be cuddled up next to him. He opened one eye and looked over to see that Storm was gone. He grew worried and wondered where she could have un off to. She wasn't ready to travel too far, and knowing her she probably had tried to run after Magnius by herself. He grabbed his clothes and changed into them quickly before dashing out of the tent.

Yuan looked around the campsite and saw that none of his men were up yet, and decided to see if she had moved to her own tent. When he got there he realized that her tent was completely empty as his heart began to race a little faster. He wandered to the only other place that he thought she could be as he headed toward the nearby stream.

He made his way into the woods as he searched for the small stream. Finally, he got the small clearing by the stream and saw Storm sitting on a small log next to the bank. It was a beautiful sight for the half-elf as he saw Storm slowly turn her head to look at him. She looked so innocent and vulnerable as her hair gently swayed in the breeze. The dew on the grass around her sparkled in the morning sunlight. He couldn't help but be left speechless.

"Yuan..." Storm said calmly, but also sadly. Yuan couldn't quite understand what she was feeling at that moment, but he hoped that she wasn't upset with him.

"Storm...about last night..." Yuan tried, but he just couldn't stand the look on her face. When he brought up the subject it only seemed to cause more pain in her expression. He didn't want to see her like that, it killed him to see her in more pain.

Storm turned to look at him when he didn't finish. "Yes?" she asked softly, waiting for him to answer.

"I'm sorry if I did anything to hurt you, but I want you to know that what happened last night was very heartfelt," Yuan began. He knew how he felt and he wanted to tell her. "Storm, I love you and there is nothing that I can do about that. If you reject me here now, I will still love you. I just can't help myself, but I can understand if you feel differently," he told her as he looked at her straight in the eyes, showing off every emotion that he felt for her at that moment. He didn't want her to doubt his feelings at all, and he knew that if she could see it in his eyes that she would believe it.

Storm looked at him longingly before she looked back at the ground sadly. "Yuan, you know why we can't be together, but I have to admit that...I love you too," she told him. "I love Zelos and I love you...I canc understand why you might get upset with me, but you know that I would never leave Zelos. I'm sorry," she told him as she stared hard at the ground.

Yuan looked at her, looked at the fear in her. The way she looked at the ground when she spoke, it made him really see the fears that Mithos and Pronyma had put into her at such a young age. He put his hand to her chin gently as he lifted it up so she would look him in the eyes. "I told you I'd love you even if you rejected me. You didn't reject me, but we can't be together so I still love you," he told her as he brought his lips to hers once again. The kiss wasn't too intense, but rather he just lightly kissed her on the lips before pulling away to look her in the eyes, his hand still on her chin.

"How are we going to work with this?" she asked him.

"Very tenderly. We wouldn't want anyone to find out, would we?" he said as he smirked at her before kissing her once again, this time with more passion.

Yuan brought Storm closer to him as he wrapped his arms around her to pull her to him. He placed his hands under her shirt and trailed his hands up her back. That's when he found something he wanted to forget. He could still feel her injuries. He could feel how big they were and how bad they were still after all this time. He pulled himself away from the kiss and rested his head on the top of hers. When he did this she leaned in closer to his chest.

"I'm sorry I let you get hurt. I could have lost you..." he said sadly as he gently moved his fingers over her wounds.

"It was my own fault. Please don't blame yourself," she told him as she wrapped her arms around him. They stood like that for awhile before Yuan finally pried her away from him.

" I think the troops are waking up, perhaps we should get back to camp," Yuan told her.

"Yeah, I think that would probably be a good idea, they're all going to be coming to this stream soon anyway," Storm agreed with him as they walked back. Yuan and Storm holding hands until they got too close to where people could see them.

A few more days of rest and Storm would be ready to fight again, until then, the two had plenty to do and say.

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Well, that's it for this chapter. I really hope you liked it. I hope it had the little sparkle that it needed. I don't know, it's 11:30pm here and I hope that it wasn't too bad. Anyway, thanks for all the reviews from the last chapter and I hope you all review for this chapter as well. Thanks for reading, now go and review!