"Wait!" I cried out as Yuki was about to close the door behind him, finally braking out of my shocked trance. Yuki froze, then stepped back into the room, closing the door behind him, staring at the floor.

"Yes?" He said very insecurely.

"I... I don't want to forget you just said that, Yuki. And maybe you said it because it was true? Your finally being honest with me, maybe? Not just saying what you think is most professional, or correct. And that's good, Yuki. Really really good." I looked at him fiercely. He looked at me, surprised and slowly nodded.

"Yes..." He still seemed so nervous.

"You never have to worry about what people are going to think of the real you, Yuki. I like you, don't I? Can't you see it? I like you just the way you are. You're perfect." I couldn't figure out why I was saying so much to comfort Yuki. I didn't like him... did I?

"You... like me?" Yuki asked softly.

"Yes." I said the word strong and sure, surprising even myself. But Yuki looked about to fall over with that answer. It was simple, but spoke volumes. "The question is, were you serious? Do you care enough about me, or is it just a phase... like I am to everyone else... even my brother." I had to know. That's how everyone I loved treated me. I had to know if I would get it from him as well.

Yuki came back to the side of the bed and took my hand. Kneeling next to my bed and looking me straight in the eye, he spoke. "You will never be a phase to me, Kaia Curna. I know how it feels to be alone and unwanted. Nobody deserves that, especially not you."

"Spend 16 years with me, then tell me that I don't deserve to be forgotten or left behind." I smiled sadly.

"Do you believe that?" Yuki asked.

"Do you believe that nobody will like you if your you?" I replied.

He looked down for a moment, but then into my eyes once again. "You are a beautiful person, Kaia."

"So are you." I replied.

"There is no way that I could ever be as wonderful as you are. Your beautiful and smart and kind, and a little clumsy, which just adds to the perfectness of it all." Yuki seemed to be trying to say things that were not possible to voice.

"If you mean that, kiss me." I said. That should clear up all those non-sayable things. He kissed me. It was a gentle, loving kiss that left me with the most dazzling sensations I have ever felt. He looked at me almost nervously. "Tell Shawna I said hi, okay?" I said softly when we pulled apart.

He looked totally shocked and crestfallen as he slowly got up and went to leave the room. "Okay..."

"Oh, and, Yuki?" I called when he got to the door. He turned to look at me. "I think sometime we should do that again, considering it was the best kiss I've ever had. I like the real you. I like him a lot." I nodded, smiled, and winked.

Yuki's face lit up. "Sure!" He said, absolutely bouncing out of his skin. I laughed as he ran out of the room, almost reaching little kid age status. THIS was going to be interesting.

:-P

"Yuki?" I called. He had been coming back every half hour or so, and I had come to expect it, so now that he wasn't here, I was actually quite lonely. Suddenly he came stomping in and completely threw himself in the chair next to my bed. "Hi." I said, a little surprised.

"That stupid cat!" Yuki growled.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Shawna tried to make up with Kyou and he totally shot her down! He didn't listen to one word she said!" Yuki sounded so angry.

"Yuki, look at it from his point of view. Shawna said some very hurtful things. Maybe he doesn't want to forgive her yet, even if he wants to be there for her." I said, logically.

Yuki continued to grumble, but nodded slightly. "But he could have been nicer!" He seemed determined to make Kyou evil in this.

"Yuki, Shawna was very, very mean to Kyou and you know, better than I, that he is one of the last people you should be hurting. His heart is so tender, when she said the things she did, she destroyed it. He wasn't able to take it, though most other people can. People like Kyou and Shawna are not used to the real world. They see it from their closed little inner space where their heart doesn't exist. Kyou opened that inner space, and let Shawna in, and she destroyed everything he had spent a lifetime creating. Now, he's an overly matured teenager with an underly matured heart, and he has no idea what to do with it. He doesn't know what he feels, he just knows that he doesn't want Shawna gone. He can't tell how he wants her to stay, because he's afraid of getting hurt again, but doesn't want to loose the feeling of being loved either. He just doesn't know. You see why you have to be patient with him?" I said, trying to calm Yuki, and get him to see it from my point of view.

"I guess your right. I just think he should have been kinder to her." Yuki said.

"If you were in his place, would you have?" I asked.

Yuki looked at me in surprise. Then, after a moment, "No..."

"See?" I replied. "It's hard to forgive."

"Yes, I see. I'm going to go see how it all turned out after I left, okay? I'll be back soon." Yuki smiled at me, and left only after I nodded my head.

:-P

Shawna had taken a liking to talking to Yuki. That meant that I had less time with him. So I searched for other support. Oddly enough, I found Kyou in my time of need. It was kind of funny. It was like Shawna and I had just exchanged men. I was surprised to find that Kyou was willing to talk with me, and open up, even slightly to me.

"Good morning, Kyou." I stated.

"Yeah, what's so good about it?" He replied, not truly paying attention, just staring out the window.

"Well, the sun is shining, the air is clear, and the birds are chirping. Shawna is talking to Yuki again, and both of us are lonely." I said, and settled my lazy ass right down next to him.

"Okay. So it's an okay morning." Kyou said, almost smiling.

"On the contrary. The morning is beautiful. It's our lives that suck." I replied.

This time, he did smile. "Fine. I'll go for that one."

"What's on your mind? You seem moodier than normal." I said, gently stroking his hair. It was comfort technique I had learned from Lilah, and it really worked well on him.

Kyou fell backwards onto the floor as I followed and continued to stroke his hair. "I can't live with out her, Kaia." His beautiful orange-red eyes stared at me.

"She's not going to leave anytime soon, Kyou. You have her here, at least." I said.

"That's not what I mean. I need to hold her. I need to kiss her. I can't stand seeing her without being able to. I'm going to leave, Kaia. On the night of the New Years banquet. I don't know where I'll go, maybe back to the mountains, but I can't see her and not have her." Kyou fidgeted as my stroking stopped.

"Kyou-" I began.

"Please don't try and stop me. This is something I need to do. I can't stand it here anymore. I thought could handle it, but I can't. She's too attractive, too beautiful. I want her too bad. I can't stay. Please, be here for her when I'm gone. I... I trust you to." Kyou looked at me pleadingly.

I stared back at the boy, trying to decide what to do. Finally, "Alright. I'll take care of Shawna for you. But, Kyou, in a while, she'll realize how much she misses you, and then she'll want you so much she wouldn't be able to stand it. You have to come back before then, because she will sacrifice her own life for you. If she thinks your dead, she will kill herself. You understand this, don't you? If you take too long coming back, she will think you're dead. You get what I'm saying, right? If you take too long and you come back too late, Shawna will be gone forever, and there is nothing I can do about that." I warned, knowing how painful the truth could be. "The reason I say this is that she nearly killed herself when her mother died, and that was the last time she's had issues like this. Lilah stopped her then, but I don't think anyone but you could do that now."

Kyou nodded. "I understand. I'll be back before anything happens. I just need time to breath, you know?"

My shoulders slumped. I understood that he felt drawn to Shawna, but that didn't mean that he should flip his life around because she wasn't going to kiss him anymore. And the worst thing was that she was going to kiss him again, as soon as possible. I couldn't tell Kyou, not with Shawna in the state she was. So I had to let him leave? How was I supposed to protect Shawna if the only thing that kept her from going insane was leaving? "Okay, Kyou. Be careful, and remember to come back soon." Was all I said, though.

:-P

I didn't talk to him again after that. Three weeks past, and I let to go to the banquet with my family, though I was still shredding myself inside.

Halfway to the banquet I yelled, "Shoji! Stop the car!" Needless to say, there was squeaking tires and a screeching halt.

"Kaia! Have you gone insane!" Shoji cried, sounding scared.

"I gotta get out. I'll meet you there. Bye, Shoji, sorry." I leapt out of the car and raced back towards where I came. I hoped I wasn't too late! Halfway to the house, I met Kyou leaving.

"You can't leave her!" I shouted, right in his face.

"What?" Kyou stared at me like I was nuts, and maybe I was.

"You can't leave Shawna. She needs you, especially now that she's not with you. Without you she's not a whole person anymore! Shawna needs you with her. Please, Kyou. Believe me when I say that you can not leave her now. You asked me to take care of her, and this is the first thing that I'm going to do. Make sure that Shawna's as happy as she can be. I have no way of keeping Shawna wanting to live once you leave. She will have no will left. I'm not saying this for my health. Shawna needs you the most and you can't leave her now! I love my cousin and I can't have her go and do something drastic because of some stupid guy, especially not something that I could have prevented, so forget it buddy, and turn around and march yourself home. I don't care what you think, but Shawna will come around soon, and you WILL be there when it happens, got that? If you leave, I will hunt you down and drag your little sorry ass back to that house after beating the living daylights out of you, and throw you at her feet, and at her mercy." I was panting, and Kyou looked as shocked as I felt that that had just come out of my mouth. He looked like a fish, gaping at me like that.

"Kaia-" Kyou began, but I wouldn't hear it. I had to reenforce that little number, didn't I?

"No if ands or buts. Turn around and walk you ass back to that house right now, Mister." I physically turned him around, then pushed him towards the house.

And for a moment I actually thought he would go, but then he bolted off into the trees, and I was all I could do to follow him.