Thank you for reviewing the first chapter.

Two

Ren suddenly felt uneasy. Yoh wasn't speaking. His face was expressionless, but his mouth had been gaped open for several seconds. The wind pushed thick brown strands in and out of his face and further raised the tension.

"...What?" he finally managed to say angrily.

"Yoh, I don't want to hurt you. I know this his difficult for you to hear but..." Ren was suddenly distracted by Yoh standing up.

"I don't believe this! I don't believe you came all this way to tell me that. This is...crazy!" as he spoke he stormed back inside the house.

Ren's first instinct was to follow him, but instead he remained on the grass and stared at his hands. He knew once he reentered the house he would walk into a room of chaos. "So now what?" he asked aloud.

Though the Chinese shaman looked quite ridiculous sitting in the middle of the back yard and daydreaming, he was right about the atmosphere inside. Yoh was furious, yelling and screaming for Anna to show herself.

"What is wrong with him?" Lyserg asked quietly, once Yoh cleared the sitting room. The others seemed just as confused, of course, all except Horo.

"This may get ugly," the blue haired boy replied.

---

"Where is she, Tamao?" Yoh demanded when he reached the top of the stairs.

"Um, she's not here." Tamao replied nervously.

"Please don't lie to me. Where is she?"

Tamao stepped closer to him and began rubbing her hands together. "No really, she's not here. She left when you went outside." She then closed her eyes as if waiting to be hit.

"Where did she go?" He replied, sighing heavily.

"I don't know, she didn't say. What's wrong, Yoh?" She placed her hand on his shoulder but quickly removed it.

"I have to find her. I'll be back later." He said and abruptly descended the stairs.

"Oh dear," she whispered.

---

Ren threw a pebble into the lake and stared at the ripples it produced. He was no longer at the house, and felt a nice walk would help to calm him. The rustling of the trees around him seemed too heavy for the amount of wind that was blowing. Curiosity consumed him and he turned around to see if there were any animals in his vicinity. His discovery caught him off guard.

"I knew you would wander out here," she said as blond strands blew in the wind and covered most of her face.

"Anna...what are you doing? Why aren't you at the house?" He felt they were betraying Yoh in some way just by being in the same place at the same time.

"I was suffocating," she said calmly. Walking past him a few steps, she folded her arms and stared at the other side of the lake.

"You should know then...I told Yoh about..." he was becoming irritated with so many people interrupting him.

"I know. I knew you would so I left." She responded without looking at him.

"Well then, you should go back and talk to him." Ren took a few steps closer but didn't touch her.

"I can't talk to him about this. No one asked you to drop that on him. I'm sure the wedding is off now." Anna's frustration angered him.

"Are you listening to yourself? I didn't tell him I ate all of the cookies in the cookie bowl..." he groaned when she interrupted him again.

"Cookie jar." She sighed.

"IRRELEVANT. This is very serious. He needed to know how I felt, and he needs to know how you feel." Her silence made him nervous.

"He knows how I feel. And up until a few minutes ago, I was getting married. But, of course, you had to tell him something that did not need to be addressed in the first place." Anna slightly raised her voice, angering him.

"So you're denying your feelings?" Ren growled.

"There's nothing to deny." She responded quickly.

"So I suppose I was dreaming when you kissed me?" Anna finally seemed to notice he was angry.

"That was a mistake. I explained that to you. It's not my fault you read more into it than what was intended." As she spoke, she turned her head to the right in an attempt to avoid his eyes, "So you think you fell for me? That's not my problem. I never led you on and I never said anything to push you. You're ruining my life for no good reason and it's irritating me."

"Are you trying to make me angry? It's working." Ren replied through clenched teeth. "Your memory is failing you, Anna. You came to me. I wasn't seeking your affection. And that wasn't the first time...you know it."

"Why are we talking about this? It's ridiculous anyway. I told you I didn't want you here, and you've just proved my point. Go home. I don't want to have to look at you anymore, and I'm sure Yoh doesn't want you here now either." She finally looked into his eyes with what appeared to be intense hatred.

"Fine, I'll leave. However, you should be honest with Yoh, even though you couldn't with me." Feeling content with his words, he left her standing in the wind.

Instead of responding with something cold, she watched him walk away, refolded her arms, and allowed the tears to flow freely down her cheeks.