(A/N: Hah hah! I have returned, and with another chapter of Faith! FEAR ME! -thunder crashes-

Anyway...I choose not to talk too much this time, and get the review replies over with. Here I go!

Smoke-Angel: Paired with Carmen? Paired with Carmen? Do you seriously think that I will tell you? lol You'll just have to read on, but keep in mind that I'm a romantic at heart, although I've had no love life. At all. -shrugs- I don' really mind that. Actually, it's pretty great being single. The only thing is, I don't know what to say when my friends start crying over boys and their million stupidities...gaah...I am useless in love counseling...

Monarch: -trembles with disbelief- You...you...you compare me to Tolkien? Tolkien, people, TOLKIEN! -dies- xX Thank you so much! Am I truly that good? Oh my God, just reliving the memory of that review is making me want to faint! -mock faints- But seriously, I don't think I spend as much time on descriptions as he did. Do I? I hope not.

Storms-winter: Well you're seeming flighty. lol Thanks for your support! Here's the next chapter!

crimson gates of paradise (E and J): Hello, you pair of dears! (Whoa, that's new...and slighty off-putting .-) Mmyes, the mammoth review made me laugh again. OH MY GOD, ESTHER'S DRUNK! -runs around in circles, cackling- No, Mademoiselle Jessica, I do not lose sleep windering what you're trying to tell me. I'm aware that my vocabulary is sort of...advanced...lol. You should see me when I talk to my friends. Sometimes I have to translate myself. It's very amusing. Oh, and I've read "Who Am I?" It's friggin' hilarious! Yami is now a sad little carrot. LOL XD And Marik is a palm tree. I never made that connection before. -laughs her guts out-

Anyway...enough of my dribble and drabble (?), and happy readings! I really need a new slogan than that...

Chapter Four: It's Raining Philosophy

"It's been raining since forever, Kai…"

Little Kana Hiwatari sat perched on the edge of the living room windowsill, hands pressed on the foggy glass as she stared determinedly outside at the falling drops, as though her thoughts alone could urge the rain to a stop.

Kai sighed heavily, shaking his head as his own crimson gaze was drawn towards the dark window. He rose from his armchair, setting the book that he had been inattentively perusing on the low coffee table and making his way towards his sister.

"It's only been raining since this afternoon, Kana," he reminded her, placing his hands around her trim waist and heaving her off the sill, "and get off of there, you'll fall and hurt yourself soon…"

Kana stuck her tongue out at her older brother as she landed gently on the carpeted floor, then laughed in that high, joyful trill that made the joy of so many parents.

"How do you know that I'll fall?" the little girl returned, scarlet eyes lighting, willing him to answer to the verbal challenge, "How do you know, huh? I've never fallen before! I won't fall! Ever!"

Kai sighed again and raked the fingers of his left hand through his hair, smiling faintly.

"That's what we all say at your age, angel, but after a while…we all fall…"

The spark in her eyes lessened somewhat, making it obvious that this was not the answer that she had been expecting, although the philosophy and sudden, serious air of her brother puzzled her. She trotted after him as he made to return to his chair.

"What does it mean?" she asked, tugging at his sleeve when he did not answer, "Huh, Kai? Who's we? What does it mean?"

By this time, he had sat himself down again, his book hanging languidly in his hand. She persisted, peering over the edge of the armrest, clarifying the fact that she would not leave him alone until he had answered her question.

Kai gazed down at her for a long moment, his response shifting in his eyes. Finally, he spoke, looking away, towards the falling rain outside the grayish window.

"Everyone goes through a time where…where you think that you'll never be happy again…that's what it means, Kana…"

Confused but awed at the elder Hiwatari's grave tone, Kana pushed herself up onto the tips of her toes, seeking to look up into his eyes, but finding them strangely shadowed. She frowned.

"Kai…what does that have to do with anything?" she wanted to know, reaching towards him and wrapping her dainty little fingers around his longer ones.

He shook his head at her naivety. But then, he could not truly blame her for that.

If only…I still thought like you…

"It has to do with everything, my angel," he replied, voice far-off, "you'll see that someday…"

"Someday…" Kana repeated slowly, in a whisper so low that it was haunting.

"Yeah…"

"…someday, angel."

The rain did not stop that evening, nor did it stop during the night, so that the result was a wet, sagging, gray morning. Kana, of course, was utterly delighted at the thought of leaping feet first into a few puddles before school, but to Kai, the endless rain seemed nothing short of depressing. Perhaps it was the fact that he was still under shock from the events of the afternoon before. Regardless, it was not with a happy heart that he greeted the day.

"Kana, that's enough! Get back in here, before you slip or…catch a cold…or…something…"

The navy-haired girl protested from she had just hopped into a shallow puddle, but her voice was difficult to hear over the tumult of the rain on the asphalt and roofs. Kai beckoned vehemently, annoyed that he was getting his own self drenched in the process. His mind strongly willed her not to have him come out into the downpour just to force her back into the house.

"Kana!"

"Okay, okay…"

She trudged across the mansion grounds, very deliberately, so that Kai beckoned harder, convinced that his impatience would eventually drive him mad.

Finally, the little girl entered the house, mischief written on her expression. Kai rolled his eyes at her as she passed, earning himself a playful glare before she raced off again, this time towards her bedroom so that she could change before going to school.

"Don't dirty the carpet with those boots!" Kai yelled after her, hearing her giggle before her door closed with a snap.

Shaking his head at her juvenile antics, the youth closed the double doors, gazing down at his dampened self with resignation.

"You should change before leaving, Master Kai," came the elderly voice of the butler from behind him.

Kai nodded in acquiesce and turned to go up to his room, but the old man's hand on his arm stopped him. His eyes, deep set and focused and as gray as the world outside bore, although not in a hard way, into the widened scarlet. Kai frowned.

"Nicolai…"

"You cannot replace your parents, Master Kai…"

Kai started, pulling himself away from Nicolai's grasp, not meeting the elderly man's gaze.

"I know," said the boy flatly.

"You do not seem to. You…"

Now Kai turned, curious despite the void that was filling him. His eyes were unfocused, contemplating something that should not have returned.

"I what?"

"You…" Nicolai stopped, hesitant, but seeing the teenager's questioning look, he continued, "you try too hard. You are…attempting to fill a place that was left empty when your parents died…"

"I'm not," Kai interrupted sharply, "I'm not doing anything like that! I just…I just want Kana to be happy…and…and safe…that's all I'm trying to do…"

He stepped away from the butler, in a mind to dash up the stairs and barricade himself in his room as the near overwhelming urge to scream swept over him. Nicolai's gaze was too kind.

Just too kind.

"You have to let them go, Master Kai," said the man quietly.

"I have…" the boy protested feebly, hardly believing his own words.

"You have to truly let them go. You must not allow their memory to affect you so."

"I know!"

"Then act the part," Nicolai replied, and this time his voice was grave, "because you and I both know that this cannot go on forever."

He left the hall, polished shoes clicking on the tiled floors, then fading away, and the insistent patter of the raindrops on the closed walls grew louder and louder in Kai's ears.

"See you later, Kai! See you later, okay?"

"Yeah. See you later."

The rain still fell as heavily as ever, bouncing upon the flooded sidewalks and the top of Kai's umbrella with the recklessness of a child. Kana was waving jovially, sheltered under the slight roof shadowing the Phoenix Hills Elementary School's steps. The elder waved back, forcing a smile onto his lips before turning away.

You have to let them go, Master Kai.

Truly let them go…

"I have," Kai muttered between clenched teeth, "I have let them go. I have…I have…"

The rain danced on his umbrella and shone across the colorless sky, gurgling and laughing as it careened down the drainpipes of every house that Kai walked past. He watched the puddles by his feet for a while, hardly knowing where he was going, and not caring very much.

I have!

I haven't.

He sighed, casting his gaze to the sky. The clouds still seemed as though they would be eternally full of rain.

"Mother…Father…"

The heavens gave no response, and the next instant, the crimson eyes had hardened as he continued to walk.

"My, my, it's been raining for a while now, hasn't it?"

"Yes."

"Well, I sure hope we get to see a bit of sun today. Don't you?"

"Yes."

"Oh, honestly!" the random nurse admonished in the same overly-cheerful voice, rearranging some trinkets on the only dresser occupying the space, "Don't you have anything else to say, Carmen?"

"No," Carmen answered monotonously, in a tone that sounded like nothing but not to you.

The girl was positioned in a half-sitting, half-lying position on the bed, a rather voluminous book propped up next to her. She was running her right hand absently over the pages, her sightless eyes focused on to some point of the thick paper as the various bumps and creases under her fingers were translated into text.

The nurse had infiltrated her space some twenty minutes ago, and had insisted upon staying as she moved about the room, repositioning objects here and there, speaking about every nothing under the sun in that high, joyful voice that grated at Carmen's ears until it was all that could do to not throw her book at the woman's head.

Then again, she could have had Tarian do it for her.

But Tarian was not there.

Just as she had wanted it.

"You have gotten messy, lately, dear. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Of course. Don't I look alright?"

You'll stay with me forever, won't you Tarian?

Of course, little love…

…forever…

"Forever…" Carmen whispered, and for the first time since his departure, tears mounted in her eyes, making the silver sparkle impossibly in the midday light.

The nurse had turned at the sound of her voice, and was staring quizzically at the girl, in that way that adults have of looking at children when they are at loss of what to do or say.

"Did you say something, dear?" asked the woman in that same predictably adult manner, approaching the bed slowly with her hands clasped in front of her.

Sensing the nurse's steps, Carmen sat up and shook her head vehemently, raven hair tossing wildly at the movement. The nurse was shocked.

"Alright…"

"I'm fine," said Carmen, but the tremor in her voice betrayed her, "can…can you leave now? Please…"

Shrugging in slight bewilderment, the woman complied, opening and closing the door with the efficiency of any nurse.

All of the employees agreed that the permanent occupant of room 354 was the strangest girl that they had ever met, but in truth, they really knew nothing about her.

No one knew anything about her, but they all knew the soulless silver eyes.

(A/N: I know it was short, don't throw things at me! -hides- Anyway, all stupidity aside...I really have a big problem. These days, I really find myself at loss of inspiration for the end of Night Of The Vampires, which you all know and have read (hopefully) and love. I really love that story! It's my baby! -hugs story- Ahem. Yeah, so you see, this is really a big deal for me. What I'm asking of you guys is pretty simple. If you have any idea, any at all, I don't care if it's the most retarded thing on Earth (well, maybe I do, but I'm desperate as I'm typing this) then trasmit it to me in reviewform! I beseech you all, kind reviewers, throw me a lifeline, no matter how thin, and I shall weave it into a tapestry! (How poetic am I tonight?) Good night, all! -bows-

Carmen -- weaver of dreams (Actually, I can't sew/weave at all, but that's a detail...))