Saki POV

I heard the doorbell ring and I felt some degree of irritation. With my parents and Megumi at my grandparents' home, I had hoped to have some quiet time alone with my thoughts. I walked quickly down the hall to the front door and I opened it, fully expecting to see Tohru or Uo on the other side. Except that it wasn't either of them; it was Kazuma-san.

I just stood there a minute, staring blankly in disbelief at him. He was the last person I expected to see at my door. How did he find my home? I suddenly felt scared and excited all at once, and I didn't know how to act or what to say.

"May I come in?" he asked quietly. I nodded quietly, stepping aside to allow him to come in and then I shut the door behind him. "Are we free to talk here privately?" he asked softly, leaning towards me.

"My family is away for the day," I said quickly, feeling more nervousness welling up in me. I led him quietly to the living room and I asked him to take a seat. I sat down across from him, and then blushing and feeling a bit like Tohru, I leapt up and asked him if I could get him anything to eat or drink. He shook his head impatiently.

"Saki-chan, please sit down. I don't need anything to eat or drink. What I need is to talk to you." I sat down again and quietly waited to hear what he had to say, my calm demeanor belying my frenzied, anxious state. Or so I thought. He looked at me in wry amusement. "I'm not going to bite you, Saki-chan, although I should. You have been deliberately blocking me out for two months."

I looked down, and tried to put up my mental wall again. I was not ready to have this discussion with him today. I felt like I was being emotionally torn in two; on one hand I wanted to hold him close and bask in his aura, and on the other hand I wanted to lock myself in my room and hide from him. I was sorely tempted to do the latter, but then I imagined him using a well placed kick to open my bedroom door and me trying to explain the damage to my father later, and I deemed it wiser not to. I felt him probing in my mind, and then retreating as he encountered my shields. He sighed deeply.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" he asked quietly. "When we last spoke, you were more than willing to be open with me." He stood up and walked over to where I sat. I felt paralyzed, completely uncertain as to what he was going to do. I didn't dare open up my mind to try to see what was going on in his for fear of giving him a glimpse of the vulnerability, the weakness within me. Kazuma-san sat down beside me and looked at me. I was too nervous to make eye contact with him. He took one of my hands in his. I felt the current awaken between us, its frequency higher than I had expected.

"Saki-chan, I have come to terms with what I feel for you. I know I love you, that I have always loved you, even before I knew you in this life. He placed his other hand under my chin and he brought my lips up to his.

The energy exploded between us as he pressed his lips gently against mine. I felt as though my mind and my heart had been swept away in a flood of delirious sensations and feelings. My arms wrapped around him of their own accord, as though to keep me from losing my balance. I felt his other hand come up against my lower back, pulling me closer to him.

He moved his face down, burying his face in my hair. I felt his tongue and his lips tracing a path along my neck, and I wanted to sob with relief. He loved me. All the fear and uncertainty drained out of me, and I felt as though I hung limp in his arms without the tension of my dread holding me up.

"Saki, I need to know that you are okay with this, that you want this too," he whispered urgently in my ear. His hands were running up my back, leaving fiery little paths of energy whorls exploding where they touched me. I sighed, half-lost in the overpowering ecstasy of our merging auras and the tingling flames of erotic sensation that pulsed down my spine and between my legs as he nibbled and sucked at my ear lobe.

"I love you," I whispered softly, bringing my lips up against his neck and peppering him tiny kisses and nips. I stood up slowly, gently pulling him to his feet. "My bedroom…" I said hesitantly, looking down the hall towards my bedroom door. He smiled sweetly, hearing in my unspoken sentence my nervousness and uncertainty about what we were about to do.

"We can stop if you aren't comfortable with this…I would never hurt you…" he began to say quietly, but I covered his lips with my own, kissing him silent and I began to lead him down the hall.

(erotic content censored to comply with FanFiction's enforcement of the no erotica rule)

"I love you," he said softly, his face radiant in his happiness. I smiled in return and kissed his forehead. I love you too, I thought at him. He laughed and pulled me closer into his embrace.

"Will you marry me," he said softly. "I know that I've done everything backwards and I'm supposed to ask that before we fall into bed and devour each other, but will you marry me anyways?" My heart felt as though it would overflow with happiness, and I snuggled closer to him.

"You know I will," I said quietly, resting my head against his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart.

"I want to ask your father for his permission to marry you," Kazuma said quietly as I lay there, absentmindedly running my hand over his abdomen and hip. I laughed as I imagined my father's expression of astonishment as Kazuma pleaded his suit before him.

"I don't think you will encounter much resistance, Kazuma-kun. Likely he will be relieved to find that there is someone in this world crazy enough to take me off his hands." I said smiling. "Besides, he will be thrilled when his grandson arrives." Kazuma raised his eyebrow at me quizzically. "But he will be a bit surprised when the baby shows up six months after the wedding."

Later that day, they walked to Kazuma's dojo, Saki's arm looped closely through his. The people they encountered on the street stopped and stared as they passed by, caught up in the aura of profound joy and love that enveloped the handsome older man and his beautiful and exotic companion. They watched the couple stroll slowly down the sidewalk until distracted by traffic or other pedestrians, the observers would turn away. When they turned back to seek the couple out again, their silhouettes had disappeared against the back drop of the setting sun.