Chapter 6

After what seemed like forever, they had bid Preeti and her new husband farewell and the last of the wedding guests had trundled out, they were finally alone.

Soryu, Angel and her parents. Oh God…

Having spent the last couple of hours completely ignored, Soryu found the sudden frosty attention being shown to him by her stern parents less than appealing. The four of them sat facing each other in one of the spacious lounges on the third floor. A glittering chandelier hung from the ceiling and Soryu's keen eyes quickly noted that the room was tastefully adorned by original paintings from the Baroque period. He'd noticed that Angel's initial nervous awkwardness had melted away and she now lounged nonchalantly on the sofa next to her mom who was gently stroking her long hair. She suddenly looked a lot less scary and several years younger; more vulnerable than she liked to show. Soryu on the other hand sat rigidly opposite, his jaw tight with nervousness before eventually trying to make an attempt to break the icy silence into which they had fallen.

'I-' Before he could get more than a word out, her father cut in curtly, the intimidating man silencing even a man as tough as Soryu.

'So, you want to date our daughter, huh?' He spoke in English, an air of authority and coldness exuding from him.

'Daddy…' Angel said in a reprimanding tone, hinting him to be nice. He pursed his lips and switched to an expression that was fractionally less cold than before.

Soryu gulped, the earlier nervousness coming back, though he hid it exceptionally well.

'Yes… sir.' He said somewhat confidently, though Angel could perceive how stressed he was. She wanted to laugh- her father, to her, was the least terrifying person in the world. She'd always had a problem with authority and he'd eventually given up trying to assert his power over her. He may be the leading authority power in the Navy, bossing around his inferiors all he'd liked but in front of two headstrong daughters he was powerless.

'What's your name?'

'Soryu-' Angel began but her father cut her off with a cold glare.

'I was asking him. Is he incapable of talking for himself?' With a frown she kept quiet, though she crossed her arms across her chest to indicate her displeasure.

'Soryu Oh, sir.' He introduced himself smoothly, shaking her father's hand.

'You have a firm grip. That's good. You can tell a lot about a man from his handshake.' Just as Soryu began to relax, the next question sent both he and Angel into a state of panic.

'What do you do for a living?'

Soryu froze, unsure of how to answer this question. He couldn't possibly introduce himself to his girlfriend's parents as a mobster. What kind of parent would let their daughter date a man like him? He felt a surge of shame wash through him but before he could answer, Angel stepped in, covering up smoothly.

'He's part of a multinational organisation that has business dealings with several smaller syndicates. They've got branches in several countries- Japan, Dubai, China. He's the head of the Japanese branch. I met him in Tokyo actually.'

'Hm.' Soryu nodded and made a noise of confirmation. She hadn't lied, technically. She'd just omitted that the organisation was a criminal one. It seemed to appease her parents though, who had finally stopped eyeing him with suspicion.

'You had better take good care of my daughter. I don't want to see any tears in her eyes again.' Her father said gruffly. Angel got up and went over to Soryu, taking his large rough hands in her small ones.

'You don't need to tell him that, he keeps me happy just by being near me.' She said honestly, blushing hard. Soryu smirked at her shyness, pulling her close and planting a small kiss on the top of her head. Both parents smiled, glad that their daughter had finally found someone to keep her happy. After the catastrophe that occurred five years ago, they had been terrified that she would never recover. Though her father wouldn't admit it, he was eternally thankful to the tall young man that had rescued his daughter.

'We'd best get to bed.' Angel's mother said, pulling her husband with her- though he looked rather reluctant to leave his daughter at the hands of the handsome man that was eyeing her as if she was the most delectable thing on earth. With a lot of grumbling and scolding from his wife, he eventually left, leaving the young couple alone.

The following morning, Soryu was up at the crack of dawn, practising his usual morning work out in the beautiful, flower filled garden that spread out behind the huge house. Standing on the balcony, Angel watched absorbedly as he lunged and moved, practising his karate moves with flawless precision. He'd taken off his shirt at some point and the muscles in his arms and back rippled tantalizingly with every move.

'Hey! Whatcha doing?' A sing-song voice came from behind her. Angel whipped around to see her cousin who had stayed the night and her sister walking onto the balcony.

'Preeti? What are you doing here?'

'I came to say goodbye before we left on my honeymoon. I bumped into Samara on my way up so we came to find you. What are you doing out here anyway? It's freezing!'

'Hm? Oh, I hadn't noticed.' Angel replied vaguely, still watching Soryu.

'Oh my god! Is that Soryu? Geez that man is gorgeous! No wonder you didn't notice the cold- how could you when your mind was off fantasizing about your new boyfriend.' Her sister teased, earning a light smack. 'You know a couple of other cousins and relatives stayed over last night. Not to mention the influx of guests coming today to say goodbye before returning to India, America or wherever.' Preeti said thoughtfully.

'So?'

'So, unless you want to draw a crowd, you might want to call him back inside. Unless you don't mind sharing.'

Angel looked aghast at the idea of anyone else eyeing her man. Before she could react though, Samara chipped in:

'Too late for that!'

Looking up, the three girls saw various cousins and aunts watching avidly as Soryu went through his paces. He really did cut a striking figure and being sweaty and shirtless just made him all the more irresistible. Scowling, she grabbed one of his shirts from their suitcase and stomped downstairs.

'Soryu!'

'Hm?' He turned around in surprise, his fierce expression softening when he saw Angel's face.

'Put this on.' She thrust the shirt at him, a frown still on her face.

'What's the matter?' He asked confusedly, pulling on the woolly blue shirt. Had he done something wrong?

'Nothing- it's just really cold and I don't want you getting sick.' She lied, too embarrassed to tell him the real reason. Following her gaze, Soryu caught sight of the crowd of people watching him from various spots in the house. Smirking, he turned back to Angel.

'Don't tell me you're jealous.'

'What! I-I'm not jealous!' She spluttered indignantly.

'You don't need to be. The only woman I have eyes for is you and you know that.' He pulled her close, leaning in for a kiss.

'S-Soryu! We can't! Everyone's watching!' She blushed furiously, casting her eyes away.

'Hm? How can I stop when you pull cute faces like that?' He teased, before reluctantly letting her go.

'Cute? I'm not cute! I'm tough and scary!' She said, though her adorable expression completely undermined that.

'Pfft! Haha. Sure.' He couldn't help laughing as her expression turned into a cute frown.

'Oh you want a piece of me? Take that!' Moving fast, she gathered a fist full of snow and hurled it at him, catching him unawares. 'Ha ha!' She laughed joyously, though her triumphant expression faded fast as Soryu retaliated and she dove for cover. With that, she'd started a full-blown snowball fight as Soryu chased her around the huge garden. Finally, he cornered her, gathering an armful of snow and dropping it on her head. Blinking snow out of her eyes, she looked up dazedly, giving him just the vulnerable opportunity he needed to pull her up into his arms and press a kiss against her cold lips. Though she was soaked through and covered with snow, she forgot all feeling of cold as a tingling warmth washed through her at his touch. His soft kiss turned more passionate as he backed her up against a fence, hidden from view by a large bush. Finally coming up for breath, their lips parted, though he never relinquished his hold on her.

'What was that?' She breathed heavily, struggling to catch a breath.

'Remember our bet? You owe me a hundred pounds and a much sweeter reward that I intend to claim tonight.' He smiled evilly at her, enjoying teasing her.

No longer lost in the heat of passion and the warmth from running around gone, Angel noticed the freezing temperature as she shivered in her thin wet shirt.

'I-I'm f-f-freezing!' She said through chattering teeth.

'Tch, come on. Last thing I need is you getting sick.' Soryu rolled his eyes as if it was a pain but he watched her with concern, immediately getting her a blanket and a towel when they got inside. Finally they were both clean, dry and warm, enjoying Christmas day with her parents after bidding Preeti farewell. Angel was thrilled to see how well Soryu got along with her mother- being kind, charming and well mannered went a long way with her. Her father was still grumpy and tried to assert his dominance at any opportunity. They were both extremely competitive- from who could decorate the tree the best and put up all the lights to who was the strongest when it came to lifting and putting away heavy items left over from the wedding. Angel rolled her eyes at their childish, though hilariously entertaining displays of manliness. Eventually, she convinced both of them to shut up and sit down as she finished off the rest of the work herself because they'd both made more of a mess in their competitiveness than they had helped.

By the end of the day, they'd all worn themselves out. Angel finally let herself relax as she snuggled next to Soryu with a huge bowl of popcorn as all four of them watched a Christmas film that was running for the tenth year in a row on the telly.

'I can't believe they're still showing this. Every single Christmas.' Angel sighed, mouthing along to the dialogues that she now knew off by heart.

'I actually haven't seen this one before.' Soryu admitted. 'When I was in boarding school, we used to watch these kinds of films at Christmas but since I returned home, Christmas has never really been a big affair.'

'Well, in that case, I'm glad you got to spend Christmas with us. It's really a miracle that my parents have taken to you so well. This has been one of my favourite Christmases ever!'

'I guess that's Christmas magic.' He chuckled dryly, though he wasn't too sure about the her-father-has-taken-to-him-well part.

'My daughter coming home after so many years and finally looking happy again: that really is magic!' Her mother laughed, overhearing their conversation.

A week later, they finally returned to the airport, after a rather teary goodbye.

'But you only just got here!' Her mother protested.

'I told you that I can't stay past New Years, I've got a lot of work pending.' Angel sighed unhappily, wishing she didn't have to leave. But Soryu couldn't leave the Ice Dragons alone any more and she was desperately needed back at Interpol.

'I'll visit again, I promise. You don't have to wait 5 years this time.' With a sad smile she waved goodbye as Soryu took her hand and led her inside the airport.

'Don't be sad, love. We'll come back soon.' He whispered, squeezing her hand comfortingly. She smiled- she had the best of both worlds! She'd regained her home and her family but she didn't have to let go of her new life either. Her future was bright- with Soryu by her side and a job that she loved. She couldn't be happier. Finally, she was home.

Fin