Chapter Eight

Family

Reno stared silently in the wake of the motorcycle,

"She's gone…" he whispered. "She…still cared for me…I believed that idiot two months ago when he said she didn't care anymore."

"It's okay, Reno." Cloud said softly. He walked over to his red-haired friend and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "We believed him too."

"What now?" Reno asked as tears left small trails on his burning cheeks.

"I don't know." Tifa said and crossed her arms, "I don't think anyone should go after her though."

"Why not!?"

"Because, that would only make it worse." Tifa stood slowly and walked over to lean her forehead on Cloud's shoulder, "We just…have to let her work this out on her own." Cloud wrapped his free arm around Tifa's waist and kissed the top of her head,

"Tifa's right, Reno. Let her go. She will come back when she's good and ready."

"She wouldn't even listen to me…" The red head murmured.

"Well, though you may not have meant to, you hurt her. A lot. People make mistakes and hopefully she will forgive you, which I'm guessing she will. Raven is an intelligent young woman. She'll come around."

"I hope so." Reno replied as he continued to stare down the empty road, "For her sake. Those brothers are bad news."

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"Why did you kiss me?" Aelita shot, smiling triumphantly when she realized she had caught him off-guard. For the past few hours the young couple had been firing random questions at each other in hopes of getting to know one another better.

"I-ah." Kadaj fumbled and then cleared his throat, "You looked so pretty and innocent. I'm not really sure why I did it, I just did."

"And why did you apologize and leave?" she asked, leaning back against the arm of the couch. He moved to mimic her on the other end of the long silver couch,

"Because…what I did was rude and I figured you didn't like it."

"How do you know?" Aelita laughed, raising an eyebrow.

"I just…figured, I suppose." He said with a shrug, "It was done on an impulse. It probably will never happen again. It was an…'in the moment' thing. The way you looked and smelled. And how good it felt when you were running your fingers through my hair."

"Oh." She giggled and started crawling towards him on the couch. When she was crouching over him, a knee on either side of his waist and her right hand propping herself up on the couch beside his neck, she whispered seductively,

"Oh…you mean like this?" she raised an eyebrow and began to slowly run her fingers through his shining hair, starting with her hand against his scalp and moving it back and down. His silky hair felt wonderful on his fingers. Unintentionally, Kadaj closed his eyes and sighed contentedly,

"You should stop that…" he murmured, "I might do something stupid."

"Define stupid." She said laughing, but she stopped messing with his hair.

"Me taking advantage of you." he whispered. He looked up at her, his teal cat-like eyes dark. The look in his eyes made her shiver, but not with fear. She smiled and leaned down to whisper in his ear,

"I don't think that's possible."

Aelita's hot breath on his ear and neck sent a shock down his spine. Quick as a flash, Kadaj snatched the thin brunette around the waist, sat up and flipped her on her back so they were now in opposite positions. He loved her wide-eyed expression of shock. He reached out with one long, pale finger and stroked her cheek thoughtfully,

"You have no idea what I'm capable of…" He smiled somewhat evilly when, for a split second, fear flicked across her eyes. She smiled up at him,

"I'm not afraid." She whispered, "You promised."

"Indeed…" he murmured and leaned down, brushing his lips lightly over hers. She leaned forward, wanting a real kiss, but he pulled back to grin at her. She scowled. He gently took her chin in one hand, holding her still. He never broke her gaze as he leaned down and left a trail of feather light kisses from the corner of her mouth down to the sensitive skin beneath her ear.

"Aelita…" he murmured and smiled when she gasped at his light nips and nibbles. He slid his hand down her neck to rest just below her collarbone as he flicked his tongue against her earlobe, earning a small whimper from the still girl. Kadaj swiftly sat up, bringing her with him, and placed her gently on his lap, continuing to leave light kisses and bites all along the side of her neck.

"Kadaj…" he heard her moan lightly. Suddenly she grabbed the back of his neck and forced him to turn so she could kiss him on the lips. For a moment he stared at her closed eyelids, shocked at her strength and ability to, once again, catch him off-guard. He quickly let all thoughts leave his mind and wrapped his arms tightly around her, wanting only to know the feeling of her in his arms and the warmth of her lips on his.

Ten minutes later he broke away and buried his face in her neck and hair. They were both breathing heavily,

"Aelita…I need you…" he hissed, "I want you."

"Well…" she whispered. Her head was tilted back and had her eyes closed, thoroughly enjoying the feeling of his lips all over her neck, ear and collar bone, "I'm right here…"

"That's not what I meant." He growled, holding her even closer. His sudden aggressiveness made her mad with lust,

"No crap. I know what you meant." She hissed into his ear before nipping it, a little more roughly than necessary. She grinned when he yelped, "And when I said 'I'm right here', I meant I'm here…and I'm yours…"

Upon these words Kadaj bit her neck. Hard. She suppressed a loud howl of pain and pleasure. His hands worked their way to the clasp of her belt and he fumbled with it as he kissed her. She broke their deep and hungry kisses,

"Let me. There are valuable and breakable things in there." When he raised his eyebrow as she deftly removed the belt and hung it over the back of the couch she answered his unspoken question breathlessly, "Lockpicks, mostly."

He opened his mouth to reply but Aelita smothered his lips with her own, her eager tongue invading his mouth. She felt his hands slip up her dress and begin to tug off her tights. She kicked off her boots to help him out a bit as she unclasped and unzipped his leather shirt-coat. In a matter of seconds Aelita lay over him, stroking his well muscled chest. She wore only her undergarments and one sock and Kadaj was only in tight black pants. He smiled as she leaned down to kiss him. He reached around and began to undo her brazier when a bright light flashed across the window. They froze.

"Damn." Kadaj hissed, sitting up and practically throwing Aelita to the ground, "I forgot about those windows."

"Good one." She replied dryly. She watched his still figure for a moment as he watched Yazoo pull his bike around the building. She leaned forward and whispered in his ear,

"But don't you…" the surprisingly seductive seventeen year old stopped to lick the outside of his ear before continuing, "…have a bed?"

Somehow this fact seemed to have slipped the silver-haired young man's mind. He turned back to her, grabbed her around the wais, and flipped her over his shoulder. She yelped as he leapt gracefully over the couch to the bed, grinning wickedly when he tossed her roughly onto its silver blankets.

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Raven stood in Yazoo's embrace for more than twenty minutes. The tears had stopped flowing long ago, but she didn't have the strength to move or talk. If she could, the violet-haired woman would lean on him forever. Eventually, though, she knew it was getting late and they should go. She lifted her head and gazed into his green-blue cat eyes with her own purple ones,

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"For what?" he asked softly, cocking his head to the side. He smiled down at her kindly.

"For all of that…crap. And if I hurt you." With that she stepped back and caught his falling arms. She took his wrists in her grasp and turned his hands to face up. They were black, as if he had rubbed them with coal. She looked back up at him, not releasing his hands,

"Does it hurt?"

"No." he flexed one hand and grimaced, "I think they're numb. Don't worry about it though."

She frowned when he shrugged and then shook her head. She flipped his hands to face the ground and moved her hands to face up, palm to palm with his. She closed her eyes and focused her power. Yazoo flinched when the feeling came back to his hands, making it seem like his palms and fingers were being stabbed with tiny knives. However, this sensation only lasted a moment or two before it faded into comfortable warmth. Raven opened her violet eyes and turned his hands over again. She smiled when she saw they were back to normal,

"Are you ready for dinner?" she asked, giving him a smile. He returned it with a nod, though felt a pang of pain at seeing the sadness in her beautiful eyes. He led the her back to the bike and swung on, starting it up as she clambered up behind him. He only pulled away after he felt her arms wrapped securely around his waist.

Thirty minutes later Raven sat down across from her silver-haired companion in a small booth. She had put on a happy face and greeted those she had once worked with, only wanting to sit down to some good food and then go the hell home. She sighed and laid her head against the padded back of the booth.

"Are you alright?" Yazoo asked after ordering them both a glass of ice water. He was watching her carefully.

"Yeah. Just tired." She opened her eyes half-way and smiled back at him.

"Do you mind if I go back out to the bike real quick? I left some things there." The silver-haired man asked her softly. She smiled and shook her head,

"Go ahead." She laid her violet-haired head back and closed her eyes again, "I'm just going to rest a bit."

Raven frowned when she didn't hear him leave and after a few silent moments she opened her eyes again. His seat was empty. 'Wow.' He thought 'He can be stealthy when he wants to be.' She smiled and thanked the man who was waiting on them when he brought their drinks. He must have replaced Aelita or herself, seeing as she didn't recognize him. He was very tall, thin, and had a mass of curly brown hair on his head that fell to his shoulders. His dark brown eyes sparkled with mischief.

"You're Raven, right?" he asked, smiling. When she nodded he continued, "My name is Keeon. Everyone talks about what a great woman you are. Hm…you sure are much more beautiful than they all said."

"Thank you." She said calmly, returning his smile.

"So…ah…is that your…boyfriend you're with?" he raised an eyebrow.

"No." she said flatly while thinking, 'Oh God…not now.' She set her jaw as she felt tears building up, "I'm not dating anyone right now. I just…got out of a…relationship."

"Oh, okay." He leaned down to whisper, "I'm sure whoever he was he is suffering now. Any guy would be lucky to be with you." He winked.

Raven closed her eyes and fought back tears. She was not about to cry in front of him.

"Hey." Her eyes flew open at the sound of Yazoo's furious voice. He stood behind Keeon, a small bag in one hand. He looked livid. Keeon turned around to smile at him,

"Hi friend! I was just telling your friend here how great everyone says she is." He grinned at the silver-haired man. Yazoo's eyes flickered to Raven's for a second,

"What else did you say to her?" he whispered angrily.

"Nothing really. Just that her ex must be pretty down cause anyone who gets to be with her is lucky." His smile grew, though his eyes took on a look of malice, "I certainly would hate it if she dumped me." Yazoo's eyes flashed with anger,

"Don't talk to her anymore." He hissed through clenched teeth.

"You can't tell me what to do." The taller man growled, stepping closer. Keeon was a good five inches taller than Yazoo, who was already at least 6'2". Yazoo didn't flinch, or even blink for that matter. He simply glared back with enough hatred and danger burning in his eyes,

"If I see you messing with her again," The silver-haired man sniffed. He pushed passed the taller man roughly to sit down. Keeon had to catch himself on another table to keep from falling down. Yazoo sat down and didn't even look at the waiter as he continued, "you will rue the day you crossed me."

Keeon gaped at him as the silver-haired man took a long drink of water. Raven put her face in her hands and shook her head slowly, back and forth. When she lifted her head again their waiter was gone and Yazoo was watching her quietly. All the anger was gone from his eyes and had been replaced with concern,

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah." She toyed with her glass, "Just…what he said threw me off."

"I understand." He smiled and handed the bag across the table to her, "Here. These are for you."

She took the light purple paper bag from him and gingerly peered inside. She had to poke through the dark violet and black tissue paper to find what was inside. She smiled a little and pulled out a deep violet, almost black, turtle-neck sweater. I was gorgeous and made of the finest material. She pressed it to her cheek, reveling in the feel of the soft cloth against her skin. She turned back to Yazoo, who was now smiling. 'He really is beautiful.' She thought and returned his smile,

"Thank you so much." She said. His smile widened,

"There's more." He added softly. She looked at him curiously and peered back into the bag.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, retrieving the necklace1 from the bottom of the bag. A large onyx hung from the middle in a silver bezel. Several strands of silver chains draped up from the stone to a dark silver bar, one on either side of the necklace. The chains passed through the bars and continued around to the clasp. When she put it on the onyx rested perfectly on the hollow of her throat. Three small chains dangled from the bottom of the gem, the middle one longer than the other two. Raven looked back up at Yazoo, grinning, "It's beautiful!"

"I'm glad you like it. Them." He paused when a woman walked over to the table.

"Hi Raven. Sorry about…Keeon." The short, busty blond blushed.

"It's alright, Mayrie." Raven smiled up at the woman.

"What can I get you two to eat?" the blond asked.

"I'll have the grilled shrimp Caesar." Yazoo replied when Raven indicated for him to order.

"And I'll have the usual." The violet eyed woman asked with a smile, "Thank you Mayrie."

"No problem, doll-face." The older woman grinned at Raven and then winked at Yazoo before leaving.

Fifteen minutes later they got there food. Yazoo was surprised to see a plate on which rested a large cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and red onions before the violet-haired woman. A bag of chips were on the side as well as a pile of even more red onions. She licked her lips before picking up the burger and chomping into it.

"What?" she asked after swallowing.

"Nothing." He chuckled and started eating his salad, "It's just…you're so slim and fit…seeing you eat all that is kinda funny."

"Fast metabolism, I guess." Raven said with a shrug. She looked more curiously at him and nodded to the bag beside her, "Why did you buy me those gifts?"

"Because you needed something nice. Something new." He chewed thoughtfully on some shrimp before adding, with a smile, "Plus, you're part of the family now."

"Thank you, Yazoo…" she whispered, setting her burger down. She looked back up at him, tears sparkling in her eyes. She smiled, "That means so much to me."

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Yeeeeeee! How you likey?? Me likey. Me tired and have AP Biology stoof to do. XD R&R, bitte.

Kitsune

[1 The description of the necklace is kinda…bad. I was never good at that. But it's my friend's necklace. It's vury pretty and from Hot Topic, so many thanks to her and the store. : P