I DO NOT OWN AIR GEAR! enjoy (:

Chapter 10:

Ikki bended over Ringo's dead body, she was dead. For real. Ikki couldn't stop crying. She's dead… she's really dead. He thought desperate. He softly putted her hair away from her face and looked at it, she had a peaceful look and showed a little smile that you almost was unable to see. But Ikki could and lowered his head and a shadow covered his face. Ikki stroked her face softly and slowly, "How can you smile in a situation like this?" he asked her in a whisper tune. "How can you do this to me?" he asked unheard. Ikki looked at her waiting for an answer that didn't come, he wanted to see those eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes of Ringo that always cheered him up when he needed to be cheered up. Those eyes that sparkled when she laughed and looked concerned when he did something stupid. He loved those eyes, he loved her. He fell in love with her due to those beautiful, blue eyes. "I love you Ringo" he whispered, "Ringo… Why?" he asked as tears flowed down on his cheeks and then he strengthened his embrace. I want to see those sparkling eyes! He thought down, he stroked her cheek with his thumb. "Why? Why did you die?" he asked her with knowing she won't answer back.

Ringo walked around in the room thinking of a way how to return to her own body. There was a time limit, she had to hurry. Or else she would die for real and then that awful scene would happen. But why would Ikki do that anyway? She asked herself, she stopped in front of her own body and looked at Ikki, who was crying. She putted her hands in her pocket, She felt a crumpled paper in her pocket. I don't remember putting a paper in my pocket… she thought confused, she grabbed it and took it out. She looked at the weird text she didn't understand, it was like a weird poet and said:

"Those who live, hold something and people dear.

Those who died, protect the people and things they love.

Those who want to live, find the item and person they love the most.

Without it you can't return.

Search, find, love and solve."

"What is this?" asked Ringo after she read it, in her other pocket she felt something iron and cold. She grabbed it, it was the sleeping forest badge. Ringo looked at it with a sad smile, that badge was her life. As she looked at her a bell rang, maybe she found the first item? She hoped so, she smiled happily. Now she only had to find the 'person' she loved, piece of cake for her. That's easy she thought her eyes looked gently at Ikki, who was crying because Ringo died. Ringo stepped forward and walked closer and closer towards Ikki, when she stood in front of her lifeless body and Ikki. Her smile faded, seeing him crying made her feel guilty and even more down. Thus she changed her mind and walked towards Ikki's back. Ringo stared at his back, she didn't know what to do. She wanted to hug him but still she felt too shy to do it. She kneeled down, That's the first step. She thought. She sat so close to him she had to blush, Ikki was hiccupping. Ringo giggled, that was so unlike Ikki. She putted her arms around his middle and her head against his back, she was slowly embracing him. Ikki changed his position, he was obviously noticing something that he couldn't see was hugging his back. Ikki smiled through his tears, Why is this idiot smiling? She thought, her embrace got stronger. Ikki's hand moved towards his chest where Ringo had her own hands crossed, Ikki slightly touched it. His smile looked sad with a slight happiness in it. "Ringo..?" she heard him whispering softly in a asking way, Ringo glance became serious but she blushed slightly her head was touching his head! She confused herself by her own doing. "Ringo?" he said again this time harder, he grabbed the hands of the 'ghost' Ringo on his chest and recognized her fragile hands. A tear flowed down his cheek. Ringo realized she was begging for more inside and then she strengthened her embrace even more and her saddened face changed into a smiling face with a small blush. Ringo stared in front of her she saw a part of Ikki's right shoulder and a part of the living room. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment. Ringo let go eventually and walked away to her own body. A little light bulb had formed above her own dead body, Ringo sat down on her knees and held her hands up as a little bowl with the sleeping forest emblem inside of it. The light bulb moved towards her hand and rested above her hand and above the sleeping forest emblem. The light bulb became brighter and brighter, so bright she had to close her eyes. She took away one hand to protect her eyes from the light while she held up her other hand. A flash filled the room and Ringo waited for it to be over. When the darkness had filled the room again her heart was beating really fast and she was breathing really heavy. It felt as if she hadn't had air in her lungs for hours. She felt that something strengthened his embrace, it was pinching in her arms. Something warm dropped down on her forehead. What is this? She thought, then she forced herself to open her eyes. But when she opened them she was really shocked, the person who embraced her was Ikki. He was too close to her face and pulled his face back immediately from shock. He was staring into her eyes, with those gentle, loving brown eyes filled with some tears. His eyes looked red. From crying? Thought Ringo, Ikki slowly reached out with his hand and touched the wound on her head. Ringo pulled immediately her head back as an impulse, tears also appeared in her eyes from the pain. Ikki smiled, "I thought you'd never wake up!" he said crying from happiness. Ikki bended over a little bit and whispered in her ear: "I thought you died.".

Ikki looked at Ringo when he suddenly saw her moving a little bit, his eyes became big. She's alife? He thought happy, a small smile was created on his face. He unconsciously pinched in her arm. He looked at her chest, it was moving up and down wildly as if she was breathing. As if she hadn't any air in her lungs. Ikki just stopped crying because something hugged his back and thought it was Ringo. But that's impossible now, it wasn't Ringo... Thought Ikki. But those fragile hands felt the same as Ringo's hands… He thought confused. He looked at Ringo again her breathing had become normal. "Ringo..?" he asked as he smiled. She was alive. He dropped his head again and a shadow covered his face again. The tears that had stopped coming flowed down at his cheeks again. His face hovered above hers, tears were falling down on Ringo's face.

Then Ringo opened her eyes and looked him in the face. Ikki looked back and realized how close his face was to hers. He felt an upcoming blush and pulled his face away. "Ringo?" He asked but Ringo didn't answer. All she did was staring into his eyes, Ikki looked away. That glance was piercing trough her and it felt a bit uncomfortable. Suddenly he reached out towards her forehead and touched the wound, as a reaction Ringo pulled her head back. Tears appeared in her eyes from pain, but when she saw Ikki smiling she looked weird at him. "I thought you'd never wake up!" He shouted at her. He couldn't get a hold of his tears and just let them flow. The happy feeling he had at this moment took control of him; he was crying from happiness. He loved this happy feeling, he bended over her. "Thought you died." He whispered in her ear.

It was dark in the room, due to the storm the lights were inoperative. It was dark outside and inside the room. Ringo tried to look at the crying Ikki, but couldn't. Thus she didn't know he was crying from pain or happiness. She softly patted his head. "Ikki?" she asked, Ikki moved his face and she saw two brown eyes staring at her. "Let's get some bandages for your head." He said determined as he stood up and wiped some tears away, "Wait a minute." He said and then walked away. "Wait Ikki!" tried Ringo, but he already went away. Ringo didn't like the silence and was scared. A few moments he came back with a flashlight, and saw Ringo crying. I can't let him see my face. Thought Ringo as she turned her face away, she heard him walking towards her. "Ringo if you're scared to be alone you should have said so." Said Ikki, Ringo looked shortly and angry at him but said nothing. "Let's go." He said as he reached out and helped her standing up. They stood like that for about a minute, "Feeling OK?" asked Ikki concerned. Ringo nodded no but she actually felt a bit odd, "My head just hurt a little." She said silently. Ikki smiled and then the flashlight suddenly went out. It was all dark again, "Damn, I must have forgotten to charge it." Said Ikki. Ringo looked at Ikki but only saw a shadow in the darkness, "I'll get some candles." Said Ikki and walked away. I don't want to be alone again. Thought Ringo scared and grabbed Ikki as fast as she could, she pinched in the sleeve of his shirt. "I don't…" she tried with a shaking voice but then her throat got dry and couldn't say anything anymore. The message was enough for Ikki and he grabbed her hand, "Let's go then." He said smiling at her and then walked in front of her. Ringo stared at his hand that was holding hers. Why did he grab her hand? She thought shy, a little blush on her cheek was showed but it was too dark to see.

Ikki walked in front of Ringo and held her hand. WHY DID I GRAB HER HAND? He asked himself as he panicked in his head. He walked on and looked behind him, he saw that Ringo turned her head away again. The atmosphere felt weird, it was a warm but troubling one. What the hell is this atmosphere? Thought Ikki troubled.

As they were in the kitchen Ikki let go of her hand and a slight blush from realizing he was holding her hand again was showed but couldn't be seen in the dark. He found a candle, his last one and it was used already. Damn… This won't hold for long… thought Ikki when he put it on. A small flame formed and it was flickering slowly and carefully. It gave light and you could see things again. "Now where did I put my first aid stuff." Mumbled Ikki as he opened a closet. He saw his first aid stuff and grabbed it. And then walked back to the living room with Ringo.

Ikki grabbed some wimps and iodine first, he wiped the blood of Ringo's forehead. Ringo looked at his face, it looked concerned. He was trying his best not to hurt her, she just knew. "It doesn't look deep or dangerous…" said Ikki relieved, he looked happy. "Ringo is it fine if I put some iodine on it?" he asked serious, Ringo nodded. She felt a bit happy, Ikki was taking care of her and was worried about her! That thought made het very happy. Ikki moved closer to put some iodine on the wound. Ringo smiled happy, "Why are you smiling?" asked Ikki who didn't understand why she smiled. "Ah!" said Ringo shocked and a slight blush was seen, but Ikki didn't see it. He was to thickheaded for that, he went on with putting the iodine on her wound. Ringo looked up at his face, it didn't look troubled or hurt. She was feeling so confused, she was asking herself what happened was real. That she died, and got to choose between life or death. And if it were all true, why would Ikki have acted that way if she died? Did he care that much about her? All questions with no answer. Thought Ringo. Ikki grabbed a bandage and putted on her forehead, gently and careful. "I thought the wound would be deeper." Said Ikki surprised. "Well they say that if you have a wound on your head it bloods much more than normal." Said Ringo smiling, her eyes sparkled. "Then that's true I think." Said Ikki as he looked away Ringo saw that his ears were a bit red. She didn't understand why he was probably thinking about Simca she thought. Ringo sat down on a pillow and leaned against the wall. She was finally relaxing a little bit. But then a big flash was seen again and a clap followed. Ringo's eyes became big again and looked scared, without noticing herself she grabbed Ikki's shirt again.

Ikki didn't turn around, he blushed. When he felt that the blush went away, he turned around and kneeled down. "You don't have to be scared, it's just thunder. The storm went away." He said gentle. "I'm so scared." She whispered softly almost soundless. Ikki looked down at her, Ringo cried from fear. Ringo hated being scared. And then to make things worse, went the candle out. Now it was dark and there was thunder. The 2 things Ringo feared the most. How could he forget that? He asked himself angry in his thoughts. There was a flash again, the flash made Ringo's face visible. She was crying even more. Ikki moved forward and putted his arms around her body and slightly embraced her, Ringo hid her face in his chest and under his chin. Ikki's chin leaned on her head, "It'll be alright." He said, "It'll be alright." He whispered as he closed his eyes.

to be continued..