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The Lycanthrope Trilogy: Heart

Chapter 15: Return

"Kanda, is something wrong?" I ask. He glances at me and then continues to pick mystic fruit. "I'm fine. Why?"

I shrug. "You seem distracted."

My foot slipped on the branch, but Kanda supports me before I can fall. "I'm distracted?"

"BaKanda."

As I lie on my belly in the thorny tree and toss the fruit to the ground, I say, "I never thought climbing trees with branches would ever be harder than climbing trees without them."

"Things change," Kanda says. He zips the duffel bag full of mystic fruit and unicorn berries while I jump down. When a thorn snags my cheek, I hiss and wipe my skin. My hand came back with a dot of blood.

"Let me get that for you." The bluenette ran his tongue over my cheek slowly. I smirk and nip his jaw in return, but when I lean in to kiss him, he pulls away. I frown. "Okay, seriously. What's wrong?"

He picks up the duffel bag and walks toward the Order. "Something just feels heavy. I'm not sure what, but something's different."

"Element changes?" I ask as I follow him through the trees. "I don't feel anything, but I guess that could be inexperience."

Kanda shakes his head. "You're not inexperienced anymore. I'm thinking it might have to do with Secret."

"And her codes?"

"Born lycanthropes have special abilities, beyond elements and normal feline or canine features."

"What's yours?"

He flicks his ears. "My hearing is better than most."

"Really? I never noticed," I say sarcastically with an eye roll.

"Or she may be really young and really psychotic."

"Psychotic? At two months?"

"It can happen with lycanthrope children."

I wipe the sweat off my forehead. Sixty degrees and I feel like I'm in a furnace. "And then Lavi's her father…."

"My point exactly." He chuckles before he goes serious again. "I had a dream last night that there was a cat with blue eyes lying in bed next to me. It freaked me out."

"It's just a cat."

"It felt real though. Like déjà vu."

I shrug. "Anything's possible, I suppose."

When we walk into the Order, everyone had already sat down for dinner. Mystic fruit and raccoon…yum….

Kanda stared off into space as he chewed his groundhog. I pushed my worry aside and turn to Alec. "How have you been?"

"Honestly, a little freaked out," he said, blue eyes locked on his unicorn berry. I stab my mystic fruit with a claw before I turn it up and let the sweet juice flood my mouth. When I came up for air, I ask, "Why is that?"

He popped a purple berry in his mouth. "Secret keeps talking about this 'Kitty-blue eyes'. It's…unsettling."

"Kitty-blue eyes could be you, you know," I say. Alec shakes his head. "I doubt it. She only says it around you and Kanda. If I didn't know better, I'd think it was her would for 'sex'."

"You're not the only one," I mutter.

"No kidding. Everyone's unsettled about it."

I glance around. Most lycanthropes ate in silence, other than Alec and I and Hevlaska and Tiedoll. Talk about tense.

"Why's everyone so purple?"

Secret scampered into Kanda's lap and put her hands on his chest. "Uncle K, you're purple."

"Who else purple?" he asked. She looked over her shoulder. "Mama, Daddy, Moyashi, and Oinks."

I smack a hand over my mouth and bite my cheeks to keep from laughing and possibly spewing mystic fruit juice over Marie. Alec put a hand over his eyes while the rest of the pack stifled their laughter. He says, "I don't think she knows who to pronounce 'Onyx'."

Secret glances at Alec. "Onyx? Oinks's element is Onyx."

He drops his head to the table as laughter shakes the chandelier. Even Kanda joined in. Wiping away my tears, I pat his back. "Now you know how I feel. I'm a 'grasshopper Moyashi'."

"I'd rather be a 'grasshopper Moyashi' than an 'Oinks'."

I laugh. "Can't help you there."

He sighs. Kanda combed his fingers through Secret's hair while the girl sat in his lap. The bluenette asks, "Why are we purple? How can you tell?"

She turns, climbs up his chest, and sits on his shoulders, her favorite spot. Secret swished her hands in the air above Kanda's head. "See? Purple."

With that, Kanda stood with Secret and walked out of the room. "I'll watch her for the next few hours."

Lenalee frowned, but didn't protest. She must trust him a lot. I mean, he's a twenty-seven-year-old man who just took a two-month-old girl somewhere unknown, though I assume his bedroom. Doesn't sound necessarily good.

"Well, that was odd," Tiedoll commented. Hevlaska rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything to her mate.

"He told me that all born lycanthropes have a special ability," I say. "Maybe Secret can see different eye colors?"

"What use would that have?" Marie asked. I slump. "It was just a thought."

Alec laughs. "Aren't you the intellectual one?"

"Yeah, which means we're all screwed," Klaud said.

"Well, aren't you chipper?" I ask sarcastically.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes and took another sip from her mystic fruit.

As we began to eat again, Lavi's ears started to twitch. He rubs his temples and exhales.

"You okay?" I ask him. He glances at me and nods. "Yeah, the temperature in Kanda's room just dropped twenty degrees. He told me not to worry about it, so I assume he's doing it. You know, Ice and all."

"Alright. I forgot how sensitive your heat sensing is."

"Yeah, it's a pain sometimes."

I nod and turn back to my raccoon. As I nibble on a small piece of meat, a wheel in my head turns.

He had platinum blonde hair and big blue eyes.

And Uncle K's a pretty boy!

"Hey, Lenalee?" I ask. She looks at me. "Huh?"

"If you don't mind me asking," I say hesitantly, "did Shiloh ever call Kanda 'pretty boy'?"

She furrowed her eyebrows. "What?"

"I-I was just curious. And you knew him better than anyone other than Kanda."

She sighed and nodded. "Um…yeah, Shiloh…he used to call Kanda that all the time."

Lavi's eyes flashed. "Allen, you don't think that Secret has some sort of mind reading thing, do you?"

"It's possible," I say.

Alec asks, "Would the colors be emotions then?"

"Probably."

Nearly all of the couples, except Klaud and Winters, glanced at each other with a wide eyes. Poor Secret had to deal with the perverted thoughts of the adults.

oO_Oo_oO_Oo

A few hours later, I flip through the channels on the television. Criminal Minds popped up, and I leave it. Everyone had already gone to bed, but I'm a night owl.

"Allen?"

I glance at the girls' wing entrance and see a woman with a swollen belly, her hair out of its normal bun. I smile. "You're up late."

"Yeah, I wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot."

Klaud sits beside me and stares at the TV screen as Reid gets shot in the neck. How nice.

"At the store, I heard you talking to a man. And you called him Devit."

I nod. "He wanted―"

"I heard the conversation."

"Then what did you plan to ask?"

She pauses. "I kind of figured you'd deny it."

"What's the point?"

"You irritate me," she growled.

"That's not my fault, now is it?"

She punched me playfully in the arm. "Shut up, AlWa."

I freeze. "Um…okay, Klaud."

"You're not supposed to actually do it…and it's KlaNii…to you."

I can't help the tiny smile that crossed my face.

Oo_oO_Oo_oO

I crawl into bed quietly, trying not to wake Alec, Kanda, or Misty, who slept at the end of the bed with Alec's spirit beast, Micah. As soon as the blankets were over me, Kanda pulls me to him, and I give up on not waking him.

"Goodnight," I say and nuzzle into his chest.

The bluenette rubs my back and kisses my head. "Night."

My eyes droop, and warmth surrounds me. Just before sleep claims me, Kanda asks, "Allen?"

"Hm?" I reply, more asleep than awake.

"I'm sorry."

Sleep retreated to the corner of my mind. "For what?"

He sighs and pulls me closer. "I haven't been giving you the attention you deserve. I…I told myself that it was okay because of what Klaud was going through, but…I'm just sorry." When I look up, tears sparkled in his eyes. "I don't say this enough, but I love you with all my heart."

"What brought this up all of a sudden?" I ask.

"I'll tell you tomorrow, you and the rest of the pack."

"But―"

"Go to sleep. I have a feeling tomorrow will be…indescribable."

I frown, but don't push. Because Kanda was like that. It makes him Kanda. Before I slip into dreamland, I murmur, "I love you, too."

oO_Oo_oO_Oo

While Alec "dog-sat" Fou, Kanda gathered the pack in the main area of the Order. He stood with Secret in his arms as she smacked at his hair. "Most of you are aware that Secret has been acting oddly to some degree. I assume all of you know that all born-lycanthropes have extra abilities."

He balanced Secret on his hip while he picked up a leather-bound book from the couch and flipped through it with his thumb. It must take talent to do that one-handed.

"She has what's called a 'double ability'. It means that her ability appears as two separate ones, even though it falls under the same name."

"Very nice, but will you get on with it? Please?" Lenalee asked, on the edge of the couch. Lavi nodded. "Allen said it might be mind reading."

Kanda looked at me. I shrug. "I was throwing the idea out there. I thought Kitty-blue eyes might be Shiloh if she could see your memories."

"Not mind reading, but good guess."

I beam at the compliment. Everyone noticed this, but I ignored them.

Kanda handed the book to Lavi. "Her ability is what's called 'ghost whispering'. She can see auras created by the emotions we feel. She can also see, touch, smell, and speak with the dead."

Lenalee froze and stared at Kanda. "The…the d-dead?"

I shiver. Lavi gripped his head. "Temperature's dropping. It hurts and freaks me out, guys."

"Don't worry. They can't hurt you," Kanda said. He paused. "Cold temperature is a sign of spiritual presence, so the rabbit's screwed."

"Such love and appreciation," Lavi ground out.

"Wait, Kitty-blue eyes…" I trail off.

Kanda nodded. "Secret can see Shiloh. According to her, he's been here ever since he left your body."

"And Spikes, too!" Secret giggled and pointed behind Kanda. An empty recliner rested against the wall.

Tears poured down Lenalee's cheeks. "D-Daisya…?"

Kanda silently set Secret on the floor, and the little girl walked to her mother. "Mama, what's wrong? You're turning blue."

Lenalee picked up her daughter and held her. "It's nothing, baby girl. I just miss Kitty-blue eyes and Spikes, that's all."

Secret nuzzled closer the Lenalee. "They miss Mama, too. They say so."

Marie walked from the back of the room to Kanda. For a moment, they looked at each other, at least Kanda did. The beta stared past him with his blind eyes, his lycanthropic mark.

"Can she really see him? Daisya?" the older man asked. "He…he's been here the whole time?"

I smile sadly as Kanda wraps his arms around his brother. Marie shuddered, ears laid back in mourning.

A kite above a graveyard gray at the end of the line far, far away. A child holding on to the magic of birth and awe. Oh, how beautiful it used to be, just you and me far beyond the sea. The waters, scarce in motion, quivering still.

At the end of the river, the sundown beams all the relics of a life long lived. Here, weary traveler, rest your wand. Sleep the journey from your eyes.

"Uncle Mary?" Secret asked and tugged Marie's jeans. He pulled away from Kanda and wiped his eyes, but didn't look at the girl. "What is it, Secret?"

"Spikes says that he misses everyone, especially you, Uncle K, and Uncle Tie Dye," she says and hugs his leg. He smiles and picks her up.

"Did Spikes say anything else?" he asked, his voice slightly choked. She peeped over his shoulder for a moment before she nodded. "He says that he loves us. And that it wasn't Mickey."

"Mickey?" Kanda and I ask in unison.

"It wasn't Mickey," Secret repeated.

"Her abilities aren't strong yet," Kanda said. "She may clarify later on."

Secret reached for Kanda. After he took her from Marie, she crawled to his shoulder and kissed his cheek. Kanda raised an eyebrow at her, and she said, "From Kitty-blue eyes."

Lavi slowly lifted his head and blinked. "Temperature's normal."

"But…but I want to play," Secret whimpered. "The weird smelling room isn't fun."

Lenalee stood, wiping her tears away, and she carefully took Secret from Kanda. "Come on, baby girl. Let's go take a nap."

"But I'm not sleepy!" the ghost whisperer complained before she yawned. Lavi smiled and scratched behind her ear. "Sure, sure."

One by one, the couples went to their rooms. Alma went in search of Alec, and Winters and Klaud went to their respective rooms. Kanda and I were the only ones left.

"I knew you were acting weird last night," I say. Kanda took my hand and lend me to his room. "Realization came to me."

Once we got to the stone room, I give him a kiss on the cheek. "When's the last time you cried about Shiloh?"

If he was surprised by the question, he didn't show it. He lied down on the bed and motioned for me to do the same. As I get comfortable next to him, he replies, "Last night, I looked through his things. Secret told me that he talked about me all the time, me, you, and Lenalee." He took a breath. "She said that he was mad about the way I've been treating you lately."

"Well, good," I mutter. "You've been a jerk and jack-butt."

At the store, I heard you talking to a man. And you called him Devit.

"I know I have. That's why I apologized," Kanda said.

I nod. "We'll see what happens. Tables turn like life and death in Russian Roulette."

oO_Oo_oO_Oo

"What an idiot. You kitties are so easy to fool," a woman said. Lacerations all over my body oozed blood. I didn't have the strength to transform. A small cat with purple and pink stripes licked and nuzzled my cheek, and I whispered, "Go…Charity. Run to…the Order and…get help…."

The cat gave me one more lick and ran off.

"Those mutts can't help you," the sadistic voice sneered.

The whip struck my thigh, and I cry out in pain. I beg, "Please…stop…."

"What are you doing?!"

A dark, blurry figure kneeled beside me. "Are…okay…stay with…."

The sound faded slowly. A howl rang in my ears. Kanda…help me….

"Don't…" I choke out.

"What…don't…?" the man asked. Crack of the whip. "Leave! My…not yours!"

Then it all went black.

I bolt up, drenched in a cold sweat. Kanda lay beside me, eyes closed and breathing even. I shake my head. A dream. It was just a dream, Allen. A shiver went down my spine. I nuzzle closer to Kanda and wrap the blankets tighter around me. It felt like a freezer. I can't remember ever being so cold. A slight breeze ruffled my hair before warmth returned to me again. Kanda's arms slipped around me, their owner still asleep, and I smile. Another gentle wind flowed through the room before I fell asleep. Two warped outlines stood beside the bed, but I didn't see them. Normally, they were unnoticeable.

Normally, they stayed in the storage room in the boys' wing.

Author Note: What do you think? Favorite part? Least favorite part? Please let me know, and please, Please, PLEASE REVIEW! "Turn Loose the Mermaids" by Nightwish.