'What could she possibly be hiding behind that wall? A fairly large portion of her memory seems to be blocked out as well… Could it have anything to do with her mother and the fire? Come to think of it, no one really ever COULD figure out how it started…'

"Kish… Hey, are you alright, Kish? You've been dozing for a while now, haven't you?" that voice, an almost intolerable sound right now, rang out through my supersensitive ears, springing me into full awareness.

"Taruto, why are you here?!" I gasped, locking eyes with my youngest brother.

"Pai says you need to wake up. He says to see him in the laboratory quickly." He informed me bluntly, turning around, only to strut back out the door of the study.

'Damn, I really need a lock on this door.' Was my only thought as I trudged from my study, out into the coolness of the main hallway, my eyes scanning for Taruto, already halfway down the hall.

"Come on, Kish, Pai says it's important!" he demanded angrily, latching tightly onto my hand as he tugged me down the hall.

…

"You're late, Kish!" I moved my lips in time with what my eldest brother had said, having memorized it over and over again.

"So… I care why now?" I shot back, taking seat upon a lone stool beside the table by the wall.

"You should care, you idiot, because it's about your Bride!" Tart growled angrily, tearing me away from my irritated thoughts.

"Just what do you mean by that, Taruto?" I growled back, slamming the palms of my hands hard into the face of the simple wooden table, my own eyes meeting angrily with Taruto's own cool, uncaring ones.

"I mean we may have received a lead about her mother's death in that fire so long ago!" he replied, his voice dangerously loud.

"Yes, it is true that we have gotten a lead as to who may have been behind the baffling mystery of the fire." Pai confirmed steadily, his own eyes still as blank and uncaring as they ever could be.

"Tell me everything you have heard then, Pai." I demanded firmly, my back straight, my fingers digging ruthlessly into the table edge.

"Alright then, if you think you are ready to hear it, then here goes…" Pai grumbled, taking seat beside me as he began to talk.

Little did I realize, what I would soon hear may just be the turning point for my confusions. Confusions such as the barrier in her mind, and why she smelled so beautifully, things that I had always wondered, yet never knew before now.

…

"Miss Ichigo, would you like some tea?" lifting the teapot modestly before her, Lettuce gulped and silently awaited her mistress's reply.

"Oh, no thank you, Lettuce, I'm fine. Here, have yourself a cup!" slipping her hand around the fragile porcelain item, she began to poor Lettuce's cup.

"Thank you, Miss Ichigo, you are truly a kind mistress." She mumbled shyly, her eyes lightly watering behind her glasses.

"Your previous mistress was not kind to you, Lettuce?" having finished pouring the warm contents of the teapot into the cup in front of the girl, Ichigo then took seat herself, eyes filled with confusion.

"Well, I suppose you could say I'm made fun of and pushed around… B-but I don't really mind it though… I mean, I am only a peasant, at work for a vampire." Sighing sadly, Lettuce appeared quite downtrodden at the moment.

"Who was it that you worked for, Lettuce?"

"So, you're sitting there sipping tea and gossiping, when you SHOULD be up doing choirs?! What a worthless human!"

Turning around to face the intruding female voice that had brought about new tears in her friend's eyes, Ichigo came face to face with the one woman she had least wanted to run into so early on.

"Oh, so the little half-blooded princess is here as well!" she scoffed, glowering angrily down upon the two ladies as they sat, about to partake in their tea.

"Yes, I am, Katarina." She stated plainly, standing calmly from her seat at the table in the garden.

"I-Ichigo, do be careful! Katarina is a fully developed vampire, and she will stop at nothing to win!" Lettuce informed her friend softly, worry evident within her sparkling eyes.

"Do not worry, Lettuce, just sit and enjoy your tea." She soothed, patting her friend lightly on her shoulder before stepping forward, to meet Katarina.

"Are you ready to fight, Ichigo?" she growled angrily, eyes glowing an intense crimson red as her fangs protruded from her lips.

"Are you willing to challenge me then, Katarina?" again in an eerily calm sort of way she spoke, her face a total blank, void of emotion as she faced the new foe.

"Let's take this to the back then… I wouldn't want to shed your precious blood in the rose garden, now would I? Master Kish would simply hate me for it… But if you die, then I will finally rule! I will finally have it all!" she chuckled darkly, eyes now tiny slits as she advanced forward.

"If you believe you can, then please let us go and settle this matter." With that she proceeded to turn from the furious vampire before her, only to begin her walk into the openness of the fields behind the castle.

"Prepare yourself, Ichigo, because I will kill you!" she hollered in her rage, summoning from the clear blue sky a sea of dense grey storm clouds, whose dangerous thunder alone was enough to kill.

"Prepared to die, Momomiya?"

"That depends on if you are willing to hit first." Standing a good ten yards away from the enraged vampire woman, Ichigo continued to show her calm, collected attitude, which she knew was messing with her opponent.

"DIE!!!!!!" she cried out in her blind fit of rage, her hands raised high above her head as her crimson eyes began to glow fiercely.

Soon the ground beneath them had taken to shaking and trembling from the girl's power, soon cracking and giving way all around her.

Before long figures could be seen crawling up from the depths of the cracks of the field, their forms mere shadows, no bone, no flesh, no soul.

"Go, Shadow Puppets, attack her with everything you've got! Kill her, and eat her very soul!" she cried out, her index finger shot straight towards Ichigo.

Desperate cries and groans and other differing sounds of pain could be heard as the monsters swiftly began to near poor Ichigo, still in her same spot on the field, her face once again blank.

"Damn it you, show some fear! Cry for mercy already, fool!" she commanded, a wicked smirk darkening her stony features.

"And why oh why would I do that, hmm?" glancing up from where she had previously been staring at her feet, Ichigo wore an odd look of her own.

Lips curled up into a mysteriously happy smile, eyes glittering and sparkling brightly, posture perfect, hands down at her sides, and a strange aura surrounding her, she advanced into the thick crowd of shadows, the bright aura surrounding her reaching out and enveloping the shadows as she went.

Before Katarina knew WHAT to think, she had realized that her opponent had destroyed almost all of her shadow puppets, and was now headed in her direction.

'Shit, her aura's just too blinding! She's more powerful than she looks, and she's only got one vampire parent…' she thought in fear, backing away slowly, step by step, desperately shielding her eyes from the bright rays of Ichigo's aura as it came closer.

"Just remember, Katarina, you were the one who challenged me… I can very easily take your life, if I so choose…" standing before the startled vampire, in all her magnificent, royal glory was Ichigo, mature, strong, and overwhelming.

"No… I will NOT admit defeat to you, Ichigo! I will WIN, and I will kill you!" she growled, finally finding her voice. "AHHHHH!"

Dashing forward, mouth agape and eyes flaming red, Katarina plowed straight into the aura, her claw like nails heading straight for the girl's exposed neck. With this one last blow she would kill Momomiya Ichigo.

However, little had she realized, she would never get that chance.

"Such a pestering, troublesome girl, and yet you have the nerve to try and kill me… Know your place, and remember it!" grabbing one wrist, eyes still calm, she had managed to dodge them both, pulling them behind the girl's back.

"Gah! Y-You cheated! I know you did, Ichigo!" she whined, tearing away from Ichigo's grasp. "I'm not done, I won't stop till I have killed you!" summoning what was left of her powers, Katarina aimed the water straight for Ichigo, the steady stream wrapping tightly around her neck.

"Foolish woman…" she muttered darkly, unaffected by the water threatening to strangle her to death.

"How can you still talk, you witch?!" backing up yet again, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. This wasn't the bubbly, go lucky Ichigo that'd walked in on Kish's arm… No, this was the cold, dark, angry Ichigo that would gladly end the life of a pest.

"I am not a witch… I suppose you could call me a nightmare. Yours, to be exact, girl." Stepping forward to meet the quivering girl as she fell to her knees, Ichigo expelled the water from around her neck, forming it into a large sphere, which she then proceeded to hold over the girl's head.

"Please, don't kill me!" she begged pathetically, tears streaming from her eyes as they turned back to normal. "Please, I call mercy!"

"Did you think I would honestly take your life, girl?" soon following her words was a large splash of water as it landed on Katarina's head, drenching her to the bone. Soon after THAT came the rain, sopping them both.

Meanwhile, from the edge of the field nearest the castle, Kish stood, arms crossed an unsure look upon his face as he watched Ichigo help Katarina to her feet. 'How…? How is it possible for a vampire like Ichigo to just spare a life, when she was just about ready to end it? She could have killed her… her power is quite a scary thing.'

"Master Kish, Mistress Ichigo is a very kind person, and she forgave Katarina once she saw that Katarina was willing say she was sorry. I believe that she would never take another life… She's just too kind to do such a thing."

"Lettuce, when did you get here?" turning to face the girl as she spoke, her eyes glued to the form of her mistress as she returned, Lettuce did not answer his question. Instead, she and a golden haired maid, a few years younger than herself, ran out with blankets in hand, wrapping both girls securely in them before walking them back to the castle.

"Ichigo… What happened?" he asked, his voice unsure as he walked alongside her.

"Nothing that concerns you, Kish, don't worry." She spoke softly, her aura turning back to the calm, bubbly one that he had first known. "She and I simply needed to settle a small misunderstanding was all."

"Sure… I suppose." He muttered to himself, following closely alongside Ichigo as she walked.

Little did everyone, save Ichigo, realize that Kei had been watching the whole thing, his heart throbbing even more within his chest. 'Damn that Ichigo… Right when I've convinced myself that I don't love her…she goes and does something like this that makes my heart race so badly!'

Clutching his chest, he and Serenity made their way back to the dinning hall.

I know, you all hate me now because I was slow to update! I really hoped you all enjoyed this chapter too! I tried to put some action in it, plus add in some romance.

Also, a special shoutout to-

jilljaybirdkish4ever77

God Bless!

RxR for cyber cookies! XD!