Chapter 15

Reunion

"I really wish they would hurry up and get here…not only am I worried, but I am also getting tired of eating cold food…" Willow told Sara.

"I know dear…we just can't risk a fire though."

"Ah…don't listen to me…I'm just worried about them is all…"

"You and me both. Come now Willow, why don't we go to be now, it's late and it won't do us any good just sitting up worrying about them."

"Yes," Willow sighed. "I suppose you're right."

Sara put the dinner things away as Willow rolled out the bed mats for the third night and fell into a troubled sleep. Sara uttered a sad sigh as she crawled onto her own mat. Lying on her back, she gazed at the stars.

"Daniel…where are you…" She started to close her eyes, but she suddenly heard a noise. Looking around, she realized that the sound was coming from a creature in the sky.

…

"Look Ayden, I can see their camp!" Daniel shouted in excitement. A grin spread across his entire face as he began to wave profusely. Ayden too smiled and leaned forward so she could speak better to the kitsune.

"There is our camp, do you think you can take us there without scaring the two women down there?"

"Women?" the fox man turned his head and gave Ayden a very foxish grin. "Of course, we wouldn't want to startle the beautiful ladies, now would we? What are their names? I don't want to be rude when I meet them."

"Well, Daniel's wife is named Sara and my friend is Willow."

"Ah Willow, a beautiful name for a young woman." He winked at her as he began his decent.

"Sara! Sara!" Daniel called. "We are back!" Sara came running to greet them but stopped short when she saw the large fox with them. "It's ok Sara! He helped us get here. Why, if it weren't for this lad, we would still be in the kings' hunting grounds. He's a kitsune! A real live kitsune!" As Daniel was telling his wife this, the kitsune transformed into his fox man state.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Sara." He bowed and kissed her hand.

"Oh, dear, the pleasure is all mine! Thank you so much for helping them out; I was so worried! Are you staying with us, dear?"

"Well, I hadn't really thought about that…I have been in the kings' forest for so long, I am afraid that everywhere I knew or called home is probably gone…"

"Of course you are staying with us!" Ayden declared as she looked up from Emmett, who was still unconscious on the ground. "You know more about what happened to me and Emmett than anyone here, and you helped us escape, so we have to make that up to you somehow!"

The kitsune walked over to her and knelt beside her, holding her face.

"Sweet Ayden, you helped me escape, remember? There is no debt. I would be honored to stay with you."

"Good," Ayden grinned. "You must be tired after carrying us all the way here on your back, why don't you go get some sleep? I'm sorry we don't have anything very comfortable to sleep on…"

"Oh no! Don't apologize! I sleep on the ground all the time! It's pretty comfortable in fox form. Please, don't worry about me!"

"Ok, go get some rest, and again, thank you so much."

"It was my pleasure," he bowed his head and kissed her gently on the hand. Blushing, Ayden gave him a small grin as he transformed back into the small fox form she first saw him in. She turned back to Emmett as he pranced away to find a suitable place to sleep.

"Ok Emmett…come on, please wake up…" She gently ran her fingers through his hair. It was finally back to its natural short black style. "Come on Emmett…"

Emmett groaned and grabbed her wrist. "Where am I? What happened?" he asked.

"We are back with Willow and Sara, outside the city."

"Wait a minute…shouldn't this be the other way around?"

"What do you mean?" Ayden helped him slowly sit up.

"I mean, shouldn't you be the one lying on the ground and me taking care of you? Weren't you badly hurt when we found you?"

"I was, but you saved my life. I still don't fully understand what happened to you though…the kitsune might be able to explain it better in the morning."

"The…the what? What on earth is a kitsune?"

Ayden could see that her trying to explain everything to Emmett tonight was not going to be helpful. "Why don't you just wait til morning when everyone is awake and he can tell you better than I can. He has a better understanding of what happened."

"Um…ok…" he gave her a puzzled look but was to tired to argue the matter.

"How are you feeling, lad?" Daniel came over and laid a hand on Emmett's shoulder.

"Well, I feel completely drained for some reason…and very confused about what happened…the last thing I remember is going to get us food…but Ayden said that a kit-thing should tell me in the morning…does the kit-thing have a name?" He asked, turning back to Ayden.

"Oh! We never asked him his name! Oh my gosh…I feel so horrible!"

"He?" Emmett asked.

"Aye, and I forgot to ask his name as well…We will just have to beg his forgiveness in the morning."

"He?" Emmett asked again.

"Yes, Emmett, the kitsune is a he. Now, why don't you take Sara's mat and try to get some sleep. I want to stay up and talk with my lovely wife for a while so she won't need it," Daniel smiled at his wife and kissed her gently on the lips. "It is so good to see you again my dear," he said as he kissed her again. Giggling, the two walked off and sat under a large tree where Daniel held Sara safely against him.

"Come on," Ayden began helping Emmett to his feet. "You need to relax. You've

had a long day." She settled Emmett down on the mat then started to get up.

"Wait, where are you going?" He asked.

"To find a place to sleep, why?"

"Well…after everything that happened today…I don't really feel like sleeping…or staying by myself, mostly because I am scaring myself. You said that something happened to me but you don't know what…and that is unsettling…could you…?"

"Emmett…" she knelt down and looked him in the eyes. "You have nothing to be afraid of." She smiled then sat beside him.

"Ayden…are your eyes gold?" He turned her face towards him and looked at her eyes, staring at the new color in wonder.

"Oh…um…that's something else the kitsune will have to explain to you."

"Will you just tell me what this kitsune or who this kitsune is?"

"Well, he is this fox creature…like half fox half human…he flew us out of the kings forest."

"Part fox…? That's…new…"

"That's not the only thing that's new…" Emmett gave her a curious look but decided not to ask. The couple sat in silence for a while until Ayden began to nod off. She was so tired that she was almost incomprehensible when she told Emmett she needed to find a place to sleep.

"No, you are not wandering off like this, come here." He pulled her into his lap and she fell fast asleep. Throughout the night, Emmett ran his fingers through her hair and held her tight. He suddenly realized that her hair was back to normal. Her extensions and black dye was gone and in its place was her short blonde hair. He smiled, having always preferred it this way. He held her until morning, when the sun woke her up…the sun and a scream.

"Willow!" Ayden jumped up and ran to see what was wrong and Emmett followed.

"Ayden you're back!" Willow jumped up and ran to give her friend a hug. "And you're ok!"

"I'm fine, but why did you scream?"

"Oh, it wasn't really a scream, more of a…well…look!" she held a little fox in Ayden's face. "Isn't he adorable?" She brought the fox to her chest and began to cuddle it.

"Uh…Willow?" She saw an impish smile creep onto the foxes face.

"Yeah?" She sat down and began to fondle the little fox and kissed it all over.

"That's not a…" but before she could say anything else, the fox turned into a man sitting right in Willows arms, her lips on his nose.

"Am I really that cute?" He asked.

"Ahhhhh!" Willow screamed and jumped up. "What? Who? How? What?"

"Don't be frightened sweet maiden, it is still me, the same fox you were cuddling only moments ago," he bowed his head but winked at her at the same time.

"You vixen!" Willow ran to hide behind Emmett but Ayden began to laugh.

"Willow, it's ok, he is a kitsune, he helped us get back," then Ayden turned to the fox man. "I am so, so terribly sorry…we never asked you your name! You know all ours, but we never stopped to ask you yours!"

"Oh, sweet Ayden, please! Do not worry about it! I have no name. Normally, my kind will serve a master and they will give us a name, but I have had no master, so I have no name."

"Vixen would be a good name for you…" Willow muttered under her breath from her hiding place behind Emmett.

The kitsune turned to give her a sly smile. "Vixen it is!"

"You…you sure?" Ayden asked, not really sure why anyone would want that to be their name.

"Yes, it suits me, don't you think?" He wink at Willow.