a/n wow how was everyone's Christmas and new year? I hope everyone had a great holiday season. I was able to get my dead laptop to come back to life by some voodoo magic. So I hope I'll be able to write much more than I have been in the last few months. I'm sorry for leaving you cut off like that. Please don't kill me. Anyways, enough of me and more story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kenshin or the work of Feehan The lyrics in this chapter are from "Pretty little Rave Girl"


A horrible silence fell over the room as Tokio felt her soul melting together with Saitou's. As if some dark, ache she didn't know she had was suddenly gone; replaced by another ache...a deadly anger. But the feeling only lasted a moment before the shock wore off.

"You can't just claim me to get your way!" Tokio shouted, her voice shrill with panic.

"Damn right he can't!" Kenji agreed, stepping forward. But Sano thrust an arm out and stopped the young man. The room shifted ever so slightly, everyone pulled away from the newly formed couple.

"Dad? He can't do this, can he?" Tokio turned to her father, her eyes suddenly wide with fright. She willed her father to make it all better.

Everyone turned to Kenshin as he stood in silence for a moment. His large, gentle eyes narrowed slightly as he turned to Saitou. "How long have you known?"

"What?!" Tokio gasped. "You can't accept this!"

Saitou shrugged; his face relaxing somewhat. "Not until this every moment. I had regained the ability to see colors over the past year. But it was so subtle I had not noticed until not long ago. Then I became suspicious." But nothing reached the level of intensity of the colors he was seeing now. Under the bright light of the small chandelier over head , all the colors attacked his eyes; they glowed and shimmered, disorienting the male. He had to shut his eyes a moment as the room started to tip under the assault. Emotion bubbled up powerful and fast.

"I see, it was gradual." Kenshin said in a thoughtful tone.

Tokio's face was one of utter disbelief and she turned to the only other sanctuary.

"Mom!" she wailed throwing herself at her mother. Kaoru wrapped her arms around her daughter her worried and confused gaze darting to Kenshin then to Saitou and back to Kenshin.

"I refuse to accept this!" Kenji shouted, never flinching when Saitou turned on him.

"You don't have to accept it, you brat." Saitou wasn't surprised when the teen rose up to his full height. Kenji would have stepped up to Saitou had Sano not put his arm out to stop the foolish boy yet again. As raw as his emotions were right at that moment, he would rip the boy the shreds in front of everyone and not care.

Kenji only became more upset as Tokio struggled not to cry. "I'm not going to let you bully my sister, asshole!"

"Kenji!" Kenshin reprimanded, and then he softened his voice. "Saitou is right." Everyone in the room paused and turned to the red-head. Even Tokio stopped her weeping and turned her bloodstained face to her father. "Saitou couldn't have said the ritual words to Tokio had he done it out of spite. They wouldn't have worked unless she was truly his mate. And because we can all feel that their souls are now one, obviously it did work, therefore she is his mate and he has every right to claim her."

"No!" Tokio pushed away from Kaoru. "He has no right to claim me." She turned her furious eyes to Saitou. "None whatsoever!" Her screams were high pitched, bordering on hysterical.

Saitou lunged forward. This was not how he wanted this to play out. He never thought, not in his wildest dreams, did he ever think he would claim Tokio. As thrilled as he was to have her, he was angered by her refusal to accept. He grabbed the girl by the front of her clothes and jerked her against him until she was only a few inches from him. Sano now had to bodily restrain her twin. "Like it or not Tokio you are mine now." He wanted to take back the words as soon as he said them. Boiling hot anger poured off of her, most of it, no doubt, was from her brother. It burned at him. Saitou wanted to soothe away that anger, but he wasn't sure how. He wasn't sure he could calm himself, much less her.

She froze in his grip, lips pressed so tight they formed a straight line on her impish face. She was so…mad; so upset, no word could describe her lividness, and no name was obscene enough for her to throw at Saitou. Her anger was a tangible thing that everyone in the room was suffering from.

"I hate you." Her voice was calm, deadly. She spat right in his face and vanished. Her sudden and unexpected disappearing act startled the room and everyone took a step back.

"When did she learn to do that?" Itsuko laughed nervously; the giggled died on her lips as Saitou wiped the moisture from his face.

"Where is she?" His eyes turned to the boy who answered him with a rude hand gesture.

"Kenji Himura! I asked where is she!" he was about to pounce on the boy. His defiance had to end tonight. He was not going to allow the brat to influence his mate any longer.

But an iron hand wrapped around his arm just above his elbow. His head snapped around, preparing for a fight, but it was Kenshin, his eyes were still gentle, but the swirling violet had turned a shade darker as he looked at his son. Saitou forced himself to relax as he felt Tokio settle somewhere not far away.

"You were asked a question Kenji. You are expected to answer." Kenshin glared at the boy, suddenly feeling the ramifications of his defiance weighing on his shoulders. Kenji turned his blazing eyes to his father.

"Screw you and your expectations Old Man." The boy ignored his mother's gasp. He had never lashed out at his own parents before. But right now he was just as mad at his father as he was at Saitou… how could Kenshin let this rat take Tokio away like that, by force? He turned to Saitou. "Leave her alone." He warned. If he followed her into her shop, her one place, he would unleash a hell unlike anything he could imagine. With that warning still in the air, he vanished into a swirl of glittering mist that dissipated out of the house.

… . .

Tokio stormed back and forth around the small space of her shop. She wasn't allowed to be upset here. This was her creating space. All Carpathian females had some sort of special gift. Some sang, to use the gift of their voice. Some would sew, a weave their protection spells in there work. She knew of one female in America who made stained glass. The colorful patterns made the home calm, safe, and protected by evil. Megumi's gift was her obvious powerful healing. Her mother was still developing hers; she could listen to the earth, the trees, and the rocks. They spoke to her and she could speak back.

Tokio had inherited some of her mother's power, but it changed slightly. Tokio made jewelry with the gems and minerals of the earth. Each piece was weaved together with protection spells, spells to raise happiness and creativity. Spells of love, calmness and health. So naturally, this was the last place she could have such negative feelings. Tokio sighed and plopped down on her work stool and gazed around her shop. Letting her tools and materials drain away her anger. The windows of the shop were high, so that she wouldn't get caught in the sunlight if she happened to forget the time while working. One long table spanned the wall of one side of the shop. Each of her tools was carefully tucked away in its own little cubby hole built right into the wall above the table.

To the other side of shop, her welding tools. A blowtorch, its tank tucked safely in the corner. A small kiln-like oven, about the size of a microwave sat on its own stone pillar. The oven was used to melt and cast her own metals for her jewelry. Next to this was a row of plastic tubes running along the wall. In each tube was a rod of a different metal. Lead and copper, tin, and brass. There was gold of all different shades. The normal yellow gold, there was beautiful rose gold, white gold and even Black Hills gold from America .

There was rods of silver, platinum and titanium. The rods varied in thickness from that of a rope, to as thin as a pencil and as fine as human hair. Under the rows of tubes, close to the ground was a set of small drawers made of wood. In each one was more of the same metals in the form of coin sized slugs.

Tokio turned on the stool and gazed at the back wall. The back wall was completely covered in small drawers. Each little drawer had a clear plastic front so that she could see the contents inside. The wall was a rainbow of colors as there was a light in the wall behind the setup to light up the stones inside. Every stone a person could think of was in that wall. Every stone, in every cut, in various sizes of beads. Gems cut into squares, ovals, spheres, teardrops and doughnuts. They were carved into beads of various shapes, from the size of large coins to tiny seed beads.

There was red in the form of rubies, garnets, corals and jaspers. Blue sapphires, topaz, moonstones, and lapis lazuli. Purple quartz, amethyst and tanzanite. Yellow amber, tigers eye and citrine. Green in the form of jade, peridot, and emeralds. There was even black onyx and obsidian. There were jaspers, agates, topaz, opals and quarts in various rainbows of colors. There were strange oddities like green rubies, purple and black sapphires and pink garnets. Tokio had in her possession, diamonds of flawless quality, and in every color. Blue, green, brown and yellow. Even the rare pink, chocolate, and tea diamonds and the exceptionally rare red.

There were polished woods and bone that gleamed like gems. Some with fossils, the stone polished to show the tiny creature inside. And there were stones that were a rainbow of color in themselves. A swirl, a rainbow in every stone. Each one was like a tiny work of art in itself. And each and every stone held the power of the earth. each one contained a secret, a voice. And Tokio had the power to weave the voices together to create not only beautiful jewelry, but a companion for the person wearing it.

Just gazing at the colors of the earth calmed Tokio better than anyone could. Even her brother could not calm her as well as a handful of earth. She would not allow herself to think of Saitou, of her family or the fact that she was no longer a single young woman. That at the simple uttering of words, she was now married to Saitou. Instead, Tokio wandered over to the shelf and pegs that contained her projects. Many were commissions, people who had contacted her to create for them a work of art. She didn't take all requests. Those who wanted to look gaudy or rich, those whose voice came off as greedy or vain. She hand picked her clients based on their character and that of the person who the item was for.

She picked up what looked like a tangled web of gold chain. The links were so small they nearly vanished, fading together to look like glittering bands. The necklace was for a woman about to give birth to her fifth child. Her husband contacted Tokio about the project. He wanted it to have seven stones, one for each child and one for his wife and himself. Tokio had spent some time toying with ideas before starting the project. And because the woman was due to give birth in two months, she figured she had better start working on it. Tokio pushed away from the peg board and without looking, jabbed at a button on her stereo. a speaker in each corner of the room pulsed with a deep beat. Rave music flooded the work room and it washed away all thought from Tokio's mind. She was finally able to concentrate.

Normally she would have picked silver for a woman so young. Gold was more classy, and for the more mature woman. Silver was youthful and vibrant. But for some reason her hands had kept going to the gold links. She thought it better than to argue with her subconscious judgment. So far all she had was the web of tiny gold chain. All she had to do now was prepare the settings for where the stones would be placed. She sat at her desk with the chain in front of her, turned on her soldering iron and pulled out a thin gold rod around the size of a pencil lead. She pulled out a few more tools before she got to work molding and shaping the gold and fusing it to the chain.

The heat of the iron, the toxic smell of burning flux and her rhythmic workings of the metal slowly calmed her nerves. She was in her happy place and she wasn't sure if minutes, hours or days had past.

… . .

He was worried. He hated that. There wasn't much Saitou liked better than being in control. And the one thing he couldn't control, the whirl of emotions, was starting to spin wildly out of his power. Tokio had been gone for a few hours. Already the separation was taking a toll on his nerves. He wondered how Tokio was faring. Mostly likely a whole lot better than he was, he was sure of that. Saitou gave up waiting in Kenshin's kitchen for her to return on her own. He could feel her nearby, so he was going to go look for her himself. He wasted no time, honing in on her like a predatory being. He hardly had to go far from Kenshin's property before he found her tucked away in the forest. Her small work shed looked simple and boring. But Saitou found it hard to make himself open the door.

This was her place, a place where she performed her female gift of creating. He felt it wrong to intrude, as if he would be stepping on sacred ground. But his mind screamed for Tokio, not to mention his body as well. The tear between them hurt; her refusal of him hurt worse.

He hated that too.

But damn it she was his lifemate. She had to love him; she just refused to accept it. Or her brother was making it damn hard for her to see reason. He squared his broad shoulders, tossed down his cigarette and opened the door. He was assaulted by a wave of noise, heat and the smells of her working, a few of them toxic. He worried for a moment about her health before he remembered that she was immune to all things toxic.

I know this pretty little rave girl

I always think about her.

Saitou cringed at the lyrics and took a single step in, a step as silent as any other. Yet even surrounded by her music, Tokio whirled around on her stool and glared at him. Her accusing eyes nailed his feet to the floor.

… . .

"What the hell are you doing here?" She didn't snap, like she wanted to. The question held an edge of fear and surprise. Saitou seemed to be at a loss for words and he gazed about her shop. She was glad that, for once, his attention wasn't focused on her. Then he pinned her down with his narrow eyes.

"You have been gone for hours, I was worried."

When I see her dancing,

I want to take a chance and

Get a little closer and

Maybe get to know her.

"You don't belong here." She stated matter-of-factly as she punched the Stop button on her music player. Silence was a relief that lasted only a moment.

"I belong wherever you are." He insisted, quickly lowering his voice in the now silent workroom.

A part of Tokio was glad to see Saitou, her body sang out in a way that had her gripping her work table. Then again, another part of her wanted to attack him and throw him out of her workspace. She glared at him as he stalked further into the shop making a beeline for the back wall. Her mouth dropped open as he popped open one of the small drawers and pulled out a coin sized, teardrop cut diamond.

"This place has no safeguards on it, and some of this stuff looks real." He sneered as he rolled the stone between his thumb and forefinger. Tokio stood and snatched the stone from his fingers and placed it back in the drawer.

"Some of this stuff is real." 'Jerk' she watched his eyebrow twitch.

"There's not even a lock on the door!"

"This shop's been here for years, why suddenly are you so interested in it? Get out!" Tokio shouted back.

"I won't have you risk yourself and your work. You are my responsibility!" He slammed the little drawer closed before she did and grabbed her by the wrist. "This isn't safe."

Tokio yanked at her arm, knowing it was of no use to try and get away. His anger was like a geyser of steam that filled ever nook of the shop, scorching her. She wanted to soothe it away, and she didn't know why.

"I'm near father's territory." She said in a softer tone her eyelids sliding down, looking away.

It worked almost instantly. She felt Saitou relax. His anger flowed away from her mind and she wasn't burning anymore. "But it's not on your father's land, his safeguards are not covering it." His eyes cooled to a softer amber-like yellow. Tokio felt herself drawn to them. Quickly, she balked and mentally slapped herself. She was his lifemate now, everything about him she was going to find endearing and most likely attractive. It was difficult to even think with his searing hot grip on her wrist and the heat that rolled off his body was teasing her, making her blush.

"Kenji's are." She whispered, dropping her gaze to the floor, trying to pretend he wasn't there. His body was like a solid wall and she ached to touch him.

… . .

Her sudden timidness threw Saitou. All his anger flushed away leaving him feeling shaken and stupid for being so upset. This…this was the power of lifemates. He wanted to keep yelling, to shake her until she understood. He wanted to hold on to the anger that had been boiling in him for the past hundred years. Without it, he wasn't himself…

"Kenji isn't as powerful as your father. Kenshin should put his safeguards up, not your brother." He said carefully, expecting her wrath as she protected her bother. But she said nothing. Her cornflower eyes kept glued to the ground her head slightly turned away. At his angle he could see the gentle curve of her neck, every line of her shoulders as they disappeared under her blouse. It took all his concentration and discipline to not touch the slender column of her neck. To not press his lips and fangs against her impossibly smooth skin, to not taste her lifeblood as it flowed in her veins, calling him…begging him.

Saitou sucked in his breath through clenched teeth, shattering the lusty vision that grew in his mind. Tokio glanced up at him, worried, perhaps expecting some sort of attack?

… . .

"I…I know, Kenji tries to take care of me. I'm not good at setting my own safeguards yet." Why was she sounding so meek? Why couldn't she yell at him anymore and why was he looking at her like she was his last meal? Suddenly the workshop was small, way too small. His very presence there was overwhelming her. It was hard to breathe, hard to think straight when all she wanted to do was throw herself at him. Wasn't it just a while ago that she wanted to rip his eyes out? Eyes that where now liquid pools of heat swallowing her in. His hold on her wrist was no longer tight, she could pull away if she wanted to, but she didn't. His touch on her arm sent waves of heat through her whole body. With each stroke of his thumb over her pulse she lost more and more self control.

She reached deeper into herself for strength. She couldn't lose, she couldn't let this happen. It was unfair. It wasn't her fault she felt this way, being bonded made her weak. She would never be able to fight Saitou's power for long. Tokio grasped the image of Kenji in her mind. His thoughts were unclouded. Anger burned in him like a glowing ember. And her pleas were only making it burn stronger. She felt him change direction, coming closer to them.

'It isn't fair; I can't help feeling this way.' She said to herself.

'It's natural Sweetheart. We are lifemates. Do you think this is easy for me?' Saitou's voice was deafening; nearly overpowering her concentration on her brother.

"Stay out of my head" she gasped. No one had ever been in her mind like that. No one but Kenji. It was too intrusive, too intimate. She quickly pictured a wall, a solid brick wall around herself, pushing Saitou back. Kenji flared in the back of her mind, lending her his strength and anger to further push Saitou out.

She heard Saitou growl. It was like a rumble that started deep in his chest and escape past his lips in a snarl. It was a frightening sound she had never heard from anyone before. But she was not afraid, not of Saitou. "Do not let your brother feed you his anger for me." He demanded, fully expecting her compliance. She forced herself to lock eyes with Saitou. They were back to the acid yellow she was use to, his mouth pulled in that familiar sneer. "He has no right to intrude."

… . .

That brat. Saitou could feel Kenji in her mind. Knowing all her secrets, all her feelings. Her brother knew things even he didn't know about his own lifemate. How she truly felt about him. Was she still upset that he claimed her? Or had the power of lifemates started to take over? He cursed to himself as Tokio's eyes darkened at his thoughts.

"Leave him alone. He's been with me all our life; he can't just suddenly let me go. And I don't want him to."

He turned his attention fully on her and watched as her eyes grew. "Kenji can't always be in your mind like he used to be. He's trespassing on my territory now. Imagine him there, knowing your every thought about me. Would you want him to know how I make you feel?" he let his hand slide from her wrist up her arm to wrap gently, possessively around her neck. He felt her pulse leap under his hand and he dropped his voice to a whisper, leaning closer to her. "The thoughts that go through your mind when I'm kissing you… you want him to know the details when we make love?" his lips brushed against her ear as he sent her images of what they would be doing; knowing her bother would catch them in her mind, he heard her breath catch. It was cruel but effective.

'No, no I don't want that.' Her mental voice trembled and he could feel the heat as her blood rose to flood her cheeks. Make love?...to Saitou? The thought seemed ridiculous, but a strange thrill shot from Tokio's head down to her very toes. What would it be like? Wrapped in his embrace, skin on skin, hearing him beg for her…someone so powerful weak against her natural female powers?

A deep rumbling came from Saitou's throat as he pulled her closer. A purr? 'You will soon find out Tokio' his voice whispered to her mind, sending her heated thoughts flaring anew.

'Get away.' Boomed a voice so suddenly that Saitou snapped his head away from her throat.

What was this? Saitou didn't let Tokio see the shock on his face. He quickly pulled that angry, narrowed eyed mask back on. Was that Kenji? Speaking to him through Tokio? It had to be. His voice was not on the common path, it came through on the same path as his lifemate.

'Get out of her mind, Kenji. These are matters between us. It's rude.' Saitou warned, watching Tokio's eyes grow with worry.

'Shut up! I can talk to my sister all I want. Just because you can hear us now won't stop me. It's not our fault you decided to butt into our lives.'

Saitou felt Kenji as soon as he touched the ground outside the shop. He looked up a half second before the boy kicked open the wooden door. Saitou was amused to see a scarlet blush also flooding the boy's face. "Kenji." Saitou greeted him as if nothing at all was wrong. He kept his hand curled possessively around Tokio's neck holding her to him.

"Sick Bastard." Kenji muttered. His lanky teenage body suddenly seemed to fill the doorway. "Get out of my sister's shop so I can kick your obscene ass." His words were slurred with a mixture of growls and snarls. The boy could not control his emotions.

Problem was Saitou was having a difficult time controlling his. He felt bad for teasing the boy but he had to learn why he needed to keep his distance from his sister. Plus, Tokio's sudden imagination was filling his mind with heated thoughts that left him yearning for her. "I'm not obscene; you just need to mind your own business. This is between mates."

But Kenji wasn't having any of that. He stormed into the room. Saitou shoved Tokio behind him as he turned to face him head on. His power flared out in warning, stopping the boy like a wall.

"Give..me..my..sister." Kenji spat out, his words clipped and hard with anger. Behind his lips his fangs started to grow. Tokio was torn. She was free from Saitou's grip; she wanted to run to her brother…only something deep inside her told her to stand close to Saitou. That this was dangerous and that Saitou would keep her safe.

Saitou's anger was controlled, honed in on his target so as to not effect his lifemate.

"She's mine now. No one will take her, and live."

"Then I guess I'll die trying!" Kenji snarled.

Alright, enough was enough. All this anger was infecting her workplace and no one was going to die here either. Tokio jumped from behind Saitou and planted herself between the males. She turned her back to her brother and faced Saitou's calm mask and glowing eyes.

"Stop it. You two need to get out of here before I need to rebuild a workshop. And Kenji, I'll kill you myself if you die in here."

"Move." Saitou commanded. One word in his nonchalant voice had Tokio backing up. Kenji reached out to pull her away but Saitou lunged forward and yanked Tokio away from his touch. Saitou used his momentum to push Kenji and the two males flew out of the shop and landed in a crouch outside.

This was nuts! She followed them outside. "Hey!" she called out, knowing her voice was falling on deaf ears. She didn't want anyone to get hurt. This was something stupid to fight about. She was about to throw herself between them again but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Stay out of the way." Her father said in a low tone. Kenshin kept his eyes on the males as they circled each other. "Fighting Carpathians are dangerous."

"But dad, this is stupid." She wanted to protect them both, not just one of them. Kenji's fangs had grown to fighting length. The tip of his fangs brushed against his chin as he hissed at Saitou. Her mate on the other hand had control of his fangs and his powers. He showed little aggression unlike her hissing and spitting brother.

Kenshin sighed, "I know. Let me deal with it." Kenshin stepped closer. "That's Enough!" he shouted. Kenji faltered in his step and tripped, breaking their fighting trance. Saitou backed down, retreating to stand closer to Tokio as Kenshin yanked his son back to his feet. "I'm shamed by you." He said to Kenji. "And I thought better of you." He threw at Saitou. "You're a full grown male, you should know better." Kenji shoved himself away from his father's grasp.

"You are coming with me." Kenshin stated in a tone that dared argument. Kenji looked about ready to argue, but the look in his father's eyes killed his protest. "And so are you." He turned his glowing yellow eyes to Tokio. "We have some talking to do."

Both siblings suddenly understood. 'Family meeting.' Kenji wailed in his mind. Tokio had to agree.

'Aw man.' She whispered back to him. She glanced over at Saitou, who didn't look happy about the idea of relinquishing her. There looked to be a struggle going on behind that mask. Then it suddenly cleared away as he came to a conclusion.

'Go.' Saitou said simply. 'But I expect you to come home to me before dawn.' He locked eyes with her. Arguing with him was not acceptable at all.

Tokio felt that same thrill shoot through her. she new better than to try him. She was afraid of Saitou, but deep down she wanted to know what this lifemate business had in store.


a/n Kenji's asking for a butt-kicking don't you think? I think so. And now Daddy Kenshin is a little but mad. I can't wait to see what he has in store for the twins…and if Tokio actually comes back to Saitou before dawn. Thanks for reading, reviews are loved.