Disclaimer: I don't own Weiss Kreuz or any of the characters therein, but I do own Lorelei…unfortunately…

Warnings: Violence, swearing, Crawford being an asshole, the usual…

Chapter 34

Wana (1)

I'm sure I've mentioned previously my dislike of waking up on the floor after falling under the sway of my power, and especially after having a vision strong enough to knock me senseless. I think that, considering the circumstances I found myself in when I awoke, coughing slightly at the dust still tickling my throat and nose, my eyes blurred through lack of glasses and my suit in need of a thorough dry clean, I wasn't exactly pleased.

Pleased at my situation, or at the vision I had only recently had.

Well, considering I had been unconscious at the time of its arrival I guess you could call it more of a dream than a vision, but that's a mere technicality. What was important was that I knew that it was going to happen, and more importantly I knew where it was going to happen. Of course, even more important than all these things put together, I seemed to have regained full use of my power. However, I suppose I'm not really making much sense here, forgive me the indiscretion but I had just woken up lying on cold concrete covered in filth and none too comfortable.

My vision was about him again, about Schuldich. Inconsiderate bastard, letting himself be captured so easily! Foolish, to have just stood there and let her…and now they had him, and Nagi too. At the time I admit that I hadn't known what to do, I was at a complete loss as I simply watched him vanish on the spot as I tried to shield myself from the exploding debris. I could have sworn that I even saw her too, just a glimpse of bright golden hair, perhaps red nails…Lorelei, it had been a long time, but not long enough before I had to see her again. It was ironic that the first time I had met Schuldich had been when I was working with Loreleri, not that he knew that of course but…well that's neither here nor there right now. What was important was that she had reintroduced herself in the most appropriate of ways.

Through my vision.

In my mind, she was killing him. Oh, but it wasn't just a normal kill, a swift merciful bullet to the skull, a quick flick of a knife, even tearing apart his mind with her power…no, she was torturing him, doing things that made me shudder with the very thought…And in the background, arms folded and eyes like slivers of ice, that same indiscernible shadowy figure from my first vision of the journey, the tall man swathed in long black garments who had reduced my team to nothing in mere minutes. The man I could now easily identify as Fujimiya Ran, the man who had stolen Nagi from right out of my grasp; just as I was falling into unconsciousness I could still hear him screaming, through what I couldn't tell. And then everything had fallen deathly quiet, and it had all turned a misty grey, swirling and dancing behind my eyelids. It had seemed like an eternity before the vision assaulted me in the first place, and another until it finally ended, leaving me cold and sore and worried beyond all comprehension, lying on a lumpy concrete floor in the semi-darkness.

"Hey, Yoji he's awake," I blinked and coughed again as I tried to roll over, ignoring the voice shouting from somewhere to my left, ignoring the screaming in my limbs as I forced them to move, "no wait, don't move yet, you need to rest."

"If I rest here any longer," I grated out, roughly shoving away the hands that descended onto my shoulders, trying to keep me still, "then it will do more harm than good."

"Huh, well, have it your way," Siberian snorted back, the sound of his shoes scraping on the rough floor edging back before I heard him sit down heavily on the ground, "at least we know you don't have memory loss or concussion, you are most definitely Brad Crawford."

"Shut up," I tried to say dangerously but only managed a rasp, "and help me."

"Tch…fine," he acquiesced, once more pushing himself up the wall and walking over to me, stretching his hand out for me to hold.

He was a little rougher than necessary when pulling me to my feet, but at least he didn't deliberately try and break anything. My legs practically screamed at me to fall over again once I was standing up on my own, the places which had been most severely beaten after Nagi had thrown me across the room becoming more apparent with every passing second. My arms were battered and sore, I could feel bruises on my ribs and my chest hurt like hell from where his power had hit my at point blank range. However, looking back at the situation, even though tension was high and I was only trying to limit the damage Nagi was causing with his temper, I do think that I probably deserved what he did. Huh, I know what you're thinking…well, there's a first time for everything right?

I blinked again in the gloom and tried fruitlessly to peer around the room we were encased to and discern where we were. I failed miserably, not because I didn't recognise my surroundings but more because I couldn't see a foot in front of my face. The blurry walls seemed to fade in and out of focus and the lights seemed to flicker sporadically as I swayed ever so slightly, my lack of sight making me slightly unbalanced.

"Here," I turned at the sound of Siberians voice behind me, only managing to make out the host of coloured blobs that comprised his form stepping towards me and handing me something.

I took the small silver blobs and sighed in terse relief as my fingers closed around the thin metal of my glasses. At least someone had been courteous enough to pick up my glasses after we…

…wait, just minute what did happen after I blacked out? How did we get here? Just where the hell were we? I placed my glasses quickly onto my face, my lips tightening in annoyance at the large diagonal scratch over the left lens and the slight crack near the top. There were, however, more important things at hand.

"Where are we?" I asked quickly yet professionally; I was in no mood to play around.

"Heck, quick on the questions aren't we?" Siberian said with a quirked eyebrow, his thumbs slipped through his belt loops as he regarded me with slight distaste, "you could at least manage a thank you, right?"

"…I wouldn't hold your breath," I said back after a slight pause, my hands involuntarily going to my tie to straighten it even though I knew that it would hardly matter now, "tell me where we are and I might consider it."

"We're hiding in a non-descript basement, in a non-descript warehouse in a hardly visited estate on the edge of town," said a new voice from behind me, "and so far, I think we're doing quite well."

I turned my back on the still rather annoyed looking Siberian to face Balinese who, now that I could see, had walked in through a door at the far end of the long narrow basement we were in. The ceiling was low and adorned with pipes and fan boxes, a large disused boiler sitting in the far corner along with a dilapidated fuse box with half the fuses missing. The rusting pipes running from the boiler to the ceiling made it look like some horrible fairytale monster, old gnarled fingers creeping up the mildewed walls to reach for the cracks in the ceiling. The dismal light was coming from two wall mounted cage lights on either wall, hardly forty watts between them, which cast a sickly glow over the narrow room.

"That wasn't exactly helpful," I said wryly, fixing him with a look and waiting for more information.

"Well alright, we're in the industrial estate in Kobe to be precise," he answered with a slight shrug, rubbing his right eye and stretching his neck, "not too shabby really, despite the, umm, disrepair of this building."

"Yes, quite," I said, clearing my dry throat, "surprising considering it looks as if its abandoned."

"Yeah well," Balinese continued, talking away as he walked over and slapped the wall firmly, "after the earthquake in '95 all the buildings in Kobe underwent reconstruction. This estates pretty new, so they already have the safety features fitted. Nice and sturdy, nice and deep, I thought it fitted our needs perfectly."

Balinese turned back to me and began to stare with an unknown expression as he watched me take in the room, my arms again subconsciously wiping at my suit sleeves to brush off any dirt, as if it really made any difference. Then, when my eyes stopped their wondering and finally came to rest once more on him, I realised he was smiling, even if only slightly.

"Something you find amusing?" I asked coldly, pulling myself up to my full height even though I knew we were matched in that area.

"Well yeah actually," he snorted, smile turning to smirk, "I never thought I'd se the day when you were seen dead in anything but pristine white Crawford-san."

And, now don't ask me why although I suppose I can guess as to the reason, for some reason that smirk, it sparked my memory. He looked, just for that split second, just like…and that made me remember, even more clearly than I had when I had first awoken and it had been fresh in my mind. Of course Schuldich hadn't been smirking in my vision, he had been screaming…and Nagi was nowhere in sight.

"Why don't you cut the jokes and focus on the situation?" I said back icily, my temper trying its best to flare up against my will, thoughts of my team mates dancing through my skull, "Where is Farferello?"

"He's fine, he's next door with Omi and the other two," Balinese said as he let his eyes wonder from my own to look around the room as I had done, taking small precise steps around the floor leading him in random directions, his hands shoved into his pockets.

"Good…well then…," I said slowly, yet coldly enough to seem entirely apathetic, "he really did take Nagi."

"Yeah," Balinese said in confirmation, his wanderings placing him with his back to me as he spoke, his voice rather terser than I though it would be, "…and Schuldich is gone too."

"I know," I wanted to add "all too well" to the end of my sentence but I didn't think it appropriate…however… "why did we flee the other warehouse?"

"Well, I hate to be a stickler for common sense Crawford," Balinese said raising an eyebrow sardonically, "but I don't really consider a half knocked down base, the position of which is known to and been infiltrated by the enemy to be somewhere I'd like to hang around."

"Fine," I said back tersely, trying not to slip into cool anger and blow any fuses, "why here?"

"I already told you," he sighed stiffly, "because it seemed a good idea and it was close too. Besides, I was trying to shake the cops off our tail and it kind of led us here."

"The police?" I said softly.

"Yeah, you know them, "Balinese grinned, his eyes glinting feral in the gloom, "short stocky guys, loud voices. Well, I know that our wall was blown up back at out first base but that was small scale really; having half your building taken out is another thing altogether. By the time we bundled everyone into the cars and found our way to the exit back onto the main road, they were just turning up. Typical."

"…Still," I said slowly, "Kobe, it's quite a drive, any real reason you came here?"

"What's your problem Crawford he said we were being chased!" Siberian, oddly enough having been very quiet until now, yelled into my ear, his eyes narrowing as I watched his hand go to his temple and rub at it furiously.

"Yes, quite," I said back smoothly, ignoring him once more as I decided that this conversation was heading the wrong way; I always was good at putting things back on track, like I did with my next statement, "I know where they've been taken."

That made Balinese's mood spin around fast enough, although I found it hard to fathom why. Was that concern in those jade eyes, so similar to his, and was that a flicker of hope that danced behind jet black irises? Why would Balinese of all people, considering his uncaring attitude anyway and the fact that these people were his enemies…why did he seem relieved by what I had just said?

"Where?" I heard Siberian ask, walking round to stand to my right, almost half way in between Balinese and myself, looking at me with a stubborn yet slightly pained look.

"It was a vision, a strong one at that," I explained, not really willing to give up my information just yet, considering he hadn't exactly been forthcoming with his own when I wanted it, "and I'd recognise that building anywhere…"

"Where?" Balinese said with a slight growl, taking a small step forward in what seemed an unconscious threat, "Where is he?"

I smirked at that. "He" is it? Just "he"? Which "he" I wondered to myself, not that I had to wonder too long, it wasn't exactly difficult to eliminate the obvious, Farferello, Nagi, myself, and be left with…I couldn't help but feel a slight pang of fear at the thought, but also something else as well, something much more dangerous. I decided that putting the conversation back on track would be a clever idea right about now.

"Abyssinian was there," I said smoothly, not able to help but stir the situation just that little bit further.

However, even though I had been rejoicing only moments before over how my power seemed to be back to normal, I did not foresee Siberian leaping at me like a man possessed and smashing me up against the wall, his claws firmly imbedded in my ruined suit.

"Why don't you just quit with the attitude smart guy, it's really staring to piss me off! You want to watch your team mates die a horrible death in your own head then be my guest but I won't let you hold out on me! Tell me where Ran is, now!"

I was actually, believe it or not, startled. Of course, I had been feeling that all too often recently, what with my elusive power. I simply blinked back at him, my own eyes calm as they regarded his own raging amber orbs, his fingers actually ripping the material as he tightened his grip on my jacket, shoving me harder into the wall. Balinese hadn't moved a muscle or said a word to stop him, in fact he seemed quite content with this form of questioning. Of course, even considering the fact that we had been working together since this all began and all that had happened you'd think we'd get over our differences and work together, we were still enemies. There was no changing that. Yet, if Balinese really did care about him…then, well, my theory was blown wide open. Perhaps it was just that they still hated me, I could deal with that.

"The San-roujin's mountaintop retreat, on Mount Rokko" I said back slowly, my hands coming up to remove Siberian from my person, and finding it slightly more difficult than it should have been, "that's where they were taken, and that's where we're headed. We'll find your precious Ran there, along with my team mates."

"Good," Balinese said, although it seemed more to himself than to the two of us, "then we head out as soon as we can. Crawford-san, come next door with me, there's food and water," I think he noticed my look of confusion as to his caring for my health because he added tersely, "you're going to need your strength. I refuse to have to carry your heavy ass anywhere ever again after hauling you here."

I bristled visibly at that, but still I wasn't going to turn down the offer of food and water. The last time I had eaten had been when Siberian and I had been waiting on Schuldich and Balinese's return from the nightclub, and even then it had only been an apple that I had found on the worktop. I guess I had all but put hunger out of my mind, and the fact that I hadn't bathed in almost four days, well…there really were more important things on my mind.

/Omi/

I hadn't felt so relaxed in what seemed like an eternity. Even though I could tell that the blanket draped over me was rough and itchy I still couldn't bring myself to push it away, the warmth was too enticing. As I slowly, unwillingly groped my way back into consciousness I began to realise that, even though I had felt so very relaxed and at peace when coming out of my sleep, I could now feel the bruises forming on my skin, the scrapes and cuts along my cheeks and hands. I tried to ignore them, tried to force myself back into that wonderful dreamless state, but unfortunately I could only seem to become more and more aware of my surroundings. More aware of the dripping sound somewhere down near my feet, more aware of the strands of fibrous blanket itching at my nose, more aware of the fingers laced through my hair, the hand heavy and warm. They were soft and gentle, and even though I could feel my eyes opening as I became fully aware, they seemed to want to lull me back to sleep again simply with the reassuring weight.

"We can't rush anything," I absently heard a voice say from somewhere to my left, "remember what happened last time?"

"As I remember you weren't so adverse to the plan at the time," another smooth voice replied, "and time was of the essence, we needed to do something fast…just like we do now."

"Yeah well there's no point in thrashing a plan together just to save time so that we can miss the flaw in it and loose Ken and Omi this time…"

"Do you really think this is helping?" the other voice said back so sharply I was surprised it didn't take someone's eye out.

"Well if it stops you from doing something stupid then yes, I do."

Slowly I shifted my hand up from its resting place curled around my chest and rubbed at my eyes, yawning quietly into my wrist as I pushed up on my elbow and let the stiff blanket fall down a little from my shoulders. The hand too slumped down from my head as I raised, but at that moment I was more concerned with the voices coming from the other side of the room. I blinked the sleep from my eyes and peered over to my left, finding Yoji and Crawford under the light on the opposite wall, Crawford standing and Yoji sitting back against the wall with his legs stretched out. His face was drawn and tired looking, his fingers rubbing hard at the bridge of his nose while the others twitched from lack of a cigarette to hold. Crawford was as cool and calculating as ever, seeming to loom over Yoji, yet there was something about him that didn't seem right, something that seemed to dull his eyes, make his fingers fidget with stray strands of string from his torn suit. He seemed preoccupied and, for a moment, I wished that I had Schuldich's power so that I could see into his mind for just a second, see what he was thinking.

Of course Schuldich was gone now, and Nagi too. Was Ran with them, was Ran with them both now…with that blackness in his heart and that look in his eyes, not the look I wanted to see? After Ran went mad I tried to make myself believe that he'd just lost it, gone insane, that he was attacking us because he didn't recognise us anymore and thought we were the enemy. But that's not the way it is, he knows who we are, he knows what he's doing and he seems to…enjoy it. I shuddered and licked my lips anxiously, looking to my right and blinking softly. The sleeping face of Yami greeted me, his mouth hanging slightly open as he breathed softly into the musty air. His hair was mussed and snagging on the rough plaster of the wall making him look like some angelic medusa. I couldn't help but smile slightly, thanking him silently for the comfort he probably didn't know he'd given. I couldn't even remember falling asleep on him, but then, I was pretty exhausted.

"Oh hey, Omi," I turned at the sound of my name, the blanket dislodging fully as I sat up straight and stretched, smiling weakly at Yoji, "you're awake."

"And glad for the sleep," I said softly, turning back to look at Yami and finding him blinking sleepily at me, his small mouth gaping into a wide yawn.

"You've only been asleep for six hours," I turned fully round to look behind me for the origin of the voice, finding Tatsuha sitting on a crate behind me, a small switch blade in his hand which he seemed to be sharpening on a small broken pipe shaft, "but then in a situation like this, you should count your blessings."

The sound of him scraping the knife along the pipe was surprisingly soft, more as if the knife were shaving away at the pipe than sharpening itself on it. But then, with all the weird things that had been happening recently I wouldn't have been surprised if it was. Tatsuha's long blonde hair was looking as worse for wear as Crawford's suit, all matted and dirty, although the man himself seemed surprisingly alert and unharmed. He simply continued to sharpen the blade, his eyes periodically flicking to Yami to check him over before returning to the job at hand.

"You hungry Omi?" Yoji asked, pulling himself wearily up the wall and slumping over to a small ripped paper bag, pulling out some water and onigiri (2) and offering it to me.

"Yeah, thanks Yoji-kun," I smiled, taking it from him and trying not to look too desperate as I tore through the wrapper and stuffed the onigiri into my mouth, chewing off a mouthful and spilling the rice into my hands, "where's Ken-kun?"

"Next door," Yoji said with a look of concern mixed with irritation, "says he has a headache, doesn't want to come through right now."

"Oh," I said back, swallowing the mouthful of food dryly before ripping open the water and finishing half of it greedily, "by the way, what were you guys just talking about Yoji-kun, have you found something out while I was asleep?"

"Yeah, yeah we have," Yoji sighed, giving Crawford an odd look which the other man, now sitting against one of the dilapidated machines next to a sleeping Farferello, ignored completely, "Crawford reckons he knows where Schuldich and Nagi are…and he says that Ran's with them."

I continued to wolf down my food, gushing the water down my chin in my haste to just finish it so that it would be done. Then at least I could do something without feeling hideously guilty or hopeless. Something that didn't inevitably remind me of what had happened six hours ago, in that seemingly peaceful reverie from the violence and despair that had descended the day Aya-chan had died in front of us all.

But then, what with the message I had found just before Ran had attacked us, and the fact that he'd talked about his sister when he met us last…and his new powers, I wondered if she truly was dead, or if perhaps Esset had been lucky enough to resurrect their "god" into her fragile body. I shivered again, wiping my mouth onto the back of my sleeve, shaking off the pieces of rice that stuck starkly to the navy blue material.

-Ran and Aya-chan…if I'm right then,- feeling a tug I looked down at my sleeve to find Yami's hand clutching at my elbow, his dark eyes wide with some indiscernible emotion, -what does this all mean?-

"That stone," I asked suddenly, sensing more than seeing Tatsuha stop sharpening his knife, all the eyes in the room seeming to focus on me as Yami looked at me in confusion, "that little red stone that dropped in front of me when Ran attacked, was it yours?"

"…Well," Yami blinked sheepishly, looking a little worried, his eyes flickering back and forth between myself and Tatsuha behind me, "yes, it was mine."

"What was it?" I asked more eagerly, something in my brain telling me that this was important somehow, even if I didn't understand why, "It stopped the blast from even touching me didn't it? It did, it was incredible!"

"It's just a…" he stopped dead as I heard Tatsuha rise from his crate behind me, his hand falling away and curling against its counterpart in his lap, his eyes wandering away guiltily.

"Wait, what are you talking about? What stone?" Crawford's voice was stiff and clipped as he broke into the conversation, and I remembered that he would have been unconscious when Yami saved me.

There was a silence, during which Yami did his best to avoid my eyes and everyone else transferred their gazes from me to him. Oddly enough, considering how quiet, subdued, and even dangerously misanthropic Tatsuha usually seemed, he was the one to break the silence.

"It's alright Yami," he said, sounding oddly defeated, "you might as well tell them, it doesn't matter much anymore."

"But Tatsuha-kun…"

"No, tell them," he said bitterly, his voice becoming a little strained, making me turn and look at him in concern, "it's too late now to change the course we're on."

"But it's not time, you said we had to wait," Yami's eyes were wide with worry, a dawning comprehension, as he looked to his friend.

"I told you that I'd see this through," Tatsuha shouted back, his eyes blazing with unforeseen anger, his mood leaping closer and closer to unmitigated rage, "and I meant it!"

"No, wait don't Tatsuha!" Yami cried out, startling me, but even then I couldn't take my eyes off of his tall friend as he simply grabbed hold of his mass of wonderfully blonde hair and cut through it with his switchblade.

I don't know why I gaped at him as he let the mass of curling strands fall to the dusty, water stained floor, but I felt that I must be mirroring Yami's actions. He looked distressed to say the least, his large dark eyes holding some deep pain at the sight he'd just witnessed, but holding it back as if afraid to show it.

"But now you'll…you'll be stuck here with me…" Yami practically whispered, his eyes falling to the floor.

"What the hell is going on here?" Yoji interrupted his voice loud and filed with perplexity in comparison to Yami's, "What are you, crazy?"

"Did you have a good reason for doing that?" Crawford asked wryly, picking at his suit while watching the other man inscrutably.

Tatsuha, for his part, seemed to be the least distressed or confused person in the room, apart from Farferello who was asleep. He had already folded his switchblade and slipped it back into a hidden pocket somewhere, and was now standing with his hands resting on his hips, his head hanging forwards slightly as he looked at the ground. His newly severed hair seemed to fall perfectly around his strong face, the ends not split or really that uneven…in fact, it looked kind of like Yami's…

"Yes well," he said with a sigh, surreptitiously peering at the folds of blonde lying at his heels, his look betraying the fact that he might be slightly regretting his seemingly rash action, "it's too late now, and anyway, I wasn't planning on leaving you behind at any rate."

"Tatsuha…" Yami said softly, not making it any further as before his hands flew to his mouth and he swiftly burst into tears.

"What…what is going on here?" I asked them both, although it might have seemed like I was asking the world in general considering my tone.

Tatsuha ignored me, walking over to Yami and kneeling down to put an arm around him, not seeming to mind when the other threw his arms around his neck and continued to cry. I moved back instinctually, not wanting to be part of such an obviously personal display. Still, my mind was reeling a little from the strangeness and the large unknown factor hanging over this entire show. I felt like I was watching a foreign film without subtitles, I could see everything happening but none of it seemed to fit together.

"Hey! Will you two quit it already!"

I jumped at the sound of Ken's voice, looking over my shoulder to find him standing in the doorway to the other room. His face was twisted in anger and pain, his eyes slightly bloodshot and his glare directed at the two hugging in front of me. I opened my mouth to quiet him but I wasn't quick enough.

"In case you didn't know, man with a headache here!" he shouted out, wincing at the sound of his own voice, "Keep it down already!"

"You're one to talk," Crawford smirked nastily, turning his attention back to the strangers as Ken turned his glare onto him, "you two, explain all of this."

"Yeah, what the fuck is going on around here?" Yoji asked, although his voice sounded more confused and slightly sulky than angry.

"We might as well tell them," Tatsuha said into Yami's ear, the younger boy leaning back from the embrace and gulping some air into his lungs, wiping his eyes as he nodded a little unsurely.

They both stood then, and I with them, shuffling back a little towards Yoji as I did. They both looked at each other, the light behind them sputtering a little as it illuminated them as they prepared themselves for whatever they were about to say. However, Ken was the first to speak, his voice slightly hoarse, so ragged with pain that it sent worry flooding instantly through my veins. Suddenly, he didn't really sound lie himself, like he had only seconds before; he sounded lost and scared, confused and…

"Just who…who are you people?"

And with that he slumped bonelessly to the ground, silent.

(1) – "Wana" "Trap"

(2) – "Onigiri" (also called omusubi)--a ball of packed white rice either mixed with or stuffed with savoury condiments and wrapped in a sheet of nori (laver seaweed). (My note on this is simple: YUMMY!)

AN: Considering it has been a while since I have seen the series of Weiss Kreuz I may be getting some things wrong so please forgive me if I do. Also, considering my memories pretty bad anyway, I couldn't remember where about in Japan it was set, or if I ever knew anyway heh heh! Well, after trying to find out and failing, I decided that I would just choose somewhere, so I came up with Kobe Port because its geography fits nicely. I thought that if I had the old Esset base where they were attacked be in Osaka then it would also fit even more nicely (oh and also it was on the outskirts of Osaka, so that it wouldn't be too far from Kobe for Yoji to drive). So if this all seems too much just tell me because I can't even remember myself, hope this doesn't spoil it for anyone, gomen nasai!

Alright, I know I didn't explain anything and left a big cliff hanger, nasty aren't I? Mwooahahahahhaha! Hchrm, however, I do have some new ideas for this story so I should be okay with explaining everything, as long as you don't think I'm being too weird! I decided to draw on some mythology and, with the way the stories been going so far, I didn't think it would be too out of place either. Hope it's not becoming too freaky for ya!

Oh yes, and to my reviewers, Heather R and Gillian Sillis, thank you! And to everyone else who read it too!

Heather R – As ever, you're guessing my plot lines again, argh! Lol, that's okay though, it just means we're on the same wavelength, so hopefully you'll like this chapter heh heh! Ah don't worry about kicking the evil peoples asses, they always get theirs nyuk nyuk, you don't have too long to wait! And I'll just take the opportunity to say thanks for being such a great reviewer !HUGS! you're so great, it's more help than you know!

Gillian Sillis – WHOA! That's the biggest most concise review I've ever received! You didn't leave anything out he he! Thanks for that, and again for kicking my ass into gear, it really helped! Yeah, don't worry about the Ran Ken side of things, they'll be heating up soon mwoohaha! As if I could hold out on my little bishies for so long! I don't think I can take keeping them apart much longer!

Okay, so I'll see you all next chapter and, considering it's a cliff hanger, I'll try not to keep you too long!

Ro x