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A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 21
"I'm here to find out who killed my parents!" she screamed in his face.
Okay, whatever he had been expecting, that was not it.
But that did not mean he was ready to forget her leaving him.
Dammit, it really hurt to find out that he had been so casually tossed aside. Normally a stranger to his own emotions, he never thought there was anything that could make him want to yell, throw up, beat someone bloody, huddle under his blankets, and make him feel he was burning and freezing all at the same time. So it came as a rude surprise to find out there was something that could. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Mikan Sakura, the new owner of my heart.
A part of him wanted to do something to get back at her. To hurt her like she hurt him. Not that I already haven't hurt her. He reminded himself with a nauseous lurch of his stomach. He never ever wanted to lose himself to dragon lust, especially with her. Sometime soon they would have to get her to some water to heal up.
But more than he needed to hurt her, he just needed her. She was his true mate. They were meant for each other. If they kept on like this could very well spend eternity lashing out and hurting each other to the point where they hated the other but they would never be able to love another. In hurting each other they would only end up hurting themselves.
If he doubted that, old cliché all he needed to only look a little closer at the wounds he had just inflicted on her and think of how pissed he was at himself for marring any part of her skin. If another person had done that to her, he would have killed them.
He gave her a wary glare. Fire and Air, did he wish he wasn't so crazy about her. But he was, and now here he was chasing after her like some love struck puppy.
Natsume was so lost to his thoughts that he had not responded to Mikan's little outburst for several minutes. Mikan took his silence as a form of rejection and started to collect her bag together along with the tatters of cloth that used to be her shorts and panties. Before she could finish, he walked up to her and stopped her.
"Explain." He ordered.
She shot him a mutinous look but started to answer him anyway."I have already told you that my parents died when I was very little. What I didn't tell you was that they were living in Japan at the time."
Shit. Natsume was overcome with a feeling of foreboding. He had a very bad feeling he knew where this was going.
"My father had been sent to Japan on a job. For several weeks no one had heard from him then he suddenly calls out of nowhere saying he's found his mate and that she was pregnant with their child." She explained bluntly.
"The family was more than a little shocked I guess because he had always been so carefree and usually avoided serious responsibilities. My uncle Kazu always called him a flake. So my father claiming to have a pregnant mate had caught them all by surprise. My parents and uncle Kazu left the States that night for Japan to find out what was going on."
Mikan continued her narrative, but Natsume could tell she was having troubles keeping still while she talked about it. Out of a nervous tension she started walking aimlessly about the clearing. While her back was turned, he reached down to the ground and snatched up a piece of fabric off of the ground. It was white, with little red strawberries on it and red lacy trim. A fragment of her panties.
His insides gave another little twist at tried not to think about how they ended up in this state. He would have liked to have seen them on her at least once.
He rather liked her sassy fun taste in underwear. They suited her personality. To him, most women were like most of their underwear; plain, boring, mostly white, and totally lacking in any flair. Oh sure sometimes there might be the odd black or even lace, but those were mainly for showing off not a reflection of personality. Mikan was far too unique for just plain anything and if there was one thing his mate could never be, it was boring.
He was pulled from his thoughts when she continued her narrative. "They arrived in Hokkaido in less than a day after his call. I'm not sure what they expected to find, maybe they thought he had been forced or tricked into taking a mate. But when they arrived, they had found that he had indeed found his mate and he was almost fanatical about her. They had even stayed several days just to make sure everything was as it appeared to be."
Mikan turned to look at him and gave him a sad smile that made his heart thud heavily in his chest. He did not like seeing that sad look on her. "A few days before I was born, my father had called them again saying things were getting weird here. That was his exact words, 'getting weird' and he said as soon as it was safe for my mother to swim, they would be leaving."
"What do you mean as soon as it was safe, why did he not leave then?" Natsume could not help asking.
"Sea dragons, like many pregnant females, are quite delicate, and deep ocean currents can be quite rough. Swimming in them could be fatal to both the mother and the baby. Anyway, a few days later, regardless of the danger, my mother showed up unexpectedly at their home alone and bleeding badly from the beating she had taken in the water. She passed away a few hours after I was born. Blood loss, they figure."
Natsume heard what Mikan had not said. If her mother was alone then it was unlikely that her father was alive. No male dragon worth the name would ever allow his mate to endanger herself and their child. He looked at Mikan and knew if he were in the same set of circumstances, he would not let her out of his sight while he still had a pulse and there was no way in hell she would be anywhere near the ocean in that condition while he was still breathing.
No, her father must be dead, and for her mother to so recklessly risk her life and the life of her baby, he can only guess that her mate's ending was not a good one. She must have been very desperate or very afraid to swim that ocean.
"Did your mother ever say what happened?" he asked in a low voice. There are very few things in this world that could kill a dragon, especially a gold male, driven to protect his mate. The list of possibilities was a frighteningly very short one. And he did not like what was on it.
Mikan shook her head tiredly at him. "She never got a chance to say much of anything."
"So you just thought you could swim on over here and find the answers yourself." He stated. He was really starting to not like the picture he was seeing. Irritated, closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You idiot. You complete and total idiot." He said with heat. Opening his eyes, he looked at the woman he would be stuck with for the next hundred and fifty years or so.
Provided they lived through the next week that is.
Her face had gone pale with the exception of bright red spots on her cheeks. Her expression was one of shock and anger, but he saw the hurt in those eyes of hers. Mikan, you have no idea what you have just done.
In a huff, she stalked over and grabbed her backpack and made to exit the clearing. He stopped her before she ever got close to the edge of the trees. Mikan glared at the hand holding her upper arm and tried to shake herself free from it, but he held on easily. "Let go."
"Do you have any idea of where you are going and what you are doing?"
She stopped struggling to give him a hateful look. "I'm going to check out my mother's home in Hokkaido."
Hokkaido. They were currently in Aomori. Too close, much too close for his comfort. This had disaster written all over it.
"And say you find out who, as you said, caused your parents death, what then? Hmm? Were you going to just march up and demand justice? Do you expect they will take one look at you and cave into their guilt confessing all their sins? Do think they even care about your feelings in the matter? You complete child! Grow up! Whoever did this probably does not give a shit about you and even less about your feelings! All you are going to do is get yourself killed!" When he had started his voice was dripping with sarcasm, but as he continued he became more upset and louder until he was finally yelling at her.
"Stop yelling at me! Maybe you don't understand, but I need to do this!" she yelled back.
"How can I not yell? It is the only way to get through your thick skull! You didn't even think this thing through did you?" by now they were toe to toe, screaming at each other.
"Stop calling me stupid!"
"When you stop acting stupid, I'll stop calling you stupid! Mikan you don't even know who you are up against!"
"I'm not that stupid! You said it yourself, your grandfather practically owns Japan. I can add two and two together you know."
"Yeah, but you get three. Mikan, if he really did have something to do with your parents, then he probably already knows who you are." His voice had lowered, but none of his fears had lessened. Mikan blinked at him as if she had never even considered the possibility. Stupid, stupid girl! "That is the way he is. He is always five steps ahead of his enemies. Do you think any half-assed idiot can become king of Japan's supernatural community? He is cunning and devious and extremely ruthless. You cannot possibly estimate how dangerous he is!"
His heart was racing in his chest. She was going to get herself killed. Physically, he could survive without her, his heart would still beat, his lungs would still breathe, and his brain would still function without his mate. But mentally, emotionally, spiritually there was no way he could go back to his miserable black and white existence. He needed her bold color and playful patterns.
If he helped her, somehow he knew that it would not be like the other times. She was not an unwanted castoff that he could shelter. He was already disobeying the old man but this… this would be… helping her would be seen as an open challenge to the king's authority. His grandfather would never allow it to go unpunished.
Out of nowhere Serena's words floated through his head. More specifically, the part about Mikan being the key to what he had waited a long time for. He thought it meant the end to his loneliness and dull life, but maybe she meant he would finally have an opportunity to break free of the old man. He gave his mate a heavy look. If he was wrong, people under his care could be killed. Gods of Fire and Air, if you hear me, please do not let me be wrong about this.
Aoi, Luka! He yelledthrough the telepathy he shared with his siblings.
'Natsume! Where are you? What is going on?' his brother answered. Natsume felt his stomach clench tighter. Aoi had yet to answer his call and there was some sort of interference between them. She was alright for now, but there was also a hint of panic in Luka's tone. Not good. Something had happened while he was away.
Luka, what is happening?
'I don't know! This morning the staff came by and told Aoi that the king wanted to speak with her, and now I can't contact her!' Barrages of feelings were pouring through his brother's words. The draman was blaming himself and his inability to stay away from his beloved. He was certain she was being punished because of him.
Natsume felt nauseous. The king was already a step ahead of him. Luka, I need you to focus! I need you to quickly and quietly contact the others. Get them ready to leave tonight.
'Tonight? What about Aoi?' Natsume's lips twisted into a bitter smile. Of course Luka's first concern was Aoi. He understood the bond between his brother and sister so much better now. He could understand that Luka was one step away from losing his mind to worry, so Natsume gave him the task of protecting the others to focus on.
Let me worry about Aoi. You just make sure anyone who the old man has not got his hands on is ready to fly at full dark.
'What has happened Natsume?' Luka asked with a clearer mental tone now that he had a direction. Luka was not normally scatter brained, but worry and emotions could cause him to lose focus. They could make anyone lose focus.
It would appear that my mate has come to Japan with the intention of finding answers to her parents' deaths.'
Luka calmly processed that thought for a moment then burst out 'Is she stupid?' He cried, completely ignoring the 'mate' comment.
Tell her that. I'm going to take her to Hokkaido.
'Hokkaido! What about Aoi?'
I'll get her back, I promise. The old man won't do anything to her yet. Natsume could tell his brother wanted to protest, but he held his thoughts. I love her too you know. I won't let anything happen to her.
'Natsume, you know what he is like. He might try to force you to choose between your mate and my ma-… your sister.' Natsume felt the ache in his chest for his brother. Even in his own mind, Luka tried to fight calling Aoi his mate. He honestly did not know how the draman managed it when Natsume himself could only deny his own mating for all of three days. It must be painful hell on them both.
If they ever… no… when they got out of this, one of the first things he would have to do is set up a formal mating ceremony for them.
I will not let that happen. Just be careful, and whatever you do, don't get caught. Natsume finished, and closed the link to find Mikan staring at him oddly.
"Did something happen?" she asked, sounding worried.
"The old man is already ahead of us. He has Aoi."
"What? What do you mean? You mean because of me?" her face went from concern to alarm. "How can that be?"
"I told you he is clever and devious and I have kept you away from him for too long not to raise his suspicions. Right now I need you to contact your family and explain the situation to them. Ask them if they can help Luka and the others. I'm going to try and evacuate as many as I can tonight."
"Is she in any danger?" her trembling voice made his already pounding heart skip a beat but he did not have time to kiss away any of her fears.
"Not for the moment. I don't think so. He will want to use her as a bargaining tool. Now please call your family." He ordered while he pulled out his own phone and keyed in the password that activated a very special app that Hotaru had installed strictly for emergency only.
The Black Cat app.
The name wasn't very clever or even informative. Actually, it was designed to be ambiguous. If there was ever a time when the situation in the clan suddenly went pear shaped, his people needed a way to be informed to get out without the rest of the clan and more importantly, his grandfather knowing. Hence the Black Cat. When activated, it sent a small image of a meowing black cat walking across over a dozen cell phone screens. The cat would walk across the screen before sprouting a pair of wings and flying off. The image would replay over and over again. Those that saw it knew they would have to quickly and inconspicuously pack up what they could carry to leave as soon as they could.
They had been working on the evacuation process for some time now. He prayed to any gods listening that they would be able to pull it off in one group because they could not afford to leave stragglers.
Once he was done activating the evacuation code, he waited and watched his mate. She had this faraway look and he could tell she was calling them telepathically. After a few moments her eyes focused on him and started to well up. Before she could do any more he wrapped his arms around her taking in her scent and her energy to calm his own nerves.
"I'm so sorry Natsume." She let out a quiet sob into his chest. "I'm so stupid. I never thought anyone would get hurt because of me. I was so certain I needed to do this and I just-"
"Shhh." His exterior may have been calm, but he was worried as hell about his sister and brother. Not to mention all of the people who supported him. They would all be safe if he just brought Mikan back to his grandfather, but the thought never even crossed his mind. As he had already acknowledged, he could never go back to his miserable life without her.
He held on to her for a moment longer then let her go. "Come on." He said, and she nodded while sniffling quietly.
"Alright, Tsubasa figures we can ferry any of the young children or anyone else who cannot fly. If you can find some sort of boat, we can pull it to wherever you want."
"That sounds great but you can't help." He told her while guiding her out of the clearing.
"No. This is my fault. I'm not going to hide when I can help fix it." She said stubbornly. It warmed him that she was willing to help.
"I was not talking about that. I mean that you and I are going to Hokkaido."
tbc
Another one down. You know I never would have thought this story would be as long as it is. There is still a heck of a lot of story left, and these chapters are getting trickier to write.