So here we are still stuck in this dang forest. We had no idea as to where we were going or if anyone had made it back to the academy. We just kept traveling in what we hoped was south; because that's the direction the academy was in.

After about three more weeks Zero was completely healed, so he had gotten rid of the mutilated shirt that had served as bandages, which I didn't mind at all. Unfortunately, despite attempting to clean ourselves in the stream that we just so happen to be following we both looked like messes of humans. We were also pretty much living together a fact that kept popping up in my mind more and more frequently as the time went by.

I kept noticing that recently, I was getting to know Zero. He's opened up to me a lot and I had talked more to him than I had ever talked to anyone in the past year. Which is saying a lot. I also noticed a change in the way he looked at me. My uncle had said he was good at hiding his emotions but apparently Zero was getting out of practice. When he looked at me, it was subtle, but his eyes would soften, just like Adrian's used to.

I hardly thought about Adrian anymore. He was just somewhere that I've been and will never look back to.

It's getting harder and harder to hide my feelings for Zero. I love him, a lot, but I'm too afraid of being pushed away and ruining the friendship we've somehow managed to develop. However, one day it all came out into the open.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" I asked for about the 100th in the past three weeks.

"Yes, Anna," Zero said. He sounded annoyed, but he was smiling. After about another hour of walking, suddenly the top of the tallest point of the Academy was visible over the top of the trees.

"Oh my gosh!" I shouted. I was purely astonished let me tell you.

"Told you we were going the right way," Zero said. I grinned at him, and then frowned. He seemed… off.

Suddenly he reached out and grabbed my wrists, pushing me up against the trunk of a nearby tree. He wrapped one arm around my waist. His free hand reached up and cupped my face. He had an intense expression on his face. I just about to ask him what was wrong when he kissed me.

I have to tell you my mind went totally and completely blank. When I kissed him back it was complete reflex. However, when my brain started sluggishly working again we were still kissing. I was completely enjoying it. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me.

Suddenly he pulled away. I was feeling really confused when suddenly he hugged me. He buried his face in my neck.

"Anna…"

I wrapped my arms around him, "Yes?" I asked.

" I… I'm sorry," He said.

Suddenly I felt something sharp pierce my neck. I heard sucking noises and put two and two together. Yet, it didn't bother me that Zero was a vampire. I was perfectly happy just holding him.

Just when I started to feel a little faint he pulled away. His hands were on my shoulders, holding me away from him at arms length.

"You didn't say anything," he commented. He wiped his mouth on his already gross jacket. I just stared at him.

"It doesn't bother you that I'm a vampire?" he asked. I shook my head, and kissed him. He hesitated, and then kissed me back. We stayed that way for what fell like eternity.

"Anna? Zero?" it was the Headmaster's voice.

We jerked apart, but Zero wrapped his arms around me. I smiled and laid my hands on his chest. It was like a movie.

The Headmaster had somehow managed to force his way through the underbrush using his Hunter's sword like a machete. When he saw us his worried face was suddenly filled with relief.

"Thank heavens. I was starting to think that I'd never find you," he said. The other kids came back with some wild story about Sensei and some other kids getting killed by some animal. I was hoping that that wasn't true."

"Unfortunately, it is true. Sensei and about ten other kids were killed while Anna and I were looking for food. But," Zero lowered his voice and tightened his grip on me, like he was protecting me, " they weren't killed by an animal. It was a level E."

The Headmaster's face was suddenly dark, "and you probably killed it didn't you."

"I did," I chimed in, "because Mr. Macho here nearly got himself killed trying to kill him." I squeezed Zero and met his loving yet annoyed look with an expression of pure innocence. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my uncle smile knowingly. Whatever that meant.

"Come on, lets get you too inside," the Headmaster smiled.

"Yes! Civilization!" I said happily. When the Headmaster turned his back on us, Zero dipped down and kissed me again.

I couldn't have been any happier.