As Naru slept she dreamt of a silver haired boy that had saved her from her late guardian and his friends one night, and held her tightly in his arms trying to comfort her as she cried hysterically into the softness of his shirt. His small claw tipped fingers gently shifting through her hair, occasionally combing it back from her bruised and bleeding little tear streaked face.

His mis matched eyes filled with concern and anger and rage and some other things that gave her young savior a more predatory appearance than he should have had for one so young.

She dreamt of waking up in a massive bed in what looked like a castle full of treasure.

Of gold and silver and precious gems were scattered about the room. And her injuries- they had all but been healed so that she no longer felt more than a slight twinge of discomfort where she had been hurt by her guardian and his drunk friends.

She dreamt of an older, slightly softer eyed version of the silver haired boy.

Of a calm and yet gentle voice telling her that she was safe with him and his son. They'd not let anything more happen to her. Ever.

She dreamt of a flower garden with unnatural flowers. And a kiss containing an unspoken promise.

And then like all dreams, it all ended and she woke up with a start to find herself still in bed with her strange bed mate from the night before. The one who had saved her from her attacker and whispered to her, calling her his little love. The only difference between last night and now was that her bed mate was awake.

Probably had been for some time now, and she found herself staring into a pair of mis matched eyes that looked like they belonged to the boy from her dream.

He moved a little bit closer to her. So close in fact that his breath fanned her face as they seemed to both take their time studying each other before the man spoke. The tone of his voice was soft, husky- almost as if he were drowsy- and held a hint of something she couldn't place.

Something that she'd never had directed at her before.

"Are you alright?" She didn't answer. To be honest, she wasn't sure how to answer him at the moment. She wasn't even sure if her vocal chords were functioning at the moment. So she was unable to speak when he shifted so that he was raised up on his elbow, looming over her.

His long silver hair falling over his shoulders as he regarded her for a moment before reaching out with his other hand and brushing her baby soft hair back from her face so that he could get a better look at her in the light of day and felt as if the air was knocked out of his lungs when he did.

Gods, Naru had to be one of the most stunning women he had ever come across in his life! And that was with the injuries that she had sustained the night prior.

No wonder dad told me to find her and marry her. She'll make some lucky bastard an excellent wife and mother to their offspring, He thought as he practically gaped at her for a second before snapping his jaw shut. And then cleared his throat awkwardly and looked away for a moment before glancing back at her and asking, "Think you can hold down some food?" If she could, he'd go into the kitchen's and cook her breakfast himself. Even though he was raised to think that such a task was beneath him, he would do it.

For her.

As part of his courtship of her to show that he could provide for her. Among other things. He thought as he took her unnerving silence as a yes and silently slipped from his bed and took a moment to stretch his arms over his head and bite back a yawn before opening his eyes again and finding Naru was still staring at him.

Or rather she was staring at his skin tight clothing which he would admit, left little to the imagination. Human or otherwise. Frowning a little, Kakashi said. "You know, you're much quieter than you used to be when we first met."

But then it was probably the passage of time that had changed the little girl he had once known into the young woman she was now. Since time generally tended to mature the young. He saw a brief flicker of something in her eyes, a spark of recognition perhaps, upon hearing his words. But it was gone so quickly that he wasn't even sure it had really been there at all.

Sighing when she still refused to speak yet knowing that he had to hear her voice for him to begin imprinting on her, he turned his back on her so that she couldn't see his face and moved to stand before his dresser and grabbed a brush and a leather chord from it and began to brush and collect his long thick hair so that eh could put it up into a ponytail.

A habit he had begun in his teens when he became anxious or nervous since it calmed the fluttering feeling I his stomach. And once he had his hair completely detangled and collected in one hand at the desired place, he began to carefully wrap the chord around it until he had it as tight as he wanted and then could release his grip on it so that he could tie the chord into place with a nice firm pull as he said, "So- Breakfast. I'm thinking something along the lines of traditional. Eggs, sausage, biscuit, gravy and maybe a little bit of bacon with a side of fresh fruit. So how about it? Hungry?"

He hadn't bothered to turn back around to face her while he was listing the foods that he could fix for her since he was trying hard to mask his desperation. After what had happened last night, he needed to hear her voice. He needed to know that she was alright. Though perhaps it was a bit much to ask of her so soon after that particular attack. But his goblin side demanded to know the voice of his soon to be queen and mate and he was only following it's lead.

But only to an extent. Imprinting he could do. Courtship rituals, sure. No problem.

As long as none of them involved physical harm. Such as marking, which took place during a goblin's mating. It was the exchange of blood taken from several places on the body- some of which were terribly painful unless one's mate was distracted enough.

The nape.

The collar bone.

The chest/breast.

And of course the inner thigh (right where the groin is).

He would have to take blood from each of these places and she would have to do the same for them to truly mated in the goblin fashion since fae rarely, if ever, acknowledged marriage in the human fashion.

He heard the barest whisper of sound behind him and did his best not to suddenly wheel around with a goofy grin on his face when he finally heard her breathy voice, "Actually, I'm feeling kind of nauseous right now because my head hurts kind of bad. Think we can put off breakfast so I can rest some more?"

Not trusting himself to speak, much less look at her. He nodded his head and then quickly disappeared into his bathroom and got her some asprin and a small cup of water and then made his way back to the bed and would have given them to her, but she had already konked out on him and was asleep again.

Chuckling softly at her, he set the tablets and cup of water on one of the bedside tables for her to find later should she awaken and still be in discomfort and then leaned over her and kissed her temple and then whispered that he had some things to do and return to check on her in a little while, and then quietly left the bedroom and placed several spells around it once more to keep anyone but him from going in.

After all, it wouldn't do for his future queen to wind up like his poor mother had.