"Zero," I say as we walk down the dirt road that leads to town, "what are you going to do about Toga?"

Zero shakes his head. "You know as well as I do that I have to act like I don't care what Master thinks or says," Zero replies.

I sigh and look to the sky. "Yeah, I know." I giggle at the thought of how well Zero can act like he has the past few days.

"What's so funny?" Zero asks.

I turn my gaze to him and smile. "I really appreciate you acting your part as my boyfriend. You've saved my ass plenty of times all ready."

Zero laughs quickly, leaving a smirk on his face. "I'm glad you noticed. I'd hate to think you thought it was real."

As those words leave his lips and reach my ears, I can't help but frown. I can dream, can't I?

"I'm sorry about Kaname, Zero. I never realized that he was that jealous of Hanabusa. I wouldn't have accepted your offer if I had known that."

"So, you would have stayed with Hanabusa to make Kaname even madder?" Zero asks with a hint of humor in his voice.

"Yeah, pretty much," I say.

I don't know of anything to talk about, and Zero clearly isn't going to offer a subject, so the next fifteen minutes of our walk will go by in complete silence, I guess.

************Two minutes late************

"Zero, I'm boooooorrrrreeeeeddddd," I whine. I glance at him and notice a vein popping out of the side of his forehead.

"Can't you just stop talking?" Zero asks in an agitated tone.

"No," I say cheerily. I look to the forest just off the path and see a cute bunny. "BUNNY~!" I scream as I dash towards the forest to chase after the bunny. After a thirty-second high-speed chase, I catch the bunny and rub its little nose against mine. "You are soooo cute, yes you are~!" I squeal.

"Rose, stop chasing after animals!" I feel a hand hit the back of my head with an enormous amount of force causing me to let go of my bunny and to rush my now free hands to my head.

"Ow," I say, holding back tears as best as possible.

Zero steps in front of me (might I add towering over me). "What is your problem?" he asks cruelly.

I sniff as a few tears roll down my face. "It was a cute bunny, Zero. How could I not chase after it?"

Zero puts his forefinger and thumb on his nose and sighs. "You are hopeless. Even though vampires are after you, you continue to run off and get lost just because you saw something cute."

I blink away my tears and look around. "I got us lost again, didn't I?" I ask, realizing that we are in the middle of a very mysterious forest.

"Get up and lets go," Zero orders as he grabs my hair and pulls me off the ground. I yelp, but he ignores my cry of pain and drags me, his hand still clenched with a handful of my hair, through the forest.

"Zero!" I shout.

Suddenly crows cry out as they fly away, and I can't help but feel as though someone else is here with us.

"Rose," Zero says quietly as he lets go of my hair, "be still."

I stand as still as a statue, not wishing to anger Zero anymore. "What's wrong?" I ask in a whisper.

Zero puts a finger to his lips, signaling me to be quiet. Zero steps behind me, looking for something or someone.

"Shizuka!" Zero calls out. An echo of her name rings throughout the forest, sending chills down my spine. I turn around to look at Zero, hoping that he can protect me from her if she is here.

"Zero…" I mumble. He glances down at me cowering behind him, but quickly turns away when the sound of the rustling of leaves and twigs breaking is heard not to far in the distance. As I look at the ground where I'd heard the noise and see pale bare feet, my body becomes limp causing me to lean against Zero for support.

"Zero, Rose, what a lovely surprise," Shizuka says as she steps out of the shadows of the trees.

"Shizuka," Zero and I both say, except Zero's voice is filled with disgust.

"I never thought the two of you would have met so soon. I was expecting your meeting to be in a few more years." Shizuka's face has an awful grin plastered across it. "When Phoenix told me that the two of you were together, I had to come and see for myself what my beautiful work had turned out to be."

I grit my teeth. "Shizuka, how dare you!" I shout. I start to move away from Zero, but he holds his hand out.

"Rose, don't," Zero orders.

I push his hand away. Zero glares at me and I say, "I don't care what you say. She killed my father, Zero! And who knows what she did to my mother." A tear rolls down my cheek, followed by a few more.

"Oh, your mother," Shizuka says. "Do you want to know about your mother, Rose?" she asks tauntingly.

"NO!" Zero yells at her.

I slap Zero's arm. "Shut up Zero. I want to know where my mother is!"

"No you don't," Zero says. His eyes are that red color that I hate, which pisses me off worse than I already was.

"Zero, shut up and stay out of this! You don't know anything, and you even hate vampires, so why the hell are you acting like this?!" Zero doesn't respond. I turn my gaze back to Shizuka, waiting for an answer.

"Rose, I can fully agree with Zero that you might not want to know where your mother is," Shizuka says slowly.

"Tell. Me. NOW!" I scream.

A broader smile creeps across Shizuka's pale lips. "Rose, your mother is-"

BANG!

I turn around as a bullet flies by my head towards Shizuka, only to find Kaien and Toga standing behind us.

"Kaien," I say. "What the hell are you-" Zero quickly puts one hand over my mouth, using his other arm to wrap around my arms and carry me away from Shizuka. I try to wriggle my way free, but Zero's grip is just too much for me.

"Shizuka," Kaien says, "it is time you paid for the crimes you have committed."

As Zero stops behind Kaien and Toga, I see that Shizuka's face is twisted into a frown. "It isn't time yet," she says. She starts to retreat into the shadows, and I am trying to break free of Zero's hold so I can force her to tell me where my mother is and why she has done this to me, but Zero is a lot stronger than I thought.

Toga points his gun at her, making her stop in her tracks. "Don't think I am going to let you leave. Not after what you did to the Kiryu's. I won't allow it."

Kaien glares at Toga for a moment, but changes his now soft gaze to me. "Rose, I'm sorry I've had to put you in this position, but I had no choice." Zero loosens his grip on me a little. I look into Kaien's eyes and see how sad they are. "I hate to be the one to admit this, but there are things that are going to affect your life if we don't do something now."

Kaien looks away from me, but before he does I notice his eyes are watery, as if this is something he never wanted to do. I close my eyes because I don't want to remember any of this. I don't want to know what is going to happen, and I'm scared. If something bad happens because they tried to kill Shizuka, I'll never be able to live with myself. Especially if something happened to Zero…

"Shizuka," Zero says, breaking me from my trance, "are you ready to explain why you did this to Rose and me?"

I hear a soft laugh. "If I told you, Zero, I'd have to kill you all now. But I have other plans, and you both aren't ready yet."

"What the hell does that mean?!" Zero shouts at her.

"When the moon is full and the cat has had its milk, then the cat will sleep and the mouse that was hidden will be free," Shizuka says.

I hear footsteps walking away followed by Zero dropping me to the ground, leaving me with a mouthful of dirt and leaves. All I can tell is that Zero is yelling at Shizuka, along with Toga, but I can't tell what about. My eyes are still shut, and my hearing slightly deafened, and I plan to keep it that way.

"Rose," a voice says in my ear. I jump at the sudden sound of Kaien's words, but I feel his hand on my back telling me that I'm OK. "Keep your eyes closed and don't listen to anything other than my voice. I am going to get you out of here and back to the school."

"What about the others," I mumble.

Kaien helps me stand and pushes on my back getting me to walk in whatever direction it is. "They are going after her. They will be alright."

After a little while of walking with my eyes closed, which is not as fun as it might seem, I decide that it is time to open them. "Can I open my eyes now?" I ask.

"Oh, I forgot. Yes, you can open your eyes," Kaien says sweetly.

I open them and notice that we are on a dirt road, but not the one that Zero and I were on earlier. I look beside me at Kaien. "Where are we?" I ask.

Kaien looks at me and smiles. "I thought, since you were already out this far, that you might want to see your father's grave," Kaien says.

"My father's grave?" I ask.

Kaien nods his head. "I thought you might like to see it."

I smile a little. "What was he like?" I ask.

"Oh, he was the kind of guy that hardly ever argued with anyone. He was nice to complete strangers and always helped people, whether they were a vampire or human."

"So, he was a lot like you," I say trying to picture him in my head.

Kaien laughs. "No, I am like him. I wish you could have known your father. He was an inspiration to the people around him."

I sigh. "Then why did Shizuka kill him?" I ask.

Kaien's smile fades, leaving him with a sickly expression. "That was what I was hoping to find out. But before Toga or I could do anything, she ran off." I stop walking. When Kaien notices, he stops in front of me and crosses his arms. "What's wrong now?"

"Where is my mother?" I ask him, my fists clenched tightly. "I know you know."

"What makes you think I know?" Kaien asks. If he is lying, he is extremely good at it.

"Because Zero told me that I didn't want to know where she was, which can only mean that you or Toga know." I glare at him because I am sick of being treated like a little helpless child. "I want and answer now!" I order.

Kaien sighs and turns around. "Let's keep walking, and I'll tell you."

I start walking beside him, waiting for the information to seep out of his lips.

"Rose, there is a reason I haven't told you things. I… I wasn't sure, and I'm still not, if it is something you can handle." Kaien looks down at me, his eyes sad once more.

"Why?" I ask. "Is it that horrible that I shouldn't know?"

"No, you have every right to know. I just wanted to save you any pain that it might cause you." Taking all of this in, I look up ahead and see a fence. As we get closer, I can tell that it is the graveyard that my father is buried at. Trying to hide tears away was never my stronghold, and there is no hiding it now. "Rose, go on ahead. I'll catch up."

With that, I rush off in to the many rows of grave stones all in very symmetrical lines. I come to a stop when I notice a gravestone with an angel perched on top surrounded by flowers. I walk over to it and read the name on it. Tears start to form in my eyes again, flowing like waterfalls down my face. A hand appears on my shoulder.

"Rose, I'm sorry," Kaien says. "I don't know how much it must hurt, but I am here if you-" Before he finishes, I turn around and bury my face in his chest and cry. I feel Kaien wrap his arms around me, much like a parent would do.

"It'll be alright, Rose. I promise. Your father knew this would happen, so he asked me to take care of you when it did. I knew that it would be nearly impossible for me to care for you, so I sent you to live with the vampire hunter family you lived with. Sky was there too, but I know now that Shizuka destroyed both of your memories. I am here to take care of you, now. I won't let Shizuka get any of you kids."

"Thank you," I say. "But why didn't you tell me?" I ask. I pull away from him enough to look him in the eyes.

"Your father asked me not to until I thought you were ready," Kaien says. He lets go of me and I turn back to my father's grave. The words on it say:

Loving father and husband

Pierre Jody Hio

I shudder at the thought that my father, the man who Kaien praises as a pacifist, was married to Shizuka Hio, who is my mother.

"Rose, I am sorry," Kaien says. He places his hand on my shoulder again. "Let's go home."

I nod and walk away from the grave of my father's. We walk back to the school not saying a word. There isn't anything to say, really. Nothing at all.

Kaien walks through the gates first and I follow. I don't want anyone to see me right now. I don't feel like talking. Kaien guides me to my room that I share with Zero, offering to stay and get me stuff, but I tell him to leave because I just want to be alone. I flop back on the bed and look at the ceiling. Why is she my mother and why did she kill my father? What the hell has she got in store for me? I hear the door open and I sit up. "Yuki," I say softly as Yuki walks in to the room.

"Hey, how are you?" Yuki asks as she shuts the door.

"I've been far better," I say. I pat the bed silently showing her that she can sit down. She walks over and hops down on the bed, wrapping me in a hug.

"It'll be OK, Rose. Headmaster is a good person. He won't let you get hurt. Especially since Shizuka took his best friend away and is threatening to take two of his favorite kids away as well." I look at Yuki with a confused face, but all she does is smile.

"Did he tell you?" I ask.

Yuki nods. "Yes, he told me. But even if headmaster can't protect you, you've still got Zero and me. Oh! And Kaname, too."

I glare at her. "No. Kaname stays out of this. I don't want anything to do with him," I say angrily.

Yuki turns pale. I must have spoken harsher than I meant to. "But why?" she asks.

I shake my head. "No, you don't need to know. This is between the Kaname and me."

Yuki lets go of me and looks me in the eyes. "You can tell me. I promise I won't tell."

I sigh, realizing that she won't let it go. "A few years ago, when I still lived in his home, Kaname told me he loved me. I ran away, for more than just that one reason, and never saw him again until now. Now he told me he still loves me, but because Zero and I are together, they both have to prove their love to me and in a month I have to choose one of them. And all of that is piling up with Shizuka." I let a tear fall. "Yuki, what am I going to do?"

Yuki smiles at me and tilts her head. "You are going to be strong and rely on others to help you. That is exactly what you are going to do."

I smile and nod my head. Yuki wipes the tears away with a bright smile on her face. But somehow, Yuki, you are mixed in all of this as well. But I don't know how yet.

"Thank you, Yuki. I needed that," I say as she pulls her hand away from my face.

"Your welcome. Now all we have to do is get you through this month and you'll be fine." Yuki stands up and holds her hand out to me. "Now, let's get you some food. You look hungry."

All of a sudden my stomach growls loudly, causing the both of us to laugh. "I guess I am hungry," I say as I take Yuki's hand. "Let's get something to eat."

"To the cafeteria we go!" Yuki shouts. She opens the door and we begin our walk to the cafeteria.

Soooo sorry I haven't updated in a long time. All of my teachers decided to give lots of homework. Homework is a pain. Especially when all I want to do is write, and I can't get it done. But I got this chapter done. So, do you like it?! Was it a total shocker, or did you already figure it out? I mean, Hio, Ioh, I tried giving hints as to the relationship, but I don't know if anyone got it or not. And I promise there are plenty of other surprises. And Zero has been acting this whole time. I had to make it seem as though he really felt that way about Rose/Yume or it wouldn't have worked out the way that I wanted it to. Oh! And never follow bunnies in to unknown territory. You never know if Shizuka is waiting for you there. Or it could even be Kaien! LOL! Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. Thanks for reading, please continue to read, and, if you have time, leave a review. Bye until the next chapter!