Heat

o_o Chapter TEN! WOO-HOO! I think this is cause for a celebration!

**mixes up a few litres worth of Gamer's Crack and prepares for a
looooooooooooong night of typing** Mwahaha....**downs an entire Pixi-
stick without stopping, then begins to type**

Anyway....**whistles** I'm not actually doing that...I'm actually
planning the sequel to this story! o_o I know! The sequel already!

R+R ^_^. I'll make it worthwhile, I promise! ^_^

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~*Heat*~

~Chapter Ten: Found...and Lost

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I've got him!" Kakyuu cried. "I know where he is! Come on, Seiya!
We need to help them!"

"I'm coming, Kakyuu-chan." Seiya hobbled over to her, feeling like an
old man needing a cane. Not the greatest feeling for a strapping
seventeen year-old(*). After pouring most of his strength into the bonds
holding him to Kakyuu and Taiki, he felt like he needed to lie down
and sleep for ten years or so. Kakyuu giggled a little when she saw him
hobbling towards her. "You sure you're feeling up to this?"

"Not really." He grimaced. "But I'll use some borrowed strength for the
time being." She watched as a small blue star blazed on his forehead: he
was calling on his guardian deity(**) to lend him some strength. The star
faded, he straightened. "That's better." He sighed. "I feel 17 again
and not 70."

Kakyuu giggled again, taking his hands. "Come on." She urged him. "We
need to hurry!"

"I'm going, I'm going."

~*~*~*~

Taiki felt like he was pressed into a corner. He had Yaten at his back,
watching out for him, just like he was watching out for her. The young
woman who claimed to be Chaos was in front of him, watching him like a
panther. The psychopath from the conference...Moreas...he'd heard Chaos
mention his name a few times...was behind him, watching Yaten in the
same manner. He felt her trembling slightly, but forced himself not to
react. If he did, he knew she'd be used against him, and maybe he might
even be used against her. He couldn't let that happen.

Suddenly, he heard her shriek and felt her being wrenched away from his
back. He whirled, standing perpendicular to both Chaos and Moreas. He
was going to insist they don't hurt her, but it was too late: She had
already been flung into the wall, and was now literally sliding
down it. Her feet hit the ground, and her body collapsed forward,
hitting the ground with a dull thud.

Intense pain suddenly shot up through his torso. It was as if someone
had lit him on fire. He collapsed to his knees, the fiery pain almost
unbearable. If he screamed, he didn't know. The crippling agony faded
slowly to a dull ache, then to the mildest of cramps, before
disappearing entirely. He was so focused on those moments of little or
no pain that he barely heard Chaos's screaming.

"You IDIOT! You COMPLETELY disobeyed me! You KNOW what happens to
servants who DISOBEY, RIGHT?!"

"I...I'm sorry, my Lady...I'll never do it again." Moreas had been
reduced to a grub. He crawled towards her, begging forgiveness.

"You're FUCKING right about that, you INSOLENT TOAD! BLACK
DAMNATION!"

"No...No, my Lady, please! No! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

Taiki raised his head, looking around, as he heard Moreas's echoing
screams. He couldn't see the plum-haired man, though. He COULD see
blurry forms moving towards him: one mostly red, the other black and
blue. And Yaten's prone form, across the room from where he was.

"Taiki? You okay?"

"Seiya?" Taiki looked up, watching his friend's face come into focus.
"Where...Where did Chaos go?"

"Chaos?!" Kakyuu cried, whirling towards him. Taiki nodded, still
slightly dizzy from pain. "Chaos...w-was here...She...she left...
must have...is...is Yaten...okay?"

The redhead kneeled down beside Yaten, took her pulse and checked her
breathing. "She's okay, I think. Just unconscious. I think she took a
bad blow to the face..."

"Face?" Taiki groped around for his glasses, found them, and put them
back on. Great. Now he could see...somewhat...clearly again. His eyes
were fine while transformed, but years of reading at night in little or
no light had taken their toll on his normal sight. He struggled to his
feet and made his way over to Yaten and kneeled, gently cupping her
face.

She stirred and moaned. Her eyes opened slowly, a little at a time. They
were slightly unfocused when they first opened, but they soon returned
to normal. "G...guys? Taiki? Seiya? Princess...what...what happened?"
She managed to turn herself onto her back and raise her head, but
nothing more. She let her head fall back again, trying to save her
strength.

Taiki gently slipped his arm under her shoulders and helped her sit up.
"You...you okay?" He asked. She nodded. "I...I...I think..."

The auburn-haired teen sighed in relief, but then jumped two seconds
later when Yaten screamed. He took her by the shoulders, as firmly as
he dared. "What?? What is it??"

"Gods...Pain...my...my belly...it hurts...so much...not right..." Yaten
managed to gasp out scattered words in between cries of pain. She dug
her nails into his shoulders and screamed again and again.

She suddenly stopped screaming. He heard her gasp for breath, felt her
shoulders heave as if she were sobbing. He couldn't understand what
had happened. Everything in his world was spinning at far too great a
speed for him to comprehend.

Her breath sobbed out once or twice. She was shaking violently now, as
if trying to break out of his hold. He let her go, but kept a hand on
her shoulder to let her know he was there. She brushed it away, almost
angrily.

Realizing she didn't want him at the moment, he backed away. Kakyuu
swooped in, unhindered by Yaten, and calmly asked her what was wrong.
Yaten muttered something, tears streaming down her face. Her face
contorted, then was covered by her hands as she screamed in anguish
again and again, the period in-between screams filled with sobbing.

"Princess?" Taiki's eyes met Kakyuu's. She looked away, then tugged on
the taller teen's shoulder to pull him away. He followed reluctantly.

"Taiki...she didn't want me to tell you...but I thought you had the
right to know..."

"Know what?" His heart had jumped up to meet his voice box, and was
now strangling every breath he took. Kakyuu opened her mouth, but
nothing came out.

"What is it?" He didn't know if he wanted to know, but he was going to
know anyway. Kakyuu swallowed, then looked up at him, tears in her eyes.

"Taiki...she lost the baby."

The violent rotations his world had been doing? Not anymore. It was as
if time froze around him.

"W...what?" He felt a sickening lurch. "Wha....what do you m-mean...
sh-she lost the baby?"

Kakyuu was nearly crying herself now. First Yaten's violent
unacceptance, now this. She couldn't take it much longer. "You..You
know what I mean, Taiki." Her lip quivered, and she turned and hurried
away.

The auburn-haired teen collapsed to his knees. His eyes burned from
holding back tears, but he couldn't cry. Not now. He needed to get to
Yaten...help her...he could wait until later...

No wonder she'd been screaming. She must have realized what happened,
and just been horrified. His traitorous mind drew up a picture of the
half-formed child, suddenly closing her eyes, stilling...

He covered his face, trying to block out that image. No. He couldn't
think about that now. He had to help Yaten. His hands slipped to his
cheeks to find patches of wetness on each of them. Pulling his fingers
away, he noticed they were wet. But...he wasn't crying...was he?

He rubbed at his eyes with his sleeve. It didn't matter. Right now, he
had to get to Yaten. He had to make sure she was okay...that she knew
that he still loved her...no matter what.

Taiki made his way over to the still-screaming Yaten. It was as if she
was either trying to deafen herself, or that she wouldn't stop until
she was hoarse. Or maybe she just couldn't stop. Didn't matter, he had
to help...somehow...

He sat in front of her and held her shoulders gently. Her screams grew
louder, higher-pitched, and she thrashed in his grip. "LET ME GO! LET
ME GO!" She screamed, over and over. He instantly did so and backed
away, eyes wide with hurt. "Yaten?" He heard his voice come out as a
whimper.

"LEAVE ME ALONE! GODS, PLEASE! JUST LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!" She
shrieked. She bent over, her face buried in her hands. "Please..." She
whispered hoarsely. "Please just leave me alone..."

Seiya caught her as she collapsed forward, spent. She didn't even
protest to him picking her up. She was exhausted, emotionally,
spiritually, completely.

Kakyuu gently put a hand on Taiki's shoulder. He flinched, as if
expecting a beating. When he got the courage to look at her, she gave
him the warmest smile she could muster.

"Princess..." He knew she wasn't 'Princess' anymore, but he didn't know
what else to call her now. "Why does she hate me?" His voice came out
far meeker than normal.

The smile dropped from her face, replaced by a look of sympathy.
"Taiki..." She began, gently ruffling his hair. "She doesn't hate you.
I don't think she could ever hate you. But she's gone through a terrible
loss...I don't know how long it's going to take her to heal. She's
confused, and scared, and upset right now, and she may say some things
she doesn't mean. Once she comes to her senses, she'll need you to help
her heal, but for right now, I think it would be better if you stayed
away from her."

He nodded, feeling tears well up in his eyes. Kakyuu hugged him, gently,
as his shoulders shook. He was trying to keep himself from breaking down
completely. She gave a half-hearted, wry smile. "Don't hold it in,
Taiki. It's not good for you." She murmured.

Suddenly, a cry broke the silence. Seiya looked rather harassed. "I
think we should get her to the palace's hospital wing." He called.
"I'm not quite sure what it is, but her abdominal muscles keep
twitching. I can feel it."

"Her body's rejecting the child. You're right...hurry! Get her there
quickly!" Kakyuu cried. Seiya nodded, closing his eyes and disappearing
with Yaten.

"Come on, Taiki...we have to go..." Kakyuu gently prodded the broken
teen, who raised his head. He swallowed and nodded. "Let's go."

They concentrated, and both felt a deep sense of relief when the stone
room faded around them. Bright light filtered into their senses, and
they opened their eyes to find themselves in a brightly lit room. Beds
lined the walls. Another piercing cry drew them to a room nearby, where
Yaten lay on the bed, her face pain-twisted. A gasp wracked her and she
straightened, her nails digging into the mattress.

Kakyuu slipped in and tugged Seiya away. He came rather reluctantly,
but agreed to stay out and let the doctors handle it. The two of them
sat together, each with their own worries and fears.

Taiki sat away from them, numb. He couldn't deal with this. He sat,
head in his hands, and tried not to think of what he and Yaten had
lost.

Another part of him scolded him for being so upset. They were still
young, both of them were only eighteen(*). They were far too young to be
having a child together anyway. They could wait a few years...
use protection in between, and try again...that is, if they were still
together by then.

Gods, could he even imagine a time when they weren't together?
Their relationship had started rather quickly, but he had come to really
love her. He couldn't imagine starting a day without waking up beside
her, kissing her and telling her he loved her. It just wasn't right
.

He hunched over, gripping his arms, feeling tears start to fall again.
He remembered that first day...when they first realized she was
pregnant. How scared they had been! They were afraid Seiya and Kakyuu
would find out. And now...now it was just...gone. His shoulders began to
shake again, and pretty soon he was crying silently. He didn't realize
his friends had noticed until Seiya put an arm around his shoulders. He
raised his head to look at the black-haired teen, then looked back down
at his knees.

"I...I'm sorry..." He murmured, "I...I just...I can't handle this on my
own."

"That's why you have us." Kakyuu replied, sitting on Taiki's other side.
"You don't need to handle this on your own. We'll help you two as
best as we can." She smiled warmly.

"Th-thank you...thank you both...so much..."

They heard the door creak open. A nurse stood there. "Excuse me..."

Taiki rubbed his eyes, drying them on his sleeve before looking up at
the nurse in the doorway. "Yes?"

"Are you her..." The young woman looked as if she really didn't
want to screw this up. "...boyfriend?"

Taiki smiled slightly, noticing the nurse's discomfort. "Yes, I am. Is
there something you need to tell me?"

"Your girlfriend is resting at the moment. She's fine..." The nurse's
smile faltered slightly, but then returned. "...physically, anyway.
Would you like to see her?"

"Please." He stood, wiping his eyes again as discreetly as possible
before following the nurse into the room. Yaten lay on her side on the
bed, wet tear-trails marking her cheeks. Her eyes were closed and her
breathing even, so far as he could tell. He slowly made his way over and
sat down in a chair beside the bed, reaching out to take and hold her
hand.

Her eyes fluttered open. She blinked almost blearily for a moment before
sitting up. Looking around the room, she looked through him a few times
before actually looking at him.

"T...Taiki?" She whispered, green eyes wide. He smiled slightly. "Hey
there, sweetheart. You feeling okay?"

Unfortunately, it must have been the wrong thing to say, for her eyes
filled with crystal tears. She shook her head, sending a wave through
her silver-blue hair. "No...I'm not."

He shifted to sit on the side of the bed, slipping his arms around her
shoulders. "Shhhh..." He murmured. "It's okay...everything's all
right..."

"No. Everything's not all right." She replied firmly, still
holding back her tears. They spilled over anyway when she closed her
eyes and continued, "Taiki...I lost her...I lost the baby..."

"I know..." He murmured. She pulled away, looking into his eyes with
a confused expression on her face. "You know? How?"

He shook his head and pulled her close. "Not right now..." He whispered.
"Just sit with me for a little while."

She did. She let her head fall onto his shoulder as she curled up in his
arms. And pretty soon, the tears came. They trickled down her face,
coming to a halt at the tip of her nose, or her chin, or pooled in the
dip between her lips. He slowly rocked her back and forth, raising one
hand to brush away a tear or two every once in a while.

He tipped his head slightly and pressed his lips to her head, running
his fingers through her hair at the same time. He had no idea what it
was with Kinmokuan women...they all seemed to like having their
hair played with. Within a few minutes she was calm, in an almost
trance-like state. Her eyes were open mere slits, a ray of green under
a pale peach eyelid. She didn't mind this state, not when he had sworn
that he would never abuse it, but every once in a while it left
her a little uncomfortable, that something so simple as someone playing
with or brushing her hair could leave her so vulnerable.

Her mind was relatively blank, one of the things she loved about the
place she went to whenever someone (especially Taiki, she'd found)
played with or brushed her hair. No dratted undertone of buzz from
whatever psychic abilities she had, no loose thoughts filtering in.
Just a pure, drifting whiteness...

~*~*~*~

He looked down and noticed she was asleep again. Smiling softly, he
untangled his fingers from her hair and gently slipped her out of his
embrace. She moaned softly as he lowered her gently back onto the bed,
but didn't wake. Good. She needed rest. Taiki kissed her forehead
gently before standing to go. She was in the Palace, relatively nearby.
It wasn't as if he wasn't going to see her until she got released.

He slipped out of the room, shutting the door behind himself. Seiya and
Kakyuu stood. "Hey...she okay?"

"I think so...she is now, anyway." Taiki sighed, moving over to the
chairs and sitting down. "She's asleep now."

"That's good." Seiya nodded. "I'm sure she needed the rest. So do
you, by the way. You should go back to your rooms."

"I will, I will..." He waved one hand dismissively.

"Seiya and I will be here to watch over her when you can't be." Kakyuu
smiled. "Now go. Seiya's right, you look like you need at least one good
night's sleep."

Without another word, Taiki turned to leave. They were right, he was
tired. And he was most likely a mess. He needed a hot shower and a
long, deep, preferably dreamless sleep. He made his way back to his
apartments in a daze, forgetting about a shower, and staggered to the
bed, completely worn out. He was asleep as soon as his head hit the
pillow.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Aww, poor Taiki. And Yaten. Can you imagine? Hehe...no wonder they're
mad at me at the moment...hehehe...but I didn't want to do the whole
birth scene, especially considering I've never witnessed a birth in my
life and had no clue how to write it without turning into a two-
paragraph thing. Yeah. Not good.

So, for all who were really looking forward to it, I am sorry. But don't
worry...these two have much more of a future. Including next chapter.
I'll see you all then! ^.~

And please, remember Kinmokuan physiology isn't exactly like ours. Their
bodies don't work in exactly the same ways ours do ^.~

(*) In Earth time, this chapter takes place about June - Early July.
That means both Taiki and Yaten have had their birthdays, but Seiya
hasn't yet. Poor guy. **snicker**

(**) Don't ask. I don't know exactly who his 'guardian diety' is,
probably some Kinmokuan god(dess) of death or destruction. Seiya's just
not telling me if the others can call on their own patron gods or
goddesses, or even if they have patrons. So just don't ask.

Please, please, please R+R!