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Do you love me?	By : Lisachan Category: Rurouni Kenshin > General Views: 3406 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
Hello again. Thank you Yue for the review. I know it�s
freaky, but that�s why I chose fantasy as the main genre. Believe me, it will
get freakier.

We have taken a leap in time. Tsubame and Yahiko are both 18 years old now and
crazy in love. But will it stay that way?

Have fun reading and if you think it�s good, please let me know. /p>

Chapter 1: Seek and you will find?

Although it was in the middle of the day, still it was
kind of dark in the forest. The leafs of the dense tops of the trees held back
almost every ray of sunlight.

But between the trees and branches, you could still see
a ray of light shooting trough the darkness. However, it was no light of the
sun. No, it was very bright with a bluish gloss.

Let's take a closer look.

A woman, very slender, on the back of a wonderful
butterfly. She had raven-black hair with that same blue shine, tied together in
a high ponytail with a green ribbon. What she was wearing was kind of
complicated to describe. But okay, here goes. To start, she was all dressed in
green. A green dress, short at the front, gradually getting longer, and at the
back ending in a tip. On her shoulder she had two tiny straps, subtly decorated
with fringes. On her hands she wore long, pastel green gloves. To continue, she
also wore elegant boots, neatly laced up until her knees. On her ears she wore
earrings, green little emeralds, square-shaped. Finally her neck was decorated
with a necklace of beads, made out of the same precious stone, with in the
middle the same square.

On her back she wore little wings. Delicate,
transparent and, yes, with that same bluish gloss.

Her beautiful blue eyes seemed to be looking for
something. With a penetrating gaze she absorbed everything her butterfly
brought her to.

"Still nothing," she sighed. "We have
to find him, Onyva."

A loud, manly voice, coming from somewhere below her,
startled her and made her turn her head. "Kaoru!" the voice hollered
through the forest.

sty style='margin-top:0cm'>She gasped. That voice. She knew that voice. The
herald of bad news. At once her heatarttarted beating faster.

"Don't think I haven't seen you!" the voice
yelled.

She looked back in front of her and narrowed her eyes
in anxiety, focusing on a way to get away from him. Them. If he knew him, he
had brought henchmen too. "No, not again. Not now." She spurred her
little mount. "Quicker, Onyva. We can't let them have us. There's to much
at stake."

"Just give it up, Kaoru!" she heard the
voice echoing again. "You're surrounded. You have now way to go!"

Just like she thought, they were everywhere.

Give it up? That's what you think! I'm looking for the
one thing that has to guarantee our existence and I'll give up. You'll have to
do better than that, she thought.

"Onyva, fly high. As high as you can," she
said, giving a little tap on the back of her butterfly. "Those foolish
goblins think they can catch us? They're underestimating us, right Onyva? Go on
now!"

Her mount obeyed her, and off she was, leaving behind
her a bunch of furiously yelling goblins.

**********

"Where is mother?" A spunky girl came out of
her room, in the early morning. A tree in fact. They all lived in trees. It was
Rikai, a young girl, almost 18 years old. She had blond hair, tied up in two
braids. She wore a simple dress in the same shade of green as her mother's
clothes.

"She's not back yet?" Jova, one of her
friends, asked.

Rikai gave a sigh and lowered her eyes. "No,
she's not. I'm very worried. Shouldn't we go find her?" she said.

Jova lay her hand on the girl's shoulder and softly
shook her head. "But in the mean time she could return, Rikai."

"Something must've happened..." she sighed.
Her presentiment was confirmed when her mother suddenly came rushing in,
obviously very panicked, even a little bit exhausted she thought so.

"It were those damn goblins again," she
panted. "They really would do everything to change things to their
advantage. This time they even tried to capture me."

Rikai had feared for this. "This just had to
happen someday." She sat down, not knowing what to do. "They'll never
change, those goblins," she sighed. "But what are we gonna do about
it?"

"Well, I guess there's not really all that much
we can do about this," Kaoru said. "We'll just have to keep our eyes
open."

Jova looked up in the sky. "Hm... I can
understand them, though," she said softly.

"Say, on who's side are you anyway?" Rikai
yelled to the girl.

"Rikai, calm down," her mother soothed her.
"She's right. I wouldn't want to be in their place too. It must be pretty
annoying to know that we bring nice dreams to the people and they only get to
bring them nightmares."

Rikai grunted and folded her arms in front of her
chest. "Still, that's no reason to do such things."

Kaoru sighed. "Now now, let�s keep our minds on
the main problem." She looked her daughter in the eyes with a serious
look. "I still haven't found him."

Worry was readable in Rikai�s cerulean eyes. "Mother,
we've been looking everywhere. We're running out of time," she said. This
was definitely not good.

"I know, Rikai," she sighed.
"Maybe..." She looked down. "Maybe Tsubame can help us. She
likes fairies, doesn't she?"

She hadn't thought about that yet. Tsubame. Tsubame,
that girl in who�s backyard they were all living. They knew she was very fond
of fairies. Yeah, that just might do it. "Yes! She'll love to be a fairy
herself!" she cheered. In a fluent swoop she grabbed Jova by her wrist and
dragged her with her. "Come on! Let's go find her!"

**********

"Mother!" Tsubame yelled cheerfully.
"I'm gonna take Dotty for a little walk!"

Dotty was her dog. A chow-chow. She always found those
dogs very special, with their blue tongue. She cared about her very much.

Her mother, who was just cleaning the bathroom, stuck
her head through the crack of the dood fld flashed her a smile.
"Alright!" she yelled back. �Be back in time for lunch, okay?�

�Okay!�

As she walked along the street, she was wondering.
What would she do today? Maybe she could trim the roses. About time they got a
good trimming bout. It was almost a wilderness in her backyard. Ugh, that
stupid spring-cleaning her mother involved her in. In late-summer. Where was
the logic in that? She didn't have any time to upkeep the garden nowadays.

She shook her head and gave a little sigh. Suddenly a
voice startled her from her thoughts.

"Hey, Tsubame!" it yelled behind her back.

She looked behind. That voice she knew all too well.
Only to hear it made her heart jump up in her chest. It was her oh so
good-looking boyfriend.

"Yahiko!" she yelled elated.

"Hello Tsubame. How are you?" he smiled
brightly, putting his arm around her shoulder. He was wearing a white shirt and
tight blue jeans.

"I'm fine. And you?" Tsubame asked as she
mirrored his gesture by putting her own arm around his waist.

"Couldn't be better," he said, while he
popped something out of his pocket. "Got something for ya."

"Oh yeah? What is it?" she asked curiously.
It was a little rectangular box. He opened it for her and she looked down a
gold necklace with a little fairy hanging on it. "Oh, that's so
cute!" she exclaimed. �Is that for me?�

�Yeah, it's already for your 18th birthday
tomorrow."

�Oh, couldn�t wait, could ya?� she grinned.

�The surprise is only bigger now that you hadn�t
expected it, right?�

�That�s right,� she smiled while she turned around for
him to fasten the necklace. "And you came all the way down here just to
give me that?"

�Well, that�s just how much I love you, sweetie. Besides,
I wanted to go for a little walk myself.�

"k yok you very much, love." She gave him a
little kiss on the cheek.

Suddenly something drew her attention, between the
trees. Little animals with very big wings. "Hey, look over there!
Dragonflies," she yelled happily. She loved those little creatures. They
reminded her of fairies.

Oh, if she only knew.

"Tsubame!" a girlish voice hollered. It were
Rikai and Jova.

"She can't hear us, Jova," Rikai sighed.
"She thinks we're dragonflies." She cast down her eyes and gave a
worried grunt. "Now what?"

Jova was lost in thoughts, and suddenly a splendid
idea popped into her head. "Well, our voice seems to be too silent. But
maybe we should call together, with all the fairies at the same time. That will
be much louder and she will surely hear that."

"Yes, maybe," Rikai said hopefully. It was
only as simple as that, but maybe it could work. She turned around. "Come
on, let's go back." She glanced at Yahiko. "Besides, it's better that
her boyfriend's not with her when she's transported from her world to
ours."

Yahiko�s thoughts drifted away. He was thinking about
his Tsubame, walking right next to him. How long did he know her now? As far as
he knew, all of his life. And never they�d really had a serious fight. Lucky
fact that they were neighbours, so they could spend tons of time together. He
loved her so much, his chibi Tsubame. He gave a little, inward chuckle. She
hated it when he called her that.

His gaze hovered to his right side, where she was
sauntering, almost hanging on his arm. And there she was, her eyes fixed on
that particular part of his head again. He smiled amused. "Are you looking
at my ear again?" he said, laughing.

She quickly looked away and giggled. "I can't
help it. They look so weird, so... pointed."

"Well yeah," he said shrugging. "I was
born like that. Can't cut it off, can I?"

Tsubame rolled her eyes. "You know, it's not like
it bothers me. It makes you special. My special little guy," she said. A
private joke crawled into her heart and she couldn't stop a naughty grin from
crossing her lips again. "Hmm, tomorrow's also your 18th birthday,
right?" Her head moved a little closer to his. "Calls for a
celebration, doesn't it?" she whispered in his ear. "Let's make
tonight a special night, okay?" Very soon her lips had caught his little
earlobe and her hand was on a place it wasn't supposed to be right now, a few
fingers under the waistband of his jeans.

"Tsubame, stop that! You know that's my weak
point!" he spluttered, trying to wriggle free. The boy was so embarrassed.
His cheeks inevitably reddened. Something was happening. Something very
uncomfortable. What was she thinking to do that here and now? She knew what it
caused to him when she was messing around with his ears. "We're in public!"
he yelped desperately, trying to hide the natural reaction on her sensual
gesture.

"Come on now, honey. It's only a joke," she
cajoled, not really making a big deal out of it.

"A joke? Maybe to you it is," he yammered,
still blushing. Great choice of clothing too. His jeans made it painfully
obvious.

Embarrassing as it was, as he stood there like that,
he all at once had to think back at the first time she unintentionally had
provoked that kind of reaction by him. He could still remember it like it was
yesterday, although it was already 5 years ago.

~Flashback~

It was a sunny day. They had decided to take the
horses out and go horseback riding in the forest on their favourite horses,
just the two of them. The typical summer-sounds, such as chirping from the
birds and buzzing from some bees accompanied them along their way. They were
going at walking pace, pleasantly chattering among each other, and the brightly
shining sun only added to their good mood.

As they advanced, they arrived at a quiet little place
with a lake. When the horses heard the rippling of the water, they pricked up
their ears and swiftly neighed. They were thirsty.

Complying with the silent wish of the animals, Yahiko
and Tsubame dismounted and lead them to the water to let them quench their
thirst. Idly Yahiko eyed the girl next to him. The girl he loved, but who he
didn't quite allow himself to call his girlfriend yet. Her lips were curled
into a dreamy, enchanted smile and her gaze rested upon the water surface.

"What are you thinking of?" Yahiko asked.

Tsubame gasped and looked at him. "Oh, nothing
special," she laughed nervously. "Just... Don't you think it's weird
that our birthday is on exactly the same day, and that we have exactly the same
age? Almost like we�re twins. I mean� isn�t there more to this? I really think
it�s strange."

He smiled slightly and rubbed her head with his hand.
"You shouldn't worry so much, Tsubame. It's just a coincidence. Just like
it is a lucky coincidence we have met each other," he said softly.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she said
absent-minded, pretending she was paying close attention to his words, but
actually paying more attention to his pretty, sparkling eyes.

Suddenly they were both startled by the alarmed
neighing of the horses. They jerked their heads to the animals. Something
must've frightened them, for they were very nervous, and Yahiko's stallion was
even rearing. They both rushed to the scared horses and tried to calm them
down.

"Easy boy, it's alright now," Yahiko yelled,
trying to grab the rein. But the horse wouldn't let itself soothe that easily.
It gave a frantic shake with its head, causing the rein to glance off against
Yahiko's ear.

"Au! Dammit, that hurt," he cursed.

"Yahiko, hold on. I'll help you," Tsubame
said. As fast as she could, she tied her own, obviously less startled horse to
a tree, so she could join Yahiko at the other side of the horse, and together
they managed to get a hold on it. When it was tied next to Tsubame's mare, the
girl looked at him. "Yahiko, you're bleeding," she said worriedly.

"Oh, don't mind that, Tsubame. It's not
bad," Yahiko said with a declining gesture of his hand.

"Of course it is," she said, grabbing his
hand and pulling him with her. "Come on, I'll take care of it."

Reluctantly he followed her. He just knew arguing with
her would bring him nowhere, she would have it her way anyway.

"Go sit down," she commanded, while she went
sitting squad at the shore of the lake to dip her handkerchief in the water.
Yahiko shrugged and did what he was told.

When she had crawled next to him and was about to
cleanse the little wound, he still pulled his head back a little. "Be
careful, Tsubame," he said.

She brought her hands to her hips and tilted her head
a bit. "Well, look at that. Mister it's-not-bad is scared."

"Not true! It's just..." He stopped and a
dumb expression started to take form on his face.

"Hm, can't think of anything else, can you?"
she said with an amused grin playing around her lips.

The stupid look on his face stayed there for a few
more moments, but eventually he gave a grunt and folded his arms in front of
his chest. "Well, go ahead then," he said.

Her hand with the handkerchief in it approached his
ear again.

"Look out, here comes the hanky again," she
teased. "Ooh, that will sting, won't it. The excruciating pain it will be,
a little bit of water on a wound you can hardly see."

"Would you do it already?!" he yelled
annoyed. "You're the one who had to go and take care of it,
remember?"

She still gave a little chuckle, but then dipped the
tissue carefully against his ear to clean the wound. She could hear the boy
gasping, probably from the little sting, but it might as well been the mere
touch of her fingers which had caused that. She had never before permitted
herself of touching his ears, although their first kiss was already far behind
them. Now she got the chance to, she had to take advantage of that. That
pointed form, how would it feel?

Yahiko felt the sweat running down his back. Her one
hand was busy wiping away the blood, while her other hand was firmly clasped
around his head to prevent him from pulling back again. What did he care about
pain? He could stand that. What he really was afraid of was the closeness.
Okay, so she had already kissed him, a lot. But that was it. One time, probably
in a fit of insanity, while they were lost in a particularly passionate kiss,
she had pressed her hands against his buttocks. He still didn't know where she
got the courage back then, especially because it had been her who had taken the
initiative. Since then he was a little reluctant to come too close to her. It
awakened feelings inside of him which he deemed scandalous for his young age.

But there she was again, unwittingly causing a tumult
in his heart. Her breath was tickling along his ear, and he couldn't stop his
breathing from turning a little heavier. And to top it all of, the fingers
which were clasped between his hair locks loosened and started playing with his
other ear. Ooh, that felt nice. He had to bite back a moan. The pleasant
tingling down his belly had never been so strong, and surprise filled him as he
suddenly felt something more, a little lower. Something that had never happened
before. He saw a bump forming right under the button of his pants. Sweat drops
started forming on his forehead and he tried to look aside to where Tsubame was
still nursing his ear, while his hands were slowly, yet surely sneaking between
his legs to cover it. For as far as he could see from the corner of his eye,
she hadn't noticed anything yet, although the look in her eyes started to
become more and more frustrated because he kept on squirming like that.

"Yahiko, would you sit still already!" she
scolded. "How am I supposed to take care of your ear like that? Is there
something wrong? Does it hurt that much?"

"No, that's not it! Nothing's wrong!" he
said quickly, while he was desperately trying to find the best way how to fold
his legs to hide it.

"Yes, there is," she said, pulling a bit
away from him. "I can see it at your face."

"No, not true! Please, Tsubame! There's really
nothing wrong!" he almost cried. In sheer despair he pulled up his knees,
wrapped his arms around them and buried his red, embarrassed face in the hollow
between his arms.

Tsubame stared at him in clueless-ness. What in the
world was he trying to hide for her? What could be so bad she couldn't see what
it was? Or was it just because he all of a sudden had pain in his stomach of
something? Carefully she reached out her hand to him. "Yahiko?" she
said hesitating.

"Tsubame, please leave me alone for a
while," she heard him muffling.

Please, don't be stubborn now. Be stubborn any time
you like, but not now. Go away, just leave me, he prayed,
carefully peeking from behind his arm.

Kuso! She's coming over here! What do I do now?! Run
away? No, then she will see it! What do I do?!

The only thing he could think of was pressing his
chest still harder against his legs with all the strength he could muster in
his arms.

"Yahiko, please tell me what's wrong with you.
Maybe I can help you," Tsubame said, kneeling next to him.

Not a chance!

As if he hadn't suffered enough already, she softly
caressed him along his back to console him, which elicited a slight moan from
him.

Dread! Terror! Did I just say that out loud?!

"Honey..." she soothed.

"What?" The endearment made him pulling his
head from between his arms and he looked at her with his eyes wide open.
"What did you just call me, Tsubame?"

She laughed impishly, and making use of his confusion,
she gave him a hard push against his chest, causing him to fall on his back.

"Tsubame, what are you doing now!" he
yelped. Panicked he looked down, then to the girl, about to burst out in tears
of pure shame and embarrassment. What did she have to think of him now? How did
she have to look at him? Like an obsessed hentai, only interested in one thing?
A horny 13-year old? Boy, she would be angry. No, that's an understatement. She
would be furious, enraged. And offended most of all.

Kami-sama, she'll let me have it now.

He went sitting in his previous position again. Although
sitting on his knees, begging and grovelling would�ve been better in his
opinion, his only concern at this moment was making sure she didn't see it
anymore. "I'm sorry, Tsubame! Please forgive me! I couldn't stop it from
happening! It happened of itself, just like that! It won't happen again, I
promise!" he rattled, expecting and awaiting a cry of frenzy. It stayed
still however. As he looked up at her again, he saw her sitting there with a
bright, even a somewhat amused smile on her face.

"I sure hope you're not right about that,"
she said.

"Eh? About what, Tsubame?" he asked puzzled.

She crawled closer to him and stroke him through his
hair. "That it won't happen again," she said softly.

"But Tsubame... Aren't you angry with me?"

"Of course not, sweetie. In fact, I'm flattered.
You don't have to be ashamed of it. It's the most normal thing in the
world." She leaned against him and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "I
even think it's cute," she whispered.

"Tsubame... You don't... want to... do what I
think you want to do� right? Here? Now?" he stuttered, almost bathing in
sweat.

Tsubame pulled away from him in mock indignation.
"Why Yahiko, you naughty boy!" she said playfully. "Where are
your thoughts! We're still a little too young for that!" Giving another
giggle, she stood up and ruffled him through his hair. "Now, come on,
sweetie. Let's go back home," she said.

Honey, sweetie! Whatever you do, don't stop calling me
that! Yay! Officially in love now! his mind cheered. But how she got him
yearning for her now. How she got him curious to discover her.

Yeah, his chibi Tsubame. She was not as innocent as
she could let appear.

~End flashback~

"So, what are you up to today?" Yahiko said,
trying to change the subject.

She raised her eyes up to the sky. "Uhm... first
I'm gonna trim the roses, and than I'm gonna give Dotty a bath."

"Give Dotty a bath? That's gonna take all
day," he laughed. "Do you want me to help?"

Well, that was more than welcome with such a bear of a
dog. "Yes, that's a very good idea," she cheered. "Just come
over to my place later! Say, around two?"

"Two it is. See ya!"

They waved to each other and said their goodbyes, just
for a little while.

**********

The door slammed open and Tsubame came rushing into
the kitchen, scaring the hell out of her with her noisy entry.

"Mother! I'm back!" she shouted happily,
delighting in scaring her mother. Silly woman, she almost dropped the spoon
from lunch she was preparing.

�I saw Yahiko. He's coming over here to help me giving
Dotty a bath."

Her mother turned around and the annoyed expression
she had on her face turned to a smile. She could appreciate that alright.
"Well, that's about the brightest thing you have already said today. A
very good idea, I must say. Then I don't have to do that anymore." It was
Tsubame's dog, and she took good care of it, that was for sure, but mother was
the one who could always help her out.

After lunch, Tsubame went trimming the roses, like she
had said.

"Mother, if you need me, I'm in the
backyard!" she yelled over her shoulder, sauntering through the door.

She loved roses. She thought it were the most
beautiful flowers in the whole world. They were so pretty, with such soft
petals, so...complicated. And on top of that, they had a wonderful perfume.

Suddenly someone called her name, but she really
couldn't say who the voice belonged to. Or where it came from. It was very
silent too.

"Tsubame!"

She was startled and looked around. "Who... was
that?" It was a voice, unfamiliar to her. Her gaze went over the foliage
and she discovered among the bushes some sort of bluish light. Once again she
heard her name. It was coming from that direction, from that light.

"Tsubame, give us your hand." The way they
said that, it was some kind of singing tone, making her completely powerless.
Without asking further questions, she reached out her hand to the light.

Everything flashed a bright blue and before she knew
what happened, she stood eye to eye with someone she had never seen before. A
girl in a simple green dress and with two braids in her blond hair.

"Who are you? Where am I?" she asked
confused, rubbing her eyes a few times.

The girl smiled to her in a most friendly way.
"Calm down. My name is Rikai, and I'm a fairy," she said in a soft
voice.

Tsubame couldn't believe her own ears. This was like a
dream coming true. Her eyes widened in disbelief and her mouth dropped open.
"Really?! I love fairies!" she exclaimed.

"We know," Rikai said softly, laying her
hand on her shoulder. "That's why we chose youot;"Chose me? But why am I here? And... where?"
She around in wonder to the environment. It was a wonderful landscape, full of
trees of every kind and flowerbeds, with a suspiciously lot of roses. It looked
strangely familiar to her.

Rikai looked down and gave a little chuckle.
"You're in your own backyard here," she said, as if it was the most
normal thing in the world.

Tsubame�s state of stupefaction only grew and her eyes
were almost popping out of her eyeholes. "In my own backyard? You're
kiddin' me, right?" she yelled unbelievingly. So that�s why the place
looked familiar to her. "This is so cool!" Kami-sama, she had a whole
colony of fairies living in her own garden.

"And you're here," Rikai continued,
"because we need your help."

Tsubame was dumbfounded. It got better yet! "My
help? What could I possibly help you with? Me, just a girl, almost 18 years
old, and you're asking for my help."

Rikai took her hands in hers and gently pulled her
with her. "Come on, let me introduce you to my mother. She will explain
everything to you," she said. Spreading her fragile wings, she frolicked
into the air.

"Hey, wait a second!" she heard calling
behind her. With all the patience she could muster she turned her head around.
Patience wasn�t one of her strongest points. "Yes, what's the
matter?" she asked, pasting a smile on her face.

Tsubame helplessly looked around. "I can't
fly!" she wined.

"Oh yeah! Forgot to tell you," Rikai laughed
cheerfully. "Take a look at your back."

Frowning, Tsubame did what she was told to.
"Huh?" This was too crazy. Not only she was with fairies, to her big
surprise she was a fairy herself. "Hey, I've got wings!!" she
cheered.

"That's right," Rikai said, nodding her
head. "Come on now."

This was so awesome! So so awesome! She could fly. If
she'd just... "Eh... I'm.. I'm scared," she stuttered.

Oi, still got a lot of work to do, Rikai
thought to herself. She reached out her hand and tried to stay as polite as
possible. "Come on, just take my hand," she soothed her. "You'll
learn it, it's not difficult."

As they were flying between the branches, Tsubame let
her eyes scan the place. Everything was so big. The leaf of a rose could serve
as a carpet, and only a simple twig had the size of a huge branch all of a
sudden.

"Say Rikai," she said suddenly. "Why
did you ask me to help you? Of all the people on this earth."

"Well, we've been watching you, Tsubame. Your
believe in the fantasy world is very strong. On top of that, we know you like
fairies very much. That's why we thought you would be a good choice."

Tsubame frowned. They had been watching her? Like in,
watching her every move around the house, with her dog, with her mother, with�
Dear God� With Yahiko?

She swallowed. Hard.

�Eh, how do you mean, you�ve been watching me?� she
asked as nonchalantly as possible. �Have you been watching me very closely,
like� when I was with my boyfriend?�

Rikai was quick to reassure her. �Oh no, don�t worry.
Whenever you were with your boyfriend, we left the two of you alone. But you
see, since we live in your backyard, we couldn�t stop ourselves from hearing
you talking about fairies every now and then. That got us curiosity piqued and
that�s why we investigated a bit further. But I swear that we have never been
spying on you and your boyfriend, I promise.� She had to chuckle for the red
colour on Tsubame�s cheeks. No doubt they were up to some very naughty stuff
sometimes.

�That�s good,� Tsubame smiled relieved. �You know,
it�s not like we�re going at it every five seconds, but I mean, would you like
to be watched while you�re� you know?�

�Yes, I can imagine it would take a lot of the magic
away, right?�

�Right. Say, now we�re talking about boyfriends, don�t
you have a boyfriend?� Tsubame was surprised to see Rikai�s eyes saddening.

�That�s what you need to help us with.�

�Help you find a boyfriend?�

Rikai shook her head. �I�m afraid it�s a little more
complicated than that. But my mother will tell you all about it.�

While they were talking, they had reached the tree Rikai�s
mother lived in. Tsubame�s eyes widened. The woman was very beautiful.

As they approached Kaoru's tree, they could see her
standing at the bottom of it, while she was tearing off the leaf of a rose to
actually use as a carpet.

"Mother, this is Tsubame," Rikai said,
making a gesture to the girl with her hand.

Kaoru dropped the leaf to the ground to greet the girl
they all counted on to rescue them. �Tsubame, welcome,� she smiled warmly,
extending her hand. �I hope Rikai has given you a warm welcome?�

�Oh, she has,� Tsubame nodded vigorously. �She�s nice,
I like her a lot.�

�That�s good to hear,� Kaoru smiled. She smoothed the
leaf on the ground before sitting on it and inviting Tsubame next to her.
"Come sitting next to me, so we can make our acquaintances."

Tsubame went sitting down on the soft matter with an
expectant look in her eyes.

�Tsubame, I�m very glad you�re hear," she said in
a friendly voice. "Let me introduce myself." She smiled and gave a
little, diginified bow with her head. "I'm the queen of this little
country, Kaoru Himura. Nice to meet you."

Well, that was unexpected! Tsubame's mouth almost
dropped to her knees.

�W‑what?� Tsubame asked, shaking her head in
confusion. Did she hear that right now?

Kaoru chuckled. �I can imagine you�re surprised. But
as I said, I am the queen of this fairy colony.�

�Reigning with an iron hand,� Rikai added brashly.

Kaoru gave her a *look*, but choose to ignore her
daughter�s insolence.

Oh, so her hearing system still functioned correctly.
Kami-sama ,she sat eye to eye with a royal person. A real queen! How big an
honour was that? For the first time in her life she was talking to a real
queen, and it was a fairy-queen, for crying out loud! Could this even get
better?

Kaoru giggled at Tsubame�s obvious state of
bewilderment. A woman of 36 years old. She was actually giggling.

"My goodness... Your highness..." Tsubame
stuttered.

"Please, call me Kaoru," she said.

"O-okay, Kaoru it is."

"We're looking for someone, Tsubame," she
continued. "Someone who has to make sure we won't die out." She
looked the girl into the eyes, very serious all of a sudden. "I'm gonna
tell you a story, and I want you to listen very carefully, alright?"

Tsubame wordlessly nodded her head, her mouth still
open a bit in astonishment.

"Okay then. Here goes." Kaoru shifted to a
more comfortable position, then started telling her story. "You have met
Rikai. She' dau daughter, so that makes her the Crown Princess and heiress.
Tomorrow it's her 18th birthday. After that birthday it's very hard for her to
have children. So that's because tomorrow she also has to marry the Crown
Prince. But we still haven't found him. We've been looking for him since his
birth. Actually, I even been looking for him just this morning, until those
goblins saw me."

Tsubame blinked. "Goblins?" she asked. Crown
Princess, Crown Prince, hard to get children after 18th birthday, and goblins
is what draws her primary attention.

Kaoru waved her question away, obviously not thinking
of the goblins as priority. "That's another story. I'll explain you that
when we have found our prince."

"But is that every time such a search for that
prince?" Tsubame asked.

"No, fortunately not," Kaoru sighed.
"Normally he grows up here with us, like brother and sister. They become
friends, fall in love and eventually get married. But in my case, something
went wrong." She lowered her eyes and continued. "Nine months a
th
the marriage the princess always gives birth to a boy and a girl. That are the
two heirs to the throne, and on their 18th birthday they marry each other.�

�Hold it. So, they�re brother and sister, but still
they marry each other and have babies?� Tsubame interrupted.

�Yes, I know, in your world, it�s considered incest.
But we�re no humans. That is just the way it goes with us.�

�Oh, I see,� Tsubame said slowly.

�Can I continue now?�

�Pledo. do. I�m sorry to have interrupted you.�

Kaoru nodded and went on with the story. �Very short
after the birth of my children, we were surprised by the goblins. They invaded our
country and we had to fight back. I barely got the time to recover from giving
birth. Just out of precaution, I hid them, safely in a stable of a big farm
nearby underneath a lot of hay. Hay is light, and I figured they could still
breath easily underneath it. And since I had changed them in human-baby's, it
was impossible for the goblins to take them with them. It would've been just
until the goblins were gone again. After that I went back to help my mother to
help her as best as I could. But apparently, I hadn't hid my little boy well
enough, because he was gone when I wanted to pick them up again. Someone must
have thought it was an abandoned child."

There hung a little silence between them, then she
looked back up at Tsubame. "Now you know everything."

Tsubame fell totally quiet from it. "What a sad
story," she sighed. "But... Not that I want to be impolite or
something, but what do I have to do with this?" The significant look in
Kaoru's eyes made realisation coming over her. "Oh nice! You want me to
help looking for him?!" she cheered.

Kaoru sighed in relieve for her positive reaction.

"Of course, I'd liket!&qt!" Tsubame cried,
merrily clapping her hands like a little child. "Besides, I'd really like
to know what that prince looks like," she added with a wink.

Kaoru rolled her eyes. "Tsubame, I thought you
already had a boyfriend," she said, slightly exasperated.

"You know, just out of curiosity," she
smiled, giving a little shrug.

**********

A weird kind of buzzing reached his sensitive ears.
Now, what in the world could that be? It came closer. It were...two little
creatures with wings, which were flying constantly around his head now.

"Bark?"

Tsubame's mother, who was just busy doing the laundry,
lo beh behind. "Dotty, what's up boy?" she asked the dog, not like he
would give her an answer.

"Hey, Dotty!" two other voices yelled, not
audible for Tsubame�s mother. It were Tsubame and Rikai flying by. Tsubame
loved her dog, but a little teasing every now and then wouldn't hurt him.
Suddenly a boyish voice startled her. Her eyes widened in delight when she
heard it.

"Dotty, you crazy dog," Yahiko joked, giving
the dog a playful box around the ears.

"Hey, Yahiko's here already!" Tsubame yelled
cheerfully.

Upon hearing that Rikai instantly turned her head in
his direction. She had already seen him a lot. Whenever you saw Tsubame, you
saw him. In all those years they had been watching her, she also had thrown sly
glances to that, let's be honest, so very gorgeous boy. My god, could she be
more jealous on Tsubame.

In fact, Tsubame had wondered how that Crown Prince
looked like, but she even didn't know that herself. Oh, the scandal it was.

Rikai shook her head. Focus on the main case, got more
important things to do instead of dreaming about Yahiko or fantasising how her
dream prince would look like. If she wanted to find him, she would have to
search. That was only logical, right?

"Ah, that's your boyfriend, isn't it?" she
said with all the innocence she could muster.

Tsubame gave a swift nod. "Yes. He's really
fantastic," she said dreamily. �I�ve known him for all my life and kind
imagine my life without him. It would be great to marry him one day.�

Curiosity obliged her to go flying really close to his
ear. "Do you think he can hear me?"

Rikai blinked and suddenly felt happiness and horror
striking into her heart at the same time. That ear. There was something funny
about it. At least, to an outsider it would be funny. To her, it was a
lifesaver. Literally. The shape of that ear. So pointed. Looked at him for so
many times, but never seen that before.

"Rikai?" The voice of Tsubame pulled her out
of her thoughts.

Rikai gasped and started feeling kinda nervous.
"What's the matter with you?" the brown-haired girl asked, noticing
the sudden dread in her eyes.

Rikai was completely at a loss. "He... he can't
hear you. Come on, let's go back." She abruptly turned around and flew
back into the direction of her home.

Tsubame didn't understand a bit of this. First they
had to find that Crown Prince, and now she suddenly wanted to go back. She
shrugged and sighed. "Talking about fickle-minded," she muttered.

All the way back, Rikai hadn't said another word. She
only had a very sad look in her eyes, for some reason, god knew which. What in
the world was the matter?

Rikai knew Tsubame loved her boyfriend more than
anything in the world. If her presentiment was right, then she knew two people
who's world would come crashing down.

"Mother, can I talk to you for a second?"
Rikai asked, laying a hand on Kaoru's arm.

Kaoru turned looked at her daughter, noticing the
sorrow in her eyes. "Sure, honey. What's the matter? You look so
serious."

"It is very serious, mother," Rikai sighed,
while she glanced at Tsubame.

Tsubame didn't trust this anymore. Those two had to
talk something over, and obviously she was the subject.

"What's happened?" she suddenly heard behind
her. She turned her head around and looked at a very young girl, about 14 years
old she thought. The girl had a slender physique and long black hair, falling
up to her waist. The girl had seen them coming back and also that there was
something wrong.

"Who are you?" Tsubame asked.

"My name is Merisma, and I'm one of the fairies.
I live here. You are Tsubame, right? Yes, I know your name. It might sound
creepy to you, but we know a lot about you." She narrowed her eyes and
tilted her head a bit. "But tell me, what's happened?" she asked
again.

Tsubame shrug yet again. "I don't know. Rikai
wanted me to help searching the Crown Prince, but while we were searching, she
all of a sudden wanted to go back," she said. �Don�t ask me why.�

Kami-sama, it sure took a long time before they came
back. In the mean time Tsubame had taken the time to make herself comfortable
on the soft blanket that was still lying there.

"Tsubame!"

Ah, there was Rikai. At last. Now she'd finally know
what was wrong.

"We know who the Crown Prince is."

"Oh, that's so good!" Tsubame cheered.
"But..." Something wasn't right about this whole case. If they had
found the Crown Prince, she should be happy, but she was almost crying.

GB'>Oh, but wait a minute. Tsubame started to get it. No
no no, please don�t let it be what she thought it was going to be.

"Rikai, don't go telling me..." She didn't
want to, didn't dare to finish that sentence.

"Tsubame, for how long did you say know your
boyfriend now?" Rikai asked her, looking up the her with her blue eyes,
looking genuinely sorry for what she had to tell her.

No, don't start talking about my boyfriend! Don't do
that, Tsubame desperately thought to herself. The sight of his pointed ears
flashed by before her eyes. She couldn't count all those times she had made
stupid jokes about that.

Oh Yahiko, my very own fairy-boy. Will you fly away
with me?

Yahiko, be careful you won't shrink. Then I don't see
you anymore, and then I will unintentionally h yoh you with my foot.

Little did she know. All of a sudden that wasn't so
funny anymore.

"All mye,&qe," she responded blankly.

"And your boyfriends' parents, did they ever tell
something about his birth?"

She lowered her eyes extremely and had the feeling her
heart was changing into an ice-cube. Nono nno no NO!! "They've found him
in one of the stables on their farm. They thought it was an abandoned
chi..." Her last word ended in a heavy sob. She covered her eyes with her
hands to hide her many, many tears.

"Tsubame... I'm afraid the last name of your
boyfriend is no longer Myojin..." Rikai said with genuine compassion,
"... but Himura."

To be continued�
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