A/N: I lay no claim on the characters in Shaman King. With that said, ENJOY! There is but a thin line between love and understanding…

Understanding

In many ways, he understood her – that burning fire trapped within ice-cold beauty personified in calculative amber eyes and silky blond locks. He understood why she pushed Yoh to his limits, never easing up on him even after a strenuous battle. He understood why she stood behind him, silent but firm, why she avoided standing beside him, unappreciated and unnoticed. He understood why she never smiled upon Yoh but looked at him in distant blankness, a mask that hid her true emotions, her love for him that was infinite and so unconditional. He understood why Kyouyama Anna always demanded perfection, driving her fiancé on with no thought to anyone's perception on her apparent bossiness.

He understood because Manta would have done the same thing if he could.

He understood because like Anna, he would not be of any use in battle. He understood her helplessness, her desperation in trying to protect Yoh even when she could not do so directly in battle. He understood her pain as he shoved her aside, forgetting her in the face of complacency, only acknowledging her in the times when his soul cried out in need. He understood her demands for perfection because anything less could mean death for her shaman fiancé, anything more could mean destruction of his kind, gentle and compassionate soul. He understood her decision to look down upon Yoh in contempt, in anger, in seeming disdain even though her heart had always looked up to him, in admiration for his delicate balance of strength and kindness, in pride of his cheerful optimism, in love of his acceptance that had liberated her from her demons.

He understood Kyouyama Anna because in many ways, Manta too loved Yoh.

His heart twisted, rebelled.

He understood Anna the way Yoh never would.

In this he realized.

Yoh would never understand Manta either.