Cure

Final Act

The Prince read over the parchment for the third time, not really believing what was written.

"Kiki," he called and his blonde aide was immediately by his desk, looking down at Zen sternly.

"Yes Zen-"

"I need you to read this and make sure that I'm not seeing things."

Kiki frowned, giving Zen a strange look but took the parchment from him nonetheless. Zen looked up at his aide, watching as her eyes went from left to right over each line until she reached the bottom.

Kiki never showed many emotions but he knew that when he saw her lips tighten and her eyes growing wider than usual that it meant he was right.

"He failed," she breathed with disbelief. "That's definitely a first."

Zen shook his head. "Well there's a first for everything when Shirayuki is involved."

"The King won't be happy to know that one of his best Knights will not returning as he was meant to," began Kiki, just thinking of what Izana might do in retaliation.

The blonde aide stood straight, folded an arm over her chest and put her index finger and thumb to her chin, deep in thought.

"If she heals them...they might continue where they left off."

Kiki's expression turned stern and placed the letter back down onto Zen's desk. She looked out the window for a moment, spotting Mitsuhide down in the courtyard.

"I wonder..."

Zen smiled at that because it reminded him of Obi. It was one of his favorite lines, especially if he didn't want to give a direct answer.

"He said he won't return until they give her back, if at all. Is that what you read from that?"

Kiki nodded but her thoughts were filled with pity - for both Shirayuki and Obi.

"He's handed in his resignation."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"He's still out there," said Suzu with a sigh, sitting next to Yuzuri who was still recovering.

She hadn't been injured as such but was pretty exhausted and her misery over Shirayuki sacrificing herself by staying behind was grating on her health too.

The Chief sighed, taking the empty seat beside Suzu by Yuzuri's bed. His green orbs looked over Yuzuri's sleeping form as her chest rose and fell evenly.

"Every night...every night he's been over there, watching from the shadows."

"But its been over a week," groaned Suzu, rubbing a hand through his unruly hair. "I've never seen him like this."

Mukaze raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I've only ever seen that kid like this and its all because of my daughter, every time."

Suzu shook his head because he had only ever seen the Obi of Lyrias. The one who followed Shirayuki around, helping her, providing input when they had been researching the Olin Maris, the guy who always had an amused glint in his eye...who joked when they were stressed to relieve tension. He'd never seen Obi kill a man even when he had been on guard duty in Lyrias; he always came back to Shirayuki full of smiles and jokes.

She scolded him when he had cuts and bruises and so he never came back with any if he could help it.

"They're both so stupid. Obi, the poor guy, has been pining after her ever since he met her. Prince Zen was the one she was meant to be with, he'd always say. But he was the one who always was there for her, filling in for the man who was meant to be by her side. You know he even had to tell that Prince that he should give her compliments once in a while? Like, if you love someone, isn't that a given that you should want to compliment them?"

Mukaze thought over Suzu's words. "I agree. There's more to this, I presume?"

Suzu nodded with a grin. "And then one day, Shirayuki wrote to Yuzuri saying that Zen was engaged to another woman. When we visited, it was the first thing Yuzuri asked. But Shirayuki had said it was a long time coming."

Shirayuki's father frowned. "It was a first love then, nothing more. I honestly thought that Prince loved her dearly and would never part from her...I thought she wanted that too. Guess I don't know about things like that. Daughters are hard to read, let me tell you."

Suzu laughed. "Yeah, maybe. But I think it was because she loved Obi, although, she probably didn't know it then. Obi was prepared to love her till the day he died, without her even knowing because he put his 'Master' and Shirayuki before himself. And then he finally finds out that she loves him and then she's taken away? Tell me old man, how is that fair?"

Mukaze looked stunned but was he really that surprised? She'd had that look on her face when she spoke of Obi, although, she tried to lie to him about it, but he knew she loved him.

He just hadn't known she had been talking about Obi. The Royal Knight who had turned up to his doorstep, accusing him of allowing his own daughter to be captured.

Well now, that kid had balls.

"Its good then that I sent word to the castle as soon as possible when it happened. At least he knows where she is and what he needs to do to retrieve her...at least he knows the truth."

Suzu stiffened and narrowed his eyes at Mukaze.

"Uh, what now?" he asked in confusion. "He's out manned, there's no way she wouldn't be under guard."

"You'll be surprised what a man can achieve in the name of love," said Mukaze with a smile before getting up from his chair and walking out the door.

Suzu thought about what he said but still had disbelief written all over his face.

He watched as Obi sent off a bird that he'd never seen before, with a message strapped to its leg. Shirayuki had written to him once about a girl named Kihal Toghrul who was the daughter of the Chief of Yuri Island and that she had been the precipice to the beginning of messenger birds being used in the Royal Army of Clarines. She had described the birds being used and the messenger bird that Obi had just sent off fitted this description.

He watched the boy walk over to where Suzu and Yuzuri were sitting at the bar, still forlorn about leaving their friend behind.

Mukaze had just finished investigating some rumors about some bandits down near the bottom of the mountain where a small Tanbarun village sat and much to his surprise, they were Serpents.

Obi had tagged along because he too wanted to know if it were true. And now they knew.

The Serpents were healed or were well on their way to recovering from their losses. Not only that, they were going back to their old ways.

"Do you think...do you think they're doing as you asked?" asked Yuzuri, looking up from her pint of ale to lock onto Obi's auburn orbs which never held happiness anymore.

He tried to seem optimistic around them, even forcing a smile now and then, but mostly, he would look off into the distance with a cold, calculating and just plain dangerous expression.

But her words snapped him out of his thoughts for the minute. "I hope so," was all he provided before downing his drink. Obi got the bartender's attention, asking for another.

His days consisted of drinking, eating a little, going out into the forest at night and spying on the village with the hope of spotting Shirayuki unharmed. With his time in between he would train with some of Mukaze's men, Suzu or by himself (Suzu wasn't a challenge). And on occasion, with Mukaze.

It had been two weeks since she had been left behind and Yuzuri and Suzu knew it was killing Obi. Some nights Suzu had awoken to hear noises behind the wall to where they stayed, knowing that it was Obi's room.

And one day, a few nights ago, he ventured over to his room to try and calm him down. The door was locked but he could hear Obi's words and cries and then his whimpers from behind it.

He remembered how his voice sounded when he had kept saying "I'm sorry" over and over again. Suzu was sure it was because of their fight before she left and also because Mukaze had convinced him to go back to the village, despite how much he wanted to take her back right then.

Obi needed Shirayuki back soon because it was changing him into someone Suzu didn't recognise. Someone broken, in despair...hollow.

He wondered, was this the Royal Knight who would make silly jokes, grinning like an idiot and nap in the library, causing Shirayuki to nudge him awake and then would shake her head in amusement? Was this the guy who was laid back, flirtatious and gentle (although he'd only ever seen him be gentle with Shirayuki), back in Lyrias?

But it all came down to one person, didn't it? And it all made sense. Shirayuki was Obi's light and what happened when you took the light away?

It left nothing but darkness.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Shirayuki laid down, her head hitting the pillow with an exhausted sigh.

They'd provided her with a proper bed since she seemed to be a more permanent resident now, up in the room she had been held in before the attack. It was now referred to as the healers den.

The village leader, Roki, had provided her with everything she needed from herbs, to the utensils required to make remedies and books.

Every day someone had the symptoms and every day she had to let her blood and transfuse it into theirs.

But today she began to become optimistic. Roki, who survived due to her being the first patient to receive the cure, had taken Shirayuki for a stroll around the village as a reward and also to show her what her cure had done for the village.

People were laughing again, kids were running around playing, the farm house that had housed many of the sick in quarantine was finally empty.

Shirayuki had suggested that they try and air the area out now and clean it in a hopes to get rid of the lingering germs. Roki had taken this on board with a curt nod.

The village was going back to how they were, despite their losses, and that meant that maybe they would let her go. On top of her being the 'cure', she also helped those who injured themselves or had ailments that needed attention.

It was like she was a pharmacist again - but not as a Court Herbalist for Clarines. Apparently their previous healer had died when the disease hit the village a month or so ago.

She was going to be brave and ask Roki if she could leave soon but she had a bad feeling about that.

The next day, she decided to be brave.

"I think your people are out of the woods now so I believe that I could leave within the week-" began Shirayuki with a happy smile, cutting up some herbs for a very effective remedy for someone's stomach bug.

Roki stood in front of the table in the healers den, her gaze hard and shook her head.

"You won't be leaving. That man said nothing about keeping you here, only that we weren't to lay a finger on you," said Roki, resting some of her body weight onto the walking stick she liked to carry around. "You're needed here and I'm not sure how long it will be."

Shirayuki's eyes widened in horror. "But I can't! Obi...he's waiting for me..."

The old woman raised an eyebrow. "If you want to settle down, there are many suitors here that might take your fancy-"

"No!" exclaimed Shirayuki as her green orbs widened, fearing what the woman was insinuating. She gripped the table in front of her with both her hands, leaning over it as if in pain.

This couldn't be her fate, could it? That she would be living here from now on; never being able to leave?

"Surely that man can be replaced," said Roki with a frown. "Either way, you won't be leaving. You're too valuable to be at the disposal of the Mountain's Lions...you will remain here indefinitely."

She didn't know when the old woman had left because she was on her knees with her head in her hands; her body shaking.

She'd known that something like this would happen which was why she hadn't held much hope on Obi's last promise. But he never let her down, did he?

Shirayuki couldn't remember the last time she'd sobbed so much.

When the tears ran dry after several hours, she was determined. She had to escape this place.

After all, she'd expected them to get rid of her once her usefulness ended but now? This outcome was far worse than death, for her.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

He sat in the trees in a crouched position on a sturdy branch which was probably a few yards away from the Serpent's village walls.

But they would never spot him here, they never did.

A couple of the guards had come close, thinking him an owl when they spotted his bright auburn orbs in the darkness for a mere second.

The first few nights of Shirayuki's capture, he waiting out by the treeline each night just observing.

When the second week started and the sickness died down, he began to pay more attention. There had been two options that he had thought over thoroughly the day after Shirayuki was gone.

Immediately retrieve her the following night after her capture because they were weaker but also would be guarding her more closely. Or, wait until Roki relaxed and make her think he would not be returning, then strike in the cover of night.

He had chosen the second option.

He studied, watched their guard changes, counted how many men they actually had and committed it all to memory.

On the eighth night, he had snuck into the village at midnight, keeping to the shadows to map out the village in case he needed to change his plans if something went wrong.

Obi could have just taken her, he knew that. Maybe he would have gotten her out but would it have been worth it if either of them died in the process?

He could leave this world and he'd be okay with that if she were alive and free...but Shirayuki was a wild card in his plans, she always had been. If she had the opportunity to save his life by sacrificing herself, she'd do it.

And that's what he was afraid of. She would hate him too if he died while trying to save her and so his self-preservation was only there because of her.

So that was why he had waited this long to rescue her.

But every fiber of his being wanted to race in there now and take her back because he was worried and more than the usual fact that she wasn't here beside him.

Every night he had seen her up in front of the building that sat on the top of the hillside, leaning on the balustrade connected to the platform. Every night she would stand there in the light of the moon, looking down at the village with two armed guards behind her, watching her every move.

The last few nights, she was no where to be seen. And neither were the guards.

There was only one logical reason he could think of as to why that was...it was because she wasn't physically able to.

And he did promise that if they laid a hand on her other than to retrieve their cure, that he would come for them. He sighed.

Oh, how he loved to keep his promises.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"I can't," snapped Prince Raj angrily slamming his fists on the table.

Zen knew the anger wasn't directed at him, it was at the situation. He could see the young prince wanted to help so badly.

They sat along the Royal dining table, eating slowly, while discussing the situation that Zen had wrote to the Tanbarun prince about a few days ago, before arriving on his door step.

"Those bastards. I...I can't believe she would actually help those fiends!" exclaimed Raj, exasperated and in disbelief.

"We've been over these emotions in the days after you heard the news, Prince Raj," sighed Sakaki, shaking his head. "Its time to make a decision."

His brother and sister had since been excused so he could discuss the matter in full with Zen and his aides. Their dishes had been cleaned up by the servants and they were now pouring them all some wine, to finish their meal off.

"I know that you cannot get involved but I'm asking that you allow us to retrieve 'important Clarines personnel'...if that means attacking the bandits then that's what will happen," said Zen with a shrug as he picked up the goblet in front of him to take a sip of the wine.

God it was sour, was this Tanbarun wine?

Raj pursed his lips. "Although we have always allowed other countries to come into our land to pursue criminals that have run from their territory, this is a matter that differs greatly. The mountains are off limits because if we start, then we would have to take matters into our own hands...including the Mountain's Lions too, not just the Serpents."

Zen nodded. Of course the Prince was right.

He couldn't help but smile nostalgically because the man in front of him was unrecognisable from the man from long ago who had pursued Shirayuki in the hopes of becoming his concubine. That Prince had been a lowly man, only caring about living comfortably and getting what he wanted at all costs - he never even knew or cared about the affairs of his country nor the laws.

This man sitting across from Zen was an ally he could now trust.

"What?" snapped Raj, narrowing his eyes at Zen from across the table.

For a moment, he looked like a spoiled brat again, with his arms folded over his chest and a pout on his lips.

"Nothing, Raj, just remembering a different Prince from a long time ago, that's all."

Sakaki chuckled and the brown haired prince glared up at him.

"Look, you know how much I care about Shirayuki. She was my very first friend, apart from this idiot," began Raj, nodding toward Sakaki who raised an offended eyebrow. "But I don't want a war and she wouldn't want me to have to arrest her father. So I'm in two minds about this, Zen. I've learned...that being a Prince requires sacrifice and sometimes...we don't always get what we want in life."

Zen's jaw clenched.

Oh, he knew all too well what he was saying. He'd had to sacrifice Shirayuki in the end, didn't he? Although it seemed like he let her go peacefully, without lingering feelings, on the inside he had been torn asunder. That was over and he knew that his knight was the one she held dear in her heart now (any fool could see it), but it still hurt a little.

It hurt that sacrifices still had to be made even after everything he'd given to get nothing more than a loveless marriage in return.

"I know," said Zen quietly, earning a concerned expression from Kiki and Mitsuhide didn't look because he knew what Zen was thinking. "But she'll die, Raj...and Obi might die trying to save her too."

His voice had been so meek and quiet and if there hadn't been silence in the room, Raj doubted he would have heard him.

Raj turned his head away from Zen. Tears were coming to his eyes, just thinking of such beauty going to waste like that...and she...she had been the first to ever acknowledge him; to see the real him and not turn away.

I'm sorry, Shirayuki.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Suzu kissed Yuzuri on the forehead, slipping in beside her in the bed.

"I helped Chiyo today. Ever since we got back, she hasn't said one mean thing to me," she laughed but there were tears in her eyes.

He smiled down at her with a smirk. "That old bat, maybe she just doesn't have the energy-"

"No, its cos she knows. Shirayuki hasn't been around and she just...she knows," exclaimed Yuzuri, wrapping her arms around Suzu's torso, sobbing into his chest.

He hated seeing her like this because she was so defeated and so incredibly miserable knowing that her best friend was over in that bandit village and she was here.

All of a sudden he felt angry. He wrapped his arms around Yuzuri, rubbing her back to comfort her but his eyes were glazed over with fury.

The Serpents took Shirayuki but they took so much more than that. They took Yuzuri's happiness and they took Obi's light.

And he shocked himself with what he felt because he wouldn't give a damn if the whole entire Serpent village had died of their disease, if only Shirayuki was here...safe.

"I'll go and get you a drink and something to eat," he said, kissing Yuzuri again on the forehead.

She nodded, hiccuping from her sobs. Some of her blonde locks were matted to her face from all the tears she'd shed, so he pulled them away from her face and tucked them behind her ear.

"I love you," he said quietly, causing her to look up at him, her blue orbs showing how much it meant to her.

"I love you too."

But he could also see the guilt on her face of being able to say that to him because he knew she hated that she could do that when Shirayuki couldn't say it to the one she loved. Not anymore.

He closed the door behind him, leaving Yuzuri to her thoughts. His boots rang out through the quiet section of the village as he walked down toward the center where the bar was.

It was there he found Obi and Mukaze, speaking just above a whisper.

The older man seemed annoyed but Obi seemed resigned.

"Tomorrow," was Obi's last word before downing the last of his rum, slamming it on the bench and walked toward Suzu.

His auburn eyes recognised him and he gave a small smile. "Careful. Lion's are quite dangerous this time of night," he said with a grin as he walked past.

Suzu was both confused and surprised. It had been the first joke or perhaps snide comment that Obi had made since Shirayuki's capture.

Mukaze was already on Obi's heels.

"We're not done, kid!"

Suzu pretended to go about his business but walked very slowly so he could catch their conversation. Mukaze had stopped Obi in his tracks, berating him for some reason.

"I'll come with you then! She's my daughter-"

"You'll only get in my way," snapped Obi angrily.

Mukaze glared. "You only say that because you haven't fought me in a real fight. You're nimble, I'll give you that boy...but you're inexperienced-"

Obi laughed humorlessly. "Inexperienced? I wonder..."

"Look, she wouldn't forgive you if you died, Obi."

Suzu looked over from his position at the bar, after the barmaid had given him a jug of water and a glass, and began to walk toward the path so he could hear their conversation clearly.

He could see how Obi stopped dead cold in the middle of turning away from the older man.

"You don't know anything-"

"I know enough. My daughter...I know that I left her with her grandparents and then they died. I should have been there, you know? I feel guilt about that but when she smiles and acts like I didn't abandon her, well, it just doesn't matter anymore, son. I know that you two were fighting about something-"

"You don't know a damn thing!" yelled Obi angrily, eyes blazing with fury and tears were threatening to fall.

Obi had his fists clenched by his side and he knew that the guy was her father but why; why did he say things that he didn't want to hear.

Suzu's eyes widened at how loud Obi shouted. He'd never once heard Obi yell...even when he said those harsh things to Shirayuki before they'd left.

Not once.

Mukaze sighed and shook his head. "I know that you love her."

Obi's expression changed. The tension in his jaw and the anger in his eyes just all fell away. He opened his mouth to say something when his eyes fell on Suzu, standing a few meters away at the stairs.

"I quit," he said quietly.

Mukaze's eyes widened and Suzu drew in a quick breath in shock.

"The Royal army?" questioned the man.

Obi nodded and his eyes once again were on Suzu.

"My Miss was one of the only reasons I was there. I never thought that I would ever care that much until I met her and then I found myself liking that place. Liking Master and Mister and Kiki but most of all, I got to be near her. She needed me...but I never realised..." said Obi as if no one listening.

He closed his eyes and turned on his heel as his cheeks felt a little damp.

I never realised she loved me too.

"I hope its not too late," were his words as he walked quickly back to his room.

Suzu watched on with sadness and shook his head. Mukaze turned around and gave him a look.

"Wow. That boy..." said the Chief with a small smile.

"He's loved her for a long time. I can't believe he quit his job as a Knight, though! He always said how lucky he was but I guess he wasn't talking about the job," said Suzu with a shrug.

He followed in Obi's footsteps, realising he still had the jug of water and the glass in his hands.

"Don't take his attitude to heart, Mukaze. Its just his light is gone and he needs it back."

The Chief watched Suzu walk past him.

"I know what he means...I wish I could get mine back too."

If he was younger he probably would be doing the exact same thing as Obi. God, it was his own daughter but he was old and wise enough to know when to leave it to the young.

He would storm in there right now with the men he had in his village but he knew he was out matched, just thinking about what the old hag Roki had done made his blood boil.

But he believed that Roki would keep Shirayuki alive - she was too valuable to be dead. However, if by some turn of circumstance Shirayuki ended up gone, there would be no force that could stop him from unleashing everything he had on that village whether they would win or not.

Shirayuki was all that was left of the light he lost years ago.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

She faced the wall with her back to the mattress.

The people in the room watched her, making sure she didn't resist the urge to protest to her 'new' conditions. She felt the cold iron on her wrists and then on her ankles; heard the clink of metal enclosing around them and locking into place.

The weight from her shackles rubbed against her skin - she was already raw red from last night when she'd almost fallen off the bed in her sleep but had awoken suddenly to immense pain as the cuffs had dug into her skin.

She felt someone adjusting one of the shackles on her wrist, their hands touching her and she shook them away. Her head was facing them with angry tears in her eyes.

"He said not to touch me," she snarled, causing the man who had chained her up to widen his eyes.

"Tsk tsk, there's no need for that, Shirayuki-" began Roki from the other side of the room, her eyes were fixated on their red haired healer.

"You don't know what you've done..." whispered Shirayuki with sadness. "I willingly stayed but now you've gone too far."

Her green orbs found Roki who stood holding her walking stick in front of her with both her hands on top. She was steady but still frail from her ordeal with the sickness.

"You were going to leave, my dear and its clear now that they're not coming for you-"

"You're wrong!" exclaimed Shirayuki but then turned to face the wall as tears fell down her cheeks and soaked the material on her pillow.

"It was never part of the deal, girl. You said you loved him, didn't you? But he never said it back."

Shirayuki knew that but that didn't mean he didn't care. They were still friends. He would come for her, she knew he would.

But what was taking so long?

She'd cried herself to sleep but and she woke up, it was still dark and someone was standing above her. Shirayuki was about to scream in surprise when a hand covered her mouth.

When she looked up, she came face to face with angry bright auburn orbs. He pulled his hand away slowly, her eyes wide with shock.

"Obi..."

"They weren't meant to touch you," he hissed in a whisper and Shirayuki could see his hands clenched by his side.

She reached a hand up to touch one of his fists but when the chain didn't reach that far, she gasped in pain, quickly pulling back. Her eyes closed for a second.

"I-I'm sorry, Obi. They chained me up because I...I asked if I could leave."

Obi shook his head. "Don't apologise for them, Miss."

And then he pulled out something from his pouch. He hadn't needed to pick locks for a while now, not since before meeting Shirayuki, but he would re-learn the skill quickly so he could get his Miss out of the chains.

He had a whole lot to say on the matter, by god he did, but his priority was getting her out of the village so he kept his mouth shut. If it were up to him, he would have slaughtered them all with how they had treated his Miss...but there was no time for that.

A few minutes later, Shirayuki was sitting up in the bed rubbing her free wrists and then her ankles.

"We have to go quickly. There's a guard change soon and they're more diligent than the men on watch now."

She nodded as her feet touched the floor and stood. Obi walked over to peek outside to make sure no one was coming and when he believed it was all clear, he motioned for Shirayuki to follow.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Shouting was heard from behind them and Obi had Shirayuki on his back now. He gripped her thighs which sat against his hips and her arms were around his neck as they flitted through the trees.

He knew they probably wouldn't get out totally unnoticed but the guard change happened earlier tonight.

"They're up in the trees!" he heard someone shout.

Well, shit.

He heard a whizzing sound and when he landed on a branch, something flew past his ear and dug itself into the bark next to him. He turned his head to look at it and his eyes widened. It was a kunai knife.

"There!"

"Get the girl back, make sure she's unharmed! Kill the one that carries her!" he heard Roki shout at her men in the distance.

He gripped Shirayuki tighter and jumped to the next tree.

Shirayuki had her chin resting on Obi's shoulder and because her own body was flush against his, she could tell he was beginning to fatigue. They had been running for over half an hour.

She knew they only had to get into the Lion's territory but it was at least another twenty minutes away and Obi...she couldn't lose him.

"Obi...you have to let me go-"

"Be quiet," he whispered angrily as he jumped to another tree.

He scanned the area to find that the trees were too far apart now, they had to get to the ground quickly and mold into the shadows.

When they were on the ground, she moved to get off him but he held her firmly in place.

"Obi-" she began as he ran quickly. He was keeping a steady pace but when Shirayuki chanced a glance behind them she could tell they would catch up within minutes.

She turned to face forward again but could hear the rustling of leaves and the heavy footsteps close behind but Obi didn't flinch or even look back. "You have to let me down, you won't make it with me on your back."

Obi's body tensed from her words but he didn't let go of her thighs. "Miss," warned Obi.

But Shirayuki had been right because suddenly two men were in front of them, flitting out from some trees with swords in their hands. This time, he let her down.

Obi pushed her behind him softly, a knife in each hand already, and Shirayuki automatically fisted a handful of fabric from his shirt on his back in each hand. She peered around his body slightly to spot the men ahead of him.

He was so tall, she thought, looking back up at him. His back always gave her such confidence in his abilities - it always had.

Although, sometimes...sometimes no matter how good you were at your job, there were times when you had to admit defeat.

"Run, Miss-" he began but Shirayuki grabbed his arm and he looked down at her in surprise.

"No, they'll kill you!" she exclaimed with tears in her eyes, pushing away from him slightly to put distance between them. "You have to-"

"Don't, Miss...don't do this again," he spoke quietly in an almost pleading way for her to, just this once, be selfish. "The rest haven't caught up yet, I can take these few."

He had turned back, catching her gaze but then he noticed that a few more had arrived now; they were surrounding them. There was no time and Shirayuki couldn't bear to see Obi on the ground with a sword to his throat again.

She wondered for a few seconds whether there would be a happy ending to this tragic turn of events in her life. When bad things happened to her, she pushed on with a smile - she always had...but if he died...

Obi could feel her shivering or perhaps she was shaking, he wasn't sure. He had to make this quick for Shirayuki's sake.

The rescue had been a stretch - he knew that. But how could he just wait? And in the end, he was glad he had been impatient because she had been chained up like a dog...

And then the fury came back, just seeing Shirayuki like that made his blood boil and then he remembered what he'd promised.

Obi cast one more glance at Shirayuki. Her eyes were clouded as if she were thinking about something and he knew any moment now she was going to run back to them to save his life so he had to act fast.

He didn't want her to witness him kill someone, but there was no other option.

Let her watch him take away their lives and she wouldn't look at him the same anymore.

Or don't kill them and then she wouldn't be able to look at him because she would be gone from his grasp forever.

Obi knew which option was preferable so he clenched his jaw in anticipation of his next move.

The two men ahead of them ran forward, swords raised with a battle cry being yelled from their mouths.

Then they were on the ground in a pool of their own blood with Obi crouched between them with his knives dripping with blood. He flipped up from the ground as an arrow flew past Shirayuki's ear and stuck into the foliage where Obi had been moments before.

Her eyes were wide and turned to see the shadow of Obi, running through the clearing too fast for her eyes to follow. He made quick work of the three who had been behind them. Their cries of pain echoed through the forest and their bodies hit the ground with a thud. The last of them fought back but he easily dodged their attacks and when the man lunged forward with his fist, Obi blocked it quickly and stuck his blade into his neck.

Shirayuki stared at him in utter shock but she didn't shed a tear. She knew that when he went into battle that he killed people and she never had any illusions about that but they also never talked about it either. She had seen his scars and it was obvious that he had been in a lot of fights - before and after they had met those years ago.

It was different seeing it before her eyes, though.

Obi was strong, fast and deadly. He was a shadow in the night and so very skilled in what he did but it was his eyes that caused the breath to hitch in her throat - not the blood or the death he'd caused.

Their surroundings were darkened but the moonlight cast enough light throughout the clearing for her to see the damage Obi had done; their bodies lying on the grass now motionless and he studied her, standing stock still, fully erect a few meters away.

Her gaze met his and for a second it was just them, staring each other down, second guessing what the other was thinking.

Shirayuki wondered why she didn't shake...why didn't she feel shattered by the deaths of five men that had surrounded them?

And so she did the only thing she knew how. "We should go, Obi, they'll be coming," she said softly, her eyes showing determination for them to escape this mess.

He stared at her dumbfounded, but only for a second and nodded. He quickly walked toward her and they continued onward in the direction of the village.

They ran now. Obi had only bought them ten precious minutes before the Serpents had began to close in again and in the distance Shirayuki heard the gruff voice of Roki giving her men commands.

Just how many of her bandits was she prepared to lose? How many of her villagers was she prepared to send to their deaths?

Obi grabbed Shirayuki's hand and she let him as he pulled them more quickly through the forest. It was also so that he could guide her through the roots and branches that stuck out from the ground that he could easily navigate but it slowed Shirayuki down as she tried to avoid them so she wouldn't trip.

Something whizzed by their heads again and the noise of something sticking into a trunk nearby was heard.

"They're coming again!" exclaimed Shirayuki with fear clearly in her voice.

Obi didn't respond but he knew it too. He saw a clearing ahead which was probably about five minutes away at their pace.

"We're almost there, Miss," he said picking up the pace even more.

Shirayuki had kept up reasonably well so far but good things always come to an end, eventually. She fell to the ground unceremoniously and winced in pain when a root had dug into her raw skin near her ankle.

Their hands had parted as she fell and Obi turned quickly and picked her up but when they started to run again all she heard was rustling of leaves behind her and three men in dark clothing and swords by their sides ran in between two tree trunks to her left. One stood in front of Obi and two behind Shirayuki.

Two steel points dug into the skin at her neck as she gasped and her body stilled. Wide green orbs looked up at Obi who was standing with the most deadly expression she'd ever seen.

He had a knife in his hand and threw it without looking toward the man in front of him and it lodged into his neck. The sound of his sword hitting the ground was heard, before gurgling sounds erupted from his mouth with blood gushing out of his neck and he gasped for air before meeting the ground, dead.

Obi reached into his pouch at his back and pulled out two more, one for each hand, his eyes still on the two men behind Shirayuki.

"I said if you touched her, I'd come...and I keep my promises."

One of the men used his other hand that wasn't holding the sword against Shirayuki to pull down his black mask so that his mouth was free.

"She belongs to the Serpents now-"

"She doesn't belong to anyone!" snarled Obi angrily, narrowing his eyes dangerously and edging forward.

"She does now. But...Roki gave us orders that if there is no hope in retrieving her safely then we should kill her," spoke the man quietly.

"If we can't have her, no one can...we won't let the Lion's make use of her-" began the other man as he put more pressure on his sword into her neck, piercing the skin.

Shirayuki winced in pain and her eyes began to water. She looked up at Obi and she'd never seen him look so scared. Her eyes pleaded for him to not give up - if he did, they'd kill him straight away.

He dropped his kunai knives and they hit the forest floor with a 'thump'.

"Don't," he hissed, his voice cracked with desperation in his eyes.

"No, Obi! They'll kill you..."

But then one of the men dropped his sword and grabbed Shirayuki from behind, placing a palm over her mouth and pulled her to his body firmly. She tried to scream but only muffled sounds emerged and although Obi was seething with rage at how they were man handling her, he could do nothing.

He'd never felt this helpless...not since the Tanbarun incident.

"I-I'm so...so sorry Miss," whispered Obi as he fell to his knees, his face lifeless and devoid of anything.

Shirayuki watched as he bowed his head in defeat.

The other man advanced forward with his sword raised and as he brought the sword down something whizzed past Obi's ear and lodged into the bandit's chest.

An arrow. Obi quickly turned his head behind him to see where it had come from and then two more whizzed past and hit the man holding Shirayuki in the shoulder and one into the arm that wasn't holding her.

The bandit and Shirayuki fell backwards to the ground.

Obi was on his feet in seconds, running toward her and she had managed to get to her knees when he slid to the ground in front of her, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

Shirayuki could feel Obi's heart racing which matched her own and her arms encircled his back. Tears were already coming down her face as she sobbed.

"Obi..."

He sighed in relief and then pulled away to look down at her. His hands had made their way to the sides of her neck and his thumbs rested on both her cheeks. Obi opened his mouth to say something when something caught his eye from behind her.

The bandit had started to move and his eyes moved from hers and narrowed in anger. She watched as Obi got to his feet, slowly following the man who was trying to crawl away.

"Obi..." she began and when he turned to look at her she shook her head.

He was going to kill him, they both knew that, but one word from her and the rage he'd felt at how he'd grabbed her; put his dirty, disgusting hands on her...it fell away.

"Obi! Shirayuki!" yelled a familiar voice from behind them.

Several footsteps were heard and they both turned to see Prince Zen, Mitsuhide, Kiki and Mukaze coming to a stop a few meters away.

Shirayuki's eyes lit up and she smiled up at Obi who now stood beside her.

Mukaze kept striding toward them and lifted Shirayuki up to her feet, embracing her in a hug while Obi began to converse with Zen and his aides.

"Don't worry, I brought your soldiers. They're already in the trees and heading toward the Serpent's village."

Obi grinned. "That's my boys. It'll be good experience," he said softly. "I better go help then."

He raced off and ran a few meters before turning with a quizzical look on his face. "By the way, what are you guys wearing exactly? Is there a circus I'm not aware of in the area and you were going to audition?"

Zen scowled. "Just get out of here before I hit you!"

Obi was out of sight in seconds, sniggering under his breath, when he heard Shirayuki chuckling and he cast his cool blue orbs toward her indignantly. "This was all Raj had on hand, alright?"

Shirayuki and Kiki started laughing. "I didn't say anything, Zen."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"In saying that, I can't help it if I can't monitor every little thing that happens in my country," finished Raj with a shrug. "Like say if a rogue group of ninjas descended on the Serpent's village."

Zen's eyes lit up, Kiki coughed and Mitsuhide held a grin.

"Of course, they would have to wear something without the Clarines Royal logo on it...all of you as well."

Zen nodded and finished his wine off in one gulp. "Well then, I think its time we visited the Tanbarun mountains."

Mitsuhide smiled. "Yes, I've heard its quite nice this time of year."

"I'm sure the snake population will diminish over night, Zen. We should get on that," said Kiki uniformly but there was a playfulness to her tone.

After Prince Zen had explained the details to both Obi and Shirayuki about how he had come to be in the forest to save them by the neck of their skin, they fell into familiar friendly territory. Obi and Zen would banter, Shirayuki would laugh and both of them would look down at her with grins on their faces.

It was almost like old times.

Obi's men had changed into more comfortable attire and joined them and the rest of the village with various tasks between helping Shirayuki tend to Mukaze's and their own wounded men to helping the village to fortify a fence by the forest.

And then at night, they sat around the bar area, drank, told stories, laughed and enjoyed themselves for the time being.

It was a lively two days. Shirayuki spent a lot of time with the wounded and what ever time was left she spent with Yuzuri as they started to pick up the mental pieces that had broken due to their ordeal and she hadn't had a spare moment to really discuss anything with Obi. Feelings or otherwise.

On the last night, Shirayuki sat under the stars on the outskirts of the village near the new fence they had constructed. For the first time in weeks, she felt safe and at ease.

"Miss," said Obi warningly, clearly not happy with her.

She looked up to find him leaning his shoulder against the fence next to her, his arms crossed over his chest. Shirayuki smiled, ignoring his stern expression.

"You shouldn't be out here-"

"They won't be coming, you know that," she said softly as her eyes slowly made their way back to the sky.

Shirayuki was sitting on the ground, her back against the bamboo fence with her knees pulled to her chest.

Obi sighed and she heard him take a spot next to her.

"Obi...I'm sorry I left," her voice quiet, just above a whisper.

"Miss, I wish you wouldn't do that," he said with a heavy release of breath. "Apologise."

She didn't know what to say to that. "I just...I thought that you would be more at ease if I left-"

"What I said," began Obi thoughtfully, trying to word what he was trying to say properly. "What I said before you left, I never meant it."

Shirayuki took a sharp intake of breath and she turned to find Obi looking at her with regret in his eyes and she smiled in relief.

"I understand but-"

"No Miss, you don't. I want to say that it was the job and the stress but it was me and I'm an idiot. I was angry because I really wanted to go with you but couldn't because I was a Knight in the Royal army and had to face my duties. But in the end I realised that none of it meant anything to me," explained Obi, his voice cutting through the darkened silence since it was just the two of them in the area.

Everyone was celebrating because tomorrow they left for Clarines again and so laughter and chatter could be heard traveling up toward them from the bar.

She kept looking at him, urging him to continue and she wondered where he was going with this. "The job?"

"Yeah, the job. You're the only reason I stuck around and if you weren't there then I wouldn't be either."

Shirayuki's eyes widened at his revelation. Her mind thought about what he meant. Did he mean from the beginning? Or since he had first became a Knight?

She wasn't sure.

"Oh, Obi...do you mean-"

"I was meant to say it first but you beat me to it...you always surprise me; always keep me on my toes and for a moment I forgot that the whole reason I did all that. It was all for you."

She gasped and then a hand reached to her cheek. He was facing her now, their shoulders touching and he held a serious, thoughtful expression. Slowly he leaned down and their lips met.

Shirayuki's cheeks heated up and she closed her eyes to accept the kiss that he was willingly giving to her. She brought her hands up as they snaked their way behind his neck, up through his hair and Obi moved his hand from her cheek and lifted her into his lap.

Their kiss deepened as she opened her mouth and his tongue grazed her lower lip before meeting hers. Finally they pulled away, gasping for much needed air and Shirayuki realised her position.

She had her legs wrapped around his waist, his arms were firmly holding her just above her bottom and her hand was on his neck near his cheek and another had moved up into his hair.

He looked up at her with a smirk. "Miss, have you done that before?"

Shirayuki shook her head, removing her hands with a blush. And she wasn't lying because that was the first passionate kiss she'd had that resonated through her body to her sexual core in the span of a few minutes.

And then she remembered Chiyo's words from weeks ago. Yes, this was true love.

He looked up at her skeptically with a raised eyebrow and she laughed. "Well, now I can tell Yuzuri that we've kissed so now all we need to do is have sex and we're in the relationship she always said we were," laughed Shirayuki, not realising what she was saying.

But really, it was true!

Obi's body stilled and his cheeks for the first time in his life became a dark hue of red. "Uh...what now, Miss?"

Her eyes widened in shock. "Oh I just meant, well..."

"Oh no, I get it but so soon? I mean, we haven't even left your father's village-" he began, playing into her joke with a grin.

Shirayuki got off his lap and he instantly regretted it. "W-wait, Miss, I was just joking!"

"Well don't!" she snapped in annoyance and Obi watched her walk away, back down to the village center.

He smiled though, his heart pounding in his chest wildly just thinking about Shirayuki.

Man, he was so lucky.

She turned with a smile on her face a few meters away, stopping in her tracks with her hands held behind her back.

The wind blew softly, coaxing wisps of her hair to blow lightly in the air to one side and the moon reflected in her beautiful forest green eyes.

Obi was in awe and the breath hitched in his throat suddenly. He'd never known beauty and kindness until he'd met her - everything else just seemed dull with Shirayuki in the world.

"I love you," she said softly but he could hear it.

His heart began to pound in his chest and the words came out of his mouth way too easily, but, she needed to hear it because he'd held it in for far too long.

And he absently wondered how much strength it actually took to restrain himself this whole time.

"I love you too, Shirayuki."

Before Obi knew it, he was on his feet with a strong arm wrapped around her back. He placed a chaste kiss onto her head before they started walking together, down the stairs.

"I've always loved you," he said quietly.

She turned to look at him and her cheeks began to tint again. This was a conversation they were going to have at a later date, but maybe she would leave it until they returned to Clarines where Obi was going to beg Zen for his job back because Shirayuki was staying...so he would too.