"Yoh," Anna felt her defenses slowly coming down as she called his name into the dark.

There was no movement from him.

"Can I stay with you tonight?"

Stillness. Anna's shoulders slumped but she did not move. She could not move. No, not until she was sure he was really asleep. Anna prayed he wouldn't make her ask again.

Then there was rustling, and Anna could the covers being lifted in the shadows.

Softly, his voice treaded to her through the silence. "Sure."

Yoh sat up and motioned for her to come in.. He turned away to give her room, his sweater rode up, and a scar showed itself even in the dark.

Anna noticed it. It didn't come as a surprise to her, no. She knew it was there. She knew all the others that were scattered all over his body. They were part of him, he had told her once, and he made it clear to her that he wasn't embarrassed by them. Time passed, and by now she knew where every single one of them were.

Without realizing, her hand extended towards him.

Yoh heard her sigh quietly behind him, and turned around to see her back towards him.

He watched her slip under the covers and brought it up to her chin, his smell filled her nose.

He laid down, finally, but on his side. Anna's heart sank a bit but she said nothing. Yoh had brought this upon himself. He ought to be the one who spoke first. And the very idea of his back towards her made Anna both feeling pitiful and disrespected.

It became silent, yet neither of them closed their eyes. Anna laid there stiffly. It almost felt like a mistake to have asked. Embarrassed, she wished she'd just went to bed. It was very bold of him to treat her this way.

There was definitely something very wrong.

"I guess you have nothing to say to me, after all," Anna finally said, defeated.

Finally, Yoh spoke up. "Don't say that."

Beneath the covers, he found her hand wound into a tight fist and he timidly coaxed her open. His bold move made Yoh's ears pound so loudly, he was so sure Anna could hear it. He wound each of his fingers around hers shyly.

Yoh smiled inwardly. He continued to stare at the ceiling. He was almost half-surprised that not only did she allow him to hold her hand, he felt her holding on in return.

At that moment, he felt his stomach tie into knots. "I'm sorry," he said, still afraid to look at her. His face felt so hot and he knew that the if he even looked at Anna, the sight of her might make him melt. Yoh couldn't melt. Not yet, he thought.

He attempted to continue on, "I just didn't think that you'd- I mean, I wasn't sure if-"

Anna closed her eyes and listened to him stumble over his words.

"Idiot. You really hurt me," she said and still holding his hand, she turned onto her side. Anna held onto his hand and held it close to her chest.

He sighed. "Are you worried?"

"Of course I am."

Yoh moved closer to Anna, and hugged her from behind. He felt her heart beat quickly as she held his hand tightly against her chest, and he weaved his legs with hers. Yoh nestled his face into her hair, his warm breath tickled Anna's neck.

And then it became quiet. It was perfect, yet something hung above them and they both knew that the other was not asleep.

"I'm sorry," Yoh apologized again, he said softly into her hair. "I chickened out. It just became so real."

Yoh's hand began to shake.

"I know," she said as she stroked his rough, weathered hand ightly with her thumbs and held it against her cheek.

There was a pause as Anna gathered herself. She sat up. Anna tucked her hair behind her ear before leaning over him but her hair could not stay in its place. It fell and gently brushed his face. He had no intention to move them away.

She kissed his forehead.

"I'm sorry." His voice wavered but he looked at her seriously, his forehead suddenly felt so hot.

She kissed an eyelid, his lashes were thinly lined with moisture. At that very moment, if he was going to melt away he wanted to melt away right now.

She kissed the other. The lump in her throat grew as she did this, and her eyes were thinly layered in tears.

Yoh noticed this and said once more, "I'm sorry," before he sat up and kissed her tenderly.

Anna felt this one go right down to her toes. She kissed him back, harder.

His chest ached. She was it. There was no other girl in the world who could hit the mark so right. There was no more doubt in his heart.

He loved her. He'd come completely to terms with it. And she loved him. She knew. She always knew.

Their touch were right. This moment was right. Everything was right. But at the back of each other's minds the ugly truth seemed to invade their thoughts uninvited. No matter how confident and how much conviction they put behind their words, there was still the fear of his loss. They've known it all along.

They felt almost invincible. There was safety beneath Yoh's blankets. The Shaman Fight could not break them apart here.

But the reality of the pending hardships came back at them like a punch to the nose. It drove them crazy.

And that fear drove Yoh to snub Anna earlier. He now deeply regretted it, and as if she could hear him, he felt a tear fall from Anna's lash.

Yoh began to slow down. Anna stopped to catch her breath while he slowly took off his shirt and sweater. He felt her watching as he did this.

He smiled at her fondly and kissed her red nose. Yoh watched as she gave a soft tug on her belt before he courteously took over for her. The cotton yukata slipped off and revealed her bare shoulders. Yoh's breath was almost knocked out of him as he spent a moment to take her in.

Then he leaned in and kissed her behind her ears, behind her jaw, and made his way to her lips. He felt his heart pounding loudly against his chest. Or was that Anna's?

Yoh ran his fingers into her hair and then brushed her face. They ran down her neck, and lingered around her shoulders. Her skin was so much more softer than he had thought. Yoh craved more of it.

Anna's entire body surged with electricity with every touch of Yoh's fingers. Her hands ran down from the nape of his neck to the small of his back. Her fingers traced every scar and crevice, memorizing each and every imperfection. She pressed her hands deeply to bring him closer toward her.

By now, every inch of them were touching. And the closeness sent electricity up and down their bodies.

He took her hand and again, weaved his fingers with hers. Yoh closed his eyes and kissed every finger. He gently leaned in, and she slowly laid onto her back.

Yoh pulled away for a second. She looked up at him. There was a peacefulness on his face at that moment, and it took away every fear and anxiety.

They were ready.

/

Anna was the most difficult good-bye.

The night was once again quiet, but this time it was in a comfortable silence. The initial high lasted seemed to last forever but when fear crept in, the other would sense this and squeezed their hand.

Anna's eyes felt heavy. He had hummed sweetly and his cheek purred against her heart.

But now, Yoh's head rose and fell to the rhythm of Anna's chest. She stared at the ceiling and stroked his hair, her mind was so clouded.

She did not ask him to stay up with her, he needed all the rest he could get. After all, he will be gone for a very long time.

"Anna?"

She looked down. She knew he must've felt her anxiety.

"I'll go to sleep soon," she said.

He was quiet for a minute and the whispered again. "I planned out everything I wanted to tell you today." He waited for Anna to say something. When she remained still, he continued, a little embarrassed. "I thought maybe you didn't want to hear the things I wanted to say."

Anna listened, then began to stroke his hair again.

"Was I wrong?"

She curled his hair around her finger. "Who knows."

There was only a moment's silence before Yoh closed his eyes and asked, "You'll miss me, right?"

Anna's eyes suddenly became very heavy. "No. You're going to come back to me."

"Don't miss me too much," he ignored her.

Somewhere between dream and reality Anna replied honestly. "I'll try."

Fin.

X

This was really difficult for me to write. At first, I wanted to get into the actual act of it but once I got to that part, it was completely inappropriate. This couple baffles me. There cannot be any other like this. Their relationship is so honest and intimate. I had no wish to make them more than what they were, fourteen year olds. Now that I am older, I really thought I'd try my hand at a risqué story but let's be real. This would be all love, not lust. There was such a sacred feeling to their relationship, it would feel like sinning had I wrote them doing other things...

Also, it was pretty interesting to show Yoh as the vulnerable one. I've always understood Anna as the vulnerable one especially after re-reading the series recently. When I got to Volume 9, it became clear that these two were in a whole different ball game when they were alone.

Thank you all for caring about Yoh and Anna. It really means a lot.