O.K. Very beta. C&C greatly wanted and appreciated!


************************************************************************


	Tsuzuku hugged her against him, turned so his cheek rested against her 
damp hair as her arms tightened around his neck and pulled his head 
down. He was acutely aware of every place her body pressed against his 
own, reveled in a sensation he had thought forever lost to him.

	"They told me you were dead." It came out as a harsh whisper tinged 
with anger.

	"I'm so sorry, Tsuzuku-san! I don't know why they did that! But I am 
going to find out!" There was ice in her voice as she promised that to 
him and herself.

	Tsuzuku took a deep breath, put the anger away. It would wait for 
another time. Right now he wanted to focus on the lovely woman in his 
arms. He found himself a bit too focused. As wonderful as it felt, he 
needed to push her away or he would start to act on what his body 
desired. And they had time enough for that later. First he wanted to 
know her mind, touch her soul.

	 She seemed reluctant to let him go as he stepped back a bit, needing 
to put a bit of distance between them. Her hands slid down his arms and 
came to rest lightly on his forearms as he kept his hands on her waist 
to steady her. He frowned at the brace. That she had gotten injured 
coming to rescue him made him wince with internal embarrassment. But she 
wasn't dead! The thought that he had been the cause of her death had 
been a burden that had almost smothered him.

	"Are you hurt badly?"

	Jasmine shook her head. "It's healing. In a couple of weeks it will be 
good as new."

	Golden eyes met emerald ones and they offered each other a true smile. 
The purr of the van's engine as it came to life startled them both.

	"Jasmine! Bring Tsuzuku in! I'm sure he wants to get cleaned up!" Tita 
called from the porch as the van pulled away, exposing the pair. Most of 
The Horde was already inside being directed by Elenora to various 
bathrooms. She watched with a small pleased smile as Tsuzuku put his arm 
around Jasmine's waist and took her hand to support her limp as they 
started for the house. Jasmine's light, embarrassed protests were deftly 
turned aside by the young dragon's courteous words and gentle manners.  
Yes. She had done good work here today. Now all she to do was convince 
Catherine of that fact.


**********************************************************

	
	Adria rested her chin on her crossed hands and watched the dolphins 
ride the pressure wave of the big yacht. She snorted. *Adria's Toy. More 
like Adria's Prison.* Father had insisted on this two month cruise to 
and through the Hawaiian Islands. The yacht and it's maiden cruise had 
been touted as a reward for her glowing performance in school. In 
reality it was nothing more than a way for him to separate her from the 
'bad influence' of 'that pack of spoiled nouveau riche kids' she had be 
running with And Mark. Couldn't forget Mark. She sighed heavily and felt 
a twinge of guilt. She wasn't in love with him. She had known that from 
the beginning. But he was almost seventeen to her almost sixteen, cute 
and fun to be with and at the moment madly in love with her. When Father 
had found out they were dating he had thrown an absolute hissy! He had 
thundered and threatened and had just succeeded in solidifying her 
determination to date 'that sorry piece of poor white trash' just to 
spite him. She imagined that by the time she got home Mark would have 
found some other beauty to fawn over.

	This was her punishment for that disobedience. It was this or stuck out 
in the middle of the New Mexican desert with no phone, car or 
electricity doing 'character building' work with one of the 
archeological teams the Dupon's sponsored. She thought now that maybe 
she should have taken the dig. At least she would be doing something. 
Instead she had stuck herself out here in the middle of the ocean with 
boring old Dwain. She glanced sideways at the tall, middle aged yet 
still well muscled form lounging in one of the deck chairs reading. She 
sighed again. No. That wasn't true. She liked Dwain and he wasn't 
boring, just too familiar. Body-guard, butler, tutor, playmate and more 
of a father than Edward Vincent Dupon the Fifth had ever been. She 
wished their mystery woman would wake up. She and the event that 
heralded her discovery had been the one and only highlight of this 
cruise so far.

	Two nights ago, just before dawn, Adria's Toy had been graced by St. 
Elmo's Fire. She had just woken up from one of those weird dreams that 
she couldn't quite remember and always left her sweaty and hot and had 
stepped out onto the deck to cool off in the chill pre-dawn air. It had 
been so cool! It had danced along the rails and spread to every sharp 
angle outlining the yacht in an beautiful incandescent blue glow. It 
hadn't done much damage, just blown out every piece of communications 
equipment on board and given the crew a serious case of the 
hebe-jeebees. Then the dolphins had come just as the sun was rising, 
supporting a naked woman!

	Dwain had assumed she had probably gotten drunk and fallen off another 
boat and she was damned lucky that the dolphins had brought her over. 
She knew that it was bothering him. It was strange, but dolphins had 
been known to do it before. The ships doctor/cook, Mr. Seevers had 
looked her over, said she appeared to be fine, just unconscious. They 
had put her in one of the guest cabins and he checked on her every hour. 
So far, she hadn't even twitched and it had been over twenty-four hours 
since they had rescued her. They were now heading at full-speed for the 
nearest outpost of civilization for medical help and replacement parts 
for the toasted communications gear.

	Adria had taken to accompanying the doctor for his checks. For some 
reason this woman was familiar. Adria knew she had seen her somewhere, 
she just couldn't figure out when or where. But she would. She glanced 
at her watch. Time. She pushed off from the rail and headed for the 
steps that led down to the cabins. Dwain followed of course, on duty 
even here. She ran her fingers through her short silver hair as soon as 
she was out of the wind, combing out the tangles and smoothing it back 
into place. She found herself wondering why she felt it was so important 
that she be presentable when she met this lady. She had even changed out 
of her normal grunge for one of the stylish skirted nautical outfits 
that Father had insisted on sending with her. Those had come on board in 
Dwain's luggage and just 'appeared' in her closet. She tugged and fussed 
with the fit as she stood beside the closed door then knocked softly. 
She waited for a few seconds, hoping for a response. Mr. Seevers joined 
them, cocked his head at her. She shook her head then opened the door.

					******


	Patricia knew she was bleeding to death but she didn't care. All of her 
hard work to bring her schemes and grandiose revenge to fruition against 
the country who had driven her mother to suicide just didn't matter any 
more. The Blue Dragon curled on the deck of the Dynasty was all that 
mattered. He was so beautiful! Worth dying for just to see him! She 
didn't know if he had heard her as she had explained her actions, if he 
even knew she was there. Why did she have to born a human? This is what 
she wanted to be!

	He moved suddenly, was rising away from her. *NO!* She staggered up, he 
couldn't leave her!

	"Wait, Blue Dragon!" She screamed after him, trying to run and 
accomplishing nothing more than a wavering stumble. "Take me with you! I 
can't bare to be left behind! Please!"

	He soared up and away, unheeding. Light stabbed out of the darkness of 
space and seared away her sight. She heard the explosion and the shock 
wave threw her off the deck. She was falling but it no longer mattered. 
He had gone were she could not follow. She laughed as she passed through 
the tingle of his bubble, tried to hug a bit of his power to her chest 
as she felt her body get hot. Then there was nothing as she slipped into 
unconsciousness.

					******

	She stood side by side with Jen-lei as the Gyushu noble entered with 
his guard, their words put aside for the moment. Here and now they must 
present a unified front in the face of their enemy. Eyanna and Kimiko 
came up to stand at Jen-lei's side as Ka'lau bowed low, his twisted 
features even more mocking than normal.

	"Word has come. The Dragon Kings have been found guilty." He purred out 
that last word.

	"Impossible." It was a lie. He was just saying that to torment them. 
She knew it. It had to be a lie. She felt herself go light headed, felt 
Jen-lei's hand on her arm.

	She grabbed that hand as she started to sway, then frowned. No, that 
wasn't right. It wasn't her that was swaying, it was the bed under her. 
Patricia opened her eyes, stared blankly at the three people in the tiny 
room with her. She only recognized one.

	"Kimiko?"