Gazing at a transparent moon,
My heart calls for someone
Only tonight, hold me tight,
In those arms...

Rowen Hashiba’s mind drifted away in thought as he watched the night sky from his window. One person imprinted his mind-

Casey Sanada

Ryo’s younger cousin who had become a residence at the Ronin’s lake side home that summer. It had only been 3 months since she had come to stay, sometime away from the time of her parent’s death. Rowen didn’t think much at first of Casey but as the days dragged, on he felt himself compelled to this girl...

Hold me like a slumbering child, Show me please,
Open the other side of the door of dreams
Tomorrow only the smile of the person I meet
Please let me see it...

She was only 16; not very tall but not to short; petite build; reddish-brown hair that always hung around her gentile face; and calm blue eyes that seemed to look into the soul of a person. But she wasn’t weak, even though she kind of seemed that way. She had been trained in plenty of fighting styles and was a very disciplined fighter (most of the time). But what struck Rowen was her heart. She loved all the guys like brothers (even Kento, who she would constantly bicker with). She had plenty of friends and was very adventurous. Then to Rowen’s surprise he found out that this loving girl had never been truly in love (even though she was still young). Though neither had Rowen...

Moonlight penetrates,
Like blue ink,
Until the dawn, close me tight,
Singing sadness until you return...

But until then, Rowen only thought of his relationship with Casey as just friends as it was with all the other guys. But it took one night to change that perspective. Just one night to discover a side of her and himself he had never seen before. Before that night, he had been sick all that day, but he didn’t tell any of the guys or anyone for that matter. Though quiet, Rowen didn’t want to seem weak to anyone. Besides, he could take care of himself... couldn’t he? Then he fainted on the kitchen floor because of a his high fever, and it finally hit him, he did need help....

Tell me please,
The reason you broke this heart of glass,
Softly into my ear, the whisper,
Disappears...

Rowen awoke a while latter, he found himself in his own bedroom with a cool wash cloth on his forehead. And there she sat, right at his bedside. "Casey?"

"So your awake?" she said with a sweet smile, "Next time you want to faint, please do it nearer to your bedroom! You don’t know how heavy you are!" Rowen couldn’t help but chuckle as he slowly sat up.

"Yeah, well I’ll try to warn you the next time..."

"And another thing is, you should have told somebody you were sick..." this time she looked and sounded very serious, "If I hadn’t come home and gone to soccer practice, then where would you be?"

"Why did you skip soccer practice?" She blushed at this question and looked down.

"I was worried about you..." Rowen looked surprised.

"Me?"

"Yeah, you didn’t look so good this morning, and I thought that maybe if I came home and stayed with you then maybe you’d feel better. I mean... It’s nice to have someone to take care of you, isn’t it?" Rowen still looked a little shocked. He was exactly use to people doing things like this for him or the feelings he was experiencing. "Yeah, well," Casey continued, "When I found you on the floor, that really scared me Rowen. Your someone I hold very close and... In the heat of the moment, neither of them had noticed how close they had gotten. They both were extremely close now, their mouths only inches apart, their eyes closed slightly, and they drew even closer... "...and I think I forgot about the tea I was making!" Casey quickly got up, her face all red, and hastily made her way to the door. But before she went through she stopped and looked back at him. "You like lemon tea?"

"Yes," Rowen replied, his face a little red as well.

"Good because that’s what I making. Besides it’s the only tea I know how to make, so you must forgive me..." Casey finally slipped out the door and down the hall. Rowen chuckled and leaned back on the pillows of his bed. He hadn’t felt this way for a girl in a long time... then again, he had never felt this way about a girl before...

Only tonight hold me tight,
In those arms,
Hold me like a slumbering child,
Show me please...

That had been some nights ago and Rowen still couldn’t shake the feeling Casey had given him. Having her do close was doing something to his insides. It wasn’t bad, just a warm feeling. One that he hoped would stick around for a long while. A soft murmur from beside him brought reality back to Rowen. He turned around and looked at the girl who had his heart, sleeping soundly in his bed. Casey had caught what Rowen had and Ryo couldn’t stay to take care of her. So Rowen offered to look after her, knowing he owed her and that he had other reason’s for wanting to do so. They had been reading books together in his room and it wasn’t till the happy ending that Rowen noticed that his intent listener had fallen asleep. He didn’t have the heart to move her so he just turned out the light and watched her sleep from the edge of the window...

Open the other side of the door of dreams,
Tomorrow only the smile of the person I’ll meet,
I want to see...
Tell me please,
The reason you broke this heart of glass...

Rowen now wondered over to her and kneeled down to her calm face. "Casey..." he breathed, she stirred but did not wake, "I don’t think you know this but... I love you Casey Sanada." With that he quiet statement Rowen kissed her softly on the lips. Casey smiled in her sleep and Rowen smiled as well...

Softly into my ear, the whisper,
Disappears...

The End