soon as her small feet hit the grass, she took off running thinking grandpa had somehow been blown into the water. Using the small bridge, Kyoko jumped into the water aiming for the center of the ripples. She didn’t have time to think about the icy pinpricks of the cold water surrounding her as she kicked her way down into the deepest part of the pond.
She knew it would be too dark to see anything, but she opened her eyes under the murky water anyway. Her grandpa was down here somewhere and she had to help him. Her lips parted in awe when she did see something in the water… something so bright it was almost blinding. Right there in the center of all that light was an angel and he was sinking slowly to the bottom of the pond.
She could feel the icy water rushing into her lungs as she desperately reached out for the glowing hand. He was beautiful and looked like he was sleeping. Wings… he had silver wings. Grabbing a hold of his hand, she pulled as hard as she could but it only made her come closer to him. She tried to cry out for him to wake up but more water rushed in filling her up. It didn’t hurt but she felt cold… and she was so very sleepy.
Kyoko felt his fingers tighten around hers and her last thought was that an angel had come to take her to heaven so she could be with her mommy and daddy again.
Toya jerked as consciousness crashed back into him and he opened his eyes. Water? Why was he in water? He felt someone touching his hand and turned his head to see a young girl in the water with him. Her floating hair framed the sweetest face but her eyes were closed and her heart shaped lips were parted.
Realizing what that meant, Toya pulled her into his arms and shot out of the water so fast it left a waterspout trailing behind them.
Looking down at the small bundle in his arms, his own breathing stopped… she was beautiful and so fragile looking. Folding his wings upward, he descended onto a soft patch of grass and gently laid her down. Placing his hand over her heart, Toya prayed to feel it beating.
His golden eyes widened and his own heartbeat sped up as he felt his guardian power pooling into his palm. Hot tears sprang to his eyes making her image swim within his vision. His golden eyes widened when he felt his guardian powers were reaching for her.
“Kyoko?” Toya could feel her power mingling with his, centering between his palm and her heart and he knew he was right. He had finally found her again, but in this world she was just a child. He raised his eyes to the heavens and pleaded, “You brought me here for a reason… didn’t you? Please tell me it wasn’t to watch her die again. I can’t do it… I won’t.”
When nothing happened, Toya pulled her into his arms and the echo of his forlorn whimper could be heard when she remained limp. He pressed his face into the arc of her neck and pushed his chest tightly against hers wanting her heart to feel his beating.
“Damn it Kyoko, I’m here… feel me.” Toya's nerves shattered with every passing second until he couldn't take it anymore and screamed, “Please… let me save her this time.”
As if on instinct, he turned his tear filled gaze to the small structure only a couple feet away. There… just inside the open doorway was the Maiden Statue. Seeing the glowing gaze of the Heart of Time, Toya felt himself fall from grace as his anger surfaced.
“I don’t care if the demons are coming and you can have your damn crystal. Neither one of them matter… she does! I love her. I have always loved only her. Don’t you dare take her from me again.”
The statue’s glowing eyes seemed to regard him for a moment then a soft burst of light shown from them. Without hearing a voice, Toya knew what the Heart of Time was asking. He felt a sense of calm wash his anger away and he pulled his gaze from the statue to look back down at the dying child in his arms.
“If that’s what it takes,” Toya whispered willing to sacrifice anything if only she would live. Her small body began to glow in sync with his and the soft blue light expanded around them. Lowering his lips to hers, Toya gave her his breath… sealing their fates as her heart kicked back into rhythm.
The water in her lungs evaporated as Kyoko inhaled the warming air and fought her way up from the drowning darkness that clung to her. Warmth, she was surrounded by it. She struggled to open her eyes remembering the angel she was trying to save.
Blinking the water from her dark lashes, she waited on the blinding blue light to die down. When it finally faded, she found herself in the arms of the angel and he was watching her. Feeling her lips tingling, she touched her fingertips to them in wonder.
Toya couldn’t take his eyes off her as she opened those emerald green eyes that glowed with warm curiosity and intelligence. He felt his chest constrict painfully when she smiled up at him. He felt the bleeding wound of it all as she innocently reached up and pressed her small fingers against her lips as if she could sense that he’d kissed her.
“What would make an angel cry?” Kyoko asked as she watched tears run trails down his cheeks.
Toya saw her smile start to fade and realized… he was crying. “I’m not,” he blinked back the tears and wiped his arm across his cheek. He had to wipe more tears away unable to stop them. “Just promise me you won't go back in the water until you learn how to swim.”
He could already feel himself disappearing from this world… but if she lived, he didn’t care.
Kyoko rose up in his arms and looked at the pond then back at him. “I forgot I couldn’t,” she whispered wondering how she could have forgotten such a thing.
Toya could see the glow of the statue over her shoulder and knew his time was running out. The Maiden’s hands had begun to glow brighter and in the distance, he could hear the monsters of his world trying to break through the rift. The barrier between worlds was always the weakest where Kyoko could be found.
Without warning, he reached out and pulled Kyoko into a tight embrace already missing her. Rubbing his cheek against her auburn hair, his voice shook as he whispered, “I have to return to the other side and keep the demons from coming here.”
“You sound like Grandpa… he knows all about the demons,” Kyoko said pressing her ear against his chest so she could listen to his heartbeat. She slid one of her arms around his back and wondered why she couldn't feel his wings even though she knew they were there.
Glancing back down at her innocence, he cupped her chin and turned those stunning emerald eyes up to his. “Do not fear the demons Kyoko… you have the power to send them out of this world.” With that confession, Toya glanced toward the maiden statue. He could feel the demons coming through the Heart of Time at a dangerously rapid pace.
Setting her on the grass, Toya stood up and moved toward the statue, drawing his twin daggers as he went. “And I am not an angel… I am your guardian. My name is Toya.”
Still kneeling in the grass, Kyoko leaned forward watching as he entered the shrine house and it lit up in a blue mist. She screamed when a set of arms suddenly reached out of the light and gripped the angel then several more demons emerged around him. As her scream and the angel’s roar rang out in the night, the light from the statue started imploding backwards as if being sucked up by a vacuum cleaner
Kyoko could hear the back door of the house slam but she couldn’t take her eyes off the angel and demons. Stumbling to her feet, she took off running toward the open doorway of the shrine house. She could hear her grandfather and brother screaming her name but it was Tasuki that was closing in on her.
Just as she
