One

The violet strands of his hair danced wildly in the wind as he slowly trudged up the hill. His thoughts raced through his brain at lightning speed and made him more nervous than before. Doubting his ability to admit his feelings, he began to wonder why he had flown all this way in the first place. "Quite ridiculous," he said aloud and sighed. There was no turning back now. He knew it. He was already in Japan and at least 75 feet away from the house. Tamao was outside and would have already spotted him. Sighing heavily, he meandered into the yard as if he didn't see her.

"Wow, Ren! Hello!" Tamao called to him cheerfully. "It's good to see you!"

"Hello," he answered weakly. He suddenly felt like an idiot. This will accomplish nothing, he thought to himself.

As he mumbled under his breath the front door slid open.

"Whoa, hey!" Yoh called to him, caught off guard by his presence.

"Yoh...I...uh...Hi." He didn't look at him.

"Well come on in! I'm so glad you could make it!" Before Ren could respond Yoh was dragging him by the arm into the house. "Everyone look who's here!"

"Hey, you made it!" Chocolove said happily.

"Yeah, I thought maybe you wouldn't come," Horo said gravely.

"Why wouldn't he come?" Yoh asked. Horo's comment offended him slightly.

"It doesn't matter. I'm here," Ren said, breaking the silence that had quickly filled the room.

"Well, I'm glad you're here. The wedding is in two days, and Anna says I have a lot of stuff to do. Now you can help!" Yoh replied, hitting him hard on the back.

Ren smiled uneasily then glanced at Horo, who was frowning at him.

"What do you have to do, Yoh?" Manta asked.

"Oh, I don't really know yet." Yoh giggled like he had been eating too much candy. He was excited. It was obvious. And everyone was happy for him.

Everyone except for Ren.

"I'll be back," the Chinese boy said abruptly then quickly left the room.

"Did I say something?" Yoh appeared confused.

"I can go talk to him and make sure he's okay. I'm sure it's nothing," Horo said as he stood.

"He seemed okay when he came in, didn't he?" Lyserg asked timidly.

"Ah, it's fine," Horo said as he exited.

Horo could see Ren fiddling with his hands and kicking up dirt against the base of the house. He rushed at him swiftly, grabbing his shirt by the collar and slamming him hard against the wall.

"Let go of me!" Ren cried, surprised by Horo's strength.

"Get a grip. What is wrong with you?" Horo scolded.

"Why do you keep doing this to me?" Ren pushed the boy angrily and walked away from him.

"So when do you plan on telling Yoh you came to crash his wedding?" Horo called to him.

Ren froze and stared blankly at the ground. "I knew I shouldn't have told you."

"No, you should have told me. You did the right thing there. You shouldn't keep it to yourself. But, Yoh is our friend. He should know how you feel." Horo waited for Ren to come back to where he was standing.

"I don't want to cause trouble. That's not my intention," Ren replied weakly.

"You're sounding like a wimp, Ren. That's not like you. What happened to the 'I'll say whatever I want because I'm a man' Ren?" Horo seemed pleased with his statement.

"I've never said that. What are you talking about? And I'm not a wimp," Ren frowned.

"So go talk to him, then. I'll wait for you." Horo folded his arms in disgust as he watched Ren's face grow pale.

"Tomorrow. I'll tell him tomorrow."

"Ren! Come and give us a hand!" someone called from inside.

"So I guess I'm just dead weight?" Horo protested.

Ren was grateful to Horo. He helped him to relax, if only for a few seconds. "Let's go," he said with a smile.

"Anna, Ren is here," Yoh said cheerfully as he entered the kitchen.

"Hmm," she replied, her face expressionless.

"He's going to help me do...whatever I have to do." Scratching his head he seemed oblivious to Anna's obvious discomfort.

"I thought he wasn't coming," she said finally.

"Yeah, I thought so too, but he just showed up," he replied.

"Okay." She continued cooking and said nothing else. Even when Yoh said other things she didn't respond.

"Oh, hey! There he is! Are you okay?" Yoh asked worriedly as Ren entered the kitchen.

"No. I'm fine. Thank you," Ren replied. He looked at Anna briefly, who was ignoring him. "Hello, Anna," he said.

"Hi," she replied without looking at him.

Yoh was suddenly distracted by something Lyserg was saying in the other room. "Hey, I'll be right back," he said as he rushed out of the kitchen.

Ren was suddenly uncomfortable again. He and Anna were alone, and she wasn't talking to him.

"Anna, I-" he started.

"I'll be honest with you," she said, interrupting him. "You being here is uncomfortable. You do realize that, don't you?" She finally faced him and stared into his eyes intently as if burning them.

Ren was speechless. He felt there was nothing he could say to make the situation less uncomfortable. "I suppose," he replied finally.

"This is very important to me. I don't want anything to go wrong. Do you understand what I mean?" Anna's eyes became softer as she spoke.

"Don't worry. Everything will go the way it should." Ren felt confident in his statement. If he is meant to be with the one he loved, it would happen.

"I don't want you to come, Ren," she said, turning away from him.

"What?" She could tell he was caught off guard without looking at him. "Why not?" he demanded.

"You know why, Ren. Don't make a scene. I won't get married if you come. You know that. I don't want you there." Her words sounded final.

"I...won't be able to stay away, Anna. Yoh would want me there and..." He knew he was irritating her, but he didn't care.

"I don't want you there. That's enough." She raised her voice slightly but quickly regained her composure so as not to bring attention to them.

"I can't stay away. I flew here to...I can't do that, Anna." Ren suddenly felt defeated. This was a bad idea. "I need you to understand that..."

He was interrupted by Yoh's impromptu re-entrance. "Hey," he said nonchalantly.

Without looking at either of them, Anna stormed out of the kitchen, dropping a towel on the way out.

"Yoh I need to talk to you," Ren blurted.

"What's wrong with Anna?" Yoh asked. He heard what Ren said, but wasn't addressing him.

"I need to talk to you now," Ren insisted.

"Okay, what's up?" Yoh seemed confused as to why Ren was so anxious.

"Let's go outside."

"What's wrong, Anna?" Tamao asked worriedly. She had found her sitting on the floor in the hallway and tapping her fingers on the floor.

"I made a mistake," she said breathlessly.

"What? What do you mean? What did you do?" She sat down next to Anna.

"Never mind. It's nothing. I'm getting married. That's all that matters," she said, smiling at Tamao to reassure her confidence.

"If something was wrong you would tell me, wouldn't you?" Tamao replied.

"Sure."

"So, what's wrong?" Yoh asked as the two sat down on the grass.

"Yoh, you're my friend. You're a very good friend, and I will never forget how loyal you are." Ren's tone made Yoh nervous.

"What's going on, Ren?" he asked timidly.

"I don't want you to get married." Ren was amazed at how easily he said those words.

"You came here to tell me that?" Yoh became angry. "You upset her didn't you. You told her you didn't want us to get married."

"She's bothered, Yoh, because she knows." Ren looked away from him suddenly.

"She...knows what? What are you talking about?" Yoh's voice was almost threatening.

"She knows I'm in love with her."