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"Well not really, unless there is something you wish to see that I haven't showed you yet, because nothing sticks out that is really worthwhile to go see or do. Unless you wanted the full tour of Toole's place?"

"I have just the place, its off the beaten path, and its quiet enough. They have great fried noodles." Yuma began putting the lamps out in the reverse order. She picked up her swords along the way, and returned to the bar. She spoke to Carnath a moment before heading out.

They arrived at a small establishment on the far end of town. The old woman looked up from scraping the griddle, but looked back. "Its been awhile Sorrow, i haven't heard anything new as to the whereabouts of your mother, but you're traveling in great company this evening." Yuma rolled her eyes as she took a stool at the counter; "More premonitions Martha, ya know reading bones is not a science, but your fried noodles on the other hand are perfection. This is Akuma, she's here visiting for awhile, and..." Martha looked at Akuma; "I know who she is, she is the ending, death, as foretold in the bones." Yuma's face turned hard; "Don't start Martha, that is not a nice thing to say to anyone who just walks in the door, so put your dark religion on the back burner until were gone got it?" Martha merely smiled her eyes drifting to Yuma; "As you wish, I'll bring you your tea, and my apologies Akuma if i insulted you." martha disappeared into the kitchen.

Yuma swiveled in the chair; "I'm sorry about that, she worships your trainer, and does predictions for people."

Yuma slid off the stool and came to crouch down in front of her. "Would him telling you goodbye help fill the void of his absence?" Yuma gave Akuma a tight hug, and maintaining her hug pushed up with her legs to lift Akuma back onto her feet. "I think you're ready, and I'm certain he believed in you to be ready for this challenge. Now embrace it and keep moving forward, embrace those who support you, and they will not fail you. I understand loss, but I will not let you wallow in self doubt on your knees with a weapon in your hands. That is accepting defeat, and I know you're stronger then to give up so easily. I'll sit with you, I give you my shoulder to cry upon, or whatever it takes for you to get to feeling better."

Yuma smiled as Martha slid two plates of fried noodles and two large mugs of tea onto the table. "They're right here, and glad to see your fine given the circumstances." Martha smiled looking at Yuma; "Told you the bones don't lie, so much for your science, and it will be 4 pieces when your ready." yuma shook her head; 'Ya know Martha, i must come here for your award winning sense of humor, and noodles, and don't short yourself. Its twelve pieces and what's with the discount?" Martha shrugged; 'I dunno, perhaps its the fact the idol of my dark religion just happens to be sitting across from you, and I would not like to be smitten. How your still breathing is remarkable." Yuma ignored her and kept working on the plate and Martha bowed and left to go back to cleaning her griddle.

Martha dropped the griddle with a loud clang, and she whirled around on Yuma. Her voice was near exploding in volume; "HIM, of all the people to fall in love with you choose him, and your children are his?!" Yuma turned and spit her tea all over the floor, gasping for air, and looked back at Akuma with a red face. "You just had to fire her up." Yuma looked at Martha with a red face; "Yeah, and its child. I'm only having one that I know of." Martha stormed from around the counter; "I will not accept a manipulative little b***h like you, admit it, you are just using him to fulfill your lust, because there is no way i could be that far off." Yuma merely looked down at the floor; "I didn't mean for it to happen, but I'm happier then I have ever felt in a long time. I was happy to find out he choose me rather then being forced to commit because of children. Your prediction was dead on, but you also lied to me when you gave it. I would fall in love with a man, on the eve of finishing a blood feud, and of his seed my family would be come to pass. You didn't say who, or the choice i would be faced with."

Martha growled; "I didn't think you would be so low as to fall in love with a dead man, I figured you would be cold enough to take the third option and walk away for a life with a living man." Yuma looked up she was still pink in the face; "Low, do you think I care if he's dead or living, I love him, and i love the child i have with him. Hell I fought Akuma when I stood no chance just to be with him. Third option, how, how did you know of more then one choice? All the times I seen you throw bones the choice bone never once came with how many choices." Martha humphed; "Its in the corresponding bones...." Yuma shook her head; "No...I sat a the counter and watched you do it to others, you told them there was no way to know for sure the number of choices."

Martha sniped a comment in the lull; "If you would have taken the third option, he would have left you, and you would have found someone eventually." Hurt cascaded across Yuma's face, "Your one of them, those kind who can tamper with memories, and how could you even think I would be so horrible a person to kill children." Yuma reached up and dragged martha down the dagger in her other hand pressing into the old woman's neck. Martha chuckled; "You don't have the stomach anymore Sorrow, you couldn't kill two things growing eggs in your gut, and you won't kill me now. DO IT, stab your knife into me, you want to, but you're too soft now. You're an insult to the very family you going to marry into.!" Yuma pressed the dagger a bit harder into the neck but it still didn't draw blood, she wanted to push it in so bad, but she just couldn't and she let martha go. She sniffled loudly, and just spoke from behidn her hands. "You can go home now Akuma, I won't be much for company, and thanks for for trying."

yuma just got up wiping the tears off and grabbed her coat on the way out. She sprinted from the moment she crossed the threshold, and didn't stop till her side hurt, and she hobbled the rest of the way fighting her tears to maintain some level of composure. Hating Kaos for ever bringing up such a choice, but wished he was here right now so badly. Then she remembered the parchment and the pen and diverted to Mary's but stopped remembering it was in the robe she wore to the abyss. She couldn't go home because she didn't want to cross that bar let alone the people outside see her like this. She just sat sat down behind a trash cart in an alley so she couldn't be seen from the street and cried and this upset her stomach. She threw up what she just ate and drank. When she finished she just pulled her knees up to her chest hoping it would make her disappear from the alley.

Vermillion caught sight of Kaos and moved in alongside keeping up. "I swear to gods they were in decent spirits when i gave them tea earlier, but it must be worse then i think if you made the trip here."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yuma sat there thinking on what she told Akuma earlier and how stupid she looked now. "I'm really stupid, so what, i couldn't kill her, so I go running away, gee I really look good now, bet my worth dropped a few lines in her book."

"You didn't mess things up Akuma, she did, there was no way she could know about the third option unless she nabbed it from my head. Hell you didn't even know about that until it was brought up there. Everything up to that point was fine, and Martha was the one who took it too far. Vermillion is with Kaos and have them head to my place, i can smell the blood on you, so you'll need a change of clothing. I should be okay in a few minutes, just trying to stop looking so pathetic and weak right now. As far as messing things up, you didn't, and he knows that."