Disclaimer: I do not own Angel Sanctuary or any of its characters; that honor goes to the wonderful Kaori Yuki and whoever else is involved. I do however own any original characters I may happen to slip in here

' ' are Thoughts

Italics are Past events

Italics in bold are Song lyrics

Hope End

Chapter 17: Red Ambition

"Something is different here," Dr. Raphael announced playfully as Sara came in without her crutches.

"Yeah," Sara replied, a soft smile lighting up her face, "Dr. Zafkiel took off my casts yesterday. My leg, my arm, my hand--all free! And my nose and ribs are healed. I have to keep my shoulder wrapped though. I still have at least two weeks of healing left on that thing."

"Good! That's great! Oh and hello Mrs. Muduo! I almost thought Sara was doing so well she brought herself," he exclaimed, taking the older woman's hands in both his own and smiling cordially.

He slipped an arm around Sara and led her into the exercise room with Sara's mother following close behind.

"Sara's recovery should go even quicker with the casts off. With therapy here and her personal training at home, within five weeks she'll be back in tip top shape."

"Oh! How wonderful! Thanks to all the wonderful doctors such as yourself!" Mrs. Muduo breathed, clasping her hands as she gazed adoringly at Raphael.

He smiled at Sara's mother and then gazed down at her, his arm still about her shoulders.

"Wonderful, isn't it? You'll be healthy and gorgeous," he said softly, giving her a soft squeeze.

Sara felt her face heat up in a blush. "Thank you."

"Anytime," he replied softly. He let go of her and cleared his throat.

"Today we'll be increasing your reps and weight..."

"Woo! What a workout Dr. Raphael!" Sara announced, taking a deep breath in and out. Her physical therapy session had finally come to a close. It was definitely one of the hardest to date.

"You should feel great. You put an exceptional amount of work today," Raphael smiled, scribbling something in his chart and gracing her with a beaming smile.

She smiled up at him and then blushed, realizing how gross she must look. She'd darkened her red tank with sweat and her light gray shorts were beginning to cling to her. Her ponytail was almost completely loose and her face glistened with more perspiration.

"Oh I am gross," Sara groaned, looking down at herself.

"You look healthy and happy and that's what matters," Raphael said gently, putting down his chart. He inwardly sighed, thanking the heavens that Sara's mother was absent for at least a few minutes. She'd gone in search of a bathroom and he'd purposely given her the wrong directions.

"Hey Sara, would you like to accompany to an upcoming ball for the office? It's semi-formal and in two weeks, Dec. 20th in honor of Christmas. I've been scrambling for a date since most of my female friends all have their own company balls to attend," he finished, casually leaning back on his desk with arms crossed.

Sara felt a faint blush once again stain her cheeks. "You mean you're single?" she blurted out without thinking.

"Oh my, how rude of me," Sara gasped as she covered her face with both hands in embarrassment.

Raphael chuckled. "No, no I don't have a girlfriend. So since I'm free, would you like to accompany me, as my date?"

"Oh gosh, sure! I mean yes, that would be lovely," Sara exclaimed, trying to recover the remaining scraps of her dignity.

"Great," Raphael said simply and tore off a little notepad from his desk to hand to her. "Give me your number. I'll call you with a time and place. You should bring your roommates."

"S-sure," Sara stuttered, mechanically writing her number strictly from memory, feeling like she was waking from a dream.

"Oh! Dr. Raphael! That bathroom sure was hard to find. How are things looking for our Sara?" Mrs. Muduo asked, waltzing back into the room. Raphael turned to Sara's mother, casually taking the paper from Sara as well in one fluid motion.

"Well..."

Kira hadn't left his house the entire day. Instead he lay flat on his back, still in bed, staring up at his pale blue ceiling.

"What the hell am I doing with my life? I work just enough to pay my bills and put food on the table, but I'm not going anywhere," he growled in frustration as he thought aloud.

"Look at Raphael! And doesn't Sara have a session today? Ugh," Kira moaned, physically ill.

For three weeks the only knowledge Kira had a Sara was through regular phone calls to her roommates, purposely done when Sara was not home. He'd memorized her physical therapy session schedule, and each time he knew she was there, he felt physically sick. All he'd done for twenty-one days is work, eat, and sleep poorly...

...and wonder about Setsuna and Sara.

'Yep, I definitely screwed up this time.'

Kira jumped as suddenly his phone rang. He snatched up the phone without thinking.

"Hello?"

"Hi Kira. This is Kirin."

"Oh," Kira said, sounding somewhat disappointed. "Uh, I mean what's up?"

"I would like to extend an invitation to you. There's a Christmas ball coming up December 20th. Do you think you're available to go? Everyone is going," she added with emphasis.

"Of course," Kira said without hesitation. "Time and place?"

"I'll have to get back to you later on that."

"Fine, whatever. Call me whenever."

Kirin grinned on the other side of the line. "Will do."

"Oh, and as of now, you are Kitsune's date. Bye!" Kirin added quickly, and then hung up.

"Wait, wha--"

"I'm who's date?!" Kitsune yelled.

"Will you pipe down?" Kirin whispered, glancing around nervously. "Your Sara's friend Kira's date."

"And why?" Kitsune whispered back angrily.

"You need a date and so does he. It's already decided."

"How? When?"

"Just now."

Kirin walked away, covering up her smile as she went. She dialed in one more number before placing the cell to her ear once again.

"Hello?" A groggy voice answered.

"Hi...is this uh, Setsuna?"

"Um, yeah, who is this might I ask?" Setsuna asked, much more alert now.

"Hi, my name is Kirin. One of Sara's roommates. The one with the red hair?"

"Oh yeah, I remember you, couldn't forget."

"Great," Kirin smiled, locking the bathroom door behind her. "What are you doing December 20th?"

Haha, even I can't wait till the ball. Expect a long chapter! REVIEW. It's what motivated me to get back to this in the first place.

Angel of Mirth