WARNING: Some portions of the following work of fiction contain
depictions of bondage, torture, rape, and explicit sex, including
same-sex activity. If you are under 18 (or whatever age is 
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If you find explicit sex offensive, please don't offend yourself by
reading further.

The full disclaimer for this work of Vampire Hunter D fanfiction is 
at the beginning of Chapter 1.

=================================================================

Heaven's Door

Chapter 9 Healing Hands, Loving Hearts


It was days later, before Kale would even broach the subject of
her wounds, and only then, when D found her in the morning,
violently ill, in the caravan's make shift lav tent. "I'm getting
the healer," he said, as she cleaned up.

"No! I'm fine."

"Kale, you're not fine. They recorded what they did to you. I saw
what Danton had done, I saw the blood. Wounds like that.... they
need special attention."

"So help me, D, if..."

"That's what I'm trying to do, Kale. Help you get better.
Please," he held her close, his hands telling her of his worry.
"I don't want to loose you."

"You wont, it's just..."

"It hurts. I know. I watch you while you ride, and your pain
hurts me too. Please."

"All right, but I don't want anyone to know, ok?" He nodded and
together they left.



D stood outside one of the wagons, while inside the healer
cleaned and stitched wounds Kale had been too ashamed to mention.
D had helped some, but the smell of the blood was too much, Kale
understood and let him leave. Outside, his vampire hearing picked
up on her tiny whimpers, as the healer continued to work. What
comforted Kale most was that the healer was a woman, in her 50's,
and was able to put Kale at ease with just a smile.

D looked up as Hodg approached, cradling his left arm. "You can't
go in," he said softly. At once Hodg understood.

"Do you know how to set bones?" D nodded, and carefully examined
the man's arm. "How's she doing?"

"She'll pull through. She's too stubborn not to." He grasped his
wrist, "This is gona hurt." D jerked Hodg's arm and the bone
snapped back into place. "Don't move, hold here." While Hodg
supported his arm, D took some sticks, used to make a fire, and
some rag cloths, and tied the splint around the wounded limb,
making a sling with the excess cloth. "Will there be others?"

"No, I got my point across," he said. "You don't look so good.
You need anything?"

D looked at him, then lowered his eyes. "No."

"Its that again, isn't it?"

"Don't push. Kale will handle it."

"She's got enough to deal with right now. Come on. I've got to
kill a pig for the supper fire anyway. You can take what you
wish."

D was hesitant, but when he saw the healer at the door of the
wagon he guarded, he nodded. "She's asleep," said the old one.
"The last she said was for you to take care of that edge you
felt. I'd suggest you do it."

"Watch her for me?" The woman nodded, and the two men walked
away.

"I hope she can go on after this," Hodg sighed, "I'd hate to
think such a lovely woman would be destroyed like this."

"She'll pull through."

"I have to tell you something. The day you returned, Kale wasn't
doing well. She hadn't slept since..., well I guess not since
you'd left. She was worried, and on the verge of panic. I managed
to get her into my wagon, but she wouldn't lie down to rest. I
figured if I overloaded her, she'd pass out and eventually, that
would turn to sleep, and it worked."

"Over load her?" he stopped him in his tracks. "What did you do?"
his voice was level, but his eyes were angry.

"It meant nothing at the time, I swear."

"What did you do!"

"I kissed her," D's fingers curled around the fabric of Hodg's
cloak. "She wanted to go after you, but she was on the edge of
collapse. I knew that with a gentle push, she'd pass out. A kiss
would confuse her enough to do just that. I swear, I only meant
to help her. I don't want her. She's yours, and I can see the joy
in your eyes when she's with you. I only hope I can find that one
day."

D tugged gently at Hodg's cloak as he asked, in restrained rage,
"You didn't force her..., did you?"

"No. I was very gentle. I think that was what confused her the
most."

"What did you do next?"

"I put her on a bunk, and with Tabeo in charge of the caravan, I
sat down to do the books."

"Did she...did she cry?...or call out?"

"She called out for you once, when Tab almost woke her, then
Tabeo told me about you leading the main caravan, I'd promised to
wake her when you were spotted, and the rest you know."

D let him go. He'd kissed her to help. "Don't do it again." The
fact still remained; he'd kissed his Kale.

Hodg shook his head, and they continued their way to the small
animal cages. "She did almost hang me, if that makes you feel a
bit better."

"It doesn't."

"Didn't she tell you?"

"No. She's wanted to keep to herself for a time. I get that way
form time to time, and she leaves me be. I saw no reason not to
do the same, till today."

Hodg looked over the swine for slaughter and picked out a large
one and tied a rope around its neck. "I guess I'll never
understand the two of you. I'd go crazy if my girl didn't talk to
me about what bothered her. You know, I think what she said to
Tabeo is really the only way to explain it. You two fit. But then
again, why explain it." D merely nodded and watched as Hodg tied
the swine down on the slaughter table, very adeptly for a man
with his arm in a sling. He positioned a pale below the drain
spout, and cut the pig's throat. It let out a momentary squeal,
then fell dead, as it's blood collected in the pale.

With help from another member of the caravan, Hodg took the slain
beast to the main kitchen fire, leaving D alone to consume the
blood in relative privacy.



Kale woke that afternoon, D sitting next to her, sharpening his
great sword. "You're upset about something," she said softly.
"You only sharpen your sward, while sitting, when you're upset.
You want to talk about it?"

"Hodg told me he kissed you," he said, without looking at her.
"I'd like to know why you didn't tell me."

"When did he kiss me?"

"You don't remember?" She shook her head. He knew she'd never lie
to him. No matter how small the fib. "Never mind. I'm upset over
nothing."

"Honestly D, I don't remember."

"It's ok," he sheathed his sword, put it aside, and sat on the
bed with her crawling across to hold him. "It doesn't matter. How
are you feeling?"

"Better. I'm sorry I ignored this for so long."

"No, be still about it. It's past now."

"D, can I ask you to do something, and do you promise to really
thing about it, before you answer?"

"Of course."

"The day you found me in the market, Keir was getting new
branding irons made. He and Stavrose were going to brand me." She
could feel him tense at the thought of the hot metal burning into
her flesh. "I want you to do something for me. Something only you
can do." She took his right hand and traced his index finger over
her chest, right above her heart. "I want you to mark me, D. I
want you to take your knife, or anything, and etch your name onto
my chest."

"Kale..."

"No, D. Please. Think about it. Promises can be broken, marriage
vows ignored, and divorces are ugly. Every other way is so easy
to be broken. I'm not asking for me to do it to you, D. I want
you, to do it to me. I want everyone to know I'm yours, and that
you've claimed me. Please, think about it."

"Rings are easier, and less painful."

"And can be removed, lost, or stolen." She turned to face him.
Her eyes pleading for him to accept. "I want something permanent.
Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless.... You think...one day, you wont want me."

He drew her close in a feather touched kiss, letting her deepen
the touch on her own. His lips brushed hers gently again and
again, finally she edged closer to his lips, her tongue tracing
his flesh, his tracing her teeth. At last their kiss was as deep
as any lover's was, only theirs turned to more, as private
desires were let known, and acceptance was given. Within this
strange embrace of lips and heart, D knew she'd need time, though
he'd known already, he knew it was important to her, for her to
let him know.

Through their kiss, he acknowledged her request for time, but
also asked her permission to fulfill her request. Gently he lay
her down, kissing his way down her chin and neck, opening the
buttons on the shirt Hodg had loaned her, but never got back. He
traced the path on her skin where he'd etch his mark, asking with
a kiss between her breasts. A quick gasp told him her answer.
Gently he drew his dagger across her skin, not yet breaking even
the first layer of her tissue. The sensation of the cold metal
began to numb her, or perhaps it was D, as he rubbed the back of
her neck, she wasn't sure, all she knew was that it felt
incredible.

Suddenly, D was licking her chest, his blade tossed aside, a tiny
trace of her blood along its edge. Carefully he lapped his tongue
over the wound he'd caused. With each pass, a wave of pleasure
washed over her. Her blood was sweet, and spiced with hormones at
the same time. It tasted slightly different than a normal human's
blood, but then again, she wasn't normal any more. She was like
him, un-aging, un-changing, and now she was his. By heart, by
choice, by brand, and now, by blood. He'd never let her go. How
could he? She was all he needed.



Within sight finally of the southern tree line a month later,
Kale and D bid farewell to the desert. For the first time in
close to a year, Kale was finally able to properly bathe. D sat
beneath a great tree, what kind it was neither could say, while
Kale swam lazily around in the pond. He envied her. To be able to
swim in water that cold, and actually enjoy it. Sometimes he
wished he were human, so he could share times like this with her.
'Oh well,' he thought. 'Mother always said, be careful what you
wish for, it may just come true.'

Kale left the water and laid down in the grass next to her man,
because no one else was around, and the fact she didn't have a
swimsuit, all she wore were a pair of tight cotton shorts, that
even now, seemed see through. D leaned over and kissed her, his
warmth being chilled by the water still on her skin. He shuttered
slightly as he drew back from her. "Feel better?" he asked,
already knowing the answer, but wanted to hear it anyway.

"Much. I think I had half the desert in my hair," she laughed. He
liked that. Hearing her laugh again. He traced his hand along her
collarbone down to where his mark had healed and scared her skin.
A bright 'D' etched in flesh, that she was proud to show. As
hurtful as it was for him to cut her, he felt proud that she had
his mark on her. His mark, not that she was his property, not
that she is his wife. No, to her this mark meant more. More than
vows could say, more than he could express, more than she could
explain. Now if only he could be scared like this. He'd be proud
to wear her letter across his chest, but his vampire heritage
healed all his wounds without a scratch. He couldn't even get a
tattoo; his body just absorbed the ink, and made the image
disappear.

He pressed his lips to the mark, his desire to have hers on him,
transferred in the kiss. Oh how she could read him so well. It
normally took many years for some lovers to read each other like
this, but for Kale, it was easy from the start. Perhaps she was
right, when she'd said it. Maybe the do fit together. Did
everything need a complicated explanation? "We should get going,"
he said, kissing the scars across her breasts. Her wounds on the
surface had all healed, but they left terrible pale tracks across
her tender skin, and they were rough, despite her efforts of
applying moisture creams made from herbs provided by the desert
healer.

"I guess we should. We have to get Mina back to her father."

"Yes. That, and there's no work down here for a hunter. No
Vampires, or wolves."

"Well lets get going. We'll have you back to killing Vamps in no
time."



They followed the stream inland, hoping it would become wider,
and lead to a number of towns, but it didn't. After two days, the
river split into three directions. One went to a swamp, that D
had found, not far away from the diversion, the other to a lake,
with no villages around, and the third, well the third was
another story. D traced his fingers along the tracks left in the
bark of a great tree, the sap still slightly fresh. "I thought
you said..."

"Forget what I said," He could smell it on the air. Blood. Kale
followed as D went ahead. He stopped and examined the remains of
a young woman. Not more than 25 years old. Her body was torn
open, her internal organs gone, her face locked in shocked terror
as she was ravaged. "Werewolf," he said. "By the looks of the
marks on the bark, there are three."

"D, over here," He went to where Kale was looking over a bush
from atop her horse. On the other side was another girl, still
alive, but very weak. D tilted her head up. Two puncture wounds.
"Vampire?"

"Yes. But how?"

"Maybe they came down together, you said yourself that wolves are
often the servants to vampires. Maybe they came down the shore
line, just as we plan to return north the same way."

"Well, however they got here, we can't leave them. There are no
hunters here. They'll kill everyone if not controlled. The desert
is too great a crossing for a vampire to make, and no food for
wolves to survive. The sea is obviously out for full blood
vampires, and the shore line was often thought too treacherous
for a vampire of noble character to even attempt it."

"Well you said there was no work for a hunter here. Now there is.
If she's alive, we can't leave her here. Come on, put her up with
me, we'll go till she wakes, then get her to tell us where she
lives and take her home. I'll go after the wolves while you go
after the Vampire."

D put the girl's unconscious form up behind Kale, tying a rope
around her to keep her from falling off. "We'll discuss that part
of the plan later." He climbed into his saddle, and together the
three rode down the third stream, to who knows what kind of
dangers.

By Charlotte MacFarlane
(jemstone5, Fanfiction.net)

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