The light had seeped into the thin sheers. It shined bright enough to bleed through Lee's eyelids. She squinted her eyes and shielded them from the sunlight. A small groan accompanied the empty room. She had been asleep through most of the night. Her head felt heavier than usual. A thing blanket was draped over her. Finally, she stared at the room around here to find the empty office. It was only her and the family here tonight. No one was here on the same floor as her and if they were, they were already asleep. LeeAnn thought this must of been the work of Ragtime. She folded the blanket and placed it in her chair.

There were papers scattered all over desk with a pen or two on the edge of the piles. The room itself was not too well decorated but was getting there. She still had a lot of work to do. There was a picture of her and her brother when they were kids then another of her and Hikari placed on her desk. Nothing else was really made the room pop in any sort of manner. A loud yawn escaped from her while she stretched. As she opened the door, she heard laughter of two men. They sounded extremely familar. Then the scent filled her nostrils. Connor and her father. What was her father doing out of bed? Wasn't he still resting? She knew as he grew older his body wasn't what it once was. He had to be careful. Though, he was much like her in the sense of listening to doctor's orders.

She crept around the corner hearing the two men have a drink. They seemed to be having a grand ol' time talking about the old days and reminiscing on life. "I cannot believe that still happened. Jerry's face, when he managed to realize what happened, was priceless. I have no idea how we didn't get in trouble for that" laughed Connor. The kitsune seemed to sneak around, the floorboards were quiet this time. She sat down to listen further. Her father took another sip of his beer. "I really don't know. This was the good ol' days, Connor. How time flies" he spoke. Nicolas seemed to sound little raspy, which was not like her father. He coughed a little.

"Careful. You're still recovering, Nic. If you daughter hears you, she will throw a fit" spoke Connor. Nicolas cleared his throat and waved his hand to dimiss his friend's worry. A smile was placed on his middle-aged face. "Don't worry. She won't know a thing. The doctor said I should be fine, smoker's cough. Besides, it's her I worry even more about.The poor girl has gone through enough. I just want my only daughter to experience happiness for once" he spoke. There was a apprehension in his voice. It caused her heart to ache having her father worry like this.

"I know. Alex is also going through something similar. It's hard watching our children suffer and there's nothing we can do to help them" he spoke. The men seemed helpless by the tone of their voice. She covered her mouth to prevent the heavy breathing of her cry. Ragtime appeared in his physical form to watch with her. He never really knew Lee's father too well like she did/ Even if he had access to her memory, he needed to hear what he had to say, watch his movements, and understand the man's true intentions."Elizabeth has always worried about her. Ever since the disapperance thirteen years ago, LeeAnn has been...stuck. Kinda hard to explain" he spoke.

Stuck?

Stuck. A new description of her current state of mind. She has moved forward, but only backwards. When life was finally getting better, it only gotten worse. Life was never constant, she knew that. As hard as she tried, she could never achieve the white picket fence family ideals. Her family never expect that out of her. "Imagine walking, but you go no where. You are somewhere, but at the same time you're no where. That's LeeAnn" he spoke. The men remained silent until Connor saw something upstairs then look at his drink. "Nicolas, tragedy chances a person. You only see one side. I see another. Look at this place, Vincent left this to her. He beleived in her cause to create such as guild. She has already made the guild with people who believe in her cause. Nic, she's finding her place in this world" he spoke. He stared at LeeAnn and gave her a smile. Gently, he placed his hand on Nicolas's.

"Well, I only just found out about this the other day. Pardon my lack of knowledge, Connor. I think I am just worried she will never be happy again" he sighed. Connor thought about his own son with his recent dilema. Alex was in the same boat as Lee was at once time. "Say...have you met your new granddaughter, by the way" he smiled. Nicolas perked up a little caught off guard. The middle-aged man cocked his head sideways.

"Granddaughter? Unless if Hikaru has a surprise, I dont know if I have heard of it. LeeAnn is unfortunately incapable of having a child so...explain" he spoke. Connor explained as Nicolas's eyes grew wide with excitement. He was already leaped for joy but regretted thanks to his condition. Everyone had a good laugh as Connor explained how Hikari was. Nicolas was just happy he finally had a granddaughter, blood or not. This new brought his worries to a low about her daughter's happiness. He sat back down. A old memory returned to his mind that happened about a few months ago.

______

"What is it you need, sweetie?" Nicolas asked his daughter. She wanted to talk with her parents about something important. WIth being head of the family, it was only suitable she had a partner. Lee was tired of searching a bachelor for herself. Someone that cared for her. Someone she could depend on.

Her mother sat right next to her father with just as much concern. She gave a nervous glance at her husband then back at Lee. "I want you two to arrange a marriage for me or at least find me someone egible to marry" she spat out. Both of her parent's mouths dropped to the floor with her father beginning his clear rage. Silence had increased the tension between the three of them. It was all put out of misery when Nicolas slammed his fist onto the table. He gave his daughter a sharp look, one she had seen many times before, but never like this. "I am not going to put you up like some pig for slaughter to any man! My daughter will not be subject to such treatment. This will be a no LeeAnn" he screamed. She already knew there was no fighting him on this again.

___________

Nicolas remembered that night a few months ago before all of this went down. He gavea small chuckle before staring at his best friend. LeeAnn had no idea what her father was thinking of. She gave a glance at Ragtime who was calculating what the possible predictament would be. "About two or three months ago, LeeAnn asked me to arrange a marriage for her like some people still do these days. I got angry because I thought it was stupid. Like I would be selling her off into a prison or something. I vowed to never let my kids go through that. Though, is...Alex up for meeting with Lee. I don't mean in a marriage, but you know...a date perhaps? See if it works out" he asked. Connor stared at him then scratched his chin.

"It would do him some good. All the boy is doing is wallowing in his library and books. I don't see why not" he spoke. It was then settled. Ragtime growled in a tone that even LeeAnn had never heard. She coudl see him gripping his ghostly claws into the old wood, even leaving some mark. Angrily, he disappeared going silent. "Ragtime, what was that all about" she whispered.

The slayer called out to her contracted spirit, but the response was silent. She knew he held some grudges against her dating other men. The repeated episodes with Hans, Kazimir, then Manzo really just assured him to loathe such an idea. She felt helpless and guilty at the same time. Her fox ears only sunken down further. A little sight before she returned to the men's conversation. "I know I hate putting Lee up to the idea of an arrange...love life, but Connor, I only trust your boys. No one else's. Got that? Don't let that get to your head. If Alex ever as so dare hurts my daughter.." he spoke. The protective nature of her father was always very apparent. It was clear out of all his children she was his favorite. Being the only girl, she knew they didn't mind especially Hikaru. He supported the fact about hurting or 'taking care' of anyone who dare hurt his younger sister. Miles was no better either. Connor knew this well, too.

"Oh my boys know very well Nic. Trust me when I say, I would do the same if they did hurt your daughter" he spoke in a dead serious tone. There had been a few times when they were younger that Liam or Alex would hurt LeeAnn during battle. Of course, she would pull "I am crying" card on them. It worked every time and she knew it. To some degree, she still does that with a lot of people that work with your father to get her way. It was childish, yes, but effective. LeeAnn moved slightly. The old floorboards creaked giving her position away. The peering eyes stared at her making her feel like she was a young child listening in on the adults talk. "LeeAnn, you can come out now" spoke Connor. LeeAnn's head poked out from above on the third floor. Both men's eyes stared at her flaming orange hair. She gave a innocent smirk and descended downward the staircase to the other bodies in the room. Awkwardly, she waved at her father, who was a bit amused by her behavior seeing the child habits never died. "Hey, dad...how's it going? Glad to see you're doing okay" she smiled.

"Doing very well. Connor was telling me about...well..everything. I see you now have a daughter and a guild. Congraduations, sweetie" he smiled. He got up from his spot and embraced his daughter. Her father's warm hugs were something she never gotten tired of even into her adult years. As the years moved on, she became more and more dependent on her family for many things. Before, she was very independent like Hikaru, but now it was the total opposite. She gave her father a tight squeeze of his torso, but not too hard because he was still recovering. Deep down, she was very happy that her family was going to be alright in the long run. "Thank you, dad. I am so glad you, mom and Uncle Simon are doing so much better now" she smiled. Quickly, Connor cleared his throat to dismissed the two's peaceful and joyful reunion.

"LeeAnn, we have a proposal that you probably already know about. Though, we still want to run it by you before we do anything" he asked. He stared at her the cleared his throat again. He waited for Nicolas's nod of approval before going on. Once given the signal, he turned his attention back to the kitsune. "Alex is still single and needs to get out for once. Are you willing to take him on a date? Perhaps, we could get you two hooked up to a nice restaurant or something" he asked. LeeAnn thought for a moment. She had seen Alex recently that made her and Atani spit out their drinks in sync. The funny part was for totally different reasons. Without hesitation, LeeAnn agreed to the terms. Her father gave her a stern look. "Remember, if he does ANYTHING remotely rude or horrible to you. You know what to do" he spoke. His daughter gave him a unamused stare before pinching the bridge of her nose. "Dad, I can take care of this myself" she spoke.