Jill watched the kami sleeping from the relative safety of the hallway. In her hand was a note she had found attached to her front door earlier in the morning. Written in a flowing script it read:

Inside the envelope along with the note were several bills of large denominations and the remains of her bug. Jill felt like her mind was going to melt if she took on any more improbable information. A dull throbbing had started in her head and the muscles in her neck ached from straining over the computer in her quest for knowledge. She very much wanted to just lie down in her own bed and sleep tucked safely under her own covers. Covers now stained with the kami's thick blood as were the clothes he wore. Jill read over the letter one more time still hesitant to release such a powerful creature, especially considering their last exchange.

"What do you think guys, huh? Should I trust the mysterious Nana or should I let him lie there in his own muck until they come to pick him up? Anyone got an opinion?" The four rats all turned at the sound of her voice each ones eyes bright – their whiskers twitching.

"Yeah, I know. I should just leave him." The rats waited patiently Jill's resigned voice fore shadowing what she would do.

"I'm a fool and an idiot for getting involved." Jill looked balefully at the beautiful creature roped to her bed.

"But I can't just leave him there like that... I can't. I wouldn't feel right about it. And God as my witness if he kills me I will come back and haunt Leon until his dying day." The rats rustled in their respective cages scurrying about getting ready for the 'show'. They could hear their human in the other rooms pulling together what she would need. The sound of the folding door on the linen closet being slid on its tracks could be heard, as could a creaky hinge on the bathroom cupboard. The woman came back and deposited the collected items on a bedside chair. Clean bedding, a hairbrush, a toothbrush still in its box (she had just bought it meaning to replace her own), several towels and wash clothes, and a pair of soft creamy pajamas.

The rats shared a joint snicker at the sight of those. They were a misguided Christmas gift from Jill's great aunt who had bought them two sizes to small to ever button across her ample chest but were also designed for a man. It wasn't really the older woman's fault though. She had found them on a site saved on Jill's computer when she had come down for a visit. Having always been fond of her great niece and not knowing when she might return again she had placed an order the minute she had read the ad.

'Sure to set a romantic mood for the evening. This exquisite set is made from the finest Chinese silk and complimented by the attention to authentic details such as a mandarin collar and brocade frog closures. You will be a charming vision the man in your life will be delighted to come home to. Available in eggshell, lavender, scarlet and black.'

The idea would have been lovely had they not come from 'Chao's Virtual Emporium and Bazaar' boasting in finer print to carry the finest selection of exotic clothing for the effeminate man. Jill thanked her and wistfully ran her fingers through the fine fabric that she would never be able to wear and then silently thanked every deity she could think of that her great aunt had no idea what she had been looking at.

The woman was fingering them at that moment with a bemused look on her face.

"Well, they say everything happens for a reason." The woman said to herself. She let the material slip back down and turned to leave. The sound of water being run drifted back as she filled a large pan to clean the kami. She came back into the room stepping carefully to avoid sloshing the warm liquid on the floor. The rats watched on with interest and were not in the least taken back when three felines streaked into the room taking up various post around the bed.

The kami murmured in Chinese sleepily when Jill settled onto the bed beside him. Two amethyst orbs fluttered open and focused on her. She tried to smile in a reassuring non threatening way and exude a confidence she did not feel.

"Hello, I'm glad to see you're awake. I've brought some things" Jill gestured feebly at the stacked items, "to try and make you more comfortable. I thought you might like to have all the blood cleaned off and some fresh clothes." The kami blinked slowly as if in a daze and the pink tip of his tongue slid along his dry lips sluggishly.

"Drink?" He asked in a cracked voice unsure whether the word had come out in English or in Chinese. The woman seemed to understand and nodded. He watched her retreating back one of the cats by her legs. The other cats milled about him curious. One of them a grey small cat with clear green eyes sniffed at his neck and then gently butted her head into his chin. He groaned in discomfort when a mind link opened without him wanting it to. Images flashed unbidden into his mind of the love and comfort the cat had been offered by the human woman. Some were intense such as the creature's memory of Jill saving her from the fender wall of a truck when she had been no more then a kitten. Some were more the rememberances of being stroked to sleep before the fire, of being fed mashed liver food from the end of the woman's fingers when she'd been to sick to eat, and other such things that made the cat's small heart swell with love for her owner.

The scrawny orange tabby came from the foot of the bed and settled on his still sore chest. She purred loudly and needled the ripped material of cheongsam pricking the flesh beneath. Fire flowed through the small pinpricks and suddenly he was immersed in her memories as well. He moaned in pain at the added emotional load unable to raise his barriers because of his grandmother's wards. He was shot through with the intense pleasure of sitting in warm baskets of fresh folded laundry, licking the bottom of the tuna can dry and days spent cuddled on the woman's lap while she read a good book. He shook under the onslaught. The damn woman cared and it slammed against the beliefs he held dear cracking their foundations. The large calico that had followed her out came running back in and pulled itself up on the bed and licked at a bead of sweat on his temple. He couldn't quite stifle the small scream as she added her own memories and thoughts to the others. In a relentless march across his neural pathways the love and respect Jill had shown them arced through. The kaleidoscope also showed small glimpses of her interacting with others. Through the three felines inner eyes he saw Jill opening door after door to buy girl scout cookies, time after time of piling together bags of clothes and food marked on the sides to be taken to different inner city night shelters, endless hours of web surfing to find some piece of information for distant friends she had never met in person and giving even when she herself had so little to give. He writhed against the bedcovers and tears streamed from his eyes as his overtaxed mind tried to assimilate everything.

Jill came rushing back in alarmed by all the noise he was making. She shooed the cats of the bed slightly panicked to find him twisting against the bonds and crying.

"Off the bed Wednesday, MoJo and Mushu. Go on down you guys go." The cats dispersed each one going to a different corner of the room. Jill grabbed the kami's wrist closing her fingers over the knots in the rope. She took a deep breath and steeled herself for the worst.

"Release this bond." The knots fell apart in her hand and the kami went still beneath her. She looked down into his pain filled eyes.

"Are you able to move?" Jill inquired. The way his body had sagged had suggested he had lost control the moment the rope released.

"No." He replied his breath raspy and light.

"I'm sorry." Jill told him feeling an odd sense of compassion inside.

"I know." Jill brushed back the long hair from his face and reached for the chamomile tea she had made for him.

"Here, I brought you some tea." She cupped the back of his head and lifted him up as much as she could. Jill carefully tilted the cup so a small portion of the warm drink spilled into his mouth. It was slow going but Jill had nursed some of the sickest pets around back to health simply by her patience and it was that trait that enabled her to help him drink drop by drop until the cup was empty.

She pretended not to notice when he started to cry again large glistening tears that weltered down his face and onto her arm. For that small kindness alone the kami was more grateful then he could ever truly remember being. The woman smelled like fresh warm bread under the flowery perfume she wore. He breathed in deeply all that she was. Her kind generous nature flowed through him as easily as the tea she held pressed to his lips. Hard cold pieces inside that he insulated himself with broke free and thawed as centuries of hate and mistrust of a species were brought under the warming rays of Jill's pure soul. In the back ground the soft sounds of a radio played and in an ironic moment between one feeble sip and the next one lyric shone through clear.

[These tears I cry aren't tears of pain, there only to hide my guilt and shame..] The rest lost to him as she readjusted her hold to get a better grip. He could feel her small fingers tangled in his hair carefully holding the base of his skull. He never been attracted to a female before but knew better then to lie to himself. He wanted to touch her and he wanted to feel the touch of tiny digits against his skin. The kami shivered in her grip frightened by the unexpected feelings she caused in him and for once very, very unsure of himself.