Tao sniffed, frowning at the familiar scent.

What was Kai doing in his class? The distinctive odor of Kai's preferred perfume got stronger and underneath it, Tao detected another, much more pleasant scent.

His frown deepened. What was Raina doing, smelling like Kai?

It made his beast growl inside him angrily, baring its teeth and hackles rising as it prepared to attack. His eyes flashed red as a bout of possessiveness went through him. She shouldn't smell like anyone but herself… and if she was going to smell like anyone else, it should be him.

He glared at her as she slid in the seat beside him, looking subdued. His glare seemed to upset her even more and she shifted, tugging on the hem of her shirt as if to adjust it and patting her hair in place self-consciously.

Tao was irritated enough that he didn't even attempt to take hold of her hand, even though it was resting oh so invitingly on the seat. He huffed instead, staring ahead and ignoring – or trying to ignore – the sad face she pulled when he didn't take it.

First she had to go and crush on Lay and he'd put up with that, trying to be considerate and everything; the fact that he'd been caught equally off guard about by the fever didn't count. Then she had refused to talk to him after he came so close to dying and everyone else's mate (except maybe D.O's) couldn't seem to detach themselves from their Legends – hell, Mei had freaking eloped with Luhan! – and now, after she'd somehow managed to get over her hesitancy to talk to him (or at least seek his company) she was putting on another man's perfume, smelling like him instead of Tao, who smelled much better than any perfume, just fyi, and enough was enough.

He'd put up with enough of her nonsense and now, she was either going to get rid of this stupid shirt with the stupid perfume or he was taking Mei's advice and going off in greener directions.

He was glaring so intensely at the board that even their lecturer stuttered, wondering if she was saying something wrong. When asked, he scowled as he snapped out a negative reply and then, subtly sped up the time so the lecture would just end and he could get away from the offensive scent of his mate mixed with another's.

The moment the bell rang, signaling the end of class, he was heaving the bag on his shoulder and stalking towards the exit.

'Tao!' Raina called breathlessly and he resisted the urge to growl as his steps sped up even more and he tried really, really hard not to give in to the tears threatening to fall. Why did he have to have the worst possible luck when it came to mates? Even Tiffany had given Sehun less trouble than this, he was sure.

'Tao!' she called again, sounding closer this time and his nostrils were once again assaulted by the offending odor.

'What?' he snapped, rounding on her the same moment she reached him. She backed up in surprise, looking unsure.

'You're angry,' she sounded hesitant, looking a little cowed.

'As if,' he snorted, turning back and starting to stalk again. 'Why would I be angry? Not like I care whose perfume you use or anything, right?'

'Wait!' She ran after him again, grabbing hold of his hand and effectively halting him. He tried really, really hard not to give in to the pleading look in her eyes as she spoke, 'I can explain.'

He snorted again, more in an attempt to remind himself he was angry than anything else. 'I'm sure you can,' he muttered sarcastically.

'No really, I can!' she insisted, gripping his hand tighter. 'We had dance practice, Sehun kept complaining I was stinking him up or something so I… borrowed Kai's perfume.' She blushed towards the end but Tao only frowned.

'So you were dancing with Sehun?'

She seemed to realize he wasn't happy with that either and hung her head. 'I had no choice, okay?' she muttered, sounding sulky. 'It's not like I want to dance with him…' she muttered something else too but it was too light to hear.

'What?' he asked, ersely satisfied she didn't like dancing with Sehun.

'I want to dance with you only…' Her cheeks were on fire but the words were said clearly enough.

'Really?' he arched a brow skeptically, 'Not even Lay?'

Her head shook with satisfying quickness, turning an even lovelier shade of red as she ducked her head and refused to meet his eyes. Her hair was once again in a high ponytail which made it impossible to hide her reactions and a smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth before expanding into a full blown grin.

'Kikwang?' he asked, just for the heck of it.

'No,' She looked up, scarlet but determined, 'only you.'

Their eyes met and held. And for the first time since his fever had started, he felt time slow down to the slowest crawl, a hush falling over everything else as his world was reduced to the girl in front of him. It was just the two of them in that eternal moment and he felt his heart speeding up as he slowly closed the distance between them.

………………………………….

Raina gulped, rooted to the spot and unable to even blink or tear her eyes away from Tao as he slowly closed the distance between them.

This was it, she could feel it in her bones. Maybe this was what Kyra had been hinting at when she'd about her first kiss. She kept her eyes open until she felt his breath hit her cheeks, then they slid shut as she waited to finally be claimed.

The annoyed huff above her made her want to cry. Why? Why couldn't he just kiss her? She wanted to be claimed, dammit, was that too hard to understand? She cracked one eye open, this time glaring at him even as he made a face, nose scrunched up and an annoyed look on his face.

'Okay, you really need to get rid of Kai's perfume!' he growled, sounding irritated and, to her extreme satisfaction, completely put off that he hadn’t kissed her. 'I can't kiss you when you smell like him, it's weird.'

'Tao…' she whined, hoping he'd give in, 'I'll change later, promise.'

He shook his head, pinching his nose to hold his breath. 'No, change first.'

'I don't have a spare shirt.' She sulked before looking at him hopefully. He rolled his eyes, obviously seeing through her act, 'Fine, I'll give you mine. Come on.'

He grabbed her hand and started marching down the corridor, pulling her along until they were in front of the girl's toilet. 'Make sure to wash it off,' he told her, pushing her inside.

'It’s a toilet, I can't…'

'Use the basin,' he snapped, throwing his button-up in her direction. She caught with a suppressed giggle, delighted that he'd started wearing an additional upper just so he could lend it to her. It was super-sweet, especially when he was so particular about his clothes with his brothers, quite unwilling to share.

'Stop wasting time,' he knocked on her head, 'and hurry.'

She nodded eagerly, slipping inside just as he snapped his fingers and slowed time down to a mere trickle. Raina didn't waste a moment, hurrying straight towards the basin and opening the tap so she could wash herself. It was such a bother but she wasn't going to complain when he was so impatient to kiss her.

Humming happily to herself, she took off the tank she'd been wearing, chucking it into her bag and leaning over the counter to splash herself with water. That's when her glance landed on the mirror and the familiar figure standing beside her.

'Oh hey Tiff!' She nodded, pulling the shirt to herself hurriedly before realizing that she was frozen in time.

It still felt weird, even though she knew the girl couldn't actually see her or anything; she felt self-conscious and Tiffany's unblinking eyes and half-open mouth were creeping her out a little so she moved towards the stalls, deciding she could wash herself properly later. It wasn't like she'd sprayed the deodorant on her skin or anything, right?

She'd barely reached the first stall though when the door burst open and she yelled in surprise, dropping her bag and shirt as her hands came up in the fighting stance she'd seen Tao take every time he faced an opponent.

Then her face turned red, almost as red as Tao's as he hurriedly turned back, putting his hands up in defense, 'Sorry, sorry!'

She pulled the shirt up haphazardly, knotting it tight instead of bothering with the buttons and cleared , hoping her heart would settle down. It was just Tao, thank heaven; she didn't exactly mind if he saw her in her bra or anything.

'You decent?' He asked the wall he was facing and she nodded at his back before speaking up. 'Yeah.'

He still turned cautiously, looking relieved that she'd put the shirt on before hurrying towards her, pulling her behind him and peering towards the stalls, then glancing at the door he'd come in from, looking around curiously. His eyes stopped on Tiffany before he looked at the stalls again and something seemed to catch his eyes. Raina stuck close to him as he headed towards the farther end, a little scared because of his suspicious behavior.

Also because shadows seemed to be seeping from that corner even though there was plenty of light in the area; plus, they seemed to be moving which should be impossible because Tao had frozen time, right?

They stopped in front of the last stall, Tao staring at it intensely for a few moments before pushing her back. She clung to him, refusing to budge so he finally glanced at her, eyes soft. 'Go stand with Tiffany, I'll just be a moment.'

 She considered refusing but realized he couldn't deal with whatever this thing was if he had to worry about her as well, so she slowly moved to stand beside Tiffany, grabbing onto one frozen hand and nodding. He nodded back, turning back to face the stall. 'Call Suho.'

She dug into her pants pocket to fish out the cellphone just as Tao kicked the door open. She was still looking at him so she had a moment of surprise when a very familiar face appeared but it was distorted, so distorted and so damn scary with those creepy dark lines seemingly flowing out of her dull red eyes before every light in the restroom burst, plunging the room in darkness.

There was an inhuman scream and curses as Tao fell and something whooshed past her, the door slamming shut behind her. Tao was after the figure a moment later and she was torn between following him and staying with Tiffany but Suho answered at that moment.

She had just finished relating everything to him when Tao returned, panting, obviously having run around. 'She got away!'

Suho asked her to hand the phone to Tao so she passed it, then tried not to feel too peeved that her chance to kiss had already been ruined – it was so petty, especially given the scenario but she couldn't help but be a little upset.

Tao let them out of the time-freeze the same moment he shut the phone and Tiffany let out a loud scream, one she'd no doubt been in the process of making when Tao had frozen time and since Raina was right beside her, she felt deaf in one ear by the time the girl was done.

The door was almost torn off its hinges as Sehun burst inside, panicked. 'Tiffany!' Then, 'Tao? Raina?'

Tiffany blinked, looking confused and surprised, 'What…?'

Raina pointed at Tao by way of explanation and she let out a huff, 'Thank goodness. I swear I saw something weird!' '

Sehun pushed Raina aside, pulling Tiffany into a hug after making sure she was alright and she felt a light tug on her hand, surprised to find Tao pulling her away.

'Aren't we going to tell them?' She whispered once they stepped outside; Tao shook his head. 'Whatever… or whoever it was, she's gone now. No need to create unnecessary panic, we'll talk about it when we get back.'

'Okay…' she muttered, falling in step beside him and trying to draw comfort from the fact that he was still holding her hand. The bell rang, signaling the start of their next class and she felt her shoulders slump; seemed like the entire cosmos was against her claiming.

It wasn't until they were inside the classroom that she realized it was completely empty. And obviously unused. 'Uh… Tao?'

He hummed in response, pulling her inside and she swallowed, heart suddenly shooting into , especially when he glanced over his shoulder and gave her a sideways smile, eyes hooded and flashing lightly red.

'Yeah?' He asked, turning around once they were inside the room, the door shutting behind them with a snick that echoed in the silence.

Raina couldn't speak, tongue glued as the room plunged in enough darkness to make everything seem mysterious, the golden glow of sunlight filtering through the window acting as a spotlight for Tao. Heart thundering, she stood still, unable to move or look away as everything slowed and her focus narrowed only on the Legend approaching her.

………………………………………

It wasn't really any surprise Raina lost her tongue around him, especially if this was what happened every time he was around.

It was kind of hard to focus on things like talking when he was lost in the details like sunlight filtering over them, throwing her features in sharp relief and the dust motes dancing around her, forming an ethereal halo, the light sheen of sweat making her skin glow and hair gently swaying in the light wind coming in through the partially open window.

She was staring up at him with wide eyes – and here he had a moment of pride that he was so tall, she had to glance up despite her own height – the barest hint of makeup highlighting her features to the fullest and his gaze dropped to her lips almost against his will… he wanted to admire her face just a little more but then her tongue swiped over the plump petals and he knew it was a lost cause.

He didn't realize exactly when he got so close – he'd been moving towards her almost unintentionally and it should've been worrisome that she had this much control over him, when she'd literally cried after finding out she was his mate, not Lay's.

But it didn't matter because he could read the desire in her eyes, in the longing expression on her face every time she looked at him and he was done resisting. He might've pretended that he was okay ignoring her but it had been the hardest thing he'd done – it was like resisting the urge to splurge on yet another Gucci sale and that was saying something.

What had happened just now… it wasn't Evil or abby, per se but the dark shadows seeping out like that were distinctively Abyss-like and just before she'd run away, Tao had caught sight of the black claws which had snapped outwards, breaking all the lights to plunge to room in darkness.

The creatures from Abyss they'd faced in their recent battle had claws like that, which could coil and extend that way… he shuddered just remembering that terrible ordeal. She'd broken through his time-freeze even though he was at full power – as high as he could get before claiming Raina – so whoever and whatever she was, she wasn't human.

It had been like a wake-up call.

He'd only wanted to kiss Raina back there because she'd been so adorable, telling him she wanted to dance with no one except him. But now… now, he wanted to complete his claim so that they would be bound, soul to soul, so he could be aware where she was at any moment and be there to protect her in case Evil decided to mess with them again.

He was right in front of her, so close their chests almost brushed as they breathed and he stared down at her, drinking in the sight of her as she stared back, seemingly unable to look away.

His hand rose of its own accord, tucking a stray strand behind her ear and her eyes almost slid shut with pleasure but she blinked them open again, the desire on her face so plainly written. She wanted him, she wanted to be his mate. She wanted to be claimed.

He bent his head low, stopping a mere breath from her parted lips before meshing them together in the softest touch.

He had a moment – just a moment – to appreciate the lushness of her lips before a veritable thunderbolt hit him, almost making him stumble as power swelled and swelled inside of him until he felt that his heart would burst with the force of it.

And then, there was a tangible boom as his power overflowed and everything was thrown into chaos, clocks and watches going haywire, time speeding up and suddenly slowing down, freezing and warping. The clouds in the sky sped up, sun rose higher before dipping low and everything almost turned dark before the clock seemed to reset itself and time returned to its normal pace.

Except for the timekeeping devices within a ten-mile radius, all of which stopped, frozen at the same instant – 10:10 am, the moment he claimed her.

In contrast to the chaos outside, everything was weirdly quiet and still inside the room as he kissed her before finally breaking apart. She blinked up at him slowly, looking as dazed as he felt and a small smile tugged at his lips before growing into a full-blown grin. She smiled back, shyly at first but then grinning as widely as him as they let out simultaneous, excited giggles that somehow ended with him kissing her again, deeper this time.

He didn't realize how long he kept at it, only that his power was overflowing – he could feel it thrumming inside his skin, ready to break free and it was exhilarating – and with her in his arms, he finally felt complete, like a missing piece he didn't even know of had fallen into place.

And thus, another root of the Tree of Life took hold on earth.

………………………………..

A/N

Dundundun!!! Finally :D Tao and Raina <3 I don't know about you guys but I started shipping them a lot. They were quite an unxepected couple for me - I honestly hadn't planned on writing them together but somehow, they clicked so well, and I'm really happy with the way their story panned out. I have a sort of side-story planned for Taozi - because his time-lord powers need to be explored a LOT more and there's just so much that can happen, so I want to try my hand at it... so, while I'm not promising anything, I might - hopefully soon - post the bonus parts after completeting this fic. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed it so far - this is one of my favorite claiming  scenes, I think I wrote it quite well. Let me know what you think. Also, did any of you get the time reference? 

Alright then, we have another root on earth... but what does Evil think about it? 

See you guys later <3