As he neared the screen of green, he thought he heard a muffled curse or yell.  He paused listening, and was surprised to hear the sounds of a scuffle on the other side of the hedge.  Suddenly, there was the unmistakable sound of a hard blow striking flesh and a grunt of pain.  Daniel dropped the clippers he was carrying and ran around the bushes.
 
He rounded the corner just in time to see Zarbon deliver a fierce blow to Tonya's jaw, knocking her to the ground.  Without thinking he dashed forward to her side as she started to sit up. 

Tonya wiped the trickle of blood from her lip, her eyes widening as Daniel appeared next to her.  Her hand hovered over her injury, but didn't resist when he moved it to examine the extent of damage.

 "Are you okay?" he asked, now noticing the bruises dotting her shoulders and arms, revealed by the tank top she was wearing. 

She just nodded, and Daniel felt a stab of anger run through him.  He stood, positioning himself between the fallen girl and her boyfriend.  Zarbon had started to move forward, but now froze at the glare Daniel was favoring him with.

 "Back off and stay away," Daniel said carefully. "Leave her alone.  I don't know how you treat women in Australia, Zarbon, but this is definitely not how we do it here." 

Daniel stooped quickly to help Tonya up, then began to quickly lead her to the house.  Zarbon hesitated then followed, making sure to keep a good distance between them.  He winced at the pain in his rib cage, the words Daniel was saying to Tonya, and the angry looks Daniel kept throwing back to him.

Tonya meanwhile was still stunned.  She knew that Zarbon was injured because she'd heard something crack when she'd kicked him.  That had blown her concentration, allowing Zarbon to hit her.  Then Daniel showed up, had assumed that Zarbon was beating her up, and was now trying to talk some sense into her.

Daniel ushered her to a chair at the kitchen table, then turned to the refrigerator to put some ice in a baggie.  He wrapped it in a towel and handed it to her.  Daniel pulled out a chair and sat across the table from her.  He watched her for a minute then said, "I thought you were the kind of girl who wouldn't put up with a man like that."  He shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "Man, I never thought Zarbon was that kind of man, but I guess you can't always see these things coming."

Tonya just stared at him trying to think of an explanation that wouldn't sound like she was just defender her "attacker".  The last thing she wanted was to come across sounding like one of those women. 

Just then Sebastian walked in to the kitchen, and a look of surprised concern crossed his face.  "What happened?"

"I caught Zarbon beating her up on the side lawn." Daniel replied.

"What?!?" Sebastian's expression turned dark, "What an asshole!" he turned to Tonya,  "why didn't you tell us?" 

Jessica, Poopsie, Dee, and Alec came into find out what was taking Sebastian so long to get the chips and drinks.  They had gotten the video up to the beginning of the movie and were getting impatient.

Seeing Sebastian and Daniel's angry looks, Jessica asked, "What's wrong?"

"Daniel caught Zarbon beating Tonya up on the side lawn?" Sebastian answered.

"No way!" Alec said, "Zarbon would never..."

Daniel cut him off, gesturing at Tonya. "There's your proof right there."

"There must be some mistake..." Poopsie started.

"Yeah, like letting men live in our mansion." Dee put in.

"Hey, there's Zarbon.  Let's ask him." Jessica pointed to the back door.

"Yes, let's." Sebastian stalked to the door, jerked it open, and pulled a very surprise Zarbon into the kitchen.  He pushed Zarbon against the wall, missing the pained look that flitted across the other man's face. "What's this I hear about you beating up on Tonya?  You didn't want to be the one tied up this time and fought back?"

"What is going on in here?" Techno asked annoyed as he walked in, Sally following a step behind. 

"Daniel caught Zarbon beating Tonya on the lawn." Sebastian answered, poking Zarbon in the chest for emphasis.

Zarbon winced in pain, and Techno took Sebastian's place. "Is this true?" he asked, his voice calm, but angry.
Zarbon's eyes flashed with anger, "Of course not!"

"Then what were you doing?" Techno asked, already knowing the answer.

Zarbon blinked, "We were sparring."

"Sparring?" Daniel asked.

Zarbon nodded, "I'm teaching Tonya martial arts.  We usually train on the side lawn."

"So you punching her and all the bruises are just part of the training?" Daniel asked to confirm what he was hearing.  Zarbon nodded, and Daniel looked at Tonya.  She gave him a "Duh!" look and rolled her eyes, and he blushed.  He stood up and extended his hand to Zarbon, "I'm really sorry, Zarbon.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and jumped to the wrong conclusion.  Can you forgive me?"

Zarbon took his hand, "Don't worry about it.  I'm just happy to know she's got such a good friend to bail her out of trouble."

Sally grinned, "I can't believe you really thought that Zarbon was beating up Tonya." She laughed, "Everyone knows she's the violent one of the relationship."

The others chuckled, and even Daniel smiled at the joke.  Zarbon winced again and softly gasped in pain.

"Zarbon?"  Tonya finally spoke, "Are you okay?"

"My ribs really hurt," he gasped out clutching his ribs.

Techno and Sebastian helped him to the table and sat him down.  Zarbon whimpered slightly as Techno prodded his ribs to checking the amount of damage.

"I'd say you cracked a couple of ribs," Techno said, "A little tape and you'll be fine."

"Umm...I think I'm going to go finished those hedges," Daniel said, "See you later." He kissed Sally's cheek and left.

Techno waited tell he was out of earshot, then frowned, "You've got three broken ribs." He glanced at Poopsie.

"Of course," she replied, "Let's get him to his room first though."

- - - - - - -
 Tonya opened and slipped through the door as quiet as a mouse.  Zarbon lay on his bed dozing, shirtless.  He was exhausted after the healing and decided a nap was a good idea.  She snuck to the bed and watched him for a second then carefully covered him with a blanket.  His eyes opened and he smiled sleepily at her.

 She smiled shyly back and he reached up to pull her into the bed.  Tonya allowed this and settled gingerly against his side.  He snuggled against her and starting to go back to sleep when he suddenly realized she was crying.

 He pulled back, "Did I hurt you?"

 She shook her head. "I hurt you, and you forgive me so easily," she sniffled.  "I almost killed you in April and if one of your broken ribs had pierced your lungs..." she broke off with a sob.

 Zarbon pulled her tight against him, stroking her hair gently until she had quieted. "Someone once told me that life is dangerous," he said.  "Anything could happen." 
Tonya twisted slightly to look up at him, eyes still glistening with tears.  "I just underestimated you today, koi.  You're improving your technique quiet dramatically now," he smiled. "You know, if it was a real fight... you would never have gotten a single blow in."

 Tonya smirked slightly and sniffled, "Is that so?"  She gently pushed him onto his back.

 "Yup," he answered kissing her cheek, tasting the salt from her tears.  He gently kissed her tears away, then pulled her down for a soul-searing kiss.  When it ended, Tonya gently laid her head on his chest, his heartbeat lulling her to sleep.  Zarbon gently pressed a kiss to her hair, tugged the blanket up to cover both of them and joined her in slumber.