TITLE: Avoiding the Subject
AUTHOR: NexustehULF0o
Description: Since they'd come home, he'd felt cramped – like his blood still burned for adventure. Well, burned for something, at least. Oneshot. AdellxRozalin.
Rating: K
DISCLAIMER: I own a copy of Disgaea 2. That is all I own. Nothing else.
Nexus: I'M ALIVE. I REALLY AM. LOOK, I'M POSTING THINGS.
So, I'm getting into Disgaea 2 now – I'm loving the Adell/Rozalin because it SO reminds me of another pair I know and love (look at my profile). I mean, sure, the two are SO DIFFERENT, but they're really alike too. So I decided to explore Adell and Rozalin a bit – please forgive me and tell me in a review if you find it too OOC.
Anyway, enjoy! :3
OH BY THE WAY. SPOILERS FOR DISGAEA 2'S GOOD ENDING.
Also, if I got any of the facts wrong, lemme know. I was spoiled by my friend about the endings a long time ago, but he may have gotten some facts wrong, and I really couldn't find an entire plot summary on the internet, so...PM me if you have any questions, corrections, or concerns! :3
The breeze whisked through dark red locks as Adell looked up at the night sky, briefly gazing at all the stars before he snapped himself out of it. He coolly pushed himself from the tree he had been leaning on, his arms still folded as he looked over at Taro and Hanako's bedroom window, which glared from the light of the full moon.
He really couldn't say why he'd found reprieve out here lately, standing amongst the stars. It just felt…bigger out here. Since they'd come home, he'd felt cramped – like his blood still burned for adventure.
Well, burned for something, at least.
So every night, after everyone had gone to bed, he'd come out here and stargaze a bit, thinking to himself for a while before he would turn in to bed. No one noticed – everyone in Holt, since turning back into…well, non-demons, seemed to go to sleep earlier.
A shift behind him caught him off guard, and Adell swirled around, fists ready to deck whatever was coming his way.
But when he noticed it was a certain Princess disturbing his thoughts, he lowered them quickly.
"Oh, Rozalin." He breathed a sigh of relief. "It's just you."
Rozalin took her hands in one another, looking at Adell from the corner of her eye as she seemed to look aimlessly around the small front yard. "You're quite…energetic tonight, Adell – looking for a fight, hm? And you claim to not be a mindless battle maniac…"
Adell smiled and chuckled a bit, running a hand through his red hair before looking toward the ground. It was nice to know that the revelation that Rozalin actually was Overlord Zenon hadn't changed her much.
At least not at face value.
It was really a wonder that Rozalin was actually speaking to him – she hadn't said a word to him since they'd come home from "defeating Overlord Zenon" and turning Veldime into a peaceful, demon-free land. This was different. He wondered why.
The air fell still and silent, adding a certain heaviness between them. Adell knew the heavy feeling well as the feeling Rozalin gave him whenever she walked into a room. He would catch her looking at him, but as soon as their eyes met, she would look away, stop whatever she was doing, and leave quickly.
This was the first time they'd actually talked since…you know, that.
He was snapped out of his thought process by her speaking once more.
"Adell – I come out here to speak to you, and you barely even acknowledge my presence! Why, I should tell your mother how you treat young ladies! She would certainly not be pleased to hear that you - "
"What did you come out her e for, Rozalin…?" He interrupted, placing as hand on his hip. She shut up abruptly, a blush festering quickly and darkly on her cheeks.
"Well, enough of the small talk, then…" she muttered, placing her folded hands close to her mouth and glanced up at him. "Adell."
"Yes…?"
"I'd like to talk about…how you lifted me from Overlord Zenon's control." If possible, she blushed even darker and looked away again, finding a patch of grass much more interesting than to continue staring him in the eye.
He couldn't help but darken a few shades himself. He kne w this'd come up eventually, but after she'd been ignoring him for the past few days, it almost seemed sudden.
He chuckled nervously. "Uh, well…" he stammered, rubbing the back of his head. "That…that was…"
Rozalin watched him carefully. "You…you kissed me. Why?" She asked, cocking her head slightly.
"Well I…I promised to protect you, Rozalin." He began, nodding before grabbing one arm with the other and swinging it nervously back and forth. "And if that means saving you from yourself, then so be it. Something told me that being a being of solitude just wasn't your style. So...I…"
"But why kiss me…?" she asked quietly as she drew a bit closer to him, watching his face as he watched his shoes.
"Because…" he muttered, then looking up. "Because you kept saying over and over that you only had enemies. That anyone you'd ever known was an enemy. You had no friends, no family… Because I promised to protect you and…I knew that you were in there somewhere. You had to be. I needed to prove to you that you weren't alone. So I did the only thing I could do. Lucky for me, it snapped you out of it." He smiled slightly, rubbing under his nose with a finger.
Silence enveloped them once more.
"Thank you, Adell." She managed a small smile for Adell, one that was as much transparent as it was downright fake. Rozalin was upset and anxious, and he desperately wanted to know why. "I appreciate you saving me."
Without looking up at him, Rozalin turned to face the other direction, once more stepping toward the house.
Without thinking, Adell started after her, snatching her hand up in his own.
"What's wrong…?" He asked calmly, staring at the back of her head.
"I…" she began before stopping short. "Nothing's wrong. I'm fine, Adell. Now, please let go of me."
She pulled slightly against his grip, but he kept it tight.
What was compelling him to do something like this? He didn't even like girls.
But…but Rozalin was different. Unlike any demon he'd ever met. She was passionate and kind…well, more the former than the latter. She never gave up on something when she wanted it done, even if it bugged the hell out of him. And…it made Adell never want to give up either. Even if he failed, her determination only made his willpower to keep his promise to her grow stronger.
So much that…Adell never wanted her to leave.
She turned a bit toward him. "Adell, let -"
"I was hesitant."
She stopped at turned to fully look at him.
"From the moment that we were at the coliseum. I didn't understand why, but I think I do now. I was hesitant to kill Overlord Zenon then because doing so would mean that you wouldn't ever get to know your father. Even though he cursed my family and those that I loved most, in that moment, you mattered more to me."
"But you -"
"And not because of some stupid promise, either." He continued without heed or care for what she was saying. "It stopped being about the promise a long time ago. I went through everything…just so you would be happy. I didn't care if I died. I mean, sure, defeating Overlord Zenon meant well for my family, but…for you… it would be like…what I had to go through with my parents. And I decided I couldn't let that happen."
She was silent, eager to hear more.
"So, when you turned out to be Overlord Zenon, I…I did what I had to do. Even though you attacked me, I had to protect you. And if kissing you was the only way I could protect you, then I would kiss you."
Without warning, Rozalin shoved her way into his chest, wrapping her arms around him tightly.
Shocked slightly, Adell stood silent as Rozalin buried her face in the crook of his neck, heaving a deep sigh.
Slowly, he returned the embrace, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.
"I didn't know what I would do if I ever lost you, Rozalin. I don't know how I lived before… All I could think about was that if I didn't protect you, how I wouldn't be able to trust myself with anything ever again."
She let him go, looking up at him and turning a faint pink.
"Stop talking." She raised an eyebrow. "And trust this."
With that, she pulled his lips to hers, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. She felt him smile underneath her lips before his arms moved to her hips holding her close. Rozalin couldn't help but crack a smile as well – trusting a demon was the most unheard of thing in all of Veldime. But that could be a promise he would be willing to make.
And when did Adell ever break his promises?
Nexus: You like? Review! I'd appreciate it, especially because I'm new to the fandom! XP