A/N: Disappearing for months is the latest fad, didn't you hear?
In all seriousness, I apologize for my absence. Please take this oneshot as an apology. Before we begin, I have two things to say. One: in this, Setsuna and Konoka are already together. Two: Negima belongs to Ken Akamatsu.
Thanks to Nishizono for her awesome PRing and Risa Arakawa for her input. Without them, this thing would be riddled with OOC-ness and grammar mistakes.
Blood, so much blood. The red substance decorated the floor, spreading across the surface like a blot of ink, crawling over her feet and dying her skin scarlet. Everywhere, the surfaces were lathered with a deep, dark, scarlet red, and even the ceiling was dripping in blood. How could there be so much blood?
The stench of death hit her like a slap in the face, and she resisted the urge puke when the smell of rotting flesh washed over her senses, gagging and feeling bile rush up her throat. Pushing back her disgust, she tried to quell the rising panic in her chest and block the smell out. Hands shaking, she rubbed her eyes and nose, looking up a moment later.
Then she saw the bodies. Littered across the floor of blood were indistinguishable and numerous black shapes in the darkness, but she knew those were human bodies. Dead, since they weren't moving. Only one body was recognizable as it lay in the glow of moonlight streaming in from a single window, one that sent a horrified shudder throughout her body.
It couldn't be. Please don't let it be her. It can't be her.
She stumbled across the bodies on the floor and, trying to keep the panic in her heart at bay, ignored the squelch of her feet in blood every time she took a step. It seemed the closer she got to the pale body in the moonlight, the deeper and darker the blood seemed to be, eventually coming up her knees.
The fear of drowning ate away at the edge of her mind, and she blinked back the images of a distant memory: a flash of water, a desperate reach, two screaming voices, a sense of helplessness and failure.
She waded through the blood and quickened her pace.
When she finally reached the body, she realized it was floating above the blood, suspended over the tainted liquid that now reached up to her chest level. The close up view of long chocolate hair and a delicate face confirmed her suspicions of the body's identity.
She felt like someone had driven an icy dagger through her heart.
Biting back her rapidly increasing panic, she lifted her hand out of the blood and, with a dripping arm, touched the white fabric dress wrapped around the floating girl. The moonlight surrounding them vanished in the blink of an eye.
A piercing scream filled with heart-wrenching agony erupted from the girl in front of her, the girl's eyes springing open to reveal blank, white spheres accompanied by an expression of desperate pain.
She gazed helplessly as, to her horror, her red touch seemed to stain the dress, and the red blotch started to spread rapidly across the girl's body.
With a splash, the floating girl fell into the pool of blood, and something seemed to catch her and slowly lower her deeper and deeper into the substance. It washed over her pale arms and exposed legs, eventually going up her neck and onto her face, and with every inch that it spread, the body sunk deeper into the mass of red liquid.
In vain, she tried to pull the girl up, but no matter how hard she tried, she was unable to pull her up as if an invisible force was steadily dragging the girl down to deeper depths. Once the girl sunk low enough, she was submerged as well, keeping her grip desperately on the other girl's wrist and shutting her eyes tight to avoid opening them in blood.
Panic overtook her mind and, combined with a need for oxygen, she failed to realize that they had gone deeper than the floor had originally been. Finally, the need for air overwhelmed her and she unconsciously let go, the girl's soft hand slipping out of her bloody grip. The loss of contact, however, seemed to bring her mind back to focus. The girl was her life, and if she lost her, she might as well be dead.
Reaching blindly around for the girl, tasting iron in her mouth and resisting the urge to puke, she swam in a sea of thick red. Black spots were appearing before her vision, signifying the amount of time that had passed since she had last breathed. It didn't even occur to her to leave the girl behind to go back up for air; the girl was all that mattered.
But no matter how much she struggled and thrashed, the girl remained out of touch and out of reach.
She was gone.
Her chest felt like it was being brutally stabbed by multitudes of knives as she finally lost consciousness, the lack of air taking its toll, and she began to sink into dark-red never-ending depths.
Setsuna awoke with a strangled gasp, tangled in a mass of blanket and covers, springing straight up and slamming her head painfully against the underside of the bunk bed above her. With a cry of pain, disoriented with her heart beating rapidly against her rib cage, she fell off her bed and landed in a heap on the floor.
Slowly, clutching her head, she calmed herself down and tried to regain her breathing. Eyes shut tight, she tried to block out the image of the color red swimming all across her vision. Unable to take the stench of blood that still seemed to linger in her senses, she drunkenly stumbled over to the window and threw it open, taking in the cool night air with greedy gulps. It wasn't enough.
Unbidden, her wings started to struggle against their captivity and she found herself launching herself out into the air, an uncontrollable madness overtaking her mind. For a moment, she was free-falling, a sense of weightlessness causing her to refocus, then her wings escaped their bindings in a flourish to take her up into the moonlight sky. Panting, she let the thrill of flying bring her back to sanity, taking herself higher and relishing in the feel of freedom.
Breathe, Setsuna, just breathe.
Drowning in blood might have possibly been one of the worst nightmares she had ever had, combined with the fact that she had let Konoka die...
There was a sudden drop in altitude, and Setsuna realized she had unconsciously folded away her wings. Panic setting back into her bones, she desperately tried to call her wings back out, but they refused to reappear. No matter how hard she tried, they just wouldn't come back.
Pathetic. She was going to be done in not by a demon, not by an enemy, but because of her own stupidity.
The air rushed by her ears as she fell, fell, fell-
"Secchan!" a scream pierced the air. Suddenly, she wasn't falling, but floating gently down to grass, a warm glow surrounding her body that slowed her lethal decent into a gentle one. She landed in a rustle of leaves and wind, the glow fading into the night, her night clothes whipping in the breeze. Trees surrounded her from all sides and she wondered where the voice had come from. The forest was quite a ways from the dorms, after all.
Before long, a girl in pajamas tackled Setsuna to the ground in a fierce hug. Immense relief flooded her senses along with the familiar scent of the woman she loved, enveloping her in a sudden realization that she was okay, that they both were okay, and Konoka was in her arms unharmed and very much alive.
"K- Kono-chan," she softly gasped, feeling the girl clench Setsuna's midsection in a death grip and bury her face into the swordsman's neck. Setsuna returned the hug in kind, albeit more careful so she would not hurt her loved one, resting her head atop of Konoka's and allowing herself to drink in all of her presence. The peace lasted only a few moments, though.
"What happened?" Konoka asked, pulling away from the embrace to face her swordsman. Setsuna was startled to see tears glistening down Konoka's cheeks.
"Please don't cry, Kono-chan," she soothed, bringing a tentative hand up to wipe Konoka's tears away. For a moment, she thought she saw blood on her hand. "I- it was nothing, I assure you. Just, I, uh-"
"Secchan, don't give me that! Tell me what's wrong, and don't you dare say nothing is. For you to suddenly lose your wings like that... You idiot, idiot Secchan!" she cried, thumping her fists against Setsuna's chest. The swordsman merely took the beating, knowing that she deserved it, the physical pain paling in comparison to her emotional anguish at seeing her loved one so distraught. "I... really thought I was going to lose you..."
Setsuna winced and took Konoka hurriedly into her arms again, running a calming hand down her back and another through her hair. The girl was shaking with sobs. "I-"
"Don't you trust me, Secchan?" Her quiet voice, distorted by her crying, rang clear through the night. Closing her eyes and releasing a shuddering sigh, Setsuna knew she was defeated.
"I... I had a nightmare."
"And?" Konoka urged her on, her breath tickling Setsuna's neck.
"There was so much blood, too much blood, a- and then you were there," she explained, body turning tense in anticipation, feeling as if she were about to be dunked back into the blood bath. Opening her eyes again, she gently pushed Konoka off of her, bringing a hand up and wiping away Konoka's tears. "It was a vivid dream. I- in any case, it really is nothing to worry abou-"
"Secchan." Konoka was fixing her with a glare. She gulped. There was no escape.
"I let you die." Konoka blinked. "You sank into a pool of blood, and I couldn't do anything to save you. Nothing. I was powerless." Setsuna's voice had turned hoarse with emotion, and she held back tears. Bodyguards didn't cry.
"Oh Secchan, how many times do we need to go over this?" Konoka sighed, pulling herself onto Setsuna again. "I can take care of myself and not only myself, but you too. I think tonight proves that, at the very least." Setsuna shook her head.
"It's not..." she trailed off. She thought about how to phrase what she wanted to say, licking her lips. "When I woke up, my old fears of not being able to protect you suddenly overwhelmed me, and I was so afraid and confused that I jumped out my window to get some fresh air. I- I froze up when I remembered the image of you sinking into the blood, and my mind couldn't take it. My wings disappeared and wouldn't come back out." Konoka rubbed her back soothingly, gently encouraging her to continue. Setsuna let out a humourless laugh. "Look at me. A bodyguard who freezes up and almost kills herself at the thought of her charge dying."
"Secchan-"
In an uncharacteristic move, Setsuna pulled back and gripped Konoka's shoulders, interrupting her Ojou-sama's sentence. Her gaze hardened and turned to steel as she stated with absolute certainty, "I will protect you, Ojou-sama, even if it costs me my life."
Konoka's eyes widened for a moment before they turned into narrow slits of anger and frustration. "You almost died, and that's all you can say! I thought you'd know better than that, Secchan, after all these years," she said, voice deadly with restrained rage. Suddenly, her shoulders sagged and she heaved out a quiet sigh. "Secchan..."
"Kono-chan, I-"
"Secchan, don't just protect me all the time. I want to protect you too!" Konoka took both her hands and cupped the swordsman's cheeks. "I will protect you, just like I did a few moments ago."
They gazed unflinchingly into each other's eyes, both waiting for the other to understand their feelings and reasons. Slowly, Konoka's stare etched away at Setsuna's resolve, a hidden passion and limitless power behind those shining orbs. The strength behind her Konochan's eyes suddenly gave her a sense of safety, and the amount of trust exchanged between them awakened a hidden desire within Setsuna: to be loved and treasured, protected, even just a little.
It was a feeling she had buried long ago.
The swordsman felt a tear slide down her cheek, then another, and another, turning into a steady stream before long. Then, with a sudden sob, tears started to flow down Setsuna's face, her face twisting to a sort of happy and resigned smile. Startled, Konoka dropped her hands from Setsuna's cheeks. In one swift movement, though, the swordsman caught those hands in her own and held them close to her heart.
"I understand," Setsuna smiled. "We're partners, right? We'll protect each other."
Konoka stared at her as if she had grown a second head. "You... really mean that? You finally realize that?" she asked hesitantly, eyes going wide. Setsuna nodded, lowered her head, and rested her forehead on Konoka's, eyes closing again.
"I'm sorry it took something like this for me to realize it," Setsuna smiled. "Back when we were just middle-schoolers, I was so blind and stubborn a- and foolish. I should have seen your strength and power earlier and acknowledged it." She inhaled deeply, cheeks twitching as she felt Konoka's warm breath so close on her skin. "Thank you, Kono-chan. Thank you for being with me all this time," she whispered. "I understand. I don't need to be alone anymore; you're here too."
Konoka, entirely expecting another tirade of "But I'm your protector!", broke into a fresh round of tears herself and laughed, relieved and happy beyond belief to see that Setsuna finally realized she didn't need to carry all the burdens on her own back. "Silly Secchan. You couldn't get rid of me even if you wanted to," she whispered back, and slowly, Secchan's eyes opened to stare into hers.
A hidden passion was traded between their glances, and then their lips met in a gentle kiss. It was a practiced gesture, as they had long ago confessed their love to each other, but now the act was done between two equals, not between a servant and her master nor a bodyguard and her charge.
And it was the greatest feeling in the world.