Disclaimer: I don't own Kuasnagi, Yuzariha, or Inuki. Pity that…
Ice Cream Girl
The Nebula's Daughter
There are so many reasons I shouldn't be here. I know them all by heart, I've told them to myself so many times. But I can't seem to stay away. I'm too old for her. She's too good for me. I'm going to hurt her. I'm a Dragon of Earth and she's a Dragon of Heaven. So many reasons.
I can't count the times I've told myself that I'm going to break it off now. Told myself that it's better that I hurt her now then to keep on doing this and have to see the hurt and fear in her eyes when she finds out what I am. I've even gone to the phone to call her, dialed her number, gotten her on the line and then found myself asking her to meet me for ice cream instead of saying what I meant to say.
Ice cream…That's why I'm here now. I'm waiting for her outside this park where we always meet. Waiting for ice cream cones, two of them. We'll go walking in the park, like always, and she'll share her ice cream with Inuki and eat most of mine. We'll laugh and talk and she'll listen very hard, trying to hear the trees the way I can. She'll smile a lot.
That smile haunts my every thought. When I shut my eyes I can see her, as clear as day, smiling her wonderful smile. Sometimes I daydream about just leaning in to kiss her, but that might disturb that smile so I won't. I won't kiss her. Not yet, Not until she's older.
She's kissed me though. Quick, fleeting brushes of her lips on my cheek. And once, only once, her lips briefly touching mine in a chaste, shy caress. Those kisses make themselves known in my dreams, where they quickly turn into something more. Sweet dreams, so sweet it hurts. They are both made all the sweeter and given a bitter edge by the knowledge that they may never come to pass.
We both have a destiny that we must follow. She is a Dragon of Heaven, a Seal, one of those who seek to maintain the world as it is. I am a Dragon of Earth, an Angel, one born to recreate and renew the planet. We are opposed.
But she does not know what I am and I have no intention of giving away my secret. Dragon of Heaven… It is so obvious that that is what she is that I am constantly surprised that I am not equally transparent. Still, it seems that I am not, for she has yet to confront me about it, and for this I am grateful. I could not bear to lose her.
I have nightmares sometimes where she tells me that she knows and leaves. I just stand there, my heart shattering into a thousand painful pieces, watching her walk out of my life forever. When I wake up from those dreams I can taste salt on my lips.
"Kusanagi-San!" Those dreams have yet to come true, and I know, as I watch her thread her way toward me through the crowd with Inuki bouncing at her heels, that I am in far too deep to risk her knowing. No, I won't tell her even though I ought to be honest with her.
"Ojou-Chan!" I call back and smile. "How was your week?"
"Just fine." She grins brilliantly at me and my breath hitches in my chest. "How about you?"
"The same as always." Funny, how around her my smiles are so much more genuine. "What would you say to some ice cream?" She laughs delightedly and it occurs to me that there is no way I could ever manage to walk away from her.
A little while later we are walking with our ice cream cones under the trees. Inuki is happily darting around, staying quite close to his mistress, but chasing squirrels nonetheless. I wonder idly what it looks like to people who can't see the sprit puppy. Do they just see the squirrels taking off for no apparent reason? Do they wonder what's going on? My train of thought is interrupted by Yurihaza asking,
"Do you think people can be like ice cream?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean…good while it lasts but you'd better hurry up and enjoy it because it's likely to melt soon." I can almost feel something crack inside as I realize what she's trying to tell me. She doesn't know what I am, but she does know what she is. She knows full well that she could die soon. She's trying to warn me.
As I try to come up with a reply I realize that she's right. She's my ice cream girl, as sweet and wonderful as can be but not truly mine for long. It doesn't really matter, I'll take what I can get.
"Maybe so. But I'm sure the people who love people like that would tell you that they were lucky to have them. Even if it was just for a little while." She smiles at me, her eyes wide and startled. "So, want some of my cone?" She laughs and accepts my offer.
Death may well wait for us both at the end of the road, but I'll worry about that later. For now I'm just a man enjoying a beautiful afternoon with the girl he loves. She and I have a whole day to be together. We'll not waste it.
Note: For once I have no explaining to do. *Grin* I would dearly love feedback as I have a mild insecurity complex and am a exceedingly poor judge of my own work.