Disclaimer: Pretear & its characters do not belong to me. They belong to Kaori Naruse.
A/N: This story is after the original series had ended. A new evil called Feoria is in town. Well, actually it's because I do not know the original evil girl's name. Watching the dubbed version so I only know the knights' name & Himeno of course. Anyway, pls enjoy the story. Someone told me that all the knights are actually guys so I changed all the her to his. Thank you, my single reviewer!
Oh yeah, warning: shounen ai! You have been warned so please do not flame me for that. You can criticize but pls tell me why. Thks.
The Lovers
Himeno walked down the mansion that used to be her house. Her parents had migrated to United States with her stepsisters. Although her father had begged her to go with them, she had refused. Her mission as Princess Pretear did not allow her to leave her knights.
Of course, this was just an excuse. She could not bear to be away from Him. She had thought that she loved Hayate but she was wrong. When she told him how she felt, he had rejected her coldly. She would never forget the coldness of his voice as he said, "I'm sorry. But I love another. Goodbye."
She cried, allowing sorrow to overwhelm her. Her knights had suffered considerably during her bout of depression. The fight against Feoria had gone badly. However, even when all the knights had deserted her & berated her for deserting them, he had not. He stayed by her side, protecting her, listening to her & consoling her. She had wallowed in self-pity & was totally detestable those days. Yet, he did not give up on her.
Slowly but surely, she healed under his care. She began getting her fighting spirit back. She merged with him more often than she had with the others. He allowed her to glimpse into his world.
Himeno sighed. She doesn't want to make the same mistake twice but she is confident that this time, this is for real. She had been hurt once & had learnt to be careful. However, his patience & understanding had finally made her open her fragile heart once more. 'I'm sure he feels for me, the way I feel for him. Today is the day I will tell him how I feel, after I have defeated Feoria, well… hopefully.'
Hayate watched Himeno closely. She seemed weird recently. He knew that he had hurt her badly when he rejected her. However, he felt that this was the best way out. He did not love her at all. Besides, he already had another. He could not love her. Ever since then, she had wallowed in self-pity until recently. She had picked up her spirits considerably & had improved tremendously. However, he felt jealous & uneasy with the attention she had showered to one of the knights.
"Hey what are you looking at?" shouted Himeno unhappily at Hayate. She had gotten over her rejection but he still affects her when he stares at her. After all, rejecting Himeno had not made Hayate any more ugly or un-suave. Hayate sighed, shook his head & looked away.
"One chan! Please merge with me this time," pleaded Mannen, "you merged with Goh the other time. This is my time now isn't it? Please? Please! Please!"
Himeno smiled gently at her little knight of ice & shook her head. "Sorry, Hajime chan had already asked me so, I have to merge with him this time."
Mannen glared at Hajime (who was hiding behind Himeno in fright) angrily before stalking off to one corner to sulk. Goh grinned & proceeded to annoy Mannen further by calling him a kid & telling him to get his Q number right.
"She's here!" shouted Hayate alertly. Kei nodded at Shin, who set up the barrier to the normal world.
Evil laughter sounded all around the knights. "Do you think such a pitiful barrier is able to contain me?" The barrier broke & little Shin was thrown off his balance. "Shin!" shouted Hayate. He quickly came out with a couple of wind blows before scooping Shin into his arms.
"Hajime!" called Himeno. She nodded at the small boy & the two merged.
After months of practice, Himeno was getting better. Her knights shielded her from Feoria's attacks & she sought the latter's weakness. 'There!' thought Himeno happily, 'that must be her weakness!' "Sword of Water, assist me!" said Himeno in a strong voice, "Attack!"
Feoria avoided the attack with ease but did not notice Sasame & Hayate's attacks from behind. "Argh!!!" screamed Feoria. Her back was badly wounded. She scanned her environment & noted that Kei was open for attacks. She ordered the poisonous butterflies to attack Kei & the other knights before heading towards him. Having to attack the extremely flimsy butterflies, which were just too capable of avoiding attacks, Kei was too busy to notice Feoria. "Kei!" shouted Himeno in horror. "Watch out!"
At the very last moment, Kei saw Feoria heading towards him & tried to attack her. To his dismay, Feoria dodged her attacks easily & headed straight for her. Sensing that Kei was in grave danger, Himeno threw away her fear of Feoria & flew straight towards Kei. She stood in front of Kei & used the "Blade of Water" to attack Feoria as a form of defense.
"Ah!!!" shouted Feoria in pain. She threw a couple of monstrous worms for Himeno to deal with before flying off. The knights shielded Himeno while she tried to find the weakness of the worms. She quickly located the weak centers of both the worms & used the "Arrows of Water" to destroy the worms.
"Phew! That was really close. Thank you so much Himeno," said Kei gratefully. "Yes, that was really good Himeno chan. You are getting better with your attacks. More courageous too may I add?" said Sasame gently. Himeno blushed. She could never remain calm when Sasame praises her. She would always blush. 'He's so gentle,' thought Himeno absent-mindedly.
"That was rash of you!' reprimanded Hayate harshly.
Himeno looked over her shoulder & stuck out her tongue at Hayate. Sasame had once told her that Hayate was actually a very gentle & understanding knight. 'Gentle my foot!' thought Himeno angrily; 'He's nothing but a grouchy guy with PMS!'
Hayate frowned at Himeno's childish non-verbal reply & flew off. Sasame sighed. 'It wouldn't be easy to change their minds.' He looked at Himeno proudly. She had gone out of her previous crisis very well. 'I'm glad that she is back with us.' With that, Sasame flew off to look for Hayate.
"Hayate. What are you doing here all alone?" asked Sasame gently.
Hayate looked at his lover & sighed. "You know what is wrong. I've told you how I felt about the whole situation."
Sasame frowned & said, "Don't be silly. I told you that Himeno chan would never love me. She-" Sasame interrupted himself with a far away look.
Hayate looked at Sasame with concern. "What's wrong?" he asked in concern, "is anything the matter?"
Sasame shook his head & said, " well, don't get mad but Himeno's looking for me. Seemed like she has something important to share with me."
Hayate exploded in anger & said, "I told you to keep away from her. She's nothing but trouble. I'm sure little Miss Pretear is in love with you. She keeps finding excuses to look for you. You were spending too much time with her when I rejected her. She-" Sasame silenced Hayate's angry tirade of words with a deep & passionate kiss. "But you know that you are the one for me Hayate Kun. Please do not berate Himeno chan for her human feelings. She can't help it as well. I promise, I'll explain things to her when I have a chance."
Hayate nodded, pleased to be kissed & to be promised.
Sasame smiled at his jealous lover & looked for Himeno.
"Himeno chan! You are looking for me?" said Sasame gently.
"Sa…same Kun!" said Himeno, surprised. He had always appeared in front of her suddenly. Suddenly she tripped & fell. "Ouch! That hurts."
Sasame smiled at his clumsy Princess Pretear. "Are you all right?"
Himeno smiled & said, "I'm fine. Thank you for your concern Sasame Kun."
"You were looking for me?"
"Yes… I…, " said Himeno slowly. She hated it. She was getting a stutter & she always stutters when she's nervous. "Sasame Kun… I… I… I really like you!" There, she said it.
Sasame closed his eyes in despair. He had been dreading this day, hoping that they would be able to defeat Feoria before telling her the truth. 'What should I do? I love Hayate & no one else. But if I hurt her like Hayate did. We might be without Princess Pretear again.'
Himeno looked down on the ground before her nervously. She had already told him how she felt. 'Why doesn't he react at all?' wondered Himeno, 'What if he doesn't like me at all? What if he is like Hayate? Am I just Princess Pretear to him? No, it can't be. He loves me right? All those nights I spent crying in his arms. All those nights he stayed up with me just to protect me & gently brushed my tears of sorrow away.' Himeno looked up into Sasame's violet eyes & whispered his name unconsciously.
"Nani?" asked Sasame, breaking his silence & self-dilemma.
"Nothing. Nothing at all," said Himeno quietly. She dared not press him further. She felt horrible all of a sudden. She felt that he was going to… 'Stop it!' she ordered herself, 'Don't think of it out loud. For it may just come true,' she thought sadly.
"Himeno chan," said Sasame quietly, "I'm sorry. But I think we should wait until we defeat Feoria before we talk about such matters."
Himeno's heart broke when Sasame walked away. "You love another isn't it? You are like Hayate. You love another," said Himeno quietly. Sasame paused & said, "I'm sorry." He wanted to vanish away from her sight but to his surprise, she held on to him. "Please don't leave me alone just like Hayate had. Please stay & tell me more. I deserve that, at least."
Sasame nodded. "Come with me."
They walked towards the sea where Hayate had once consoled Himeno. Himeno closed her eyes & felt the breeze of sadness surrounding her, blowing at her short pink hair into disarray. But she didn't care. 'He doesn't love me like Hayate hadn't. There must be something wrong with me…'
"Himeno chan, there's something I need to tell you," said Sasame quietly.
Himeno nodded. She made herself focus on the raging ocean waves than on Sasame beautifully sculpted face.
"I am in love with another person, just like Hayate. Actually, we are in love with each other."
Himeno gasped & looked at Sasame quickly. 'Oh my god! I'm such a fool! I fell for the lovers!' Himeno laughed at the absurdity of the situation. Sasame looked at Himeno in shock. First she looked at him in shock then she started laughing. 'This is bad. I hope she's not hurt too badly,' thought Sasame.
"Himeno chan, are you all right? I'm so sorry. I –"
Himeno held up a hand to stop Sasame while still laughing hard. "I'm all right Sasame Kun," said Himeno, after having difficulty sobering up, "I'm just… (She laughs some more) I'm just laughing because the situation is so absurd. I can't believe that I fell for a pair of lovers. Oh my! I'm so blind. You two are so fine… always together. I should have guessed. I'm… (Laughs) just so slow… my god! This is so awkward!"
Sasame smiled in uncertainty.
"You sure you are all right?" said another voice. Sasame whipped his head around & spotted Hayate just next to him. 'Hayate!' thought Sasame anxiously, 'Oh my, this is not good. Himeno chan seems all right but she's laughing when she should be crying so I should be worried. I think I better shoo Hayate Kun away first.'
"Hi Hayate chan!" said Himeno cheerfully. "I'm fine. I'm really all right. It's just like what I had told Sasame. I am very upset, mind you two, but I just can't help but find the situation too funny to be sad."
Both Sasame & Hayate looked at each other & heaved a sigh of relief. It seemed that Himeno was really all right. She took this news better than she had taken Hayate's rejection.
'I guess Himeno chan has become stronger,' Sasame thought. He looked on with amusement as Himeno teased Hayate mercilessly about his relationship. He looked out far beyond the horizon & smiled.