Flame
By: Fullmetal Ai
For Yachtzee
Everything she saw, Everything she heard .. Everywhere around her, Cephiro was falling apart. Caldina let out a surprised yelp as she narrowly dodged being hit by a falling chunk of rock, looking around at the utter destruction around the place; she couldn't stop her eyes from widening at the sights and sounds around her. Dirt. Debris. Rocks flying everywhere, buildings torn apart, people screaming in terror ... violent winds tossing her hair every which way, fires ablaze upon every standing rooftop, rivers flooding with the anger it once supressed so carefully. Everything was falling apart, and to her, it seemed to reflect the wounded hearts of the three courageous young ladies from another world.
Caldina knew that she had had her share of destroying this once beautiful world. Quite frankly, she didn't care. Sure, there was that little voice in the back of her head screaming at her, telling her that it was wrong to just leave a country like this in need .. but other than that, she had every intention of leaving, going back to Chizeta .. her homeland was waiting, and it was only a matter of time until she would be walking on the soil of Chizeta, no longer a part of Cephiro.
"EVERYONE!" A loud male voice boomed across all of the chaos, the screams dying down slightly. Caldina turned her head to gaze at the source of the voice, and her eyes landed on a tall, blonde male with soft eyes and a blonde ponytail. She had worked with him before, when Zagato was still alive .. what was his name, again? Oh, right. Lafarga.
"Everyone, please remain calm!" Lafarga announced, his voice pleading with the crowd of terrified civilians to do as he said.
"Quickly, there is room at the castle to accomodate all of you!"
That did it. The dam of calm people burst, and people began swarming in by the thousands, trying to save their own lives. Caldina almost felt sorry for the poor soul, having to control the uncontrollable. He was an interesting one, that Lafarga .. so interesting thatshe found herself unable to look away from his face. She sighed, trying to turn away once more and almost succeeding, when ..
"Everyone, remain calm! There is enough room, I assure you! You'll not be harmed!" Caldina's head snapped back to look toward him, staring at his face .. his face, so contorted with the stressful task of herding the entire population of Cephiro and then some into a castle made up of people's will. Such a stong face .. such a loving face .. Such a beautiful face. Caldina's breath caught in her throat, as the mere word echoed over and over in her mind.
Beautiful .. Beautiful ..
This feeling .. like a flame ignited in her heart at the mere word that described his strong, loving, beautiful face. What was this flame? Caldina was suddenly unable to control herself as she stepped slowly towards the doors that were now swarming with frantic bodies. Slowly, her feet began to pick up a faster pace, and she full-out ran toward the doors of Cephiro's castle, not bothering to stop, even though the front of her mind was screaming at her to turn away, turn back, never look to the place known as Cephiro. She kept running. She had to.
But for what reason? Her conscience asked her as her bare feet kept pounding to the ground, her heart beating quickly, beating thousands of times faster than her feet were running. Why, Caldina? Why stay in a country that you have no place in?
She slowed to a walk, seeing the crowds of people finally begin to disperse, the last of the pandemonious civillians entering the castle safely. Finally, Caldina stopped, staring the man in the face as he did the same to her. They stayed that way momentarily, before Lafarga realized she was still outside. He grasped her tiny arm with his large hand, pulling her into the safety of the castle within a moment, the gigantic doors closing behind her as he did. Once safely inside, he looked down to her lithe form quietly, a soft smile being placed on his face.
"It's good to see you here, Miss Caldina. I was worried you didn't make it .. " Caldina blinked, her tanned face suddenly tinting with pink. She snorted in slight amusement, a smile of her own taking form across her lips.
"Yeah, well, I'm glad I came here too, Mister Macho," Caldina said with a cheerful tone to her voice. Lafarga chuckled, motioning with his hand to the room that held most everyone in Cephiro.
"This way. Ascot is waiting for you. He's been worried." Caldina laughed.
"Well, what does that little man think he's worryin' about? He knows darn well that I can take care of m'self!" Lafarga smiled down at her again, the same gentle, beautiful smile.
"Not everyone is invincible, Miss Caldina."
"Please, Just Caldina. You're makin' me feel like I'm some sort of royalty!" Caldina laughed again, making Lafarga laugh a bit.
"Well .. I leave you here, Caldina. Have a nice rest," Lafarga finally said, stopping in front of a room. Caldina looked at the doors to the room and blinked, a smile etching across her face again.
"Thank you, Lafarg-" She turned to see that he was no longer standing beside her. Caldina's face fell, the flame in her chest dying a little. She opened the door, stepping inside and closing the door behind her, leaning against it.
Why stay here, Caldina? For what reason?
Caldina sighed, sliding down the door and sitting on the floor.
I want to find out what this flame is. I want to be near him, to feel it more ..
She smiled. Maybe Cephiro wasn't so bad after all ..
End.
Author's Nonsense: Aggh! Finally! After like .. what? Two months? Three? Oh well, a long time. XD Anyway, the whole reason I'm writing Lafarga/Caldina - aside from this couple being one of the canon couplings of the series, I received a request a while back in a review for one of my other Rayearth stories by Yachtzee, asking me to write a Lafarga/Caldina. So, a few months later, this is the result. :D I've been experimenting with writing styles, and this happens to have a small amount of experimenting in it. xD I've noticed a few more similes slipping out here and there.
So! Let me know if you like it. :D Read, Review, Let me know if I'm on the right track! Reviews are much appreciated, as well as Constructive Criticism. :3 Thank You!
-Ai
Disclaimer: I don't own Rayearth! Not that shocking, is it? xD Anyway, to be a little more specific, I don't own any of the characters mentioned in this story. :D There!