Disclaimer: I own this about as much as much as Beka is with Rosto at the end of Bloodhound: not at all.
A/N: So, another oneshot. This was written WAY, WAY back in December of last year, so it's been a long time since I wrote it. It's somewhat compliant, but it fits an entirely different mood than Bloodhound if you ask me. All in all, I think it's pretty good, though not by absolute best (there will be a few better ones in the future though). So, anyway, don't forget to review!
Strange things always happened to Beka Cooper. Some were stranger than others, but living in the same boarding house as Rosto the Piper, it was bound to happen. While there was an enmity between the Terrier and the Rogue during the hours of Evening Watch, neither of them could deny the draw they felt towards each other.
But when it was a different time, neither could – nor would they – deny that there was something more between them. Still, Beka had never allowed him to be more to her than just a friend. Just as Rosto knew that if she had half the chance and she caught him hurting the innocent, she would cage him or strike him down.
He would watch her, for hours on end if he could. Sometimes he wished he could get into her head, to see what she was thinking, but he knew that it was pointless. In the end, Rosto knew that he should not harbor feelings for the Terrier. She was the only one who could bring him down. Or, at least, the only one who would never challenge him that could. He also knew that she never would accept any love he felt toward her no matter what.
Beka was fooling herself every time she said she did not like Rosto as more than a friend, every time she said that she wanted love, but not with him. But, she knew that she could never say anything about it. She could never go with a rusher like Rosto because of what he was. Because of what she was.
There was no future for the two of them to be together. She was a Dog, and could not validly get involved with a rusher, much less the Rogue. Kora and Ersken's case was different – Kora was not a rusher, even if she was affiliated with the Court of the Rogue. She was fooling herself, but she didn't care.
Sometimes it saddened Rosto to know that they were somewhat like star-crossed lovers – any relationship they started that was more than friendship would be fated to fail. The world would not let them be together, but that was only the beginning. It was subconscious, it seemed, that he was drawn to her. There was no reason for it other than the feeling he got when he watched her…she was the one he wanted to spend his life with, and the one he couldn't have.
It was as simple as that, for both of them, whether they were fooling themselves or they were fighting it. In the end, both of them wanted to be with the other, but there was something that would always keep them apart as long as they continued down the paths that they had chosen.
Duty. That was what held them back. It was all that prevented Rosto, and one of the two reasons that stopped Beka. In the end, duty was more important.
So, they would go on living like they had because they had to. At night they would dream of what would never be, because neither of them would let it be. They knew they couldn't.
In the end, all they could do was to wish…and forget…
A/N: Don't forget to review! Feedback is much appreciated.