Disclaimer: Vampire Knight and its characters do not belong to me. They belong to their inspired creator Matsuri Hino. I borrow them without permission, but with great affection. This story is for entertainment purposes only; no money is being made from it.

a/n: I rarely indulge in fanfic outside of IY and this, being one of those indulgences, has been sitting on my comp for a little over a year now and wouldn't have seen the light of day if it wasn't for The Sorrowful Vampress (aka Itsy), a good friend of mine who insisted upon reading it and then had the ovaries to dare me to post it. So this is dedicated to her…

I want…

The thirst burned in her throat. She needed. She wanted. She must have.

Yuuki wandered down the hallway, having escaped the notice of Aidou for the dozenth time. Her fingers trailed across the stones of her enclosing cage as her mind wandered and her throat burned.

Suddenly her brother was before her, his eyes gleaming in the light of the hallway. "Yuuki."

She fell into him and his strong, capable arms wrapped around her, as they had always before. He held her close to him and she could hear the blood beating through his body. "You are listening to my heart beating," Kaname said above her.

Yuuki could not reply. Her mind and body were centrally focused on that one thing. "It's okay, Yuuki," she heard her brother say above her. "Whatever you wish, I shall make it so."

He fell to his knees before her and her fingers nimbly undid the buttons of his shirt, exposing the expanse of his chest and neck to her eyes. Such perfect flesh, it was. Warm and supple underneath the feel of her fingers, Yuuki hungered to sink her fangs into it, to feel all his emotions flooding her and filling her; an end to the craving racing through her…

But for her there would be no end to this feeling. For her heart was tied to two people and a vampire could only fulfill their hunger by feeding upon the one they loved…

Kaname's whispered words reached her mind as her fangs sank into his delicious skin. His blood flowed forth and Yuuki cursed her selfishness as the thoughts rang through her. She didn't want this, but she needed this. Sucking deep the life force within her lover, Yuuki withdrew and stared into his eyes. They were the same eyes she had looked at time and time again as a human, but there was a difference now. It was subtle, but there. "Kaname," she whispered, brushing her fingers through his hair and baring his visage to her gaze.

He smiled slightly, a barely noticed upturning of his lips. "Yuuki," he replied.

He would already know what she would ask of him; in this she was sure. But could she do so? Could she do so when she knew the pain it caused him?

Again her throat burned; satisfied but not. "I wish for you to bring me Zero," she said at last, her eyes closing so she could not see his disappointment in her.

His fingers lightly grazed her cheek and then moved her downturned head to rise. Yuuki opened her eyes and stared deep into his own. "For you, I would suffer anything."

She closed her eyes once more, his words ringing in her mind. He would suffer because of her, yes. And so would Zero… Why was it she was destined to bring all she loved pain? But she could not live without both Zero and Kaname. She could not quench the thirst and pain within… "I love you," she said to her brother, raising her own fingers to brush along his face. "I love you."

His eyes closed, briefly, as he relished the feel of her fingers gliding across his skin. "As I love you," he returned.

"Forget the foolishness of this heart," Yuuki continued, her fingers tracing his strong jaw and soft warm lips. The air smelt of his blood; satisfying and filling. "You are all I need."

"Yuuki, you cannot lie to me," Kaname replied. "You're heart is tied. But a Yuuki not filled with love would not be the Yuuki I know…and want. Your wish shall be done."

He withdrew, standing to tower over her once more. From this height, Yuuki felt lost and childish. His eyes were shuttered once more, but she could still feel his emotions and thoughts racing through her. He hated Zero, with more passion than anything else. Even Rido had not caused this much hatred… Yet still he was determined to grant her wish. "Kaname-senpai," Yuuki began.

He raised one finger, pressing it against her lips and silencing her. "To you, it is Kaname. And your wish shall be granted. Yuuki."

*vk*

She approached the room Aidou had brought her to, the closed door more of a barrier than she knew. Already her senses, and her heart, knew what lay within. Part of her wanted to rush forward and another, a stronger part of her, wanted to run away. Hadn't she vowed to always run from him? Hadn't she said she'd be the enemy he needed to stay alive?

As much as she desired to be anything but, Yuuki knew she would do anything for Zero…just as she knew she would do anything for Kaname.

Her fingers trembled as she placed them upon the handle of the door. If Aidou noticed, he ignored the fact. Bowing respectfully, Aidou retreated as he'd been told to. Yuuki eyed his receding back skeptically before turning her gaze back to the door before her. Before she could stop herself, she swung it wide and peered within.

He was there…

Bound and bloodied, but there.

"Zero," she uttered, his name passing from his lips like a blessing.

The Zero she knew raised his head at the sound of her voice. His violet gaze wrecked havoc within her and now she knew what all those other girls had spoken of. Zero could send someone running with merely a look and now, for the first time, she felt like running herself. "Yuuki," he whispered as his eyes fell upon her.

Ignoring her instincts, Yuuki stepped within the room that held him and closed the door behind her. It shut with a final thud that seemed to echo. "Zero."

He struggled against the chains that bound him and Yuuki felt regret that such was necessary. She took a hesitant step towards him and Zero's head shot up. His eyes were filled with hate…and something more as he looked her over. It had been a year since they'd seen each other. "Zero," she said again, unable to stop herself from saying his name as she had so often before.

"Yuuki," he whispered back, his eyes as tortured as her own.

Well did she know this look, having seen it dozens of times before. It wasn't until now, though, that she fully understood it. Zero wanted her. Zero needed her. Zero had to have her… But for entirely different reasons than she had first suspected. "I was cruel to you," she said, taking a step closer.

Zero fought against her nearness, his need to be rid of her racing through him. Yuuki could sense all of this, but his pain mattered little to her now as the thirst rose within her. She wanted him.

Straightening, Yuuki tried to act as her brother did. "You have always wanted me., You have always craved me. You've taken from me…and I demand the same now."

Zero's body stiffened, his lips tightening. Yuuki moved forward once more. Now she was little more than an arm's length away. As much as Zero wanted to strike out at her, he was holding himself back.

Yuuki fell to her knees before him, her eyes tearing at the thought of him. "I wanted there to be another way…" she whispered.

"There cannot be," he replied.

She shuffled forward, her legs straddling his own. Zero did not stop her, though his eyes raged against her actions. Yuuki raised her fingers and ran them through his hair, as she often did with Kaname. "Zero…. You should have told me."

"And would it have made a difference?" he dared to ask her in return.

Her eyes turned sad as she thought over everything that had happened between them. Her love for Kaname had been split the moment Zero had entered her life. He was what she'd needed at that moment, a sacrifice for her nonexistent past. Yet he grew into so much more. "No," she answered honestly, "But I never would not have said such hurtful things."

His eyes became hooded, trying to look away from her but unable to. Then his gaze solidified. "I've told you before, Yuuki. Whatever you wish to do to me, is fine."

"And I've told you before that you were my victim, Zero." Her fingers ran across his cheek, as she'd so longed to do in times past. Now the situation had changed, yes, but the same desires were there. The thirst burned her throat though she'd never tasted his blood before. Zero was her drug, the star she could never reach. Nothing she did would gain her the foothold she unconsciously sought. "But I've come to realize I need you…."

He laughed at her words, the sound ringing in a mocking tone to her ears. "Only now?"

Her hand, that had been previously stroking against his skin, moved down to his throat. It tightened at the base of his skull and forced him to bear the length of his neck to her. "Always," Yuuki replied as she moved forward. "I've always longed to have you with me."

She knew Zero closed his eyes in anticipation of her bite…and bite she did. Her fangs, a newly recognized part of herself, sliced through his flesh easily. He made a slight sound as she pierced him, but it wasn't a sound of pain. As she drank deeply from him, inhaling relief that was a year in coming, the body beneath her hardened and relaxed. "Yuuki," he uttered, giving himself over to her. "Yuuki."

Yuuki withdrew, not bothering to wipe her face clean. Zero's blood was special, something to be cherished. "Zero. I love you."

"As I love you," Zero replied, his violet gaze turning crimson. "There is no other I long for."

Yuuki moved closer, straddling his spread legs. She pressed herself against him, as she had so many times before. But now she knew what affect this movement would have when she hadn't before. "Zero. Take from me the life which I have stolen from you."

She bared her throat to him and he did not hesitate to move forward, his own fangs sinking into her. Yuuki gripped the sleeves of his clothing, trying to restrain herself from reacting. "Zero!"

The sound of him taking her, of him drinking her life force, filled her ears and relief flooded through her. She relaxed against him, wrapping her arms around him as he had so often done to her. When he finally pulled away from her, her own crimson gaze met his. "Zero," she whispered.

*vk*

Kaname stood outside the closed door, his eyes closed as he sensed everything that happened within. She is worth it, he told himself as he listened. The happiness of Yuuki, the unbridled love she showed everyone, was part of who she was. That she'd chosen to remain by his side lessened the sting of this act with that pitiful and wholly degenerate thing she demanded to stand beside. "Yuuki," Kaname whispered, his hand fisting into a clenching rage. "I love you…"

Unable to stay, to linger, Kaname turned away from the room he'd bound the lower status vampire within.