Warmth
By Jillian Leonhart
Disclaimer: I do not own Wild Arms 4 nor do I own it's characters... If I own them, Jude's jacket won't be oversized...
Port Rosalia. The group was staying at Sea Breeze Inn. They were waiting for their chance to get a ship that'll take them to their final destination, Ilsveil Prison. After they had dinner, everyone quickly retired to the room they had rented –for free-.
Late at night, Raquel was still awake, bracing herself in pain on her bed.
'It comes! Why tonight?' she thought as the extreme pain from her wound slowly fading her consciousness.
"Ngh..." she moaned slightly. Trying to keep it as low as possible, not wanting to wake anyone in the room.
The pain was different that night. Much stronger. It was throbbing, overwhelming, suffocating. Raquel found herself hard to breathe. Her breath came in a heavy-jagged pace. Struggling to even breathe, she still had to deal with the pain spreading to her entire body.
'It hurts... It hurts... It hurts...' she chanted in her mind and squeezed her eyes closed.
The pain grew stronger and spread faster. She felt like her blood had stopped running trough her body, leaving it trembling and cold.
She closed her eyes tighter as the pain rampaging her organs and her body couldn't stop shaking. Her fingers grew numb. She couldn't feel anything but the pain.
'Is this... the end?' she thought as her conciousness fading, forced by the extreme pain and the coldness sipping trough her very bones. 'Is this the time already?' a tear leaked trough her tightly closed eye.
The thought of leaving the wolrd where she lived, where she had found the friends she'd come to love, made another tear slipped down her cold cheek.
'I don't want to die! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!' she desperatedly trying to keep herself awake. ' I want to live! I want to be with every one! I... want to be... with Him... I don't want to die... Not...yet...'
Her conciousness was almost gone when she felt warmth on her hands.
"Raquel?" she heard a voice, pulling herself from the abyss she was falling in.
'Arnaud?' she tried to say but her lips won't move.
"Raquel?" she vaguely heard Arnaud's concerned voice. Her hands got warmer. Slowly she regained her sense. She felt someone holds her hands. So warm. So shooting. Arnaud.
She could breath easier. The pain slowly subsided.
"Raquel, what happened? You're so cold!" holding her hands tighter.
Raquel found the strength to opened her eyes. Under the moon light form the window. She could see Arnaud, kneeling beside her bed, holding her cold hands with both of his. His cocky grin was replaced with a concerned frown.
Raquel shivered, "Cold..." she managed to breathed weakly.
The next thing she knew, the warmth from her hands faded for a moment. Then her entire body was embraced by the same warmth. Arnaud had climbed up on her bed. Embraced her. Sharing his warmth to her cold body.
"Your body is so cold..." he said in a low voice. His hands sneaking to her cold back and stoking it gently.
The cold slowly replaced by his warmth. Her fright slowly fading away. She hugged him back, pulling herself closer to him. They stayed that way for a while.
"Thank you." She said in a low voice.
Arnaud looked down a bit to see her face, "Are you alright now?"
She nodded.
He positioned her on the crock of his neck. He sighed in relief and tightened his hug.
"I thought that was going to be the end of me..." she said.
"Don't worry. I won't let it." Arnaud declared.
"I was afraid."
"I'm here for you... I'll always be... So don't be afraid..."
She looked up at him, "But... I don't know how much longer I'll be able to survive..."
"Don't..." Arnaud stopped her, "Listen Raquel. I told you I'll support you. That means I'll do anything to keep you safe. And for that, we're gonna find a cure for you."
"..." she kept silent but Arnaud could still feel her worries.
"Let's get this whole save-the-world thing to an end... After that, we'll go find a cure for you. With my razor-sharp mind and your super sword, we can take on anything... Right?"
His words weren't that fantastic but it somehow eased her mind. She trusted him. All the worries and doubt that filling her mind were swept away, knowing that Arnaud will be by her side. Supporting her. Share the warmth for her cold fragile body. She trusted him.
"Yes. We will find the cure..." And she fell asleep in his warm embrace.
The next morning, Jude was the first to woke up.
"Yaaaaaaaawwnnn..." he rubbed his eyes lazily.
He jumped off his bed and was strolling towards the door when something 'unusual' cought his eyes. He turned to Raquel's bed and gapped.
Yulie woke up next. She sat on her bedside, combing her hairs with her hands and saw Jude, stood, staring at Raquel's bed.
"Jude, what are you doing staring at..." Yulie followed Rudy's gaze at Raquels' bed, and couldn't continue her sentence.
Instead, she blushed, and dragged Jude out of the room while muttering "You musn't stare!"
The slight hurried footsteps made Raquel opened her eyes...and saw Arnaud's sleeping face in front of her. She gasped, and pushed him out of her bed in reflect.
"Wha... OUCH!" he yelped when his back hit the wooden floor painfully.
Raquel panicked and quickly recalled what had happened last night that made them in this situation.
"What's that for?" Arnaud sat up and whined at her from across the bed.
"Th... That's... What...? I... You...!" she was unable to say a word and stormed off the room,leaving Arnaud still frowning at the floor.
He scratched his back, "That hurts..."
As Arnaud was catching up to everyone downstair, Jude and Yulie were staring back and fort between him and Raquel. Raquel was trying to surpress the blush on her cheeks while pretend nothing had happened.
BOOOM!
A blasting sound from the Port distratcted them.
"What's that?" Yulie asked.
Jude rushed out the Inn, "It's coming from the Port! Let's check!"
Raquel was kind of glad the booming distracted them from the little accident that morning...
The End
A/ N: Hello... I was just finished WA4 a few days ago and wondering why there are so little ArnaudxRaquel fic here? I made one... I hope you like it. Please tell me if I went wrong somewhere... Thank you very much for reading. It makes me reeeeeeeeallyyy happy knowing someone reads my work so, review please ^^