Crimson Hearts



Chapter One Actions Speak Louder Then Words



Mia Ausa sighed softly, her black hair tumbling down her back. Her best friend, Jessica, smiled up at her.

"Your turn, Mia." Was all she said. Luna giggled softly and placed her head on Alex's shoulder, causing him to blush slightly. Kyle laughed as Mia fiddled with her dress nervously. Nash tried to hide his laughter, and hope, from the rest of the group.

"D-Do I have to?" she said nervously. Jessica and Luna nodded, both giggling madly. The group had decided to play a game, and the game ended up being Spin the Bottle. Mia took in a deep breath and spun. It came to a stop on Alex. Nash felt slightly disappointed, but remembered he could land on her when he spun. Standing up, Mia walked over and kissed Alex on the cheek. Jessica shook her head 'no.'

"No! You have to kiss him on the LIPS!" she emphasized the word 'lips' and laughed again. Luna, on the other hand, stopped laughing and just glared at Mia and Jessica. She moved her head from Alex's shoulder and glared at the wall instead. Mia twirled a strand of black hair as she gave Alex a one- second-peck on the lips before returning to her seat and sitting down nervously.

"Your turn, Kyle." Said Jessica. Kyle grinned and spun the bottle. He was happy that it landed on Jessica. Walking over to his fiancée, he kissed her fully on the lips for about a minute, a little tongue action going on between them. Luna and Alex cheered, Nash blushed at the site, and Mia just stared at them with a confused look on his face.

'I wonder if I can ever kiss Mia like that.' Nash thought and stopped his thoughts from going farther, not wanting to turn into Kyle. After Jessica and Kyle pulled apart, Kyle flashed Nash a look.

"My turn." Luna said happily as she spun the bottle, watching it go round and round. She was just so happy to be able to spend some time with her friends and Alex again. It had been two years since Ghaleon's defeat, two years since the world had been saved, two years since she left Burg with Alex and Ramus, and two years since she had given up her powers as the Goddess to be able to be a human and live with the man she loved more then life itself, Alex. Luna watched as it stopped on Nash. She sighed softly as she walked over to the young mage and kissed him softly on the lips for about a second, not pushing down hard at all. She went back to her seat and leaned her head back on Alex's shoulder, his arm instinctively wrapping around her shoulder.

"Your turn Alex!" Jessica said from across the circle, her face still flushed from her and Kyle's passionate kiss. Alex spun and prayed to the Goddess Althena, or Luna, that he would land on Luna. Sometimes he felt strange. He, like others, was in love with the Goddess Althena. But, he didn't love Althena; he loved Luna, her human form. To him, Althena was a different person, but still the same person as Luna in a way. He had given up his Dragonmaster's powers to be with her just like she had given up her Goddess powers to be with him. The brown haired both smiled as it landed on Luna. Leaning down, he kissed her on the lips just like Kyle had done to Jessica, but this kiss was more loving and gentle. It was passionate, but not like Kyle and Jessica's kiss. He slowly pried her lips open with his tongue, his arms encircling her waist and pulling her closer to his body, deepening the kiss. He was happy and surprised when he felt Luna's tongue touch his and her arms wrap around his neck, pulling herself onto his lap, their bodies pressed tightly together, savoring the kiss. Finally, they pulled apart, a loving glow surrounding them as they broke out of the warm embrace. Kyle laughed and Jessica smiled as she nudged Luna in the rib cage. Nash, once again blushed as he imagined him and Mia kissing like that. Mia still had the confused look on her face, but this time it looked even cuter on her lovely features.

"My turn!" Jessica exclaimed as she spun. After her, only Nash was left. Glaring as the bottle stopped, she gasped.

"Oh great!" she muttered angrily as she stared at the person she had to kiss, herself. Everyone but Mia broke out into a fit of laughter. Jessica glared and cursed them all under her breath as she kissed her hand, then pressed the area of her hand to her lips.

"There!" she muttered and grinned at Nash, forgetting her ordeal already.

"Your turn, mage-boy!" she snickered. Nash nervously spun the bottle.

'Please oh please oh please land on Mia!' he prayed. Well, for once his prayers were answered. The bottle slowly came to a stop on Mia. Blushing fiercely, Nash walked over to the black haired girl he loved. Shyly, Mia looked up at him, instantly a patch of pink appeared across her nose. She looked away, trying not to blush anymore. Slowly, Nash knelt done next to her and cupped her cheek, turning her face towards his. Mia blushed deeper, all hope of stopping the blood from rushing to her face stopped. Nash brought his face closer to hers till their lips were a mere inch apart. Nash started to close the small gap, but Luna sneezing shattered the splendid moment. Everyone started laughing, except Nash. Soon, he joined in the laughing once he was back at his spot. Mia had stopped blushing and quickly put the bottle up, signaling the game was over. Kyle smirked and grabbed his bag. Everyone gasped when they saw he had 30 bottles of Lunar's best sake.

"Kyle!" Jessica nearly shrieked. Kyle only grinned and gave everyone a bottle.

"Whoever can drink 5 of these babies wins." He said. Alex looked at his bottle hesitantly before drinking a sip. To his surprise, he liked the flavor of it, but the after flavor made him sick to his stomach. As soon as Alex finished his taste, Luna sipped hers and instantly regretted it all together.

"Yuck!" she spat out, causing Kyle to chuckle.

"What's wrong? Going to let Alex beat you?" Luna glowered at Kyle before sipping some more of hers, and managing to shallow it. Jessica and Nash didn't have much problem with there's, but Mia was having a hard time dealing with the taste period.

"Heh! I have an idea." Kyle said, the side effects of his third bottle kicking in.

"Lets all tell one secret after each bottle!" he smiled and then laughed.

"One time, I went into Hell Mel's bedroom and saw him doing stuff with Lemia!" Luna looked mortified.

"What were they doing?" she asked, afraid of the answer.

"Talking." Kyle laughed again. Everyone sweatdropped.

"Okay, one time I went into Alex's and my bedroom, and I saw Alex doing something he shouldn't do." She said. Jessica tilted her head.

"What did he do?" she asked, her blond hair gleaming in the light. Luna smiled.

"He was reading to Nall a fairy tale called Sleeping Beauty." Alex flushed red, and looked away.

"He couldn't read the small print, and I owed him a favor!" the former Dragonmaster said in defense. Nall's head shot up from his sleeping place on Jessica's bed.

"Hey! I could read the small print, I just didn't have my glasses!" the 'cat' said angrily. Kyle giggled, which made Jessica smirk at him.

"Nall, you don't have glasses!" Nash said; his face red from the sake he had drunk. He, like the others, was on his third bottle. Well, almost everyone was. Mia was only on her second, and her face was already bright pink.

"About a week ago, I was searching through Mia's room to find a magic vile she had told me to find, and I found three stuffed animals in her closet. A white rabbit (AN- I have a white rabbit named Neko-chan ^_^). A golden retriever dog, and a snowy colored teddy bear." Nash said proudly, drunk as Kyle. Mia frowned as she looked at Nash, then, her eyes became watery as everyone started laughing and giggling. Standing up, she bowed and excused herself from the room. Alex, Luna, Jessica, Kyle, and Nash continued the game, but Nash was quieter and didn't laugh, his thoughts and heart were worried about Mia.

Mia let out a sob as she stared out over the ocean. She had found herself at Meribia's harbor, overlooking the serene waters. She sighed as she dangled her feet a few inches off the ground, her raven hair blowing in the gentle breeze. A few more tears fell from her face, causing a glow to appear around her thin form. It was very pale, but you could see the glow if you looked closely. Mia smiled, feeling a little better. It was as if something, or someone, was trying to make her feel better and ease her pain. Ever since the death of Ghaleon, or her 'father' as she called him sometimes, she had become more reserved and quiet. Her eyes shinned with knowledge and power, but there was always a hint of sorrow if you looked closely. Whenever she smiled her elegant smile that could melt thousands of the iciest hearts, there was always a bit of sadness. Whenever she did anything, anyone could see some remorse. Her mother had come to pity her. After Vane had been restored and was once again floating in the air, Lemia had resumed her place as Premira, casting Mia away like a rag doll, or so it seemed. Lemia truly loved her daughter, but she did not believe Mia was ready to become the Premira of Vane, or the Guildmistress. So, she had told Mia that in person. After that, Mia drifted away from her mother and many other people. Most of the time the young girl looked herself in her room, trying to forget the world she had once loved. But, when news of her best friend's engagement finally reached Vane, she transformed to her old self, the spirited and happy young woman, oblivious to the obvious.

An hour passed since Mia had run off. Finally, after the game had stopped. Kyle announced it was time to go to bed. The wedding was to take place the tomorrow, since it was 1 am in the morning. Jessica led Alex and Luna to their room and smiled at the couple, hoping they would also wed soon as well.

"So, Alex, when are you proposing?" Jessica smirked as she walked out of the room giggling, still half drunk. She ran back to Kyle and tripped into her own bed, giggling like a schoolgirl. Kyle grinned as he climbed into her bed with her and quickly fell asleep. Jessica, yawning, laid her head down on Kyle's chest, one arm draped over his stomach. In his sleep, Kyle wrapped his arm around Jessica's waist, pulling her closer for warmth. She smiled again and let sleep over take her.

Mia wiped away a few stray tears, desperately trying not to cry. A noise from behind startled the now sober girl. A middle-aged man with a chain and a knife approached her, causing Mia to jump to her feet, starting a low lever ice spell. Before she could blink, the man had her hands tied to a pole and her feet also bond.

"Let m-!" before she could finish, the man had a gag in her mouth and the knife pressed to her stomach.

"Now, aren't ya a purty one [hic]!" he said, his breath smelt strongly of rum. Mia felt more tears falling from her face, afraid of what he might do to her. The man roamed his hands over Mia's chest, causing her to whimper and squirm, trying to get free. The man's face loomed before hers and tried to kiss her lips roughly, but missed and kissed her cheek. Growling in frustration, he roughly grabbed Mia's chest again, causing her to scream over the gag. The man raised his knife and sliced her across the cheek, a thin stream of blooding oozing out. He punched Mia in the stomach, causing her to scream again.

"Shut up!" he said, slapping the black haired girl across the face. She screamed out again and was punched in the chest, losing all the air she had left in her body. Grinning, the man dropped his pants. Mia felt her eyes widen, at once knowing what the man had in store for her. Closing her eyes and praying, Mia cried harder. Suddenly, the man screamed out as a yellow ball of lightning hit him in the back, sending him flying into the water. Mia opened her eyes when she felt someone removing the chains from her arms and legs. The person pulled out the gag, causing Mia to look at her savor. At once, more tears fell from her face as she through her tiny form into Nash's arms, sobbing into his chest. Nash stroked Mia's hair, trying to sooth the scared girl. He picked her up and carried her back to Hell Mel's mansion and towards her guest room. Nash sat Mia on her bed and knelt down, worry on his face.

"Mia, what happened?" he asked, hoping he had not come too late.

"I-I was sitting on the docks crying when that m-man came and started to. s- started to try and. r-rape me." she managed, crystals tears falling from her eyes again. Nash, without thinking, pulled Mia into his arms once more, stroking her black hair, managing to calm her down a little. Sighing softly, Nash, regretfully, picked Mia up again and laid her on the bed, grasping her hand in his own.

"It is okay now Mia, don't worry. Everything will be fine from now on, I promise. Get some sleep, okay? I'll see you in the morning." he said and headed towards the door. Mia jumped up from her bed and rushed to the door, hugging Bash from behind. The teenage boy froze and managed to turn around in the hug,

"Nash, don't go." she whispered and looked up into his eyes, a sense of longing in them instead of the sorrow. Nash blushed and looked around.

"Umm. Mi-!" he was silenced as Mia pushed herself upwards, her lips brushing against his momentarily before she pulled back, her face bright red. Nash was so taken back; he didn't dare move or breath at all. Finally, he snapped out of it.

'If I say anything, I might spoil this.' he thought, fear and hope mixing together to create serenity in the room. Instead of speaking, he bent down and wrapped his arms around Mia's neck, closing the gap between their faces. Mia wrapped her arms around Nash's neck, trying to decide if what she was feeling was love, or just that she needed to be comforted. Finally, she decided on the first one, love. Pulling back, she smiled up at Nash. He smiled back down at her and ushered her over to the bed. As soon as she was under the covers, he joined her and covered up as well. Mia snuggled up against his body, causing him to blush.

"N-Night M-Mia."

"Night Nash."

End Author's Note- There is more, don't worry. Next, there will be a Luna/Alex nighttime scene, and then morning. Sorry there wasn't more Jessica/Kyle, but they are getting married so there will be more romance between them. I would have wrote more for this chapter, but I have writer's block write now. When it clears, I'll start the next chapter.