I do not own Diana Twining (Yumi does) or Makai Ouji: Devils and Realist (Madoka Takadono-sama does). c:

[xXx]

Diana sat in her room on that very same day, having gone about her day in her normal way, eating breakfast and having tea and the like, performing her duties as a prefect, and doing anything that the teachers who came across her that day asked her to do for them. Currently, it was night time, shortly after the evening roll call had been issued, and she was reading a book of her fancy, one that William had given her some time ago, waiting and hoping that her beloved Dantalion would come. She wanted to tell him of the good marks that she had made on her test, prepared for him to give her a teasing 'I told you so' kind of response. The very thought of seeing him again and hearing those words brought a small smile to her lips as she read, briefly licking her finger and turning the page of her book.

She would occassionally glance up at her window, thinking that she had heard something, like Dantalion's voice, but whenever her eyes landed on the glass, she saw no such man. Just the wind blowing the tree branches outside of her room and two bats resting upside down on a single branch, one white, one black. It was that and nothing more. Time moved on and on further into the night, and the girl grew more and more tired with each passing moment. She glanced at her clock and sighed softly to herself, shaking her head. It seemed that that night was not a night that Dantalion would be showing up for a visit like she had hoped it would be. Even if it was and he was just late in showing up, the daughter of Twining had could spare no more time in waiting for him. She had to go to church the next morning and thus, she had to get up early.

With that, Diana marked her place in her book and closed it, setting it off to the side with a soft sigh. I guess I'll have to wait to tell him the good news, she thought to herself as she got up. After all the lights were out, she went back to her bed, laying down under her blanket with her head resting comfortably upon her pillow. I guess making him wait too will make it worth while. She then fell asleep, her mind drifting into a dream filled state, dreaming about the days of her past whenever she was happy with her mother, father, and twin brother, not worrying one little bit about the future, living in blissful ignorance. She sometimes wished that those days would return, or maybe have the past changed so that those days could have continued on the way that they had, but she knew better than to wish for that.

To her, living in ignorance may be bliss, but that makes the impact of the future even harder, even more so when the ones you love are suddenly gone forever, nothing but phantoms within your own memories. William learned that lesson in much the same way - no, he learned it the same exact way as she had, through the death of their parents. That was why they both had their futures set within their minds. William wanted to leave his school with enough marks and become Prime Minister. Diana wanted to live a happy life, one like the past, with a family of her own with a husband and child.

It was a dream.

That was all she needed to make the impact of the future lessen.

A simple but achievable dream.

So, she dreamed. She dreamed a future of happiness and love. Was that such a hard dream to achieve? Was it too much to ask for?

[xXx]

"Why did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"You know exactly what you did, Dantalion."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Dantalion..."

Dantalion sighed heavily, looking up at the woman who was speaking to him, her posture and body language strong and stern, her hip cocked and her arms crossed under her large breasts. Astaroth was not joking around with her interrogation, and it was wearing on the Nephilim's nerves. He wanted to continue to deny it, but it was no use. The woman would wring his throat if it made him talk. So, deciding not to risk his life along with bruising his throat, and taking a deep breath, he told her, "It was better than her finding out about me."

"How is it any better?" snapped Astaroth with narrowed eyes, moving her hands to rest on her hips.

"I wouldn't have to face the same rejection that her brother gave me," the male returned. He felt his chest tighten at his own words, his hands clenching slightly at his sides as he began remembering how it pained him whenever William continued to deny the existence and possibility of Demons, especially his own existence. He had settled for the male calling him real through the theory of atoms, never pressing it forward. He believed that if Diana were to deny his existence as well, then his heart would shatter, much like it had many, many years ago when his hand had sealed Solomon's fate.

"So you took the cheater's way out?" Astaroth challenged. "Dantalion, if you don't strengthen your heart and undo what you've done and tell her the truth about yourself, then you will only serve to break her heart instead."

Dantalion frowned at that. "How do you expect me to tell her just what I am? Who I was?" he asked her seriously. "I can't just tell her, you know. I don't want to frighten her, to make her think I tricked her..."

"She'll understand if you tell her why you chose not to tell her to begin with," Astaroth softened. "Just do it and see before it's too late..."

"How late is too late?"

"You'll know if you choose not to tell her before then."

[xXx]

Read and review, please! :D

~Lenore