Disclaimer: I do not own 12sky!!
Note: Lyrics by Kajiura Yuki, "You are my love".
Chapter 7 – Bonds are stronger then bars
Kiss me sweet, I'm sleeping in silence,
all alone, in ice and snow.
In my dream, I'm calling your name,
you are my love.
In your eyes, I search for my memory,
lost in vain, so far in the scenery.
Hold me tight, and swear again, and again,
we'll never be apart.
Kiss me sweet, I'm sleeping in sorrow,
all alone, to see you tomorrow.
In my dream, I'm calling your name,
you are my love.
The bars holding her in would make anyone distress about there situation. But to Niemiko they did not matter. For her life had already started to fade as she had held her dying lover in her arms. Her heart had stopped when Saine and Wian had torn her away from him, making her unable to heal his wounds. And she had died when Diran had run his sword through Kaen's body. Now she had nothing left. Not even tears.
She stared into the wall and noticed nothing. The guards watching changed every second hour, but she didn't notice. There were other prisoners here, but she didn't notice. Her life had lost meaning. Nothing mattered. She hadn't eaten for so long, even though she had been served. Her body just told her not to eat. All she did was breathe and stare into the wall.
The guards would look on her in despise. And why shouldn't they? She had betrayed them all. But they also couldn't stand her silence, resulting in the guard changing ever so often. The unlucky guards had to stop her from taking her own life, which happened once in a while. Her sentence had been imprisonment. Her clan didn't want to see her get the easy way out. There was more agony and punishment this way.
The prison door opened. It was time for another guard change. But Niemiko didn't notice. To her there was only the wall.
"Thank god you're here," said the guard. "One more minute of watching her stare into that wall and I would've gone insane too."
The new guard patted his friends back and sent him off. Then he walked up to Niemiko's cell and slid in a tray with food.
"Waste of food if you asked me," the guard muttered.
The hours went by and guards changed, but Niemiko kept staring into the wall. And she did that until she fell into a restless and dreamless sleeps. But her sleep was interrupted when she felt someone pick her up and carry her away. She tried to see who it was, but noticed only that her captor had cloaked his face. She tried to fight back, but the days of not eating had weakened her greatly. Though she still tried and felt a great satisfaction as she hit the face of whoever was carrying her. She heard a male voice curse and then she was put down on the ground. The man removed his cloak and stared angrily at her. Niemiko shrugged back as she saw Dirans angry eyes.
"Dammit, do you want everyone to notice?"
The sight of Diran made her mind go blank and she hit him as hard as she was capable of.
"You killed him! Murderer! I hate you!"
She tried to get away, but her body was too weak and her legs wouldn't carry her. He covered her mouth.
"Mimi, shut up," he hissed at her. "I'm trying to save your life here."
Niemiko began crying. Diran removed his hand and dried her tears with his thumb.
"I have no life! You took my life away from me!"
"Mimi, be quiet."
"No! I hate you! I won't listen to you!"
Niemiko did another atempt to flee and was able to get on her feet. She stumbled away a few steps then crashed to the ground again. Diran jumped over her and pushed her to the ground. Then he covered her mouth with his hand. With the other hand he pressed a few spots around her neck, rendering her unable to move.
"I'm sorry, Mimi. But this seems to be the only way."
He pulled a robe over her shoulders and hid her face. Then he lifted her into his arms and carried her. Once they reached the yellow gate master he said a silent prayer.
"We need to get to Yongu," he said to the gate master. "This woman is very sick and need the medical care of herb master Chai."
The gate master seemed suspicious, but after arresting his best friend Diran was known to be a trusted and loyal man. The gate master prepared the teleportation ritual anyway.
Once they felt their feet steadily on the ground in Yongu, Diran sighed out in relief. He turned to Niemiko and smiled. Not being able to move, all she did was stare at him with anger in her eyes.
"Now we're safe. Well, safer then in the fortress."
Diran placed her on the ground and reversed the stunning. Once freed Niemiko tried to run, but her weak body gave her the same result as before. She screamed in anger and hit the ground several times. Then she turned to Diran.
"Why did you even bother? Did you think I was going to be happy? That I would forgive you? If you did you're wrong."
"You're my best friend, Mimi," he smiled. "Besides, if I'm going to betray the clan for you, I might as well do it all the way."
His smile confused her and she felt even angrier then before.
"Do you think a smile will make it all go away?!"
His smile faded.
"I'm really sorry that you had to see it all."
"Sorry?!"
"But please. Let me show you something. Then you can judge me."
He pulled her arm and started walking fast. Niemiko stumble after him. They reached the inn which Niemiko had spent so many nights at and she felt her heart sink. But she wasn't strong enough to fight against her friend and he pulled her inside. When they got to the stairs he lifted her into his arms and began walking upstairs.
"I can walk on my own! Let go…"
"It's faster this way," he interrupted her.
Climbing all the way to the third floor with Niemiko in his arms, struggling to get loose, took a lot of strength out of Diran. He had to stop and breathe once they came to the top. When his strength was back he walked up to a room and opened it. Quickly he pulled Niemiko inside. Once inside Niemiko was shocked by the sight of the man that had been waiting for them.
"Kaen," she whispered as if the mention of his name would erase the sight in front of her.
When Kaen wrapped his arms around her she realized it wasn't just her eyes playing tricks with her. It wasn't an illusion.
"If I'm dreaming, I never want to wake up," she whispered into his chest.
"It's not a dream, Nie."
"But how? You… and I… and he…"
She pulled out of the embrace and faced Diran.
"You!"
"Guilty at charge," Diran laughed.
"But… but…"
"When I saw you healing his wounds I was angry. I couldn't believe that you would betray me and our clan for a Jinong lowlife." He tuned to Kaen and smiled. "No offence."
"None taken," Kaen muttered.
"But hearing your cries and words. And seeing his eyes. I only needed a quick look into his eyes to realise that he had been the one to open your heart again. And I finally understood that question you asked me. About loving someone you shouldn't. It all made sense. The one thing that didn't make sense was that the death and destruction I thought I would find in his eyes, weren't there. I couldn't kill him. So I faked it."
"That's why you sad that you might as well make the betrayal all the way."
"Yeah. Don't go thinking I'm happy about it, but I realised that this has nothing to do with the clans, even if no one else will see it that way."
Niemiko threw herself into Dirans arms.
"Thank you, thank you."
Diran smiled and hugged her tightly for a while.
"You better let go or your lover is going to be jealous," he whispered with laughter in his voice. "And even if I saved him from death, I don't think he would think twice about killing me if I ever even thought of stealing you away from him."
Niemiko laughed and kissed him on the cheek.
Last chapter. Wai, wai Only the epilogue left.
