Greetings, my lovelies~! I apologize for the wait, but my dreams have been filled with Anatomy and Physiology lately and I have had no muse for writing. I finally managed to get going on this chapter, though! Sorry if it seems short. Please read and review~!
The silence that fell over the table was long and profound. It lay like a heavy wool over the occupants of the room. No one made eye contact, for they were all much too wrapped up in their own thoughts. Nemu stared at the table cloth, waiting for some sort of response to her words.
The response came in the form of Jade slowly pushing her chair back. She rose on shaky legs.
"Excuse me," she said, her eyes brimming with tears.
She quickly fled the room, feeling the weight of numerous stares on her back. The heaviest of them was that given by a pair of green, catlike eyes. She ran across the floor to the stairs, hurrying to get to her room before her tears came. She did not make it further than halfway up the stairs before she broke into soft sobs, slowly lowering herself onto one of the steps.
Emily's eyes tightened when the sound of Jade's quite crying floated back into the room. She stood and left the room, going through the kitchen and out the back door.
Amber stared at her hands, which were folded in her lap. She was not sure what to do. She was upset by what she had just heard. She was angry at Nemu for keeping this a secret. She was confused by her underlying feelings for Saito. She was saddened by the realization that she would never meet her birth parents. She had always harbored the hope that she would one day be reunited with her family. Now, however, that dream was crushed. After all, how could she meet her parents if they had died a century ago?
As Nemu spoke, Amber had felt memories rising to the forefront of her mind. She remembered her solemn mother talking with her jovial father. She remembered taking walks through the streets of Kyoto. She remembered being dragged along with Jun and Emiko on their misadventures. Other, less distinct memories appeared. Flashes of her parent's faces, sunny days, stormy nights, and times spent laughing with her friends sprinted across her mind. Most of all, though, she remembered Saito. She clearly recalled the first time he had given her his soft smile, the gentle caress of his calloused hand on her face, the way he murmured her name when there was no one else to hear, and the first time he had pressed his lips to her forehead, beneath the sakura tree. So long ago, they had been so very close.
Amber's hands trembled in her lap and she felt tears welling in her eyes. She did not want to get up and draw attention to herself, but neither did she want to break down crying in front of these people. Her shoulders shook very slightly as she attempted to hold back her tears.
A slender, masculine hand came to rest over hers, halting the trembling.
Her eyes moved slowly up his arm, which was covered in a long, black sleeve. She saw the slight bulge of his bicep and deltoid, the skin of his pale neck, and, finally, she met his dark eyes. Saito looked at her seriously, his expression solemn. His hand briefly squeezed hers.
"Are you alright?" his lips barely moved as he spoke in a murmur.
She began to nod, but then she paused. She bit her lip and shook her head, the tears building in her eyes. She despised crying, especially in front of others, mainly because she thought it made her seem weak.
Saito's brows drew together ever so slightly. He stood, taking her hands in his and drawing her to her feet. He led her from the dining room, his hand wrapped tightly around hers. She felt the other occupants in the room watching them. Okita smirked at their clasped hands, but the expression quickly vanished when another soft sob floated in from the stairs. Harada stared toward the kitchen, frowning slightly, no doubt thinking of Emily. Shinipachi gave a half hearted grin. It seemed even he, in all his boisterousness, felt the weight of the information that had just been delivered. Heisuke shifted uncomfortably, looking as if he wanted to go to Jade, but his eyes were nervously darting to Okita as he no doubt remembered the older man's threat to kill him if he touched her. It was obvious from his expression that he hated to leave the crying girl alone. Kondou watched Saito and Amber leave with a saddened expression. Nemu looked miserable as she stared at their joined hands.
All of this Amber took in with a glance. She turned her head back toward Saito as she passed through the doorway, into the main room. In the center, on the open stairwell, sat Jade, her face buried in her hands, her body quivering. Saito glanced up at her and his frown deepened. His pace quickened as he pulled Amber behind him, obviously feeling that Jade deserved privacy. Amber looked up at her friend, understanding how she felt. Jade had the closest relationship with Nemu and was no doubt feeling the sting of betrayal much more than Amber herself. The dark haired girl's tears began to spill over, the sight of Jade acting as the last blow to her wavering control.
She lost sight of the older girl as Saito dragged her into the sitting room. He released her hand just long enough to close the door. Morning light streamed through the curtains. Dimly, Amber realized that none of them had even had breakfast yet. This thought was blown away in a storm of returning mixed emotion. She quickly turned away from Saito as the tears spilled over, running down her cheeks in hot, wet trails. She wrapped her arms around herself, her fingers digging into her flesh. Saito paused, his hand still on the door. Then, slowly, as if he were approaching a wounded animal, he moved to her side and gripped her shoulders. He gently turned her around. She opened her eyes to look up at him. Her lip trembled as she tried not to completely break down.
Saito looked at her tenderly, more comfortable with showing affection since it was just the two of them. His left hand moved from her shoulder to her cheek and he gently wiped her tears away. She was highly embarrassed that he was seeing her in such an emotional state. All embarrassment vanished, however, when he pulled her into his arms. His left hand came up to gently stroke her hair as his other arm wrapped around her waist. She pressed her forehead against his shoulder and clutched at his black shirt, allowing herself to be comforted by his embrace. He rested his cheek against her hair, closing his eyes.
"It's alright," he murmured.
Amber made a small, choked noise. He was not saying that her situation was alright, that Nemu's keeping secrets was alright, but that it was alright for her to cry. He was telling her that, despite all that had happened, his death and her apparent catapult into the future, his feelings remained unchanged. This made Amber cry even harder. The previous day she had not even known his name, now, she was willing to let him hold her and comfort her. Why? Because she remembered him and trusted him. She knew that he cared for her, perhaps even loved her. It was an odd feeling, having the memories of Airi mixed in with her memories as Amber. However, as Airi's memories returned to her, her feelings for Saito grew in intensity. She relaxed into his embrace, her confused emotions draining from her in the form of tears.
When she reached the point of coherency, she began to speak.
"You...you died," she whispered.
Saito opened his eyes slowly, looking over her head at the opposite wall.
"Yes," he replied, just as softly.
A fresh wave of tears fell down her cheeks.
"D-did you know?" she asked, "About the c-curse?"
He continued to gently stroke her hair, his fingertips gently dragging through it.
"No, not at the time. The last thing I remember is dying in battle. The next thing I knew, I woke up, lying on a bed, my wounds healed without any sign of their having been there. I don't know who retrieved me or how long I had been there, but I found my weapons and a set of clothes laid next to me."
Amber silently took this in.
"I'm sorry, Hajime-kun" she said softly, "I feel like I abandoned you."
Hajime pulled back slightly and looked down at her.
"No. If anyone is to take the blame, it should be me. I fought my hardest in that battle. I wanted to return you, but I failed. I fell," his lips quirked in one of his small smiles, "But none of that matters now, Amber. We're together, against all odds."
Amber looked at him with wide eyes, her tears finally spent. Then she gave him a hesitant smile in return.
"Yes. We have a second chance."
Emily sat dejectedly on a branch of one of the numerous trees in the back yard, her blue eyes focused on the leaves that had just begun to change in color. She stared without seeing, her emotions too volatile at the moment for her to focus on anything else. She felt betrayed and angry. She wondered how Nemu could have kept secrets from them like that. They were supposed to be like a family, and yet the woman had hidden their pasts from them. She scowled down at the ground. It made her especially angry that, though Nemu had known what was going on with Jade's dreams, Ambers visions, and even Emily's fascination with the color dark gold, she had remained silent, and would have done so for an even longer period of time if the men had not appeared.
"Tch," she crossed her arms over her chest, muttering under her breath.
The air around her was still warm as summer clung to the world, uneager to release its hold and allow the crispness of autumn replace it. It was a nice day, the sun was already bright as it continued its climb from the eastern horizon. Emily sighed as she sat straddling the thick branch, nearly fifteen feet off the ground. She unconsciously kicked her feet as she looked up into the higher bows of the tree.
The back door suddenly swung open, causing her eyes to dart toward it. Harada stepped outside. He frowned slightly as his eyes scanned the yard, looking for her. The movement she created in the tree caught his attention and he smiled slightly, no doubt remembering that it had always been Emiko's habit to climb up something when she wanted to be alone. He walked to the base of the tree and looked up at her, his golden eyes sparkling in amusement.
Emily stared back, feeling her cheeks involuntarily warm. She had regained many of her memories during Nemu's tale, and was embarrassed that the older woman had seen fit to include Emily's, Emiko's, feelings for Harada. She knew it did not really matter, since they had indeed been courting before the...incident, but she still did not want him to hear that she had almost swooned over him the day they met.
"Well, are you going to come out of that tree so we can talk?" he asked, cocking his head to the side so that his reddish hair fell partially over his face
Her cheeks darkened further and she looked away, trying not to think about how utterly gorgeous she found him to be. His golden eyes and gentle smile were so inviting, telling her that if she just came down, he would hold her and tell her everything was alright, just like he used to. However, Emily was too proud to allow him to see her in a distraught state, no matter their history together.
"No," she muttered, pulling her feet up and hugging her legs to her chest, easily sitting on the thick branch.
His smile faded somewhat and his eyes narrowed slightly.
"Do I have to come up and get you?" he asked, his voice still pleasant but carrying a threatening undercurrent.
She looked back down at him, her blue eyes calculating.
"You wouldn't," she said after a pause.
He sighed, closing his eyes. When they opened again, they were slightly predatory. She felt her own eyes widen in response. She had worried him, was worrying him. He wanted to help her, and she was refusing him. She remembered that while he had always been gentle with her, there were times when he had been firm, stubbornly forcing her to accept his help. They were both of strong personalities, and, every so often, their personalities clashed.
"I will," he reached up and gripped the lowest branch.
Emily winced slightly. If she had managed to climb the tree so easily, it would be a small feat for Harada. He was more athletic than she, and stronger. She quickly looked for some sort of escape. She did not want to tell him how she felt. She did not want the man she had once fallen in love with to witness her weakness.
She waited until he had swung into the tree before suddenly moving, dropping from her branch and landing on the ground in a crouch. Once she had regained her footing, she took off running back toward her house. She planned to sprint for her room and lock herself inside until he left her alone. She realized however, as she heard him make an exasperated noise, that she had miscalculated. Harada was much faster than she. In her past life she had never attempted to run from him, partially because it was impossible to do so while wearing a kimono or yukata. Now, even though she was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, she was still not up to the task.
She was three quarters of the way to the door when his large hand locked around her wrist, jerking her to a stop. She was thrown off balance for a moment. As soon as it returned she began to try to tug her wrist from his grasp, planting her feet in the grass and attempting to throw her body weight into the pull. His expression was caught between annoyance and amusement as he looked down at her, his fingers still gripping her wrist firmly. He yanked on her wrist, pulling her toward him before using the momentum to easily pick her up and throw her over his shoulder. She froze for a moment, any chance of escape effectively cut off. She then made and outraged noise and pounded one fist against his back.
"Sano! Put me down!" she cried, not seeming to notice that she had dropped any honorifics and begun calling him by his first name.
Sano held her easily, smirking slightly.
"Not until you promise not to run off."
The curtains at the kitchen window were pulled aside and Heisuke's and Shinipachi's faces appeared. They had undoubtedly been drawn by the commotion. As soon as they saw what was going on, they burst into laughter. Sanosuke shot them a glare and they retreated just as quickly as they had come, still snickering.
Emily continued struggling for a few minutes more but was unable to escape. Finally, she went limp.
"Finished?" Sano asked.
She sighed turning her head to look at him.
"Yes."
Gently, he set her down on her feet, steadying her by placing his large hands on her shoulders. His wise gold eyes looked down at her with concern. She looked away, unwilling to meet his gaze. He gave a small sigh, bringing his hand up to touch her cheek. She shivered slightly as his fingertips brushed over her skin.
"Emily," he murmured.
In that murmuring of her name was a question, one that Sano would never truly ask because it would make her feel weak. What can I do to help you?
Emily looked up at him, all childishness on her part and playfulness on his gone. The seriousness of the moment struck her again.
Hesitantly, Emily wrapped her arms around him.
"Just...don't leave me again," she said softly, resting her head against his chest, finally relenting and displaying a rare moment of fragility, "I remembered almost everything, Sano. I don't want to lose you again."
She pushed aside her feelings of betrayal and confusion. As cliché as it sounded, their relationship was the one thing she was sure of at present. She remembered the love they had shared, still shared. It was ironic. She had always been the most boy-crazy of the trio of friends, but even she had never been able to hold down a boyfriend for more than a couple weeks at most. It had never felt right. Now she knew why. Her heart belonged to Sanosuke Harada, and it always had.
Sano's strong arms wrapped around her tightly. She felt him rest his chin on top of her head.
"You won't. I'll always be right here for you."
Emily closed her eyes, knowing that this was not just an empty promise. If Kazama's curse had done its work, Sano would not age or be killed in combat. He would always be there, just as he was. It was a bittersweet thing, knowing this. Emily shook the thought off. They would make the most of it and face their troubles as they came. After all, he obviously still loved her and she felt much the same. They were both strong and stubborn, and it would be difficult to tear such a pair apart.
