If You Worry...

A week went by since the festival and the almost run away incident. Robin has been in a much more cheery mood. But she never got over her tomboy thing. But somethings been going on this day. Erik once more locked himself up and has asked to be to himself. Everyone was beginning to wonder what was wrong.

"Robin, did something happen between the two of you?" Julie asked.

"No, he just said he needed to be alone." She said. "He didn't tell me why or anything."

"Well, summer is almost coming." Sarah said. "He's usually like this when summer comes around."

"Really?" Robin sighed in relief. "If it's normal, then I suppose we should't be too worried."

"But we were hoping that with you he might change a little bit." The slump returned. A thought just struck Robin.

"Wait! What day is it?" She asked.

"June 7th." Sarah said.

"No way!" She started to panic. "My birthday is coming!" An eerie aura filled the room.

"Why didn't you say so?" Maria asked.

"I was so caught up in all this that I forgot." She started rubbing her head with frustration. "DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! I didn't I remember? I always remember when my birthday was!"

"Could it be that you're in another world?" Julie suggested.

"I suppose." Robin said.

That's right. It's been a while since I've seen home. And now I'm forgetting everything. She thought.

"Well, should we tell the master of this event?" Maria asked.

"No, I don't want him to be bothered by it." Robin got up and walked out of the room.

"I don't know why she wouldn't want him to know." Julie said. "She does, well, love him right?"

"She does." Sarah said. "And it's possible that he has the same feelings as her. But there seems to be something else in her mind that she can't seem to leave to itself." Maria got up and went to the door.

"Where are you going?" Julie asked her.

"I'm going to check on Robin." She closed the door and left the two girls to themselves. She walked down the hallway and up a fight of stairs and down another hallway and up more stairs and so on until she reached the roof. Robin was sitting near the edge staring out at the horizon. "Robin, why don't you want to tell the master?" She saw her hands tighten into a fist.

"Because, I don't want him to be too caught up in me." She said. "He just found out that a girl was in love with him and that she's from another world. Plus, I realized, that I remind him of Christine. I don't want to remind him of her. He'll just be caused nothing but pain."

"But, he seems to have been a little happier with you here." Maria said.

"It's not true!" She shouted. "He may be wearing a smile on the outside, but he's still hurting inside. I want him to forget Christine and of the hurt she caused him. I want him to live for a new future. Because... because..." She wasn't able to finish her words off. She just stood up, walked past Maria and went back inside.

Robin, you've done so much. If only you could see it. Maria thought. Robin walked down the hall with a depressed look on her face. She wanted so much to tell Erik of her birthday, but he didn't want to be in the way. Being caught in her own thoughts, she didn't look where she was going and ran into a corner. More like a door. She rubbed her forehead and stared at the door.

"How long has this been here?" She opened it up and found a beautifully decorated room. It looked like it was for a lady or something. She realized it must have been for Christine, if she ever was here. She let out a deep sigh and closed the door. Before walking away, she opened the door again and walked inside. She walked to the center of the room and just looked around for a moment. As she took in her surroundings, she noticed that just about everything in the room was white, from the curtains to the sheets and blankets on the bed. She just sat there and soaked it all in.

Why would he make this room all white? She wondered. Hm, maybe I can help. She ran out of the room but didn't bother closing the door. She found a closet with some paint inside. She grabbed some brushes and a couple different colors and ran back to the room. She looked around before walking back into the room. She moved some of the objects that were up against the wall so they wouldn't be damaged by the paint. She looked at the first wall and started to imagine it with an ocean scenery on it. A nice sandy beach overlooking the bright blue sea.

"Yeah, perfect." She grabbed a paint brush and got to work.

That evening...

Erik walked up to the door to the girl's bedroom. He hesitated in knocking on the door since he was worried Robin would be mad for not being around for a while. But he knew she'd be happy to see him either way. Then, after the fifth attempt, it just swung open.

"Uh... master!" All the girls stood up and curtsied.

"Where's Robin?" He asked.

"We haven't seen her since this morning." Julie admitted. He just closed the door and started back down the hallway.

"Not since this morning?" He repeated to himself. "Where on earth could she have wondered off to?" Then, when he came to the small corner, he noticed the door was open. He went to close it and found Robin inside. She fell asleep with a paint brush on her face.

What was she doing? He thought. He looked at the wall and saw the ocean scene she painted. She had finished it before she dozed off. She was starting on another wall and giving it a valley like look with lots of flowers and openness. But she fell asleep a quarter of the way in. He moved the paint brush from her face and she started to wake up. She sat up and let out a large yawn.

"Oi, I have to stop falling asleep during art class." She said still half asleep. She looked up at Erik and remembered she wasn't in school. She jumped up to her feet and moved to the far side of the room. "E-E-Erik! What are y-you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." He said. "How did you even find this room?"

"Well, I was on the roof and on my way back, I sort of spaced out and I just, found it by accident." She touched her face and felt the wet paint on her cheek. She started to freak out. "Oh god! I fell asleep in the paint didn't I?"

"With a paint brush on your face." He corrected.

"I better get this washed off." She walked past him and out the door.

"Why is she acting so strange?" He wondered. After washing the paint off her face, Robin started feeling bad. She felt really stupid for how she acted in front of Erik. She started for her room but just couldn't go back. She just had to see Erik for some reason. But she thought he must think she's foolish for the way she acted.

"I can't believe myself." She said. "Is this what it's like when someone's in love?" She then reached out for a random door to god knows where and just opened it up. She found herself in a completely different room. everything was black and red and was only lit up by some candles spread across the room. Her heart started beating faster and faster.

Is this... She closed the door.

"Found you." She jumped back after hearing Erik's voice behind her.

"Y-y-you scared me!" She said.

"I wasn't expecting you to find your way to my room." He remarked.

I was right. She sighed.

"Sorry. I just spaced out again." She said. "I better go back to my room." But before she was able to leave, he grabbed her arm, closed the door and locked them inside. "Hey! What's the big deal?"

"Why are you acting so strange?" He asked. She looked at him in astonishment.

"Nothing." She lied. "Nothing's wrong."

"You're a terrible liar." He said to her. He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her. "What is troubling you?" She knew he'd keep her here until he gets the truth.

"Okay, I just don't want you to worry so much about me." She said. "I've made you worry enough already. And..." She couldn't say a word of her birthday.

"Maria came to me this afternoon saying your birthday was coming." He knew! She felt a bead of sweat role down her neck.

"What? That's just crazy talk." She said trying to sound surprised. "I mean, that isn't true at all." He decided not to argue with her this late at night.

"Then I'll see you in the morning." He tried hugging her but she just walked right past him.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She said. "Goodnight."

"Good ni-" She had already left.

As she walked down the dark hallway, she could feel the eerie aura still linger around. She figured it must just be from earlier. Her heart started beating fast. She looked around but only saw the darkness around her. But either way, she kept feeling uneasy. She started to run. Next she started hearing footsteps. They were catching up to her faster than she expected. She quickened her pace and started taking random detours. When the steps finally went away, she stopped running. But when she looked around, she found herself back at Erik's door.

"H-how did I-?" The door swung open and she was pushed inside. She saw Erik lock the door. "What gives?!" He wasn't looking too happy with her at all. When she realized this, she started to feel nervous.

"Robin, why do you insist that you're alright?" He asked her. "I can tell when you're lying to me." Tears started falling down her face.

"I-I don't know." She said. "I just can't stand having people worrying about me. When they do, they just start hovering over me non stop making sure that I'm in line. It's not something I can deal with."

"But if you continue like this, you'll make us worry even more." He placed his hand on her head. "That includes all of us here."

"I'm sorry." She started to sound like a little girl apologizing to her father. She let out a large yawn. "What time is it?" That was just so like her.

"You should have gone to bed some time ago." He answered.

"Oh, well I should..." She trailed off.

"What is it?" She started looking every which way until she finally met his eyes.

"Can I... stay with you?" She started getting all flustered. There was an awkward silence between the two. "Maybe I should just go back to my room." As she walked past him, he lifted her up into his arms.

"I would like you to stay here tonight." He said smoothly. Robin lifted her hand up to his exposed cheek and let it rest there for the moment. She then lifted her head closer to his until their lips suddenly touched. When she broke the kiss, she rested her head on his shoulder and smiled.

It's time I returned that kiss from some time ago. She thought. And it's also a goodnight kiss. Erik just couldn't help but start laughing.

"What?" Robin asked.

"That was just unexpected." She pouted.

"Well excuse me for giving you a kiss." She crossed her arms and turned her head away. He started laughing even harder. She jumped out of his arms and glared at him.

"Robin, you know I'm only joking." A devilish smirk appeared on her face. Next thing he knew, she had jumped up and tackled him so hard they both fell down.

"REVENGE!" She shouted before breaking out laughing. After getting that out of her system, she moved up closer to him again but started whispering something. "Wo Ai Ni (For those who forget, it means I love you)." Her head then rested on his chest. When he was able to see her face, her eyes were already closed and her breathing had slowed down.

How did she manage to fall asleep so fast? He thought. But that didn't really matter. He got back up with Robin in his arms and walked over to the large bed and set her down. He moved to the other side and got in next to her. As he rested one of his hands on his pillow, Robin subconsciously touched it. Though her eyes were still closed, she still had her emotions working her brain for her. He wrapped on arm around her waist and he placed his other hand to the back of her head and gently drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Robin was still out when Erik woke up. He got out of bed and walked up to a mirror that hung on the wall beside them. He removed the black mask and looked at his face.

She still hasn't seen. He thought. If she knew, then she'd leave you. She'll be disgusted with you. She'd even- Withing the mirror's reflection, he saw Robin staring at him. But not just him, his face. -fear you. He placed his mask on his face and turned to face her. She sat up in the bed.

"Did you see?" He asked calmly. She didn't answer. He moved closer to her and she just stayed still. "Did you see?" She didn't answer. She wasn't even looking at him. He grabbed her arm and made hr look at him. "Answer me!"

"I can't, you wouldn't be happy if I did." She finally said. He released her arm and walked to the far side of the room.

"Go back to your room." He said in an almost whisper. Robin quickly got up and walked over to the door. Before leaving, she looked back over at him.

"Stranger than you dreamed it." She whispered before opening the door and leaving Erik to himself. She started walking down the hallway but then started to run. She wasn't headed for her room. She opened the main doors and ran out into the front garden. She ran past the many flower beds and to the gates. As they opened up, she ran through them but didn't notice the carriage rushing right towards her.

There, what do ya think? I know I was suppose to work on my other stories, but I just had a new idea for the story and I just couldn't keep away. Well, I'm glad I was able to get this on. She sees his face, he gets mad at her, she's hit by a carriage. But, who's in the carriage I wonder? I know, you don't. I'm not telling till the next chapter. You'll just have to find out then. Well, I better go. It's really late here and I wanna plan for the next anime con. I'M GONNA BE MOMIJI SOHMA FROM FRUITS BASKET! He's so cute!