…Part 10: Krad…

Her skin wasn't exactly soft, but it was by no means dry or rough, either. It had no description that I could think of, but it felt good. Suna's fingers were cold from being outside for so long, but I didn't mind that either, really. I didn't know why she was touching my face, though I don't think that I cared.

"Krad?" My breath caught in my throat when she said my name.

"Hmm?" I managed.

"You're beautiful…" she whispered. Then a smirk replaced the thoughtful features – thoughtful features directed at me – and she continued, "…but you should go. I have some sleeping to catch up on, okay?"

Suna's fingers slipped away from my face as she made her way up the stairs. My heart nearly stopped dead. I didn't want to leave her! I wanted to forget all about Satoshi – wanted to drown him in the back of my mind so that he couldn't come back. That way, she would never even think of accepting him, and I would never have to be locked away in this awful bloodline again, and I could be with her for… for forever, I thought in a ridiculously childish way.

"Krad, what's wrong?" She shook my shoulder, jolting me back. "Krad! Stop staring at me like the world is going to end, because it's not!"

I shook my head, unable to speak. Had I really looked that desperate? I was disgusted with myself, but couldn't force my face into a more reasonable expression – one that made sense. I thought about Dark's explanation of Secret Maidens; the descriptions of the ones that you would never forget, no matter how long you lived. I suddenly felt like I was burning in hell – slowly. I was immortal; part of an artwork created by the Hikari. But Suna… Suna was very human. She would age, and eventually she would die. I couldn't keep her like I had thought mere minutes ago – and why this horrid realization was crashing down on me now, I had no idea, but it was certainly not convenient in any way. Dark had warned me before I left. He had warned me to 'be careful'. It had sounded like a joke – like he had been mocking me – but I discovered now how serious the words had actually been. Keep your heart in check, Krad. Keep your emotions in check. Don't let your control slip now – you'll regret it.

I was regretting it. Heavily.

She slapped me. "Krad, pull yourself together! What the hell is wrong with you!? This is not who I've been admiring for so long! What the hell happened!?" she yelled fiercely, glaring at me. In her eyes, though, there was deep confusion – and concern, which stabbed at something deep in my chest.

I shook myself almost violently out of a state I had never even imagined I could be in. "I don't know!" I growled back at her suddenly, yanking myself from her surprisingly strong grip on my shoulders. I was going to have bruises to show for it. "You are destroying me, Suna!" I blurted before I could think about what I was saying.

"What are you talking about!? I haven't done anything to you!" she protested.

"You made me love you!" I argued fiercely.



"I –" The actual words that I'd said caught up to her and she suddenly lost all tension in her body, a look of shock displayed on her face and frozen in her eyes. She eased herself down to sit on the steps with the help of the railing. After a while, she looked up at me.

I didn't move from my taller, more graceful and magnificent stance – a part of my old demeanor back that I wasn't about to lose again.

"You… what?"

"I love you," I stated – in a not-so-loving way – until my voice cracked at the end.

"I love you, too, Krad," Suna whispered, trying out the words carefully. "…obviously," she added, pushing the end of my more recent fallen feather into a ribbon that tied a lock of her hair together, right next to one that was already there.

(((POV Satoshi: I watched from my minuscule place at the back of Krad's mind, amazed at what was happening. Krad had felt pain – emotional pain. It scared me, because I knew that my existence was a small part of it, but I forgot that fear when thoughts of dying invaded his thoughts. He suddenly hated his immortality, brought on by the realization that Suna Akimoto had much less than forever to live. He was suffering – Krad was suffering – in a way I'd never seen before. And he'd said he loved Suna, though I'm sure he only had a very vague understanding of the meaning behind that word. The worst part was: I believed him. It wasn't just a matter of possession or control anymore. Krad had changed – drastically.)))