Well hello there, long time no see! Again. My bad. Anyway, here's Innocent, hope you enjoy. And Em, hope it lives up to your standards! ;)

Innocent

The hiss and rush of water gushing from a tap. The hot sting of burned flesh. Her lips cracked and raw.

She splashes the water over her face, and sees it run black with soot. She rubs her eyes and immediately wishes she hadn't; they ache and itch now, watering even though she hasn't got any tears left to shed.

She can hardly believe she's seeing herself in the mirror when she looks. Her face is streaked with grime, her eyes are bloodshot and her lips are beaded ruby red with blood. She lets her hair down, thinking it might improve her appearance. She is wrong, but it hardly matters. The click and slam of a door makes her jump. He is home. For a moment, she only stares at herself, wondering what she wants; then she leaves the bathroom, walking until she sees him.

He is standing in the dining room, a glass of wine in his hand. He barely manages to say, 'You look terrible,' before she is kissing him, running her hands through his hair, feeling the warmth of his body seep through her misery, soothing and comfortable.

And then she stops. The taste and scent of wine is not strong enough to hide the whisper of wood-smoke that lingers undeniably about him. And yet, he can't have been at the fire. She would have seen him helping the others, helping to save lives, unless – unless he was there before she was. Unless he was not helping to put out the fire, but was instead the cause. Kit doesn't know what to think. She leans her head against his chest, but flinches and backs away when he strokes her hair.

'What is it?' Olaf asks, 'What's wrong?'

She answers with a question of her own. It's a simple one, but she dreads the answer.

'Where have you been?'

Olaf hesitates, and she lets out a dry sob before she can stop herself, clenching her hand into a fist and pressing it to her lips.

'Out. I was visiting a friend across town.'

Liar. The word springs readily to her mind but she pushes it away.

'Why do you smell of wood-smoke?'

'I could ask you the same question.'

Burned, blackened skin. Tiny hands that crack and bleed when she moves … Kit blinks, suppressing the images that are clustering unbidden in her mind.

'There was a fire. At the Duchess' house. There were … a lot of people there.'

Kit watches him, trying to read his expression, but he is unfathomable.

'I'm sorry to hear it.'

'Liar.' This time the word escapes her mouth before she can hold it in. She watches, scared, for his reaction. Olaf's eyes cloud with anger and he advances upon her, slowly and menacingly.

'What did you call me?'

'Were you there, Olaf? Did you start the fire? Tell the truth!' Kit screams the last words because she can't remember how else to speak. She has been suspecting this for so long, so very, very long …

Olaf surveys her for a few moments, then says, quite calmly, 'Yes.'

Kit feels sick. She guesses she ought to leave him right now, this very instant, but she can't.

Eyes which can barely open. Hair burnt to clumps of inch-long bristles. A body that feels lighter than air …

'Well,' Kit finds her voice is sticking unpleasantly in her throat and she gives a forced laugh, 'I guess you've really done it this time.'

Olaf says nothing.

'Oh, Olaf … Don't you … don't you see what you're doing? You've lost yourself and you're losing everybody you care about … Please, Olaf. You're losing your mind, I can see you changing.'

Kit has to stop talking; her throat is painful. Olaf merely stands there, watching her.

'Olaf, don't you remember … when you were little, and everyone believed in you? Wasn't that easier?' She smiles, and it's almost genuine. Almost.

'Yes, well, they don't any more, do they? Fickle creatures, humans.' Olaf takes a gulp of wine, briefly staining his teeth red.

'No, Olaf! You're the one who's changed, not them … you've left a warpath too long and wide to cope with, Olaf, but I still believe in you. You can still be innocent, Olaf. If you just … just stopped and thought for a minute.'

'Well, what do you want me to think about, Kit? About you? About myself?'

'No. About the fires. About the little girl who died in my arms today, because of the fire you began.'

Kit swallows, trying not to picture the girl's ruined body, the soot she coughed up when she tried to speak, her torn, burnt flesh. Olaf stares at her and Kit knows he feels something. What, she can't tell.

'What I'm saying, Olaf, is that it's not too late. If you change now, then you can forget the past. You're still an innocent. You still burn brightly to me, but if you continue to choose fire over nobility, then you'll lose everything. Time will change it all, my love. Your fires will fade and die, the embers will cease to glow. I still love you … '

Kit is close to him again now, and she can feel his breath on her lips, see the glimmer in his eyes.

'We've all made mistakes, Olaf. You'll have a new and better life if you accept yours and move on.'

'Move on?' There is anger in Olaf's voice as he glares down at Kit. 'How can I ever move on? You have chosen your path, Kit, and I have chosen mine. It is up to you whether we walk them together or apart.'

'Don't make me … ' tears are sliding down Kit's face now, leaving tracks in the dirt, 'don't make me choose … '

'I'm afraid I have to. Because I can't live with you if your heart doesn't truly belong to me.'

Kit is startled by his words. He speaks them harshly, but their meaning is softer than maybe he would like her to believe.

'Oh, Olaf … if only you could see yourself. You're broken. You hate what you've done, I know you do. You can't speak of it, but you relive it whenever the darkness presses, don't you? Is that why you always have a candle burning by your bedside? In case the doubt creeps in? If only you could see … '

'See what?' He spits the words out savagely.

'See that if you just lost your love of fire, you would be able to be innocent once more. See that who you are is not who you've been.'

'And I suppose you're innocent, are you?'

'Comparatively so.'

'And that girl – the one I killed. Was she innocent?'

Kit closes her eyes, pain flooding her as the image of a crumpled figure covered in a white sheet swims and blurs in her mind

'Of course.'

'Then innocent has killed innocent, Kit Snicket. This has been the way for years gone by, and shall remain so for years to come.'

He pulls her forwards and their lips meet, but only briefly; Kit pushes him away, her face contorted as she fights in vain against her tears.

'Go,' she whispers, and it is as if a stranger is speaking through her mouth, 'Go and never come back.'

'I'll never be gone, Kit. Never. I swear, there will come a time when I will kiss your lips again.'

'Go!' Kit screams the word at him, her voice seeming to tear from the force of her words.

As Kit slumps, sobbing, to the floor, she hears the door slam. He is gone, she realises. Whatever he says, he is gone and he has been going for a long time now. He will never touch my lips again, and he will always be my enemy.

Her thoughts are fierce, but she knows she is suppressing her grief, a grief that will surely come soon and leave her ruined.

His words, however, have made her think. She sits there for hours, letting the room grow dark around her as she whispers, over and over, 'If innocent kills innocent, then where do we lay the blame?'

It is a question she will never answer.

What did you think? Please tell me in a lovely review. :D Also, who's heard Taylor's new song We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together? Isn't it A.M.A.Z.I.N.G?

Tabs ~