Disclaimer: I own nothing remotely connected to D. Gray Man.


What's Love Got To Do With It

Chapter 12

Nozomi stood staring at her reflection in the mirror, she hardly recognized herself. Komui has truly out done himself she noted, as she turned to the side to get a better look. The pinkette was looking at herself, clad in her new general's uniform. The coronation had been a major success, Cross had even been chosen to present her with her news garbs in front of her many cohorts, that alone meant they would be celebrating a many times after the ceremony… which they did, for a majority of the night. Even as she stood examining herself, she couldn't help but move stiffly as certain areas of her anatomy were still tender. She smiled broadly at her new look, her uniform was only slightly different than her exorcists garb. It was an untraditional two piece, the jacket -blouse combination formed a vest, stopping just below her belly button, leaving the rest of torso bare. Her bottom consisted of a short skirt similar to Lenalee's, only trimmed in the traditional gold with holsters at her waist on either side for her anti-akuma whips. Her lean legs were covered with golden tinted leggings that ended with black and gold leather pumps. Nozomi adjusted her new attire for a better fit and couldn't help but beam at how good she looked, General Yeegar would be proud.

"General Nozomi," Her father grinned from the doorway to her room. He admired his daughter, and how she resembled her mother even more now. "You look so much like your mother… she would be so proud of you… General Yeegar too." He said. Her mother, in her prime, had too been a very successful general up until she got married.

Nozomi turned to him with a smile, "Thanks papa, although I wasn't expecting for them to leave so much skin exposed. I don't want Cross attacking me." She chuckled. "Where is my husband by the way?" Nozomi didn't have much of a libido left after last night, and if the sex-crazed animal she called a husband saw her so scarcely clad, he would surly make good use of her lack of clothing… much to her dismay.

"In a meeting," Said Suman. "He sent me here to check on you." Nozomi sighed, of course he did. Cross, in his absence, wanted to make sure she was eating as much as possible especially since it looked as if she was still losing weight, which of course he wasn't alright with at all. It warmed her heart to know that he cared so much about her, but that didn't mean it wasn't pissing her off being under constant surveillance.

"Well you can tell that worry wart that I've eaten already and will be venturing into town for a little bit. I have a book I want and the library here doesn't have it. Tell him I'll be back in a couple of hours and then we'll have lunch. Bye papa." Nozomi gave his scruffy cheek a nuzzle and a kiss before scurrying past him in a gently hurry.

The air outside the order was cool, the sky filled with puffy dark clouds and a gloomy overcast. She ventured into town with haste, making it to the library in record time. She smiled kindly to the older man behind the counter as he offered a smile of his own. "How can I help you?" He asked, gingerly.

"I'm looking for a book, 'I love you always, forever my darling.' Do you have it?" She asked, her eyes gleaming with hope. The book was a children's book, a book her mother used to read to her when she was little. She used to curl up into her mother's warm lap, the book half as large as she was, and demanded it be read to her. Her mother, with hair as pink as her own, would smile sweetly as she cradled her daughter to her chest, reading the book as many times as she wanted… or until she fell asleep.

"One moment, I'll go look for it." The librarian said, trotting from behind the small barrier he called a counter. Nozomi waited patiently, looking around the small home the man had converted into the town's library, seeing if anything else perked her interest.

"I just adore how I keep running into you." A sly voice called, filling the silence. Nozomi turned to find Tyki leaning casually against the far wall, a hand combing through his thick dark hair. In that moment he was the epitome of sex appeal, his long muscled limbs crossed so neatly. His lips curved into his signature smirk, she could feel the heat radiating off of him despite the distance between them.

"And I never can seem to get away from you," Nozomi replied with a fold of her arms. A faint rose blossoming in her puffy cheeks. Tyki took in her new general's attire, thinking this looked better on her than anything else he'd ever seen her in. The dip in the curves at her waist, the flawless pale flesh of her torso that was visible, the succulent curve of her round breasts. He had to take a deep breath (quite a few deep breaths) to keep from taking her up against one of the library walls, no matter if she wanted it or not- and let's face it, who wouldn't want it?

"I see you're a general now… the uniform looks good on you." He complemented. "Then again, anything looks good on you." He gave her one of his rare soft smiles, earning a deeper blush from the pinkette before she cleared her throat.

"Tyki… you know you have a place in my heart… and you always will, but I can't see you anymore." Nozomi said.

"What do you mean?" Tyki asked, taken aback by her sudden declaration. "After all these years of being without you…" He just couldn't fathom where the hell that crap she was talking was coming from. It had to be no one but that man she married, his mouth twisted from his smirk to a small scowl. There's no way the Nozomi he knew would say something, especially to him of all people… not after all they'd been through together.

"I know… but within that time I moved on, I healed and found happiness… I want the same for you. I don't want you missing out on love and happiness because you're stuck on me, that's not fair to you." Said Nozomi.

"But I love you, you're the one I want." Protested Tyki. He didn't know if he could handle losing her all over again, and to a man nonetheless.

"And I will always love you too… but I'm married now, what we had is now in the past. I love my husband; he means the world to me. You know I come from a long line of marriages, no one in my family believes in divorce. My parents were together sixteen years before my mother passed away. Their marriage wasn't perfect, they had their fights just like Cross and I have ours, but they found away and put their pride aside to work things out. The only thing that broke them apart was her death; I want a long and happy life with my husband... and I'm willing to work things out."

"And you believe he can make you happy?" The man scoffed.

"I know he can… no one is perfect Tyki… I just can't keep doing this to myself, or you. I can't fix my marriage if I still have you in my life… I'm sorry. I hoped you would understand…" Nozomi said softly. By then the librarian had returned with her book, still wearing his kind smile as he placed the elegant binding in her gloved palms.

"I see…" Tyki said finally. "Well, I hoped it wouldn't come to this." In a quick instant his entire physical appearance changed. His flawless light skin turned umber, his own dark eyes turned golden.

"What… what are you?" She asked, taking a step back.

"Well 'Omi, I'm a Noah." He grinned. This wasn't the traditional Tyki grin she had grown so fond of seeing, the ginning face she had replayed over and over again in her mind in the nights following the fire to help her cope. No, this was something else; this was the grin of a monster. She no longer recognized the man before her.

"Noah? As in the same people who-"

"Killed your General Yeegar? Why yes, that's us." He finished with a chuckle. Nozomi dropped the book she had been holding, her hands trembling as she took shaky steps back.

"Cross was right…" She murmured. "I let you into the order… around my husband and friends…" She continued backwards. "You could've killed them… killed me…"

"I could've killed you but I didn't." Tyki pointed out. "I never wanted any harm to come to you; my feelings towards you have always been sincere. But the Earl gave us specific orders to wipe out all the generals… and now you're a general…" His words trailing off. He didn't need to continue because Nozomi knew very well what he was going to say. A quick flash of General Yeegar's remains flashed from her memory and in that instant, her legs threatened to give out from under her.

Nozomi's eyes filled with tears as her back pressed against the counter, Tyki less than a few feet away from her.

"I though you loved me," A choked sob escaped her lips. "How is this love?" Her dark eyes frantically searched for another way out. Not even the librarian could help her now; even he was glued to his spot by terror.

"Try to escape me and trust me, you won't get far." Tyki said firmly, snaking an arm around her waist, pulling her so close she could feel every inch of him pressed tightly against her.

They were quickly engulfed into a cloud of darkness, the fluttering of wings surrounding them . 'This is it,' Thought Nozomi. 'I'm going to die.' In the midst of the darkness and fluttering, Tyki wrapped both arms around the girl's trembling body, resting his face against the warmth of her neck. The Noah whispered something she didn't quite understand, and for a moment she grew completely numb. Her body went limp in her taker's arms, falling completely into him, and Tyki scooped her up as if nothing was wrong. Nozomi tried to cry out for help, like someone was actually around to hear and save her, but not a sound came out, not even her lips moved. She tried to move, to push herself away from him, but she couldn't. Whatever he had said or possibly done had left all of her in a state of paralysis, where she couldn't move an inch of her body yet she was completely aware of everything happening around and to her.

Nozomi could feel the crisp sheets against her skin, smell the stale stench of smoke that lingered in the air. She found herself in his bed, in the room she'd woken up in shortly after the two were reunited. Her eyes scanned the dimly lit room; there were no windows and only one exit, which Tyki made sure he had her undivided attention as he flicked the lock. Her heart began to race as Tyki took calm, long strides over to the bed. His umber hands slowly removing his gloves… then his shirt and jacket. She could hear her pulse beating loudly in her ears, his golden gaze settled upon her chocolate one, tears pooling in her eyes and rolling down still cheeks. If she hand any control over her body, if she could speak, she would be pleading if not praying for her life.

"Oh 'Omi… I didn't want things to end this way…" Tyki murmured, the bed shifting under his weight. "And here I wanted to make you cry out for me one last time…"


A/N: DUM DUM DUUUUUUUMMMMMM! and that's where my mind went blank DX thanks for reading, please review! they matter! XOXOXO