I ran towards Claire as my weapons and armor receded and pulled her into my embrace.
"Claire," I whispered, "I'm sorry, for everything. For what I said and not understanding. I'm really sorry."
"W-who are you?" came her very shy and terrified voice.
'W-what do you mean?" I said with a nervous laugh, "I know you're mad and all for what I said but that's really mean."
"I don't know," she said quietly as everyone watched us while they stood in shocked disbelief.
"What do you mean you don't know him?!" Diana shouted as rushed passed me and held Claire by her shirt, "You told me everything before! What are you doing now?!"
"I don't know! I'm sorry!" she shouted back as she started to become very scared and started to cry, "I can't remember!"
"She lost her memories," Zero said monotonously, "She can't remember anything since after she was nine."
"What? But why is she so...How do I put it nicely?" I said as Diana put her down and she just seemed to cower.
"When she was small," Zero explained, "she used to be bullied, really badly. She lost all her friends in an accident and she was treated as a pariah. After Mari and Sieg disappeared, she didn't become a bounty huntress right away. She wanted to be normal actually. She's like that again."
"But...how do you know this, Zero?" Lass asked as he limped towards us, "Did someone tell you or were you there before?"
"Rufus encouraged her to write letters so to practice she sent me letters as well," he replied as he lifted his arm to look at Grandark, "Gran, we still have to look for Jane, do you sense her?"
"J-Jane is here," Katrina said nervously as she reverted back to her shy self, something finally returning to how it was before.
"What happened to her?" Grandark asked as it saw the state she was in, "Did she use her abilities?"
"Yeah," I replied but I still couldn't tear myself away from Claire.
"Shit," Grandark and Zero said at the exact same time.
"What's wrong?" Jacob asked as he approached Zero and Jane, "And who is this Grandark and where is his voice coming from?"
"Never mind that," he replied, "Jane is our priority here. When she uses her abilities, her heart stops for the duration, so we need to keep her with us for now!"
"Wait, what?!" Dean shouted as we all gasped.
"She can control time and space for a short duration," he replied as he looked around, "That's what she can do as an Ether Striker but it's also dangerous. Someone take care of her! I need to go look around for something!"
"Right, we'll take care of her, Zero," Ryan said as he picked up Jane, "Eric, we'll leave you with Claire."
A nod of confirmation and they left us alone.
She lay there against the tree looking over the sea and off into the far off Silver Lands, watching it all with a smile. It had been an extremely rare sight to see her smile, but each was as beautiful as a thousand stars in the clearest night sky. Her crimson eyes took in every detail as she scanned the glimmering water.
"Claire?" I asked as she watched everything with great interest, making her turn to me.
"Y-yes? I'm sorry, did you need something?" she said shyly while bowing her head, as if she did something wrong.
"No, it's nothing," I said as I lifted her face up with a finger, "It's just that you look really beautiful. Wait, I know!" I picked up a violet and placed it above her ear, "There, you look great."
"Y-you think so?" she said with a smile as her cheeks turned red. If I hadn't known better, I would've thought she was just a regular teen-aged girl.
"Yeah," I smiled as I held her hand. She simply closed her eyes and smiled as I fixed the rest of her hair. "Hey Claire," I said after a while of silence, "You know, I really missed you."
"I'm sorry, I can't really remember," she turned away, seeming a bit sad.
"No, it's fine," I said as I moved towards her and embraced her tightly, "I'm just glad you're here now."
"I am too," I heard her whisper, "I...I think it would be fine if I don't remember, as long as you're here. Only you and uncle Zero have been nice to me. I don't ever want to let you go." A pang of guilt struck my heart as I recalled the vicious things I had once told her, but her smile removed it right away.
"Claire," I whispered as I pushed myself back slightly so we could see each other face to face. I looked into her soft, red eyes with her thin, pink lips curved into a neat smile as the words left my mouth, "I love you, and I always will." I pushed her face up with my finger as I closed my eyes as I felt her soft lips push against mine. I wrapped my arms around her as she slowly began to lay down on the blanket we were sitting on. I broke the kiss as I leaned over her, her eyes showing a sign of approval while her sweet lips still formed in a smile. I took hold of the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head and put it to the side as she did the same with mine before our lips met one another again.
"A-are we allowed to do this...?" she asked as I was about to remove her skirt, a hint of doubt sounded in her voice.
"Claire, you're eighteen," I said with a smile, "Will you allow me?"
She smiled and pulled me closer as she whispered in my ear, "I love you, Eric. I don't know why but I just seem to feel like this when I'm near you."
"Yeah," I replied, "I love you too." I closed my eyes as I wrapped my arms around her, cherishing this moment.
The sun had set as the sky had been turned a bright red when I had just woken up with Claire in my arms, fast asleep and laying against me with a smile on her face.
"Claire," I whispered as I shook her gently, "Time to wake up."
"That was amazing," she whispered as she opened her eyes and looked at me with a smile.
"Yeah," I replied as I started to get back and put my clothes back on as she did the same, "We better head back before it gets too late, otherwise they'll start getting worried."
"Yeah," Claire echoed as she finished putting on her clothes and started to roll up the blanket.
"I think you should go meet the others as well, c'mon, I'll introduce you to them over dinner," I said as I held out my hand. She nodded and held on to it with a cheerful smile, the pain and sorrow we all had felt earlier seemed to be far away...for now.
Hmm, it seems like I placed too much fighting in the earlier chapters so I think I'll mellow it down for a bit with another fluff chapter and couple it along with a few comedic chapters as well...Even the characters in the story deserve a break I think :3
Well, hope you all enjoyed, hope I didn't push it with the last part and thanks for reading =D
On a sidenote: I was reading a fanfic called Monochrome Simplicity by MelenMelon and found it quite interesting, it was nice of him to mention my fanfic and to compliment it and I'd like to thank him for that so yeah...thanks melon :3
