Author's Note: I know I'm dragging out the trip to Kislev. And then the group _still_ needs to get to Shevat... But this stuff needed to happen. :)
And you all probably loath me for leaving you on a cliffhanger all over again in the last chapter. ^_^ I'll try not to do that again. I promise I'll try. Can't guarrantee more than that, though... = ]
*Disclaimer*: Xenogears belongs to Squaresoft, not to me... Clear enough for you?
Chapter Eight
The night was cool. It was one of those nights that were perfect to spend outside. Clear, with a splendid view of the sparkling stars and the beautiful ruby and gold shaded moon. The Yggdrassil slowly made it's way over the seemingly never ending sands. A calming rhythm.
But it did nothing for Margie. She was nervous. _Very_ nervous. She stared at Bart's back from across the deck and wondered if it was still okay to run. He hadn't seen her yet and she had a good chance of jumping down the opening without him noticing.
~Quit being such a coward. You've been enough of one today to last you the next couple of years...~
Margie cleared her throat loudly and steeled herself. She waited breathlessly as he turned and looked at her with his gleaming sapphire gaze. She closed her eyes, unable to stand the uncomfortable look he'd most likely give her. That was not something she'd be able to handle.
When he didn't say anything, she began. "I'm... I'm sorry for what I did, Bart..." she whispered, her eyes still closed. She took a deep breath and continued when he didn't say anything. "I really don't know why I did that. Why I kissed you. It... Call it impulse... I didn't mean it. The kiss didn't mean anything... really..."
She stopped and just stood there for a moment, feeling like she'd been stripped raw of her shields. Here she was, giving the biggest lie of her life to the person she cared about the most... She felt sick.
Bart stared at her for a while. The light of the moon gave her a soft aura and the way her eyes were closed worriedly made him want to go over to her and make her feel safe again. The way he'd done all his life. She was his to protect, something he'd always known and never questioned. But now he really had the urge to knock some sense into her. Deck her if necessary. If she felt that lying to him was the way to get out of this tangle of emotions she'd gotten him into, she was wrong. Dead wrong. He'd been more confused in the last 24 hours than he'd been in his whole life. Stupid girl thought she could just kiss him, wake up all these feelings he had never known he'd had and then pretend nothing had happened? No way he was going to let her get away with it!
"That was the worst attempt at a lie that you've ever made."
Surprised at the annoyed and clipped tone of his voice as much as at what he had said, she opened her eyes and gawked at him. "Huh?"
He glared at her and felt like swearing at the innocent way she looked at him. She was _unaware_ dammit! She had no idea of what she had done to him! Well, he was going to make damn sure she knew exactly how he felt.
"Don't act dense, Margie. You can't lie yourself out of what you did," he muttered harshly.
Margie lowered her head and stared at the floor miserably, tears in her eyes. ~Oh God, he hates me... He actually hates me...~ "I'm really sorry..." she whispered so quietly that he didn't hear. All he saw was that she was trying to avoid looking at him.
Did she actually feel _that_ sorry about what she did?! Did she regret kissing him that much that she couldn't even look at him comfortably?! He was not gonna let her off the hook that easily. There was no way she was going to leave him hanging! She had avoided him all day and he'd spent it thinking of nothing else but her. He hadn't been able to stop himself from thinking about her, about the way she'd surprised him with that kiss so completely that he hadn't been able to react. Now she said she hadn't meant it!
"You know what I think?" he forced out in a deceptively mild voice. "I think you enjoyed what you did, no matter how many times you'll say you didn't."
She looked up and stared at him in shock, the guilt showing in her eyes. But he didn't see that either. He was too focused on his anger and in making her see that what she had done had completely turned him inside out. Being so out of control of his emotions got him really riled up.
Margie didn't know what was eating him. All she knew was that he was clearly angry. He began walking towards her and she slowly backed away. Until her back came to a forced stop at the railing of the deck. He caged her further by resting a hand on the railing on either side of her, making sure she had no way of getting past him. He leaned forward until his face was only a couple of inches from hers, and her breathing quickened. His annoyed look forced her to swallow.
"What do you want me to say, Bart?" Margie managed softly. ~Anything. Anything, God, but don't let him hate me...~
He lifted his hand and she immediately closed her eyes, an involuntary reaction. But she opened them slowly again in surprise when she felt the touch of his fingers gently brushing her hair away from her face. She clearly felt the callouses of his fingers as they brushed her cheek. She stared at him in complete astonishment and his intense gaze found hers. He had never looked at her that way before...
"Bart...?" She could hardly breathe. She didn't even notice her body was trembling.
"I'm going to make you feel the same way you made me feel," he whispered before he slowly leaned down and kissed her parted lips.
Margie couldn't think. She could only feel. The shock of what was happening kept her from moving for a minute.
His mouth was hard with anger on hers, but it softened when she began kissing him back and reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. He encircled her waist with his arms, pressing their bodies together, the way he'd wanted it to be the first time she'd kissed him. But back then he'd had that wrench in his hands. Now nothing stood in the way.
They slowly pulled away from each other after a while, both reluctant, but the lack of oxygen in their systems making it necessary. Bart pressed one quick, last kiss on her lips, a kiss that made her heart flutter just for the simplicity of it. Almost like he wanted to do it all the time.
She could only stand there, so much surging through her that she couldn't even move. Her mind numbly registered that they were both shaking a little.
She closed her eyes dreamily, wondering what had just happened when he leaned down and pressed his brow against hers. His arms were still wrapped around her and she could feel his warm breath on her cheeckbone.
"What was that?" he asked of her on a shaky whisper. "Don't tell me that was nothing..."
Margie smiled, her eyes still closed, as she heard the unsteadiness in his voice. ~This affected him as much as it did me... But things were supposed to go so differently...~
"Margie, tell me," he asked again. "Tell me what you feel."
"I feel..." She sighed and smiled. "I feel satisfied because I finally did something I wanted to do since... I can't even remember anymore," she confided, not really stressing about what he'd think. She felt boundless for some reason. Completely free.
"You wanted to kiss me?" he asked in slight astonishment.
"Didn't I just prove that?" she teased softly, stretching up to brush her lips over his. It was so intimate, just the two of them standing there in each others arms while the moon softly illuminated them. It was perfect. And she felt so light. As if a weight had been taken off of her and now she could just... stay here forever if she chose to.
Bart smiled at her answer, which pleased him and gave him a bit of more info than he'd previously had. She had wanted to do this for a while... How long had he been unaware?
"I'm so glad this turned out all right," she sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. "For a minute there, I thought things had changed."
"They have changed, Margie," Bart whispered back. "For the better."
************************************************
They stayed up on the deck until midnight. Call it hormone induced if you will, but Margie knew it was so much more that that. They had known each other all their lives, but only now discovered each other. So much had to be expressed still. So they spent the hours talking, kissing, wrapped in each others arms. Until Margie deemed that it was _way_ too easy for her to fall asleep right there in his arms. Time to back off a bit. Things needed to be taken slowly.
So he walked her to the door of her room, where she gave him a sleepy kiss that had them lingering over it way longer than originally intended.
She contentedly crawled into bed an hour later.
*************************************************
The next morning, she was gently nudged awake by Prim. The young girl was taken by surprise when Margie woke up happily (that was rare in itself...). The Great Mother stretched leisurely and gave her a brief hug. Prim blushed at the attention.
Margie ruffled Prim's hair before making her way out the door and toward the bathroom. She hummed a song happily under her breath, a tune she had often heard Elly hum after Fei had proposed to her. No wonder Elly felt so happy all the time.
After doing her morning ritual, she changed and went to the Gun Room for some breakfast. As soon as she stepped in she saw that Bart was barely heading out with a plate full of food in one had and a cup in the other. They both stopped as their eyes met and couldn't help smiling secretly at each other, oblivious that the others had stopped their eating and conversation to stare at them two.
Elly and Maria took one look at them two and shared a grin from different ends of the table. Bart undeniably had to be the cause for that look on their friend's face.
"What's up with you two?" Billy, the only male currently at the table, finally asked. His curiosity earned him nothing but glares from all the girls there, including a sharp look from Emeralda as Margie and Bart finally noticed them, too.
"Even I get it, you dolt," the ever-wiser nanomachine hissed in his direction, making him blink in confusion. He was surprised even further when he saw the blush staining Margie's cheekbones. What was up with her?
Bart smirked at her reaction and continued to make his way toward the door, stopping besides her briefly to whisper softly in her ear, "I'll see you later, right?"
Her blush grew and she nodded hurriedly, making him chuckle as he left.
Margie turned to the ones sitting at the table after the door closed behind him and bit her lip self-consciously when she noticed the knowing looks the three girls gave her. She thanked God for Billy's confused one. At least not everyone knew... She didn't think she could handle all _four_ of their sly comments without even any breakfast in her.
She cleared her throat and went over to the table as normally as possible. She sat down in her usual spot between Maria and Emeralda and took the ring off her napkin, shaking it out and primly placing it on her lap while the others looked on. Then, when she couldn't take it any longer; she looked up, seriously met the eyes of her three closest friends and then they all burst out laughing. Much to Billy's growing confusion.
The young gunman rolled his eyes and continued eating, deciding to ignore the strangeness of females in general.
To be continued...
*I do apologize for the shortness of this chapter. I currently have a writer's block that I pray (and so should you) will leave me soon. In the meantime, hope this satisfies you guys (and gals). I know you wanted to know what happened next.
(Truthfully, so did I... ^_~) Don't be afraid to e-mail me with your rants, complaints, whatever. Even though praise would be much more appreciated...*
And you all probably loath me for leaving you on a cliffhanger all over again in the last chapter. ^_^ I'll try not to do that again. I promise I'll try. Can't guarrantee more than that, though... = ]
*Disclaimer*: Xenogears belongs to Squaresoft, not to me... Clear enough for you?
Chapter Eight
The night was cool. It was one of those nights that were perfect to spend outside. Clear, with a splendid view of the sparkling stars and the beautiful ruby and gold shaded moon. The Yggdrassil slowly made it's way over the seemingly never ending sands. A calming rhythm.
But it did nothing for Margie. She was nervous. _Very_ nervous. She stared at Bart's back from across the deck and wondered if it was still okay to run. He hadn't seen her yet and she had a good chance of jumping down the opening without him noticing.
~Quit being such a coward. You've been enough of one today to last you the next couple of years...~
Margie cleared her throat loudly and steeled herself. She waited breathlessly as he turned and looked at her with his gleaming sapphire gaze. She closed her eyes, unable to stand the uncomfortable look he'd most likely give her. That was not something she'd be able to handle.
When he didn't say anything, she began. "I'm... I'm sorry for what I did, Bart..." she whispered, her eyes still closed. She took a deep breath and continued when he didn't say anything. "I really don't know why I did that. Why I kissed you. It... Call it impulse... I didn't mean it. The kiss didn't mean anything... really..."
She stopped and just stood there for a moment, feeling like she'd been stripped raw of her shields. Here she was, giving the biggest lie of her life to the person she cared about the most... She felt sick.
Bart stared at her for a while. The light of the moon gave her a soft aura and the way her eyes were closed worriedly made him want to go over to her and make her feel safe again. The way he'd done all his life. She was his to protect, something he'd always known and never questioned. But now he really had the urge to knock some sense into her. Deck her if necessary. If she felt that lying to him was the way to get out of this tangle of emotions she'd gotten him into, she was wrong. Dead wrong. He'd been more confused in the last 24 hours than he'd been in his whole life. Stupid girl thought she could just kiss him, wake up all these feelings he had never known he'd had and then pretend nothing had happened? No way he was going to let her get away with it!
"That was the worst attempt at a lie that you've ever made."
Surprised at the annoyed and clipped tone of his voice as much as at what he had said, she opened her eyes and gawked at him. "Huh?"
He glared at her and felt like swearing at the innocent way she looked at him. She was _unaware_ dammit! She had no idea of what she had done to him! Well, he was going to make damn sure she knew exactly how he felt.
"Don't act dense, Margie. You can't lie yourself out of what you did," he muttered harshly.
Margie lowered her head and stared at the floor miserably, tears in her eyes. ~Oh God, he hates me... He actually hates me...~ "I'm really sorry..." she whispered so quietly that he didn't hear. All he saw was that she was trying to avoid looking at him.
Did she actually feel _that_ sorry about what she did?! Did she regret kissing him that much that she couldn't even look at him comfortably?! He was not gonna let her off the hook that easily. There was no way she was going to leave him hanging! She had avoided him all day and he'd spent it thinking of nothing else but her. He hadn't been able to stop himself from thinking about her, about the way she'd surprised him with that kiss so completely that he hadn't been able to react. Now she said she hadn't meant it!
"You know what I think?" he forced out in a deceptively mild voice. "I think you enjoyed what you did, no matter how many times you'll say you didn't."
She looked up and stared at him in shock, the guilt showing in her eyes. But he didn't see that either. He was too focused on his anger and in making her see that what she had done had completely turned him inside out. Being so out of control of his emotions got him really riled up.
Margie didn't know what was eating him. All she knew was that he was clearly angry. He began walking towards her and she slowly backed away. Until her back came to a forced stop at the railing of the deck. He caged her further by resting a hand on the railing on either side of her, making sure she had no way of getting past him. He leaned forward until his face was only a couple of inches from hers, and her breathing quickened. His annoyed look forced her to swallow.
"What do you want me to say, Bart?" Margie managed softly. ~Anything. Anything, God, but don't let him hate me...~
He lifted his hand and she immediately closed her eyes, an involuntary reaction. But she opened them slowly again in surprise when she felt the touch of his fingers gently brushing her hair away from her face. She clearly felt the callouses of his fingers as they brushed her cheek. She stared at him in complete astonishment and his intense gaze found hers. He had never looked at her that way before...
"Bart...?" She could hardly breathe. She didn't even notice her body was trembling.
"I'm going to make you feel the same way you made me feel," he whispered before he slowly leaned down and kissed her parted lips.
Margie couldn't think. She could only feel. The shock of what was happening kept her from moving for a minute.
His mouth was hard with anger on hers, but it softened when she began kissing him back and reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. He encircled her waist with his arms, pressing their bodies together, the way he'd wanted it to be the first time she'd kissed him. But back then he'd had that wrench in his hands. Now nothing stood in the way.
They slowly pulled away from each other after a while, both reluctant, but the lack of oxygen in their systems making it necessary. Bart pressed one quick, last kiss on her lips, a kiss that made her heart flutter just for the simplicity of it. Almost like he wanted to do it all the time.
She could only stand there, so much surging through her that she couldn't even move. Her mind numbly registered that they were both shaking a little.
She closed her eyes dreamily, wondering what had just happened when he leaned down and pressed his brow against hers. His arms were still wrapped around her and she could feel his warm breath on her cheeckbone.
"What was that?" he asked of her on a shaky whisper. "Don't tell me that was nothing..."
Margie smiled, her eyes still closed, as she heard the unsteadiness in his voice. ~This affected him as much as it did me... But things were supposed to go so differently...~
"Margie, tell me," he asked again. "Tell me what you feel."
"I feel..." She sighed and smiled. "I feel satisfied because I finally did something I wanted to do since... I can't even remember anymore," she confided, not really stressing about what he'd think. She felt boundless for some reason. Completely free.
"You wanted to kiss me?" he asked in slight astonishment.
"Didn't I just prove that?" she teased softly, stretching up to brush her lips over his. It was so intimate, just the two of them standing there in each others arms while the moon softly illuminated them. It was perfect. And she felt so light. As if a weight had been taken off of her and now she could just... stay here forever if she chose to.
Bart smiled at her answer, which pleased him and gave him a bit of more info than he'd previously had. She had wanted to do this for a while... How long had he been unaware?
"I'm so glad this turned out all right," she sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. "For a minute there, I thought things had changed."
"They have changed, Margie," Bart whispered back. "For the better."
************************************************
They stayed up on the deck until midnight. Call it hormone induced if you will, but Margie knew it was so much more that that. They had known each other all their lives, but only now discovered each other. So much had to be expressed still. So they spent the hours talking, kissing, wrapped in each others arms. Until Margie deemed that it was _way_ too easy for her to fall asleep right there in his arms. Time to back off a bit. Things needed to be taken slowly.
So he walked her to the door of her room, where she gave him a sleepy kiss that had them lingering over it way longer than originally intended.
She contentedly crawled into bed an hour later.
*************************************************
The next morning, she was gently nudged awake by Prim. The young girl was taken by surprise when Margie woke up happily (that was rare in itself...). The Great Mother stretched leisurely and gave her a brief hug. Prim blushed at the attention.
Margie ruffled Prim's hair before making her way out the door and toward the bathroom. She hummed a song happily under her breath, a tune she had often heard Elly hum after Fei had proposed to her. No wonder Elly felt so happy all the time.
After doing her morning ritual, she changed and went to the Gun Room for some breakfast. As soon as she stepped in she saw that Bart was barely heading out with a plate full of food in one had and a cup in the other. They both stopped as their eyes met and couldn't help smiling secretly at each other, oblivious that the others had stopped their eating and conversation to stare at them two.
Elly and Maria took one look at them two and shared a grin from different ends of the table. Bart undeniably had to be the cause for that look on their friend's face.
"What's up with you two?" Billy, the only male currently at the table, finally asked. His curiosity earned him nothing but glares from all the girls there, including a sharp look from Emeralda as Margie and Bart finally noticed them, too.
"Even I get it, you dolt," the ever-wiser nanomachine hissed in his direction, making him blink in confusion. He was surprised even further when he saw the blush staining Margie's cheekbones. What was up with her?
Bart smirked at her reaction and continued to make his way toward the door, stopping besides her briefly to whisper softly in her ear, "I'll see you later, right?"
Her blush grew and she nodded hurriedly, making him chuckle as he left.
Margie turned to the ones sitting at the table after the door closed behind him and bit her lip self-consciously when she noticed the knowing looks the three girls gave her. She thanked God for Billy's confused one. At least not everyone knew... She didn't think she could handle all _four_ of their sly comments without even any breakfast in her.
She cleared her throat and went over to the table as normally as possible. She sat down in her usual spot between Maria and Emeralda and took the ring off her napkin, shaking it out and primly placing it on her lap while the others looked on. Then, when she couldn't take it any longer; she looked up, seriously met the eyes of her three closest friends and then they all burst out laughing. Much to Billy's growing confusion.
The young gunman rolled his eyes and continued eating, deciding to ignore the strangeness of females in general.
To be continued...
*I do apologize for the shortness of this chapter. I currently have a writer's block that I pray (and so should you) will leave me soon. In the meantime, hope this satisfies you guys (and gals). I know you wanted to know what happened next.
(Truthfully, so did I... ^_~) Don't be afraid to e-mail me with your rants, complaints, whatever. Even though praise would be much more appreciated...*