Thanks you to everyone who reviewed! You ppl rock!!
Curie: stop sucking up and write
Bite me you bitch. Everyone, meet my muse. Ignore her
Curie: ~sticks out tongue~
Anyway, here's the disclaimer-
Curie: Everyone put on your winter coats because hell hath frozen over.
You know, I really think you should just go take a long walk off a short pier
Curie: Screw you
ANYWAY! I don't own LoD or Dart or anyone else of those ppl. If I did own them, I could get then past that damnable fourth disk.
Curie: ~snickers~ Loser
Shut up. Okay, that done, here's the fic. Ja Ne!
Oh yeah! The usual stuff.
'~*~' thoughts.
'"*"' speaking (duh)
'*_*' italics
One Last Look
Part Two
Brother and Sister
Kokoro all but ran into Bale, with Dart trailing behind her. Excitement filled her to the brim and she was grinning from ear to ear.
~After so long, I can see Sayia again!~ she thought happily. "Dart, Come on!!!"
"Calm down, Koro," he said. "You're going to scare people-" He was cut off by a yell in the crowd.
"Dart!!" Meru came running, full force, out of a group of people and slammed into him, throwing her arms around his neck. "They were all so mean to me without you around!" she said.
"We were ~not~," said Miranda defensively. "Everything that happened to you was your own fault." Kokoro did her best not to laugh and ended up only smiling more.
"I'm sorry for taking Dart away from you," she said. "But he followed me when I left town and wouldn't turn around, no matter what I did."
"Koro, don't lie," said Dart. "You know very well you wouldn't have turned me away if you could."
"Ha!" she barked. "I ~can~ and would have, but you were a better hunter then me."
"I bet." They grinned at each other as the rest of the group came upon them. "Hello everyone-"
"MOMMA!!"
"Sayia, for the love of Soa, slow down!" A child with blonde curls to her shoulders and eyes like sapphires burst forth from the crowd and ran directly to Kokoro. The former jeweler dropped her staff on the ground next to her, startling Keri -who had decided the end was a nice perch- and fell to her knees.
"Momma!" Sayia threw her arms around her neck and buried her face in the older woman's chest.
"Oh, my Sayia," whispered Kokoro. "I told you'd I'd come, didn't I?" The only reply was a muffled 'Uh-huh'. "Jarian, I hope she hasn't been much trouble." The black haired woman who had been hot on Sayia's tail smiled warmly.
"Gods, no, Koro. Even she if ~is~ your daughter, I raised you myself and know all of the tricks of your blood." Kokoro laughed and stood, picking up the child with her.
"Sayia, I want you to meet my friends," she said. "This is Dart, Meru, Miranda, Rose, and… I'm sorry. I don't know your names."
"Albert."
"Haschel."
"Kongol." She nodded.
"And Albert and Haschel." Sayia looked shyly at the new people and blinked.
"Hello," she whispered. Dart raised an eyebrow.
"Koro, when did you get a child and whose child is she? She's too quiet to be yours," he said. Kokoro made a face.
"Real mature, Dart," she said, then stuck out her tongue. "Sayia's my child with my husband who took off, alright? I sent her to Bale to be with my foster mother after the… things started coming after my stone. So there." She stuck out her tongue again and he laughed.
"You haven't changed."
"Duh."
"Oh, what's wrong with me?!" declared Jarian. "My name is Jarian and if it would suit you all, come with me to my house for a little bit. Any friends of Kokoro's are friends of mine." They nodded. "Follow me."
Chapter 2
"Momma, come see my room!" said Sayia the instant they were in the door. Kokoro nodded.
"Alright, love, I'm coming," she said. "Be right back." The others nodded.
"I will be back in awhile," said Albert. "I should go see my people at the castle and give them an update."
"Alright," said Dart. "See you later." Albert nodded and left. "Mistress Jarian-"
"Please, just call me Jarian! Mistress makes me feel old!" laughed the woman.
"Jarian, then," continued Dart. "How old is Sayia?"
"She's four and will be five at the next MidSummer," she said. "Bless her heart, poor thing. I told Koro not to fall for that demon man's tricks, but she did. Sayia's the only good thing ~ever~ to come out of that coupling." Kokoro came back downstairs, carrying Sayia on her back.
"Jari," she said. "You didn't change a thing up there! Hasn't Sayia wanted anything of her ~own~ in that room?"
"Not a thing, child," said Jarian. "She loves everything the way it is because that the way her momma liked it."
"Ah, well, I knew she had good taste." Sayia giggled. "Jarian, I can't stay this time either. And I have to take Sayia with me."
"Take a child her age on the road? I forbid it, Koro. She's so little!"
"She's almost five, Jari. I was that old when I was on the road."
"You had no choice." Dart touched her arm.
"Koro, she's right," he said. "It's unsafe to bring her on the road, especially now. Unless you have someplace you can take her?" Kokoro blinked and hesitated, then shook her head.
"No, nowhere," she said.
"What about the Crystal Palace?" said Miranda. "There are lots of soldiers around. She should be safe."
"No!" snapped Kokoro. "The Crystal Palace is out of the question. I refuse to go there."
"Kokoro, listen," said Dart. "Miranda is right-"
"No, I will not go back there!" she said. "And I will not take Sayia there either. We can do just as well on our own!"
"Ryu Lariyena Kokoro, stop acting like a child!" said Dart firmly. She looked at him in surprise, then confusion. "Think about your daughter. What is the best for her?"
"I don't need this from you, Dart," she said coldly. "Any of you!" She carefully set Sayia on the ground and disappeared into the kitchen. There was a silence, then Sayia walked angrily over to Dart and kicked him in the leg.
"You made my momma cry!" she said hotly. Jarian carefully picked her up and gave Dart a level gaze.
"I know you all mean well, but Denigrad is not where she belongs anymore. She cannot be expected to go back there willingly," she said. "To them, she is dead and that is how the Creator wills it." Sayia rested her head on Jarian's shoulder and looked around at the people in the room. These people who had made her mommy upset... Her blue crystal eyes settled on the tall blonde man who seemed to know her best. He seemed to remind her of someone... someone who hovered at the back of her mind like a dream. She closed her eyes and smiled softly.
"Daddy..."
Chapter 3
Kokoro hooked her legs over the side of the horse stall and rested her arms on her legs.
~It's been so long since I've seen Dart... he doesn't understand what I've gone through to gain a normal life...~
~Ryu Kokoro, you haven't given him much chance,~ said the voice of reason that existed in her head. ~He wants to, but cannot fathom what could have changed you so much.~ Kokoro closed her eyes and let her head fall back. She could feel the warmth of the setting sun that streamed through the open barn door. The smell of fresh hay wrapped around her and filled her with a sense of peace. The barn... it was her place. Her place to think and to not be bothered...
*-Flashback-*
The ice was a tight palace around her. It glimmered and flicked with its own light and reflected the expression of awe on the girl's face. Her light brown hair fell about her young face in soft curls, framing blue eyes as bright as the ice.
"Amazing..." She looked around the impossibly tall maze she walked through, not even sensing she was lost. Every twist brought a new site to behold... and at the end, a huge cavern, lit with strange blue fires. The ice was impossibly solid and thick. She couldn't see anything except silver and blue.
-Kokoro...- Small bits of ice packed down into snow made a clear and steady path that she could walk on. She bent down and undid her snow shoes, somehow knowing it wasn't deep. Her hunch proved right and she was able to move with her usual regal grace over the whiteness. -Kokoro... Ryu...-
"I'm here," she whispered. "I'm right here. Where are you?" The blue flames burned out and a gray light flickered from the ice in front of her. Slowly, she walked towards it and pressed her thin fingers to the ice. How long had it been since she'd had actual food? Did it matter? "Who are you...?"
-You know me, Dragon Heart. You are a very special child.- The voice seemed to speak from somewhere inside her, a deep and warm feeling that melted the thin ice that had formed on her clothes. She hadn't been properly dressed in the first place, but the cold hadn't harried her much. She was raised in the cold. -Why have you come back?-
"Because she told me to... because she wants me to fight again..." Her voice trailed off in the icy air and a violent spasm racked her body. She fell into the snow and curled up, sobbing harshly. "Dart... Zeig, Clare! No, please... come back to me!" The memories surged back, flooding a mind that had assumed the pain was gone. Ten years and it still burned at her heart. "Please!" The eyes... the monster's eyes, as she pointed the long sword... and called out words no six year old should have understood... but had cut into Kokoro...
*"Return, Dragoon, and let us finish what his death caused!"*
"It was my fault... they all died because of me!" she yelled out loud to no one. "My fault!"
-Heart, listen... listen to me... you are not who you think...-
"I'm a murderer!" she cried angrily, pushing herself up. "It's all my fault!"
-Kokoro... remember... death...- The voice was fading out and fear struck at the disgust and rage she held for herself.
"No, don't leave me!" she yelled. A name flickered briefly in her mind and she seized it, reveling in the feelings it brought. "Rion, come back to me!" The ice beneath her glowed and cracked. Silver light exploded between the splits and wrapped around the astonished girl, though deep inside, she knew this. She could hear the dragon's cry inside on her head and feel his pain in her chest... he had died for her... and what had she died for? "I... died," she murmured, surprised. "Rose... the Dragoon of Darkness... Zeig... he... oh, god, no. Diaz went back on his word. He killed Zeig... he wasn't supposed to kill Zeig!!" The lights condensed together and she wrapped her fingers around it. Hard stone pressed against her palm and she closed her eyes. "Zeig... I'm sorry..."
~* End the Flashback! *~
Kokoro sighed and hugged her arms to her chest. She glanced at her staff and the dark stone at the top.
~ I should go see Rion...~ she thought. ~ If he hasn't moved from the mountain.~
"Momma?" Sayia stood in the doorway, the setting sun lighting her blonde hair to a soft pink. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," said Kokoro, getting down. Sayia wrapped her arms around her mother's waist and buried her face in her stomach. Kokoro smiled gently and ran her fingers through her precious daughter's hair. ~ My dearest child... Zeig thought I was ignorant to my past. That I didn't know who he was... but after 11,000 years, it was I could have dreamed of.~
"Dart may not know, but I do, Ryu Kokoro." Kokoro's head snapped up and she locked eyes with Rose. "You died that day, with Zeig. *That* I made sure of."
"Sayia, go help Jarian," said Kokoro coolly. "Rose and I need to talk." Sayia did as she was told, giving Rose a malicious glare as she passed.
"Charming," muttered Rose. "She's your daughter."
"She's Zeig's as well," said Kokoro calmly. "And the child of fate."
"Just as you were." The distance between them was a mass of tense air, though both were as calm as ice. "You cannot be forgiven for betraying us."
"I do not ask forgiveness," shrugged Kokoro. "But Diaz is returning, is he not? I sensed it in Zeig... Rose, let us end out feud. Zeig never cared for me, but I was too young and stupid to see that." Rose carefully drew her sword and let it rest at her side.
"You guard your heart and you deny your power," she said. "You cannot transform if your Spirit is locked away in a twist of metal."
"He knows I can fight and that I will," replied Kokoro. "Whether we fight together or not, I must make up for the mistakes of the past." There was a silence. Then Rose raised her hand slowly.
"11,000 years ago, I made a pact with a friend," she said. "My only family... my sister..."
"She broke it," said Kokoro. "I remember. I remember fighting to stop her." She stepped forward and took the offered hand. "But I do not break pacts. On my honor and my Spirit, we will fight as a team again."
"Hey, Kokoro, Rose, are you in here?" Dart came across the doorway and both women pulled apart. "There you both are. Come on. Supper's ready."
"Fifteen years and you still think with your stomach, Dart," laughed Kokoro. She swung a friendly arm around his neck and he hoisted her up on his back with an easy twist of his arm. "Oh, I'm impressed," she mocked. "I can still beat you up."
"You can *try*," he shot back. "Come on, Rose. Let's go eat." Rose nodded and watched them walk back to the house, laughing.
~ She won't go after Dart, ~ she thought. ~ Because that would betray Shana. And she would not betray someone so close to her...~
Chapter 4
"I really don't see why," said Dart. "I mean, the whole reason we came here was to get Sayia."
"I know," said Kokoro, walking along the roof's edge, her soft boots never missing a step. "But taking her with me would be a bad idea."
"Us," corrected Dart. "It's not just you."
"I know, I know." She turned gracefully on her toe and started in the other direction. "It's much more safe here then I originally thought anyway. Albert said Jarian and Sayia could move into the palace and be watched."
"That works well," he agreed. "And where are you going to go?"
"The mountains north of Denigrad," she said. "To see a friend."
"Who lives there?" he asked. "I've been there and it's way too cold to support any kind of life beside monsters."
"You'd be surprised." She stopped on a corner and looked over the city. "It's beautiful, isn't it? So peaceful and quiet." He stood up and joined her, draping his arm around her shoulders.
"A friend of mine showed me a view like this once," he said softly. "He used to live in this city too." She leaned against him and rested her head on his arm.
"Maybe I knew him," she said. "Where did he go?"
"He died... protecting Albert..." She nodded slightly and sighed.
"'Life is important to those who have good hearts'," she murmured. "That's what Sir
Lavitz always said."
"Lavitz? You knew him?" Another nod.
"He taught me how to fight. When I first came here, no one even acknowledged me. But Lavitz... he was like you, when we lived in Neet. He didn't care who I was or where I came from..."
"Koro... I'm sorry," he said softly. "Lavitz..."
"I know," she murmured. "I've always known, I guess. His mother... she just changed one day and I knew it was because Lavitz was gone."
"I was right there, Koro. I should have done something... I should have helped..." She looked up at him and gave a weak smile that never seemed to reach her eyes.
"Don't blame yourself. Lavitz was strong willed and bull headed almost as much as you are. At least he died honorably and not in that damned Hellena prison." He nodded and smiled back. Silence wrapped itself around them and he carefully reached, touching her cheek gently. She had come a long way from the scrawny, energetic six year old who had gotten him into trouble so many times when he was younger. She was beautiful and a new mystery. A new challenge for him to overcome. He needed to know what made her so sad now, when everything used to make her smile. Very slowly, he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her with care, not wanting to scare her. She kissed him back with as much wariness and instantly sensed that even though he had instigated it, his mind was elsewhere and someone else was in his arms. ~ Someone else... but that's okay. ~ She pulled back and looked at him, shaking her head. "Dart, we can't do this. This isn't us." He hesitated, then nodded in agreement.
"I'm sorry, Koro-" She cut him off with a wave of her hand.
"Don't say anything about it. You're my best friend and like a brother to me, but it's been too long. Maybe if we hadn't lost each other... but we did and we cannot fight destiny." He nodded and smiled, pulling her into a tight hug. "Ah! Geez, ya moose! You're gonna kill me!" He laughed and let her go, only to have her slug him playfully in the arm.
"Ah, you still hit like a girl!" he teased.
"And you're still about as uncreative as they come!" she shot back. "Come on, Dart. You can do better then that!" Albert stood in the window and silently watched them trade insults. He had known about Kokoro when he was younger - She had been Lavitz's shadow and his pupil, even though he wasn't much older then she was. Always around the palace, in the corners or against the wall. It was hard to believe she was as open now as she was. Maybe it was true and people could change.
"Spoiled!"
"Hag!" Albert turned around and shook his head as he got down to the floor. "You're just a smelly old Hag!" yelled Sayia again. He didn't need to be there to know Meru's face was bright red.
"I'm not a hag! At least I'm not a baby like some people!"
"I'm not a baby!" Meru gave a yelp of pain. That turned Kokoro's head and she sighed.
"If it's not one thing, it's another," she muttered. "Come on, Dart. I have a feeling we'll both be needed here." They started in through the window and Kokoro paused to look back at the sky. ~ I always knew you were dead, Lavitz, I just never wanted to believe it...~
Chapter 5
"Momma!" Kokoro bolted up instantly and looked around the room. She grabbed her staff as Sayia cried out again. "Momma!!"
"Koro, I know you can hear the girl crying!" said another voice. "Come out or I'll hurt her!"
"Damn it," she whispered. Dart met her in the hallway, with a look or well contained anger.
"Koro, stay here," he said. "I can take care of it." She shook her head.
"Dart, you don't know who that is-"
"Koro, I do," he said. "And he's a very-"
"Dangerous person, I know. But I can't ask you to risk yourself-"
"I have to, Koro. He can't be allowed to go on like he is-"
"I agree," said Rose. "And if you're both done, can we go?" Kokoro nodded and followed the dark haired warrior down the stairs while Dart, still confused, was right behind her. Meru, Haschel and Kongol met them on the street. Albert had returned to the castle, Miranda with him. "Zeig," said Rose coldly. "Let the child go." Sayia struggled against the grip of her biological father, tears staining the angelic face.
"Momma! He's hurting me!"
"Just hold on, darling," said Kokoro softly. "I'm right here."
"Father, let her go," said Dart firmly, drawing his sword. "I don't want to hurt you."
"You are too sentimental, Dart," said the older blonde man. "But it is to be assumed that you would be protective of the girl. She *is* your sister."
"Sister?" Dart looked back at Kokoro, who was to her breaking point.
"Dart, it's a long and complicated story," she said through gritted teeth. "Which I will tell you later. Zeig, let my daughter go!"
"*Our* daughter, Ryu Kokoro," smirked Zeig. Kokoro growled, but Rose touched her arm.
"Don't," she said. "We'll go together." Kokoro nodded, anger evident in her grey eyes.
There was no signal. They both knew when to attack and where to go at. Kokoro, being smaller, was more agile and reached Zeig first. His free hand moved to attack her and Rose swooped in, grabbing the child. A flash of light erupted between the girl's mother and her father and Kokoro fell back, clutching her ribs.
"Koro!" yelled Dart. She smiled weakly at him, then collapsed.
"Momma!" yelled Sayia harshly. "Momma!!" Rose held tight to the squirming child and glared at Zeig.
"You shouldn't have done that," she murmured. Her voice was firm and dark, dripping with venom. Even Zeig seemed surprised. But his confused look turned to one of malice.
"Do I anger you by attacking the one that betrayed me?" he asked. "Betrayed the both of us? She deserves what she gets." Rose gave a little laugh and gently handed Sayia to Jarian, who had emerged not long before Kokoro had been hit.
"Fools do in love what idiots do daily."
*~*
Kokoro could feel a dull ache across her body, echoing from her top to her bottom. Sayia... had to be safe. That was all the mattered. Jarian could take of her if she died... all of her life was her daughter now. Nothing else to live for. Nothing...
~ I can't give in so easily...~ The thought resounded around her quickly dulling mind. ~ He'd love to see that. Just like he loved the day... Rose and I fought... he loved to break us apart. But she's my best friend... and the only family I have left...~ The darkness dissipated and she slowly pushed herself up. The stone wrapped in a snake's hold glittered in the early light of the dawn. ~ I have to... beat him. I have to show him that it's over now...~ She stood up and almost fell back to her knees, but determination drove her to lock her knees and lean precariously on her staff. There were... Dragoons. Ice... Thunder, Earth. Rose... Zeig in the Red Dragoon armor against Zeig on the ground. No... it was Dart. Dart was a Dragoon. ~ I should have guessed, ~ she thought with a small smile. ~ He's so much like him. ~ Zeig deflected and attacked everyone of them. He attacked Dart with more ruthlessness then he did anyone else. ~ A child is a precious thing, ~ she thought angrily. ~ Something you should always treasure. ~ "Zeig! Stop!" The voice was hers, from her mouth, but she had never told herself to speak. Now the Dragoon was taking over her again. "Stop. I cannot let you go on." She didn't see Sayia, but she knew she was safe. Her motherly instinct told her so. That gave her room to fight, to be the soldier that Lavitz had trained and the warrior fate hated.
"Koro!" said Dart. "Stay back!"
"Not this time, Dart," she answered. "I stayed back while they died. While everyone was killed in Neet. While my own people cried out for release. I cannot anymore." She glared at Zeig again and raised the staff above her head. "I've had enough of sitting on the sidelines!" The snake shattered the instant it hit the ground. Light exploded at the contact, filling the entire city with a strange glow. It suddenly pulled back and wrapped around the girl who had released it, drenching her in grey and silver. Dart could only stare. Kokoro... she... a Dragoon?
"The Dragoon of Dreams has finally awoken," said Rose. "Are you happy now, Zeig?"