Authors Note: To any people who don't like violence or language usage... this is a warning. I kinda got carried away with this chapter- hee hee. And I also have some bad news. This is the last chapter that I will post until SUNDAY - July 29. I'm going on vacation and where I'm going, there is no computer. Sorry. So just bare with me until Sunday. And if you can't wait, I'll just say that as SOON as I get home Sunday (which will be around midnight) I will update to chapter 12 and 13... my treat.
***
Kia watched with brilliance as a light snowfall began to surround the house. "It's so nice out here," she replied quietly while grabbing a chair next to Rowen.
"I know," Rowen exhaled, leaning his head back and slipping his arms behind his head. He watched with slight amusement as Sage and Natsuki tried to settle themselves on the rocking love seat.
Once they were somewhat seated, Sage turned to Rowen, "So what do we do now?"
"I'm going to hire an asassonist and be over with all of this, Kia." Natsuki watched as Kia's eyes started on fire. "What are you going to do?"
"Natsuki, stop! We all came out here to work this out as a group but it seems like you're the only one who needs the working!" Sage nearly shouted, blindly glaring at the woman who sat next to him.
Natsuki sighed nervously, "Okay. I'll try. Just don't get me too close to that woman over there, and I'll do all right."
"Kia-"
"It's fine, Sage." Kia retorted, gazing off to the side.
"And another thing, if you two cheated on us too, then I want to know how far you went in the hotel room," Sage turned his head, looking at Rowen.
"Not as far as you two, I'll tell you that much," Rowen stated, chuckling softly.
"Just tell us, Rowen." Kia brushed her hand against his arm, "We are the only ones who can hear it."
Rowen sighed, bringing his hands to his lap and folded them neatly, "Fine. Nothing below the waist was removed," he replied, staring at the ground and not wanting to look up at Natsuki's face.
"Is that all?" Sage asked, having a slight clue that Rowen was holding back from them.
"Sage, I'm not going to go in full detail what exactly happened between us. I'm not expecting you to, either."
Sage sighed heavily and leaned back into his chair. Kia eyed him suspiciously, but thought nothing more of it when she closed her eyes.
"Is this all we have to say to each other? What I mean is, as for all of us, I feel really bad, but I want to get through this without any more arguments or fighting."
"I agree," Sage nodded his head in Kia's direction. He turned to Natsuki afterwards, "What do you want to do, Suki?"
She inhaled and huge breath of air and exhaled it with the same amount of force. "Nothing. I don't want do anything, Sage." She paused for a moment, "You're bringing this baby up without my help."
"Really?! Thank you, Natsuki, thank you!" Sage cried, jumping forward to hug her.
"Yeah, yeah. Okay, already, Sage!" Natsuki pulled away from his grasp. "But, Kia, know that I'm not helping you either. This baby is strictly between you and Sage. As much as I hate it, you can have the baby."
Kia smiled softly at Natsuki, "Thanks... thanks a lot, Natsuki."
She waved a hand through her short blonde hair, looking back to the front door, "Don't mention it."
"Should we go back inside, now?" Rowen grinned half-heartily, flicking his eyes to the door.
"Wait, I want to add another thing." Natsuki held up her hand and pointed to Kia and Sage, "I don't ever - ever - want to see you two kissing or doing anything of the sort." Her navy blue eyes fell harsh onto Kia and Sage.
"Behind our backs," Rowen added.
Sage cried, "Same to you two then!"
"Fine, fine... agreed." Rowen sighed, crossing his arms and closing his eyes.
"But... but we're having a child together! What good is it to have the baby when we're not acting motherly and fatherly?!" Sage shouted, trying anything to reason with them. He looked to Kia for help, but she just creased her eyebrows in worry and looked away.
Natsuki laughed, "You're asking me."
"You weren't supposed to cheat on your wife anyways, Sage! That is going to be one of the many consequences that you're going to face by choosing to bring up this child," Rowen commented, locking his eyes with Sage's.
"And sooner or later, you'll have to explain to your son or daughter, that it was a love child. It was a mistake and was never meant to be," Natsuki continued to glare harshly at her husband.
Sage sighed heavily in aggravation and looked to Kia, who sniffed lightly and wrapped her coat tighter around her body.
"So you two have to remain at exactly a friend level, or this baby thing is off."
Kia narrowed her hazel eyes at Natsuki, "What do you mean by that?" she waited for an answer from her, but none came. "Don't tell me that you're threatening us."
"Well, if I were you, I would never go to sleep or let your new child out of your sight." Natsuki closed her eyes and smiled wickedly, "Besides, babies can't cry when they can't breathe."
"I can't believe you just said that! You would never kill a baby!"
Natsuki tilted her head and looked to Sage, "Then you don't know me very well, Sage."
"You are officially freaking me out," Rowen eyes were as big as twin full moons as he stared at Natsuki, wondering if his ears had deceived him.
"Kia, you're breathing more than your share of air. What's wrong?" Natsuki scowled at Kia, mocking her in an eerie kindly way.
"Natsuki, if you kill my baby, you will never be accepted back here! The police would lock you away-"
"Who said anything about the police?! I sure didn't." Natsuki moved to the edge of her seat and stared directly into Kia's eyes, "I would pick a time when you would be too busy fucking Sage to realize that anything was wrong!" She snarled through gritted teeth, "I would kill it so fast that it would make your head spin!"
Everyone gasped in shock. Kia could only bring her hand over her mouth as she took in quick breaths of fear, "Natsuki..."
"You know it's true... or at least going to be true," she snapped.
"Gods, you are such a bitch!" Kia slammed her hand down on the glass table that separated them. In fact, she hit the table so hard that it started to crack in two.
Natsuki crossed her arms, "Is that all? 'Cause I take that as a compliment."
Rowen rushed to grab Kia just as she lunged for Natsuki. He held strongly onto her waist and plopped her down on his lap, locking his arms around her. As much as she struggled and screamed, Rowen still kept his firm grip on her.
Natsuki sat by, trying to seem bored by the reaction that Kia was giving her, but on the inside, she was frightened that if Kia managed to squirm away from Rowen, she would have no defense against her.
Sage couldn't even look at his wife any longer. He was so bewildered by her last comments that he felt like Natsuki herself had slapped him hard across the face.
Eventually Kia stopped struggling, but Rowen held onto her just the same, "Don't even think of coming near me anymore!" She cried, letting a few tears of complete fury stream down her face. "You deserve nothing except to have your throat ripped out! And I will gladly do it myself!"
"Kia, stop-"
"No, Rowen! You heard what she said! Didn't you?!"
Rowen blinked and looked away from Kia's hatred filled eyes.
"See! Tell me she doesn't deserve that, tell me!" Kia shouted, so close to breaking down into tears that it was like waiting for a cracked dam to explode.
"Why don't you do us all a favor and stop shouting, Kia." Natsuki commented, almost too calm and quiet.
"Never talk to me again, Natsuki! NEVER!"
"That's fine with me."
Rowen and Sage looked to each other, both holding the same worried and terrified expression.
"I'm never going to forgive you for what you've said to me, I hope you know that," Kia calmed by taking in huge deep breaths.
"I'm not going to, either. Not even on my deathbed or in my grave will I ever be sorry for you or forgive you for what you've done."
No one spoke another word. Rowen, Kia and especially Sage all had a totally different view on Natsuki now; be it fear, confusion, or hatred, it was almost all the same. Sage was even beginning to wonder why he had married her in the first place.
She doesn't want children, she always flirts with other guys when we go places, and more importantly, she has just threatened to kill my friends! Sage thought, pausing to glace at Kia and Rowen.
"Natsuki, what are you trying to get at?" Sage spoke, turning in his chair to get a better look at Natsuki. "Don't you dare threaten Kia anymore. I've had enough of all of this."
Natsuki looked shocked, "What? Since when are you on her side?"
"Since now! You have gone way over your head with your insults and if you want to get through this at all, you better stop now!" Sage yelled back, gripping the side of the chair to somewhat ease the tension in his body.
"Sage, really, it's okay. You don't need to-"
"Yes I do, Rowen! She has gone in way over her head and she's not coming back up without talking to me!" Sage stood up and reached for her hand, grabbing her by the wrist, "If you don't mind, Rowen and Kia, I'm going to talk to her elsewhere." He didn't wait for Natsuki to reply before he led her off the porch and into the middle of the front yard.
"Oh, Rowen, I'm so sorry." Kia whimpered, grimacing as she stood from Rowen's lap and plopped back down on the other chair.
"It's all right, Kia. All Natsuki needs is just a good talking to."
***
"Natsuki, what is wrong with you?! You never treat someone like that, especially someone like Kia!" Sage yelled, staring through Natsuki.
"Look, Sage. I know that you like her, but heavens, you're married! You're married to me! Don't you realize that?" She stared back, trying to equal the flame in his eyes.
"I realize more than you know!"
"Like I haven't realized that you want Kia more than me?! I've known that since the beginning! But I thought I could change all of that if I married you." She paused to exhaled, "But what does she have that I don't?! At least tell me that much!"
"First of all, she is a lot more giving than you ever will be. And secondly, she loves her daughter more than anything."
Natsuki looked to the ground, immediately growing deathly silent.
Sage sighed, calming his nerves, "I... look, I'm sorry, but if things keep acting like this between us, I don't think we should be together any more."
"But, Sage!"
"No, Natsuki. I'm very serious about this. If you want to keep fighting with me - or my friends for that matter - than I don't want to be with you any longer."
"So you're just going to pick any opportunity to give me up and go for Kia, right? Am I right, Sage?" She hesitated for a response from Sage, but she didn't get one. "Well, get this through your head; she's married to Rowen. You can't have her."
"I didn't say that-"
"I sure got the hint that you were thinking about it! Go ahead, Sage! Fuck her every night for all I care! Maybe Rowen can join and then you can be a trio! A fucking trio, Sage!"
"Stop it!" Sage screamed. "I can't take this anymore!" With that, Sage stormed off, walking back towards the house. When he came upon Rowen and Kia, who were still sitting on the front porch, he pointed to Natsuki, "I refuse to talk to her! She is driving me crazy!" Sage stopped at the porch steps and clenched his fist. He drove it into the porch railing so hard that the whole porch shook.
"Gods, okay, Sage." Rowen stood up and walked down to him. He put a comforting hand on his shoulder, and tried to reason with him, "What did you try to talk to her about?"
"I don't know and I don't care! All I want is for that woman to leave my sight," Sage growled.
"Well, do you want me to try to talk to her?"
Sage laughed, "Don't waste your breath."
Rowen exhaled sharply, "Sage-"
"But if you really want to talk to her, then be my guest."
Rowen nodded slightly and walked away from him, moving towards Natsuki, who still stood out in the front yard.
"Sage, are you all right?" Kia asked warily, looking down from the porch.
He heaved himself up the stairs, "Heck no. I really wanted to hit her, but I forced myself to walk away. Kia, I'm with you on this one. Natsuki needs a break."
Kia smiled softly, "I'm glad to hear that someone is on my side."
"But seriously, she threatened to kill your... our baby. That was the thing that crossed the line." Sage sighed and sat down on the rocking chair.
Kia eyed him with worry. His eyes were wide with an unnatural fear and his whole body was shaking - definitely not from the cold. "Sage, you're shaking!" Kia ran up to the chair and sat down with him. She took his hands in hers and made him look at how they were trembling. "I'm sorry!"
"Kia, it's not your fault. Stop saying sorry, for gods sake," Sage pulled his hands away from her and shoved them in his pockets. "I'm okay."
"Are you sure?" Kia grabbed onto his shoulders and pulled his back into her as she laid underneath him on the rocking couch. She wrapped her arms around his neck and dangled her hands around his chest, feathering the inseam of the coat. "Sage," she rested her chin on his head.
"Hmm?" he brought his hands out of his pockets and grabbed onto Kia's hands.
"I was thinking about the baby..."
"What about it?"
"And about what Natsuki said." She waited for a response from Sage.
"You are not getting an abortion." he tightened his grip on her hands, almost like giving her a bite.
"No, not that. I was thinking about what she said about the love child thing. She was right about that. We are going to have to explain to our child that-"
"It was brought into life by nothing but love. Hence the name 'love child'. Unless you think differently." Sage cut in, tilting the back of his head against Kia's chest so that he could look up to her face.
She smiled, "No, I think the same way you do. But when we really explain to our child that we were never married-"
"Do we have to? And even if we do, it won't be until another eighteen years, Kia-chan. Don't worry about anything that Natsuki said. She is full of nothing but hot gas." Sage paused as Kia laughed. "Only know that I love you."
Kia sighed, "Whatever you say is fine with me."
"But whatever I say is true, Kia."
She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I know," pulling Sage closer to her, she closed her eyes , smiling that Sage had stopped trembling.
***
"Natsuki, are you all right?" Rowen came up behind her, ready to expect nothing from her, like a mouse expects nothing from a snake except that it can very easily be gobbled up.
"Rowen... does Sage hate me?"
Rowen softly met her eyes, "What? No, of course not!"
"Then why is he angry at me and not you - or at both of us?"
Rowen opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
Natsuki squinted her eyes back to the ground and bit her lip. "Is Kia all she seems? Doesn't she have any downs or negatives or imperfections like the rest of the normal female race has?"
Rowen cocked his eyebrows, relieved to a point that Natsuki was only worrying about Kia's physical traits, "She does, Suki. It's just that she isn't as bold as you are and hesitates to show them. She is very weak at times... isn't that a negative?" Rowen put a hand on her shoulder and stared at her eyes.
Natsuki shrugged her shoulders, "I really don't know. But why out of everything that belonged to me, why did she have to take Sage?"
"She didn't take him-"
"Yes, she did, Rowen. She's having his kid. For the next nine months, those two are going to be together, I'm guaranteeing you that much." She looked upwards until she met Rowen's eyes, "Aren't you worried about that?"
Rowen pursed his lips and nodded, "Very worried. But I'm going to do everything in my power to keep them maintained at a friend level... like you said. But you can't yell at them. It'll only make the option more desirable for them, especially those two - you know how they like to break rules." He watched as Natsuki nodded her head. "So instead of yelling at them and saying every swear word in the book, just bring whoever aside and talk to them. That is the only way that we, as a four, are going to pull through this."
"All right."
"Even if they do go to the point to kissing in front of you, don't let it get to you. If anything, just laugh." Rowen said, clearing his own worried mind with the words he spoke. "Are you ready to go back inside, now?"
Natsuki nodded again and swallowed the lump in her throat. Smiling brightly, Rowen took Natsuki by the hand and led her back to the house. They soon got to the porch, only finding Kia lying beneath Sage on the rocking love-seat, both seeming to be sleeping.
Glancing once at Natsuki, he erased his tension, "After you, Suki?" Rowen gestured to the sleeping pair, cocking his eyebrows in amusement.
"Please." Natsuki let a grave smile pass over her features before she kicked the chair, bringing Sage and Kia to a loud heap on the porch.
Both of them woke, finding to Rowen and Natsuki roaring with laughter. With a groan, Kia pushed herself up off of Sage and stood, "What?! Who did that?"
Natsuki raised a hand, "Thank you, thank you, but you've all been too kind," she chuckled, holding her head high as she walked back into the house, Rowen not far behind.
"What did Rowen talk into her?" Sage asked after Rowen and Natsuki were in the house.
Kia shrugged, "How am I supposed to know?" she looked over her shoulder, staring at Sage who stood behind her. She faced forwards again, taking one step towards the door, "But I'm not going to wait to find out."
***
Authors Note: Okay, from here on in, IT GETS GOOD. This is where the drama kicks in. And for anyone whose still confused, Natsuki is NOT Mia. It just so happened that I named that character Nat-su-ki. I never really did like Mia in the series anyways... she was just annoying. Sorry to any Mia fans out there. See you Sunday!