Chapter Two: Her One Day
By Lasafara Fett
Pegasus looked around for the man. Seeing that Nuhaku was gone, he quickly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and spat. That was not what he'd expected the man to do.
Standing up, he began to look around for Cecelia. After all, Nuhaku had said that she would come back, if only for one day. He desperately needed to see her. He looked up at her portrait, brushing a finger against her painted cheek.
He drew away sharply. It didn't feel like a painting. "Cecelia?"
The figure in the portrait turned and smiled softly at him. Holding out her hand, she waited for Pegasus to help her down out of the frame. As soon as she was standing on the ground, Pegasus wrapped her up into his arms.
"Cecelia! Oh Ce-chan, I've missed you!" The tears ran freely down his cheeks as he held desperately onto his love.
"Oh, Peega-chan, I love you. I'm sorry I had to leave!" Cecelia was crying as well, burying her face into her husband's chest.
Pegasus, unable to stand much longer, slowly drew her to the floor and onto his lap. There, he carefully explored every part of her face, memorizing it again and again. His hands ran over her lips, her eyelids, her cheeks, her shoulders. Cecelia returned the gesture.
Suddenly, she drew back. "Pegasus! What happened to your eye?"
Smiling softly, Pegasus shook his head. "My Millennium Eye, a replacement for my real one, was stolen."
"Right out of your head?" Cecelia looked absolutely shocked.
Pegasus nodded. "There wasn't anything I could do."
Cecelia examined the socket for a few seconds longer, then let his hair fall back in front of it. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she drew his face closer to hers.
That was all the encouragement that Pegasus needed. They didn't think of anything else for a long long time.
"This is the main hall." Pegasus swept his hand through the air, taking in the vast expanse.
"Its so huge!" Cecelia looked up and up and up.
Pegasus laughed. "It's built to impress visitors. I originally ran a contest out of the palace, and this was the first thing the contestants saw. A minor intimidation tool."
Cecelia nodded. It made sense. "Have you done any more painting since I left?"
Pegasus shook his head softly. "Not real-life painting. Those cards I showed you, yes. But other stuff…" He shrugged, "After you left, there was no inspiration."
They had begun using the term 'left' instead of 'died' early on. Cecelia knew something of what had been going on, having watched from her place in heaven, but had not been able to see everything. She also had often not been able to see past the pain Pegasus had carried with him, and now she was sometimes rather clueless as to what was going on.
At first, the huge dueling arenas had frightened her. She had never seen anything so big, and the monsters that appeared on them were terrifyingly real to one who has never seen holographs.
Pegasus was so very gentle with her. He watched her every move, taking care to help her in everything she did, almost to the point of irritation.
"Peega-chan! I can cut my own meat! Back off!" She laughed, but her eyes told him she was dead serious.
In the in-between realm they currently inhabited, they could touch and move anything they wanted to, except the living organisms. Cecelia had wanted to find something to eat, and Pegasus had quickly cooked up a small meal.
"Very well, Ce-chan." He winked at her and smiled, but backed away from her plate. He didn't particularly want to risk finding out whether those forks could still hurt when used as weapons.
Nearing the end of the day, Pegasus spotted something out of the corner of his eye. A small clock was hanging from the wall. He didn't remember putting it there. Besides, the coloration…
Was irritatingly familiar…
'Damn it!' Pegasus thought. 'Can he change forms?'
He watched intently as Cecelia changed into her pajamas. Cecelia kept blushing every time she looked his way, which was often. She could feel his eyes roaming her body, and she both loved it and was frightened by it.
As he was changing into his pajamas, she watched him just as intently as he had watched her. However, his blush was much more amusing, as his entire body turned a bright red. He carefully tried to cover his bare chest as he climbed into bed. She laughed.
"Don't do that." Pulling his hands away from his chest, she rested her head there, listening to his gentle heartbeat. Even though he had left his true body in the other realm, this shadow was the perfect imitation.
"Fine, fine." Pegasus laughed, and wrapped his arms around her waist. He pulled her closer, until her entire body was pressed close against his.
Gently, sleep came and took them away.
Nuhaku watched the quiet scene and silently gagged. "In a mere nine hours, my Peega-kun, you will be mine. Then you won't need this little thing anymore."