Note: This chapter is pretty much a song fic about Lance and Rhea and their history. The chapter is optional. If you don't like Lance or just simply don't want to read this, proceed to chapter 28 where the plot continues. And for beta, from the Reviews... yes, Rhea's pet Carro, was named after Rimururu's ice spirit, Konril.

JUST LOVE

Chapter Twenty Seven

"Lance... don't leave me. Please, come back..." Those words haunted and echoed through a certain turquoise haired Ninja's head. Confused, frustrated, and lost, Lance pondered about what just happened as he walked through Liligue's empty streets. "What the hell did I just do? Rhea... I... I... just left her. But it was for the best. Rhea doesn't deserve a dead man. She's better off with someone else."

His conscience cut him off. "You mean YOU are better off without her. You're not dead, just running away."

"Not dead? ...then why is it that I felt nothing when she snapped out of her coma? Why is it that I feel nothing inside? Why is it I don't feel any remorse when I kill? Why is that I don't give a damn about anything, including myself?" the Ninja retorted.

"You give a damn about Elena," the voice inside his head countered.

"I... I just owe it to her as her big brother. Once everything is over, she won't need me anymore. She'll live with Ryudo and I'll be out of her life forever. She'll be happy." Lance looked up to the clear blue sky and stopped walking. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "How did I end up like this?" The Ninja delve deep into his mind in search for answers. In his subconscious, he saw memories of his past, memories that hurt... memories he pushed away.

---
A six year old Lance looked around frantically for anything that could pull Elena out of the river. "Help! Somebody! Help us!" His calls were only muffled by the wind's howl.

The river's current picked up and its flow started to get violent just like the weather. "Lance, hurry! I'm slipping!!" a five year old Elena called out.

"Hold on! I'm coming!" The little boy found a long stick under a tree and returned to the shore. He knelt down a bit and stretched out his arm with the stick in hand. "Grab the stick! I'll pull you out!"

Elena reached for the stick and held onto it tightly. "I got it!"

"Hold on!" Lance started to pull with all of his strength but to no avail. Elena was too heavy for him and the river refused to let his sister go.

The river's current increased and a wave splashed on Elena's face. "I'm slipping again!"

"Don't let go!" Lance grunted as he struggled to save his sister.

Elena's fingers slipped from the stick one by one and was carried away by the river's waves. "LANCE!! LAAAANNNNCCEEE!!!"

Lance fell on his back as he pulled the stick out of the water with all of his might but there was no Elena. "Elena? ELLLLEEENNNAAA!!!" The turquoise haired kid stood up and slumped on his knees. "No... she's gone too..." he whispered and started to cry under the raging storm. The winds blew harder and the rain showered the Earth mercilessly as if the storm mocked the boy.

Why is it that dear feelings are sharp thorns
Why is it when we go astray they prick us
Even if it makes petals bloom bit by bit
Like a rose
In fact it shakes my heart, love is scary
I seem to break down...

 Lance, now seven years old, sat under the shade of a tree out of sheer boredom. He had been playing with Nekura but his adoptive brother had to leave to train as a Ninja. It had been almost a year since he met Hanzo and Nekura in the woods. During his first weeks with the Iga Ninja Clan, the turquoise haired boy did nothing but mope around and distanced himself from the others. He was still traumatized about losing Evann and Elena. As time progressed, Hanzo, Hibiki, and Nekura became his family and that comforted him a bit. But the pain of losing his family still plagued him. In his dreams, he would see Evann die right in front of his eyes or Elena get swallowed up by the river over and over again. The pain never ceased, it continued to torture and consume him. How he wished it could just stop.

"Is it going to hurt like this forever?" he asked himself. "There has to be a way too..." An idea percolated in his brain. Lance stood up and went to the courtyard where Nekura sparred with Hanzo. He strode towards his adoptive father and spoke hesitantly. "Um... Hanzo... father, I would like to train in the ways of the Shinobi." The idea was perfect. One aspect of Ninja training was the ability to control and suppress emotions. It should ease his pain and keep his mind somewhere else.

"This is so sudden... but I will grant you your wish," Hanzo replied. "Whatever your reasons are, you do realize this will be very intensive, both physically and spiritually."

"I understand. I will not disappoint you," Lance nodded.

Rather than embracing me
I want you to understand some more
Rather than giving me kindness
I want the strength to overcome loneliness

 A seventeen year old Lance watched a sixteen year old Rhea parry with an invisible opponent with a sai from the shadows. Minalin's Chamberlain, his Lord, had assigned him to secretly watch over his one and only daughter. Lance followed Rhea wherever she went since the job started and eliminated any potential threat to her, mostly the Chamberlain's political enemies that wanted to harm Rhea to get back at him.

At first, the Ninja thought the assignment would bore him to death. He had assumed that Rhea would be like most normal girls he had seen, all giddy and bubbly, but she was different. Rhea could be at home at the moment and enjoy the comfort and luxury of her father's mansion. Instead, she was in the woods training while her Carro, Konril, watched her. Lance had no problems protecting her from danger, the fools that tried to kill her earlier were eliminated quite easily, they did not even know what hit them. But, he did have trouble focusing at one hundred percent on the job; he could just not keep his ruby red eyes away from her instead of surveying the area for possible danger.

Rhea was beautiful. She had long, raven black hair that reached her waist which was tied into a ponytail by a red ribbon that was accompanied by silver ornamental pins. She wore a long, sleeveless, pink dress with slits on the sides with intricate markings and designs and pink high heels to match. He was attracted to her but fate was against him for it was forbidden for a Shinobi to have an affair with an outsider. The Ninja was so lost in his thoughts that he accidentally stepped on a twig and made a crackling noise. "Bloody Hell..."

Rhea's head snapped to one side. Was this another attacker? Lately, she noticed that strange people would follow her around but then drop dead the next second. "Who is there?" she asked in a neutral voice. "Come out or I'll scream!"

"Damn... if she brings this up to her father, I'm finished." Failures were never tolerated in the Clan. Lance stepped out of the bush where he had been hiding. "Don't scream," he said in a flat tone.

"A Ninja!" Rhea gasped.

"Miss Rhea, my name is Lance. I'm your bodyguard so don't be afraid," he told her calmly.

Even unbeatable love
I surely must have in my heart
If it's a certain love I seek
Someday I shall find it
It makes me believe in the strength
To go on no matter how things turn out to be
To turn against destiny

 Rhea sat under the shade of a tree on top of a hill while she drew the view below her, the city of Minalin, on her drawing book. "Finally it's finished!" she announced and leaned back. She then chuckled and looked up to the branches. "You know, you can come down if you want."

Lance jumped down from the branch where he was perched and stood next to her with his arms crossed over his chest. "You know, if anyone sees me with you, it means certain death for me." Rhea agreed not to tell anyone that Lance botched his assignment.

"You know, if you don't stop worrying, I can tell my father that I knew about you and it WILL be certain death for you," Rhea retaliated playfully.

The Ninja gave her a frown.

Rhea smiled. "I'm just kidding. It's just that I'm not comfortable knowing that you're up there all quiet and waiting to kill someone."

"What do you want me to do then?"

"Tell me about your Clan. I never knew my father had a Ninja Clan working for him. So, come on, what's your Clan like?"

"I'm sorry but I can't talk about that. Us Ninja are a very secretive society."

"Okay... I respect that. Tell me about yourself then."

"As you wish."

Why does sin stem from innocence
Why does someone have to pay for ignorance
Feelings make casual worries
Complicated
Choosing irrelevant words I make excuses
I merely escape...

 "You became a Ninja so you'd learn how to control and suppress your emotions?" Rhea asked as Lance finished talking about himself.

The Ninja nodded. "Yes."

"You shouldn't have. Your emotions are a part of you. You can't just lock them away. And your sister... you haven't seen her since?"

"Yes but I have a feeling she is alive somewhere out there."

"Don't worry, you'll find her some day."

"What makes you say that?"

"Just a feeling I have," she smiled.

If you will console me
Scold me some more
If you will forgive my mistakes
Give me a broken dream

 As time went by, Lance and Rhea got closer and closer to each other. The Ninja had become more than a bodyguard to the Chamberlain's daughter. The two sat by a waterfalls deep in the forests. They always spent time together in the woods as there were less chances of being seen. Lance sat up against a boulder with one arm on Rhea's shoulder. Rhea sat next to him with her head on his chest and her arms wrapped around his waist.

Rhea laughed a bit. "You're getting all quiet again, you know."

Lance just pulled his mask down and gave her one of his very rare smiles.

"Lance?"

"Hmmm?"

She looked up to gaze at his ruby red eyes. "Do... do you think we'll ever stop doing this? I really don't mind hiding our relationship but do you think we'll ever get to be a normal couple some day and do what normal couples do?" Her face broke into a mischievous grin. "I'd really like to torture you by making you go shopping with me or by dragging you to a sappy, romantic musical play that most guys seem to dislike."

Lance ignored the last part and gave her a serious look. "I'm sorry I can't provide you those things but you know fully well that what we're doing is forbidden and you're not even suppose to know I exist."

"It's not your fault... it's no one's. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up. I should be grateful that I have you."

"You should be." Lance put his strong arms around her waist and lifted her off the ground. He set her down on his thighs and let her straddle him. "Look, only time will tell everything. We may have a future together and I'd be happy if we did. If fate is against us, then I'll defy fate. You're the best thing that happened to me and I won't let anything steal that away."

"You do know that in most cases, forbidden love ends in a tragedy. I've read..."

She was cut off as Lance shut her up with a searing kiss.

Even unbeatable love
I surely must have in my heart
If it's a certain love I seek
Someday I shall find it
It makes me believe in the strength
To go on no matter how things turn out to be
To submit oneself to love

 Lance ran to the Chamberlain's courtyard and there he found Rhea. Rhea lay next to a broken mermaid statue. Her arms and legs were full of wounds and gashes. There was a cut on the back of her head that bled slowly and blood stained her long raven, black hair. The Ninja raced to her side, knelt down, and put a hand on her cheek.

"Rhea?" Lance whispered as softly as he could muster.

Konril walked up to Rhea and nuzzled its head against her other cheek.

"Come on, you have to open your eyes. You can't leave me like everyone else did. Please..." He picked her up from the dirty ground and cradled her fragile body in his arms. "...don't go." Konril jumped onto Rhea's stomach and looked at Lance and then Rhea. "See, even your Carro doesn't want you to go either."

Rhea slowly opened her eyes and looked up to Lance's ruby red. "Lance?" Her voice was barely above whisper.

He smiled underneath his mask from relief. "Yes, I'm here."

"Lance, the Cathedral Knights... they..."

"Ssshhh, I know."

Rhea tried to reach for Lance's cheek with her hand to pull his mask down. She wanted to see his face, his smile one more time but she was too weak to do so. The Ninja pulled down his mask for her and held her hand against his cheek. "I'm glad you're here... I'm glad I could see you one more time..."

Lance felt sharp thorns prick his heart. "Don't say that... everything will be better. I won't let you leave me."

"Lance, please promise me that you won't forget me."

"I won't. How could I? I owe you my heart and soul."

"Good. I'm happy... Lance I..." She smiled and closed her eyes as she felt the world fade away from eyes and her mind.

Even unbeatable love
I surely must have in my heart
If it's a certain love I seek
Someday I shall find it
It makes me believe in the strength
To go on no matter how things turn out to be
To turn against destiny
 ---

Lance let out a shaky breath as his fists shook with fury. "I had no choice... the pain... it just wouldn't stop. I went through intensive training so I could control and suppress my emotions to ease the pain of losing father and Elena... but then Rhea... she taught me how to feel again. She helped me discover the heart and soul that I thought I managed to shut away. Everything was perfect back then until the Cathedral Knights massacred everyone I cared about and they almost killed Rhea. I wanted to die since then, I wanted to end it all, I wanted to kill myself... it was just too much. But I couldn't do it, I couldn't take my own life. I had to take care of Rhea and find Elena if she was still alive. I did the next best thing; instead of suppressing emotions, I decided to extinguish it. With no emotions, no heart, and no soul, I would stop hurting on the inside... even if it meant at the cost of my humanity."

"What did I do to deserve this? Why do the people I care about keeping getting hurt or going away? First mother, then father, Elena, the Clan, Rhea, and now that I found Elena... she... Nekura... My whole life has been plagued with pain, misery, and misfortune. Was this my fate? Was this my destiny? Am I to suffer for as long as I live? I've been hurt in every way possible... in and out. Someone out there really hates me."

Lance finally opened his eyes and sighed heavily. "Life is nothing but a state of torment where the pain is eternal."