Born Of The Moon

Chapter XVI

Dreamers Reality









Though Yukari and I were in the same house getting ready, you would've never known it. We were never in the same room for more than ten seconds. It would appear rather amusing to anyone who was watching.

"Yuki! Have you seen my shoes?!"

Her movements in the other room ceased as the thought. "Under your bed I think!"

I glanced under my bed and there was the box. "Thanks!" I called. I was pretty much ready to leave, as was she. My dress was just the perfect length for the shoes I had on- it just barely grazed the ground. My see-through sash matched perfectly, the purse I had was the right color, and the gold necklace my mother had given to me on my birthday a few days ago matched completely. My hair was done in a natural way, hanging just above my eyes. I had two golden clips holding the sides higher up, and tiny gold ball earrings to add decor. My necklace was a tiny gold heart locket with two pink gold hearts on the front. I didn't have a picture inside of it yet, however. My makeup was simple- traditional mascara, darkish brown lipstick, but the main attraction was no doubt my eyes. They had taken me forever to get just perfect. I had a thin line of forest green eyeliner along the top of my eyelids, and the rest was covered with sparkly gold eyeshadow. Upon Yukari's insistence, I also had black eyeliner on to aid and further outline my eyes. I had sparkles all over my chest and cheeks, and just as I had sprayed on some of my favorite perfume, Yukari walked in, attaching her own earrings. Then she dropped her fatal nuclear bomb of knowledge.

"You know, I was talking to Amano before they left when Yuhan was in the truck and you were already in here." She said, taking a seat on my bed.

"Oh yeah?" I replied, lacing up the back of my shoe. "And?"

"He told me something interesting . . ." she trailed off with an evil smile on her face.

I raised an eyebrow in her direction. "What . . .?"

She laughed and focused her gaze to the floor. "Yuhan really likes you, Hitomi. Please tell me that you knew this already."

My look must've told her otherwise. Yuhan . . . liked me? For some reason, that thought had never occurred to me in a million years. He was too much of a good friend for me to even consider going out with him. I know that a lot of girls have relationships that are so strong that they would consider each other brother and sister-- sometimes even giving each other the pet name. I've never done that, but I would consider our relationship something close to that. Though I . . .

"Are you going to say something?"

I was shaken out of my trance by Yukari's question. "I'm sorry, you just caught me a little off guard. I wasn't expecting that. At all."

"Well, Amano said he really really likes you and I can see the special bond you two have. You've had it since you met him all those years ago."

I was just nodding at Yukari's statements like a robot, not letting them fully compute in my head.

"What do you think you'd lose by have a romantic relationship with him?"

I thought seriously about it for a moment. "Besides a friendship? . . .Nothing."

I was saved by a doorbell ringing downstairs.

"Well I guess we'll see what happens tonight! The ball's in your court." She laughed as she walked downstairs to open the door. A high-pitched squeal followed. "You two look so handsome!"

I sighed long and hard. She just had to complicate things. I know she thought that she was doing the right thing so technically she didn't know it kind of upset me now that I knew. Oh well. Yuhan was my good friend. Tonight was going to be fun.

"Hitomi! Hurry up!"

I caught my own attention as I walked past the full-length mirror at the end of the hall. I glanced into the reflection I was giving one last time before leaving. I didn't even recognize myself. I looked good enough to pull off being a queen. Oh how ironic. Yuhan must've had the same train of thought as he saw me when I walked down the stairs. He couldn't tear his gaze away from me. I had to of blushed to the roots of my hair with embarrassment. He took my hand and we were led outside to start our journey downtown to the club.



We blasted some heavy music all the way to the club just to get the impulse to start singing out of our systems. Tonight was formal, but we were all late teens, early twenties. We just had to get the urge over and done with before-hand.



As the last song ended on it's final chord, we pulled up to the building. The guys ordered us to stay put as they got out, so we did. Yuki couldn't help but giggle. "I wonder what they're up to?"

I laughed as well, trying to ignore my reflection in the rear-view mirror. The two of them returned moments later with one hand behind their backs and the other opening the doors for us. Behind their backs were two unbelievably beautiful corsages, each matching our dresses perfectly. Something else was a surprise though.

"A flowered wreath?" I asked.

Amano nodded. "It's not like there are any special times like this after prom. Might as well have some fun with it, right?"

Yukari was thrilled, and I had to admit, so was I. Yuhan too my wrist and slipped the corsage on. It was white and emerald green flowered, and not to mention beautifully rich in color. Then he placed the wreath on my head and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Shall we go in?"

I tried my hardest to hide my embarrassment as I smiled and nodded. "Mm hmm." His hand went around my waist as we started our walk. My heart was racing already. This was going to be an interesting night.



"Come on just try it!" Yukari laughed "It's not as bad as it looks!"

"It looks to me like someone ate something, puked it back up on your plate and put some parsley on top." Yuhan mocked. "No thanks."

"It tastes a lot better than it looks, I swear!" She continued.

Yuhan raised both eyebrows and smirked. "I'm sure it does."

I grabbed Yukari's spoon and took a bite. Well, it wasn't as bad as Yuhan had made it out to be, nor as good as Yuki made it out to be either. Amano was looking at me with a gaping jaw. "You're the second bravest person I know."

"Who's the first?" I said as I swallowed.

"Yuki. Just cause she's eating the whole thing." he laughed.

"How is it?" Yuhan asked.

"You need that acquired taste to enjoy it just a little. I can see why Yuki likes it. Yuhan," I laughed, looking him in the eye. "You'd gag, I'm sure."

"Well then I thank you for saving me from that experience." He picked up his glass and held it out. "I'd like to propose a toast."

"Didn't we do one already today?" Amano asked.

"Is two toasts in one day bad lucky?" Yukari said while picking up her glass.

"I doubt it. Anyway, just to make this night mushy and sentimental I'll propose a very nice and formal sounding toast." He glanced over at me from the corner of his eye for a moment before continuing. "Once again this toast is to the four of us. I think that most of us already know where we're destined to be for the next few years, I know I do. This toast is to wish us all success in all aspects of our lives, and that we remain good friends forever." We touched all our glasses. "And I mean forever seriously. Not like in one of those cheesy soap operas or something." We all shared a laugh at that.

"That was the fluffiest and most mushy toast I've ever heard." I giggled. "But it was too damn cute."





After our meal was finished the music began and we danced. There was one problem I had never taken into consideration before. I didn't know how to ballroom dance.

"Oh shit . . ." I cursed under my breath as Yuhan led me out onto the dance floor.

"What is it?"

"I . . . don't know what I'm doing. I can't dance like this! I've never learned how!"

He became very amused with this fact. "Don't worry, I'll teach you. It's not as hard as it seems."

I was a little uneasy at first but decided, this is Yuhan. Yuhan . . .



I rejoiced as a slow song came on after about twenty straight minutes of ballroom dancing. I had gotten the basic idea of what I was doing, I was just having trouble with coordination. Thankfully, slow dancing doesn't take that much coordination. I didn't realize until about halfway through the song just how close we actually were. I had never been pressed up against someone so closely in my entire life. I wasn't nervous at all, surprisingly. I didn't know the name of the song we were dancing to, but whatever it was, it had a nice beat to it. I rested my head fully on his shoulder and tightened my grip on him. I felt very safe in his arms. I opened my eyes for a split second to see Yukari smile at me, then look back at Amano who spoke something softly to her. I couldn't have been bothered of thinking up a reason why she would smile like that. Oh well. Then something I definitely wasn't expecting happened. Yuhan had moved his head so that his mouth was right next to my ear and he could speak to me easily, as could I with him.

"Hitomi, I want to ask you something."

My heart skipped quite a few beats at that particular moment. I took a breath. "Oh yeah? What's that?"

"Well, I've just been thinking lately; Our relationship together has been fun a very carefree. I fell really comfortable around you and I'm sure you feel the same, right?"

I paused. Shit. "Yes . . ."

"Okay, so would it bother you if we, you know . . . started going out?"

I giggled. "But we go out all the time! Why would you have to ask that?" Yes, Hitomi. Perfect timing for your naivete to kick into overdrive. Fantastic.

"No, no. Not like that. I mean as a couple. Romantically."

I didn't know how in hell he was keeping his cool about all this. I guess he already knew what my answer was going to be. "Sure. I'd love to."

He hugged me closer with the widest grin on his face I'd ever seen. Just those few words made him that happy? Well if it was that simple . . . my mind laughed. The night went on almost as usual, though Yuhan was wasting no time in getting closer to me. Like I had any objections to that in the first place. We decided that the night was dying out around one in the morning so we all huddled into Amano's car and went out just to drive around town. Yukari had her arms around Amano in the front seat, and in the back, I was sitting up against Yuhan, who was running his free hand throughout my hair. I couldn't get over the fact of how safe I felt with him. Although my dress was overly poofy around the waist and bottom, I still managed to get comfortable against him. God only knows how I pulled off getting my seatbelt on. I was just resting my head on his chest and he had his arm around me. His head was resting on top of mine, and his eyes were no doubt closed as mine were. If there's one thing I can say about Yuhan- it's that he smells amazing. He refuses to tell us what he uses but damn, it smells great.

"I don't wanna go home . . ." Yuhan whispered to me in a laughing tone. "I wanna stay like this all night."

The truth was, so did I. My plotting mind went into overdrive. "You can borrow some of my boxers and baggy T-shirts if you wanna stay the night . . ."

He leaned his face down to mine and smiled that million dollar smile again. "Fine with me."



Yukari had fallen asleep on Amano's shoulder as we pulled up to the parking lot of my apartment building. Yuhan helped me and my mess of a dress out of Amano's car and shut the door.

"See you tomorrow guys." he whispered, being careful as to not wake Yukari.

"Night you two."

I failed to notice Yukari giggle as we walked away. Her whisper did reach my ears however. "Finally."



I wasted no time in taking that dress off. As beautiful as it might've been, it felt very constricting after this long night. Yuhan laughed as I breathed out a loud sigh of relief as the dress came off. "Wow, I can breathe again!" I announced. I decided to change into my baggy black doctor pants and a tight spaghetti strap shirt. My usual home-wear attire. I threw my other pair of baggy pants, a pair of boxers and a muscle shirt at Yuhan. "Sorry, but the pants might be a little short." he sighed a nodded with a slight smile.

"I kinda figured that."



After drinking a coffee and just discussing anything that came to mind, we decided we were overly tired at around four. Yuhan didn't have to work until the next day so we were set for sleeping in. I was freezing by the time we reached my bed. "I trust you have no objections to sleeping in the same bed as me. Though I don't know about you, but I plan on sleeping tonight."

He laughed, but I missed the evil grin on his face. "I wonder if . . ." He purposely didn't finish his sentence as he grabbed me by my waist, tossed me onto my bed and began to tickle me. I wasn't expecting it at all and I was finding it hard to get some air in.

"Y-Yuhan! S-stop i-i-i-t!" I was surprised to see that he understood and my laughing tapered off as I was able to breathe again. "That was cruel and unusual punishment and you know it!"

Both of our laughing died out and it turned into a simple staring session. I've always loved Yuhan's eyes. They're a pretty rare color around here; they're so dark they're almost black. Sometimes when he's in a bad mood you can't even see his pupils. But right now I could see their happy glow, even in the darkness of the early morning hours.

"You know," he started, shifting onto his side to get a better view of me. "I've thought about just doing something like this someday with you. I don't know why, it was just a random thought one day. Now that it's actually happening, I don't really know what to say."

"Then don't." I smiled. "Just let it be." We continued just to look at each other, perhaps wondering if what was happening was real. Before I realized what was happening, his lips were on mine, kissing me delicately. At that moment, I felt something. An emotion was burning inside of me with the passionate way he was kissing me. He trailed off and placed kisses down my neck but stopped when he reached my collarbone.

"By the way, I've always wanted to tell you that you smell really good."

I laughed out loud at his remark. "Funny, I've always thought the same about you."

We got closer to each other, huddling for warmth. Though I had many covers on my bed, it was nice to get close to someone for once. His arms slipped around my waist and I placed my hands over his in return. He rested his head above mine and sighed. I opened up my eyes one last time before saying goodnight just to look at him. As my lids lifted I glanced across the room quickly, but my heart stopped when I saw what I did. Semi-hidden in the shadows by my door was a black-winged angel with a sword in hand. Before I had time to react, he charged right for Yuhan. I screamed.













Sitting straight up in bed as a clap of thunder broke loose, I frantically searched the room for the intruder I knew to be none other than Folken. When I sought out nothing, I realized where I was. Folken's cabin. Gaea. I immediately panicked, looking for him. He was no longer in the bed beside me. My eyes came to rest upon the open door that lead to outside. Then I saw an empty bottle of liquid resting on his night stand. I caught a small smell of it and plugged my nose instantly. It smelt of rotted roots. No . . . it couldn't have been what Folken was talking about earlier . . . Not the potion that . . .



I grabbed my bag, drew my sword, and left the cabin immediately. There was no way in hell I was staying there. I had to get away from him. Something just wasn't right. Though I trusted Folken with most of my heart, something wasn't right. I had to get away.

I saddled Belu once again, and in no time flat we were off through the now familiar forest. I didn't look back once, because if I had've, I knew I would've stopped. Then, I caught sight of something ahead of me. It was a person standing in the middle of the gravel roadway. A person with midnight colored wings. I recognized that figure from that far away as good as I could've from a foot away.

"Stop, Hitomi." His voice was loud and crisp in the early morning hours. Even through the rain I could hear the change of tone in his voice, but there was no way in hell I was stopping. I pulled on Belu's reigns and we tracked off into the forest, leaving the gravel road to Folken.

My heartbeat was erratic and my breathing was unsettled. Why was I so nervous? It wasn't as though Folken were right behind me. Just as luck would have it, I reached a clearing in the forest. I'd wait for him here. There was no way I could loose him out here; he's lived here for many years and more than likely knew the place like the palm of his hand. I dismounted Belu and led her off to graze at some grass near the tree line. walking back out a little farther, I called;

"Folken! I know you're out there somewhere! I don't know what you want with me but now's your chance. Here I am, so come and get me!"

The forest was silent, save the sounds of the light rain and the distant rumbling of the passed storm. I tried my best to listen for him. I didn't know if he would even consider to try to use his wings in the rain, but I didn't leave it to chance. I closed my eyes and focused on him. His face, his features, his wings . . .

A scene flashed before me and I saw im flying in from behind me, over top of Belu. I turned as swiftly as I could to math his blade and just as predicted, he was no more than a foot away from striking as I blocked his blow. He grunted, no anticipating my strength and reaction, and before he knew what was happening, he was on the wet forest floor with my sword at his neck. Then I hesitated.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Kanzaki? Kill me! You've got me right where you need me!" Folken . . . yelling for his death? Something flared up inside of me as I pressed the blade further, drawing a thin line of blood from his neck. It was easily washed away with the rain.

"It feels good, doesn't it? To feel that hatred burning through your veins. You want to kill me, I know that's what you feel within you. You feel threatened by me, so you must kill me. It's what the potion does to you. It brings out the worst. Kanzaki, Hitomi? A killer? Who would've ever thought!" Each word he spoke was driving the blade deeper into his neck. Whether it had been centimeter by centimeter or even millimeter by millimeter, I didn't care. Something inside of me wanted to kill him so badly . . . "So why is it that you hesitate?"

"Because unlike your mind, mine isn't being enslaved by the past!" I yelled, removing the blade from his neck and slicing at his wings. "I might not have the courage to kill you but I sure as hell have no objections to hurting you badly!" I was just chopping away at any part of his body my sword came into contact with when all of a sudden something inside me snapped.

I took my sword that was now covered in blood, jumped onto Belu and we raced off, leaving Folken there. I knew he'd be able to get himself back to his cabin because that damage I had done to him wasn't that fatal. He's probably survived worse. What I couldn't get out of my head as I got to Fanelia was that feeling inside of me. That urge I had to kill him. That potion . . . I prayed it wouldn't have any more effects on me.

Van was panicked when he saw me come in, soaked to the brim with a blood-stained sword in hand.

"What on earth happened to you?!" He yelled, helping me down from Belu. "You're soaked and- oh god . . ." he had to pry the sword from the death grip I had on it. "What happened? Talk to me."

I grinned at him. walking over to the stable doors, I slid the large piece of wood to the side, locking the entrance from anyone who would want to enter from the outside. I'd be damned if I was going to let anyone ruin this perfect opportunity for me.

Taking the sword from his hands, I threw it to the ground beside him and myself, and I threw my arms around his neck.

"Hitomi, what are you do-" I refused to give him time to finish his question before kissing him with everything I had. Nothing would ruin this moment.





~*~





HOW DO YA LIKE THAT EH?! I'm soooooooo incredibly sorry for taking to long to get this chapter out. Lots has been happening lately. It's now 12.20 AM where I live and I still have a test to study for! I hope you all appreciate this! I don't care if there's fifty million mistakes in this chapter cause I did it all for you guys and I'm sure you're smart enough to figure out what I meant! TIRED. NEED SLEEP. MUST STUDY.

Reviews are ALWAYS appreciated!



*Elemental Angel*