**Warning** - This section has a definite citrus tang, but nothing above PG13 really, and as this
is my first time to write anything of this sort, please be generous on the comments and
criticisms, every hint is helpful. Thanx!
Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or the Arthurian Legends. I do, however, own Akebono
and the creation of Avalon as a world in itself.
Nobody said it was easy,
Oh it's such a shame for us to part,
Nobody said it was easy,
No one ever said it would be so hard,
I'm going back to the start
~The Scientist by Coldplay~
This is dedicated to my wonderful reviewers. I really don't know what I would do without
you guys.
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Chapter 8:
Discovery
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The storm was swift in forming. Growing from the single gray cloud, wisps of smokey gray began to drift in the wind, building and expanding with each new addition. Neither Makoto nor Akebono noticed, both were too involved with the other. Wandering hands and exploring caresses occupied all thoughts and actions, none were spared for the brewing storm that neither knew existed. And while their feelings grew in intensity, so too did the storm. Clouds roiled and churned above as the first light drops of rain began to fall upon the oblivious couple. The droplets fell and clung like dew to their hair as Akebono reached up and undid the tie that held Makoto's hair, letting it cascade down her shoulders and allowing the silver dragon's elegant fingers to trail through the soft brown mane.
In the distance, a muffled rumble of thunder sounded for the first time. The wind had taken to howling through the large trees that lined the stone plateau, and a single bolt of lightning flashed through the now dark sky, illuminating the shadowed forest. A second, louder rumble of thunder rolled overhead, and for the first time since the storm had begun to form, Makoto and Akebono realized nature's anger.
"Damn golden dragons," Akebono cursed, "Always causing trouble. Couldn't just leave well enough alone, could you? Just had to interrupt." Akebono's wings automatically stretched up and over their heads to block the increasing tempo and ferocity of the rain, while he grasped Makoto's wrist tightly and began to pull her towards the shelter of the cave.
"What does a gold dragon have to do with this?" Makoto yelled above the din of the thunder, confusion masked by the noise.
"It's Loki no doubt. She always did have a rather annoying sense of humor. Loves to play jokes, damn meddling hag. Probably thought I'd be off searching for this 'mystery dragon' they say I've been sulking about and wanted to try and annoy me as much as she could." Akebono muttered angrily before turning towards the west and yelling spitefully into the wind while baring his sharp fangs, "You're a dead dragon next time I see you, Loki. Gold or no, I'll make you wish these were only illusions when I'm done with you."
Makoto could not resist. She giggled, trying to stifle the sound immediately after it had left her mouth, but being largely unsuccessful. Akebono whipped his head around to face her, eyes still burning in mock fury and wrathful annoyance. Water droplets flew from his braid as the sharp turning of his head flung the long tail behind him. "Oh so now you're mocking me as well," Akebono hissed out between bared teeth, a predatory glint lighting his eyes.
"What are you gonna do about it?" Makoto challenged, eyes blazing with the same light. A slow smirk spread across Akebono's face, transforming the sharp, handsome features into a dangerous mischievousness reminiscent to a playfully demonic elf. In the next instant, Akebono had leapt at her, wings outspread to aide him in covering a longer distance. Makoto barely dodged in time. Running and shrieking with laughter or giggling like a small school girl, the young woman continued to avoid Akebono's rain splattered, smirking figure. Rain was soaking both playful combatants to the bone, but neither took any notice as they continued to tease one another even with the water pounding down.
Both, however, froze mid-step as a sudden bolt of blue lightning struck a nearby tree, incinerating the wood and leaves into a ball of flames that continued to burn despite the storm's downpour. In her distraction, Akebono wrapped a lean, muscled arm around Makoto's waist and forcibly dragged the girl into one of the nearby caves, both taking shelter from the storm's unrelenting onslaught.
"Perhaps Loki is not behind this. She may be juvenile but she is not irresponsible. She would not have created so dangerous a storm or let it have gotten so far out of hand." Akebono commented thoughtfully, watching the still growing storm from the entrance of the cave. His arm still ensnared Makoto's waist.
"Couldn't it just be a natural storm? Don't you get those in Avalon?"
"No, I don't think it is. It doesn't smell right. There's too much power in the air, too much magic. Someone created this storm, someone perfectly in tune to nature. That is why I had thought a golden dragon created it; this storm is alive. I can hear it breathe." Makoto could barely hear Akebono's last whispered sentence above the ferocity of the storm. The wind howled loudly in the cave where they stood just beyond the reach of the pelting rain.
Makoto held her breathe and listened until she too could hear it. The gales of wind whistled through the trees, tearing with a savagery at the fragile greenery until the tall, powerful limbs bent and swayed beneath the onslaught. The continual downpour of the rain was not the soothing lullaby that Makoto had once remembered it to be, but more of a relentless pounding into the solid stone, slowly but surely wearing it away. Thunder rolled in the background as lightning flashed dangerously above them. Yet beneath all the noise and all the chaos, Makoto could hear it. A soft, steady sound that sounded nothing like the normal intake and exhalation of air but that was indistinguishable from breathing. Makoto could not deny the truth behind Akebono's remark. The storm was alive.
The very air around them pulsed with a heartbeat, and the clouds roiling above them breathed the very essence of the earth. Makoto could not explain how she knew that the storm was breathing. There was nothing to make her think so, no rasping gasps, no sighs, and certainly no normal exhalations. Only the sounds of furious nature rang in the air. But Makoto knew that storm was breathing, knew that it was alive, knew with a certainty that floundered within a sea of doubts but that could not be refuted. It was a truth so universal that she accepted it without proof for she could find none despite the feeling of having another living being surrounding her, encompassing her in its emotional fury. The clouds pulsed with life and rage above them.
"It looks as though we'll be stuck here for a while," Akebono commented into the silence, pulling Makoto from her dismaying thoughts and revelations.
Makoto caught the undertones of teasing the silver dragon's voice, smiling mischievously to herself as she began to turn. Her gaze, however, fell upon a dark outline on the horizon. The gray stone barely visible in the gray darkness of the storm. A flash of brief lightning illuminated the towering form in sharp relief as the tall spires become visible for a single moment through the gray mist of the rain.
"Kuso," Makoto cursed savagely, face darkening in a scowl. "Damn storm, going to take me forever to get back now."
"Get back?" Akebono questioned lightly, his voice overly neutral and diplomatic in an effort to keep any emotion from his tone.
"I'll need to leave now if I want to have any hope of getting back to Kochi before someone discovers me missing. This storm is going to slow me down, and I doubt it'll be over before nightfall, or at least what I'd have to assume would be nightfall. Damn storm, just had to go and fucking ruin everything. I'm sorry Ake-kun, but I don't really have much of a choice. I need to leave now before this storm gets any worse. It's already bad enough as it is, I don't need to give it a chance to get worse," Makoto told Akebono regretfully, turning to face him once she was done speaking and instantly recognizing the look of anger that passed across his face. She blinked, bewildered up at his scowling face, unaware of the affect her words had on the blue eyed dragon.
"You are most certainly not going anywhere near that castle, not in this storm. It is far too dangerous. I won't allow it," he told her firmly, voice brooking no room for argument.
"Like hell you won't," she muttered mutinously, before turning her back to him and stepping towards the entrance. Without warning Akebono's thin hands suddenly sprung out and gripped her arms in a surprising strong hold.
"Damn it!" Makoto cried, her tall frame struggling against the tight grasp that the dragon held her in, "Let me go Akebono! My friends will be worried if I don't return soon. I have to go back to the castle. And you have no right to tell me what I can and can't do!" The tall brunette yelled at the taller man, emerald eyes blazing in hot fury. Akebono's eyes, in return, swirled in a multitude of torrid emotions before softening to a slow burning ardor.
"You're beautiful when you're angry," he commented, not tenderly but not without affection, not once removing his eyes from hers. Makoto's angry struggles stilled at his words, her entire body relaxing into a shocked stupor.
"No one has ever told me that before." She said softly, the words falling from her mouth before she had a chance to stop them. Wishing she could take them back despite their truth. She had been told that she was hot, sexy, and attractive on occasion, but never beautiful, especially not in anger. Most called her tomboyish or too masculine to ever have any sort of feminine beauty. There were the odd few men who had commented in passing that she was a vixen, strangely ravishing in her savagery, but most had said it in spitefulness not with the utter devotion and sincerity that flowed from Akebono's lips. The anger bled from her in an instant and left an odd feeling of simultaneous pain and joy.
"Then they were fools," Akebono reassured her, voice angered at the obvious hurt that the absence of those particular lauds had caused her. "For I have never seen anyone that I thought more beautiful." His words were spoken with such conviction that Makoto held no doubt to Akebono's sincerity, although she believed no one else to agree with the absurdity that she was most beautiful, particularly when placed beside her friends. But Akebono read her eyes and body language as well as her heart. "Do you not believe me?" He whispered sadly, wondering who had caused this strong woman to be so doubtful of herself. "Do you not see your beauty Mako-chan? It's not that magic charm and appeal that elves have, nor that handsomeness among dragons. Oh no, Mako, you are far more special than those." He told her adoringly, talon-like hand caressing down her ivory skin before trailing through her long auburn tresses. "It's a far more exotic beauty, Mako. Something that no one else has, that I've never seen in anyone else. You're beautiful in your ferocity Mako, exotic and enticing. Do you see the storm outside? Raging, yet ravishing in its fury. A carnal force of nature, something so primeval and savage in its wrath that you can't tear your eyes from it, that you can't stop watching its intensity and fervency. So captivating, so powerful, and so enthralling that it is impossible not to lose yourself within it. So much so that when the eye of the storm descends and calm settles, that the entire world appears far too silent, oppressive, and lonely. Until you long for the storm to ravage again." A flash of blinding lightning flashed behind Akebono's outstretched wings, highlighting the crisscrossing pattern of silver veins, simultaneously bringing Makoto's features into stark relief. The rain continued to fall without end.
"I see the storm in you Mako. I see the way your eyes appear so calm and tranquil before alighting in fury and darkening with passion, coming alive with your emotions, until the calm before the storm seems pale and unworthy in comparison. I see the dark color of your hair framing the paleness of your face; the smooth feel of your skin under which lies hardened muscles; the beautiful elegance of your strong hands; the fire in your emerald eyes. So many contradictions Mako. I know you Mako, I know your heart. A tempest contained within a seemingly fragile exterior. A dangerous beauty, that not many like to acknowledge or admit." Akebono slowly reached a hand away from where it had been lightly holding Makoto's waist, palm facing upwards as gray mist began to curl around his fingers. Makoto watched, entranced, as the mist began to gather and swirl on his palm, its shape taking identifiable form and solidifying. A sudden flash of lightning turned vaporous gray mist into hardened silver before the cave once again was plunged into darkness.
Makoto felt the smooth petal before she saw it. Slowly, as eyes adjusted to the darkness once again after the brilliant, if brief, illumination, a shape came into view. Between his fingers, Akebono gingerly held a blushing rose. Its delicate pink blossom was in full bloom and in stark contrast to the dark stem with its sharp thorns. "A dangerous beauty," Akebono whispered softly, brushing the frail petal against her rosy lips before leaning forward and grazing his lips against hers with the same tenderness and brevity of touch. "Very dangerous..."
He moved swiftly, pinning her tall length fluidly against the wall of the cave, careful not injure her. The petals of the rose began to trail lightly down the elegant curve of her neck before dipping into the hollow where neck met shoulder. His lips followed the rose's path with sucking bites, demanding kisses, and gentle nips, leaving Makoto panting and gasping from the light attention, his actions teasing more than satisfying. Makoto distantly registered that the simple material of her dress was falling from her shoulders, new skin slowly being revealed as Akebono continued his arousing game.
"Ake-chan," Makoto panted, "I've never... we just... I barely know you..."
"Nonsense," Akebono scoffed, fingers of his not currently occupied hand lightly trailing along her smooth cheek, "Dragons have one mate, and only one. I would know her the second I saw her, smelled her... tasted her. I know your soul, Mako... do you not know mine?" He asked gently as he once again lowered his head to the smooth hollow of her neck, lightly dragging his sharpened fangs along her collar bone. Makoto drew in a sharp intake of air as his warm breath ghosted along behind the sharp caress of his fangs, each sensation feeling new and entirely too pleasurable.
One simple question, that answered so many doubts. It explained her feelings over the past few days. The restless nights and bitter questions shouted at an silent sky. She may not have known his soul intimately, but kami she wanted to know him, and was more than willing to learn.
Almost reluctantly, Makoto dragged Akebono's teasing tongue and chin up, away from his current ministrations. Only to capture those lips with her own. His tongue snaked out, begging for entrance which Makoto freely granted. The passion grew between them, and as his strong hands drew her body fully against his, she moaned encouragingly.
With a wicked glint lighting her eyes, Makoto grinned ferally as she moved forward swiftly, knocking Akebono's legs from beneath him and pinning him effectively on the ground. Smirking triumphantly, she straddled his middle, stretching his arms above his head and leaning forward until her breath ghosted across his panting lips. Slowly, she trailed her hands down along the taunt muscles in his arms, brushing lightly against the soft material of his shirt as she pulled the long sleeves down to bare his arms. She continued down, dragging and bunching the material beneath her probing hands. Pulling lightly at the open tunic that rested across his shoulders, its length reaching down to his knees, Makoto tugged the jade silk material, lined in leafy designs of golden thread, as far up his arms as possible. Then brushing fingertips lightly against the smooth skin of his chest that was bared by the unbuttoned opening of his shirt, she moved her fingers to the buttons of the white silk long-sleeve shirt beneath the long tunic.
With a halted breath, Makoto pulled the two sides free, drawing them away from his skin before dipping her head and running her tongue down the valley between his muscles. Akebono gave a start beneath her. Makoto smiled into his silvered skin before smoothing her hands along his bared skin and taunt muscles as she stretched on top of him like a indolent cat, her body arching into his.
Grinning lazily, she explored him slowly, committing every gasp and sketchy breathe to memory.
Then breathing deeply, she grazed her lips along his inflamed skin. He smelled of wood smoke and fire, she decided, a musky masculine scent that complemented his lean, toned body with its sharp angles. She could drown in that smell, drown in him and all the sensations flooding her mind and body.
With painstaking slowness, Makoto began to trail her kisses up along his neck, gently biting and nipping at the skin, relishing all the sounds that it elicited from Akebono. She touched her lips teasingly to his before running her tongue along the sharp edges of his jaws and then jumping to the prominent cheeks and the jutting cartilage spines that decorated the point of his ear. Tracing the curved shell with her tongue, she breathed lightly against the soft sensitive skin of his neck.
Suddenly, with unexpected ease, Akebono wrapped his legs firmly around Makoto's and rolled her straight to her back, pinning her body beneath his and effectively reversing their roles.
Now Akebono leered from above her, nasty smirk carved into his face as he lowered his mouth to hers with the same deliberate slowness. He trailed his sharp fangs down the soft skin of her neck, breath ghosted the inflamed trail they made, sending both chills and fire down her spine. With a sharp gasp, Makoto threw back her head, exposing her neck to the gentle probing of the dragon above her.
Akebono's teasing ministrations ventured further, until he was once again pulling at the straps of her dress, extensively mapping each new section of skin revealed, stopping just above neckline of her dress.
Makoto drew in a shaky breath as her back arched off the stone ground. Akebono's muffled chuckle elicited a similar response as his breath teased sensitive skin.
With eyes smouldering in the height of passion, Akebono drew back slightly, the light blue of his eyes standing out plainly beneath the darker swirls of fiery emotion. His shape moved above her, the lightness of his hair, soft skin, and luminous eyes looming over her face. "I think that I love you, Mako-chan."
Makoto drew in a sharp breath, shock dulling the brightness of her eyes. "Wha-what?"
He smiled softly at her confusion, the upturning of his lips neither mocking nor understanding. "You are my soulmate, do not you feel the same?"
"I didn't know what I was feeling for you." Makoto began, voice speaking softly in the quiet of the cave and seriousness of the conversation. "I wouldn't allow myself to acknowledge exactly what it was that I felt, because I wasn't even truly sure what my heart was telling me. You're a dragon, Ake, and I had only met you as a dragon, not as a human, not until today.
"I felt so confused, and so hurt, and so alone. It was like I'd lost you without ever having you, which is far worse than losing what was yours to begin with. I couldn't see any even remotely possible future for us. I barely knew you, and already I was acting as though I'd lost another sempai. Another flame that broke my heart.
"You were so different from everyone I'd ever met. So kind, caring, and... and you didn't care that I didn't act like a proper girl. You never scorned my behavior as anything but who I was. Yet I couldn't have you, could never even dream of having you. And that was what hurt the most. I'd never even be able to dream of you being in my future like I'd done with all the other hopeless cases. You weren't only out of my reach, you didn't exist for me; you were impossible to glimpse, let alone touch. Even now it almost seems like a dream, so unreal, so wonderful, and so... absolute. I wish this moment could last forever, Ake. I wish that... I don't know what I feel right now. It's too... Oh I don't know, but it's too 'something' to put into words. Too new and too... perfect to ever feel real."
"I'd wait for you until the end of eternity," he told her softly, but with a voice firm in its sincerity and conviction.
"I don't think I'll live that long," and the jest echoed emptily around the cavern, its truth being far too permanent to bear dwelling on.
"But I will..." Akebono acknowledged sadly, as the enormity of what was occurring settled on both of them. The fair dragon stood now, a new emotion clouding the previous passion as he stood to go stand in the entryway of the cave, eyes roaming throughout the storm ravaged land of Avalon. Makoto came to stand silently behind him, arms going around his mid-section in a gesture of comfort, whether for herself or Akebono she did not know.
"What are your parents like?" Makoto questioned gently, voice soundly almost child-like in its innocence.
"My mother is a red dragon," he began, as though he simply talking about the color of her hair. "She is a strong, proud dragon. You remind me much of her." Akebono told her in his soothing tones. The words flowing more out of a need to distract himself, rather than any real desire to communicate them. His voice was colored with the tone of one who only speaks in order to divert his own thoughts. "My father... was killed while I was still young. Mother had to be strong to survive that. The death of a soulmate often kills the surviving dragon. She raised me well..." His voice trailed off into obscurity as his mind wandered to the past, memories surfacing before his unfocused eyes, gazing unseeingly out into the violent storm.
"My mom was a quiet woman," Makoto began, voice forcibly impassive to avoid drowning in her emotions, "But when she was angry," a wistful smile, "not even this storm could weather her wrath. Dad was too much like me for his own good. Too prideful to ever admit he was wrong. They died when I was young..." The wind carried her words to Akebono's ears, and as his eyes turned to look into hers, she found not the pity she had been expecting, but a cool understanding, blue eyes frozen at their very depths.
And soon the that wind whistled through the trees and the opening of the cave was the only sound spoken between the two.
As the day wore on, the sun continued its path through the stormy sky, hidden behind the dark cover of ominous clouds. Makoto sat quietly by Akebono's side, head resting against his chest, often speaking in quiet whispers of their past, or simply enjoying the comfortable silence of company. Each told to the other, history never before repeated to friends, but both still held their deepest secrets close. The dragon and senshi watched as a forked tongue of lighting licked at the crest of a great oak. The fire burned savagely in their eyes, until doused by the torrential downpour. The smoke then curled lazily upward, uncaring of the rain and unwary of the storm's fury. And still, the tempest grew.
Author's Notes:
I want to thank all my reviewers from last time, without you guys, this chapter wouldn't have gotten out nearly as fast. You have only your reviews to thank for that. I read them, and they motivated me to stay up 'till 3 so that I could finish. Wish I didn't have school tomorrow. Oh well, it's a late day tomorrow, have an off-campus for first period, so I wont' have to be there until 10. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I'm posting it tomorrow, as is, with whatever mistakes you find. I was too lazy to read through it another time.
Also, I've decided that sleep is a waste of time. If I didn't sleep, then I could get so much more accomplished, and this story would have been done months ago. Therefore, in an effort to do as much as I can, I've decided that I'm no longer going to sleep. Eh heh, riiiiight. Screw that! I'm going to bed now, after I post anyway. ::Sigh:: Dang human body, why must thou need rest. Grrrrrr!
