One Afternoon
Part Two: Heart
"Didn't it occur to you that a weapon of your will would only work, if you truly wanted to kill me?"
She stared at what remained of the weapon of her will for a moment longer, before dismissing it. The golden hilt shimmered, then vanished from her clenched hand. Tears shone in her eyes, as she pounded her fist hard against his chest. "I hate you, mazoku! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!"
"I think we just proved that was not the case, didn't we?" He laughed softly, then touched her golden hair lightly, stroking it with his slender fingers. "So if you don't hate me, why are you always so angry with me, hmm?"
She pulled away from him and turned so that her hair hid her face from him. "I told you not to touch me."
He straightened slightly, and a plain white handkerchief dropped into her lap. "Now let's be fair. I gave you an opportunity to kill me. I think you owe me at least this much. Come now, Filia, tell me why you are so angry with me."
"I'm not telling you anything, mazoku," she said coldly, though she did use the handkerchief to wipe the tears from her eyes.
"That's unusually self-controlled for you. Normally when you use that tone of voice you hit me." Abruptly, he grinned widely. "I think I know what it is!"
"Oh, and what do you think it is?" she asked, attempting and failing to hide the anxiety in her voice.
"Now this is amusing," he said. "I think you want me to know, but you're afraid to tell me. Don't be such a coward. Besides, not telling me is not very nice."
"You hardly deserve nice treatment, mazoku." Her voice remained colder and harder than most glaciers.
"It won't hurt you to say my name, will it? Try it, just once."
She was suddenly intent on plucking at pieces of grass and wildflowers from the ground on which they sat.
"Come now, say it." He pulled a small violet from her fingers and twirled it lightly between his.
"Xellos!" she snapped. "Are you happy now?"
"You care about my happiness? I'm touched!" He offered the purple flower to her. "It looks like a heart, you know."
"I hate you," she snapped, hitting him again.
As her fist contacted his chest, he caught it playfully and held it there. "Now the reason you are so angry with me. . . . What could it be? Ah, yes, I know! It's because you love me." He brought her hand up to his lips with one hand and placed the violet in her hair with the other.
She tried to jerk her hand away from him, but he held to it with the tenacity of a terrier. "Xellos - " she pleaded .
"My name again?" he asked. "What? Am I wrong? Then why did you say my name like that? Surely, it is below a dragon to tell lies to a 'vile mazoku.'"
She seemed confused for a moment, then shook her head. "Not that. Just, it was the wrong place." Surprising both him and herself, she pressed her lips against his. "There. I won't tell you anymore lies."
His eyes widened. "Filia?"
"Yes, that's why I'm always so angry with you," she admitted. "You win. I love you. There I said it. What are you going to do about it?"
The purple-eyed demon looked at her for a moment, straightening the violet in her hair, and his hand lingered on her temple. "I think I'll find a more comfortable and more private place to answer that question."
There was something almost wicked in her eyes. "What's more private than the middle of the forest? This grass is soft and comfortable. Or are you too hedonistic to lie on the grass and tree roots?"
He raised his eyebrows at her, then shrugged. "I'm not the one who will be embarrassed, if someone surprises us. And I'm not the one who's going to be lying on the tree roots." Gently, he pushed her down onto the ground and kissed her again with more passion.