Romance

Tiara walked into the room that Graham had been given, which was right next to her own. A single door connected the two, just in case of an emergency. Japolo had already fallen asleep on the windowsill, but Graham was just laying in bed, staring up at the ceiling. He didn't even seem to notice that Tiara had come in, as his good eye was turned away from the door and he wasn't paying attention to the sounds.

"Graham," Tiara began, "There's something I need to talk to you about. It's important. I need your help to figure out a dilemma I've been having over the last few days." She sat on the chair by the des, as her Partner got out of his daydream. Shaking himself awake, Graham sat up as well, and looked at her.

"Miss Tiara, are you sure you don't want to sit on the bed? If you are uncomfortable with it, I can always take the chair. The bed is much softer, and I would gladly give up my comforts for you," he told her, all while smiling. It was always a rare thing to see Graham smile, and this made Tiara smile as well.

She told him, "I'm ok Graham, it's just that my feelings have been. . .well, changing as of late. I suddenly don't seem to be as attracted to Kagetsu as I once was. He's been up in those mountains since the spring, and I think that distance has taken its toll. Seems like the two of us won't be getting back to what we once were. But I also think that I'm feeling love for another man as a result of these past few days."

Graham began to wonder who exactly that man was. With all his heart, he wanted it to be him. But how could someone as pretty and graceful as Tiara fall for a misshapen being such as himself? For so long he'd wanted to hold his Princess, to kiss her as Kagetsu had done. But pure loyalty to her and longing for her happiness over his own made him keep back. The only time he ever came close to giving in to his urges was that rainy night after she'd gotten out of solitary, when she was punishing him for fighting Kagetsu in the field. All he wanted was to warn her that something was wrong, she could very well be letting her spirit be broken, and in the end it got him wounded. "I'm sorry to hear about what happened between you and Kagetsu, never wanted you to have to go through so much, but I hope you can find your happiness with this new person. You can count on me to assist you in any way I can." His smile began to turn downward,

"Graham, don't look at me like that," she told him, "You look much better when you smile, seeing that puts me at ease. I know, I wasn't the best of people in those last few days, chalk it up to the stress over the mission, and the festival. I didn't want to hear something else was wrong, not wanting to deal with another set of problems. So, I ignored the talk about how Kagetsu was acting strange, wanted things to be as normal as possible in my love life, at least until my stress was gone. Maybe, if I had listened, we all could have figured something out together. But now, things have gone too far to go back to how it was."

They looked at each other for a few moments, neither wanting to take their eyes off the other. Graham wished Tiara would just tell him what he could do for her, and Tiara was trying to find the right words to say to her Partner. It was lucky that Japolo was asleep, else he'd be putting his two cents in as well.

"Graham, I would like to tell you something, very important. Since the day you died, although I did not give into my grief, I was upset. I had never told you how sorry I was, never made up with you for the fight we had. But as time went on, I began thinking differently. This was not the only thing I never told you. I should have realized it long ago, but I was too stubborn to let the thought cross my mind. Graham, I am in love with you," she blurted out. Immediately, Tiara turned crimson with embarrassment over her words.

Graham's mind screamed out to him, telling him that it was ok to give into his secret longing. So he walked over to her, and took the young Princess in his arms. Then, he whispered, "So do I, Tiara."

* * *

Meanwhile, Leon and Lena were sitting around, in her room, finishing up some analysis on the Mihan battle tactics. Lena figured that if they thought things through, perhaps they stood a fighting chance against the enemy. But, sadly, it wasn't looking good. Blind luck and Tiara's rage over Graham's injury had caused the last big one to fall, but what if many of those ones attacked? There might not be any hope for her and Leon, as they were only here to use diversionary tactics in case Tiara was greatly outnumbered.

Leon was worried, his lady might die soon. He could care less if it was him, but Miss Lena needed to live on. This mission was way above all of their levels, the only reason Tiara became on par was her new powers as Divine Sorceress coming through. Soon, there might not be another chance to talk to Lena, to tell her how he really felt. Tonight may just as well have been his last chance, but he felt all tongue tied. Just like every other time he tried to tell Lena what was on his mind. He was afraid of stepping out of line and making her feel uncomfortable about things, even if he had to suffer more as a result of his own silence.

Lena looked over, wondering what was wrong with him. "Leon, are you ok? Worried about the fight with the Mihan. All we need is for Tiara to gain the Divine Sorceress skill, and then for Sienna to defeat the Mihan. But they may just as well fight us before that comes into play. I don't know what to do then."

"Miss Lena," he replied, "I. . .I have something I need to say to you. As you know, tomorrow is the day that Tiara and Sienna perform the transfer. After that, we will be free of this mission. But what if we are attacked before the potion can be finished? You might be killed, or maybe just me alone. Either way, I may never get another chance. . .to tell you how I feel. I love you, Miss Lena, ever since the day we first met."

Lena looked shocked, Leon was in love with her? She sorted out every hint she had received in the past. First, he always wanted to fight in her place, even as he was being beaten up. Lena failed to notice how convenient it was, since she didn't like fighting to the extent that Tiara did. Second, he went on that crazy mission to save Sara, going against the Elder and everything. Japolo had told her that when Tiara courted the idea of helping Kagetsu he'd yelled at her. Finally, he gave into ever request she ever had, no matter how petty, without an argument. Like when he was asked to stop smoking back in the Other World.

"I. . .I never knew you felt like this," she whispered. All this time, she had been trying to find a way to tell Kagetsu how she felt, with no idea whether or not he still liked Tiara. But she had someone even closer to her who felt that way, that she couldn't see due to her dreams. With Kagetsu in the mountains, that obstacle seemed to be much further away, like a giant hurdle had been shrunk down to mouse size.

As Leon looked away, thinking he had brought discomfort to his lady, Lena told him, "Don't worry about a thin. Maybe, I feel the same way. This all seems like it pieces together a puzzle, you have always acted out of love for me. Just give me some time, Leon, this thought has never entered my mind before."

It was time for bed, and Leon was returning to his own room. Like Graham's, it was adjacent to the one inhabited by Lena. But as he went there, he could swear that his lady smiled at him through the door.

- - - -

Teefa's Last Word…

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…the sweet sound of love in the air. I just adore mush.