Chapter three

Maron realized only afterwards that she had, somewhere deep down inside, almost expected a pair of rings instead. It would not have surprised her one bit, and though the memories of the last ring she wore were painful, a new one might have softened the chaotic past. But now might not be the time for that.

"Thanks," she said and picked out one of the white hearts.

Chiaki took the one that had laid beside piece which Maron choose. He put it into his mouth normally this time, watching the girl beside him as she bit of smaller bits of the heart. She returned the gaze, suspicion and amusement creating a strange mix in the back of her eyes.

Fin noticed the change in the air first, and looked up at the two humans.

"Eep!" she whispered.

For once, Access surprised her. When she turned to him with the plan of dragging him off, he was already in the air and signaling at her to silently follow him. Fin nodded and flapped her wings. The two angels floated towards the balcony…

… they returned, picked up the marzipan bar, and finally left through the open door to continue feasting someplace where they would not be in the way.

Maron never noticed them go, too aware of the blush creeping onto her face as Chiaki continued to watch her. It had been pleasantly long since the boy last made her flustered, but now, in a situation far less uncomfortable than many other encounters had been, her cool bearings began to crack again.

She expected him to point out the suspected sign of affection, but surprisingly he completely ignored the chance to tease. Instead he broke the lock of their stares to put the chocolate box on the table, and as he leant back he rested his head against the backrest and closed his eyes. The deep breath he released through his nose sounded less a sigh, more an underline of his letting go of any remaining tension. He was completely at ease.

It could only be called a disappointment.

She hesitated, knowing Chiaki well enough to be certain that this was not at all like him. Was he planning something?

But as she kept looking at him, noticing the healing scratches on his face after the battles mere hours ago, she could not find any trace of a veiled scheme or expectation. Peculiar, since he never waited – only acted with more or less sense in his plans. Seldom to never on the receiving end. Heh, when he got that kiss on the cheek he became so surprised that he forgot about the demons around him…

… ah.

Maron softly bit her own cheek as the thought continued, bringing up a memory from the last battle.

"Would you be satisfied if He just gave you happiness? Do you just want to stay on the receiving end?"

She had been the one saying that. And in a way, what was the difference between such a relationship between God and his creatures, and a relationship between two humans?

Because of her own insecurity and fear of trusting Chiaki before she knew the truth about Fin and the demons, she never did thank him for using himself as a human shield over and over and over again to protect her.

That was not quite fair at all. Her decision to believe in and taking care of herself had nothing to do with it. The pang of guilt only intensified when she looked back on all the trouble he had gone through and remembered that he never once complained for his own sake.

An irritated voice in the back of her head pointed out that he hardly had been graceful about telling her what had really been going on, but it was not hardly loud enough to survive the uncomfortable thoughts filling Maron's mind.

Now she did know where both of them stood however, and she did not have to worry about being in love with Chiaki anymore. And pride or not, he had done far more for her than she could ever consider asking of him.

Chiaki heard cloth rustling against the armchair as Maron moved, but he still did not expect the weight on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and blinked like an owl as Maron's fringe tickled his ear and cheek, a few more locks of her hair falling down over his chest. A warm arm slipped in between his neck and the backrest, and he turned his head to rest his cheek against the top of the young woman's head.

For a moment an instinct similar to that of a gentleman's nudged at him to murmur a thanks for her sudden verification of affection, but the in-joke between the two Kaitos simply could not allow such a thing.

His position turned out to be a little awkward when he tried to loop an arm around Maron's shoulders, but a quick repositioning from both of them solved that within seconds. A sofa did sound like a nice alternative though, with the armrests of the chairs being in the way for the two love birds. Despite this, they settled on simply leaning on each other as well as the current situation allowed.

Chiaki felt quite content with the closeness, and simply letting the soft smell of Maron fill his nostrils. She broke the comfortable silence, however.

"I caused you a lot of trouble…"

It startled him and he looked at her, but could not catch Maron's gaze. All he saw was that she resolutely stared straight ahead. The sudden change sent a cold chill down his spine.

"No you didn't," he said, almost too quickly.

"Yes I did."

"How?"

That at least caused her to turn her head and scowl at him. Making progress now, if not an up going one.

"You kept dashing in to help me, and I just yelled at you," she said.

Chiaki blinked. This conversation was not what he had expected so soon after their victory, and insecurity caused him to retreat to teasing – even though major parts of his brain screamed that there were far wiser things he could do.

"I figured that was because you got sick and tired of my idea of repayment," he said.

Her brow twitched. Not a good sign.

Clearing his throat, Chiaki tried to suppress the anxiety which threatened to cause more trouble than it already had. He dropped the half-snicker and gravely looked at Maron.

"You did have reasons to be angry, though," he said.

He reached out and put his free hand on her cheek, keeping his gaze locked on hers as he continued to speak.

"I should have told you the truth right there by the church, when you asked me if you could really trust me. It was playing dirty not to."

There was no way she could argue against him when he admitted something such an apparent fact.

"Why didn't you?"

Maron surprised herself with her calm voice. She kept looking at Chiaki, just like him refusing to even turn away.

He opened his mouth, closed it again and shook his head.

"I wasn't thinking clearly right then," he said, "I was angry at Hijiri-sen- Noin, and then when you were finally listening to me…"

There was a brief pause as Chiaki closed his eyes and resolutely took in a deep breath. As if searching for a secure point in the moment, he rubbed his thumb against Maron's cheek. Mere moments passed, and finally he met her gaze again.

"You were finally understanding that I was sincere," he said, "telling you that I was Sinbad might have made you angry at me again, and I was frightened to think of that."

Maron tilted her head slightly, studying his scowl. This was flirty, confident and arrogant Chiaki, admitting he had been terrified of her anger – a deed which sent an embarrassed hint of red across his grim face.

She could not recall ever before thinking he was so cute. It was irresistible.

With one arm still behind Chiaki's neck, she reached out her other arm and placed a hand on the opposite armrest. The young man's stern look cracked into confusion as Maron heaved herself forwards and around. Unsure of what she was doing, he moved both arms around her shoulders to steady her in whatever she was up to.

The ending result turned out to be her sitting half on the armrest, half on his lap, her legs crossing his. With a slightly nervous smile she wound her arms around his neck and leaned at him again.

Chiaki shifted, but only after debating within himself for a while if he really dared to, simply because Maron's position quite painfully pinched his calf. As soon as he had moved a little ways away from the armrest the sting dissipated and completely disappeared from his memory.

Both of them dearly hoped that the other one could not hear their racing hearts. With Maron's forehead against his throat, though, Chiaki had little hope. But he soon got other things on his mind.

"I wasn't fair to you either, after that," Maron mumbled, showering his skin with her warm breath.

Now if only she would want to talk about more pleasant things, he would have been the happiest youngster in the world…

But though it frustrated him for a brief moment, Chiaki finally decided to surrender and let the discussion continue. He would have needed to be completely deaf not to notice that Maron's tone clearly signaled how important this was to her.

Maron expected Chiaki to try to change the subject, but even if he did she would not allow it. She did in no way want to risk that memories like these would lie in wait, buried in their memories and only waiting to explode into arguments. She knew the risk about that all too well, having heard her parents rage against each other over trivialities blown into horrifying proportions.

"That's the same as with the truth about me," Chiaki said, "it was my fault from the beginning."

He surprised her a little with continuing on the subject, but it was a good surprise. That did in no way cut her off, however.

"I was stupid," she insisted, "you helped me all the time. And even when you said you had approached me because I was Jeanne but changed your reason for fighting, I should have remembered that I changed my opinion about you over time, too."

Breathing deeply Chiaki tightened his grip of Maron, who more or less gasped for air after letting her confession out in only a couple of breaths.

"You were confused," he murmured, voice almost breaking with emotion.

Maron nodded, an awkward movement due to their positions.

"Yes, but… still…"

She sighed. Briefly she wondered if she should tell him about how Noin, as Hijiri-sensei, had coaxed her into listening to Chiaki by the church. In the end she decided to save that truth for later, however. It felt wrong to bring up one whom had fought against them but then died for their sake, right then.

Instead she picked another painful topic to finally stab all insecurity to death.

"I had a nightmare after we tried to make up," she said in a low voice.

A warm hand caressed its way over Maron's neck and to the back of her head, fingertips gently massaging her skull. The softly rasping sound of rustling hair filled her ears and she closed her eyes.

"I dreamt I was Jeanne d'Arc," she murmured, "and a knight protected me from an arrow by letting himself be hit. But when I tried to help him to his feet he drew his sword and slashed at me…"

She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but her mouth was too dry. The fingertips had stopped moving.

"Then he told me that I must never trust anybody, and he had the most hideous smirk… and then his helmet and armor disappeared, and it was you as Sinbad who smirked down at me…"

Almost all air was forced out of her lungs when Chiaki's arms fiercely clenched around her, but despite this and the fire under her skin she gasped out:

"… and I was burned at the stake…"

She hardly heard herself, for Chiaki's cheek was pressed against hers and he held her so tightly that there almost was a risk that she would be crushed.

"Maron, I would never, ever… would never… Maron…"

His voice wavered and faltered into a dying croak. Shaken, Maron clutched his neck, rubbing her cheek against his. She had never seen him hurt so much, and it was her fault.

"I know, Chiaki, I know, it was just a dream, I'm sorry…" she hoarsely whispered.

It took them several minutes to calm themselves down, never letting go of each other for a moment. When she finally felt Chiaki begin to relax, Maron moved a hand to his other cheek.

"I'm sorry, Chiaki, I never thought you'd-"

"No…"

He placed his own hand over hers.

"It's better that I know than that you hide stuff like that," he said.

Finally he could look her in the eye again, darker brown eyes reflecting lighter.

"I have no more secrets," he said, "I don't want there to be anymore between us."

With a brave little smile, Maron nodded.

She reached up, and Chiaki bent his neck while carefully changing his grip to support her. The kiss tasted sweetly from the chocolate they had both eaten.

It had been too long, and too much pain since the last one. Only desperate need for air could make them break it, and as soon as they had caught their breath again they leant in for another.

Eventually Maron sank back against Chiaki's chest with a soft smile on her lips, while his fingers gently tangled themselves in her hair.

They sat like that for a while, merely being at peace with each other and the world.

Maron looked up as she heard a light chuckle.

"What?" she asked.

Chiaki grinned slightly. It looked almost as if he tried to keep his lips under control despite his amusement. With a pang of renewed guilt Maron realized that he worried about reminding her about the smirk in her dream. He did not let her linger on that, however.

"I just realized how silly it was for you to be scared of Sinbad, even in a dream," he said.

Maron raised an eyebrow. Chuckling again, Chiaki lifted his free hand and lightly pressed his pointing finger against the tip of her nose.

"You were worried about being weak, when you have to have the most guts of any girl I've ever known," he said.

"How so?" Maron said.

She turned her head away from his finger, but it was as playfully as he had poked her.

"When I saved you from the trap hole at the working site, you never hesitated to say that you'd do anything to repay me," Chiaki said, "and that despite the fact that you thought I worked for the Devil! If that isn't brave I don't know what is."

"Could be stupid," Maron said.

"Or honorable."

"Yeah, that sounds better."

They looked at each other and laughed.

Even as he chuckled, Chiaki bent down and kissed Maron's brow.

"We're going to be just fine…" she murmured.

"Yeah…"

Chiaki smiled against her hair.

"I've gotten the most elusive beauty tonight," he whispered.

"Oh, you…"

Softly laughing, Maron hugged herself closer and rested her head on his shoulder again.

Just fine, together.

End.