Disclaimer: I don't own Sakura wars or anything related to it. I'm just a big fan. I do however own my story line. The story might contain sexual scenes. If you are underage you'd better stop here. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story, have fun :)

This story wouldn't be born if it weren't for my good friend BENJI HIMURA, who helped me write a great deal of it.Here I want to give him special credits and thanks from the bottom of my heart. Domo arigato gozaimasu sensei!

Please read and review, no matter good or bad. Well, enjoy!

Chapter 1 The Darkness Of The Night

The city of Teito is peacefully asleep. Nothing disturbed its heavenly slumber. Everybody is drifting in the fairy land of dreams. Everybody, but a tormented soul. In the moonlit park of the TeiGeki leaning on a tall Sakura tree, Maria is questioning the stars.

"Why is this world so cruel? Why do I feel so weak? What is this that makes me feel this way? If only you were here to tell me, my captain..." she almost cried out loud.

A dark silhouette was crossing the park grounds, heading towards the jade eyed Russian. Her senses clouded by her pain, she couldn't even feel him approaching.

"Maria-kun..." Ohgami said moving closer to her in soft and careful steps "...I would like to talk with you."

She turned around in shock that she was not alone and probably someone had heard her words.

"Taichou, what are you doing here at this hour?"

"I couldn't sleep..." he said softly stopping in front of her, intruding just a bit her personal space. "...there is an important matter that I couldn't take of my mind."

"C-can I help you with something?" she asked friendly still unable to recover from the shock of his intruding on her thoughts and feeling a bit uncomfortable of the small space between them.

"If you hear me out and give me an honest answer you would have helped me." Ohgami whispered to her, softly blushing. "I would ask you only to listen to me until I finish before answering me."

"You can count on me taichou..." Maria replied barely heard, taken aback by the softness in his voice and the warm look in his eyes. "I'll do my best."

The young man smiled softly at her and looked into the emerald pools of her eyes.

"Since I first came to the Hanagumi I felt this..." he said softly not moving his eyes from hers "…feeling. A part of me was constantly telling me to speak my feelings out loud and assume them with pride. But a stronger part of me kept that part in check, preventing me from doing so for the sake of the team..."

She gave out a confused look with a half open mouth trying hard to keep her promise not to interrupt him.

"I tried hard to think of my feelings only as companionship and respect." he added with his voice not much louder than a whisper. "But the more I kept those feeling buried inside my chest, the stronger they grew. And time after time in uncountable days I watched them grow stronger when near of..." he stopped summoning all his courage and bravery to put his emotions into words.

Maria tried hard not to speak and tears started falling from her jade eyes when she began to understand Ohgami's pain as somewhere deep inside she felt the same.

"Maria, what I am trying to say is that since I first arrived I am in love with you." the spike haired man said in a soft but yet strong tone.

That final sentence was too much for the blond woman and the way he called her was the last drop. Her silent tears turned into sobs. Trying to hide her feelings and embarrassed she had shown them, she ran in the darkness of the night. Ohgami ran after her. If his confession had hurt her so much he would beg for her forgiveness. A gentle wind was blowing in the warm spring night. She just ran. No direction, no path, not even a thought. She just had to get away, from all the pain, from all the tears, the sleepless night, the torture, from him, from herself, from her heart… Maria's tears had clouded her eyes. She couldn't see where she was going and tripped over a small stone. She fell on her knees, still crying.

"Maria, are you hurt?" Ohgami asked with worry kneeling in front of her. His heart ached seeing the jade eyed Russian's crying face. He softly touched her left cheek under her shining blonde hair and wiped gently the tears with his thumb.

"I am sorry that I caused you pain Maria." he said with a weak and sorrowful voice.

The young woman softly put her hand over his, preventing him from moving it away from her pale skin. Her face showed a mixture of pleasure and pain. Hot streams wet Ohgami's hand. She closed her eyes.

"Why... I do not deserve all this... I am NOT worthy of such love!" she almost screamed.

"Maria you are worth. Don't think badly of yourself." said the spike haired man in a gentle and soothing tone. "I love you. Nothing will change that."

He reached for her free hand and gently removed her glove before lacing his fingers with hers, feeling the warmth of her slender hand.

"Maria, I love you for who you are. I want to stay with you."

She looked straight into his jet black eyes, her own filled with warmth he couldn't imagine. Her soul was torn in a bitter struggle. She didn't want to move from his loving arm, yet a part of her screamed to run away, as far away as she could.

"I love you too Ichiro... I realize now that I've fallen in love with you the first time I ever saw your face, your eyes..." she said as if in a dream. "How could it be... What happened to my feelings for Yuri... I feel so confused..." her voice was different. It was like another person was speaking.

Ohgami's heart filled with happiness, hearing that she also loved him. His face lit up, his eyes were glowing, reflecting the joy his entire being was basking in.

"Maria I don't know what to say to help you now. But I will be here for you." he said gently. "If you want to talk, I'm here and I will do my best to help you sort your feelings." he softly caressed her cheek with his palm.

She stood in silence. Her thoughts flew to another place and time, to the cold Russian winter.

"He told me then... when he died in my arms, that he wasn't the one for me, that he wasn't my other half, my soul mate... that the love of my life waited for me somewhere in my future... No, that's not possible, could he be right?... Could it be you?..."

She looked at her young captain in shock as she just realized that she had spoken her thoughts out loud. Afraid of his reaction she tried to run away again. Like she always did. Before Maria could run away, Ohgami held her tight in a hug, not willing to let her go. She slowly collapsed in his arms.

"Please Maria, stop running away." he softly whispered to her. "I will be here for you."

"No... You can't. …We can't..." she cried, trying to break free from his arms.

"Shhh... It is okay Maria." he whispered. "We can be together. We must be together. We love each other." he hugged her tighter. "You deserve to be happy. And I want to make you happy."

"I don't! I DON'T have the right to be... I'll make you miserable, you do not deserve that..." she cried in an attempted anger but his look soothed her. "We will destroy everything, the team, the war, Teito... we can't allow that to happen, we are their leaders... we can't…" bitter tears started falling from her emerald eyes once more.

Gathering his feelings Ohgami kissed Maria, pouring all his emotions into this gesture of love. At first puzzled, she responded to his kiss with all her flair. He softly caressed the back of her neck gently tickling with the tip of his fingers. Her tongue tenderly chased his in a dance of passion, while her white fingers played with his black spiked hair. The young captain smiled inwardly, happy to feel Maria responding to his affection. He kissed her even deeper, pouring more feelings and pressure in the kiss. After what felt like forever Maria parted her lips from his. She smiled looking in his eyes then lowered hers.

"I don't deserve you. You're too good for me... Thank you for this moment of bliss... but I am not worthy of such love..."

"Please don't do this to yourself." Ohgami whispered to her with a hint of sadness. "Maria I won't let you do this to yourself. The more you say that you are unworthy, the more I want to hold you, kiss you, love you until you forget those sad memories and leave this bitterness." the back eyed man's voice was full of honesty and love.

He cupped her chin gently making her turn to him and softly kissed her tearful eyes:

"I won't let you cry anymore."

Maria shivered with pleasure in his arms.

"I've dreamed of you... I spent my sleepless nights with the dream of your warm embrace, of your deep eyes... with the sent of your hair, your skin... the soothing feeling of your breath… The beauty of your soul moved me like I never thought I could be moved... You have so much... and I'm nothing, I don't have anything to offer... just a cold heartless soul, an empty shell... I care about you too much, to disappoint you like that..." she said, avoiding his look.

Ohgami cut her words with a quick kiss breaking it after a second. "All that you say Maria is wrong." he whispered gently looking at her jade tearful eyes. "You are crying saying that you are cold and heartless, you are trying to convince me of something that you clearly aren't. And the more you do that, the more tears you shed, the more I see the scared woman inside you. I want to help you, to love you, to make your fears go away. The more you try convincing me, the more I see through your actions. Let me love you Maria. Allow me to give you my love."

"Do you really mean that..." she said almost as a whisper, taken aback by his words. Her eyes shined, reflecting all his love.

"Yes. I mean it all Maria." he answered softly looking into her jade pools. "Let me love you."

Gaining strength from his words, feeling light as the night air, she took him aback with a passionate kiss. Ohgami happily responded to her kiss, glad to see Maria taking the first move. He deepened it, crushing her body on his. She slowly gave in to his love. Her courage grew stronger and she gently began to caress his back with the tip of her fingers, moving lower and lower. The spike haired man softly slid his hands caressing her back and sides with his palms. He gently ran his finger tips down her spine while twirling his tongue with hers. Maria broke the kiss still keeping her face close to his, letting him breathe her breath then she tenderly licked his lips with the tip of her tongue. After a few rounds, her mouth moved slowly to his closed eyes leaving a hot wet trail on his cheeks. Ohgami shivered with pleasure. He softly slid one of his hands upwards and affectionately caressed Maria's white neck and collar bone with feather light touches. He softly puffed a breath in the blonde's ear before lightly nibbling her earlobe. She gave out a blissful moan, tilting her head back so he could caress her neck... She placed her hand on his chest slowly removing his shirt so she could slide in and feel his skin... The black eyed captain slowly moved his lips downwards giving Maria light kisses on the chin while moving to her neck softly licking and kissing the tender flesh over her throat. This pleasure was too much for her. She lost her balance and fell on her knees in the grass. Ohgami kneeled facing her.

"Maria you are hurt?" he asked with worry in his voice.

"Not while you're around..." she smiled, taking his hand in hers. "Looking in your eyes makes all the hurt in the world go away."

He smiled back at her. "I am so happy to hear that, Maria." Ohgami said to her, giving her a light kiss on her forehead. "I love when you smile."

She leaned to him and whispered in his ear "I love the way you love me..."

The jade eyed woman softly placed her head on his chest so she could hear the beating of his heart. He gently wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.

"I love you. I love you so much that I can't find any word that is even close of describing it. I just love you so much." Ohgami whispered softly in her ear.

Maria gently enveloped his lips with hers, moving closer in his embrace.

"Aishiteru taichou..." she said softly in between the light kisses.

"Aishiteru Maria." the young captain said, pulling her into their third kiss.

"Ichiro..." she moaned softly. "Make this night forever... please". Her tears of joy wet his chest while she gently caressed his hair and the back of his neck.

"I will." Ohgami whispered, kissing her gently and lovingly. "But we can't, not in here."

"I don't care... it doesn't matter anymore. This night belongs to you and me... to us." the blond Russian said, her jade eyes filled with love. She cuddled in his bosom softly brushing her pale hand to his cheek.

"I care. Because if someone talks ill of you my beloved, I will not forgive that person." he whispered to her before kissing her once more. "I will do anything for you."

She kissed him passionately not letting him break that bond. After a minute or so, she stopped to catch her breath.

"Then forget about everything and everyone Ichiro-sama... This is a night out of time..."

"Just Ichiro, Maria." Ohgami said before kissing her. "For you I am just Ichiro." he softly caressed her cheek while kissing her again.

"You're my knight in shining armor, my prince..." she stood up and faced him, moving her face closer so their foreheads gently touched. Looking in his jet black eyes, she whispered:

"You're the sun in my day, the gentle breeze, you're the air that I breath, you're my whole being, you're my soul, you're my life... my love." as she moved closer he felt her breath tickling his lips before she sealed them in a warm deep kiss. Ohgami responded to the kiss softly wrapping his arms around her slender waist pulling her close. Unable to vocalize his feelings his poured them into the kiss, making it more passionate and intense. She didn't want to let go, she is melting into him, burring her fingers in his hair. She strived for air, yet still she didn't want to break the kiss. Ohgami kissed her deeper, softly pulling his breath thru his nose. He breathes out through his nose softly tickling Maria's skin with his warm breath, hoping that his lover will catch his hint, since he is unwilling to break the kiss for air. She drank his air unable to catch her breath otherwise due to her sobs. It felt so good, a warm wave shook her body. They broke the kiss at the same time, parting just faintly their lips, enough for some air to fill their flaming bodies.

"Let's run away... just for tonight." she whispered silently in his mouth.

Ohgami nodded softly. "Yes, let's go." he whispered back to her. "Maybe we can run away again in the future. Because I won't let you go."

"But we have a responsibility, we cannot run forever... We must not let our love distract us from our duties..." she said staring at the darkness with a sad note in her voice.

"We won't run forever. Just in the nights." the spike haired man said to her gently, making her look at him. "We will return in the mornings."

Maria smiled. "You are right my love... I can't imagine falling asleep away from your arms or waking up far from your eyes."

"I can't imagine the same. Now I just want to have you in my arms and stare in your beautiful eyes." the young man whispered gently smiling back at her.

"Only that..." she said with a sexy smirk on her lips, teasing him.

"Those are the ones that I can name and do in the open." he replied, gently licking her lips. "Now between four walls things will change."

"Show me... take me away... all my being desires your flame, your touch..." she whispered firmly pulling him closer.

"Not here, koi." Ohgami whispered softly. "If you keep doing that I will lose my last reason. Let's go to some place else and I will happily fulfill your request and show you the depth of my love."

"I'll follow you to the end of the earth."

The young man picked up his lover in a sudden movement, making the blonde let out a tiny cry of surprise. She wrapped her arms around his neck in fear of falling. But she noticed that she won't fall because he will not let her go and she snuggled in his chest while he walked to the garage to get his steam motorcycle so they could leave the theater and focus only on they undying love.

Author's note:

koi (Japanese) – love. It's short from koibito, which means lover. /Arigato Benji-sensei.;)/