Happiness Everlasting…
By
Black Corvid
Disclaimer:
Don't own Angel Sanctuary, I just loved the OVA and the manga which where this story takes place. This story is sort of my continuation to it after the last chapter. If you haven't read it then I suggest you do get your hands on it, the drawing is superb and stunning.
Chapter 1
Moonlight shining in from the half drawn window bathed the room in as semi-white light glow but it was the side that caused no disturbance to the two lovers sleeping soundly on the bed which was still shrouded by darkness inside.
It had been a long day for the two of them and as they nestled themselves deep inside the warm blanket and also in each other's arms, they lay in blissful sleep.
They had been through trails that would put all the angels in heaven and all the demons in hell to shame, but all that mattered was that in the end they had survived those trails and their love grew even deeper then it initially had been because of it.
But those were trails of past and as they lay asleep the trials of the future lay ahead, for certain that they have passed the trails of heaven and hell but now they had the trials of the lands they call home.
Should be simple when compared to what the two of them had been through but then again nothing in life is for certain, for all their previous efforts they are still bonded by the blood that flows in them.
The blood bond of siblings, for they are still in the eyes of society brother and sister and nothing could change that fact.
Setsuna and Sara didn't exactly know how long they've been gone from Earth but after their long hug within the abandoned warehouse they made their way to Setsuna's apartment. It was after all the only place available to them at the time.
The two then stayed inside Setsuna's for most of the remainder of the day, contented with the moment. Their time spent mostly on exchanging warm affectionate embraces and kisses that were as long as their breaths would allow.
And when night came Sara made a simple dinner of some canned soup and bread thatSetsuna had brought from a nearby convenience store. They choose not to talk much for they sort of knew that it might lead to the conversation that they were saving for another day.
The conversation that neither one of them wanted to have but knew that they must face. The conversation of 'what now?' and 'where do we go from here?'
As deep as their love for each other ran the time they had spent in heaven and hell had thought them not to take things at face value. This experience instilled an understanding in them which went way beyond Setsuna's sixteen years and Sara's fifteen years of living.
After their quiet dinner, Sara showered and changed into a fresh pair of t-shirt and sweatpants and tiredly climbed into her aniki's bed waiting for him to finish. And when he walked back in Setsuna almost tripped over his own two feet at the sight of Sara waiting for him in bed before him, his cause not helped but her innocent patting of the small empty space beside her.
But Setsuna wasn't one to ever refuse Sara's wishes and dutifully climbed in beside her and after a few subtle shifts of their bodies they found a position that suited them both.
After a few minutes of silence between them Sara as if sensing what he was going to say, "We can talk tomorrow…right now lets just enjoy tonight, please?" as she pleadingly stared right into Setsuna's eyes.
He nodded in compliance for her wish was his command so he said nothing. Not too long afterwards they fell to the calls of sleep, encased tightly in each other's hold.
Kurai for the nth time poked at her rather uneaten plate of dinner with Noise sitting not too far besides her looking on with protracted interest. The dragon princess had barely spoken a word since her return from Earth.
Her rather forced but willing separation from the messiah didn't come easy for Kurai but her plans to fulfill her promise to him were already in place. The faster she could rebuild her kingdom meant the faster she would see him again once more.
And by her rough calculations and conversions between Earth and Hell time she could well be seeing Setsuna once more after two to three Earth years.
'And by then I would have grown into a woman…' she whispered to herself.
Next morning, Setsuna stirred lightly from his sleep and tried his best not to wake the sleeping golden-haired haired girl as he got off the bed. It was barely a quarter to seven in the morning and no matter how hard he wanted to go back to sleep Setsuna knew that he needed some time to contemplate, alone.
Making his way out to the kitchen where he figured he could at least be useful and boil some water to make some tea for them beforehand as he thought things out and did truth be told the young man did have a lot of things on his plate right at that moment.
He knew that Sara couldn't go back to her old school anymore, heck it was almost as dangerous to even go to any other school in the Tokyo area period. The same went for him to but his welfare was put aside for the still sleeping girl in the other room.
Setsuna believed that the best route for them was to go somewhere as far as they could and maybe start afresh. They had toyed with the idea the first time when they had escaped Tokyo but that little trip was achieved with Kira's wad of money.
He still had a little of it left but that barely covered a ticket to get to anywhere significant. As he watched the fire underneath the kettle he wondered how the others were doing.
'They should be fine…you have to worry about yourselves firstly, don't you think?' Setsuna asked deep inside of himself.
After the water had boiled Setsuna snapped out of his little daze and turned off the fire and proceeded to walk off to the other side of the apartment to where his father's room was. He was luckily still on his business trip and would be another week before he comes back.
Setsuna breathed a sigh of relief as he found his father's room door unlocked and as he slowly walked in he went straight to his father's dresser.
'I know it's here somewhere…' mumbled Setsuna as he tried to find the object that might help the sibling's cause of escape.
"Found it…" exclaimed the young man as he dug out a bankbook.
It was his savings bankbook and well other then the fact that he had never even bothered to see how much he actually had in it this was sort of the moment of truth for him.
Cautiously opening the first page, Setsuna prayed that it was going to be enough and as he flipped through the small book he couldn't help feel that he had a lot of making up to do with his father.
After the divorce, Setsuna and his father didn't exactly have the perfect father and son relationship but it was more to do with his father's constant traveling then Setsuna's own liability.
Never though did Setsuna complain once, he knew that in order to have a roof over his head, clothes to wear, food at the table and a school to attend his father had to accept the job that paid well but involved a lot of cross country traveling.
Sara's child support had figured into the mix as well and Setsuna had always asked his father to pay that off first before making their monthly household budget. He was always willing to sacrifice something here and there just to make Sara's support payments in full.
Setsuna had a more then adequate bank account to pay for tickets and maybe a deposit on a small apartment but since he was still underage he needed his father's signature to withdraw the money.
"Wait…I remember dad used to keep a small amount of money somewhere in the house just in case mother would suddenly come up and ask for some money…" he uttered, "Problem is…where is it?"
Back in the bedroom, Sara shifted slightly to her left and instead of grabbing onto a warm body all she found was cold emptiness. As her eyes slowly opened to see for herself Sara then found Setsuna to be missing from the room.
Sleepily she started to make her way out of the room to find her missing lover and also to maybe try and persuade him to get back into bed. She was beginning to like the idea of sleeping next to Setsuna more and more.
After looking around in the kitchen, bathroom and living room with still no sign of the boy Sara made her way over to the other side of the apartment and just as she was about to walk pass an open door she suddenly bumped into someone.
The collision wasn't that hard just surprising as the two youths stood back a little and looked at each other.
"Sara…don't surprise me like that…" Setsuna panted as he bent down to pick up the fallen object.
"What's that you have there, onii-chan?"
"Well, you said we were going to have that 'talk' today remember?"
Sara nodded, how could she forget it, the talk was about their future after all.
"This may just make things a little easier for us…" he replied while taking her hand into his leading her back out to the living room, "And since you're up already why don't you clean up while I'd make us some breakfast…"
So with a breakfast of tea and some sandwiches the two sat down on the small round dining table staring at the red metal box with had a combination lock on it.
Sara looked back to Setsuna puzzlingly and then to the box, to her it looked like one of those boxes that people normally put important things in.
Setsuna was busily munching on a sandwich whist his hands were fiddling with the 4-digit combination lock. He had so far tried his father's and his own birthday, and after dialing in Sara's figuring that it had to be the one he cussed lightly yet loud enough for Sara to hear.
"Having a little problem, onii-chan?" she teasingly asked in a long dragged out tone.
Setsuna quickly shot her a raised brow, "It's this damn lock…I've tried my birthday year, father's and even yours. But it won't open…" he even gave the metal box a slap just to show how upset he was at the thing.
"Here let me try something…" Sara then took hold of the box and slowly dialed a number into the lock and as she pressed the button the lock opened, "Tada…" she loudly smiled back at him.
Setsuna sat there flabbergasted, "How did you do that…?"
Sara's eyes twinkled, "Magic…?"
He wasn't impressed, "It was mother's birth year." Sara divulged in the end.
The boy's eyes darkened, he had always suspected that his father still loved the woman who hated him for everything he was.
Sara sensed this and took hold of her only love's hand, "I know father still loves mother very much and that's why he agreed to the divorce so easily even accepting her accusations of him having an affair as grounds for the divorce."
"Whatever…" huffed Setsuna as he brought the box over to open it.
Setsuna had guessed correctly that the box did contain money but judging by how many bills he could see just not as much as he would have hoped for.
"But where can we go…?" he whispered to himself as he counted the amount of the money.
The money was probably about enough to buy two tickets to some far off place and maybe a couple of week worth of food but it was their living arrangements that he was worried about.
Maybe the Angels in heaven took pity on the pair as a loud thunk echoed around the apartment.
"That's odd, father told the newspaper delivery man that he wouldn't be in for a few weeks…" uttered Setsuna as he walked over to the door.
And sure enough it was the morning edition newspaper that was collected from the mail container. Setsuna figured that since it's already been delivered he might as well make use of it and catch up on current events.
Sara was washing the dishes while Setsuna read the newspaper out loudly for Sara.
"White feathers falling from skies above Tokyo. A miracle of God or sign of the Apocalypse?" Setsuna read out with a smirk on his face.
"Mystical creature from fairy tales seen flying above the skies of Tokyo. Proof that dragons really exists?" read another.
The two couldn't help giggling at the exuberant headlines, for only the two of them knew the real truth behind the words created by human minds.
Sara though behind the laugh couldn't help feeling slightly guilty, she knew fully well the dragon probably belonged to Kurai and after the conversation they had shared about Setsuna she still couldn't forgive herself for saying those harsh words to her.
"Sara…! Come here this looks really promising…!" shouted Setsuna over from the table.
Drying her hands on a kitchen towel Sara quickly made her way over to Setsuna's side to see what he wanted to show her.
Setsuna had been scanning the newspaper when a half page editorial caught his eye. It was about a town in the Hokkaido region what stood out to Setsuna was that it was a town that suited their requirements to start a life together.
It was a remote town of around less then fifty thousand and was so far off that no one would know who they were. Since it was a farming town Setsuna could get a job helping out in the fields while Sara continues with her studies.
"Sara…this place I think we might start out afresh here, I mean no one knows who we really are so you know we can…" the puzzling look on Sara's face stopped Setsuna from talking any further.
"Is something the matter, Sara?"
The long golden haired girl pulled up a chair and sat beside her beloved, "No…but I don't know about this, I mean we ran away from Tokyo once and well it didn't get us every far."
Sara had a point but then what were they supposed to do, live in Tokyo and risk the chance of being recognized by their friends or even worst being found out by their mother.
"Sara…" began Setsuna and he pulled her to rest on his chest, "I don't really care where we live, I don't really care what names they call me but one thing is certain, I care for you and I don't you to face those things."
He felt Sara shaking her head on his chest and looking down, "Onii-chan, I don't care what they call me too, they can call me a sinner and all sorts of other names but in the end if I get to stay here in Tokyo our home with you then it's okay…"
Setsuna pondered on her confession but came to the conclusion of, "Sara…I want to stay here too but I don't want to make trouble for father. Mother might report him and me to the police saying that we kidnapped you or something…I don't want to lose you…ever again." as he tightened his hold slightly on her.
Sara was once again left astounded as to how Setsuna could come up with words so enduring that he would make her love him even more.
"You should know by now that we'd always find each other no matter how far we get separated, we found each other after going through all the stages of heaven and hell, didn't we? I really believe that…to be true." she uttered up to him.
The almost sad look in her eyes only served to weaken Setsuna's fragile resolve, "Okay…we'd stay here in Tokyo but not here, maybe we can find an apartment, a new school for you and a job for me somewhere around in the next city…"
Sara blinked, "You're not going to go back to school anymore, onii-chan?"
"I never was any good in school anyway and besides someone has to work and I'd rather be the one that works while you'd be the one who studies…" he explained.
"So it's okay for me to study while you're left alone to bear the burden of supporting me and ruin your future?" said Sara in a very disapproving tone of voice.
"Sara, I don't mind…really." as the boy tried to reason.
"No…I won't allow you to throw away your future for me I simply won't have it. If you want to work then we both work, if I'm to study then so shall you…" she continued adamantly.
Setsuna shook his head it seems that Sara happened to have inherited their mother's stubbornness.
After a quick chain of thought, "Okay…okay…how about we do both? It'd be harder on us but how about we study in the mornings and work part-time in the evenings…?"
Kurai lifted the covers off her bed and got into them jadedly, she had just gone through the whole of her day by flying around her kingdom surveying the land that needed to be rebuild, meeting with all the surviving elders of each village or clan of those lands and also working on the rebuilding plan with Noise.
She was dead tired but what had urged her onwards despite the fatigue was the single-minded thought of being able to see Setsuna again once this task of hers was done with. The good side of her conscious told her that it was enough to just see him again but the other side of her told Kurai that she wouldn't be happy until he was solely hers.
In the dark and rather frosty bedroom, Kurai thought rather guiltily that she wouldn't actually mind having Setsuna right there beside her in bed. She could then snuggle up to his warm body and tell him how tiring her day had been, all the while listening to his soothing voice telling her how good of a girl she is whist slowly falling asleep inside his hold.
The longer she dwelled herself in that particular happy thought her eyes slowly closed and she soon fell deep asleep with a happy smile etched on her lips.
"Sara…don't you think you have enough clothes already? We can buy more stuff later after we settle ourselves in the new place you know…" Setsuna quetched out to the girl who had just handed him another plastic bag of newly bought clothes.
"I think I have enough for now…" Setsuna rolled his eyes at her statement, "I have one last thing I need to get before we can go home okay…by any chance are those bags too heavy for you?"
Setsuna looked down to both his hands which were ladened with Sara's bags and shook his head, "No…I can handle it…it's just that I don't want you to buy too many things now. I want us to be able to move around light and easy, and what's the last thing you need anyway…?"
Sara didn't answer him instead she skillfully navigated herself around the crowd walking inside the department store's ladies section until she reached the section where the last article of clothing she needed was located.
"This is what I need…" she proudly proclaimed.
Setsuna who had been too busy trying to move in between the whole mass of people without losing his grip on the bags suddenly looked up and immediately his mouth dropped wide open.
He now suddenly found himself standing right in front of the lingerie section, "Sara…err…why don't I just wait here...while you go get what you need…" he stammered almost incoherently.
Sara giggled at her aniki's clear expression of embarrassment as he stood there with his cheeks flushed while trying his best not to look around.
Sara then walked over to him and tiptoed right up to his left ear, "Why onii-chan, don't tell me you're afraid of going in with me? I clearly remember that you had no such problems taking mine off back at the hotel room…"
Setsuna blinked rapidly and grew to a deeper shade of red then he already was, "Sara! That was different we…were alone…you know no one else watching…" he uttered back softly under his breath.
"Well that's too bad…but if that's what you really want…and I was just thinking of asking you for your opinion too, you know to help me choose the ones you might like to see me in, you'd be the only one who's ever going to see them anyway…" she teasingly whispered into his ear.
Setsuna swallowed back the lump stuck in his throat loudly while cold sweating. He hated how Sara could so easily press all the right buttons that would turn him into a total bumbling mess of a boy. He was still a sixteen year old male, full of raging hormones and with the way how Sara's voice was so sultry when she had said those words up to him and also seeing how its been a full month since the that night…
"I'd get you for this…" Setsuna mumbled as he begrudgingly followed her into the store.
Back at their apartment, Setsuna was happy to get off his feet as he plopped himself onto the couch after releasing the 7 or so shopping bags in front of him. Sara was soon walking over to join him after locking the door, for she too needed to get off her feet.
"I had fun…how about you?" she merrily asked the boy sitting down beside her with a smile.
Looking over his feet to the bags resting before him Setsuna let out a tired laugh, "Well I was expecting the worst really, since we really didn't go shopping for anything in particular the last time we went out and this morning when you asked me to bring you out shopping for clothes I was a little skeptical. I've always heard how terrible of a time it is to go shopping with girls from the guys in class but after today it isn't really that bad…" he admitted to Sara.
"Well that's just goes to show you that I'm not like the other girls…" she beamed back to him.
Setsuna quickly engulfed the grinning girl into his arms and started to tickle her sides, "Yeah…I guess you are different then the others that's why I love you so much…" he said out loudly to her as he tickled her silly.
Sara was too busy giggling to fight back not that she wanted to, the day was going on so perfectly but she did try her best to wriggle free from the 'tickle monster' that was her onii-chan.
She managed only to sink herself right underneath his body as he ended up pinning her on the couch. They had both playfully struggled with each other's hands as they roamed around each other's bodies. By the end of it Sara was all flush from her continuous laughing gazed right up to the pair of eyes looking down to her.
"Is something wrong?" she panted slightly.
Setsuna shook his head as he subtly ran his right hand over Sara's right cheek, "I was just admiring how beautiful you look when you're cheeks flare up like that…"
Sara quickly blushed to a deeper shade of crimson as she returned his caress with one of her own. They stayed like that for a good ten minutes just staring deeply into each other's eyes, their breathing heavy at first before calming out into a more relaxed rhythm.
Setsuna was too engrossed in taking in the beauty that lay underneath him and how deep his love for her ran, if he hadn't taken the time to tell her before he'd damn well make the time now.
"Have I ever told you how much I love you…?"
Sara shook her head sideways; "I don't need to hear you say it…" as her hands then reached up to his chest in particular the area around his heart, "To know that you do…"
Setsuna smiled warmly and slowly lowered his head to her own, Sara anticipating a kiss closed her eyes in reflex and waited. She didn't have to wait long as she soon felt his tender lips lovingly caressing hers as he kissed her ever so affectionately.
Sara felt right there and then that she couldn't be happier having Setsuna kissing her so tenderly like he was then. Just like that night in the hotel she had prayed to God to forgive them for being the happiest of sinners but now knowing what she knows she didn't have to worry about heaven's condemnation or hell's punishment.
But she did pray to whoever was listening be it in heaven or hell to simply allow the two of them to live their lives in peace for as long as they lived.
Just as their kisses were turning more passionate Setsuna stopped as suddenly as they had started, "Sara…" he panted as he gazed downwards, "There's something I wanted to say to you ever since that night in the hotel…"
Sara nodded wordlessly asking him to go on, "That night I was kind of selfish for forcing you the way I did, looking back at it now I don't blame…" the finger that had suddenly planted itself on his lips stopped what he had wanted to say.
"Don't apologize for something that I wanted as well…" he heard Sara whisper out.
With that said Setsuna was about to continue where he left off when Sara stopped him, "How about we continue this in the bath…? We both need one don't you think…?"
Kurai was uncomfortably tossing and turning in her bed as she slept on, she was having a nightmare not any other nightmare but one that will hurt her the most.
Images of a happy and smiling Setsuna together with Sara entwined in each other's arms as they lay in bed laughing at first but as the laughter died down turning into passionate moans Kurai who was floating above the pair tried to move away but found that she couldn't.
The worst part of the dream was that Kurai couldn't keep her eyes off just how her dream version Sara was staring up at her, almost as if she knew that she was there watching.
Kurai wanted to leave the scene so badly for many reasons, the obvious one was the fact that it was an invasion of their privacy and also it hurt her heart tremendously to see the only man she truly loves make love to another woman.
After Setsuna had gone to sleep Sara looked up to Kurai's almost ghostly image and smiled. It was a smile that was nothing short of mocking her, it was as if Sara was smiling up to Kurai telling her that Setsuna was hers and hers alone.
It was almost as if Sara was telling her that Setsuna will never be hers not in a million years and in her horror Sara gently embraced her dream version of Setsuna and worded out the words with her mouth, "He shall forever be mine…"
"NO!"
Kurai shot straight up on her bed, her silver hair matted to her sweaty forehead and her breathing and heartbeat furious from the nightmare.
Looking around her darkened room Kurai quickly used the back of her hands to wipe the beads of sweat from her forehead, "It's just a nightmare…" she sighed dejectedly.
Sara who had her head snuggled deep into Setsuna's chest wished that she didn't need to go to the bathroom right then but as the need became more urgent she unwillingly freed herself from the prison that Setsuna had made around her with his arms.
The movement caused the bare-chested boy to stir a little but as she hushed him to go back to sleep and he obliged. She then carefully walked over the towels that they had used earlier which had been thrown carelessly over to the sides of the bed as they gave into their passions.
She then quickly made her way back into the room and as soon as she crawled back into the bed her body was carefully brought closer to Setsuna's own.
"I thought I told you to go back to sleep…" she whispered over her shoulder.
"Couldn't go back to sleep…not without you anyway…" he moaned lazily as he nuzzled his chin on her bare shoulder.
This brought out a smile from her angelic features as she turned her whole body around to dig her head into the small of his neck.
"Is that so…" she purred as her hands started to wonder along his chest.
"If you keep doing that then I'd never get back to sleep you know…" he said out to her softly.
"What if I don't feel like sleeping…" she countered seductively.
"Well then I'd just have to do something about that then…" warned Setsuna playfully as he drew his blanket slowly over their figures.
Kurai had tried her best to get back to sleep but each time she had closed her eyes all she could see was Sara's face mocking her behind them.
'Was I a fool to let Setsuna go back…I could have asked him to stay with me…' she asked herself as she sat up.
Kurai's left index finger then ran itself over her lips, the very same lips that had kissed Setsuna's a whole week ago today.
'I can't be that selfish…'
Her insides told her otherwise.
'He wouldn't have been happy…'
Once again Kurai did get an answer she wanted to hear.
'He only loves Sara….'
The other side of her personality the one that was waging a winning battle with her good side told her what she so wanted to hear.
'So what…? He has feelings for you as well you know…he just suppresses it so he wouldn't hurt Sara's feelings…'
Kurai then miserably dug her head into her hiked up knees, "I shouldn't even be thinking about that…I'm the worst…"
End of Chapter 1.