Home Sweet Home

III.

Relaxing in the warm bath that Brago prepared for me was the best experience I had in the last few weeks. Bathing in the closest river or stream never appealed to me, nor did it refresh me. Washing my clothes in the cold water didn't do much justice, either.

Which reminded me…; I looked over to my dirty and torn dress lying on the floor beside the sink. I was so disgusted with it when I took it off, I didn't even bother to fold it. It had me wondering what I would be wearing until tomorrow when we would be able to make it back to my house.

Of course, I could just wrap a towel around myself and cover under the blankets for the rest of the night. The thought made me blush, my cheeks heating up slightly. I glanced over to the door, knowing Brago was right on the other side. I'm not sure why I felt a bit embarrassed about walking out there naked. I'm sure he's seen me in the nude before when I bathed in the river, but…

I closed my eyes. Why was I even thinking about it? It was Brago for God's sake! Though…

My eyes slowly opened to stare up at the ceiling. It was silent throughout the motel. The only sound that entertained my ears was the constant dripping from the faucet. My hands gripped each side of the tub, holding my head above the water.

I'm not sure what I was feeling, but…it felt so foreign to me, I didn't know what to think of it. I felt it building up for quite awhile now, but didn't give it my full attention until I began to see how close other humans were getting with their mamodo's. Their pained emotions began to hit me hard, and it was getting tougher to keep my tears to myself. It hurts to lose someone you love…I know.

You're going to lose Brago eventually, you know…

I felt my nose begin to burn and sunk deeper into the water. I had to stop this! It was wrong…to want to keep Brago here with me. That was nowhere near part of our agreement. I was to help him become the Mamodo King and he was to help me get back what I lost.

If I view the full circle, I see that I have to lose one thing to gain another.

"Brago…"

His name left my lips so abruptly, I even surprised myself. Water droplets slid down my cheeks and slipped into my mouth. Salty…it wasn't water. It was my tears. Damn it! This was the worst time I could get sentimental. Near the end of our journey…

But was it really near? How was I to know how many more mamodo's there were out there. I shouldn't assume that others have beaten each other just yet. I don't want to assume that.

I flinched away from my thoughts when my left leg throbbed. I looked down to see a thin blood stream flowing steadily from my shin. I hadn't realized Brago tied a bandage around me until I stripped down. Although it was painful, it made me smile to know Brago was there taking care of me.

It took me probably a good ten minutes to get the knot he made untied. But when I was finally able to unravel what the cloth was hiding, I was completely mortified. Blood seeped through more than half of the bandage and dried blood covered all my shin. It seemed to have stopped bleeding, at least.

Until now. I knew I wasn't losing that much blood to be concerned, but the thought of it was still making me light-headed. I still didn't know how I managed to get the scratch. Feeling a few more tears trickle down my cheeks, I sucked in a deep breath and leaned over to the side to reach for my dress.

My fingers grasped it enough to pull it toward me. Taking slow breaths, I drew forth my arm strength to rip another section off my dress. I would wait until I was ready to get out of the water before wrapping my leg; I wanted to see if it would stop bleeding.

I splashed water on my face, trying to settle my puffy eyes. I didn't want to cry at all, but the urge was so tremendous, I wasn't sure I could hold it all back. I didn't know why I was so worried and flustered…and it wasn't even about my leg.

I looked toward the door again. My vision blurred as tears clouded my eyes. I quickly splashed my face again, going a little overboard when I splashed my face continuously about ten times. I stopped abruptly, though the water took a few moments to settle down.

Why am I so upset?

I let out a sob louder than what I had anticipated. That made me freeze, even my breathing. I wouldn't doubt Brago heard that. He despised it when I cried. Hell, I despised it when I cried! But I didn't want Brago to view me as any weaker than he already did.

Splashing my face one more time, I swallowed my tears. I grabbed a washcloth and poured almost the whole tiny bottle of soap onto it. I scrubbed the cloth all over my skin until it burned, as though I was trying to wash away everything that was bothering me. It was a task I wasn't so sure I could complete so easily.

I washed the soap off quickly and pulled the plug to let the water out. I stood up, glad that the bleeding was slowing down. Stepping out of the tub, I grabbed the large white towel and wrapped it around myself.

I happened to glance into the mirror in front of me and was shocked at how horrified I looked. I didn't remember looking this scared since…that incident with Koko. But why?

I gripped the side of the sink, my knuckles turning white at my strong grip. My eyes widened and my teeth gritted.

Why!

God, help me…but something was going to happen. Something bad. I never knew myself to have a sixth sense or psychic abilities, but something had me worried. I closed my eyes when I began to feel dizzy. I backed up and sat myself down on the toilet, glad the lid was closed. Taking a few deep breaths, I felt myself calm down.

I was so anxious by this point, I'm not even sure I was thinking about anything.

I wish Brago didn't make the water so hot…

It wasn't even that hot…

I didn't want cold water anyway…

I opened my eyes, and my argument stopped. I heard the last of the water slip down the drain, the only sound now being my heavy breathing.

Reaching down, I grabbed the cloth I ripped from my dress and held it up. It hung limply from my hand, my vision blurring out the background. I focused only on the long, dirty pink rag and thought that it was the perfect size to wrap around my neck.

My other hand grabbed the opposite end of the material. I held it straight in front of me before bringing it forward. I pressed it against my throat, sighing lowly at how cool it felt against my burning hot skin.

I moved my arm to the back of my neck, the cloth following along. The tightness was soothing…it numbed the pain.

Suddenly, I felt something tickling down my leg. My eyes traveled downward to see that my leg was still bleeding. That's right…I ripped a piece of my dress to stop the bleeding. It wouldn't be good to lose any more blood. I might become delirious.

Unwrapping the fabric from my neck, I lowered it to my left shin. I wrapped it around and around and around until the bottom half of my leg was hidden. It felt tight. However, when I stood back up, I felt it come lose. I didn't care.

With the towel still covering my body, I opened the bathroom door and stepped into the air conditioned bedroom. I saw Brago still sitting on the couch. He was resting his eyes until he heard me come out. Our eyes met briefly until I walked toward the bed, sitting down on the side mechanically. My left leg felt bare. Looking down, I realized the rag slipped off a few feet from the bed.

Tears entered my orbs again. I lost it…

Brago sighed and stood up. He began to walk towards me, "Can't even tie a simple knot?"

Useless…

He bent down and picked up the piece I ripped, then kneeled directly in front of me. I felt his cool hand grab my left leg, sending a chill down my spine.

I found myself smiling, "Proposing?"

"Very funny," he mumbled dryly, beginning to wrap the bandage around my leg tighter than I could ever get it.

I lost my smile. No…it wasn't funny. It was preposterous!

He tied the knot. When he stood up, I looked down at his handy worked and admired it as though it was the most amazing thing I ever saw.

Brago noticed my look, "What's your problem, Sherry?"

Sherry…my name.

I slowly scanned the length of his body until I reached his eyes. His red irises held nothing on the outside, but I saw that he looked more than a little confused. I saw it…

Smiling gently, I said, "You said my name…"

Immediately, he turned away from me and walked back to the couch, "Go to sleep."

My head throbbed suddenly, enough to cause me to reach my hand up to my temple. Was this a migraine? I groaned lowly and squeezed my eyes shut.

I won't lose you…

Was it just me or did I say that aloud?

I won't let you go…

Sleep. I just needed some rest. I slowly lowered myself to the pillow. The soft, cool sheets began to help right away. I sighed, overjoyed that the pain was passing nicely. I saw the lights go out behind my closed eyelids. I felt only the sheet being pulled over me. I began sinking away from reality…or was I floating toward it?

Without thinking, my hand shot out and wrapped around Brago's wrist. I'm not sure how I knew where exactly he was, but I know I didn't want to let go. I felt him struggling against my hold. Was I really holding him that tight? Surely it would be a snap for him to break free.

"Sherry, let go," he demanded.

"Don't want to let go…" I mumbled, my words slurring together due to my face being half buried in the pillow.

"Sherry," he said my name again, a warning tone echoing in his voice.

I narrowed my eyebrows, my body beginning to tremble, "No…"

The last thing I remember was him pulling away from me.

The early morning sun shone through the thin curtains. I squinted and buried my head under the sheet, but the sheet was just as thin. Why couldn't there be blinds?

Wait…curtains? Sheet? Blinds? It took me a few seconds to realize I was sleeping in a motel bed and not in the forest where the sun poked through the trees. I slowly pulled the sheet away from my eyes. It felt refreshing how…amazing I felt. No headache…no weird thoughts…no built up tears. Nothing.

I groaned quietly when I stretched, feeling all my muscles wake up. I smiled at how amazing that felt also. I looked down and saw that I was naked.

Naked!

I found I was lying atop a towel and quickly wrapped it around my front. I glanced over to the window to see Brago standing there, looking out at the rising sun. I blushed even though he hadn't been looking at me.

"Good, you're up," he spoke so suddenly it made me jump. I sat up and threw my legs over the side of the bed, "Now we can move on."

I saw that he was quite eager to leave, so I reached for the phone on the bedside table and dialed my phone number. The phone picked up on the first ring.

"Moshi moshi, Bellmont residence."

I smiled at the sound of my butler's voice, "Good morning."

"Ah, Miss Sherry, what a pleasant surprise," I could practically hear him smiling on the other end, "And how are you this morning?"

"Pretty good, actually. Do you think you can come pick me up?"

"Of course. What are your whereabouts?"

I looked at the notepad beside the phone and saw the name of the motel on the paper. I told my butler the name and he said he would be here in no more than half an hour. I hung up the phone and immediately went into the bathroom to gargle water, trying to get the nasty morning taste out of my mouth.

My feet kicked something on the floor. When I looked down, I noticed that it was my dress. I hadn't bothered to throw it into the waste basket last night for one reason or another.

Funny…I couldn't remember anything about last night. The last thing that came to mind was Brago getting a bath ready for me.

Hm…maybe I was so exhausted I simply took the bath and then fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Can't say it hasn't happened before.

Picking up what was left of my dress, I threw it in the garbage. I knew my butler would probably be asking about my clothes, but I was hoping he would keep well enough alone. I hope the motel didn't mind me taking one of their towels.

I stepped back into the room, seeing Brago still staring out the window. I blushed again when I realized I was walking around shamelessly in a towel. Yet, he didn't seem to notice or care. I sat down on the bed.

"My butler's coming to pick us up," I told him, although I'm sure he heard my conversation to know that, "It'll be nice to go home again."

He didn't even glance over his shoulder at me, "Right."

My eyes saddened when I noticed he didn't sound at all enthused about going back to my mansion. He never liked it there all that much for some reason. I never knew why. Was it too nice for him? Too clean, perhaps? Too civilized? Or was it something else?

I gazed at him harder than I had in a long time. His eyes continue to stare outside, as if he was looking for something…waiting for something.

Waiting for his freedom? I wouldn't doubt it. He has been under my control for some time now. Though…I really didn't like to think of him being under my control. He was still free to do many things by himself.

Maybe he was beginning to wait impatiently to become the king. His wild heart wanted a new adventure…a new experience that he couldn't grasp by being in the Ningenkai, continuously fighting mamodo after mamodo.

My home wasn't really a home to him at all…it was simply another thing keeping him captive.

Home sweet home, huh?

I looked away, the floor catching my interest. I didn't understand the unusual silence that filled the room that morning, but I finally saw just how much Brago had to become the Mamodo King. I swore to myself right then and there that I would give him one hundred percent of me and not just ninety. It was time to get serious, even more so than before.

It was time to find the strength within me to never let Brago down again.

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I'm back! Thanks again for all your reviews. Sorry this chapter didn't have much action and seemed kinda drawn out, but it's one of those must-have-chapters that will play a big part later on. I hope you liked in nonetheless. Thanks for reading!

Enula