Disclaimer: Aww, come on! If you have read chapters 1-4 already, you have seen the many different little disclaimer thingies I already put up! Do I HAVE to write another one? x.x Fine, Fine, I don't own Chrno Crusade. BUT. Daisuke Moriyama does, and we love him! n.n
Author's Note: Need I say anything more than .. Final Chapter? I've had so much fun working on this, and I am so happy to see that the reviews have been good all the way. :D I'm planning on making many more AzzyxJoshua fics, so look out for them along the way, all right? n.n Okay, well, here it is! Someone Like Me is coming to an end!
Someone Like Me
By: Rika
Chapter Five: Apostle Love
oo
Last Time ..
Rosette urged Azmaria foreward, walking torwards Chrno and Joshua with her. Chrno grabbed Joshua's arm and forced him to stand up. One look at Azmaria, though, and Joshua's face was red as well, his gaze averting torwards the ground, like Azmaria's. Rosette and Chrno grinned at each other, then pushed Azmaria and Joshua gently torwards each other, causing them both to look up at each other, and look into each other eyes.
" .. Az .. " Joshua broke the silence ..
"Joshua .. " Azmaria answered ..
"We need to talk." They said in unison.
oo
"Chrno, hurry up!" Rosette whispered loudly to her fiancee, all the while tugging at his arm in a desperate attempt to drag him torwards Joshua and Azmaria's current area. Rosette's intentions were very obvious; she wanted to witness the moment in which her younger brother and good friend confessed their feelings torwards each other. Chrno, on the other hand, was reluctant to spying on them, and was trying everything he could possibly think of to keep her away from them.
"Rosette, it's not nice to spy, you know .." Chrno whispered while continuing to be dragged until they were crouching behind some bushes that were nearby to the area. Rosette looked to Chrno with a pout.
"I know, Chrno, but this is Joshua's first love, and his first confession to his first love. You didn't think that I was actually going to miss this, did you?" The overjoyed grin returned to the blonde-haired girl's face once again, and she giggled softly in her excitement. "To be honest, I've always wanted to see this, to see just how the Joshua Christopher handles himself in a time like this." Chrno sighed and shook his head.
"Rosette, this is a private time for Joshua. We should give him his privacy. Azmaria, as well. You know that they both wouldn't like it if they caught us here. If they wanted us to witness their confessions, they would have just said it right there, and not go to some secluded area to do it." Chrno looked Rosette straight in the eye as he said this, his expression serious. Rosette gazed back at him, then blinked, her face attaining a thoughtful look.
"Yes, I suppose you're right, Chrno," Rosette said with a smile that could almost pass for sincere. Chrno sighed in relief, then extended his hand out to Rosette's and grasped it tightly.
"So, shall we go?" Chrno said with a smile. Rosette grinned and squeezed her fiancee's hand slightly before averting her gaze back torwards Joshua and Azmaria.
"Nope! I'm still staying to watch!" Rosette said with an evil chuckle, with an equally evil smirk accompanying it. Chrno sighed once more in exasperation at his love's stubborn nature. He began to reach for Rosette's arm to pull her up and drag her back torwards the opposite direction, but was stopped by Rosette's hand on his once more.
"You don't want them to see us, do you Chrno?" Rosette said, evil smirk still plastered on her face. Chrno thought it over for a moment, then sighed, hanging his head in defeat.
"All right, Rosette. You win."
Rosette looked torwards the lovebirds again with a smile. "Don't I always?"
oo
Joshua led Azmaria by the hand into a seperate area of the courtyard, where he thought they could have some privacy for their conversation. He was definately feeling very nervous about this whole ordeal, and he knew Azmaria was too; he could tell by the slight tremble of her petite hand within his. 'The last thing I want is to mess up and end up saying something wrong .. I hate it when i'm nervous, i'm not myself ..' He thought to himself, trying to ignore the butterflies that fluttered around in his stomach from just thinking about confessing his love to Azmaria. He had felt the feeling before, every time he thought about telling her, and he had to say, it was definately worse right now. He felt that he was going to burst, because he knew he was going to have to confess this time. He had to. She deserved to know .. 'But she also deserves better,' the voice in the back of Joshua's head spoke out inside his mind. If Azmaria wasn't with him at the moment, he would have shook his head to get rid of the thought, to convince the voice that it thought wrong. All Joshua could do right now was stare ahead of him and blush, leading the one he loved to a more private area; leading her to his confession of love.
Azmaria suddenly stopped walking, grasping Joshua's hand tightly in her attempt to tell him to stop as well. Joshua noticed the pressure applied to his hand and stopped, turning around and staring at Azmaria while still grasping her hand. Azmaria gazed into Joshua's eyes and offered a gentle smile, telling him once more 'It's all right. I'm here.' And he smiled as well, answering back in his own little way. His other hand grasped Azmaria's free hand, and held that hand as well. All was silent for a moment, just the two of them staring into each other's eyes, neither of them realizing what was happening, or that they had an audience of two watching them. It was just the two of them for a moment, the two of them lost in each other.
It took a moment for the two of them to realize that they were staring at each other again, and that they had to 'talk,' as they put it. They looked away from each other, and unclasped hands, their faces a deep red color. It was Joshua who spoke first.
"Uhh .. Az?" He asked shakily, still looking in the opposite direction from her.
"Yes, Joshua?" Azmaria responded in a small voice.
"Do .. do you .. remember that day at the lake? When it was only .. the two of us ..?" Joshua asked quietly, then turned to face Azmaria with a serious expression on his face, though his cheeks were still tinted dark red. Azmaria's mahogany eyes averted torwards Joshua's face, then met his bright blue eyes, staying there. She smiled.
"Yes, I remember. We .. were having a tickle war!" Azmaria said, then began laughing at the memory. Joshua remembered that, and began laughing as well. They both laughed for another minute or so, then calmed down once more. But one look at the other's face spouted another laughing fit from the two of them. They calmed down once again a few moments later, then began talking seriously again.
"But then .. I went to tickle you again .. and I .. uhh .." Joshua began to blush once more, recalling the memory. "I fell over on top of you." Azmaria blushed as well, then nodded.
"I could swear, my heart was beating so fast .." Azmaria said in an almost inaudible tone. Joshua smiled, then continued.
"Our faces-"
"We almost kissed, didn't we, Joshua?" Azmaria interrupted, to which a suprised Joshua nodded. Azmaria continued.
"And it happened again the day after, when we went to the lake with Rosette and Chrno .. I went to go check on you, to see if you were all right, and we ended up having a moment, then sort of just staring into each other's eyes, and before we knew it, we were-" Azmaria was cut off by the feel of Joshua's hands gently caressing her face, bringing her face upwards so that he could see her better. Joshua smiled, and spoke again.
"And then, at the lake, Rosette and Chrno .."
"Pushed our faces together .. " Azmaria finished, to which Joshua nodded.
"And our lips met for a moment .. and we shared a very awkward kiss .." Joshua's face was leaning downwards torward's Azmaria's again, but this time he realized what he was doing; this time he meant to do this. Azmaria's cheeks were tinted with crimson, and she kept on staring into Joshua's eyes.
"I love you, Joshua .." Azmaria whispered. Though she didn't mean to say it at that exact time, she still meant every word. Joshua's smile grew even wider.
"I love you too, Azmaria," he whispered back to her. He leaned down a little more torwards her face, so that his lips were almost touching hers. "So, about all those attempted kisses, and that one at the lake .. do you want to try it again?" Joshua asked softly. Azmaria gave her response soon after, by standing up on the tips of her toes and placing her lips onto his. Joshua was suprised at this reaction from Azmaria, but responded, nonetheless. His hands continued to caress her face gently as he continued to kiss the girl that he loved with all of his heart, easing her back onto her feet gently as he did. Azmaria's arms wrapped gently around his neck, and they stayed like that for as long as they could, before pulling back reluctantly and smiling at each other sweetly before pulling each other into an embrace.
"How long?" Azmaria asked quietly while they were still embracing.
"A few years .. how about you?" Joshua answered.
"More or less the same," Azmaria said, and Joshua knew she was smiling brightly. He knew that she was happy, and he knew that .. because he felt the same.
oo
Back over in the bushes, Rosette sighed and leaned back into Chrno, who put his arms around her with a warm smile. Rosette looked up to the face of her devil and smiled back.
"It couldn't have been any better, Chrno .." Rosette said softly, still smiling, a hint of tears in her eyes. Chrno leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the lips before replying.
"I liked ours better," Chrno whispered, taking his hand and stroking Rosette's blonde locks gently. Rosette giggled.
"Why was that?" she asked, reaching a hand up to cup his face.
"Because it was us, Rosette," Chrno said with a smile, continuing to comb his fingers through her hair. Rosette sat up at that moment and faced Chrno, tackling him to the grass below them and lowering her face down, capturing Chrno's lips with her own, cupping his face in her hands. Chrno immediately wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing his lips as much as he could back onto hers, the two of them continuing to kiss for the few moments afterwards, until they ran out of air. They pulled away, panting, staring into each other's eyes for a moment. They were going for another kiss when they heard voices coming from somewhere above them.
"Jesus, Azmaria! They're worse than we are!" Joshua's voice said with a laugh, to which Azmaria's giggle joined him.
"Well, that's probably because they're engaged, and have been a couple for longer!" The new couple laughed, watching as Rosette and Chrno looked up at them, looks of shock on their faces.
"Since you two are finished playing matchmaker, don't you think you should get working on wedding plans? I saw some of the things that Sis had, and they really could use a little bit more work. No offence, Rosette," Joshua said with a playful smirk. Rosette immediately got up off of Chrno and marched herself right up to Joshua's face.
"SINCE WHEN DO YOU SEE MY WEDDING PLANS, JOSHUA?" Rosette yelled in mock anger. Once again, it was enough to make Joshua and Azmaria think they were going to the butcher shop in the next few minutes. Joshua smirked.
"Since you left them out on the cafeteria table last week, ROSETTE!" He smiled triumphantly as Rosette's jaw dropped.
"Relax, nobody else saw them. I put them back in your room, where they belong. Not even Azmaria has seen them, though i'm sure she wants to." Chrno sat up and chuckled a bit at the scene, deciding to change the subject before Rosette went postal on everyone.
"So, you two finally confessed? Are you two an official couple now?" Chrno acted like he and Rosette didn't know, but the two knew better.
"I don't know, you tell us! You two saw the whole thing, after all .." Joshua said with a grin, which made Azmaria giggle at his side.
"Yes, Chrno, we are," Azmaria answered, giving Joshua a light smack on the arm. "It's not nice to spy, though." Chrno looked to Rosette with a smug expression. Rosette glared at Chrno for a second.
"I know, Chrno." Rosette sighed, then brightened up and looked to Azmaria and Joshua again. "So, when can we expect the wedding?" Joshua blushed, and decided to let Azmaria speak for him.
"I don't know .. maybe when we've been together for as long as you and Chrno have?" Azmaria answered, which made Joshua burst into laughter. Rosette's expression was shock once more.
"ButButBut .. That will take FOREVER!" Rosette shouted.
"Well, we're not going to get married YET, Sis .. I mean, come on! We just got together, for pete's sake!" Joshua said, and sighed exasperatedly. "Besides, you should be concentrating on your wedding, not ours."
Rosette sighed. "All right, All right .." Chrno stood up and held out his hand for his wife-to-be to take a hold of.
"We had better get back to the order, before Sister Kate realizes we're gone and has a heart attack!" Chrno said with a laugh. Rosette laughed too and took Chrno's hand, beginning to walk torwards the order with him, hand in hand. After a while she looked back to check and see if Joshua and Azmaria were behind them, and sure enough, they were, and they were holding hands. Azmaria was giggling, as Joshua grinned boyishly once more, bringing Azmaria's hand to his lips and kissing her hand for a moment, making Azmaria laugh even more. Rosette smiled at the scene, and looked back to Chrno.
"I see a bright future for those two, Chrno," Rosette said, the smile still plastered upon her face. Chrno took a look at the two, then smiled as well, looking back to the love of his life with the same smile.
"Yes, I believe so, Rosette. I believe so."
.THE END.
Author's Note: AND IT HAS FINISHED! n.n YAY! Okay, now I'll have to get to work on the NEXT installment in this little Chrno Crusade mini-series .. featuring the wedding of Rosette and Chrno, and deeper look into Joshua and Azmaria's relationship! n.n YAY!
And yes, I was planning that all along. :3 I had so much fun doing these stories, that i'm going to make a series of multi-chapter fics, and possibly some one-shots. n.n So, expect that from me when i'm not busy writing other stuff! n.n I'm doing the writing for two webcomic type things, so i'm gonna be a bit busy for quite a while. n.n
THANK YOU, EVERYONE, FOR READING, REVIEWING, AND LOVING THIS STORY!
If I hadn't have gotten this many awesome reviews, I probably would have given up. Also, finally getting to see the Chrno Crusade anime, and getting some of the DVDs myself, as well as Mangas 1-5, really helped my inspiration. Also, Coldplay helps. n.n Coldplay is good. But anyway, THANK YOU ALL. I LOVE YOU.
Until The next Story ..
Rika. n.n