A Bad Morning
I knew it was going to be a bad day from the moment I woke up. I lost my best hairbrush (darn); my hair looked a mess, flying around my face in that way as I flew, and on top of that, as I got close to Iselia I stalled the damn Rheiard. That's right, the resident genius of the Cruxis and the Renegades stalled his own creation. I was lucky I had my wings, if I had not, I would surely be dead or seriously injured. Although, me being me it took a while for instinct to take over and release the wings. I've never been quick on reactions. Anyway, I checked my fall and landed safely just outside the gates of Iselia.
I brushed myself off and prepared to enter the village. Which was when a giant bug attacked me. It latched itself onto my boot and began to gnaw at it like a dog with a bone. Now, I've never been particularly squeamish, but one thing I really hate is bugs. With a disgusted shudder, I tried to flick it off. All I succeeded in doing was shift it up my leg so that it could bite through my trousers. Needless to say, I was not amused. I yelped in a very undignified way and started hopping around. As a last resort, I began to gather mana.
"Lightning!"
A bolt of lightning shot down and zapped my leg. So once again I was reduced to screaming like a girl and all my spell succeeded in doing was getting the bug back onto the boot and causing myself pain. As if to add to my annoyance, I tripped. And fell with a splintering crash through a wooden wall in a very Colette-like way. I continued to flick my leg regardless, my hair flying in all directions. On the bright side, I finally flung the bug outside, away from me. Normally this would be satisfactory, but I was enraged. That damn bug had just been the last straw! I was in an abysmal mood and that gross ugly bug was an excellent target.
I sought out its mana and focussed on it, taking only a few seconds to draw out the necessary power.
"FLAME LANCE!" I screamed hysterically, burning the cursed thing to a crisp. My immediate strength taken from me, I collapsed to the ground, head in my hands.
"Oh, I'm having such a bad morning," I moaned, paying no attention to my surroundings.
"Always needing to make a dramatic entrance, hm Yuan?" The voice, familiar and deep voice came from my left. I lifted my head and turned to look. Just as I suspected.
"Kratos."
"Hello Yuan."
He offered me a hand and pulled me up. I have no idea how he does it. I must be almost the same weight as him and he pulls me up as if I weigh nothing more than a feather! But, back to the point.
"Where the heck am I?" I ask, disoriented. I had no idea what I expected, but whatever it was, it did not include Kratos standing there, grinning like an idiot at my misfortune. I'm not complaining.
"Lloyd's home. I trust you intend to repair that hole?" He tried to force his stoic mask back into place, but I still noted the amusement in his voice.
Speechless, I took in my surroundings. Everyone in the room stared straight back at me. Genis was in the middle of trying to force his tie looser, Raine slapping his hands away. Lloyd paused with a glob of thick gooey hair gel in his palm, Regal stared incredulously from his seat across the room, one eyebrow raised. It appeared that I had woken him. And that perverted ex-chosen was just stood there, a lopsided smile that was almost a smirk on his face. I felt like a goldfish in a bowl. And supposed that I looked like one too, sat there gaping.
I coughed to break the silence. "Um.. I will have some of my men tidy this mess Lloyd." Then, suddenly I was struck with a thought. "Hey, Kratos. Did you fly here?"
He nodded once. Typical Kratos. Not one to waste words. Unlike me, obviously.
"Did you fly over the island with the hot springs?"
Another nod. Honestly, this is quiet, even for him.
"Did you happen to spot a hairbrush?" And with that sentence, I had all the occupants of the room staring incredulously at me for the second time in five minutes. The corner of Kratos' lips quirked. He reached into his pack and held out the offending object to me. Ah! My hairbrush. I took it and thanked him, trying to think up a logical sounding explanation.
"I- uh.. That is I-"
He interrupted me. "Got annoyed with your hair?" He folded his arms in that typical way of his, smirking.
I smiled. "You really have known me too long."
It seemed that Raine had had quite enough of the weirdness I call life, and decided to leave. Via the me-shaped hole in the wall. I wondered for a moment if my wings would have made a shape or just passed through.
Lloyd turned around and started trying to do his hair. I seriously thought he'd been taking tips from Kratos on that point when I saw the ridiculous amounts of gel he tried to force into his hair. I asked him if he had and he just looked blankly at me. I decided to give him an example.
"Look how much gel your father puts in," I told him. I ran my hand over the top of Kratos' potentially lethal spikes, annoyed at how far I had to reach up. As expected, I obtained several small cuts on my palm and a raised eyebrow from Lloyd. "You could kill someone with these."
"I could not!" Kratos exclaimed. He had always been touchy about his hair. Lloyd flinched. I however, was immune. And did my usual. Screamed back.
"Could too!"
I received a confused look from Lloyd and a look that meant my death was I to continue this conversation from Kratos. So I shut up. Naturally.
Lloyd turned back to the mirror. I think he still hates me for trying to kill him. He started cursing under his breath. He was insanely nervous, I could tell.
I sighed and sank down into a chair. With nothing else to do, I began to brush my hair again. It was pretty knotty from the fall and the fight with that stupid bug. The room was silent except for Lloyd's quiet cursing and Zelos humming under his breath.
Seeming to get tired of that, the ex-chosen grabbed a brush and began to do his own hair. He turned to me after barely a moment, took a breath, then turned to Kratos. A nutter. I swear he is.
"How long have we got?" He questioned Kratos.
The angel was touching his hair. Probably still sore at me for that hair comment.
"Approximately 23 minutes," he replied quietly.
"Mmmkay. Say Yuan, we weren't expecting you to show."
The idiot chosen persisted in breaking the peace and quiet. I felt my annoyance begin to rise again.
"Neither was I," I told him stonily.
He was not deterred. "Kratos, how come you weren't surprised to see Yuan here?"
Unsurprisingly, at least to me, the idiot received no answer. He sighed in annoyance and flung himself into a chair in a ridiculously girlish way. And then he crossed his legs and started to apply lip-gloss. This reached new heights in my scale of weirdness. But then, it was Zelos.. Should I have been surprised?
I resumed the rhythmic brushing of my hair, revelling in the silence that reigned until Lloyd's other father entered the room. He looked briefly at the hole, then scanned the room. I assumed he was surprised to see me since his eyes lingered in my direction for a moment longer than everyone else's. He greeted everyone, and everyone but Kratos replied. I was surprised by his rudeness. It truly was unlike him. Maybe he is remembering his own wedding, just as I remember Martel. Still, this could not be stood for.
After a moment's consideration, I threw my hairbrush at his head. It hit those dangerous spikes of his and bounced back before falling heavily to the ground. I was surprised that the spikes didn't break off, and I told him so. He merely glared at me and turned away to greet Dirk. I wondered what I had done this time.
I picked up my precious brush. Damn him. He was such an awkward person to understand, and despite knowing him for four thousand years, I still had no idea what was going on in his mind. I watched him closely, hoping to gain some clue. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall. I studied his face even more closely. As usual, his hair hid most of his expression but I knew that his eyes were only lightly closed. His mouth was curved into a small smile and, the strangest thing at all, a strange blush hovered over his cheeks.
A quick glance around the room told me that I was not the only one watching the seraphim closely. On the other side of the room, Zelos and Genis were having a whispered conversation whilst watching him. I ran my hand through my hair. It's a bad habit I have.
"And none of that means that he has, as you so charmingly put, 'got a hunny!'" Genis exclaimed. I turned to look at him, wondering what the hell he was going on about. I wasn't the only one. For once, I was not the object of everyone's attention. And everyone but me seemed to know what a 'hunny' was. I asked.
"What's a hunny? And who's got one?"
"Zelos has many," Regal put in.
"But we were talking about Kratos, not me!" Zelos exclaimed.
Oops, I thought. Looks like that cat's out of the back hm Zelos? What a loudmouth. It seems Genis thought the same way as me, for the next thing I heard was a definite thud and an indignant 'OUCH' from that redheaded idiot. Clearly he takes after Raine.
Kratos was glaring daggers at the pair of them. Lloyd, thankfully oblivious as ever, put a stop to the outburst before it even began. "Hey, Dad..s," he began. "I forgot. Colette paired everyone up, so no one would be left out or something like that. Anyway," he looked at Dirk. "You're with Chocolat." Then it was Kratos' turn. I had to admit, I was curious about who they had put him with. Hey, that was weird, I hadn't known about this 'paring up' thing. Perhaps I would be left in peace.
"We ah- ran out of girls," Lloyd continues, blinking apologetically. "So.. uh.. We put you with Yuan." He ducked, as if waiting for a blow.
This was an interesting turn of events. One that I wasn't sure was good or bad. On one hand, I get to spend more time with Kratos.. On the other hand.. Wait.. He said something.
"Yuan is quite girly enough. In fact I doubt you would have found anyone more so."
It took a moment for the insult to sink in. Then I leapt at him, screaming my own insults. I assumed this was payback for the hair comment.
"I RESENT THAT!" I screamed at him. Frustratingly he managed to hold me at arm's length. Stupid strength of his! I can't hit him, so I settle for screaming insults from arm's length.
"YOU MEAN OVERGROWN PURPLE GRASSHOPPER! GAH... IF ONLY I HAD MY WEAPON!"
"Yuan, your hair is a mess," he returned calmly.
Now, I don't mean to sound like a sissy, but I am also very touchy about my hair. And naturally I believed him. I squeaked and reached for my hairbrush once more.
"Shall we leave?" Regal questioned in his low, steady voice.
Lloyd looked terrified. Whether it was of my outburst or the impending ceremony, I had no clue. He stuttered his assent.
"How early will we be?" He asked quietly.
"Don't worry Lloyd. We will not be waiting long." Kratos reassured him.
I leaned across to whisper to Lloyd. "When he got married to your mother, she arrived before he did. It was funny to say the least. You should have seen his reaction! I had trouble staying in my tree!" I confided
"Why were you in a tree?"
Lloyd, you are so dense, I thought to myself. "I would have blown their cover," I told him in what I was sure was a patient voice.
"Aight." The voice startled me from my memories and I turned to see Dirk tightening his belt.
Wonderful.
"Les' git this show on the road, eh?"
Oh his accent annoyed me so much at that point. Outside, it was pretty warm. I didn't notice though. I was busy listening in to a conversation between Lloyd and Kratos. Half elf ears are better than humans and being an angel heightened my senses further so I was able to hear them from the back of the group. Lloyd was asking if Kratos had really loved his mother. Kratos replied in the affirmative.
"Do you love someone now?" Lloyd asked.
Kratos tried to skirt the issue, which Lloyd took as a 'yes'. Hm. This was interesting. Perhaps Zelos was right with his 'hunny' theory. For some reason, that seemed to bother me.
"Did you love them when you married mom?"
Kratos made no reply. I wasn't surprised. But Lloyd seemed to take this as a 'yes' too. He was pretty perceptive sometimes. I had used the same tactic before. Generally, if you got your head bitten off for assuming, you were wrong in your assumption. If he continued to avoid the issue, you were right.
"How could you do that to my mom!"
Kratos promised to tell him everything one day. Then we were there. At the Martel temple outside Iselia.
Even after four thousand years, even hearing that name sends the familiar ache through my heart. Martel didn't deserve to die.
We approached the group of people we were to be paired with. It seemed to consist of Sheena, Raine, Presea and Chocolat. I watched as the group paired off and stood in a sort of order that looked pre-arranged.
First Presea and Genis, then Chocolat and Dirk, behind them were Sheena and Zelos, then Raine and Regal. Then it was Kratos and I, and finally Lloyd.
I could have had this with Martel. Tears threatened to fill my eyes and I began to tremble with the effort of holding them back. Kratos quirked his eyebrow at me, and I quickly wrap my arm around his, pretending there is nothing wrong. I began to feel warm and had the irritating sense that I was blushing. I hadn't felt like this since.. Martel. It felt strangely like betrayal.
I vow to strangle Colette later for designing the service like this. Parading us around like.. like.. Well like something that parades around! When we were seated, I remembered that I had forgotten to tie up my hair. Kratos did it for me.
I liked the feel of his hands gently flowing through my hair and lightly tugging as he secured it in the clasp. I felt that confounded blush rise to my face again. It felt almost sinful to enjoy such a thing. But I knew that Martel wouldn't have wanted me to be alone forever.
"Why have you been avoiding me Yuan?" He asked me.
I looked away, unable to handle his intense stare and the strange rush of emotions inside me. "I-I.. Look, here comes Colette!"
He sighed exasperatedly, and I took it to mean 'we're not done with this yet Yuan.'
For the moment, I was fine with that.
I felt an overwhelming sadness as I looked upon Colette advancing slowly upon the altar. Tears came to my eyes, tears that I vowed not to let fall. I leaned against Kratos, hoping that he wouldn't pull away. To his credit, he did nothing more than drape a comforting arm around my shoulders and allow me to cry into his clothes. I had no idea why I cried. It seemed strange to cry over Martel so long after.. But truly it wasn't just Martel. I was scared of what I was feeling, scared because it felt so much like betrayal, and sad because I could have had this with her. But at the same time, I felt kind of happy, because I was letting go. Acknowledging that she meant a lot to me and finally fully moving on. And I was scared because I was sure that now I had Kratos back, I would never let him go.
A/N: I am one of those people who just continues regardless of reviews, but I do still like them!
I had a little trouble keeping to the tenses in this chapter so there is probably a lot of mistakes. I have read it through, but if you notice something, please let me know. Also, do I need to put the disclaimer in every chapter?