Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. They are the property of Hajime Kanzaka and Shoko Yoshinaka.

Chapter Twelve - I Feel You

A song by Schiller mit Heppner

Lyrics – Centered Italics

Narrative – Black

Xellos was in Filia's attic now – cleaning. Ah well, it least it really was dusty up there. He knew he wouldn't be satisfied until he watched Filia brush the dust off her nose at least a hundred times – and she was getting to about ninety-nine – so he knew he was nearing ecstasy. As stupid as it was, he really enjoyed having to watch such a fastidious person suffer so much. It also explained why she had him help in the attic as opposed to replacing the wall-to-wall carpet in the front hall, or . . . say - building her another house next door. Considering all her requests for renovation, he was expecting that one to come any day now.

Her manners towards him since that night he had awakened with his hand up her thigh had been, well, different. He hadn't even bothered to look at her after they reached the house. He couldn't stand to. He thought as he retired that night that perhaps it would be a mistake for him to stay any longer, but when he got up in the morning, she seemed determined to put the incident behind them. She wore an unconcerned expression and told him all the details of the third personality that had emerged as she thought of them, excluding anything he didn't want to hear about Lex. This pleased Xellos, as he didn't want to talk about bloody Lex. So, she won a measure of his respect back again.

Finally, it seemed she had wiped the dust off her nose for the one hundred and tenth time. She sneezed violently and stood up, stamped her foot on the floor boards angrily and recovering herself, stated with the grace of a queen that she was going to go 'freshen up'.

Xellos watched her back as she walked away. Her ponytail swung with the sway of her hips as she exited the room – he was distracted.

He looked away and returned to his work. As he bent down his dusty hair brushed across his face and clung to the wetness of his lips. Strange, he hadn't realized that he had been licking them. It would be easy to brush the dust from his hair, but as there was so much work left to do, he simply decided to tie his hair back in a pony tail until they were finished.

Just as he brought his arms down from the task – Filia came in the room.

"Oh, it's you Lex," she said, with less enthusiasm than Xellos believed sparkly Filia capable of.

At first he just stared at her, not sure how to act so that he wouldn't break the illusion. If she believed he was Lex he would be able to find out . . . everything. He stood still for a moment trying to figure out how to act next.

"I have to tell you that the little date you took me on didn't work out very well," she said candidly.

"Why is that?" he asked cautiously.

Filia put a fatigued hand to her forehead before answering – she looked very tired. She hadn't looked that tired ten minutes ago. "Sorry," she said, avoiding his eyes. "I think it would be better if you didn't try to have a relationship with me. I expect you don't know this, but I was nearly raped by a third personality after you left. I have never been so afraid in my life. I'm not sure what triggered that new personality to come out, but I don't want to do anything that might cause it again. There is also my promise to Xellos."

"And there's no way I could get you to break your promise to Xellos, not is there?" he asked, hoping wildly that he said it exactly the way Lex would.

She shook her head. "You never seem to forget that moment on the ship when I confessed to you that I had fallen in love with him. Please don't forget it now," she said and turned suddenly and left the room.

Xellos looked at the floor, and then slowly reached up and removed the ponytail from his hair.

I feel you,
In every stone,
In every leaf of every tree,
That you ever might have grown.

Xellos stood by the window in the attic – he heard Filia open her bedroom door and shut it behind her.

So, she had gone to the one place in the house that he never went. He had given himself that rule because he didn't want to force himself on her in any way. He wanted her feelings to come from her heart, and if he intruded on her space, that wouldn't be her desires speaking, but his.

I feel you,
In every thing,
In every river that might flow,
In every seed you might have sown.

But she had just stated that those feelings did come from her heart.

I feel you.

He left the attic, with the intention of following her.

I feel you,
In every vein,
In every beating of my heart,
Each breath I take.

The air was thick outside her bedroom door. There was obviously a spell - some kind of holy magic - enchanting the room, but Xellos could not identify it, nor could he identify its purpose. It seemed older than himself.

Did she not want him to follow her? He stepped away from the door, and walked down the hallway to his own room – then found himself changing his mind and heading back towards Filia. Soon he was pacing back and forth between the two rooms, unsure as to what he should do.

It felt like forever before his resolve finally broke and he found himself opening Filia's door. He may have expected an angst-ridden dragon to throw something at him. Instead he found that she was not awake, but lying peacefully across her bed with the bedclothes ruffled around her.

I feel you, anyway,
In every tear that I might shed,
In every word I've never said.

In an instant, he found himself in the room and crouched quietly by the foot of her bed – trying desperately to focus on what it was about her that made him feel so strangely. Why did he want her to care for him? Why did he want to make her feel as though he was the best thing she had ever seen?

He had been curious about her from the start – and after everything that happened between the two of them – he found that the idea of hands, that were not his, touching her made him bloodthirsty. He wanted her all to himself.

Filia suddenly stirred in her sleep, brushing her nose with her hand and making a small feline sound. Then she seemed to mumble in her sleep, "Xellos."

I feel you.

Without realizing what he had done, Xellos found himself on Filia's bed. He propped himself up on one of his elbows and was soon touching her cheek and asking her what she needed him for.

Her breath came quickly, and caressed his jaw line as she said his name again.

His mouth came down on hers.

I feel you,
In every vein,
In every beating of my heart,
In every breath I'll ever take.

Val was on his way back to the tower after an expedition in the forest. Filia wouldn't be pleased if she knew how often he would slip away to go take part in the things he was truly interested in. She still wanted him close to home. Well, he couldn't stay home all the time or he would go crazy. He found it shameful that she was able to do so. Why should a dragon be so . . . human? He had often broached her on the topic, but it seemed to Val that her upbringing was hopeless. However, as long as she didn't know how long he was gone she couldn't complain.

It was true that he did not want Xellos coming after him, but Xellos never seemed to notice whether he was there or not. After a while Val got the idea that Xellos would never bother coming out into the woods to find him and haul him back unless Filia gave the word. So, all that was necessary was for Filia not to give the word, and that was a relatively simple thing to accomplish. Val would merely place a ward on her bedroom that caused a sleep to come upon her when she entered the room. Then, once she was inside, the holy magic would take care of the rest. The complete nature of the spell was not something he fully understood, but he knew that it could cause Filia no real harm – she was a dragon after all. He would remove the spell when he returned.

Val curled up his wings and alighted outside Filia's bedroom window. No problem at all – he would . . . wait! Was that Xellos lying beside her?

Val's horrified eyes opened. Xellos was a mazoku! How had he even managed to come in the room?

I feel you, anyway,
In every tear that I might shed,
In every word I've never said.

Xellos tried to wake himself up, but it seemed impossible. After kissing Filia he seemed to lose all strength and found himself resting his head on her chest. That was nice. He could feel the beating of her heart and the breath exchange from her lungs. Her skin was soft under his touch and well . . . perfect.

I feel you.

Oh, if only he could transform into Lex right at this very second so that he could see what their relationship was really like.

I feel you.

Author's Notes: Okay, I admit, I'm on a little bit of a Schiller fix right now, but since German electronica is exceptionally cool, I don't plan on apologizing. Anyone, who's following 'Shadow Magic - Zelgadis and Lina' will know what I'm talking about. Thanks again to all my reviewers! You make doing this worth while.