Singing Gray

By

Hibiki

I remember the day he left. Off to try and admit her feelings to Piro at least once, Kimiko had run off to the airport. I knew she wouldn't succeed. She wasn't ready yet, he wasn't either. They were still too caught up in their own worlds and now, Piro's had led him and Largo on a path home. Largo and I had said our goodbyes, in fact I was still crying when Kimiko left, hours afterward. I knew why he was doing it, why my Largo had left me, and it made me love him all the more.

To save me the pain from losing him to my fans and to keep me safe from them. A month he had tried his best like I had to keep them happy but more and more had gone to threats, many of those had been death threats. To me, to Largo, even some to people we knew. Those where the ones who scared Largo and myself the most. He was so supportive, so calm despite all that was pushed on both of us.

What originally attracted him to me, you probably wonder. Sometimes I wonder myself, for when I met him; truly met him; he was deep in his own world. It was a colorful world full of zombies, of good and evil. They were detailed with his odd l33tness and other such things. But to me, it was something new, something exciting and apart from the dull monotone life my existence had become after my... incident. He was interesting. Unlike anyone I had met before and quite frankly, after as well. He was a one of a kind. And for a time, he was my one of a kind. I feel myself smile wistfully, despite whom he was, and who he was becoming through our time together I had never gained anything more than admiration and love for him. He was a stubborn fool, he made a lot of mistakes, but when it came down to it, he chose me over everyone. He pulled that gun on that bastard Dom, making that man finally leave me alone. Despite Dom's threats, Largo only smiled grimly and told his one time friend off. That was when I realized I had fallen for him, and that maybe, despite all that weirdness, all that gruff and stupidity he had covered over him, I finally saw the Largo hidden underneath.

It intrigued me, and the more I searched for it the more I found myself falling for him, as the months went by, each new crazy adventure with him became something I began hoping for, even if it seemed like nothing more than the same thing. Then, when it seemed that things would go no further between us, something happened to him after one of the more dangerous days. The dumb expression in his eyes changed that look he had had when facing that man returned. The sharp witted calculating and intelligent Largo had returned. In a way, you could say it was my largo, the one I had longed to see again. He kissed me, for the first time then... And I was so shocked, had slapped him. But he just laughed, as I blushed at my reaction. Slowly I grew use to his actions, which only I saw, he still acted like the ignorant Largo with the others, but with me, he was... Well...

He was my Largo, and I was his Erika. I finally told him how I felt, and he the same. We had known each other for about a year and a half, almost ten months since Dom's interference. We had a month of pure happiness. I felt like I was a school girl again, I laughed and I didn't have a care in the world. He brought to me fun and carefree days, never asking for more than to see me smile. He was so romantic; it was hard to believe he was the same beer swilling moron who I first met at the Tokyo Gaming Convention. He never let me stay in my icy moods for long, he always knew what would make me laugh and after all those years, I finally felt the feeling I had lost return to me. He had become my wings to lift me up.

Then news broke out about us, and we struggled to keep everything under control, a month went by, us slowly being ground under the pressure... Then that fan came, and destroyed everything we had fought so hard for.

That night, when I found him standing in the rain, those eyes he wore still haunt me in my dreams, turning them into nightmares. So tired, so pain filled, they were not the eyes of my Largo, the fighter who defended me, the gamer who always had a crazy tale to tell me when I was bored. He wasn't even the l33t master Junpei had continued to call him, even after everything. He was just Largo, tired of hiding behind the facade of the games. He was struggling, I could see it. He took me into his arms, feeling his shoulders begin to shake as he told me that Piro had said they had to go home. That it probably was for the best. I told him it didn't matter, no matter what happened I would stay with him. He pulled back, I saw tears, the first time I ever saw tears. He pulled me into a kiss, I held onto him, hoping that if I could I would hold him there like that forever. I felt something slip onto my finger. I gasped and in the shock of feeling of what I know now was a ring, let go. He pulled away, saying to me his promise, and then spun around asking me to be happy, and left. I felt so hurt and lonely I just turned and ran, running home into the arms of Kimiko. I never saw Largo again. I made one more song then told my fans to stay out of my life forever, the one I wrote for him. Gray wings. Since, I never had any fan boy problems, now all I have to do is wait.

I still wear that ring, a symbol of his promise, and I will remain waiting for the rest of our lives for him if need be. Because, I am his Erika, now and forever, and he is my Largo. I love him, and I know he loves me.

Why? Because I received a letter today from him and Piro, well a letter addressed to me from Largo and one addressed to Kimiko from Piro. Both are doing well, both working to get enough to come see us next year. Kimiko will be happy. Me? Well... I'm ecstatic.

I hug the letter to me a little, feeling the loneliness fade some; I had been alone all week, Kimiko off at her jobs. I smell his cologne on the letter, very faintly. He must have put it on before he wrote this, he did say he was late for work, but when he found my address he couldn't stop himself from writing to me then. I smiled a little, it's that same horrible sent he wore I always yelled at him for getting. I still hate it, but right now, I don't care. I reread the last line again in my head.

IWith all my love, L4rg0./I

Idiot.