Flurry of Flames Second Chance: Part 8

One morning when Axel woke up it was still dark outside, when he looked at the clock it read '4:30 AM', and somehow he new that today he needed to leave. It pained him enough to keep him from falling back asleep, but he just couldn't chase it from his mind. He finally decided to take a shower, which he had only done twice when he was here when Natasha's parents were gone, but since they usually weren't up until around 7:00 AM he figured it was okay. He lugged himself up from the couch without any real restraint, refusing to open his eyes. He hopped up and down a couple times before rubbing an invisible layer of dirt from his face, and finally opening his eyes just wide enough to look around. His mouth was set into a frown-like shape that was only the product of his tired disposition, otherwise just the thought of leaving brought him down.

He walked over to Natasha's bed and leaned over to whisper in her ear.

"Tasha?"

She woke easily and made a little noise to show him she was listening. He still whispered close to her ear.

"I'm going to take a shower. Just wanted to make sure you wouldn't think I was gone yet. I promise I'll say good-bye before leaving."

She didn't look thrilled when she heard he was leaving. He saw the corners of her lips visibly drop, but she either didn't want to make him feel bad, didn't care, or was just too tired to do anything about it. He didn't know which one he preferred. Natasha finally nodded and relaxed again, her back now facing him more fully than before. He gave her a smile of adoration and then made his way over to the door.

Quietly Axel opened it and peeked out to make sure no one was outside. He blinked his green eyes for almost a full minute to make sure his vision wasn't blurry or tricking him into thinking someone wasn't there that was. When he convinced himself everything was okay he quietly walked out of the bedroom, pulling the door shut behind him, and walked carefully over to the bathroom. He pushed the door shut behind him when he entered, and breathed a sigh of relief. He then went about the regular routine of taking a shower. Making sure he had a towel that his clothes, since they were the only ones he had, were out of reach of any stray water when he took them off, actually turning on the water, and finally getting in.

The water was cool to his bare skin, which was, oddly enough, still tan like his face and neck even when it was usually unexposed to the sun. He supposed it was a perk from his ethnic background not to have a farmer's tan.

He about jumped out of that very skin when there was a knock on the bathroom door. It took everything in him to keep from yelping like an idiot. He listened for a while to see if it might have been Natasha just needing to use the bathroom, but soon the deep sound of her father's voice met his ears.

"Why are you taking a bath so early, girl?" he asked with tiredness edged in his voice.

Axel couldn't afford to answer, and hoped he would think he was Natasha and that she just couldn't hear him. His prayers were answered when the elder conveyed that he guessed she just couldn't hear him.

The elder walked away from the bathroom door, and, before deciding to go back to his room, went to go take a peek in his daughter's room. Maybe there was an answer to her behavior somewhere in there. He promised himself he wouldn't snoop or jump to conclusions. Natasha was a smart girl; she wouldn't do anything too stupid.

He gently pushed the door open, which was surprisingly loose from its frame. When he peeked in everything looked normal. It wasn't squeaky clean, but not terribly messy either. The couch was bare and there was just a pile of sheets on the bed Natasha no doubt used for comfort to hold on to. He didn't expect her to use blankets in this heat of summer anyway. He smiled and started to close the door when it occurred to him. Sheets didn't have feet. His heart jolted and he looked more closely inside. It was Natasha, comfortably laying on her side in her full-sized bed. If that was her, then who was in the shower? It definitely wasn't his two sweethearts, because he installed their own bathroom in the master room himself. His wife always used that shower, and Natasha was here.

Fury began to fill his features, and his eyes, should anyone have seen them, were aflame with a sense of territoriality. Who was in his house. He turned and glared at the bathroom door, about to walk over and knock it down with his very, very strong fist. Just as it was raised in the air his senses suddenly came to him. He again walked back to Natasha's room, needing to know something. He pushed the door open wide enough to let him pass. With the fury still making his features rigid, he sniffed around in the room. He indeed smelled something different from his daughter's sweet scent, but there was nothing incriminating about the other. With a slight sneer towards the source of most of the scent he left, deciding to wait until there was a threat or for when Natasha told him what happened. He returned to his room, waiting with the door slightly cracked so he could see his secret inhabitant.

In the five days Axel had spent here he had never been so scared, but the feel of his heart beating so fast when he felt okay again was so exhilarating that a wide smile crossed his face as he rubbed away goose bumps. He kept the water on a little longer to keep the cold feeling flowing through the bathroom. He, now like the rest of the inhabitants of this city, appreciated the cold water because of their heated climate. But he soon turned it off.

After getting dressed and running his fingers through his wet hair, which looked odd to him when it was straight because it was wet, to make it spike again. He cautiously walked out of the bathroom and back to Natasha's room.

The young woman's father's eyes narrowed when he saw the tall red-head in the black cloak exit the bathroom and enter his precious daughter's room. It took a while for him to realize in his anger that that tall boy was actually red-headed, which meant he was probably not from anywhere close to here. Perhaps it was true that there were different worlds besides their desert planet. It put him in a small state of shock, until he remembered how old the red-head looked. He couldn't have been much more than two or three years older than his daughter, but his mind told him, again, that Natasha had proven she wasn't stupid many times before.

With one final sneer in the room's general direction he shut the door and made his way back to his bed that he shared with his wife. The woman stirred when he entered, and moved over to him to embrace him where he lay. She rested her head on his shoulder for a moment and spoke tiredly.

"What were you doing, honey? Feeling okay?" He smiled at her habit of always asking two questions at once, her voice soothing him enough to make him sigh.

"I was just checking on the baby."

He could practically feel her smile, but at the same time the presence of the foreigner to their world bothered him. As a man, he wanted to befriend or expel him from their presence. As a father and a husband he didn't know what to do.

((A/N: And now we get our first itty-bitty peak of action! There is a reason why I labeled this Action/Adventure. There will definitely be some more in the future. And even better than that, Axel was taking a SHOWER:::Squeals: Ahem…sorry about that. ; Don't forget all the same old stuff, and please review!

TeleIce: Yes…period cramps are the worst. I'm glad I'll be seeing more of you!

SappireLight: No, it hasn't been said where she lives yet, but I just want to warn everyone in advance that when you find out where she lives, though it may be very interesting, it won't become a centralized part of the main story! It WILL sound somewhat important, and perhaps it will become more important if I change around future ideas, but I don't want it to take away from the main focus of this story, which is Axel in all his smexy fieriness! I'll stop rambling now. O.o

Mooncry: Thank you! ))