A/N: Ronin Warriors are not mine. Darres' name I borrowed from Vampire Game (Judal) because I liked the name. Any other characters that seem out of place are mine. Chapter 7, enjoy!
Chapter 7Out of pure wanting, Alvina woke up a little later than she normally would. She wasn't in the mood to walk this morning. Instead, she just made her way down the stirs into the kitchen. Just as she suspected, Cye was at the stove, cooking. Ryo was brushing White Blaze, Rowan held off Kento in the living room and Sage was reading the newspaper at the kitchen table.
"Morning everyone," she said with a half yawn. They all nodded.
"I missed your presence this morning," Sage said looking up from the paper. "Did you take a different route for your walk?"
"No, I slept in. I didn't get to sleep until late. Later than usual."
Everyone sat down at the table when Cye called that the food was done. The all ate in silence, even Kento. Alvina picked at her food and thought about the night before, the bad… and the good. The sound of her mother's voice played over and over in her head, angry, ticked, whatever you want to call it. Her mother was not happy with her. Alvina could only think about what she is going to do when she gets back to Cardiff.
She looked at all the faces around her. She admired them each individually, uniquely. Ryo was the hot head. She could plainly see that, but he made up for it with his kindness and big heart. Rowan was the practical one, the Braniac of the group but still kind and understanding. Kento… he is just a fat full of love and carefree feelings. Sage just seemed secluded and mature. But he cares all the same.
Her eyes lingered longer on Cye than the others. He was the one she didn't want to leave. Even though it was just last night that they opened to each other, it seemed all too soon that she had to leave. HE was the calmest of the five, and she noticed that he really isn't the fighting type. He was perfect for her; he was just what she needed to balance her since she was active, blunt and easy to piss off.
"I'm gonna miss you guys," she said softly. They all looked at her, apparently seeing the sadness. "You guys are the only real friends I've ever had, and I want to thank you for your friendship."
They all looked at her as she tried and failed to keep the tears from falling. They were quiet, silent, as they listened to her inner screaming and wailing. They knew she had to be.
Kento stood from his place at the table and went over to Alvina, throwing his arms around her in a friendly hug. A few seconds later, Cye joined in sandwiching her between them. Sage, Ryo and Rowen also joined in the group hug. Her whimpers turned into sobs of happiness to feel so safe with them.
"You're our little sister now," Kento said. "You're always gonna have a home here."
"Thank you," she whispered. "All of you."
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Alvina stood on the front walkway and watched as Ryo's red jeep drove down the dirt driveway. Salem was being held in her arms and White Blaze was sitting next to her. She looked up at the sky and saw dark storm clouds coming in from the east.
"Looks like we're gonna have some rain boys," she told the cats. "Let's go inside."
She headed up to her room and opened the closet door. She pulled out her large suitcases and placed them on her bed. Within a few hours she was packed, the bags placed in a corner. She sat on her bed as she stared at the sketching notebook and colored pencils before her. She realized that she didn't do one piece of artwork since her plane ride here. She needed to draw something, but she didn't know what.
"Well," she said to Salem. "If you can't think of what to draw, pick up a pencil and record your mind."
And that's what she did. She took hold of her sketchbook and opened it to a fresh new page. She blindly picked up a colored pencil and looked at it. It was a solid shade of green, and Sage's face popped into her head. Her hand moved with grace and speed as she mindlessly sketched Sage in a forest scene. He stood upon the tip of a mountain, birds, butterflies and other animals flying and moving around him. The background was an intricate pattern of different leaves form different trees and vines.
One she finished with the base, she took a deeper green pencil and added shading and depth to the sketch. Once the sketch was finished, Sage stood loosely but proudly on a page like he was right there. An idea came to her head and she carefully ripped out the page and placed it aside, picking up a red pencil and starting again. Then an orange pencil, a purple pencil, and finally a blue one.
Minutes turned to hours as page after page in her sketchbook littered the bed and the floor around her. The same thing on each page. She had drawn the guys in different poses, different situations. She even did portraits of them with their girlfriends.
There was one page left in her sketchbook. She looked at all of the other sketches and realized what she had forgotten. Once again, she picked up a light blue pencil and gently sketched Cye again with water encircling him. This last sketch she took the longest, dwelling on it far longer than she normally would.
She had collected all of the loose papers and separated them, placing each stack in a different manila envelope. She would wait to give them later. Right now, she needed to get something. She pulled on her shoes and left the house. She walked down the gloomy driveway, the dark clouds threatening rain.
It didn't take her long to get to town. She searched around for a craft store, finding a small one on the corner of town. She entered into it just as the rain began to fall. The place was small, not much to offer or choose from. She was the only one there. She didn't like the gloomy feeling, considering that she was already as low as she could get emotionally. She searched the racks and found the thing she was looking for and paid the old man teller and got out.
The rain soaked her to the bone as she aimlessly walked back to the manor. She was no rush. Thunder clapped above and shook the ground beneath her. The wind blew the rain hard and made it into a stinging rain that slapped her face and bare arms. Her hair stuck to her neck, and she started shivering. She sped up and made her way up the muddy drive way to the manor.
Once inside, she looked at the clock and found that the guys would be out of school in half an hour. She kicked off her boots and quickly made her way to the bathroom and turned on the hot water so she wouldn't get sick. She stripped away her wet clothes and dropped them on the floor. She stepped into the steaming shower and stood there, allowing the water to massage her cold body.
Everything and nothing ran through her head. She replayed day one here in Japan, the day she met Cye, the day she made five new and wonderful friends. Nine new friends if you count their girlfriends. If it weren't for them, she wouldn't have made it for an hour. What started as a simple thing to get away from Cardiff and visit the home place of her father actually turned into something she can't quite name. Something she was grateful for, because she found Cye.
Another clap of thunder broke her thought and brought her back to earth. The water had gone cold so she turned it off and stepped out. She wrapped a towel around her and gathered her wet clothes. She went to her room and put her wet clothes in a plastic bag and dressed in a light blue silk pajama set.
She sat on her bed and took out the purchased picture frame. She wiped off the rain and carefully placed her last sketch in it. She put the glass piece back in place and looked at the final product. It was complete then, her final gift to her friends for showing her that being different was okay, that you could live with it and still be you. She owed them so much, but could give only so little.
She felt old. Older than she actually is. So much had happened in such little time that it felt like eons had passed. She couldn't understand it, she couldn't believe that everything was falling apart. She didn't want to leave; she didn't want to go back to her life of seclusion in Cardiff. It was like she was drinking from a glass of water after being dehydrated for weeks and was suddenly deprived of it before she even got a drop. This was hell.
Dinner was eaten in silence that night. No one spoke or made a sound. Alvina only picked at her food; even Kento didn't have much of an appetite. Alvina stood from her place at the table and retreated up the kitchen stairs. The five boys watched her leave, feeling pain and sadness for their newfound friend.
Cye couldn't stand it. He also left the group and went upstairs. He lingered outside of Alvina's door. He listened, but could hear nothing on the other side of the door. No sobbing, no crying, no breathing… nothing. He placed his hand on the doorknob, fighting himself to decide whether to go in or leave her to herself.
He shook his head. He knew better than that. He saw her at dinner; he saw how she's been declining since the phone call from her mother the night before. She talks less and less, and is basically going into a state of apathy. She was changing into a zombie. Her fire was burning out little by little and it was tearing him up inside.
He twisted the knob and entered the dark room. He closed the door behind him and looked around. Alvina was perched on the window seat, her forehead against the glass and staring out at nothing. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled again. The wind blew but the rain did not fall. Cye reached out and caressed her cheek, feeling how cold it was.
Alvina didn't move. She didn't blink, or flinch or even twitch. All she did was continue to stare out of the window at the churning lake. Cye watched her in her misery, unable to take it any longer. In one swift and strong move, he grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at him. Her eyes held sadness, pain… darkness in general. They were darker than her regular gentle blue.
"Stop," he said firmly. "What is wrong with you? This is not who you are. This is not the Alvina I fell in love with the moment I placed eyes on her. You're scaring me, Alvina. You're scaring all of us. You can't keep moping around like this; it's not healthy. The longer you stay this way, the more of a liability you are to yourself.
"I refuse to see you do this to yourself, Alvina. I love you too much to see you die. I've seen too much death in the wars. We all came close enough to death to reach out and touch it. Cease your lamenting, and your self-abnegation… and really look at me."
Alvina made no attempt to raise her eyes to his. She stared off into space, only able to just slightly register his words. Her slow and steady breathing went heavy and rigid. She stiffened her body to hold back the tears, but failed. She leaned into his arms, and he wrapped them around her.
"Don't let me go…"
Cye lifted her face to his, her black eyes regaining their rightful color. He wiped the tears from her face and eyes. He stroked her cheek with his thumb, allowing it to trail down her neck and over her collarbone to stop above her heart. She rested her hand over his, feeling his warmth and love flow through his veins. Cye bent down and captured her lips in his. A feather-soft touch.
They gave themselves to each other that night. They held onto each other like there would be no tomorrow. To Alvina, she wished there wasn't a tomorrow. As for Cye, he didn't care if time stopped. As long as Alvina was there beside him in the morning, he would be where he always wanted to be…
And that was fine with him.