And so it is…the shorter story…no love, no glory…no hero in her skies… -- Damien Rice "The Blower's Daughter"

Days had passed since The Return of the Veins and it now became a matter beyond the realm of Kiba and Cheza. The group hadfound out but those outside of it remained oblivious to the fact that their Flower Maiden was ill. And though they had no clue that Cheza was sick, Kiba and the gang were left in the dark as well. Cheza would not say what those veins symbolized though the gang had a very good guess on what it meant. Kiba would not think about it.

Kiba, not someone whom likes to pressure others, asked her yet again once they came back from their short lived rendezvous but Cheza simply told him to not worry. It only made him do so more.

The veins thickened and grew darker and crept all over her body, hidden by her moon suit. They could only watch as she fell ill and more ill as the days flew by.

She smiled all the time but even Toboe noticed the expressions on her face; the emotions in her eyes. She'd look at things with a sad smile, a look upon her face as though she'd never see that thing again.

They stopped questioning her altogether. If indeed what they thought was in fact the reality of Cheza's illness, there was no time to mourn; they had to make every moment with her a wonderful one.

Pretending to be a happy, little, perfect family was hard. Fantasy, after all, shatters when reality sets in. Cheza, the daughter, sister, and mother was going to leave, no matter how much family time was spent with her.

Kiba, though, would not participate in the façade. He would not contribute to the pseudo happiness. He knew they were hurting inside even as they smiled and laughed along with her. There was no fake smile on his face, no acting as though everything was perfect like before and there was no horrible end; because that is what they thought.

They had all come to the conclusion that Cheza was dying.

And that was a conclusion Kiba did not agree to. His heart did not want to believe that.

The white wolf would rather be a pathetic human than ever, EVER, consider that option of Cheza dying. It was not happening. Not in his heart.

A little anger was boiling inside of Kiba towards his friends. How could do they even assume that? Had they given up on her already? Why would they prophet such a horrible happening to his beloved Cheza, their beloved Cheza.

No. He would not have it.

He would not think of Cheza's sickness like that. She was just feeling unwell, she'd get better soon. Once the full moon arrived in just a couple of nights, Cheza would regain her strength and those god forsaken, omen-like veins would vanish. He would see her truly smile and laugh and see her eyes bright as before. No more of those sad glances, no more…

Kiba would not pretend to not care about her sickness but he'd rather die in the hands of Darcia than ever acknowledge that opinion for it was not a fact. Not to him. Cheza was not dying.

As they gathered around her now, Kiba was seated away from them, just watching their little masquerade. Half of the time their laughter was fake, you could almost feel the forcedness behind it. There she was, covered in an invisible blanket of sickness but they would not recognize it. Did she know what they were doing? Did she ever wonder why all of a sudden, they were beaming and full of joy even when they knew she was sick?

Their eyes suddenly met and Kiba quickly diverted his towards a flower right before him. He looked down at it until he felt her gaze leave him and then…he continued to look at her.

So ill…yet so strong. Why would Cheza not tell them what was wrong? Why would she participate in their play as well and act as though those crawling veins, her translucent skin, the lifeless eyes and her fatigued body were nothing but tedious side effects of…of…of something!

It angered him so that she would not tell him, Kiba, what was happening. It saddened him as well because he wanted to make her better. She was suffering and anyone could see it. As though her departure was nothing but that. As though dying did not scare her…like it did him.

Not his death. Hers.

She meant the world to him, was every root of reason for him to live, to survive, to go on in life. Losing her meant losing his heart, his spirit, his entire reason to exist. No man, no wolf could live like that. Did she not know he loved her?

"Kiba?" Cheza's soft voice called out to him and brought him back to reality. All eyes were on him. Or rather, his face. "Kiba, why are you…?"

He stood up and wiped his face. "I'll be back." He turned his back to them, to her, and walked away. Damn tears.

He suddenly wanted to be just a member of the pack. To take off the duty of being the chosen wolf, the alpha of the pack.

Just so he could cry out his feelings freely, not worrying about setting examples and being the strong leader. For a moment, he just wanted to be any other wolf. A wolf that had never met Cheza.

So when she left…because he knew she would, when she left…he wouldn't have an endless hole in his heart.

A/N:

If you're feeling a bit depressed after reading this, that's good. It means I've reached my goal. This author's note is to lighten up your suddenly sad mood. This has nothing to do with the fanfiction (or Wolf's Rain) but I find this funny. I know some of you will be like, "What the f--?" after you read what I'm about to write. Those who understand this little comical clip, you're super cool! All of you are super cool, mind you lol.

Comical Clip:

Cindy: What did you do to your idiot father, Neutron! Before, he couldn't even walk a straight line and now he's like something out of a fancy French Circus!

Jimmy: Je ne sais pas, mademoiselle.

I like the witty comment in it, don't you?

…And you really don't have to know French (like I do) to understand Jimmy. But for those who didn't get it…Jimmy said, "I do not know, miss," in French.

I know, I know...it wasn't funny-funny. But it was cute and witty!

Hope that got ya out of your depressed mood!

Sincerely,

Maiden Cheza