Disclaimer: I don't own SC, but I DO own Gawen. Touch him, you're dead. :)

Thank you so much to all those who reviewed. For all those that were wanting to see ahint of romance, here'sa nice flashback chapter!

this - Is flashback and also thoughts.

Chapter 3: Memories of a Distant Time

"Book on the podium…book on the podium…book on the podium…where's this podium at anyways?" Siegfried muttered as he burst through the double doors of the library, and stopped dead in his tracks. Before him, stood the grandest library he had ever lay eyes on. There was row after row of books, soon morphing into shelves upon shelves of nothing but books as far as his sharp emerald eyes could see.

"She must have every book in the world ever written…fascinating…" Siegfried mused, taking a tentative step forward. His gaze landed on a large oak podium in the far right corner of the room, near a large armchair and sofa. On the podium, from his perspective, it seemed as though there had been nothing on it. When he drew closer, however, Siegfried found a small hardcover book, bound firmly with black rope. The entire cover of the book was red with an oddity of black designs upon it…and it looked familiar… Frowning, the blonde German opened the book, his fingers brushing the old and worn pages, as he flipped casually to a spot, and began to read. The first sentence that his mind comprehended caused him to close the book quickly, lest memories that he never wished to resurface should appear.

Siegfried and I split ways last night.

Now he knew where he had seen that book before. The knight now held in his hands the diary of Isabella Valentine. She had taken it on their journey together, written in it almost every night, but never let him see the contents of it. However Siegfried was not tempted to see what all was written in the book…he only tried so hard to suppress those memories of a time when everything had seemed so perfect.

He failed to do so.

Siegfried slowly opened the door to the room rented to his traveling companion, Ivy Valentine, and stepped inside. He paused, shutting the door behind him, seeing that she was dressed only in the bare minimum, her dress and underdress flung onto her bed. She had her back to him, as she gazed out the small window, her hand on the glass as the raindrops continued to fall. Cautiously, Siegfried walked over to the white-haired woman, and wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning his head against her shoulder.

"Ivy…" he whispered, tilting his head up, his lips were mere millimeters from her ear. This was received by a soft gasp of surprise from the British woman, but she did not move away, only leaning back against the blonde knight.

"I know…I shouldn't be doing this…for the love of god, there's a nine year difference between us…"

"Then stop." Ivy commanded hoarsely, as she turned in the embrace, breathing heavily. "Stop now. I'm not the woman you want. Take Cassandra, or Talim, or someone else, but not me…you don't want me…" Ivy pushed Siegfried away, and walked to her bed as she began to fold her dress. Siegfried, not at all deterred, walked over to Ivy, and resumed standing behind her, pulling her body close to his.

"They may be apples on the apple tree, Ivy…but you…you are the apple blossom. So rare and beautiful…nothing at all like them. I've had an apple before, Ivy…but never once have a smelled a flower so sweet, like you…" Siegfried murmured.

Ivy paused in his arms for a mere moment, before she pushed him away again, and continued on with her task, only to be pulled away again, by the blonde knight.

"Ivy, I love you."

The silence was so thick; you could have cut it with a knife. Ivy, stunned by this revelation, was standing straight up, her back against Siegfried's chest, as he buried his face in her hair. Ivy took a deep breath, and swallowed hard.

"No."

It hit Siegfried like a ton of bricks. Her words stung, like a thousand daggers had been plunged into his heart and torn it into itty-bitty pieces.

"W…what?" he asked, as Ivy left the embrace.

"You head me. No. No, we cannot let this happen!" Ivy repeated, with her back to Siegfried, her voice as cold as ever.

"You can't…you can't just say that! You can't say that and mean it! You can't, Ivy!" the blonde knight exclaimed, with traces of tears in his emerald eyes.

"I can, and I believe I just did." Ivy replied, turning sharply. "Look at yourself! Getting teary-eyed over something like this! It wasn't even supposed to happen this way! It was simply an accident! You took an alcoholic-induced night of passion as something done by my own will! No! I will not have it! You and I shall not pursue a relationship, and we shall go on as though nothing happened!"

"So it meant nothing to you!" Siegfried demanded. "Our time together meant nothing to you? Nothing at all?"

Once again, silence prevailed, until Ivy finally decided to speak up.

"Yes. Yes, Siegfried, it meant so much to me. And…now that I think about it…perhaps…perhaps we should split ways here." Her voice was so soft, Siegfried was not even sure she had spoken.

"What…?" he questioned, stepping closer to her.

"We should split. You have something to fulfill and so do I. We are on separate agendas…yet we seek the same thing. Siegfried, I think it is best that we split ways here. There's no use in traveling any farther together, when nothing can get accomplished this way." Ivy stated, turning around. She was face to face with a hurt Siegfried. The sorrow that was apparent in his green eyes seemed overwhelming for the Countess, yet she moved past him, as though she was merely dictating something for him to write; moving around the room casually.

Siegfried knew there was nothing else he could do. He had fought his battle the best he could…now it was time to admit defeat to the one woman he loved more than anything else in the world.

"If that is what you wish, Ivy. Then so be it…" he replied, not daring to turn towards her.

"One more thing…" Ivy added, walking back over to the blonde knight, who, at this point, immediately turned his gaze away from her in modesty. Siegfried knew that if this was how it was to be, he was to act as though seeing the voluptuous form of the white-haired woman before him was nothing short of a cardinal sin.

"Yes?" he questioned, focusing his gaze on the pounding rain outside the glass window.

"Siegfried…I want to pretend this never happened."

Another dagger driven into his heart…now not only could he not travel with her, but now he had to pretend that this tryst had never occurred.

"May I ask why?" he questioned, still with his back turned to the Countess.

"I think it's for the best, of course. Yes, it's naturally for the best…should we ever meet up again, this isn't something I necessarily want to talk about." Ivy stated, rather bluntly.

"So…you'd rather just completely forget we were ever together?" Siegfried asked hesitantly. He knew what her answer would be, but he was dreading it all the same.

"No."

Well that wasn't what he had been expecting. Siegfried turned to Ivy, in a rush of joy and hope, his emerald eyes sparkling.

"Stop, Siegfried. When I said no…I mean no, as in I don't want to forget we were ever together. I want to completely dismiss this as a dream. Right now…you and I are having a dream, brought on by something the bartender slipped in our drinks. We traveled together, and then I left. Nothing ever happened." Ivy replied, as she looked up at Siegfried with her hardened features, and her icy cold, turquoise eyes.

"Well then…Countess, if this is a dream, and this really never happened, then I suppose you wouldn't harm me if I did this…" Siegfried replied. He swooped down, capturing Ivy's lips in a fiery kiss.

It only confused the German man more.

Ivy did not back away. She responded to the kiss with all of her might, with every ounce of passion left in her trembling frame, until there was no more air to be given, no more passion to be displayed, and Ivy broke away hastily.

"Siegfried, please…just…"

Siegfried bowed his head, before walking away, opening the door, and closing it shut behind him. He knew he had finally lost. He had lost everything…

Siegfried placed the book back onto the podium, shaking his head to clear away the memories, and the emotions. That had been a year ago, and now, as he looked at Ivy, he only saw her as a dear, dear friend. After all, that's what their intentions were, right? That night had never happened, and it never would again. The sudden dampness on his face, caused the blonde-haired German knight to place a hand up to his cheek, where, to his surprise he felt the stinging of wet tears.

Could it be that those emotions he had locked away were finally begging to be let free again? Could it be that he was falling head-over-heels for the British woman all over again?

And if this was true…was she falling for him back?

Well there's chapter three! Please R&R!