I don't own Manta, Yoh, Anna, or Ryu.
Rose 3: Cornered
My heart beat faster as the night wore on, the darkness surrounding me. Suffocating me. My breathing became uneven, and tears formed in my eyes. Shadows cast across the room, terrifying me. But soon morning dawned, and I became calm and safe.
I hated, and still do hate, the dark. It isn't that I fear the blackness, but the unseen. The unknown. I never scream because it doesn't help. Besides, no one's ever home to help even if screaming could get them to come to me.
No one ever knows the fear I feel at night when I'm alone. I'm so small, and jump at such simple things to Yoh and Anna. The only nights I sleep well through are those when I'm near Yoh or Ryu. Just their presence in the room, lying beside me, tells me that I'm safe. That there's nothing to fear with them to protect me. And I know they both would.
I hate feeling like a burden to them, but I need them.
One night, I was staying with Ryu and, after some tossing and turning, my mind filled with thoughts, I fell asleep rather easily. But in the middle of the night I awoke from a dream. It was horrible, but as I sat up, wiping away the tears, I had no idea what it had been about. I laid back down, sniffing quietly, and faced where Ryu's futon was. But he wasn't there.
Suddenly, the shadows began to press around me again andtears trekked down my cheeks. I told myself I was being ridiculous. He would come back any minute, but my breathing began to come in ragged gasps. I buried my face in my pillow so he wouldn't hear my sobs, but the next thing I remember was him pulling me up into a hug, telling me it was all right and I had no reason to cry.
The tears stopped nearly immediately, and he put me back down, asking what was wrong. And so I told him about my sourceless and stupid fear of the dark. But he assured me that it was alright. It's a common fear, which I already knew that, and that he would find a way that I could always feel safe.
A week later, he picked me up after school. This wasn't quite a rare event, but it didn't happen every day. When he dropped me off at home he handed me a flower. I stared at it a moment. It was a rose. It was as white as freshly fallen snow and had the most beautiful scent I could ever have imagined. I looked back at him, and he smiled.
"Keep that in your room, and I'll always be there to protect you. I promise. If it starts to wilt, tell me, and I'll bring you another," he said quietly.
"Thank you," I whispered. "This is the sweetest thing I think anyone's done for me."
"That rose represents everything I see in you. It's pure and perfect, just as you are. The only difference is that the flower has been cut. It's life has already passed, while you are still blooming." I smiled broadly, and he rode off for home.
That night, and every night after, I kept the new white roses on my bedside table and the old ones locked away, being pressed in books to be put into a scrapbook of some sort later.
As time passed the flowers grew to mean more for me, and I told Ryu so when he gave me one, months after the first. In the end, I told him that I thought I loved him, blushing brightly, and feeling nervous. But he smiled and said that he would always be there for me. We kissed gently, and it was wonderful. After that, I kissed the rose every night, its petals having almost the same silky feeling his lips did.
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