Hi! Wow! This is finally up! You know, I'm so proud of myself! I have over forty reviews! Thanks a million to you guys!
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Thanks to my reviewers! You guys are spectacular!
ariotlatio- I know! I feel sorry for them too! But...it had to happen, for the sake of the plot. Yeah, I'm sorry for it taking so long...I know what I promised originally...
I like the way you write your reviews! The whole 'no?' thing. It's cool. Thanks for reviewing!
brat-always-day-and-night- Yuri will be fine eventually...Hmmm, actually, Aya may end up with Brooklyn; I haven't decided yet. You're a new reviewer! Hi! Glad you took the time to write a little something! Thanks for reviewing!
K'onix- Yeah, it's a little repetitve...anyway, I'm glad you like it! I don't care that your name means nothing; it's still cool. You're right, it does sound nice. Thanks for reviewing!
personne du monde- Oh, okay: ) I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a wasted joke. I really am thick at times! -sweatdrop- It is a bit depressing, isn't it? Hmm, now, is that a good thing or a bad thing?...Thanks for reviewing!
Torri-Chiobie- Don't cry! -hands over a tissue- It'll get better! Thanks for reviewing!
Glimmern-glitas- Yeah...what will he do? -shifty eyes- Anyway, thanks for wishing me luck again! Also, thanks for reviewing!
Deranged Kai- Yeah, I know! I really love Tala too! But I had no problem writing it! -evil grin- I don't know, it's sadder to read someone else's angsty parts than to write or read your own...Anyway, thanks for reviewing!
I've noticed that I like get seven reviews every chapter...weird. Hmm, I don't really like the way I've portrayed Brooklyn...oh well...
Enjoy!
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Aya reached forward, but it was too late. Yuri had gone. She paused and turned back around, locking eyes with Brooklyn. " I'm sorry. I – I have to go now. I had a great time."
" Aya!" Brooklyn held out a hand, as if to stop her, but she had already run into the foliage and was out of reach.
Brooklyn sighed, dropping his hand. Slowly he began to clean up the picnic.
Aya ran through the trees, hoping she was going in the right direction. Branches lashed at her as she ran, and the crystals hung at her temples were torn off without her noticing.
" Ahhhhhh!" Aya tripped over her long skirt. As she fell, her scarf snagged on a branch, choking her. Aya fought for a while, and finally managed to untangle her scarf. She pulled it off and bundled it up. As she got back up she gathered her skirt up in one hand, to prevent any future accidents.
She ran on, shortly bursting out of the small forest and into the corner of the park. She dropped her skirt and looked around wildly, but Yuri was gone. Aya smoothened her now tangled hair dejectedly, and wrapped her wrinkled scarf around her shoulders. She slowly began walking home.
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Yuri ran. He didn't particularly care where he went; he just wanted to be far away from that place. He sprinted blindly, not noticing if her hit people or ran in front of a car. He couldn't even see the world clearly through his misted eyes. Hot, bitter tears threatened to spill over his cheeks. He shook his head violently and sped up. He had to go somewhere, although he would have preferred to run on forever. He couldn't go to Kai's again. He needed to be alone.
Soon, Yuri found himself in front of familiar aspen doors. His home. He hadn't been here since, well, over a week ago. He stifled a sob and wiped his tears away, one hand digging through his pockets in search of the house key. He finally found it in his back pocket. He angrily unlocked the door and entered his darkened house. Slamming the door behind him, he fully intended on going to his room and releasing some of his emotion. He was stopped however, by a chest covered with black silk.
" Hello, son." Nikita's smirk grew as he watched disbelief and shock flitter across Yuri's face, soon replaced by fear.
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Brooklyn carefully placed the last plate into the large hamper he had hid behind a tree. He folded the tablecloth and put it in the basket as well. Standing up, he brushed off his knees and began to follow Aya's track through the forest.
He was now almost positive there was some emotion between Aya and Yuri, whether or not Aya had realized. The question was, should he continue his advances? He wasn't one to disturb a relationship, but Aya didn't seem to know what she felt.
Brooklyn was distracted from his thoughts by a bright flash from the corner of his eye. He turned and saw Aya's hair hangings dangling from a branch. The lemon-coloured glass had caught the sunlight, and in turn, Brooklyn's attention. He carefully untangled them and held them, watching the light sparkle across the coloured glass. He suddenly put the hangings in his pocket, making up his mind.
He was going to try as hard as he could to attract Aya to him. No Russian boy was going to stop him. Besides, all's fair in love and war, right?
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Aya was alone on the street. She was slowly walking home.
She sighed, looking down at her clothes. Her skirt was stained with dirt and her scarf was wrinkled from her earlier treatment of it. She was pretty sure there were still some twigs in her knotted hair, and there was a stinging pain in her cheek where a branch had scratched her.
The sky was darkening, and it was becoming rather chilly. Aya was glad when she finally reached her house. She hurriedly went inside and changed into a bathrobe, throwing her clothes into the laundry hamper. Walking into the bathroom, she took off the necklace Brooklyn had given her and placed it lightly on the counter. She turned on the tap and stepped into the shower, leaving her bathrobe on the floor.
Half an hour later she was sitting on her bed, dressed in an overlarge yellow t-shirt that fell to her knees and white capris, combing her damp hair. She put down her comb and started braiding her hair. After she'd tied her braid with a wide yellow ribbon, she flopped down backwards on her bed.
She lightly touched the thin red scratch on her cheek, wondering whether or not she should contact Yuri. What would she say?
Aya sighed and got up, grabbing the phone that she'd taken from her parents' room. She held the receiver to her ear and dialled a number.
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Nikita approached Yuri menacingly, his jade eyes darkening in malicious glee. Suddenly, the phone's shrill ring cut through the silence. Nikita's eyes darted to the innocent white object.
" Pick up the phone." Nikita growled.
Yuri cautiously walked over and picked up the phone. " H – hello?"
" Hi, Yuri. It's me, Aya." A girl's voice came through loud and clear. Nikita narrowed his eyes.
" Look, Aya. This isn't a good time." Yuri said nervously, his eyes never leaving his father.
" I know. I just wanted to say I'm sorry and – " Aya was cut off by Yuri.
" Look, seriously. I'll talk to you later. I have to go." Yuri finished urgently and hung up.
" Who was that, Yuri?" Nikita smirked, mocking Anika's name for his son.
" No one." Yuri backed up as his father walked ever closer.
" No one? It didn't sound like no one. 'I just wanted to say I'm sorry…'" Nikita mimicked. " Who was she?" He kept a deceptively calm smile on his face as he reached over and ripped the phone cord from the wall.
" Nobody." Yuri insisted.
" I can find out, you know. And I'm in a particularly…vindictive mood." Nikita waved his wrist, which was enveloped in a white cast.
" Stay away from my friends!" Yuri shouted, clenching his hands.
" Well, that's not the point anyway. Right now, I want to talk about you." Nikita caressed his broken wrist.
" Look, I don't even remember doing anything to you! I'm your son!" Yuri pleaded, racking his brain for anything about Nikita. Why did he get such a mixed feeling of dread and satisfaction at the sight of that wrist?
" You don't remember?" Nikita snorted. " I don't know what you're playing at, but it's a pathetic plan. Nothing is going to keep you from my wrath."
" I swear! I don't know what you're talking about!" Yuri held his hand up, a desperate expression on his face.
" Whatever." Nikita shrugged carelessly. He then walked closer to Yuri. He brought up his hand, and slapped Yuri forcefully. A bright red mark stained Yuri's pale cheek.
" Please!" Yuri cried, his body quaking in fear.
Nikita had brought his hand up again, but suddenly stopped. He may have been a bad father, but he knew his son. And his son did not give in. He recalled the phone conversation. That girl had called his son 'Yuri'. He turned his gaze back to the cowering boy, an almost incredulous look on his face.
" You seriously cannot remember?" It wasn't really a question.
Yuri didn't answer. Nikita shook his head, a smile on his face.
" I can't believe it." Nikita mused, stroking his chin. He wondered how he could change this into something that would benefit himself. He could pretend to be a kindly father and win him that way…or he could beat Yuri into submission.
" This is perfect." Nikita unbuckled his belt. " I failed the first time, but now I will re-teach you exactly what you're meant for." He slapped the leather belt against the palm of his hand, the buckle sounding ominously.
Yuri's eyes widened in horror as Nikita raised the leather strap high and brought it down.
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Aya walked up Yuri's paved driveway. She had to talk to him, especially after what he'd said on the phone. She needed to fix things so that they could be friends again. She paused in front of the doors and took a deep breath, raising her hand and deliberately pressing the doorbell. She waited…but nothing happened. She rang it again, but still no answer. Frowning slightly, she tried the doorknob. To her surprise, it was unlocked. She slowly eased the door open and stepped into the dark lobby.
" Yuri?" She called softly, unnerved by the atmosphere. She looked around nervously, her eyes landing on a startling sight.
Yuri was curled up on the cold marble floor, an angry redheaded man looming over him, wielding a belt like a whip.
" Yuri!" She cried, shocked beyond belief.
The red-haired man looked up lazily; he appeared as if he had not heard the doorbell.
" Ah…Aya, I presume?" He stared at her through half-lidded eyes.
" What are you doing?" Aya's eyes couldn't leave the huddled form of her friend.
" Why are you in my house?" The man raised an eyebrow, looking amused.
" Your house?" Aya was surprised. Now she knew where she'd seen this man before; he was the one in the family photo! " You're his father?"
" The one and only." The man made a little half-bow, his cold jade eyes flashing.
" What do you think you're doing?" Aya demanded, advancing a bit, but not too much.
" I? I am teaching." The man shrugged innocently.
" No! Leave! You're hurting him!" Aya clenched her hands tightly, her jaw tense.
" It's my house." The man lost his carefree air and stared directly at Aya.
" You can't do this! This is illegal! I can call the police on you so fast – " Aya was cut off by Yuri's father raising his hand.
" The police? The police." He smirked. " Let me tell you something about the police. You slip them a couple thousand bucks and they don't care." He took a few, slow steps towards Aya.
Aya desperately searched for anything that would stop him. She spotted some long, ceremonial swords mounted in brackets on the wall. She ran over and grabbed the hilt of a dragon-decorated sword. She pulled at it hurriedly, one foot on the wall for extra leverage. When she finally tugged the sword free, it surprised her with its weight and the tip scraped the floor.
The man laughed mockingly, resting a foot on Yuri's side.
Aya struggled to lift the heavy weapon. She was so angry with Yuri's father now, so she was absolutely determined to shut him up. She gave one last pull and finally hefted the sword up. The tip of the weapon quivered dangerously.
" Careful with that. It's sharp." The eyes of the man glinted with malice.
" Good." Aya glared, after looking down and noting the thin white scratch on the veined, black marble floor.
" Put that down before you hurt yourself." The man said lazily, applying pressure to his foot. Yuri hissed.
" It's not myself I intend to hurt." Aya retorted, stepping forward with difficulty.
" Come on." The man spoke smoothly, obviously not finding Aya serious threat.
Aya advanced again, not actually wanting to hurt the man. She knew he was evil, and harming him seemed easy to do in her mind, but actually doing it in real life…
Aya bit her lip in concentration as she raised the sword. She was just going to give him a tiny cut to show that she meant business – WHOA!
The sword had slipped, it being so heavy, and cut a long gash in the man's arm.
He hissed, grabbing his arm in surprise. " You little – " Here he swore for quite a while. " Looks like I'm not going to get some private time with my son today. I won't forget you, Aya." He bared his oddly sharp teeth and swept out the door.
Aya dropped the sword, the clatter of metal hitting marble resounding through the room. She ran over to Yuri, falling to her knees next to him. His condition was much worse than she thought. One half of his face was bright red, and his shirt was ripped, angry scarlet welts rising up on his back. Here and there the skin had broken, blood welling up.
" Oh." She gasped, reaching forward to help Yuri sit up. However, he rolled away from her touch, trembling violently.
" Yuri." She tried again, but Yuri resisted. Silent sobs wracked his body and tears flowed from his tightly closed eyes.
" Yuri." She repeated, sitting back on her heels. " I want to help you."
" No, no. No, I don't want to remember. I don't want to, no!" Yuri whispered fiercely to himself, rocking back and forth. " No, I don't want to, I don't want to, no…"
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