The characters from the game belong to Capcom. The OC's and story background belong to me.
Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
A/N: I'm not English native speaker, so you might find some typos or grammar mistakes, I do apologize for that.
"What keeps you from loving me? Do not I deserve your love?
I know you look at me.
I know it is not something made out in my head as initially I thought could be.
But I have observed you. Your moves. Your behavior when I am around you with other or when is just the two of us.
You change.
Confuses me.
Why confuse me so much when you look at me with desire, but ignore my presence.
Fear of loving?
You do not seem to be afraid when you stay with those whores...
Or would you like me to be your whore and you are afraid to ask or break the doll?
I am not a doll.
Know that I could be your whore and everything you want, because out of love I can do everything. Everything!"
A few days had passed and it was the dawn of Sunday of September. Kate out of curiosity started reading Katarina's files in the flash drive Mr. Lionel had left for her with his final letter. As accorded, she could only open it after his death.
She didn't understand why he printed all those people's original archives and saved copies in the flash drives to give to them. She knew the same happened for Chris and Piers, but both men didn't show much interest in reading all the content.
Not her case. She wanted to know it all. It didn't matter the reasons Lionel did that.
Somehow she felt privileged in reading about such important people in the history of Bohma. As a fact she loved reading all kinds of things despite people only having a shallow vision of her.
She loved learning about everything and loved different cultures. One of her personal dreams was to travel around the world and that was a part of her frustration which made her usually hide that wish. It was frustrating wishing but not having the conditions for it – financially.
Though it was not everyday someone gets the opportunity to read true biographies – and for free – like she did now thanks to her angelical grandfather. That was how she saw him.
She read at work. She read at "home". It was not her home and she knew it.
"I am learning how to read between your lines.
The way you look. The way you act.
The thin contradiction they have.
You "ignore" me but you give me gifts.
It is not even my birthday! But you gave me a nice necklace.
You said it was a simple gift but…nothing is simple when the gem is nothing more than just an emerald! Poor people cannot afford it and I know you could never steal it!
You said you found it, but if it was not fate's hand to do it, I believe more that you have saved money – for me – and does not want to admit it.
Not that I doubt you completely, but in the end it does not really matter.
What matters to me is that you think of me when I am not around you.
You are just in denial.
But I will break through your wall.
No matter how long it takes.
To be or not to be, I am! Katarina O'Gregon, the greatest woman that ever crossed your life and the only one that truly loves you like no other!
A love that will live across and last beyond the time!
I know I will love you
For all my life
I will love you
In every farewell
I will love you
Desperately
I know I will love you.
And every verse of mine will be
To tell you
That I know I will you
For all my life
I know I will cry
With every absence of yours I will cry
But every return of yours will erase
What your absence caused me
I know I will suffer
The eternal misfortune of living
Waiting to live next to you
For all my life
I know I will love you..."
Kate felt shivers reading those love confessions and wondered if the necklace mentioned in the letter was the same Mr. Lionel had made Chris put on her, which now gave a special value to the object.
Katarina O'Gregon was definitely an intense woman with a passion that lived across from her. For now the more she read about that passionate woman, the more she felt the injustice with her fame. She was a human and had flaws. Her feelings were always true. Good or bad.
Naturally people forget what others do. The legacy but the sadly part was that Katarina herself seemed to have forgotten it either when she succumbed to her inflamed jealousy and set fire to the great love she dedicated most of her life to achieve. She burned herself in her own flames.
Power and jealousy combined with a broken ego destroyed that great woman and set her name to infamy.
With teary eyes, Kate felt the sharp pain in her chest. It had a while since she felt it and even thought she was healed from that. Unfortunately not.
Inhaling and letting out her breathe to calm herself, it was enough reading for that night.
She left her bedroom and headed to the kitchen to prepare a late snack.
The Promise
Flashback
There was a wooden cottage and green trees around the land. A young man and a young woman in white dress with a red ribbon on the waist level were sitting on a bench at the veranda of the house.
Her head resting on his left shoulder. His left hand held her waist and his right hand held her right hand resting on his left thigh. They looked peaceful as they admired the river near the land and the sound of the small waterfall.
Such a peaceful place to be.
"I don't want this to end…" she spoke
"But this is just getting started" he replied
She smiled, "Making love to you and being fully yours today was magical…"
"And we will love more many other times. Today was just the beginning"
"Our first time…"
"Yes, our first time"
"It's still hard to believe…and that's why I don't want it to end. I don't want this day to end… I wish this moment of peace and love would last forever… I wish the magic would last forever…"
"Who says it won't?"
"Because the sun is setting and I have to leave and go home…and keep these memories in secret despite my soul is glowing"
"My soul is glowing too but it will continue shining through the dark, in the night…until we meet again tomorrow…"
"This is going to be the longest night of my life!"
"Yes, it will…"
"Yet, I wish this moment would never end…"
"It will last!"
"I already miss you…"
He caressed her waist, "Let's face it as it just a few hours away until we meet again" he said smiling
"And then we love again" she said with a naughty smile
He smiled in a naughty way back, "Surely, but you know our love is not just that, right?"
She nodded in agreement, "I know, but this has united us even more and I can't help to want it all again…and again… and again…"
He laughed, "You're addicted" he said in a playful way
"I'm addicted…to you and to all the love we have"
He smiled and caressed her face with his right hand, "I'm addicted too" he said before kissing her warmly
They made love –again- on the bench. The nature as the back scenery.
That was the only day those souls were allowed to love each other at full, but they took the most of it, tirelessly.
Their consciences were not aware of it, but their glowing spirits they would be one just for that day and the night, the darkness would come and embrace their fates.
Yet, their spirits shone brightly… and multiplied in two.
As he drove the boat through the river taking her back home, two small lights seemed to leave the back of the waterfall and joined the boat and sat on the woman's each side.
The full moon's light illuminated more them. As they left the boat, he took her in his arms and a strong urge to not let go of her hit him.
"I love you so much Kate"
"I love you too Chris"
"The thought of this hours apart is torturing me already"
"Same here"
"I can feel this is going to be the longest night we ever had…"
"But we will make through it. We always do!"
He nodded in agreement despite his internal disturbance. He looked down at her dress and the ribbon. He took a knife and cut a small part of it.
"What are you doing?" she asked puzzled
"Give me your left hand"
"Why?"
"Just give me"
She did it so.
"You know I'm improvising here because I never planned any of this in this way, but as we are feeling that this is going to be a long night apart after a full day of pure union…I want us to continue feeling united during the separation, so this is the only way I thought we can achieve it for now. Our bodies will be separated but our spirits will continue united and to represent our union, I enlace this ribbon on your ring finger to represent my union to you…like a marriage"
Her eyes were teary in excitement. Overwhelmed. That improvisation was better than any other planning, "A soul's marriage?" she said almost voiceless
"Yes. Our soul's marriage"
She smiled largely
"Of course we can plan this better later and have a decent wedding ceremony…"
"It's perfect already! I don't need any of that, just your honest love…like now" she replied
He smiled flattered.
She took his knife from his hand and cut another small piece of the ribbon and enlaced it around his left ring finger, "This ribbon represents my full union to you, under the moonlight and with the sound of this sacred river. Today I became your woman, your soul wife and my love for you will live across the time. I promise you I will love you and only you forever! There will have no other love like ours and I will give my all, my best to make you the happiest man in the world! I won't let anyone come between us as our love will shine throughout the adversities"
He kissed her passionately and then smiled warmly, "I make your words my words as you know you have always been better with it than me…"
"I know my love, but I know your actions speak for you" she said rolling her arms around his neck
He rolled his arms around her waist with a proud smile, "I love you my soul wife"
"I love you my soul husband"
Their souls shone bright. White and red. And the green. But the green represented something else. The growth, harmony, freshness, safety, fertility, and environment. The simplicity around them.
The two small lights entered her womb.
If only that young couple knew what awaited them.
If only they knew with anticipation…
Maybe things would have been different.
Those two lights became the resource of Katherine's main strength during the following hard months.
Those two lights legacies opened path for the reencounter of that promise those simple young souls made to each other, but…centuries passed. Centuries events came in between the simplicity of the 14th and the luxury of the 17-18th. A lot had happened in nearly four hundred years.
The simplicity of the green seemed to have gone…
Or maybe suppressed like it happened to Katherine's light in Katarina's darkened spirit.
And Christian's partially in Christopher's mess, but mainly in Chris Redfield's rock.
End of Flashback
Chris woke up in sweat. That dream seemed to be part of the collection of weird dreams he had since he was young, but now they seemed to have more details and a weird context.
He turned on the lamp on the bedside table as he sat up in bed. He looked at the wall and the painting hung. The couple's back painting. So disturbingly familiar. They looked like the young couple he used to see in his dreams, though lately he used to see Kate's face in the woman's.
Probably a trick of his brain.
He ignored those dreams as much he could and for awhile he stopped dreaming of the woman in black. Both dreams caused him nostalgia and a mix of feelings he preferred not to pay attention.
Thirsty, he stood up and headed to the kitchen.
He saw Kate reaching the upper cabinet, but his eyes couldn't lay off her lifted tiny and tight sexy red nightdress and the bottom of her naked butt showing.
In light speed, his mind made out images of him fucking her from behind.
He and Kate were growing closer in friendly terms, but that knowledge and view hit him hard the few occasions he accidentally caught a glimpse of naked parts of Kate. That was a sexy torture he had to deal with daily.
He stood behind her and reached the object she wanted to get, though, with her scare as she didn't noticed his entrance, she lost a bit the balance and her ass touched his lower parts.
Kate looked behind and down at Chris wearing only green boxers. She disguised the look of the "pleasant" view of his not so flaccid member as her ass had just confirmed it.
"Sorry…" he said apologetic
"It happens, but I didn't see you entering"
He laughed in distress, "Yeah, it's my cat walk…I got used to walk without making too much noise, especially barefoot…"
She avoided looking down, but seeing Chris Redfield only in his boxers and that toned and muscled body wasn't making it easy to disguise the intimacy growing between them. She was still trying to forget the moment she caught a glimpse of his naked butt the day before when he was changing clothes before they head out for dinner.
Accidental naked glimpses seemed to have become a routine for that pair, despite them keeping the views only to themselves.
Accidental or not, for Kate that seemed to be more fair as he so far was the only one with memories of her naked body for sure.
"Can't sleep?" she asked stepping away
"Not quite, I'm thirsty. You?"
"I'm hungry"
Yeah, both were hungry and thirsty. Double meaning talk.
Chris opened the fridge and got a jar of orange juice and saw on the dining table. Kate cooked. They talked occasionally before Kate joined him in the table.
"So what is your plan for your Sunday morning?"
"Jogging or gym"
She giggled, "No lazy ass?"
"No lazy ass in the morning, maybe in the afternoon. What about you?"
"Reading"
"Are you still reading those files?"
"Yeah. It's a gift, gotta take it"
He chuckled, "I don't know how you can do that"
"I take it as a History study with the charm of a novel…and I love novels!"
He grinned, "Each one with their tastes…I prefer go camping or a shooting range"
"Or gym…"
He laughed, "Yeah, or gym"
"Camping…that reminds me of an old personal tale"
"Really?"
"Yeah"
"I'm curious because with all the respect you don't seem to be the type that goes camping…"
She made a face, "You're assuming wrong…partially wrong! Just because of the fact I hate mosquitoes, bugs and swimming it doesn't mean I can't enjoy the nature!"
He laughed, "Will you share?"
"Of course! It's not a wow of a story but it's kind of funny when I think about it"
"So tell me about your funny adventure on nature"
She cleared her throat and lifted her back and rested her elbows on the table, exposing more her boobs to Chris' eyes level.
Intentionally or not, Chris disguised his pleasant view."
"That happened when I was a kid, maybe 6 years old or something. My father liked such adventures, he even had a boat but I hated sailing because I freaked out about the idea of entering the boat, and lake, and stuff like that…but that's another story"
"Okay"
"So the camp day, I don't remember much but the necessary to laugh at myself and it's enough to make me be sure it's a trauma that maybe I brought from some other life because that's the only reasonable explanation for the case…anyways, so I remember there were bungalows or cottages and my father preferred to stay at a camp tent…sleep on the ground, grass, bugs and all…he was lucky I was a kid and wasn't so bitchy about it like I'm today…"
He laughed, "Kids like those stuff…grass, mud, and stuff"
"Get dirty!"
"Yeah…"
"I like getting dirty but never mind…"
He laughed loud
"Back to the camp day…"
"Go ahead"
"So we were sleeping in the camp tent. The place was a natural park and I remember there was a pool that triggered all my fear of water and paranoia that could have snakes or crocodiles, or alligator or something like that in it because as far as I remember we couldn't see the ground of it. Maybe because of the water or because of the color of the rocks…so I used to imagine there was some animal in it and they would catch us like in the movies…"
"Well, it's a reasonable paranoia as it could really happen due to the location…"
"Yeah, exactly! So aside from that, there was also a river and despite my fear of entering in it, I admit there was a part of me that wanted to get near to it, maybe jump in it…I don't know…I loved listening to its sound, especially at night when it was silent, or maybe it was the sound of the waterfall near, either ways, I loved listening to the sound of running water and I still do!"
"That's good to know! I can see some evolution from the phobia!"
"Yeah…I'm not afraid of water itself, but the depth or drowning…or be taken by some animal into it…"
"I can see some reasonability"
She smiled, "Thanks for the encouragement but you're about to be sure that I'm a chicken that can't fly…I mean, swim"
"Okay…" he smiled
"So the next memory I have of it is when we finally went to see the waterfall. I was pretty much excited about it, I just couldn't count that what it could mean"
"Why?"
"I didn't really think people could swim there…I thought we were just going to see it and not jump in it"
"You jumped the waterfall?"
"No! it was too high for that, but people used to swim in the lake around it"
"Oh, I see"
"And that's what my father and mother did"
"It sucks to be you" he said with irony
"Yeah it does! I was alone at the shore while the people were there having fun…I got pissed! I was the only one not having the fun and burning under the sun!"
"Sorry about that" he teased her
"Shut up! I'm a brave chicken!"
He laughed
"I saw there was a rock that I could stay and feel somehow connected in their joy…the problem was the gap from the shore to the rock…at that time I loved watching Power Rangers and I thought I could be like them and I almost jumped from the shore to the rock as I had taken some impulse…I only stopped my crazy idea because I feared losing balance and bad calculation and fall in the water…so I was a smart chicken if not for the idea I had next…"
He chuckled, "Which idea?"
"I asked someone to take me there, actually my mother but she was too far to listen to me, so my father was the one to attend me"
"Oh, and were you taken to the rock?"
"I did, but I regretted it immensely the moment my father accepted my crazy request…I guess I was oblivious to the fact that I'd have to be taken into the water until there and trust his strength and swimming skill"
"So you didn't go to the rock?"
"I did!"
"You did?"
"Yeah! I kicked my fear out for a minute and hard like a piece of wood, I sat on his shoulder as he swum until there…the problem was to step on the rock. It was flat, but I feared it anyways, but I made it and I felt so brave! Staring the waterfall because my view of it was really in the center and it was such a beautiful landscape. I only had to ignore the river path behind me"
"I'm glad to hear that. That gives me a boost to give you swimming lessons on nature"
"No way Chris! What happened next took all my bravery away"
"Why? Did you slip into the water?"
"No! There was a fire caterpillar next to me!"
"Oh crap. Did it bite you?"
"No! My loud yells kept it away from me for some time until my father saved me! I was trembling and almost jumped into the water to escape it! I cried rivers literally due to the despair. I didn't know those shit could swim! But I've have been bitten by it when I was a toddler, so my despair was in the ultimate level"
He couldn't help the laugh. Not that he laughed at her or her trauma, but it was funny her theatrical way of telling it.
"So that proves that all the times I tried to kick ass into the water on nature I almost screwed up! The caterpillar and the almost drowning have been enough for this lifetime!"
"But I'll be there with you. I'll make sure no bugs will interfere"
"You can't control bugs Chris. It's beyond your power!"
"But I can get rid of them for you" he said looking into her eyes with conviction
She smiled. It was cute the rock being sweet. Despite all that grumpy cover around that man, he could still be kind. Usually in a funny and clumsy way, but the intention is what really matters.
"The talk is good but I should wash the dishes and go to sleep. It's late"
"Alright, and I love listening to your stories. You have good ones"
"Thanks. You could tell me more your stories as well to be fair and not me the only talkative part in here. I don't like feeling I'm boring you"
"You don't bore at all! I like you"
She smiled tenderly, "I like you too"
They kept staring for some time. None seemed to want to part.
Something inside them wanted to break that silence and cross the line. Break the wall. For how long more they could keep that fire from consuming them?
"I'll wash the dishes. Good night Kate" he said with a hoarse
"Okay… Good night Chris"
She took long to sleep as she was lost in her thoughts. Admiring their picture as her cell phone background, "What is this I'm feeling? Am I falling for him?"
He didn't sleep at all. Little after the sunrise he left to jog and vent his mind.
Kate woke up by the sound of the doorbell. She checked the clock. 8:30AM.
It couldn't be Eliza, she had the keys. Much less Chris. Cleaning her face quickly she headed to the door and opened it without checking the peephole.
She let out a discontented sigh with the unexpected unpleasant visitor.
"What a bad way to start the Sunday morning after a great night" she said rolling her eyes
"I guess I could make your words, my words"
"What do you want?"
"Nothing else…but I can say I just confirmed I wasn't wrong about you"
"About me?"
"Yes. You're clever and I hope you're enjoying the ride while you can before he realizes what type of person you are"
Kate chuckled, "Excuse me! You come to my door to insult me. Who do you think you are, Loser?"
"I'm not the loser, but you"
"Me?"
"This is not your home"
"It is, I live here!"
The other woman chuckled, "You're fast and really smart. Men in love really do things they wouldn't do when not in love. Chris is a man, but a good one. Different of you, I won't try to separate you even though I despise you. Yet, Chris made his choice and I hope he made a good one. I really hope you're smart enough to keep him and make him happy as he deserves. He has been through a lot and doesn't deserve another deception in form of gold digger."
"I'm not a gold digger!"
"So be more than just the whore he's banging"
Kate didn't think twice and raised her hand to slap the Cathy's face, "You come to my house and offend me? get out of here before I make you swallow your words!"
"Enough girls!"
They heard Chris' voice echoing in the hallway as he walked over their way.
"Chris…" Cathy spoke in surprise
Kate didn't disguise her annoyed face.
"Go inside. I'll take it from here" he said to the brunette
Even vexed, Kate left them alone, although she listened to their conversation through the door.
"Disappointment describes my feelings watching this scene you started. Until today I always had a hope that breaking up with you had been a mistake and homing Kate was a wrong move, but…I guess I wrong keeping that hope…"
"She always provoked me"
"I guess she just reacted to you"
"She envied me and often insulted me! She almost strangled me… she slapped me!"
"You're not a victim, you cursed her now. I heard it or are you going to deny that?"
"I admit I insulted her until today, but only this time…I'm sorry for that"
"I'm not the one you should apologize"
"If is that what you want, I will, but you should know I didn't lie when I said I want you to be happy, even if that means is not with me, but with her"
"There is no me and her…"
"No? She said she lives here"
"She does, but not for the reason you think"
She chuckled rolling her eyes, "You still deny any involvement with her…so if it's really true that. Tell me…I know you're a very honest man and say it looking into my eyes that you never had any intimacy with her… that is just a rumor what they say"
Chris remained staring her. Only a few muscles of his face moved. He swallowed. Her face expressed the disappointment. Until that day she had kept the hope that people only talked trash about him and the secretary. Now it made sense why they lived together. It was painful the thought he had lied to her all the long.
He couldn't say it. Not in the way she asked him to, "I can't say I never had any intimacy with her because I'd be lying, and I never lied to you…I don't lie to you"
"You just admitted you and her…."
"I never cheated on you! What happened between me and her was after you and I broke up"
He didn't lay his eyes off hers. She could feel his sincerity through it. Still not less painful. She still felt she wasted her time swallowing up her pride and knock on his door to try a reconciliation.
Looking down she let out a sigh before meeting his gaze again, "Thank you for your honesty."
"I never lied to you"
"I believe you. Always did…"
He tried to take her grip but she declined it"
"I'm sorry for losing my way with her and if you really want, and despite our differences I myself can apologize to her although I don't think she will believe me"
"It's her call to decide that"
"I know…"
"You should've called"
"I know…but it served me to be sure you have moved on…"
He let out a frustrated sigh, "Cathy…"
"And before I go…I really wish you all the best in your choice. I really meant those words I told her"
"I didn't choose her…"
"Yet there's no room for me in your life"
"You can't say that…"
"Yes I can… I can't share you with her"
"But…"
"Not but Chris…the moment you let her enter your life it meant you let me out…"
"…"
"I know it's too late. It's been a while since we broke up, but ever since you never really tried to contact me, so I can assure I'm really out… and even if there was a chance until today…it faded the moment you confirmed about you and her…We just weren't meant to be…"
He exhaled saddened. There was too much confusion and he hated feeling that way. Maybe it was the right thing to do and leave Cathy out of that mess. She didn't deserve it.
Kate ran to her bedroom when she noticed their conversation seemed over.
Listening to their conversation made her reflect her own attitudes now that she was in a whirlwind of feelings. And despite their differences, she listened to Cathy's apology. She wanted to prove she was not the bitch she was portrayed.
When Cathy left, Chris isolated himself in his bedroom. While Kate stayed in hers reading more files of Katarina as she listened repeatedly Kate Havnevik's song Grace:
"I'm on my knees
Only memories
Are left for me to hold
Don't know how
But I'll get by
Slowly pull myself together
There's no escape
So keep me safe
This feels so unreal
Nothing comes easily
Fill this empty space
Nothing is like it seems
Turn my grief to grace
I feel the cold
Loneliness unfold
Like from another world
Come what may
I won't fade away
But I know I might change
Nothing comes easily
Fill this empty space
Nothing is like it was
Turn my grief to grace
Nothing comes easily
Where do I begin?
Nothing can bring me peace
I've lost everything
I just want to feel your embrace"
(*)
As the night approached, Kate listened to knocks on her door. She opened it and saw Chris standing.
"I owe you some memories, don't I?" he said stepping in
"What?"
That was all Kate had time to speak before Chris pulled her to him and locked his lips on hers.
Thank you Pin and scropion for the reviews! :D
Songs listed: The translation of a brazilian song: Eu sei que vou te amar
Grace by Kate Havnevik
Finally these two seem coming to terms! Let's see what happens next.
Stay tuned!