Yuuki sighed as she sat on her bed. She knew that she had to do as Kaname had asked, but she hated that he had asked her in the first place. He had asked her for many things since she reawoke, and she had done them. She had fought Sara, even though she had no desire to do so. She had forgiven his killing of the senate and his torture of Rido. She had done everything that he had asked, and some that he had not . . . but this was too much. He had only recently told her that she would not have to fight and now he was saying that she would have to lead troops.
He knew how she felt about it, and still asked it of her anyway. She understood—somewhat—why he had done it, but it hurt to know that her feelings mattered less to him than their image did. So what if someone else—someone with more experience—led the magic users? What would it really hurt? Why did it have to be her? Why did she have to be the one to decide between crippling fighters during the battle or sacrificing her principles? It wasn't fair and it almost made her hate him for putting her in the position where she had to chose between the lives of others and her principles again.
She knew that in the end, it would be her principles that lost this battle. She could not—in good conscience—order people to place their own live at risk to keep from killing people who were attacking them. That would be as unfair to them as Kaname's request was to her. She would ask them to not kill if they felt that could safely avoid it, but she would not ask them to try to find ways to avoid it. Even though she knew that it was the right decision, she could not help but feel defeated as she came to it.
It was this, combined with her lack of sleep the night before, that made her sit in the dark and allow the bitter tears to pour down her face. She would do as he had asked unless she could convince him to change his mind: even if it destroyed her in the process.
ooOO88OOoo
She was still sitting like that hours later when Kaname came to find her to go to their final meeting with the others before the battle. She didn't move when he opened the door, not even when he turned on the light.
"Yuuki," he said gently knowing from past experience that startling her was not the best plan. Even though she had never really hurt him, they both needed to be in peak condition for what was to come and he could not risk this being the time that she would. When she still didn't move he approached her slowly.
He knelt in front of her, placing his hands on her knees and looking into her eyes. The hostility he saw there hurt. He knew that she was angry with him, and he understood why but there was no other way he could do this. She would not be able to defeat the other pureblood alone and he could not be in two places at once.
"I'm sorry," he said sincerely. He was sorry that what he needed from her was difficult for her to do, but she had to do it. She didn't say anything, but rather looked away from him and refused to meet his eyes.
"Yuuki," he said gently, placing his hand on her chin to try to turn her to face him. She swatted his hand away and continued glaring at the door. "Look at me. Please."
"No," she said, tears in her voice. "I can't."
"If there was another way," he began only to be cut off as she whipped around to face him.
"Another way!?" She demanded her eyes flashing dangerously, "There are other ways. Many of them! But because you are so stubborn you don't see them. I don't' have to lead. There are many others who could and are better suited to do it. I don't know anything about battle. How do you expect me to lead others into one?"
"Follow your instincts," Kaname told her gently. "You will know what to do if you will just let yourself do it."
"My instincts?" she scoffed. "My instincts are what got us into this mess in the first place! If I hadn't given into the urge to face Rido—which my head knew was a bad idea but my body wanted to do—none of this would have happened. I wouldn't have been . . . and you wouldn't have killed the senate and the president and we would never have killed Sara—who was innocent, Kaname. She didn't deserve to die. She did nothing and we killed her.
"And now, now you want me to lead others out to kill people who haven't done anything yet either," Yuuki accused. "Have we even tried diplomacy? No! We just jump right into killing. This can't be the only way. It just can't be."
"It is," Kaname said placing his hands on her shoulder and pulling her rigid body against him feeling hurt when she did not relax into him. "There is no way diplomacy will work. They want us—not vampires, us dead. There is now way that this can end that does not involve death."
"You promised me," she sobbed. "You promised me that I would not have to kill and now you want me to lead an army. Even if I do not kill them personally, I will be responsible for every death they cause. After you promised."
"I'm sorry," he whispered burying his face in her hair. "I know what I promised. But the circumstances have changed. I need you to do this. They have to see that you can lead as well. You have to do this. Do you understand?"
"Yes," she replied her voice toneless. She understood that she had been right. He cared more for how things looked than her feelings. Her suspicions had been right. With that realization, she felt her heart break and her mind go blank.
ooOO88OOoo
As Kaname's nine-o-clock deadline neared, the vampires began to assemble in the same auditorium they had been in before. This time there was no curiosity in the air. No excitement. Only dread. The air was thick with the feeling of foreboding. Each of them took what might be their final looks at the friends and family knowing that, come dawn, any of them could be dead. Or perhaps all of them.
There was no need for them to call for silence when Yuuki and Kaname entered the room. No one had been speaking. The sight of the pureblood Queen-elect filled their already fragile hearts with pity. Her shoulder were drooped and her eyes were dull and lifeless. It was instantly clear to them that she wanted this no more than they did.
Takuma, Ruka, Kain and Aidou exchanged looks and wondered if, perhaps, Takuma had misheard the headmaster on which of the pureblood had been broken. Kaname looked the same as he always had—though his eyes held more sadness than normal—but Yuuki . . . there was something intangiable—some fire—that made Yuuki who she was that seemed to have been extinguished leaving only a shell behind.
"Thank you all for soming on such short notice," Kaname said. "I know that this is sudden, but I feel that by utilizing the element of surprise we stand an excellent chance of defeating the hunters."
"How will surprise protect us from their weapons?" a woman's voice called out from somewhere in the crowd.
"It won't," Kaname answered honestly to the shock of everyone there. They weren't sure what they had expected him to say but that wasn't it. "However," he continued, "There is something that will. All I need to finish it is a drop of blood from everyone who intends to fight. With that, I can disable their weapons." As he finished speaking, he passed a bowl he had been carrying to Seiren who pricked her finger and squeezed out a drop of blood before passing it to Zero who did the same. The bowl continued down the line. Slowly the room began to fill with the smell of blood.
"Do not make the mistake of believing that this will make the coming battle harmless," Kaname said, his voice sad. "They will still have other weapons that can harm us. And they are lethal without weapons—even to vampires. Some of us will die but if we do not fight then we all will die. I am willing to take the risk. Are you?" There was some murmuring of agreement in the crowd and Kaname felt slightly disappointed. It was not the wave of enthusiasm he had hoped for now that they were on a more level playing field.
"While you complete this task, I will briefly explain the plan," Kaname said squashing down his disappointment and focusing on the plan. It would work, it had to. For Yuuki's sake if nothing else. "You will all follow your teachers into battle. Swordsmen, you will follow the orders of Kaien Cross. He is wise and will lead you well. Yuuki will lead the magic-users," he said gesturing at her and feeling his heart clinch as she didn't even acknowledge that her name had been said. She had checked out and it was his fault. He wished that he did not have to ask her to do this, but as with many things lately he could see no way around it. She had to lead the nobles.
"Everyone else will follow Seiren's commands," he finished his voice level despite the fact that his emotions were anything but. "Are there any questions?"
A tentative hand rose into the air and Kaname acknowledged the vampire to whom it belonged. "I . . . I'm sorry to ask . . . and I don't mean to offend you . . . but . . . what will you be doing, Kaname-sama?"
"I will be taking care of the pureblood who was foolish enough to ally herself with the hunters," he replied in a tone that left no questions as to what "take care of'" meant. "Is there anything else?" Kaname asked and waited a moment for someone to say something. "Good. Once I have your blood, move towards your leaders for final instructions. Once you are done with that, take a few moments with your families and then prepare for battle."
His words held a tone of finality. This was it. The time had come and there was no turning back.
ooOO88OOoo
Sorry about the wait on this one, the ending wanted to be written and wanted to leave a giant hole in the middle that I had to try to work around. The battle is mostly written (few more gaping holes to fill in) and we're almost at the end. I hope you emjoyed it despite the wait.
Thank you to everyone who read the last chapter or added this story to your alerts or favorites and a special thank you to:
Sapphire Kuran: I'm glad! And thank you! I love it when people appreciate my efforts. And I'm sorry that it wasn't' soon, but I hope you enjoyed the update anyway.
Anne Fatalism Dilettante: Yep. It will begin in the next chapter and be action packed to the end. And yes, the poor thing is having a very hard time with this. And I'm sorry that it wasn't soon, but I hope you enjoyed the update anyway.
Akira 91: I thought that was a nice touch. And that's where I'm at too. I am happy that it will all be resolved soon, but am sad to see it end. However I can't see dragging it out once it is ready to come to a finale :/ All things must eventually end . . . I suppose.
ShioriBunny: No problem! We all get busy (and cell phones are a pain to review from even if they aren't bad to read from). And I agree with you. I can't put my finger on it, but that one did have a different feel. There have been a couple of odd ones in with the others . . . I am glad that you enjoyed it anyway and hope that you also enjoyed this one. It felt a little odd to me as well.
As always, thank you for reading. I would love to hear what you thought so leave me a review if you have the time and/or inclination,
Stickdonkeys