I want her. I need her. I love her.

The words are meaningless. Cheap, used, dirtied by the many mouths they have been in all across the world. Abused, and robbed of feeling. No mortal tongue is still pure enough for the words I need if I tell her, and I lost the right to speak as angels do a very long time ago. Bereft of speech, dumb as any animal, what do I have left?

Action.

I do what I can, and sometimes I do too much. (So Rosette tells me if I wake up in the convent's infirmary after an exorcism.) I carry, I fetch, and I take the so-called beatings she gives me. (Honestly, I'm a DEMON. It takes more than a noogie to hurt me.) She likes to play, and that's something else I can do for her…because she likes to see me play too. I even do laundry! In battle I try to walk the fine line between protecting her and squandering her precious time…but it's not easy. Demons weren't meant to deal with this kind of conflict between instinct and reason. We weren't meant to love either.

There it is again. That word, love.

I want the word to be clean, for her. I want it to be as pristine as it was when Adam first saw Eve, when the whole world was fresh and new and untarnished by my kind. (Oh, the irony. Me, trying to hold on to the paradise my own ancestors helped topple.) I wish it could be that way if I said it to her, because it is fresh and new to my mouth. I've never used it before. But it lies stillborn because I know the world will smear it with filth should I ever let it out.

I'll keep it hidden, then. I'll tell her in ways the rest of the world can't see, and that will keep it safe. Free. Pure.

Eternal.

Author's Note

There are a number of things behind this ficlet, some of them to do with Chrno Crusade and some of them to do with what I have been reading lately. First, Rosette is a NUN! She is supposed to be celibate, a.k.a. no sex. I love the ChrnoRosette pairing, but I think too highly of Rosette to assume she would break her vows as easily as many authors have written. If you want them to sleep together, keep it in character. If you need ideas on how to deal with this, I suggest reading "Crossing the Line" by Manda-chan. While you are doing that, you can check out her other works and encourage her to keep updating through reviews. (Although, that would be a personal favour for me because I quite like her writing and I really want her to continue.) Second thing I have issues with (that was referred to in the ficlet, because believe you me, I have a lot of issues sometimes) is the phrase "I love you" or variations upon it. It is one of the most beautiful and meaningful phrases one person can say to another, but so many people out there just cheapen it! They use it as a bribe, a reward, or to pressure others into doing things. It has turned into another kind of currency, and it makes me sick! Granted, I've never actually been in a romantic relationship before, but if even half the things I've heard are true… People in general do not inspire much hope in me when I think about things like this.

By the way, I think I'm going to try to make the next ficlet a bit lighter in tone. I'm starting to depress myself, and the world is enough already.

See! See! There I go again. My next fic will be happy, folks. At least, I'll try my best.