Title: The Last Dance of the Phoenix
Disclaimer: I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. All credit goes to Akamatsu Ken.
Author's note: I'm back! Sorry for the long hiatus, projects and semester exams suck. But now I have this whole story planned out and I am starting my other 2 stories back up too!
Chapter 6: Breaking the Ice
Rain slapped against the window in a slow, rhythmic beat. Gray streams of light cast a dreary tone about the room. The room itself was relatively clean, if one glanced about, it would seem it the room came out from a magazine. But a keen eye could detect a sniper rifle and sword hastily stuffed in a corner. Or the ruffled bed sheet and the poorly disposed towel on the kitchen table. And the slightly opened door of the bathroom and a coat hanging from the doorknob. This all led back to one man, who was currently tapping his fingers softly against the wall and admiring the view from the window. There wasn't much to see, but the man's sharp blue eyes did not stray from the sea of endless gray. He passed a hand through his snow white hair and sighed. After which a rubber bullet slammed against his head.
"What did I say about touching my guns?" A feminine voice pierced the eerie silence. The man smiled sheepishly.
"I was just trying to clean up, Mana." The man rubbed his head where the bullet hit. "You surely didn't need to waste a bullet for that." Mana snorted and slid her long, slender legs out of her bunk.
"Great job you did, Light." Mana said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Well I tried my best, but I got tired." Light shrugged. "Should I wake Setsuna?" Mana grabbed the coat of the door handle of the bathroom and flung it at Light. She then grunted before stepping inside, which Light took as a 'yes'.
"Psst, Setsuna san, wake up." Light prodded her shoulder gently. Setsuna mumbled something inaudible and twisted in her bed. Light smiled mischievously. Dropping his voice to a whisper he spoke, "Sec-chan, Sec-chan, wake up Sec-chan." When she started to stir Light switched his voice from a whisper to a seductive tone. "You surprised me last night, I didn't know you were so…energetic." Light finished and had to hold in a laugh as Setsuna shot straight out of her bed with a face colored brick red. After glancing around wildly she pieced together what happened.
"Don-Don't do that Light-sensei!" Setsuna's face was half angry and half embarrassed. Light gave her a lecherous grin and turned around to the kitchen. He prepared a pan and turned on the stove, all the while listening to the sounds of the Setsuna moving about the room and the pounding of water from the shower. He finished cooking an English style breakfast and set the table.
"Ahh, looks like we won't be having a very fun Sunday." Light sighed and picked at his sunny side up egg. Setsuna sat down at the table and took a bite of toast.
"Wow, I didn't know you could cook Light-sensei!" She exclaimed. Light opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by a slamming door.
"He has to, or else he would be more useless than he is already." Mana droned as she pulled on a shirt and sat down. Light could not resist starting at her, all the while a smile affixed on his face. "What is it, pervert?" Mana spat. Light lifted a hand up to cover his mouth and hunched over from laughter. Setsuna paled while looking at Mana. She glanced down to find that she had put on a pink V-neck sweater and a pair of blue jeans.
"You should really pay attention at what you're putting on Mana-chan." Light snickered. Mana rose from her seat and grabbed an assault rifle from under her bed.
"You'll pay for that one, Oculus." Mana growled before letting loose on Light.
XXXXX
Beatrix raised an eyebrow at Light. "What happened?" She inquired. Light was covered in bruises and was quite literally crawling down the hall.
"Don't ask." Light proceeded with his slow crawl. It took Beatrix a matter of 2 seconds to figure out what happened. Of course, the rubber bullets on his person helped.
"Mana-san attacked you again, didn't she?" Beatrix sighed. "How many times have I told you to stop pranking her?"
Light stopped and turned around with a melancholy smile on his face. "I don't prank her just to have fun." He dusted himself off and gestured for her to sit down in the small hallway. Beatrix raised an eyebrow, but did as she was told. The next thing he said surprised her.
"Have I ever told you about Maria?" This was the first time Light had ever spoke a woman's name before. Usually Light just had a one night stand with most women and forgot about it completely. Of course this was in their past lives, Nekane would probably strangle Light if she found out.
"No." Beatrix answered cautiously, from the look on his face, she assumed he could break any minute. She and Phoenix always joked about how Light, although perverted to the fullest extent of the word, could handle just about anything. They knew he was not like this until about the 1900's, when they crossed paths with him again. When he was prince of the phoenix empire, he was cold, harsh, and distant, not unlike Phoenix. But he was innocent, just afraid to get hurt. The two brothers fought all the time, opposites colliding. Beatrix was the only line linking the two together. She tried and failed to change them, and thought it was impossible. But she was surprised when they both changed drastically. It all led back to one thing. But she would not admit it to herself. Yet.
"Well, I usually don't open up, and I'm not the open book everyone can read." He smirked slightly, again indicating a rivalry with his brother. "I met her back in London. In 1878."
XXXXX
Rain poured down in sheets as the streets of London bustled while people flocked inside buildings. A grizzled, dingy looking boy of 13 sat in an alley, staring at the scene with cold, lifeless eyes. His white hair was caked with mud and dirt. His hands were rough and calloused. All the while he was muttering to himself.
"Damn him…Damn him… Why do I even have to live if this is what I go through?" The boy growled, the anger not reaching his eyes. "Why…" Tears started to well up in his eyes. "Why do I even try?" He lowered his head into his lap.
"That was the 8th city." He thought. "When I try to help, I just end up hurting the people close to me. Why?" He thought about what his brother might say.
"Pick yourself up you sulking coward. At least you can even walk to a village without getting shot at. You think you've got it bad? Try living in my shoes for a day. And I thought you were supposed to be my big brother. Hah!" Yeah, that sounded about right. It helped him raise his spirits a bit. But unlike his brother he could not fight for revenge. He fought to protect. And most of the time, he failed. He was about to pick himself up to move on but a voice called to him from behind.
"Hey, don't stand out there in the rain!" A woman of 20 ran to the boy. She had flowing, golden hair and bright, vibrant blue eyes. She was wearing clothes suited to a middle class, not too low and not too high. She reached the boy and put her umbrella above his head.
The boy scowled and walked out from under the umbrella. "Don't talk to me." With that, he sat down. He expected her to go away, but she lingered until dusk, then left. But she was back the next day with two umbrellas. "I said I don't need one!" The boy growled at her. But she kept coming back, day after day, until the boy was outfitted with suitable clothes, a blanket, and had an umbrella above his head.
Usually he kept quiet during her 'visits' but he could not contain himself any longer. "Why? Why do you keep coming back? I've never done anything to deserve this."
"Because," the woman smiled. "You don't need to 'do' anything to deserve kindness. Everyone needs kindness or else this world would fall apart." He was silent after that.
The next day the boy spoke again. "If you keep coming here, you might get hurt." He muttered. "Don't you want to be safe?" The woman smiled again and answered.
"No one can be safe. Everything we do involves danger. But if you keep living in fear of getting hurt, you will never progress." The boy fell silent once again. On the next day he spoke again.
"When anyone gets close to me they end up getting hurt. I fight to protect them but I can't do it." The boy stated glumly.
The woman frowned for the first time during her visits. "So you think you're hurting them? And failing to protect them you hurt them?" The boy nodded. She wacked him in the stomach hard with the umbrella she held.
"What was that for?" The boy screamed.
"You really are a stupid boy!" Her eyes glowered with anger. "You can't keep thinking like that! If you do you'll end up… end up…like me." She seemed to deflate, all the energy gone.
"What?" The boy questioned.
She gazed into his eyes and spoke softly. "If I told you I was afraid, afraid just like you, what would you do?" The boy mulled it over before opening his mouth. But he was cut off by a yelling.
"My lady! Where have you been?" A tall, lithe man ran towards the two. He looked about, 30 and had black hair and brown eyes. He pulled the woman from alley and glared at the boy. "Get away from her, you filthy, sewer rat!" And with that he kicked him. The boy's vision went blurry and he hunched over in pain.
"Richard, no!" She struggled to keep him away from the boy. When he strained to kick the boy again, she slapped him. "Get away from him!" She turned back to the boy with a concerned look in her eyes. "So, what would you do?"
The boy rose and slapped at his wet clothes before opening his mouth to say, "I would try and support you as best as I could. But more than that, I need answers. Answers to my questions, about this and that. You have those answers, but you need someone to confide in. Someone to lean on…and I can always try." She smiled, a true radiant smile that would have lit up the dark side of the moon.
"You are dismissed Richard." She spoke to the man.
"What? But, my lady-"
"You are a suitor. I am allowed to approve or disapprove of the one to be my husband. You are dismissed." She spoke in a stern, commanding voice. "Go." The man stood there in shock, but soon recovered.
"Boy, I won't forget this!" He screamed before sulking away from the two of them.
The woman turned back to the boy. "You are a quite perceptive. My name is Maria. Yours?"
"Light." The boy smiled. The rain then broke and sun started to filter through the clouds.
"Finally, the rain stopped!" The woman exclaimed. She turned back to the boy. "I will take you up on that offer Light. Come with me, and you will find the answers you so desperately desire." She extended her hand.
Light took it and Maria swept the boy into a twirl and laughed at his frightened look. As soon as Light's feet touched the ground he stumbled and fell. Maria started to laugh harder and Light began to laugh to. Light grinned at Maria and opened his mouth once more.
"One more question."
"Yes, Light?" Maria answered, another smile tugging at her lips.
"What would you call this warm feeling?"
"Happiness." She stated.
"And what would you call the process of giving someone this feeling?"
"That's two questions." But when Light frowned at her childishly, she laughed. "All right. I guess you could call it… breaking the ice?"
XXXXX
"She took me in after that. We spent years together, at her house. She enrolled me in school and we always had those talks after dinner." Light sighed. Beatrix blinked a few times before speaking again.
"What happened after that?" She inquired, engrossed by the story.
"It's a secret." Light smirked and Beatrix knew the conversation regarding that topic was over.
"What's your point?" Beatrix hoped to a least get the answer to why Light even told the story.
"She always used to play pranks on me and, just like you, I asked why. She said little pranks always lighten the mood and bring out the best side of a person. So if you play a tiny prank on a hurt person, for a short amount of time you get to see their true nature." Light smiled.
"So the best side of Mana is an enraged, gun-toting Mana?" Beatrix asked with a sweat drop.
"You have to notice the little things. Like her eyes." Light replied.
"I still don't get it." Beatrix muttered.
"You'll see."
XXXXX
Mana sat on the roof, clasping a necklace with a picture of a man inside. She sighed and leaned against the railing, not bothering to notice how cold the rain felt as it beat down around her. A slow beat of footsteps started to echo from the entrance to the roof. From the pacing of the footsteps and the sound she determined it was a tall male. She could only think of that to be one person. Light.
The door creaked open and Mana did not bother to turn around.
"What do you want." She droned. He came closer and the rain stopped. She glanced up to find a black umbrella shielding her from the rain.
"You'll freeze out here." Light spoke softly. She ignored the comment and he sat down. A silence fell between them.
"I don't want that umbrella." Mana stated bluntly.
"No, but you need it. Just like you need someone to give you answers about why that person in your necklace died, correct?" Mana stared incredulously at Light.
"How did you-"
"How did I guess that? We're more alike than you think Mana-chan." Mana clenched her fists at her name.
"Don't use that suffix at the end of my name. Why are you up here anyway?" She demanded.
Light smiled. "Oh, I'm just…breaking the ice."
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So, how was that? Did my writing get better or worse? Give me some feedback! Oh and I have a Christmas special coming up. So I decided to have a little fun. Anyone who can guess what kind of relationship Maria had with Light during that time period after he was taken in, gets to say what happens in the special. Ex.: Best Friend (that's not the answer).