Weakness

Disclaimer: I do not own Shadow of Destiny or any of its characters

Homunculus POV

This was not supposed to happen.

I was utterly frustrated. How did things get to this point? I didn't even in a thousand years lost my control. So what was that about? She initiated it. And my foolish response was to kiss her back.

"How? Where did my self control go?", I kicked a small pebble of the roof in anger. I couldn't believe in myself; I gave in. No human had ever had such effect on me before. It was mystifying. Unbelievable and yet… the most odd part of it was my reactions. Maybe Clarice was really correct about the carmot and its possible side effects.

"It couldn't be. After all, there is the cave incident…", I mumbled. The cave. How could I forget? I was already feeling odd back there. I nearly kissed her then. But the temporary loss of my powers a while ago was definitely a consequence of the stone.

I need to be more careful from now on. She really was right. That's almost comic. It's the first time a human outsmart me. Curious, indeed. Wasn't curiosity that brought this situation? I suppose so but what can I do? I couldn't help myself. I have never felt this towards a master. It was new and intoxicating. And now that our roles were reversed and I'm the strong piece on the board, I simply couldn't resist. What is it that draws me to her? Is it her astonishing beauty? Or there is something more? In all my centuries observing the human world from the void I've seen many beautiful women. None of them had awake such powerful sensations. Of course I never had a female master before but I don't feel that's the right answer to this matter. Her selflessness, perhaps? Nobody had done something like that to me. She gave me my freedom without asking nothing. She still has the wish, although. Bu it seems she doesn't know what to do with it. Perhaps I should give her a hand. I can be very persuasive when I want to. There's another option, too; I can deceive her to do a wish but where is the fun in that? I have all eternity and in the end her soul will be mine.

"I can't believe things are going my way this time. I can hardly wait…", I grinned in satisfaction.

End Homunculus POV

I don't know when sleep took a hold of me but all I felt in the moment my eyes opened was pain. I had slept on the floor and there wasn't a single member of body which wasn't protesting. It was like awakening from a nightmare; sleep hadn't done any good for me.

Except this time it wasn't a nightmare.

I really had kissed Homunculus and he surprisingly had kissed me back. I should be happy now right? Wrong. There was a part of me which was mortified and another exuberant. The two were struggling viciously against each other. But I can't regret it; I did want it. I knew I could not deny any longer the attraction I felt to him was too strong and now I had the confirmation that it was reciprocal. How could I forget the amount of desire I saw when looking into his garnet eyes? His way of looking at me was, it was so… utterly predatory. I couldn't do anything. I was lost every time he gazed at me. But now I was sure I would enter spontaneous combustion if I were too close to him. The next time I'm in close quarters with him I don't know what could happen. What if I make my wish? Then, problem solved. But I don't know what I want. Or do I?

There was something I really wanted at that precise moment. I couldn't lie to myself about that. It was the only thing I was sure. I wanted him more than anything. But my want wasn't derived only from desire, no it was much more. I was undeniably in love with him. When did it start? I have no idea. So my love was the only certainty I had at the moment. Every moment I spent without him was agonizingly slow.

"Where did he go?", I stood up and looked around to see nothing. I decided to do my morning routine then because I knew he was somewhere thinking about this. Why are you afraid? I didn't go running in my first kiss.

When I went upstairs and resumed my annotations about my earlier experiments I wasn't surprised to see him leaning in the balcony moments after.

"Are you feeling all right today?", I asked nonchalantly. I fixed the papers in front of me with such intensity. I was still afraid of what would happen if I looked at him.

"So far nothing unusual happened. Unless, you count that…"

"That what?", I gulped.

"The black out of my powers, of course. It seems you were right about that. I wanted to know your opinion about it", he materialized beside my chair and gave me a crooked smile.

I swallowed hard. I was expecting such proximity after what happened before. I was trying to form a coherent thought meanwhile.

"I don't really know for sure. But I guess the stone can have bad side effects. However, what kind of effects are these I can't be sure…", I trailed off.

"There's a way to found out. But unfortunately there's no time for that", he crossed his arms in annoyance.

"What do you mean? I thought no one had attempted this before."

"Maybe. I'm not sure. Regardless, I don't believe the documents could exist in this time after all", he replied.

"Let me see if I understand this. If such documents existed we can't have access to them because they are already lost in this time, correct?", I got up from the chair and started pacing.

"That's right. So?", he stared at me curiously.

"If I use the digipad there's a slight possibility that I could find those documents. Let me use it and I'll go after it", I pleaded.

He looked at me dumbfounded.

"It's dangerous, you know. You could change the flow of time irreversibly. I don't think that's a good option", he turned his back to me.

"I don't think we have an option here, either. But I won't run away. I'm not the type that runs from things, you already know that", I smirked knowingly to him.

He glared at me and a moment after he was beside me with an grin plastered in his handsome face. He was so close that our shoulders were almost touching. What he did next caught me unguarded; his arm circled my waist. I stiffened and was trying to remember how to breath.

"Alright. But I shall go with you", he said and pulled me closer to his body.

After that I felt a strong pull. Something was tugging at me from all directions and I was getting dizzy. When I came to myself my surroundings weren't the same and I knew he used his time shifting powers. Only this time I wasn't alone.

I didn't care he had his arms circling me. I was trying to find a way to stay like that a little longer. He didn't seem to understand our awkward position or he too didn't care.

"Let's go find those archives", I tried to go forward but his arms were holding my body in a protective way. I wasn't a child. I could walk, thanks. But he only resumed his previous stance further preventing any movements on my part. He had his arms secure on me and didn't want to give up on his hold it seemed.

What's the matter with this guy? He acts all mighty in some moments and then he goes running after a kiss? Talking about strange…

After what seemed an eternity, at least for me, he disentangled his arms off me albeit his touch on my waist lingered more than necessary. I tried and finally broke free of his strong grip. My pride was a little wounded, too. No, I think a "little" was an understatement. I was on the brink of positively furious; when I was expecting him to touch me the guy simply ignored me! I mean, what kind of man kisses a girl and runs like a coward after? Wasn't he supposed to do the opposite, like kiss me as if there's no tomorrow?

He's not even human, I argued with myself. What did you expect? Poetry and flowers, perhaps a serenade? I tried to picture Homunculus doing those things, as expected this mental image brought me to a unending fit of laughter which I couldn't explain unless I wanted to embarrass myself even more with my protective companion.

I tried to stifle my laughter and managed to ask while trying to recover my lost breath.

"So", I coughed trying to disguise my impossible mirth. "Why are we here? And before I forget where and when we are?"

"You weren't so talkative minutes earlier, Clarice. I wonder what caused the sudden change of mood… anyways, you humans have enough mood swings that sometimes I don't understand. I believe investigating it would only bring me a headache and to answer your silly question we are the same place but in a different time. Didn't you notice it?", he tilted his head curiously.

"I, we are still at Lebensbaum? ", I looked around questioningly. The place seemed the same despite the thick layer of snow covering the whole scenery. I guess I just was very busy daydreaming about him to notice anything. Now let's going to change this train of thoughts. It can lead to a very bad situation, one that involved lots of kissing, touching…

"Are you sure you even awake? You seem awfully distracted", he inquired.

"I'm alright", I dismissed. I tried one more tentatively look at our surroundings and a flicker of understanding passed through me. The nostalgic appeal of the place, the snow covered streets…it hadn't been so long I walked these same roads. I remembered the encounter with a young and energetic not long ago.

"You brought me here once", I said. "You were demonstrating your powers", I added. More like showing off I would have said if I weren't so fascinated by him. "We are at 1980. But why? Don't tell we got to found some lost papers because that will probably involve entering in some place unwelcomed and …"

"Who was talking about finding the documents? I believe that was your idea, Clarice. Besides, I remember you were very eager to help", he interrupted.

"Yes…but I haven't the slightest idea what we are looking for. How do you know if these papers really exist in this time? What if they are with someone? I'm opposed to theft, you know."

This coming from someone who loves playing Grand theft auto. Ironic. Well, I suppose stealing in game is very different from doing it in the real world. Video games are a kind of catharsis, I think.

"You don't have to steal. You could always borrow it. I can give you a backup aid if you wish", he grinned.

I noticed the use of the trick word "wish" and I wasn't going to be fooled.

"I will do it myself. I don't need to commit any crime to do so. There's always other methods.", I replied with a smirk.

His eyes seemed to gleam with understanding. He must have realized he wasn't going to trick me that easily. This, however, only appeared to amuse him.

"I will let you do your errands, then", he spoke after disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

That's it! He was going to let me search somebody-knows-what in this forsaken weather. I didn't have my trenchcoat with me but at least I wasn't in a dress. I had my leather coat and my jeans to keep me warm and to top it of my favorite combat boots.

Despite my indignation with him, I could feel it was only a matter of time before I found the so called documents. These papers supposedly contained valuable information to help me grasp Homunculus conditions and the possible side effects of the stone on his powers. At the moment I had a faint idea where those papers could be hidden. If they're hidden, that is.

The Eckart museum seemed the most logical place to begin the search. The documents couldn' be outside the city or else Homunculus wouldn't have brought me here. Right? Right? Did he have ulterior motives to bring me here? Or?

I tried to not ponder much about it. The fast I find these papers the better. I concentrated in walking rather than dwelling on those unpleasant thoughts. The museum wasn't that far but the thick cover of snow beneath my feet was making walking difficult and to add to that I heard approaching human noises from behind. No hope to walk fast or run else I could risk breaking some ribs here.

"What's a pretty thing like you doing here all by yourself?", I slurred voice asked.

Why didn't I notice this earlier? The noises were closer and I haven't even realized when they got where I was. I was daydreaming and this bunch of idiots were now to close to comfort. There were six of them. All male and drunk. Very bad combination. At least for a girl alone in the middle of the night.

"She's gorgeous", one of the drunkards said.

"We wouldn't have a chance like this not in million years", a particularly smelly guy voiced.

The prospects weren't looking good to me.

"All right, guys. It's late and I think you should go home now. This place can be dangerous and I would hate to see anyone hurt", I tried to reason. Who was I trying to convince? I should be running by now. You fought hordes of zombies, a dragon and even a mysthical knight strong as thousands of rocks and you're going to run from a bunch of useless drunks? The thing is I didn't want to hurt another human. To fight something inhuman was another matter. But, if I thought like that…Homunculus was someone I couldn't harm even if I could and he wasn' t human.

That brief instant I felt a strong hand on my wrist. One the drunken guys had me pinned against the wall. The bastard used my moment of distraction to get a hold of me. Screw it. These guys don't deserve any kind of pity. I bet they make the zombies appear more human like than ever!

With a quick movement I managed to get free from the vermin's grasp. I wasn't a master of karate for nothing. The man hit the floor with a such a force that I'm sure he broke something. Judging by his piercing scream he wouldn't stand up for very long. I really forgot about the mysterious strength I had acquired when I was at the cave. I could easily overpower these guys. I worried myself for nothing, apparently.

"The bitch broke my leg! Get her!", the supposed leader said.

The next thread of actions were so quick I almost couldn't comprehend them. In one moment here I was ready to kick these low lives asses and the other I was staring at a very furious figure in black. Wait! When I realized the situation Homunculus was there poised like a tiger ready to pounce. He was almost unrecognizable. The complete and unmistakable rage I saw boiling in his eyes was something utterly alien and…terrifying.

I knew he was going to kill them. I could have sat and watched but…

I couldn't.

"Wait! Don't do it!", I shouted and held his arm. "Please, Homumunculus…don't", I must have sounded desperate because he looked confused at me.

"Do you know what they were going to do with you? And still do you want me to let them go?", he said exasperated.

This was the most exhibition of emotions I ever seen him to display until now. I was baffled how he went of cold to rage. I've never seen him like this before. I was awed and the same time scared, so I did the only thing I could do at that moment. I hugged him tightly.

You might been wondering how that would work against a powerful immortal;the fact is it did work.

He seemed to stiffen for a moment. Then his eyes reached mine and he could see the silent plea in them. His eyes looked to me and the guys back and forth and for a split second I thought that maybe he was going to ignore my pleads. His arms embraced me and I felt the familiar dizziness and the mind numbing pull. Then blackness.

I felt my feet in my beloved rug and the cozy atmosphere of my home. I looked into his eyes again and I could the mist of calmness washing over them.

"You are very hard to understand, do you know?", he gazed at my eyes. He seemed to be looking for an explanation.

"Why let them live?"

"I…it's wrong to kill', I couldn' t offer a better reason at the moment. Don't ask me why. I think I was a bit shaken.

"I don't understand… you… are…. a complicated…", he was so close I could feel his breath.

"…unpredictable", he brought his lips upon mine with force. The kiss wasn't possessive like the other one. For a while we were glued by the lips but then he abruptly began kissing my neck and stopped. He looked at me with lust filled eyes. I really wanted what he wanted right now.

This time he didn't run.