Pain is a part of becoming an adult, but sometimes that is very hard to accept. Yet, it still happens, your heart always bleeds for some reason or another. Two more years has passed, and the final meeting is closing in.

Chapter IV

"Eira, listen to me now. You ha-"

"No father, I don't want to listen to you, I want you to leave. Now." Chopper glanced over at his proprietress and he could almost see how the air around her crisped, turning into crystals of ice. She pointed at the door with her right index finger, directing her father out of the room. Never had the reindeer seen her act as she had today, her cold fury moving just beneath the surface, threatening to explode and attack with the force of an avalanche, and it scared him. At her shoulder blades black light gathered, her power being ready to manifest in the Devil's trademark wings.

And Mihawk didn't seem to know how to handle it either, as he sighted and left as she said, knowing that he couldn't get her to listen to him right now. Not after what had happened.

When the door closed behind him with a click, her arm fell down and her shoulders slumped like he had hit her. But it wasn't she who was hurt. Watching her turn around and walk over to the bed and the man who lied upon it, her pet followed her with a new bowl of water.

Watching as she softly traced the torn skin and muscles with her fingertips, letting her magic flow into the body to cool it down at bit, he swallowed down and extended the bowl towards her. She threw him a little smile as she took it and placed at the table beside the sickbed, speaking up as she did so.

"It isn't really as bad as I think, is it?"

Shaking his little head, he answered as he put his stethoscope in his ears and climbed up at the bed.

"No, Kokutou Yoru is really sharp, if it just gets time to heal it will go fine. And he won't get any detriment of it either, but there will definitely be a scar." Pressing the little metal plate against the older male's chest, he listened to the even beat of his heart. He saw from the corner of his eye how a pale and slender hand removed the wet piece of cloth which lied upon a tanned forehead.

Raising his little head and waving his ears as he removed the headphones and put it around his neck, he watched as she wrung the water out of the cloth. Then she dipped it into the new bowl and squeezed some of the cold water out, before placing it back at the man's forehead. Her hand lingering, stroking some the short green hair, she sighted and murmured to her furry friend.

"Chopper, why do men always go such foolish lengths for honor?"

"I-I don't know..." The question took him by surprise and he really didn't know what to answer. But he truly wished that he knew, as he saw her pained expression. Her eyes held such sadness and worry, such pain, that he almost wanted to check her too to see that she wasn't hurt anywhere.

Looking up at her, he remembered how she had reacted when they found Zoro lying bleeding on the ground before Mihawk, who's blade was stained by blood. The sight had put her into a state of pure shock, she had just stared at them as if she was frozen at the very spot where she stood.

But then she had shouted, in a voice cold as ice which chilled the reindeer to the bone, at her father to go away, and Chopper to get the bleeding male inside. Never had he thought that she was capable of such feelings, nor the curses she had muttered as she helped him care for the wound. And now she was tending to Zoro with such gentleness that he almost thought that it wasn't Eira he saw, but an impostor.

Pulling back her hand, she sighted and looked up at the ceiling. He wondered what she thought about, if she found any answers as she closed her eyes and gripped at her skirt.

A knock at the door made both of them turn their heads, and watch as the blond cook opened the door with his foot, carrying some plates with food, two glasses and two bottles in his hands. Before she had a chance to rose up and help him, the little half-demon had jumped down at the floor and grown to his formal form and grabbed the two bottles.

"Ah, thank you, Chopper. Eira-sama, I thought that you might be hungry by now, since dinner was half a hour ago, so I made you some delicious lasagna."

"Thank you, Sanji." She rose up with a gentle smile and took one of the dishes from his hands before she sat down again. As the other Ice Devil changed how he carried the remains, the reindeer sat down in his hybrid-form at the edge of the bed, digging in on the pasta. After serving the princess a glass of wine and her pet a glass of juice, he went over to the window, creaking it open so that he could smoke.

"How is he?" He nodded against the male lying on the sickbed, taking a drag on the cigarette he held between his long fingers.

"He's fine. As long as he sleep and let the wound heal, he won't have any problems at all." Gulping down the juice, the little reindeer wiped his mouth with the back of his little hoof. He was surprised that Sanji asked, as it seemed like he and Zoro wanted to kill each other most of the time.

Like when their ball had taken place. It had been decided that they would share one, and neither of them had seen very happy about it. Well, the Fire Devil hadn't been happy about having a ball at all, but as he had to share it with the other man it just got worse.

Chopper wasn't so accustomed to the 'Sweet 16'-balls, but he was pretty sure that breaking the buffét table wasn't part of the tradition.

And in just a week Eira's would be held, and with that she had promised that they would celebrate his sixth birthday. Even if it wasn't really the day he had been born, but actually the day he had come here, she had prompted on her father to let her have a little private party for him. The very thought made him giggle with happiness, blushing a little beneath his pelt.

As soon as Zoro woke up and was healthy again, everything would go great, he just knew that!

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Three days later, the little doctor student let his patient up from the bed, allowing him to walk around in the castle. And for the moment, said patient walked in the same grove where he had gotten his injury, along with the girl who had helped treating him during his convalescence.

The sky was high and clear blue, you could actually feel in the air how the spring was closing in. But it still felt weird using the words 'spring' when it just meant that the snow would become softer and the climate slightly warmer, so you could make snowballs. Still, even if the snow never left the ground, there were flower buds on the appletrees' branches, ready to burst into bloom.

But no matter how nice they were, it still couldn't take his mind of the girl walking next to him with her arms and a dark embroidered shawl wrapped around her. She hadn't said a word to him, not even when he was lying in bed. The silence were broken by birds chirping, but it couldn't take away the heavy feeling wich lay in the air.

"Why?" The single word made him stop and turn to look at her where she had stopped. She didn't look him in the eye, but instead held her gaze as glued to the ground. He sighted, it was no mystery what she asked about.

"Because I told him to fight me serious, to not hold back for one bit." As she raised her head and stared at him, the anger and pain which were written all over her face made him feel like someone had punched him in the stomach. Her bottom lip trembled as she opened her mouth to speak again, and he wanted just to make her stop.

"And why the hell did you do that!? You know he is much stronger than you and that it would just end in disaster!" That she cursed made him raise an eyebrow in surprise, but then he took a step towards her and replied.

"Yes, I know that he is stronger than me. And that's why I wanted him to fight me seriously, so that I would get to know how much longer I have to go."

"Even if it kills you!?"

"Yes!" Now they stood so close that they almost touched, and he felt how he started to lose some of that control which he was so proud of, his voice growing louder just like hers. But he couldn't hold it back, she had no right to criticize him and they way he lived!

"Idiot!" Her right hand shoot up to slap him in the face, but he caught it before it made contact with his cheek. The glare she shoot him was filled with anger, but also with tears. And that shocked Zoro even more than the fact that she had tried to use brute force against him.

"What is pride worth if it kills you!? Why, why do you need to do such bloody stupid things for it...?" Tearing her gaze away from him and squinting her eyes tightly shut, she tried to pull her hand free and get away from the closeness between them. But she couldn't see where she put her feet, and in the next second she felt how she lost her balance and fell as her right foot slipped on an ice spot.

In an attempt to save her from falling, the green haired Devil took a step forward, only to slip on the very same spot. And before they knew it, both of them had fell down into the pile of snow.

Groaning at pain which shot through his torso from his still healing wound, he rose up to out his weight on his hand instead for the body beneath him, Zoro tried to shake the snow of from his face. Then, as he looked down he felt how that dark side of him came to the surface, spreading through his body.

The female under him was panting from the sudden tumble, and as she opened here eyes he saw how a light pink started to creep up on her pale cheekbones. Their bodies were pressed together, him on top of her and keeping her down.

"Z-Zoro..." The sound of his name, falling as soft as snow from her tempting lips broke his resolve and sent something carnal rushing trough his body like wildfire. Intertwining their fingers instead of gripping her hand, he closed his eyes and leaned down to finally claim those cold lips.

He felt a shudder running down his spine as he did what he had dreamed about so many times, and when her left hand ran though his short hair and she kissed him back, he felt like he was in heaven. Trying to move even closer to her, the fire which always burned inside of him tried to melt her, tried to make her as hot as he felt. But the try was met by ice, and when he licked her lips to ask for entrance, she kept shut.

Growling at the teasing, his right hand started to wander down her body, stroking her soft curves through the blue dress. As he hit the last of her ribs, a shudder ran trough her and she moaned into his mouth. Taking advance of the opportunity, he slipped his tongue inside of her cavern and tasted her.

Lord, had he though just kissing her lips was heaven? He had been all wrong. Her mouth and tongue which met his were warm and soft as velvet, not cold as he had thought, tasting like mint and honey. He didn't want to stop to explore, but their lunges screamed for oxygen. As they broke the lip lock both of them panted and their breaths stood as smoke from their mouths, even Eira's. Her eyes were clouded and the pink on her cheeks had become bright red, making his heart swell by pride.

Watching her lick her lips and attempt to say something, he grinned and pressed his lips to her neck, trying to heat her up once again. And instead of words, a moan rose from her lips.

Luckily, you couldn't see this part of the garden anywhere from the castle, the trees' branches shielding it from view. Since if anyone had seen him kissing his way up the princess throat towards her ear, he would have been decapitated without any ceremony what so ever.

When he failed to come up with something to say, he blew some hot air over the outer shell, before licking at it. His ministrations made her shiver and a groan left her lips sounding fairly close to his name.

"Zoro... St-stop it~" Grazing her earlobe gently with his teeth, he then whispered in her ear.

"Why?"

"Be-because someo..." Cutting of her stuttering voice by kissing her again, he stroke her left hip before wandering down her firm thigh. She was really nothing like that little girl he had gotten to know six years ago... As another shudder ran through her body, she wrapped her left arm around his neck and kissed him back, failing at trying to push him away.

"Eira! Where are you, Hime-sama?" The loud voice of their dance teacher broke the mood, and they broke the kiss, staring into each others eyes. He could see her swallowing down hard, and when she found her voice the red on her cheeks intensified.

"I-I'm here! Wait a minute! Move." The last she whispered with a panicked tone in her voice, showing at his chest. Fighting back the urge to keep her down, the swordsman rose up and pulled her up with him, before starting to brush the snow of her.

Quickly shaking him off, she leaved him behind and hurried over the paved path with the light snow whirling around her. Standing still, he watched her leave, unable to do anything but bite his cheek until he bled so he didn't follow her and did something really dangerous. Like holding her close and kissing her in front of someone. But he couldn't keep from watching her hips move from side to side, thinking, that the little girl he knew soon was a fully grown woman.

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"Ah, yes, it will be wonderful with those flower arrangements. Please make more of them!" Smiling on the outside, inside she was in chaos as the serving woman left. What had that kiss been about? It was her first, what right had he to steal it without her content?! Not that she had complained about it...

"Wonder how he could get so good at kissing..." Shaking her head she tried to erase the memory, but it stayed as wine on satin. No matter what she did she could still see it, remember how his body had felt against hers, warm and hard.

Knowing that she would start to blush soon if she didn't do something about it, she walked over to one of the big windows in the ballroom and put her left hand upon the cold glass to cool her down. Everywhere in the giant hall people were rushing around, cleaning and setting up decorations to her big debut. Just thinking about it made her stomach hurt.

She really didn't want to do that, be available to marry of to some aristocrat just because of politic. Blame it on all those romantic books she had read about true love, but she really wanted to marry a male she loved and could support with her whole heart. Someone who made her feel alive, who listened to her and didn't try and change her into someone she wasn't. Someone like...

Realisation struck at her and she clenched her hand into a fist, her reflection showing how her cheeks began to change color into coral as she lowered her gaze down to the floor. She wanted someone like Zoro. The Dark Lord may help her, but she wanted someone like that Fire Devil, who with his heat could make her heart melt and speed up with just a touch, just a glance. She cared about him more than she ever thought was possible. Even if she knew how important honor and pride was, the very thought of him dying because of it made her see red.

Not paying attention of the world around her, she suddenly heard how someone stopped behind her. Looking up at the window to see in the reflection who it was, her heart skipped a beat to then get stuck in her throat.

Lolonoa Zoro.

Not meeting his gaze in the window, she tried to make her blush go away as she turned her head away.

"Yes?" The word came out almost croaked, and she bit her bottom lip in frustration. Why couldn't she just be as usual!? Fighting back the urge to run away and hide, she stayed put. Then she heard him sight, and the sound made her wonder what it was about.

"Just so you know, I'm not regretting anything. But if it made you uncomfortable, I'll apologize to you, if you want me to."

Hearing him say that, that he would apologize if she wanted him too, shocked her deeply. Her head shoot up and she met his gaze through the reflection in the glass. And she could tell that he was sincere about it. Swallowing, she tried to think up something to respond, and before she could stop herself, she spoke.

"I'll forgive you, if you promise not to crush my feet at the ball." She saw him arc his eyebrow at her, so she quickly continued before she lost her courage.

"Dance the second dance with me without stepping on my feet, then I'll accept your apology." She blushed like mad, her fist on the glass trembling as she awaited his answer. What the heck was she doing, why did she ask him to do that!? And why did she want him to say "yes" more than anything else?

So focused on the tumult inside, she didn't notice as he leaned forward and whispered in her air, making a shiver run down her spine. At the Fallen King, was this how love felt? Hot and cold all over, heart racing and no care about others?

"Okay, it's a deal then."

"Eira-sama, can you come and look at this?"

"Ah, yes!" Forcing her legs to work, she walked past the green haired teen, but shoot him a smile which she hoped told him that she was happy about promising away the most important dance of all during her ball to him. Then she hurried away towards the female who had called for her, heart pounding so hard that she almost thought it would break.

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As I said, pain is a part of life. But we gotta live through it, since in the end we'll be happy for the strength it gave us. The thing is to see the positive things.
Have a Merry-merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone, please take care and give me a review in Christmas gift X3