A/N: *Takes a deep breath* Okay, I'm going to update early. Like now. And that is really early:D I'll be typing ultra super fast...I'll save the rest of my ramblings for later...enjoy first^^
Retrace V: Dream
"Don't cry, you said. Even so I was left alone."
A few days have passed since then, and Sharon and her friends were settling in comfortably in the Sinclair house, wanting to find the missing piece of puzzle that was called Autumn.
How is Autumn related to that white-haired girl Lilith?
This is what that confounds them the most.
-X-
"There must be more than meets the eye to this. Since Kevin is Break, then the girl…and the other girl, they must have some sort of connection."
Oz remarked thoughtfully, looking to his friends for comments.
Sharon looked at her hands, clearly not knowing what to say.
Outside, a blonde-haired little girl listened in rapt attention.
-X-
"…Dying…Sinclair House…..destroyed…everyone dead…"
"…Left…"
Autumn trembled slightly, not believing what she was hearing.
The Sinclair house destroyed!
She wouldn't believe it.
Unknowingly, tears flowed down her cheeks and as she ran away from the room, she bumped into a most familiar figure.
"Oh Kevin!" She sobbed as she latched her arms around his waist.
The white-haired man, meanwhile has just returned from talking with the master, and was bewildered at his little mistress' outburst.
"Hush, don't cry…"
He patted her back gently.
The others, having heard the ruckus, all rushed out to see what was wrong.
"What's wrong, Lilith? Come, you know you can tell me…"
He said softly, soothing her trembling frame tenderly.
She raised her tear-streaked face and pointed accusingly at the 3 wide-eyed travelers.
-X-
They have heard it.
Lilith.
He called her Lilith.
They are wound further into the mystery.
Realising that they had company, Kevin immediately corrected his mistake.
"Miss Autumn, hush, don't cry…"
However the mistake was made and that was it.
The last missing puzzle piece was in place.
Why didn't they think of it?
The perpetrator was right before them, all along.
Autumn Lilith Sinclair.
The youngest daughter of the Sinclair family who became an illegal contractor and was dragged into the abyss.
-X-
Kevin looked to the 3 companions and he frowned.
"What nonsense have you been uttering to Miss Autumn?"
He didn't like the looks on the 3 travelers' face.
They're up to something.
He gently detached the small arms from his waist and pulled the small figure behind him protectively.
"Kevin…" She whispered timidly.
"Hush. I need to speak with them."
He handed her over to a nearby maid.
"Ever since you've arrived, nothing has been right. I am no fool. Don't think that I do not know that you're up to something."
He took a menacing step forward.
"Admit it now. What do you want? Stop messing with Miss Autumn's mind."
His eyes narrowed with cold suspicion.
Seeing that he wasn't receiving any answers, he reached forward and grabbed the frozen-still Sharon roughly.
"Now tell me, or else I will hurt her."
Gilbert's eyes widened in shock.
"You wouldn't!"
He tightened his grip on her hand.
"Why wouldn't I? I don't need a sword to hurt people."
"Because she is your mistress!"
Kevin appraised him with cold-eyed indifference.
"What nonsense. Did you really think that I would buy it? The only family I've ever served, and will only serve, is the Sinclair House. Nothing more than that. And I won't tolerate any plotting against the Sinclair House."
Sharon closed her eyes.
Above all that superficial pain in her wrist, her heart was bleeding.
Oh Break…
She wanted nothing more than to die, at that very moment.
Anything than that cold-hearted punishment for her.
"You stupid clown!"
Alice swung a foot at him, which he dodged easily, and each time she attacked, he parried easily, all the time keeping a tight grip on Sharon's wrist.
"Jerk!"
Sharon finally opened her eyes wearily.
"Stop. You were right, Raven. He isn't Break. No use fighting with him. You'll only get yourselves injured. The only mistress he's ever had is Miss Autumn there."
She gave a bitter laugh.
How cruel fate was to her.
Yet she couldn't bear it if she had to witness him going through the pain that she knew he was going to experience.
Even if, he isn't her Xerxes-nii-san, but Kevin.
The quality of the soul is the same.
She couldn't bear to taint it.
So she told.
Of the terrible future that is yet to come.
And paid a hefty price for her rash act.
-X-
Oz, Alice and Gilbert landed in the Bezarious Mansion, in Oz's room.
"What happened?"
He anxiously asked his friends.
"I don't know. Miss Sharon was talking about the current future when everything suddenly became black."
Gilbert rubbed his sore head in confusion, looking around his surroundings warily.
"Where are we?"
There was a long silence.
"In my room."
-X-
Oz and company hurriedly looked through the records and discovered a chilling fact.
The future has been changed.
The assassination resulted in the Sinclair house reduced to but one last member left. One of the knights, Kevin Regnard married the last surviving member, Autumn Lilith Sinclair and changed his surname to Sinclair. They had 3 children and passed away one before the other 40 years ago. Kevin Sinclair, at the age of 69, and his wife, at the age of 62. The Sinclair house still exists today.
Oz dropped the book, looking disbelievingly at those words screaming out at him.
"We…we changed the future…..."
-X-
The darkness swirled around the plum-haired girl, and she found herself falling lower and lower, until – she sprawled on the ground in a most unladylike manner.
Flushing slightly at her clumsiness, she picked herself off the ground and was suddenly swept into a tight hug from the behind.
She jumped, but didn't resist.
Those arms wrapped around her waist, the fierce protectiveness, she recognized it.
看不清的双手 一朵花(Hands that couldn't be seen clearly A flower)
传来 谁经过的温柔(Sending Tenderness left behind by whom )
Sometime ago, a certain someone had hugged her the very same way.
But she can't remember.
And when those arms suddenly detached from her waist, she felt so forlorn.
She spun around to face the person.
She found her eyes misted over with tears, as heart-wrenching sorrow filled her whole being.
But she didn't know why she was crying.
There was something important that she had forgotten.
Something that was close to her heart.
So she allowed the salty liquid to flow freely to cleanse her very soul, even when she didn't know why she did.
She looked to the man shrouded in the shadows, where she couldn't see him clearly.
"Xe-"
Her throat closed when she attempted to say something.
She couldn't go on.
The man turned to face her.
His whole being seemed enveloped in profound sadness, so deep that she couldn't comprehend it.
It made the edges of his figure appear blurry and unclear.
He offered a hand to her and she took it.
What she was forgetting, was it him too?
The familiar coolness sent streams of warmth to her broken heart and she found that her tears have stopped.
"Ojou-sama, you were always such a willful child…"
And then he spoke.
In that stifling darkness, his deep soulful voice called out to her.
It sang of loneliness, of regret, and of lament that he could do nothing.
"Why didn't you wait for me? I told you, didn't I? I was going to be right back."
Try as she may, she couldn't see his face clearly.
All she caught sight of was a glimpse of the painful twist that could be called a smile.
He wasn't blaming her.
Instead, he wants to atone for her mistake.
"Now we can't go back to before."
With an almost inaudible sigh, the tangible warmth left her hand.
She was alone.
She fought against the unyielding silence and finally she succeeded.
"Break!"
She still didn't know why she was crying.
She let the hand which was previously held gently fall limply to her side.
She doesn't know.
She felt the gathering darkness turn and twist about, but she no longer had the heart to care.
Because her heart was stolen a long time ago.
-X-
Sharon bolted up from her bed, breathing heavily.
She couldn't seem to remember what her dream was about.
All but the distinct feeling of loss.
She has lost something precious to her forever.
She shook her head in frustration to clear those annoying thoughts.
This wasn't the first time she was having this dream.
It couldn't be the last either.
Her eyes fell on the doll that sat by her bedside.
What was it doing there?
She picked up the doll and scrutinised the permanent smile that was plastered on its face.
Oh yes.
She found it in her old toys that day.
Emily, she recalled, that was her name.
Then she placed it back beside her pillow and walked to the windows, pulling the curtains to the side.
It was morning.
She sighed and gathered her things to wash up and prepare for the new day.
The dream would be the least of her worries now.
She has to meet the young master of that Sinclair house today.
The Sinclair family might be a small family, but it sure has a lot of connections with the other families and Pandora.
It would definitely do good to know the future successor of such a family.
She has to be dressed properly for the occasion.
She frowned slightly as she went through her wardrobe mentally to look for a suitable dress for her petite frame.
Ah yes!
The pink dress would be good.
穿越千年的伤痛 只为求一个结果(Transcending thousand years of pain All I wished for was an ending)
你留下的轮廓 指引我 黑夜中不寂寞(Traces left behind by you Led me Not to be lonely in the night)
-X-
She made her way along the great hall of the Pandora organization slowly, walking rather carefully.
After all walking in the dress like hers did require some skill.
"…As if it isn't the up and coming young mistress of the Reinsworth House…"
Sharon frowned in displeasure.
It's him.
Vincent Nightray.
She hated and despised him for his lowly ways.
She smiled sweetly.
"Nice to see you, Master Vincent."
She jumped slightly when he disappeared from in front of her and leaned in behind her, whispering into her ear.
"You too, Miss Sharon."
That momentary distraction was enough to cost her.
She let go of her dress for a moment and slipped.
Just as she thought grimly, what a great way to start a day – A hand came to her rescue.
It slipped over her waist to catch her firmly before she fell.
Then it hoisted her strongly back onto the ground.
"Thank you. I'm sorry for the trouble." She whispered her thanks gratefully.
She knew that it was the young master from the Sinclair house who gave her a hand.
She prepared mentally for the worst.
"Not at all."
There was none of the haughtiness she was expecting, not of the smugness either, but rather a deep soulful voice that was pleasant to her ears.
She flushed in slight embarrassment as she looked up at the handsome young man with almost whitish hair looking at her, hiding a smile full of mirth.
穿越千年的哀愁 是你在尽头等我(Transcending thousand years of sorrow You were waiting for me at the end of the road)
最美丽的感动 会值得 用一生守候(The most beautiful feeling Is worth Protecting it with a lifetime)
Just as that rat was about to slip away quietly at his trick that didn't go as planned, the white-haired man called out to him, his visible red eye shining creepily, the other hidden by his long fringe.
"That was a little mean of you there, Vincent…sama."
The blonde-haired man gave a angry huff and scurried away.
Sharon really had to resist a smile.
It was just so satisfying.
She turned her attention to the man before her.
He was good-looking, to say the least.
His long white hair was plaited loosely and he gave off a very mysterious aura.
She felt like she knew him.
-X-
The white-haired man gave a polite bow.
The plum-haired lady held her skirt in a graceful curtsy.
"I'm Xerxes Sinclair."
"I'm Sharon Reinsworth."
Rose-coloured orbs met crimson ones.
Then in unison –
"Nice to meet you."
She laughed, a soft tinkling sound.
He offered his hand, his lips curving up with an almost familiar indulgence.
Taking it, she led him into the glorious sunshine, and their shadows were intertwined.
"Ne, Sharon."
"…Yes?"
"I've never told you, have I? I think I love you."
Unspoken words hung heavily in the air, then dissolves into nothingness.
Forgotten memories will remain forgotten and lost.
Just bear in mind though, even if the mind forgets, the body remembers.
So, perhaps embracing a new beginning isn't all that bad an idea.
After all, we get to start all over again.
就像刺鳥的宿命 悲劇卻勇敢(Just like the fate of the thorn bird Tragic but brave)
用生命交換結局的燦爛 (The shimmer of the glorious ending exchanged with your life)
Owari.
A/N: hmm…yep, the story is done here! I'm quite pleased to say that^_^ Thank you for following thru with the story and I hope that you enjoyed it. The lyrics at the top is from the English translation of Alice's character song. And the Chinese lyrics in the middle are from F.I.R.'s 千年之恋. It's a very beautiful song. And the ones at the ending are from F.I.R.'s 刺鸟, another beautiful song. I feel that you really have to understand a bit of Chinese to understand the beauty of those lyrics, cuz sadly my rough translation doesn't do it justice. All the same, I hoped that you enjoyed them and I wonder if anyone realized the reference I used here? It's from TRC^^ Anyhow, I'm going to stop rambling and reviews would make me burst with joy:D I know that you all are such wonderful readers, so I'll be waiting for the reviews…
Signing out,
The Absolutely Hopeless Break-fanXP