Don't Look Back – Chapter 37
Nine.
((Haku's POV))
Never before had I imagined life to be this demanding and rewarding at the same time. Fatherhood was the most unpredicted and amazing event that I could have ever dreamed of. The twins are five months old, and their curious minds are already at work. Grabbing hair, skin, lips, and clothes seems to be their favorite past time. I would never trade all of those sleepless nights for anything, for I hold the best reward in my arms every night before bed, just like I did now.
I stood in the middle of the nursery, holding my sleepy daughter. My son had finally fallen silent an hour or so ago, having no problem admitting that he was worn out. Melusine, however, was a stubborn little handful. I began to hum a random scale of notes, swaying back and forth. Sadly, she was putting up another good fight to stay awake.
When a small fist reached up to rub at a dark blue eye, I chuckled to myself. "You are just full of it tonight, my dear!" I told her softly.
"Is she still awake?" A soft voice asked, shutting the door with a soft click.
I turned to face my tired wife and nodded with an apologetic smile. "She happens to be very determined. Sorry if we woke you."
Chihiro smiled fondly, waving it off and pushed up the sleeves of her robe and grinned at Melusine, who gurgled. She effortlessly lifted her from my arms, which she began to cry at. Instead of being hurt, she placed my daughter right back in my arms with a gentle chuckle and kissed her small forehead. "She wants her daddy."
The thought made my soul warm up and my heart to leap. I sometimes wondered if I was doing this right, but hearing things like that soothed my mind. Transferring Melusine over so I was able to old her with one arm, I wrapped the other around Chihiro, realizing just how long it had been since we had any time alone together, just the two of us. Melusine soon joined her brother in slumber, admitting defeat at last, and I placed her in her crib, tracing the crook of her arm before Chihiro wrapped her arms around my waist, resting her head on my broad back. We both left the nursery without a sound. I wanted to fly more now than ever and visit my river for a day at least. I had not been there in a while, and I knew that if I was too keep the darkness of the world away from my family with the wall of water that roared outside the bathhouse, I needed to go back and replenish my strength. I also hadn't been free of this bathhouse for months, and it was slowly driving me insane.
Chihiro pulled me down onto the couch, my head in her lap. Her soothing hand ran through my hair and I closed my eyes with a sigh. Peaceful times like this were rare as well. I smiled, turning my head to place a kiss on her abdomen. She giggled that giggle that sent the butterflies in my stomach fluttering. I chuckled in response, kissing her flat belly yet again as I straightened up. I turned toward her, reaching up to hold her face in my hands, making her giggle again.
To be honest, we'd been too busy to do… well, anything since the twins were born. Personally, not being able to spend time alone with my lover was infuriating, especially when she was constantly within mere inches of me. Leaning down, I placed the prolonged kiss upon her waiting lips.
Apparently, she felt the same.
I soon found myself tackled back onto the couch underneath her, her body pressed tightly against mine. I wrapped my arms around her without a second though, enjoying what had been denied me for so long.
She finally pulled away, holding herself up on her hands. "You're uptight." She said softly, tracing the lines of my face. "You want to get out of here, to fly, don't you?"
I kissed her palm with a sigh, wondering how she could so easily read my face. I rubbed her lower back as I spoke. "I want to get out of here – I need to visit my river before I go insane."
Chihiro just giggled and lied back down on my chest, ordering me to stay still. Doing as she asked, I began to wonder what she was planning. I nearly sat bolt upright and gasped as I felt her slip into my mind. I could feel her smile and her footsteps as she walked into my river. Her spirit flowed from the back of my head down my neck, sending thousands of tingling sensations down my spine. Traveling over my collarbone and directly over my heart, she stopped. It was then that I remembered what heaven felt like.
She was everywhere, flooding all of my senses the moment she dived under. I melted into the couch, my limbs losing the ability to hold themselves up. A soft sigh escaped my lips and I turned my head to the side, with some difficulty, towards the smell of her hair. Her flaming spirit burned in the back of my mind, etching itself in my soul. No one could ever take her away from me.
A pained sigh issued from my mouth as she left, her presence vanishing. Brown eyes blinked up at me and I smiled, running a hand through her hair. She smiled back, tilting her head to the side. "Feeling better?"
I smiled up at her sadly, nodding. "I am now, but that's only going to work for so long." At her frown, I tapped her nose and chuckled, pulling her back down. "Ah, but what would I do without you?" She giggled in response, tickling my chest with strands of her hair. Sliding a hand under my tunic, the warmth of her skin traced my cold chest, caressing my shoulder. I closed my eyes and held back a groan, not wanting her to know how badly I had missed this. By her laugh and grin, I obviously hadn't done a good job. As soon as I felt her other hand slip under, I removed the offending piece of cloth. She giggled – darn that giggle – and traced the muscles that had almost disappeared. Great, something else to add to my to do list – work out.
Before her clever mind could think of more ways to torture me, there was a knock at our door. Chihiro climbed off of me with a few grumbled protests as I stood to answer it. I slid the door back and a young bathhouse maid stood there with a tray of food for two. At her squeak of surprise and slightly pink cheeks, I realized that I lacked a shirt. Splendid.
Chihiro saved the moment by coming forward to stand slightly behind me. "What can we do for you?"
The young yuna blushed and looked past me, unsuccessfully, to reply to Chihiro's request. "Lady Yubaba noticed that you were not at dinner because you were putting the twins to bed, and she did not want you to go hungry." She said, slightly in a rush.
"Ah, I see," She replied, "That was nice of her. Can you set the tray on the table there?" Chihiro requested, gesturing to the small table in front of the couch that we had occupied a few moments before. The yuna scuttled to do as she was told, pausing only briefly at the sight of my discarded tunic on the floor. At that, she set down the tray, positively fleeing the room after she had given us a rather hasty bow. I shut the door behind her and shook my head with a chuckle. Chihiro wrapped her arms around me from behind, resting her head right between my shoulder blades. I sighed deeply, utterly relaxed. When I did, I caught a whiff of our meal.
"That smells good…" I commented.
"Yubaba did well," Chihiro admitted, "I thought that we would have to go scavenge later this evening."
I grinned, "So, my lovely, do you want to eat and then retire for the evening?"
She laughed at me and my implication and let me go, coming to stand in front of me. "Can we have dinner first?" She asked, calling my bluff.
I grabbed her around the waist and scooped her up, carrying her to the futon. We both fell onto it, laughing, and she kissed me. I was completely caught up in it that I didn't even notice where her hands were until they were on the waistband of my pants.
Breaking away, I pushed her back with a laugh. "Chi, we have food waiting and I don't want to waste perfectly-" I cut myself off with a nervous chuckle. "Forget I said anything."
Her look gave ice a run for its money.
The next day, the both of us were highly rejuvenated, winking and sneaking glances at each other from across the room.
Right now, Enlil was being fed his breakfast while I played with Melusine on the floor. She seemed more interested in trying to grasp my hair or face rather than the blocks in front of her. She gurgled when I let her have a piece of my dark green hair, but made careful notes to not let her pull it. It wouldn't matter if she did – she was too cute for me to get anywhere near mad.
She had a lot of hair for a baby, or so I'm told, making everyone compliment how adorable she was. They dark blue, almost black tresses were usually perfectly combed, letting her sea green eyes observe everything around her. I loved those eyes. I say that they're Perun's and my eyes mixed together and she was blessed with the result. My father laughed, telling me that Perun got his eyes from our mother. When I look at Melusine, I see... me. I always though that Enlil would take after me, but my daughter is the one that poking around in everything to learn about the world around her. She has her mother's smile though – that's going to make many a spirit's hearts.
Melusine brought me back to the moment when she successfully tugged my hair, grinning in triumph. Chihiro laughed, beginning to burp our son. He looked more like Kentoku than anything else. He had the soft, silver hair that my father had, but with the most unique eyes I have ever seen. They were a soft gold with flecks of brown; eagle eyes. My father was intrigued and decided to read up about what it could mean, seeing he actually has time for stuff like that. I think he found something, but he sure isn't telling me. Chihiro and I wondered where he could have possibly inherited them from, and we concluded that it was some twist with genes or thanks to some very distant relative. Regardless, I was a happy father.
Chihiro came over to lie down next to me, putting Enlil next to his sister. For twins, they sure didn't look alike. But when they looked up, they had almost identical faces. When they were born, I never liked to admit how little I knew about children. Chihiro had to explain to me that only twins that were either girls or boys could look identical, and even then they didn't have to be. I nodded, accepting it rather then plunge into the world of genetics. "Are you hungry, Mel?" She asked the little child, tapping her nose. Her response was to giggle and turn away, hiding her face in my shirt. I smiled and rubbed her back, touched. Chihiro smiled as well and tapped my nose too, kissing it moments later.
"She likes her daddy."
((Kentoku's POV))
Those two children wear me out, and their twins are going to make my silver hair go white one of these days. Amaya's daughter is very quiet, like her, which makes everyone very grateful. But after a day of watching her wears me out anyway. I must be getting old – splendid.
I flopped down on my sleeping mat with a sigh, not even bothering to undress all the way. The pants and the long robe kept me warm from the cold breeze that came in from the window anyway. I could hear the roaring water of Haku's glorious barrier. No doubt the Druids were baffled about it. I thought about finding a way to turn it into ice, but decided against it. The Druids could just melt it then. After all, it was doing a good job of keeping them out just the way it was. Why change it? Haku must be straining himself to keep it up this long…
This, among other thoughts, played in my head until I finally drifted to sleep.
The DreamThe room was just like it always was, elaborate and tacky in taste. The lot of them used to tease Yubaba about it, which always got her riled up. Kentoku sat there now; much different than when he had last sat in this room, starring idly into the fire. He sat alone, his mind drifting beyond the confines of the warm parlor. The flames gave a loud crack, jerking the wind spirit away from his musings. Mere seconds passed, and a man's groan caused Kentoku to leap to his feet. The flames twisted and writhed, forming fiery orange hair, followed by a face, shoulders, and the rest of the body. The man stood and Kentoku gasped in shock, his heart clenching at an all too familiar face.
Long, bright locks of fire hung down in a pale face, never hiding a pair of scintillating amber eyes. Dark gold scales were inlaid into his very flesh, covering the right side of his body and forming the shape of a powerful dragon. It was impossible to tell where the design began and ended, but it slithered up from his waist and weaved itself up to his shoulder and wrapped all the way down to his left elbow. Only a loincloth adorned his toned, pale figure, showing off just how well he could pull of the almost nude look. Many beaded necklaces hung around his neck, clinking together pleasantly with every breath that he took. An ever-present grin covered his face as he spread his muscled arms wide.
"Long time, no see, Kentoku. Seems that you've changed a bit."
The silver-haired man sputtered for a bit before he could reply, unbelieving of the sight before him. "You… are dead…" He choked out, closing his eyes. "Let me wake up – I know that you are dead, this is a dream…"
The other man frowned, looking at a potted plant in the far corner of the room. "He doesn't believe us… what now?"
"Did you expect him to?" A soft soprano asked, the potted plant slowly melding into the shape of a woman. "Do you honestly expect him to think differently than he's thought for the past hundred years? It's going to take more than words to convince him."
"Come again?"
The woman rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, stepping into the firelight that her companion had just emerged from. Dark forest green hair tumbled down her shoulders and back, brushing her hips. Brown eyes the color of dirt were as hard as the frozen ground in winter, and they were locked on amber. "Be reasonable. Kentoku is not going to believe everything that comes out of your mouth."
Despite his attempts to be serious, Kentoku's lip twitched up into a smile. The man grinned triumphantly and pointed a finger. "Aha! He isn't a walking wall of stone after all!" He let a chuckle out, failing to hide the growing smile.
The woman looked Kentoku fondly, the tone of her voice sad. "You really do not believe us… do you?"
Kentoku looked away. "The idea of you both alive is such an impossible one. You both have been dead for a century. You cannot just… pop back."
"But you want to believe it, I know you do…" the man trailed off, giving him a wink.
The wise spirit smile faintly. "Yes. With all that I am."
End DreamI sat bolt upright in my bed; sweat hanging in beads on my face. My chest rose and fell with my heart, my eyes wide in disbelief. Was I hallucinating? Did I really just dream that? Oh, how sweet it would be if I could hear their voices, even if they were bickering, one more time…
Shaking off the memory, I got out of my bed and stood up shakily. I walked over to my window and let the cold air slap at my sweaty face. I shivered instantly, but I did not move. Before I got myself sick, the window closed itself. I jumped to the side, whirling around to face the opposite wall and found my door closed and tightly locked like I had left it.
"Confused?" A voice asked.
I spun around, my eyes searching vainly for the person in my room. They must have come in through the window…
"We mean you no harm…" another voice added, a woman this time.
"Yet you are the ones in my room, hiding from me," I said sarcastically, the lack of sleep and the lack of awareness on my part affecting my reactions. I had to get myself under control before I did something stupid.
The silence that followed was extremely tense, and was broken by the sound of booming laughter. I stood up straight, confused beyond all reason. The two invaders of my room emerged from the shadows. A loud, surprised gasp tore from my lips and I stumbled back, slamming against the thin wall. No doubt that woke Eve or Rin up; one of them, if not both, would be in here within minutes.
The copper-haired man looked at me with solemn eyes, their color and power reaching into me and tugging at my heart. "We are alive, Kentoku," he told me, "I would never lie to you."
"But…" I croaked again, clearly unsure of what I should believe. The desire to drink up their words and promises was burning my logic away and I would give into them within a matter of moments.
"Kentoku?" Eve's voice called, knocking on my door.
I looked at the dark wood and then back at the two spirits looking at me. In the following three seconds, everything was decided. I believed them – damn myself if II was wrong, it was no one's fault but my own if my soul was crushed. "I will come find you. Just let me know where you are." I said quietly, sealing my fate. Both of their faces lit up and they nodded, disappearing just as Eve took it upon herself to open my door when I had failed to respond. The look of confusion on her face turned to one of slight alarm, making me really look at how this situation looked.
The blankets of my bed were rumpled and messy, I stood, without a shirt, back flat against the wall with sweat covering my skin accompanied by the biggest wide-eyed look in the universe.
There was no way I was going to lie myself out of this one.
But I knew as soon as I told her the truth, she would label me insane, flee from the room in tears because I was blabbering the words that she had been telling herself for years but knew that they were false hopes.
I was right.
I starred at the floor, my door slammed shut on Eve's crying dash out. Had I gone insane? Does one know when they've finally jumped off the deep end?
I wish I knew.
Eight.
((Bellona's POV))
I never realized how much I hated gossip and lady-like things until I had to spend a horrid day with Naomi. She was not happy being in charge of the third division, and she was clearly taking it out on Lillith and me. Kallisto would not stand for us fighting, so Lillith and I had to suck it up to the best of our abilities. Man, but Naomi is one spirit that you don't even want to look at. That woman… ugh, I'll refrain from cursing her, seeing as my soul carries enough sin as it is. At least Lillith was pleasant enough… when she talked. It didn't really bother me, seeing as I was so quiet myself (at least around them), but Naomi apparently had a problem with this.
Naomi broke our eighth tense silence with a rather odd question. "You know of the wall around the bathhouse, correct?" She asked, and I refrained from rolling my eyes. Why must she ask us that like we know nothing? "How much power and magic does that boy need to use to keep it standing?" She went on, completely ignorant of my facial expressions.
I looked at Lillith, my annoyance gone. We were both surprised at her semi-intelligent attempt at conversation. The wall was so talked about and debated that it had become an extinct topic, one that no one talked about, roughly five months ago. We decided to not share that piece of information. When Naomi was on a roll, there was no sense in stopping her. We were extremely pleased to say the least that the question that popped out of her mouth wasn't related to her wardrobe like last time.
"A significant amount of both, I would assume," Lillith replied, "The wall is making his strength painfully obvious, but it hides many more spirits like that behind its murky walls."
"That's very true." I replied, my foot swinging lazily. "I served under Lady Amaya, and she was a spirit that you never crossed. Lord Perun is even stronger than her, and I dare not dream of what Lord Kentoku and Lady Eve can do. Just their names alone scare most of our forces."
Naomi leaned forward eagerly, "I've heard that Eve can raise the dead…"
Lillith scoffed, "Of course she cannot. She can save someone from death, not bring them back. No one can."
"How do you know? Were you actually there when she did that?" Naomi pressed and I closed my eyes. She was acting like a little child begging for you to explain something just so she could contradict everything that came out of your mouth, even if it was right. It annoyed Lillith and I to no end, and we were bound to suffer another round. But the barrage of questions never came, so I opened my eye to figure out what was going on.
It turns out that Naomi had turned her gaze on me. My heart plunged down to my stomach as she opened her mouth to speak. "I'd rather heard about you, Bell. You're much more interesting than a stupid wall anyway." My eye twitched at the self-applied nickname, and I mentally prayed for my safety. Who knows what that woman was thinking! "What's up with you and Kallisto's right hand man?" Naomi asked, giggling like a toddler who had gotten a piece of candy. Even Lillith turned to face me, interested in this turn of events.
I managed an icy cold glare through my internal panic. Sometimes this unnerved her and she dropped the subject, but this time, no such luck. 'Time to put on the practiced charade,' I thought, rolling my eyes, my voice dripping with disapproval. "What on earth are you saying? Me, with Ryuu? If I had any desire to have someone warm my bed, I would at least find someone fitted my tastes."
"As would I," a dry voice drawled from the doorway, "I, too, could do much better."
We all turned to look at who had spoken. I scowled and crossed my arms. "What do you want, Ryuu?"
"Nothing," he replied, "but Kallisto does. Hurry – she is getting impatient." I rolled my eyes and rose from my armchair, leaving the small parlor. Ryuu shut the door behind me and I turned down the hall, heading towards Kallisto's office.
A low chuckle followed me and a lazy arm wrapped around my waist. "Where are you going, Bell?" A breathless voice asked me, whispering in my ear.
I couldn't stop the grin that came across my face, but I did manage to suppress the giggle. "To Kallisto's office, of course. You said she needed me, remember?"
He snorted, pulling me down the other way, toward his rooms most likely. "She doesn't. How else was I supposed to get you out of there?"
"I don't know if I should hurt you or thank you!" I groaned, letting him tow me down to wherever he was headed.
"Don't do either." He breathed, pressing my back against his, forcing us to stop. "Just love me."
I froze then. The question that had been plaguing me: could I love him? I wanted to, more than anything, but could a heart as black as mine love a man like Ryuu? He hugged my tighter, becoming afraid of my silence.
"I… I don't know… if I can…" I said shakily answered.
"Good. I don't know if I can either." He chuckled, "But I'm going to try."
"I smiled and placed my hand on his cheek. "Sounds good. So will I."
"That's all I ask." He told me gently, kissing my forehead.
Things may not end perfectly for us, but I, along with Ryuu, will enjoy what we have now, while it lasts.
A/N: I am one lazy ass person, huh? I am so sorry this took my so long, almost three months, but it's here. I'm about 2/3 done here, and I'm ready to get this puppy done before I completely go insane. I have a short little sequel after this and I really want to get started on that. But, I need to finish this first otherwise it's going to spoil everything. Grr.
Well, this is dedicated for everyone who reviewed last chapter. You all are awesome and you put up with me being lazy and irresponsible. I've had this written for who knows how long, but we're not going to go into details and make myself feel worse.
I'm not putting names here - you all know if you reviewed. If you did, thank you, I love you. xD
- Vincent's Angel of Chaos
P.S. If you've noticed the coutdown, starting with the Ten. last chapter, good for you. You get cookies.