Sorry this took so long to get up…I've been struggling with writer's block. A really bad case. :( Plus I have a really stupid project to do for English (over Christmas break, how retarded is that?) and I found this awesome series by Laurell K. Hamilton that I'm a wee bit obsessed with. So if this chapter sucks, I'm sorry. I tried my best with it, but when I am not in a writing mood I just can't write well. I tried my best though.
Chapter Fourteen
The Power of Love
Raven woke to sharp pains in her wrists, ankles, and forehead. She frowned and glanced over at her left wrist, which rested lightly on Yazoo's bare shoulder. Carefully, she lifted her head from where she laid, nestled against the silver-haired man's right shoulder. Violet eyes studied the glowing band encircling her wrist. It glowed brighter than it ever had. For a brief moment Raven began to panic, thinking Sephiroth would burst through the door any second. But then she felt it, bubbling deep in her chest. Power. The bands were fighting it.
Raven thought about waking Yazoo to see what he thought it meant, but decided against it when she turned her gaze to his face. She smiled. He looked so peaceful, so happy. A small, beautiful smile played across his full, perfect lips. She wanted to kiss them, but refrained. With a contented sigh, she laid her head back down and cuddled closer. A few minutes later she felt Yazoo's left arm tighten around her waist, pulling her even closer. His right hand moved up her arm as he trailed long, delicate fingers across her fair skin, causing goosebumps to ripple over her flesh. Raven's eyes were closed, but she felt him pause when his fingers reached the band on her wrist he rubbed it with a finger and made a 'humph' sound. She opened her eyes and lifted her head to meet his green-blue gaze with her own purple one.
"What?" she asked softly, smiling at him. His warm breath smelled surprisingly sweet.
"It's warm." He murmured and stroked the band again, his eyes never leaving hers.
Raven frowned and sat up to study her wrists. Yazoo pulled her between his legs, almost in his lap. He wrapped both arms around her thin waist and laid his chin on her shoulder.
The violet-haired woman leaned back into his embrace as she gingerly touched one of the bands. Her eyes widened, "It is warm! I wonder why…"
"I dunno…" Yazoo muttered. Raven frowned as she concentrated on her re-surfacing power. The bands flickered brighter when she grabbed her power and focused on Yazoo's boot, which rested next to the couch across the room. She prepared to murmur her magical words but was immediately distracted when the man behind her began to nuzzle the side of her throat. She let out a small gasp as he began to cover the soft skin of her neck with light kisses. She closed her violet eyes and leaned her head back on his shoulder, exposing more of her throat to the soft, warm lips that teased her.
"Yazoo…" Raven murmured happily.
"Hmm?" was his reply as he nipped lightly at her neck and his fingers trailed across her stomach, enjoying the feel of the silky, satin nightgown.
"I…nnh…" the violet-haired woman gave up; when he was kissing her neck she couldn't form a coherent thought, let alone a complete sentence. So she let him kiss and nibble her neck awhile longer. Only when she could stand it no longer, Raven twisted in his arms, forcing Yazoo to halt the kisses and cradle her against him like a child. She smiled at him and leaned up for a kiss. He bent slightly to meet her eager lips with his own.
A sigh escaped Raven as she kissed the silver-haired man. She pushed herself up a bit and wrapped her arms around his neck, wanting to be closer. He complied and held the frail woman's body to his, a small part of him, the part not concentrating on her lips, worried about how thin she was. When his tongue ran lightly across her bottom lip, Raven automatically parted her eager mouth, welcoming him to deepen the kiss. He did, and for several minutes their tongues performed a complicated dance while exploring the warm mouth of their partner. All Raven could think of was how much she loved Yazoo and never wanted to be away from him. She knew he loved her, which made it all the better. She pressed herself to him in a strange hug and broke the kiss, only to leave a trail of feather-light kisses from the corner of his mouth to his earlobe.
"I love you Yazoo…" she whispered, voice a bit harsh from desire, "…with all my heart."
"I love you too, Raven." He murmured into her ear, his lips brushing against her skin causing a shiver to shoot down her spine, "I want to always be with you. Forever." Tears of joy formed behind Raven's eyes as she hugged him. And then blinding pain racked her body.
She didn't scream. The month or so she had been with Sephiroth had taught her never to scream when in pain. Though this time it was difficult. She pushed away from Yazoo and launched off the bed to stumble towards the couch. Pain clouded her vision and she fell, almost smashing her head into the glass coffee table. She set her jaw and stared down at her hands, completely unaware of Yazoo's panicked calls. All she knew was the pain coursing through her body. She closed her eyes against the suddenly blinding glare coming from the bonds of her wrists. Fright overcame her as thoughts of Sephiroth entered her mind. 'No.' she thought defiantly, 'I will not let him win.' She gritted her teeth and stood up, almost knocking Yazoo on his back. She didn't know when he had come beside her and didn't really care. She walked a few feet away from her love and blocked all thoughts except for those of him.
She forced herself to remember every detail of him; the soft curve of his full lips, they way they felt when she kissed him, the feel of his silky-soft hair, the way he said her name, how it felt to lay with him in his arms. That he loved her. 'You lose, Sephiroth.' She thought grimly and released her power with a defiant scream,
"NOOOOO!" she threw her arms out and head back, letting her power race through her. It banished all the pain and its strength almost frightened her, as she had never been this powerful. She heard the bands around her wrists, ankles and forehead scream in protest and then shatter. She panted and collapsed on her knees as a cold numb feeling washed over her.
"Raven…?" Yazoo whispered after a moment.
"I'm okay, Yazoo…" she whispered and slowly came to her feet. Glancing around for the fragments of the bands that had held her, Raven frowned when she found no trace of them.
"What happened?" the sliver-haired man asked. He sounded frightened. She turned to look at him, still on the ground. Indeed, he did look frightened. Raven suddenly started to laugh uncontrollably and collapsed on the ground, holding her stomach. She laughed until tears stained her face. Upon seeing Yazoo's face, however, she sobered up and sat straight.
"Sephiroth designed those restraints to hold back my power. He made it so no matter how angry I got, I couldn't break free. He had seen that anger amplifies my powers." She smiled triumphantly at him, "But what he didn't know, and me neither until just now, is that there is another emotion much stronger than hate."
Yazoo watched her carefully and slowly understood. He returned her smile, "Love." He answered.
"Yes." Raven laughed again, "I've saved myself and maybe even you and everyone else. I can face him now with no worries."
"That's—wait. What did you say?" Yazoo whispered angrily.
Raven chuckled and walked over to his side. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned against his chest, "We're safe."
Yazoo made a strange growling sound deep in his throat. He took her by the shoulders and held her a bit back from him to peer somewhat angrily into her violet eyes, "No. You just said you could face him with no worries or something. What the hell are you talking about? You are never going near him again."
"Excuse me?" Raven squeaked and backed up out of his reach. He let his hands fell limp and uselessly to his sides, "Do you really think you can stop me?"
"I never said that…" the silver-haired man whispered and lowered his eyes, "I just…want you never to have to be near him, Raven. I love you too much to lose you to him."
What felt like a fist squeezed gently on Raven's heart and her anger dissipated, "And I love you, Yazoo. That's why I have to face him. I have to kill him to keep you and everyone else safe." She walked back over to him, violet eyes filled with concern and adoration. The thought of him dead and gone forever almost caused her physical pain. "I've seen what Sephiroth can do…I will not let that happen to anyone else."
"Let us help then." Yazoo murmured as he walked over to pull her into a hug. Raven felt more than heard him press his nose into her hair and inhale before continuing, "We will all stand strong against him."
"I can't let you do that…" Raven sighed. She pulled him closer, never wanting to step away. "Just let me handle it. Please. I know I can."
Yazoo pulled back a bit to look her in the face, but kept his arms around her. He bent his neck a bit to brush a feather-light kiss over her lips, "We'll discuss it later. With Kadaj and Aelita. I'm sure they will want to have a say in the matter."
"Whatever…" Raven grumbled. Yazoo laughed and kissed her forehead before hugging her close, yet again. The violet-haired woman squirmed a bit until he loosened his hold and leaned back with raised brows. Her purple eyes sparkled with mischief and she answered the unspoken question in his eyes, "I want more kisses and cuddles. You have a lot of time to make up for."
Yazoo grinned, sending a shiver down her spine. She yelped when he swung her up into his arms and carried her over to the couch. 'This should be fun…' Raven thought as she pulled herself up a bit to kiss the soft skin of his neck.
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"Kadaj…" Aelita whispered while stroking the young man's shoulder-length silver hair. She lounged next to him on the silver bed, looking down on him with concern. He was lying on his left side, back to her, staring at the wall. The brunette girl ran a finger along his jaw bone, "Talk to me, babe…"
Kadaj was silent for a long while. Aelita comforted herself by continuing to run her fingers through his hair, over his cheek, down his neck and arms. When he finally spoke his soft voice cracked, "My brother is dead, Ael1…what am I supposed to say?"
"I don't know, Kadaj. But…you're scaring me…you've hardly talked or moved all night…" The young girl felt tears burning behind her eyes. She closed her eyes and cleared her throat to keep from crying. Again. When she opened her olive eyes again a small tear sparkled on the silver-haired man's cheek. Aelita took a deep breath to fight off the grief and bent slightly to brush away the tear with a chaste kiss. She trailed kisses up his flushed cheek to his ear, where she whispered, "I love you, Kadaj, and I'm here for you no matter what. Don't forget that."
Kadaj turned at that to gaze into the young girls green eyes with his own green-blue ones. He looked a bit shocked, and Aelita knew why. She blushed, but didn't look away. Though it was the first time she had said 'I love you'. It seemed to have caught him off guard. He reached up and pulled her down to kiss her. He didn't break the kiss, instead he murmured against her lips, "Thank you. I love you too, Aelita."
The brunette smiled warmly and pressed her mouth to his again and moved over a bit to lay her body against his in a strange hug. His arms slipped around her small waist, pulling her against his body. Aelita trailed her fingers through his silky hair, starting at his forehead and moving her hands to the back of his head where she cradled him, not letting him break the kiss. She ran her tongue enticingly along the bottom of his lip. She gave a small yelp into his mouth when he suddenly rolled over on top of her, being careful not to crush her beneath him. The brunette pulled back from the kiss and scowled at him. He pushed his upper half up a bit and frowned down at her, a question dancing in his confused eyes.
Aelita pouted at him and tugged at the leather over-coat of his outfit. "Off." She demanded. Kadaj grinned and complied by starting to unbuckle the straps that kept the coat tied to his thighs. While he did that, Aelita eagerly began to unzip the coat, trailing her tongue down his smooth chest as she did so. When they got the coat off, Kadaj was left in only tight leather pants. The green-eyed girl gazed in wonder, as she did every time she saw his chest, at his smooth, toned muscles and hard nipples. She licked his collarbone and left a trail of wet kisses down the center of his chest to his breastbone, pushing him gently till he lay on his back. Aelita smiled inwardly when she heard the silver-haired man beneath her gasp and moan softly as she kissed the sensitive flesh around his nipple before gently licking it.
"Aelita…" Kadaj murmured when her lips trailed farther down and she nuzzled the small trail of hair that disappeared beneath his pants. She glanced up at him from her position,
"Off." She repeated and tugged at his pants. Kadaj smiled somewhat evilly down at her and sat up, pushing her away from him slightly,
"You first." He whispered in her ear before licking it. Aelita felt an uncontrollable, yet pleasurable, shiver race down her spine. She quickly tugged her dress off over her head and practically ripped off her tights, throwing both articles off to the side. She turned back to him and growled at him seductively before crawling slowly toward him, licking her lips.
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Raven giggled into the long, silky soft silver hair that covered her face. She inhaled deeply, enjoying the scent of his beautiful hair. The hair tickled her face and she giggled again as she felt the soft strands trail off her face. Soon green-blue cat eyes met her own dark violet ones as her newfound love gazed up at her. His head had been laid next to hers, face buried in her neck with his long hair draped over her own face. That had actually been an accident, but Raven didn't mind. She loved his hair.
At the moment, they were laying half on, half beside each other on the wide, plush couch. Yazoo's left arm was wrapped protectively around the violet-haired woman's waist, almost as if he was keeping her from tumbling off their make-shift bed. His right arm was under her shoulders and he stroked the bare skin of her right arm absent mindedly. Raven wasn't sure if she could feel her left foot because her legs were tangled with Yazoo's, which seemed to be cutting off the circulation to the foot, but once again, she didn't mind. Being close to him was all that mattered to her.
Yazoo pushed himself up a bit to brush his lips against her cheek. Raven turned to meet his lips with her own but the silver-haired man eluded her and trailed his mouth down to her ear where he rubbed his soft lips against her earlobe. 'Damn him…' the violet-eyed woman thought shakily when he abruptly stopped caressing her with his lips. When he started to pull back Raven gently grabbed him behind his neck and pulled him down so she could get to his ear,
"You're teasing me, Yazoo. I don't like being teased." Her breath was hot on his ear and she ended it with a quick lick on the skin below the lobe of his ear. Yazoo pulled back to look down on her, his silver hair falling down to form a curtain around their faces, closing them off from the world. He was so close to her that if Raven would have breathed, her lips would have met his. As it was, the green-blue of his cat-like eyes had entranced her and she was subconsciously holding her breath.
"Don't you?" he murmured, his lips brushing over hers. She gasped as something tugged in the bottom of her stomach and a wave of dizziness washed over her. 'He's so damn intoxicating.' She thought and got the urge to tangle her fingers in his hair and kiss him roughly. Instead, she nodded slightly, once again causing their lips to touch lightly.
"Hmm." Yazoo sighed thoughtfully and rubbed his lips against hers, "Interesting…" With that he sat up a bit, leaning on his right arm to look down at her with an innocent smile. They stared at each other for awhile until the green-blue eyed man suddenly rolled off the couch and stood in one fluid motion. Raven let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in a sigh. 'He's too beautiful…' she thought as she gazed up at him studying her, 'How did I ever get to be with him?'
"We need to talk with Kadaj and Aelita." Yazoo said softly, still looking down at her. The smile had faded from his face and he cocked his head as he studied her.
"Yeah…" Raven sighed again and looked around before realizing her phone wasn't near her. In fact, it was in her room. Running a hand through her violet-hair she frowned and looked up at Yazoo questioningly. He raised his brows. "Can I use your phone?"
"Sure." He said softly and turned to walk to the bedside table. Raven frowned thoughtfully as she watched him, wondering if he was walking, almost sauntering, like that intentionally. She also wondered if he knew the pants he was wearing hugged his cute backside so nicely. The violet-eyed woman smiled, blushing a bit when she caught herself studying Yazoo's butt so intently. Shrugging after a few more thoughts and continued to study his back as he searched through the drawer of the small table. His long, shining hair slipped over his back and swayed as he moved. The muscles of his lower back rippled slightly as he bent and moved while he shuffled through the contents of the drawer. The black pants he wore clung to not only his well rounded bottom, but also his muscled thighs. Raven fought back another blush as she wondered how that backside and those legs would look with nothing to cover them.
Her eyes flicked up to meet his eyes as he turned back to her, silver hair flipping around behind him, some slipping over his face. Raven held up her hand, getting the urge to flaunt her newly regained power. She concentrated on the phone and it swiftly flew out of Yazoo's hand and snapped into hers. She smiled at his shocked lookd.
"Sorry. I'm feeling…show-offy."
"That's…fine." He said softly, still a bit shocked. Raven grinned and dialed Aelita's number, which she knew by heart. On the sixth ring Aelita picked up,
"Yeah?"
"Hey, Aelita…um…are you okay?" the younger girl sounded breathless.
"Yeah, I'm great…why?"
"You're out of breath." Raven pointed out the obvious, watching Yazoo stride back over to her on the couch. After he sat she settled into his embrace.
"Um…"
Raven waited for more but when no other explanation followed, she made an assumption, "Oops. Did I ah-interrupt anything?"
"…No, not really. What do you need?"
"I need to speak with you and Kadaj. About Sephiroth and…stuff."
"Oh. Okay." There were a few moments of silence before Raven heard her friend speak again, "Kadaj says 'whatever'. But I'll drag him along. Meet out front? It's cold, but not terrible."
"Yeah, that sounds good." Raven thought for a moment before adding, "How long will you need to be ready?"
"Thirty minutes."
"Alright. See you then." Raven chuckled and hung up. She was glad that Aelita was happy with Kadaj, even though he could be a major jerk sometimes.
"What's going on?" Yazoo asked softly, playing with her violet hair.
"We're meeting out front to figure out what we'll do. It'll be nice for all of us to put our heads together and work out--" Raven halted as she realized all of them wouldn't be there. Loz was dead. And it was her fault. She had been trying her best to avoid too much grief. Loz would have teased her for crying. Closing her eyes and ignoring Yazoo's concerned questions, the violet-eyed woman concentrated on anything but the last time she saw Loz. Needless to say, she failed miserably. 'It figures when I don't want to think about something, I do.' She thought bitterly as tears began to stream down her cheeks. Yazoo's cold fingers against her flushed cheek brought Raven back to reality.
"What is wrong?" the silver-haired man asked softly.
"It's all my fault…" she whispered and leaned her head against his cupped hand. "Loz is…dead because of me. I didn't--" Harsh sobs shook her body, cutting her off from saying anything else. Yazoo hugged her to his chest and murmured into her hair. Raven was faintly aware of a slight wetness on the top of her head, which made her feel even worse. 'I shouldn't have said anything…' she realized, 'Now I've made Yazoo cry…' And though she wanted to, nothing she could do could stop either hers or Yazoo's sorrow. They settled with holding each other close for comfort, knowing that eventually their love would keep them strong
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[1 Ael is pronounced pail, without the p.
ZOMG this chapter is horrid. I'm sorry it's short and blah. I tried really really hard, though, to make it somewhat decent. Writer's block is a bitch. Pardon the language, but I'm kind ticked that I haven't been able to write for the past week or whatever. I hate it. This may be the last chapter I get to post before January unless I get inspired in the next few days, so sorry in advance for those who care. :P I almost want to not post this, cause I don't like it so much. It was forced, but oh well. I have an idea for a sequel already, so I'm going to try to finish this one soon. I had planned on ending it in a few chapters anyway, so it works out well. Alrighty then, I'll see you guys around. Thanks for reading and any reviews!
Kitsune
