A/n: Warning: lemoney, but hopefully still tasteful. Enjoys.

Chapter Nine: Silence

And now there is merely silence, silence, silence, saying all we did not know - William R. Benet

-Flashback-

Yuuki sat on the end of her bed, dagger in hand, ready for the final test she had devised. She didnt have the guts to die, but the only other way out was escape. To escape, she needed help. Once again she needed Zero. It was only worth escaping if she could have Zero.

She needed to bleed enough to lure him to her... Worst case scenario, he'd come to check if she was dead, and if she wasnt, he'd finish her off in her weakened state, and she'd get what she wanted. She slowly drew the knife along her collar bone, one side, then the other, blood streaming down her chest to her ribcage before the bleeding stopped, wounds healed over by vampiric regeneration.

If he didnt come at all, she'd probably eventually bleed herself to death as she cut repeptetively, in the only place she was certain she couldnt hit anything vital. But then she'd know, there was nothing to live for. She cut again, deeper. This time the streams of blood reached her navel before ceasing to flow.

She was getting a bit dizzy... she began to realise how stupid an idea this was. The last an final scenario... the best one... was that he cared. That he'd come to find her thinking she was in trouble, then she'd know for sure by his reaction how he felt, regardless of what he said. If she had a chance, just one tiny chance, that he liked and might forgive her for what she was... She couldnt die, she couldnt leave him, she needed him. Now to see if he needed her. She drew the knife as slowly as possible across the only just healed wounds. so that she would bleed for as long as possible. just as the last section managed to clot over, another would be opened.

She waited... blood began to dry on her silken dress in some places. She heard a distant crash. She held the dagger to her chest with both hands, hoping, praying it was him. Crash... crash...CRASH... CRASH... it was getting louder, coming towards her.

Suddenly stone flew from the wall in chunks, carpeting the room with debris and dust, still more flew towards her, sheilding her face she clung to the bed, hoping to avoid being brained by a rock. She heard a soft crunch of footsteps as the entered the room, then silence. She tried to open her eyes but dust covered her eyelashes, which prompty fell into her eyes as she blinked. Her heart both lept and twisted as she saw the identity of her visitor, and the look on his face.

"Ow! Zero! you got stone dust in my eyes you idiot!" she squeaked, rubbing her eyes furiously.

Zero cursed and practically ran to her, the breath was knocked out of her as he drew her into a borderline painful hug. It made her head spin. His warm breath on her neck sent shivers down her spine as he whispered that she was the idiot. His mouth met hers... and nothing else mattered.

...

They didnt speak. Anything that needed to be disscussed was lost in the movements of his hand trailing down to her lower back... the other up to her neck. The kiss deepened. Her willing response tore down the last defenses he had, he couldnt hold back, not after thinking he had lost her.

Breathing heavily they drew apart, only just far enough for him to trace the two wounds mimicing the rise of her collar bone with a shaky finger. Questions whirled through his head, What happened? Did she do this to herself? What was she thinking? He knew what she had been thinking. He had came to terms with the fact he couldn't have her, or even want her anymore... not that he ever did have her... but he had comforted himself with the fact at least Kaname would keep her safe from malcontents... he hadnt even thought of the possibility if her hurting herself.

He couldnt ask them, not now. Not while she was in his arms, soaked in her own blood... blood...

He felt the glimmer of response of his vampire self to the scent of his love covered in her own sweet life. He was amazed that it had been held back by his rush of emotions till now. He didnt want to drink from her, didnt want to know what she was feeling right now... it might ruin it...

But the blood that had already burst forth from her body, starting to dry on pale skin... surely that was safe... and it might answer the questions as to what she was thinking while she... he didnt want to think about what she had done.

Hesitation in his eyes her drew her bloodstained hand towards his mouth, her only reaction was to tilt her head to one side, eyes half lidded as she regarded his face. She ran her hand down his cheek lightly, without pulling away from his grasp. He kissed the palm of her hand before tasting it. Hope... fear... sadness... but mostly hope... confused he moved towards her once more to the wounds themselves, tracing the bumpy half healed flesh with his tongue. Zero. Zero Zero Zero Zerozerozerozerozerozerozero. His own name and face swirled through his head, hope, faith... Zero looking worried... sadness, despair... and empty room... terror... heart break... an angry Zero pointed a gun at her... ...

He looked up from his half-crouching position that he had been forced to take to comfortably reach her collar bone. She'd done it on purpose... luring him here...

Hands on her waist he tried to pull himself back to a standing position, a little angry and confused about how he had answered her unspoken questions. Why would she want me to come here? To a house that reeked of him.

Now that he thought about it, he sniffed, this room didnt smell of him. Only of her. Those other rooms he went through to get here were the opposite. Did that bastard keep her in one room. He looked around, hugging her to his chest. Putting the destroyed room back togther in his head. Splintered wood, scattered paper... a desk. Splintered wood, pile of clothes... a wardrobe. A side door left open, revealed a small bathroom. Sure the room was huge, but the furnishings were functional at best. He looked down into his eyes, filled with worry and hope in equal measures. He couldn't stand to see her sad... He kissed both of her eyelids, then her mouth again. Gentler, slower this time. He couldnt believe he'd thought she'd be happy here... a dungeon disguised with gilded furniture and silken drapes.

He was going to pull away again before he got carried away but she was kissing back, and he couldnt stop. All that mattered right then and there was the fact that everything he wanted was there in his arms, and she wanted him too. He couldnt stop... He cradled her back, bending her over backwards with the intensity of his kiss. Long slender fingers grabbing a handful of her hair gently to tilt her head further back to allow his mouth better access.

Hands splayed across his back, she was thankful for his grasp holding her upright because she certainly didnt have the power to stay standing by herself. He seemed to grow more and more heated under her slight touch, his kisses got slightly rougher, but she didnt mind. With every frenzied caress, she was happier and happier... He doesnt hate me... He likes me... He wants me... She dug her nails into his back pulling him closer... Love me... I love you... please love me back... how will I know if he loves me back... As he dotted feather light kisses along her jawbone and neck, she stopped thinking and just felt. She closed her eyes and hoped he never stopped.

He couldnt stop... her eyes closed as she clung to him... her shallow, fast, mewling breaths of response drove him onwards. As he kissed down her neck he noticed a strap on her dress had been half cut by her own assault on her collarbone... the end frayed, just barely hanging on, just like he was... Running his hands over her shoulders, he purposefully caught the offending strap with his thumb... a slight tug was all it needed to come undone, revealing one side of her. Revealing one side of her was all he needed to come undone, another sudden movement slid the other strap from her shoulder and she was revealed further. Instinctually she hunched her shoulders together in an echo of covering herself, but with her hands entwined behind his neck, all it did was emphasise her bare flesh, enticing him further... He kissed her again... removing his own shirt...he couldnt stop...

A calloused but gentle hand ran from her neck down the side of her chest to her waist... then back up, faster... Pausing at her chest just long enough to gently rub her... then even quicker all the way back down, then midway down her thigh, grabbing her leg he pulled it up around his slender hips and held it there. It was happening so fast but if possible she wanted it faster... she was waiting for something, but she didnt know what... the growling heat in her abdomen, sending shivers up her spine to the base of her neck, demanded it. Feeling unbalanced on one tiptoe, she lifted her leg up to meet the other one.

He wasnt expecting her to lift her other leg so suddenly. Off balance, they both fell down onto the bed. For a split second he was annoyed that their kiss had been interupted, before being entirely distracted by the position they were in. Her arms, bent at the elbow lay on either side of her blushing face, surrounded by mussed curls... the one strap left intact hung uselessly around her upper arm, tattered silk framing her bare upper body... He ran his hand swiftly from her knee to her hip on the leg bent up beside him, moving her skirt up to her waist... she gasped. Watching her reaction, while not allowing her time to react, he swiftly removed the lacey barrier that seperated them. He couldnt watch her face any longer, there was too much of the rest of her to take in...

He had never thought there was a scent more sweet to him then Yuuki's blood... but he had found one. On the edge, he bruised every inch of her skin he could get at with a fury of kisses. Grasping her bent leg to him once more, he lent towards the opposite side and ground against her... kissing... licking... gently biting her neck, never breaking the skin. He couldnt stop... the sweet smell intensified... he couldnt bear it any longer, he needed all of her. Fumbling slightly with his belt, he pushed her skirts higher whilst pushing his own clothing lower. Succeeding, he searched... and found.

She knew what she wanted a split second before she recieved it. A foreign intrusion that felt so right... a slight aching pain went unnoticed amounst the torrents of emotion washing over her... Zero... here... like this... Tears came to her eyes unbidden as she clung to his heaving chest, pawing at him, silently driving him on. Time seemed to stop as the rocked rythmically together, each of them trying to pull the other closer then physically possible, wanting... needing. Breathing heavily she vaguely registered that Zero seemed to have stopped breathing, and was clinging to her harder then ever. She drew her nails slowly down his back hard enough to draw blood as he moved to meet her once more... a low rumble of breath being languorously let go... a few long, slow movements... followed by fufilled silence.