13th story in my series of short stories with various VK characters. Independent from the previous 12. :D
#: 13
Title: Precious Memory.
Characters: Guess who the boy and the girl are? Flashback drabble. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Knight, this is a fanfic written for fun and for love of the series. I'm not making any money with it.
Warnings: None.
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"You will now exchange your engagement vows, my children."
The King's voice rumbled gently in the room, wise and ancient as he was himself.
He moved forward, the traditional dagger in hand for the ritual. It was a small ceremony, a pre-nuptial bond destined to unite two vampire children in their promise of being wed at a later date, when they were old enough.
It wasn't a permanent bond as a full double bond would be, but it was still something to unite them, let them locate each other and feel joined by something tangible. Vampires lived much too long to take the risk to make a definitive move at an early age, when there was the possibility that with time one may have a change of heart. But the exchange of the engagement bond was still an important tradition, and few would ever have dared to break such a thing. It would be a terrible scandal, especially among purebloods.
The two children stood face to face, and for the sake of decorum, the boy held back his familiar urge to hunch forward to be more at the height of the little girl, who was even smaller than her fiancé-to-be.
The King stood by them, the dagger raised, and the boy offered his hand, not a trace of hesitation on his face. It was more like eager anticipation --controlled and respectful due to how serious the occasion was, but clearly present in the way his warm eyes gleamed with unbridled delight.
The King held the boy's wrist firmly, as the tradition demanded –it was a measure to save the child an unnecessary public shame if his youthfulness made him instinctively pull away from the pain as the dagger pierced the skin— but the boy remained unflinching even as the blade sliced a clean, deep cut along the palm of his hand. He was perfectly still and focused on the girl in front of him. Blood pearled at the edge of the cut, the vibrant crimson and the unmistakably intoxicating scent of pure vampire blood sending a spike of inevitable instinctive lust through the other vampires assembled in the room.
The boy only had eyes for his future bride, and offered her his blood while the King uttered the traditional words. The girl held onto his hand and dipped her delicate face down, licking the blood. There was no need for a bite at that point, due to the ritual knife, but instincts were less well controlled in the younger ones, and she couldn't help briefly scrapping one of her little fangs along the edge of his wound. The sensation was unexpected enough that even with the boy's control it sent a shudder through his frame, and a flush to his face. Not that he minded, he liked the idea that he would belong to her one day, but he was a trifle embarrassed of flushing in front of others, and hoped that the small assembly that had the honor to assist the ritual, and who was seated all around the dais where they stood, was far enough that they didn't see the light color taking over his cheeks.
The King then repeated the motions with the little vampire girl, cutting her hand and saying the words while the boy licked the blood on her palm clean.
The boy was still young enough that his love didn't translate yet into another type of hunger for her, of course, but her blood tasted enticing all the same, even if the lust for it was still pure. Despite the urge to drink further, he limited himself to the necessary amount for the bond, and decidedly resisted the urge to see if he could make her blush the way she had done to him. He was very tempted, but he ended up stopping before he did it; he would not embarrass his precious sister – and bride—in front of the others. Or in any other place. He only wanted her love and her happiness.
The ritual completed, the King took the children's hands into his own before interlacing them, the wounds touching for a brief moment, blood symbolically mingling before the cuts quickly closed, pureblood healing being what it was.
The two children turned towards the assembled vampires and smiled happily, now bonded. A wave of applause resounded in response, echoing from all around the room, from the vampires watching them, from the King standing behind them, and from their brother at the bottom of the steps leading to where they were standing.
The boy kept his sister's hand in his own all along as they descended the steps of the dais.
That day would be Rido's happiest one, and he treasured the memory of it until it was completely poisoned as it all crumbled apart some years later.
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VK chapter 43 left me in a Rido mood. XD;
Did you think it was Kaname and Yuuki? XD I was hoping to make it misleading, but the mention of the King being present might have given things away. XD
If you want to read chapter 43, btw, I got LaLa magazine as soon as it came out and scanned, cleaned, translated and scanlated that same day. :D
It's on my livejournal, and now also on Onemanga. :)
More Rido!fic will probably ensue. XD He's a jerk, but such a charming one when he's not murdering favorite characters. And I can't help but wonder if at some point in his life, he wasn't that bad... hence this fic.
Ramblings that are spoilery for chapters 35/36 AND 43:
There is a huge difference between Rido and Kaname though, it's that about the whole fiancee thing, Kaname said of Yuuki that they would be married "if she will still have me", so he was putting the whole decision in her hand, in an adorable and gentlemany manner. (Despite how much he would be destroyed if she did throw him away, as we've seen by how worried he was in 41.)
While Rido was more like "Omg, how dare you not love me, Juri, I'm going to screw up all your family", from what we've seen. XD lol
But still, chapter 43 made me feel bad for him and wish things could have been different and he had been able to end up in a different manner.