I know, I stopped writing the last chapter just as it was getting interesting and I'm soooo sorry about that . . .^^ Not really, because I like teasing you guys with cliffhangers :p bad author. . .
Disclaimer: Mai Hime belongs to . . .Sunrise. . .
Chapter 10
Without thinking she lowered her head, seeing Natsuki's eyes slightly widen, but meeting no resistance, she placed her lips upon Natsuki's soft ones, closing her eyes in the process.
Natsuki's mind was working overtime. Her only thought was: My first kiss IS Shizuru.
Everything else vanished totally.
Her first reaction was to push the brunette away, but she just couldn't, because this was something she wanted so badly too, but was afraid to ask for.
The kiss lasted only a few seconds, because Shizuru realized what she was doing and backed away. But before she could do this, she was caught by Natsuki's arms holding her in place.
She was too afraid to face the blunette, but her name whispered so tenderly by Natsuki resulted in Shizuru looking at her.
"G-gomen. . .I. . .don't know. . ."
Shizuru had never in her entire life been so embarrassed about something. She had kissed Natsuki without even asking for permission. Now her whole body was trembling, because of the rejection, which would surely come.
Shizuru tried once again to free herself from Natsuki's grip, but it was futile.
"Please. . .let me. . . ."
Her sentence was interrupted by Natsuki, who used her right hand to tilt Shizuru's head in her direction and kiss her. Shizuru's mind went blank and she forgot all about getting out of Natsuki's grip.
Natsuki wasted no time, she gently pushed Shizuru down, so that she was half on top of the still stunned brunette. Feeling no resistance from Shizuru she let her right hand travel down her body until it reached the hem of Shizuru's blouse.
Still kissing, Natsuki let her hand glide under Shizuru's blouse, feeling the soft skin of her abdomen. She softly caressed the flesh, until she heard a satisfied moan coming from Shizuru.
This brought her back into reality and she realized what she had been doing.
Totally stunned she stopped kissing Shizuru and watched her crimson orbs slowly open. Her eyes were dark red, full of desire for Natsuki.
Oh my goddess, I was about to. . .to . . . Natsuki dared not to end her thought.
"Sh-shizuru. . .I . . .I . . .uhm. .. . "
Blushing she looked away, still half on top of the dazed brunette.
Shizuru on the other hand was still in heaven. She had never imagined, that she would get such a passionate response from the gargoyle.
Natsuki didn't dare to move one bit, even her hand remained where it was, on Shizuru's stomach. She waited for some response, but the brunette just looked at her dreamily.
"Uhm . . .Shizuru. . .?"
"Ara, sorry my Natsuki. . . what did you just say?"
This woman was unbelievable. Natsuki worried herself to death and Shizuru wasn't listening at all.
"I. . .uhm. . .wanted to apologize. I. . ."
"N-n-natsuki didn't like our kiss?"
Shizuru covered her face with both hands and started crying. One half was only fake crying, but the other half pleaded silently, that Natsuki wouldn't reject her.
Is she bipolar or something?
"N-n-noooo! I liked kissing you, b-but. . .uhm. . ." Natsuki was at a loss for words. How should she tell Shizuru, that she really liked kissing her, but she was a gargoyle and Shizuru human. That would never work.
"Sigh. . ."
She breathed in deeply and then looked into Shizuru's red orbs. Her "crying" had stopped, but Natsuki didn't say a thing.
"Look, I am a gargoyle and you are human. . .and . . .we. . .it can't. . .I mean. . .uhm. . . god this is so difficult. . . "
Shizuru placed a hand softly onto Natsuki's cheek. That made her look at the brunette.
"I love you, Natsuki. I can't help it. Whether you are human or a gargoyle. It doesn't matter to me. Please. . .don't shut me out. . ."
Shizuru ended her speech with a quick kiss on Natsuki's lips.
She-she l-l-loves m-me?
"Natsuki? Please say something."
Shizuru was really getting worried, because Natsuki didn't respond in any way. She just looked at Shizuru with a far away look in her eyes.
"G-g-gomen. . .I . . . "
Natsuki knew, that she wasn't very good with voicing her emotions, so she expressed them otherwise.
She leaned down and captured the stunned brunette's lips. Hopefully this would be enough as an answer to Shizuru. She placed all her love for the red-eyed goddess into this one kiss.
These feelings were still new to Natsuki and she had never thought, that she would feel this way about anyone, but here she was, kissing the woman that had walked her way right into her heart.
Throughout the kiss Shizuru started to get bolder. One of her hands was placed around Natsuki's waist whilst the other one snugged her way under Natsuki's shirt, massaging her back by moving up and down. This got her a pleasant purr from Natsuki.
Just as Natsuki wanted things to go further, she stopped. This got Shizuru all worried, but before she could ask what was going on, Natsuki placed a finger onto her lips to silence her.
She whispered: "Someone's coming."
She entangled herself from Shizuru, helped her up and they both hid behind one of the large rocks in the cave.
Then two gargoyles suddenly appeared at the entrance. Natsuki held her breath, because she recognized them immediately.
It was a younger version of herself and her cousin Nao.
"Oi mutt, what are we doing here? It's only an old cave. . .Let's go or I'll die because of boredom."
"Shut up, spider. Maybe we'll find something interesting."
"Yeah, yeah. . .whatever."
The small version of Natsuki began to explore the little cave. Only a few steps separated her from Natsuki and Shizuru.
"Hey mutt, I'm going and I'll throw away all of your mayo , if you don't come with me!"
"WHAT? You wouldn't. . ."
The small gargoyle ran immediately out of the cave and followed her cousin to save her beloved mayo.
After this little incident Shizuru looked at Natsuki. She saw the tears, that Natsuki tried hard to suppress.
"Natsuki?"
Shizuru took Natsuki into her arms, lightly stroking her back to calm her down. She felt her blouse getting wet, where Natsuki's head rested.
"I miss them so much. . . "
She hugged the brunette tighter and snuggled more into her shoulder. It was a little bit embarrassing to cry like a little child in front of Shizuru, but she was very thankful for the support, even if she would have never said that out loud.
Shizuru couldn't bear to see her loved one so troubled, so she thought of some way to cheer her up. She knew, that her plan would definitely be risky, because the worst thing, that could happen was, that they changed the future completely and she'll never meet Natsuki, but it was worth the risk.
"Natsuki?"
Getting the blunette's attention and facing her, she told her what she got planed.
"Natsuki, you miss them right?"
The sad look in the blunette's eyes told Shizuru more than thousand words.
"Maybe we can visit the castle and you can see them. What do you think? I mean, you are all grown up and they might not see the resemblance at first sight."
"I don't think this is such a good idea. What if they do recognize me and. . . No, we can't do this." She looked down defeated.
She liked Shizuru's plan, but on the other hand she was to afraid to change the future and loose Shizuru, that she rather endured the pain of not seeing her loved ones.
"Okay, it's too risky, but what if we visit the castle when you are human? Nobody knows that you transform at sunrise into a human woman. This way we could walk around and you could see them, maybe become friends. I know it is just for a short time, until we are able to return home, but I want to see your smiling face. It might be selfish, but to say the truth I want to see Natsuki's hometown, too."
Shizuru only whispered the last part, because it was somehow embarrassing for her to tell Natsuki that.
Natsuki's face also turned a deep shade of red, but she understood the feeling of getting to know her very good.
"Then it's settled. We are going tonight, because I can't fly without my wings."
Shizuru thought about this for a moment until she got an idea. It was just an experiment with her powers, but maybe she could control them somehow to get the desired effect.
"Natsuki? Would you please turn around?"
"Uhm. . .okay. . ."
Natsuki did as she was asked and turned around, her back facing Shizuru.
Then she felt Shizuru's hand on her upper back and a warm feeling engulfed her.
The next thing she knew was, that her shirt ripped apart at the back and two beautiful white wings spread out of her back.
"Sh-Shizuru?"
"Ara, it worked."
Natsuki turned around to face the brunette. She saw her breathing rather quickly. It must have cost a lot of energy and she was still exhausted because of her prior use of power.
"Now we can go."
"Uhm. . .Shizuru?"
"Yes?"
"Do you know how long they'll be there? I mean it would be very bad, if they disappeared along the way. . . "
"Don't worry, they should stay all the way up to the castle."
Shizuru smiled and walked to the entrance, waiting for the blunette to follow.
"Ready to go?"
The brunette nodded and was seconds later scooped up bridal-style.
Natsuki spread her wings and then the two flew up into the sky.
Fortunately the new wings were strong enough to carry them both safely through the sky.
"Not bad for your first try." Natsuki complimented Shizuru and was greeted with a beautiful blush forming on the brunette's cheeks.
"Natsuki ikezu." Shizuru tried pouting, but it was no use. Seeing the blunette smile, she just had to smile too.
They flew along the cliff to prevent the people from seeing them.
"Natsuki?"
"Mmh?"
"I've got a question."
"Yes?"
"I was wondering why you and your cousin are walking freely around, even if the sun is still shining. Shouldn't you be a stone stature?"
This question was bugging Shizuru since they saw the two little gargoyles happily playing with each other or more specific, teasing each other.
"Uhm . . .you know. . .there were a few exceptions. A few gargoyles were chosen to protect the castle during the day and so a powerful mage stopped the process of them turning into stone statues at day. But only the trustworthiest among them got this privilege. My mom and some of my friends were one of them."
Shizuru only nodded. Thankful that Natsuki shared this with her and on the other hand totally amazed, that such powerful people even existed.
Natsuki landed a few meters away from the castle's main gates and hid behind some trees, belonging to the forest near the castle, where she often had played hide and seek with Nao.
But they got a problem, because the wings didn't disappear, like they should have.
"Shizuru? Why am I still having these wings?"
"I don't know. . .maybe I did something wrong, but I must say, Natsuki looks really lovely with white wings. Just like an angel." She giggled lightly, as she saw Natsuki's flushed face.
"Stop laughing, this is serious! I just can't walk in there like this!"
"Why not?"
"W-w-why. . . because I look like an alien . . .sigh. . ."
"Maybe they'll don't see your wings?"
"Yeah, of course. . ."
"Let's just try it. They are used to seeing gargoyles all the time, so one woman with angel wings shouldn't surprise them much, don't you think?"
"I guess you're right. . .sigh . . .okay, let's go."
Natsuki grabbed Shizuru's hand and together they walked to the main gates. Both equally excited. One because she got the chance to see where her lover had lived and the other because she got the chance to see her friends and family once again.
Natsuki gulped as they reached the main gates. She wanted desperately to run, but that would definitely get everybody's attention, so she did her best to stay calm. Shizuru hand was helping very much.
Without any problems they were able to walk right through the main gates. Some people were looking at them, but Natsuki just used her death-glare and they quickly walked away.
"See Natsuki, absolutely no problem." Shizuru whispered.
Shizuru smiled at Natsuki and squeezed her hand gently to emphasize her point.
"So, what do you want to do now?"
"Uhm . . .I . . .I really don't have any idea. Maybe we could just walk around the market place and I'll show you my old house? Sounds good?"
"Yes."
The brunette interwined her fingers with Natsuki's and they silently walked around the city.
A few streets later the blunette suddenly stopped and Shizuru wondered why. She followed Natsuki's gaze and saw two gargoyle's playing together. They looked like mother and daughter.
Could it be. . .?
As she looked more closely, there was absolutely no mistaken. The young gargoyle was definitely Natsuki and that must have been her mother.
The good looks were definitely on her mothers side. Now that Natsuki was all grown-up, she looked like her mother, when in her gargoyle form.
She's very beautiful.
Shizuru then looked at the blunette only to see, that she tried hard to hold her tears back.
"Natsuki. . ."
"I. . ."
If it wasn't for Shizuru she would have definitely broken down right there and then.
She remembered this moment like it had been yesterday. The embrace of her mother, the warmth that had flooded her whole body. She wished she could go there and tell her how much she loved her, but she knew, that she couldn't do this and that pained her greatly.
Shizuru saw the pained look and pulled on Natsuki's hand, getting her away frome this scene as fast as possible.
They walked in silence, until they sat down under a huge tree, standing a little bit of to the side, so that less people walked past them.
Natsuki was still like a zombie. Her thoughts were elsewhere and she had a far away look in her eyes.
Deciding to do something against this, Shizuru placed her hand gently onto Natsuki's cheek and lifted her head, so that she could look into the forest – green eyes she loved so much.
"Natsuki, maybe it was a bad idea to come here. I didn't want you to be sad. . .I. . ."
"No Shizuru, you gave me the chance to see them once more and I am really grateful for that."
The blunette moved closer, until their lips touched, giving Shizuru a loving thank you kiss.
"I was just overwhelmed to see her so suddenly. Don't worry, I'll be fine." She smiled at Shizuru, to reassure her, that she was indeed fine.
Finally ready. . .My hands are bleeding and I just want to fall asleep. . .
Where's the compassion? I wrote this chapter as fast as humanly possible and absolutely nobody is clapping their hands?
*starts crying*
OMAKE:
Natsuki: "Shizuru? She's crying. . .again. . .What should we do this time?"
Shizuru: Don't know, puppy? What did we do the last time?"
Natsuki: "Uhm. . . we just ignored her."
Shizuru: "Okay, let's do it again."
Author: O_O "What the. . . HELLO . . .?"
Natsuki: "Did you hear something?"
Shizuru: "No, let's watch a movie."
Natsuki: "Okay, love."
Author: *sob*
Information:
The next story update will be "Healing". Just for your information. I know nobody's really interested. . .
Just kidding :p
I like you all, whether you're just reading my stories or actually reviewing! I know you are there ^^