Disclaimer: I don't own SK. I want to own Hao, though. Argh, I wrote this 5 years ago…so please pardon the foolishness.
Chapter 6: Tamao's power
"You love Yoh, why can't you love me too? What does that weakling have that I don't?"
"A heart"
"I have a heart as well"
"And instead of using it to experience the only thing that life's worth living for, love, you take people's lives just like that.
You don't care how much pain you cause. Your heart is like nonexistent. It's only meant to distribute blood into your body. A machine, nothing more"
"People hate me"
"Because you hate them too"
"They rejected me. I must and I will destroy all humans"
"I have nothing else to say. You're a lost cause. Goodbye, Hao!"
She turned around and moved her foot to go, but he caught her arm.
"You're not going anywhere"
Tamao looked up and sighed.
"You have three seconds to let go"
"Or what? You'll scream? No one can hear you here!"
"I don't have to scream. I know I can hurt you"
She closed her eyes, concentrating, then opened them and threw a sharp look towards his chest,
Hao felt the strange sting as earlier, only it was much more painful.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"
He fell on his knees, not being able to resist the pain.
"You heart seems to be connected to my emotions, which gives me power over you. This time, you can't protect yourself"
"Please…stop…please!"
"Why? You should feel the pain you caused everyone else. This should give you an idea…"
She closed her fist. Hao couldn't take this anymore.
"Tamao, please…stop this…stop…"
He could barely breathe and a few wounds opened on his arms.
She stopped right when he lost consciousness.
"Oh my God, I didn't know it was so strong…" she whispered.
She laid him on the grass, on his back and tried to heal him somehow. But although she tried to think good things about him, his health wasn't improving.
She removed a handkerchief from her pocket and went to a river near the place where she and Hao stood.
She soaked it in the water and then returned to him. She cleaned his wounds as much as she could. She built a fire and took him close to it, to get warm. She leaned her back against an old tree and took his head in her lap. She leaned in and checked again his pulse and his breathing. They seemed normal. It looked like she had stopped just in time.
Asleep, he looked even more like Yoh. He looked normal.
Without noticing it, she started caressing his head. She was thinking of what he had said earlier. She tried to imagine how things would have been if he stood with the Asakuras, if he was normal, just like Yoh. Maybe she would be his fiancée; if Hao would have been good like Yoh, they would be so happy…no crimes, no problems…
Hao released a small moan and opened his eyes. She was staring at a distant point in front of her, lost in her thoughts, so she didn't notice his change. Her hand kept caressing him slowly, somehow automatically, but still, in a way that he liked so much…it was an unknown feeling, as if a very pleasant warmth filled his entire body…as if someone finally loved him.
She turned her gaze upon him and saw that he had waken up.
"Tamao"
"I'm sorry. I just wanted to teach you a lesson, but I hurt you more than I intended. I can't control this thing…"
He tried to get up, but she gently pushed him back.
"Don't do it, Hao. You're hurt very badly and it could get worse"
"Why?"
"You have wounds all over your body, I think"
"Why did you stay with me?"
"I couldn't leave you. I just couldn't. I know you are the enemy, I know you would kill me if you could, but I couldn't leave you. Although I shouldn't, I care about you"
"You care about…me?"
"Yes. Nothing changes the fact that you are his brother. I wanted to hurt you because you were annoying me, but now I regret it. There's no pleasure in torturing someone"
"You're the strong one, now. I'm lost, I'm weak…Anyone could kill me now. I should have stayed dead. There's no point in living like this. Leave, Tamao. It's an illusion, you'll never love me"
"And you? What will happen to you?"
"I will die and my soul will return into the Fountain of Doom to be tortured for eternity. I deserve it"
He looked in another side, waiting for her to get up and walk away, but she didn't move.
"What are you waiting for? Return to Lyserg and tell them I'm dead and I'll never bother them again!" he yelled
Tears fell out of her eyes, on her cheeks and one fell on his face. A warm tear, much more different that the others.
"Tamao…you're crying…for me?"
She smiled sadly.
"Why, do you think it's impossible?"
"Go, please…"
"No, I'll stay here with you"
She kissed him again, without knowing why she was doing it. He responded, abandoning to the new feeling he was experiencing, a hunger and a pain at the same time, an electric shock and a sweet sensation at the same time.
An hour later, when the night came, they were still together. Hao had recovered completely, but she was tired.
She fell asleep in his arms, her head leaned against his bare chest.
The night was cold, but not for them. Hao's heart was burning and he couldn't explain why. Tamao felt safe with him, and she wasn't afraid of him for the first time in her life. Because she knew he still had a heart.
