Rose of Jericho

by peterpauper

Would we laugh at gilded butterflies? Sequel to Chrysanthemum.

22. Chapter 20

-

Chapter 20

-

Of course Kyoya gave Yuuki hell the morning she woke up with a mild hangover. More so because he had woken up first, which meant she had slept into the afternoon and Tachi had to come exercise Zero. The girl spent two hours that evening with her horse, trying to apologise in some, small way. She loved him. Keeping the animal on a property different to the one she lived on was proving difficult.

"I miss you boy." She said quietly as she put him away for the evening. "This time next year though, I'll probably be on the same property as you. And Kyoya." The horse's ears twitched at the name. "Oh. Get used to it. I love you, but you're not my lover." Zero pressed his face into her chest and the girl hugged it, playing his game. The animal tugged away from her and snorted in glee. "Ew. No. New shirt." An hour after changing her clothes, she and Kyoya had to be in the city with Haruhi at the wedding dress store.

The bride was standing in front of Yuuki as she balanced on a podium. Her head still throbbed slightly, as if she were recovering from concussion. "Are you alright? You look kind of sick." Haruhi said as someone pinned the other girl's dress.

Kyoya appeared from his change room. "Hikaru and Kaoru played their new game on her last night."

"Oh." Soft smile. "Yes. I don't remember that game."

"No, you wouldn't." He took the tie a fitter offered him and put it on. "Good?"

"Go stand next to her."

The Ootori went and placed himself by the podium. He had to look up ever so slightly to see Yuuki's face. "You're taller than me for the first time ever. And probably the last."

"Don't get cocky." She was still mad at him for rubbing her little expedition from the night before in. She didn't like his lessons. They made too much sense.

"Oh. Enjoy it. It won't last long." He liked her natural height. It tucked against him well.

Yuuki scowled at him and then looked at Haruhi. "Are we good?"

"Yes. Perfect." The girl said sweetly.

The Cunxin didn't look at Kyoya as he stood smugly beside her. Perfect. Yeah. It was. Yuuki just didn't like inflating his ego when hers was lying in a little mess in its shadow. She flinched as a pin went into her and the fabric at the same time. The woman behind her apologised.

"I'm so glad I'm not fitting a wedding dress to you. That sort of fabric is hard to take in." She said.

Yuuki's face fell. "Well...I was planning on coming here for mine."

The woman paused. "You're getting married?"
"Yes." She could say it now with confidence. If a room full of girls who pledged themselves to a union with Kyoya could accept it without drawing blood, then a stranger could.

"Who to?" The clothing gossip commenced. Kyoya smiled haughtily.

Yuuki pointed silently at her fiancé. She would not give him the dignity of his last name.

The fitter looked up and then between the two. "Now, isn't that sweet? You two will match at your friend's wedding and everything."

"Yeah. Really sweet." Yuuki frowned at him.

Kyoya laughed. "Like campaign."

The girl glared.

"Don't get livid over my statement. It was amusing and you know it."

Yuuki crossed her arms. Haruhi laughed this time. "Oh. Tamaki did the same thing to me. Except in his own way."

"Yes. Did you like it?" The other girl asked.

"No. But it was good for me."

"Ha." Kyoya turned to her. "I-told-you-so."

Yuuki's voice was flat. "I'll tell-you-so in a minute."

"You're being childish. Just accept my help."

"No."

"Do it."

"No."
"I won't give you paracetamol."

"I can buy some."

"Not when I have your wallet." Kyoya held up the leather pouch.

Yuuki gasped mockingly. "Traitor."

"Now, will you listen to me when I tell you not to drink?"
The girl dropped her air of stubbornness. "Yes. But you didn't know either." Pause. "Actually, you told me to go." Pause. "This is your fault! Don't go doing your I-told-you-so act when this was all you!"
"It wasn't all me. You're the one who downed the beverage."

"I thought it was Maison."

"Well, it wasn't."

"Well, it wasn't." Yuuki mocked sarcastically.

Kyoya raised an eyebrow. "Yuuki."

"What?"

Pause. "Okay. We both made a mistake. Happy?"

"I am." Haruhi said from across the room. "I'm so telling Tamaki that you admitted to making a mistake."

The Ootori sighed and turned back to his fiancé with an expectant look. Yuuki stared at him. "No, I'm not happy."

"Yes you are."

She smiled. "Okay. Yes I am. You admitted to making a mistake."

"Yes, miracle." Kyoya turned pushed his glasses up. "Are we almost done here?"

"So what's your last name going to be now?" The fitter said, answering the man's question. No. Start another discussion.

Yuuki hesitated. "Ootori."

She got jabbed again. "As in, the Ootori group, Ootori?"

"Yes."

The woman stared at Kyoya. "As in...he's..."
"Yes."

"As...in...wow."

"Yes. I know, right?" The girl grinned.

Kyoya glanced at her and then leant on one leg, hand on hip. His ego felt nice and inflated. Once an egoist, always an egoist. Even within a demure, silent and calculating nature. Yuuki found his hand and squeezed it. He ran his thumb over the skin on her knuckles and then against her engagement ring. Perfect. Right. Compatible. She brought him back to the ground again, back to a world where more than business and his family name existed. And she saved him in doing so. She gave him air to breath that comprised of life, not numbers. Yuuki gave him a reason to stay in the world and not retire to his own. She gave him a new reality, one where they both existed, one that could not be destroyed. They had tested it with trials, ones that hurt and made them suffer; but in the end he had loved her more. Needed her more. It was proof, eternity existed for some. If one worked at it, it was possible, and obvious even at such an early stage. She was his eternity. And he was hers.

-

Every now and then I get a little lost
My strings all get tangled, my wires all get crossed
Every now and then I'm right up on the edge
Dangling my toes out over the ledge
I just thank God you're here

-

An hour after arriving, the trio left the dress shop. Haruhi had to meet Hunny to find the right wedding cake and left in a cab. The Ootori had parked somewhere down the street. Yuuki had a little hole in her shoulder from where she had moved and be jabbed. Again. She was a dress makers nightmare. Standing still was not her greatest talent.

"Stop complaining. It's a pinprick." Kyoya took her hand.

"I still have a headache."

"That's your fault."

"You should have been there."

"You can't rely on me all the time."

"I don't."

Silence. "Alright. If I had been there, would I have thought it was Maison too?"

"You would have been suspicious."
"Why weren't you?"
"I was thirsty. They had said sorry like...a million times."

"A million?"
"A whole million."

Kyoya squeezed her hand. "Then we'll have to get them back a million times over."

Yuuki stared up at him. "Revenge is a dish best served cold."

The man glanced down as they reached his car."Indeed."

"I'm thinking sometime during a wedding reception...where a lot of business executives and upper class, powerful families will have come out to play and gossip."

"Let them drink cosmos." He smiled and unlocked the car. "Just as long as you don't along with them."

Yuuki glared. "Oh, haha."

Kyoya climbed into the car after her and stared out the windshield. "I said I would rub it in."

"Yeah. Yeah."

"Yes."

The girl crossed her arms and didn't correct her speech.

The Ootori started the engine and smiled as they pulled into the traffic. "How do you feel about Alex Perry?"

Yuuki's face turned to delight in an instant. "So pretty..."

"Well, my sister got her wedding dress from there. He designed it for her. My mother told her about our engagement and she told Alex and he wants to design your dress. Said he loved your Vanity Fair shoot and it would be good publicity."

The girl stared. "Alex Perry knows I'm getting married?"
"Yes. And so do the people at Vogue. They love your fashion sense apparently and want an interview."

"What?"
"Mmm. I told them you'd love to."
"What!?"

Kyoya pushed his glasses up. "It'll be good for you."

"No. No. No it won't." The girl twisted in her seat and made a small noise of protest. "No. Kyoya. Ah."

"Calm down. It's just an interview."
"Why?"
"Publicity."

"No."

"Yuuki." His tone was flat. Unnegotiable.

"If you want publicity, do it yourself. I don't like..."

"Attention. And if you marry me, you'll get it. So get used to it."

"That's what this is about?"

"And building your confidence in order to actually be able to stay in a normal mental state when trying to tell people about the fact that you're marrying into the Ootori group. That's a big deal. You're going to have to be confident with it."

"I'm confident."

"Yes. Except when you get home from the dress fitters and when you're put in the spotlight."

"A..."

"No negotiation."

"B..."

"No."

"I..."

"Yuuki." Kyoya turned his head to look at her. She was staring at him in horror. The man sighed. "If I do it with you, will you be happy?"
"No."

"Will you feel better."

"Probably."

"But you won't be happy?"
"No." Yuuki knew Kyoya was okay with the whole magazine, TV, media kind of thing. He was rich, handsome, smart, powerful. The business world had made him a Young Star and dubbed him the Rising Fortune of Japan. The youngest Ootori was not only an heir, but a celebrity through that. He could handle all the talk, the gossip and the rumours. He also knew that as soon as the media caught a hold of the news he was engaged to an Olympian his sphere of fame would explode into the sporting world as well as that of business.

"You know what it's like to be an Ootori. It's like being Donald Trump only without the TV show..."

"And with more hair." Yuuki smiled.

"Yes..." Pause. "As soon as people find out about the engagement, they'll want to know all about you. And the skeletons in your closet. The media wants scandal. By being in Vanity Fair and Vogue you'll put yourself out as Upper Class, comfortably. So when they find out you weren't born that way, no one will judge you...severely. Just mention the Olympics and University. Say things about expensive cars and fashion. Someone's going to think you're a try-hard, but all in all...if your with me, your fine."

"Oh..." Yuuki stared at the looming storm cloud in the distance. "That's...comforting..." Pause. "For the love of all that is good I'm going to kill you. I hate that whole judgemental thing and you just put me right into it. When is this interview?"

"Tomorrow."

The girl looked at him, aghast.

Kyoya laughed quietly. "You'll be fine."

"Ah...hahaha." Yuuki sat back into her seat. "Ha...ha...hm...."

Amused silence.

"Stop enjoying this." She picked at her sleeve.

"You'll adjust. In time."

"Just drive."

"So that's a 'yes', you'll do it?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"No. But it's good to know you consent to it anyway."

Yuuki scowled. "I'm never going out with Hikaru and Kaoru again."

Kyoya smiled and pushed his glasses up. "That is exactly what I wanted to hear."

"Shut up."

"Play nice."

"Shut up."
"Are you hungry?"
Pause. Small, slightly defeated voice. "Yes."

It was very hard to stay mad at him, or stay stubborn when he was just as bad. Especially when he made so much sense and so often. Of course Yuuki hated attention, but she could see where he was coming from. When she married him, attention was part of the deal. Whether she liked it or not. If she wanted to be with him, she would have to learn how to deal with that. They could survive not liking something, they could survive. She would be alright. He would help her. He better help her. If he didn't, she would convince him that what he was drinking was maison and give him a twisted sort of amusing hell for a day.

-
'Cause when I'm a bullet shot out of a gun
'Cause when I'm a firecracker comin' undone
Or when I'm a fugitive ready to run, all wild-eyed and crazy
No matter where my reckless soul takes me
Baby you save me

-

That evening the couple were walking through the upper-class boutiques of the inner city. Yuuki was trying very hard to get Kyoya to drink some of her frozen coke. He had refused point blank to go into McDonalds with her to get it and then refused to help her finish it.

"I can't finish it." She held it in his face and walked backwards in front of him. "It's got caffeine in it."

"Shocker."

"Please?"

"No. That's disgusting."

"Have you ever tried one?"

"No, and I don't intend to. Get it out of my face." Kyoya pushed her hand aside. "It's also made you hyper on sugar."

"I'm not hyper. I'm just freezing. Have to keep moving."

"Why did you buy something frozen if it's cold?"
"Because...its sooo good."

"You're such a child."

"The world's a playground. You know that when you are a kid, but somewhere along the way everyone forgets it."

"A child who says some very intelligent things." Kyoya smiled and stopped walking. He knew she would walk into something if she kept moving backwards. She was rather opposite to him in many ways, mostly in the spontaneity category. And that's why he loved her. Because she didn't try to be anything else. Because she just was her and she fit perfectly into the eternity shaped hole in his life.

"Hmmm." She drank some of her coke and then held it aloft again. "Please?"

"No."

"What's so wrong with it? You've had soda before. And I've tried all your foods and they never killed me."

"Unfortunately."

The girl raised her eyebrows and gave him a look that could freeze the sun. Unfortunately he wasn't the sun and probably would never be that warm. So it didn't work. "Oh, come on Kyoya. If there's a McDonalds in a boutique area where most things cost more than a lot of the population's yearly income, then you can try it."

Silence.
"Please? It will bring you the merit of a new experience?"

Kyoya took the cup. Yuuki beamed in victory. He drank some and then gave it back.

"Yeah?"
"Yes."

"Yes you liked it?"
"No. Yes correcting your grammar. Again."

Yuuki scowled.

"It was like drinking processed food colouring."
"Duh."

"How can you like that?"
"We have different tastes."

Kyoya scoffed. Yuuki pressed her shoulder into his side as they continued walking. Of course they had different tastes. They weren't clones. They were each people. Don't try to be someone else, you'll find that everyone is taken. The reason they worked was because they were different. She imparted something he had never considered and vice versa. In doing such, untouched parts of their lives were touched. They were fulfilled. They found something to lock into. Something that fit perfectly. A 'just right' fitting never happened in the real world. But it did in theirs. And that's why it worked. Combining two things that had differences and similarities to create something ideal. A something that could be discussed, flexible, feeling, enduring, endearing and private. Their world. Just theirs. One no one could ever understand. It was indescribable.
"Mm." Yuuki fought a brain freeze. "I want to show you something."

Kyoya took the cup off her and dropped it in a bin they were passing. He ignored her long-suffering look. "Yes?"
"I want you to meed my mother."

The man could think of one major even that prevented that from happening. "Alright."

Yuuki knew the boutique because it was close to the gardens where her mother had been buried. The gardens she had married her father in. He wouldn't let his wife be buried in the land of her birth; he said that when he died he wanted to be in the same earth as her. The girl lead the way and eventually they arrived at the nigh shrouded gardens.

"I wanted to bring you before." She walked through the winding pathways and up a hill. "But I didn't know how."

"You come here often?"
"Not really. I don't like remembering."

Kyoya looked at the sky. The clouds played with light as lightening ran through their seems. "Then why?"

"Because I like imagining what she would have said if she'd met you."
"What would she have said?"
"I don't know. I was six. I didn't know her as anything more than a mother. She could have been my best friend, but we never got the chance." Yuuki's voice was the same, only touched slightly by melancholy. "I guess she'd thank you for being there when she couldn't be."

There was a shrine on top of the hill, it was surrounded by roses and made of sandalwood. Like mother, like daughter. Kyoya stared at the tombstone inside the little gazebo. Yuuki held onto the top of his arm and rested her head against the side of his shoulder. There were times when he was with her that he had no idea. This was one of them. And he hated it.

"So...this is my mom." Yuuki paused. "Or, what's left of my mom."

Kyoya stared at the girl and then at the shrine. She was rather together for someone who stood before the glue that had once held her life together. Maybe it was because she'd found something in herself to keep all the pieces in place. Maybe it was because she'd found the missing pieces that fit in the little holes that kept allowing her to fall apart. "She'd have been proud of you."
"Yes. I'm marrying you. I won a gold medal. I'm marrying you. I'm going to university. I'm marrying you."

"That's not your biggest achievement."

"No. But it's my favourite." If it was an achievement at all. It just happened. Kismet.

Kyoya put a hand on her waist. With the other he dug into his pocket and pulled out a little navy box, worn from being handled too much. "Remember this?" He opened it. Inside was a worn note. "The scary part was, you understood me...everything we've done and everything we've been through, can never be explained in words."

"Oh my gosh." Yuuki took the box. "You kept this?"

"I did."

"What did you do to it?" She ran her fingers over the worn corners.

"I took it with me."

"Where?"

"Everywhere."

"Why?"

"If I couldn't take you, then I was going to take the part of you that you gave me."

Yuuki looked up at him. "I think my mother would like you very much."

Kyoya kissed the top of her head. "I like her."

"You didn't know her?"

"No. But I know that she was the sort of person who would take her daughter riding. The sort of person that gave you a dream." Even though it had eventually been manipulated into a duty. "She was the sort of person who would make sure that you slid out of the way and she stayed exactly where she could replace you with herself."

There was silence. "That day..." Yuuki pressed her cheek into his shoulder and stared at the tombstone. "...I lost everything. Everything that I'd known until that point. I was only six...but a six year old treasures more valuable things than anyone else. Dreams..."

"What did you dream about when you were six?"
"Like every other girl. I wanted to be a princess. I wanted to ride a horse. I wanted to wear cowboy boots and climb trees and make flower bracelets." Pause. "What did you want to be when you were six?"

"I wanted to be my father's favourite."

Yuuki squeezed his arm. "Well...you got that dream."

"I don't know if it was a nightmare or not."
"If it's any consolation, when I was six I planned to grow up to become a car."

Awkward silence.
"Seriously. I wanted to be a car. Then I found out I'd have to drink petrol and then I stopped wanting to be a car. Then my dad gave me a future...my mother's future...and I took it. It was all I really had."

"I understand that. Not the car bit. But I understand that." The handing out of futures and dreams until you thought that you had created them, not that someone else had. "But I've ended up in my future and you've ended up in yours."

"Except I'm marrying the king." She got part of her fairytale. Life isn't a fairytale like children see it, but its one where ever after does happen. With the happily or without.

Kyoya smiled. "And I'm marrying the pauper girl."

She pinched him. "Whatever. You love me."

"Uhuh."

"Uhuh."
"Don't do that."

"Don't do that."

"Yuuki."
"Kyoya."

He scowled at her. She pushed his glasses up. It started to rain. Hard. The pair stood under the shrine and looked out as a storm rolled in around them. They stared silently as it enveloped them and whipped around the shelter. The wind was bitter, the rain was cold and hard and blew into them. The tombstone stood silent. It was only a symbol. Yuuki's mother was dead. In wanting Kyoya to meet her, she wanted him to meet her past. Meet the part of her she didn't even understand. The part he helped her comprehend. And in doing so, meet the part of him that was the same. A loud crack of thunder gave Yuuki reason to press herself into Kyoya and bury her face against his collarbone. In that place, the flashes of light reminded her of the truck. They reminded him of the plane. The Ootori held her against him. She was warm. She was alive and breathing and her mother would have been proud of the way she had turned out. Of how she had fought for what she believed in. How she had fought for him. Fought herself and the world. How she had saved him. They couldn't be apart now. Not even if they tried. There were too many things that bound them together. To many things that kept them coming back. Kept them whole. Filled the unfillable holes. Repaired the irreparable. Breathed into still lungs and shocked dormant hearts. The Romeo and Juliet story where the pair had died apart and met again in another world, the one they had created before, and stirred the other back into living.

-
I don't know how you do it, I'm not sure how you know
The perfect thing to say to save me from myself
You're the angel that BELIEVES IN ME like nobody else
And I thank God you do

-

The storm didn't show signs of letting up. For an hour, the rain got into their shelter and made them damp. Neither said anything, they had both seen the storm coming. They had lived through ones bigger than it before and survived.

"Kyoya?" Yuuki said quietly, her breath seeping though his shirt and into his skin.

"Mm?" He cradled her head against him.

She closed her fingers around the ends of his jacket. "I love you."

The man smiled. "I love you too." He didn't kiss her mouth, but her head. He needed her, but not for passion. Just because he did and couldn't explain it.

"Okay." Yuuki smiled and pressed her nose against the skin of his neck. Her eyes closed to the storm.

"Yuuki?"
"Yes?"

"It's easing up."

"Mm." The wind was still bitter, but the pelting of water on the roof was softer.

"Are you cold?"
"No." He very warm. "Are you?"
"No."

"Don't let go."

"I won't."

Yuuki was clutching the navy box in the hand she had pressed against his chest. "Thank you."

Kyoya smiled and ran his hand over her hair and held her closer.

-
I know I don't tell you nearly enough
That I couldn't live one day without your love

-

It was late when the pair finally arrived at Suki's house. The woman was due to pop any minute and wobbled to the door when she heard it open. She stared at the wet couple.

"Hello soggy versions of people I know."

"Hello, Suki." Yuuki replied, peeling her jacket off.

"It's late."

"I know."
"Where have you been?"

"Nowhere."

Kyoya pushed his glasses up. "Sorry she's late. We got stuck in the storm." It was still raining heavily outside. They had taken their chances, seeing that it was getting worse again, and ran for cover.

"Yes. I can see that." Suki pulled them both into the kitchen and sat them down. "I'll make tea."

"Suki, you shouldn't be running around." Yuuki made the woman sit down and took over the task.

"I'm fine."
"Your about to explode."

"Today was my due date."

The girl turned around and stared in horror, as if her friend would give birth then and there.

Suki laughed. "Don't worry. I'm not going to pop right now."

"Yeah...please don't." Yuuki turned back to the kettle.

The older woman turned to the man next to her. "She sucks with children."

"Really?" Kyoya was interested.
"Yes. The other day, Riki was over with a friend. She asked yet again where babies come from and this time your girlfriend caved and told her. But she didn't tell her the right thing. She said that 'when-a-mommy-and- a-daddy-love-each-other-very-much' speech and then walked out the door before they could ask more questions." Pause. "Of course, they didn't follow any of it. And thus turned to me."

Yuuki turned around to face them. "You're the one that's pregnant. It's kind of obvious who to ask."

"Well..." Suki ignored the girl. "...I didn't answer her. That's her parent's job. But as revenge, I told Riki all about you two. She knew that you were getting married, but she didn't know why." Pause. "So when darling here got home..."

"The little brat asked me about why you'd chosen me and not her. Because obviously she's prettier."

Suki laughed. "So Yuuki told her it was because she could say totalitarianism. Great argument, right? Riki's parents are furious. She's been trying to say it ever since she got home."

Kyoya laughed. Yuuki put the tea down in front of them. "You have a very little fangirl and I have a hater." Pause. "I didn't know kids that young could hold vendetta's over guys."

"You should have told her that it's because you've finished school. Then she'd work harder." The Ootori said over his cup.

Yuuki scowled at him. "Well...meh."

"Maybe we should have told her that." Suki said, leaning on the counter.

"Mm. Maybe she'd use real words then."

"Maybe."

"Okay. I'm right here." The girl put her hands on her hips. "Stop discussing my inefficiency with children."

"Is it because they smell like boiled peas?" Kyoya said smugly.

Yuuki pulled a face at him. "Oh...go jump in a river."

"Play nice."

"No."

"Please?"

The girl leant on the counter and stared at him. Kyoya stared back. Suki stared at them and raised her hands in confusion. "I'll put you both in time-out." She turned to Yuuki. "You more so than him."

"Why?" She cried.

"Because...he said please." She grinned at her friends fiancé. "Good boy."

Kyoya grinned the way he did with Haruhi's father. He needed Suki in order to plot things for Yuuki. To know the things she was to shy or embarrassed to tell him; like her arguments with a four year old. The man looked at his watch. "I need to go in a few minutes. I have to pick you up at nine."

"I'll still be at your house at nine. I have a lesson at seven." Yuuki shot back.

"Perfect."

"Yeah."

"Yes."

"Shut up." She smiled at him and drank her tea in grammatical shame.

"There there baby, it's just textbook stuff..." Suki sang at them.

Yuuki glared at the woman.

"Sorry. Couldn't resist." She struggled to her feet and plodded down the hall, giving them some privacy. "You're such a cute couple. So strange..."

The Cunxin stared at her fiancé across the table, a bemused expression on her face. Kyoya looked very together. "What?" He asked.

"You're such a pushover."

"I know." He smiled mischievously.
"You did this with my roommate in London. You did it with Haruhi's dad. You're spoiling my resources."

"I like your resources."

"Yeah...yes. Sorry. Yes. But they don't like you."
"Suki likes me." Pause. "So does Riki."

"Oh...go start a boy band."

Kyoya pushed his glasses up. "You like me."

"Yes. I like you. I'm sort of peeved with you. But you're an okay guy."

"You'll be great with your interview."

"I hope Suki goes into labour."

"Why?"

"Then I have an excuse to miss it."
"The labour or the interview?"
Yuuki paused. "Both...preferably."

"I'll be with you. They'll take photos and you might even get a modelling contract."

"I don't want a modelling contract. I'm too short."

"It would do you good. A short stint in photographs."

"How is promoting societal status quo a good thing? How is it good for me?"

"Because, you'll get used to attention. You'll get used to the people. You'll be ready for walking down the aisle in front of five hundred people."

"Say what?"
"Because, you'll get use..."
"No. No. I heard th....Flip Kyoya. Five hundred?" She ran her fingers through her hair.

HE calmly drank his tea. "Yes. And if you do advertisements, then you'll be used to lots of people."

"Five zero zero?"

"Yes."

"Do you know that many people?"
"No."
"Then...wha..."

"Because, my father knows people who know people who also know people who we need to be on good terms with. Who you need to be on terms with and smile for. Also, all the people who were invited to my siblings unions all have to come to. Otherwise they'll hear about it through the news and then they wont like us very much."
"The news?"

"Yuuki. Relax. You'll be ready at the time."
She started talking. Stopped. Pointed an angry finger at him and tried again. "You...yo...oh my gosh! Why didn't you tell me before?"
"Because, you'd react worse than this."
"So you waited until I was tired and wet?"
"Yes."
Yuuki glared at him. "We don't even have to plan anything yet."

"Yes we do. Tamaki's only having two hundred at his and they started planning a year and a half ago."
"That's not helping."

Kyoya put his cup down and opened his arms. Yuuki crossed hers. The Ootori waved his fingers a bit, beckoning her in. She raised her chin stubbornly and put the cups in the sink. While she was there, Kyoya hugged her from behind. "You'll be here. I'm not going to let you do anything until you're ready."

"Uhuh."
"Would I miscalculate?"

"No..."

"Would you ever stay mad at me for long?"
"Yes." Pause. "Ha. You miscalculated."

The man smiled. "Well. I'm not leaving until you're not."

"This is one of those pact things that people make...like 'oh...darling....lets never go to sleep angry at each other...oh...oh...' oh how impossible. Of course you'll be angry sometimes. Forgiven, yes. Annoyed, probably."
"Then I'm not leaving until you forgive me."
"There's nothing to forgive. I'm just annoyed."

"Why?"
"Okay. Freaked out. I didn't know..."

"I know."
"Yes. Tell me sooner."

"You weren't ready."

"No. But I would have liked it."

Silence. They both knew it would have started a fight as opposed to a little freak out. "How's your headache?"
"It came back a minute ago."

Kyoya pressed his mouth to her temple. "Better?" Yuuki shook her head. He did it again and repeated the question.

The girl turned around and kissed him properly. "Yes. Better."

"Okay. Go to bed."
"Yes, dad."

Kyoya squeezed her. "You have to look your bright sparkly self tomorrow."
"It's called make-up. They'll have some."

"You want to rock up looking like the undead?"
"No..." That wouldn't be good publicity.

"Then..."

"I don't want you driving in this weather."

The man looked down at her. She wouldn't go to sleep until she knew he was alright. "I'll call you when I get home."

Yuuki stared at her hands. "Okay."

"I'll be fine."

"You better be."

"Goodnight." Kyoya headed for the door and let himself out into the night.

Half an hour later, in a dark room, Yuuki sat on her bed and stared at her mobile. It sprung to life and a picture of Kyoya and she flashed on the screen. It was a MySpace shot and he wasn't participating.

"Hello?"
"I'm home."
"In one piece?"
"Yes. I'm in one piece."

"I'm not." Yuuki stared out her window. The rain clung to the glass.

"What happened?" He wondered if she'd cut herself shaving or something.
"You're not here."

Pause. "You'll survive."

The girl knew he felt the same. "Maybe. The storms getting worse."

"Relax. It just a storm."

"Next time, we're watching movies."

"Okay." He heard her beginning to drift off. "Yuuki?"
"Mmm?"

"Get under the covers." There was a soft shuffling noise. "Good girl."

"You're so good to me."

"Someone has to be."

"What are you doing?"

"Going through profits and losses from the last month."

"Go to bed too." Pause. "Hypocrite."

There was a soft laugh. "I have to do this."
"And you have to look beautiful tomorrow."

"Stop trying to repay me."

"Mm...'kay." Giving back the same way he gave was like giving back exactly what he had given her. No one liked used gifts.

"Good night, Yuuki."
"Sleep sweet, Kyoya."

Click.

-
When I'm a ship tossed around on the waves
Up on a highwire that's ready to break
When I've had just about all I can take
Baby you, baby you save me

(You Save Me lyrics, Kenny Chesney)

-

Tachi met Yuuki in the stables. "Morning sunshine."

The girl smiled her hellos.
"I hear you got a bit sloshed the other night."

She flinched. "Oh. You did, did you?"
"Yes. Kyoya had to give me the real reason that you couldn't meet me yesterday morning."

"Oh. Right."
"Do I need to lecture you?"
"No."

"Have you learnt your lesson?"
"Yes."
"Have you checked your girth?"

Yuuki pulled the strap under Zero's belly tight and mounted up. "Yes."

"Good. Go do your warm up."

"Okay."

Their relationship flowed. It was easy. Nothing tense. Like a father daughter relationship should have been. Not everything needed to be said, but everything needed to be understood on some level.

"So...head for the oxer Yuuki...you need to be done by eight I hear. Means you'll be taking Zero for a run this afternoon."
"I will."

"Alright. Good. Ease off his mouth a bit. Are you stressed?"

"Yes."

"Why?"
"I have to talk to Vogue. Apparently they like my dress sense. And fiancé."

"Ah."
"Yes. Ah" Yuuki knew he understood.

"Just smile and chew with your mouth closed."

"Wrong talk, Tachi."

"Whatever. Have some encouragement."

"Thank you."

"Do the triple."

"How high is it?"

"One fifty."

"Only?"

"Don't get cocky."

Yuuki smiled. After the lesson she spent some time playing with Zero. She talked to him and then let him loose in the paddock. The horse stood in front of her for a minute.

"Off you go boy. I know you got bundles of energy, but I'll help you get rid of them this afternoon." The horse snorted and pressed his nose to her pocket. The girl raised her eyebrows and gave him a sugar cube. "You'll get fat."

"Yeah. Since you're not working him so hard." Tachi said, appearing behind her. "he shouldn't be retired yet."

"He's only nine." Yuuki stroked the Zero's face.

"Exactly."

There was a pause. "You want to take him to the Japan Prix? I'll be on honeymoon."

The man looked at her, surprised. "I don't compete anymore."

"Just because part of you died, doesn't mean your life has to too." Yuuki said scratching her horse. "I learnt that last night."

"You want me to ride him?"
"Sure. I feel bad, neglecting him as I have." The girl hugged the animal. "He's got lots more potential. I'll do the Olympics again, and FEI...but not as a career."

"I understand that. But it's your horse."

"Technically its Kyoya's horse."

"Yuuki...I cant..."

"You can. Tachi, you've been like a father to me for so long. My father handed me a future I didn't know I wanted. I still adore riding, but it's not something I want as a career. That was a little girls dream. It was my mother's dream. It's not mine." Pause. "I would be honoured if you took him to the competition."

"Then..." Tachi bear hugged his student. "I'd be honoured to ride him."

The girl squealed at the sudden attack and tried to escape. It was impossible. "Okay, okay. OKAY! Enough love. Enough love. You're welcome. Tachi. Tachi...Tach...air...AIR!"

The man let go. "Sorry."

"Okay." Yuuki straightened her hair. "Okay. I need a shower."

The man watched her leave and smiled warmly. In getting her life back, she was giving others it back too.

-

The girl sat in the kitchen, amused. Kyoya had woken up in a particularly sour mood and hated the world. Just like she had the other day.

"Let me guess." She said in a light tone. "The coffee isn't strong enough?"
"No. It's fine."

"Your breakfast has no flavour?"
"No."

"You had a nightmare?"
"No."

"Then why the killer mood."

"Mornings..."

"You'll learn to adjust." She played his tricks back on him.

Kyoya glared. "I'm not getting up early with you."
"No...I don't get up early if I'm not riding. But you get up hating the morning."

"You adore it enough for the both of us."

"That's beside the point."

Low growl.

"Oh. Get over it. You'll get used to it." Yuuki crossed the kitchen and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Come on boy band. Let's go do this thing."

Kyoya turned around and peeled her arms away. "No boy band." Pause. "No boy band language either. What the hell was that?"

The girl grinned and stood on her toes to kiss him lightly good morning, hoping it would wake him up. "It's nine. Let's go."

Kyoya caught her hand as she went to bounce out the door and pulled her back, pressing his mouth to hers. Yuuki was caught off guard and ended up slipping on the marble floor and being held up by the Ootori. "Morning." His voice was gruff, still asleep. But he was somewhat more alert.

"Next time you need to eat my face for breakfast, give us some warning." The girl struggled to find her balance again.

"Hm..." Kyoya took his car-keys and headed for the garage. "Ready?"
"No."

"Now you're in a bad mood."

"I'm not in a bad mood."

The man yawned. "You're not a morning person, are you?"
"I'm a learnt morning person." Pause."You can be too."

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"I like sleeping in."

"Me too. But I like mornings as well." Find car. Get in car.
"We'll find some equilibrium in time then."

"In time. I'm still considering sleeping in the spare room."
"We won't live here." The engine roared to life.

"Where?"
"We'll go apartment shopping."

"House shopping." Correction.

"We need to be close to the city."
"I need to be close to my horse."

Pause. Kyoya smiled roguishly. "Zero can stay in the spare room."

Yuuki laughed and blushed at the same time. "We can do jumping in the lounge and dressage in the study."

"Alright." The man said, his mood lightened by her. For the first time someone had pulled him out of his regular morning demonic tendencies. "Alright. We'll buy close to here."

"Ooo...like there?" Yuuki stared at a massive mansion that was for sale.
"There are only two of us. Just because you have money, doesn't mean you have to spend it."

"But isn't it pretty?" The house passed by.

Kyoya shook his head. "We'll find something. You can even furnish it."

"Really?" She was genuinely excited.

"Yes."

"I love you."

"Yes. And I love your taste. Your London apartment was very nice."

"Liked the linen closet, did you?"

"I did."

"Thought so."

There was a short silence. "Oh. Also. The people at Vogue say that if they can take pictures at your wedding and have exclusive rights; they will book all the venues, caterer's etcetera. You just have to choose them."

"Serious?" Yuuki ran a hand through her hair. If only one magazine was taking photos, that was alright. And she wouldn't have to organise things.

"Serious."
"Alright. Sweet. Means I can put it off."
"Means we have to talk to them today."

"Means..."
"Uh. No. Today."

The girl sighed and stared out the window, a small smile playing on her lips. "Alright. Today."

-

I know they wanna come and separate us but they can't do us nothin
Your the one I want and I'm a continue lovin
Cause your considered wifey and I'm considered husband
And I'm a always be there for you
And either way you look at it I ain't goin no where from my muffin
Cause she gonna hold it down, cant no body tell her nothin
You got the kind of love that always make up after fussin
And that's what gets me closer to you

And no one knows
Why I'm into you
Cause you'll never know what its like to walk in our shoes
And no one knows, the things we've been through
Can never measure up to half of what I put you through
That's why we'll break through

And I don't care what they say
I'm gonna be with you
I'm gonna be with you
I wanna be with you
And I don't care what they do
I'm gonna be with you
I'm gonna be with you
I'm gonna be with you

Seems like every day that go by things are gettin harder
Want to be the one that give you the whole enchilada
Cause I know what my baby like, ?? that Prada
Louis bag to match with the shoes
All about knowing you I'm into doing things to keep her longer
Stickin together forever, watch it grow stronger
That's the way it has to be, everything proper
Keepin it always true

And no one knows
What I'm into you
Cause you'll never know what its like to walk in our shoes
And no one know, the things we've been through
Can never measure up to half of what I put you through
That's why we'll break through

And I don't care what they say
I'm gonna be with you
I'm gonna be with you
I wanna be with you
And I don't care what they do
I'm gonna be with you
I'm gonna be with you
I'm gonna be with you

You are everything in my life see the joy you bring
And ain't no one I can compare you to
And I know that you will never walk away from me no matter what
And that's why I plan to do the same thing for you
And I want you to know

And I don't care what they say
I'm gonna be with you
I'm gonna be with you
I wanna be with you
And I don't care what they do
I'm gonna be with you
I'm gonna be with you
I'm gonna be with you

(Be with you, Akon)

-----------------

I think that song is perfect for this chapter. ^-^ If you have any songs that might work, ones that make you think of this story then please, don't hesitate to sent them. Thanks to everyone who has suggested songs. I love your input. It really keeps this story going. I love your reviews, and replying to them. It makes you tangible as readers. You're not just figures, your people.

So...the next chapter will be Christmas, the next Tamaki and Haruhi's wedding, then one or two after that will be Kyoya and Yuuki's wedding (because there's stuff with her father and her brother and Suki has to have a baby..etcetera). After that the plot does continue, I won't write another sequel because what I have planned fits. You don't mind having like...thirty chapters? It's not annoying?

Please, do tell me. Constructive criticism is much appreciated to. If you have any questions for me about the story or the author, please ask. I'd love to answer any of them.

Blessings,

-pp