Blood Ties,
Chapter 22

Vampire Knight © Matsuri Hino

The distinct smell of old paper filling the air followed the turning of thick pages. The brunette treated the books with the utmost care and precision, being careful not to damage the delicate paper that had began to curl and discolour over the years. Yuki remembered studying said books repeatedly when she was younger- a sort of childhood obsession she revelled in. She only now realized what the concerned -but well concealed- looks on her parents face used to mean when she'd natter about something or other that she found interesting during her research and she couldn't help but laugh sardonically at how dense she could be, the clues were all there in black and white- and in her flickering memories- which should have been enough for her to find that there was something wrong. Perhaps not enough for her to make sense of what it was, but she doubted Kaname would have lied to her if she asked outright.

Despite her fascination with them, she had once thought the idea of having shelves after shelves containing books of information about their history as a species -and of the Kuran family in emphasis- when the topics were forcefully pushed onto them even at a young age. The lessons pressured onto them almost as much as the lectures of their expectations to ensure no stone was left unturned in their minds, and so the pages continued to turn under careful fingers, her dark eyes skimming random text to find highlights of information that were of interest to her.

Her heartbeat that seemed to pound with each flip of a page, felt as though it stopped completely as she reached the very end of the thick volume she held. Even in black and white, she couldn't possibly mistake the eyes that stared up to her from the paper; the distinct expression that was simply him. She could do nothing but spend a moment silently admiring the talent of the artist of the piece- being able to capture such beauty in a standstill moment was a clear sign of talent. No detail of him was left undone, everything down his last eyelash perfect in the small picture. But she was left with a dull ache as she finally removed her gaze from him, no longer caring about any text that was written above it as she stared at the other figure in the printed painting. Even without never meeting her before, the detail of the picture allowed her to imagine what she would have looked like if the woman was standing right in front of her. Her light coloured eyes being partially covered by the waves of her equally light-seeming eyes were owned by what Yuki could only describe as a masculine face. Long features that were still beautiful despite their male- familiarity, framed by that hair covered by the cloak thrown over her body. Concealing any curves that she may have possessed.

But what clenched the young brunettes heart, was the way that, even in the picture that must have taken hours to complete, his eyes were trained to her, just the very corner of them watching her as she stared forward towards the painter in a way that she could have sworn he looked at her with, too.

Such exquisite beauty refused to leave her thoughts, even after she could no longer look at the flawless picture and closed the thick book with a muted thud that seemed to repeat endlessly through the quiet space.

She sat seated in her wide armchair for just a few extra moments to allow her brains defensive barricade to fill back up enough to protect her thoughts long enough to place the book gently against the the small, circular table placed next to her and stand up, her nimble footsteps carrying her quickly towards the door and out of the room.

Pale lids tried to fight the re-awakening of the brain that belonged to the male Kuran, attempting to lure him to the world of sleep again which he would eagerly have given into if it was not for the absence he felt in his arms that disturbed enough to clear the fog of sleep. Instinctively, his hand reached out from his body in hopes to catch the warm flesh of his loved one, but instead grasped only the cold air that radiated around the sofa he lay across. His eyes eventually flickered open to see the dark carvings of the ceiling that only strengthened the reminders of his loneliness and when he could take no more, his legs slung themselves over the side of the old sofa to give the advantage to stand up.

A small, hidden part of him felt embarrassed at how desperate he seemed, but that part of him was drowned out by his desire to see her; to find out how she felt about everything he told her now that she had chance to sleep on it. He already had a list of places he could search for her in his brain, knowing the places she felt the most comfortable at on the rare occasions they were not together and his legs seemed to automatically make the path to her library.

As soon as she was allowed to go up to the main surface of the mansion, Yuki -within hours- claimed the smallest, yet still large, room to be her library, and the two of them, along with their parents, watched as it was gutted and re-furbished to match the young Yuki's requirements and desires. The both of them spent countless hours there together, soaking in the warmth of the fire they curled up in front of with imaginative tales he never tired of reading to her and enjoying the way she lit up when she felt the small feeling of freedom she was allowed to embrace.

His dark eyes traced the way her still sleep-messed hair ghosted around her as she exited the sole door he had approached hesitantly after sensing her presence there, watching the way she gazed at him with tired eyes that seemed to be empty with emotional exhaustion.

He reached out to her, planning on but drew back as he saw the way she inclined herself away from him, as if the sight of him was too much for her finely shredded feelings to bear. The silence between them was undeniably frustrating for him, and such cold connections between them from her side was something he found impossible to pretend didn't exist.

Such tension was icy, clutching them both in the grip of uncomfortable stiffness and confusion as to what the other was thinking of.

"Yuki..."

The sound of his voice, so unusually defeated, strangely gave her a flash of confidence and closing her eyes so she couldn't see his reaction, she took full advantage of that rare surge of confidence to ask a question that played on her mind since viewing that picture.

"Before I forgive you for all the lies, please answer this -honestly- that woman... am I just a replacement for her?"

A/N; -Attempts to dodge rocks that are thown by angry readers-
Hello, everyone. It's been a veryyy long time, no? I cannot even begin to type the amount of apologies I need to say before I can even begin to make it better. But I am, from the bottom of my heart, so sorry that it has been so long since I updated.

To be honest, I have no idea where all the time went, but RL has just been so hectic for the previous months I've had no time at all to write. I miss writing, I miss sharing my imagination with you all, and I miss hearing back from you. I know you're not going to be very happy with me for taking so long, and I honestly feel terrible about it, but I can tell you now that I'm back for good. I don't care how busy I am, I will find time to write. I promise you that. I hope to be able to update at least one of my stories a week, so please feel free to let me know what you would like for me to focus on the most.

As always, I'm going to ask for you to review and let me know if you still enjoy my writing. And, if not, to let me know why so I can work on improving. Each review is highly appreciated, and I do take each one into account.

So, please please review, and I will work on bringing you the next chapter ASAP.

Thank you all!