rockbabyval: She'll actually be hanging out with Rima in this chapter :)
Sakura02: Hagrid's hungry! XD I'm sorry I gave you the hiccups! Did the Akatsuki help make it better?
Thank you: narutofanhinatafan, Shifuni, Tailsdoll123, starred, MikaUchiha666, KaKashiisWifey, Cuttlefish Shiz, petiteshima, Phoenix, guardianranger, Jestie Uchiha, and the person who didn't have a name for reviewing!
Three days had passed and the group was still rather tense. Kaname had Akatsuki and Seiren constantly patrolling the train for any signs of a potential threat. Even Touga had Zero and Kaito patrolling. Shuuchi and Mikiri had declared themselves Senna's personal bodyguards and followed the little girl everywhere she went, insuring no harm befell her…at least, no harm from anyone but herself.
"Senna, please stop this." Shuuchi pleaded as he and Mikiri chased Senna through car after car, ignoring the cries of protest and angry glares they received from the other train occupants that were still awake.
The sun had set a few hours ago and Senna was anxious to do something, anything that didn't involve being stuck in the cabin with Yuki hovering over her like an anxious mother hen. Even Zero and Senri were being overly protective, not even allowing Senna to go to the food car alone when she wanted a little sweet cake. Senna turned around and stuck her tongue out at the frantic vampire and vampire hunter chasing her. "No! I'm bored! I…" Senna let out a yelp of shock as she tripped on the carpet and skidded face first into the wall in front of her.
"Senna!" Mikiri was the first to reach Senna with Shuuchi close on his heels. He helped Senna up and was relieved to see that there was no blood, only a giant hole in the skirt of her long green dress. "Let's go see Rima-san about that tear."
Senna reluctantly allowed Shuuchi and Mikiri to take both her hands and lead her back to the groups car. She chewed on her lip worriedly, ignoring Shuuchi and Mikiri arguing on either side of her. Rima wasn't going to be pleased with her. This was the fifth dress she had torn on the train ride and each time Senna brought Rima the torn dress, Rima would always give a huff of annoyance and swear that one day she was going to make Senna fix her own clothes.
It seemed that day had come as Mikiri and Shuuchi took Senna into the cabin where Rima was lounging alone. It seemed her roommates had gone off on patrol and she had been left behind. When she saw the large tear in the dress, Rima calmly stood up and pulled the sewing kit out of her bag. "Come with me, Senna. You're going to fix that hole on your own."
"But, I don't know how to sew!" Senna protested, but she didn't dare disobey the petite vampire. She'd never really seen Rima angry before and she didn't think she ever wanted to. She reluctantly followed Rima into the lounge car and sat beside her on an overstuffed couch that was secured to the floor of the train.
"I'm going to teach you." Rima said patiently as she opened up the kit between the two of them. "I won't have you practicing on that dress, though. It's too expensive for you to mess it up more than it already is." She pulled out two plain white cloths and two needles. She handed one of the white cloths and a needle to Senna. "The first step is to thread your needle." She pulled a deep purple thread from her kit and cut some off for Senna and some for herself.
Senna watched obediently as Rima showed her the proper way to thread a needle. Senna tried her best to mimic the deft and quick way Rima had threaded the needle. Her tiny hands were more clumsy, though, and she fumbled with the thread and needle for a bit before finally managing to thread it. She listened as Rima showed her the proper way to tie the thread and then showed her all the different types of stitches, making Senna practice each one on the white cloth until she was satisfied.
Rima was rather pleased with how easily Senna took to sewing once she got the hang of it. She could see the twinkle of pride in Senna's eyes each time she did a stitch properly. The two sat in silence for a while, Senna practicing her stitches and Rima pulling one of Senna's dresses out to finish fixing.
It was Senna that finally broke the silence. "I'm sorry, Rima-neesan."
"For?" Rima asked curiously, though her eyes never strayed from their work. Her fingers were almost a blur to Senna as the hole Rima was sewing up grew smaller and smaller.
"Everything." Senna said quietly. "You've all done so much for me and I can never help any of you. Sometimes, I wish Kaname had just let me die when Rido died. Then, everyone could've just gone on with their lives…"
Rima's fingers stilled. Slowly, she placed the dress in her lap, her eyes never leaving the dress. "Is that really what you feel, Senna?"
Senna nodded her head. She began to speak, but only let out a yelp of shock as Rima gave her hand a hard whack. Senna was so surprised, she dropped the cloth with all her practice stitches on it. She looked at her red hand then back to Rima in shock. It hadn't really hurt that bad, but it had surprised Senna greatly. "Why'd you do that?"
"Don't ever think that again!" Rima said firmly, showing more passion and fire than Senna had ever seen in her before. "Do you think we'd all be here if we didn't want to be?"
Senna lowered her eyes and held her hand tightly to her chest. "Kaname could have just ordered all of you to come and you would have had to. You can't disobey a Purebloods orders." Again, Rima surprised her. This time, though, it was because Rima placed a gentle hand on Senna's cheek and turned Senna's head to face her.
So many different emotions passed through Rima's eyes; anger, sadness, and Senna even swore she saw a flicker of love. Rima sighed and hugged Senna to her. "You really are his clone…You're both such morons it's not even funny sometimes. Kaname never ordered any of us to do anything. We are all here on our own free will, because we want to help save you. Senna, everyone here loves you in their own way. Some just express it better than others."
Senna rested her head on Rima's shoulder and sighed as she breathed in Rima's perfume. "I don't think Kaname or Yuki-neechan love me." Senna said softly. "I wish I could go with you and Senri-nichan."
"You're so weird." Rima said softly, smoothing down Senna's wild hair from her earlier run. "You're the only child I know that doesn't want to live in a home where they're spoiled and given everything they want."
"Not everything." Senna pouted. "I don't have a mom or a dad. Even though Kaname and Yuki-neechan adopted me, I don't think they did it out of love. Kaname's smile never reaches his eyes. It's always like he's hiding something from everyone. Yuki-neechan never really has time for me. She's always either waiting for Kaname, with Kaname, or studying with Aidou. I get real lonely sometimes." She thought back to the day in the snow. It felt like it was ages ago. For that one moment, it had truly felt like Yuki and Kaname were her parents. They had all been so happy and it was almost as though there were no secrets between them.
"They do love you." Rima insisted softly, though she was less certain about Kaname. She understood what Senna meant about it always seeming like he had a secret. She and Senna sat there, holding each other for what felt like forever. Rima finally straightened up and began putting her sewing things back into her kit. "It's getting late. You need to get ready for bed."
Senna looked out the window in surprise. Indeed, the stars were beginning to dim as the sky became grey with the dawn light slowly seeping over the horizon. She hadn't realized they'd been sitting there for so long. Her legs were sore from sitting still for so long as she stood up on them. She grabbed Rima's hand and the two walked hand in hand back to the car.
Kaname was waiting outside his cabin for them. He gave a small smile as Senna came over to him. "What have you been up to all night?" He asked, kneeling down in front of the little girl.
"Rima-neesan taught me how to sew." Senna said, proudly holding up her practice cloth to show Kaname.
Rima watched the whole exchange with curious eyes. Kaname praised Senna and even kissed the little girl's head, the soft smile still on his face. Now that she looked closer, Kaname's smile didn't reach his eyes, making it difficult for Rima to tell if he was genuinely proud of Senna or if it was all just an act. "Good morning, Kaname-sama." She gave a small bow and turned to go into her own cabin.
Senna handed Kaname her practice cloth and went to Rima, giving the vampire girl and tight hug. "Thanks for listening to me." She whispered before turning and going back to Kaname and into the cabin with the Pureblood.
Rima lingered in the hallway a moment longer. The sun was beginning to shine through the windows when she finally went into her cabin. "I'll always be here to listen." She whispered to no one as she closed the door behind her.