A/N - Hello everyone, so, little things before the start. I did change the name of this story from To Be Closer to You to To Be By Your Side. I've never really changed the titles of any of my stories but I thought this one felt better. That said, why is there a second chapter? No real reason. I just ended up writing more and more. So then, yes, this is the second chapter. Will there be more in the future? Possibly. I'll leave it open and only when I change the status of this story to complete will it be decided that its over, really, but, I hope you enjoy this part. Tell me what you think and if you'd like to see more of this story line, as it were. Take care.

To Be By Your Side

Chapter II

It seemed that all she would do was sleep.

He remembered holding her in his arms, thinking the worst. Then, she opened her eyes. "Veigar…please…I'm just…really sleepy…" she had told him with a yawn. Never before had he felt so embarrassed. The yordle he held in his arms, the one he thought to be dying, was just…sleepy?

And now, she stayed by his side. She was always there with him. Everywhere he went, she did as well, her once bubbly and loud nature which he found to be annoying had been pacified by what had happened to her, she was now much calmer and cooler, her entire being had changed, and she was just…a different person. It made him wonder who he once was…long ago, before all the torture, before the pain, before the solitude… He tried not to think much about his past. All the past had brought him was pain. But she…whenever he looked to her, he could not help but to recollect on all those terrible things…because now, she had suffered them too.

And it was all for him. All to get closer to him. He hated her. Hated how stupid she was. Before, he would tell her how daft she was, he would yell at her, he would put her down and push her away…but now, she merely agreed with him, all with a gentle smile on her face as she apologized, and he found himself unable to push her away. Not anymore. He didn't want to push her away. He didn't want to be alone. And for all that she has went through, she has made it abundantly clear that she didn't want to be alone either.

He closed the mighty tome he had been reading with an ugly scowl, unable to learn anything from its contents due to the thoughts that swarmed his mind. He stood from his desk, turning to his bed, to where she slept, curled up in a little ball on the side closest to the wall. He didn't bother blowing out the candle, although with how dim it was, it made no difference in the room. It was pitch black, as it always was. Veigar was used to this, used to the darkness, his eyes having yellowed, turning nocturnal. It mattered little and less with the candle, for even without it, he could see fine enough without it. But, now, standing at his bedside, he wished he couldn't see. He didn't want to see her. It was too painful. It just made him think, more and more, about himself, about her, and about pain.

She was bundled up in his blankets, white sheets hiding her small body curled so tightly in the corner of the bed where the headboard met the wall, and yet, her hair was sprawled across his bed. Her long hair, once purple, was now a raven colored black. He knew why. After his body had been broken, he absorbed the darkness of his cell, the darkness grew in his heat, and so, he became a dark mage. The shadows were poisonous, turning his fur black. And, so it seems, it did the same to her. That black hair…he knew what had to happen for it to have turned that color. She was once innocent and pure. But her smile was her only flaw. How was it now, that after her being had been stained, after she had been broken and tormented, just as he, that she was able to have smiled so genuinely? So…innocently? Her innocence…stained…all for him.

He climbed in bed, the motions waking a groggy Lulu only slightly enough for her to scoot closer to him. She was like this. Whenever they laid down together, she would lay upon his chest. It didn't matter that she hogged all the sheets, she would keep him warm. And that only made the pit in his stomach deeper. How was she so warm? Where did this warmth come from…after what had happened to him, he was left cold and empty…but she…she smiled for him and kept him warm.

He could see the skin of her face, her complexion as white as bone, her once colorful features now gone, she looked almost like a porcelain doll. He caressed her cheek with his gloved hand, being careful to not harm her with the metallic gauntlet that he wore.

Why. Why was he being so gentle?

He was always an ugly thing, treated others like trash. He treated her no differently. He was everything that they had called him when his back was turned. He was evil. He was dangerous. He was vile and wicked. He was a monster. And whatever they called him, he accepted it, for he truly believed that he was all those terrible things. But now, he wondered if he could accept that he is something even more horrible than all that. He was a monster, yes, for he did terrible things to others. But, one is truly a devil when they are able to make good people do bad things for them. He did not order her to hurt anyone, but rather, she hurt herself, all for him. He couldn't accept that. He couldn't accept that he was the cause for her pain, for the pain that he knew from so long ago. But, what he could do was accept her. Maybe that was enough. For now, anyway.

He would accept Lulu. The Fae Sorceress was dead, the Lulu of now someone else entirely, just as he once was. Just as he died, long ago. He changed from a yordle like any other to a dark and maniacal being. And yet, she had accepted this twisted being that he had become. He would accept her, whatever she was, whatever she would become.

"Veigar…" she grumbled, her voice laced with sleep and her eyes still closed, "…what's wrong?"

He scoffed, a natural response of his. "And what makes you think something is wrong with me, woman?" He spoke in his usual tone, but, that only served to make him sound harsher than he truly meant.

He could feel her smile against his chest as she nuzzled closer to him. "I can hear…" she paused, yawning greatly before continuing. "…your heart…it feels like…there's something wrong."

There was a pause, longer than the one she had taken for her midsentence yawn, where Veigar just lay, peering at her form atop his body. Her hair, black as a raven, smelled much like dust and shadows, the very air around her felt cooler and calmer, the scent of petrichor ever present, her body light as a feather, her skin deathly pale, and her smile…her smile, now so genuine. "Do you think me wrong?"

She shook her head sleepily, although this only served for her to nuzzle against him more. "To me, Veigar…you are perfect…"

Although from his point of view, he couldn't see her face, just the top of her head, he could tell that she wore a warm smile.

But why…

"Then…" he rephrased after some thought. "Do you think yourself wrong?"

"And why would I think that, silly?" She gave a soft chuckle. But unfortunately, Veigar was not one to share such a lighthearted mood.

"Do you regret what you've done…is this what you really wanted?"

She was quiet. Not just the quiet that she usually was from her more relaxed nature, but rather, more unable to find any words. She shifted around uncomfortably before eventually pushing herself up. She looked into his eyes, and he into hers. When he looked into her eyes, he saw himself. Before everything had happened to him…the innocence that he had lost. Her eyes were just as his, yellowed with darkness and magic, and yet, they shone brilliantly, sparkling like gold where his were a more eerie and sick color. How. How had she kept her innocence through all the pain? How were her eyes still able to sparkle so beautifully? He was so captivated with the warm gold of her eyes that he almost didn't realize the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I…I always wanted to be with you…I don't regret…what I did…because if I didn't…I wouldn't be here with you…and seeing you so lonely…it was killing me, Veigar…"

He truly was a despicable person. To make someone such as her hurt for his sins.

He simply nodded in acknowledgement. She went back to nuzzling his chest, wiping away her tears on his robe, but, he did not mind.

"Do you not tire of sleeping so often?" She shook her head in response, Veigar staring at the ceiling. "All I've ever done…I've always been so filled with hate, the hate drives me…I don't know what to do anymore…I've always hated the world but now, I seem to be hating myself even more."

"Well…" she didn't know how much her words would mean to him, but…hearing him say he hated himself…it made her heart sink…"…I don't hate you, Veigar…" She felt his heart rate slow, felt it calm. She smiled to herself.

"If you do not regret your choice…then do you not tire of this…all I do…all I do is study…research…test magic…do not think you have changed me, fool…I still plan on going through with my plans…but…is this what you wanted…to sit beside me…as I busy myself with other things…you said you were lonely…you wanted to be with me…but is this truly what you want? Are you not still lonely? I work myself day in day out and leave no time for you…"

"No…that's not true…" Her voice seemed softer than usual, she looked up to him, and he looked down at her. "We have now. We have little moments here and there. And even if you are busy…you still let me be by your side…I may not be strong or as smart as you…I may not be able to help you…but I am by your side…and that's all I ever wanted…I didn't want to be lonely anymore…I didn't want you to be lonely…and even if this is all we do…then…at least we can be lonely together, right?" She smiled to him, so innocent and warm…

We have now. And yet…

Why did he want to give her so much more?

What was she doing to him?

He pat her head, closing his eyes along with her. He was scared. Scared of what was happening to him. But for the little moments like these…the ones they spent together…maybe…maybe this was enough…at least…for now, anyway…