Made For Each Other
~*~
Part I
"Here, Neo. Take these," he said, handing a small stack of books to his young apprentice. Flicking dark hair out of his eyes, he turned to the open window beside him, Neo's receding footsteps echoing in his ears.
Outside, Luel was kneeling down in his garden, arms covered in dirt up to the elbows, trying show Nell how to maintain a garden. The young girl was also covered in dirt, and her tongue was caught between her top and bottom lips in concentration. Luka could tell from the way Luel seemed transfixed by her mouth that he was having a hard time resisting the urge to capture her lips and tongue with his own.
But that problem was solved when she looked up and her eyes met his. Smiling, both leaned in and Luka turned away disgustedly as they kissed. But deep down inside, even he knew that his disgust was only skin-deep. Secretly, he longed for the sort of passion and caring his brother and Nell shared; in his heart, he knew he was lonely. Sure, he had had many lovers in the past, but they had only wanted him because of his status, because he was Luka Guillaume Reinhardt. And he had only wanted them for the pleasure and fulfillment it gave him; not because he needed or wanted love in his life.
Amber eyes unfocused, he stood there staring at the wall until the sound of a cough reached his ears. Starting, he turned and found Neo standing there, looking at him strangely. "Master, about those books you gave me…"
But the young man's voice flowed through his ears like water. He heard Neo, but his mind didn't register any of what his apprentice was saying. His mind was somewhere in the vicinity of the sky, soaring among the dark gray clouds that threatened rain upon them all. And so it was that when he finally came back down to earth, it was because of Neo's gentle shaking. "M-master?!" he cried shakily.
Luka shook his head and found himself sprawled on the floor. Eyes flying wide open, he quickly sat up and propped himself up with one arm, using the other to rub at his eyes and forehead.
"Master Luka? Are you alright?" Neo asked, worry tainting his voice.
"Fine, fine," Luka replied, waving away Neo's hands. "I'm…I'm just a little tired. I think I'm going to go lie down for the rest of the afternoon. Finish reading those books I gave you and make sure I'm not disturbed by anyone!" Getting up, he grabbed his own book off the windowsill and headed towards his room.
What had gotten into Master Luka? Watching him go, Neo ran through all the things that could have possibly gone wrong since that morning. "Let's see…" he thought. "Well, Nell and Luel were all over each other at breakfast this morning, but what else is new? He misplaced one of his spell books too, but that's not too major and he found it again about an hour later. All I've done so far today is read, so it can't have been me…can it? Fuan hasn't show up in a while either, so it can't be that! What is going on?!"
The confused apprentice shook his head and picked up the spell book that he had dropped when Master Luka had fallen to the floor. Dusting it off, he opened it back up to his page and walked off down the hall in the opposite direction, intent on the contents of the chapter he was reading.
Meanwhile, Luka locked his door and flopped down on his bed with a heavy sigh. He was going to have to do something…and fast. Otherwise he would go crazy! Being along had never bothered him before, so why should it now? He had thrived on solitude and seclusion, never really letting himself get close to anyone. Not even his own brother knew everything there was to know about him. So why should it matter now?
His mind awhirl, the 21st century's greatest wizard rolled over and fell asleep, his sleep plagued by half-forgotten specters of old intertwined with hazy images of his father and Luel. Tossing frequently, he did not awake until several hours later when Nell knocked on his door for dinner.
"Luka! Luka!" The pounding on his door throbbed inside his head, and brought back aching memories of the headache he had gotten earlier.
"What?!" he shouted irritably.
"Dinner's ready. Sheesh, you sleep like a rock!" the young girl said through the door, before turning and heading back towards the kitchen.
Groaning, Luka somehow managed to stand up and tossing on a shirt, he unlocked his door and followed his nose towards the tantalizing smells of food wafting down the hall.
The house was in shadows and from what the wizard could see through the windows, it seemed as if night had already fallen. Thick clouds hid the moon and a gentle rain had already started, falling in silky curtains to the soft spring grass. Moodily he glowered at the clear glass as the rain started to come down harder; the weather mirrored his horrible mood.
Face still twisted in an unpleasant grimace, Luka sat himself down at the table and reached for whatever food was in front of him. Spearing himself a piece of chicken he tossed it on his plate along with a biscuit and some mashed potatoes. He ate mechanically, as if it were something he had to do but didn't enjoy doing; he didn't even taste what he put in his mouth.
Staring off into space for the second time that day, his food lost even the slight attention it had been receiving before and became completely unimportant.
Only the simultaneous sounds of the doorbell ringing and Madame Batolli's loud, "Luka! Don't put salad dressing on your mashed potatoes!" brought him back from his daydream. Startled, he put down the bottle of dressing and dumped his mashed potatoes in the trash on his way to the front door.
He was followed by Luel. "Now who would be at our door this late at night in this ghastly weather?" his brother wondered.
Shrugging, the older of the two opened the door wide and was surprised to find a young woman standing on his doorstep, a bag slung over her shoulder.
"Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt your dinner or anything, but as you can see the weather's turned bad and I was caught in the middle of it with nowhere to go. Do you think you could spare me a room for the night? I'll pay you for it of course."
Even though her question was directed at Luka, it was Luel who answered once he noticed his brother's disbelief. Pushing the dumbfounded man out of the way he smiled at the young woman. "Yes, you can have a room, we've got an empty one upstairs you may use. Please, come in and pardon my brothers rudeness, he's not feeling well tonight." And the blond-haired sorcerer led the girl into the house, motioning for Luka to shut the door against the pounding rain.
Closing the door, but remaining in the front hall, Luka leaned back against the solid wood and let out his breath in a whoosh. What was going on?! He would have known if someone with that kind of magical power existed in the world, so where did she come from? How was it possible?!
Slowly he sank to the floor and rested his head in his hands. Today had been a bizarre day, for sure, but this took the cake. Hearing Madame Batolli's loud laughter he sighed and stood up. Well, at least if she was a threat, she hadn't killed them yet. So, throwing his long hair over his shoulder, he rejoined the others for dinner, only to find that the girl was watching his every move.
Part II
