Made For Each Other
~*~
Part VII
A quiet tapping on her door awoke her hours later and she rolled over stiffly, calling out in a voice that trembled slightly, "Come in."
Neo pushed open the door slowly, poking his head in and giving her a hesitant look. "Hello, Neo," Hiryuu said, sitting up.
"Can I . . . can I talk to you?" the young apprentice asked.
"Well, sure!" she answered, more then a little puzzled. "You can come on in, you know." She flashed him a reassuring smile as he shut the door quietly behind him and sat next to her on the bed.
It was several minutes before he spoke again, and Hiryuu waited patiently, deciding that anything this hard to say was worth the wait. "About Master Luka . . ." he finally began.
Her curiosity aroused even more now, Hiryuu prompted the younger boy gently. "Yes?"
"He- That is, well . . . I guess sometimes he can seem a little . . ."
Smiling sardonically Hiryuu finished, "Assine."
Wincing slightly Neo agreed with an almost imperceptible nod of his head. "But he really isn't all that bad, once you get to know him. He's not really this cold, he just doesn't trust people easily." He refused to meet the young wizard's eyes and Hiryuu's grin turned to one of unexplainable affection.
Ruffling his hair she answered, "Well then, I guess Mr. Reinhardt and I are more alike then I thought."
Neo did look at her after that comment and there was a mysterious light in his eyes. "The two of you are a lot alike, more then you think anyway."
Caught slightly off guard, the Golden Dragon shot him a weird look. "What?"
But the boy stood up and walked to the door, the mysterious now penetrating his aura and wrapping him in a shroud of mystery. "I think maybe you should try to understand him better. Maybe then-" But he stopped himself abruptly and stepped out of the room, pulling the door shut with a sharp click.
Mouth agape, Hiryuu continued to sit on the edge of her bed and stare at the door. Things were getting very confusing around here as of late, and no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't figure out what to make of things.
The darkening day was dying slowly outside her window and yet she still made no move to turn the lights on, just sat on her bed, thoughts whirling confusedly around inside her head. Swirling and dancing in a fog on confusion, they tickled her brain and befuddled her senses even more, until she could have sworn that down was up and up was down.
Feeling the beginnings of a pounding headache, she finally stood up and went to find some medicine, while the earth spun dizzyingly beneath her feet. Putting one hand on the wall for support, she staggered into the bathroom and downed a few Aspirin, swallowing them without water.
"Well that was disgusting."
Whipping around, Hiryuu had just enough time to catch a glimpse of Luka leaning in the doorway when her feet almost gave way and her head spun in circles. Groaning, she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, opening them only when the world slowed to a stop. "What do you want?" she growled, shoving past him and making sure she "accidentally" stepped on his foot as she went by. "You can use the bathroom now, if that's what you were waiting for."
But much to Hiryuu's annoyance, Luka followed her back down the hall to her room. "No, I just saw you in there looking like shit and I wondered if something was wrong."
With a wry grimace Hiryuu answered, "Do I really look that bad?"
He jerked a thumb towards her mirror. "See for yourself." Plopping down in a chair he watched as she looked herself over and gave another soft groan.
Red, puffy eyes stared back at her from underneath sweaty bangs and mascara was streaked in small stripes underneath them. Her cheeks were bright pink and there was a thinness about her mouth, a tightness about her jaw as she clenched her teeth, trying to get the floor to stop rocking beneath her. "Yeah, not exactly beauty queen material." She sat back down on her bed and put her aching head into long-nailed hands. "But why would you care?"
Silence met her ears and after a long minute she looked up to find Luka's golden eyes staring at her, all coldness and hatred gone from their intense depths. For some unexplainable reason her heart sped up and her stomach twisted itself into a knot; those eyes were pulling her in, sucking the very soul from her body and the scary thing was: she didn't want them to stop.
Luka sighed inwardly as those scorching violet irises met his and he saw the life and the beauty that glowed in their inner depths. Despite the redness and puffiness, he was still enchanted by them and with every passing moment found it harder and harder to tear himself away. Without knowing why, Luka felt himself standing up and walked over towards the girl sitting on the bed. His steps were soft on the thick carpet and for some inexplicable reason, he was glad of that. She almost reminded him of a wild bird, elegant and beautiful and poised for flight.
Sitting down next to her, Luke reached out his hand and brushed the limp bangs off her forehead. He could see her chest rising and falling more and more rapidly as each moment passed, and he knew his own breathing was irregular as well. Her eyes shimmered with something he couldn't quite catch, some hidden emotion that was just beginning to show itself in the depthless pools.
The door to her room banged open and Hiryuu gasped loudly, springing back about three feet from the wizard next to her. Nell stood in the doorway smirking, her arms crossed over her chest. "Oh there you are, Luka. Luel's been looking all over for you."
Clearing his throat loudly, the 21st century's greatest wizard stood up, plastering his typical scowl back on his face where it belonged. Brushing past his brother's smug fiancée, he did not look back once. Trying to slow her rapid breathing, Hiryuu dropped her head to her chest and blinked several times, trying to clear the image of those golden orbs from her vision.
Nell crossed the room and stood above her, doing her best to wipe the smugness from her face and failing miserably. Finally she said, "Mother wanted me to come and ask if you wanted anything for dinner."
The moonlight flowed in fluidly through her window, painting a silver patch on her carpet and giving the room an ethereal glow; Hiryuu's hair looked as if it were cast in silver and her eyes gleamed as she looked up at the other girl. "No thank you," she said, her voice chill and distant.
Nell's own eyes widened in surprise, but before she could say anything, Hiryuu lay back on her bed and rolled over, facing away from her. Backing away slowly, Nell shut the door silently, tearing off down the hall in search of her mother the moment she felt the knob click. What was going on?! Why had Luka been in Hiryuu's room?!
Things were getting interesting around here, and Nell wanted to be at the very center of everything once all revealed itself. Smugness once more painting her face, she ran off towards the kitchen, planning to reveal all to the older witch. But before she could get there, she was stopped by a livid Luka who crossed his arms and glared fiercely down at her.
"Um . . . hi Luka," she said, voice wavering slightly, afraid of what he might do.
But he merely growled and stalked by her, slamming the door to his room.
Confused, the girl stared after him, biting her lip in frustration. What was going on?!
Part VIII
