Music of the Knight

[Saiyan Princess]

Upon hearing footsteps move further away from her, further under the house, Yuki felt a sense of loneliness deeper than any other that she had ever felt. Her single protector now was leaving her in the main house alone. "Kaname?" Her voice carried throughout the halls as she left her room to follow him. Yuki could handle being left alone for some time, but she wanted him near. It made her feel safe and protected from anyone or anything that could threaten the home. "Kaname!" His presence seemed to dissipate as he opened the prison door and stepped inside. "Kaname, wait!" She couldn't bear to lose him inside. Though he could get out, she didn't want him locked away like she was. "Don't go in there!" Mentally, the room was inescapable. Feet hitting wood repeatedly until she was able to grab his torso, Yuki charged after him. "Don't go." Her face was now buried in his back.

 

[Wishfully]

Kaname stood there as his thoughts settled themselves out. He shouldn't be concerned about such trivial things like 'what if'. They didn't matter anymore because... The man heard a rhythm beating against the wood and soon felt a soft impact against his back. That's right, things that could've happened differently didn't matter anymore because Yuki was here. She had chosen him. "I'm not going anywhere," he said softly. After several long moments, he pulled away from her and turned to take her hand. "Come," he said. "Let's leave what's past in the past." Kaname closed the door and led Yuki away from her former room. "We should get some rest and then start fixing this place up tomorrow. Unfortunately we may have to go out during the day, or at least the evening if we need to buy anything." Kaname brushed some of Yuki's hair out of her face. "And after we make this place beautiful again, we'll have a spectacular party to celebrate your return. We can have music and dancing and some refreshments, and I'll introduce you to other vampires . How does that sound, Yuki?"

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"That sounds amazing, Kaname." She admitted with a smile. "It really does, but, um..." she was just a tad bit concerned that he had chosen to close the door behind the both of them, blocking her exit out of the room. "I should tell you that..." she didn't know what to say. "Are you sure that it would be alright to sleep in the same room. I mean we're both used to sleeping in our own beds and..." she felt dumb for just saying anything about that. They were to be married, after all. It was bound to happen sooner or later. "Oh, never mind. Forget it. I don't mind." She followed him further into the room. "I like it here. I can't wait to meet everyone."

 

[Wishfully]

"Oh, right." Kaname paused, noticing Yuki's hesitation. "Well, you don't have to stay with me here if it makes you uncomfortable," he said. "I really don't mind either way." To be honest, he never really thought about the fact that it might be a little awkward for them to stay in the same room, since Kaname was completely comfortable with it. He shrugged indifferently and removed his jacket, hanging it on a nearby coat rack. Sometimes, Kaname had stayed in this room by himself when he needed to get away from things, so it was in better condition than the rest of the house. He had replaced the bedding recently, so there hadn't been much time for it to collect dust. Kaname ran a hand through his dark hair, and he rubbed one of his eyes, feeling unusually sleepy. Even though he was a pureblood, perhaps he was tired from giving so much blood to others recently- Zero, Rido, and Yuki- plus all of the fighting was mentally straining for anyone. "Sounds good, we'll talk more about a soiree in the morning," he said with a satisfied smile.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Yuki, though she hated to be alone, hugged and kissed Kaname before going to bed. "I love you, Kaname. I'm glad that I know the truth now. I'm home and that's all I could ask for." Yuki waited for a moment, then walked away to wait until Kaname was fast asleep. Remembering something that she would do as a child, prior to being locked away, the princess gathered a pillow and blanket. Her patience was starting to get the better of her. "Well, he's always been slow to go to sleep." Yuki whispered, clutching her things in one arm, then cupping her ear against her door. "Hm, maybe I could.." she pushed it open, causing the door to creak. "Oops."

 

[Wishfully]

As soon as she closed the door, Kaname instantly felt lonely. Yet, he was glad to hear her thoughts- if Yuki wasn't happy being here with him, then there was no point to many things he did. He was proud of her for being so strong. The truth wasn't always easy to bear, and it could be very painful for a single person. However, Kaname had held in the truth for so many years, and then there was Yuki who took on so much truth at once. They were both strong, Kaname realized. Nothing could come between them. The man realized that he was not falling asleep although he was in great need of some rest. He noticed a slight shadow by the crack beneath the door as the thin ray of dim light hit the floor by his bed. "Come in," he called out, giving Yuki permission to enter. "I can't sleep," he admitted. "I'm guessing you can't either? Well the, come here and stay with me so I'm not lonely," he told her.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Yuki could have sworn that her heart skipped a few beats. The rather shy and awkward girl stood in the doorway, shaking because of the cold. "Oh, I thought you would have been asleep by now. You haven't slept for a few days, not since..." she took a breath, "since I came home." The cold hardwood under her feet felt strange, as if it were polished recently. "I'm sorry if I woke you." Standing next to the bed, she paused. "Are you sure that me staying here today is okay?" Throwing her pillow and blanket in their proper position, she climbed up. "I'll go if you want me to, Big Brother." Yuki used her best impression of her five year old self.

 

[Wishfully]

Kaname chuckled as he reached over and ruffled Yuki's hair. "Of course you don't have to go if you don't want," he told her. The man sighed. "You're right, I haven't slept in awhile. But now that you're here and safe, I think I'll be okay now." Kaname waited for her to settle into the covers before wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close to him so he could feel the warmth from her body. He rested his head near on her shoulder and smiled contently. "And as long as you're here with me, I won't be lonely anymore." The pureblood closed his eyes, feeling relaxation for the first time in many years.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Yuki giggled at the feeling of her hair whipping lightly against her face as Kaname ruffled her hair. "What do you mean when you say that now I'm safe? I always was." She knew what he meant. He meant that danger was always present while Rido recuperated somewhere. "I'll always be here for you." She turned over, facing him now. Yuki pulled her hands out from the blanket and stroked the side of his face. "You won't ever lose me and you'll never be alone again." Yuki nestled her face into Kaname's neck. "I promise." The years of humanity, secrets and unintended lies came back to her. "What's your reasoning for not telling me anything before? I mean to say that it was amazing how you convinced Kaien to keep the secret too."

 

[Wishfully]

Kaname frowned when Yuki said that she had always been safe. But he didn't reply. She was probably trying to make worry less and feel better, he figured. Yet, Kaname would never stop worrying about Yuki, even if she told him not to. That's just how he was- he cared about her and loved her so much that he couldn't help but be concerned over the smallest things. Kaname never had much time to worry about himself, and he never liked to do so. But he had all the time in the world to care for Yuki. Kaname's eyelids were closed, but they eased open upon hearing her question. Kaname stared into Yuki's warm chocolate eyes for what seemed like forever, but forever would never be enough. Those eyes and those arms were the warmest places, Kaname decided- the places he felt safe to be himself. "Juuri- our mother-" he explained. "She wanted you to have a chance at freedom. She hoped that you wouldn't be discovered, and we all respected her wishes. Obviously it didn't work out that way in the end, but it was a dream she died for, so we did all we could to try and make it come true." Kaname looked back at Yuki, their faces so close he could feel her breath on his neck. He recalled a time when they were younger. "Someday, we're going to be just like Mother and Father!" he remembered telling the little brunette, who had giggled excitedly in response. "Do you still think...we'll be like them?" he asked aloud.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

It took Yuki a minute or two to realize what Kaname was talking about. It had been a while since that particular memory. "Wh-What?" She moved her hair from her face. "Oh!" Finally, it hit her at last. "Well, that's why I left with you, isn't it?" She felt her breath come back after it hit Kaname's shoulder. "We were supposed to continue the Kuran line before all of this mess, so why not after? It's what Mother and Father wanted. You know that, Kaname." The sun was washing over the room. Yuki covered her head to block it out. "I just want to wait until we're married, but we can't exactly do that until I've officially returned, can we?"

 

[Wishfully]

"Yeah, we were supposed to..." Kaname mumbled, repeating Yuki. "As long as you want to, but don't feel obligated to do anything you don't want to. I want you to be with me for the rest of time, but if someday you don't want that, I can't force you to stay. Not saying that I won't try to convince you otherwise, of course," he said, half teasing and half serious. Marriage- that was a topic that would soon come up. Kaname would go about things formally, of course. Many noble vampires would have their spouses picked out by their parents in order to secure their position in the aristocracy, but Kaname also wanted to respect the human side of Yuki and propose to her like a proper gentleman. Besides, they didn't have any parents to tell them the specific way to go about these things. "Yes, you're right. So let's hurry and get this mansion back in order so it is worthy of our love," Kaname smiled. "Then, we'll take it from there."

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"Yeah, well, I won't have much to go back to twenty...thirty years from now, will I?" She shrugged, turning over and laying on her belly. "All the humans I know will be dead or they won't be of school age anymore and well, the one person that I'd ever want to go back and see hates me now. He'll probably be dead twenty years from now too, without me." She didn't dare cry. "But, honestly, that's enough, Kaname. I'm tired." Yuki yawned. "Good day." She joked with him. "See you when I wake up." Slowly, Yuki fell asleep. By the time she woke next, it was around 4:30 that afternoon. "Wha?" She sat up. "I guess it wasn't a dream then."

 

[Wishfully]

Kaname's eyes closed again, until Yuki spoke of the future and everyone she knew being gone from her life before long. He turned to her, a bit shocked that she would say something like that. "Yuki..." he said quietly. It was a sad thought, but it was true. "That was a very...well, that sounds like something a vampire would say," he commented. "But yes, let's rest now." Kaname reached over and patted the top of Yuki's head before drifting off to sleep. He woke later that afternoon, around 3:45 and slipped carefully out of the bed, taking care not to disturb Yuki. He left the door a crack open so the light could show through, in hopes that Yuki wouldn't feel too alone when she woke. He met with the aristocrats, who had kindly brought cleaning and hardware supplies to the mansion. "Maids at your service, Lord Kaname!" Aido joked. Kaname chuckled and thanked them all for their help before dividing up jobs between everyone. Ruka and Aido set to dusting, Akatsuki and Ichijou set to fixing small cracks in the walls, and Kaname started to polish the old tableware.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Yuki felt Kaname get up from the bed and waited until the creaking of the door stopped to get up. His steady footsteps disappeared around the corner and Hanabusa's voice rang out. "Of course, Aido. Always the one that's eager to get up and go." She got out of bed, walked over to the closet, and pulled out her suitcase. Nothing in there gave her a sense of putting the past behind her, putting her human self behind her. 'The human Yuki was completely devoured by the vampire Yuki, Zero.' Yuki breathed meditatively. "I'm okay." She told herself, poking her head out the door and tiptoeing into her parents' room, searching their wardrobe, and pulling out Juuri's favorite white gown. She looked at herself in the mirror, still breathing deeply.

 

[Wishfully]

The tarnished utensils slowly revealed their true color as Kaname continued to work over the surfaces. Years of dirt and filth wiped away, and Kaname could see his reflection in the shiny silver. Kaname had never been very vain, but he stopped to stare at his own reflection for a moment. His garnet eyes looked lighter for some reason. The lines in his face were faint, and the shadows were less gloomy. The pureblood tilted his head... he looked different. Better. Kaname put the serving spoon back in its place before smiling to himself. It must have been Yuki- that was the reason. He wondered if she was doing alright, so he took a break for a moment and returned to the room in order to check on the young woman he had left sleeping. He opened the door slowly, just in case she was still sleeping; however, he saw that the bed was empty. He saw Yuki standing there in Juuri's gown. "You look a lot like her," he said. "But even more beautiful."

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Yuki had been so wrapped up in staring at her reflection and thinking about her mother that she didn't hear the door creak at all. She fingered the ruffles on her dress, trying not to cry. "Don't do it. Don't do it." She heard the door and jumped almost out of her skin. "I wasn't doing any-oh...hi, Kaname." She blushed darkly at his compliment. "Thank you. I was just thinking about them and I thought that I might as well try this on." She smiled softly at her mate. "Needless to say it almost fits." She reached behind her and lifted her hair out of the dress.


(Not sure how we'll do PotO. (: we can keep trying though if you want.)

 

[Wishfully]

"She would have wanted you to have them," Kaname said, thinking of Juuri. She would have been proud to see how Yuki was now, how much she had grown. "Well, I'll let you have a moment if you need. I just came to make sure you were still breathing- you were really tired last night," Kaname teased. "But anyways, there's something I want to show you when you're ready. This house is full of secrets- some very beautiful ones, at that." A mysterious, perhaps mischievous smile crossed the pureblood's lips. The tips of his fangs were visible as he grinned like a child.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"What are you grinning for? I'm not going to change in front of you if that's what you're waiting for. " Yuki returned Kaname's tease. "But, what are you hiding from me?" She was finished dressing, and wanted to tag along on any expedition her fiance went on, just like the old days. "Kaname, before you take me anywhere, you have to sit down and take some of my blood. You haven't had any since you brought me back. Please,...you need your strength. " she brought him to the bed, sat him down, then blushed as she took a seat on his lap, her mother's dress collar pulled down to her shoulder. "I don't really feel a whole lot as far as biting goes anymore. You'll not hurt me. Then, we can go see your surprise."

 

[Wishfully]

A dash of color crept onto Kaname's face. "That's not what I-" he didn't finish, just waved his hand and chuckled as if to let her tease if she wanted. Kaname had conditioned himself to refusing Yuki's offer to drink her blood for many years, so it was almost automatic for him to refuse. However, now that they were here together...everything seemed so much more real. She was a vampire, and not just any vampire. His. Yuki belonged with Kaname, and he belonged with her. Perhaps there wasn't any harm in a indulging himself in her blood for just a little while. Kaname was admittedly surprised when Yuki sat him down and proceeded to offer her blood to him. He leaned toward her, his tongue brushing over the surface of her skin before thinking about the other aristocrats who were working on the house. Part of him felt it would be wrong to have the smell of blood in the air with so many vampires around. But yet, they all knew the smell of Yuki's blood from their days at Cross Academy, and Kaname knew that none of them would dare to steal blood from a pureblood princess. Kaname's lips curved into a smile against Yuki's neck before he carefully sank his fangs into her flesh.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

As expected, Yuki flinched at the feeling of Kaname's tongue on her skin. "I think you did that on purpose." She smiled down at the silky hair that she saw instead of a face. "Well, at least you were gentle, I guess." She now reached around and pressed her hands automatically against his shoulder blades. "What if....." she paused. "I have something on my mind that's bothered me for about two days, since....you know. What if they don't like me? What if I mess up or do something completely weird in front of everyone?" Yuki always was an awkward girl. Her messing up in front of a bunch of aristocratic vampires was bound to happen.

 

[Wishfully]

Kaname chuckled at Yuki's response as he pulled away. He carefully licked the punctures he made to seal them shut. He was rather clean when he drank, not spilling blood everywhere like lower level vampires did. That was just disgusting, the trait of a pathetic animal. Kaname brushed the top of Yuki's head with his hand. She was always worrying about something. Though, he had to admit, he wouldn't be surprised if she did something a little foolish in front of high-society vampires who thought themselves much higher than everyone else. "Yes, I understand your concern," Kaname said, nodding. "I suppose I'll have to teach you a few things before we host a party then, won't I? Some of the others like Takuma and Ruka could probably help as well, so don't worry too much about it. Besides, you can trust your older brother, right?"

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Again, in a similar fashion to a cat, Yuki pressed her head against her brother's palm. She was always comforted by him and now was absolutely not any different. "I know that. I've known that for the past ten years." She recalled so many times that he could have hurt her during humanity. It definitely took tremendous courage and strength not to attack her at any point during that time. "So many times you could have, without even thinking about it." Yuki remembered the snow storm, the incident with the pudding and the time they were alone on the balcony close to a month ago. "Even before I knew who you really were, I trusted you. Brother, grandfather, fiance,...lover, whatever you want to call yourself. I knew. I let you bite me. That should count as the ultimate trust." "Did I just hear my name?" Takuma emerged, wiping blood from his lips. He saw them both. "Oh, was I interrupting something?" He chuckled nervously. "Don't worry. I didn't kill anyone that was in their right mind."

 

[Wishfully]

Kaname smiled at Yuki's words. He was glad, very glad that she trusted him so much. Kaname had never been the easiest to read, and people often questioned his decisions. Even Yuki had questions, but at least she always had faith as well. And he knew she wasn't just saying these things because they were lovers now- he knew she meant every word from the bottom of her heart. "Thank you, Yuki." Kaname didn't have much else to say, but he felt the need to express his gratitude somehow. As Takuma entered with blood on his lips, Kaname frowned. It was just like him to make light of something that looked like a bad situation. Kaname only hoped that no one was after them, for their home, their power and status, or whatever reason. "Did something happen? Is everything alright?" he asked the blonde firmly.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"Why would something have to be happening in order for me to come inside?" Takuma scratched his head. "I'm having my own family quarrels, you know. Anyway, it was just a few stray Level E vampires that myself and the others have taken care of." Yuki immediately felt uncomfortable. "Takuma, was it anyone that we know?" She refused to look at anyone. "Do you know who bit them?" Takuma remained silent. He had to think about this. "I personally didn't know them. You have to remember, Lady Yuki, that once a vampire falls into Level E, no matter what previous relationship you've had with that vampire, he's not the same person that you knew. He's different." The blonde didn't harm Zero. In fact, he didn't even see Zero there. "Besides, your friend couldn't have fallen already. He's probably suffering, but your father is more than willing to help him get through this." Yuki was getting angry. "Takuma, just tell me if you hurt Zero, now." With a great breath, Takuma shook his head. "Zero wasn't there. Calm down." "Don't tell me to be calm, Ichijo. I can get as angry as I want!" Finally, after fifteen seconds or so, the princess calmed down. "Kaname, everything's alright." She finally assured her partner.