A/N: Um, I think this will be it. I trust you've all enjoyed yourselves while reading this little story. Thanks to everyone who has followed along since the beginning and either reviewed, added the story to a favorites list or story alerted it. I love you all. I hope this didn't let any one down at all. You can let me know. )
Disclaimer: Let me think…um…no…still not mine…
She was tired. She was stiff and uncomfortable. She refused to leave his side, or slacken her hold on his hand, for even a minute, not until he woke up and she knew for certain that he would be safe. Kaname leaned back slightly in the chair she had occupied for the past ten hours, trying to relieve cramped back muscles. Her head still hurt, despite the prescription strength pain medicine she had taken upon arriving on the Tuatha de Danaan. It would seem that lack of sleep, recovering from serious injuries and fighting for one's life and the life of a loved one were beginning to take their toll. She sighed wishing her right arm wasn't still immobile as she thought longingly of kneading the soreness that was her lower back. Instead she contented herself by moving her neck slowly and carefully, stretching tired muscles.
"Chidori?"
The teen sat forward and looked in her friend's hazy gray eyes. She watched the change take place in a matter of seconds; the fog of pain and confusion cleared as the ever-present soldier took over, taking in his surroundings and getting a grasp on the current situation.
"Yeah, it's me Sousuke."
She felt his hold on her hand tighten as he sighed, "Good. How long have I been asleep?"
"Well, about an hour went by as you were in surgery and then I've been in here since. I've stayed here a few hours waiting on you to wake up. Its 6 am or so right now."
"You've been here since my surgery?"
"Yeah, you sure can sleep." She smiled.
"Have you eaten anything? Are you okay? I thought I saw you bleeding…" Gray eyes widened in shock and concern.
"I'm fine. It was mainly your blood and that, that- his. How are you feeling?" The blue-haired teen gently squeezed his hand.
"I've been worse, this isn't the first time I've been shot you know." He looked intently at Kaname.
"Just, don't make a habit of it, okay? Sheesh." Her voice lodged on her words as she tried to keep tears at bay.
She looked to the side at a series of framed pictures hanging on the wall. It looked like the progression of the M9E Gernsback, from early schematics to a live shot taken while in combat. She vaguely thought these images looked familiar. Maybe this was the room she had been in previously. She thought back to that night and having awakened in what seemed to be this very room. She had opened her eyes to see a worried and pained Sousuke. His hand hadn't quite been holding hers, rather it had rested atop hers on the bed.
Her thoughts turned to more recent events and she remembered sitting on the train platform while Sousuke was on his communicator to Mao. He was getting ready to disconnect when he turned quickly to his left, two bullets tearing into his body, blood raining on the pavement behind him. He slid down the wall, crimson marking his trail, and slumped over as if dead. She dove at their attacker and knocked him off the platform, falling with him to the tracks below. He was over her and she was going to die until red then darkness covered her vision.
They both sat in silence for a time, until Kaname was sure he had fallen asleep again. Despite being informed of the contrary by the MITHRIL doctors, Kurz and Mao the blue-haired teen had been so worried that Sousuke would never wake up. He had lost so much blood from both of his gunshot wounds. She tenderly squeezed his warm hand, silently thankful that he had saved her, but more importantly, she was thankful that he was alive. Kaname closed her eyes as a single tear slid down her cheek and was shocked when she felt him release her hand to wipe it away gently with his thumb.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were asleep again. I was-"
"Why were you crying Ms. Chidori? Are you hurting after all? I'm sure, since we are aboard the De Danaan, that you will have the best continued medical treatment available. Would you like me to call the nurse for you?" Sousuke was only worried about her; she could see it in his eyes. How like him, she thought smiling inwardly.
Sousuke slowly pushed himself into a sitting position with his uninjured right arm, wincing slightly as he moved his heavily bandaged hip.
"Yeah, I'm hurting badly Sousuke. I thought…I thought…" She trailed off looking down at her hand on her lap as she toyed with a string on her new borrowed shirt.
"I thought you were dead! I thought I'd lost you. There was so much blood…um…after all and, well..." She looked up to find his eyes never left her face.
"It takes more than two bullets to kill me, Ms. Chidori. Nothing will keep me from protecting you ever again." The bedridden teen replied calmly.
"Oh. Well, don't scare me like that again! Who do you think you are Mister? Going around getting yourself all injured and bleeding all over the place…what gives-"
"Don't…don't…ever…sca" There was an intense gleam to his dove gray eyes as he remembered all the blood from an entirely different event.
Sousuke would never forget running into her apartment to find her on hands and knees; drenched crimson. Her hair was in disarray and stained a deep shade of purple while her clothes were torn and ragged. She fell in slow motion as he ran to her side. He could see deep lacerations oozing dark blood at an alarming rate. She was limp in his arms and her very stillness scared him more than anything else. She was always in motion; walking, cooking, laughing. Kaname was always on the move. It hurt so much to see her so lifeless. He'd never told her. Never told her how scared he'd been. Never told her how he felt about her.
"Um, Sousuke? Are you okay?" The very object of his thoughts looked at him worriedly.
"Uh-yeah, just. Well, what I'm trying to say is…" He blushed slightly and coughed trying to get his thoughts in order.
"Do you want some water or juice? You should probably get some sleep, I'm sure you're exhausted." Kaname stood up and grabbed the water by his bed and poured it into the little Styrofoam cup.
"Water's fine. Uh-"
"Here you go. Lean forward a bit and I'll hold it for you." So saying the blue-haired teen stood and leaned over the bed to allow Sousuke access to the straw.
He reached his right hand up to steady the cup and encountered her warm slender fingers. As he sipped from the straw a blush crept up his features once again. It had been a long time since someone had cared for him in this manner. He wasn't accustomed to being taken care of, he usually did things himself, even when injured. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd been cared for.
Seeing his feverish features, Kaname leaned forward and placed her lips against his forehead, unable to use her currently occupied hand.
"Well, that's odd. He doesn't feel like he has a temperature." She mumbled to herself.
"Um, Kaname?"
She looked down at his face, mere inches from her own, surprised to see the tender expression in his smoky gray eyes. Her breath hitched in her throat as her eyes lowered to the pale lips that had, just moments ago, whispered her name. Chocolate orbs widened further as she saw her name escape those very lips once again.
"Kaname."
"Sousuke? I wanted to tell you-"
"Kaname, I have to tell you-"
"-I love you."
"-you mean everything to me."
Kaname glanced quickly from his eyes to his lips, which he licked nervously before tentatively reaching out with his right hand and cupping her face gently, tenderly brushing his thumb along her delicate jaw. Her body leaned forward of its own volition as his lips captured hers in a kiss filled with yearning desire. Wishing to prolong contact, Kaname dropped the cup of water to the floor and braced herself with her left arm, bringing her right knee up to rest beside him on the bed.
Sousuke had never felt like this before. He'd never realized how profound a kiss could be until this moment. He'd shared a brief kiss of this nature with her before, but hurt her in the process and was thus unable to fully enjoy it. He'd kissed Inaba Mizuki, but this, this was nothing like that. That couldn't even begin to compare to what he was feeling right now. Instincts he didn't know existed took over and he pulled her closer still, timidly inquiring with his tongue for permission to deepen the kiss. He felt her lips part in acquiescence and heard her faint moan of pleasure as his tongue explored languidly. He didn't know how long they remained as such, but eventually she pulled back slightly to look into his eyes, thus breaking contact.
Kaname's face flushed as she averted her gaze embarrassed somewhat by her overly eager behavior. She moved to make her way to the chair beside the bed, going as far as to place her foot back on the floor, when a warm hand on her arm stopped her. She paused in her movements, her back still to the man she loved, when she heard him speak.
"Uh- Kaname?" The sound of her first name from his lips was more than she could take as a soft tingle radiated outward from where his fingers rested on her forearm. Her entire body flushed and her heart pounded in her chest.
"Y-Yes?" She stuttered, turning to face him.
"Thank you."
"No thanks needed. I should be thanking you." A huge yawn escaped her lips followed by a pained sigh as her headache chose that moment to make itself known yet again in a blinding stab of white.
"Are you okay?" Concern filled dove gray eyes as he pulled her closer, noticing for the first time the dark shading beneath her brown orbs. "Have you slept at all since the attack?"
"I'm fine. No, I haven't really slept since yesterday. I was worried about you; I didn't-couldn't go to sleep until I'd been able to talk to you."
"Kaname! Wait a minute; it's 0600 hours? You've been here for the past ten hours or so? But that means that since you awakened yesterday at 0700 that you've been awake for almost 24 hours! You need to rest or you'll set back your recovery." Sousuke sat up quickly, despite the pain pooling at his right hip.
"Sousuke, I'm fine. I think I'll just walk back to Tessa's cabin and go to sleep, now that I know you're okay." She slowly sat down on the bed, utterly exhausted all of a sudden.
"Kaname, maybe I can call someone to come get you. I don't really want you walking all that way by yourself." A barely stifled yawn took all the punch out of his serious demeanor.
"Yeah, that's a good idea. You do that. I'll just-" yawn, "sit here until they get here." Kaname smiled serenely as she gradually leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. Her legs shortly followed suit sliding in next to his bare feet. Without thought, she curled in closer to Sousuke and let out a contented sigh before drifting off to the first peaceful sleep she'd had in days.
Sousuke didn't even move to push the call button. He didn't want to summon anyone who would just take her away from him to sleep in the Captain's cabin. He was perfectly fine with this arrangement. He'd finally told her. A large weight was lifted off his chest as he thought that not only had she not been upset by his declaration, but she had returned it! A soft smile graced his once harsh features as he followed her into the realm of dreams.
"It looks like they never really needed our matchmaking abilities in the first place. I'm glad they finally found the courage to confess to each other. This will be good for them both. She needed someone there for her and he needed stability and companionship." Mao smiled over at her partner in crime before looking back to the sleeping pair.
"Hey, ya' know sis, they never would have said anything if we hadn't conspired and pulled favors to get them alone in there for so long. That nurse has been hounding me every hour on the hour to take his vitals. You know how hard it is for me to cater to the ladies! I think they owe us a beer. What do you say?"
"Yeah, let's go have a few; I managed to get some of the real stuff! We'll make them treat when they're feeling better."
The two soldiers-turned-matchmakers walked down the hall towards Mao's cabin, huge grins plastered on their faces, not concerned in the least that they would be drinking at 6 in the morning.
A/N: Well this is the end. I hope every did enjoy it! If you did or didn't, let me know. It's the only way I can get any better. Thank you to everyone who followed this along the way...all the way from the very start! I've got a few spin offs I'd like to do from this...but we'll see about that.
ARIGATO to my AMAZING Beta. I am so in love with you, Mf, for all of your help and support on this story of mine. You rock and you should know it. Let me know if you wanna beta any of my upcoming stories!!!
JA NA!