DISCLAIMER: Suikoden 2 and all its elements are properties of KCET. The fanfiction belongs to littlemaiko. Stealing is prohibited.

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~ Silent Little Mermaid 12 ~




Jess watched the white gauze stream down and lengthen toward the wooden floor as Liukan unwrapped his neck with care. Miraculous hands of the old doctor promised so much, yet the young chamberlain had remained silent throughout the short healing period. Three days after the operation and he was finally ready to utter what would prove to be the loss of hope or the joy of speech.

"You are all ready. It shouldn't hurt if you tried to speak." Liukan stroked at his long white beard as he examined Jess' white neck.

Standing right by the wooden stool where his lover sat, Flik retained his own quietness and waited in looming silence. He only placed a hand upon Jess' slender shoulder and rubbed very gently in encouragement.

Pink lips still not moving, Jess gave the god-like doctor a certain look, asking him for privacy. Liukan complied with a knowing, yet not smug, nod. The heavy drapery separating the space of the small house fell back into its wall-like place as soon as the old man exited.

// I wonder if the mermaid felt this way when she tried to speak to the prince after trading her voice for legs... //

Jess held his hands to his throat, fingers touching the scars with some nervousity. His breaths, soft and barely causing rise and fall of his chest or the movement of the windpipe, almost echoes into his ears. It had been a long while since he had last heard himself speak; the exact voice failed his memory, much to his astonishment. One could forget so much over a matter of weeks.

// All that I want is to say a few words. Only a few words. //

Giving himself an unconscious, loose hug about the waist, Jess looked into Flik's beautiful blue eyes. The sight of the vivid color gave him the reassurance to attempt. Delicate face taking on the expression of grave attempt, he parted his lips.

"...Flik..."

The tiny squeak was a definite sound. Flik listened with the utmost care, crushing the urge to give congratulatory kisses. He could read Jess' mind as he would have read the lovely lips. Waiting for the words to follow, he knelt and placed his hands over the chamberlain's ocre-pants-clad knees.

Jess smiled, a bashful little smile tinted with rosy cheeks from the elation rushing through his person. His voice came out soft-pitched, the words tentative and childlike; however, it was enough that he could weave the words to send into Flik's ears.

"I love you, Flik."

**********

Sweet words became premium treats when mingled into a large majority of thorny ones. Flik accompanied Jess whenever he could, hoping to hear the honey-like words amongst the usual retorts. In a way, he mirrored Viktor's action toward Shu; the difference, however, was the while Shu seldom if ever gave obvious words of affection, Jess did so with quite often in an adorable, shy reluctance.

While Jess worked on the figures in the ledger with a professional dilligence, Flik took seat at the rim of the chamberlain's bed. He had some time until the mid-day training with the mercenaries. All he wanted was to bother his bundle of kitten fur into confessing the love over and over. His own immature and illogical action amused him, but such was the effect of hearing the slighty high and uptight baritone.

"Flik, stop acting like a stalking shadow. It has been a week already, so you have no need to be so..." Jess gave an annoyed little frown, trailing off mid-sentence from the laughable puppy-eyed look his lover gave him. Looking resigned, he took off the thin-lensed glasses and sighed like a mother of an impossible child. "...All right. Will you go away and let me work in peace if I told you?"

Smirking with a careful measure of smugness, Flik nodded. "Of course, mister chamberlain." He stretched out his arms, waiting for the lithe body to cuddle within an embrace. He wouldn't take things otherwise.

Jess hid his uplifting mood and walked across the room to make himself the subject of Flik's affectionate hug. He only allowed as far as a peck to a cheek, but he was more than happy to fulfill his end of the bargain. Dropping the irritated tone, he whispered, "I love you."

"I love you, too, Jess."

Flik squeezed the slender chest a little with his arms, careful not to make the hold uncomfortable. At first, what he sought had been a silent ghost from the past, but now...

// A very alive, prissy, proud and over-all sweet lil bundle of kitten-fur, heh. //

Closing his eyes, the swordsman reflected and chuckled ever so softly. Jess began squirming promtly, taking the laughter as a sign of some teasing; forced to let go, but not without first giving a peck to the auburn-brown hair, Flik watched his lover get back to the work desk and take up the glasses.




A prince, chained to the memories of a lost love.
A mermaid, pining for the love never to be returned.
A mercenary, trapped in a nightmare of his love's death.
A chamberlain, forced to become a ghost from the past.
Two men left behind by those they loved, seeking...




The voice for a beloved silent little mermaid.




THE END