A/N: I've noticed this fanfic is my second most-read fic, so I will now devote more time to its completion. Please read and review! It's really the only way I can better my writing and ideas.

Flame and Rebirth

Chapter 5: Shattered Soul

I had been granted permission to stay at the shrine by the boy called Kouta, and as long as I did something productive it was without charge. It took me as strange that this boy was so ready to extend his arms to anyone in need of his support. If he had met Lucy in the past, she would have taken to this boy immediately. However if he did know her, then he must have noticed the obvious differences between the sweet, child-like girl she was now and the cynical, yet loving child she had been then.

I had taken to helping Nyuu with the chores, seeing as she seemed to make the most fun out of it. We started to race down the hall, rag in hand and charged ahead. At the end we would both skid to a stop. I began to laugh as she began to hug me affectionately; with all my strength I tried to pull her off of me but to no avail.

"Nyuu, nyuu, nyuu!" She whined as I wrestled with her.

"Stop it! We're never gonna get anything done." I couldn't help but burst out in laughter as she continued to lavish me with attention.

She seemed to calm down at that but her smile remained constant. If I could have saved Lucy from her chaotic past I would have; she would have been just like this. Time spent in that god-forbidden, sorry excuse for an orphanage had tainted both of us to the core. I had been pushed to kill a woman (even if that woman was the devil herself…) and she had been pushed to shatter blood as well. It was a mean cycle of cruelty, but it wasn't entirely impossible to stop it.

"Nyuu, how about me and you go for a walk?" I asked her as we finished up wiping the floors.

"Nyuu!" She sounded excited as ever.

I took that as a yes and gently grabbed her hand. As we walked out she took my whole arm and hugged it for safekeeping. I smiled and allowed her to continue in her affectionate way—there was a time when I could not stand to let her express her affection, but that was far behind me. The clouds up above looked menacing and it wasn't long before it began to rain.

"Nyuu!" she unclasped my arm and ran for shelter.

I tried to grab her arm before she could make it too far, but it was too late she had already slipped and fallen. I went to her side immediately and checked to see if she was alright. Perhaps taking a walk wasn't the brightest idea of them all. I sighed as she rested in my arms, apparently unconscious from her fall—I knew she would be ok even if suffering a minor concussion.

"You still look the same when you sleep." I commented as I carried her over to a shrine; at least the rain wouldn't drown us in here.

A sharp pain began to burrow in my head until I was forced to clutch onto it—what the hell was happening? As I squinted at Lucy's face I realized she was coming to, and this pain was her presence; she had returned. She opened her eyes and they were sharp, intellectual and full of pain. Before she could catch my gaze she scrambled away and stood some distance from me.

"Lucy…" I could only whisper her name.

Her wide-eyed expression told me she was shocked; the way she curled her hands into a fist told me she was angry and the hands I could feel around my neck told me I was in danger.

"Stop it…" I stammered for air. "Stop it!" I shouted as she applied more pressure.

"Why should I?" Her voice was cold and devoid of emotion. "You left me there…" Her accusations were like knives aimed at my heart.

"I, I know…" I summoned my arms and knocked hers away. "I know Lucy and I'm sorry."

Her eyes widened a second time as she realized that I too was Diclonius, and it was at that moment she fell to her knees. I approached her without fear and held her shoulders. She was crying. I pulled her into an embrace and held her as her body shook with emotion.

"I wanted to go back, but there was no way I could." I whispered in her ear.

"You could have fought your way out." She responded as her arms wrapped around me, pulling me into an even tighter embrace.

"I killed Ms. Ren… after that I didn't want to kill anymore." I wasn't sure she would understand my motives, but it was the only answer I could provide for now.

"They're nothing but maggots…" she professed as she spoke of humans.

I winced as I realized she had already been poisoned by cruelty.

"What about Kouta? Is he a maggot too?" I felt her take a sharp intake of breath.

"He's…different." She muttered as she pulled away from the embrace. "You look the same."

I smirked as she noticed a key element of my survival—she was correct I didn't look a day older than I did when I had turned 18. For some reason I had stopped at this particular age and had taken notice when year after year, my countenance refused to change.

"I waited for you." I spoke in full earnest as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"They'll come looking for me and they'll try to kill you too." Lucy looked out towards the rain. "There's no peace in this world for people like you and me."

"Nana's told me about the research facility. We could destroy it if we really wanted to." I tried to reason with her; tried to make her see that life shouldn't be lived through tunnel vision.

"What's the point? Once we get rid of them, new ones will take their place. As long as Diclonius exist, humans will hunt them."

"That's not true!" I made her look at me by cupping her face. "If I were human, would you love me any less?"

"Who said I ever loved you?" Lucy spat out as she slapped my hand away.

I bit on my lower lip as rage consumed me, but I took a deep breath and decided I couldn't let anger take a hold of me now. She sneezed once and then tried to stop the second one from coming. I put my hand to her forehead and felt her burning flesh below.

"You have a fever." I said it with a sense of déjà vu and quickly removed my hand. "I have medicine back at home." I muttered as I turned away from her.

I began to walk away, unsure of where I was going, but knowing that to stay by her was to feel an immense amount of unfulfilled longing. As I took a few steps I felt two arms wrap around my torso and pull me back.

"I didn't mean that…" She spoke with the same pained tone she had as a child. "I missed you." Those three words healed my seeping wounds and I turned back to face her.

"I promise I won't lose you this time." She rested her head on my chest—she was still a few inches shorter than me.

The look she gave me after our embrace was riddled with all sorts of emotion; opposites living side by side. At once she was trusting and mistrustful, loving and bitter, happy yet pained—such was the heart of a battered woman. It would take some time before I could get her to believe in me once more and I didn't really blame her; I had failed her once before, what made her think I wasn't going to fail again? A sad smile played on her lips as she took in my features.

"I never thought you were a Diclonius…" She sifted her hands through my hair until she found the slightly rigid and staggered stumps. I winced slightly and she had a sorry look on her face, but continued to examine them. "They're both gone." She murmured.

"I don't remember exactly when, but I was very young." I explained as she moved her hands to my face.

"Do you like me?" She seemed to be in a trance, yet just as serious as she could be.

I stood there flustered by her question. What exactly did she mean? Of course I cared for her, but to what extent I couldn't be sure of. I thought of everything that would make her happy; the answer that she wanted to hear, but I settled on the truth—it was only thing I had left to give.

"I like you as you are, even if I do not agree with some of your beliefs." I smiled as she continued to caress my face. "I have to ask this though… what's Kouta to you?" She froze at the question.

Her guilt became an entity all its own as I searched her eyes for an answer. It was as I thought—she loved him. Yet her pained expression told another story—one of regret. I watched as she struggled to put words to the deed of her past.

"When I left the orphanage, I prayed that you would not learn to hate the breed: human and Diclonius alike. However, I know that I'm too late. Where I should have been your teacher and guidance, cruel men have taken my place." I sighed as I brushed her hair gently with my fingers. "You became the product of our society, of infernal hatred curled and raging within. The actions you have taken thus far are reflections of that. What you have done, whatever it is, can be forgiven if you seek forgiveness. What you will do is completely up to you." I knew she had many trials ahead, but I wanted to let her know that she wasn't alone. "I'm here to atone for my sins, and to return to all that I once loved."

Her gaze rose quickly from the ground to my eyes as I uttered the word 'loved'; she had to have known that I would only return for her. I smiled warmly as I chuckled at her dumbfound expression and pulled her into a joyous embrace.

"I'm here for you Lucy." I simply stated.

"You're different." She muttered as I let her go from the embrace.

"I took for granted what I had, and now I can never forget what's worth living for." I smirked at her and ruffled her hair. "You're still just a kid."

She scowled but smiled slightly after.

"I have to go back." She spoke solemnly.

"I'll go with you."

I shuddered as I felt her presence fade from my atmosphere and when I looked back down again her eyes were big and innocent. For one moment she was utterly confused, but in an instant she was her usual, energetic self. I held her close and yearned with all the essence of my heart that her soul would mend and become one again; then perhaps mine would too.

A/N: I'd like to hear your thoughts on Lucy and Lily's relationship. Where do you see it going and where would you not like it to go? Haha hopefully I get some good feedback so I can mesh it in with what I already have. Thanks!