By: Rael
The room was silent; white and silent and cold. Like death...
The thought was fleeting, and firmly pushed away. The silence, hour after hour of it slowly ticking away as she waited for his waking, had eaten into her. Briskly, she stood... she had already sent Amidaru to watch Manta and see that he would be fine, but a short walk to his ward to check wouldn't hurt, and she needed a walk...
And stopped. Without thinking about it, she was standing by the bed, looking down at him as he slept.
The wounds would heal cleanly and quickly enough, but... But. Would he be so lucky next time? Her hands clenched. If it hadn't been for Ren's convenient appearance, she and Silva...
They would have been too late.
And this would not be the first time; the fight had yet to even begin. It didn't matter how hard she pushed him, how strong he became. In the end... it might not be enough. Would never be enough.
You always knew that. Slowly, she reached and brushed his cheek so gently, it was barely a caress. And even if he did find the power to win, to survive... Would he still be the same Yoh? Either way, she would have still lost him...
As if he knew she was there even in his sleep, he shifted. Before she could lift her hand, he caught it even as his sleep-blurred eyes opened and looked at her in faint surprise.
"Anna...?"
Had he seen something in her eyes, her face...? She drew a breath, let it out slowly. "Idiot."
He had the nerve to smile at her then, albeit sheepishly. "I know."
And if she lost him, at least she would have had this moment, this smile, to keep with her for as long as memory lasted... Even if it would never be enough. It would be... something.
"I'm sorry." He added quietly, still looking at her, as if trying to fathom this new mood of hers.
Everything will be alright... How often had she heard him say that...?
And she smiled, so slightly that it might have never been there, but he saw it anyway. "I know"
And the moment passed; though somewhere, it lasted forever together with the other rare, quiet memories like these that they shared, because however small, it shone with the myriad shades of the things they'd never said to each other...
They didn't need to.
end
Notes: Because I love Yoh and Anna and I'm a YohxAnna fangirl, come hell, high water or irate yaoi fangirls. XD
Disclaimer: I don't own Yoh, Anna or Shaman King. Steal and DIE, ask before archiving, all that jazz.
April 2002
return