Reunion
by, Cony
Chapter 2
What may she be dreaming about? It must be shocking.
Moving slowly, he took her by her shoulders, and
raised her. They were both sitting now, Mercury's
eyes closed, the tears running down her cheeks.
She seemed to wake a little, and as she opened
her eyes, and saw Zoicite in front of her, looking at
her with worry, she awoke completely.
"Zoi! What's going on? Oh my God, I fell asleep!
I'm sorry, it's just that it was so warm, and relaxed,
that I... "
"Ami, listen to me."
She stopped, hearing the serious tone in his voice.
"What?"
"Here, look". He took her hand, and passed it over
her eyes. When they did, Zoicite showed it to her.
Her hand was wet, as was her face.
"What's this? What happened?" Mercury's blue
eyes were scared, or so it looked to the general.
"Ami, there's something bothering you, and you
haven't told me about it."
"Hiding something you mean? No, of course not.
This is just... the sun. An allergic reaction maybe.
We should be leaving now..." As she talked, she
brushed the tears away, and stood up, turned
around and walked away. She had not even taken
two steps, because a hand firmly took her wrist.
She turned her head, and saw Zoicite holding her
firmly.
His eyes were now showing deep, deep worry. They
had turned from light green to a grayish color,
which she knew only appeared when he was very,
truly worried about something. "Ami, what's
wrong?"
"Nothing, I already told you."
"Ami..." His voice had a warning tone, but she held
firmly.
"*Nothing* is wrong. Stop being so paranoid. Now
let me go."
"No, not until you tell me!"
"Let me go I said!"
"You know you are not going anywhere, so you'd
better tell me!" His tone was now final, and Mercury
knew she couldn't do anything to turn him back.
She sighed in defeat, but still tried to lie. "Just the
sun, I've never had so much, it's only that..."
"Ami, you are not going to fool me."
"Okay, then. I guess I'll have to tell you."
Zoicite's eyes returned to their natural color, but
weren't calm at all. It was like if a storm had gotten
loose in there. The emotions go and went with
nothing to hold them steady. Mercury knew that
she couldn't refuse. The necessity of knowing what
was wrong, to protect her from whatever it was, to
comfort her, and make her smile again was
burning inside him. She looked to the floor, and as
she felt tears gather again in her eyes, whispered:
"Zoi, you are so good to me. Thanks!" Then, she
just threw herself into his arms, and cried into his
chest. He hugged her, thankful for her to reveal her
secrets to him.
"Sssh, Ami. Don't cry. It's Ok now. I'm here."
"I... (sob) know (gasp)." The young girl cried her
heart out, letting all the sorrow of the past years flow
out. Every nasty thing anyone had told her came
back to her memory, every lonely moment she had
passed during her childhood, every time she had
watched the others play while she just looked,
every little thing that had happened to her was
flooding her mind.
Zoicite felt as if his heart was breaking. There was
nothing he could do to avoid her inner demons to
control her mind, except just be there for her. He
stroked her hair, humming a baby-song for her into
her ear. She seemed to calm down, and when she
stopped crying, she started humming back.
"Don't cry anymore baby, I'm here for you. Let's
play and sing, sweetie; no one will harm you
anymore"
She relaxed now, and stepping back, cleaned her
eyes. "Thanks, Zoi. You don't know how much this
meant to me."
"I think I do."
She smiled, and nodded. She seemed reluctant
still, and Zoicite said. "Ami, tell me".
"Well, it's that... I... since we... you... Oh God, I don't
know how to say it!"
"Ami, whatever it is, I'll always be there for you."
Mercury felt as if the chains that were holding her
back had broken, and sitting on the sand, waited for
Zoicite to sit next to her. He did, and put a hand
over her shoulder. She put her own over his,
crossing her arm over her chest. Mercury sighed,
but kept quiet.
"Ami, do you want me to guess?"
The young girl couldn't look at him, and just
nodded in acceptance. Zoicite started recalling
everything she had told him about her past.
Memories, as if they were his own, flashed through
his mind. "Is it anything that happened before we
met?" She said no with her head.
"A bad memory?" She said no again.
Suddenly, a thought made his heart stiffen. Could
it be? But she looked so happy... on the other
hand... He felt as if he was being torn apart, and his
whole body contracted, as he opened his mouth to
ask the question that had being wondering over his
mind.
"Ami, is it... about us?"
Mercury stiffened also, and whispered an almost
inaudible, "Yes." His whole body went limp, as he
heard the words he had feared. It knew this was too
good to be real. She was faking all the time. But I
can't hate her, no matter what... Mercury kept silent,
trying to get her thoughts straight. Her mind was
spinning. She had said what had being troubling
her all along, but Zoicite hadn't said a thing.
What happened? I'm only worried because this is
too good to believe, why is he silent?
"It's...well, I know you love me and all, but I... I
can't... I can't love you," she couldn't go on, and
turned her gaze upwards. Looking straight at him,
she saw as his eyes showed betrayal, shame and
sorrow. They were so full of sadness; they were no
longer bright green, but cold and pale. Standing
up, Zoicite spoke, with the coldest voice Mercury
had ever heard come out of his lips: "I'm sorry
then, Lady Mercury, for wasting your time. You will
no longer see me. Good-bye, Princess."
Mercury was shocked, and stared in disbelief at the
man in front of her. What is he doing?
"Zoi... what's wrong?"
"Please, Lady Mercury, call me Lord Zoicite.
Informality isn't good in these situations. I won't
bother you anymore. Please, never appear in front
of me again."
Mercury just looked at him blankly. Zoicite turned
around, and muffling a sob that was coming out of
his throat, whispered: "Ami..." He disappeared in a
flash of light, leaving Mercury alone on the beach.
She was still on the floor, her eyes very open, and
her mind whirling at incredible speed. He... left. He
left. He doesn't want to see me again... were the
thoughts passing time over time in her head.
Suddenly, she realized what had happened, and a
cry of agony left her mouth. "ZOI!" She stood up,
only to crumble again into the floor, her body
shook with sobs and tears. Her heart had broken;
she had heard it. She was alone... again... only
herself against the world... with no one to support
her. Her heart, her mind, her soul... were alone. Hot
tears trailed down her cheeks, wetting her legs and
hands. They were hot, but her heart was cold. It was
dead... there was nothing left... nothing... It was too
much for her to bear, and fortunately for her brain
shut down, bringing her to unconsciousness...
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