Pretear Fan Fiction ❯ One and Only ❯ Chapter 16

Chapter 17

 

Author's note: I'd like to present my good friend Elora, who is the Light Knight for the Americans in this story. Hey, Elora!

 

Elora: *waves* Hello!

 

Me: *looks at her slyly* So… how are you and Kei getting along?

 

Elora: *blinks, clueless* Huh? Kei? I guess we're okay…

 

Me: Uh-huh. *mumbles to self* You'll be more than okay in a few more chapters.

 

Elora: Did you say something, Ashlee?

 

Me: Oops! Spoiler alert! Anyway, let's get on with the story. Elora?

 

Elora: Right. This anime doesn't belong to Ashlee.

 

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“Brian.”

Brian stirred a little, hearing his voice being called. He murmured unintelligibly, one eye slowly opening.

“Brian, wake up!”

He opened both eyes and blinked, the blurry image of Mary filling his vision. She tilted his head as he rubbed his eyes and stretched, yawning.

“Oh, goodness,” he yawned, looking around. He had his book in his lap and was sitting in his study chair in his room. Apparently he had fallen asleep while reading. “Oops. Didn't mean to do that.”

She laughed a little, still looking at him. “You looked so peaceful, I didn't really want to wake you up. I hope you don't mind.”

He shook his head and looked at his watch. “Not at all. I'm going to have to go get Goh in a little while. It's almost 5:30. He likes making dinner, so…”

“You might not want to do that,” Mary said with a smile that said she knew something he didn't. He tilted his head and urged her to explain. “He and Ashlee are going out tonight. They're going to leave in about half an hour.”

He smiled and nodded. “I'm glad they did that. It took them long enough.”

“Brian, they've known each other for three weeks,” Mary reminded him.

“Yeah, but they've been living together for that long, and they've hardly been apart during that time,” he pointed out. “That's plenty of time. Plus, I saw them sparking up around each other a week ago.”

His face went serious and he sighed. “But we really should be focusing on the mission. There haven't been many demon larvae sightings since they arrived, but I know they're still out there. It makes me wonder…” he trailed off, looking thoughtful.

“You're wondering what the rest of us are wondering,” she said, sitting on the arm of his chair. “You're wondering where Drake is.”

He nodded, and his brow furrowed. “It makes no sense. “He was launching attack after attack before they got here. Now he just… stopped. Is he afraid?” He paused and shook his head. “No, can't be. He's much more powerful than that. It must be a part of his attack plan.”

Mary watched him, noticing his hand clench into a fist. Her heart went out to him. She gently touched his shoulder. “Brian, don't work yourself over it so much. I… I know he was your best friend. But please… it's not worth it right now. You've got enough stress on yourself. We all see it.”

He looked up at her to see her worried expression on her face. He wanted to say something to take that away and put the smile back on her face, but he didn't know what to say.

She continued. “We don't want to see you in so much stress. We all see that you're the one carrying us, and everything. I know that we all have part-time jobs to help out, but you're still the one who keeps us afloat, and we all know it. You're the leader of this group, to add to the stress. But you shouldn't be. You should be the one who we take care of, since you're the Pretear.”

“Mary…”

“I feel like I'm failing as a knight, you know?” she said softly. “I should be taking some sort of action. But I sit and do nothing, letting you take all the heat. I just don't want you to do that. I want you to not have this stress.”

“Mary, as the Pretear, I'm supposed to have some stress,” he said soothingly. “Don't worry about it. I'm fine as it is, okay?”

“Alright,” she said, but she still didn't look convinced. “But I still worry about you.”

“Don't,” he said softly. She looked into his eyes and they held each other's gaze for a while. He slowly put his hand on hers and her face filled with red. She looked away, but he reached up and took her chin between his thumb and forefinger. She looked again into his eyes, her breath catching in her throat.

“I took on this mission,” he said softly. “If you think I regret what I did, then don't. I'm doing this for Drake. I'm doing this for me. And… I'm doing this for you.”

“Brian,” she whispered.

He pulled her face to his and covered her lips with his own. He slowly, tenderly kissed her, wanting his feeling to come out in his actions. With smooth and gentle motions, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

She slowly pulled away and looked into his eyes, her face flushed and eyes filled with wonder.

“B-Brian?”

“When this is over, I want you to stop being a knight,” he said quietly. “I want us to be an us… a normal couple. So I'm asking you to hold on for me… and be the one I always will have and hold. I've known you for a year now, and I know you're the one I want. So please… say you will.”

She looked into his eyes for a beat, and then smiled gently. “Yes. Yes, of course I will.”

 

 

“Spaghetti,” Ashlee stated. Goh looked up at her from his menu. “Chicken spaghetti sounds wonderful. It's always been my favorite.”

He smiled and said, “Looks like chicken spaghetti it is.” He put away his menu and looked at her again, taking in everything. He didn't expect her to get all dressed up for this, even though he did kind of imply that it was fancy. Still, she took his breath away.

Her hair was put up neatly in a way that ingeniously hid her kitty ears. A thin, simple sparkling necklace hung about her neck. Her dress was a spaghetti strap, red velvet one that gently hugged her figure. She had just enough makeup to bring out her beauty, but not enough to actually notice. She was… beautiful. [AN: This is not how I see myself; this is how I wish I was. Notice that this is a fanfiction, meaning that it's not real. I don't want to sound conceited or anything.]

Ashlee tilted her head, noticing him staring at her, and a little red flared up in her cheeks. “Goh…? Are you okay?”

He snapped his attention to her eyes, realizing that he was staring, and laughed nervously. “Yeah, I'm okay.”

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a suspicious look crossed her face. “Just WHAT were you looking at…?”

“Oh, no, I wasn't…” he protested.

“Well, you sure as hell wasn't looking at my face,” she said, propping her face up with her fist, her elbow resting on the table.

“Don't you imply…”

“I'm not implying anything,” she said, looking at him pointedly. “I'm asking you where you were looking.”

“I… I was looking at your dress.”

“Of course you were.”

“Yes, I was!”

“You're such a pervert.”

“I am not!”

“You are, too.”

“Am not!”

“Are too.”

“Not!”

“Too.”