Return of Time

13 of ?

AN: Well I do hope that you will forgive me for not posting sooner. I've spent the past week working and trying not to have my stomach come up. My little one has apparently decided that it is a punching bag. Anyways patience, the fluff is coming. Chrno and Gabriel just have to work out a few things first.

Coldplay - Speed of Sound

W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W

Gabriel yawned as he opened one of the intricately carved doors of the downstairs breakfast room. It was early yet, barely after dawn, but his father had requested that he be present at an early breakfast that morning with the human representatives. So there he was awake and impeccably dressed at six-thirty in the morning, when he'd rather be sleeping until ten or eleven.

"Good morning."

The chipper voice of his 'guest' caused Gabriel to start. He could not help but gape at the sight that met his eyes. His father was calmly sitting across the table from not only the two nuns from the day before, but also the one he had taken the week before. "Sister Mary. What are you… How did you…"

Chrno smiled serenely at her captor. "Your father was kind enough to let me out of my room yesterday afternoon." She turned back to Duke Duffau, Isn't that right Pursuer?"

Duffau arched an eyebrow and stroked his chin for a moment as he decided how best to respond. Deciding that it would sufficiently shock his son, he smiled cheerfully. "Indeed it is. That is after you threw several expensive pieces of art at the door, and a music box at my head. Although given the circumstances I do not blame you for your anger Sinner, my son behaved appallingly."

"Quite." Chrno laughed as she watched the implication of her address of his father and his of her dawned on Gabriel. She was most pleased with the outcome, as the Italian boy's jaw worked soundlessly, making him look like an overgrown fish. "I'd close my mouth if I were you. Wouldn't want you to catch flies, now would we."

Julian smirked. "Especially since your chef prepared such a wonderful breakfast for all of us. You should have some."

Kathleen smiled as well, the Duke had explained everything that morning when they had arrived from the convent. "Wouldn't want it to go to waste now would we."

Gabriel shook his head and sat heavily in his usual place. "You."

Chrno smiled gently at the bewildered boy. "Yes. I'm sorry for the deception, but your father figured that it would be a good lesson for you."

"Never make assumptions boy, they can be your downfall." Duke Daffau made a gesture to Ryuu to start serving now that they had all arrived. "Eat up all. I had my chef prepare this special for you all."

W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W

After breakfast Gabriel invited Chrno to take a walk in the gardens with him, while his father was showing the two others around the mansion. Chrno only reluctantly agreed since Kathleen and Julian urged her to go, as did the Duke.

After nearly an hour of tense silence walking through the gardens, Gabriel cleared his throat and spoke quietly. "So, what do you think of the gardens?"

"They are lovely." She moved ahead a bit and turned to look at the taller boy, her crimson eyes shadowed with anguish. "Show me. Show me why you have taken me. Why my old enemy should keep you from my Order. And why I cannot bear you and yet cannot stand to be parted from you."

Gabriel shook his head. His amber eyes confused. "What are you talking about?" He laughed uncomfortable with the subject she had chosen. "I'm not keeping you from anything."

"Yes you are." Chrno turned her head away. "People always are." She turned her crimson eyes back on to the boy. "Show me your demon form."

"Why should I do that?"

"You should laugh when you want to laugh, and cry when you want to cry. Rosette believed that and so do I." Chrno turned her back on the other half-demon. "She was everything to me."

Gabriel growled as he let his jealousy take him. How dare the one he had chosen want another. She was his. With his eyes glowing with a blue fire he grabbed the small girl and forcibly turned her to face him. "Mine."

Chrno glared up into the fiery blue of her captors eyes and smirked. "Just as I thought. I don't know how I missed it." Chrno raised her hand and touched Gabriel's cheek. He towered over her now, as she had towered over him in another life.

The jealousy faded from his eyes leaving confusion. "Missed what?"

She smiled as she backed away a few steps to take in his change from human form to demon. Where he had been only inches taller than her, he was nearly a foot and a half taller now. His auburn hair had lightened to a paler shade of red gold. And his eyes were now the color of the sky.

"Much better." Chrno threw her head back and laughed in delight as a green pentacle encircled her feet. "Holy Angel Raphael loosen the Seal and release my power." She shifted and stretched out her wings.

"So you truly are the Sinner Chrno."

Chrno nodded. "And you are my beloved Rosette."

W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W