Ok, ok. Everyone loved First Kiss who read it, and most of all, I loved writing it!! XD Soooooooo… here's another cute, sweet, innocent little story. Haha, writing with Haji as a teenager is rather amusing, btw. Haha, yeah, I changed the title from it's original 'nightmare'. What's it to you? Lol, ok, I got a 'first' trend going on. I have no idea if it'll last, but we'll see.

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First Promise

By Ren-chan (shinigamivc)

Sitting awake in the corner of the room, Haji watched Saya sleep. The features on her face were lit up with the light of the moon and stars, shining in through the window. Her eyelids tensed and released, and her eyebrows clenched over her normally breathtaking face. She was having a nightmare; he could tell as her muscles tightened and her fingers clenched in a vicious way. Her fangs were out and brushed against her bottom lip.

'She's fighting…' He thought idly, getting up and walking over to her bedside. He sat down next to her and brushed his fingers against her forehead. Her features relaxed a bit and she breathed out the breath she had been holding, parting her lips for her retreating fangs. She reached out unconsciously and he met her with his un-bandaged hand. "…Haji…"

"…Saya." He responded at a whisper and she relaxed completely, tightening her hand over his. Watching her face, a memory flooded his mind, one from a better time for them, when they had been innocent and only feared punishment from Joel for one of Saya's schemes.

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Haji was lying flat down on a big queen-sized bed, surrounded by luxurious pillows and sheets from far off lands he had never heard of. If the truth be known, he had never been more comfortable in his entire life, but even at 3 in the morning, he was completely unable to sleep. He had too many thoughts streaming in and out of his head to allow his body to drift off.

Haji was 18 years and 2 months old, and this was his first night in his new room. Until this point, he had always slept with the other servants, but now he had his own room, right down the hall from Saya. It was an improvement, of course, from the cot he used to sleep on; the trouble was that he knew why they had given in this room. The other servants had stopped talking to him, calling him 'the princess's pet' amongst themselves. He could deny it all he wanted, but it was true: he was no longer one of the servants. He rarely did chores anymore, only helping with huge tasks and when Saya wanted him to; he even ate meals at the huge table, sitting with her and Joel. Sure, it was because Saya would not take "no" for an answer, but the old man had barely argued.

Haji wasn't at all stupid, despite a lack of formal education, and Joel had told him enough. He sighed; it might have been easier if he really was just Saya's pet, but it was much simpler than that. He could define what he was supposed to be to Saya in one single word: 'mate'. He groaned inwardly and turned onto his side; now that he was 18 and officially "a man", he could feel all hell about to break loose. He could only pray that Joel didn't force them into anything; he already knew Amshel was trying to convince him to force something upon them. In fact, Haji deduced that they had moved his room purely to put him right down the hall from his 'mate'. He scowled and fell back so that he lay flat against the mattress; he really, really hated that word. It made him feel like they didn't see him and Saya as human beings, but rather as animals, and though it had become apparent that Saya was, in fact, not human, she was close enough for him to think of her as one. What did they expect anyway, that they would wind up in bed together in the middle of the night? Haji blushed quite heavily at the thought, his heart doing back flips in his chest. The idea of it disgusted him, though. He'd never do that to her, she meant far too much to him. Anyway, he had been raised as a gentleman.

It actually would have been much simpler if he could think of Saya as something else, but he had been with her far too long: he knew her, cared about her, loved her. Of course, Saya was still completely oblivious to the whole ordeal. She was so naive, so sweet, and so beautiful… A light dusting of pink shaded his face; he crossed his arms behind his head, zoning in on Saya and closing his eyes just as, "AHHH!!"

A scream rang out in the hall and Haji sat up quickly. Though he had never heard such a panicked cry come from her, he recognized her voice immediately. "Saya?!"

He paused, listening for a response. What could have happened? Surely she was all right; what could happen to her in her own room? His mind sped through countless awful things that could be happening to her. He reached down to throw the covers off and go to her, but stopped, hearing the light but frantic steps that could only belong to Saya.

"Haji!! Haji!" His door flew opened and in came Saya, crying and covered in sweat, her lengthy sleeping gown damp and clinging to her skin. She did not hesitate to leap right into his bed and wrap her arms around his torso, burying her head in his chest.

"Saya, what happened?!" He tried to keep the panic in his own voice down, bringing his arms around her back and holding her closely as her body shook.

"I had a nightmare." She mumbled into the folds of his cloth shirt and sheets. He sighed openly, brushing his fingers through her hair and placing his chin a top her head. Her fingers tightened on the back of his shirt, sinking into his flesh.

"You scared me. I was worried you were hurt." He whispered into her hair as her body shook in his arms and thought, 'or something worse.' Whatever it was had really frightened her. She lifted her head to look up at him for a moment; her face was red and puffy from her tears and panic.

"It was so real! So real…" She brawled and pressed her face back against his shoulder, relaxing slightly with each of his protective strokes on her back. "I was in the middle of the woods… this big monster with red eyes was chasing me, it was so scary! It had big fangs and claws… it jumped on me and I… I had a knife and I was stabbing at its face and chest…. But it pinned me down and…. And it was tearing at my flesh, Haji! And I had drool all over my face, and there was blood everywhere, and I was crying… I was screaming…. Screaming for you, but no one came… and then… then it…"

"Saya…" He had to quiet her, he was seeing red and he could take no more of her story. She stopped slowly, realizing that his gentle strokes had turned into a death grip around her petite form. She looked up, catching a glimpse at his features. His eyes were shut firmly and his jaw was locked together. His determined expression and his tight, protective grip around her, allowed her to relax. The image of the once incredibly real and terrifying monster slowly faded in her memory so that she could no longer picture it standing at the end of Haji's bed. She could hardly breathe in Haji's embrace, but she felt so safe tucked away in his arms that her dream was no longer rational in her mind.

'There was no way that Haji would let it happen,' she thought, and shut her eyes, tightening her grip around him. He had noticed that her body had stopped shaking and her heart was no longer pounding; yet he could not bring himself to release her quite yet. He knew as long as he had her like this, she was safe from anything: from pain, from fear, even from her dreams. He never wanted her to be so panicked or feel so helpless ever again.

"…Haji?" After a few minutes of his hold firmly around her body, and her mind fully back to reality, she had called his name softly. It was only then that he had snapped out of his trance and realized just what he was doing. He loosened his grip on her and her hands slid around to rest on the front of his shirt. She smiled faintly up at him, and though her face was still tear stained and puffy, he could see his confident and feisty Saya coming back.

"You're alright now?" He said, looking down at her and stroking her hair as if she was a child, something she only allowed him to do when she needed comforting. She nodded her head at him and smiled. His tensed muscles slowly relaxed and he sighed again. She leaned back against him, this time purely out of attraction to the warmth of his body. Now that her adrenalin was no longer pumping through her, she could feel the full effects of the cold seeping through her sweat soaked nightgown.

This time, the soft touch of her body brought his mind back. He was no longer seeing nothing but red and now that he knew she was all right, the adrenalin in his blood, too, had faded. Now, he realized the situation he was currently in. Though all the actions that had led up to this point were completely innocent, all he could focus on now was that Saya - drenched in sweat with her clothes clinging to her curves - was lying in his bed, in his lap! He shifted suddenly away from her, causing a confused look in her eyes and the slight cocking of her head to the left. He could see the frown forming on her lips and all he could think of was the one thing that he had been claiming disgusted him so greatly no more than 15 minutes earlier. Damn it! Damn his teenaged mind and damn his hormones and damn the situation that brought her to his bed in such a state as this.

"Haji…?" She whispered again, reaching out to him; his eyes focused solely on her soft, supple, pink lips. He could tell that she was tired and somewhat dazed, and, of course, completely confused by his actions. Sometimes he wondered if she did not share any of his feelings, but he knew better than this: Saya just did not understand. He closed his eyes as her fingers tugged on his sleeve and let out a heavy sigh, forcing such evil thoughts from his mind. He could not let himself think that way, not about his beloved Saya and most certainly not now Again, he heard her voice, a soft whisper against the memory of her frantic sobbing, "Can I stay here with you, tonight? Please?"

Now guiltily, he had been hoping to shoo her from his room so that he could possibly calm his raging hormones. He scolded himself; how could he think to make her leave after she had just had a terrible nightmare? "Yes, of course."

With that, she smiled and snuggled back up against him. Defeated and absolutely exhausted, he fell back against the mattress, bringing her down with him. He tucked a hand around her back and held her close as she settled her head on his shoulder, leaving one hand draped lazily over his chest and the other tucked between their bodies.

"Haji...?" She whispered after a few minutes, when everything had calmed down and she had had a moment to think.

"Yeah?" He said, shifting sleepily and tucking his head down to bury his face in her hair - she had the scent of vanilla and roses. Her body slowly warmed up against his and the cold air could no longer cause her to shiver. However, it didn't stop him from shivering at the soft brushes of her smooth legs against his.

"You'll always protect me, right?" She asked softly, realizing just how much he had grown as her mind drifted over each moment they had just shared. He was no longer a child by any means. He was a strong and handsome man, just like the princes and knights she read about in fairytales. He was the perfect hero to any story. She blushed a bit as she thought to herself that he was all hers.

"Forever, I'll protect you." He closed his eyes and felt her hand stroke his chest once. He was suddenly far too tired to worry about anything else.

"Promise?" She whispered, softer now, listening to the beat of his heart and feeling the slow rise and fall of each breath.

"I promise." He said, hand tightening over her back in a reassuring way. He took in her scent and felt every muscle in his body relax. All his previous thoughts fell from his mind and he focused on Saya. The two fell asleep together, cuddled closely in the covers and pillows of silk and cotton. This was their first real promise and the one Haji had truly taken to heart and soul.

When he had fallen in love with the girl that had unnerved him to no end was a complete mystery to him. Still, having her in his arms like this, he knew he had fallen so far that he might as well be in a fairytale. He would die for her without hesitation. He would protect her and never let anyone hurt her. He would never hurt her. He would be her knight, her chevalier. He would love her and he would keep his promise, forever.

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Haji sighed at how true his thoughts had actually been and how very ironic. Still, they were the truest thoughts he had ever managed, and he had never broken his promise: he had never stopped loving her.

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Reviews are love! 3 ok, ok. This story was a little (lot) more intense than First Kiss. That had been more playful and this was more serious.

I wrote this story on so many different levels of thought that you guys probably won't get them all; you'd probably need me to do a commentary to get them all. Still, if you're thinking 'I wonder if she meant this too', you're probably right. Haha. The only advice I can give if you decide to read it again is focus a lot on the state of mind of both Haji and Saya. Then, you should get a lot of the underlying stuff. I just really hope you guys get it as it is, because it's just such an amazing look into their relationship at this point.

That longer story is still coming, btw. It's a future fic (I apparently write future and past fics. Lol) Also, when my friend wrote this, she was thinking it might turn out like a lemon. Well, sorry, but it is a past fic. (but you might just get a lemon in my future fic! -If I don't die of blushing and pounding heart while writing it. Lol)

Anyway… Review! Review! Review! X3