I'm Sorry
Oneshot of Phantom x Aria
Everything in the world suddenly looked ugly.
The rain he had once thought was beautiful, looked disgustingly dreary and felt cold against his skin. The gray skies looked gloomily dark and he slowly looked away from them.
His purple eyes fixated themselves on the one beauty in the whole world, in his world.
She was lying there against the fallen Shinsoo, resting with her hands lying across her stomach. At some point, it looked as though she was sleeping, but the paleness of her face suggested otherwise.
He slowly walked up to her, hesitant. When he got up to her, he knelt down in front of her and whispered her name.
"Aria...?" Hoping that she would answer him.
Her eyes remained closed and his heart ached even more.
His white gloved hand trembled as he reached out to her, just to touch her face. Just as his fingertips grazed her smooth cheek, he stopped and found that he couldn't touch her. He never did touch her and this was the closest he's ever been to doing so.
But just how many times has he ever dreamed of stroking her hair, holding her in his arms, showering her with his affections and kisses...?
Phantom drew back his hand, finding himself unable to touch her.
He simply sat there in the rain, staring at her, unable to bring himself to the reality of what had happened.
The Black Wings had betrayed them and Aria's death was the result. He was waiting for himself to become angry, resent the Black Wings for what they have done to her, but he felt nothing.
All he did was look at her for the longest of time.
Finally, he moved. He got up on one knee, as a knight would kneel in front of his queen, and leaned forward. He closed his eyes painfully.
She was sheltered from the pouring rain because of Shinsoo's large wing, but as he kissed her the rainwater from him dripped down and fell upon her clean dress. He moved his hand and held her head. He wrapped his arms around her body, soiling her perfect, innocent figure.
He wasn't kissing her out of hurt or love. It was for all the times he wished he had kissed her.
He just missed them.
"I won't let you steal the treasure, no matter how charming you try to be."
He smiled as he stood there on the guardrail of the large balcony. "Now what makes you think I came here for that?" He hopped down from the guardrail and onto the beautiful white tile floor. "What if I came for something else?"
The empress clasped her hands in front of her as she held her head high. "You mean to tell me this visit is different from your past visits?"
"Of course." He walked up behind her and smiled at how she kept her pride as an empress, despite his charm. It was just one of the things he loved about her. Curiously he glanced around and asked her, "what? No guards this time?"
Aria didn't answer him.
"Could it be that you trust me?"
"I could never trust a thief."
"Then?"
She opened her eyes, just for a slight peek and saw him looking at her from the side.
He saw her try to keep her composure and she was good at it, but he saw just the slightest color of a blush on her cheeks. What a beautiful color...
"I know you'll never take the treasure of Ereve from me."
"Hm? And why's that?"
"Because...as long as I live, this treasure will remain in Ereve." Aria turned to him, touching the Skaia jewel around her neck, and smiled at him, making his heart skip a beat.
"And what makes you think I won't kill you to get what I want?" he asked playfully, pulling out an orange colored card from his pockets.
She didn't bat an eyelash as he held it in front of him. Instead, she giggled and answered, "because even if you are a master thief, Mister Phantom...you still have your humanity."
Surprised at her answer, he chuckled in amusement. She really was different from the many other women he's encountered in the past. She saw the good in everyone.
"It seems that I've visited you too often. You know me well now." Phantom closed his eyes and the card in front of him scattered and turned into a beautiful red rose. He handed it to her and smiled charmingly.
"It looks like you've been smiling more now. Was it because of what I said last time?"
Aria blushed innocently as she took the rose from his hands. "Like I've said, no matter how charming you try to be...I won't give up the treasure, or how many roses you decide to shower me with."
"Then I'll continue to come back until you do."
The empress held the rose in her hands as she looked up into his purple eyes. "I'll be here then. Guarding the treasure from you."
"Is that a promise, Miss Aria?" he asked, smiling.
"Of course. I never go back on my word. But I would like for you to tell me your real name."
"Are you finally interested in me?" asked Phantom.
"I would like to know the name of the thief that desperately wants the treasure."
He reached out and barely touched her straight blond hair, afraid that he would ruin it, and smirked. "I suppose that's my own little treasure I refuse to share with anyone."
"Not even me?"
"Maybe someday..."
Her body felt so light in his arms as he continued the kiss. All those times he missed, all those times he should have, but didn't, all those times...
Finally, Phantom pulled away from the one woman he fell in love with. As he did so, in his right hand was the sparkling jewel, Skaia. He had taken it from around her neck.
"Aria...it was unfair, wasn't it?" he asked, chuckling dryly as he carefully ran his thumb across her soft lips.
He leaned down right next to her ear and whispered his real name to her.
"You're the only one allowed to call me by that name."
Gently, Phantom laid her back down to rest next to Shinsoo. He gave one fleeting glance to her and whispered under his breath, "I'm sorry I never showed up."
Holding Skaia tightly in his hand, Phantom stood up and disappeared in a swirl of cards.
When he finally reappeared on Lumiere, Phantom fell to his knees and hands. The Skaia rolled out onto the deck, but he didn't care anymore.
All he did was cry as he clutched at the polished wooden deck in distress. Despite how loud his cries were, they were drowned out by the heavy rain. He slammed his fist down in frustration, anger finally taking its place inside of his empty heart.
His shoulders heaved up and down in accordance to his heavy breathing. Soon after, he calmed down and raised his head.
The fallen Skaia was just a few feet away from him, still glittering and shining despite the dark surroundings. He stared at it, then finally reached out for it. The jewel sparkled, but he no longer found it to be beautiful. It looked much better around Aria's neck than in his hands.
In a fit of blind rage, he clutched it tightly in his hand and made an attempt to throw it, but he stopped himself.
"...even if you are a master thief, Mister Phantom...you still have your humanity."
He calmed himself and dropped his arm down to his side. For a while, he sat there on the deck of Lumiere, out in the cold rain.
Finally he clutched at Skaia and whispered with a small smile, "you always saw the good in people, Aria. Even in someone as flawed as me."
He stood up and straightened himself out. This wouldn't be what Aria wanted for him. She cared for the Maple world and that's exactly what he would protect.
"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you Aria...but I promise you I'll protect the world you loved."
A/N I don't really know the full story of Phantom's storyline. Mainly because I'm a huge lazy fuckton that uses badly edited wiki pages for Maple storylines and info. So, some stuff in here might be misspelled or just plain incorrect, but I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I had fun writing this. I was listening to 'Last Song' sung by Yamai. It's originally a Vocaloid song...I think...but this beautiful Nico singer covered it and it sounds amazing. It really helped set the mood and I think the song is perfect for describing Phantom and Aria's relationship. Go search it on YouTube plz. It's like 10 minutes long LOL
On a sidenote...
The one canon pairing I like in Maple and the girl dies.
...
Anyways, please leave a review. It'd be much appreciated.