Vampire Myth
- Pride -

Oh my god, I am so sorry for the epically slow update. I just haven't felt much like writing.

I like to think this chappie is a nicer one than the previous angsty ones. Maybe not right at the beginning, but it all ends happily ^_^

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight, nor any of the characters in the following story. Yep. I'm not gonna lie.

Zero sits in the moonlight, his back resting against a tree, his hands twirling his Bloody Rose between them. The still night air carries the sounds of the dance – upbeat music playing and people chattering – as it nears its final hour. He had probably spent more than half the dance here, absently playing with his gun, dwelling on what he had seen between Yuki and Kuran.

He couldn't explain the feelings the sight of them locked together like that had brought up. Of course, intense jealousy was way up there, but there were others. He felt protective, angry, sad, weak, pathetic, and lost, just to name a few.

But most of all, he felt betrayed and hurt by Yuki, who, no more than a few days ago, had held him lovingly against her as she whispered to him that she would always be there for him, never leave him alone.

He stopped playing with his gun, gripping it tightly between his two hands, his knuckles turning white from the effort. What if she had said something similar to this to Kuran before? Zero wouldn't have picked Yuki to be the type of girl to do that sort of thing, to string others along like that, but what if she had? He had spent the past few days feeling pretty good because of that comment. What if it had only been a lie, or worse, something she had already said to someone else?

His hands began to nervously play with the gun again, twirling it between them and passing it back and forth anxiously. It was obvious that Yuki felt something for that smooth pureblood vampire. How could she not? Almost every other girl in the school did, and he hadn't even paid them the same sort of attention.

Zero could see it in the way she looked at Kuran and in the way she looked she spoke of Kuran. Did she ever look that way when she looked at Zero? He couldn't be sure, but he thought that it was probably a 'no'.

He grew tired of the Bloody Rose, dropping it with a soft thud between his legs. Yuki meant the world to him; he hated himself every time he marred the soft skin of her neck, every time he caressed and held her fragile little body as he tainted her with his fangs and touches. He didn't want to do these things, and yet he didn't want to imagine the pain if he didn't do these things.

"There you are."

Zero glanced up, his tired eyes picking up on a small figure as it moved between the trees to his position. He could pick up her scent before his eyes registered that it was Yuki approaching him.

"I wanted to have a dance with you, but I couldn't find you. And after a while I thought that if I wanted to have at least the last dance with you, then I should probably come find you," she said softly, a sweet smile on her face as she stood before him. "I'm not really all that surprised to find you moping out here."

"I'm not moping," he mumbled, looking away from her smiling face. He couldn't bear to look at it, knowing that it wasn't long ago that Kuran's lips were against Yuki's own soft ones.

"Oh, okay then, whatever you say. Mr. Mopey," she added with a playful wink.

Zero ignored her.

Yuki sighed, and then held out her hand.

"What are you doing?" Zero questioned.

"If you listen carefully, you can hear the music from the dance. And if my calculations are correct, it's probably up to the last dance. Now, I made up my mind, and I decided that I wanted to have the last dance with you."

"Why?"

She sighed again, reaching down and grabbing his large hand between her two smaller ones. "Just get up and dance with me, Zero. Geez, I never would have thought it would be this hard to get a guy to dance."

With a slight smile Zero stood, holding tightly onto Yuki's hand in his grasp and wrapping his other arm around her waist as her free hand moved to sit on his shoulder. Now that Zero concentrated, he could hear the music as it was carried through the still night air. He could block out all the other unwanted sounds, hearing only the beat of the music and the soft breathing of Yuki.

Now would be a good time to say something nice, he thought. But what? He had already commented on her overall look this evening. Could he do it again? Girls liked it when someone noticed things like that, didn't they?

"You really do like nice tonight, Yuki," he mumbled quietly, enjoying the little puffs of air that hit the exposed skin of his neck as she breathed. He could even feel her blush.

"Yeah, you said that," she mumbled back sheepishly.

"Well, I still mean it."

They lapsed into silence, holding each other as they swayed softly in the dark. Zero was no longer really listening to the music, no longer really moving to it. Rather he was just moving, savouring the feeling of Yuki in his arms, moving the same way he was.

If she hadn't meant those things she had said to him the other day, why would she have sought him out like this, just for one pathetic dance? She must have been speaking the truth. She had left Kuran to look for him. Kuran, who she had been dancing with like this, who had had his arms around her, his lips against hers.

Zero stopped, dropping his arms by his side.

"What's wrong?" Yuki questioned, her face creasing with concern.

"Wouldn't you just prefer to be Kuran? You seemed quite happy dancing with him before," Zero spat sourly.

"What?"

"I saw you two, dancing on one of the balconies. You seemed to be having a rather good time with him."

Now she flushed, looking away embarrassed. "Zero," she began tentatively, but he stopped her.

"You know what? I don't care. I hope that you'll be happy with him. What would you need someone like me around for when you've got someone like that?"

"That's not true!" She snapped vehemently.

Zero was a little taken aback. He had never really seen her get too worked up over anything before, but now she looked rather upset by his comment. "Yuki?" he questioned, curious as to where this outburst came from.

She looked embarrassed again, but determinedly she took his hands in hers. "Zero, you are my best friend. You're always there for me, no matter what has happened, and you know that I'm always going to be there for you. I don't know what I would do if one day you weren't there anymore. No one else understands me like you do, and I feel most comfortable around you compared to anyone else." She wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her head in his chest so that her next words were muffled. "I always want you to be in my life. I get upset even if I just think about you not being here anymore."

Zero stood with the small girl wrapped around him, just looking into the darkness, unable to comprehend anything. "Yuki?" he mumbled, looking down at the mop of brown hair against his chest.

She pulled herself tighter against him, holding onto him desperately almost. "I'm sorry," she mumbled back, her head seeming to bury even further into his chest.

Her body began to shake slightly, and Zero felt as if the front of his shirt were getting damp. "Yuki, are you crying?" he asked, shocked.

She sniffled, shaking her head against him.

Sighing, Zero lifted his arms and wrapped them around her slender frame, lowering his head to rest atop hers. "Don't cry. You cry over too many things," he said exasperatedly.

Yuki pulled away, her hand wiping at her eyes, a small, sad smile on her face. "I know that I'm probably just being selfish, wanting both you and Kaname in my life. And I know that I'm definitely dreaming when I hope that maybe you two could get along. But..." She faltered, her gaze shifting down to the ground. "You're both important to me, you both mean so much to me. But if it makes you feel any better, these days you are a bigger part of my life than him. Like, you mean more to me than he does..."

Her face lifted and she looked Zero in the eyes again, her own eyes tearing up again. Zero only stared back at her, desperate to hear more, desperate to hear what she would say next.

And then she smiled. "It's like, he's my past, but you're my future," she whispered.

"Yuki," Zero whispered, feeling a small smile come over his face. And this made hers brighten even more.

"I love when you smile. You look so gorgeous when you do," she said warmly.

Zero pulled her into an embrace, his arms tightening around her. His heart felt as if it were fit to burst; it was as if Yuki had just chosen him over the pureblood. And while he didn't think he deserved it, it pleased him to the core of his being. She would rather him, than that smarmy, smug pureblood vampire. She was in his arms now, after having left that charismatic vampire, because she would rather be here with him.

"I don't deserve you," he mumbled.

"Sure you do," she mumbled back.

"Well I have no idea what it is that I've done to deserve this."

"How about everything you've been through in the past few years? Not to bring back bad memories or anything, but you had everything taken from you, had your world turned upside down," she said quietly. And, as she pulled back slightly to look at his face, she laughed. "It's about time something good came your way."

"It's not a joke, Yuki. You really are something good in my life. But it still doesn't mean I deserve it."

She sighed, still smiling up at him patiently. "Don't you get it, Zero? Surviving through all that hardship is what lets you deserve something good. Coming out of alive at the end of it all is what lets you deserve it."

Zero closed his eyes, trying to stave off the tears from welling up in his eyes. He was a man, damn it; men didn't cry.

He felt Yuki snake her arm around his neck, resting at the back of his head, and pull his head down to rest his forehead against hers. "You should stop talking yourself down so much. Even after turning to a vampire, you've still fought against yourself to stay such a good person. And your will to not harm me proves that you're still a good person, despite what you think. I have to literally force you to take my blood, even though most of the time you're bordering on desperate. Lesser men would have caved long ago."

Zero opened his eyes, looking into hers. "You always work so hard to protect me," she said with a soft smile. "You work so hard to make sure I stay safe, even from you, no matter how hard it is on you. All these things mean you deserve good things to happen."

Yuki smiled wider as she watched a tear drop from Zero's eye, pleased that her words were maybe finally getting through to him. She leant forward and kissed it off his cheek, feeling her own eyes welling with fresh tears. "I just wish that you could see what I see every day. I wish that you could love yourself the way that I love you."

Zero pulled away and blinked, trying to comprehend what it was that she just said. "What?" he eventually managed.

She flushed again, but did not look away, her eyes boring into his. "I love you?"

"Why?"

Yuki sighed again. "Zero, how could I not? Have you not been listening to anything that I've been saying?"

"Yes, but..." he started.

"So? Just accept that they are my feelings. Don't question them. Don't say that they're wrong, or that you're undeserving. I have just explained everything."

"Yuki," he murmured, pulling her back against him, burying his head on top of hers.

He still didn't feel like he necessarily deserved her, felt that his ultimate sin of taking her life blood from her disallowed it. But he was grateful for her forgiveness about it. Hell, he was just grateful for her. He knew that if it weren't for her, he would have given up long ago. But she kept him going, not just because she so readily supplied her blood, but because she also gave him support and love, where most people would have just turned him away.

He knew that she had not rejected Kuran in anyway, and she hadn't outright said she chose Zero over the pureblood, but it was enough for him for now. Just to hold her in his arms, knowing she at least preferred him over Kuran was enough.

He lowered his head even further to place a kiss on her cheek. "Thank you," he whispered, pulling away.

She smiled up at him, her arms still comforting around his shoulders and neck, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "No, thank you," she murmured back, stroking his neck and playing with his hair.

He wanted to question why she would be thanking him. But he just figured that she would sigh and say that she had already explained everything, and that would only ruin the peaceful atmosphere that had fallen around them.

So he instead dipped his head, brushing his lips over hers. "We should probably go back to the dance now. The Chairman is most likely freaking out that we're nowhere to be found for the end of the dance," he murmured, caressing her back lovingly.

Yuki laughed softly, and rested her head back against his chest. "In a second. We've still got at least one more dance."

Listening again to the surroundings, Zero could indeed still hear the music playing off in the distance. "But I thought you said before that it was the last dance?"

"I lied," she said simply, turning to smile up at him. "I didn't think you would dance with me unless you really thought it was the last one."

Sighing, Zero replied, "Yuki, I would have danced with you anyway. You didn't have to lie about it."

"Oh well. What's done is done. Just be happy that there is still more," she said cheerfully, and dropped her arms back down to sit more comfortably at his waist as she leant back into his chest.

Smiling at no one in particular, Zero laid his head back over hers, holding her close and feeling a little pleased with himself after hearing all that she had said about him, even though he didn't really believe all that she had said. But he was happy that she believed it.

They weren't really dancing to the soft music that even Zero had to concentrate in order to hear. They weren't even swaying anymore, as they had been before. They just stood, locked in an embrace as Zero tried to memorise the way her soft body felt against his and the way her heart pounded just below his. He wouldn't mind if this moment were to stretch on forever, and there were no interruptions from the outside world, if it were just the two of them, standing here amongst the trees.

Zero was reluctant to let go when he heard the air still as the music came to a stop. Even Yuki appeared sorry that she had to pull away. But, as usual, she held a brave smile on her little face. "Well, we better get back, see if the Chairman is going to want help getting everyone out."

"Yuki," Zero called to her as she turned around.

"Yeah?"

Reaching out his hand he held her cheek as he leaned in to kiss her again, this one lasting a bit longer than the previous one. She was still smiling as they both pulled away, and her hand moved up to her face to grasp his.

"Come on, enough dawdling," she teased, stepping away and letting their joined hands to drop between them.

As they walked back Zero felt happy, something he hadn't really felt for years.

Maybe he was not the monster he always believed himself to be. Maybe he was loveable. And just maybe, that this girl he had just now held in his arms, loved him the same way that he loved her.

Awwww.
It could be cuter. But then it threatens to get corny. And I absolutely despise corny. I mean, I won't buy my mother birthday cards because they're all so stupid and corny.

I'm not going to promise an update any time soon. Because this is what I do: struggle over the first few paragraphs of a new chapter, then finally settle into a rhythm. Finish the chapter. Get all excited that I finished. Go to start the next, and struggle over the opening of the next. I hate starting new things, it just doesn't come. So then, I'll give up for a bit, then one day come back, and it will all just tumble out. And so on and so forth.

I'd love to hear from you, lovely readers, just to let me know how I'm doing. Because some things I like, others I don't. So, what do you like and don't like? Feedback is awesome for progression :P