The characters in this story do not belong to me. They belong to Asuka Katsura.
Saya's pale hands clutched her cello as she stared at the hard wood floor in her bedroom. Her nerves tightened as she realized she couldn't help knowing that for the past few weeks something had been wrong.
She still couldn't remember anything. It had been six months and she still couldn't remember anything, except how to play the cello. Usually it brought her some comfort to play. It felt familiar; she found a small piece of herself when she did, but now it wasn't working. She felt as lost as ever, and her hands stilled over the strings as she tried to keep the tears from falling.
"Saya?" Solomon stuck his head in the door.
"Yes?" Her breath caught in her chest as she tried to breathe again.
"It's time for your treatment." He walked into the room and she smiled weakly at him, glad she at least knew his face.
"Yes my darling it is that time of the week!" Nathan's happy voice called from the hall before he walked into the room carrying an I.V. and a bag of blood, "Now you know the routine, go lie on your bed." Saya complied, leaving her cello to rest on the red velvet chair in the corner. The chair she never sat on because the color reminded her of death, "The question is: who would you like to sit with you today?"
"I think… I think I would like Solomon to sit with me today."
He nodded and leaned over her, finding an easily accessible vein. She winced as he pushed the needle under her pale skin, noticing the small hill it made in the skin near her elbow. Once a week Nathan would have her lie down and wait a few hours for the bag to drain its contents into her body.
Solomon took the chair from her desk and placed it next to her as he did when she wanted him to sit with her through the treatments. All Nathan and Solomon would ever tell her was that she had a weak constitution and the treatments helped her build strength, though Saya knew there was something the two weren't telling her.
Nathan hung the bag on its metal hook before looking down at her and smiling, "It's so nice to have you around, my sweet little Saya."
"Why do you say that?"
"Well, whom else would I dote on if you weren't here? Solomon?" he said with a laugh before heading back down the hallway. Solomon picked a book up off the floor and began to read it while Saya stared up at the ceiling. Momentarily, a blurry face flashed before her eyes. It seemed to happen whenever she had her treatment, the same blurry face would appear but every time she tried to focus on it, it would just float away back into her subconscious. There was a time when she longed to know who's face it was, and the fact that she couldn't ever see it clearly frustrated her to the brink of tears, but the last few weeks she had begun to ignore it. Instead of dwelling on it, she would turn her head and stare at something else in the room.
"Saya? Is something wrong?" Solomon was looking down at her.
"No. Why do you ask?"
"You're gripping my hand, quite tightly actually." Saya looked down and saw that her left hand was, in fact, clutching onto Solomon's, and she immediately pulled hers away.
"I'm sorry." She said softly.
"It's alright, it would take a lot more than that to hurt me you know." He smiled brightly down at her before turning back to his book. She glanced back to see his palm as he reached to turn the pages of his book, and noticed small red marks left by her nails.
She sighed as she thought. Solomon was always so sweet to her and looked at her with such love in his eyes. Nathan doted on her and brought her all the best presents, but Saya could tell he didn't love her nearly as much as Solomon did. She felt like a burden to them, though they would never tell her so. Whenever she asked Solomon, he would smile at her and tell her how much he needed her in his life. Nathan would smile and hug her before laughing at the question. She could hardly remember how to do anything right, but she would always try. After a few minutes either Nathan or Solomon would have to politely help her.
"Saya?" Solomon was looking at her from his seat, his book laying open in his lap.
"Hmmm?" Her attention was quickly drawn back to the present.
"Are you sure you're alright?" He smiled, but she could tell by his eyes that he was worried.
"MmHmmm." She nodded and smiled.
"Alright my little queen, I believe you're done for the day." Nathan had poked his head in the doorway.
Saya looked up at the bag and saw that it was, in fact, empty. She had managed to waste the few hours it took to do simply by thinking about her place in the world. She wished desperately she could remember who she was so she could focus on the future, but since she couldn't she feared she was stuck dealing with the past.
The garden was beautiful in the afternoon; she supposed that was why Solomon put her out on the patio to eat after her treatment was over. He would walk her out and then head inside to get her cookies and lemonade before sitting down to watch the birds eat grass seeds out on the lawn. That day was particularly hot and Saya thought about asking to move inside before deciding it would be too much of a bother.
"Saya you don't seem yourself today." Solomon sat down in the white chair across from her.
"I don't?"
"No you don't. You haven't touched your food or talked much at all. It's not like you."
"Well I've just been thinking about how much you and Nathan have to do for me all the time…" She trailed off staring down at her pale hands in the sun.
"Saya, I've told you many times that the things I do for you pale in comparison to what you do for me." He placed his hand on top of hers, "Besides, what would Nathan do without you around? He has far too much free time on his hands these days." Saya giggled quietly, "There, that's better." He turned his attention back to the lawn and the woods beyond it.
"What do I do?"
"Hmm?" He slowly turned his head back towards her.
"What is it I do for you?"
"You're living your life with me." It shocked her, that he valued her being there that much, that he said it like he needed her more than anything.
Saya got up from the chair and walked out on the lawn. She fell down to the soft grass and sighed. It wasn't long before he joined her. Now she reached for his hand and held it softly before he tightened his grip. He pulled her hand to his chest and held it between both of his hands, "Saya…" She smiled realizing she loved the sound of her name when he said it.
"Solomon, let's go for a walk." She pushed herself upright, waiting for him to follow because she didn't want to lose the feeling of her hand in his. He pulled her to his side before they both set out towards the woods on the edge of the lawn. The trees were spread out to give each other room to grow old together without problem. She relished the crunch of the dead leaves beneath her feet; she thought they made a better floor than anything else in the world. Movement at the edge of her vision caught her eye and she turned her head to find a rabbit perched a few yards away from her munching on the newly budded flowers of a weed that had managed to sprout up, "Solomon, look." Saya pointed smiling and looked back at Solomon to see that he was already staring ahead. After a few moments she followed his gaze to find that he wasn't looking at the rabbit but at a man walking through the woods towards them. She watched him, looking for any signs of a familiar face, but when no comforting recognition came she nervously clutched Solomon's hand. Instead of a reassuring squeeze of her hand in return, Solomon released his grip and walked slowly forward a few steps before turning to face her. Saya stared up at him wide-eyed hugging her arms around herself. Something was wrong; she could feel it.
"Saya, I want you to run back to the house and tell Nathan what you've seen. Tell him everything, don't spare any details, and make sure you do what he says no matter what. Do you understand?" Saya stayed standing, staring over Solomon's shoulder. The man had gotten much closer, but he seemed in no rush to act first, "DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" Solomon's voice pulled her back to attention. It was much louder and his tone much more serious; it scared her more than anything she could remember, "Saya, I need you to run."
She took one last look at both of the men in front of her before turning towards the house, "Saya." Her entire body froze with her foot poised above the ground. It was the first time the man had spoken, and there was something familiar in his voice. She put her foot to the floor before looking over her shoulder at him. He was unbelievably calm, just like his voice. A few stray strands of black hair fell messily in his face while he kept the rest pulled back, and his black jacket and white shirt were haphazardly buttoned to reveal a sliver of pale skin, pale like hers. She glanced at the large case hanging from his shoulder before looking timidly into his light blue eyes. She knew them; she knew him.
"Saya, I told you to run." Solomon was staring at her so intensely she barely recognized him.
"Saya—" The man reached for her before Solomon suddenly appeared before him. The scene was unbelievable. In a moment Solomon had closed the ten-foot gap between them and was now roughly trying to push the man backwards. It wasn't until they finally separated that Saya discovered what was truly strange about their encounter. On the right arm of each man protruding from the elbow, where his forearm and hand should have been only a minute before, there was what could only have been described as a large blade. Saya stared in confusion and shock as each man took turns violently slashing at the other.
"SAYA! RUN!" Solomon's voice was frantic as he yelled at her and she could tell why. Fear suddenly filled her as the man repeatedly sliced at Solomon's chest and arms, ripping gashes in his flesh. She had to run; she had to get help. Even if she did have a history with the man, she was sure now that she didn't want to know anyone who would hurt Solomon like that, her Solomon. So she turned and broke into a sprint. She ran as fast as she could before she ran into something, hard. The wind was knocked out of her before she had time to comprehend what had happened. She pushed herself off the ground and realized that she hadn't run into a tree, but another man. He was sitting next to her rubbing his arm where she assumed she had hit him. When she didn't recognize his face she began to crawl away as fast as she could, realizing that he probably came with the other man. Then she noticed something that scared her much, much more than the other man, this one had a gun.
Nathan, she needed Nathan.
"Saya?" he was looking at her intently now, with something resembling concern.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" She screamed before scrambling to get up, but she tripped and was suddenly on the ground again, "LEAVE ME ALONE!"
"My, my. Well this is a problem isn't it?" She looked up timidly to find Nathan at the edge of the trees, looking over the scene somewhat amused, "You see, you've upset my Saya and I just can't have that. Besides, did you really think you were going to take her back when you only have one chevalier and those silly things on your side, Kai?" Nathan nodded at the man's gun before laughing heartily as if it contained nothing more than water.
"You bastard, I TOLD YOU, YOU COULD NEVER HAVE HER!" The man jumped to his feet before squeezing the trigger on his weapon repeatedly. Saya's hands flung to her face as she winced in anticipation for Nathan's screams of agony, but nothing came. She waited a few seconds before lifting her head slowly, still keeping in mind the possibility that a shot to the head killed him on impact. Nathan stood exactly where he had been, smiling mockingly at the man before him. Had he missed? Was it possible for him to miss six times? Nathan appeared to be fine, in fact the whole situation seemed to entertain him to no end. The man moved to reload his gun, but Nathan was too fast for him. He was pinned to a tree within seconds.
"Why don't you go home before I get tired of you? Who knows what I'll do once that happens."
"Nathan?" Saya called out hesitantly from her crouching place at the base of a tree.
"Yes, my darling?" Nathan smiled at her as if he wasn't pinning a full-grown man to a tree and making violent threats towards him with little effort.
"What—what's—"
"You just stay right there, and when I'm done we'll go and get Solomon alright?" She timidly nodded. Though she didn't fully trust what she was seeing, she knew that Solomon and Nathan were her family, and she would keep that family together no matter what, "Now I know you won't leave my Saya alone so we'll have to be leaving now. Poor Solomon might need my help and you just aren't worth my time." Nathan threw the man roughly to the floor and then turned to offer his hand to Saya. She took it slowly.
"Saya…" The man called to her from his placed slumped on the ground. He sounded hurt. She paused for a moment, a small part of her wanting to help him, but she walked on hand in hand with Nathan.
"Nathan, how are you going to help Solomon?" He walked on smiling as he always did, "Are you—are you like him and that other man too?"
"Yes I am my dear. It's so that Solomon and I can protect you."
"I don't understand…"
"You don't need to understand my dear. All you need to know is that Solomon and I love you very much and would do anything for you," He paused, "I see that I'm too late to offer my services." Solomon stood before the both of them, but even though his clothes were torn and bloody, his body appeared unharmed.
This is impossible. I saw him get cut. His whole upper body was almost torn to shreds. How is this happening?
"What happened to the other man?" Saya looked around but didn't see any signs of him. The woods seemed empty, but she was still scared. The things she had seen that afternoon challenged everything she had come know. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't figure out what was going on or why.
"He left with the others." Solomon said quietly. Saya looked around nervously, and suddenly ran to him without thinking, wrapping her arms tightly around his body.
"Saya…" She felt his hot breath on the top of her head and hugged herself even closer to him.
"Oh, Solomon I thought you would be… I don't know what I thought." She could feel her voice wavering as the hot tears began to flow from her eyes. Solomon wiped them from her cheeks with his handkerchief and picked her up to carry her back to the house. She buried her head in his chest and closed her eyes as he tightened his arms around her. When they entered the house he carried her up to her room on the second floor and placed her on her bed.
"Solomon," Saya reached out and grabbed what little was left of his sleeve, "Please don't leave."
"Saya," He smiled warmly down at her, "You really don't remember do you? Not even now?" She shook her head slowly, "I suppose it's better that way."
Saya sat up and gently traced the outline of his face, "Solomon, I know you love me… but what you don't know is how much I love you." He paused for a few moments, and she quickly began to think that she had said the wrong thing, misinterpreted his feelings for something other than what they were.
"Saya," He began, his voice strained, "three years ago I pledged my love to you, and you sent me away time and time again. Three years I've been waiting for you to say that. Three years I've loved you with all my heart."