PWP
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Foreclosure by Sale. The words were a simple, block kanji that was stamped in black over the sign with the realtor's information. It was so simple, so easy to overlook, yet to Hitomi the sign might as well have been covered in bright, flashing neon lights. She bit her lip as she shouldered her modest pack and tears blurred her vision before she was finally able to force herself to walk away.

Hitomi was no stranger to death. She had seen people die, seeing their chests pierced with weapons more times than she cared to count. During her freshman year of high school she had been forced to deal with death, blood, deception, and conspiracy. She had nearly been killed, nearly been raped, more than once.

She had gone through so much more than a woman twice her age had. So why was it that with this death, this change was so much harder for her to deal with?

The papers had called it an accident. A horribly mundane accident. A horrible rainstorm, terrible visibility, and a truck driver that had been suffering from sleep deprivation.

So simple. The type of thing that happened to people all the time.

So what was this horrible ache in her chest? What was this horrible feeling that nothing would ever be right again?

She had never known how far in debt the Kanzaki family had been in. Hitomi have never really understood what it had meant when her parents have been forced to refinance their house just so they could get their daughter through college. A college that she had never been able to graduate from.

It made her feel like a failure, worse than a failure. While she had been arranging the funeral and services for her parents and her brother she hadn't really understood how bad things were. Then her parents' estate had been declared insolvent, and the government had claimed what little physical property that she could have inherited until she was left with nothing. She had received none of the proceeds from the sale of the house, and her parents -- she had discovered -- had been victims of a Ponzi scheme.

Simply put, she had nothing left, and she didn't even know what to do.

Hitomi was almost to the beach, a place that was rather dear to her, when the rain started to fall. It wasn't until she sat down on a bench along the boardwalk that she started to cry. Her tears mingled with the rain water and it made her eyes sting. It was hard to tell if her cheeks were wet more from the rain or from her tears. She was only vaguely aware that the horrible wail, the keening sound, was coming from her. She lay her head down on the bench curling up into a ball as best as she could and she gave voice to that horrible aching loss that clawed at her chest.

It wasn't until she felt the warmth of callused fingers touching her cheek that she realized the rain was no longer falling on her. The thrum of the rain as it pounded against the umbrella that was suddenly being held over her had her blinking up at the person they had decided to intrude upon her solitude.

It wasn't the wings, soaked and dripping pitifully, that had her heart thudding in her throat. It wasn't the rose colored pendant settled against tanned skin that made her cry harder. It was those wonderful dark, cinnamon eyes that were narrowed in concern and the utter disarray of his raven locks.

He was even wearing the same, scarlet tunic that he had when they first met.

With a strangled cry she sat up and wrapped her arms around his neck, not caring if this was nothing more than a fevered delusion. All that mattered was that he felt real enough, and he was warm and strong. The umbrella fell to the ground with a soft thud that she was only vaguely aware of. All Hitomi cared about was that he was wrapping his arms tightly around her as she hugged him tighter and his wings arched slightly over her to shield her from the rain as best as he could.

Her face was buried in his chest, his chin resting on the top of her wet hair, and she hardly even noticed when the pillar of light engulfed them both.

XXX

He didn't take her to his bed to find dry clothes like she had expected. When they landed in the Fanelian Palace, an elegant structure that was so different from the one that she remembered, she knew that they were in the place that only a select few were allowed.

It was a hot spring modeled after those at a ryokan. Steam rose from the hot water that was surrounded by carefully placed stones. There was even a rock path leading to the water. It was the cherry tree in one corner, with its delicate pink blossoms that nearly made her tear up.

Van didn't say anything. He just led her to the spring's edge, his wings disappearing into the night air as they went, before helping her strip out of her clothes.

Given how long it had been since they had last had any real contact Hitomi would have expected to feel self-conscious. She didn't stop him as he fumbled with the buttons of her blouse. Her fingers were too cold and stiff anyway. Her cheeks flushed when he removed her bra or when he slid her jeans and panties over her hips. She stepped out of her sensible sandals and let him guide her into the water. It was hot and soothing, and she nearly closed her eyes at this sudden, strange feeling of contentment that filled her as she sank into the water. Then Van cursed and her attention was immediately drawn back to him when he started to remove his own clothes.

She really couldn't say if he had changed much. Maybe she hadn't been quite old enough to appreciate the finer physical qualities of the male form. Maybe that was why she was surprised to find that she liked the slight muscles of his form. She liked how golden his skin was and how his hair seemed to fall almost artlessly over his face. For a moment she was able to forget about the aching loss of her family, but the moment her eyes slid to the water's surface the pain was back, fresh and horrible. Hitomi hardly waited until he had eased into the hot spring himself. She threw her arms around him, kissing him desperately, and hoped that he wouldn't turn shy or push her away.

She nipped at his lip, her hand splaying across the angle of his jaw, when he responded as any male would have. She didn't stop when he pulled her closer, one hand resting on the curve of her hip as he returned her kiss with the same intensity. The one hand that was not wrapped around her waist was busy trailing over her curves and she shuddered when his sword calloused fingers brushed over her breast.

It was probably something like a scene straight from a badly written romance novel, but she didn't care. Somehow, his sudden presence made it so easy to forget. The length that was pressing against her inner thigh told her that he wanted her as much as she wanted him. Would it really be so wrong to use him as a distraction from her pain? He had always made her feel complete in a way that Allen never could have. She would have wanted this even if things had been different. Hitomi gasped when his mouth left hers and his teeth scraped against her sensitized skin.

"Are you sure?" His breath was hot against her skin and Hitomi was quite sure that she had never heard anything as wonderful as the sound of his voice.

"Please. Van, I need to --"

He cut her off with his thumb pressing against her lip in a way that had her eyes fluttering shut. She let him guide her onto a naturally, weathered stone seat, and if she wasn't so certain that she knew him then she would have sworn that he had planned the entire thing.

Hitomi didn't understand why he seemed to know, why he seemed to know that she needed to lose herself in the sensations that overwhelmed her when one hand suddenly dipped beneath the water and brushed against her core. Was it the combination of hot water and sensations that were so utterly foreign to her? Hitomi wasn't quite sure, and she didn't care. She just gripped his shoulders, her back arching and her breasts pressing against his chest, at the sudden, wonderful contact.

"I've heard this hurts, for a woman." His voice was apologetic. "If it does, I'll make it up to you I swear."

Then he was sliding into her, filling her, and -- by the gods -- it did hurt. She squeezed her eyes shut as she clung to him, crying out and she buried her face into the crook of his neck. He whispered desperate apologies against her skin, and somehow managed to hold himself still even as he rained tender kisses to her bare skin.

It was only when she was breathing easier that he started to move inside her, and by then the pain had dulled into something far more wonderful.

It was there, under the starry, Gaean sky that he claimed her, and the gnawing ache was replaced by feeling of utter joy and contentment.

XXX

It wasn't until much later and that they left the hot spring, dry and clothed. It was more from the force of the emotions then their lovemaking that left her so completely exhausted. She half slumped against him, as he guided her down the hall to his rooms. Hitomi was aware that she was still in the same position she had been on Earth. She still didn't know what was going to happen to her, she realized as they slipped off their robes. Yet, as he guided her into bed, crawling in after her and wrapping his limbs around hers before pulling the soft covers over their naked forms, it really didn't matter. At least while she was here Hitomi knew that she was safe. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she pressed close to his naked skin -- something that was still so foreign to her, and yet it felt right -- and buried her nose into the crook of his back. Her sigh was a contented one as he lifted a hand up to play with the caramel brown strands of her hair. There was something almost curious about that touch which shouldn't have surprised her. After all, her hair had grown quite a bit since he had last seen her.

It was his voice that finally broke the silence.

"Are you still in pain?"

Hitomi knew that he wasn't referring to the dull ache between her legs. It was a question she wasn't ready for yet, because she wasn't quite sure on how to answer it. So instead she pressed a featherlight kiss to his collarbone before murmuring sleepily against him.

"Aishiteru."