Till it wilts

By: Kero-sama.

Summary:"How long will you love me…?" The girl asked, her eyelids drooping. The man smirked and leaned close to her, next to her ear and whispered: "I will love you till this rose wilts…" 69fem27. Oneshot.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except this story plot.

In a room were two figures, one was a woman with light toffee colored hair and eyes. She was lying on a bed in the room. Her attention was on the window in the room. She watched as the snow came and went. She looked at the man who sat on the side of the bed. The man noticed her stare and looked at her. His eyes had an empty look on them. He was hunched up and looked worn out. Not only that, there was a swirl of other emotions in his eyes but just seeing them made the girl feel sad and a bit regretful.

There was sadness, depression, loneliness, desperation, guilt, and a hint of fear in his eyes. She had never seen these emotions in his eyes and silently hoped that he would never have this look on his face again…

She gave him a smile which he tried to return, but failed to. The woman looked at him and said:

"Do you remember when we first met...? It was snowing too…" As she said this the woman looked out the window and stared at the pure white ice crystals, which were currently falling from the sky.

The man was surprised with what she said and after a moment gave a half-smile.

"kufufufu… Of course, I remember… How can I forget that fateful day, when I met you…"

Flashback:

In a forest; known as the Bloomwood forest, named that because of the flowers that bloom there… It was a forest where many exotic flowers grew. Though no matter how many beautiful flowers there and no matter how many flowers bloomed, there no one wanted or was going to enter the forest.

The reason was because of an old fable of a vampire living there… The vampire was said to live in a beautiful manor that lied in the middle of the forest. The vampire was said to be a beautiful monster though, more beautiful than the roses he was said to grow.

The vampire was said to feast on human blood. It was also rumored that he had a hypnotic gaze; that he could break others will, by just by staring at them with his mismatched eyes. The monster was also known to especially like feasting on the blood of those who came to his forest and sometimes, when there was no one who accidentally wandered in. If there were no lost travelers, he would simply go to a nearby village to get a target there.

Tonight was no different; tonight he was going to feast upon prey…

He went to a village that was nearby the forest and as quietly as possible went through the streets without getting noticed. Hiding in the darkness and at the same time he was looking for a prey. After a few minutes of searching he found no one appetizing… He was about to give up and look elsewhere when something caught his eyes.

He saw many of the villagers gathering outside a house bigger than the rest. It was more of an estate than anything else…. The estate like house was beautiful but paled in comparison to his manor. Though what really caught his eyes were that all the villagers gathering were all wearing black: mourning clothes…

When he realized this, he thought about it. "So, someone died?" He thought, though he was a bit unsure. Why he was unsure, was because of the fact of that he knew this town there was a custom of them mourning over their loved ones differently than others; they mourned by giving their dead loved ones, flowers.

The people did look sad, yet they weren't holding a single flower. That only meant one thing…

Someone was going to die tonight…

He looked at the house again and saw that there was light in every window except one. Before he even thought about it, he began to subconsciously head for the window. He stopped only when he heard the crunch of the snow under him; he was brought back to his senses. He then scowled at himself at his foolishness… Why should he care about a mortal? He thought before turning and deciding to get food elsewhere.

Later on that night, he got his food from another village nearby his forest. Though, he made a mistake of going after a flower vendor. When he saw the petals on her body, he remembered the house from the other village…

On the way back to his forest he kept remembering the house and the window without any light. The image of the window kept haunting him and even when he got back to his manor, not even his own flowers could distract him. They actually backfired on him, making him remember the window even more… It went like that for a while until he decided to sate his curiosity, he decided to head back to the village to get a sneak peak then come back to tending his flowers.

He went to the village at top speed wanting to get it over with. He didn't even bother to hide from the mortals; anyways they would only see a blur anyways… He saw the crowd was still there and thought about how he could get to the window without any of them noticing. After a brief moment of thinking he made up his mind. "They can't see me, if they were all asleep…" He thought, his mouth curving upwards to form a smirk.

The area was suddenly misty and people suddenly started falling asleep as the mist grew… Once everyone fell asleep, he took this as his chance. He jumped to the window and was on the ledge. He then opened the window and entered the room.

The room was dark because of the lack of light. Most people would have a hard time navigating through the room, without tripping, falling or breaking anything. But because he was a vampire, he was able to see in the dark and was able to navigate easily without doing any of these things…

He looked around the room. There was a bed, shelves, a table and chair and nothing more… He could hear nothing but a faint heartbeat in the room. It was a weak… He then noticed a shadow on the curtains connected to the bed. The appearance of the figure was covered because the curtain was drawn, so he couldn't see the figure clearly. But he was certain there was a figure there.

He walked forward, towards the bed and when he got to the bed he carefully opened the curtain. He honestly had been expecting an old man… His breath hitched when the only person he saw was a young woman, she was beautiful, and she was peacefully sleeping. Her breathing was even, but she looked a bit pale…

She had a smile on her face and the light from the window on her, gave her a surreal glow which made her look more beautiful in his eyes. With her, he was completely mesmerized and was in a trance… He couldn't think of anything else at that time except her. He was able to get out of his trance when he heard her heartbeat. The last beat just got weaker. He suddenly felt that he had to hurry, otherwise she would die…

That last thought spurred him like nothing else. He quickly scooped her in his arms and he quickly made his way out of the house and the village and back to his manor. He knew time was of the essence…

Flashback End.

He gave her a small smile; though he felt like his heart was breaking, it was just like that time…

She gave him a half-hearted scolding look. "Did you know how confused I was at that time? When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was you kissing me…"

"Oya oya, what are you talking about…? That can't be counted as a kiss; at the time I was trying to give you my blood… The first kiss should be the one I gave you after you regained consciousness… "He reminded her giving his trademark smirk. Which made her blush and she mumbled. "pervert…"

She said this though she gave him a fond smile… They stayed like this, at a comfortable silence. Though the silence was finally broken when she said: "It's already been three years… Time sure flies, huh… Mukuro?"

She asked him and in return all she got was he turned to glance at her then gave a sigh…

"I know… I never imagined living as I do now, before I met you... A vampire who controls his hunger for blood? I basically weakened myself… But I guess it was worth it… In return I was able to live with you…"

She gave a chuckle at his words… She then reached for him with her hand and he grabbed it without any hesitation. The girl gave a serious look to him but in a matter of seconds it softened. "It's almost time for me to go, Mukuro…"

At her words; Mukuro felt so many emotions that he didn't know how to feel instead he gripped her hand tighter…

"I'm honestly a bit scared, Mukuro… But, if you are holding my hand like this I think I can manage…"

He snapped from his confusion when he heard her call his name… He saw her with a gentle expression on her face; she looked so peaceful, as if she wasn't going to…

He couldn't even finish the thought. He didn't want to finish the thought.

"Mukuro, can I ask you for two things…"

He gave her a soft glance which she understood as a yes. She gave a small squeeze as a sign of gratitude, though he felt her squeeze was more of a light touch…

"Mukuro, after I…" She didn't have to finish it; because when she saw him cringe, she knew he understood…

"Can you place a flower on my grave? I'd appreciate that…" She asked and he only gave a small nod which could hardly be seen, though after being with him for so long she knew it was a sign he would definitely do it…

"The other thing…" She began. "I already know the answer, but I want to hear it from your lips one last time…"

He turned to look at her fully; his free hand began to caress her face…

"How long will you love me?" She asked her eyelids drooping down, but she fought to stay awake to at least hear his answer.

He smirked; his usual smirk and leaned close to her face, right next to her ear and whispered his answer.

"I will love you until this rose wilts…" A rose suddenly appeared in his hand and when the girl saw it, she gave him one last final smile and with that her eyelids finally closed and he felt her hand go limp and her heart beat for the last time…

Silence was all he could hear, he never thought the silence could be deafening- he stared at her figure, she looked like she was just asleep…

Just like the first time they met… It was ironic they had to part the same way… He laid the rose in one of her hands and gently whispered to her:

"Goodnight my beloved, until we meet again… Till then, sleep well…"

Her calling him woke him up from his trance. He looked up from what he was looking at to see his boss looking at him in concern.

"Are you okay? You were spacing out… That's not like you…" She asked her voice had worry in it.

"It's nothing; my dear Vongola… I was just remembering some things…" He answered giving her his usual grin.

She visibly relaxed at the statement… This caused him to chuckle at his lover's actions...

"So what were you remembering…?" She asked him.

"An old memory…" He answered then he looked at the thing she was holding and raised an eyebrow.

Seeing this, she gave him a small smile and answered the unasked question. "Dino-san gave these to me aren't they pretty?"

He looked at them; they were a bouquet of yellow roses… He gave a smile, but it looked more of a smirk… "The meaning fits…"

"Meaning?" She asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Yellow roses mean friendship…" He answered before he reached for the roses and picked one… He grabbed the rose and began to play with it… "Did you know about flowers having their own meanings… Tsuna? Like the red rose for romance and the white rose for eternal love?"

She gave a nod and at her nod he continued. "Then do you know what the blue rose's meaning…?"

She thought about for a minute before answering… "The meaning should be the impossible."

"Why is that?" He asked her amused.

"Because… It's impossible to get a blue rose… Right?" She answered him, though she looked unsure of her own answer.

"Blue roses can carry different meanings, like for example it could stand for dream, illusion or fantasy … They are actually more of improbable then impossible…" He answered her.

"Before, there was one who had grown blue roses... She grew them with the help of her lover… They were her favorites, especially because of the meaning they carried…"

"Oh? What was the meaning…?" She asked him gently.

He smiled at her and leaned closer to her. "The blue roses symbolized undying love… Because just like their meaning, they never wilt…" He said, before going even closer until the there was no distance between them. He held her in his arms and smiled gently at his lover. One of his hands began to caress her cheek tenderly. She placed one of her hands on his cheek and pulled him closer. He saw loving look in her eyes and knew he couldn't resist her. He never could-no matter how many lives they've lived. He then leaned his face even closer to hers and kissed his beloved.

In the forest which used to be called the Bloomwood forest, there were many old stories about it. One was that a vampire used to live there; there was also a tale of a beautiful manor in the middle of the forest. But, no one has really has seen any of these things… So, the story merely stays as a story…

There was another tale much younger than the other two, but it was still an old tale of about the manor; in the middle of the Bloomwood forest, was where the illusive blue roses grew. There were also tales of the travelers of them hearing a woman's soft laughter in the forest…

There were many tales but the tale that stood out the most was an old tale given to the village from a passing traveler. He claimed getting lost in the forest, one day in winter and ran across a beautiful manor. He supposedly wandered around the manor to see if there was anybody there… In the tale; the manor had been deserted but he was said to have seen in the courtyard of the manor, two contrasts among the pure white blanket. One color was from a gray colored stone set as a tombstone, and the other from the glow of brilliant blue from a rose on the grave…

I'm sorry for my late updates and sorry for my grammatical errors.

I really need a beta.

If anyone's interested especially if their forte is romance.