Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to Matsuri Hino. The story is mine.

A/N: This takes place after Chapter 53, where Yuuki meets Zero again one year later after leaving with Kaname.

Just a Moment of Weakness

Zero.

The name was like an echo branded in her mind in sync with the racing beats of her heart.

Why did he have to be there?

Everything. Everything she'd tried to build up for the pass year, blown to smithereens. Yuuki smiled the right way, talked the right way, wore the cumbersome heels and that tiresome dress fit for a princess. And just the millisecond their gazes caught, Yuuki felt like crying; something she hadn't found the need to do in a long time.

She roamed the deserted hallways and corridors like a ghost. Yuuki could've been easily found by Kaname-senpai or some evil vampire but honestly, she could've cared less. All she wanted was a way out. Out of this place, out of this dreaded prison. Just for a little while.

She breathed in the night air deeply when she found the threshold to a small nondescript garden that fit her ideals. An angel fountain carved entirely out of marble spewed water, crazed and chipped in areas, rivulets of water running down the angel's cheeks.

The vast sky was a velvet blanket of indigo, the ground a carpet of grass, stones and dirt. Yuuki felt at peace. She was always comfortable with the dark, even as a child. And now she knew that probably was because she was a vampire, a child of the night. She smiled as she regarded her surroundings in serenity and then- she saw him.

Her breath hitched and caught at her throat. Now that she saw him, she wondered why she didn't see him in the first place. His silhouette sprang out to her like a log surfacing from still water.

Great. Just the person she wanted to see. Yuuki mused bitterly. Just seeing him brought up too many painful memories, too many bitter feelings, and most of all just the simple realization of what could've been. The overwhelming sense of hurt engulfed her, threatened to pull her under, to bring her down, but it was her rationalism and astounding clarity that kept her at bay. She was always really good at keeping herself under control.

At least for a while.

Zero stood by the lone tree among the flower-dense evergreens: tall, still and silent. His back was to her, a palm on the weather-roughened bark, head lifted to the foliage above, as if it held the greatest mystery in the world.

Should she stay or should she go?

If she stayed, it would be flat out awkwardness. What would she say? Was there anything to say really? Yuuki never could really deal with the intensity of his gaze that always seemed to bore through her soul. If she couldn't deal with it before, did she think she could deal with it now?

For a moment she contemplated, and just as she was about to flee with her tail tucked between her legs, his steady voice stopped her tracks.

"You shouldn't be here."

Yuuki's spine snapped straight as Zero turned around to face her. He was much the same like she remembered, with his silver hair brought out by the phosphorescence, and those deep, depth-filled eyes, irises the colour of mercury flecked with lavender. She seethed. How dare he? How dare he use that lifeless tone with her as if they were perfect strangers?

Instead, all that came out was, "I could say the same thing to you."

Zero's lips remained in that humourless, grim line she could trace in her sleep, and instantly she was reminded how good-looking he really was. "I can be wherever I want to be. Unlike you, princess." The word was like a slap in her face, and she struggled to suppress the urge to yell at him. But then it dawned on her that it must look exactly like that. She looked exactly like a pureblood vampire princess. What with her elegant heels and her long, flowing empire-waist gown, with fine lace, frills and silk. Not to mention antique jewellery, and she was dripping with it.

Her attire was nothing her tomboyish self would ever touch, let alone wear one year ago. But the thing that unnerved her most of all was the way Zero drew out that last word. It made her heart do erratic hammers before dropping to her stomach and then lodging itself firmly in her throat. He wasn't sarcastic really, or even cutting.

It was more like he had accepted what she was and she was not the person he once knew, or cared for, even.

She was no longer his Yuuki. Zero's Yuuki.

He acted like her previous self was dead.

She was at lost for words for the first time that night. Give her upper-class vampires and she just took whatever they said with a grain of salt. Give her Zero and she was completely speechless.

He made to move towards the entrance where she came in from, his feet making not a sound. It was just the way he moved, the simple arch of his shoulders and his firm unrelenting gait that made the tears come to her brown eyes. It was just the familiarity of his walk, of him, that made her break down. She crumpled to the ground. Now Yuuki just felt like bawling her eyes out, felt like screaming and hitting the ground and ripping off her flimsy dress, but most of all—

She wanted to be in his arms again.

And she said so.

"Zero—" She cried and she cried, and she felt the heat of him drawing nearer and she was almost sure he was going to kill her but he startled her when he tugged her to her feet with a force she didn't know he had and crushed her to him.

His callused fingers brushed her neck, her arms, her cheeks and her temples. Just touching everywhere he could.

"—Yuuki-" His voice ached with wanting her, needing her, husky and tamping down emotions that were too dark, too tempting, and too dangerous to even think about.

God, just touching her felt so right, like everything was whole, was as perfect as it could ever be. He brought the familiar face in front of his with his wide palms, memorizing, memorizing, and always remembering.

Yuuki's hands ran over his body as did his, over his broad shoulders, down his face, his neck, exploring, seeking. He groaned low in his throat, softly, when she grazed his chest and did wicked things to his insides. Unable to contain his hunger for another second, Zero dropped all his morals, his beliefs and the reasons he told himself he was living for.

There was only Yuuki, and God knows there wasn't anything else that mattered to begin with.

He brought down his lips on hers, hard, as she gasped but clung to him even more desperately, her fingers practically digging into his back as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He pushed her thighs up to wrap around him, and she succumbed willingly, all the while kissing, kissing, and kissing as if there were no tomorrow.

Yuuki moaned softly when Zero bit on her bottom lip and tugged, tongues clashing and curling wildly together. She felt her heart beating in an almost abnormal speed, and that his heartbeat was mimicking hers. It was all so overwhelming while their heads moved in synchronization, lips pressed hotly against each other.

It was as if they didn't need to come up for air, and only the other was the only thing to keep themselves from drowning. Zero raked his fingers through the length of her long, dark hair, pulling it, twirling it around his fingers and rubbing it against his cheek. He mouth moved over Yuuki's with unyielding strength and power, his hard over her soft.

But finally, his lips moved down, down to her neck, the pale white stretch of skin with the map of thin blue veins in it that never failed to mock him, even in his sleep. He kissed her neck gently, sucking the tender skin, then moved in for the kill.

Zero bit down on the skin and broke it, releasing the blood that he yearned for every waking moment of his being. Hell, even when he was asleep he dreamed about it. The red liquid poured into his mouth in spurts and he swallowed it greedily. And he knew, even if he devoured every single drop of her blood, he would never be fully satisfied. His love for her would never truly die. Bearing that in mind, Zero pulled back and released her.

He noted how dark her eyes were and how bruised and swollen her lips were from kissing and he couldn't help the faint tug in his heart at the sight of her, with her dark brown hair and eyes. It was just a small pull, but it was there and it was enough.

And he knew, despite whatever he wanted to tell himself, the Yuuki he loved and yearned for was still there. There were changes, of course there were; but it was never going to be enough for him to ever cease the twist of his heart at the sight of her, or the flames in his throat just because there was a whiff of her in the air.

She was still there. She always would be.

But that never changed the fact that he could never have her.

And Zero knew that.

As they drew away from each other, something shifted in the air, and they both felt it, and knew it, acknowledged it.

There can never be another time like this. They were caught at a weak moment. And this was a slip-up, a misdemeanor. And there will be no more mistakes next time. For the next time, they would be enemies. Zero will fulfill his vow to slay all vampires, and Yuuki—she would continue to run from him, as the only thing keeping him alive was her existence.

Walking away from her, no one said a word as his charcoal coat billowed in the brisk wind that soughed in harmony with their regrets and silence.

Hysterical Cookie (now Lollipop Lady) (: