Nothing's like Before

11/4/o8 tues.

She had remembered the first time she had cried in front of him.

It was a sunny day. The sky was cloudless. The forest was quiet, except for the drunken droning of insects as they flew. The world was at peace, even as the warring mind of the waitress fretted over a wanderer that had stopped in last week.

He was so handsome, even with his terribly sad eyes and forced smile. He wasn't human, which should have hindered her adoration for him, but his wolven ears and catty tail only added to her attraction. And he was a traveler, with a past. So she shouldn't have been surprised when she found his room empty the next morning. Tenants come and go all the time. She shouldn't have felt that pang of hurt deep in her chest.

Even so, though she might try to push it off and deny it, it still happened, and she hated herself for allowing such an attachment to such a mysterious man...cat...wolf-thingy... get to her. (He had said he was a "Nymphinity" or something? So... was he a water sprite?)

So when she had headed upstairs for her afternoon nap, and had wistfully looked out of the window, she should have been surprised that the said wanderer was walking down the trail towards her tavern. Well, she was surprised, but mostly she was angry.

'Oh, so he thinks he can just walk back in like everything's fine? He left without so much as a "Thank you, My lady"! Hmph. The nerve on that cat-bear thing... I bet he's only coming to get some more free food!'

And even as she thought her bitter thoughts, her feet carried her out into the hall and down the stairs, and with every step she took, she felt the negativity leave her and in its place, grew child-like excitement.

He had come back!

She reached the doors with a smile on her face, and greeted him with the same smile that welcomed him back.

Later on in the day, they hadn't really had much time to talk. Because of her last encounter with him, Miaka had to make up for her twin being absent the whole night. She had been making Phi do over-time this whole week, as to further discourage her for falling for the tall animal-thing, the guy with the wide brimmed hat. (No one really knew what he was.) But the waitress had managed to make him promise to stay the night. He begrudgingly agreed, even though he smiled at her with his glowing amber eyes.

So she worked all day, only seeing him when his lanky figure stalked in to retrieve some sustenance (and ale). He flashed her a smile that she knew was guarded – only because they were in the middle of the bar room – and watched him leave, before tending to the impatient costumers at the table before her. (Needless to say, they hadn't left her much of a tip.)

It was dark in the bar room as night fell and she gathered the dishes, then dragged herself into the kitchen. She deposited the dishes in the sink before Trace, her brother-in-law, and wiped her hands off on the apron she was wearing.

"There! All done for tonight, Bro."

He nodded once, his shaggy brown hair falling into his eyes in the process. "Thanks."

"Yep. I'm off for tonight, tell Mia I'll be in bed in about an hour." She turned to leave, her hands working behind her back to untie the knot that kept her apron closed, when the smoker's low voice called out to her. She turned, and regarded him with her lilac eyes.

"Phi-chan, I know you're young and fragile, with probably too much hope for your own good, but I just want you to know that love isn't behind every corner. I know Marsuro is too much of a stiff for someone as fiery as you, but you know him and he's reliable. I bet if you worked at it, maybe you two could work things out." He sighed here and looked down at the sink and the soapy water in the sink over, before bringing his gaze back up to hers. "It's just that Mia's worried about you and she's concerned you may have feelings for this Arca guy. Just be careful, that's all. You never know what kind of person he is..."

A long moment of silence hung in the air, and after a moment, Phoenix pulled once at the strap behind her and it fell apart. She turned and continued to walk toward the swinging double doors as she lifted the apron above her head and let it fall in a heap on the kitchen floor. She exited quietly.

Her purple gaze lay trained on the wooden floor boards of the bar room as she walked through it.

Mia was worried? She guess she had every right to be, but Arca wouldn't harm her. He just didn't seem like that type of guy. And Trace was worried too... But that's because he hadn't talked with Arca yet. She didn't know everything about the man, but she could at least vouch for the fact that she knew he was a gentle giant.

Why... How could they have such irrational thoughts about him? And it's not like she even loved the guy – they had just met! She groaned and pressed her hands over her eyes as she entered the first floor hallway where he was staying tonight.

As she passed by the stairs, she bumped into something warm and unexpected. She made a small noise of surprise in the back of throat, and when strong hands clamped down on her upper arms, she pulled her hands away and glanced up at the icy blue eyes that peered down at her from behind the lenses.

"Marsuro! I'm sorry, I–"

"Wasn't watching where you were going? There's no surprise there – you're an airhead." The mage released her arms and took a step back, folding his arms over the chest of his navy blue robe as he scowled down at her.

She narrowed her eyes at him and figured if she got into an argument with him now, she's be taking time away from her visit with Arca. So she put her hands on her hips and faced him head on. "What do you want?"

Here, the young wizard sniffed haughtily at the air. "The usual, of course. A cup of cider before bed always makes the dreams sweeter."

"Right, well, you know where it is by now, so get it yourself. I'm busy," and moved past him to continue down the hall.

"To see the tall man that came in today? The same one that came in last week."

She stopped, but didn't turn to face him. "What's it to you?"

"Nothing. It's just that you're proving my point. You know, the fact that you're nothing more than a tramp and will sleep with anyone within five miles." He continued on, even as he saw her body tense. His voice filled her ears with its revulsion. "I'll bet you're only with him because he tells you sweet lies, as though he actually cares about a whore like you. Disgusting..."

And as she turned around to give him a piece of her mind, the flap of his robe disappeared behind the threshold to the bar room, and she figured 'What's the point...?'

She allowed her shoulders to sink, and even debated about going to see the entrancing stranger tonight. But her feet carried her down the hall and to the right, over to the only occupant on this side of the hall.

Numbly, she knocked on the door and turned the handle before she even heard a reply. The door opened smoothly and the hallway light flooded in the dark room in the shape of an obtuse rectangle, and she found him sitting on the floor at the bottom of the bed, illuminated by that same misshapen rectangle. He turned his head toward her and smiled, light yellow eyes peering at her from the dim light. She would have trembled, but instead she tightened her hold on the door knob in her hand.

No words were said for a long time, and the kind stranger broke the silence first.

"Is something wrong, My lady? Would you prefer to sit on the bed for this discussion? I have no qualms about it whatsoever, Phoenix-san. Although I would have to worry about your honor..." he said softly, although his voice held a slightly playful tone to it. A joke. A simple teasing remark.

She said nothing for a while, as she stared down at the floor boards by her feet.

'My lady... Phoenix-san...'

He had come back.

"Sweetling, I'll come back soon, okay? I promise..."

He had come back...

The tears had welled up in her eyes before she had even realized her vision of the floor blurred, and they spilled from her eyes and streaked down her cheeks, as though her tears were in a race to see which was the first to humiliate her in front of this man.

At first no one moved, and she continued to stare down at the wobbly wood beneath her feet, until she could hold it in no longer, and let out a small, pitiful sob.

She felt his arms pull her close, and was astonished at his grace, especially since she hadn't known when he had gotten up and moved. Her wet face pressed into his dusty grey cotton shirt, and as she inhaled to release another choked out sob, she breathed in the scent of dirt and sweat, some coppery smell which she couldn't place but had her suspicions about, and pine.

He held her in the open door way of his room, and in the back of her mind knew that this was probably a very hard thing for such a private man to do. But as she leaned on him and allowed his quiet strength to take her weight, and as she curled her arms between his neck and the propped up collar to his trench, she was selfish and didn't care.

Because if he could hold her like this without a second guess, and whisper to her that it was going to be all right, if he could pet her long ponytail and back with his large, strong hands in a way that made her never want to leave his arms, then she knew that she was proving what everyone thought about him, wrong right now.

Happy that he was the opposite of what everyone had told her about him, she smiled a watery smile and cried against the growing damp spot against his shoulder. "You came back! You came back...!" she managed to choke out in between sobs.

She felt his large body expand as he drew in a deep breath, then sag as he released it in a slow and deep sigh. When he spoke, this time it was much softer than his reassurances of the future – possibly only meant for himself – and he turned his lips to allow his words to brush over the shell of her ear, his breath warming her skin. "How could I not...?"

Her response was to hold onto him tighter.

Owari!