A Dying Flame

[Tado]

What will you do now? You can never go back…

Standing under the shade of a tree as the rain continued to come down in sheets, the youth left the voice unanswered. Despite the shelter above him, drops of water continued to drop down on him, making no real difference at all. Crimson clothes drenched, hair clinging to his head, it was difficult to tell if the cascading drops on his face were tears or from the rain.

Violating the set rules of this place that you agreed to follow. Kidnapping a fellow student whom you knew was innocent. An attempt on your brother’s life. Murder of a fallen angel in public view, in HER view. And let’s not forget the darkness in your heart that pulls you away from here..

“shut up..” Hands in his pocket, Vladimir stared off into space as unwanted memories flooded back to him with the voice’s ‘help.’ Face emotionless as time slowly moved forward, he tried once again to ignore his persistent tag along.

She’s better off without you. You know that. When you saved her from being raped, you were secretly jealous, weren’t you? You wanted to be the one whom she turned to, the one she confided in, and ultimately, the one she gave herself to…

Expression growing darker as the voice continued to remind him of his sins, the elemental’s hands balled into fists as they came out of hiding. “Knock it off..” Temper flaring under the downpour, he clenched his teeth.

Face it, your life here is over. You have no one to blame but yourself.. Everything was laid at your feet, and you spat in the faces of those who would have fought for you, even died for you. How you live with yourself is beyond me…

“Screw you!” Turning around suddenly, his fist slammed into the trunk of the tree, hand bathed in scarlet flames. As drops of water came down in a sheet from the impact, he attacked the tree with his other fist. A third blow fell, and the wood splintered under the heat and force. The tree toppled to the side in a noisy crash, leaving Vladimir without protection from the storm above. Panting from the effort, he dropped to his hands and knees. Tears mixed in with the rain traveled down his cheeks, landing on his blood stained and bruised knuckles as he softly whispered, trembling. "..damn it..”

[Trix]

"As you can see, the Hypotenuse of....."

Justine's pale azure eyes flickered to the sky as her first period teacher droned on about something that she viewed as irrelevant. Worrying her lower lip between her teeth, she dropped her head onto her desk.

How long had it been? Since the blood bath at the torture shacks? She furrowed her brows and sat properly again while placing a hand over her stomach where the scar lay. That day had been hell. She clsoed her eyes and manipulated her black, corset styled shirt before flipping a few peices of her ebony and ivory hair over a pale shoulder.

She sighed, annoyedly and turned her attention to the nearest window. Rain fell against it rythmicly, like tears from the clouds. She frowned softly, until a loud cracking noise pulled her from ehr thoughts.

Instantly, she was standing staring out the window, down where the trees stood, an inquisitive expression upon her beautiful face. The sight of crimson had her heart racing. Could it be?
A large smile broke through her facade, and she threw an open hand against the glass. "Vlad?!"

Turning, and making her way through the crowd of students who had clustered near to see what had happened; Justine ran.

Once she'd made her way to the front exit of the school, she stepped out, a grin plastered to her soft lips.

The air around her sizzled as rain came down, touching her heated skin, and evaporating with haste. As of late, she'd been less and less able of controlling her elemental abilities. They were closely linked with her emotional stand-point.

As rain pleated against her pale skin, she moved toward him, scarcely believing her eyes. She'd dreampt of this moment; for what seemed so long. She took in a sharp breath. "...Vlad;" Tears filled her saphire eyes as she came closer to him, and ran trembling fingers against a broad shoulder.

[Tado]

Flinching as he felt someone’s hand, he slowly glanced back. It was too gentle and comforting to be who he thought it was. His heart skipped a beat at the familiar face, and he quickly rose to his feet, slipping once in the slick grass. Cheeks flushing at the act, he smiled lightly, chuckling in a nervous manner. Standing straight, it was hard to tell again if he was crying, or if the rain was mimicking the movement of tears on his face. “Justine..”

Body moving without thinking, he caught himself embracing the girl, holding her tight in his arms. She was warm to the touch, probably from emotional stress, yet, somehow it just seemed right, at that moment. Cold and alone, it was a mind numbing bliss to finally lay eyes upon the reason he strove to live on through his past troubles. Whispering into her ears, his eyes shut tight. “I’m sorry..”

He had been afraid of losing her. Afraid that she might have decided that he was not worth remembering. Afraid that he had been too late. Expression soft, he looked at her with a caring smile. How long had he waited to see her again? How many times would he had let himself die, were it not for memories of her? How many times did he die, recalling those happy days? “It’s good to finally see you again..”

[Trix]

Her azure eyes shimmered with laughter as he slipped and blushed. She shook her head and smiled before placing a gentle hand on his cheek and wiping away what appeared to be tears; or rain, she couldn't tell.

When he brought her into his arms, a wave of relief soothed her fried nerves, and a shudder escaped her. It had seemed like an eternity had passed; she'd waited for so long.. and he had finally returned. She pressed her face into his shoulder, and attempted to get a hold of her emotions. His voice in her ears had a fire errupt in her stomach, butterflies whirrling about within. She gave him a soft squeeze. "Don't be..."

When the hug had loosened, she blinked at him with soft, eyes of compassion and adoration. She smiled and quirked a brow before letting her trade-mark devilish grin crease her lips. "Only good?" She teased lightly, before sobering and nodding slowly. "I missed you so much..." She whispered softly, expression filled with an almost unfamilliar happiness. It had been so long since she'd smiled; so long since she'd been able to let her worried mind rest. He was finally home-- he was finally hers.

[Tado]

The long forgotten feel of happiness was mutual to them both. Smiling in earnest for the first time in a while, Vladimir sighed as she returned his hug. The warmth of her body was comforting in the cold rain. Brows raising as she gave him a grin after replying, he felt his cheeks heat up a little again before smiling back at the girl. "I never was good with words... And I've missed you, too, Justine.."

Her name rang like a bell to him. It always sounded heavenly compared to the harsh things he had heard and had said these past few months. But he didn't have to worry about that, anymore. His brother was being taken care of, and he had removed that infernal collar from his neck. Granted he still had the problem with Vixy, but he didn't care at the moment.

Gently resting his forehead against hers, he continued to smile. "I know..that I haven't always made you proud, and that I've done terrible things in the past.. What has been done can never change, but I don't think I could go on into the future without you. Please be patient for me. I want to change.. For you."

[Trix]

When he rested his forehead aginast hers, she looked up inte his eyes with her bright, ice hued eyes, a sober expression on her face as he spoke. Gently, she moved a hand to the side of his face, slender fingers resting themselves against his cheek. "You are my future Vlad." She murmured gently, hand moving from his cheek to his neck, gently stroking his skin with adoration. She smiled and rubbed her nose against his, an affectionate gesture that spoke volumes.

"I will be as patient as you need me to be.." She wrapped her arms tightly around him, smiling at the steam cloud that was forming around them because of the heat radiating off of her. She shook her head slightly before closing her eyes and sighing in the warm, bliss that enveloped her heart. "I love you Vlad; and nothing will ever change that. Past, Present, Future; I don't care. I'm yours; completely."

[Tado]

His smile remained as she continued to display her fondness of him. There was nothing he could hide from her tender gaze, and just looking into her eyes helped to remove the weights of life that had burdened his soul for quite some time. Selfishness, greedy, spiteful, rude, all terms Vladimir had come to associate himself with, all just seemed to wash away along with his guilt. There was no need to guard his feelings now. Not with her.

In the very least, he was content, and his expression showed it. Despite what many believed in the past few hellish weeks, he only managed to pull through to see Justine again. And as tears started to trail down from his eyes at her actions his embrace around her tightened as well. His voice quietly whispered in her ear as he responded to her confession with an embarassed, if not happy, grin.

"Justine, I..! I love you too! I don't care what happens to me anymore.. But if I had to live my life without you.. It'd be the same as being dead! A part of me just wants to run away with you from all this, but another part of me knows that the man you fell in love with never ran from anything! And if that's the man that has your heart, then that's the man I want to be!"