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Standard disclaimer: I don't own the series.
AN: Okay~! Hello once again! Ahah, there was nothing much to note last chapter, so I won't really recap... uh, actually, I guess there was, but I'm being lazy right now. (pouts) It's been a long weekend, let me tell you. Actually, I think I'll skip it because it has nothing to do with the actual story.
Right-o. Anyway, this is a special chapter. My inner fangirl has once again crawled her way up to the surface and I need an outlet for the insane fluffyness that is threatening to spill over. Yeah, I blame it on the Cardcaptor Sakura manga set I picked up over the weekend. lol
So, instead of going immediately to Angel Tower, the party is going to be making a pit stop at the Godwin Foundation... and Wyatt is going to make Ryu squirm with a long overdue talk about the birds and the bees... ehehee... That little conversation is like the sister conversation to Yuki and Nina’s conversation. It was also inspired by Lord Kain. Heehee!
This chapter was originally titled “Date of Destiny,” but since Ryu and Nina haven’t even confessed that they love each other, I found the title lacking a little. All well. Maybe another chapter then.
Well, here are the reviews:
Meeerf: OMG!!! It’s Meeerf! HIYA!!! Hee! Yeah, this story is pretty self explanatory. I mean, having a little knowledge of the fandom might help, but not really. I tend to explain stuff in detail. Lots and lots of detail. Yeah, Dammerung means Twilight. The story is actually Twilight of the Gods, but I thought Dammerung der Gotter sounded much more cool and ominous. (shrugs) all well. Heh, glad you can keep everyone straight. Hmn, that works well, too (smiles) thanks for the suggestion. Thanks for liking the story so far. Heh. Take your time reading. I’ll be here when you finish.
Well, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
Realistically, it would have been better if the group had gone straight to Angel Tower and tried to get the Sky Key. It seemed like every single time that Ryu and his group managed to get to a location, another force seemed to be right there, ready to take the Key for themselves.
Of course, Ryu’s party already had one Key, the Earth Key. If Gideon, Legence, or whoever else was after the Keys, Ryu’s group was already one up on them. This of course, led Ryu to feeling a bit smug about the whole situation.
Well, until Yuki bluntly pointed out that Aaron might have actually taken the Light Key. Jin, of course, interjected that Aaron probably already had the Light Key. Yuki wanted to beat her brother up right then and there, but Manna stepped in and stopped the siblings from killing each other.
Ryu, of course, knew there was another reason they were not going to Angel Tower right away. Yuki, Jin, and Wyatt had apparently not taken the news of Aaron still alive very well. Ryu didn’t know about Jin, but he knew that Wyatt and Yuki needed the time to recompose themselves before they took off after the next Key.
So, in a strange twist, Manna suggested that they head off for the Godwin Foundation for a little R and R. Ryu, of course, had asked why not Shevat. Manna said nothing other than Wyatt might like to go home. Wyatt argued with Manna for a total of five seconds before finding himself in a headlock, courtesy of Manna.
Wyatt begrudging agreed to go to the Foundation, if only to get out of the Headlock of Death. Manna had then let him go, grinning to herself. Wyatt had only rubbed his head and commented on Manna’s strength. Manna glared at him and that was that.
The Godwin Foundation was one of the more recent world powers. Many survivors from Lahan came here for shelter after Lahan was destroyed. The Foundation is named after its founder, Johnothan Godwin, who runs the Foundation along with his grandson, Wyatt Godwin. The Foundation is a neutral power that allows all clans to visit and even move to its city. It's located in the Urkan Region because that was the most convenient place at the time. The Foundation is known for helping out other nations in times of great need.
The Foundation was also a favorable vacation spot. Unlike the popular Isle of Shevat, the Foundation is covered with skyscrapers, but plant life is still in abundance all over the city. The Foundation is rumored to have been built with the tools and knowledge that created Caer Xhan, but of course that’s just a rumor.
The city was also a favorite for young couples. The city held a romantic atmosphere that none could explain. Either way, Manna figured that it would be a nice place to let the group relax. Ryu hadn’t figured it out, but she knew that Jin had… and from the looks on Yuki and Wyatt’s faces, so had they.
It was only Ryu and Nina that were clueless.
Heh, well a quick stop and some subtle nudging from their hyper traveling companions should get the two finally in gear.
At least, that was the game plan. Manna didn’t usually play matchmaker, but this dancing around the subject was beginning to get on her nerves.
So, Operation: Get Nina and Ryu to Hook Up was currently underway. Manna wanted to hit Yuki for the cheesy title, but wasn’t that what it had really come to? The two were moving at the speed of snail. Manna had laid out the plan to Yuki, Jin, and Wyatt and told them what they needed to do. Wyatt was first up to bat.
Manna only hoped that this didn’t backfire royally in their faces.
Wyatt had used some excuse to get Ryu off by himself. Wyatt’s purpose was to make Ryu squirm.
Hehe.
So, Wyatt had dragged Ryu downtown and the two were currently sitting around on a patio at one of the pizza parlors, munching down on breadsticks. Being the leader of the Foundation apparently had some benefits, seeing that they got the food for free.
“So, did you and Nina do it?” Wyatt asked casually between bites of his breadstick.
Ryu nearly choked on his food. “W-what?” Ryu asked, a little more than startled. “Did WHAT?”
“You know, back when you two slept in the same bed at Rosethrone. Did you do it?” Wyatt lazily waved his hand in the air.
“I… have no idea what you are talking about!” Ryu snapped, trying to recover from Wyatt’s sudden personal question.
“Ugh… you can’t be that naïve. Okay, I will spell it out for you: did you and Nina screw each other?”
Ryu’s face paled. “Whu…?” Ryu’s voice squeaked.
Wyatt smirked. This was going to be fun. “Okay, maybe that was the wrong word chose. Okay, let’s try again. Did you and Nina do the Horizontal Bop? Were you making the beast with two backs? Practice the Drunken Dragon style of kung fu? Did you…”
“My god, ENOUGH!” Ryu screamed, his face turning bright red. “What is it any of your business?! FUCK! You are only twelve! Why are we even having this conversion?!”
Wyatt shrugged. “Oh, I dunno. Just trying to figure out if Nina was a virgin or not.”
“Why?” Ryu asked in a slightly strained voice.
“Well, Nina’s kinda hot and if she is a virgin, then perverts will be on her like white on rice,” Wyatt said. “I mean, its not like you two are officially dating or anything.”
Ryu growled. “What makes you say that…”
“You SLEPT in the same bed with the heir to a kingdom and didn’t have kinky sex!!!! What other conclusions should I draw from that?”
Ryu muttered something under his breath. “Nothing at all. I love Nina, but I don’t want to do anything to degrade her. She’s not some shameless hussy or anything. She’s… special.”
“You’re scared, aren’t you?” Wyatt grinned. “That reminds me, are you a virgin?”
Ryu looked like he wanted to kill Wyatt at that moment. “What’s that any of your business?!”
“Oh, I understand,” Wyatt smiled. “Its okay. It takes a real man to admit that he’s a…”
“Fuck you!” Ryu yelled. “Fine…” he said in a quite voice. “I am not a virgin…”
Wyatt did a double take. Yuki had said that she had him figured for a virgin. “You’re… not? You have actually slept with… How many…”
Ryu grinned slightly. “None of your business,” Ryu said as he got up.
“Where are you going?” Wyatt asked.
“To find Nina.”
“Why?”
Ryu shot Wyatt a death glare and stalked off. Wyatt hmmed to himself for a moment and stood up. “Did you get all of that?” Wyatt said to the person standing right behind him.
“Every word of it,” Yuki grinned slightly. She tapped the camcorder in her left hand. “If anything, this will make great blackmail for later use.”
“Remember, we are trying to get them hooked up, no funny stuff,” Manna said as she crossed her arms.
Wyatt grinned. “I still can’t believe that you are in on this.”
Manna shrugged. “Why not? It’s not like I have anything else better to do. Besides, I enjoy making Dragonboy squirm.”
Wyatt and Yuki nodded in agreement. “It is kinda fun,” Yuki giggled.
Wyatt shoved his hands in his back pockets. “So, now what do we do? Follow them?”
“Sounds good to me!” Yuki said as she flipped her camcorder back on.
Jin had excused himself right before Yuki and Wyatt drew for what role they would play in Manna’s little plan. He had not wanted anything to do with anything they were going to cook up. If he remembered correctly, he had gotten Manna, Troy, and himself in too much trouble back in the day. He didn’t need any repeats.
Besides, he had other things he had to attend to. For starters, the second he stepped into the city, he felt a presence. He knew who it was. He also knew that that person had some explaining to do.
It was around the business district when he found the shop. To be more precise, it was a mechanics shop that mainly dealt with repairing old devices. He thought nothing of it when he walked into the shop. He walked up to the counter and stood there for a few minutes.
Sure enough, a minute later, a young man came running out one of the back rooms. He was a young man in his middle twenties, with brownish red, messy, short hair, dressed in a white teeshirt and blue jeans. He glanced up at Jin and gave the older man a nervous smile.
“Can I help you?” the young man asked.
Jin crossed his arms. “You don’t remember me, do you?”
The man gave Jin a confused look. “Um… oh! Dr. Uzuki?”
Jin nodded. “Hello, Wes.”
“Um… how did you even know I was here?” Wes began to look slightly nervous.
Jin grinned slightly, “I didn’t. Don’t worry, I’m not here to kill you or anything. There was something that I had to check out.”
Wes looked relieved. “Oh, okay. Um… and what’s that?”
“Your boss’ new assistant,” Jin said. “Momo. She’s my daughter.”
Wes nervously ran a hand through his hair. “Well, uah really? Do you want me to go get her?”
Jin shook his head. “No. I just wanted to make sure she was safe. I don’t want her involved with…”
“Doc?” Wes said. “Is something up? Is Yuki okay?”
Jin nodded. “We’re fine. It’s just… complicated. Yuki’s in the city, if you want to see her.”
“Ah, no thanks. I mean, yeah we dated in high school, but ah… she was just a little too crazy for my tastes. I couldn’t keep up with her. I’d rather just be friends.”
Jin nodded. “I see. Well, I’ll tell her you said hi anyway.”
Jin turned to leave the shop, but Wes motioned him back. “Do you want me to tell Momo that you were here?”
Jin thought for a moment. “No, don’t tell her. She’ll just worry. I have the feeling that I will see her very soon.”
And with that, Jin walked out of the shop, leaving behind a very confused Wes.
Ryu wasn’t sure whether he wanted to hit Wyatt or kill him. How could that little vertically challenged brat talk to him like that? Just what was game plan? Ryu could swear that Wyatt was trying to make him look like an idiot.
Ryu loved Nina. He had fallen in love with her the moment he saw her, all those years ago. He also knew that Nina liked him a lot too. She had said as much. He also had the suspicion that Nina might love him back, but he wasn’t really sure.
Nina was… special to him. He just couldn’t stand the thought of hurting her in any way. When he had seen her die, back during the Contest of Champions, he had lost it. Something within him had snapped and he had Raged.
The mere thought of anything happening to Nina made his blood run cold. He knew that it was too dangerous for Nina to be accompanying him on this dangerous quest. The princess, however, was not going to take no for an answer. He knew that she would follow him to the ends of the earth and then some, just to be with him.
That mere thought scared him more than anything he had ever faced in his life. He knew that Nina was willing to lay her life on the line if it was to protect him. He still retained some of his memories from past lives… past Ninas declaring their love for their blue haired Dragon Princes.
Ryu shook his head. He had never been one for allow past lives to influence his decisions. If he loved Nina, it was because HE loved her, Ryu Laurante, not Ryu the Dragon Warrior, the Destined Child. Not Ryu, the hero of Destiny.
He knew that time was running out. He knew that he didn’t have long. The disease he held was quickly taking its toll on his body. He didn’t know how much longer he had. He could have days, months at the best.
He knew that he was going to have to act fast. Even if Nina didn’t love him back, he was going to tell her. It might have been selfish, but he wasn’t exactly a shining example of goodness. Being a perverted bounty hunter did that to you.
Ryu walked along the boardwalk, next to the beach, deep in thought. Where exactly would Nina be? Ryu glanced around and spotted Nina down on the beach, watching the tide role in. Nina had let her waist length hair out of its ponytail and it was gently being pushed back by the gentle breeze.
Ryu smiled to himself and jumped off the bridge and slowly walked over to Nina. He smiled as he tapped her on the shoulder. Nina turned around, a surprised look on her face. She smiled when she saw it was Ryu. She turned her body to face him.
“Nice day, isn’t it?” Nina asked.
“Yeah,” Ryu blushed slightly.
“Ryu?” Nina asked. She caught the blush on his cheeks.
“Un? Oh,” Ryu nervously laughed. “Heh, can we talk for a moment?”
Nina looped her arm around Ryu’s. “Sure,” she said as she gently pulled Ryu’s arm.
Both of them walked along the shoreline in silence. Ryu still had that silly grin on his face and Nina was blushing slightly. They walked in silence for a moment before Ryu finally cleared his throat.
“Um… Nina?” Ryu began, but Nina suddenly cut him off.
“You know… remember in Rosethorn, when we…you know…” Nina mumbled.
“Uh, yeah?” Ryu asked. “Um, actually, that was what I wanted to talk to you about…”
“I’m…. sorry for… um… you know…” Nina said, stumbling over her words a little bit.
Ryu stopped. “What…? Sorry for what?”
Nina hung her head, her hair covering her face. “I… was just scared… I guess… I didn’t mean to bother you that night. I don’t even know why I came… I mean… I…”
Ryu smiled. Nina was just so cute when she stuttered. He gently took her chin in his hand and lifted her face up to look at him. “Nina, don’t ever think that you are being a bother to me. I care about you too much to think that.”
Nina blushed brightly. “Ryu… the truth is… I mean…”
Ryu blushed slightly. “I… Nina…” Ryu let go of Nina’s chin and closed his eyes in frustration.
“Ryu?” Nina gave Ryu a confused look. “Did I say something wrong…?”
Ryu opened his eyes and smiled. “No. Nina the thing is… gods… I’m so selfish…” Ryu muttered as he ran a hand through his spiked blue hair.
“Selfish?” Nina asked. “How can you say that?” Nina placed her hands on her hips. “You are so NOT selfish! Not after everything that you’ve done! Furthermore…”
“No, that’s not what I meant,” Ryu said, an amused look on his face. “What I meant was… I’m selfish because I want you…”
“Huh?” Nina suddenly blurted out.
“Please, listen to me before you say anything,” Ryu said. “Nina… I love you. I have loved you since I first met you. I mean, you cared about some fugitive that you didn’t know anything about. You cared about me even after I lied to all of you about who I really was. You still cared about me even after I vanished and didn’t tell you that I was a live for ten years. You missed me, even though I haven’t been fair to you…
“Gods, I love you Nina. I couldn’t ever think about what I would do if you decided to leave… leave me. Nina, you’re all I can think of. I am constantly worrying about you… what if you get hurt? So many what ifs. If I was a selfless man, I would have made you stay in Wyndia… but I’m very selfish… I wanted you with me, by my side… Oh, I dunno… you’re all I can think about… I don’t know what I’d do if you decided to leave…”
Nina could only stare at Ryu in shock and amazement. Ryu caught the look. “Uh… well?”
Nina shook her head. “Well, what?” Nina smiled and threw her arms around Ryu’s neck. “Oh Ladon! Ryu I love you too!”
Ryu returned Nina’s embrace. “Really? I mean, I knew that you liked me, but…”
“But what?” Nina asked. “ I came with you because I love you. I made myself stronger so I could stand with you in battle… so I wouldn’t slow you down. I can’t imagine my life you without you. When I thought that you died, it almost killed me, too. Ryu, I love you so much I can’t think straight sometimes…”
Ryu smiled slightly. “Nina…” Ryu began but Nina pressing her lips against Ryu’s quickly silenced him. Ryu stood there, shocked for a moment, but then pressed his lips against Nina's.
On the bridge, Yuki was videotaping the confessions of Ryu and Nina on her camcorder. Beside her, leaning against the railing, was Wyatt, a smug grin on his face. Behind them was Manna, standing with her arms crossed.
“Well, its about time,” Manna said.
Yuki giggled. “Good thing that this thing can pick up on noise from that far away.”
Wyatt smirked. “So, we are technically spying on Ryu and Nina’s first date, eh?”
Manna nodded. “Well, its not like we have anything else better to do with our free time,” Manna said. “Well, other than go bar hopping, but I think that Wyatt’s a little young for that.”
“Manna!” Wyatt whined. “Not you too!”
Yuki grinned. “Oh, this is perfect! They’re kissing!”
“Ryu moves fast,” Wyatt said.
“Actually, Nina was the first one to make a move,” Manna said.
“What are you three doing?” Jin asked as he walked up from behind the amused trio.
Yuki grinned and shut off the camcorder and hid it behind her back. “Oh, nothing much. Just playing Cupid.”
Jin looked at Manna, who had an amused grin on her face. “You were the mastermind behind this?”
Manna nodded. “I was bored.”
Jin shook his head and waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t tell me… I don’t want to know.”
To be continued…