Look at Me - Part 12.
Disclaimer: Same as in previous parts...
Pairing: Yohji x Aya/Ran
Warnings: Yaoi, Shounen-ai, Language, Poetry, Angst, Crazy Old Women
The airport was teeming with life.
People hurrying along to get to their flights, check their bags, or get their
bags and get the hell out. Aya stood in the midst of the chaos, his eyes shifting
down the list of flights in and out. Beside him, Omi fidgeted nervously.
"Are you sure this is such a good idea, Aya?" The teen tried to paste on a smile,
but it wasn't very convincing.
"No," the redhead said at last, turning his intense violet gaze on the boy.
"But… I have to. I have to see if I can salvage what's left. I've got some things
that I need to… talk to him about."
Maimee came up then, her hand waving at the pair. She pressed a slip of paper
into the older assassin's hand. "Here. This is the number of a friend of mine.
She can give you a ride to where you need to go. I already told her what time
to expect you, Aya."
"You don't have to… you've already done enough, Miss Maimee." Aya nearly blushed
at the way the older woman fussed over him. He had to admit, annoying as it
might have been, it did feel good to have someone mothering him again.
The woman waved her hands at him. "No bother, boy. She'd be thrilled to have
a nice young man like you around. She doesn't get many visitors these days anyway,
what with her children all being grown and gone." Maimee leaned forward. "She's
even got a spare room you can stay in so that there's no costs for a hotel while
you're there."
Aya tried to decline. "That won't be necessary-"
"Nonsense! You can't be making *that* much money, working at a flower shop…"
She turned him and started ushering the boys towards the waiting area at Aya's
gate. "Come on… you've only got another fifteen minutes before they start boarding!"
Omi winked at his team mate and looked over his shoulder at the woman. "We can
walk, you know." He playfully pushed back against her hand, trying hard not
to giggle. It almost made Ran smile at the behavior. It was so much like something
his sister would have done.
"I know that, silly child," the older woman said, jokingly. "But neither of
you are moving fast enough…" They got outside the waiting area and Maimee gave
the redhead's cheek a gentle brush. "You'll do fine. If he's smart, that lovely
young man won't let you down."
Ran smiled back at her, despite himself. "I hope you're right."
"Don't you worry about a thing. Just let him know you're there and everything
else will fall into place."
Sitting in the coffee shop, Yohji
stirred his mug of java and looked expectantly at the door. Then, his eyes flicked
to his watch in irritation. "You're late, Jo… I don't exactly have all night."
Entrance to the café opened up again and a young woman stood in the portal,
her eyes casting around uncertain. When the light green gaze fell on the assassin,
they widened and she moved over to the table, drawing his eyes up slowly. "Yohji?"
He glanced up. "Jo? You've changed." And she had indeed. Instead of long honey
locks, her hair was dark. She seemed slimmer than he remembered, but that might
have been the clothes. Josephine's eyes hadn't changed, though, still filled
with an inner fire that never seemed to lose its intensity.
"And you haven't," she chuckled softly as she took a seat. The waitress came
over and Jo ordered a mug of coffee for herself. Alone again, her gaze regarded
Yohji coolly as she took a first sip.
The blond looked at her, his eyes soft. "How have you been?"
"Better than I was," his childhood friend said lowly, setting the coffee down
carefully. She lifted her gaze to his eyes. "Let's not screw around here, Yohji.
I've got some things to say before I let you off the hook."
Yohji smiled, leaning back in his chair. "I take it back - you haven't changed
much." He went serious immediately. "Can I say something before you lay into
me?" At her nod, he set his chair back to all four legs. "I'm sorry. I know
that doesn't give you back a damn thing compared to what you lost that night…
but I can't say anything more. I made a stupid choice and you paid a terrible
price for it. I know that nothing I do will ever make up for that, no matter
how much I wish I could find something…"
"Stop right there." Jo held up her hand. "Let's go over this carefully, Yohji.
That night. You blew me off so that you could have a stupid dick-waving 'guitar
war' with some guy who wasn't even close to your caliber. While you were telling
yourself 'just fifteen more minutes… Jo won't mind', I was being raped… brutally.
I never saw the bastards coming. I didn't have a chance."
The words quieted the assassin and he simply gazed at Jo, helpless. She continued.
"I was cut, beaten, violated… And you weren't even at the hospital when I needed
you there. Your own *mother* couldn't find you." When Yohji's eyes started to
lower, her hand forced his face up to hers again. "You will look at me when
I'm talking. I want to make sure you understand *exactly* how I feel, Yohji."
She paused to make sure that he was listening again. "I was recovering in the
hospital for four months. No body told me that you'd gone back to Japan. I felt
like you'd abandoned me. I was angry at you, yes, but I could have forgiven
you if only you'd been *there* to be forgiven." Her thumb brushed his cheekbone
softly. "I'm not angry any more. I want to put this behind us and have my big
brother back."
Yohji caught hold of her hand and rose to his feet, pulling her up with him.
He said nothing as his arms went around her, holding her close, face buried
in her dark hair. "Jo… I'm so sorry. I won't let anything happen to you again."
"Don't make promises you can't keep, Yohji."
They pulled apart shortly afterwards and resumed their seats. Jo sipped her
coffee, her eyes studying the assassin knowingly. "You haven't changed. I can
still read you like a book." Her smile was wide even as her assessment was blunt.
"You're in love."
He nearly fell out of his seat. "Am I *that* transparent?"
Jo chuckled. "Yes. Always were, at least to me."
"I hate you, you know." The amusement in the words gave them away as the biggest
lie.
TBC