Slain Among Ice And Fire {Fairy Tail}

Chapter 37- Why

Chapter 37

Why

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas

.:+:.

"I'm still here." Hora whispered, "I'm still alive, and I am not going anywhere, I swear... What happened with him is not going to happen with you, because I am never gonna leave. I will never leave you alone, and I will never let you fall that far Rogue, not as long as I am still here." She breathed, her hands atop his trembling slightly, but her voice... Everything she said, it was said with nothing other than complete and utter sincerity.

Rogue's eyes flashed, his heart skipping a beat and picking up, quickly.

No, it wasn't just sincerity- it was more than that.

A Promise... A Vow

It was the answer he'd asked for- the thing he had pleaded for, sitting at the bedside and holding her hand, begging for her to come back and not lea-

"I promised you I'd come back, Rogue... And I swear, I am never going to leave you." Hora told him steadily, gently, and so genuinely- his breath caught in his throat.

His hand against her chest shook, the rest of him quickly following suit and taking over with a fervor, destroying any amount of posture he had or strength to keep himself up- and he didn't even try. He fell forward into her, hands fumbling as he hugged to her desperately, sinking into her lap and Hora quickly moving to catch him in her arms as he did. His head fell into her lap, hugging around her stomach and crying harder than any time previous, Hora's hands coming down gently on his back and the top of his head, quiet.

".. t...tch... I thought... I thought I was gonna lose you forever, Hora..." Rogue stammered breathlessly, holding to her a little tighter, "... I... I c-can't lose you... thank you... f-for coming back..."

Hora stiffened against the words, her hands around him trembling faintly despite herself, shutting her eyes tightly against the way her heart felt like it broke in half. She bent over a bit, her ribs hating her the posture, but she didn't really care about it. Her nose bumped against the top of his head lightly, her hand falling to hold the back of it, fingers twining around the jet black strands of hair. She forced herself to take in a breath and settle a bit, his scent washing over her senses... so familiar, so achingly his, and so right.

The breath escaped her, stirring his hair faintly and warm as it traveled down the back of his neck and his spine. And when her voice came next it just as quiet as his, quivering faintly even when she did her best to keep it steady, and so achingly hers.

"Always... I always will, Rogue... I promise."

...

It had gotten very quiet some time ago, Rogue's hitching breaths and sobs dying into raspy breathing that mellowed out to small, slow, and still only slightly wheezy intakes and outtakes of air. His weight in her lap got a touch heavier as the tension and rigidness in his muscles melted away along with his consciousness, the desperate clinging and hugging of his arms about her middle loosening, while her own arms remained still on his back, a small breath escaping her and eyes dropping closed.

She sat there without even thinking of moving or rousing him. She didn't consider it at all, not for about an hour or two... Well, she wasn't really altogether sure how long she'd sat in that silence, only that her legs had started to ache quite a bit before now. In fact they'd actually seemed to have fallen asleep- just like Rogue.