Chapter Nine

Nicolae

The kiss gently broke as I opened my eyes, though the young girl stood in front of me, providing the evidence of the wave of emotion that flooded me before, as it still lingered. A kiss between two people. The moment felt like a dream; I looked at her as she looked up at me. My heartbeat was fast in my chest, my palms were sweaty, and I felt my knees were about to give way, as I grabbed onto the counter, exhaling a sigh. I looked at her as she looked at me. "You alright?"

I nodded my head. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"Why are you apologizing? Dude, there is nothing to be sorry about. I feel fine, looking at you, you seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. I think it's cute."

I looked at her. "Cute?"

"Yes, cute, the mighty silent warrior of AVALANCHE can take down an insane madman but gets weak in the knees when he kisses a woman. Fiends you can handle, my guess is all day, every day, but you get staggered by a simple kiss. I take you've never had a kiss."

I sighed. "It's that obvious?"

"Just a little." She chuckled, then smiled at me. "Sit down, try to calm down."

"I'm fine, I'll go get Aria."

"Alright."

I walked out of the room.

My mind played the events of the kiss over like a broken record, a beautiful, exotic, broken record that had free rein in my mind. I arrived at Aria's room, tapping on the door, before opening it. The child sat at her desk, coloring. "Aria, we're going out with your mother. Get dressed and meet us in the kitchen."

I turned to walk out of the room, to hear the child walking towards me. "Daddy, I drew this for you, to make you feel better. Do you like it?"

I looked at the drawing that the child waved in front of my face. "What is it, Aria?"

She looked at me, then drew the picture to her view. "It's our family, daddy. You, me, and Momma. Don't you like it?"

I looked at her, kneeling to her, as she looked at me. "It's beautiful. I'll put it in a frame and put it on the wall in the living room."

Her eyes grew wide as she bounced on her heels. "My drawing is going to get hung up on the wall?" A squeal of excitement came from her lips. As I looked at her. She jumped and wrapped her arms around me as both of us landed on the floor. I looked at her. "Daddy, I'm so sorry. Please don't be mad at me."

A frown covered her face as she looked at the drawing that lay beside us. She stood up as I sat up, getting the air back into my lungs. "Don't worry about it, Aria. There is nothing to apologize for." I got the picture, standing to my feet, looking at the child. "Don't worry about it, I promise you're not in trouble." I rubbed a hand through her hair with a smile.

She looked at me, hugging my leg. "The three of us we're gonna be a family, aren't we, daddy? Momma won't let Yuffie hurt you anymore."

I looked at the child. "Maybe, we'll see. There's hope."

She looked at me. "Daddy, momma won't hurt your feelings. She won't, I promise, she won't."

I looked at the child. "I know, Aria. I believe you, how about some ice cream?"

"Yay! Ice cream! When, daddy?"

"As soon as you get ready and the three of us can leave, I need to get some clothes on too, so we'll meet in the kitchen when we're ready. Is that a deal?"

"It's a deal, daddy."

I closed the door to her room, walking into mine, my focus on the small 5x5 picture that Aria had drawn, smiles on the faces of the stick people covering its surface, I walked over to the bed, sat on it, thinking of the mother/ daughter duo that had made their way into my home, and my catacomb lifestyle. First, a small child who was looking for a father figure, then to the gentle, caring woman that was her mother. The two things that merely a few months ago I would have snubbed my nose at, as well as laughed at whoever had suggested the absurd idea, Gaia knows Leonard dealt with that side of me a lot. It's ironic, the one thing I had strongly detested was now the one thing I wanted to fight for, to die for even. I now see the love and devotion that my brother has for his family, Grace, Kourt, and Kyra. Though I felt love for the three women that he had embraced into his life, the love that I felt right now, outweighed the chaos that was the life of a Sephiroth Spawn, the things coming from an immature brat, and loudmouth sailor of a man, the daily battles between the two of them, though the two weren't here, I felt this renewed ray of hope, that I had the support system, emotionally that my brother clings to. The rocks that held him anchored. I had finally gained my anchors through the storms that were Cid and Yuffie.

I heard a knock on my door. "It's open."

Moments later, Charmaine stepped into the room, closing the door behind her with a gentle click, walking over to the bed, and sitting down beside me. I lay the drawing on the nightstand, looking at her. "You alright? Aria told me you had a rough landing earlier."

I chuckled. "I'm fine. She didn't hurt me. She got a little excited."

She smiled. "You can beat up men and teenagers who seek havoc, but you get knocked to the floor by a six-year-old. As well as getting weak from a woman at the height of five foot two, Nicolae, you're cute. Sorry, I know you don't want me saying that, but what else do you call it?"

"Call it whatever you want. I admit you two are the only people who can render me weak and clumsy. I have no shame in admitting that you two are probably the only people on this planet that can affect me the way you two do."

She looked at me, walked over to the closet, and opened the door. "You certainly love black, don't you?"

She pulled a black long-sleeved shirt from the closet. "Why do men get better clothes than us? These clothes put my wardrobe to shame?" She looked at more clothes. "Where do you even get these clothes? They're gorgeous?"

She looked at me. "I designed those, myself."

"You made these clothes? All of them?"

"Yeah, I'll have to come and get some stuff out of your room when we get back. I used your room as my sewing room. I used the bed in it as something to place all my clothes on. That's where Aria's clothes are as well. I need to put those in her closet."

She looked at the shirt in her hand. "Did you design the pants, too?"

"No, I bought those. I had just added things to them."

She looked at me, sitting down beside me. "Well, I'm impressed. You're a cool dude, Nicolae."

I looked at her. "No, I'm just a lucky dude to have people in his life he never knew he needed." She smiled. "I need to get dressed. I'll see you girls in a minute."

I stood up, walked to the closet, as she walked behind me, planted a kiss on the side of my neck, and walked from the room, closing the door behind her.