Someone in time (HarithNa one shots)

Woe are they (story #2)

IM BACK

"Do you dislike me,heir?"

The first time she asked this question, they were but children, obliged to spend time together as their parents wined and dined away in their luxurious properties. His first thought was how this leonin was incredibly daring, a baron's daughter should have no right to question the duke's heir apparent like that, but, he had found the question amusing.
The pink leonin remained quiet by his side, eagerly waiting for an answer.

"No, I do not. What made you think I did?"

The silver leonin replied, his back turned towards her, lest his expression betrays his amusement.

"Why would a duke's heir dislike the family that serves them?"

He could feel her thoughts racing, and willed his body to not turn towards her.The girl always had a curious effect of him, leaving his face flushed and breathless whenever he looked at her. The doctors he visited had no cure,leaving the poor heir helpless.
In an attempt to escape, he admired the scenery in front of them.
A field filled with all of nature's most wonderful gifts, adorned with dandelions, marigolds, tulips and pink agapanthus, all arranged carefully under the golden sunlight of the afternoon sun, as if straight out of a fairy tale.
And, far far away, if Harith squinted his eyes as hard as he could, layed the frosty desert of the (insert country name),(which he heard always brought trouble for the land of moniyan, but who cares about politics anyways).
Though all of them paled in comparison to the baron's daughter.( Harith had found this to be true and resigned himself to the sad fate of never seeing anything more beautiful than his playmate)

Right on cue, her familiar voice chimed out,

"I understand, I was just making sure that you liked my presence, heir."

Hairth felt his heart speed up at her tone. (for reasons unknown to him)

"The status difference between us may prove to be an annoyance to you, heir. If you feel displeased with my family, please do not hide it."

Harith was surprised at her answer. Everyone knew that long-standing relations between both families. The duke had saved the baron and his family from hostile thieves, and in return, they swore to serve and honour the duke as barons. Even though the relationship called for nothing more than orders and reports, the duke had a certain fondness for the quick witted baron, choosing to keep his family around as friends. Which eventually led to Nana- the baron's daughter, being his playmate.
He could understand her thinking.Yet it annoyed him to no end how she only saw the relationship between both families as strictly professional when it was obviously something much, much more. (for reasons unknown, he wanted her to view him as a close friend- someone she could trust in)

Harith's long silence was interrupted by the coughing of Nana.

"Nana, allow me to make myself clear. I do not find your presence an annoyance, and rest assured that I am not hiding anything. Quite frankly, I find your presence a joy, and I would now know how to while my time away without your precious presence."

"..."
"Thank you, duke."

Her voice rung like silver bells, the careful edge in her voice visibly relaxed.

That was when he decided, no matter what they were in the future, he was going to slowly chip away at that careful facade,and see her for what she was.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Do you dislike me, heir?"

The second time he heard this, they were teenagers studying in a prestigoius private school. It was the first time the duke's heir apparent had talked to his friend in 8 months. Harith's first thought was that of muddled confusion. This was not how he imagined their reunion would be. Not in the dim corridor of his dorm, not in his half-awake, tipsy state.
Nana looked as if she had been to hell and back, with eye bags underlining her eyes, and her neat hair now frizzled and dry.
She might have hoped for a better reunion too, he thought.
Harith struggled to come up with a coherent thought. What did friends say to each other? Does he greet each her with a simple, "How have you been?" . Would such a simple greeting suffice after months and months of avoiding her? Even in his drunken state, he could feel his body physically reject the idea of that, threatening to projectile vomit all over him and the floor.

"Heir apparent."

When he finally rested his gaze upon her, he realised that Nana's face was laced with concern, not anger nor disappointment.

"Could you not take care of yourself? Do you wish to die an early death?"

Nana's sharp voice had an undertone of worry. Worry he was not deserving of, he realised. Nana shouldnt be doing this, she shouldnt have to worry and fret over his 16 year old ass, he was supposed to be her companion, someone she could confide in. Not a rebellious teenager who needs her constant attention.
Its infuriating, how dumb a man could be.
And in the moldy yellow LED light of the corridoor (which had not dampened Nana's beauty at all) he realised how much he had hurt her, and how he was and idiot.

Courage suddenly flowed through him.

"Nana,"
The pink leonin chose not to react, training her eyes on their feet.

"Im sorry, ive hurt you, i was stupid, I didnt think that it would've hurt you."
The reality was, ever since they enrolled in this stupid high school 3 years ago, Harith had been the outcast, an outsider who was never really accepted. Due to his excellent academic grades, Harith had always been seen as a teacher's pet (though he never really did anything out of line to please the teachers) and inherited the social stigma that came with it. He was undeserving of the hate, that much was true. Yet, through out the taunting of his classmates, Nana had remained by his side dutifully, teaming up with him in group project and having lunch with him.
A large part of him was glad that she still bothered with him, instead of hanging out with her classmates (Nana was well-liked as the campus beauty), yet a small, ungrateful part of him yeared for the companionship of those his age.
That was why, at the start of their final year as Moniyan empire's top school, when a group of classmates who had always bullied him suddenly started acting nice to him, (for no other reason than to use him for their homework) Harith threw all sense of caution to the wind and succumbed to his desire.

"Its just that, I longed for their accpetacne for so long, and when it was finally presented to me l-"
His voice caught in his throat,his eyes prickling with tears. How was he supposed to explain his weakness, how was he supposed to explain that the whole time, he knew he was being used and allowed it to happen. The duke's heir apparent, reduced to nothing but a clown under his classmates.

"I was a fool to have allowed myself to be used. I took you for granted, and chose those foul classmates over you. Ive cut off communication and avoided you like a disease all because I couldn't face my guilt. You were my only constant, my very best friend, and I have let you down."
Harith was aware he was rambling, yet he couldn't seem to stop.
" I'm sorry, I would do anything to make it up to you, just say the word and I'll do my best to make sure, no, I will ensure that it is done."

Her quiet acceptance put an end to his rambling, a soft sigh escaping her lips as the curve of her shoulders relaxed, as if all tension had been released.

The buzzing of LED light permeated the room, leaving Harith breathless(on top the "symptoms" he had when he was around her)- the air seemingly determined on suffocating him.

" Thank you, Harith. For saying the things I was afraid of saying."
Nana had tears in her eyes, her hands grasped the edge of her shirt desperately.
"All this time, I thought you had simply gotten sick of me. I doubted myself too. So, thank you for clearing this up, before it escalated to something neither of us can contain."

Her carefree smile was finally making a comeback, creeping its way into the corners of her lips. Her face, in all its sleep-deprivation-ness, was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, it rivaled the morning sun and the twilight moon.

Nana, his most trusted friend(??) , the only one able to make him feel lightheaded just by being by his side, the only one whose existence mattered more to him than his life, was back with him.

Author's notes:
this took so long HAHHA. I apologise if the second part of this one shot was really sudden (cuz of angst blah blah) the next part of this one shot should come out soon!! (Hopefully by next week)
Harith is in denial guys and Nana is very very oblivious