A Queen and Her Kings

You and Me

When Cassandra woke up, she awoke covered in grime and ink, holding something small and warm, as well as with a pounding headache. Groaning a bit, she covered her eyes with her hand as she sat up, shielding them from the light of day. Looking around, she saw the utter hellscape the Heartslabyul gardens had become; rose bushes had been ripped out of the earth, the metal platform the duel had occurred on was flipped over and about a quarter of a mile from where it once was, and everything was covered in debris and dirt. Her attention was dragged away from her surroundings, however, when she heard another groan from beside her.

"Riddle!", she called out, concerned. The boy in question was a bit worse for wear in his ink-stained formal uniform and dented crown, covered in cuts and scrapes and bruises- but he was alive, and that was what mattered. The redheaded boy blearily blinked his eyes open, and he awoke to what was possibly the most beautiful sight he had ever seen in his life.

Cassandra sat looking over him, concern glowing in her cat-like golden eyes. Her hair framed her face perfectly, still shiny and beautiful as ever in spite of her most recent adventure. The clouds were parting right over her head as the storm dissipated, so the bright light of the sun shined down her like a spotlight, giving her hair a natural halo. A smile graced her face when she realized he was awake; and Riddle swore, in that moment, he saw an angel. Riddle, slightly delirious from exhaustion, pain, and the emotional rollercoaster he had just been on, smiled softly.

"You.", was all he said, his voice coming off a bit hoarse. Cassandra laughed, happy he was well enough to speak and amused by his reference to their first real conversation.

"Me.", she laughed breathlessly, tucking a strand of blood red hair behind her ear. The two looked into each other's eyes, smiling serenely despite the carnage around them. After a few moments, Riddle tried to sit up, clutching his head with one hand and groaning in pain as he did so. Cassandra put an arm around his back and looked at him with concern.

"Careful!", she urged, and Riddle smiled at her for her concern before he looked back down and frowned guiltily.

"I'm sorry.", he said, though with so many things to apologize for, he wasn't sure what exactly he was sorry for. Cassandra looked at him with a soft expression.

"You don't have to apologize.", she told him sternly, but Riddle only shook his head as tears began to leak from his eyes once more.

"No, I do. I-I said all those awful things to you and the others, and-and I tried to hurt you. Cassandra, I am so, so sorry! I never should have- !", Riddle choked out between sobs, only to be cut off by Cassandra abruptly kissing him.

While Riddle had been frantically apologizing, he hadn't noticed that his right glove, along with the bandages under it, had been ripped off in the chaos. When he had raised a hand to clutch his head, Cassandra had not failed to take notice of the mark on the back of it.

Cassandra liked Riddle; she thought he was cute and a good guy despite everything, so when she realized the mark on his hand matched her's, she decided to ride the adrenaline high from the fight as far as it would take her and throw caution to the wind.

Riddle was shocked; he liked Cassandra, as much as he had hated to admit it before. She was everything he wasn't in all the best ways. He had only denied it before because of his desire to uphold the rules, but since he wasn't going to bother with that anymore...

Fuck it.

Riddle closed his eyes and began to kiss back, clutching tightly onto the front of Cassandra's shirt. Cassandra was a full head taller than him, so she had to lean down and angle her head to kiss him. After a few moments of this (though it felt like an eternity), the two broke away for air, cheeks flushed and lips swollen. Cassandra smirked down at Riddle and raised an eyebrow.