Deeper Than the Knife

Chapter 12- The After match

The moment I saw Yarah, I started sobbing again. I held her tight, I was so afraid that they had gotten to her. I never wanted to let go, she was my precious baby. I couldn't lose her, ever.

"Mama? Are you okay?" Her voice was soft and quiet, and muffled by my crazy hair.

I nodded, though I knew she couldn't see. My voice didn't work, only letting out broken sobs. I wanted to tell her how much she means to me, how much I loved her-but only more broken sobs came out. 

"Why are you crying?" She asked, wrapping her little arms around me. 

I looked at Yukino, my tears making everything blurry. I couldn't tell Yarah why I was crying, there's no way I'm tainting her with the horrors of what just happened. Maybe one day we'll tell her, but for now, Yukino had to speak for the both us of. I was busy sobbing.

She seemed to understand everything I was trying to say-and not say. "She's just glad you're safe, sweetheart." She told Yarah, every trace of her usual coldness was gone. She always spoke so warmly to Yarah. It only made me fall more and more in love with her. 

I finally had to let go of Yarah, despite every part of me screaming not too. Yarah's tiny hands wiped away my tears, which only made me cry some more. This time they were happy tears. 

"It's okay mama, I'm not hurt." Yarah assured me. She patted the top of her head with both hands, "see? Okay!"

I laughed, she was so freaking adorable. I gave her forehead a kiss, I'm so thankful for being able to have her in my life. "I see, I'm so glad you're okay." I whispered. 

I got up and face Yukino, she had gotten a small cut on her cheek that was bleeding. I reached out, gently touching her cheek. "What happened?" I asked. 

She placed her own hand over mine, "I barely missed a throwing star." She explained. "It's just a scratch, no big deal."

"Of course it's a big deal," I muttered as I examined her scratch. It may be a little hypocritical of me to say, considering I myself had a huge gash on my forearm. I didn't have enough energy right now, but I'll definitely get mad after some sleep.

"Say's the one with a giant wound on her arm." Yukino rolled her eyes, but she had a small smile.

"You should see the other guy." I joked. 

Yukino's expression contorted into one filled with pain, her smile slowly faded. "What happened?" 

I looked at Yarah, luckily she was blissfully confused. I gently placed my hands on the side and on top of her head, she leaned against my side and grabbed onto my clothes. I recalled my fight with Jane to Yukino in Japanese, so Yarah didn't have to hear the gruesome details. 

"Oh, Charlotte," Yukino said. When Yukino said that, it held a totally different meaning then when Jane would say it. Yukino actually cared about me, she had so much sympathy and love in her voice. Jane never had any of that, she had always been filled with hatred, all the way until she died. I couldn't stand whenever Jane said my name, but with Yukino-I could listen to her say my name for an eternity.

"I'm sorry you had to do that." Yukino whispered, she looked down at the ground, and just that broke my heart. 

"It's okay Yukino. I had a feeling she would've tried to kill me no matter what happened." I lifted my hand that was a top of Yarah's head, and brushed away stray strands of hair from Yukino's face. Something I've wanted to do for months.

I stared at her, studying every one of her features as though this would be the last time I would see her. I was going to kiss those slightly chapped lips before someone interrupted us. I caught her icy blue eyes, I hoped I could convey my desire to finish our kiss with just one look. Apparently, I'm great at this whole 'eye-language- thing, because Yukino gave me a slight nod. We leaned in, in what felt like slow motion. I closed my eyes, my stomach knotted itself over and over like an idiot. 

When our lips meet, the world around me melted away, leaving only Yukino and me. Even Yarah's happy little gasp sounded far away. Yukino's lips were soft, like I secretly imagined they would be, and her lips clumsily moved against mine. I guess I found the one thing I'm better than Yukino at, and I'm more than content with that. I'll pretend she's so clumsy because I'm her first kiss, and that makes me insanely happy. 

We pulled apart, it felt like we kissed forever yet not long enough. Our eyes meet, and we stayed like that-staring into each others eyes. Until we kissed again.