"NO!"
The only sound heard for a moment afterwards was a thump. The birds scattered, and all nearby knew to not get near the center of the House. No one would be welcome.
Battered, Mio's eyes defiantly glared at her mate. The b*****d had cheated on her! And here he was, claiming that it wasn't his fault at all. He didn't know? Please! The children! Oh, she could have assumed that they were orphans. Except for the fact that there was one little girl who was the spitting image of Zahi. Her heart had stopped at that moment. There were no emotions in her heart, only coldness. She had been passed along for something else. That something else turned out to be something that Mio could never surpass. He had delt the blow that would take an eternity to heal. How could she ever compare to a goddess?
Tears streamed down her face as she only felt the will to die. What was she to do now? She knew that she would be destroyed if she left. Everything she had worked to build would be gone. But she didn't know if she could ever bear to touch him again. To be touched. Because he touched her. Mio didn't know who she was, but it didn't matter. It was someone other than herself. Screaming at him, one that could be heard for lengths, "Why did you do it?! Why! Tell me!" She lashed out at him, but knew it would be useless. Her strength was nothing compaired to his.
Zahi's grey eyes were darker than the day they had met. He was furious at her. Why? Why did she always run from him whenever he wanted to be with her? Why did she always avoid him when their actions went any further than friendly? The frustration had driven him nearly insane; what was he supposed to do? He knew his anger. He knew that if he didn't watch himself, he would have hurt her out of anger. He never realized that the mistake he had committed would follow him home. Never would she know, and eventually they would be complete. His plans had fallen through, and now he had three small children that knew he was their father, and confused on the fact of who was their mother. He wasn't an idiot; he knew what the signs were for seer-children. And he just happened to have a flurry of them here.
A growl escaped from his throat, and before he knew it he had hit her against a tree trunk. Horror slipped on his mask, but his feet wouldn't pull him towards her. No matter how much his heart screamed to do it, his mind couldn't comprehend the movements of compassion. "Mio?" He used her common name, the one he knew best. Calling her Ren, love, would pain him too much. The silence that followed him darkened his world further. "Mio!" One paw moved, but the other was shaking too much for him to use.
The lids of her eyes were puffy from tears, her head aching from the blow that the tree dealt her. Lungs that stabbed every time she drew a breathe, the best she could do was raise her head and glare again at Zahi. He hadn't changed. When they first met, this was all he did to her. The abuse was something she never knew the world had, but he showed her that whole side. He had never gone past that, but the fear that it dealt her was enough. She had been obedient. Through that, she learned just how Zahi's mind really ticked; what his life was really like. And from that, she forgave him. He started to changed when they came here; some real responsibility. She had finally fallen for him, even defending him to Nia. Now...what was all that for? Did he revert to the abusive brute that she had known for so long?
The tears flooded again. Was she to be such a failure like Nia? Oh, she adored her sister, but she always attracted the bad ones. Did Mio pick that up from her? Every breathe hurt, but she couldn't help but sob. Was this really the end of the life that she had worked towards?
Her eyes caught sight of Zahi inching towards her. Pathetic. He had no guts when it came to anything; she was only realizing that now. She sneered at him, showing her teeth. "Stay away from me." She didn't want to be anywhere near him at the moment. He contined to creep closer, and so she continued to threaten him. She didn't want to be near him, ever.
Zahi knew that he was pressing into a dangerous territory, but it was something that he knew he had to do. Something finally decided to click in his brain. As he grew closer, he could tell that Mio grew more fearful. Instead of the anger returning, it was more...fear with himself as well. He hoped that he wouldn't fall into the impulsive abusive reactions that plagued him. This was the most important moment for him at the point in his life.
"No!" she cried, trying to push him away. "Stay away!" She didn't want him near her! Why didn't he listen? Hadn't he done enough to her already? She clawed at his shoulders as he drew closer, trying to push him away, drive him away, anything. Her strength was leaving her as her head still swam from the impact on the tree. She felt her breathe shorten, but still she pushed on to drive him away.
Zahi could feel the warmth of his skin scraping, the sticky touch of blood. She really was trying to push him away. He grunted, unphased. He had been through worse. He pressed on, lowering his head to linger around her neck. She squealed in anger at that moment, but he merely let his nose lightly touch her. "Mio," he said quietly, knowing that the only sound was their breathe, the call of a bird here or there. "I'm sorry." He shifted his head backwards, letting his face linger near her's. His eyes searched for her's, but they were blurred with tears of anger, confusion, and betrayl.
Mio gaped, her eyes blinking back the tears to see his face. It was always as she remembered, but so much sadder. His eyes searched for her's, but it was hard for her to keep that eye contact. Her head swayed around as she tried to latch onto something, focus on what was going on. Everything had happened so fast. So many emotions running through her mind, on top of the spinning. It almost felt like a dream. I could be, if not for the pain that lingered, the blood staining her paws. Zahi's blood. SHe stared at it, realizing what she was doing to him. She gasped, screamed as she continued to stare. Her eyes flashed from Zahi's, to his shoulders, to her bloody paws. She...she hurt him! And there he was, the picture of sorrow that she never imagined he would possess.
Crying again, as the tears seemed to never stop, she let herself feel consumed by the b*****d. How he had so much control over her, she would never know. No matter what he did, she would be the idiot to forgive everything, to continue on this path of destruction that would surely lead her to her death. She couldn't resist it, though.
When her head drooped, Zahi used his bloody shoulder to catch her. Gently lowering her to rest on the ground, he hovered over her until she opened her eyes again. It seemed he had done more than he initially realize. It would take a while for her to recover. "I'm so sorry, Mio," he said again, lowering his head to offer her a nuzzle. It was awkward, as he wasn't sure what he was doing. Surely she would tease him about it later.
The ground had never felt so enveloping. So welcoming. She wanted to yell at Zahi more, as the pain still licked at her heart, but the energy that was fueling the fire disappered. As she let the darkness of fatigue close around her, she would have sworn to the blue sky above that Zahi had said he loved her.
---
Mio awoke to find herself in the same location, but it seemed like everything had changed. Zahi was dozing next to her, his shallow breathes teasing the hair-tuft on her head. It still ached, but it was more manageable. The blood had dried, caked onto Zahi's white shoulder's stained his coat. She felt a twinge of sorrow. What had happened? She knew, but then it all seemed so unreal. She had shown a real backbone against him, even if in the end nothing had really changed. No....something did change. Zahi did. He had to take a step backwards by injuring her, but he had taken two steps forward. He was what she was hoping he would be. His eyes had really opened.
She lowered her chin on the ground, watching him as he dozed. She was certain that he would wake up at any moment, so she relished what few seconds she could get staring at him.
Zahi heard the difference in her breathing, and his eyes fluttered open to check on her. Startled that the first thing he saw were her eyes, he stared back at her. "What?" He woke up worried that something drastic had happened to her, and here she was merely staring at him. Ugh, talk about huge false alarm.
Mio smiled shyly, just slightly. She still wasn't feeling completely well. "You're horrible."
"What? Why?" He wrinkled his nose.
"You know exactly why." She stuck her lower jaw out at him. "And I'm still mad at you."
Zahi snorted. "I expected that. I think you will be for a long time."
Mio sighed. "Yes. You did...something unexcusable, Zahi. It'll pain me every time I look at those children...especially that one little girl." Knowing that she didn't come from my womb, but the womb of another.
He nodded, but his eyes lingered down to her forepaws. Pain indeed. "Let me start the road to fixing this, Mio. Please."
The pale purple lioness sighed. "If you wish. I do wish, as well." She shook her head. The pain would take a long time to heal over. If they worked together, though, it would work. They would grow stronger together because of it. And with that strength, their House will shine.
