Chapter 3: A little bit of heaven in prison

The grass rustled as the ebony haired teen knelt next to a bed of lilies. Slowly he reached out with his right hand and ran his fingertips along the petals. A sad smile made its way to Rei’s face as the sun gave a light shine to his dark hair.

It had been two days since he last saw Kai. Though he had had a great time with Bella, as he had taken to calling her and Renee, he still missed his stoic ex-captain. Whether it was because he needed a familiar face around or the fact that he was growing closer to the blue haired teen, which Rei himself really doubted, was unknown.

But his own beliefs didn’t go along with his body’s reaction to just the thought of the other boy. He felt warm and his stomach felt like someone was dancing samba inside it. When he thought about the time he was with Kai, just being around him made him feel safe and the few times he had been held in Kai’s arms, it had felt like the best place in the world and he had barely been able to not purr with satisfaction.

Sighing, Rei stood up and looked around himself. The garden was beautiful, just like Isabella had told him and he was grateful he had been allowed there these past two days as the place gave him a strange sense of calmness. It probably had something to do with the fact that he had been brought up in the mountains in the middle of nature. But the garden also looked like it had been made with a lot of knowledge and love. He knew that come when he would be married to Kai, he would start taking care of this little heaven inside his prison. Perhaps it would be the only thing keeping him sane until Kai would eventually tire of him.

Before he could continue with his current state of thought, he heard steps, almost as quiet as his own would be, coming his way. Rei turned his head slightly to looked behind him, his golden eyes met crimson as Kai stopped only a meter away from him.

“Do you like it?” Kai asked in a low voice that barely reached Rei’s ears.

“Yeah, it’s really beautiful,” he said quietly before turning fully to Kai. His eyes trailed to the ground as he slightly bowed his head. “Thanks for permitting me visit it.”

Rei felt large fingers on his chin as they turned his face towards the wielder of the fire phoenix. Kai’s eyes held a soft look in them as he moved his palm to cup Rei’s cheek and caressed the soft skin. His other hand made its way around the smaller boy’s waist as he pulled him closer to lean their foreheads together.

“You are not a prisoner,” said Kai with eyes aflame with seriousness. “You will soon have access to every room in this mansion.” He sighed as he pulled Rei even closer so that the neko-jin’s head was under his chin. “I know you’re a free spirit, it’s one of the things I love about you, but Rei - I know as well as you that you would run if given the chance.”

Rei buried his face deeper into Kai’s neck, feeling ashamed. Kai seemed to read his actions and once again lifted his face so that their eyes met once again. “There is nothing wrong with admitting it. I would gladly let you leave if I knew you’d be happier that way.”

The ebony haired boy opened his mouth to protest but was silence by a finger to his lips. “Even if you were free now for just a while, I know a parson who wouldn’t let you be so for long.”

The confusion in Rei’s eyes was easy to see but Kai only smiled slightly as he leaned forward.

“I think you’ll soon agree that I can make you very, very happy,” came the husky whisper before Kai closed the gap between them and Rei gladly returned the gesture.

Another day had passed without Rei seeing neither Kai nor his personal servant. He heard that as soon as she had returned from her small holiday that she had been sent by Kai to do some chores out of the mansion. With Renee and Bella busy with the wedding preparations left Rei very much alone.

Loneliness was an emotion Rei hated with a vengeance.

He had tried spending time in the garden but that brought him memories of the other day, which now seemed more like a twist of his imagination than anything else.

So when at last he was acknowledged by someone, he wasn’t as shocked about whom it was than he usually would have.

He had been sitting in front of the fire, feeling drowsy in the entirely too comfortable chair as he watched the flames flicker in the hearth. Just about to close his eyes and give in to slumber, he was startled when the door to the room burst open and a mop of fiery red hair began to drag him away.

“You sure know how to make yourself scarce! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” yelled the exasperated red head.

Utterly confused now, Rei asked, “Why are you here, Tala? And why on earth are you dragging me and where?”

“You’re going to be fitted for your wedding outfit of course!” he cheerfully answered, totally ignoring the first question as he pushed open a door, which Rei later realized was the one leading to Kai’s office. In the room, sitting on the sofa that sat diagonally facing the desk in front of a large window was what looked like a middle aged man with dark blond hair. He looked up from the papers in his hands as the door flew open and set them down beside him before rising up.

The man gave a curt nod towards Tala as he shook his hand and then turned to look at Rei, who didn’t know how to act. With the man scrutinizing him, Rei felt very self conscious especially as the man began to circle him and then took out a tape measure.

Rei felt uncomfortable as the tailor took his measurements while conversing with Tala.

“It is to be made in white, correct?”

Tala nodded. “Yes, with gold border designs.”

The tailor hummed as he nodded. “His physique would be complimented like so...yes...of course...” he mumbled as he picked up his papers and hurriedly began to make notes.

The ebony haired boy looked hesitantly at the redhead, but Tala just smiled encouragingly at him.

A few more measurements and mumblings later and after more notes had been made, the tailor bade his goodbye with promises for both outfits to be made in time before taking his leave.

“Right, now that that’s taken care of,” Tala, cheery once again, grabbed Rei’s hand and started to drag him out of the room. “I, as your official wedding assistant, am going to make sure your wedding will be one that no one will forget!”

AN: Not very long I know, but at least you now know I’m alive.

This hasn’t been in the makings for long, only two days actually, but as it can probably be seen, the quality starts to waver as you go on. That’s because one, I was anxious to get this up(which is a sin, I know) and two, I write mostly at school now since that’s the only place I have the time(yeah in my physics class!) and where I get my inspiration.

But I won’t go on for long as it takes up space. I just want to thank everyone that has been waiting for this and for those you have had hope in my writing. And of course to every reader and reviewer, I have to say that I love each of you!

Ps. Sorry for the OOC-ness!