Shaman King: HaoXJeanne
Fandom: Shaman King
Pairing: HaoXJeanne
Theme set: Gamma
Title: Burning Prayers
Rating: T
Warning[s]: Angst, violence
Disclaimer: Shaman King belongs to Hiroyuki Takei and the anime company. The view on the characters, though, is mine and mine alone. %)
Notes: Some are on the anime version and some on the manga...
#01 - Ring
Long ago, he had given her that stupid black and white ring, and she had kept it with her, and it meant a lot to her, but how do you explain that to a four-years-old - you can't say it's not her father who gave it but someone she doesn't know and will never know because he's dead and won't come back, she wouldn't understand why her mother kept it because - "You love daddy, right?"
#02 - Hero
If he had been the hero and Yoh the bad guy, it would have been much simpler to approach the girl whom he was interested in, he could have join her group and try to become the one she'd relate on, but he had not that chance, no - he was the bad guy and she hated him and she was right to hate him because he was bad and evil and she was not.
#03 - Memory
He has some bright memory of his mother - tender, sweet and so genuinely happy - when she was opening her arms for him to run into; and then he looks at this girl, so different - cold, stubborn and so stupidly sad - as she opens her arms for the Gate to open, there he thinks the different realities are totally, totally opposites (but someone - he doesn't remember who - did said that feelings were a wheel and the hate and love touch each other in the end).
#04 - Box
The Pandora Box isn't something you should open without reflection, so she never really asked herself on how she feels towards him - only Marco and the others' wishes count, her will is nothing but theirs, what she feels doesn't matter - but when Opachô asks her, bluntly, about her feelings, she doesn't know how to answer, so she says nothing, and, because of the tiny smile on the child's face and the big smirk on Hao's, the Iron Maiden Jeanne really thinks she should have thought about it before.
#05 - Run
Jeanne was never a good runner - her tortured muscles weren't trained enough - that's why when she tried to escape, he was so quickly able to tackle her and stop her futile struggling, then kiss her passionately, effectively stopping her attempts.
#06 - Hurricane
The Shaman King controls all elements, wind being one of them, so he SHOULD have shut that one down long ago - she grumbles, trying to stop Opachô from jumping right into a tornado, because she knows if he didn't do it then he didn't want to do it, and that bothers her, the hatchet has been buried long ago, so WHY - why does he like bugging her so much?
#07 - Wings
She was a dove, a pure being of light, - even if Rackist said that she was only a stupid girl and if Marco said she was a saint, he knew better, girls weren't that pure and even saints weren't quite as shiny - no, she was an angel, and the thought bothered him because he felt like corrupting something beautiful.
#08 - Cold
"You're gonna catch a cold" for a few moments she doesn't even begin to understand the statement - why does he care, why does he even bother to talk to her since he seems to think she is nothing worthy - then she looks at him - all smiles and winks - and she struggles, then resumes praying, still on her knees in the only clothes she can wear in the Iron Maiden, and he watches and watches, eyes glinting with interest (she knows he watches and that makes her feel strange) until she finally shivers, and he says: "Didn't I say it?"
#09 - Red
Her eyes and blood were exactly the same shade of red, the same red he hated so much, the same red that haunted him since the beginning of his murdering path - that's why he couldn't bear her accusing stare.
#10 - Drink
Drinking was forbidden by her way of life itself; he, even as an adult, thought it was a disgusting human thing so he wasn't one to drink either, and that helped their relationship - if they had one - because Jeanne knew she wouldn't bear a drunk man in her room, even if she could do little about him haunting her painful nights; and knowing that, he did not drink - having to search another night shield would be too difficult (or so he said).
#11 - Midnight
She often stayed up until midnight, the pain stopping her from sleeping, and he also does that, watching the shining stars; she rarely exits the basement, and he would never enter her home (too much noise for not enough gain) but somehow they finally met up; she had decided to take a walk, to clear her thoughts, and he was seeking some high comfortable place - somehow they had literary ran into each other, and somehow that night he healed her and she watched his stars.
#12 - Temptation
In her tortured mind, Hao is temptation - he sure is handsome, with his long chocolate hair, his dark eyes and tanned skin - but he's evil, and she must deny that temptation, she must resist, she must even stop thoughts of him entering her head, because his handsomeness is part of his evil.
#13 - View
"The view is amazing, thank you" Hao's words make Marco's blood boil because the pyromaniac is looking right on the Iron Maiden's chest and does not even bother to deny it (the blondie's thoughts are sooo amusing Hao would continue what he's doing only because of them if he had not another good reason to) and then she realizes what he's doing and what was amusing becomes hilarious.
#14 - Music
Since the first time he saw her claim the whole saint act, he took her for the "classic music" type, and, as always, he was right - she does love piano solos (so he was wise to ask Rackist to buy him a lot of cds for their first date after all) and, even preferring metallic sounds or nature records, he doesn't find it too bad.
#15 - Silk
His voice is silky as ever when he asks her to a dance; from the corner of his eye he sees her blond-haired lieutenant strangle himself on his drink, and that only amuses him more when he sees the girl look at him like he was mad or something (maybe he is after all, he never really cared); all the silk in the world can't match her own when she accepts (and even if he knows that she's doing it for the challenge and for tactical purposes, he doesn't flinch, because he expected it).
#16 - Cover
Since the beginning of her life, she had to disguise herself (when she was young, real covers, to prevent her "comrades" from finding and hitting the weird girl she was, and now she's a bit older, metaphorical ones, to prevent her family and foes to discover that the Iron Girl isn't as sure of herself as she pretends), but her cover is nothing in front of his abilities, so he knows her fears, and as she finally breaks and let terror appear in her pretty red eyes, he's there to catch her, to stop her from falling to the ground.
#17 - Promise
In the secret of the sole night they pass together, he promises her everything will be alright; that's a lie and she vowed long ago to never fall for something as shallow as his words; but that night, up to dawn she believes it (because she wants to badly and because that night there's no risk or anything and because it feels good to be with him, even in a lie).
#18 - Dream
Every girl has a dream - that blurry and bright dream that helps them getting up in the morning and suffer all through the day - and Jeanne, being the Iron Girl, had her own, and she thought it wouldn't become true, like most of these stupid childish dreams - but something she didn't know was he knew her dream, so when he came to her, ready to fulfill that strange desire she had, she wasn't exactly prepared (you wouldn't think your worst enemy is the best guy you could be taken with to a date).
#19 - Candle
Strength is like the flame of a candle, wavering, depending on the emotional state - power is control, nothing else - she knows that, he knows that, they're the best at it, controlling their emotions like they were arrows (anger to release powerful blows, indifference to stop other's attacks) but she has something he doesn't, and vice versa: she can, when the X-laws are nearly dying because of his minions, make her strength explode to protect them, and he can, knowing her thoughts, make his comrades do exactly the right thing to blow her defenses away - and locked in her iron jail or lying down to look at his stars, they think, annoyed, that these tricks are making them, in a way they don't want to, care.
#20 - Talent
"I have more talents in other domains than just shamanism" he whispers huskily to his lovely bride, and she smirks (when did she learn to smirk like THAT? Oh yes, he did teach her), goes on her tiptoes to reach his ear, and says, sickly sweet and tender, in a challenging tone: "Maybe you have dear, but if you're so proud of them, you'll show me later…", and as she walks off to greet their guests, he can only stop his tears from flowing when looking at the foot she conscientiously crushed.
#21 - Silence
In the silence, her thoughts are wild and shattered and broken, because he's using her, he's only using her, there's no love in his act, no love at all, he only acts like that to gain her trust and then crush her, she doesn't know why she keeps loving him, he doesn't care, he doesn't care at all and someday he'll kill her; and all that thinking hurt him because he does care.
#22 - Journey
His journey began long ago, in a dark little town lost in the snow of the north of Japan - her own just began, approximately ten years ago, in the blinding lights of the French capital city (but when Yoh looks at them closely he thinks their trips are not so different, because they search shelter and that shelter is maybe closer than they think - there Yoh chuckles, thinking that his Nii-san's best place may be the Iron Maiden and Jeanne's may be Hao).
#23 - Fire
She should stop playing with fire or she'll burn, he says, and when she hears that, she looks up at him, crimson eyes against chocolates orbs, and there he sees that fire in her eyes and understands she knows that what he just said is right and doesn't care - that alone is enough to light up his interest, so he stays and watches (because he likes to watch before act, since he knows doing things in a rush is dangerous) and as he watches he understands that maybe he is the one who will burn.
#24 - Strength
How dare she even defy him is beyond his imagination - her strength is not even half of his, and her precious angels are just weaknesses, because she worries about them, and worrying makes her even weaker - but when he is defied, he doesn't question it, he just kills the fool who thought him stupid enough to be killed by such a weakling, Iron Maiden Jeanne or not, goddess or not, interesting - charming - girl or not, even if his stomach boils at the thought of her broken corpse, even if his mind screams at him to stop, even if he knows she's his last chance to live again.
#25 - Mask
He reaches out to touch her face lightly, and, for a few seconds, they don't move, frozen there, her eyes widened by the shock and a hidden fear, his narrowed in interest; she's smaller than him (after all she's only eleven when he's fourteen, that counts too) and her head is pushed up by his caressing hand when his own is looking down on her, and at this time the whole universe is at peace, holding its breath; but suddenly she breaks, pushes him and runs away - there he thinks, he isn't the only one to have a mask.
#26 - Ice
Her voice is colder than ice when she speaks to him, and strangely it effectively freezes him (for the first time since ever, someone touched him, even if it was a light shiver) because even if he shouldn't, he cares about that voice, that girl, that presence that holds feelings about him - even if it's a feeling of hate, even if she does not hates him but what he represents.
#27 - Fall
Since the very beginning, she knew she was going to fall, one day or another, because she's only a thin girl and he's Hao, the great destroyer, and no one can stop him (surely not her, she's the youngest of the shamans that pretend killing him after all, age counts) and when he destroys the Gate, she catches a glimpse of his handsome and cruel eyes as she falls, down and down towards the ground - and her smile seems to match his.
#28 - Forgotten
A sincere laugh was something they had forgotten, since long ago (she lost that when her orphanage was burned down, and he did when he killed Denzen, sacrificing Ohachiyo by pure stupidity) so, when it took them by surprise, at exactly the same time, it's a great shock for both of them (she immediately blushes, and he, even with his usual calm, can't help but frown).
#29 - Dance
They don't like each other - well, she hates him and he doesn't care about her - so that Pache festival (with the opening waltz, of course) isn't something they're very happy to live, because Goldova said "the strongest shamans will dance together" and it happens to be them, but hey, maybe he can find some amusement in that, and maybe she'll find information - at least, that's what they tell themselves.
#30 - Body
He has a muscled body, tanned and strong and prepared to harsh fights and life outdoors, while she has nothing but a white tortured body, weak and fragile and only designed to endure her pain - but maybe that's not a so bad mix, he thinks as his rough golden arm catches her own, so fine and silvery-like.
#31 - Sacred
He does not like that word, "sacred" because it means nothing: life isn't sacred (people took her mother's, it wasn't sacred to them, why should life of others be) love isn't either (love means nothing to the ones who aren't concerned so why should theirs be); and when the blondie says she is sacred instinctively he hates her (why should she be sacred, what's the point, why a weak girl and not him, why) and then as he watches her with hatred he sees something, that sparkle he never saw in another woman, the something he can, maybe, if time allows it, consider as "sacred".
#32 - Farewells
Strangely, they weren't really at ease with farewells - even if they'd never admit that, gods have pride and shouldn't say their feelings (shouldn't even have them) - but, as Jeanne saw him go for what would be either her or his death, she couldn't suppress a shiver, and Hao, knowing her every thought - his ability was always a bother, and her broken and confused feelings about him were not changing his idea - smiled sadly, stopped an instant, and resumed walking.
#33 - World
He built his perfect word, with only strong shamans and nature, and she's one of the few that he kept in some jail of his because he was so frustrated he couldn't break her; but he knew better than killing her - it would be freeing her, and something in his stomach was disgusted by the idea of her dead anyway.
#34 - Formal
"No need to be so formal, dear" he says, and she wants to scream, of course there's need to be formal, she shouldn't even have to breathe the same air he breathes, he's filthy and evil and… "When I said that, I didn't think you'd relax enough to insult me, even in your thoughts."
#35 - Fever
His temperature is a bit higher than average, so he always seems to be feverish, and that worries her, and he's just too tired to explain it to her, so he lets her take care of him - not as if it will change anything to put an - OUCH - incredibly cold tissue on his forehead.
#36 - Laugh
His usual laugh and smiles are refusals - he refuses their words of love and peace, he refuses their stupid justice, he refuses their bonds and even their feelings - whereas her rare ones are just acknowledgements of nothing in particular.
#37 - Lies
His words are only lies - lies, not truths, lies, she has to repeat it several times a day to not beginning to believe them, because he's so strong, so seducing, so tempting - and lies shouldn't be able to face her truth, her justice, but they do, and they happen to make her doubt her strength (she shouldn't, she shouldn't, doubt create weakness and he knows that and she knows that) to make her want to run to him, because sometimes he seems to be just right, as if his own justice was something stronger than hers (but she can't believe that, if she did he would have won - she'll never let him win).
#38 - Forever
The piano stills echo in her ears, and she looks up where he disappeared in his usual burst of flames, and all she can do not to cry is to tighten the hold she has on his last gift, because they both know they won't see each other anymore, and that all the luck in the world could be no help to them - their "forever" has already come to its end; and she will stay alone - he would too, if she was the one to die.
#39 - Overwhelmed
It's very difficult to resist his playful mood, his enthusiasm, being the Iron Maiden or not; he's just overwhelming, and then she begins to think, even unconsciously, that he really is a god (but she's not ready to understand she thinks that, and he won't force her, that would be ruining what they're beginning to build together, and after all he also needs to make her understand that sometimes others are right - she's a god too, even if she thinks she often failed and even if she feels overwhelmed by her duties.
#40 - Whisper
He always whisper dark lies to her when they're alone, and she has to stop herself from listening to them, because they seem so right it's hard not believing him, and if she did, the X-Laws would be damned - she doesn't want them to, they're her only family, they count on her, so she won't deceive them - but oh god his lies are really disturbingly truthful.
#41 - Wait
He waited centuries and centuries to fulfill his dreams; she is nothing to him, just another trap on his road, she's just eleven, she can't be very dangerous after all - but when he sees her break and cry, she's not a trap anymore - and it's all too late.
#42 - Talk
She's not a very talkative being, but it's not a real problem to him, because he hears her thoughts and that is enough - as they say, silence is gold.
#43 - Search
His quest was a very long one, but he never found what he wanted - she had no quest, thus she joined his search to find something - someone - to live for.
#44 - Hope
Hope isn't a valuable thing - to be strong, you don't hope, you just know, that's what makes you strong, he discovered that long ago - so, even with all the hope she has, the hope in her prayers, words, thoughts, all this can't help her, it just disgusts him how strong she believes in something that will never happen (beliefs are what make her foolish, stupid, weak), all her little wishes are bubbles, and bubbles are made to break; she shushes his stupid monologue and kisses him - that hope is greater than his knowledge, so much greater than he can do nothing but accept that power of her.
#45 - Eclipse
The Iron Maiden stood in the fading light, her unprotected eyes staring right at the darkening sun, and the eerie black light made her so beautiful that he laughed and laughed, making her turn to stare at him, and the sun, regaining its glory, made for her a beautiful halo.
#46 - Gravity
It amazes the weaklings, the way gravity is nothing to them, but it's just another trick, and he finds this one less amusing than the way he feels dragged to her - but maybe it's no trick, just a hidden truth.
#47 - Highway
On the highway leading to the Pache village, he met her once, when all her angels were sleeping and she was taking a late walk (he did not point out the fact that she was hurt by her tortures, that would leads to nothing); he was playing with the asphalt (curious to how Yoh would cope with a road like this one) and they stared at each other (she immediately knew who he was, which taking in consideration what he was doing wasn't difficult, and he recognized the girl Rackist had told him about); then she walked off, and her retreating silvery back was something he would not forget.
#48 - Unknown
Some parts of his life were unknown to her - okay, okay, most parts of it were unknown to her - but that wasn't really important since her aim, the only aim she ever had, was to destroy him, but that was still bothering her (a thought always in her head, hidden in the back of her mind, showing itself randomly) as if she gave a damn - no, she shouldn't swear, she shouldn't - as if she cared.
#49 - Lock
On the Iron maiden armor, the lock has always been the most interesting thing in his point of view - locks are made to be unlocked, and he liked the idea of unlocking Jeanne.
#50 - Breathe
Her first breath was heavy, unsure and greedy (strange thing, he never thought her as a greedy person); he watched as her chest rose and fell, and felt suddenly reassured, nearly happy to see her live again, breathe again.
Pairing: HaoXJeanne
Theme set: Gamma
Title: Burning Prayers
Rating: T
Warning[s]: Angst, violence
Disclaimer: Shaman King belongs to Hiroyuki Takei and the anime company. The view on the characters, though, is mine and mine alone. %)
Notes: Some are on the anime version and some on the manga...
#01 - Ring
Long ago, he had given her that stupid black and white ring, and she had kept it with her, and it meant a lot to her, but how do you explain that to a four-years-old - you can't say it's not her father who gave it but someone she doesn't know and will never know because he's dead and won't come back, she wouldn't understand why her mother kept it because - "You love daddy, right?"
#02 - Hero
If he had been the hero and Yoh the bad guy, it would have been much simpler to approach the girl whom he was interested in, he could have join her group and try to become the one she'd relate on, but he had not that chance, no - he was the bad guy and she hated him and she was right to hate him because he was bad and evil and she was not.
#03 - Memory
He has some bright memory of his mother - tender, sweet and so genuinely happy - when she was opening her arms for him to run into; and then he looks at this girl, so different - cold, stubborn and so stupidly sad - as she opens her arms for the Gate to open, there he thinks the different realities are totally, totally opposites (but someone - he doesn't remember who - did said that feelings were a wheel and the hate and love touch each other in the end).
#04 - Box
The Pandora Box isn't something you should open without reflection, so she never really asked herself on how she feels towards him - only Marco and the others' wishes count, her will is nothing but theirs, what she feels doesn't matter - but when Opachô asks her, bluntly, about her feelings, she doesn't know how to answer, so she says nothing, and, because of the tiny smile on the child's face and the big smirk on Hao's, the Iron Maiden Jeanne really thinks she should have thought about it before.
#05 - Run
Jeanne was never a good runner - her tortured muscles weren't trained enough - that's why when she tried to escape, he was so quickly able to tackle her and stop her futile struggling, then kiss her passionately, effectively stopping her attempts.
#06 - Hurricane
The Shaman King controls all elements, wind being one of them, so he SHOULD have shut that one down long ago - she grumbles, trying to stop Opachô from jumping right into a tornado, because she knows if he didn't do it then he didn't want to do it, and that bothers her, the hatchet has been buried long ago, so WHY - why does he like bugging her so much?
#07 - Wings
She was a dove, a pure being of light, - even if Rackist said that she was only a stupid girl and if Marco said she was a saint, he knew better, girls weren't that pure and even saints weren't quite as shiny - no, she was an angel, and the thought bothered him because he felt like corrupting something beautiful.
#08 - Cold
"You're gonna catch a cold" for a few moments she doesn't even begin to understand the statement - why does he care, why does he even bother to talk to her since he seems to think she is nothing worthy - then she looks at him - all smiles and winks - and she struggles, then resumes praying, still on her knees in the only clothes she can wear in the Iron Maiden, and he watches and watches, eyes glinting with interest (she knows he watches and that makes her feel strange) until she finally shivers, and he says: "Didn't I say it?"
#09 - Red
Her eyes and blood were exactly the same shade of red, the same red he hated so much, the same red that haunted him since the beginning of his murdering path - that's why he couldn't bear her accusing stare.
#10 - Drink
Drinking was forbidden by her way of life itself; he, even as an adult, thought it was a disgusting human thing so he wasn't one to drink either, and that helped their relationship - if they had one - because Jeanne knew she wouldn't bear a drunk man in her room, even if she could do little about him haunting her painful nights; and knowing that, he did not drink - having to search another night shield would be too difficult (or so he said).
#11 - Midnight
She often stayed up until midnight, the pain stopping her from sleeping, and he also does that, watching the shining stars; she rarely exits the basement, and he would never enter her home (too much noise for not enough gain) but somehow they finally met up; she had decided to take a walk, to clear her thoughts, and he was seeking some high comfortable place - somehow they had literary ran into each other, and somehow that night he healed her and she watched his stars.
#12 - Temptation
In her tortured mind, Hao is temptation - he sure is handsome, with his long chocolate hair, his dark eyes and tanned skin - but he's evil, and she must deny that temptation, she must resist, she must even stop thoughts of him entering her head, because his handsomeness is part of his evil.
#13 - View
"The view is amazing, thank you" Hao's words make Marco's blood boil because the pyromaniac is looking right on the Iron Maiden's chest and does not even bother to deny it (the blondie's thoughts are sooo amusing Hao would continue what he's doing only because of them if he had not another good reason to) and then she realizes what he's doing and what was amusing becomes hilarious.
#14 - Music
Since the first time he saw her claim the whole saint act, he took her for the "classic music" type, and, as always, he was right - she does love piano solos (so he was wise to ask Rackist to buy him a lot of cds for their first date after all) and, even preferring metallic sounds or nature records, he doesn't find it too bad.
#15 - Silk
His voice is silky as ever when he asks her to a dance; from the corner of his eye he sees her blond-haired lieutenant strangle himself on his drink, and that only amuses him more when he sees the girl look at him like he was mad or something (maybe he is after all, he never really cared); all the silk in the world can't match her own when she accepts (and even if he knows that she's doing it for the challenge and for tactical purposes, he doesn't flinch, because he expected it).
#16 - Cover
Since the beginning of her life, she had to disguise herself (when she was young, real covers, to prevent her "comrades" from finding and hitting the weird girl she was, and now she's a bit older, metaphorical ones, to prevent her family and foes to discover that the Iron Girl isn't as sure of herself as she pretends), but her cover is nothing in front of his abilities, so he knows her fears, and as she finally breaks and let terror appear in her pretty red eyes, he's there to catch her, to stop her from falling to the ground.
#17 - Promise
In the secret of the sole night they pass together, he promises her everything will be alright; that's a lie and she vowed long ago to never fall for something as shallow as his words; but that night, up to dawn she believes it (because she wants to badly and because that night there's no risk or anything and because it feels good to be with him, even in a lie).
#18 - Dream
Every girl has a dream - that blurry and bright dream that helps them getting up in the morning and suffer all through the day - and Jeanne, being the Iron Girl, had her own, and she thought it wouldn't become true, like most of these stupid childish dreams - but something she didn't know was he knew her dream, so when he came to her, ready to fulfill that strange desire she had, she wasn't exactly prepared (you wouldn't think your worst enemy is the best guy you could be taken with to a date).
#19 - Candle
Strength is like the flame of a candle, wavering, depending on the emotional state - power is control, nothing else - she knows that, he knows that, they're the best at it, controlling their emotions like they were arrows (anger to release powerful blows, indifference to stop other's attacks) but she has something he doesn't, and vice versa: she can, when the X-laws are nearly dying because of his minions, make her strength explode to protect them, and he can, knowing her thoughts, make his comrades do exactly the right thing to blow her defenses away - and locked in her iron jail or lying down to look at his stars, they think, annoyed, that these tricks are making them, in a way they don't want to, care.
#20 - Talent
"I have more talents in other domains than just shamanism" he whispers huskily to his lovely bride, and she smirks (when did she learn to smirk like THAT? Oh yes, he did teach her), goes on her tiptoes to reach his ear, and says, sickly sweet and tender, in a challenging tone: "Maybe you have dear, but if you're so proud of them, you'll show me later…", and as she walks off to greet their guests, he can only stop his tears from flowing when looking at the foot she conscientiously crushed.
#21 - Silence
In the silence, her thoughts are wild and shattered and broken, because he's using her, he's only using her, there's no love in his act, no love at all, he only acts like that to gain her trust and then crush her, she doesn't know why she keeps loving him, he doesn't care, he doesn't care at all and someday he'll kill her; and all that thinking hurt him because he does care.
#22 - Journey
His journey began long ago, in a dark little town lost in the snow of the north of Japan - her own just began, approximately ten years ago, in the blinding lights of the French capital city (but when Yoh looks at them closely he thinks their trips are not so different, because they search shelter and that shelter is maybe closer than they think - there Yoh chuckles, thinking that his Nii-san's best place may be the Iron Maiden and Jeanne's may be Hao).
#23 - Fire
She should stop playing with fire or she'll burn, he says, and when she hears that, she looks up at him, crimson eyes against chocolates orbs, and there he sees that fire in her eyes and understands she knows that what he just said is right and doesn't care - that alone is enough to light up his interest, so he stays and watches (because he likes to watch before act, since he knows doing things in a rush is dangerous) and as he watches he understands that maybe he is the one who will burn.
#24 - Strength
How dare she even defy him is beyond his imagination - her strength is not even half of his, and her precious angels are just weaknesses, because she worries about them, and worrying makes her even weaker - but when he is defied, he doesn't question it, he just kills the fool who thought him stupid enough to be killed by such a weakling, Iron Maiden Jeanne or not, goddess or not, interesting - charming - girl or not, even if his stomach boils at the thought of her broken corpse, even if his mind screams at him to stop, even if he knows she's his last chance to live again.
#25 - Mask
He reaches out to touch her face lightly, and, for a few seconds, they don't move, frozen there, her eyes widened by the shock and a hidden fear, his narrowed in interest; she's smaller than him (after all she's only eleven when he's fourteen, that counts too) and her head is pushed up by his caressing hand when his own is looking down on her, and at this time the whole universe is at peace, holding its breath; but suddenly she breaks, pushes him and runs away - there he thinks, he isn't the only one to have a mask.
#26 - Ice
Her voice is colder than ice when she speaks to him, and strangely it effectively freezes him (for the first time since ever, someone touched him, even if it was a light shiver) because even if he shouldn't, he cares about that voice, that girl, that presence that holds feelings about him - even if it's a feeling of hate, even if she does not hates him but what he represents.
#27 - Fall
Since the very beginning, she knew she was going to fall, one day or another, because she's only a thin girl and he's Hao, the great destroyer, and no one can stop him (surely not her, she's the youngest of the shamans that pretend killing him after all, age counts) and when he destroys the Gate, she catches a glimpse of his handsome and cruel eyes as she falls, down and down towards the ground - and her smile seems to match his.
#28 - Forgotten
A sincere laugh was something they had forgotten, since long ago (she lost that when her orphanage was burned down, and he did when he killed Denzen, sacrificing Ohachiyo by pure stupidity) so, when it took them by surprise, at exactly the same time, it's a great shock for both of them (she immediately blushes, and he, even with his usual calm, can't help but frown).
#29 - Dance
They don't like each other - well, she hates him and he doesn't care about her - so that Pache festival (with the opening waltz, of course) isn't something they're very happy to live, because Goldova said "the strongest shamans will dance together" and it happens to be them, but hey, maybe he can find some amusement in that, and maybe she'll find information - at least, that's what they tell themselves.
#30 - Body
He has a muscled body, tanned and strong and prepared to harsh fights and life outdoors, while she has nothing but a white tortured body, weak and fragile and only designed to endure her pain - but maybe that's not a so bad mix, he thinks as his rough golden arm catches her own, so fine and silvery-like.
#31 - Sacred
He does not like that word, "sacred" because it means nothing: life isn't sacred (people took her mother's, it wasn't sacred to them, why should life of others be) love isn't either (love means nothing to the ones who aren't concerned so why should theirs be); and when the blondie says she is sacred instinctively he hates her (why should she be sacred, what's the point, why a weak girl and not him, why) and then as he watches her with hatred he sees something, that sparkle he never saw in another woman, the something he can, maybe, if time allows it, consider as "sacred".
#32 - Farewells
Strangely, they weren't really at ease with farewells - even if they'd never admit that, gods have pride and shouldn't say their feelings (shouldn't even have them) - but, as Jeanne saw him go for what would be either her or his death, she couldn't suppress a shiver, and Hao, knowing her every thought - his ability was always a bother, and her broken and confused feelings about him were not changing his idea - smiled sadly, stopped an instant, and resumed walking.
#33 - World
He built his perfect word, with only strong shamans and nature, and she's one of the few that he kept in some jail of his because he was so frustrated he couldn't break her; but he knew better than killing her - it would be freeing her, and something in his stomach was disgusted by the idea of her dead anyway.
#34 - Formal
"No need to be so formal, dear" he says, and she wants to scream, of course there's need to be formal, she shouldn't even have to breathe the same air he breathes, he's filthy and evil and… "When I said that, I didn't think you'd relax enough to insult me, even in your thoughts."
#35 - Fever
His temperature is a bit higher than average, so he always seems to be feverish, and that worries her, and he's just too tired to explain it to her, so he lets her take care of him - not as if it will change anything to put an - OUCH - incredibly cold tissue on his forehead.
#36 - Laugh
His usual laugh and smiles are refusals - he refuses their words of love and peace, he refuses their stupid justice, he refuses their bonds and even their feelings - whereas her rare ones are just acknowledgements of nothing in particular.
#37 - Lies
His words are only lies - lies, not truths, lies, she has to repeat it several times a day to not beginning to believe them, because he's so strong, so seducing, so tempting - and lies shouldn't be able to face her truth, her justice, but they do, and they happen to make her doubt her strength (she shouldn't, she shouldn't, doubt create weakness and he knows that and she knows that) to make her want to run to him, because sometimes he seems to be just right, as if his own justice was something stronger than hers (but she can't believe that, if she did he would have won - she'll never let him win).
#38 - Forever
The piano stills echo in her ears, and she looks up where he disappeared in his usual burst of flames, and all she can do not to cry is to tighten the hold she has on his last gift, because they both know they won't see each other anymore, and that all the luck in the world could be no help to them - their "forever" has already come to its end; and she will stay alone - he would too, if she was the one to die.
#39 - Overwhelmed
It's very difficult to resist his playful mood, his enthusiasm, being the Iron Maiden or not; he's just overwhelming, and then she begins to think, even unconsciously, that he really is a god (but she's not ready to understand she thinks that, and he won't force her, that would be ruining what they're beginning to build together, and after all he also needs to make her understand that sometimes others are right - she's a god too, even if she thinks she often failed and even if she feels overwhelmed by her duties.
#40 - Whisper
He always whisper dark lies to her when they're alone, and she has to stop herself from listening to them, because they seem so right it's hard not believing him, and if she did, the X-Laws would be damned - she doesn't want them to, they're her only family, they count on her, so she won't deceive them - but oh god his lies are really disturbingly truthful.
#41 - Wait
He waited centuries and centuries to fulfill his dreams; she is nothing to him, just another trap on his road, she's just eleven, she can't be very dangerous after all - but when he sees her break and cry, she's not a trap anymore - and it's all too late.
#42 - Talk
She's not a very talkative being, but it's not a real problem to him, because he hears her thoughts and that is enough - as they say, silence is gold.
#43 - Search
His quest was a very long one, but he never found what he wanted - she had no quest, thus she joined his search to find something - someone - to live for.
#44 - Hope
Hope isn't a valuable thing - to be strong, you don't hope, you just know, that's what makes you strong, he discovered that long ago - so, even with all the hope she has, the hope in her prayers, words, thoughts, all this can't help her, it just disgusts him how strong she believes in something that will never happen (beliefs are what make her foolish, stupid, weak), all her little wishes are bubbles, and bubbles are made to break; she shushes his stupid monologue and kisses him - that hope is greater than his knowledge, so much greater than he can do nothing but accept that power of her.
#45 - Eclipse
The Iron Maiden stood in the fading light, her unprotected eyes staring right at the darkening sun, and the eerie black light made her so beautiful that he laughed and laughed, making her turn to stare at him, and the sun, regaining its glory, made for her a beautiful halo.
#46 - Gravity
It amazes the weaklings, the way gravity is nothing to them, but it's just another trick, and he finds this one less amusing than the way he feels dragged to her - but maybe it's no trick, just a hidden truth.
#47 - Highway
On the highway leading to the Pache village, he met her once, when all her angels were sleeping and she was taking a late walk (he did not point out the fact that she was hurt by her tortures, that would leads to nothing); he was playing with the asphalt (curious to how Yoh would cope with a road like this one) and they stared at each other (she immediately knew who he was, which taking in consideration what he was doing wasn't difficult, and he recognized the girl Rackist had told him about); then she walked off, and her retreating silvery back was something he would not forget.
#48 - Unknown
Some parts of his life were unknown to her - okay, okay, most parts of it were unknown to her - but that wasn't really important since her aim, the only aim she ever had, was to destroy him, but that was still bothering her (a thought always in her head, hidden in the back of her mind, showing itself randomly) as if she gave a damn - no, she shouldn't swear, she shouldn't - as if she cared.
#49 - Lock
On the Iron maiden armor, the lock has always been the most interesting thing in his point of view - locks are made to be unlocked, and he liked the idea of unlocking Jeanne.
#50 - Breathe
Her first breath was heavy, unsure and greedy (strange thing, he never thought her as a greedy person); he watched as her chest rose and fell, and felt suddenly reassured, nearly happy to see her live again, breathe again.