~Ariel~
Kiyoko and Zero were obviously close, but I couldn't be mad at him. He didn't deserve that. What I wanted more than anything for things to be as they had been, perfect. Kiyoko was a part of Zero's past, and I accepted that.
"Look, Zero, the others are calling us, I think we should go." I told him, glancing over my shoulder at the others who wanted to leave. Asuka was trying to give us privacy, but it was obvious she wanted us to hurry up. Zero stood there as if unsure what to do. "I accept you no matter what, Zero. You should know this. So, when you figure out what you want, you can come find me. I'm going to go on ahead with Asuka. Catch up with us later."
With that, I turned and hurried to Asuka's side. I hated putting him in that situation, but he needed to figure things out on his own with no pressure from me. Once we were all moving again, Asuka started in about Ben. I remembered meeting him in the mountains, but not much else, and my mind was a little distracted at the moment, so it was hard for me to concentrate on what Asuke was telling me.
"Ariel, are you ok?" she asked me suddenly.
I shook my head. "Ya, I'm find. It'll be ok. So, you like Ben, huh?" I asked her quietly so no one else would hear.
She blushed a deep red. "Kinda." When I raised my eyebrows at her, she bowed her head. "I do a lot. But, you can't tell him!"
"If I don't tell him, how will he know?" I asked her, walking in step, glancing over at the guy we were talking about. He was sneaking glances her way as well, and I figured the feelings were being reciprocated.
"I don't know, but I can't tell him! It's so embarrassing!" she gushed.
Ben caught me staring. I smiled and whispered to Asuka. "I know he feels the same about you. Let me go talk to him. I won't say anything to embarrass you." I smiled. Asuka's head shot up, looking over at him, finding him staring at her. She looked away quickly. I smiled at the simplicity of the moment.
Before Asuka could beg me not to, I made my way over to Ben, tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention. He turned around met my gaze. I decided to get straight to the point, no need for pointless chit chat.
"Do you like her?" I asked; he'd know whom I was talking about.
"Uhh..." Ben didn't know how to respond.
"Well?" I pried. These two seemed to really need my help.
Ben sighed. "Can you keep a secret?" he asked like a defeated little boy.
I'm sure my eyes were big as I leaned in, nodding my agreement to not tell anyone.
"Okay but if you tell anybody I swear I'll... Okay the real reason I followed you guys was because after the ... smaller group left the mountains. I couldn't stop thinking about the little foxcoon halfer, Asuka. I don't know why, cuz usually I'm not like that, more...focused i guess, but I don't know, she just ... just..." He sighed embarassed all over again.
I didn't mean to laugh then, but I couldn't help it. "So? Go talk to her!" I didn't even wait for him to respond before I pushed him towards Asuka. Someone needed to light a fire under them. I sighed as I walked, waiting for Zero. What would he do?
~Asuka~
I had secretly hoped Ariel would go talk to Ben, and she had, so it worked out well. I was way too embarrassed to talk to him myself. I walked quietly, my face red with embarrassment as I watched the two of them talking. What was he saying about me? What was she saying about me?
I was so enthralled with the ground beneath my feet that I hadn't heard Ben walking with me until he coughed. My head shot up. "Oh, uh, h-hi, Ben!" I stammered, glancing up at him before averting my eyes again quickly.
"Hey, Asuka," he smiled down at me. Darn it! Why did he seem to be so calm and collected about this and here I was with sweaty palms.
"I missed you!" I found my voice had betrayed me and had shouted it out loudly. I wanted to just die. I hadn't wanted to say that at all. He probably thought I was a blazing idiot. I could hear Ariel chuckling to herself, as were some of the others around us that had heard my stupidity. Great, he probably thought I was annoying now. I wanted to curl up and hide.
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