The last thing Acht expected was this particular thing. He predicted that she might accept how he was and merely laugh it off, but she kissed him seemingly out of nowhere.
This made his reaction way slower than usual. A few moments passed before he finally pulled out and looked at Leislet with slight confusion.
The latter also looked deeply into his eyes. Then, with a smile, she said two words.
"I love you."
Acht felt himself slowly losing his composure so, to not lose total control of himself, he coughed slightly.
"What are you.."
Before he could even end his words, Leislet interrupted him again.
"I love you, Acht." She said with the same smile and the same soft, loving look. Her eyes were clear and her expression was so relaxed it was almost scary.
He could only retreat slightly, for some reason, even though he heard her saying these words a few times before, at this particular moment, they somehow had a way different effect on him.
Leislet then took a deep breath and continued.
"You don't seem to get how much I love you so let me put it into context. See the sky above us?" She said as she pointed upwards.
Acht instinctively looked up, then she added.
"See how vast it is? How seemingly endless it is? My love for you is bigger than this whole sky."
"See the ground under us? See the worlds that we are surrounded by? They are nothing compared to how I feel about you. I know I might sound cheesy with these words but that's the closest thing I could use to describe how much I love you with every fiber of my heart."
She then touched her heart with her hands and closed her eyes then she continued.
"I have lived all of my life without knowing what love is or how people could be ready to sacrifice their lives, their happiness, and their dreams for the people they love. I always loathed their ideas and called them foolish."
She then looked up again.
"Then, I met you. At first, I thought, this kid seems very interesting. He is smart, cunning, an airhead sometimes but a very honest individual. This made me think that you are different. You aren't like the others around me, a bunch of stupid and useless people. You had something in you that made you unique, Acht. That was when I started growing these feelings for you."
Her smile seemed to widen with each word she said. It reached a point where her blissful smile became the only thing Acht could see.
"I don't know when, but somehow, I ended up falling in love with you. I mean, how weird could I be to fall in love with a young boy? It is something that many would find bizarre and even disgusting. I even thought I was disgusting for feeling such things for someone who is clearly way younger than me."
Then, she walked slightly closer to him.
"But, I still kept those feelings hidden inside of me. I didn't want to lose you nor these feelings of mine. It is my cherished thing. But, now, I can't hold on any longer, I had already made up my mind to try and get you to like me no matter how many years it takes. Even if you are way too young. I will wait for you to grow up. Even if you don't like me. I will make you fall in love with me. Even if you decide to leave, I will chase you to the end of the world."
She took a step closer to him.
"No matter how bad you were or how many sinful things you committed, those are your past. We can't change the past but we can change the future. Everyone makes mistakes and you make mistakes. However, you already paid back those mistakes and more."
She then took another step.
"So, don't blame yourself for that. Don't try and look at yourself with that disgusted look. Didn't you say before that you never regret anything you do? That's how you should be. It's because that's what made your present."
Finally, she was in front of him. Then, with an elegant move, she hugged Acht gently. It wasn't a weird hug but more of a reassuring hug that carried more emotions than words could ever transmit.
"That's why I want to say for the last time, I love you so much Acht and I want you to never underestimate my love for you."
She ended her words and closed her eyes. She didn't wait for an answer from him nor approval of what she said. All she wanted was for her true emotions to come out and that was exactly what happened.
'What a weird thing…Fuck. This is fucking weird.' Acht thought as he touched his face.
For some reason, his fingers felt slightly wet when he touched them. He looked at them to make sure he wasn't hallucinating and it was indeed the case.
'Is it raining?' He thought. He knew the truth but he tried to avoid it.
Acht was actually crying. He didn't feel the tears at all as they somehow fell down his cheek.
'Why am I crying? This is bullshit. I swore to never cry again. I swore that I will live a life I will never regret. I swore that I will work toward true happiness where I will never feel pain again. Yet, here I am feeling pain again. How ironic.' He thought.
Then, he wiped the tears with his hands in a last attempt to regain his composure. But, it didn't seem to do much of anything.
"What if I never liked you back?" He asked out of nowhere.
"That will never happen," Leislet replied.
"How are you so sure?" He asked again.
"I am just certain. It's just like how we are certain that night will come at the end of the day. I also know that I will make you fall in love with me for sure. It's just a matter of time."
"You are fucking weird."
p "I know."
"You are really fucking weird."
"I know."
Acht didn't know why, but, even though seconds passed, he couldn't find the strength to push Leislet away. He didn't know why but he somehow didn't want to leave her embrace. He wanted to stay there for a few more seconds, a few more minutes, or maybe a few more hours. He didn't have any idea.
All he could think about was his heart which was scarred from long years of pain and hardship. It was finally starting its first steps towards healing again.
(A//N: Is Leislet winning? :) )
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