Melt My Cold Heart

Thanks for everyone that’s sticking with me! I really appreciate the help and encouragement!

Disclaimer: The characters’ names, physical description, and powers do not belong to me: Sogetsu Kazama from Samurai Shodown and Qilué, one of the Seven Sisters in the Forgotten Realms. Their personalities and this story are original.

Note from author: None of this is going to be based on the video game or the forgotten realms series. Please keep in mind that Qilué is pronounced KEE-lay.

Chapter 4: Trust

It had been a few days since Qilué saw Sogetsu. After what happened late that night after the celebration, Qilué had no more intentions of being around him. She was furious to what he did to her, but she couldn’t help wonder what it all meant. A tug at her robe brought her mind back to the present situation. As she looks down, a small boy held onto the hem of her robe tightly while looking back up at her.

“It seems the children favor you more Lady Qilué.” Picking the little boy up, she turns to look at Cain. Qilué decided after all the join him in his work to restore the plantation for Sogetsu’s people after Cain persistently invited her again after the third day of his stay. He gives her a smile as he continues to hand out crops to a long line of people. More children start to surround Qilué slowly as she walks away a few feet, not wanting to distract Cain. The young boy in her arms was thin and his face was chalked with dirt. His clothes were tattered, much like the other children around her. Reaching his small hand out, he touches Qilué’s lips through her veil.

“You’re very strange.” He says in a quiet but brave voice. Qilué slowly places her fingers over his small hand, letting him look at her dark-skinned hand and softly kisses the its palm.

“I am very different looking but I still have a heart.” Smiling, she kneels down and puts the small boy onto his feet. Her smile slowly fades as she looks into each child’s face. It was just so cruel that they had to live through this time. Getting familiar with each face, Qilué suddenly sees a girl, much smaller than the boy with bandages around her right eye. The color of her skin around the bandages was black and looked slightly swollen.

“That’s Mena.” The boy said to Qilué as he walks over to Mena. He takes her by her hand and slightly tugs her towards Qilué. “It’s okay.” Qilué hears him tell Mena. “She smells like spring time. It feels nice to be next to her.” The two children walk up to Qilué and stand in front of her. Mena looks at her through her brown eye and Qilué opens her arms to Mena. Mena lets go of the boy’s hand and slowly crawls into Qilué’s lap, letting Qilué cradle her. Mena could hear the strange woman speaking, saying strange words but it was comforting and warm. Feeling the woman put her hand on her right eye gently, Mena closes her eye.

Sogetsu mumbled as he was being escorted by some of his guards out to his village. One of Cain’s soldiers interrupted his meeting, asking for his presence immediately. As Sogetsu saw the peasants make way for him, many were on their knees, thanking him, bowing to him, and even touching his hands and arms briefly. Ignoring their gestures, Sogetsu sees Cain and Qilué together with some of the village children. Qilué catches Sogetsu’s eye for a moment, then turns away from him, her attention on the children who were now reaching for her, smiling and shouting. Cain was walking towards him with a little girl in his arms.

“Lord Kazama, please forgive me for calling you out so abruptly but I believe you might have wanted to know this.” The little girl in Cain’s arms was looking at Sogetsu with her large brown eyes. Her hand held tightly around Cain’s thumbs as she turns her head away from Sogetsu, burying her face into Cain’s robe.

“Now, now.” Cain said as he gently pets her head, letting out a small chuckle. “This is the Lord of you land. You should be courteous to him when he’s in your presence.” The girl slowly turns her head back to look at Sogetsu.

“This girl’s name is Mena.” Cain said to Sogetsu as he shifts Mena slightly in his arms, lifting her up a little higher so that her arms would wrap around his neck. “She had an infection in her right eye which slowly led to her being blind. Not only was she blinded in that eye but decay also spread throughout that part of her face.” Sogetsu reaches out and touches Mena’s face. There was absolutely no scaring or even a blemish. Both her eyes were moving normally. He didn’t believe that this girl could have had such a horrible injury and recover without a single flaw.

“Are you certain this girl had that sort of injury?” Cain looks at him, knowing that he might be in disbelief.

“If you’re uncertain, you can ask the children or ever the townspeople. They all know Mena from her injury and I assure you, they all knew how she suffered.” A small smile came from Mena’s face.

“Q.” Mena suddenly pips out with her small voice. Cain turns around with Mena pointing towards Qilué. Qilué was playing with some of the children, trying to tickle them as they were running away from her, squealing and teasing her by pulling on her robe and holding onto her legs. Stumbling and laughing along with them, Qilué notices Cain and Sogetsu looking at her. She stands up straight and holds her hands up to surrender. As she walks away from the children, some of them follow her while the others were wrestling and chasing each other. Mena was reaching out her short arms towards Qilué, nearly wiggling out from Cain’s arms. As Qilué approaches them, she takes Mena into her arms, Mena’s smile turning bigger.

“Lady Qilué was the one who had healed Mena.” Qilué looks at Sogetsu while Mena was making herself comfortable in Qilué’s arms.

“Lord Orin, would you give us a moment of privacy?” Cain bowed to them both and left. A boy standing beside Qilué was studying Sogetsu’s sword. A few of the other children were staring at Sogetsu. The boy next to Qilué grabs her robe and slowly reaches out his hand to touch Sogetsu’s sword handle. Sogetsu catches the boy from the corner of his eye and lowers his head to look at him. The boy immediately looks up at Sogetsu, knowing that he’s been caught. Sogetsu gives the boy a low growl and the boy quickly retreats his hand then runs back to his friends. The other children follow him as Sogetsu gives them each all a glare. Setting Mena on her feet, Qilué gently pats the back of her head to indicate her to run along as well.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had that sort of power?” Sogetsu asks her as she moves a little closer to him. “I have many powers. I can also help revive yours Lord Kazama.” A stunned look suddenly hits Sogetsu’s face but then quickly disappears with a scowl. Turning away, Qilué quickly reaches out and grabs his arm. He faces her, the scowl still present on his face.

Don’t let him intimidate you, she kept telling herself over and over again. Slowly walking up to him, her hand still on his arm, she drops her voice down to a whisper. “I know you possess the power to control water, but I don’t sense it present within you. I can offer to teach you how to find that power again and harness it.”

“And why would you want to help me?” Qilué looks up at him, seeing his face lighten. The last time she answered this question, he nearly choked her to death but the situation seemed different now. He was looking into her eyes as if he was pleading her for help. She knew he would be too stubborn and proud to ask her straight out, let alone admit he needed help.

“I want to see these people happy. They deserve something better and I want you to give them that opportunity.” She gently slides her hand down his arm until their fingers barely touch.

“I’ll send a servant for you later tonight.” Before leaving, Sogetsu gently brushes his fingers against hers, turns, and leaves. Qilué watches him walk away, first wishing Cain goodbye then being escorted by his soldiers back to the castle.

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“Through here Lady.” The servant opens the door and Qilué steps through it then hearing the door click behind her. The servant had led her outside which seemed like a small garden. A stone path was leading to a rather small wooden house. As she walks the path, Qilué heard water and saw a smoke of steam come from the house. Opening the door, she decided to take a peek as to see what was inside. A large, marble bath tub was in the middle of the house. Faucets shaped like birds had hot water flowing out of their mouths and into the tub. The room was warm from the steam and Qilué decided to take this opportunity to warm up a bit since the night air was chilly. Closing the door behind her, she quickly takes off all her clothing and takes a deep breath. Walking over to the tub, she slowly slips in, the hot water irritating to get into at first but soon enough, her entire body was surrounded by the warm water. In the complete state of warmth and relaxation, Qilué slowly slips her head under water with a smile on her face.

Sogetsu stood there with his arms crossed for the past five minutes. The servant should have brought her by now, he thought as he uncrosses his arms. After another few minutes had passed, he starts to become angry. She must have talked to Cain, Sogetsu thought as he starts to walk towards the bath house, continuing with his assumption. This is probably a plan to get me to expose myself, to let them see that I really don’t have powers and they’ll probably use it against me to take my kingdom. How could I have been such a fool!

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard splashing within the bathhouse. Drawing his sword out, he silently creeps towards the door and slowly opens it without making a sound. Looking inside, there wasn’t anyone in site. He suddenly saw large bubbles form in the tub and sneaks into the house, closing the door behind him and waits at the edge of the tub, his sword ready to strike at anything that comes out from the water.

Within seconds, a form emerges from the water but before Sogetsu attacked, he recognized who it was. As Qilué was emerging, her back was facing Sogetsu and didn’t seem to notice that he was there. He watches the water roll down her smooth back, the water drops were glistening, making her dark skin shine. His eyes start to trail down her lower back, a small voice in the back of his head urging her to rise up more to feed his greedy eyes. Some of her white hair was clinging to her like a second skin, making her curves even more delicious. Sogetsu lowers his sword and covers his mouth, resisting the urge to call her because he wanted to see more of her. He remembered how he told her he had undressed her and nursed her back to health after the battle with Katsu’s army, but he never did. He thought if he had told her he was the one taking care of her and instead of his servants, she would realize that he had some leverage against her and be able to control her easier.

Letting out a small grunt, he could feel his urges take over as a budge was slowly forming under his pants. He then remembered that this could have been a plan for his down fall. Without any more hesitations and forcing down his desires, he jumps into the tub.

Before Qilué could turn around to see what made the splash behind her, she felt something sharp and cold along her neck. She immediately brought her hands up to cover her naked breasts. She knew this was a mistake because as she brought up her hands, an arm wraps around them, pinning her arms against her body. Her legs were forced open by her attacker’s knee, making her unable to move. Slowly turning her head to see her attacker, it was Sogetsu. She could feel his bare chest against her back as he pulls her closer into his body.

“Did you really heal that girl’s eye? Or are you planning something behind my back? Qilué had the urge to slap him in the face. But she remembered that she couldn’t move and also that these sort of questions were typical coming from him. She felt insulted by the fact that he didn’t have any faith in her ability and also for invading her privacy.

“Yes I healed that girl.” Qilué hissed out between her clenched teeth. She was trying hard to be patient with his stubbornness, let alone how he always thought everyone was out to kill him. She felt a small pain in her chest suddenly as she realized that he still didn’t trust her, even after all that she had done for him. She let out a small sigh.

“The scars on your back Lord Kazama, will you let me heal them? Would it finally prove to you that I’m on your side?” Sogetsu’s face softens suddenly and she felt his arm slowly relax. Gently pushing the sword away from her neck, Qilué turns around to face him. Slowly pulling her hands away from her chest, she could feel her face turn red as she undoes his robe and pulls it down his shoulders, now revealing his smooth hard chest and stomach. Leaning into him, pressing her cheek into his shoulder and moving her arms under his, she could feel his heart beat against her breast as it was beating in sync with her heart. Her hands were shaking a little, a bit embarrassed because of the position they were in and she lightly presses her hands against his rough, scarred back. He could hear her chant quietly as he drops his hands to his side, his robe now sliding down to his wrists. He felt some sort of warmth, not from the hot water but from something inside of him.

After a few moments, Qilué slowly lifts her head and looks at him. His face was still as he looks at her, her hands now trailing his smooth back muscles. “It’s done. You can go look for yourself.” She said quietly to him.

“I don’t need to look. I could feel it leaving my body. The pain and the memories of how I attained each of them are gone.” He looks at her for a few moments. Her lavender eyes were bright and beautiful. Her mouth was slightly open, her red lips making a small pout, tempting him to press his own lips against them, to taste them, to bite them.

Shaking his head slightly, he sheaths his sword and slowly pushes her arms back, making her remove her hands from his back. After putting his robe back on, he turns back to look at her, seeing that she managed to cover her breasts with her long white hair. Sogetsu was a little disappointed because he wanted to look at her body one more time before he left her to get dressed. Qilué now had an annoyed look on her face, her arms crossed in front of her. Sogetsu gave her a smirk before he jumped out of the tub and left. As soon as Qilué heard the click from the door, she let out a long sigh, her hands covering her face as she fell back into the water. Not believing what had just happened, she still couldn’t help but smile.

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Hearing the door open from the bathhouse, Qilué came out wearing her robe but she didn’t have her hood over her head or her veil. Sogetsu couldn’t help but grin to see her robe slightly wet and clinging to her curves, making parts of her dark skinned body quite visible through the white silk robe.

“Lord Kazama.” Her words snap Sogetsu’s eyes away from her body and to her face. “If you can trust me, I will be able to show you how to reach great power. The only condition is that you use your powers only when necessary and to only help others. This sort of power is a gift to us and we cannot selfishly use them for our own needs or else we will lose it.”
Sogetsu now had his arms crossed. A disappointing look came over his face and Qilué knew that he understood what must be changed about him.

“So in order to gain my lost power, I need to be someone who cares and loves?” His face was now a scowl. “Someone like Cain you mean?” As he growled out his last comment bitterly, Qilué walks up to him and looks into his eyes.

“We have the privilege to this great power that others don’t. I use my powers to protect the people, to protect the defenseless, and to protect you.” Sogetsu didn’t expect her to say the last part.

“I don’t need your protection.” He spat at her.

“I know you don’t, but it’s my choice.” A little smile to her lips, despite the hurt she felt from how cold he was acting to her. “You let me stay in your home and now it is my responsibility to protect it and anyone in it.” Sogetsu scoffed at her as he unfolds his arms and lowers his head.

“Then what’s my benefit for using my power unselfishly?” He said quietly.

“You gain the respect and love of your people.” Slowly lifting his head, his eyes were now gentle. Qilué could see his light blue eyes which were usually dark.

“And what will I gain from you?” His question stunned her for a moment. A confused expression crosses her face but a beautiful smile replaces it immediately.

“You will have my respect Lord Kazama.” Sogetsu was now leaning closer to her, their faces only inches apart. Their eyes were fixated on each other\'s mouths.

“What about your love?” He whispers. Qilué exhaled slowly, seeing the frost from her breath. She didn’t realize that the night air was so cold because she felt warm from Sogetsu’s body.

“That will take some time.” She whispers back. She heard a small grunt from him as he turns away from her.

“We’ll start recovering my power tomorrow. You are not to go out to the village with Orin anymore because I will not rest until I’ve gain it, even if it requires no sleep for days.” As Sogetsu headed back into the castle, Qilué quietly swore under her breath, blaming herself for getting Sogetsu interested in his power because now she wouldn’t be seeing daylight for a long time.


Don’t worry! Cain’s not out of the picture just yet! So Sogetsu and Q are going to spend days together. Will love blossom for the two or will they drive each other insane? Will Sogetsu really use his powers responsibly? Chapter 5 will be up soon enough!

And here a fanart teaser I did a while back before even considering writing this story. Enjoy!

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-6/762023/lovers1.jpg