Freeing My Heart

Story by WotanAnubis

TITLE: Freeing My Heart

AUTHOR: WotanAnubis

FANDOM: Another Code R: A Journey into Lost Memories

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Another Code R: A Journey into Lost Memories or any characters from it. No profit is being made.

RATING: NC-17

PAIRING: Ashley/Elizabeth

NOTE: You know, writing Elizabeth was a lot more fun than it had any right to be. The sex scene, on the other hand, was a lot harder than usual.

* * * * *

It was another beautiful day at Lake Juliet. The sun shone brightly in a clear sky, making the calm waters of the lake sparkle, and a warm breeze made the trees rustle soothingly. It was a heart-wrenchingly magnficent testament to the sublime beauty of pristine nature. If you were wired that way.

Elizabeth Alfred wasn't wired that way. Oh sure, a clear blue sky was better than one choked with smog and a nice, warm breeze was better than either icy coldness or stifling heat, but she didn't get all lyrical about it. The way she saw it, human history was all about getting away from nature so people could actually focus on something interesting. Like fashion. Or music.

It was music that held her attention now. More or less. Elizabeth stood at the edge of the sparkling lake, lazily tossing stones at the surface of the water and completely failing to make any of them skip. What she wasn't doing as was looking behind her, where the Lonely Oak stood. And where Ashley sat strumming her acoustic guitar.

The problem was that she liked Ashley. She just didn't really know why. OK, sure, she was usually nice and she stood up for... well... everyone and she made the world seem like a more gentle place just by being around. She wasn't supposed to do that. She just had to be there whenever she, Elizabeth, felt like bitching. She wasn't supposed to make her feel like there was nothing to bitch about.

And then there was the other thing. The... the gay thing. Not that Elizabeth was gay. She totally liked guys. It was just that... well... on lazy afternoons during a hot summer vacation it was... fun to fool around. If there was nothing else to do (and at Lake Juliet there usually wasn't), making each other feel nice was something that they both enjoyed. There was nothing gay about that. It was just a bit of bicuriosity. Which was still the in thing to be for girls her age even if there weren't any guys around to impress. It was just that when she was all alone at night and feeling... bored... well... it was Ashley who'd started getting into her thoughts. And that wasn't supposed to happen! She liked dicks. Guys. She liked guys.

Because that was the third thing that bothered her about Ashley. She should have seen it coming, really. Half Japanese and half American; white hair and dark eyes; being friends with her, but persisting in wearing indie fashion anyway. The girl'd lived in two worlds her whole life. So she shouldn't have been that surprised to find that the rest of Ashley's body, too, sat awkwardly between worlds. It was so unfair. If there were going to be women like that, Elizabeth felt pretty strongly that they should be huge, muscular Amazonian types, not awkwardly attractive girls who just happened to be the same age she was. And who were pretty good at making her feel good. And who made the world seem like a better place just by being there.

Elizabeth flung another rock at the lake, not even trying to make it skip. The world just wasn't supposed to work this way. But, then again, when had the world ever lived up to her standards?

Elizabeth felt two arms embrace her waist and realised she'd been too angry to hear the guitar stop. Only now did her anger fade enough for her to notice the change. And the reason it faded was because Ashley was hugging her from behind.

"What're you thinking about?" Ashley asked.

A look of annoyance flashed across Elizabeth's face. Sometimes, the promise she'd made to herself to always be honest really sucked.

"You," she replied.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"What? Why are you asking that?"

"I saw the way you were throwing stones."

"Oh. That. Forget it. It's not important."

"Really? It seemed pretty important to me."

Elizabeth turned around in Ashley embrace. Bad move. Seeing her face to face she couldn't stop a smile from tugging at her lips. And Ashley, of course, noticed and smiled back. Which, in turn made her feel kind of fuzzy inside. Worse, the heat of her anger got replaced by the heat of... of...

Well, by the heat of getting turned on. If she were Ashley she'd be worried about betraying that fact, but fortunately she wasn't so it was easier to enjoy just being held close by her. Actually, if she were Ashley she wouldn't be worried about giving away the fact she was getting turned on. Not around her anyway.

Elizabeth wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Right now, she thought it was a good thing, but she also knew that, right now, she was quickly leaving her usual frame of mind. Being held by Ashley did that to her.

"T

... more on the forums ...