A/N: String me up and I dunno... murder me or something. I swore that I wouldn't start anything till I'd finished something. However, desperate times call for desperate measures. Honey in YtH is making me wish to be able to give the little guy some love and that's supposed to be a Mori fanfic! So, without any guilt- okay, with a lot of guilt- I present Sweet and Sour! My new HoneyxOC fanfic! Chapters will normally be longer than this, but I wanted to see what you guys think! Post if you want more, I'm going to try and work on my other stories!

Edit: This story has decided to be a continuation of Yours to Hold, but at the same time it's own story. Meaning, if you want to experience it fully, reading YtH first, although you don't have to read it in order to have fun with the HoneyxOC events in this story. There are simply a lot of spoilers that will occur towards YtH within these chapters in the future, so if you ever do plan on reading that story, it might not be as fun as it would have been. Just a little warning. 

<3

It’s funny how quiet things can be if you get up before everyone else. Personally, I love the feeling. It’s all too easy to imagine that you’re the only person in the world at moments like those. That there are no rules and no limits.

“They’ll get mad at me when they discover you’ve gone missing.”

However, something always has to interrupt those feelings.

I finished pulling the laces on my tennis shoes tight before I glanced up at the speaker. His golden toned hair partly blocked view of his eyes as the extremely curly strands hung loose, but I didn’t need to see his eyes to know that the way his lips were twisted up in amusement would be displayed there as well. Elias had his back pressed to the stone wall that ringed the estate and for a moment I considered pointing out to him that if he got his clothes dirty by doing that the servants would scold him even if I did go back into the house.

“They can’t get mad if you’re not there,” I replied instead. Elias seemed even more amused if possible. “You’re supposed to come wherever I go, aren’t you?”

As I stood, my words caused my hand to fall to my pocket and brush the crumpled paper stuffed inside. Elias frowned, as if he knew where my thoughts were focused.

“That’s true,” he said after a moment. “Which path are you taking today?”

“The one that goes through the park,” I informed him instantly.

Elias cocked his head, probably drawing up all the risks of going that far from the house with just him. I sighed, stretching my arms above my head and getting a satisfying pop for my efforts.

“You don’t have to be worried,” I reminded Elias. “Without Papa being in the important position he was in, I’m of no risk. Why would someone want to kidnap or harm me when no benefit would come to them for it?”

He seemed to think the matter over for a moment longer before nodding and pushing off of the wall.

“Very well. Are you ready to go or have you not stretched?”

“Not stretched.”

“I’ll stretch with you, then.”

A short amount of time later we took off down the sidewalk. The morning air was cool and each breath I drew in reminded me of just how cool. I could hear the faint echo of Elias’s rhythmic beat as his feet hit the ground a short distance behind me. Beyond that, the only sound was the sound of that breath. Well, that breath and the sound of my own heart. The closer we came to the park, the louder and more consuming that sound seemed to come. By the time we reached the gates my thoughts had begun to spun once again, not even the run managing to keep them at bay for long.

I slowed to a stop as I reached the first bench, unshed tears burning behind my eyes. As I’d done several times this year, I beat them back. Elias only watched in silence as I pulled myself together, my breaths coming in quick, quiet intakes and my hand falling once again to the crumpled paper in my pocket.

“I come wherever you go,” Elias said after a moment.

I bit my lip, squeezing the paper in my fist. I knew the words that paper contained by heart, yet I still found myself drawing it out instead of answering. Without a word, I sat down on the bench and smoothed the letter out on my leg. Just as silently, he took his position up next to me. My eyes skimmed the page, emotions swirling as the words collided in my mind.

Dear Candelaria,

I was startled to learn of your father’s passing. He’d informed me after he was diagnosed, of course, yet I hadn’t realized he was so far along. I didn’t learn until it was already too late for me to attend the funeral. My heart goes out to you and I hope that you are doing well.

I know that you probably don’t want to hear such talk at a time like this, but because of his death, there is a problem. You should be aware that seeing as you are underage, there is the problem of your guardian. In his will, your father left the duty to me, as would have been declared by law if he had not. After all, who better to take you than your mother?

At the same time, I understand that with only a few short years left before you, you might not want to leave your home and your friends and travel to a new country. It is only right that you are given a choice, which is why I sent a letter instead of calling you. I didn’t want to risk influencing your decision when I heard your voice. It’s been entirely too long and I’m afraid that I might have lost my resolve. If you want, I will arrange it so that you can stay in Madrid. I’m not so cruel as to tear you away from your home. However, there’s more than one option in a choice. The other is that you could come and live with me and your step-father. Emilio told me that he made sure that you became fluent in Japanese, and I’m sure that with your personality you’d have no problems fitting in.

Shou has a large circle of influence, as you might imagine of one in his position, and it would be no problem to enroll you in a school at this time of year. There is one that isn’t too far away, actually, that is known for it’s quality of education and it’s students. Plus, they would probably be fine with your being accompanied by a guard because of the status you would have- most of the kids there are from high society families.

Finally, I know that you and Elias are like siblings and that you haven’t spoken to anyone without reason beyond him since Emilio’s passing. If he was allowed, we would provide for him to come and be with you. I know that his father would probably be fine with the arrangement and Shou has agreed that it would help keep you safe. In the end, the decision belongs to the two of you alone.

Whatever you decide, I await news of it. I will support you either way.

With Love,

Your mother, Nakamora Azami

P.S. I have exciting news! I hate to put it at the end of a letter with such a serious nature as this, but I can’t wait to tell you. When you call, I hope to share it. Shou is anxious to hear your reaction to it as well, so he refuses to allow me to put it in here! He’s actually reading over my shoulder to make sure I don’t!

It took me a moment to realize my hands were trembling. Actually, it wasn’t until Elias reached over to pull the paper from my hands that it came to my attention. Dropping my eyes to the where the grass met the concrete beneath my feet, I searched for the words that would make this decision easier.

There were none.

“You’ve made up your mind, haven’t you, Cande?” Elias asked softly after a moment.

I caught sight of him folding the letter out of the corner of my eyes.

“... yes.”

“You’re going?”

“I can’t stay here…” I murmured in response. “I don’t want to constantly be reminded of everything. Plus, with the influence that Mr. Nakamora… Shou… has, I would have a better chance of reaching my goals sooner. If someone is going to be able to get me into classes before I graduate, wouldn’t it be him? The Japanese Prime Minister? And… well… Mama, she… I know she’s always regretted how things are. It would be…”

I trailed off, my swirling thoughts making it hard to figure out exactly where I was going with that sentence.

“A fresh start,” Elias finished for me.

I still couldn’t make my eyes meet his.

“... exactly.”

Silence fell between us for a few moments before I heard him give a loud sigh. Movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention and I finally made myself look towards him. He was giving me an easy grin, his hands folded behind his head as if he’d just been waiting for me to look.

“Well, that’s it, isn’t it?”

I frowned.

“I don’t understand.”

He shrugged, that grin never failing.

“Someone’s got to keep an eye on you. You’re used to me and I’ve been trained to do just that. It’d be weird not to be with you anymore, you know. Some of my friends have joked that it’s like we’re glued at the hip. If you’re going, why wouldn’t I? Papa already told me that it was my decision. My decision has always been to follow yours.”

Those tears threatened my eyes once again and I threw my arms around him, not bothering to hide the emotion this time. Elias simply laughed, wrapping his arms around me and calmly rubbing my back as I attempted to pull myself under control.

“The staff is going to be disappointed,” I commented finally, leaning away to wipe my eyes.

“No,” he corrected me. “They’ll be relieved. They’re worried about you.”

I pursed my lips as I considered that. He was right, they’d be happy to see that I was moving on just like we all needed to do. We’d all known this was coming, it’d just hit harder than any of us had expected.

“Japan…” I mused as I pulled myself up from the bench and held my hand out for him to give me the letter. “It will be different… do you know Japanese?”

Elias put on an offended expression.

“Could I guard a half-Japanese girl and not have worked on the language?” he demanded.

“...you took one class, didn’t you?”

“A great class,” he protested. “I know how to greet someone. I know that you bow like this… and that if you’re talking to like… someone older… you add on… oh, what was it…”

“You look like you’re going to fall over. You don’t have to bow that deeply.”

“SENPAI!”

“People are staring! Don’t shout!”