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damalurbackupTITLE: The Execution of All Things, Pt. 8
CHARACTERS: Kurogane/Fai
NOTES: See part the first.
SUMMARY: Fai is dead. A world is ending. Kurogane copes about as well as you'd expect.
Final Act.
8.1 | the story of that night, part i
Clow's castle is cold: cold doors, cold rooms, cold beds, cold from emptiness and solitude. Sakura and Syaoran both disappear sometime before sundown, and for an instant Fai can't remember which Sakura and which Syaoran the two are: originals or clones or some jumbled pair born from pieces of each: real-world imitations of Frankenstein's monster. I've the heart of Sakura and the soul of her double, I've the body of Syaoran-kun and the eyes of two other people. Rude thoughts, so Fai pushes them aside. He's something of a duality himself.
He wanders for a while, ghosting from vacant room to vacant room; the pang of his hunger finally grows unbearable, so he makes his way back to the kitchen and the goblet Kurogane set aside earlier. The blood is ice, and he pours it down his throat without tasting any of it. He doesn't bother washing the goblet, either.
Eventually he settles into a windowsill on the western side of the castle and watches the sundown. He's seen sunsets in dozens of universes by now, and most of them are indistinguishable from each another. Here, though, the desert seems to intensify the sky's hues; pinks and oranges and reds are fading to indigo when Kurogane clears his throat.
Fai starts. "Ah, Kuro-run! I didn't see you there." His usual cheeriness is tinged with just an edge of melancholy.
"Come with me," Kurogane says.
"What, Kuro-pi? Have you found something interesting?"
Kurogane clears his throat again. "No, I mean - " He cuts off, frustrated, and instead grabs for Fai's hand. His grip is too tight, but Fai lets himself be pulled from his window seat and down the hallway.
Fai opens his mouth and starts to let the usual river of words wash out - What an interesting castle this is, what a beautiful sunset, have you seen Mokona - but the tide catches in his throat. Rather than talk, he finds himself studying Kurogane's back. The ninja is swathed in his usual black, but he's tense - almost nervous. Fai can tell from the way the muscles in the other man's back are drawn taut, in the way Kurogane's hand is clenched around his own so tightly that it trembles. Kurogane leads Fai down a staircase, through a long hall lined with rich tapestries in reds and greens, and through another, narrower hallway before stopping outside of a door. The door is smooth mahogany, and Kurogane pauses for just a heartbeat before pushing it open.
Fai peaks around Kurogane's broad shoulders. They're still on the castle's west side, and through an open window the sinking sun casts long shadows across a plain double bed. Kurogane releases Fai's hand, and without looking back walks to the bedside, ungirds his sword, and sets it on the ground within arm's reach of the bed. That single action is heavy with meaning; in a flash Fai understands Kurogane's purpose.
"We could die tomorrow." Words Fai would never, never dare voice in front of Sakura or Syaoran.
Kurogane still doesn't turn to look at Fai, but he does flinch ever-so-slightly. "Is that your only reason for being here?"
Fai tilts his head, considers, and finally steps forward to press a hand against the other man's back. "No," he says, and the word reverberates in the still room.
Kurogane nods once and turns to lock gazes. His eyes are terrible and intent; he leans over and breathes out, waiting, and Fai steps into the space and breathes in. Their lips meet.
They'll make tonight a memory, because tomorrow is too late.
8.2 | horimono
Fai thinks it's a good thing he has both eyes again. He's been staring at the same expanse of skin for hours; his back is curved into a permanent hunch and he can't wipe away the trickle of sweat running down his neck for fear of smearing ink all over himself.
"I still don't see why you can't just magic it on me." Kurogane's voice is gruff and a touch petulant.
"Kuro-chan is so impatient!" Fai remarks to himself. "He must not understand that if he wants a permanent tattoo, he has to be stuck with needles. I can accelerate the healing process, and Kuro-chan should feel grateful for that instead of growling like a bear cub."
Kurogane grunts and stretches his false arm. "I do not growl. And where'd you learn to tattoo people, anyway?"
Fai glances up from where he's bent over Kurogane's knuckles, just finishing the head of the dragon that now spirals up Kurogane's arm and across his back. "I'm far older than I appear," he says, his mysterious tone contrasting with the clear glint in his eyes.
"And that explains what?"
"And to reach D level wizard in Celes, every apprentice must undergo years of arcane training in ancient arts - "
"Bullshit," Kurogane asserts. "They didn't teach you tattooing as part of wizard training."
"Oh?" says Fai, and jabs Kurogane with an ink-soaked needle. "Maybe not. Maybe I learned by trading an old wanderer food and lodging for lessons. Or maybe I did some great service for a small village! And in gratitude, their hidden artists taught me - "
"Hidden artists?"
"Great craftsmen who hide away from the world because the burden of their talent demands - "
"Do you even know how you learned?" Kurogane says, and yelps when Fai jabs him again.
"Of course I know. But Mommy must have some secrets, now." Fai chuckles when Kurogane doesn't deign to respond. "There. Done." He steps back and assesses - well, more Kurogane's muscled back than his own work, although the two compliment one another nicely. The ninja is stretched out shirtless on a wide table, his right arm extended, his left arm tucked under his chin. Against the backdrop of the garden's greenery, he's really quite a site, so Fai is sure to appreciate the view.
"Well?" the view asks.
"Hold still. I'm going to heal the skin now; you'll feel three weeks worth of irritation condensed into a few seconds, so it might hurt."
"I can take it," Kurogane says, and Fai answers with a patronizing pat on the shoulder.
"Of course you can, Kuro-chi!" With one finger Fai traces glowing patterns in the air; with the other hand he twists, and the patterns sink into Kurogane's back. The redness worsens; a scab forms and then peels away, and Kurogane lets out a hiss of breath. "All finished. Wouldn't Kuro-papa be proud, to see Kuro-chan wearing his symbol!"
Kurogane sits up and cracks his back. "I though you couldn't do healing magic, anyway," he mutters, but there's a hint of awe in his face as he runs his fingertips over the dragon tattoo.
"I can now, I'm just not particularly good at it. Yet." Fai's amused when Kurogane twists around to glimpse his own back. He briefly considers conjuring a mirror, but decides to not. "We had better ready for our audience," he adds. Kurogane huffs and swivels his head around as far as it will turn; Fai bites back a grin, flicks his fingers, and vanishes the table.
The ninja lands in a tangled, swearing heap on the ground, and Fai throws back his head and finally lets his laughter ring out.
8.3 | blue blood
Their presentation is a whirlwind series of impressions: Amaterasu standing on the portico of the Maniden Temple, Tsukuyomi's gravely inclined head, Kurogane dropping to one knee. Fai only bows: he is himself the son of kings, and he gives precisely the amount of respect due a foreign ruler.
Full citizenship for the refugees, the empress says, and, Appoint Japanese representatives to the Council. What Fai remembers, though, is the glint of silver framing Princess Tomoyo's face, the shock of Kurogane's obiscience, the spray of tiger lilies spilling off the porch on either side.
Kyle Rondart, Tsukuyomi says, and Kurogane says something back, some strategy for hunting the man, some oath of loyalty to Tomoyo. The princess drops to her knees and embraces the ninja, a sweep of rich purple silk hiding his face. She looks up at Fai, though, when she calls her retainer by name. "Youou," she whispers, just loud enough for Fai to hear, and then smiles. She's given him a gift, and he has nothing to give her in return.
"Princess - " he starts.
She cuts him off with one slim hand. "Fai Fluorite. You fought for Japan when they needed it. I ask only that you do the same for our country."
Fai meets her gaze. "Yes."
"Then go," she says. She sets one hand on Fai's arm and cups Kurogane's face with the other. "Go with my blessing."
8.4 | fables
In an improbable number of worlds, a tale is told of two travelers. One is a warrior and a servant; one is a magician, or a vampire. One is dark, the other fair. One is a killer. One is a hero.
They come from nowhere and vanish soon after. Together they slay dragons, or overthrow witch-kings. They start revolutions; they walk unseen like thieves. In some tales the two are enemies, bound together in some impossible quest. In some they are brothers-in-arms.
In some they are lovers.
Always the tales begin, "Under a blue sky, Fai and Kurogane meet - "
8.5 | lemniscate
They turn away together, away from the Maniden Temple, away from Amaterasu and her retainers; when they reach the middle of the courtyard, Fai turns to face Kurogane.
"Back to wandering, then, Kuro-pon. No rest for the weary." He lets out an exaggerated sigh. "We should have a battle call. 'Ever onward' or 'still higher' or 'the mighty heroes, undaunted by the continued ingenuity of their adversaries - '" Kurogane interrupts by thrusting an arm at Fai's face; Fai blinks twice and then grips the ninja's outstretched hand.
"Do you never shut up?" Kurogane asks. He tugs on their joined hands, pulling Fai closer, and drapes his mechanical arm around the magician's shoulders.
"So that's how it's going to be, then," says Fai. The other man just snorts in response, but there's a hint of red high on his cheekbones. Fai grins, and traces in the air, and a dark circle appears. His eyes fall shut in concentration; the circle swells, ever wider, and the wind of another land whispers through their hair.
Fai starts forward, but Kurogane tugs him to a halt and glances up one last time. The sky is blue, but -
- not quite as blue as Fai's eyes.
Satisfied, Kurogane lets the magician go. Fai winks at him, a flash of cerulean, and makes a sweeping gesture to his portal. After you, his grin says; Kurogane rolls his eyes and takes up the magician's hand again.
Together they walk into the next world, leaving not even the door behind them.
<< | notes | x.
CHARACTERS: Kurogane/Fai
NOTES: See part the first.
SUMMARY: Fai is dead. A world is ending. Kurogane copes about as well as you'd expect.
Final Act.
8.1 | the story of that night, part i
Clow's castle is cold: cold doors, cold rooms, cold beds, cold from emptiness and solitude. Sakura and Syaoran both disappear sometime before sundown, and for an instant Fai can't remember which Sakura and which Syaoran the two are: originals or clones or some jumbled pair born from pieces of each: real-world imitations of Frankenstein's monster. I've the heart of Sakura and the soul of her double, I've the body of Syaoran-kun and the eyes of two other people. Rude thoughts, so Fai pushes them aside. He's something of a duality himself.
He wanders for a while, ghosting from vacant room to vacant room; the pang of his hunger finally grows unbearable, so he makes his way back to the kitchen and the goblet Kurogane set aside earlier. The blood is ice, and he pours it down his throat without tasting any of it. He doesn't bother washing the goblet, either.
Eventually he settles into a windowsill on the western side of the castle and watches the sundown. He's seen sunsets in dozens of universes by now, and most of them are indistinguishable from each another. Here, though, the desert seems to intensify the sky's hues; pinks and oranges and reds are fading to indigo when Kurogane clears his throat.
Fai starts. "Ah, Kuro-run! I didn't see you there." His usual cheeriness is tinged with just an edge of melancholy.
"Come with me," Kurogane says.
"What, Kuro-pi? Have you found something interesting?"
Kurogane clears his throat again. "No, I mean - " He cuts off, frustrated, and instead grabs for Fai's hand. His grip is too tight, but Fai lets himself be pulled from his window seat and down the hallway.
Fai opens his mouth and starts to let the usual river of words wash out - What an interesting castle this is, what a beautiful sunset, have you seen Mokona - but the tide catches in his throat. Rather than talk, he finds himself studying Kurogane's back. The ninja is swathed in his usual black, but he's tense - almost nervous. Fai can tell from the way the muscles in the other man's back are drawn taut, in the way Kurogane's hand is clenched around his own so tightly that it trembles. Kurogane leads Fai down a staircase, through a long hall lined with rich tapestries in reds and greens, and through another, narrower hallway before stopping outside of a door. The door is smooth mahogany, and Kurogane pauses for just a heartbeat before pushing it open.
Fai peaks around Kurogane's broad shoulders. They're still on the castle's west side, and through an open window the sinking sun casts long shadows across a plain double bed. Kurogane releases Fai's hand, and without looking back walks to the bedside, ungirds his sword, and sets it on the ground within arm's reach of the bed. That single action is heavy with meaning; in a flash Fai understands Kurogane's purpose.
"We could die tomorrow." Words Fai would never, never dare voice in front of Sakura or Syaoran.
Kurogane still doesn't turn to look at Fai, but he does flinch ever-so-slightly. "Is that your only reason for being here?"
Fai tilts his head, considers, and finally steps forward to press a hand against the other man's back. "No," he says, and the word reverberates in the still room.
Kurogane nods once and turns to lock gazes. His eyes are terrible and intent; he leans over and breathes out, waiting, and Fai steps into the space and breathes in. Their lips meet.
They'll make tonight a memory, because tomorrow is too late.
8.2 | horimono
Fai thinks it's a good thing he has both eyes again. He's been staring at the same expanse of skin for hours; his back is curved into a permanent hunch and he can't wipe away the trickle of sweat running down his neck for fear of smearing ink all over himself.
"I still don't see why you can't just magic it on me." Kurogane's voice is gruff and a touch petulant.
"Kuro-chan is so impatient!" Fai remarks to himself. "He must not understand that if he wants a permanent tattoo, he has to be stuck with needles. I can accelerate the healing process, and Kuro-chan should feel grateful for that instead of growling like a bear cub."
Kurogane grunts and stretches his false arm. "I do not growl. And where'd you learn to tattoo people, anyway?"
Fai glances up from where he's bent over Kurogane's knuckles, just finishing the head of the dragon that now spirals up Kurogane's arm and across his back. "I'm far older than I appear," he says, his mysterious tone contrasting with the clear glint in his eyes.
"And that explains what?"
"And to reach D level wizard in Celes, every apprentice must undergo years of arcane training in ancient arts - "
"Bullshit," Kurogane asserts. "They didn't teach you tattooing as part of wizard training."
"Oh?" says Fai, and jabs Kurogane with an ink-soaked needle. "Maybe not. Maybe I learned by trading an old wanderer food and lodging for lessons. Or maybe I did some great service for a small village! And in gratitude, their hidden artists taught me - "
"Hidden artists?"
"Great craftsmen who hide away from the world because the burden of their talent demands - "
"Do you even know how you learned?" Kurogane says, and yelps when Fai jabs him again.
"Of course I know. But Mommy must have some secrets, now." Fai chuckles when Kurogane doesn't deign to respond. "There. Done." He steps back and assesses - well, more Kurogane's muscled back than his own work, although the two compliment one another nicely. The ninja is stretched out shirtless on a wide table, his right arm extended, his left arm tucked under his chin. Against the backdrop of the garden's greenery, he's really quite a site, so Fai is sure to appreciate the view.
"Well?" the view asks.
"Hold still. I'm going to heal the skin now; you'll feel three weeks worth of irritation condensed into a few seconds, so it might hurt."
"I can take it," Kurogane says, and Fai answers with a patronizing pat on the shoulder.
"Of course you can, Kuro-chi!" With one finger Fai traces glowing patterns in the air; with the other hand he twists, and the patterns sink into Kurogane's back. The redness worsens; a scab forms and then peels away, and Kurogane lets out a hiss of breath. "All finished. Wouldn't Kuro-papa be proud, to see Kuro-chan wearing his symbol!"
Kurogane sits up and cracks his back. "I though you couldn't do healing magic, anyway," he mutters, but there's a hint of awe in his face as he runs his fingertips over the dragon tattoo.
"I can now, I'm just not particularly good at it. Yet." Fai's amused when Kurogane twists around to glimpse his own back. He briefly considers conjuring a mirror, but decides to not. "We had better ready for our audience," he adds. Kurogane huffs and swivels his head around as far as it will turn; Fai bites back a grin, flicks his fingers, and vanishes the table.
The ninja lands in a tangled, swearing heap on the ground, and Fai throws back his head and finally lets his laughter ring out.
8.3 | blue blood
Their presentation is a whirlwind series of impressions: Amaterasu standing on the portico of the Maniden Temple, Tsukuyomi's gravely inclined head, Kurogane dropping to one knee. Fai only bows: he is himself the son of kings, and he gives precisely the amount of respect due a foreign ruler.
Full citizenship for the refugees, the empress says, and, Appoint Japanese representatives to the Council. What Fai remembers, though, is the glint of silver framing Princess Tomoyo's face, the shock of Kurogane's obiscience, the spray of tiger lilies spilling off the porch on either side.
Kyle Rondart, Tsukuyomi says, and Kurogane says something back, some strategy for hunting the man, some oath of loyalty to Tomoyo. The princess drops to her knees and embraces the ninja, a sweep of rich purple silk hiding his face. She looks up at Fai, though, when she calls her retainer by name. "Youou," she whispers, just loud enough for Fai to hear, and then smiles. She's given him a gift, and he has nothing to give her in return.
"Princess - " he starts.
She cuts him off with one slim hand. "Fai Fluorite. You fought for Japan when they needed it. I ask only that you do the same for our country."
Fai meets her gaze. "Yes."
"Then go," she says. She sets one hand on Fai's arm and cups Kurogane's face with the other. "Go with my blessing."
8.4 | fables
In an improbable number of worlds, a tale is told of two travelers. One is a warrior and a servant; one is a magician, or a vampire. One is dark, the other fair. One is a killer. One is a hero.
They come from nowhere and vanish soon after. Together they slay dragons, or overthrow witch-kings. They start revolutions; they walk unseen like thieves. In some tales the two are enemies, bound together in some impossible quest. In some they are brothers-in-arms.
In some they are lovers.
Always the tales begin, "Under a blue sky, Fai and Kurogane meet - "
8.5 | lemniscate
They turn away together, away from the Maniden Temple, away from Amaterasu and her retainers; when they reach the middle of the courtyard, Fai turns to face Kurogane.
"Back to wandering, then, Kuro-pon. No rest for the weary." He lets out an exaggerated sigh. "We should have a battle call. 'Ever onward' or 'still higher' or 'the mighty heroes, undaunted by the continued ingenuity of their adversaries - '" Kurogane interrupts by thrusting an arm at Fai's face; Fai blinks twice and then grips the ninja's outstretched hand.
"Do you never shut up?" Kurogane asks. He tugs on their joined hands, pulling Fai closer, and drapes his mechanical arm around the magician's shoulders.
"So that's how it's going to be, then," says Fai. The other man just snorts in response, but there's a hint of red high on his cheekbones. Fai grins, and traces in the air, and a dark circle appears. His eyes fall shut in concentration; the circle swells, ever wider, and the wind of another land whispers through their hair.
Fai starts forward, but Kurogane tugs him to a halt and glances up one last time. The sky is blue, but -
- not quite as blue as Fai's eyes.
Satisfied, Kurogane lets the magician go. Fai winks at him, a flash of cerulean, and makes a sweeping gesture to his portal. After you, his grin says; Kurogane rolls his eyes and takes up the magician's hand again.
Together they walk into the next world, leaving not even the door behind them.
<< | notes | x.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-02-03 07:14 am (UTC)This is essentially the only response I have. I wanted to wait until the end to give you cohesive feedback, but I still... can't. Everything about this story was phenomenal and intriguing. It was a fantastic read and a wonderful, well thought out plot.
♥
no subject
Date: 2009-02-03 07:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-05 04:48 am (UTC)This was a great plot. It had soul and heart and above all, love. Thank you so much for sharing this. I've saved all the parts to my memories. :)
no subject
Date: 2009-03-02 10:36 am (UTC)It was so poetic and systematic. I'm in love with you. Well, okay, maybe the way you write?
One way or the other, you've captured my heart. Marry me? C:>
no subject
Date: 2009-03-03 05:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-04 02:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-04 07:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-07 11:08 am (UTC)I can't begin to be coherent when trying to come up with something good to write about this, but this fic was absolutely brilliant. How you captured them both so perfectly is something really really rare, and even the capture of their relationship. I see very few portraits of them in this state of feeling, and I must say this is my favourite version of them. I love how you portray Kurogane in the beginning as if the first few acts are his own little story that shows him and his feelings towards everything. Then it weaves into the story more and then the shift of character's viewpoint to Fai completes it. I really like how you're not only concentrating only on the center pair, but also on the side characters and their musings, like the letter from Fuu and Souma's report. The style you write this in is also very intruiging, and it's actually easier to read something like this than constant blocks of text sometimes. I don't know, I guess I like the style.
The portration of all the characters are spot on, and what little I saw of Yuuko especially, I really liked. You show the side of her we don't see that often, while she's usually just portraied as slightly evil and mischevious. I also love Tomoyo. ♥
I have a few selected authors I read when I crave this pairing, and you just moved into that list :D Please keep writing for this fandom, because you're good at it, and it warms to read it. I cried at some parts of this story, and music I had playing didn't help either. I'm glad it ended happily and I actually want to be able to click forward and read another chapter, because I want more of this, where they're going from now on and how they are fairing in the future of this universe. I read this in about an hour, and I'll come back to read it again for sure.
I had something else to say, but I got distracted by watering my flowers and instead thought too much :/
Thanks for sharing your wonderful writing~ ♥
no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 03:31 am (UTC)I started writing in this style because I have trouble writing longer stories, and I thought if I structured it in short blocks I'd be able to finish something with a little more meat. It's been something I've been toying with and trying to improve, but on the whole I think the style works for me as a writer.
I don't think I'll ever be able to quit this fandom. My output isn't what it once was, but I think Fai particularly won't leave me alone. *g*
no subject
Date: 2009-06-29 06:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-14 03:07 am (UTC)