Cultivated Skies

Chariots of fire blazed a trail of red across the summer skies, engulfing the vast sea of blue in the slow hours. It tinted the floating isles in a magnificent cerise glow, despite the distance from Yumemi's homeland.

They were in a rare interlude of a chaotic existence, as Munto and Yumemi had found brief respite in a field just shy of her town's borders. She had walked alone. He had then met her halfway. They had been together for the remainder of the journey.

It was in the middle of that yellow-specked field illuminated by the departing sun that they lay; hand-in-hand, listening to naught but the voice of the wind playing their whistle through the long grass.

Yumemi craned her head to the side to look at him. "Do you have places like these in the Kingdom?"

His golden eyes had glossed over a little. "We have places that bear a similar resemblance. However," he took a dandelion in his hand and held it gently. "Floral life such as this had long been considered . . . wasteful of the Akuto energy."

Yellow flowers charred to a crisp by the flames of a war long fought. The sight had been all-too-familiar in the dreams of an observer like Yumemi.

His hands had a soft touch as he caressed the small petals. "Does this species of flower have a name?"

Yumemi peered in closer. "Oh, they're called dandelions. Most consider them a weed."

He blinked at her and furrowed his brows. "Weed?"

"Right," she realized. "You wouldn't really know that term up in the sky. Hm," she cupped her chin. "Weeds are plants that aren't really wanted by people. Most people like the nice-looking flowers in their gardens."

Munto glanced around the field. "So they thrive here?"

She nodded. "Yeah. There's nobody to try and hurt them here."

And it was just like that when everything faded to quiet and simple again.

Munto closed his eyes and settled against the dried soil, and that etched frown relaxed into a more placid expression.

Yumemi had never been good at homework, but she did so enjoy studying his face. The frown lines, the small dark circles under his eyes, the tiny scars on his ears and left cheek - all marks on his face that had been stained with the footprints of war.

All the hidden corners lit up with the fiery sun.

"Are you enjoying the view?"

His voice broke her contemplation. Yumemi glanced up to see him smirking at her.

How long had I been staring at him?!

She went ridged. "I-I'm sorry!" The apology was a mere squeak.

The laughter that came from his lips both playfully mocked her, and created the most beautiful sound she'd heard all summer. Munto placed a warm hand to her cheek, tucking a piece of hair behind her red ears, and grinned.

"There is nothing for you to apologize for, love." He sat up and clicked his back, resting his weight on his hands and stared up at the sky. "So this is the sky you always saw . . .."

Her blush had all but vanished when she sat up next to him. "Munto?"

"Do you remember when we saw into each other's pasts?" His eyes were fixated on the floating isles. "It was hard to fathom how someone could look up at my homelands with such wonder, but such sadness all at once."

Her smile vanished and she drew herself into a ball. "I thought there was something wrong with my head since I was a kid. I tried to ignore them."

"Yet you were still curious?"

"Who wouldn't be? I was a little kid." A cold shudder past in the wind that brushed against her skin. "You know something? Ichiko and Suzume were always wondering what it was like up there. Who lived there, what it was like to live there, and did they speak our languages? It was fun to imagine, despite it all."

She smiled as the faint feeling of nostalgia crept upon her heart. "There was a time we wasted all our summertime throwing rocks up at the stars. We were hoping one of the creatures that lived there would fall down and become our friend. Now I'm glad we never forced anyone away."

Her eyes glistened with the shine of jade-gems when she looked at him. Eye contact with him had become a beautifully addictive drug. "Most of all, I'm just so glad I met you."

Sincere were her words, and sincere was her being. Even still, he refused to break the eye-contact with her as a warm flush spread across both their faces.

"And I, you."

They held that gaze for a few moments, until the wind began to pick up.

"Oh!" She gasped. "Munto, look!"

He (with reluctance on both their parts) turned away from her, and Yumemi saw his molten eyes widen at the sight.

For when the wind's voice sang through the long-stemmed grass, it brought with it the seeds that those dandelions had released from the safety of their homes. The wind carried it on it's high notes, beginning the seeds long journey of cultivating their own small adventure.

The seeds rose up into the skies of trailblazers, glowing with the light they had captured from the sun, until they had become speckles upon the horizon.

"We . . ." Munto had whispered. "I have never seen this natural occurrence before. Only in-"

"My memories?" She finished, taking his hand in her own.

"This is an important picture to you."

"There was an old legend," she told him, squeezing his warm palm. "In another city my family once visited. If someone was truly happy, a small glowing light would appear and grant you your heart's desire."

Munto said nothing, but a single arched brow rose.

"I know, it's rather silly to think about. But I was little, and I wanted more than anything to be normal. To see the same sky as everyone else. So hearing something like that . . . I thought that dandelion seeds were those orbs of light." She giggled. "Even if they're not, it did sort of come true, didn't it?"

"It did?"

"Yeah." She sighed softly. "Because everyone can finally see the same sky that I've always seen."

"And that was what you desired."

"It was."

He took her hands in his, and placed a tender kiss to the backs. His golden eyes met hers as he kissed them again. Such a tender action was not foreign of him, but it still made her heart skip into a chaotic frenzy.

"I am glad it granted one of your desires." He said. "But I sincerely hope you have as many desires as there are rising seeds, and perhaps even moreso. For then I can spend the rest of infinity trying to grant them."

"Munto. . .." Yumemi broke out into a small grin. "You're needlessly dramatic with these declarations of yours sometimes. Not to say I don't appreciate it," she put a finger to his lips when he turned to object. "But I do think, at times, we can say these things without words."

His lips curved upward into a smirk. "We can say things without speaking? Is that not a contradiction?"

"Body language, Munto."

"I see." He leaned down to her height. She noticed how red his hair was compared to the inferno that was the skies above. Small dandelion seeds nested comfortably in his hair.

"So tell me; what am I saying right now with that language?"

It took only one look.

"I love you, too."

a/n: There are bound to be errors in this, but after re-watching CLANNAD and the scene with Ushio and Tomoya in the flower field, I couldn't help but write something in that setting. There's also a little reference to the anime in there. ^.^ Also, just a little FYI: I'm well aware they have gardens up in Munto's kingdom, however I have a personal belief that things like flowers were a rarity, mainly due to the Akuto crisis and not wanting to waste it on "frivolities" and such nonsense. Plus, gardner!Munto. It could work. =.= Please review, and I hope you enjoyed!