I'm starting a series of drabbles about different pieces of CLAMP's work. There are 100 prompts in all. I hope you enjoy them.
Prompt #62: Magic.
Series: X/1999
Characters/Pairings: Platonic Karen and Nataku(Kazuki)
Summary: Alternate Universe. Karen didn't believe that her power could be beautiful, until Nataku told her so.
Karen was used to coming home to a dark apartment. In the years she had been living on her own, it was something that hadn't changed. But now Nataku (Kazuki, she reminded herself, his name is Kazuki) was living with her, and the lights should have been on. It was late. Perhaps he had gone to bed. The boy was becoming more like a teenager with each passing day although he had not seemed to realize it himself, and Karen was relieved by this change. It terrified her to see such a young and beautiful child look as lost as she once did.
Almost without thinking, Karen held up one hand and ignited a flame. It danced above her palm, a familiar feeling that had the woman torn between feelings of disgust and content. She had mixed feelings about her ability. As a little girl she had found it beautiful, the warm glow that she could create from nothing. The Father that was at her mother's funeral service had told her it was a gift from God. But the look of horror on her mother's face, the disgust and hatred from the one that was supposed to love and care for her had always haunted her.
Gift from God or curse from the Devil, it made little difference to her. In the end, it was her firecasting that had driven her mother to death.
"Fire..." The softly spoken word caused Karen to jump, the fire in her hands flickering and spiking dangerously close to her hair. Kazuki watched her from the doorway of his room, his eyes reflecting the flame. Karen watched in awe as the teenager cautiously walked forward, the light playing across his features and for a moment she swore that he had smiled, before his face was momentarily shrouded by her own shadow.
"You aren't afraid?" The firecaster asked just as quietly, fear bubbling just below the surface. She dared not look away from Kazuki's face, waiting for the answer no matter how damning it was.
"No…" Kazuki's gaze shifted from the fire to the woman standing the middle of the living room, looking very much like scared child. "It's…pretty. May I…?" Karen nodded, though she was unsure of what he was asking. Kazuki moved so that he was standing right next to her, lifting his hands towards her own. Karen almost shouted out (No, don't touch it, you'll be burned, hurttainted you'll scarbebranded) but Kazuki's fingers stopped just centimeters away from the fire. He stayed like that for a while, his eyes half shut and face unmoving.
"…It's warm. I…like it." And then he really smiled and Karen's breath caught in her throat. It was small and barely there, but the fact was that Kazuki was showing emotion and it was enough to make the older woman release the flame to float in the air and gently embrace the boy she had taken in.
"Thank you, Kazuki." She told him.
Kazuki hesitated before loosely hugging Karen back, his eyes shutting completely as he turned his face towards hers, their cheeks pressed together. She was warm like the fire.
The fire may not have been a gift from God, Karen thought, but Kazuki certainly was.