Sinja AU Week, Day seven: The end.
Note, all things underlined are things Sinbad has erased or scratched out.
"I will follow you until the end." He'd said, and at the time, he'd meant it.
But what he didn't know was that the end would come so differently for them both, or for their story. He'd expected death, some epic battle involving God himself or something of the sort. Yet, as the years went on and they both changed, he felt as if the end would be worse and worse.
"Ja'far, how would you describe the end?" Sinbad asked one day, while writing the next volume of his books.
"Death, most likely, or severing ties; why do you ask?" Ja'far responded, sitting at his desk nearby.
He'd given Sinbad almost the entire week off to write, so he himself was swamped with all of the work.
"Because, I'm thinking of making this the final volume, so I need to think of a proper ending."
"Well, I think Sindria would be a fitting ending, but you've covered it and gone beyond already."
Sinbad hummed slightly, looking Ja'far's figure over. He knew the smaller man hadn't been sleeping well, if at all, recently, and he hoped to make Ja'far rest before publishing, especially because he'd be so much busier afterwards.
Then, an idea struck him.
"Hey, Ja'far? Remind me again why we're not out right now?" The king said, watching Ja'far glance up at him as he continued to write on the document.
"Because we're busy." Said the advisor curtly, looking back at his papers.
"No, out. Like, to the public."
Ja'far's head snapped up, quill being set down.
"It'd be dangerous! That's why. Anyone who wanted to get to you or me would hurt us, and not to mention the scandal it would cause and the rukus—"
"But, Kou would stop trying to get me to marry their Princess."
"I'd rather you do that and avoid a war than risk your well being!"
Sinbad recoiled a bit, chuckling. Ja'far, while being serious, and Sinbad knows he's being serious, is utterly adorable.
Until the growling and his voice changes.
"Sinbad…" Ja'far began, his wires coming out and he pulled them taut, voice gravelly, "Don't do it. You are not outing us until it's safe."
Nodding dumbly as to appease the assassin, Sinbad grinned.
"Of course, wouldn't dream of it."
And just like that, Ja'far calmed down and returned to work, muttering to himself. Sinbad went back to his writing, thinking to himself about what he could possibly do to end this series.
Nothing he could think of did it justice.
So, he started writing the ending he wanted, despite Ja'far's warning.
By the time the sun has set, Sinbad's completed his final volume of The Adventures of Sinbad, and Ja'far had fallen asleep at his desk after finishing the last of the work for the week.
"Sinbad approached Ja'far, the demon finally having left the man, and he noticed something off about him. He was… Smaller? Yes, it seemed to be the case. He was certainly smaller, easier to hold, and Sinbad did just that. The man he called his advisor let out a pathetic noise when he was moved.
"Are you alright, Ja'far?" Sinbad asked, looking down at his pale friend.
"I… Think so… Sin…" He whispered in the most erotic way softly, looking up at Sinbad as if he were the world.
"So that's why you had those horns, huh?" Sinbad hummed, watching how the smaller man reacted.
"I guess so." He coughed out, and Sinbad held him tighter.
"There's still one more problem, you know."
"And what might that be?" Ja'far asked, and Sinbad moved him into a sitting up position, resting against his chest.
"We're going to have to go back eventually, and I'm not sure I want to let you go."
"Stupid king." Ja'far groaned, before said illustrious king picked up the smaller man, holding him close.
"I know, I know." Were the murmured words to his forehead.
Ja'far leaned up and kissed his king, wrapping his arms around Sinbad's neck, soft noses of their kissing being the only sound heard, and Sinbad had a hard time holding Ja'far with his squirming.
Sinbad walked back to the palace with Ja'far in his arms, too wrapped up in each other to care about the world.
When people questioned them, they said they'd saved one another. Ja'far saved Sinbad on the daily, and Sinbad saved Ja'far from himself. And, when Sinbad told the world of their love, not one person was had been surprised.
If you were to ask them how they made it work, they'd tell you it happened on its own, and no matter how they may fight or yell or scream or any of the like, they forgave more. They fell in love again and again every single morning when they woke up, and made love every night.
This was their peace, their bliss, their happy ending."
Yes, Sinbad knew it had been cheesy, cliché and could have been done another way, but nothing satisfied him as much as this ending.
Leaving the book on his desk, he walked over to Ja'far's and took off his shawl, wrapping it around the freckled general like a blanket before picking him up and bringing him to their bed.
He didn't particularly care to see Ja'far's reaction to the ending of the series, though he thought it fitting, and as such, he held Ja'far closer. If Ja'far wanted to get up that morning, then he'd wake up Sinbad and they'd go straight to work, where Sinbad could ship off the final chapter without issue.
His happy ending was this; peaceful and quiet, with Ja'far in his arm, in their country.
When the sun rose the next morning, Ja'far awoke before his king, both stripped bare in the night. Groggily, Ja'far looked around, confirming he was in their shared room, before assessing the time, figuring he had around another bell's length before he needed to wake up Sinbad, and figured this peace was worth more than the work.
Sinbad's books may have ended, but their adventure would continue. The people adored the ending and mourned the loss of the series, yet when they read it, they found themselves oddly at peace with it. Just as the king predicted, not one person was surprised by his relationship, except for Ja'far. He'd come to terms with that, however, when he saw how the world reacted with such joy.
This, they thought, was a perfect happy ending.