Title: To Make Her Love Me
Summary: Response to RCS Inc.'s NoFace Challenge. One-Shot Songfic NoFace asks divine assistance to make Chihiro his.
Fandom: I wonder which it could be? Lol.
Pairing: One-Sided NoFace/Chihiro
Author's Note: I'm personally a bigger fan of the NoFace/Kitsune pairing, but I wanted to try something different. Gee, there's probably a whole bunch of other pairings I could have chosen for this . . . But I wanted to be special and submit it for RCS Inc's contest, so THERE! But that in your pipe and smoke it!
Disclaimer: I am truly unhappy to have to tell you this, but through an unfortunate and entirely unforeseeable series of circumstances that had nothing whatsoever to do with me, poor Will has been press-ganged into Davy Jones's crew . . . I mean, uh, it's not mine. . . I also don't own Rascal Flatts, personally, but I have their CD! Hence the choice of song. --
She was right there. He'd almost had her, but he'd let her slip through his fingers. The masked spirit raised one hand to the ceiling from his position on the bed, lying down, and slowly made a motion, as if to grasp ahold of that young girl. As he'd stretched his arm out to touch her, she'd disappeared before his eyes. His hand clenched tightly in a fist and he frowned.
He let his arm go limp, still staring at the ceiling as it flopped down on the soft mattress in Zeniba's cottage. He turned on his side and stared dully out the window. Loneliness welled inside as he stared out into the rain.
How long had it been since she'd left? Since then, she'd never visited the Spirit World—no, she'd never visited him—and it confused and depressed him.
He turned again, on the bed, suddenly angry and envious. No, why would he be confused? Chihiro loved that–that dragon boy! Her heart held no place for him. After all, what was he? A spirit of sin, a monster, an abomination. So many names, so many insults . . . He had no face.
She probably hated him. She must have been so repulsed by the creature she'd seen in the bathhouse, the one who made the workers go crazy for gold, the one who'd gorged himself on their food and hospitality—No, it wasn't hospitality. They were putting up with him until he ran out of gold. If he'd suddenly stopped making gold, they'd have booted him out. They were ready for that, too. So he'd threatened them, run amuck, and rampaged until he'd gotten what he wanted.
He'd done it all for her. It was all part of his brilliant plan to get her attention, to lure her into the darkness where he dwelled so that she could bring the light into his world.
Again, he turned to look at the ceiling, a stern expression on his mask. It slowly softened as the fact slowly came to him: he couldn't stay angry at her. He could never be angry at her. That one time, the rage had blinded him, the greed had controlled him. He hadn't meant to drive her away.
You waved your hand and it was done
Said "Let it be" and there it was
A mountain so high
It broke through the sky
A canyon so deep
It'd bring a man to his knees
He believed in the gods. He worshipped deities like every other respectable spirit.
Did he have it in his heart, he wondered, to believe that they would bring her to him?
There was only one thing he wanted; only one thing he could ask. Everything was perfect in his life; he respected his lot. Living with Zeniba was more than he could ask of her, but she told him not to worry about it. To her, he was family, now; albeit strange as it seemed.
In his heart—his heart of gold—he prayed to the gods. He prayed for only one thing; for Chihiro's returned affection.
I've seen what you can do
I've seen you make miracles
And hopeless dreams come true
You made the heavens and the stars
Everything – come on how hard
Could it be
To make her love me?
How hard did he have to pray for it to come true? Unbeknownst to him, a few silent tears fell down the sides of his mask. That was strange. He didn't even know it was possible for him to cry. His mask smiled at the humanlike gesture, but it was a somewhat bitter smile. Maybe he was partly human after all? Or did all spirits have these emotions? If so, why hadn't he found these buried deep down long ago?
Of all people, why did he have to fall in love with her? They were two separate creatures; a human and a spirit. It would never work, even if he dreamed it. Eventually, she would grow old and die, and he would live the rest of his life as a lonely monster once again.
So, what hope did he have?
I said some things I shouldn't have
Tried everything to win her back
I'm human, I messed up
Is she gone, are we done?
Forgiveness, another chance
That's all I want, it's in your hands
If only he could change for her, he thought. If only he could become someone else, a human, even; anything to have her. He only wanted to be there for her, to be her perfect man. But was it possible?
I couldn't be. Was it even in Zeniba's power? He didn't think so. Her spells usually wore off, she'd said. He didn't want to become human for a little while; he wanted to stay human, to be with Chihiro.
So, was it any hope that the gods could grant him his wish?
I've seen what you can do
I've seen you make miracles
And hopeless dreams come true
You made the heavens and the stars
Everything – come on how hard
Could it be
To make her love me?
The rain that pounded in the windows . . . he could feel each thud in his heart, as it sank lower and lower into depression. His tears mocked the rain, silently tracking down his mask—it was any wonder the paint didn't smear.
He didn't want to be a lonely monster anymore. He didn't want to be a sinner. He didn't want his head filled with tainted images. He didn't want greed. He didn't want lust. He didn't want to be selfish. He only wanted love.
Was that too much to ask?
I've seen what you can do
I've seen you make miracles
And hopeless dreams come true
You made the heavens and the stars
Everything – come on how hard
Could it be
To make her love me?
'Chihiro . . . .'
To make her love me?
He slowly let himself drift to sleep, thoughts of a young, brown-haired girl running through a bathhouse going through his mind.
And in his mind, she ran to him, instead of from him . . . .
To make her love me . . . .