Rain Dance

Disclaimer: I don't own this.

Notes: Slash, fluff, etc.

000/000

The memory of when a young English boy with eyes the color of new grass appeared in Masyaf struck him as the rain poured from the sky. Malik Al-Sayf tilted his face up to the weeping heavens. His dark eyes fluttered closed as he stood in the emptying market of Jerusalem's poor district. The cool water rolled down his forehead and cheeks, soaking into his collar and hood.

"Have you ever just danced in the rain, Malik?"

Malik lifted his only arm out in front of him, the palm of his hand facing the sky.

"I dance in the rain because it makes me feel alive."

Those green eyes flashed in his memory, pale skin glistening. Laughter from the past rung in his ears.

"Dance with me?"

His hand curled up into itself, as if grasping another's fingers. But Malik did not dance in the rain. Instead he opened his eyes to watch the deluge. The image of that laughing, dancing boy faded away.

000/000

The glass of his window was cool against his forehead. Harry Potter sat there on the cushioned window seat, his head pressed against the glass. The tapping of raindrops splashing on the clear pane filled his ears. His hand rose up to press flat on the glass. His fingers were spread and fog seeped between them. His green eyes, unhindered by spectacles, glazed over in remembrance of a dark-haired, olive-skinned boy with a razor-sharp tongue.

"Idiot! Get out of the rain!"

Harry smiled softly.

"No, I'm not dancing around in the rain. Are you stupid? You'll get sick; get over here."

Beneath that prickly exterior had been a mother-hen. Good-natured scolding bounced around in his head.

"Look at you! You're soaked to the bone! You're worse than any Novice, I swear. Kadar better not dance in the rain because of you..."

His fingers curled into a fist and the urge to smash it through the delicate pane of glass choked up his throat. Harry wanted to dance in the rain, but not without that scolding, loving boy.

000/000

Kadar knelt before the Fates. His blue eyes, the color of forget-me-nots, were pleading. He hoped that his wish would be granted. The dead assassin Novice was even willing to give up his place in Paradise for this one wish. If he could have anything granted, let this be it.

"Are you truly willing to go to such lengths for your brother?" Future asked quietly in her girlish voice. "To give up all that you deserve?"

"My brother's happiness is my happiness," Kadar stated without hesitation. "So please bring him back to my brother. Grant them both happiness."

The old crone that was Past sighed. "Aye, we will do so and without a boon. No, you'll go to Paradise, young Al-Sayf," she croaked.

"But surely there is a price...!"

Present shook her head. "If anyone owes a price, it is us," she soothed. "We owe young Harry much for what we put him through. If his happiness ensures your brother's, then all the better."

Future clapped her hands and a mirror appeared to show two opposing images; of Malik, who was still standing outside in the rain, and of Harry, who was looking out of a window at the rain with yearning. "Now watch." She snapped her fingers and her white skin glowed extra bright. Kadar squinted at the mirror and then smiled widely. He then disappeared into Paradise as his wish was granted.

000/000

A tingle shot through Harry's body, breaking his reverie. He pulled his head and hand away from the window and looked down at himself. His breath hitched as his body started fading in a familiar way. A wide smile spread across his face and he stumbled up to stand one last time in his sitting room at Grimmauld Place. He threw his head back and laughed in delight. The sound echoed out and then petered off as he vanished once again to the person that he longed for.

000/000

"You're supposed to dance in the rain, not just stand there."

Malik whirled around in surprise. His hand dropped down to hang at his side. "Harry?" he called with disbelief. "How?"

"Don't know how," Harry said, the black curls atop of his head flattening against his skull as he was soaked with the pouring rain. He stepped closer until only a foot of distance separated them. "Ah, that's different." He jerked his chin in the direction of Malik's missing arm. "Anyway," he continued, as if a missing limb was no big deal, "I think it's permanent."

"Oh, that's good. No more disappearing." The rafiq paused and frowned thoughtfully. "Then you don't care about my..." He waved his left-over limb around a little, the pinned sleeve flopping.

"Nope. You're still you, right?"

"Yes, I am still myself. Kadar is gone."

Harry blinked his green eyes. "I'm sorry to hear that. I loved him very much," he replied sadly.

"And me? What do you feel for me?" Malik blurted out. His only hand clenched.

"I love you," Harry answered. He smiled as the older man looked up in surprise. "And not as a brother."

"But I... I am not whole."

The wizard shook his head. "Do you think I care about that, Malik? Because I don't. I love you. Always have since we met ten years ago at Masyaf."

"You were a child!"

"Teenager! And not anymore! Besides, so were you! You were only a few years older than me, summers, whatever! I love you!" Harry shouted. "I loved you then with a boy's heart and I love you now with a man's." His green eyes pleaded with Malik. "I longed for you for every year that I was without you. It was your name I called when I woke from a nightmare. It was the memory of you that gave me light in the darkness. It was you that I wanted as I rejected all others. I am untouched because you never got to touch me. Is that not love? I went down on my knees every night and prayed to any god that was willing to listen to send me back to you!" The wizard flung his arms out from their hanging at his sides. "Everything that I am, was, and will be is yours, Malik! The question is: do you want me? Do you?"

"Yes, damn it! God help me, I want you!" Malik panted from his outburst. "I've always wanted you..." He blinked his dark eyes, his tears mixing with the rain. A confused expression crossed his face a moment later.

Harry held out his hand, his palm facing upward. His fingers wiggled in a beckoning motion. "So dance with me," he said. He smiled wide as Malik reached out.

Their hands clasped, their fingers tangled, and they danced.

000/000

"Whoever said sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the pouring rain." -unknown

000/000

END

I'm drowning in the fluff.

Originally posted at my Y!Gallery.