Content
"Sometimes contentment is a matter of will. You have to look at what you have right in front of you, at what it could be, and stop measuring it against what you've lost."
This Is Where I Leave You, Jonathan Tropper
Some nights, when sleep escaped his grasp, he would lay awake and think back. He would think back to his earlier years, when the sky stretched above him and the earth and its waters drifted below. There were the times when their planes -his and his comrades'- would venture too close to the ground, sometimes above a small town, and the people would wave excitedly at them. How many times had they put themselves in harm's way just to perform a cheer worthy stunt for the masses? He'd lost count and could only wonder what they were doing, or at least those of them who were still alive. Did they think of him too from time to time? And was it pleasantly or did they still hate him for his betrayal? He wouldn't really blame them if they did.
On other nights, usually during the summertime when the roses were in bloom, he would remember his sister, Claudia. Sometimes, when he closed his eyes and caught a breeze through an open window that was just right, he could almost see her in the family rose garden, careful not to prick her fingers as she plucked the roses, still dripping with the morning's dew, from their bushes. The wind would blow and petals and frills would dance up into the air and her pale blond hair would become tussled. Claudia would always smile sweetly when she saw him standing at the gate and always seemed to have a room readily made for him and food nearly prepared, not matter what time he had arrived. When Klaus caught a familiar scent he could almost taste her rose jam on his tongue and his mouth would water greedily for it.
Did she hate him for leaving too? He hoped not. Klaus wasn't sure that he could take having her hate him for any reason. He was also sure, however, that she would have understood if only he had honestly told her why; that he didn't leave simply for the sake of betraying his country, that he still loved it and her, but instead left for something dearer.
In the back of his mind he wondered what she would say if she knew the truth; the truth being that he left his life behind to travel to some far away land for the love of another man. Was it really worth it though? Was it worth it to face to hateful glares and spiteful words each and every day? There were enemies all around him, ready to strike if he were to let his guard down for even a moment, both on and off the battlefield. As he fired his gun at invading soldiers he constantly had to make sure that there wasn't one being pointed at his back as well. At times –he must admit- when things got rough, he found himself asking if he had made the right decision.
A muffled sigh gave him his answer. Looking beside him, Klaus found himself gazing upon the sleeping form of his master, his lover, and his entire reason for being where he was. He smiled to himself as the younger man unconsciously shifted closer to him, his smaller body fitting nicely beside his own. Yes, it was worth it. Every day that he looked into those bright blue eyes Klaus knew that he had made the right decision, one that, if ever given the chance, he would never undo, no matter how many times he doubted himself. He gently brushed Taki's hair away from his face.
The younger man woke and Klaus found himself staring into the eyes of the man that he would do anything, has done everything, for.
"Hn, what time is it?" Taki asked, sleep still heavy in his voice. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and Klaus couldn't help but smile at himself at how cute he was.
He shifted beneath the covers and looked back over his shoulder at the clock ticking away on the nightstand. The pale light slipping in through the curtains reflected off its glass almost making it difficult to tell the time.
"5:20." He read before giving a deep yawn. They only had a little over an hour left before they had to get up to start the day. Klaus tightened his grip around Taki's slender waist and nuzzled his nose into his hair, breathing in the younger man's scent and savoring the time they had left for the night.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
Author's comments:
The quote at the beginning is from the novel This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper. It gave me the idea to write this so I wanted to throw it in. I'm not quite sure how good it turned out though and I'm pretty sure there are some grammatical errors of some kind floating around in here, but I'm just going to blame it not on my lack of editing skills but rather the fact that's its 3:00 am and I'm operating on the 3 hours of sleep that I got the night before…
Also, to anyone who is even partially familiar with the Maiden Rose fanfics on here and wishes to help me, I am looking for a specific fanfic. I have no idea who wrote it or what the title of it was but it was a multiple chapter fanfic, each chapter with a short drabble depicting Klaus and Taki's relationship. If anyone knows who wrote anything like this please tell me so I can contact them, I would like to finish reading it. Thanks.