First drafted as part of a Music Shuffle, inspired by Mogamigawa Tsukasa's song Matsupoiyo.
"Are you ready, darling?" Yama asked as he reached the top of the stairs, then paused.
Harlock's attention was fixed on the planet below. He didn't appear to have heard the question. Yama's lips twisted into a half-smile and he walked over to join his lover, pressing close against Harlock's back. "It will be all right." he murmured, wrapping his arms around Harlock's waist and resting his chin on Harlock's shoulder.
He shuddered in Yama's arms as he took a deep breath, then sighed, nodding slightly. It had been fifteen years since their first visit to the Earth, and while they had returned several times in the intervening time, it hadn't been often.
Even now, only Harlock and Yama would venture to the surface - Miime had warned the concentration of dark matter still raging on the planet could be harmful to the structures of complex life. While Harlock's own safety was clearly not a concern, it . . . had been suggested Yama should not risk it either, fifteen years ago. He had quickly pointed out he couldn't get much more contaminated than he had the first time he walked on Earth.
He hadn't mentioned that he also had no intention of being held back when he suspected Harlock would need Yama at his side there.
Before any further argument could be made, on either side, Miime had waved off the worry, informing them that Yama's physical state was frozen by the dark matter that had seeped into him on the Earth's surface. It had already contaminated him and was unlikely to make any further changes.
Of course, now such might have been observed by anyone. Yama looked exactly as he had fifteen years ago, bar the addition of a few more faint scars and that his hair was a little longer.
Harlock sighed again, and Yama hugged him firmly. When Yama leaned forwards a little more to kiss his cheek he was smiling slightly.
"Ready?" Yama asked again, softer this time. Harlock nodded, glancing back out towards Earth. Then he turned away and Yama quickly released his hold on Harlock. He hid a smile and fell in at his lover's side as Harlock began striding dramatically off the bridge.
They chose a small shuttle for the trip with Tochiro ticking worriedly around them. They didn't often step foot off the Arcadia, either of them, and Yama knew Tochiro wished to see the Earth from closer up as well. The Arcadia's first visit had not granted much time for examination, and the Earth had continued changing since then besides. Unfortunately it wasn't a good idea to land there, for the sake of the human crew that had not been 'poisoned' by dark matter as well as in deference to the wild and unpredictable winds that swept the surface, making flight difficult, even for such a formidable ship.
"We'll be back soon, old friend." Harlock murmured, running his hand along a support before he climbed up into the shuttle. The Arcadia groaned and grumbled but seemed slightly more settled, even if the ticking hadn't ceased.
The sound didn't stop, but it was more removed as the shuttle doors sealed. Harlock settled at the controls and Yama came to stand at his side, one hand resting on his shoulder in a gentle, snug grip as he brought the shuttle gracefully out of the Arcadia's bay and down towards Earth.
It was difficult to see much of the planet on the way down, and even more so when they landed. The dark matter that swirled thickly through the air and the dust carried on the harsh winds obscured any view far beyond the shuttle.
Yama braced himself before they opened the shuttle doors, and they both managed to keep steady as they stepped out into the wind, but it still buffeted them both. It was probably good Harlock had left his cape back on the Arcadia, Yama thought wryly. Harlock pulled the inner set of the shuttle's doors closed before resting a hand on Yama's back as they climbed down to the surface.
Despite the amount of dirt in the air, they dropped down onto a thick carpet of lively green grass, not the bare earth Yama had mostly seen when he first walked here, and had still dominated even on their last visit a few years ago. The grass waved in the constant wind and stretched almost as far as the eye could see from where they stood. Yama smiled and looked up at Harlock.
He was staring, a faintly awed look in his eye. Yama clasped his hand and leaned close against his side, supportive, smile softening. Then he drew Harlock up the slope of the lee they had landed behind, so they could get a better view.
When they reached the top they both froze, breath catching.
The familiar tiny white flowers spread cheerfully across the plain before them, bobbing peacefully - but they had now been joined by bright specks of blue, and swathes of soft purple. Yama even saw, further off in the shelter of a tumbled fall of rock, some sturdier-looking plants that might be young trees straining to grow upwards.
"Yama. . ." Harlock breathed, his voice thick.
Yama squeezed his hand. "It's beautiful." he said, swallowing hard. "It's coming back. Faster all the time." he added, amazed and thankful to be here, to see this.
Harlock yanked him in and he startled even before he found himself hugged so tight it knocked the breath from him. "You. . . You-" Harlock said, but couldn't seem to get any further, looking away, a tear slipping down his cheek as he bowed his head.
Yama cupped his jaw and swept the drop gently away, then leaned up and kissed Harlock, a soft brush of lips. "I didn't do this." he said quietly, rubbing their noses together.
"Without you, I never would have known of it." Harlock said, meeting Yama's gaze. The soft awe on his face was disturbed by a wrecked expression. "I would have destroyed. . . It is because of you that I can see this. That I have hope again."
Yama's heart clenched and he blinked away tears himself, sniffing quietly as he hugged Harlock tighter. He had no words to respond to that, but Harlock didn't seem bothered by his silence, only holding Yama close to him and looking out at the field of life.
Yama took a few moments to settle himself, then leaned into Harlock as his smile returned, both of them watching the flowers dance and the small trees rustle.