A/N- A very short TsuStar drabble for Ginger!
She had been in a funk ever since the Masamune mission. It was only to be expected, of course. Her brother had died, and by her hand. Black*Star wasn't sure what that would feel like, having no siblings of his own (unless you counted Maka, which he only did around thirty percent of the time), but he imagined it wasn't a great feeling.
When he had tried to ask her about it, right after she got off the phone from telling her parents, she hadn't given much away. She was dry eyed, had been so throughout the process of breaking the news to her father, and all she'd said in response to his concern was that she hadn't really killed her brother at all.
"Masamune was dead a long time before we fought him."
Black*Star didn't know what she meant by that, because the dude had looked pretty damn alive to him, but it wasn't worth worrying over as far as he was concerned.
Her shaking hands were the only clue she'd been discussing anything more traumatic than the weather. But Tsubaki was like that. She kept an even keel and never gave anything away, no matter what was going on inside. He wondered if it was a Japanese thing, if he would have been like that if he'd been raised by the Star Clan.
Somehow, he didn't think so. A star like him didn't have time to waste on dumb things like hiding his emotions.
As he watched his elegant weapon staring out the window with a bereft and faraway look on her face for the fourth time in as many days, Black*Star decided that this was all going to have to stop. It had been weeks, and it was no good for her to shut herself up in the house and wilt away. Melancholy didn't suit her.
"Come on, Tsubaki!"
He tugged on her hand enthusiastically, ensuring that she kept up with him.
"Where are we going?" she asked, and there was an amused tone in her voice that kept him optimistic.
"You'll see!"
He led her through the labyrinth of Death City's back streets, eventually stopping just before the entrance of a certain alley. "Okay, now close your eyes."
"Black*Star-"
"C'mon, I promise it'll be worth it."
Reluctant but smiling, Tsubaki closed her deep blue eyes. "Alright, but please don't put anything gross in my hands like last time, okay?"
Black*Star cackled. "Ha! As if! Even I know a joke like that's only funny once!" Per person, anyway.
He led her through the alleyway and out into the open space beyond, taking care to ensure she wouldn't trip. Once she was standing in the middle of the open area, he said, "Alright, now open your eyes and prepare to be amazed!"
Tsubaki did so slowly and a little nervously, but once she saw her surroundings she gasped and her eyes went wide. "Black*Star!" she exclaimed breathlessly.
The small enclosed square was filled with life, a tiny but vibrant oasis in the desert. Every plant in the miniature garden was native to Japan, lacy little red-leafed maples and painted ferns and jewel-like flowers lining a small series of man-made ponds and tiny rivers, and at the center of it all stood one of the beautiful stone fountains the city was known for. It should have been impossible to maintain in the punishing heat of Death Valley, but Death City was a little unusual. Some said it was the power of Lord Death that made little gardens like this able to flourish throughout the city, but Black*Star didn't really care. It didn't matter to him how it was possible. It only mattered that Tsubaki was smiling for the first time in more than a month.
She turned to him with shining eyes. "How did you find this place? It's amazing!"
"Ha! I know every inch of this city, Tsubaki! Of course I knew you'd like something like this, so I figured it was about time I showed it to you!"
If Tsubaki knew why he'd chosen now to bring her here, she didn't let on. She simply smiled and stepped daintily along the pathways winding through the pocket park, brushing her hands lightly through the ornamental grasses that lined the waterways.