Light Up The Sky
A pair of blue eyes scanned the darkened sky above him, watching as the stars twinkled millions of miles away. The green grass underneath him tickled the back of his neck from where he lay but he didn't bother to acknowledge the minor disturbance. Right next to him, a sigh escaped from the lips of a girl with silver hair as she too stared at the night sky.
The summer heat provided them with an invisible warm blanket as they lay on the soft grass but Seven often regarded the warmth to be radiating off of the boy next to her since they were situated that close to each other. Neither of them dared to move away, however, for they were already settled in their positions to have the energy to scoot over. This happened often, she noticed, when their distance from each other was never more than just a few inches. They never minded the closeness because they would be so caught up in their conversations to have the thought to actually care about such a small thing.
Tonight was different, though.
Jack would usually be the one to try and strike up a conversation to immerse them in after the long day in class, but tonight he was dead silent. Seven found it odd for the boy to be like this. His trademark grin was nowhere evident upon his lips and was instead replaced by a straight, firm line. It made her feel uneasy for the boy to be acting like this. All throughout that day, the blond held his eyes downcast, speaking to almost no one except for her. She supposed that it was because of their rather close relationship that he would speak to her only; but he only spoke a few words to her, something that she was not used to especially coming from him. All she could hear now, as they lay in the grass, were the distant voices of students hanging about the school grounds.
"Jack, you've been so quiet today," she told him softly as the silence between them started to amplify. "What's wrong?"
She turned her head to look at him, waiting for a response, but instead she ended up watching him staring straight up as he examined the mysterious skies above.
The feeling of grief was eating at his stomach the whole day and he told no one why; not even her. Not yet, that is. His eyelids felt heavy and he barely had the initiative to do anything productive. The reason for his sorrow was starting to get to him, but laying there on the ground made him feel a bit relaxed from the tension that he held in his body the entire day.
Every year, for a decade since he was seven, the day would always come when he'd feel remorse for things that happened in his past. It was that day he was currently living in now and Jack couldn't help but be reminded of the events as if the memory was still fresh in his eyes. Peering over to the girl beside him, he saw the curious and questioning stare that was upheld in her violet eyes. Though they showed patience for him because she was not trying to pry any further than she was supposed to in order to get an answer from him.
"Today is…" his voice came out hoarse for being silent most of the day. "It's the same day that my father died, ten years ago."
She listened intently to his words, feeling his grief through his voice. The reason for his rather serious expressions the entire day was something she expected to be minor, but the real truth behind surprised her. For ten years the boy had to live through his unfortunate loss and Seven knew that it took a hard toll on him as a child as well as right now. Turning onto her side to face him, she gently took his hand that rested beside his body and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
"I'm sorry for your loss Jack," she whispered, her voice filled with sympathy.
He shook his head and looked at her. "You don't need to be sorry about anything," he told her with a sad smile, glancing down briefly at their entwined hands. "There was nothing my family could do to save him from the illness that took him." The blond paused for a second. "It was just his time to go, is all."
"You must have really looked up to him if he's had such a big impact on your life," she said, sliding her hand out of his and moving it to rest on her stomach. The girl was deeply interested to know what might have happened but she was careful to make sure not to let her curiosity get to the better of her. Making his day feel worse than it already was certainly was the last thing on her list.
"He inspired me, as a kid, to learn how to fight with a katana." And for the first time that day, the blond let a sincere smile appear across his gloomy face. "I always thought that he was the best samurai ever so I made it my goal to try and surpass my old man."
She smiled at the way he spoke about his father with respect. He meant every word he said about the older man and having him speak in confidence reminded her of her own family outside the school walls. Even though she had a family of friends at Suzaku, her real family back home was the one she cared about the most. Losing them would feel like her world caving in on her. Especially at a time like this, while they were engaged in war, she wished for everything in the world that they would be safe.
"Your dad isn't entirely gone," she replied quietly. "He's watching down on you and I'm sure he'd be proud of what you've accomplished since."
The blond felt his spirits rise at her kind words, leaving a grin upon his lips in its wake. Seven knew how to cheer others up, which he appreciated greatly at a time like this.
"Thanks," he murmured, sending her a smile.
The two settled in a comfortable silent atmosphere as they stared at the lit sky. The millions of stars that twinkled in the night gave Jack the sense of how peaceful things seemed now rather than when they were fighting on the battlefield. There were no constant sounds of guns firing or soldiers dying as they lay still like that on the ground. It was all relaxing to him, how right now they were not carrying the burden to stop an entire army. The moment kept him at ease.
Glancing sideways to the silver-haired girl, he observed how her violet eyes darted throughout as she watched the night sky. She was like a person full of surprises for he knew that she wasn't quite open to others as she was with him. It appalled him when he realized how close the two had grown over the years that they'd known each other. Imagining life without her was the last thing he would ever want to let happen. It pained him to think that if this girl's fire were to ever burn out, everything around him would feel dark and cold. Seven was irreplaceable in his life and having her by his side forever was something he wished to happen for the longest time.
Little did she know that the blond held deeper feelings for her much more than being just a friend.
He had known that he was in love with the girl for quite a while, but he could never muster up enough power to break the news to her. Jack could only hope that she felt the same because after spending so much time with her, it was only a matter of time before he got that warm feeling of just being by her.
"You know, I found that I don't always need to rely on the stars to light up the sky at night," Jack spoke softly, breaking the tranquil silence that befell upon them. Seven turned her head once more with a raised brow.
"What do you mean?"
Jack had the urge to bite his tongue to stop himself but knew that he couldn't, not when he was already on the verge of confessing. His father had told him that life was all about taking giant leaps of faith and right now certainly was one of those moments when he had to take the risk; the risk that she might not convey the same feelings for him.
Taking in a breath and then exhaling, Jack looked her in the eye. "I mean just that," he told her in a quiet tone. Pausing for a second, he continued on, "Because everything already seems brighter when you're with me."
She was silent, her eyes wide in disbelief. Her cheeks had flared to a bright red and even with the darkened environment around them, he could see how flustered she became from his words. Seven could read the hidden meaning behind the mere statement through the way he spoke.
"Jack, I-I…"
Her quiet voice unnerved him. Thoughts were racing in his head, wondering if what he said wasn't right. But it was too late to change anything and he meant every single word that came out. His biggest concern was whether or not she felt the same as he did. He wished and hoped that she did but his pessimistic side managed to get the better of him. Jack never had to confess to someone in the way he just did now; it left him feeling anxious rather than relieved in the end. He waited for her to respond further, but when she didn't Jack felt immediate regret for having said anything in the first place.
I'm such an idiot! he cursed himself tore his gaze away from her, bringing a hand to his face to hide his shame. For the entire day his emotions felt like they were on a roller coaster ranging from grief, to being happy for a bit, to immediate regret. He blamed his raging teenage hormones to be the cause.
And as if his day couldn't become any more convenient, they both felt a few water droplets fall from the sky right onto their foreheads. As dark clouds started forming in the sky, obscuring the twinkling stars above them, the rain started falling faster.
"We should go," Jack muttered, refusing to meet her eyes as he stood up. Seven thought that she saw a look of pain flash across his face again that day making her feel a bit guilty.
"Wait, Jack –" She tried stopping him, not giving a care that the rain was falling heavier upon them now, but the blond was well on his way back to the main path, no doubt on his way back to the dormitories. "Jack!"
He was ignoring her, all because of what she didn't do. But what was she supposed to say after his confession exactly? After what she just heard, Seven wasn't even so sure anymore about her own feelings for the boy and finding out that he indeed harbor them for her left the girl confused of what to do. Risking their friendship like that was the least she would have expected from him. Now Seven was caught in a storm of possibilities of where their relationship could lean towards.
The thought of him possibly hating her afterwards tore at her heart. No. She was going to set things right, whether or not she was sure about how she felt for the blond.
The rain came pouring down, the once clear night sky was now clouded with dark clouds. Seven's clothes and hair were drenched with the rain water. After she was left standing there by herself, she ran ahead to catch up with her friend. She didn't want him to hate her and she most certainly did not want to lose him over an incident like that. He meant everything to her and losing him would be like losing a family member.
Definitely like losing a family member, she repeated mentally. All of a sudden she froze in her tracks as realization struck her. Like losing a family member…that's it!
Apparently, she must have lost track of time as she stood there because he was far ahead from her sight even as she started running towards him. She could make out his appearance in the distance as the rain fell upon the school grounds. No one was outside; all the students had made it safely back into their buildings to hide from the rain.
It was just the two of them left out there.
"Jack!" the silver-haired girl yelled his name, her arms moving back and forth as she started getting closer to him. His figure seemed to have tensed up at the sound of her voice but he kept on walking, not daring to look back even once at the girl.
"Wait a minute!" As she inched closer to him, she moved to stand in front of him, stopping the boy from walking any further. "Just, stop for a sec'."
The same firm line she had to witness the entire day was etched upon his mouth as she looked at him. His usual happiness that he always seemed to be radiating was long gone now and she wished for everything that she could make things right with what she was about to say.
"Did you really mean those words back there?" Seven asked him with no hesitation. Her heart started beating rapidly when he nodded solemnly in response.
"Every word," he murmured, staring down in the process.
"I-I want to apologize for not…"
"For not feeling the same?" he finished for her. "It's okay, I understand. I shouldn't have done that to you."
But she merely shook her head, the rain dripping from her hair and clothes. "No, for not being able to realize sooner just how much you mean to me," she corrected him quietly. His eyes seemed to light up for a moment as she spoke, but he kept quiet to let her finish. "I know how you really feel about me, and I know that the last thing you want – what we both want – is to lose one another. So if you already hate me…" Her sentence cut short as her body shook with her emotions running high. She was so confused about everything but she already came to realize that she did love him after feeling that losing him would make her world all cave in. That part of her was just buried beneath layers of being so oblivious for not noticing sooner.
Suddenly Seven felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her in a comforting embrace. She felt Jack's chin rest on top of her head from the gesture.
He couldn't stand to see the girl looking so vulnerable like this and for reasons that he didn't like. Jack had to admit, this all wouldn't have started if he hadn't dropped the first initiation in the first place so he took full responsibility for the situation they were stuck in. He would do anything to stop the burning flame in her heart from dissipating because after all, she meant everything to him.
"I can never hate you Seven," her ears perked up at his words. Tilting her head back to regard him with glistening eyes, she spotted the all too familiar grin he would send her all the time and found herself returning the gesture with a small upturn of her lips as well.
"Then stay with me," she whispered as she leaned in closer to him. He let out a chuckle, his cool breath hitting her face.
"If that's what you want." Jack grinned slyly at her when her expression changed into a surprised one as he cupped both sides of her face in his hands. And then he decided to close the small gap that came between them in a flash, feeling her soft lips press against his. Her eyes were wide as her brain tried registering what to do, but she relaxed in his touch and reached up to encircle her arms around his neck.
Every part of them was wet from the pouring rain, but they took no heed in wanting to escape the absolute tranquility they were immersed in. It would only be a matter of moments before the rain would finally let up to reveal the moonlight the two had grown so accustomed to after the many nights of stargazing they shared together.
Because these two are just so damn cute together, I had to do create a story about them. Thus, we have this as the product. :D
Reviews and feedback are much appreciated! I know there's still so much that I can improve on so I wouldn't mind the constructive criticism (as long as it doesn't sound like a flame).
Thanks for reading!