A.N: I felt like writing a short piece on Usagi and Leo. I miss writing for them, they're one of my favourite pairs. I'm rather proud of it to be honest, it was something different to me and I think I wrote it quite well. Word count not including title: 1200. Enjoy and please review.
Puzzle Piece
He watches his partner move with the grace of a feline, swift and sudden in the dancing firelight. The night is cool and the air hums with the songs of his steel swords and the crickets accompanied him in a melody of the dark. The stars were as bright as those on a stage, the moon a strong spotlight. Usagi's breath caught at the show. His heart thumped so loudly within his chest, he was sure it was contributing to the tune also. The emerald grass was dry and springy beneath him, and it only benefited the sword wielder's practice.
He doesn't understand the turtle's desperate need to hone his already near-perfect skills every evening, but he doesn't prevent it. If he must be honest, he enjoys just watching. He enjoys watching the muscles tense in the orange glow of the flames. He enjoys listening to the music he makes, his breath harsh and quick in the substantial silence. He enjoys the dance itself, the motions that appear to be elegant and beautiful. He is aware they could become cold and deadly at any second. He knows Leonardo is as prepared as they come and he respects him for it.
He remembers when they first clapped eyes upon one another. He was a cocky young samurai, drunk with freedom and summer air. Leonardo was a shy ninja, even younger than he was, trapped by responsibilities and expectations he could never live up to. It was as if they had been tirelessly searching for a missing jigsaw piece all their lives, and at that very moment they found it. They didn't know it at the time of course. But that was so many years ago, and Usagi wonders when things began to change. He decides he doesn't really care at all.
The ninja knows the samurai is watching, but for once he doesn't mind. He knows it is just the two of them, and he can handle that. He dreams sometimes, of a far away place brimming with skyscrapers and pollution and roaring engines, but it's not the cold city he misses. It's the family he left behind for a life he'd always hoped for, but never thought he would achieve. Occasionally, he isn't sure he made the right decision, but one look into the rabbit's dark eyes and he sees the love and admiration found there and the uncertainty vanishes.
The puzzle is complete now. They are older too, and they've both seen the cracks and crevices of the earth. Leonardo is free from the duties and suppositions that crushed him, but he recalls them, they creep in the back of his mind, and he is afraid of what will happen. Usagi no longer feels his freedom fervently, his cockiness subdued from the horrors of life. He knows of the darkness in his mate's eyes, but he does not speak of it, wary of the outcome. He does not believe he could cope without his ninja to guide him through.
His practice finishes like it does every night and he freezes for a moment, too exhausted to move another muscle. His hands ache from the intensity of his hold upon his blades, the only remainder he has of his distant home. His shoulders heave, the breath tearing from his lungs in ragged gasps. He knows he will suffer for his overexertion in the morning, just as he does every dawn, but he must never forget the lessons his master taught him. Besides, it distracts his attention from the longing deep within. He has never missed anything more than his brothers.
Usagi knows this. He knows a lot of things about Leonardo, more than the ninja gives him credit for. The samurai is familiar with the dance from here and plays his part well. He approaches his friend voicelessly, scrupulously slips the smooth shining swords from his grasp and lays them in the grass as gently as he knows how. His caress is soft, his paws sliding up the turtle's arms. They're slick with sweat and Leonardo responds the only way he knows how. His own brushes are just as tender, seeking the reassurance Usagi is only too willing to give.
Their eyes are hungry and their mouths are ardent. Too much of the other is simply not enough. Their want is insatiable and it rolls off them with incredible heat. The night closes in, forging its own shield of protection from prying eyes and unwanted presences. Nothing else matters now, only the want burning within them and the need to satisfy it. Usagi's robes grow dirty, Leonardo gets grass stains on his knees that are hardly visible. Their hands wander down paths they know well, eager and clumsy. There is a sense of the surreal, heightened by so much passion.
It's not like this every night. Sometimes their travels are interrupted and their day is spent in the midst of battle. Leonardo is not a ronin, nor is he a yojimbo, but that does not dispel the honour within his heart. He fights alongside his samurai to the end, for the right cause. It brings unwanted memories with exhaustion and the night is spent nursing both old and new wounds, physical and mental. These days are the longest. They are paid for their services but the money means nothing to Leonardo, and Usagi worries how they will make it last.
Usagi knows he has nothing to offer but a life of travels, spent in near poverty, no real home to call their own. Leonardo doesn't care. If he stayed at home he would be without his samurai, and he could never live with that. But it grows harder to live without those he called brothers. Usagi doesn't understand completely, he does not have siblings, but he tries, and that is more than enough for his partner. He wonders if there is a way Leonardo could have both his brothers and his samurai in his life, but knows it is impossible.
They sleep under the stage-light stars like they do every night. Usagi grows weary of it, longs for a soft bed in a warm room, but Leonardo will never tire of the freedom of the night. He was ensnared for too long within four walls and never forgets the crushing claustrophobia he grew too familiar with. Usagi is patient and soothes away the ninja's fears, just as he does every night, just as he always will. Leonardo finally sleeps with ease, and his nightmares become rare. Usagi sighs into the silence, jaded but content. He loves the younger warrior fiercely.
The samurai knows the time will come for Leonardo to return to his family, but he knows it does not necessarily mean the end of all things between them. He knows the ninja loves him just as strongly. He looks forward to the fresh set of challenges life will bring them. He knows they will be difficult and Leonardo will have more demons to deal with, but he will support his lover through them until the end. He'd found his missing puzzle piece, and he wasn't about to lose it. Still, he did wish for the quiet life at times.
The End