Warnings: Spoilers up to the Celes Arc - possible spoilers up to the latest chapter (Chapter 190)
Other Warnings: Shounen-ai (mochiron! This is a Fai/Kurogane/Ashura-ou fic :)
In conclusion: Please enjoy! Also, I always love any reviews you'd be so kind to leave. Thanks in advanced!
In the Meanwhile
Chapter 1
My, there have been some pretty amazing worlds so far, wouldn't you agree? Flame-roaring Kudan as tall as the sky– a new one for me, at least, acid-ball creating witches who manage not only to kiss, but to even get Kuro-puu to blush (my favorite part!), learning a dance for when the drums come out at the party (it could happen, provided we visit Oto country again for a "drink") from telephone-game-loving, human-sacrificing rabbits…I mean, you can't make this stuff up!
It's been…fun. It truly has, but this world trumps them, possessing a singular element that, I suppose I can't really complain the other worlds don't lack. I can't complain, but…
For the first time, Kuro-tan and I had found ourselves separated from Sakura, Shaoran, Mokona and I didn't even have a chance to take advantage of the language barrier before black flags had appeared on the horizon. Kuro-rin had drawn his sword, and in a surprising (but nevertheless token Kuro-puu) move, stepped in front of me and a moment later, as I stepped from behind him into the very path of a possible enemy, cursed.
Or maybe not. We couldn't understand each other a whit, and Kuro-puu has a certain, how should I put it? A certain lack of inflection…
Riding at the front of the army, terrifyingly solid, horribly there…was Ashura-ou. That's what I thought instantly, blindly, felt a daze of vertigo, thought clearly: but Chii hasn't contacted me and distantly, quietly right behind that: how long has it been since I've seen him?
Yes, I surprise even myself, sometimes.
Shaken by this thought, or at least, by the ache the thought left behind, I took a bold step forward, reached out, and touched the cheek of the king who wore the face of the one I had left behind.
Not left behind, I corrected myself, fled.
The monster.
It was Kuro-sama who brought me from my reverie with an angry bark. In a flash, he had pulled me back, severed my contact from the king's cool skin and I stared up at his back from where I had fallen to the ground. He had his sword to the king's throat, but the king didn't look concerned, nor did he sound particularly worried…He was laughing and as I stared up at him, his familiar eyes were so very gentle…
What had the witch said? You might meet people with the same face, different lives, but their souls are the same?
The same soul, huh? I glanced back up into the gentle eyes and wondered if it were fair to imagine them darker and deeper suddenly, the eyes of a beast.
It was then that the king said something to Kuro-sama which, interestingly enough, he seemed to understand and suprisingly enough, had an eventually, reluctant effect. The sword was lowered and Kuro-tan nodded as the king dismounted. I saw how tightly Kuro-pin's hand gripped his sword, but the king paid it no attention. He had knelt beside me, held out his hand.
The king asked Kuro-puu something and the reply, at least, was something I understood, "Fai," he growled.
"Fai…" The king said – no – the king breathed – and I stared at him, unable to move, to take the offered hand. The same soul, I thought, and I felt my hands shaking, just for a moment, before I reigned them under control again. From behind the king, Kuro-woof raised an eyebrow and was about to intercede, but then something happened.
The king smiled and slowly placed his hand on my hand. I gazed at it, then him and thought more clearly than I have thought of anything since leaving Celes: this is not my Ashura-ou, I don't have to fear him. And that thought was such a relief that I took his hand, I smiled at him, and he smiled back and it was so easy to ignore the thought that followed, just as true as the previous thought:
This wasn't Ashura-ou, and wherever we were, it wasn't Celes, and I didn't have to fear this man who wasn't my king.
Not yet.
To Be Continued….