Part One: Blue
By Phoenix Dayze and S.J. Kohl
Angeal/Zack
PG-13
Summary: They weren't expecting everything to change. But it did. In the space of a moment.
Disclaimer: Not ours.
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It was his eyes, Angeal decided. They were too blue. So blue the looked purple. Or gray. Everything but what they should look. No one's eyes should be that…alive…
He shook his head, dark hair swaying about his shoulders, and continued to drift the soft, cotton cloth over the metal of his sword. That was all that mattered. The sword. The legacy. The way the cloth whispered, carressed, over the gleaming steel. Steel and silver and gleaming light. Not blue. Blue didn't matter. All that mattered was the way the blade fit in his hands, and the way it sang to him when he moved. No amount of blue eyes could…
"Hey, Angeal!"
Angeal glanced up, despite himself, in time to catch the too friendly wave. And eyes shining and full of smiles. Damn it! He gave a noncommittal grunt in Zack's direction, and made to go back to his work. He would not look at the kid. In fact, he was pretty sure he despised him.
"What'cha doin'?"
An innocent question, but the answer was fairly obvious, so Angeal didn't feel inclined to bother. Just focus on the blade. The edge. The steel…
"Can I try?"
Angeal blinked, frozen by the unexpected words, hands poised along the sword.
"I promise I won't break it."
Angeal tapped his fingers along the blade for a long moment as Zack settled on the corner bench just to his right, then sighed. He tried to focus on Zack's hands, or at least his chin. Anything but the blue. He extended the sword one-handed, balancing it easily. "Only briefly."
Zack's mouth pulled up into a grin, and he reached for the sword with more gentleness and finesse than Angeal had ever seen him bear. He watched as Zack pulled it across his knees, and keeping it supported with one hand, took up the cloth and began rubbing. Soft. Like the wind. Like a prayer.
Then, in a catalyst of impossibility, Zack started singing. His tenor low and steady, his head bouncing to the beat only he could hear.
"Blue, is the ocean in your eyes. Blue is cool September skies. As a lonely waterfall. Angel, heaven starts here tonight in your arms. While I drown in your body, get lost in your charms. All I want is your touch. All I want is your heaven right here by my side, every night …
Angeal dropped his head down into his hands and growled deep in his throat. "Could you stop that please?"
Zack paused and looked up. "What? Don't like the song?"
"Not really."
A brief nod, then, "Blue moon. You saw me standing alone. Without a dream in my heart. Without a love of my own…
Yep. Angeal really, really hated blue.