Author's Note: I forgot I'd written this little vignette until I went trawling through my LJ the other day and saw this hidden in the comments, of all places! I didn't want to lose it again, so here it is.
Written for a friend, from the prompt "Illusion/Replacement."
FOR JUST ONE MOMENT
Dying.
The same word flashed through both their minds at the same instant. There was no way Hotarubi could survive, not with her wounds, and not after what she had done. Cold-bloodedly murdering Kazamachi Shogen, blinding Gennosuke, attacking the Manjidani compound...
No, she would not survive even the next hour.
There was blood everywhere as Hotarubi's body slumped back against the tree, soaking her from head to foot. Her blood was also on Saemon where it had splashed over him as he'd sliced away her hands, gashed open her side, but he made no move to wipe it away.
Neither of them really knew why.
She expected no pity from him, nor would he have given it to her if she'd asked.
And yet...
But as death slowly crept forward to claim Hotarubi, she stared at the ninja who stood in front of her, reaching out what used to be her hands.
"Ya... sha... ma... ru..."
Her voice was weak - was that really the same voice that had cursed Saemon so roundly just a few days ago before all of the Iga? Neither of them would have recognized it as such.
Through hazy, failing eyes, she saw the one great love of her life, and through eyes misted with unexpected tears, Saemon saw that love.
His face changed.
It was as though the moonlight washed away his own face, just as it washed away her pain.
For just a moment, a single heartbeat, it was Yashamaru standing before Hotarubi, smiling at her.
A smile curved her lips, and as she reached for him, her body slid with heartstopping slowness over the cliff beside her into the darkness below.
As inevitable as falling into Yashamaru's arms.
As inevitable as catching his baby sister.
An illusion as ephemeral as moonlight, as everlasting as death.