These characters are not mine. I own not the song nor "Cloud Atlas".
Robert Frobisher/Rufus Sixsmith. Songfic. Frobisher and Sixsmith are reunited after many incarnations, for their love is written in the stars.
Patrick Fiori's beautiful "Chrysalide" holds many illusions to eternity and the history between the singer and the subject, although not necessarily between two lovers. Its imagery just seems to fit Frobisher and Sixsmith.
Chrysalis
As the smell of gunpowder and his own blood faded from his senses, Sixsmith could feel himself traveling through time and space. His lifeless body and the hotel room were nothing to him now as he saw the stars appear before him. He hardly dared to breathe, lest this prove to be just another dream. But the stars, the memories of Corsica, Robert had promised that he would find him again under the Corsican stars. Would this be the moment that he had awaited for so long?
He gaped in awe as he caught sight of one of his arms. His hand, withered and blotchy with age, was undergoing a reversal; the skin was becoming taut, pliant, and young again. His clothing was changing too, into clothes unfamiliar to him…
While disappointed that he had been reborn as several different people, Sixsmtih was nonetheless fascinated by the vast changes in the world since he was a boy in 1931. The plight of Neo-Seoul was one that intrigued him as an archivist.
While he had been many different people after experiencing so many different lives, Sixsmith still felt the strongest connection to his life as Rufus Sixsmith, felt most strongly for the composer Robert Frobisher… he could not help but hope that they would find each other again in some undefined paradise. Those few years with Robert had meant more to him than several lifetimes of vastly different experiences. Those few years had left deep marks in the core of his being.
i"I believe there is another world waiting for us, Sixsmith. A better world, and I'll be waiting for you there. I believe the dead do not stay dead long. Find me beneath the Corsican stars where we first kissed."/i
Sixsmith swore that he could almost hear Robert's voice, as clearly as if it happened just hours before. Tears still stung his eyes, but he swore that he would be patient, even if the wait would take him an eternity. The dance of time continued to turn as Sixsmith thought that he heard Robert again.
i"Find me beneath the Corsican stars where we first kissed…"/i
Sixsmith tried to ignore it, sure that he had imagined it again… until he felt solid ground under his feet. And smelled fragrances that he had not smelled in ages. He looked around, just able to perceive in the dark that he wore the same trousers and dress shirt that he had worn when he and Robert had declared their love to each other, that his hands were young and pliant again, a few fair hairs on his hands and forearms. He brushed a hand over his forehead; his hair was thick and the hairline sat where it had when he and Robert met.
Could this be what he had awaited for so long?
"I have awaited this moment for the longest time, my darling Sixsmith."
Sixsmith, sure that his heart had stopped, was frozen in place. He gingerly turned his head in the direction of the voice that he was afraid that he would only ever hear in his memory. Robert stood there, dressed in the same suit that he'd worn when they first kissed.
Sixsmith fell to his knees, overcome with emotion. Tears of relief streamed down his face as he realized that this world was what Robert spoke of.
In an instant, Robert was before him and they were wrapped around each other, both of their hearts pounding as they shared an enthusiastic kiss.
All the lifetimes that Sixsmith, that Frobisher had waited, all of those memories seemed to run together as the couple cried for joy at their reunion. Centuries, millennia, none of that seemed to matter now as they held each other desperately.
"Robert, is it really you? I've dreamt of you so often…!" Sixsmith sobbed into Robert's neck.
"Yes, my darling Rufus," Robert gasped as he stroked his hand through his lover's golden locks, "Can you ever forgive me for what I've done to you? For leaving you in the way that I left?"
Rufus stroked Robert's unruly raven tresses, "It shattered my heart to find your dead body… it's a memory that I cannot erase from my mind, but you're here. As long as we have another chance, I'll be happy…"
"We have eternity, my love," Robert reassured as he caressed Rufus, "I'll be happy to make amends with you. Here, under the Corsican stars with you."
"The Corsican stars…!" Rufus gasped in awe.
"I promised that I would be waiting for you, darling, my Rufus," Robert crooned as he kissed his lover's tears, "And that better world that I spoke of is here, waiting for us."
The stars caught Rufus' eye and he gazed upward in wonder at their beauty, at their brightness, bright enough that he and Robert could see each others' expressions in the dim light. It was as bright as moonlight.
"This is Corsica…?" Rufus murmured.
Robert smiled fondly, "The smells, the plants, all of it is evocative of the land where we fell in love," he caressed Rufus' face, "Without any doubt, this is Corsica."
They laid themselves on a blanket on the warm ground, holding each other close as they watched the stars, marveling at their brightness.
"I have waited for this for so long, Robert," Rufus sounded wistful, "And at last I'm with you again…! I can't begin to say how happy I am…!"
Robert squeezed him tenderly, kissing him on the cheek, "You know it's not in my nature to be sentimental, but my Rufus I could not be more relieved that I have not had to wait any longer for you. You're the most beautiful sight that I have seen in the longest time…!"
Their eyes caught sight of a new star, shining more brightly than the others. After a moment of wonder, Rufus asked, "Do suppose that that bright new star is a coincidence or that there's more to it than meets the eye?"
"Who knows, Rufus?" Robert murmured, "I think that it's more than a coincidence with this bright new star," he kissed Rufus again, "I think that the stars are just as happy as we are that we're together again."
"Said the man who claims that he is not sentimental," Rufus teased before Robert swatted him on the bum.
The mild slap stirred things up. Rufus rolled Robert onto his back, chuckling as he mounted him. Soon, they were rolling all over the blanket, kissing, forcing their clothes off, and laughing for sheer joy that they had not been lost to each other.
Two pairs of eyes gazed into each other, one pair jade and the other cornflower, as the reunited lovers nervously rediscovered each others' bodies.
Rufus still could hardly believe that this was real, that they would make love again after centuries apart, but Robert was warm and solid to the touch instead of ethereal. He could feel more tears welling in his eyes…
"Don't cry, darling," Robert leaned in to kiss his weeping lover's tears, his naked chest pressed against Rufus' own nakedness, "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere without you now".
Reassured and suddenly very aware of their mutual warmth, Rufus could feel his loins stir like they had not stirred since the 1930s.
Overcome by desire, the olive-skinned brunet and the rosy-skinned blond latched onto each other, rolling around on the blanket under the stars. Hands and lips caressed faces, necks, shoulders, chests, nipples, bellies, calves, thighs, buttocks, loins, a world that the two lovers were eager to rediscover.
"Robert, Oh, my Robert-!" Rufus moaned as Robert kissed the golden thatch that covered his virile fruits, neither making any effort to keep their lovemaking quiet. They were sure that they would be safe in this new world, that they would not be denied each other again. If not, then what did it matter? They would fight for each other if they had to, for Rufus refused now to be to be parted from Robert again. This night was theirs to enjoy, together.
They collapsed beside each other on the blanket, momentarily spent from passion.
"I could do this with you forever, darling," Rufus murmured as he rested his head over Robert's beating heart.
Robert wrapped his beloved in his arms, smiling, "We can, my Rufus," he crooned, "We have forever. Whenever you want."
Rufus nestled closer, hardly daring to believe what Robert was saying, "It all feels like the first time all over again, Robert. Like we were just lads again…!"
Robert gave him a loving squeeze, "This is Paradise, darling. Everything that we dreamed of is here," he gestured to the stars above them, "We have come full circle, haven't we?"
Rufus smiled against Robert's warm skin, "And thank goodness…! I'm so relieved that you were right then you said that the dead do not stay dead long…!"
Rufus turned his head and kissed a burgundy nipple and slid his fingertips across Robert's chest and belly. Robert nuzzled Rufus' hair before one of his hands caressed its way back to his lover's bottom while the other teased one of the pink buds that adorned Rufus' chest, "I've missed you, my darling Rufus."
Rufus laced their fingers together, "I've missed you terribly, my love," already he could feel his body responding to the caresses, "I can't begin to say how much that I've missed our nights together."
"Indeed," Robert smiled as he noticed Rufus' arousal, amused and feeling his own loins stirring again, "As beautiful as your body is, I have missed your heart, your mind, and your soul as well. I've missed all of you."
Robert rolled on top of Rufus, kissing and caressing as he went. The two men writhed with passionate delight as they resumed their lovemaking. Two souls whose journeys had separated them physically but had failed to quash their feelings for each other had found each other again at long last under the same night skies of Corsica where they discovered their love.
Many lifetimes and different incarnations had separated them, but the cocoon that nurtured the cycle and refused to breach for so long had finally ruptured and, as happy and as free as butterflies in the springtime, Robert Frobisher and Rufus Sixsmith had reemerged to adore each other.
iFin/i