A/N: This is dedicated to a good friend and a faithful reviewer of mine, X-NoOneOfConsequence-X. She's also a great writer, though a bit of a perfectionist...as soon as she gets her stuff out, check it out!
The wind is a deceptive thing. It hides secrets and tells lies, tricking sailors out onto seemingly calm waters and then murdering them without a second thought. Now, the wind around the Sea of Japan had a special habit. Every night, at dusk, it would settle just on the water's surface, making it exceptionally calm. As the wind whispered its secrets, waves lapped against the rocky shores and the sides of strong boats, as if calling for a lost mate to join it. But on a crisp December night, the wind could never guess what dangerous secrets may be revealed to it.
December 23, 2001. The wind brought with it calm seas, golden skies, and soft pinpricks of light spreading across what seemed like an endless void, beautiful but deadly. And below the lighted sky, on the deck of his small white boat, Malik Ishtar seemed to wait for someone – or something, to meet him. Slender, tan fingers curled around the silver railing, and bright violet eyes stared out at the sea. "What secrets are you telling tonight, Kaze? Decption in the east, murder in the west? Life is a dangerous game" As he spoke, his voice was but a shell of what it used to be, now just a ghost of emotion. His intense eyes gazed into the sea.
"And Mizu, you are calm tonight. I always appear calm, don't I? I'm just like you are – calm on the surface, but stormy underneath. I cannot help but think of how I betrayed them…..and I must atone for my sins." The moonlight shone over him, a hint of pink and gold still in the sky. The sea was tinted green, and sparkled like sapphires and emeralds and the appeal of death to a tortured soul.
Taking a deep breath, Malik flipped himself over the balcony, falling and falling to the bottom of the ocean. His legs and arms flailed about, and stars burst before his eyes until he could no longer see the full moon and golden skies. And then, then he was still – stiller than the wind on it's calmest night.