Come In From The Rain

by Starshadow

In which Scarface Vy Low shows up unexpectedly at Faulstis' door. Husband and wife come to a new understanding of each other's hearts as the rain pounds outside the castle.

Title: Come In From The Rain

Pairings: Scarface/Faulstis

Credits: Shadow Skill was created by Megumu Okada. It is owned/licensed by Bandai Visual, Kadokawa Shouten, Marubeni, Sotou Agency, ADV.

Disclaimer: Shadow Skill characters borrowed for the love and joy of the writing, and not for purposes of acquiring lucre. The Fort Ly'valle inhabitants are mine. As with all fics, while the goal is to stay as in character as possible, the author cries "mea maxima culpa" to any discrepancies that the discerning reader may is a fanwork made by fans for fans.

Notes: Based on the lyrics of "Come In From The Rain" as sung by Melissa Manchester.

"It's raining..."

Faulstis Low, Holy Knight of Juliannes, looked out of her window in the palace royal with solemn eyes. She never liked rainy days, when the sky grew as black as Darkness' own cloak, and water cascaded down in torrents, dripping from the palace roof to trace random paths across the glass panes of the windows. Rainy days left her too much time with her own thoughts. Thoughts that always returned to a tall, arrogant figure in a sevalle's cloak, dark brown hair lifting from his face on a gentle breeze; mocking cinnamon eyes that gleamed with secret amusement as they gazed out at the world. The scar carved upon his cheek did not detract from his head-turning good looks - if anything, it only increased his attractiveness.

Faulstis blinked hard, wondering at the sudden ache that shot through her heart as the image of Scarface Vy Low walking alone in the rain formed itself in her mind. Scarface, the 57th sevalle of Kuruda. Scarface, who won his title at the age of 16 after defeating Hawkeye Iba Stol, Kuruda's present King. Scarface Vy Low, who could never keep his feet planted in any one place for very long.

Scarface. Her husband.

"Hullo, Faulstis."

Faulstis turned with a gasp, eyes widening at the sight of the very man who had been occupying her thoughts, framed in the doorway of her suite. For a moment she thought she'd conjured him out of the rain, until the sound of his lazy drawl shook her into action.

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

"It's been a long time," she answered quietly, moving forward slowly to get a better look at him. Indeed, she thought, tilting her head up slightly to look into his face, it had been such a long time...nearly a year or a little more since Elle Ragu and Gau Ban were exiled from Kuruda, in expiation for her involvement in the duel with Sai Oh of Kisholana. Four years since Kain Phalanx died by Scarface's own hand, for daring to challenge Hawkeye Iba Stola for the right to be named the strongest in all Ashlianna. With an intuition that came as much from being a wife as well as a Raze Reme and Holy Knight, Faulstis sensed the darkness that still shadowed Scarface's soul because of Kain's death.

"Such a long time," she said again, hearing the wistful quality in her voice and hoping her husband would ignore it. No sooner had they been married, it seemed, than Scarface was out in the thick of battle. Even when peace had come at last, he seldom visited Juliannes unless summoned by the Princess, preferring his quarters in the palace royal of Kuruda.

Scenes from the past year tumbled through Faulstis' mind as she regarded her wayward husband with a sober face. On bended knee before the Princess, during the Fighting Festival. Standing on the little hill during the disastrous Four Fighters Assembly, sevalle cloak blowing in the wind and young Lowengren by his side. His calm self-assurance when everything seemed to be coming apart in Juliannes, baiting Crimson at every opportunity.

She had heard whispers, too - of his role in the death of Black Wing Dias Ragu, of his great interest in the progress of Shadow Skill's brother Black Howling.

Looking at him now, she could see how greatly changed he was from the young man whom she had consented to marry. His face was more open then, less guarded - not at all like a living replica of his statue in the Kuruda Colosseum. His smile had been that of a man sure of his place in the world, a man who knew what it was to love and be loved - without the tinge of cruel mockery which twisted it now.

Again, Faulstis felt the odd ache take hold of her heart. She had seen more of him over the past year than at any time during their long-distance marriage. But she could count on the fingers of one hand the times he had really looked at her, the words they had exchanged - always in the company of others. There was so much she wanted to know, but could never ask...would never tell him.

It was not for her to tell him of the catty whispers from the Juliannes women, whispers that died as she crossed the halls of the palace royal about her business. Silky voices that wondered how the Holy Knight was lacking, that her husband seldom, if ever, visited Juliannes.

Neither was it for her to say how much she had missed him, missed his lazy voice teasing her to exasperated fury, missed the warmth of his arms about her as they shared a bottle of wine on cold and rainy days such as this.

"You'd better come in, Scarface," she said abruptly, her eyes dropping to the little puddle forming around her husband, pretending not to notice the sudden gleam in the cinnamon eyes. "Best to remove your cloak as well. You're dripping all over the floor."

"Thank you."

Faulstis held out her arms for the cloak as Scarface swung it off his shoulders in a practised motion, cradling the sopping bundle as though it was a newborn babe and moving towards her bedchamber.

"I'll have to set this thing in my bathtub," she called over her shoulder, bangs screening the expression in her face. "Make yourself at h-...comfortable."

As she disappeared into the room, Scarface allowed himself a small chuckle. She hadn't changed, he thought with amusement, his proud and lovely wife. In her role as Holy Knight, bearer of Ordo Codex and defender of the laws of Ashlianna, Faulstis was her father's daughter - a stickler for the rules, in any and all situations.

However, Scarface also knew from first-hand experience that Faulstis was the devil to deal with when under the influence of too much liquor. Early in their marriage he had teased her into matching him drink for drink with the fiery spirits brewed at Fort Ly'valle's whiskey still - and somewhere along the way she had chased him at sword's point, determined to cross the scar Crimson gave him with one of her own making.

It had been a close thing, but in the end, Scarface wrested the sword out of Faulstis' hand and ended her angry tirade at his perfidy with a kiss. She answered with a fervor to gratify any husband, and then there was no further talk of drinking, swordplay or anything else. The memory of that magical afternoon-to-night stayed with him through many a battle,returning to tempt him with each visit to Juliannes.

But he was Scarface Vy Low. A life of fighting and challenge was a siren's call, a fever in his blood. He had to be out in the field, testing his strength, pushing himself, hearing the song of the Shadow Skill as he pit his mettle against new opponents. To many men, he had the best of everything - fighting skill, the respect of the King and his fellow sevalles, a wife like a goddess to waiting to warm his bed.

Scarface sighed softly, having completed a slow turn about Faulstis' receiving room during his meditations. Now he was standing at the door of her bedchamber, hooded lids disguising the banked fires in his cinnamon eyes. Crimson and Dias both had berated him for what they saw as his cavalier treatment of Faulstis, but they were not to know why he kept away from the one woman who would always hold his heart.

Well, that's done..." Faulstis emerged from the bathing chamber, then paused at the rather intimidating sight of her husband just outside the bedroom door. A slow warmth began somewhere in the region of her belly and sent its tendrils up into her face. "Are you hungry?"

"Are we talking about food?" Laughter threaded itself around the lazy drawling voice, his eyes gleaming as Faulstis lifted up her pink face bravely up to his.

"You seem to have come from a long way, my lord sevalle. I presume you must be hungry...for food." Faulstis' lovely sapphire eyes flashed at Scarface's chuckle, and she pushed him aside firmly as she moved from her bedchamber back to her receiving room.

"Time hasn't changed you, my dear Faulstis," he said, following her across the room to stand a mere handspan from her back as she tugged on the bellpull that would summon one of the servants. "You're still as lovely as ever. Even more so when you're being teased."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, my lord," she retorted, losing her breath in an undignified squeak as a muscular arm snaked about her slender waist, pulling her hard against Scarface's chest - just as a knock sounded on the door. Faulstis felt heat surge into her face as Scarface smoothly granted permission to enter, and by the wide-eyed expression on the servant girl's face, knew that all of Juliannes would be informed of her husband's presence in her chambers before the next hour.

"The Lady Faulstis and I would be grateful for a small meal from the kitchens," Scarface was saying silkily above the Holy Knight's head, transfixing the young maidservant with the charming gaze backed with steel. "Whatever the cooks have to spare will be fine. Perhaps a jug of beer, if there's any about. Or perhaps you would care for some wine, my dear?"

This last was breathed into Faulstis' ear, warm and seductive, sending fresh fire into her cheeks. She twisted her head upwards to send a cobalt glare into laughing cinnamon eyes, and through clenched teeth answered, "Let it be as my lord sevalle wishes..."

A soft chuckle, then Scarface shot his keen glance at the staring maidservant, and indicated the door with a curt nod. "If you please, young lady?"

"Y-yes! At once, Lord Scarface!" gasped that worthy, making as quick and graceful an exit as could possibly be managed in her flustered condition. She banged the door in her haste to be gone, and despite herself, Faulstis managed a weak laugh.

"Hidoii..." she reproved Scarface, shifting tentatively in his grip to see if he would release her. The way his arm tightened, however, put that thought to rest quickly enough. "You frightened the poor girl out of her wits."

Scarface shrugged, laying his other hand over the slender ones resting on his arm about her waist. He rested his chin lightly on Faulstis' shining head, letting himself enjoy her warmth against him. "You realize that you haven't yet asked what brings me to Juliannes, wife."

Within the circle of his arms, Faulstis went very, very still. For an endless moment, there was nothing but the sound of their breathing. At last, Scarface felt a small sigh escape the lithe figure in his arms.

"I assume that you'll tell me, if you want to," she said, in a small voice that reminded him of how young his wife really was, beneath the responsibility of her position. "That's the way it's always been, hasn't it?"

Whatever Scarface would have said was cut short by a knock on the door announcing the arrival of the meal he had ordered. With a reluctant sigh, the 57th sevalle released his wife and retreated to the wide couch before the fireplace. Faulstis directed the swift placement of the meal on the low table before the couch, and soon had the servants out of the room and the doors locked before joining her husband.

They ate in a companionable silence, each taking the other's measure while talking of commonplace things - palace gossip in both Juliannes and Kuruda, news of mutual friends. Warmed by the excellent beer that had come up from the cellars, Faulstis began to relax in the company of her husband, and actually giggled as Scarface recounted with his lazy drawl the general air of domestic felicity that now reigned over Kuruda since the recent marriage of Crimson to the Lady Holder of Fort Ly'valle.

"Shavra is now so big with their child her belly clears the way before her," he chuckled, dark eyes glinting in open amusement. "To see her merely moving from their chambers to her study each morning sends Kai into fits of anxiety to rival Gau Ban's own."

Faulstis tucked her feet beneath her on the couch, hands curled around the beer mug. Her blue eyes twinkled at the picture Scarface's words painted, and he continued, "One cannot turn about in the city these days without an example of married bliss. Before I left Kuruda, I actually ran into Waaks Porelo at that inn where Elle and Gau used to train..."

"The Green Octopus?" Faulstis grinned back at Scarface's nod, taking a careful sip from her beer mug before setting it down on the table. Leaning back into the cushions of the couch, she watched her husband with mischief in her blue eyes. "Never tell me he went there for the food, Vy."

Scarface's eyes gleamed swiftly, to be followed by a shake of his head.

"He claims Kai asked him to consult with Feorina about the orchard and the gardens. But the way he watched a certain sleepy-eyed Sui Reme come down the stairs of the inn that morning -- I am quite sure the plants are an excuse."

"I think so, too," agreed Faulstis. "He adores Folli...when she's home, his face lights up all of Juliannes."

Scarface shot a keen look at his wife, who had turned her face to study the crackling fire. Her musical voice held the wistful note he had heard when she greeted him earlier, and equally softly he said, "You sound as though you might actually have missed me, Faulstis."

Faulstis sighed and turned her lovely eyes towards Scarface. She weighed her words carefully. Miss him? An inadequate word for the empty ache he left behind after every visit to Juliannes, with only a casual wave of his hand in farewell, or a formal leave-taking of the Princess with the entire Court present. Missing him hardly began to describe the lonely nights spent wondering about his welfare, praying that he was well and safe and happy.

She watched his eyes read her face, and wondered what he would do if she gave voice to the thoughts in her head. Would he laugh at her, tease her in his warm and lazy voice? Faulstis caught her lower lip between her teeth as she dropped her eyes before the weight of Scarface's look.

"Sometimes, I do find myself missing you," she said at last. "Not always...but often enough. Certainly more than you miss me, which is probably not at all."

"Come here," replied Scarface softly, catching Faulstis' hands to draw her into the circle of his arms, nestling her beneath his chin, her back against his chest. A small sound escaped her as she felt the soft kiss he pressed against her temple.

"Rest assured that I do indeed miss you, my lady wife," he spoke against the satiny skin of her cheek, just below the earlobe. Through half-lidded eyes he saw Faulstis' lashes sweep downwards and grow damp with sudden tears. "It would take all night to tell you...show you just how much."

"Then...let it be as my lord sevalle wishes," she whispered. Strong but gentle fingers tilted her chin upwards.

"Look at me, Faulstis. Please." Scarface held his breath for a long moment, until his wife's sapphire eyes stared back into his. Drowned jewels, he thought, seeing in their depths a love as faithful as her allegiance to the Princess. Aloud, he said gently, "Tonight, it shall be as my beloved lady esires...even if it means having to sleep on the floor at the foot of her bed. Even if she sends me away."

Faulstis shifted within the circle of the strong arms holding her to get a better look at her husband's face. In the fire of his darkening cinnamon eyes, she saw desire - and something else. Leaning against the crook of his arm, a soft smile tilted up the corners of her mouth as she reached up to brush feather-light fingers over the scar that gave him his fighting name.

"I would be a poor wife indeed, Vy, to send you out in this weather," she murmured, her breath catching as her hand was caught and a warm kiss pressed into the open palm. "Nor would it be seemly to have Kuruda's 57th sevalle sleep on the floor of his own home, like a henpecked husband."

"So is it duty alone, then, lady wife, that keeps you so soft and warm in my arms tonight?" Scarface swept his hand upwards along Faulstis' outer thigh, resting it on a slender hip, making her hide her face in his chest with a small incoherent sound. "Do you offer me the delights of our marriage bed only out of obligation, Holy Knight of Ashlianna?"

Faulstis' head shot up to reveal eyes that were glowing cobalt coals set in a deeply blushing face. Her voice was low and husky with passion as she answered him, "Where my heart is concerned, Vy, speak not of duty and obligation. Whatever I have to offer is yours for the asking - simply because I love you."

Seeing the honesty in his wife's eyes shook Scarface to the core, and he marveled at the courage which allowed her to give voice to her feelings, consequences be damned. It was what had drawn him from the first time he laid eyes upon her shining beauty at the Assembly of the Four Fighters, as he pledged his honor to defend Ashlianna. No milk-and-water miss, his wife, but a woman unafraid to challenge the 57th sevalle in a friendly sparring session; who spoke her mind prepared to take the consequences of whatever the truth of her words would bring.

"Ah, Faulstis..." he said softly, "How is it possible that you still love me, after all that I've done?"

Faulstis sighed in his arms, as if a great weight had lifted from her soul, and said softly, "I could no more stop loving you than you could give up your wandering ways, Vy. You closed your heart to me, four years ago...and still I love you."

"Four years ago..." The words echoed like a thunderclap in Scarface's mind, bringing with it a crystal-clear vision of a scene that haunted him still - a body with shining blond hair and handsome boyish features, lying in the wreckage of the throne room of Kuruda's palace royal. A body crushed by a single blow from his hand...the body of his best friend, Kain Phalanx.

They had met in Kuruda, and together with Crimson and Dias, the four were hand-fasted in a friendship that withstood the test of time and different temperaments. Until Kain's ambition to be the strongest of all sevalles took him on a descent into insanity - yet in spirit Scarface continued to stand by his friend, unable to stop the madness from taking over, knowing that one day there would be a fight only one of them could win.

Faulstis watched Scarface's eyes grow distant with the memories, and held her peace, remembering the utter desolation in her husband's face when he returned with her to Juliannes after Kain's funeral. Being a wise young wife, she asked no questions, knowing that they would only drive her husband farther behind the walls he had put up around himself. But it broke her heart to see his grief locked away from her, unwilling to accept her comfort.

That night, he took her with a ferocity that frightened her, and she was hard put to satisfy his demands as pain lanced through pleasure. She cried herself silently to sleep when the storm was over at last, and he had rolled over to his side of the bed, leaving her exhausted and feeling abandoned as never before in their marriage, in spite of his frequent absences.

The next morning, she woke up to a bed and home empty of his presence. Such was her utter sense of loss that she had refused to eat or drink for two days, until Crimson and Waaks Porelo had come to coax her out of her shell with soft words and reminders of her duty to Ashlianna and the Princess.

"I never wanted to hurt you, Faulstis."

Faulstis stirred in her husband's arms, her heart contracting at the regret in his voice. Her voice was a loving whisper beneath his chin as she replied, "I know that."

"You are my heart's delight, and I swore to be your shield. A fine job I made of it, don't you think?" Scarface's voice was bitter, making tears sparkle in Faulstis' eyes once again. "I've brought you nothing but trouble..."

"That's not true!" cried Faulstis, bolting upright to meet her husband's gaze head-on. "How could you say that, when you know how happy we used to be? I never minded your chasing after every battle that came along, Vy - it would be like locking a falcon up in a cage to demand that you dance constant attendance on me here in Juliannes. But to stand by and watch you bear your grief alone..." A sob escaped Faulstis then, and the sight of her struggle to keep herself from seeking comfort in his arms, unsure of her place in his heart, made Scarface sweep her into his embrace once again.

"How could I ask you to share my pain, Faulstis?" he said in a ragged voice, as she cried out the pain of all the lonely years on his shoulder. "The pain of a man who could kill his best friend in cold blood. A man who could stand by while another friend fought and died defending his adopted brother...how could I place such a burden upon your shoulders?"

Faulstis breath caught in her throat as Scarface confirmed his involvement in the death of the Black Wing, and the sorrow it had brought upon those who loved him: Crimson, his dearest friend and sometime lover; Elle, his adoring younger sister; Gau, who carried the scars of guilt in his soul for Dias' death; and not the least of them all, Shavra, the Lady Holder of Fort Lyvalle, whose heartcry was heard across Ashlianna when Dias entered the realm of death.

But looking into her husband's cinnamon eyes, Faulstis knew, none better, that his soul was marked as surely as any of the others' had been. Even if the Black Wing could never take Kain's place in Scarface's heart, still they had fought and enjoyed life together until Dias chose retirement in lonely Prorathan. The burden of watching destiny take its cruel course had cut deeply into Scarface's soul - understanding what had to be, after all, did not make the pain any easier to bear.

"Vy..."

"You, beloved, who are the light of my heart...how could I let the darkness in my soul cast shadows on your life? Faulstis, can't you see? I am a harbinger of death and sorrow to those I care about..."

"Is it for that reason then, that you kept your heart locked away? To shield me from the shadows?" Faulstis shook her head in sudden understanding, a slow smile lifting the corners of her mouth and spreading a glow across her face. "Was it your desire to protect me from yourself that has kept you alone in Kuruda? Oh, Vy - I have love enough and to spare for the casting out of sorrow and death."

"You're a braver woman than I am a sevalle, dearest heart," said Scarface soberly, as Faulstis looped her arms about his neck. "You're all I have left, beloved. If I were to lose you to the darkness as well...it would be better to be just a mindless beast roaming the forest."

"Idiot," she answered softly, her voice loving and tender, eyes cobalt blue flames burning with ageless wisdom. "Both of us know there is still one other who will be left for you...but have I not heard it from your lips often enough that a sevalle can only win a battle if willing to risk everything? Very well. I am a sevalle's wife; shall I not, then, follow in my lord husband's footsteps and risk all to gain all?"

"You would do such a thing for a scheming, manipulative, mischief-making bastard like myself?" Scarface had to smile at the small snort of impatience that escaped Faulstis as she recognized the various epithets which she herself applied to her husband on various occasions.

"I would do such a thing for the man who won my heart all those years ago," she corrected him firmly, a delicate brow winging its way upwards. "I would risk all my being to bring the most important person in my life back to me."

With that, Faulstis pressed her lips full against Scarface's mouth, taking him by surprise - but not for long. When at last they pulled apart, she discovered joyfully that beneath the desire in his cinnamon eyes burned the resolute expression of a man who would dare open his heart to love once again.

"Sealed with a kiss," he murmured teasingly, cupping a soft cheek in his palm. "You do realize, my dear Faulstis, that you've made a pact with a devil."

Faulstis' eyes glinted in answer, and she stretched lazily against her husband in a way that assured him he would not be spending the night sleeping on the hearth rug before her bedroom fireplace. "A long time ago, Vy, you called me a goddess. That's more than a match for the likes of you."

"Is that so, Holy Knight of Ashlianna?" In a sudden movement, Scarface rose from the couch, swinging his wife easily into his arms. "Then perhaps we should put it to the test. I seem to remember you offering the delights of our marriage bed, if only I would ask."

"Are you asking me now, High Sevalle of Kuruda?" chuckled Faulstis, as Scarface brought her into the bedroom and stopped at the foot of her bed.

"I'm asking you now, Fa-chan," came the low, earnest voice, using the familiar diminutive of her name. "Let me stay with you tonight."

"Yes, Vy...please, stay with me," she breathed softly, "Stay tonight...until the morning...until you have to leave me once again...please, my beloved, stay..."

The yearning in Faulstis' voice was like a leg sweep to Scarface's knees - he buckled, dropping her onto the soft mattress and falling upon her like a thirsty man who had discovered a desert spring. Hot kisses were exchanged; seeking hands made short work of restrictive clothing, stroked and teased banked fires into fierce conflagration. Faulstis cried out as Scarface finally joined himself to her, a sound of pure joy that filled the room and made him stare down at her in awe for an endless moment, his own senses reeling.

He felt her slender hips rock against him, a small whimper escaping her throat; a sound that transformed into soft moans of encouragement as he surged into her velvet warmth over and over again. His voice breathed fierce, explicit intentions into her ears, making her writhe impatiently as he then slowed the pace to a sweet torture for them both.

"Vy...please...I can't...!" Faulstis gasped, feeling herself riding a tidal wave of sensations so strong it threated to drown her completely.

A tender chuckle sounded in her ear.

"Then don't, beloved...it's been so long...I want...to see you...fall apart in my arms..."

Faulstis cried out her husband's name as she reached the crest of the wave, and felt herself explode into a million pinpoints of dazzling brightness. The wave crashed all about her, washing through her and over her, flooding her soul with light as fierce as the noon sun. Dimly she heard Scarface call out her name as he found his own release mere moments later - felt the warmth of him filling her secret places - felt the strength of his arms crushing her to him as if to absorb her completely into his body.

Time hung suspended until at last, Scarface lifted his head to look down into Faulstis' face. Her blue eyes gazed back at him, their expression open and unguarded, filled with sleepy satisfaction and a supreme content as she read surprise and wonder in his cinnamon gaze.

As he made to leave her, she uttered a tiny sound of protest, clinging to him. "No...don't..."

"Hush, Fa-chan, it's all right," he soothed, kissing her softly on the mouth to still further protests. Against her lips he added, "It would be more comfortable under the covers, though. I'm not about to take responsibility for smothering the Holy Knight beneath my weight."

"Oh, you..." Faulstis laughed softly at herself, then kissed Scarface full on the mouth, and allowed him at last to settle them both beneath the soft blankets. With gentle fingers she reached up to smooth his sweat-dampened locks from his face, and smiled. "Welcome home, Vy."

"It's good to be home," he said at last, knowing Faulstis' words to be true. He had indeed come home - not to a place, but to the warmth and acceptance of a love that would never forsake him. Souma only could fathom what he had done in this life to deserve such a gift, but it must have been something terribly right.

"It's stopped raining," she observed idly, shifting her gaze to the window beside her bed. The unrelenting wall of water had slowed down to the gentlest of showers, and the silvery light of a full moon had begun to glimmer through the remaining clouds. "It will be a good day for travelers, tomorrow."

A long pause, as Scarface absorbed what his wife had just said.

"Fa-chan...my heart's delight..." he said at last, placing his forehead against hers, "I'll come back, I promise...just give me time."

"All the time you need," came the gentle answer.

"Vy..."

"Hm?"

"I can't say I'll always agree with you - not that I ever did before. I won't say that I'm entirely happy with our long-distance marriage - because I'm not. But this I promise, Vy - to always love you. My love can be your shield against the darkness, but only if you don't close your heart to me...just give me time."

Scarface's arms closed about Faulstis, gathering her close to his heart.

"All the time you need, my beloved."

//owari//