Teito awoke with a shock. Rubbing his eyes sleepily, he let out a yawn. His legs were a little sore from running. His hand traveled leisurely over to the side of his bed as he reached for his clothes to start the day. He stopped abruptly and looked around suddenly. It was still black. The sun had still not crept over the horizon and the moon was still shining her fullest, a full moon. He looked around his dark room, wondering what it was that would wake him at that late hour. His quick search with his eyes was a failure. In finding nothing he laid back in his bed and pulled the covers around him. Closing his eyes he tried to close out his thoughts and get back to sleep. Just as he was slowly drifting away into the world of his dreams, he felt a cold spot on his side. His covers rustled a little. Looking over to see what had caused the noise, he noticed that the furry animal that was now Mikage had moved off the bed and now was fluttering noiselessly in the air.
"Mikage?"
He asked sleepily as his friend landed lightly in front of him as he sat up. He yawned as Mikage nudged his foot.
"It's late."
Ignoring Teito's protests to go back to sleep, his furry friend gave his foot another light shove and then lifted of into the air once more. He circled Teito's head and then flew towards the window. Teito watched Mikage curiously as his friend flew to the window and then turned so he was facing him. He made two small circles in the air and turned back around. The next thing Teito knew he had left the open window.
"M…Mikage!"
Teito shouted in surprise and shot up out of bed. He covered his mouth quickly and glanced with a guilty expression at Hakuren. He signed with relief. He was still in a deep sleep. He smiled slightly looking at his sleeping friend. People always looked so peaceful when they were sleeping. Turning away from Hakuren he quietly ran to the window and gazed down the courtyard below. He sighed with relief when he saw Mikage fly up to the window again. He reached for him to bring his safely back inside, but he flew from Teito's grasp.
"Mikage, it's the middle of the night!"
Mikage started to fly in circles over Teito's head as if taunting him. He growled in frustration as he tried to pull his friend inside so he could sleep peacefully without worry. Mikage once again eluded his friend's grasp and this time nipped his finger.
"Ouch! Mikage! Get in here right now!"
Teito's voice showed just how annoyed he was now that it was clearly obvious that Mikage was teasing him. The furry creature simply circled his friend's head one last time before flying into the courtyard below.
"Mikage!"
Teito called after him. He almost forgot that the window was so high up and had to stop himself from jumping after Mikage. He groaned, hopefully finding Mikage would be easier than catching him. In a hurry, he rushed out of his room without shoes and in his pajamas. He knew nothing would probably happen to his friend but his uneasiness and sorrow from Mikage's death made him reluctant to keep Mikage from him to long, no exception to night. He wanted to protect his friend so bad the night of his death and that still had not changed. He had let him down but if he could protect his friend now, then made by doing that, and killing Ayanami he would be able to make up for it, to his friend and to himself.
He opened the doors to the Church's gardens and stepped outside. No sooner than he stepped outside, than a pink fluff ball came flying at him and circled around his head multiple times. Realizing who it was, he made a grab for Mikage but was once again unsuccessful. Mikage then flew in front of him and as Teito tried to catch him so he could bring his friend to the safe confines of their room. Teito chased after him, fully awake now and fully unaware that his furry friend was leading him deep into the Church garden to area's that he was not familiar with. He reached for Mikage as he chased his friend through a wall of bushes and battled his way past unkempt gardens that were far from the Main building. Mikage suddenly landed abruptly at Teito's feet. Teito toppled over in his attempt to stop, so he would not crush his friend. He landed on the ground with a thud and frowned as he saw Mikage in the air again. He started to get up and then stopped mid-way. Mikage was now circling the air in front of him.
He stood up slowly and gazed around the garden that surrounded him. The brightly shining moon did little to light the numerous flowers in the garden, but light was not needed. He could easily make out what the flowers where. They were all roses. Not just any roses, black roses. He felt failure starting to creep into his thoughts once again. He had failed Mikage. Was that why Mikage had brought him here, to remind him that he was dead? To remind him that he had broken their promise?
Mikage flew over to his friend and gathered his shirt sleeve into his mouth. He gave it a slight tug and Teito realized that he was trying to get him to follow him. He followed his friend sorrowfully thinking about how his life would be now if Mikage would be how he was before he had died. He stopped moving when Mikage stopped pulling on his sleeve and watched his friend, lost in his thoughts that he was trying to put behind him.
Mikage flew ahead of Teito and he watched curiously. The furry critter fluttered to what looked like the center of the black roses and came to a singe bush. It was small but it stood out immensely among all the large black roses. It was a single white rose. The sunlight reflected off its delicate petals as it glowed like a single star in the night sky. Always shinning and always trying hard to give its light to others. In one fluid motion Teito's eyes widened as Mikage plucked the rose from its bush. The furry critter flew back to Teito and held the flower in his mouth by the stem. As he reached Teito, he hovered in front of his surprised face. When Teito did nothing, he flew down to his hand and gave it a nudge. Teito slowly held out his hand and Mikage happily dropped the white rose into it. After delivering his gift, he landed happily on Teito's shoulder and nuzzled his friend's neck lovingly.
Teito stood staring at the rose. It was perfectly white and the moon reflected off it's petals making it look almost like glass. The delicate petals looked full of life as if to draw the attention of anyone who might pass by. But the strangest thing was that it had no thorns. The stem was perfectly smooth. Teito's eye's watered as he held the flower to his chest. Mikage didn't want to remind him of his death. He wanted to remind him of his life. Not just his life, their life and how much he loved him.
"Let's make it a best friend's promise. If you ever get into a pinch on the battlefield I'll never abandon you" "O…Okay! I swear by his name that we will die together!"
"We will always be friends, right?" "Of course"
"Hm, that's what I'm here for. If there's anything you wanna tell me, don't hold back. Say what you want."
"Always face forward, walk down the path that has light."
"You're my best friend. I always pray for your happiness. I will always be by your side. Don't forget that."
"Thank you Mikage."
With the rose in his hand and Mikage snuggled up on his shoulder, he walked slowly back through the gardens. When he passed through the wall of bushes he turned around and noticed that the wall of bushes was replaced by an actual wall. He was surprised but still looked at Mikage smiling and turned around. He finally made it out of the gardens and back to the door of his room. He slipped in quietly so he would not wake Hakuren. He climbed back into bed and set the rose to the side on his bedside table. He pulled the covers over himself and smiled as he felt Mikage settle down over his stomach. He laughed at how light his furry friend was. May-be Mikage was the one who had woken him up in the first place. His eyes started to close slowly as he drifted into a deep dreamless sleep.
~Suzaku~
That was my first 07-Ghost fanfic. Please give me feed-back! How was it?
