In the Name of Love
Summary: There is a child in Mila's court, and it is definitely not an elf. It's got black hair, chubby cheeks, curious brown eyes and a habit of trying to hide behind Mila even when she's five centimeters tall.
…It squeals when it sees Phichit, and keeps touching his horns.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yuri on Ice
Note: This was written for the Yuri on Ice Fantasy week Day Five: Pink/Silver. I used the prompts from both colours, ''Love,'' from pink and ''Moon,'' from Silver. I also have entries for day 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7. (yes, today was a suprise to me too. I didn't think I'd manage)
This is part of the Land of Gods and Monsters 'verse (fic 6). It's not strictly necessary, but probably handy if you read Fathoms Deep (My Heart Resides) before this story. But if you're here for the cute only, by all means, proceed.
Phichit is a Phaya Naga, a dragon-like deity.
Sound in the world above is strange. Phichit could throw a rock into the valley right now, and the sound would echo against the mountains endlessly- contained to this valley only. Who knows how far down it would go?
…Not farther than the ground. The world above is strange like that. It has a bottom.
Does the sea have a bottom? Logically, Phichit knows it has, but he has never liked logic much, and he'd rather not think about it.
There are so many wonderful things to see here! The sun is so bright, one moves so fast! And air! Not even Phichit's wildest dreams had prepared him for breathing air!
It doesn't matter that sound is strange above, because Phichit is itching to find someone to talk to, and the world is a beautiful place!
There are, to Phichit's surprise, bodies of waters which do not belong to Seung-gil. They lie in the cradle of the earth as if embraced by Hiroko herself. Humanity- the short-lived, funny creatures they are- live along its shores. But even they have smothered their fires by now, and the only light left is the moon. Humanity, all of it, sleeps.
The night is the colour of ink, the trees dipped in silver, and it swallows all sound.
It is silent.
It wrenches at him. Even here, staring at the reflection of a round orb in space, he is reminded of Seung-gil. Was the moon painted with the Lightgiver's melancholy? Because it's all Phichit can feel as he stares at it.
It looks like Seung-gil, pale as it is. A face, staring back at him, not speaking a word. Never changing.
The water ripples and the image distorts.
Perhaps it was Phichit who gazed up at the surface for such a long time that he never saw the depths.
Water is ever-changing.
…He should not dwell on it too long- there is too much he wants to see. Tomorrow will be another bright day, and even Gods need their rest.
Once, when Phichit was sunning, he saw Love standing upon the mountain above him. His name was Jean-Jacques, and he was cradled in a nest of thorns. High, he stood, so incredibly high, his companions a black swan and a drove of sparrows, circling him and crying out as if declaring his glory unto the world.
His visage was beautiful, but then again, there was not a single thing Phichit had ever loved that had not become beautiful in his eyes.
At night, the swan swooped down from the mountain. ''Please, talk to my lord,'' she says, orange beak moving along black feathers, ''He must speak to you.''
And Phichit… Phichit almost did. But what does one say to the God who gave you the greatest gift and the most terrible curse simultaneously? What did you say to a man who's lips invented speech, who's very being sings of communication- so loudly it is hard to think, let alone speak?
What can one do, except feel, when faced with love?
Love invented communication, but it renders even the most well-spoken people speechless. Jean-Jacques is beautiful, but Phichit has left the one he loves behind. He is not sure he can handle the heartbreak that is the God of Love blinking- for with every minute closing of his lively eyes, another heart is broken.
He leaves a letter with Isabella, the swan, and that's that. (Did it burn, in the name of love?)
That Jean-Jacques is more than just love for people does not occur to him until later. It is far too late by then.
Phichit always is.
His love for the world had its price. He's run back to the sea by now, and he could turn every grain of sand and still not recognize the place where he left his lover. He left his heart on the shore- that must be it. God, how he is lonely.
…He'll talk to Boy Love the next time, he swears.
(He never does- the world is too shiny, and Jean-Jacques is too high above him. How does one speak to the one who inspired worship?)
The world is silent, and Phichit left his ever-silent lover for it.
He is… Lacklustre for a while. Dead inside is a strong word, and Phichit is nothing if not lively. And the world is too. Lively, mind you, not lacklustre.
It's beginning to change, to grow. Not the land mass- that stays the same. But the people. The group of barely twenty-four humans has grown to a hundred. There are spirits in the trees, winged creatures born from the world-song, and more and more gods awaken to the dawn of time.
From the grass emerges a child- an elf, she calls herself- no larger than Phichit's thumb. She walks a thousand miles on her tiny legs, just to witness the world.
''Won't you let me carry you?'' he asks.
She shakes her head, short red hair swinging from side to side. ''I need to do this. This is my journey.''
''…Where are you going?''
She laughs. ''To my future! Is that not where all roads lead?''
Tiny feet blistered, height, weather, time nor pain stopping her, Mila walks. She dances in the sun, using flowers as springboards and winds herself around his horns to sleep when she's tired. Not because she needs to, but because she can. A dewdrop is a flood to her, but the idea of floods stopping her is laughable.
She meets Hiroko, her eyes widening at seeing the earth she has walked on all her life. It takes time, but her eyes soften, the sky caught in an earthen creature. It takes time, but Mila bows to Hiroko, her forehead and knees touching the ground. Red hair mingling with green grass, and it is nothing but regal in its total devotion. It takes time, but it also takes heart, and Mila's bond with Hiroko is so strong she sprouts the wings.
Hiroko crowns her with flowers, and Mila wears it with pride, and it takes little time for Phichit to start calling her a Queen.
The world follows.
More fairies gather around Hiroko, but no one ever as powerful as the first.
Her love is the strongest, Phichit can feel it in his bones, even though love should not be measured. Is that what Boy Love thinks about, up his mountain, when he looks down at them in sorrow?
Mila takes to the sky, loving the earth more than anything, and it reduces Phichit to tears of joy. The world is beautiful. The world is beautiful, and so is love.
There is a child in Mila's court, and it is definitely not an elf. It's got black hair, chubby cheeks, curious brown eyes and a habit of trying to hide behind Mila even when she's tiny.
…It squeals when it sees Phichit, and keeps touching his horns.
''He,'' Mila says, taking advantage of his larger form by sunning on his nose. ''Hiroko's son.''
''I thought she had a daughter.''
Mila laughs. ''She does! She's true big folk now, though! Twenty-three meters, last I saw her! The trees will flourish under her rule!''
''Rooted in the earth. The poor thing. She'll never get to explore.''
Mila flops to her stomach. ''Not everyone wants to travel.''
Phichit shrugs. ''Can't imagine. There are too many sights still to see!''
How can one not love traveling? Then again, how can one's heart break? How does one love? The world is a confusing place.
''If everyone loved the same things, the world would be fine, wouldn't it?''
Yuuri looks up from Phichit's tail, his nose scrunching up, cherry juice smeared around his mouth. ''But I don't like green peppers.''
''And?''
''Mama makes me eat them. She likes 'em good.''
…Phichit is not going to correct that- the last time he did, Yuuri shut up for a week and only came out after Phichit lured him with food. You go a long way with food when it comes to toddlers.
''You don't hafta play with the same toys to be friends,'' Yuuri says, patting Phichit on the nose with sticky hands. ''Marie doesn't want to go on 'ventures, but she showed me the leaf dance cos she likes it and now I liked it too. I thinked it would be scary, but it wasn't!''
''I can hardly disagree with that!''
Yuuri squints at him.
Oh, by the sea, the boy is precious! Golden, he shines, when he loses all his shyness for a single moment and is. Like a treasure.
Like a Treasure!
And with that, Phichit bursts out in laughter. He can't help the past, but the present is here, and leaving Treasures behind is a mistake Phichit won't make again. Yuuri is precious, and by all the Gods and Fathoms below, Phichit shall protect him.
The little Spring God has nothing to fear.
(Nothing, his mind whispers, but love.)
The next morning, he trades glass made from lightning for crystal balls. He has still not talked to the man high up the mountain, unreachable to all in his nest of thorns, but has seen so many things done out of love that he cannot help but worship him.
Everyone might not like the same thing, but Yuuri gives excellent advice. If Phichit catches each and every sunset he ever sees, every sight he devours and hopes he'll never ever forget, then perhaps, Seung-gil would come to like it too.
And Phichit has to live now. No more letting the world pass by. The future rests in the present, and only then, one can live. And someday, Phichit will show the entire world to Seung-gil, caught in a crystal ball just for him.
And all of that, in the name of love.
Author's Note
Adel Mortescryche is an enabler. Just so you guys know. Love her!
Writing this piece was interesting, especially towards Phichit's struggles, Mila's past, and JJ. The JJ part is currently probably only interesting to me, because you guys don't know what the last day is about yet and I can't WAIT for you to read it *grins*.
I listened to a LOT of song covers by Emma Heesters while writing this one-shot. Most notably, her cover of In The Name of Love, which is absolutely gorgeous!
Yuuri disliking green peppers was inspired by the Disney movie Inside Out- the scene in which the main character is still small and refuses to eat her broccoli was changed for Japan! They replaced the broccoli with green peppers because they were ''more universally hated by Japanese children.''