The wind that carries you home
Part one: A welcoming kiss
The wind was high, whispering its breath across the arid landscape. Dry, crumbling clay cliffs gradually gave way to sparse, brittle patches of grass. The earth was healing, slowly repairing the jagged scar left in the Wall's destruction.
You could hear the crying of the wild dogs, still carried upon the wind; but at least the scent of refuse and decay was not as prevalent. The city lay sprawled out before him, dim lights wavering in the distance. Only a few years gone, but the once decrepit pock mark of West Block showed significant improvement. Nezumi wondered briefly, how much of it was Shion's doing. The thought made him smile, just the smallest fraction.
Night was falling, the sun sinking lazily below the horizon.
Nezumi halted, his heavy boots scuffing softly across the few blades of grass that had struggled to the surface. He looked down, admiring the sight. After all these years, this barren land was finally beginning to fight back. It rebelled against the decimated wall, and all it once stood for. He tried not to laugh, but a few bitter snickers slipped out.
His chest felt constricted, as though some one had reached inside and took hold of his heart and squeezed until he could hardly bare it. He closed his eyes against the world, and breathed in deeply; exhaling the bitterness from his lungs with an agitated sigh. With a gentle rasp, his eyelashes rose; like a curtain ascending before a play.
Nezumi's cool, grey eyes fixed on the blood red horizon; the color reminiscent of two crimson orbs he cherished, and missed so dearly. There was only one reason, only one promise- one person who could make him come back to this place. It stiffened his resolve, and with a quiet scraping sound of rubber soles against crusty dirt, Nezumi continued his journey into the new, and unknown streets of the former West Block.
Nezumi should not have been quite so surprised at the sight that greeted him once he returned to his old home. He half expected it to be ransacked, left abandoned and demolished; completely stripped of the musty books, and warm memories it held. However, he was proven wrong; so utterly, joyously wrong.
The craggy concrete wall that shielded the stairs which lead down to the bunker, was dotted with dozens of potted plants. Verdant emerald greenery, and bright purple flowers exploded across the wall and the ground below. The plants were hale, and hearty; a great amount of time and love devoted to keeping them alive in this desolate wasteland.
It wasn't the abundant flora that caught his attention however. No, that honor belonged to the young man not more than a yard away.
The setting sun bathed Shion's snowy hair in hues of gold and amber. Even from a distance, Nezumi could tell that his friend had grown quite a bit taller in his absence. Pride swelled in him, seeing Shion had grown into a fine man. He even looked like he had gained a fair amount of muscle.
A metal watering can, shaped childishly like a goldfish and painted in bright orange, shiny paint was tipped forward in Shion's hands. The remnants of sunlight glinted and sparkled with the drops of water that fell from the watering can, to nourish the loamy soil of a particularly large fern. A soft, content smile perched upon Shion's lips.
Nezumi practically felt his skin warm at the sight, his pulse thudding at an uncomfortable velocity. He stopped suddenly, close enough now that he could hear the soft, off key voice of his friend, as he sang a familiar tune.
"The wind is sweeping souls away- people are snatching hearts away.
Oh Earth! Oh, rain and wind! Oh heaven! Oh, light!
Put an end to everything here, and live here."
Shion's gentle voice carried on the wind, his back turned now as he bent over a box of pale blue flowers. The song prickled at Nezumi. The last time it was sung, from his own lips, Shion's eyes had been muddy and lifeless. He still could recall the red flower of Shion's life's blood blossomed across his shirt. His healthy, warm skin turned cold and rigid.
A shiver ran through Nezumi, that had nothing to do with the night time chill that was starting to set in.
Shion continued to sing, his scratchy, underused vocals falling and rising with the wind.
"You need more practice, my ears are burning in horror at how you are butchering that song," Nezumi declared, his voice as mocking and fond as ever.
Shion jolted so suddenly, that the watering can tumbled to the ground; the liquid spilling, and seeping out into a wide array across the hard packed dirt. "Nezumi?!" He cried out, standing and turning around in the blink of an eye. It warmed Nezumi right down to his very bones, that Shion looked so utterly amazed to see him
"Looks like you've made yourself at home." Sauntering forward, Nezumi stopped a few feet away from his friend. A smirk struggled to stay hidden, when he noticed he was still taller than Shion by a few inches.
The plum wine shadow of dusk ripened Shion's crimson eyes; and they flashed like precious rubies under the rising moon. His gaze was soft, the lines around his eyes slightly crinkled with joy."Nezumi..." He breathed the name, moving toward the slim, dark figure of his friend.
All at once, Nezumi found himself caught up in a tight embrace; Shion's sun-warmed hair pressed just beneath his chin- the man's face nestled against his chest. He breathed deep the scent of wind and sun, of spicy earth and home; all the things that Shion was, and is.
The strong pair of arms wrapped about Nezumi's slender waist tightened; Shion pressing his body flush against his. With a soft huff, Nezumi placed his chin atop the snowy crown of hair below him; and he smiled. For the first time in a number of years, he felt at peace.
He felt the clutch of fingers at his shirt front, the display a silent, childish plea for "never make me let this go again". Nezumi wasn't sure he could keep that kind of promise, so he kept his thoughts to himself. For now, at least.
With an embarrassed chuckle, Shion eventually pulled away- still only a hairs breadth away from Nezumi. He looked up, a tender ache brimming from his expressive features.
Nezumi felt his heart leap up into his throat at the sight; and he tried in vain to swallow it back down. And he did not flinch, did not pull away when Shion tipped up, placing the softest kiss upon his lips.
As all their shared kisses had been, it was achingly chaste and short lived, before Shion parted from him once more. Nezumi recognized the flickering heat that sizzled through his veins; the rush of chemicals in his brain that would make it hard to think of little else than the man before him, and all the things left unsaid.
A familiar smirk settled on his lips, Nezumi whispered with a teasing edge in his voice, "What was that kiss for, this time?"
Shion broke their intense eye contact, his gaze falling down to his hands; which were cradling Nezumi's tenderly between their chests. The alabaster fringe of his hair hid his expression. His grip tightened around Nezumi's, and he lifted his head to meet his eyes again.
"To welcome you home, Nezumi." He looked uncertain, because he knew that they both knew, Nezumi could not promise to stay. He was certain however, that the man standing before him needed to know, that together they would always have a home to come back to.
Shion's firm resolve shone through his burning gaze and his stiffened chin. That this time, he wouldn't let Nezumi go so easily.
Nezumi laughed, his deep voice rushing away with the wind. He couldn't help it. After all this time, it was not he who helped shape Shion into the man he was today. It was that city. It was the revelation of truth, that changed him. And though Nezumi still had his fears, that Shion had lost an innocence not easily regained, he knew that the man he had grown to love was still standing before him.
Laughter cut off abruptly, Nezumi looked into Shion's eyes with a severity that would normally unsettle others. But not Shion, it never really had with him. "It's good to be home, Shion."
A bright smile blossomed across Shion's face, and he nodded his acknowledgement. That even though right now he did not have the answers to his questions- and maybe he never would- he had Nezumi. He had the home they had built together, he had the memories of quiet evenings reading by gas lamps. The welcoming smell of bubbling soup, and the snuffling squeaks of all the little rats that ran about.
Right now, they had one another once again. In laughter, in tears and anger. In love. It was all the two of them, broken and disillusioned as they were, could ever ask for. They both smiled, walking toward the steps that led down to their safe haven; shut away from the rest of the world
Nezumi clasped Shion's hand, just a little tighter. The thank you for still being here, left unspoken.
E/N: Keep in mind I have not read the novels, so canonically I don't know how the series truly ends. So think of this as an A/U, or how I want the series to end (because I'm an angst riddled sap). If you would like to see a second part, feel free to pm or leave a comment on what you would like to see happen. If you'd like a sex scene, or just fluff- maybe straight out hashing things over between them. I'll take everything you say into consideration. If you guys like it the way it is, I'll change it to complete.
Until later, thank you all for reading!
Love Loreyulia.