Hello and welcome to a brand new story. This is based on the movie 'If Only'.
Just one point of notice. I refer to Conrart as both 'Conrart' and 'Conrad'. I do this because his name IS Conrart but Yuuri pronounces it Conrad. So, just getting that in before anyone points it out.
So, hopefully I will be able to get the chapters out weekly as most of the story is already written. However it all depends on how busy life gets. Also, this will be a fairly short story, only about five-six chapters long.
Disclaimer - character's are not mine.
Read and Enjoy!
One Last Day
Chapter One – Death
It was to the normal sounds of his fiancé's deep breathing that Yuuri woke that morning. It was just after dawn and he knew that if he didn't get up now Günter would be banging on the bedroom door in a few minutes, demanding he get up. That would, of cause, result in the waking of said fiancé and thus he'd have a temperamental fire user on his tail the whole day. Not the most pleasant thing in the world for sure.
Dragging himself from the warm confines of the limited bedcovers he had managed to keep throughout the night, Yuuri made his way over to the large wardrobe and began getting himself ready for yet another day of signing papers, boring lectures and general kingly life. Letting out a yawn he spared one last semi affectionate look towards his betrothed who was just beginning to move around and wake up, before he left the room, preventing Günter from knocking by mere seconds.
"Oh, your Highness! It's so good to see you up and about this early in the morning. Why this is a perfect example of-" Günter began, Yuuri now expertly tuning him out in favor of waving happily to the maids who giggled at him as they walked past.
"Good morning your Majesty." They chimed happily to him.
"Morning," he called back as he began heading towards the breakfast hall, his stomach guiding his feet.
"Then we must not forget you need to finish that speech for the celebrations tonight." Günter's rambling managed to get through to Yuuri who stopped in the hallway and looked at the purple haired man like he had grown an extra head.
"Another speech!" He asked exasperated.
"Your Highness, you are the 27th King of the Demon Kingdom; your subjects wish to hear of your own happiness at the castle's birthday." Günter explained patiently.
Letting out a sigh, Yuuri wrestled with the idea for a moment before smiling.
"It is great that the castle's been around for so long." He smiled, truly happy for this fact before continuing on his way, headless of the poetic lines his friend was now spouting.
Upon entering the breakfast room he found he was the last to arrive. Taking his seat at the table he gave Wolfram an accusing look.
"How did you beat me here, I was left before you had even surfaced from the sheets?" He hissed, pouting at the unfairness of it all.
All he received in reply was the blond prince putting his nose in the air and calling him a wimp.
Rolling his eyes, Yuuri turned dark eyes on the two other members seated at the table.
"Morning Gwendle, Conrad!" He called happily, a large smile on his face at the slight nod and small smile he received in return.
"Your Majesty!" A loud female voice suddenly called out and before Yuuri could turn he was engulfed in a hug by none other than the ex-demon queen herself.
"Um…" Was all he managed before there was a scraping of chair on tile filled the room.
"Mother!" Wolfram yelled out indigently.
"Oh Wolfy it's so good to see you as well!" She exclaimed, releasing her hold on Yuuri in favor for her youngest son.
Laughing awkwardly at the situation Yuuri was distracted by Greta's innocent voice calling out a greeting to him.
"Greta, good morning. Did you sleep well?" He asked with a grin and a hug to the young child.
"Yep, I sure did!" She giggled before climbing into a seat at the table.
There were the normal sounds of breakfast for a few minutes before Günter, unable to contain himself anymore, began pestering Yuuri about all the work he needed to get done before the celebrations that night.
"Ok, I'm coming." Yuuri sighed, standing up and placing his serviette on the table.
The others watched in amusement as the young king dragged his feat as he was almost forcefully removed from the dining room. An overexcited Günter didn't notice the king's reluctance to leave as he went on about the many splendid things that would happen later that night.
***
"Yes, thank you for being here." Yuuri said for what must have been the thousandth time this evening. The massive celebration in the castle had begun an hour ago, but Yuuri found himself being forced to greet every single person personally and thank them for coming. He would have been happier to find Greta and have a nice dance with her, sure that she would not laugh at his poor dancing skills, than standing here like this.
The only good thing about having to greet all these people was that Conrad had stayed with him and was putting up with the same mindless small talk that everyone seemed to feel was necessary with the king.
"Conrad, how many more people do I have to greet?" Yuuri whined in a moment of peace when there was no one close enough to hear them. The taller man offered a warm smile before glancing around quickly.
"I believe if you slip outside now you won't be missed until your speech." He said quietly.
"Really! Yes, that's a few minutes by myself; that's all I need." Yuuri said gratefully and without further ado he slipped out the double doors and into the slightly darker gardens.
As his speech was coming up most people had disappeared back inside the hall so as to not miss it. Taking a deep breath of the cool night air he sat down on one of the small benches scattered all throughout the grounds. Closing his eyes he enjoyed all of one minute's peace and quiet before he was found.
"Yuuri!" Wolfram's voice called out into the night.
"Wolfram," Yuuri groaned out the name and reluctantly opened his black eyes to meet the green ones before him as his fiancé stopped right in front of him.
"Couldn't I have just had a few minutes alone, that's' all I wanted." He whined pathetically to the boy who glared angrily.
"I haven't seen you all day and the first thing you say upon seeing me since breakfast is that you want me to go away!" He yelled, anger covering the hurt Yuuri could faintly see in Wolframs eyes.
"Wolfram that's not what I meant." He sighed as he saw the blond getting riled up as he always did whenever they talked.
"Well it sure sounded like it, you wimp!"
Groaning, Yuuri suddenly heard the tolling of the clock announcing midnight and that he was late for his speech.
"Ah, I'm late!" He exclaimed, jumping up from the seat and moving to get past Wolfram. However the prince suddenly grabbed his arm, eyes locking once more.
"Wolfram, I have to go make that speech," he said, trying to smile winningly so that the boy would let him go.
"I need to talk to you," Wolfram said in a clear and steady voice.
"Well it'll have to wait; I need to do this right now. After I'm finished you can talk to me all you want." Yuuri said, trying to pull away from him.
"No, I need to talk right now!" He snapped, calmness fading.
Yuuri paused in his efforts to escape for a moment, his mind trying to decide if he really should stay and listen to the blond. Seeing the slight desperation in the lovely green eyes before him, Yuuri knew he was caving.
Opening his mouth it was Ginter who suddenly answered for him.
"Your Majesty, you need to come right now and make your speech, everyone is waiting." He said rushing over to the two and grabbing Yuuri's other arm and pulling him out of Wolfram's grip.
"Ah – but wait," Yuuri half-heartedly tried to stop the man.
"Fine, go. You always do anyway." Wolfram's hurt and angry voice floated back to Yuuri who looked over his shoulder to send the boy an apologetic look but found a shocking sight instead.
"WOLFRAM, LOOK OUT!" Yuuri yelled. Pulling away from Günter without any other thought as his eyes tracked the glinting steal behind his fiancé. He watched in horror as it suddenly plunged into the blond thanks to the cloaked figure behind him.
It was almost in slow motion as Yuuri found himself unable to do anything more than watch as the once pristine blade was removed, a ruby sheen now covering the steel. The blond prince slowly sank to his knees as the figure behind him took off, only to be followed by three shouting guards.
It was other peoples exclamations of his fiancé's name that sparked life back into his body and without any other thought had ran to his fallen friend. Skidding to his knees beside the blond he reached out shaking hands only to pull back after contact, his fingers covered in a warm, sticky red liquid.
Yuuri's eyes swept up and found them latching onto fading green ones.
"Wolfram?" he whispered for lack of anything else that came to his mind. Grabbing Wolfram's hand, he held the slick fingers in an almost painfully tight grip as he frantically looked around for someone to help him.
"Help! Somebody get help!" He yelled, furious at everyone for just watching the horrific events occurring rather than doing anything. He looked back down at the fallen soldier and felt his heart stop at the still form below him.
"Wolfram?" He croaked out, eyes widening in slow realization.
"WOLFRAM!"
He cried out the fallen demons name again and again, but no matter what he did the blond prince didn't stir.
***
It was a few hours after the awful events that Yuuri found himself sitting silently on a random step in the castle. He wasn't sure how long he'd just been sitting there, but he'd not seen anyone go past so he assumed that it hadn't been all that long.
As he sat, staring at the brick walls surrounding him, he didn't even notice the tears streaming down his cheeks at a steady rhythm. He just couldn't seem to wrap his mind around it. How could anyone? The blond, third son of the ex-demon queen, had always been full of the life and fire that he controlled. It was ridiculous to even entertain the idea of him not being around. It was inconceivable!
He was supposed to be the one who, no matter how hurt he got or how many times he ended up in the medical wing; he was always supposed to come back to them – back to Yuuri. He was supposed to complain about not needing any treatment while he sulked on the bed. He was meant to flush with embarrassment by all the attention he'd receive. He should try and fail to hide a thrilled smile when Yuuri refused to leave his bedside, even after Wolfram had yelled at him and called him a wimp.
The dull sound of footsteps broke Yuuri's wallowing for a moment as Conrart Weller rounded the corner – eyes locking on Yuuri's own glassy ones immediately.
The brown haired soldier didn't speak as he came over and sat beside the young king on the steps. The two sat in silence before Yuuri found words spilling forth without his consent.
"I'll never get to tell him," he whispered, devastation clear in his voice.
"He's never going to know how much I – how much I l-loved him." Yuuri continued, gasping as tears fell with a vengeance. He gripped his hair with his hands as he bowed his head.
"We'll never get to go on another adventure again, or save another kingdom or just go to the stupid markets together! How's Greta going to grow-up properly if she has just one daddy? Who's going to call me a wimp and say goodnight to me from the other side of my bed?" He chocked for a moment on his tears as images of the blond flew through his mind with no regard for the growing ache in his chest.
"He'll never know… I was going to tell him soon. I was just too much of a wimp to say anything." He let out a humorless laugh at the bitter irony of it all.
"I just needed a little more time." He finally whispered brokenly.
A sudden hand on his shoulder caused him to let out another sob before he managed to look up at Conrart who was frowning deeply.
"Did you really love him?" He asked in a sad voice.
"More than anything in the world." He whispered as yet more tears fell. The older man started at him with a very serious look on his face before he hesitantly spoke again.
"Yuuri, if you had the chance to relive the day, would you?" He asked slowly as the tearful boy sniffed.
"In a second," he murmured softly.
"What if you could relive it but, you knew that someone must die at the end of it." He continued, finally catching more of Yuuri's attention. The black haired teen slowly raised his head and looked more closely at the man as a feeling of hope began growing in his chest.
"Conrad, wha-what are you saying?" His voice clearly trying to hide the hope slowly growing in his chest.
"There is a way you could have that day back again." He began slowly, yet he quickly held up a hand to stop the words about to come from the kings suddenly hopeful mouth.
"Just because you can re-do the day doesn't change the end result. Someone must die and tonight that someone was Wolfram. Do you really believe that you could live through the whole day again with the knowledge that Wolfram will once again die when the time comes?"
Yuuri only waited long enough to make sure Conrart had finished speaking before he opened his own mouth
"I would do anything for this day back. For the time that I could tell Wolfram my feelings. To show him everything I've been meaning to show him." He trailed off as another sob overtook him without his permission.
"I love him Conrad. If there's a way to tell him that, then I'll do it. I'd do anything for it." He said softly, tears once more staining his cheeks.
"Ok Yuuri." He said in a more normal, soft tone of voice. Resting a hand on the king's head he smiled sadly and whispered; "Sleep."
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