Prompt: Falling Leaves

Title: Deep in the night

Rating: K+ I guess?

Universe: Avatar verse (AU)

Characters: Mamoru and Kunzite

Author's Notes: Double chapter because YIAY

This chapter it's again kind of introductory and to put all the players in the story, being that they are all in different places right now. If I can get this story to the place I want things will probably become a little deeper and longer; we will see. Thanks again to my amazing beta, you're the best!

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"Because it is night, because I am alone in someone else's night, because this silence is too great for me and because I have no choice."

-Clarice Lispector, The Foreign Legion

..

Autumn had finally arrived.

He could feel the winds getting colder and the days getting shorter. The people here wouldn't notice the small changes, but he did- his powers were already complaining.

Still, he probably liked this season the most: the trees became a beautiful combination of red, brown and gold; the leaves rustling and fluttering in the wind or crunching underfoot were beautiful sounds to accompany the colors. Mainly, though, he loved it because the people in this town were calm, and when the nights grew colder they preferred to stay inside and go to bed early. They could take advantage of the peace they still had, and this gave him alone-time, time to silently walk the streets without people looking frightened of him.

It didn't matter that Kaelan had been living here since he was seventeen, or that he was polite with everyone he met- people still viewed him with suspicion. It wasn't exclusively for his appearance - his tall and impressive figure sometimes even scared his friends sometimes - but for his origin. He couldn't really blame them. The Fire Nation was destroying everything they loved; how could they know whether or not he was a spy, or a danger to them? He would not blame them for that.

Looking at the crescent moon high in the sky, he thought of his parents and the sacrifice they'd made for him and for everyone else, and he hoped that he was doing them justice.

A soft crunch on the leaves let him know that he wasn't alone anymore. The steps were light and the feet bare, apparently trying to avoid being discovered, but Kaelan was too well trained to get surprised, and still, this presence was always welcome.

"You know, if you want to lose yourself in thought, you could do it on a warmer night," an amused voice told him.

"I thought you were supposed to like the cold," Kaelan said with a touch of irony, but he regretted the words as soon as he saw the sad smile on his friend's face.

"You know I haven't been home in years," his friend told him. "I've kind of gotten used to this weather."

"I'm sorry Eoin, I shouldn't have…" The tall man started saying with a serious look on his face, but his companion didn't let him finish.

"It's all right, I know the reasons for me being here and I don't regret my decision. But tell me, what were you thinking about?" the dark haired boy asked, trying to change the subject.

Kaelan took some time to answer, silence creeping over them. While he waited, Eoin thought idly that, indeed, it was a colder night than they were used to at this time of year. He could only hear the wind and two or three animals; the plants were complaining too, mainly because a lot of them died when winter came. A serious voice interrupted his musings.

"Did destiny brought as here or was our choices? Does decision really matter if the future is already set in stone? And how do we stop hell from descending on us all?" His tone sounded as if he were talking about something as simple as the weather, but Eoin could sense the true pain behind Kaelan's words - he knew Kaelan rarely lied to him.

This wasn't the first time they'd spoken about prophecies, destiny and faith. It probably wouldn't be the last, either.

Eoin took a look at his tall companion: that long silver hair, bound in a ponytail, flew about with the wind; his body and face were incredibly calm, but his eyes were deep with worry. The younger boy was the only one to whom Kaelan showed at least part of his real emotions, and Eoin was thankful for that. They had been together through a lot in all these years, and the blue eyed man couldn't imagine a life without his friend- without his brother.

"I think we have the power to control our destiny. We have to. The prophecy is only a possible future, nothing more." Eoin took a deep breath and continued, "What the oracle told your father, and what Hokulani told us, is just a fragment of the entire picture. We still have time to get ready, Kaelan. Both said that she'd arrive some days after the coldest day of the tenth year. We can still prepare and fight for our own destiny."

"Perhaps," his silver haired friend whispered.

"Now, come on, Madlenka said dinner was ready a little while ago, and you know how insufferable Jasper gets when he is hungry," he said cheerfully, trying to lighten the heavy air.

A ghost of a smile appeared in the stoic man's face. "Jasper doesn't get insufferable, he is insufferable."

The ebony haired boy laughed. "I know, his reactions when he's exasperated are delightful."

"If you don't shut up about plants in front of him, even I won't be able to stop him when he freezes your ass."

"It's good, then, that Madlenka likes plants enough to defend me if the situation demands it."

"You know, she is quite a charming girl- and a really good cook."

Eoin just rolled his eyes, he knew so well what was coming next.

"Kaelan, I will know when a girl is the one. Believe me. But before you continue scheming to set me up with every decent girl we encounter, you should find one for yourself first. Just saying."

The other man grinned, repeating the same thing he always said. "I have more important things to worry about."

"Whatever. Come on, I'm hungry and Madlenka is going to kill us if we don't get there soon," said Eoin in exasperation. With that, he turned and left the tall man with his own thoughts.

Watching the golden leaves fly away, Kaelan could only think about all the blood and promises behind them, and how he wished that what he friend said was right.

"Perhaps, Eoin, perhaps."

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Authors notes: Okey, so Kaelan means "Fair" and he is 24 years old (and he is supposed to be Kunzite!); Eoin is Endymion/Mamoru and he is 20 years old.

I can officially say that finding a good name for him was a struggle, he was originally called "Mamon" which I hated, so my beta said why not use the E from Endymion, it was an amazing idea!. And I do believe that Kunzite looses himself when Mamoru is concerned

As you can see we have another characters developing in the background but all I'm gonna say is that Hokulani is Hotaru, but she doesn't really play an important role in the story (at least for now)

I could finally understand when people say that sometimes a character writes itself. When I was developing the story Kunzite was supposed to be from the earth kingdom and even being able to bend metal (I actually wanted for him in some later chapters to make a gold chain to "someone" as a token for "his respect"), but then I started writing and he decided to go and have all this remorse for his origins and ended up being from the fire nation.

Feedback is highly appreciated!

Flor