T h r i c e E t e r n a l
by ttt
**
FLAME DELUGE
**
Tell me, are you free
Tell me are you free
In word or thought or deed
Tell me, are you free
When the fear falls on you
- Firebreather, Thrice
**
Look at him.
He's choking on the ashes, suffocating from the death around him, stumbling blindly through the flames. The flames are rising and we are laughing.
BAM
CRACK
That perfect fool.
There is nothing left in the bare landscape, nothing except the cries of the fallen. We sit back, because we are Fate and we know. This war will mean nothing in the end, just like the winners will all die. Humans piercing other humans without thought or regret. This is mankind that deserves no light.
Curses from bloody lips, the black hair that blends with the darkness inherent in his soul. Will he fall or is his armor evidence of that perfection hidden so deeply inside of him?
We know.
He will burn.
Why won't he cry? Where is his humanity?Does he not see the anguish on his comrades or the victory that means nothing at all?
BAM CRACK BAM CRACK
Another soul falls from the hands of this figure in black, the perfect assassin with the perfect rifle. Dead emotions, smothered eyes, the very symbol of war. A machine. A cold, cold heart.
Oh, but he has such fire.
Fire means nothing.
He has forgotten the very freedom he has worked so hard to attain. And the freedom of another life, one so distant with the same burning lungs, the same desperation. He does not remember the tale of Daedalus, of Icarus, of love and life.
And we laugh, we laugh as we name him Sasuke.
**
He continues through the forest, coughing and occasionally forgetting his surroundings or the name of the battle. All he sees is fire, burning and spinning him around and around, until up becomes down, freedom becomes imprisonment.
The satisfaction on his smudged, ivory face is disgusting.
He finally stops in a clearing that is not a stream of blood, a cacophony of pain and crushed hopes. Here he wonders what will happen next as the only survivor of a terrible war with no end in sight. We know. We always know.
What will he do? What could he possibly do?
He wants to burn himself and burn the entire forest down. With nothing to live for, his life becomes hopeless, stupid. A tool. A dead man from the very beginning.
Slowly, like an ancient man, he looks up towards the sky with its clear blue clouds and the blinding sun. Suddenly, he wants to float on air, fly up, so high that he'll burn and fall.
But he can't. Because he will never fly again.
**
But wait.
One more. There's one more thing you must do before you leave forever, Sasuke.
BOOM!
F
I
R
E
CRACK!
You won't burn yet.
**
We wait because we are patient. Because we know what he does not. So for now, we will take pity and fold our hands, waiting.
Thank you.
He's starting to feel the cold underneath all the sweltering heat. Walking with long legs and a casual stride, he shrugs off the atmosphere and discards dreams, stupid dreams. He knows what will happen. He will go back home, where he will continue to play oblivious to the advances of sweethearts and lecherous old men. He will go back home, where he will kill and kill until he becomes king.
The king of nothing.
Swallowing the ashes, he walks on. Groans and cries assault his ears, but he ignores all. This whole business is dirty for him, a high rank commander and army leader. But he was born into this, just like he was born into many, many other things.
"Wait. Please wait."
For the first time in this life, Sasuke stops.
**
His stomach lurches. Steps faltering, he looks down on the beautiful, glowing figure in front of him, so heartrending, so near death.
And emotions flood him so quickly that all he breathes is fire.
Flames lick his heels, just as reason tries to stop him from walking closer to the boy lying on the ground, eyes fluttering weakly. Everything about the soldier is pure, even the blood that drenches his uniform (the uniform of the enemy) and the blue eyes that have seen the sky, the sun, things that Sasuke has never seen.
"Do.. Do I know you?"
Sasuke shakes his head, wanting to flee, but he can't. He wants so many things right now, but he can't because he needs to go out there and fight, fight until all he sees is that numbing, burning heat.
"I'm sorry then." A whisper and the blond raises his hand slowly, even though Sasuke is not there to catch the hand. "Do you hear the wind singing?"
Sasuke flinches, because he's never listened.
"No. I don't."
The dying boy smiles. "I do."
It doesn't make sense. Not the anguish that twists his heart so hard that he wants to wrench Time's hands, wrench until Time decides to let them meet again, in another lifetime, in another tragedy.
Go closer, Sasuke. For once, we will just watch and pray.
He draws closer to the boy on the ground, even letting his knees touch the dirt and the pool of blood. The boy is still smiling, even as the breath is ragged and the wound seeping.
With shaky hands, Sasuke reaches towards him. The blond hair, though matted to the boy's scalp and soaked in blood, is soft to the touch. Slowly, Sasuke traces downwards, so he's gently touching the boy's cheeks.
"You smell nice. Like feathers." The blond boy sleepily says, falling ever deeper.
Another crack of a rifle, but we stifle it.
"Will you do something for me, Sasuke?"
How does he know your name?
Sasuke swallows, not caring that his eyes are burning or that he's kneeling besides a stranger who he's never seen before. A stranger who knows his name, a stranger who needs to be told..
"I don't think I've ever been kissed before. I've been saving it for something important. And right now.." Naruto opens his eyes, intently gazing at Sasuke's dark orbs. "You are the only one who means anything to me."
**
And so I hid among the smaller things
You found me there and ferried me above
The flame deluge is waiting in the wings
The smallest thread holds back the second flood
**
So Sasuke carries out the dying soldier's last wish.
Tentatively licking his lips, he leans forward and gently places his lips over the blond's soft lips. Emotions churn and his heart beats fast. But what surprises him are the tears that he holds behind his closed eyes.
The boy's mouth tastes like heaven
And silver air
Freedom
He's been waiting his entire life, and the life of another time, for this. They mold together and the blond pulls him in even closer, so close that Sasuke can feel each heartbeat that they share. Their kiss is everything hastily thrown into once, twice, thrice, and they are together for one last time.
Sasuke draws back and suddenly, he remembers just as much as we do.
Tainted skies, the spiral, the ocean.
"Thank you."
And Naruto closes his eyes, just as Sasuke shakes his head, eyes wide from panic. The desperation is back, just like the wings that he destroyed in a fire, just like the knowledge that the words never slipped from his mouth.
"No.. No, no, no!"
I love you is so difficult to say, isn't it Sasuke?
And this is where we will leave Sasuke, clutching Naruto's dead body, wishing for another life, another chance, before a blinding light engulfs the war scene, leaving no one alive.
Thrice is the charm.
**