*A/N: Gah! This took longer than I thought to post! It's been done forever, I've just not been able to get it uploaded due to my crummy internet connection…
A quick sidenote: This chapter is particularly short. I was having a hard time trying to divide it- not wanting to make it too long, or cut the story in a weird place, although I personally LOVE reading 10+ page chapters! For those of you who also enjoy this, I will be posting chapter three by Friday- it's a doozy. Please don't flay me alive!
To everyone who reviewed/favorited/alerted, THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I got SO excited every time I opened my email and had an alert- it really made me want to keep writing! I'm so glad that everyone seems to be enjoying the story! A few replies:
Poke-chan- Haha! I thought it had potential too! And don't be too sure about predictability… I'm planning on keeping things all kinds of stirred up! Although the plotbunnies I want to add are eating me alive…
Rahar Moonfire- So glad you're enjoying it so far! I LOVE roses! They are my absolute favorite, as cliché as that may be. I thought for so long about the Devil's Trill… (PS- love your fics all to pieces!)
Yoshikochan- Me too! CLAMP is so angsty… although I'm one to talk…
Sinclair- Thank you so much for your kind words! I was terrified that the OOC-ness of the Tsubasa elements would throw people off…
CHAPTER TWO: I Will
Fai paced the length of the modest greatroom, pausing every so often to peer out the picture window into the surrounding forest. He couldn't help himself; as much as he tried to calm himself, and as much as Ashura-sensei tried to calm him, he was simply too edgy to sit still for long.
Yuui was late.
Not just a bit late. Four days late. The trip was only to have lasted a week! Fai was quite ready to saddle up Chii, his mare, and begin searching immediately. Ashura, however, was of a mind to give Yuui a bit longer to return, knowing well the difficulties of such travel. It wasn't unheard of for a traveler to be late. "Fai, son, please sit down," Ashura offered him a cup of steaming tea, "he'll be alright. I can sense it."
Putting forth a great effort of will, Fai tore himself away from the window to plop inelegantly into a well-worn chair. He curled his fingers around the teacup, trying to regain some composure from the comforting warmth, "I'm sorry, father. I just can't help worrying about him." Fai shook himself as he found his eyes drifting once again toward the window- searching for any hint of his brother emerging from the woods. Just as he'd done all day…
"It's only natural," Ashura graced Fai with a serene smile, "but I'm sure he's unharmed." He wasn't at all sure. Better just to smile through it…
It was then that Fai heard it. Hoofbeats, muffled by the ever present snow, tiredly making their way toward the house. A confirming glance out that window finally gave Fai the sight for which he'd been so very anxious- Yuui with the moonlight glinting off of his platinum hair. Fai flung himself from the chair to meet his brother, his body barely registering the frigid wind buffeting him from all sides as he left the protection of the house. "Yuui!"
As he approached, Fai took in the sight of his brother and was left once again with a horrible sense of foreboding. His horse trudged along tiredly, nose to the ground, and Yuui himself slumped with exhaustion. Fai had the impression that the horse had guided itself home…
Taking the reins from Yuui's limp grasp, Fai looked up, cerulean eyes alight with fresh concern as Yuui dismounted. Gripping his brother's shoulder to steady him, Fai could keep silent no longer. "Yuui… What happened to you!?"
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He wasn't able to speak that day of the events that had befallen him- all Yuui could manage was an exhausted, "In the morning…"
This alone was worrisome enough, however Fai contented himself with ensuring the comfort of his brother, bustling him into bed with brusque efficiency. At least Yuui had brought with him a large buck to fill the larder. Dawn could not break soon enough.
However, the coming of the new day did not bring with it the appearance of the most recently returned twin. Yuui slept long past the time when Dawn stretched her golden fingers over the horizon- she was well on her way to midday by the time Yuui finally plodded from the twins' shared bedroom. Fai and Ashura had forgone the day's chores in anticipation of Yuui's appearance, and subsequently Yuui found the two seated near the ever present fire, Fai with a large gardening tome and Ashura with some knick-knack which he twirled around his fingers. "Yuui, you're finally awake!" At Yuui's small smile of acknowledgement, Fai rushed to envelop him in the welcoming embrace he'd not been able to give the previous evening.
Fai's enthusiasm, however, was not instantly returned. Instead, Yuui's arms embraced him only tentatively at first, and then with the desperate force of a man clinging to his only salvation… or sanity. After a moment, Yuui broke away, holding Fai at arm's length, "Fai, I need to tell you…" He glanced at Ashura, only then noticing his presence, "…both of you…"
Fai led Yuui to the fireside chair so that he might rest and tell his tale at the same time. He perched himself on a conveniently located ottoman, listening intently.
"Ashura-sensei… Fai…" Yuui couldn't bear to look them in the eye. Ashura and Fai were the only family he had in the world, and his tale was bound to devastate them all. "Please listen to all I have to say before you respond."
Both Fai and Ashura were deeply concerned by the gravity of Yuui's tone, but they knew that to interrupt might cause the omission of detail from Yuui's accounts. They replied in tandem.
"I will."
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