Obiyuki Week, Day Three: Forgive
Title: Forgiving is Easier, but Forgetting is Harder
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing in this fan-fiction except my horrible grammar and writing skills. All of the characters or cities mentioned in this fan-fiction belong to Akiduki Sorata unless said otherwise. Any references to real people or places are purely coincidental.
Synopsis: Even though Shirayuki had forgiven Obi when he failed to protect her in Tanbarun, she couldn't completely forget about it, not with such a constant reminder of it showing up every day of her life. What is the constant reminder of her kidnapping? Had Obi even forgiven himself for his failure?
SPOILER ALERT: This prompt spoils a bit of the Tanbarun Arc (chapters 20 – 26). You have been warned!
Shirayuki retired to her bedroom after a heard day's work of trying to find the cure to the mysterious disease that was sweeping the city. She did a few stretches to make sure her muscles weren't so tense before she prepared a bath with lavender scented candles to relax in.
After the much-needed bath, she quickly dried off and slipped into her long nightgown that went all the way to the floor. When she went to go grab a book from her bookshelf to read, she heard a soft knock on her door. "Come in! The door's open!"
"Good evening, Mistress! I just came by to see how–"
The young herbalist turned around to see why had he stopped. "What is it, Obi?"
His mouth was wide open, blinking several times in disbelief. "Your… cheek…"
"Hmm?" She asked as she involuntarily lifted up a hand to touch the cheek he was staring at. Immediately, she felt the scar. Eekk! I forgot that when I took a bath, it washed away the herb remedy that covered my scar up!
Obi hung his head low, staring intently at the floor. "Have you always had that scar?"
She stood still as she responded. "Ever since Umihebi hurt me with her weapon before, I've had this scar."
"Does anyone else know?
"No. I usually cover it up."
"Not even the Master?"
"Nope, not even him."
Neither one of them could think of something to say, so they both let the silence continue on. When Shirayuki couldn't stand it any longer, she decided to break the silence. "Are you okay, Obi?"
He slowly lifted up his head, and she could suddenly see the pain he was in. "That's the question I should be asking you, Mistress."
She quickly made her way towards him before putting her arms around him. "I don't blame you one bit for what happened to me, Obi. I know that you'll beat yourself up over it, but don't blame yourself for it, okay? It's my fault for not listening to Umihebi when she first told me to go below deck."
Almost as if on impulse, Obi tentatively lifted his hand to cup her cheek. He gently inspected the scar with his thumb. "The reason it left a scar is because Umihebi's weapon—the modernized kusarigama—was more than likely coated with some toxin that kills cells and prevents them from healing. It has something to do with the metal inside it and the pressure the wielder uses."
She gave him a look of astonishment. "How did you know that?"
He removed his hand from her cheek and shrugged before heading to her personal makeshift workspace. "I'm an ex-assassin so I was taught that you shouldn't use a toxin-coated kusarigama on hostages or merchandise. If we did, they taught us a simple herbal remedy that could easily heal the infected area."
As he rummaged about, trying to get the needed supplies to make it, Shirayuki gazed at him as she watched him closely. "Do you miss being an assassin?"
He gave her a mere shrug, not even paying a glance in her direction. "Some aspects of it, I do. Like being mostly independent and being able to leave whenever I please without getting yelled at. But other aspects—like not being close to anyone or being unable to protect anyone else but myself—I don't in the least bit."
Obi finally managed to find all the needed supplies—an herb grinder, a mixture of herbs, and bandages—and got to work on grinding the herbs. He tried to ignore the stare she was sending his way.
"How did you learn how to grind herbs like that?" Shirayuki asked in amazement.
He continued to grind them until he was sure they were liquidized, then grabbed a nearby bandage and smeared it on. "I learned a lot of this from watching over you and Ryuu. It's amazing how you do this so easily. At first, it took me a long time to master it, and even now, I'm not as good as you."
She smiled sweetly at him. "You've gotten good. Better than I was when I was first starting, that's for sure."
Obi felt his heart begin to ache as he gently placed the bandage onto her scar, careful not to look into her eyes lest he break. Don't look at me with those kind eyes… I don't deserve it, after all I put you through…
He couldn't bear it anymore, so he quickly pivoted on his heel and decided to busy himself with cleaning his makeshift workspace.
"Obi," Shirayuki began in a sweet, heart-warming tone, "you never answered my question. Are you okay?"
The Prince's Knight carried on like she had said nothing and continued to tidy up. "Aah, you put your personal stock of herbs inside the pouches, right? Which way is it organised again?"
"I organised them alphabetically and I wrote the labels onto the leather of the pouches with permanent ink. Anyhow, can you please answer my question?"
"Aghh, clumsy me; I forgot where you put your herb grinder! Where was it again?"
"In the small, makeshift-compartment I made for it in my dresser that's beside my bed. Can you please stop dodging the question and answer me?"
"Man, I must be getting a mild case of amnesia! Where did you tell me you put your bandages at—"
At this point, Shirayuki was fed up with his constant dodging of her questions. She had gotten out of her chair and somehow now stood in front of Obi, looking him in the eye. "Why won't you answer the question?!"
He couldn't make eye contact with her, so he just put the bandages up on her shelf, along with all of her herbs. After that, he faced her but kept his eyes to the floor. "You want to know how I feel? Fine. I feel like a failure of a knight—no, of a man for not protecting you when you needed it most. I let you get kidnapped and almost sold into slavery, and now you have a scar to remind you of it every. Single. Day."
"Obi, it's alright. You did your best—"
"I don't need your pity or kind words. I'm not worthy of it."
After a minute or so of full-on silence, Obi decided to glance up at her to see what was wrong. When he did, he wished he hadn't. She was now clenching her fists at her sides as she trembled—with the remembrance of fear or of sadness, he did not know—and her eyes were now brimming with tears.
"S-So let me get this straight," She began in an unsteady and wavering voice, "what I say doesn't matter?"
"It's not like that—"
"Yes, it is!" Her shrill voice cut through to his heart. "You told me what I said didn't matter back then in the forest, when I went after you. You said that nothing I could ever say would make a difference, so I didn't say anything. Do you know how that felt? To have someone who tells you that nothing you could ever say would help them heal?"
"I didn't mean it like that!"
"Then what way did you mean it? It seems to me that there's only one way to interpret it!"
"When I said that, I didn't mean your words didn't matter to me! I meant that no matter what kind words you wasted on a failure like me, I could never, ever deserve them! I still don't deserve them, to this very day!"
At this point, he was staring her dead in the eye. Of course, he couldn't see her clearly, since she was blurry due to the tears beginning to brim inside his eyes.
"Do you understand now?" He asked in a quiet, sorrowful voice. "Why I don't want you saying kind words to me?"
"Obi," She began in a quiet voice but gradually grew surer and surer. "you do deserve every kind word spoken to you. How many times have you saved me without fail? One failure, compared to all of those times you succeeded, doesn't matter much."
"You're just saying that to make me feel better…"
"No, I'm not. I'm saying this because I care about you."
"Care for someone who can actually protect you."
"I am. That's why I'm caring about you."
"It's wasted on me…"
"I can assure you it's not."
They let the eerie silence envelop them for a moment, but Shirayuki broke it soon after. "Obi, I've forgiven you. It's about time you've forgiven yourself so we can both move on."
He clenched his fists even tighter. "And why would I do that?"
"Because seeing you hurt like this hurts me! Obi, I love you! I'd never want to see you hurt like this ever again!"
His eyes began to widen as he took in her words. "W-What?!"
Her voice, unwavering and sure, rang true. "I love you, Obi. With all of my heart, all that I am, I love you."
"M-Mistress, you're making a mista—"
His lips never got to finish saying those words because she pressed hers against his. Their kiss was unlike anything Obi ever imagined—it was sweet, pure, but also passionate at the same time. When he received her feelings, he decided it was about time she receive his. He kissed her back slowly and unsurely at first, but gradually, he began to allow himself to love her.
They parted only when they needed air, both out of breath. "Do you understand why I need you to move on, Obi?"
A smile played on his lips. "Your message has been received loud and clear, Mis—"
Shirayuki pressed a finger against his lips to silence him. "Please don't call me Mistress anymore. When I tell Zen how I feel about you, I won't be your mistress anymore. Please call me Shirayuki."
"Okay," He said with uncertainty. "Shir… Shira… Shirayuki."
She smiled sweetly at him. "I want to wake up to your voice saying that to me every day. That'd be enough."
He smiled back at her. "Then I promise that every day, I will wake you up with the faintest whisper of your name in your ear."
She pressed her lips against his, both losing themselves in the kiss. This wasn't your ordinary fairy tale, but it was theirs all the same. Living happily ever after forever more.
A/N: Ahhh, this was by far the prompt for Obiyuki Week that I loved doing the most! The words came to me effortlessly and I really enjoyed writing it! Plus, I really enjoyed thinking about how Obi would react in a situation like this and finally being true to himself. I thought about it so much, I just had to write about it! xD
Also, I vaguely remember reading an Obiyuki fan-fiction before where she had a scar from Umihebi, but I cannot remember its name. If you know of this fan-fiction, please don't feel like I've copied it; I don't have a precise recollection of what the fan-fiction was about, anyhow. Aside from the one tiny detail of Shirayuki receiving a scar, I doubt our stories are that similar.
On a completely different note, if you want me to make another one-shot concerning the Obiyuki or Zenyuki pair, feel free to ask or request me for it! I'll be glad to do it, granted that I have any free time. xD