Change of Chances
Summary: Watanuki is down for the count, Shizuka becomes aware of some beginnings, and Jason's in trouble. More Sorata, and his wife makes her appearance (I love these two from TRC).
Warnings: Hm. If I have to keep warning you in each chapter to pay attention, forget it. If you don't notice then you don't. I'm still writing the story my way.

Watanuki's pained scream resounded in Shizuka's ears.

No.

No!

The false emotions the creature had passed on to him through its intangible touch all faded away under fear. Not fear of this creature, but fear for his master… that and rather genuine anger.

He turned, hooking his feet into the rope ladder to balance himself enough to free his hands. Extending his left arm, right poised by his ear, he found his spirit force naturally shape itself as it always did, gasps from nearby crew men signalling his spirit weapon had become mortally visible; a sign of too much power in it.

He didn't care.

A fraction of a second was all he needed, eyes searching out and finding the creature's source in the water, the bow and arrow in his hands crackling with his energy and he fired. When he let the arrow release his own emotions poured into it, distilling its intent and with a low, horrible groan the creature fizzled and disappeared.

Shizuka was already climbing up the rope ladder the rest of the way before its body had finished dispersing; he had to get to—

No blood.

That was the first thing his mind registered. There was no blood. But that didn't mean Watanuki wasn't injured. He pounced forward, scooping the noble up and—

Watanuki shook and trembled, mouth slack and fingers twitching, eyes open and staring unseeingly, face twisted with anger and pain –emotions that were not his own. Shizuka recognised the symptoms immediately: an infection. The creature had infused an amount of itself into Watanuki, a preparation to consuming him, the young noble's body too strong to digest as it was. Growling, Shizuka batted away the cloudy wisps still clinging to his master then got to his feet.

"Doumeki!" Jason cried out. The panic in his tone had the monk turning around.

Shizuka couldn't see the cargo bay from where he was but he could see another kind of smoke curling upward into the air. Irritated at the delay, he made quickly for the edge of the deck and peered over the railing to see Sorata's men working hard to seal the Arms chest. The vision of it, like earlier, seemed to slip in and out of his Sight. One instant it looked like it was only vaguely smoking, but in the next it slipped to looking like it oozed smouldering sludge.

"Step back, all of you," he ordered as he set Watanuki down on the deck, gently propping the young noble's head up between the posts of the wood railing. He hated the way his master breathed, shallow and so obviously in pain--

With a snarl, the monk tore himself away. He withdrew several rune-inscribed knives from inside his robe and, aiming carefully, slung them at each corner he could see of the chest beside the be-spelled posts the men had already lodged into it.

"Turn it," he ordered, the men scrambling to obey, and when the other corners came into view he continued contributing his sealing to it. With the knives all in place, he curled his hand, "Seal."

Sparking, filling the air with static, the knives did as bid. The sludge receded to within its confined space and Sorata and his men cheered, turning to give their thanks but the monk had already turned away, bending to carefully pick Watanuki up.

In the cabin, he stormed past the front room and into the bedroom, setting Watanuki gently in his bed. He heard footfalls behind, a familiar gait coming to a stop behind him in the doorway,

"Doumeki--"

"Water please, Jason-san," the monk snapped, arranging his master comfortably. "Clear fresh water. Now."

The rushing footfalls dashed away, and a set of others approached, a new voice asking, "Doumeki, how is he?"

"He'll be better soon, Sorata," Shizuka murmured, kneeling by the bed and taking Watanuki's hand.

Closing his eyes, he focused, unleashed his Centre, that part his grandfather had taught him to focus. He knew it could never be shut down, but focusing and pushing like this made it more potent. And right now, he needed it more than he had ever in the past.

The power unravelled within him but it leaked, felt like escaping wisps of too-fragile light. No! He concentrated, ignoring the distant gasps he heard… he needed that all! It couldn't just flutter away. It took all his concentration, letting go almost completely of his awareness of his physical form to do it but he reached and strained and pulled, and gathered all that he could. Coming back to awareness, he found he'd pulled it all together into his chest. A large glass bowl had appeared by his side containing the water he'd asked for and into it he infused the energy he had gathered.

"Astonishing," a female voice murmured.

Panting with the effort of what he'd just done, Shizuka glanced over his shoulder, instincts to protect what was his suddenly rushing to the fore—

Bracelet.

He saw her bracelet; the same as Sorata wore. And the priest himself stood just to her side. The monk blinked, suddenly noticing Jason nearby, at the foot of Watanuki's bed. There was a moment Shizuka narrowed his eyes at the quiet Englishman, suspicion and irritation warring powerfully with his need to seek more help from Sorata's wife.

But in the next heartbeat there was no competition, "Sorata tells me you are the chief medic." He turned to her, knees already down, and bowed to her. "Please help my master."

She approached quickly, "You have taken the best steps already, cleansing this water as you have. Water is easier to control than raw energy you'd summoned, no matter how clear." She glanced back at Sorata, "Rush back to our room, find the white linen sashes my mother handed down to me at our wedding."

"The blessed ones you've never used." Sorata nodded and rushed away.

"You needed not ask me, you know," she said to Shizuka. "To keep him safe is also my duty." She nodded at Watanuki, "Help me strip him." As they worked, the monk studied her; rather pretty if a little traditionally so, petite and quite slender with long straight hair cut bluntly. But her body radiated powerful energy, a familiar flow.

"Miko." Shizuka reached toward her, fingertips pausing inches from her skin, sensing the clarity of her aura, that of a Priestess.

"Yes," she breathed, accepting the monk's curiosity. She continued at the task, pushing Watanuki's clothing aside.

A darkness in his peripheral vision had Shizuka pulling his gaze back to his master… and to the sight of the horrible stain the creature had left over the noble's left side, a long and unpleasantly wide slash-shaped shadow of a bruise. It was huge, from shoulder to hip and seemed to shimmer, coated by a layer of the noble's cold sweat.

Shizuka hated it, this mark of his failure, scowling and looking away… at Jason who still sat silently at the foot of the bed, catching his gaze and offering a sympathetic look. The monk turned away from him and back to the task at hand.

With cutting motions and focus of power, he and the Miko began to cut away the persistent wisps of smoke still clinging to Watanuki's skin.

"I found them," Sorata breathlessly announced, rushing in.

"In the water, hurry," his wife urged.

The three sashes were dumped into the purifying water, and as soon as they were completely submerged, it seemed the liquid began to glow. Immediately the three snatched up a sash each, wrung it out, and began to bathe Watanuki's skin.

"My name is Arashi," the woman said quietly as they worked. "And I know you to be Doumeki."

Shizuka nodded, not sparing her even a sidelong look, too worried by Watanuki's discomfort to be swayed by his manners, no matter how ingrained.

"Ah!" Sorata exclaimed. "I never introduced you, did I?" With a quick flick of her wrists, the Miko flicked the sash she held at her husband's head-- "OW!" --before pulling it back in and resuming her task. "I'm sorry!"

"Darn well better be," she muttered.

They completed their task in silence, the powerful water holding enough of Shizuka's energy to immediately clean the last of the smoke away and even diminish the colour of the large stain. He was sure Sorata and Arashi might comment on its effectiveness but they said nothing, likely thinking he had only infused his purest cleansing energy into the water…

Not part of his soul.

When they finished, redressing Watanuki was a long process. The lord continued moving, thrashing, mumbling and crying in his waking-sleep, this state where his emotions had taken him over and he laid slave to them until they passed. Shizuka knelt by his master's bed; he knew now and understood what nightmares the thing might have managed to unearth from the noble's heart.

Arashi spoke quietly, "He must overpower the darkness the creature awakened in him to fully recover."

Judging by the miserable and mournful expression on their faces, they recognised the names Watanuki murmured between sobs.

"Naa, Doumeki," Sorata spoke softly. "You should be infected too. I saw that thing pass right through you."

When he trailed off, Arashi spoke up, "You repelled it." She shook her head then met Shizuka's gaze, "No, you rejected it."

"Eh?" Sorata and Jason blinked, puzzled and curious.

"Ahh," Shizuka breathed, nodding.

"You're an Exorcist, aren't you?" Arashi murmured. The question pitched more like a statement. Shizuka nodded.

"Amazing!" With a jubilant grin, Sorata patted Shizuka's shoulder. "An Exorcist Monk! No wonder Watanuki-sama has such faith in you." He frowned a bit and rubbed at his head, "But he really shouldn't have been down there so close to cursed water."

Gritting his teeth, Shizuka resisted the urge to growl his agreement. That or demand why no one had said any of this to him earlier, or spoken up about the possible danger.

"Calm yourself," Arashi told him quietly but sternly. "There was too much going on, more than Watanuki's life at stake, at the time."

"Tch." Shizuka as good as dismissed them when he turned away, reaching with both hands for Watanuki's own.

--

Hours later, after Sorata and Arashi had gone to seek their beds, Shizuka sat tense and worried.

Breathing over Watanuki's hand, he curled his fingers over it gently, trying to push his inherent cleansing ability into his master. It wasn't working fast enough.

He and Jason remained, had watched over the hours since the infection as Watanuki seemed not to get better but worsen, perspiring more and more heavily, weeping no longer sporadic but continuous, moans more pained. Watanuki's murmurs had become clearer, his words softly begging, crying and pleading, asking for forgiveness…

"How much longer?" Jason asked quietly, shifting a little where he sat with his chin propped on his knees at the foot of the bed. He looked worried and very tired; it was long past nightfall.

"I do not know," Shizuka responded honestly, voice tight. He couldn't resist growling, "If you had warned me of these plans…" He let the thought trail off, mollified a bit when Jason hunched in on himself with his remorse. They didn't talk again after that.

And at the eighth hour since it happened, Shizuka came to a decision, "I think you should go try to get some sleep. When I need to rest, you can take over." Jason looked ready to argue so he added, "There is no point in both of us keeping vigil if we both collapse and have no one to entrust him to."

Nodding, Jason silently though reluctantly left.

When Shizuka had sensed Jason's presence disappear below deck, he brushed his lips over the back of Watanuki's hand and released it. He reached for the bowl of water and set it in his lap. There was still enough here, just enough. So he pulled back his sleeve and drew his short knife.

There was a moment where Shizuka wondered if he was going too far by doing this but in the next he saw no reason not to proceed… and slashed his arm.

The blood dripped into the water, dispersing quickly. But a few more drips had the water coloured a pale pink. Ruthlessly, Shizuka drew another line, and the drips became dribbles, the water turning a garish red. He let the blood flow until his body naturally stopped the bleeding.

With one of the sashes he and Arashi had used earlier to bathe Watanuki, he wiped away the streaks on his skin and lowered his sleeve, then dumped it into the bloody water.

Forming a hand seal, he spoke the words his grandfather had taught him, the words which drew his bloodline ability to his command, and his command was for it to help another. The spell asked for some very basic things of its Caster, but they needed to be heartfelt and given without reservation… and Shizuka gave it all. Spell complete, the water unnaturally glowing once more, he released the hand seal and reached for the bloody sash then wrung it partway out.

He brushed his thumb over the back of Watanuki's hand still in his and murmured, "Forgive me."

Bending over he squeezed the sash, the water and his blood dripping into Watanuki's half-open mouth. Immediately the young noble sighed with relief, neck arching slightly as he leaned up instinctively toward that which loosed him from the horror of his dreams. And to Shizuka, this was so very beautiful a reaction.

Even if it meant he had just blood-bound himself to his master.

TBC.

Author Notes:

If this chapter doesn't put you all into a tizzy, I don't know what will. And I've been in a tizzy myself because people are asking me all the right questions these days. As of 24th July, six people have correctly guessed who Jason is –do you have any idea how gratifying that is?! It's an affirmation that the hints have worked.

My love and deepest gratitude go to Anyjen (alpha reader) and curiousrobin (beta reader), who both contributed to the flow and precision of this chapter. Their input makes my work so much better and for this I am eternally grateful. And certainly that much collaboration inspires me heavily to continue writing…!

Thanks to Afrieal (the rabid fangirls of the strangest type), I got your PM; as well as yours, forevernyu. And thanks to dreamer3chan, umeko-rin, Paon, forgotten unmei, Atsukikomi, Lonewolfe001, uniFsky, TenshiGosperu, Miskui, The Visitor, katiesquilts, GoddesofWrath, CCSRonin, Hikari Maganji, Saina Tsukino, Renkin-chan, and God of Laundry Baskets who all reviewed chapter 9. The count of who 'has this story on alert but has not even reviewed' has been reassessed (mind you there was increase in watchers, so the balance was thrown off). There are now 49 who have never reviewed out of 84 on alert. Regardless, thank you to those who have finally reviewed for the first time.