Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this fanfic unless I created it myself. Anything that I did create was inspired by something owned by someone else. This is done for fun and entertainment, not for profit.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh GX
Title: Scenes From a Reversal: Taming Johan: 11-50: Ashes, Ashes
Romance: Juudai x Johan
Word Count: 587
Genre: Romance, Drama||Rated: PG-13
Challenge: 50scenes: Juudai x Johan: flowers
Summary: Fifty scenes from a story unwritten, with one fact reversed: what happens when the Gentle Darkness is not gentle?

Johan kept himself a couple of steps behind Juudai as they walked through the woods. He breathed in deep breaths of scented air, knowing that it wouldn't be all that long before acrid smoke tinged the area. He didn't know what Juudai wanted by taking him around here, but he wasn't penned up in the castle anymore, and that was all that mattered for the moment.

Haou hadn't told him to stay strictly behind him, so Johan took the chance to look around and fall back just a little. He knew better than to try to escape. The memory of what had happened the one time he had would never fade.

Wild roses! He hadn't seen flowers in ages, not since he'd been captured. He dropped down to one knee to get a better look and reached out to touch it with one finger. He brushed the edges of it with delicate care and bent closer so he could breathe in the scent.

I wish I could come out here every day. No matter how much he pleased Haou, he doubted that would ever happen. This little moment wasn't freedom; his cage was just a little wider now.

Almost at the same time, a swift breeze sent the flowers and stems dancing, and he swore as one of the thorns caught in his flesh.

"What are you doing?" Juudai stood beside him without warning. He reached down to catch Johan's wrist and pulled him to his feet. His eyes narrowed at the sight of blood welling up from where the thorn had cut him. "Idiot." There was the oddest hint of affection in the insult, that Johan did his best to pretend he didn't actually hear, even as he examined the wound.

Johan chose not to move, but he did dare to speak. "It's not that bad." The pain had already faded, and had been more shock than anything else. Juudai glanced down at him, golden eyes bright with amusement.

"I would think I would know how badly you're hurt." A thousand meanings wrapped around the words and Johan dropped his gaze even as Haou dropped his hand. "Come along. You can't play with the flowers all day."

"Could I take them with me?" Spur of the moment question, but one that Johan wanted to hear 'yes' to, if only because he wanted to have something of his own again. He hadn't seen the Gem Beasts in months and even his clothes were nothing more than useless shreds of cloth.

Haou glanced at him, then at the roses. Johan's heart skipped a few beats as he hoped and dared not hope at the same time. Then the dark monarch reached over to pluck the roses up by their roots and Johan's heart leaped in delight. He would have to pay for these, he knew. Nothing Haou gave him was ever free.

Then Juudai closed his hand around the roses and black fire wrapped around them, crisping their edges first, then the petals, leaves, and stems. Johan reached for them as the ashes fell from Juudai's hand and managed to catch just a few in his fingers. Juudai seized his hand and brought it close to him, fingers tightening around Johan's. He said nothing, only stared down at his prisoner for a few moments before he dropped Johan's hand and walked away.

Johan looked down at the remains of the roses for a moment, a thousand thoughts and regrets surging through his mind. Then he followed his master.

The End