This won mod's choice at iyfic challenge, much to my delight and amazement. The theme was "Rain."
Title: Vertigo
Rating: PG, or K+ if the MPAA asks.
Pairing: Souten/Shippou
Genres: Romance, Love/Hate, and a splash of good old Angst.
Word Count: 200
Notes: Post series. Very post series.
Summary: What we term "vertigo" is not the fear of falling, but the fear of the desire to fall. For a Thunder Beast, it is a long way down.
＊.X.＊
Her storms have been stalking him forever, and the fateful first drops fall almost lazily, yet impossible to outrun. The rain always falls in a straight line, pulled down by forces unseen.
Thee to me.
His wary glance eludes her, no frightened green eyes lit by her lightning as it was only a few short years ago, but a masterful tease to lure her in closer. She has hounded him so fiercely that the humans call him Stormcloud, but her fury always loses momentum at the sight of his wet, bedraggled state.
Why couldn't he just die like the animal he is, she demands, why did he have to leave her all alone, with no family, no culture, no guidance…
If someone had been there for her, surely, surely it wouldn't have come to this. If she had been raised with any pride, her hand would not brush his hair away so she could kiss him, her heart would not pound like this, she would not need the rain to hide her tears.
"Love me," she commands. "Do it because no one else did."
Her only answer is the thunder, echoing her frustration, and the steady clatter of the rain.