Warning: AU, Fantasy, PG-13, Ran/Ken.
Disclaimer: Weiss belongs to Takehito Koyasu and Project Weiss.
City of Steps
Chapter 25
It took three weeks for the rains to start, but once they did they came with a fury. Ran, who was accustomed to the violent force with which the city welcomed the true start of Fall, found it strangely comforting that despite the changes in his own life nature continued in her set pattern. By then Aya had returned to the Countess's manor and all the windows and doors had been installed in the house, so Ran felt he had little to worry about. But Ken seemed to find the storms disturbing and he became increasingly jumpy and unnerved by the loud claps of thunder and the driving winds that heightened the force of the rain. Ran found himself spending more and more time attending to Ken, who became afraid to travel in the cable cars making it next to impossible for them to go to the warehouses twice a week.
The other thing frustrating him was the lack of anymore information or clues pertaining to the assassinations or the fire. The strangers who had been seen the night of the fire disappeared from the city without a trace. Worse than that was the lack of evidence connecting them to the fate of the O'Malley's and Nix's. And Yuushi had disappeared. When Omi inquired about his possible whereabouts at the palace he'd been told that they had no idea where their black sheep had gotten off to and were in the process of sending out discreet inquiries. The Prince still had his people out seeking information, but either there was nothing else to find or he wasn't sharing it with them.
Ran knew the later of the two wouldn't surprise him in the least if it turned out to be true. Omi had always kept his own council. But he'd noticed Ken watching the Prince with something close to suspicion in his eyes. Not often, but enough times to cause Ran some modicrumb of concern.
Then the dream returned. He'd nearly forgotten about it. He hadn't had it once since Ken awoke him that night and he'd dismissed it from his mind, until one evening during a particularly violent storm.
They were gathered in the parlor after dinner seeking comfort in one another's company as the storm raged outside. The weather was beginning to change in earnest, the heat giving way to the damp chill of true Fall. The rain pelting the windows sounded more like hail and Nalsa came in to tell them that a kitchen maid had caught one the size of a coin in her shopping basket.
Ran had settled near the fireplace, which wasn't lit, with the intention of reading and Ken had come to sit flush up against him, quaking with every crash of thunder. He doubted he'd get too far in his book with Omi and Yohji, who'd been invited to stay after their dinner since the weather was bad, playing a rather obnoxious game of chess, and Ken all there to distract him. He'd resigned himself to doing what he could to sooth Ken's nerves while ignoring his friends' loud bantering when suddenly he found he was asleep.
He knew he was asleep right away when he found he was in his colorless dream room. He only wondered how the sudden shock of realization didn't wake him right back up again.
Ran wandered the room looking over the items stored there. Some he understood, like his father's favorite coat and his mother's embroidery hoops, but why one of Aya's old dolls was there he could never figure out. It wasn't even one of her favorite dolls. Other items were things he'd never seen before and couldn't guess at. Dream items that were nebulous and indistinct even when you were looking right at them.
Ran shivered and decided it was time for him to wake up when he heard Ken address him.
"Ken?" he called looking around for his husband.
"I'm here," came the reply and Ran whipped around to find Ken standing behind him. He was dressed in the brown suit he'd been wearing when they'd first been introduced and the smile gracing his features was shy. "I've come to give you something."
"What?" Ran asked although he was certain he knew. His suspicious were proved correct when Ken turned around to pull something from a desk behind him. He drew the decorative metal box out of a drawer too small to have contained it and turned back to Ran, presenting it to him.
"Here. Take it," his husband said.
Ran eyed it wearily. The only colored item in a room of black, white and gray.
"What if I don't want to?" he asked.
"You have to," Ken said firmly. "No one else can open it."
"What is inside?" he asked taking a tentative step closer to his husband.
"Something special," Ken answered. "Something the world hungers for."
Ran felt his arms reach out and take the box. It felt warm and heavy. Ken relinquished it with a sigh, his smile brightening.
"It's not locked," he said. "You'll know when to open it."
Ran looked at him in surprise.
"Shouldn't I open it now?" he asked.
"You'll know when to open it," Ken repeated.
Ran blinked and found himself back in the parlor, Ken still at his side, Omi and Yohji still playing chess. He inhaled deeply and rose from his seat, pacing away from them. In one of the darkened windows he could see his reflection. To his own eyes he appeared ghostly and foreign. He turned away from the image with a shudder and found Ken staring at him.
"What's the matter?" his husband asked looking worried.
"Nothing," Ran lied, trying to hide his unease. "I just needed to move around."
Ken narrowed his eyes at him in an appraising stare that Ran usually found rather cute, but at that moment made him feel annoyed and anxious.
"You're lying," Ken stated with a frown. "What's the matter?"
Ran became acutely aware that the bantering from the chess table had stopped and that all the attention in the room was focused on him.
"It's the storm. It's making me antsy, that is all," he said trying to end the discussion.
"You were fine a minute ago," Ken persisted. "I thought you might have been asle..."
His husband stopped speaking abruptly as his eyes widened in realization and he shot a quick glance across the room toward the chess table. Then his eyes were fastened back on Ran in that look of appraisal again.
"Well, come sit back down," he said firmly. "Your pacing is making me even more nervous than I already am."
Ran felt his entire body, including his face, relax and he literally sagged in relief although if asked he couldn't say why.
"Yes. Sorry," he said as he crossed the room and resumed his seat. "Sorry."
"It's okay," Ken said slinging an arm around his shoulders and squeezing. "Read to me."
It was more a command than a polite request but Ran found himself complying. After a few minutes of reading in the continued quiet of the room he felt Ken begin to relax beside him. Across the room the chess game resumed, but without the same exuberance. By the time the storm had passed they were all on their way to bed, Yohji included, since it would take him an hour to walk home from Omi's he'd been offered and accepted a room for the night.
They bid their host and friend good night on the landing, then moved steadily and silently down the hall toward their room, Ran's hand clasped firmly in Ken's.
Nalsa opened their bedroom door for them and gave them their schedule for the next day. She waited until they'd changed for bed, then she and Chi collected their dirty clothing and bid them good night.
Ran looked at Ken once the women had left. Neither of them moved or spoke until the light sound of their footsteps faded, then Ken met his glance with a determined frown.
"What happened?" he hissed and Ran was grateful that for once he was endeavoring to keep his voice down.
"I..."
"Don't tell me 'nothing'," Ken cut him off angrily. "I could tell it was something."
Ran gave him a frosty scowl.
"I was going to say, I'm not sure what happened," he answered, feeling genuinely angry with his husband for the first time since their first real kiss. Tension had been building between them lately and Ran couldn't be sure why, but he felt like Ken was constantly watching him and encroaching on his personal space. He found himself forcing himself to be patient and understanding, something that had come easily to him when they were first married but was harder and harder to do lately.
"You fell asleep," Ken stated, not quite an accusation. "Did you dream?"
Ran glared at him, feeling an irrational disinclination toward answering honestly. Maybe it was the way Ken had posed the question but he felt as though Ken was accusing him of something.
"Yes," he answered coldly, forcing himself to be honest and calm. He didn't want to fight with Ken, he just wanted to go to bed and try to forget what had happened in the parlor.
"About the box?" Ken asked and it looked as though he'd switched from anger back to nervous anxiety, making Ran wonder again just what was driving Ken's recent behavior.
"Yes," he answered again and watched to see what Ken's next reaction would be.
He seemed to go very still for a moment. It was almost as though he was shrinking down inside himself, steeling himself against whatever Ran might say next.
"Tell me," he said very quietly.
"You returned the box to me," Ran replied equally quiet, but his voice sounded loud in the still room. "It was unlocked, but you told me not to open it yet. You said I would know when the time was right."
Ken stared at him for a moment then turned slowly toward the windows.
"The storms," he said, his voice little more than a whisper.
"What about them?" Ran asked thinking that perhaps they could finally get to the bottom of Ken's sudden disquiet.
"They're like the one the night of the fire," Ken replied without turning.
Ran sighed, feeling his exasperation rise again.
"That was out of season," he stated rubbing at his forehead in agitation. "As I have been telling you, the Fall always has storms like this. They are part of the weather change."
Ken turned from the windows and glared at him. He looked upset and sulky.
"What about your dream?" he demanded, that slightly accusatory edge back in his voice.
"What about it?" Ran spat back tiredly. "It was just a dream, Ken."
"That's not what you said before."
"Well, it is what I'm saying now."
The two faced off across the room from one another until Ran sighed in defeat. Nothing would be accomplished like this. They were both too on edge. Ken either couldn't or wouldn't tell him what was the matter, and he was tired of guessing. His dream earlier had removed his last scrap of patience. He'd lied when he'd said it was only a dream, but he was no closer to understanding what it did mean and tired of Ken's irrational behavior about it. He'd come to regret ever telling Ken about the dream.
"I'm going to sleep," he stated and moved around the bed, ignoring Ken as he passed him.
For the first time since they'd returned from the island Ran climbed into bed with no intention of sharing physical contact with his husband. He assumed Ken would feel the same way, but as he watched Ken's shoulders drooped and he hung his head.
"I'm sorry, Ran," he said speaking softly once more. "I know I've been a bother lately. It's just...I've never been afraid of storms before."
"Why are you afraid of them now?" Ran asked, watching Ken carefully again.
"Because now...I think they mean something," Ken replied.
"They do mean something," Ran agreed and met Ken's startled glance evenly. "They mean Fall is coming."
Ken looked back at his own feet and sighed again.
"There was a storm the night of the fire," he said and Ran held his breath, waiting. But Ken only sighed again and shook his head in the manner that indicated he'd decided something. "Never mind. I'm being foolish. Dreams are just dreams and storms are just storms. Nothing more. Please forgive me."
As he spoke he climbed under the covers and settled into bed, and Ran felt guilt settle in his stomach.
"I'm sorry as well," he said and meant it. "There has been a lot of tension in the air lately and I guess it's getting to me."
Ken nodded and smiled at him. It looked as if it took a great deal of effort and Ran frowned.
"Let's go to sleep," he suggested brushing the fingers of one hand along Ken's cheek.
His husband nodded again and they each blew out the candles beside their sides of the bed, plunging the room into darkness. Within seconds Ran was wrapping his arm around Ken's shoulder as he snuggled up close and shivered. Not for the first time he wished Ken would just tell him what had him so wound up. Then it occurred to him that perhaps he was a bit closer to figuring it out. Ken had mentioned the storm on the night of the fire more than once. Maybe there was something about that particular storm that had bothered him. Just as his memories of the fire brought with them feelings of being watched from deep inside the inferno.
Ran fought off a shiver of his own and pulled Ken closer. Suddenly the night seemed very dark and very long.
Neither of them slept well and worked hard at fighting their short tempers as they made their way through their day. Since there was no rain and very little wind Ran insisted that they go down to the warehouses. There they found a backlog of work since they hadn't been there for a while. Once all of it was seen to there was very little time to visit the house, so they were forced to skip that in order to make a report to Aya at the office. She seemed nearly as out of sorts as they were, but they all managed to get through what they had to without insulting one another or resorting to arguing.
Ran could hardly call that a victory however, and was very happy to arrive back at Omi's where he hoped for a pleasanter evening.
Omi announced the surprise at dinner.
"Tomorrow afternoon you are to attend tea at the Palace," he said with a cheery grin that didn't quite reach his eyes.
Ran and Ken both stopped eating at once and exchanged glances before looking back at Omi.
"What?" Ken stammered, clearly startled.
"Tea at the Palace?" Ran asked cautiously, wiping his mouth on his napkin to give himself time to organize his thoughts. "With the Empress?"
"Yes," Omi chirped then pouted. "You don't seem as excited as I thought you'd be."
"Well, it is rather sudden, isn't it?" Ran asked with a small chuckle. "Why now all of a sudden?"
"Actually, it isn't sudden at all," Omi said as though he were making a confession. "Mother has been meaning to invite you and Aya ever since the fire, but she couldn't make the time. Then she spent time with Aya when she brought her back from the island, and since then she's been determined to see you as well."
"And now she has the time?" Ken asked without bothering to hide his incredulity.
Ran gave him a sharp glance.
"Yes, indeed," Omi replied, his smile taking on a slightly forced look. "Of course, if you'd rather not..."
"Omi, please," Ran said quickly. "Don't be ridiculous. Of course, we'd be honored to have tea with the Empress."
"Good," their host said and his demeanor relaxed a little. "You'd have little choice but I didn't want to force you."
"And you'll be there as well?" Ran asked.
"Oh, yes. I never miss an opportunity to see mother."
Ran glanced at Ken again, his husband's face looked slightly pale, then he smiled at Omi and returned to his meal. The idea of tea at the Palace settled like a ball of iron in his stomach.
Author's Note: Wha-ha-ha-ha! And off to the Palace they go! ;)
Thanks to Noir Dravenwood for the reviews! Thank you so much! I'm so glad you like my stories! That makes my day when I hear that. :) And I'm glad the new chapters brought you some joy (I hope you're not having too much bad news). Omi is more like Mamoru in this one, I think. He's a little more mysterious than I intended, but I think it's working. Several people have told me that this is their favorite of my stories which always strikes me as funny since it's my least favorite and hardest to write. Hmmmm. More of my other stories? Well, there are more, but they're all in stages of disrepair. I'm still working on them and some day they'll appear too. :) Just keep reading! :D