Wings of Desire
By Maria Szabo
Disclaimer: X belongs to CLAMP, its publishers and distributors. This is a work of fanfiction and no profit is being made save that of enjoyment.
Part 6
Kakyou stood and wrapped his outer kimono tighter around him as the dreamscape wove into a dark circle of mirrors. He hadn't tried to do something like this before, but in theory, it would work. He was scared, even more frightened than when he had tried to escape to save Hokuto. If this works, he thought, I will have done it. For once, he would be able to shape the future, rather than just watch it. He had not been able to help Hokuto or Kotori, but perhaps this time, things would be different.
Now if only the pieces would get into place. He turned to a mirror and gazed carefully for a moment.
In his well-furnished apartment, Seishiro Sakurazuka finished his last cigarette of the day. He marked his place in the book he was reading and set it down on the bedside table, turning off the light as he did so. He laid back softly against the pillows and closed his eyes.
Subaru Sumeragi turned on his side and gazed silently out the window. He rubbed absently at the bandage on his eye, then, sighing, returned to his fitful slumber.
Far underground, beneath Tokyo's Metropolitan Government Center, Yuuto Kigai sat watching Kanoe dream. The armchair was soft and quite comfortable and he found himself nodding off.
In her borrowed bedroom on the Imonoyama estate, Karen Kasumi wrapped her bruised body in a yukata. The bath had helped her sore muscles a lot. She fell across the bed and was asleep before she could even get under the covers.
At the barracks of Ichigaya's SDF base, Kusanagi Shiyuu set his alarm clock for 0400 and pulled back the blankets of his bed. In his head, he could still hear the calls of a little abandoned kitten crying out for him. Shaking his head, he turns off the lights and laid down, absently wondering what the Missy was doing now.
Yuzuriha Nekoi was already fast asleep, arm wrapped securely around Inuki.
"Now." Said Kakyou Kaduki. And the dreamscape shifted.
He sat on a heavily forested hillside, the foliage thick around him, brilliant with the colors of autumn. For once, he could open his mind and not be overwhelmed with anger. Life and death remained, but it was in its time, and not subject to the whims of humanity. For the first time since he'd grown old enough to hear the cries of the earth, Kusanagi Shiyuu was at peace.
That was when he realized he must be dreaming.
It was strange. He rarely remembered his dreams, but he knew he'd never had a dream feel so tangible. Except for the unnatural silence in his head, everything felt so REAL. He dug his fingers into the ground and reveled in the texture. He breathed deeply. The air was so crisp, cleaner than Japan had seen for centuries.
He stood up. He was still clad in his boxers and t-shirt, his usual sleeping outfit, almost like he'd been plucked from his bed to this paradise. He climbed further up the hillside to a small glade and stopped.
There was the kitten. The little one he left behind.
"I found you." She said, and she spoke as a human might, not as the animals usually communicated, in a familiar voice.
"You have. I'm glad you're safe."
"I'm not." She replied. "It is the time for the end of things. You know that, Kusanagi-san."
He placed the voice. "Yuzuriha? Nekoi?"
The cat winked then and brought up her paw to delicately wash her face. "Nekoi is a camouflage name."
He picked her up then, in his arms. "You're not really a cat."
"No, I'm a dog." And he was no longer holding the little black and white cat, but Inuki, Yuzuriha's puppy inugami. "But you know that as well, Kusanagi-san." The dog licked his face and he absently ruffled it's fur. "But I'm not really a dog, either."
"No, you're…"
The dog transformed. "A dragon." It finished. Kusanagi held onto it with all his strength as it rose above him in the sky. "A dragon of Heaven. And it seems I must destroy you. Unless you know my secret. What is my secret, green man?"
I don't know the answer, he thought, what is the answer? He held onto the dragon desperately, knowing that if he released it, he would die then and there. They rose high above the glade and Kusanagi looked down upon the wall of green beneath him and knew the answer. She had him floating on air and that weakened him, and the only way to defend himself was to put his feet back on the ground. "Lady of the Beasts, you are not really a dragon, are you? You're a girl."
The dragon reared up and shook, but he would not let it go. Then a light engulfed them both and he felt himself falling down, down, back into the glade, and he closed his eyes but even then, he would not let go. Then he was back on the ground and Yuzuriha was in his arms.
She was clad in a cute yellow pajama set and looked utterly confused. "Kusanagi-san? What are you doing in my dream?" she asked.
He could say nothing for a moment, but instead held her very tightly and bent down to take her lips with his own. She gasped a little, then responded as he deepened the kiss. He pulled away, brushing her hair away from her face. It was her, he could tell, from her response, her scent, her taste…and he suddenly felt like he was floating on air again.
She looked up at him for a moment, her eyes dark. She glanced around and he realized they were no longer in a forest, but a shrine, one unfamiliar to him. She kissed him softly again then pulled away and looked at him solemnly.
"Do you love me?" she asked, her eyes intent.
"What do you think?" his hand stroked her cheek tenderly.
Yuzuriha studied his face for a moment, then looked down, with a blush.
"You said we should wait." She murmured.
Did he? Yes, he recalled that. "I did."
"But I don't want to wait."
"You're too young."
"But I'm not, Kusanagi-san. I'm as old as you are, didn't you know that? As old as the earth, as old as life and death. How can I be too young?"
He hesitated. "You were frightened. I didn't want to scare you."
"I was frightened, but I'm not anymore. We were awake then. This is a dream."
His heart quickened and his arms tightened around her. But he hesitated. "Missy, do you know what you're asking?"
She made no answer, but looked up at him with a woman's smile. She then drew his head down to meet her lips.
He tried to be gentle, but she would have none of it. She didn't seem to know what she was doing, but was enthusiastic, while he patiently instructed her. He made no sound as he loved her, but she made up for it, gasping and crying and laughing as he entered her. And he barely noticed that one moment he was pressing her down in the sweet grass with the fresh earth around them and the next he was feeling the wooden floor against his back as she rose above him, glowing in laughter and desire. And when he was finished and she was sated, they lay curled up together in what looked like a garden. And it was no longer autumn, but spring.
"Missy…" he started, then stopped, not knowing what to say.
She turned her face to look up at him, and gave him a shy grin. "I should dream like this more often!"
And he laughed. She could always make him laugh. And he knew then why he loved her, because every day was springtime when she was in his arms. He kissed her cheek lightly and nibbled her ear. "You rest now, Missy. And I will, too."
"Will I see you again? Soon?"
He smiled at that. "Soon," he promised. "When we're both awake."
And in his dream, he could stay with her safely in his arms, away from the battles of heaven and earth, for the entire night, and the next day, and every day after. Because it was only a dream.
The church was huge. A basilica, or perhaps, a cathedral. It reminded him of something he'd seen when he was a child, when he and Tomoe had traveled with their parents to Europe, where their faith was more common.
If only they could see me know. Yuuto Kigai was nothing if not fond of irony. Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. Again and again and again and again…
It was a dream, he knew that at once, despite the very real feel of the area. He hadn't entered a church in years. But it seemed harmless enough, and interesting, so why not go in?
As he walked down the center aisle, he looked from side to side at the brilliant stained glass windows and the exquisite statuary. There was blessed Mary, and patient Joseph, and the little sacred baby. There He was again, healing the sick and saving the sinners. And oh, look, Him again, dying horribly, high on the cross. The Romans were nothing if not creative in their cruelty, he thought. And there were His disciples. He had twelve, KAMUI has to make do with half that. So how does that work out for the betrayal? Will someone turn or do we have only one-half a Judas?
But perhaps that was not a good comparison. This, after all, was Japan, not the Holy Land. He glanced up to the windows and found another allegory there. The Angels, beautiful and terrible: St. Michael, leading the hosts of heaven with his great sword aloft; on another window, St. Gabriel, lily in hand, whispered the will of God in the ear of the Nazarene Virgin; In yet another vista, St. Raphael traveled incognito, walking unseen amongst the people of Israel. And then there was St. Uriel. Yuuto stopped to consider this one. The Angel of Fire, harbinger of the Sun. Yet the image was not that he remembered from his childhood, but instead that of Karen Kasumi.
She was beyond beauty, chaste as a virgin, carnal as a whore, her hair as red as blood, her wings as black as night. Her smile was soft and cruel and inviting, her eyes promising and condemning at the same time. He stood astounded at the sight, especially as she emerged from the window, brighter than sunlight, the verses on the window rolling off her perfect lips.
Salve lux fidelium
Fulgens in aurora
Quo es supra lilium
Pulcra et Decora
They burned his ears. She smiled gently at him, then raised her hand and flame danced about it. "You were looking for me?" she asked, her tone as bright as the fire that rolled about her.
"I was." He replied. "How nice to see you again. You look lovely."
She laughed, hovering in the air above him. "You flatter me."
"I only speak the truth," he replied, bowing. The water was gathering, he could feel it in his very being. The moisture clung to his fingers, ready, waiting…
"So you finally found me." She mocked him with little flames that chattered around him like fussy birds. "What do you want with me?"
"You." He replied simply and attacked.
Their last battle had been one of feint and recovery, as they tested each other limits, each trying to find a chink in the others armor, a weakness that could be exploited and enlarged upon. No such battle this. The great elements rose against each other and met and mingled, with steam as the final result. And within that tumult, he caught her and pulled her to him, savagely.
"Oh. Is that what you want?" her tone was mocking.
"Yes." He murmured as he held her closer.
"Then that is what you'll get. Pity…" she sighed, then grabbed his chin and took his mouth. Suddenly, he wasn't clear as to who was the aggressor.
She burned him, he froze her, then the steam surrounded them as they coupled. When he had finished, she disengaged herself and leaned down to stroke his hair.
"You should have stayed away." She said. "Everything has a price."
"I love you." He replied. And strangely enough, meant it.
"This really IS a dream, isn't it?" She laughed bitterly and kissed him. "You'll learn not to play with fire."
The Tree was in full bloom and the two men below looked up at it, then at each other.
"This is a dream." Said Seishiro Sakurazuka.
"I know." Replied Subaru Sumeragi.
"It's a good illusion, I have to admit."
"Probably that dreamseer from the Dragons of Earth."
"Him? Yes, I suppose so." Seishiro looked at Subaru from the corner of his good eye and smirked. "Ah, well, he's having a joke at our expense, obviously. No need wasting the opportunity."
He pulled the younger man to him. Subaru did not even try to resist. And as it had always been before, he took what was given, and bit his lip bloody trying to hide his tears.
To be continued in part 7
