Standard Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, or this storyline. Please don't sue me…
Note: This is a shounen-ai, AU fic (ie: there be gayness and it be set somewhere else and at some other time)
My god, how long have I been gone anyways? Gomen nasaii! Here be the last chapter to this story, in which afterwards I think I'll start writing comedies, just cuz all this angst is getting to me. Of course, maybe just one more……
'Nyways, now to see what happens to poor Cye and Ryo!
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A Tale
By Sanada Mirako
Chapter 4: The End
I woke up the next morning, my head swimming with the images of fireflies, Ryo, and the hazy summer night. Dressed in thin, linen pants and shirt, I quickly changed into some suitable playing clothes, and skipped out to meet Ryo over the wall, only to nearly crash into my nurse. " So sorry, Nurse!" I apologized profusely for almost making her drop all our laundry, and asked if I could have some lunch to take out with me.
" Ah yes, little master, I almost forgot! The Master wishes to speak to you; he says for you to join him in the study once you have woken up and are refreshed." My heart nearly skipped a beat; only twice was I ever called to join my father, for he was always busy with either maintaining the grounds or entertaining company. I nodded, perhaps a bit grimly, because then Nurse gave me a light-hearted smile, " If you've done nothing wrong then there is nothing to be worried about."
" Of course, how right you are," I managed weakly. Looking out, my 13-year-old mind had come to the conclusion that while it was so beautiful outside, nothing wrong could possibly happen, so I set off to the study at a determined pace. In front of the large, ornately-carved doors, I paused, and knocked sharply twice, before the voice inside bade me enter.
" My, Cye, you've grown dark lately. No doubt you spend too much time out in the sun." My father commented after we had exchanged formalities.
" I wouldn't know about too much…" I answered vaguely, " …Sir." No amount of time was too much with my Spanish tiger.
" Ah, Cye, drop the 'sir'. I talk to you now man-to-man. Now, Cye, what have you been doing in the woods?" Now as I think back on this conversation, as if it would ever leave the depths of my mind, I would have recognized the expression in my father's gaze as a predator watches his prey. But at that time, I knew nothing of it.
" Um, I walk through the woods, and catch butterflies." I answered, which was honest.
" And?"
" Nothing else, sir."
" Cye, it's not good to lie. And what did I tell you about 'sir'?"
" Not to call you 'sir'. I'm sorry."
" Now what did you do last night in the woods? Answer truthfully."
" I…went to a meadow and tried to catch fireflies." I could feel the room closing in on me, and my father staring at me with those powerful eyes.
" Cye!" My father yelled, " I know what you did last night!" His voice softened, " I ask you this so that you might save yourself, yet you steadfastly refuse to." I stood there, looking all like a chastised boy, and prayed fretfully that what he knew was not all of what I had done that night. " Your elder brother followed you out last night, after you called sick, and within the night walked out in perfect health. He followed you over the wall, and to the meadow, and watched you, all night. Cye, it's alright to have these feelings, and with a boy, well, that's your choice. I am a lenient father. But I will not allow you to consort with some Spanish, low-born, wild orphan!" My first emotion was despair and sadness, but as my father's tirade continued, my rage began to build, until it over swamped my desperation, and all I could feel was anger.
" Ryo." I gritted through clenched teeth, " his name is Ryo. He's kind, and has more decency than those people you entertain put together."
" Yes, yes, of course." My father answered off-handedly, " we all believe the ones we love to be like that, until they stab you in the back. I called you here, to tell you about your future."
" Can't I stay here?" Desperation overwhelmed me again; leaving here meant leaving Ryo!
" Of course not! Preposterous! This estate is going over to your elder brother; why else do you think he was educated to such an extent? I wanted to put you in a church; with my influence, and those of my companions, you might rise, and become powerful, and your future is secure. However," he leveled his gaze at me sternly, " due to this present situation, I don't know if that's wise. So I decided to give that place in the church to your younger brother. I have decided that you will go to a monastery, one away from that Spaniard, who pollutes your thoughts, and you will go tomorrow. You will not leave this house until your departure. I have already sent your elder brother to tell your Spaniard that you are unable to see him again, and that if he dares to set foot on our lands, he will be killed." I felt his eyes soften; I was too emotional to look him in the eye without bursting out and either crying or acting violent, "I'm doing this for your own good, Cye, remember that. That Spaniard is a bad influence, and you should be grateful I did not just throw you out on the streets. Now go." There was a finality to his voice that I could not argue with, even though the anger, sadness, and desperation welling in my heart wished that I do nothing but ill will to my father, and my elder brother. However, I obediently bowed and walked out, and only in the shelter of my room, under my covers, did I begin to cry, and pound my clenched fists into the giving mattress. I was in this state of distress until late at night, when the moon had already risen and filled my room with luminescent white light. Tired, and having racked my body to the limit with my sobs and cries, I lay, too tired to move, too tired to scream, too tired to even cry. A scuffle out on my open window caught my attention, and I was stunned into happy shock by the sight of Ryo, my Ryo, grabbing for a handhold on my 2nd story bedroom window.
" Oy, Cye, give me a hand up, alrigh'? A lil' help neva' hurt anyone before." I rushed to his aid, and pulled him in, and we collapsed in an unsightly heap on the floor. I hugged him as hard as I could, and told Ryo all that had happened that day, as my emotions, which I had thought but a minute ago were dry, and dead, had spewed forth again, stronger than a tidal wave. As I cried on Ryo's shoulder, he stroked my hair, calming me, and reassuring me, but I could feel his rage build up in him, like a fire as unquenchable as his spirit. Then I realized what a horrible predicament we had just gotten into.
" Ryo! If anyone sees you, they'll kill you!"
Ryo returned with a winning smirk, " I know, and d'ya think that half-assed threat was enough to keep me from coming? Have a little faith! But I'll be damned if I didn't want to crack your brother's skull…he's a prick, you know? Acting as if I'm nothing compared to him. Well I might not have rich family, but I can still beat him in a fight – anytime!" He energetically punched his empty palm, " called me a low-life, barbaric, heretic ruffian, eh? Well we'll see about that." I noticed Ryo staring rather resolutely at the door, and strategically positioned myself between the door and him.
" Ryo, don't, please! It won't solve anything, and we'll just be in a situation more dire than now!" I stared determinedly into his sapphire blue eyes, and slowly saw the anger dim, and the optimism I knew so well return.
" You're right. I know one thing: my Cye won't be happy in some isolated monastery, eh? What to do…" I stared mournfully as he pondered, and he suddenly snapped his fingers, and stood up. " Cye, come with me! We can live together in the forest…might not be th'accommodations you're used to though. But won't it be great? In the winter we'll travel down south, where it's warm, and in the summer, we'll travel back up here, where it won't be too hot-" Suddenly, a premonition ran through my spine.
" Ryo, duck!" I had nearly said the phrase, when a flying knife stabbed Ryo in the shoulder. Ryo clutched his shoulder, grimacing with pain, and staring daggers at the person behind me, my elder brother.
" You…bastard…" He managed through clenched teeth.
My brother was holding a self-satisfied smirk, " I missed. Oh well, I won't miss this time; next shot's to the heart, you Spanish ruffian."
I jumped between the two, shielding the wounded Ryo from my bloodthirsty kinsman, " Stop! Stop this, right now!"
" Not a chance, brother mine. Father ordered me that if I was to ever see even this barbarians shadow, to kill it." The tears began to flow again, and looking for one instant into Ryo's eyes, conveyed my wishes, and regrets.
" Ryo, please go now." I stared determinedly at my brother, with a mixed expression of extreme sadness, and extreme anger. Ryo nodded softly, and, shielded by my body, planted a quick kiss, almost just a brush of lips, against my cheek, and placed in my hand a small package.
" I love you."
" I love you too." And I could sense, rather than see, Ryo, pulling the dagger out, and leaping out the window, before landing safely in the backyard, and taking off in a run. My brother, having been denied his kill, left my room in a pompous huff, remarking that he would come soon to chain the window shut and that if I tried to escape between his going and coming, he would kill me as well. I looked out of the window, feeling more than ever like a caged animal and caught one glimpse of Ryo leaping over the stone wall, illuminated by the full moon, wild and free, while I was stuck here, unable to follow. I opened my clenched fist, and there was a necklace, with a string of tanned hide, and for a charm, a rectangular wood chip, in which was carved a firefly, and on the back, a heart. I put it on, under my shirt, and to this day, I have never taken it off, and it is my dearest possession.
I wish to say this story had a happy ending, but I despair, and must tell the truth. I left the manor the next morning, and was herded into a small carriage that would take me to the monastery. On my way into the carriage, I looked out onto the woods, but could not see Ryo. Upon my arrival I met a fellow monk, 3 years older than I, named Rowen, who had been in a similar predicament as mine. He was once the son a theologician, and fell in love with a butcher's boy, Kento. But his father, upon finding out that his son was in love with a boy, killed Kento in front of Rowen's eyes, and kicked Rowen out of his house, leaving Rowen to find his own way to the monastery we now live in. All Rowen has left of Kento is a sketch his friend Sage did of the two of them. My blue-haired friend, upon hearing my story, swore that he would help me find my lost lover. For the next 7 years, Rowen employed all sorts of people to search for a Spaniard, about 5'6", with dark blue eyes. Rowen's friends were loyal, searching high and low through England, France, and Spain, during the times of the Black Death, looking for my tiger, while I, unable to do anything from lack of connections, fervently prayed that Ryo's life be protected, and that his health be optimum. At the end of the 7 years, one scout returned and through Rowen told me that Ryo had died, 3 years ago, at age 17, from the Black Death. It was then that I went into a sinking depression, haunted by the images of that summer, unable to eat or pray. Rowen was the one that told me that through writing one might be able to let loose all the emotions, and afterwards be able to live again. So I wrote it all down, and this is my story.
The End.
A slight, brown-haired, fair-skinned monk, no more than 20 of age, placed the last sheet of his fateful story in its rightful spot. He dipped his quill in the ink one more time, paused for a moment, and wrote something with a flourish, before placing it at the top of the stack. A blue-haired monk entered, and bade the other to go to pray. After the brown-haired monk had left, the blue-haired monk looked at the stack the other had left behind. "A Tale, by Cye Mouri. Well I'll be cursed and burnt at the stake if no one reads this sometime or other." He smiled softly, and left.
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Daaaa!!!! It's done. What does everyone think about how I made this story end? This has got to be the longest chapter ever. Art thou crying? Laughing? Cursing at my inability to write? Prithee, tell me! R&R!!
~Sanada Mirako~