We only said he was married and she's dead (cause of death will be explained in Res Judicata, a story to come... poor guy...).
RJ will deal with (among other things) Sohryu's family, his wife and more, explaining a few things (our way) about him, Touda, and what exactly happened to get Touda imprisoned for centuries (and if you think he just offed his wife and that was it, you're on the completely wrong track. The manga said he killed thousands, we just found a reason why eg>). We're still writing that one and it's long.
Macx
Sohyru had stayed with his 'charge' throughout the night, calming him
as nightmares hit, and it was so much like caring for his children. In
the early morning hours Tsuzuki had curled up against him as much as his
almost healed ribs allowed, hands clenched into the flowing robes, looking
like a small child.
My charge, Sohryu repeated to himself in wonder. It was what he felt.
His responsibility, his to protect, his to serve.
His hands played with the brown strands, finger-combed them out of
the pale face. Tsuzuki made a little noise of content.
The door suddenly opened and Kijin's blue-haired head poked in. He
was already up and dressed in his robes.
"Father?" he asked quietly.
Sohryu never stopped his caress as he looked at his son. "Yes?"
"How is Tsuzuki?"
"Healing. I think the worst has passed."
Kijin quietly approached the bed, looking worried. "I hope he gets
well soon. Tenkou was crying last night."
Sohryu felt something inside him wince. His children loved Tsuzuki,
had become his shikigami due to their father's pledge of loyalty, which
had pledged his children to his new master as well, much to his chagrin.
Tsuzuki had been nothing but wonderful with them. They truly adored the
young man, and he had never once called on them in battle or otherwise.
"Do you think she could see him?" Kijin wanted to know.
Sohryu nodded and his son quickly left the room.
"You have an impact," the dragon whispered, stroking over the smooth
cheek. "And you aren't even aware of it, right?"
Tsuzuki moved a little and suddenly amethyst eyes opened, blinking
a little. Sohryu felt caught in the act, but it was too late to pull away.
His hand was resting against the shinigami's cheek, he was sharing his
bed, and Tsuzuki had almost cocooned himself in the silky robes.
"Sohryu?" he mumbled.
"Yes. I'm sorry I woke you."
"'S okay." Tsuzuki didn't move. He smiled a little at the other man.
Before the awkward situation – awkward for Sohryu – could turn worse,
Tenkou came into the room, wide eyes taking in Tsuzuki.
"Tsuzuki-san!"
"Hey, princess," he replied, voice stronger than before.
Tsuzuki winced as he turned, trying to sit up, and Sohryu pushed him
down again.
"You're not in shape to sit," he rumbled as he rose fluidly from the
mattress, making room for his daughter.
His son was hovering in the background, just as worried as his sister
but trying not to really show it. Tenkou stopped at the bed, examining
the shinigami.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yes, I'll be fine. Your father took good care of me."
Sohryu's face was like made of stone as he listened to the words. He
hadn't taken care of his master, which was why he was currently lying in
this bed, injured.
"Are you hungry? I could get you breakfast," Tenkou asked, stroking
over the uninjured hand.
"That would be great, kid. Thanks."
She beamed at him. Tenkou was older than the ten years she physically
appeared to be, but in shikigami terms she was a child.
When the two were gone, Sohryu was suddenly the sole focus of two very
intensely colored eyes. A smile was on Tsuzuki's features, a smile that
spoke of pleasure and satisfaction, of being at peace with himself.
"I'll let the others know," the dragon just rumbled. "Byakko was running
a ditch into my palace floor."
"Thanks." The smile was still there, soft and warm and filled with
a knowledge Sohryu secretly feared.
The water shikigami just nodded once and, in a flurry of robes, left
the room. Part of him reminded him of how nice it had felt to have Tsuzuki
with him, to have him close, to be needed by this fascinating man. He had
liked taking care of him, and not just because it had been his fault he
had gotten injured in the first place.
Tsuzuki had rendered him helpless. He had conquered the dragon in more
ways than one. He had found cracks in the formerly impenetrable shields…
and without even wanting to he had used them.
You are a powerful man, Tsuzuki Asato, he thought to himself as he
entered his office.
Tsuzuki had come back to GensouKai almost half a day ago, two days after
the 'incident', and he had been greeted by Byakko. Enthusiastic as ever,
the tiger had nearly bowled him over, hugging the slender man, happy to
see him. Tsuzuki had spent most of his time with the wind shikigami, with
Suzaku dropping by as always because she was attracted to Tsuzuki like
a moth to the light.
Sohryu watched the two shikigami and his master as they sat in the
court yard under the old trees, laughing, talking, relaxing. Tsuzuki finally
said good-bye and walked into the palace, looking carefree, happy, as if
nothing had ever happened.
But something had.
Sohryu had nearly been responsible for his master's death.
He had hesitated, he had decided the threat was harmless, he had not
trusted Tsuzuki.
My mistake, he thought.
Tsuzuki walked into the main hall, greeting the servants, smiling,
and Sohryu still kept an eye on him. The shinigami wasn't a vengeful person.
He would be the last to punish one of his shikigami, but nothing like this
had ever happened.
Sohryu had been disobedient.
"Hey, Sohryu!" Tsuzuki's cheerful voice called out to him and the shinigami
smiled widely.
Sohryu couldn't understand why Tsuzuki was as he was. Any other master
would have come back demanding why he had disobeyed.
Still…
… still his reaction was just the same. The powerful Protector of the
East bowed his head and went down on one knee.
Tsuzuki had been in a really good mood when he had come back to GensouKai.
There was no real reason for him to visit the other dimension, but he had
felt like it. Byakko had greeted him happily, Suzaku had hugged the living
daylights out of him, and the three of them had spent a wonderful hour
just talking.
Deciding to drop by Sohryu to see how the dragon was, he passed through
the main room, greeting the servants who all knew him, and finally knocked
on the door to the private quarters.
"Hey, Sohryu!" he called, smiling at his friend.
The smile was off his face the moment the tall, majestic figure went
down on one knee and bowed his head submissively.
Tsuzuki felt something inside of him come to a screeching halt, shocked
beyond words. None of his shikigami bowed. Byakko and Suzaku had been told
right away, just like Rikudo and his sensei Genbu, that Tsuzuki didn't
want it. He hated this obedience protocoll. He felt unwell having anyone
bow before him, especially such noble and powerful beings.
Sohryu had made it clear right from the start that he wouldn't ever
go down on his knees, let alone bow.
Now he did.
"S…s.. sohryu?" he stuttered, voice very small and stricken. "What
are you doing?"
"I disobeyed you, master. It was my fault you were hurt. I didn't trust
your judgment," the dragon answered, the long blue hair obscuring his face.
Tsuzuki shook his head almost frantically. "No! I told you… I told
you before… it wasn't… no!"
He came closer to the other man, shaking slightly. He didn't want this.
And it wasn't Sohryu's fault. He knew with dead certainty that it wasn't.
A mistake was a mistake and it shouldn't be held in front of one's eyes.
"Please, don't kneel!" he begged, sinking onto his knees before the
shikigami. "Please…"
Something inside Tsuzuki was cringing in pain at the submission, wanted
nothing more than to see this proud being as he knew him.
"Sohryu?" he asked softly, one hand stretched out to push away the
long, heavy locks.
Non-human eyes raised to look at him and Tsuzuki stroked the silky
hair. He gave his shikigami a reassuring smile.
"I don't blame you, Sohryu. And I don't want this submission. I don't
want servants. I want friends. Friends don't kneel."
"What I did…"
"It's okay. It's history. Over. You misjudged the situation, that's
all," he explained, voice taking on a calm, soothing quality.
Sohryu felt something inside of him shiver at the gentle contact of
Tsuzuki's fingers with his hair. If he had been a cat he would have purred.
As it was, he was a dragon and he felt soft rumbles rise in his throat.
His own hand caught the caressing fingers, held them, and he met the eyes
of his shinigami master.
"And don't call me master," Tsuzuki whispered. "I'm no one's master,
Sohryu. You are all your own person."
"We serve you."
"So you do. Just… stop calling me that, okay?"
He nodded slowly and a small smile stretched over his lips.
"Thank you," Tsuzuki whispered.
And then he hugged him. Like he hugged the others, with the same warmth
and affection and true feelings. Sohryu almost instinctively closed his
arms around the slender form, enjoying the feeling of closeness, of affection.
Sohryu put down the plate and found Tsuzuki smiling at him. So child-like,
so happy, so innocent, and behind all that lurked a power that had bested
a dragon. No human commanded a dragon, let alone a God.
Tsuzuki did.
Four Gods, twelve shikigami altogether.
You're very special, not just to me, Sohryu thought. I know that now.
I was a narrow-minded fool in the past.
"Better?" Tsuzuki asked.
"Yes."
In so many ways. Some wounds were still healing and scars had remained,
but they didn't ache any more. Tsuzuki took care of that.
"Good!" Tsuzuki got up, grinning.
Sohryu didn't have the relationship with this amazing man Byakko had.
Byakko was completely different in nature. None of the others had such
a friendship. They all shared something special one way or the other. Sohryu
knew he belonged to Tsuzuki, to his unusual master, to this bright soul.
It felt good to belong, he mused as he walked out of the private room,
Tsuzuki in tow.
Very, very good.