.a.n.: First and foremost, Merry Christmas Eve! And yes, it is Christmas Eve right now, 1:12 AM, yay...not. ::blushes:: There're housechores to be done and party to prepare for...so I have to get up at 8 AM ::cries::. Anyway, I decided to try out a new style, so it's somewhat different from the other stuff I've written. I know I put the pairing down as Saeki x ?, but if you know any of my writing, you know who I'd pair him with. Tehe...mm, well, I promise I'll get up another chapter of When the Wrong One Loves You Right (which I now think is waaaaay too long a title...but I can't change it ::cries::) by the 25th as a Christmas present. I'll see what I can do about Secret Santa, but I think I might put that on hiatus until next Christmas, which means I'll still be writing a year from now! ::cringes:: It's just that I can't write happy stuff...heh. Anyway, this story isn't angst, so I hope you all enjoy. Please take good care of me!
.disclaimer.: I haven't seen any PoT Christmas Eve specials lately...
...odometer...
When he started, the odometer had only read a hundred.
When he ended, it'd stopped working.
In the thousands of miles between the first and the final digits, Saeki Kojiroh had aged ten years. In those ten years, he'd traveled all of Japan, most of Europe, and a good portion of America - through rain, wind, snow, and shine. Through those travels, the white-haired tennis player had lost weight and muscle, his skin had been torn and aged by the elements, and hehad grownconstant wrinkles beneath his eyes from lack of sleep. He'd survived four car crashes, countless breakdowns in the middle of nowhere, and an infinite amount of road rage.
But it was all for a reason. A good one at that.
When Saeki Kojiroh had finally found his reason, hiding in a small town in Idaho, he bode his time. After years of never-ending travel, he took two weeks of much needed rest - that would put him right up to Christmas Eve. The first thing he did was go for a haircut. After all, it'd been years since he'd last visited a barber, and although the ponytail looked good on him, it wouldn't do for the reason he had in mind.
The next thing he did was check into a hotel. Being constantly on the road meant that he often slept in the back of his not so roomy jeep, which he'd bought after encountering rocky terrain that his old sedan just couldn't cover. His requirements for the hotel were simple: he only needed a bed, a large bath, and a cheap price. After all, how much money could he make as a simple traveller with no destination - only a reason - planned?
In his hotel room, the first he'd checked into for two years, Saeki lounged for a full hour in the bath, enjoying the feel of his pruny skin. It'd been years since he'd had a good bath - at the community centers in Europe and America, there had only been showers, so public baths were a rare thing. After changing in a fresh pair of clothes and leaving the old ones for room service to clean (there were some creature comforts he just couldn't give up), he headed out, strolling down the streets of Boise, Idaho, looking for some food.
A simple Chinese resturant served his needs: extra spicy SzeChwan beef noodle soup, five cups of hot tea, and a fortune cookie, which generically read:
"You will find true love."
Saeki smirked, but pocketed the fortune and ate the cookie nonetheless. He wasn't Sengoku, so he probably needed all the luck he could get. Strolling back to his hotel room, he enjoyed the fresh air for the first time since he'd left Japan. Not that he regretted it. Nothing done for a reason should be followed by regrets. When he arrived at his room, he flipped the sign to read "Do not disturb," and languidly savoured the comfort of a real bed, with real pillows, and real blankets.
This routine continued for the next two weeks, through the cold wind and the fresh snowfall that December always promised. Every day, Saeki would visit Boise downtown - in particular, the SzeChuan resturant, where he'd always order the same thing: extra spicy beef noodle soup, a pot of hot tea, and a fortune cookie. In the time he spent relaxing, his frame filled back out, aided by the daily exercise he took in the hotel gym. The circles under his eyes disappeared, and his hair regained its previous luster. When his vacation time had run out, Saeki looked like he had ten years ago, before he left Japan, albeit a bit older and wiser.
On Christmas Eve, his journey ended. Taking his jeep and meager belongings, the white-haired man left a tip on the comfortable bed and left Boise. Driving down snow-filled roads, he arrived at a small town, bright with old-fashioned lighting and children's faces. He smiled, more to himself than anyone else. Turning off the ignition, he got out of the car and walked purposefully towards a house.
The doorbell chime was light, a passable imitation of birdsong. A middle-aged woman answered the door, her older - but still becoming - face forming a look of shock and suprise. Then, it smoothed out into a smile, and welcomed him in.
"It's been a long time," she told him, scoldingly.
"And I have stories to account for it," he laughed back.
She led him through a winding hallway, where a sliver of light shone through a slightly open door. She smiled again, and nodded at him.
"He's been waiting for you," she said, quietly.
"I've been looking for him," he replied.
Saeki Kojiroh knocked the door softly, opening it slowly and holding his breath. After all, it wouldn't do for the moment he'd been waiting ten years for to be anticlimatic. Closing his eyes and walking in, he stood in the middle of the room and waited patiently.
"Open your eyes, Kojiroh," came a gentle voice from his left.
He did.
"Syuusuke," was his only response.
The tensai looked fragile: thinner than he'd been before, and paler as well. There was less hair on his head, and his smile seemed weaker, but he was still the same way Saeki remembered him: beautiful.
"You made it," the brunette's lips curved up into a familiar smile.
"So did you," Saeki smiled back, the way he always had.
"You searched the world?" Fuji asked, as if seeing the white-haired man in a new light.
"You survived your cancer?" The white-haired man asked, letting the awe shine through his voice.
They laughed together. It felt good.
"It took ten years," Saeki noted.
"Ten long years," Fuji agreed.
"Now will you answer my question?" His smile quirked down.
"Which one?" The tensai looked serious.
"The one I asked before you left. The one you said you'd answer if you survived...if I looked for and found you after you survived. The one you said that only time and true love could tell." Saeki took adeep breath. He hadn't spoken so much since he'd stopped talking to himself.
"Oh...that one." Fuji smiled again. "After all this, do you really think I'd answer no?"
Saeki crossed the space between them in two strides.
"In that case, close your eyes."
Fuji did. He tried not to concentrate on the warm breath misting over his forehead or the strong arm wrapped around his waist. Instead, he focused on the hand that held his own slender one captive, and the cold band that was slowly being slipped around his ring finger.
An emotion-filled voice whispered into his ear.
"This may be ten years late, but here it finally is. Merry Christmas Eve. Aishiteru."
.a.n.: Yay, SaeFuji happiness! Since I'll be writing more TezuFuji interaction scenes for my upcoming chapter. But this one-shot ended happily! ::dances:: I figured that I couldn't kill someone off on Christmas Eve, of all days, hehe... Anyway, I hope you're all enjoying this "wonderful time of year," and hopefully you're enjoying the people around you too. ::debates whether or not to wink:: A toast to all the writers, especially those who've finished their lovely Christmas fics with all the captivating pairings and well placed mistletoe. You all make me so happy. Merry Christmas Eve, until next time!