Author's Notes: I know it was a long wait for such a cliff hanger but I hope you find it worth the wait. Here's the second to the last installment to this saga.
Standard Disclaimers Apply.
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Chapter Eleven
"Listen, ninja, for I shall only tell you this once:
The heart was meant to occupy a lot
Yet, ninja, in your case this is not.
Only one can you have, only one can you save.
Pick the sun or the moon, it's your decision.
But keep in mind that you only have a minute
Or both will perish before your eyes."
Akira tightened his grip on Nagisa. "Tell, us, Takamura. Who will you pick? Imonoyama or Azuya?"
The wind blew harder.
Hands tightened around Nokoru as well. "You have one minute to pick your one, ninja. And it starts now."
The seconds ticked by and for Suoh, it was painfully so. One minute to pick one out of two people he loved so much. Only one.
Hadn't this been his problem for the past few days?
Had he found the answer?
58 seconds
He glanced at Nagisa. The wind was getting colder, causing her lips to become bluish. There was desperation in those eyes. One that told him to rescue her, to pick her. One that told him she was waiting for him all this time. One that said that she needed him.
40 seconds
Nokoru wanted to injure his captors badly. How could they do this, he wanted to ask. How could they put an innocent woman in danger? How could they…
He glanced at Suoh. What was the ninja doing?
"SUOH, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK ARE YOU DOING?! WHY AREN'T YOU SAVING NAGISA-JO YET?"
Golden eyes met his own raging blue ones. He was angry, and rightfully so. Takamura Suoh, top ninja of the Takamura clan, was standing there, looking at the two of them. Just looking and not saying anything.
"DAMMIT, SUOH! JUST SAVE NAGISA-JO!"
25 seconds
Nokoru's words rang in his mind. What was he doing anyway? Why was he taking so much time in choosing who to pick? What was his problem?
The blonde was trying to untie his bonds, he could see. There was no desperation or plea of rescue in those eyes. Just determination to get out of those bonds.
It was clear that Nokoru could take care of himself. He could save himself. So why couldn't he just pick Nagisa? Why could he just say it so that he could save them both?
15 seconds
Because Imonoyama Nokoru was his one. He was the one whom Suoh promised he'd protect for all time. He was the one he would stay beside with, laugh with, cry with. He was the one he picked out of all the hundreds of people in Japan or millions in the world. He picked that blonde, that headstrong, marvelous blonde.
"You only have ten seconds, Takamura, before both of them fall to the ground."
Suoh closed his eyes.
9 seconds
"TAKAMURA-SAN!"
"SUOH, JUST SAY NAGISA-JO'S NAME!"
Nokoru was right. He should pick Nagisa. After all, wasn't she the one he loved? Wasn't she the one he proposed to? Wasn't she the one who reigned in his heart?
Wasn't she?
8 seconds
But if she was the one, why did he pick all those memories that reminded him of Nokoru? Why did he choose the sunflowers instead of the wisteria tree where he first met Nagisa? Why did he follow that path?
Did it mean that he loved Nokoru as well?
7 seconds
True, out of all the people in the world, Nokoru was one of those he knew he could not live without. He knew it was virtually impossible to be with Nokoru all the time but the prospect of a life without the blonde scared him more than he thought at first.
It was like he was already touched by the sun. And being without it was plain impossible.
So, did he love Nokoru?
6 seconds
Or perhaps, the question wasn't clear.
Did he love Nokoru the way the blonde loved him?
And if he did, what did that make his love for Nagisa? Fake?
Did he just love Nagisa because of the social restraints that fenced his feelings for Nokoru?
And if so, did he just fool himself, Nagisa and Nokoru all this time?
5 seconds
She felt cold. She didn't know what was chiefly causing it, but she felt really cold.
Perhaps, Nagisa thought, it was the hesitation in those eyes. The hesitation to pick her.
Had her intuitions been right all along? Was she only borrowing light from Nokoru all these years? Did it mean that Suoh had never loved her?
The pain wasn't coming from her bonds. It was from heart.
4 seconds
Akira gulped down hard. As the seconds ticked by, more sweat trickled down his forehead. His heart beat faster.
Why couldn't Suoh just chose quickly? If he was to pick Nagisa, he should do so now. If he was to break Nokoru's heart thoroughly, he should do it quickly. One quick blow and save the two most important people in his life.
If he didn't…
No. He didn't want to think about it.
3 seconds
Emerald eyes tried not to show any emotion. He tried to stay cold. But the uncertainty in Suoh's eyes was making his walls crumble.
What if the ninja couldn't decide before the minute was over? It wasn't he didn't trust his plan – it was failure proof – but…
He had to trust Suoh. He just had to.
2 seconds
He didn't care if his wrists were full of scars and cuts. What was important was that he should free himself from his captor. Suoh had to save Nagisa. He could handle himself.
Cerulean eyes traveled to where his ninja was. Suoh was still deciding and his time was running out.
Nokoru's heart was breaking every time he asked Suoh to pick Nagisa. But it was the right thing to do. Nagisa was a lady, Suoh's lady. The one Suoh loved.
He bit his lip. It was only right. It was only right.
1 second
Who did he really love? Was it possible to love two people both and equally at the same time?
His mother's words rang in his mind. Words that he had heard ever since he was a little kid.
"You can only pick one."
Only one.
Nagisa. Nokoru.
Who was it really that he loved?
Zero
Idomu breathed in deep. "You're time is up, Takamura. Say goodbye to the people you love."
Eyes met from the two sides of the tower. Eyes that put on masks of steel as they released Nagisa and Nokoru and let them fall thousands of feet to the ground.
-Tsuzuku-