Title: Chains
Pairing: SouKazu
Fandom: Soukyuu no Fafner
Theme: #13 excessive chain
Disclaimer: Don't own any of it. Nope. Otherwise I would know when the OVA is coming out already, so I wouldn't have to be dying like this. Ahem.
Notes/Warnings: SPOILERS for the entire series. In particular episodes 6 and 23-25. As a nice follow up to my last theme of complete sap, here's some angst for you (of course, a tiny bit of sap still managed to make its way in there...). Yes, I do realize that it is Valentine's Day. Hey, some people hate the day, right? There ya go. Also, focuses on Maya quite a lot, so hope that's okay (never got an answer to the question I asked in the FAQ post...). Big thank you's to bothtenshiforgotten andbloodstain5 for beta-ing!
Chains
Maya asked Kazuki once why he didn't cry more when Soushi left. He had cried the first time they thought Soushi had been killed and cried in relief when they found out he was still alive after all. He had even cried when Shouko died, if only a little. But the second time Soushi left them the final time he had barely spilled more than a few tears. That she knew about, anyway.
That was when he told her. With utmost surety, not a hint of hesitation present in his voice or body language whatsoever, he said, "That's because Soushi will come back. He promised me."
She bit back the words that rose to the tip of her tongue, threatening to burst out. Just because you keep your promises doesn't mean that everyone else always does, Kazuki-kun. Not everyone is as sweet as you…
Instead, she just asked, "How long are you going to wait though, Kazuki-kun?"
She didn't say what she was really thinking (Minashiro-kun's dead! He can't come back!), or ask what she really wanted to know (When will you accept that and start letting your heart heal...and move on?). She would never say those things if it meant hurting Kazuki.
"Forever," Kazuki answered, not needing even a moment to consider his answer, and her breath caught in her throat at the captivating depth of unfaltering faith that shone in Kazuki's brown eyes as he said it, making them dance and glitter in the light. Beautiful, her heart sang, even as she was still thinking, He really believes that Minashiro-kun will come back That somehow, just because it's Soushi and he promised, he'll be able to escape from even the chains of death.
Were the chains of a promise that much stronger?
It wasn't until a year later, when Soushi finally reappeared and Kazuki ran to him, hugging and kissing him and not caring who saw, that she finally understood.
The chains of a promise tied two people together, and were sometimes, especially when coupled with true love, oh so much stronger than anything else.
It was then that Maya accepted that she had no chance of gaining Kazuki's heart, and it was then that she began to wonder when her own would begin heal and move on instead.