Title: In this dream
Series: Soukyuu no Fafner
Pairing: SouKazu
Type: m/m
Rating: PG? No more than that at least.
Challenge: Picture challenge for tempsmort. Time taken is 30 minutes.
Theme: #6 'the space between dreams and reality' for 30kisses
Disclaimer: Don't own it. Also don't own the picture. Now where's that damn ova already?
Thank you to bloodstain5for beta-ing. SPOILERS if you haven't seen the entire series.

In this dream

Kazuki dreams of him sometimes, in the eternity between when the first rays of sun begin to light the sky and the time when his alarm clock goes off, the loud ringing jolting him awake as flashbacks of times when a similar alarm would ring all over the island play through his mind.

He'll see Soushi coming home, finally, and such a sense of utter relief and elation will fill him, making him so certain that it's truly real, for once, even though he's had the same dream countless times by now and every time wakes up only to the disappointment of lonely reality. But every time, he thinks: This is it, this time it's real. Soushi's come back, just like he promised.

Sometimes his dreams become nightmares instead. He'll see Soushi floating in some empty black cloud, held up by nothing and yet unable to move, head hanging and body sagging. Blood will be dripping from some unseen wound, until Soushi lifts his head so Kazuki can see the bloody gash across his left eye. Soushi will glare his way, and though he never speaks his one good eye will be communicating plenty: It's your fault, Kazuki. Your fault, all your fault.

In that nightmare, a scream will always sound at the very end, though he's never sure who it is that actually screams; Soushi or him. Either way, it jolts him awake every time without fail, more often than not leaving him to hurriedly wipe away the tears kissing his face.

He misses Soushi so much these days, and sometimes it's almost to the point of making him doubt Soushi's promise to return. But then he'll catch sight of a picture of his lost friend, or see something that reminds him of long past times spent together, and will once again remind himself firmly that Soushi promised, and he will be back. Whether it takes years, or even decades, he will be back.

Kazuki's favorite dream out of any is the one that occurs the least often, and so the times when it actually does are held precious. In it, he will somehow have wings, like an angel. He will be smiling joyfully, as if there are no problems in the vast wide world for once and he can finally be free, and soaring straight up into the sky, past the clouds to where it is blue and bright. This scene is what the word 'azure' means to him, and that is the only word he has ever been able to come up with to adequately describe it and the feeling that accompanies it.

The word also works because of more than just the sky around him, in this dream. Flying up and up, he somehow knows he is heading to wherever Soushi is, finally about to bring him back home again, to where he belongs and is missed. Back then, the rescue mission to save Soushi was called 'Azure', and here it is again, though this time in the warm, sunny sky instead of the cold, dark North Pole.

Despite the wings and joy, his eyes are red in this dream, as they are when he pilots Fafner. He doesn't know why this is, but it's more of a curious observation than a real contemplation or worry. He's going to Soushi; why should it matter what color his eyes are?

In this dream, he will continue up and up, higher and higher, never looking down and the eager grin never leaving his face. Then, suddenly, everything will freeze except for him continuing upwards, until, as if watching a square framed television set, he will reach the top of the picture and disappear in a flash of bright white light.

Kazuki always wakes up then, blinking his eyes open and seeing spots as if the light had been real. But even though he doesn't see Soushi in that dream, it leaves him feeling satisfied, for some reason that he's not entirely sure of, and he always looks forward to seeing it again. Maybe a part of him is hoping that, someday, he will finish the dream and reach Soushi, grab his hand and throw him a smile before launching off again and flapping his wings all the way back down to the island.

He never lets himself think that the dream is over as it is.