I don't know why I wrote this… I don't know what possessed me.

But I do know that if Makenshi or Kaze won't kill me, one of you readers might…

Ashes to Ashes

Gray… Everything was gray. The dead threes, the cracked ground, even the sky was gray. There were gray stones, and dunes and mountains, also in gray. There was even gray mist floating around.

Kuroki Kaze let his gaze sweep over the landscapes with a silent sigh. This had to be the dreariest place he'd ended up in so far…

As he began walking through the gray landscapes and its mist, he noticed an odd smell as well as taste in the air.

Shrugging it of, the black wind continued walking in search for something.

Not far from there, another man needed to be reminded exactly why he had bothered to come to this dead world. The gray substance floating in the wind made him feel dizzy. Why had he even taken his mask off in the first place?

The man leaned against a gray mountain wall and sighed as he looked down on his pure white clothes. The gray dust was clinging to his clothes and if he stayed in this place much longer; he might actually become gray as well.

Somehow that thought felt highly amusing and the man couldn't help but chuckle. White Cloud would become Gray Cloud…

The man known as Makenshi leaned even more heavily against the wall and let his eyes slid shut. The small smile that had graced his lips died. What was it he had been thinking about? He couldn't quite focus… he felt so lightheaded.

Okay… So perhaps Kaze had done wrong when ignoring the smell and taste in the air. He felt… odd. The little memories that he had were slowly beginning to disappear. For instance: He couldn't remember who he was or how he'd ended up in this world.

…Wait. He hadn't known that from the beginning, so it didn't count…

There was something in the mist that seemed to cling to his lungs and parts of his mouth, creating an unusual, tickling, feeling. It was incredibly distracting.

Looking around the landscape Black Wind noticed something different. A spot of white on a gray hill, against a gray mountain wall. Kaze began walking towards the white.

Climbing up the hill the black clad man noticed, to his delight, that the pure white spot actually was another person. Kaze's joy came to a painful point as he somehow managed to slip on the gray dust and fell on his face while hitting his knee on a rock.

Mumbling a silent curse, the carrier of the magun looked up on whoever he was heading for. The white was still beauty in the midst of all gray. Deciding that it was worth the pain, Kaze continued his climbing until he stood in front of the person in white.

He had, however, not expected what he saw. This… creature in white did seem familiar, but Kaze couldn't quite place him in his memory. (Most of it was already gone…)

Ever so carefully, Kuroki Kaze reached out his left hand and lifted the strangers chin, taking in every detail of the pale face in front of him. The stranger seemed to be unconscious, even if he was still standing. Kaze let his eyes travel over the face, concentrating, trying to remember…

Thick black lashes resting upon pale skin, a strong contrast to the pure white hair. Kaze leaned closer.

There was some sort of black spikes –or was it horns- decorating the white hair…

The feeling in Kaze's chest and mouth grew stronger, and all logical thought seem to have left him. Before he was aware of what he was doing, Black Wind had pressed his lips onto the soft lips of the stranger.

Shiroi Kumo wasn't sure of what was happening, nor did he really care. He felt a light touch on his chin, lifting his face up, and some time later he felt a pressure on his lips. The touch on his chin disappeared and White Clouds mouth fell open on its own accord. Something wrapped firmly around his waist, preventing him from sliding to the ground, and he was somewhat thankful for the support, until he felt something else, that seemed to be alive, slip into his mouth.

A strong wind lifted the gray 'mist' and cleared the air around Makenshi and Kaze. Immediately Kumo's mind started to clear and he opened his eyes for about half a second before closing them again in exhaustion.

Shiroi Kumo's eyes snapped open and widened, and suddenly he felt wide awake, and completely shocked. Who wouldn't be after waking up pressed against a mountain with Kuroki Kaze kissing them!

Kaze also started to come aware of his surroundings and opened his eyes. It took about 1.86 seconds for four things to register into his mind. He was kissing someone... With his tongue in their mouth... And his left arm wrapped around their waist... The last realization was the most horrifying: the one Kaze was kissing was his rival and enemy.

The blue eyes widened and Black Wind jumped away from Makenshi as fast as humanly possible.

For once the two faces weren't completely indifferent, but perhaps that would have been better than the horrified looks they wore…

"Wh… What do you… you think you were… d-doing!" Shiroi Kumo asked, looking like he would have collapsed to the ground weren't it for the mountain wall supporting him. Kaze stayed silent as Makenshi brought his hand to his mouth. He really didn't have an explanation for his actions. He couldn't even recall how he'd ended up there. It had all begun when he breathed in that mist.

"Is this your doing," Kaze asked suddenly. Kumo's eyes widened further, if possible.

"What?" he snapped, though his voice was a bit muffled by the hand. Interesting how the white cloud managed to create a lethal glare despite his wide-eyed expression.

"This mist…" Kaze said. "…affects the mind."

Makenshi's hand fell from his lips and his eyes narrowed.

"I-it's dust carried by the wind, you fool," he said, seemingly getting back some of his old self. The sentence; 'Besides, my mist is white', went unsaid. Makenshi let his mask slid back on as he kneeled down to have a closer look at the gray soil. Following the example, Kaze tied the neck part of his cape tighter around his nose and mouth as protection.

Kumo took some of the "soil" in his hand.

"Ashes…" he mumbled more to his self than Kaze. After gathering some of the ashes into an empty bottle for further inspection he straightened and noticed a stronger wind bring another cloud over them. This time though, Makensi wasn't affected, thanks to his mask.

Kaze however, soon noticed that his cape did not provide a decent cover. No mater how much he tried to resist it, his thoughts blurred and left him in that same state of drug high he ad been in earlier.

Makenshi turned back towards Black Wind and noticed Kaze staring at him with a dazed look. He took a small step backwards as Kaze leaned closer, and his back met the mountain wall… again.

"Green or aqua..?" Kaze asked.

"What?"

"Your eyes," the black wind explained. "Are they light green, or aqua?"

Since Makenshi had nowhere to run, he took out a bottle of mist and let it drop to the ground and shatter against the rocks. It wasn't an attack, but the white etude hoped that his mist would clear the air, and Kuroki Kaze's head.

The air cleared, yes. But the dazed expression on Kaze's face stayed. So Shiroi Kumo did the only thing he could think of. He lifted his right hand and slapped the black wind.

Kuroki Kaze blinked and touched the red mark on his cheek. Reality started to enter his eyes.

"Get off me," Makenshi said. That snapped Kaze back to reality faster that a chocobo could run. For the second time that day, Kaze found himself standing a bit too close for comfort to his rival. He quickly moved away.

For the longest time the two of them just stood there, wondering what to do. Somehow killing each other didn't seem like the right option at the moment.

"There's a phantom train inside this mountain…" Makensi said at last. "The entrance is a cave only a bit above us." Kaze nodded and the mist around them grew thicker until the white cloud disappeared in it.

If they were lucky, Shiroi Kumo and Kuroki Kaze wouldn't see each other again for a long, long time.

End.

Ookay... that was crap...

The rest is really up to you, dear readers… I don't mind leaving this as a two shot, but I don't mind writing more either… I am, however, planning to give you an explanation to their odd behaviour in the next chapter...If you have ideas, please tell them, or even better: give me a challenge!

On second thought… I don't think I have time for challenges, or my other fics for that matter… (sweat drop)