Author's Note: One-shot, KuroFai. AU if you've read the most recent chapters, canon if not. And of course, please review. :D
the sound of wind and waves
There is no such thing as eternity for you.
Everything has a beginning, and everything has an end. The time inbetween the two can vary, but a start and end will always be defined. There are never exceptions. There can never be exceptions. This is what you believe.
The world you are in now is filled with the sounds of waves from a sea within the sky. This is different than what the group you keep company with has previously witnessed, and Syaoran was visibly fascinated with it as soon as you arrived. He is undoubtably currently asking all the locals if there are any records on how a such thing came to be, myths or legends or some such.
Most of this world is prairieland with great, golden-red grain covering the earth as far as you can see. It is a beautiful if quiet place, and you are content to stand in the fields and feel the wind brushing your face as it blows through the grasses surrounding you.
It is here after several hours that the ninja finds you letting yourself be drained away into the surroundings. You feel his presence, turn back and smile. "Kuro-tan."
He says nothing, a characteristic of his that never fails to irk you. You've found that it signifies when he is about to say something astute, which leads to you being forced to be twice as careful around him than you were before.
You force the feeling of unease within your gut away as you gesture towards the sky. "It's pretty, isn't it? Peaceful..."
He grunts slightly, which you take to be an affirmation. Your smile grows wider, more impish, and before either of you can blink you've moved behind him and shoved forward with all your weight.
The roar of disapproval he makes as he falls brings a different sort of smile to your face, and it takes a moment for you to realize that this one is almost truly genuine.
A moment later, though, your feet have been knocked out from under you and the smile is back to the slightly injured, teasing one you usually wear as you rub at your now-abused tailbone.
"Ah, so mean, Kuro-sama," you whine.
"It's your own damned fault." Kurogane's voice is flat and careless. You turn to look at him and see him lying on his back, hands behind his neck for support. His gaze is not on you, but the expanse of rippling blue-green sky above. He blinks slowly, once, twice. Something seems not quite natural, and it's only a few moments later that you realize that he's tired. Exhausted.
His vibrant crimson eyes are slightly duller now, and his once sun-bronzed skin is paler. There are lines on his face that weren't there when you first met, and yet now seem such a part of him that you know have been there for a while.
You have been traveling together for close to four years now. Four years of nicknames, of enemies defeated, of friends left behind and then found again. Four years of Kurogane keeping constant guard, of protecting Syaoran and Sakura, of never knowing but perhaps wishing that maybe, just maybe, the next world will be his home.
It's no wonder that he's begun to fade away, and you can't see how you missed it.
Quietly, you shift your body closer before draping youself over his chest, letting your fingers curl into the fabric of his shirt. It has been too long since you've been able to be together like this, and Kurogane does not complain.
You turn your face towards his and ask, "What will you do, when we reach your Japan?"
He doesn't look at you. "..I'll stay. You'll leave."
"Maybe not." You are lying and he stiffens, just enough for his uncomfort with your statement to be known. You sigh, reaching out to touch his cheek, and sapphire meets scarlet as his gaze drops to you.
And now all your thoughts are jumbled and you don't know what to say or do or think. You are torn between wanting to leave and wanting to stay, between selfishness and compassion, between destiny and chance,between your happiness and his own,and the sounds of wind and waves fill your ears.
"I'm sorry," you murmur, and you don't know whether it's a lie or it's the truth. Kurogane looks back at the sky again, and you feel your both your bodies relaxing.
The sounds of the wind and waves rush through your ears, and you snuggle closer. You don't know if you want to find Japan, or if you want to never find Japan. It's confusing, and it hurts.
Then Kurogane's arms are wrapped tight around you, and it hits you that maybe, just maybe, he feels the same way.
And lying there, you almost wish that time would stop so you could stay there forever.
But you don't, because there's no such thing as eternity.