12. Peace.
T: The final chapter and in true final chapter tradition I am upping the angst warning just a smidge! Also beware the not 'quite an ending' ending! I own enough Clamp merchandise to be shareholder but sadly I am neither one of those nor one of the four ladies that make up the company!
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'Please, Kamui let me go. Please, I beg of you.'
He had come to this place with the intent of simply talking to Hinoto…of seeing what had to be seen and then going again to discuss the matter with Soratta and Subaru.
Yet the desperation in Hinoto's voice wrenches at something deep within him and, before he his conscious of what he is doing, he has leased a ball of energy from his fingers.
The 'dark Hinoto' begins to scream the instant that the ball connects with her body, this sound twisting, slowly, into a quiet whimper in the 'light Hinoto's' voice.
'Thank you, Kamui.' She remarks after a moment, a bright smile blossoming onto her lips.
He wishes to ask her to forgive him, wishes to ask her if there is a way for him to take this action back and yet…
The shear sincerity of that smile prevents him from doing anything other than to stand, mute, but a hands breadth from the other.
'Head me well, Kamui, for I have a warning to impart before the last of my breath has fled me.
'The Sakurazukamori is keeping the matter of his succession close for a reason and less you expose that reason…less your realise this hidden truth…all that you have hoped for shall fade to nothing." There is a little of the 'other' Hinoto's bitterness in the words and, his temporary rigor broken, he moves a step closer with the intent of asking for a little more information…with the intent of seeing if he might not yet be able to undo the harm he has caused…
Hinoto is dead.
He bids the other a final farewell and then leaves the basement for the last time, intent now on finding Subaru and preventing the terrible eventuality of the other's future that he had seen within his dream.
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He has come to stand within the shade of the sakura, the proximity of the tree and the general peace of the day, aiding him to focus his mind away from the discomfort of his 'talk' with Fuuma.
He is not, however, serene enough to miss the approach of the unique magical essence of Subaru and, smiling gently, he enquires,
"Have you come to keep me company, sweet?"
"I have come to talk to you of the sakura and of my place in its future."
"Might I ask how you learned of my intent for the succession?"
"Hinoto-san hinted to Kamui that there was something you were hiding from him and, fearful of what such a thing might mean, he came to see me.
"I held the missing piece in the mystery he had been puzzling over and, unknown to me, he held an answer to my own mystery.
"For Kamui knew that I was to be your successor and yet was ignorant as to what such a thing meant.
"I knew of the succession…knew that the new Sakurazukamori had to destroy the old in order to truly fill that position…yet I was ignorant to whom you had in mind for such an act.
"Now, however, neither of us is ignorant…."
"Are you angry with me, Subaru?"
"Why should I be angry, Seishiro? How can I hear these words and feel anything other than an overwhelming pity?
"For it is clear to me now that your lineage carries on not through blood as I had believed, but through the heart.
"To love is to become week…is to allow your mind to focus upon the preservation of another rather than the preservation of your self…thus to love, for one such as the Sakurazukamori, is to die." Subaru's fingers press, softly, to his face and then he remarks, "How terrible it must have been for you, Seishiro, to realise that you loved me, that I, in turn, loved you and to know that you would be unable to live forever in the warmth of that love.
"To know that, eventually, you would have to push me again from you in order that I would destroy you and thus insure the continuation of the tree.
"I pity you that knowledge…pity the damage it must have done to your psyche…I also have wish to believe that there is another way, that you might yet be able to spend the rest of your life here at my side."
"You are being idealistic."
"More than likely and yet I still can not but cling to that hope."
: There is wisdom in his words, Seishiro. :
'You mean there may be another way?'
: Yes. :
He opens his eyes then and looking to the beautiful smile upon Subaru's lips he has wish to believe that both his beloved and the tree shall prove correct….
Has wish to believe that even one such as he might be allowed a little contentment within his life.
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The solution to the 'issue' of the Shinken had been found after both Suoh and Akira had come to 'discuss' the matter with Subaru.
The Takumura had been the first to arrive, the mix of fatigue and concern in his eyes aging him greatly.
He had informed Subaru that he could no longer stand idle and watch Noruko suffer…had all but begged the Sumeragi to turn the backlash of the spell towards him.
He had told the Takumura that he would think on the request despite the risks it held and had just settled back into working when Akira had entered the room.
The finance sectary had informed Subaru that he had had enough of being kept from this matter, had had enough of watching Noruko fading, day by day, into a shadow.
The other had then proceeded, as the Takumura before him; to beg that Noruko's suffering might be placed onto his head…had begged that he might be made of some use to his companions.
He had dismissed Akira with the same promise to 'think things over' and, once he was again alone, he had begun to work on a theory that had begun to bloom in his head.
This theory had turned, eventually, into the perfect solution and the next day he had arranged a meeting in the chamber of the Shinken, in order to put this solution into effect.
When informing Kamui of the matter later in the day he had remarked,
"If not for those two I'd still be buried in research."
"To think that they would be so willing to sacrifice themselves for one person…"
"A good leader shall always inspire that sort of dedication, Kamui and, in this instance at least, we should be glad for it."
"That is true, at least…how are they?"
"Because the backlash was shared between the three of them the effects are less than they might have been and I am certain that they shall be back to their normal selves by the end of the week."
"That is good to hear."
"How are you, Kamui?"
The boy smiles and, his eyes focusing on the middle distance, he remarks,
"I've decided to take Keiichi's advice and live each day as it comes."
"I am glad."
Subaru knew that, eventually, the day would come where Kamui would have to make his choice…where everything could turn, so very suddenly, sour and yet…
That day is not today.
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T: warned you did I not? Am not going to bore you with the logic of this chapter but am, instead going to ask nicely that you review…I can't answer back now, after all!