Disclaimer: dont own naruto... or much of anything really...
Author's Note(s): like always with my stories, it helps to read my fic GreenEyed Monster prior to this. also, to those who have read some of my others, this may seem uncharacteristically dramatic. i dont like life with out humor, but here goes...
March. March, the final month of winter. It is divided between the two astrology signs pisces and aries, the two fish and the ram. Snow, rain, and clouds are often associated with the third month. But to Aburame Shino, it meant something totally diffrent.
It was particularly cold on March 14, the day that I am telling you of. Although spring was to arrive in six days, the snow seemed not to know, as if it wanted to enjoy the last few days of its life. The snow fell lightly now, the worst of it had passed. Snow wasn't very common in Konoha, but you couldn't tell that by looking around at the landscape today. Although it wasn't daytime anymore. It was night, and even colder.
Normally on such a cold day, Shino wouldn't even consider leaving his house. Training had been cancelled; Kurenai out with a cold. Despite the chill in the air he walked on, a strange object in his hands. It was shaped like a bird's cage, and covered in a thick cloth to hold out the cold.
After a few minutes on walking through the snow, he found her. Sitting on an old bench frosted with ice beside a barren, leafless tree, was Tobias Loki. She sat with her legs out as far as they could go, and her hands in her lap. Her hair looked thicker, a sign of lupin heritage. Loki's winter coat was in full effect. A black and red scarf was wrapped around her neck, otherwise she wore her normal clothing, as if not effected by the cold. Green eyes stared into things far away and long ago. The streetlights cast an eerie but beautiful glow upon her.
Shino took a seat beside her on the bench, and she didn't stir. He wondered how long she had been out here, and if she had froze to death. Loki's eyes hadn't blinked, nor had he noticed her breathing. A cloud of warm air flowed out of her, then he knew she was alive. Shino didn't disturb her thoughts. The cold had made her nose and cheeks a deep, rosy red.
Loki closed her eyes and let out a sigh. When she opened them she noticed the tall boy seated beside her. She wondered how long he had been there, or how long she had been here herself.
"Hi Shino. What are you doing out here? You'll catch pnemonia," Loki said and turned to look at the teenager who had waited patiently for her to come back to this world. He smirked, although she didn't see it.
"I could ask you the same thing. You look frozen. How come you didn't tell any one today was your birthday?" The other's deep voice comforted her in a way that made her feel protected. Loki rubbed her numb hands together.
"My birthday is nothing to celebrate. Most people consider it worse than Friday the 13th. Everyone thinks I'm an evil demon that is going to kill them all, remember? Anyways, it hurts less in the cold..." Shino listened quietly. He had always liked Loki. She didn't talk too much, or try and fill silences. She seemed to enjoy them. Loki had never felt the urge to fill any of her and Shino's silences. They were comforable in them.
"Yes it is. My kitsune was born today. You're not a demon. Its something you can't help, and the others seem to miss the fact that the Shadow will save them one day," Most people that knew Shino thought that his voice was cold and that he must be slow because the boy almost never spoke, but Loki had never thought so. To her, his voice was warm and soothing. He spoke just as much everyone else when he was alone with her.
Loki didn't know what to say back, so she gave him a look that told him about how good his words made her feel. Shino set his cargo down for a moment and pulled his collar down to show her a pleased smile. He pulled it back up and gathered up the box again, as if he was preparing to leave. The Shadow Kitsune's heart sank; she didn't want him to leave... Instead he took a closer seat to her, his arm going over her shoulder. Shino set the odd object on his knee and tilted it towards her. See, you don't always need words to get the point across to someone you love.
He placed it on her lap gently, being careful to avoid a bruise on her left thigh from a mission the day before. Loki touched it, her green eyes marveling at the red and gold cloth. She looked back at Shino, not sure whether or not to proceed. He gave her another unseen smile and nodded, giving her the ok.
Loki carefully pulled up the cloth and set it aside. It was a glass container, with airholes at the bottom edges. Inside was a tiny women. It was thin, and clad all in green even a small hat with a bell at the end. Large violet eyes looked up at the lupin. Two sets of purple wings were attached to its small back. Pointed ears poked through violet hair.
"She's beautiful... but, please, let her go. I hate cages..." Loki's voice was full of tears of happiness and sorrow of old memories best left forgotten. Then, Shino laughed. The girl looked up at him, her green eyes full of question. Even the tiny creature began to laugh, and she fell off of the small golden swing she had been on.
"No, no, Loki, its okay. Tia is not a prisoner, she's a fairy. She has been watching you, and she likes you. You see, fairies make one human friend that they will watch out for the rest of their lives, and she picked you. I only helped being her to you. I did get you a present, though," Shino explained. Loki's sadness vanished as she looked at Tia, who had finally gained her footing. Tia began to sign things to her.
"Hi Tea. Nice to meet you. You can't talk can you," Loki said, and Tia shook her head sadly. "But that's alright. Can I ask something and you promise not to get mad," Tia nodded quickly, causing her bell to jingle. "Why did you pick me?"
Tia pondered about how to explain her decision. Her little face lit up once she came to a conclusion. The little fairy huffed onto the glass, fogging it up. Neither Shino or Loki could see her now. Parts of the cloud began to vanish as her tiny finger wrote out the words: I CAN'T TALK. She erased this and began the process again: YOU DON'T NEED WORDS LIKE THE OTHERS DO. Again, she started over: I'M COLD. CAN WE GO HOME NOW?
Loki and Shino laughed. They stood up and Shino picked up the fairy's container and placed the cloth back onto it. Shino towered over the girl. He wrapped his arm around her again.
"Shino?"
"Yes?"
"You said that you got me a present, too. You didn't have to." Shino grinned as he pulled down his collar, set the hidden fairy down again, and leaned towards Loki so that they were eye-to-sunglasses. He kissed her. She kissed back, enjoying the warmth.
"There you go, and yes, I did have to." Loki smiled and laughed. It had been so long since she had a good birthday. For the last few years of her life, it had meant only that she had managed to avoid meeting her fate another year. Shino had given her more than a kiss for her birthday. He gave her hope that life was going to brighten up.
Final Notes: yea, i need to add a story explaining more about why Loki has such bad memories, but i keep putting it off. it seems like i enjoy being the only one to understand my stories... how sad...