[Snapshot #1]
A beach with white sands and blue, blue, blue water. Tsuna stands at the junction where the sea meets the sand. His feet are bare. His shoes are in his hand. His jeans are rolled up to his knees. He's half-turned towards the camera, bright eyes flashing with unbridled excitement and joy – one hand reaching out towards the sky.
.
.
.
[365 Days]
Day 4
Natsuki buys a messenger bag, four cans of the first soda he sees, and a party-sized bag of Tsuna's favorite chip at a gas station three towns away. They lean against the nearby railing outside the building and share the chips with artificially-flavored-stained fingers and wide smiles. Their journey is just beginning but at this moment, they are free.
Day 10
They stop by a struggling Inn somewhere up a mountain. The waters of the open-air bath are scalding in their intensity yet soothing in their gentleness. Tsuna slides into the water first and Natsuki soon follows and they sit shoulder-to-shoulder, staring up at the starry night sky.
Day 16
They buy two tickets to a small amusement park and stay there until closing.
Day 27
They decide to spend a few days in the forests surrounding the next town they arrive in. The woods are silent as they make their bed out of a thin blanket and their pillows out of the four different types of jackets that Natsuki packed. Others would be cold, they are not.
.
.
.
[A Moment]
Natsuki stares out at the ocean of tall grass and blooming wildflowers swaying gently in the breeze. They are somewhere in the countryside, no other vehicle or man-made object in sight.
'If I laid down somewhere in the grass, no one would be able to see me,' he thinks.
"Natsuki… here you go!"
He turns and accepts the wreath of bright poppies and round dandelions from Tsuna. The sunlight bathes the brunet in a halo of gold and white and creates stark shadows on his long lashes and thin shoulders and broad smile.
Natsuki finds his eyes drawn to the shy clavicle of Tsuna's that's just peeking out from the oversized sweater the brunet is wearing.
It is a tempting sight.
.
.
.
[Snapshot #2]
Natsuki is dressed in a plaid shirt, dark, leather jacket, and skinny jeans. His shoes are on the floor of some hotel and he is sprawled out on one of the two twin beds in the hotel room. He's asleep – his face is peaceful and one of his long legs is hanging off the edge of the bed. The image is slightly blurred, as if the person taking the photo was laughing when taking it.
.
.
.
[365 Days]
Day 52
They each buy a ticket by closing their eyes and randomly pointing at a stop on the map. Tsuna's finger lands on a town five stops in. Natsuki's lands on a stop six towns after. They grin and board the train.
Day 77
Natsuki accidentally bumps into a business acquaintance of his father's. He grabs Tsuna as the brunet is exiting a supermarket and they leave town.
Day 79
Natsuki still glances over his shoulder.
.
.
.
[The Moment After]
In the same field where Tsuna gifted him the crown of flowers sitting on his head, Natsuki lays against the sun-warmed ground and looks up at the sky above.
It is spring… or maybe summer, he doesn't recall. Time seems like such a meaningless subject nowadays. It's hard to keep track of dates and numbers when all that really matters is spending time with the most important person in the world.
Natsuki feels his eyes shut and drifts away to the sounds of the wind and the warmth of the sun.
.
.
.
[365 Days]
Day 100
Natsuki finally feels comfortable enough again – safe enough again – to spend more than a day in any one town.
Day 105
Tsuna is thankful and relieved that Natsuki is back to being his old self. The brunet wasn't sure what much he could do besides holding the golden boy close and whispering reassurances that they wouldn't get caught and that it was okay to be worried.
Day 119
Natsuki gifts Tsuna a new camera for his birthday and a long hug that expresses all his thanks and appreciation for the brunet.
.
.
.
[Snapshot #3]
A pair of monarch butterflies dancing on the wind – their luminescent wings barely kissing in the pink-streaked sky.
.
.
.
Written on a used napkin are words from an old song detailing lonely journeys of self-discovery and long roads at night and warm bodies wrapped around one another. Near the bottom of the napkin some words are scribbled out, as if the writer didn't want anyone to see them. Between the ink stains and grease, the letters: I- am- ve- you are visible.
.
.
.
[The Moment After That]
Natsuki wakes to the clear skies hidden within Tsuna's wide eyes and bright smile.
Tsuna stares down at the sunshine emitting from Natsuki's burning eyes and quirked lips.
In perfect synchrony, they move forward and their lips meet and the world slips away and the universe seems to shift until they are at the center of everything and nothing at all – safe and loved in their shared embrace.
.
.
.
[365 Days]
Day 286
Together they have scoured every last town and city in Japan.
Day 287
Tsuna is the one that suggests they go abroad to see the rest of the world. Natsuki agrees and they pack everything they own in one suitcase and board the first flight to France.
Day 290
They spend a warm, sunny afternoon taking in the sights and sounds of Lyon, France. They eat freshly baked, buttery croissants and decadent chocolates and drink dark coffee, occasionally tasting the sweet and bitter flavors from each other's lips with wide smile and stained fingers and hushed laughter.
Day 365
They run across someone with too sharp cheekbones and hair the color of starlight and haunted eyes the color of forests and emeralds and the smell of smoke curling about his body like a sensual lover. Green meets brown meets gold. Tsuna and Natsuki welcome the – brokenlostdiscarded – burning Storm with reassuring smiles and acceptance shining in their gazes. He – Gokudera Hayato, is his name – falls quickly into their bubble.