Disclaimer: Naruto and Co. belong to their respective parties, not limited to Kishimoto Masashi, and Shueisha Inc.
Warnings for the Story: AU. Slash. And one more, but that's a spoiler, so I won't say.
Rating for the Story: T
AN: On a prompt for Owai. Written because I love her and I wanted to write a story about a boy in a tower.
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Fly me to the moon.
by tomomi
i.
You know.
You will always be in last place. Even though you were born first; even though you are the most talented—clearly the one suited to be heir, but you are not.
And unable to be.
…
Does it matter anymore?
ii.
There is a stable boy with wild blond hair and a perpetual look of confusion on his face. He only works during the mornings to late afternoons. Sometimes you watch him from the window of your tower. Your tower is far, far from the stables, but your eyes see him clearly. He cannot see you. If he does raise his eyes up, it is only towards the sun. When he does this, you do too, and the sun burns your eyes, makes you want to retreat farther into the shadows of your tower. Still you look because he does. What does this confused boy see?
More importantly, what does Hinata see in this boy, you wonder. Sometimes you see her too from your tower. Like you, she quietly watches the stable boy from afar. Even at a distance you can tell she is completely besotted, and you do not know why. A peasant can never be a prince.
She is a foolish girl.
iii.
Your cousins are both foolish girls. You will never tell them so to their faces; it is not your place. To bluntly speak your thoughts is not a luxury you have. But your eyes say all that your mouth will not. They are disobedient things—
And perhaps you take some small pleasure in that.
Hinata, at least, acknowledges her foolishness (helplessness, now), but Hanabi's ego and youth keeps her in stubborn denial.
Don't leave me, please, Hinata's wide, trembling eyes say. "Tell me," her small, trembling mouth asks.
Don't you dare leave, Hanabi's sharp eyes warn. "Tell me," her thin lips demand.
"Of course, Highnesses," your damned obedient mouth says even now, and you mean I cannot, release me.
They do not hear you, and you think: selfish, both of them.
You are not sure which cousin you hate more.
It doesn't matter. Not anymore, you remember, and pain links the broken pieces of your heart together. You try to gasp, breathe—and you cannot.
iv.
One day, you see the stable boy flirting with a girl you have never seen before. She is a pretty thing, you suppose, with green-hazel eyes and hair the color of cherry blossoms. Her beauty is only enhanced by the scowl on her face as the stable boy leans into her personal space. The scowl is fierce, but her eyes are reluctantly warm. She does not mind his intrusion at all; in fact, she seems to lean towards him in return.
The stable boy gives her something. It is too small for you to see, but when she turns the object in her hand, it glints in the sunlight.
A crystal, possibly necklace, you think and then derisively add stolen to your thoughts because you do not know why you are so eager to find out what the object is (—and you cannot help but think the shiny object would fit him more than it does her).
The stable boy leans in again and whispers into the girl's ear. Whatever it is, it sets her off and she slaps him about the head. You watch as the boy merely laughs, tan lips spread over surprisingly white teeth. You imagine the laugh is husky, warm and as spirited as the sun.
Alive.
The stable boy dances around her attempts to hit him again, and then waves her away after a quick pacifying hug, still grinning brightly. Then he laughs again and looks up. You blink. For one quick moment, you almost think he just winked up at you.
Impossible.
v.
You see the girl again when she comes into your room and hangs a crystal wind chime up by your window.
"Stupid, Naruto," she mutters, but not to you. "Why do I even bother?"
You do not answer. You do not say anything because you are still surprised at seeing someone besides Hinata or Hanabi in your room.
When she leaves, you approach the wind chime.
"Naruto," you say.
"For me," you say.
As the sun sets, its rays hit the crystal perfectly and suddenly the room is filled with scattered spots of light—stars. The spots are twilight stars, you think. And you, standing there in white, feel like the moon.
There was a time when you used to dream—of being far from here, of slow forbidden waltzes spanning many millennia, and stars.
You do not dream anymore, but you're doing something much better.
You're remembering.
vi.
The next time you get a visitor you're familiar with: Hinata.
She seats herself carefully in your chair as you watch her from your position by the window.
She is wearing one of those dark, velvet gowns she has taken to recently, and though she is lovely, the deep color only emphasizes how frail she looks, all skin and bones, solemn and sad.
"The garden," she says, "the cherry blossom trees have bloomed. I wish you could see them."
There is a moment of silence. (There always is.)
"Brother Neji," she murmurs, "please, please."
You close your eyes and tilt your head.
"Please, speak to me," she continues.
"I'm listening," she says.
You open your mouth and pause. You can't bring yourself to laugh at her.
She looks at you and she doesn't see.
Her eyes never were as good as yours.
vii.
The king has never been in your room. When he comes to see you, he stands outside the door and waits. On days when you are feeling particularly hostile, he doesn't even make it past the tower's entrance. It is all he can do; you will never let him in completely, even if he is king and was uncle and you owed him your everything.
You have done your duty by him.
You hate him and you can't even think how much. But even in your hate, you know he is only human; you know he feels remorse, and he keeps your tower safe and in place.
This tower is your only indulgence, after all.
This tower is as close as you can get to flying to the moon.
And oh, now that you are remembering, how you long to finally be free again.
viii.
"Finally," Naruto breathes when your memories are completely restored. He is sitting at your window, touching the chime gently, fondly. Twilight stars dance slowly inside his room. "Do you like it?"
Finally they are able to meet.
"Naruto," you say haltingly.
"You remember," he teases wickedly. He holds out his hand to you. "Ready?"
You snort, reach out and—hesitate. What if you can't touch him?
"It's all right now," Naruto says, and his smile is gentle, the warmth of the sun.
You take his hand.
"If you hadn't found me," you say, "I would have found you."
"Of course."
Unlike your memory, your heart is still fragmented, but you think it's okay, I'm home, he's here and that's all that matters. Everything feels a little more solid as the stars become real and the world fades away and the two of you waltz into space—
Till eternity.
Epilogue.
"Brother Neji," Hinata says, stepping into the room. Then—"Oh."
The ghost is gone.
For a moment, she feels lost without the familiar presence of her cousin.
The stable boy is gone, too, she thinks faintly.
Finally, taking a deep, shuddering breath, she walks over to the window and looks out over the castle. The rows and rows of cherry blossoms are cheerfully waving at the sky, she sees. She glances up then and—waves, too, for there the Sun and Moon hang together in broad daylight, a rare sight.
Not so rare anymore, she thinks and whispers goodbye.
As she leaves the room, she thinks: tomorrow, perhaps, she will wear a lavender gown.
-End-