Day 8

Better Than I Know Myself

(established Madoka/Dynamis)

There was an umbrella on her desk.

This was odd for a number of reasons. Firstly, it wasn't her umbrella. Secondly, it wasn't raining. Thirdly, it hadn't been there when she had left the room to go and answer a call from the shop.

"What's this doing here?" she asked out loud.

"It will rain before you get home from the shops. You should take it with you."

She blinked and looked across the room to the sofa. "I'm not even going to the shops."

He just smiled. "Yes you are."

And he was Dynamis, which meant that he was completely right. Just before midday, she discovered that the drill-bit she was using was going blunt, and if she wanted to repair Flash Sagittario before Kenta came to pick it up the next day, she was going to need a new one.

"Stop looking at me like that," she scolded as she felt Dynamis' grin aimed at the back of her head as she pulled on her coat. "I'll take the umbrella, don't you worry!"

"I never worry, my wise Madoka."

And it was just as well that she took the umbrella. Even though the sun was shining brightly when she left, the clouds roared in whist she was hunting for exactly the right bit, and it was pouring with rain by the time that she had made her purchases. As she walked home, she watched other people scurrying past her with their bags held over their heads or huddling under the canopies of shops and restaurants, wondering aloud where this weather had come from.

He was in the kitchen when she got back, a cup of hot tea just poured the moment that she walked in waiting for her. She shook her head as she took it from him. This was not the first time that something like this had happened. Somehow, Dynamis could read her even better than Tsubasa could. He claimed it was the guidance of the heavens that told him, but she figured that he just knew her well – better than she knew herself.

After the battle with Nemesis was over, all of the Legendary Bladers and their friends had been given shelter in a large WBBA-owned house so that they could all recover somewhat from the stress of battle. As it turned out, this was the best possible thing that could have happened, as a number of them ended up with significant PTSD that only the other Legendary Bladers could understand.

It was also a good thing because it led to Dynamis, Yuki and Madoka having a number of rather fierce battles over what the stars actually were. Yuki had very quickly come to the conclusion that these fights weren't necessarily about the actual composition of stars and had bowed out, leaving Dynamis and Madoka to fire ideas back and forth in increasingly friendly tones.

It had only taken three mock-arguments for both of them to become inseparable. Surprisingly, no-one had really taken much notice when the news began to circulate that the two of them were in fact together (Hikaru could keep a secret, but Yuu – who had very sharp hearing and rather too much curiosity – could not), and Kyouya eventually pointed out that whilst the newspapers liked to pair Madoka with Gingka, the bladers who knew both of them had been able to see that the two weren't boyfriend-girlfriend material so much as brother and sister. She had to admit that he had a point. Gingka was bright and brilliant, and bounced from place to place. She wanted someone a little calmer, to say the least.

In that, Dynamis was perfect. He was also in her house, which was slightly confusing.

"Why are you here?" she asked. "I thought you were still staying with Tsubasa and Yuu. Have they gone off on that training adventure they keep talking about and left you behind?"

"No," he said. "I have come to say goodbye."

Her heart skipped a beat. "You... you're going?"

He lowered his eyes. "I have to. Already I have been here for too long. Perhaps Nemesis has been defeated, but there are other evils in this world. I must stand guard against them, and guide the warriors who come to fight them. That is my task, as it has always been."

She shook her head, horrified. "I... I don't want you to go." She felt like she had barely begun to know him. Surely he couldn't be leaving now?

He reached out and laid one hand against her cheek. "Do you really believe that I am leaving because I want to, Madoka?"

She leaned her cheek into his touch. No, of course she didn't believe that. But it still didn't make it any better.

"I must. I should not have stayed here so long. The Temple is not made to be without its Guardian. Once I have returned to it, I will not leave again, not unless some great evil is threatening the world once more."

"You could stay," she whispered. "Or I could come with you. There has to be a way we could stay together."

"We can't," he said quietly. "I cannot stay and you cannot go. I belong on my mountain as its Guardian, protecting it from those who still seek to use its secrets for evil. You belong here in your shop, helping those who come to you for aid. Both of us have our tasks that have been set before us, and we cannot go against the will of the heavens."

"But... but if I can't leave the shop..."

"We may be star-crossed, my wise Madoka, but not forever." His smile was like lightning in the desert. "The heavens cannot always keep us apart. Your place is here until someone rises to take your place. When you are ready, when you have trained your apprentice and all is finished here for you, if you still want me after all that time... then I shall still be yours."

Madoka looked up into his pale eyes, one of them hidden behind his paler hair. "You... you would wait for me?"

"I waited all of my life for the Legendary Bladers to arrive. I will wait the rest of it for you."

"Stop being romantic," she muttered, trying to hide her blush. "You're teasing me again."

"No, I'm not. I would not tease you about this." He dropped the hand on her cheek to her shoulder. "I will wait for you."

She couldn't bear the expression on his face, and stepped forwards into his arms so that she didn't have to meet his eyes. He smelled of dust and electricity – he must have been battling not long ago.

"I'll miss you," she murmured into the fabric of his cloak, determined not to cry in front of him. "Can I at least come and visit you?"

He drew in a deep breath and tightened his arms around her. "Of course you can," he said. "From what I've been hearing, I believe I am likely to be inundated with visitors. Ryuto wants to hear about the legends of the Maze of Mist Mountain. Yuu wants to visit Tithi. I think Kyouya wants to use the Maze as a training program. Aguma and Bao want to study the records on the walls of the Temple and the Circle of Monoliths to find out more about the First Star, and see if it matches with some of their people's ancient legends. I'm sure that Gingka won't miss an opportunity to meet up with all the rest of the Legendary Bladers. You will always be welcome there."

"Tithi wants to learn about reading the stars, doesn't he?" she said. "So you'll be training your own apprentices, in a way."

"He's not the first," he pointed out. "I believe you know a young man called Ryuutarou?"

She drew back and stared at him. "You trained him?"

"Yes. And a more stubborn student I have never had." Dynamis smiled. "But you will come to visit me many times before you choose to stay, my wise Madoka."

"Is that what the heavens foretell?" she asked, and was amazed to hear him laugh.

"Yes," he said as he leaned down to kiss her. "At least, that's how I interpret it."