I really, really love this series. :]
I hope you all love it as well in the end!
Four Ways to Look At:
Snow
As Death:
"The snow is coming down way too hard!" The voice sounded faint over the swirling, angry flurries of wind. "We need to find shelter! I knew we shouldn't have come this way!"
"Shut up!" The figure in front roared back. "I have enough to deal with without you yelling at me! Fuck!" He turned to face the front again, but it didn't matter, because he swore he had seen that tree before. "Dammit! I'm frozen to my bones!"
"We should've gotten a guide!" The figure behind him called back. "You idiot, we never should've left the village! We should've listened to the man in the shop-"
"SHUT UP!" The man roared even louder above the freezing wind. "I DON'T NEED YOUR COMMENTARY!" He turned back, trudged on. But water was getting into his boots, the wind into his jacket. He couldn't feel his toes nor fingers nor nose. "We'll get there..." he huffed as he sloshed on through the snow, which was now up to his knees. "We'll get there. I know we will."
The morning after, the snow had stopped, leaving everything in a crisp, fluffy layer of white.
Two figures traveled through the trees, hoping from branch to branch. But then the one behind looked down to see two lumps in the snow. He paused.
"Zabuza."
The man in front stopped as well, turning to face the smaller male.
"What is it, Haku?"
The boy pointed to the ground almost by his feet.
"Down there. Do you see that?"
Zabuza hoped over to him, and he looked down to see what Haku was seeing. He blinked.
"Hm," he grunted. "Is that... a head?"
Haku's lips pursed from behind the mask.
"Two heads, Zabuza."
After a beat, Zabuza jumped down from the tree to land in front of the mound, Haku shortly following. Using gruff hands clothed in protective gloves, he brushed the snow aside. Haku's face fell, but he shouldn't have been surprised. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened.
"Oh..."
Zabuza leaned back onto his toes.
"Yep," he confirmed. "Two of them. Frozen solid." He raised an eyebrow, and began to eye the bodies. "I wonder if they have anything worth taking..."
"Zabuza, this was the couple that left the store where we were," Haku pleaded, almost urgently. "They're just commoners - please don't do that to them!"
Zabuza turned his head to raise an eyebrow at the boy.
"Haku, they're dead," he stated. "Who cares?"
Haku took off his mask - both out of respect for the dead, and so that his frown at the man would be visible.
"I do. Please don't. Let's bury them, please? We can't just leave them here."
Zabuza grunted and stood, hefting his sword back over his shoulder with one hand.
"O' contraire. We can and we are." He turned to leave. "Let's go Haku."
But Haku didn't move. Zabuza turned to glare at him.
"Haku."
Haku took one more moment, torn between giving the two poor souls a proper burial and following the only person close enough to consider family.
"But..."
After another moment, he sighed, then reached into the folds of his cloak.
He took out a smooth stone that was the color of daylight, bright gold and shining in the sun. He kneeled, putting the stone in between the two where they had huddled up for warmth at the base of a massive tree.
"I am sorry for both of you," he breathed. "Please forgive our rude passing, and I hope you find joy where you are." He patted the stone. "This has held the warmth of my heart for many, many years. Please take it, and let its power warm your poor, chillen souls.
Then he turned, and, with a heavy heart, leaped up into the trees to follow Zabuza towards their next destination as the stone shone in the daylight behind him.
As Play:
"Come on, Zabuza! Don't be a stick in the mud!"
"Grah! Haku! Come on, we don't have time for this!"
"Yes we do! Come on, Zabuza! You know you want to!"
"Haku, will you shut up and get down here? You're making a scene!"
"Only if you have some fun first!"
"No."
"Zabuza!"
"Haku! Seriously, this is the last time I will say this! Get the fuck-!" A snowball hit Zabuza square in the face. "...down here..."
Haku beamed at him from where he was hanging upside-down from a iced tree branch.
"Will you play NOW?"
Zabuza, scowling, wiped the snow off his face.
"You're absurd. Why did I even bother saving you?"
Haku, pouting, threw another one at him. He neatly dodged.
"Don't talk like that! Come on, Zabuza! The snow is fresh! It's wonderful! We can build a snowman and a fort and an igloo-"
"Haku, I am not training you to build snowmen or forts or igloos!" Zabuza snapped. "I am training you to become a ninja! An assassin of the mists! Now stop messing around like a child and get down here!"
Haku merely gazed at him. "But I AM a child," he replied simply. "I can't help it. I want to play. Can we have just ONE day of recreation Zabuza? Please?" His next words were sincere. "I want to have fun with you. Please? I wanna see you smile."
Yeah. Like THAT'S ever gonna happen. The ninja thought, scowling. But the snow was so white, and Haku's eyes so pleading, that he merely sighed and hefted his sword back over his shoulder.
"Fine," he stated, making Haku's entire being brighten. "For a little while. But no more."
But as Haku jumped down and ran to him, beaming, Zabuza could tell that it wasn't going to be just 'a little while'.
However, somehow he found himself not really minding.
A few hours later, they were cold, tired, covered in snow, and absolutely thrilled. Haku was beaming, and Zabuza, as he crawled outside the igloo they had made, with a bunch of snowman-ninja in front of them guarding their fortress (Haku had insisted) was convincing himself that there was a scowl (and not a smile) on his face.
"Happy now, Haku?" He asked as the child crawled out as well. Sitting on his haunches after escaping, he giggled.
"Haha, yeah!" He replied cheerfully. "I really, really liked it! Thank you!"
The corner of Zabuza's lip twitched.
"Glad you enjoyed yourself," he stated, gruff as he could. "Now let's go. We've wasted enough time."
Haku patted the igloo one last time before dodging around the snowmen and jogging over to Zabuza, laughing merrily. Still smiling, he snuggled up to Zabuza, making the older man shoot him a look and bump him away.
"Hey! None of that!"
The boy pouted for a moment, and then, a little defeated, walked alongside Zabuza for a while.
Wow. That dejected look on his face. Zabuza almost felt bad.
So when the child tentatively snuck his hand in Zabuza's, the ninja did nothing to stop him. He didn't even say anything.
He just tightened his grip. Just a little bit.
As Beauty:
"Zabuza! Come on, get out of bed! You're missing it!"
Knowing who it was made the shoulder-shaking afterwards a bit more tolerable, but it still made Zabuza irritable.
"Haku, go back to sleep. Please. It was a long day yesterday."
The boy was insistent. "But the snow, Zabuza! The snow!"
This made the man perk up, and he lifted his head a little out of the pillow. Snow? He got up, grabbed his robe and went out the door, following Haku's excited heels.
"Wow."
"Yeah. Told you!"
"Oh hush, Haku."
Freshly fallen snow sparkled for miles, the new morning sun shining down and making everything glitter in the crisp early-morning air. The two ninja stood on a hill, looking out over the Land of Water in all its frozen glory. Icicles shone in the sunlight where they dangled from tree branches, making arcs of rainbows shine down upon the snowy ground.
Birds slowly but surely awoke, and, sitting there like balls of fluff, began to sing to the morning, at first hesitantly, but with more vigor. Soon the entire sky was abound in voices like a mighty chorus.
There was no wind. Everything was still, unmoving. From far across the land the dim shapes of hawks could be seen circling, but they were miniscule dots in the majestic landscape, soon forgotten.
Time had stopped. It was just them. Haku and Zabuza. For that morning, they were the only people in the world.
Haku's eyes sparkled. Just like the snow.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
Zabuza took a moment. And then he smiled too from beneath his bandages.
"Yes. It is."
As Home:
"Zabuza, I don't understand why we have to be here!"
He sighed, then turned to the child.
"I know it's weird, Haku," he began. "But the Land of Water just isn't safe for us right now. We are rogues - hunted by our people. You must understand that and you must be patient."
Haku pouted.
"I know that. But..." he trailed off. "I've just... I've never been away before." He looked around. "All this color... all this dry ground... it's weird to me. I don't like it. It's too hot."
Zabuza sighed in exasperation.
"Haku, I don't care," he stated simply. A little harshly. "In order for us to survive, we need to deal with this. Together. As in no complaining. Or, if you like, I can drop you at the nearest door and leave you there."
Haku gasped, and ran to Zabuza, grabbing hold of his waist.
"No. Nonono!" He exclaimed, making Zabuza roll his eyes. He hoped the child would mature quickly. "Please, not here! Please don't leave me in this place!"
Zabuza shook his head, pushing Haku away.
"Relax, brat," he replied. "It was a threat. Doesn't mean I'm going to follow through with it."
Haku blinked.
"You always tell me to never give threats I can't follow through with."
Zabuza raised an eyebrow at the boy, and even paused in his step to continue the conversation.
"Just because I'm not going to follow through with it doesn't mean that I can't," he stated simply. "I can still follow through with it." He gave Haku a level stare. "Why? Do you want me to?"
Haku gawked.
"No! No I don't!" He pouted. "Please. I won't say anything anymore. I'm sorry."
Without saying another word in response, Zabuza turned and continued to walk. His point had been proven.
The rest of the time they wandered, Haku only had dreams of snow and wind and rain, and when he woke up to dry and dust he could feel just a little of himself wither inside.
Zabuza noticed the change, and he knew they only had a very short amount of time to get back before Haku forgot what snow even looked like.
But the Mist ninja were still looking for them.
Hold on, Haku. Hold on.
One night, while Haku slept in a fever-induced dream, Zabuza decided enough was enough. Paying a villager to allow them into the back of his cart, Zabuza loaded Haku up into the back and wrapped him tightly, watching over him without saying a word.
Three days later, Haku awoke to an unexpected chill.
"Ah... Zabuza...?" he murmured as he sat up with shaky arms, looking around a dark and desolate cabin. He felt rather than heard Zabuza appear beside him.
"It's good to see you're awake," Zabuza stated, helping Haku stand. "You've been out for a few days. But I have a surprise for you." Haku blinked in confusion as Zabuza wrapped him in clothing and led him to the door.
"Zabuza, it's okay. I don't have a fever anymore, you don't have to-"
But then he understood when the older man opened the door.
There was snow outside.
Haku's eyes widened.
"Oh..." then his entire being brightened, and he dashed outside. "My-!" Then he realized he had been laying down for three days, and he collapsed into the snow. "God..."
Zabuza stepped up beside him, and kneeled.
"You okay, Haku?"
Haku rolled over, and he was crying. He was crying and laughing and smiling all at the same time. Tears in his eyes, life in his cheeks, he looked up at the sky - looked up at the snow.
"I'm home," he breathed, breathless. "I'm home."
Zabuza had to smile.
"Yes," he replied, reaching over to brush the boy's hair out of his face. "Yes, you are."
We are.
End Four Ways:
Snow
So... yeah... I super-duper love this. :] Haku and Zabuza are so cute together. Just... so much fluff! *heart*
These aren't in chronological order! ...As should be obvious, but... oh well. :)
Hope you liked it as well guys!
So much love,
DDB