14. Eyes
"Eyes are like the gateways to one's soul," she told him one day.
He blinked, suddenly conscious.
"That's what they say here, at least," she muttered as an afterthought.
"I think I've heard it, too," he commented.
"It's quite true," she continued quietly, seeing several memories flash through her mind at once - what happened, Ichigo? - those are not the eyes of the victor - what happened - autumn brown, warm like the sun - the crushed -
She brought herself back and looked up at him. "They say eyes cannot lie, either."
"Maybe." He looked, too. He found his hands wringing themselves lightly because he really really didn't want her to turn away those glorious eyes when she did. He knew it was considered weird to stare at someone's eyes for too long, but,
"Your eyes are nice," she said, without looking at him, and he wanted to both hit her and hug her at the same time.
"Um... Thanks..." Were his eyes that nice for her to go to all the trouble to compliment them?
She was being funny today.
Unable to fight back a sudden impulse, he reached out and gently turned her around. She gazed up at him, puzzled. Doorways and gateways.
"Is it weird to want to look and only look?" he asked.
She smiled. "Maybe." Her eyes focused and fixed upon him, and the sky-violet twin gates swung open gently, like his were doing now. Maybe one day those gates would swing open to their fullest. Maybe one day something great and beautiful would come out those doors and meet with the other, entwining long tails together and purring in each others' manes.
A/N: Exams. :(