So this is the last chapter to this very short and sad fic. Thank you all to who took the time to stop by and read and reviewed, it means a lot to me.
"Are you scared?"
Kai paused, his hands stuck in Ray's now snow-white hair as the suds started to run down his arm. He hadn't been expecting that kind of question to come from his lover, not after they had just laughed and joked about their time at Max's 85th birthday party only a few hours ago. Now he didn't know how to respond, he wasn't even sure what kind of question it was Ray was asking him.
"…About what?" He finally managed out, continuing with washing Ray's hair for him as he sat between his legs in their garden tub.
"Being alone." Ray said as he tilted his head down, his voice coming out in a whisper.
"Let's not.- "NO!" Ray cut in. "We need to discuss this Kai." Ray said a bit more firmly.
Kai didn't say a word as he pushed on Ray's back gently to get out from between him and the back of the tub, quickly grabbing his towel as he dripped water onto the tile floor.
"I am not discussing this with you Ray, not right now." Kai answered angrily, his eyes already burning into Ray's to let him know he wasn't joking. "Call me when you're done so I can help you out." He said a bit more calmly as he left the bathroom quickly.
Ray just sat there, his dull golden eyes looking down into the soapy water he was left sitting in. He knew his time on earth was coming to an end, he was nearly into his nineties now and even though his health was almost perfect for an 87 year old man, he knew it was almost time.
He never regretted getting back with Kai, they played the grandfather and grandson role to a perfect T when out in public, Kai had taken care of him well enough this long and Ray felt almost guilty when he no longer could take care of Kai in return due to his old age. Kai never said a word about it though, if anything he always looked happy whenever they were together; which was almost 24/7.
Ray sighed heavily, lifting his shaking arms to run his hands through his hair to finish the job Kai had left in his anger; even after all this time that was something that hadn't changed about his un-aging lover.
As Ray continued to run his fingers through his much shorter locks, his long hair becoming too much of a hassle as he got older, a sharp pain coursed through his left arm and he let out a gasp. His heart began to beat frantically in his chest and he lost almost all his breath in his lungs. He tried to move his legs to stand himself up, his right hand searching out the metal bar on the side of the wall, but he was in a panic now and his hand missed it.
"K… Kai…" He tried to shout but it came out in a gasp as he tried to stand himself up again, his heart beating faster in his panic.
The water in the tub tossed and turned as he tried to get out on his own, his hand still soaked with water and shampoo slipped once more from the bar and he fell to his knees.
"Kai!" He tried once more, this time his voice carrying his words loud enough through the bathroom, tears forming in the corner of his eyes.
Kai appeared in the bathroom before him in a blur, his vision coming in and out as he heard Kai speaking, yelling, at him and warm hands were holding him, but nothing was truly making sense. His heart was hurting as it felt it was about to break out of his chest, his mouth was going numb along with his arms.
When he woke up it was slow, his head felt heavy and his eyes didn't want to open for him at first. The soft rhythmic beep of his heart monitor was one of the first things he began to hear, and he forced his eyes to open so he could look around only to find himself laid up in a hospital bed. Once more panic was starting to set into his body, until he felt the weight of the bed beside him slightly dipped in where a young boy with two-toned hair was asleep, his head laid in the fold of his arms as he rested it on the side of the bed.
Ray reached out, gently shaking the teen awake from his slumber. Bright crimson orbs met his dull golden ones, and the panic that had been on the teen's face washed away like the snap of a finger.
"I thought I lost you." The teen breathed out, outstretching his hand for Ray's face.
Ray backed away and the boy frowned at him hard, letting his hand fall back onto the bed. "What's wrong?"
Ray's eyes danced around the room quickly, then back to the boy's. "Where am I?"
"You're in the hospital… You had a heart attack..." The boy said calmly, though Ray couldn't mistake the sadness that held in his tone.
"I see…" Ray said as his eyes darted around the room again. "And who are you?"
"…W-What?" The boy half chuckled out, searching Ray's face like Ray had done to him and there he saw it. Deep in his eyes, he could see that Ray didn't know who he was anymore.
He tried to answer him, but his words got stuck in his throat and he pushed himself away from the bed and turned his back to Ray. "I'll get the doctor." With that he left, wiping the tears that were falling down his face before anyone saw them.
It wasn't fair, not after all this time of being together once more that the universe would be so cruel and do this to him. It was as if his life had been some sick joke since the moment he was born, why did he let himself get so excited when they told him Ray would have been alright? Why did he even let himself fall in love with him to begin with?
Kai's fist hit the wall in the hall, not caring that he scared the two nurses who were stepping out of another patients room or caring that they could see his tears now freely rolling down his face. In his head he cursed his mother and father, for having ever deciding to give him life. He cursed his grandfather, for having him placed in the Abbey where he became a guinea pig for all his sadistic ideals. He cursed himself, for letting himself get attached to anyone when he knew of the consequences.
"Excuse me… Mr. Hiwatari?" A timid looking nurse called out to him, having not even heard her approach him.
Kai turned to her, letting his arm drop limply to his side. "What?" He asked hoarsely.
"The doctor would like to speak to you about your grandfather." She said and turned for him to follow.
For once Kai had wished that it was true, that it was his actual grandfather on that bed who didn't know who he was, who was just another step closer to death's door. Instead it was his lover, the man he had fallen for so long ago. The one person he knew he couldn't let go, no matter how hard he had tried. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs in anger and anguish, but instead he followed her quietly back to the room; he didn't even look back at Ray sitting on the bed to his left.
"It seems your grandfather has a case of dementia, it might have been brought on by the heart attack, but we can't be fully certain given his age. We'll be keeping him over night, you're more than welcome to stay with him and talk to him. Sometimes they'll remember small things bit by bit, all we can do is keep him comfortable and not scare him."
The doctor continued to ramble about the new diagnosis to Kai, but he began to not hear a word he was saying. His heart shattering the longer he stood there, having to listen and have this put on his shoulders. How this all happened was still a question he wanted to ask, but he never got the chance to as the doctor left the room after his ramblings.
"You came back." Ray's voice called out, bringing Kai out of his stupor and the silence in the room finally broken.
"I couldn't leave you." Would have been what he'd have said if he was speaking to the Ray who remembered him, instead he just nodded and sat back down beside the bed.
"They told me you're my grandson… But we look nothing alike." Ray began to jabber like the doctor had done in a very old man fashion, something he had never truly done before.
Kai didn't really know what to say to him, so he just sat there on his chair in silence. Eventually Ray fell asleep, and Kai chanced a look at him and couldn't help but feel his heart break completely. Holding back fresh tears he leaned over and moved Ray's bangs away from his face, kissing him gently on the forehead.
"Yes… I am scared."
The next day wasn't any easier when Kai signed the papers to take Ray home, nor was it easy having to try and tell Ray who he was and where they were going. It was even more difficult when Kai decided not to tell Ray who they actually were to each other, having to sleep on the couch in the living room as they only had one bed and it would have been too awkward to have slept together like they always had done before.
Over the course of the week it got a little better, Ray would forget important things, but could remember small things like Driger and his village; something the doctor said was possible, but it didn't make things any easier on Kai when all he wanted to do was hold him one more time.
He tried a month later after Ray had the heart attack, and for a minute as Kai explained who they actually were to each other it looked as though Ray has a hint of recognition in his eyes, but the moment Kai felt a little hope that he may have remembered, Ray burst out into laughter and shook his head at him; at least he had tried.
He did his best to keep Ray as comfortable as possible, the couch becoming his permanent bed now as the months rolled on and it got harder with each passing day as the heart attack off set more problems for Ray. The doctors were giving him less than three months left, but like the fool he was Kai held onto hope that he would last till the end of the year, and for once the universe granted him his final wish.
It was a cold spring day when Kai laid Ray into the ground, in a small plot in the field and under the tree they would always come to in their teens. There was no headstone, or anything fancy and it was just him there now standing under the tree as he let the cold breeze blow around him. He was numb to it, just like he was numb to everything now. He had informed Max, Hilary and Kenny of Ray's passing but they gave him his space for the day and would come tomorrow. Beside him at his feet sat his suit case, in it he had some clothes and his and Ray's beyblades.
He stood there till the sun began to sink, most in silence but he at times he caught himself talking to the wind, to Ray, about all the times he could remember so vividly of their time together. With no tears left to shed he began to depart from under the tree and as he came over the hill in the field his crimson eyes locked with icy-blue, looking the same as they had back in their youth, surrounded by lilac, red, and green.
"You ready to go?" Tala asked, his hands in his pockets, his hair tied in a low pony-tail that hung around his shoulder, still the same fire-red Kai remembered.
Kai nodded, gripping the handle to his suitcase a little harder as he followed the other four teens over the hill and to their car awaiting them.