Author's Note: I hate it when work just disappears. I had made modifications and changes to it a couple weeks back, basically the entire mid-section of the chapter was replaced with a far better rendition, and when I went to post it last week, all my work was missing. Took me awhile to get the motivation back to redo it all. But I have and here it is!
Chapter 37: Kill the Boundary
There was no pain, no pleasure, no sensations at all. No sight, no sound, nothing. Just a strange sense of nothingness. A familiar feeling almost. This was the third time now. Or was it the fourth? It was hard to keep track. The empty, comforting embrace of oblivion had taken hold of him once more.
The first time there had been anger and rage. A struggle against fate. The second time there had been just acceptance. There had been no need to fear for he'd had a destination.
This time though it was different. He wasn't guided. He had no destination. He tumbled recklessly across the endless void of oblivion. Streaking across the Dimensional Gap and—
Sensations suddenly came rushing back with all the force of an avalanche. It slammed into him from all directions.
And with it came the sensation of pain. His body hurt all over. His ribs were broken in several places. He could feel liquid filling up inside his lungs. His left eye was blinded by blood. His left arm was warped and twisted, and he couldn't even feel his legs anymore.
Tatsumi rubbed his one good eye with his right hand and when his vision returned he didn't know what to make of his surroundings. He was sitting in what was left of a cockpit of a ruined battle mech. The entire bottom half of the mech was gone, along with his own legs. He could see the lower half of it some meters away through the shattered glass of the cockpit. Blood, his blood, leaked out from within. The left arm of the mech had been reduced to a twisted, mangled lump of steel and wires, along with his arm.
"…guess this is it?" Mine's voice suddenly filled the ruined cockpit. He'd recognize her voice anywhere, even if it did have a mechanical tone to it. "I'm sorry, Tatsumi. I failed you in the end. We promised to see this through together and… if only…"
His head tilted down to the command console in front of him. It was cracked, but still functional. The green backlight on the display lit up a name. M. I. N. E., Mechanized Integrated Nano Entity "It's not your fault. We both… knew this *cough* was only going *cough* to end one way."
The words came out of his mouth, but he hadn't spoken them. Or had he? He was so confused.
"I'm glad it was you that piloted me," Mine's voice filled the cockpit again. "Thank you for giving me a chance when no one else would."
"What can I *cough* say? Love at first sight…" he trailed off as they came into view. Twisted mockeries of life. More mouths and claws than they were anything else. They hungered endlessly to devour that which they were made to mock. The BBZZZTT 's greatest mistake.
And their greatest success.
Tatsumi ripped a plasma pistol from the holster on his right and blasted the nearest one. A tentacle went flying. He fired again. A claw. Another tentacle. A mouth. He kept shooting, firing into the disgusting masses as they shambled their way towards him. It was endless, hopeless. They were already consuming the lower half of the mech. His legs were long gone.
But if he was going to die…
"Mine *cough* let's take these bastards to hell with us!" Tatsumi roared in defiance.
"Yes… tonight we dine in hell!" Mine's roar filled the cockpit. Then her roar was replaced with the roar of the anti-matter reactor going critical—
BZZZZTT
With the sound of breaking glass, the world shattered around him again and...
He jerked forward, his final roar of defiance still on his lips. The rocking chair dumped him on the stone floor for his stupidity. He hated that thing sometimes. Mine could always get it to work but he was always falling off backwards or forwards.
"What's wrong, dear?" An older Mine asked as she rushed into the room with a worried look on her face. A half dozen pair of little eyes and adorable faces peaked around the edge of the door. Tatsumi's eyes immediately went to her stomach which was heavy with their seventh child. "Nightmares of the war?"
"Ah, no, that's not it," Tatsumi said. Well, it had been a war, but not this war. "Well, maybe a little."
There was a gentle smile on Mine's face that seemed out of place as she waddled her way over and knelt down beside him. "I know it hurts. I wish Akame, Najenda and all the others were here with us." Her eyes lifted. He followed her gaze to a picture of Night Raid sitting upon the mantle of the hearth. "It's just us now. It took us twenty-five years to kill Esdeath and end her winter, but we did. They've been avenged." She gave him another smile and patted her stomach. "So who do you think this one will be? Lubbock or Chelsea?"
"I'm hoping for Lubbock, how many daughters can you have in a row?" Tatsumi asked bitterly. One son and five daughters. Sheesh!
Mine snickered at him, "a lot more." She bent down and kissed him softly on the lips. "I'll always be here for you—"
BZZZTT
With the sound of breaking glass, the world shattered around him again and...
Tatsumi found himself staring down into Akame's crimson eyes, his sword, Incursio, buried deep between her breasts. Bright red blood stained her dark clothes, spreading ever further across her chest. The bright shine in her eyes he was so familiar with was fading fast as life fled from her body.
It had taken everything they'd had to kill Akame.
"—aren't going to be killing anyone else!" Mine hissed through clenched teeth as she fired Pumpkin into Akame's kneecap, blowing the lower half of her right leg off. Blood splattered all across the cobblestone road. Akame didn't so much as even flinch. It was doubtful she could feel anything anymore. "You rebels in Night Raid are all the same! Thinking you have the right to dictate what's right and wrong! What should and shouldn't be! You've caused more pain than the Empire ever did!"
"I will… avenge… everyone," Akame whispered through bloodstained lips. "I will, I must—"
Whatever else she'd been about to say was ended abruptly as a sharp jagged chunk of ice ripped through her face, ending her misery.
"Not anymore. With your death it is the Empire's victory," Esdeath said as she walked over to the two of them. Her once pristine white outfit marred by cuts where she'd narrowly avoided death. Fingers on her left hand were gone, replace by ice. It was a testament to just how skilled Akame had been. To be able to match the Empire's greatest strike for strike.
She might have even won had it not been for Tatsumi and Mine.
Esdeath gave them both a warm smile, a sharp contrast to the icy landscape around them. "Let's go, you two. It's time to hunt down Najenda and snuff out the rebel's final ray of hope."
Tatsumi ripped his sword, the Teigu Incursio, from Akame's chest, and wiped it once across her clothes before sheathing it. "Any idea where she is?"
"Running, like usual," Esdeath said, laughing. "But there's nowhere she can run that we can't find her." There was a little knowing smile on her face now. "The three of us can even finish our honeymoon on the way—"
BZZZTT
With the sound of breaking glass, the world shattered around him again and...
He was looking forward to the honeymoon. They had this great place booked in the mountains, a hot spring resort where they could just relax, the two of them. The King had secured the whole resort for just the two of them.
A gift for bringing about the end of the Empire even if it had cost him the life of his daughter.
But first, there was the ceremony to get through, and the expecting eyes of his soon to be wife.
Tatsumi gently lifted the thin veil that covered her face and stared into her beautiful pink eyes. Today was a special day. Their special day, and quite possibly the only day he'd ever see Mine in something other than pure pink. The white wedding dress was absolutely stunning on her, perfectly accentuating her best features.
He leaned forward and captured her waiting lips with his own. Cheers filled the church and—
BZZZTT
With the sound of breaking glass, the world shattered around him again and...
A bloodied Mine reached up towards him with a shaking hand. They'd almost made it. The war was over but… of all the worst things to happen. Tatsumi refused to look at the massive piece of metal, a fragment of the ruined Shikoutazer that he'd just destroyed, piercing her chest.
He wouldn't last long either. The Tyrant was there, clawing at his soul, his mind, his body. Soon he would be gone, just like her.
"Stay with me…" she whispered.
He took her hand in his. "Until the end," he promised—
BZZZTT
With the sound of breaking glass, the world shattered around him again and...
Click.
It was the perfect picture.
A wide, panoramic view of the space with countless stars sparkling across the heavens. A gorgeous blue star glimmered in the distance. The World Spire rose from the surface of Xalga Prime to grasp the moon within its embrace. An uncountable number of branches reached out from the core, spreading across the emptiness of space. They were covered with crystalline flowers of white, blue and pink, a sharp contrast to the emptiness of space they dwelled in.
None of that could compare to the focal point.
Standing before it all on the star base observation platform was Mine wearing a pink and white dress, her face lit up with a smile that outshone the universe itself.
"Tatsumi-kun I love you—"
BZZZTT
Mine blushed bashfully as she reached around to undo the strings of her dress. "I-I guess we can, but don't tell Esdeath, Tatsumi!"
BZZZTT
"I love you Tatsumi!"
BZZZTT
"Don't you dare die on me Tatsumi!"
BZZZTT
"Tatsumi!"
BZZZTT
The cold slammed into Tatsumi, tearing through the holes in his clothes and biting into the sensitive flesh beneath. The shock brought him to his senses fast enough for him to grab onto this fragment before he was ripped away again. All around him was a raging blizzard. It consumed the world, or at least it felt like it did. At the very least the entirety of the Empire was drowned in snow.
If only Akame hadn't been killed by her sister…
He shook those thoughts away. He had to figure out what was going on. What was going on with him! Who was he? Which was the real Tatsumi? Which life was the real life? Were they possibilities of what he could have been, or alternatives of what he currently is?
"I'm… sorry… Tatsumi…"
He threw those thoughts aside for the moment and focused on the small woman he was supporting. Tatsumi was in rough shape, he could feel injuries all over his body and the clothes were doing little to protect him, but no matter how bad he was, it didn't compare to Mine. The fur cloak she wore was shredded to pieces and the pink dress didn't fare much better. Tatsumi would survive, the Tyrant would ensure that. Mine was different. Her skin was already turning an unhealthy shade of blue and black in places. Frostbite was starting to settle in.
About the only thing that had survived was Pumpkin. She clutched the Teigu like it was a lifeline.
It may very well be.
"Don't talk, I'll find a place for you to rest." If they didn't find some sort of shelter soon she would… he didn't want to entertain that thought.
Mine let out a short, bitter laugh, "we both know… that's not… going to happen," She whispered. She stumbled and fell into the deep snow. Tatsumi was quick to drop to her side and wrap her up as best he could. If he could just share his warmth. "Thanks… going like this… is the second… best way to go…"
"Only the second?" Tatsumi asked jokingly. Trying his best to keep things light-hearted. He didn't want to admit it but there was no saving her.
"O-only second… g-going out killing… that bitch, E-Esdeath, would… have b-been b-better," Mine whispered brokenly, her voice shaking badly from the cold.
"I'll kill her for you, I promise," Tatsumi swore.
"I b-believe you," she said. Mine lifted a single, shaking arm and pressed Pumpkin tightly against his chest. "F-find someone… f-finish what we started."
"I will."
"Be with… wh-whoever… it accepts…" her voice was so quiet Tatsumi had to strain to hear it. "Don't… let me… be a s-shackle…"
And then she was gone.
Tatsumi clutched Pumpkin to his chest as he gazed at the woman he had loved. "I swear, I will have our revenge—"
BBZZZTT
With the sound of breaking glass, the world shattered around him again and...
A hand grabbed him, holding him in place.
{I think that's enough of that} a new voice reverberated in his mind.
Who?
{Just focus on recovering. Not everything can be seen. The further from the Primary the more difficult it is to peer into.}
Primary? Primary what?
{Oh, you're not from the Primary, not even close, neither are any of them. But they are closer than most.} There was a brief pause. {Just wait. You'll be back in no time.} Another brief pause. {Good luck, you're going to need it.}
~o~
"This is impossible," Azazel muttered as he worked feverishly.
Tatsumi, or rather the empty shell of his body, was laid out across the grassy front yard of the homestead. Drawn up all around him was a large, hastily scrawled runic construct. The first thing it did was preserve the body, constantly regenerating it so that it wouldn't start to cool and decay. The second thing the circle did, and the most important piece, was that Azazel had managed to snag a tiny thread of Tatsumi's soul before it had fled his body. That thinnest thread was trapped by the magics blazing around his body.
Keep the body alive and maintain a way back to it for the soul.
It had all happened so suddenly Azazel hadn't the time to do anything more. There wasn't anything more he could do.
"I demand to know what you're doing to my Tatsumi!"
"Keeping him alive, child," Azazel told Mine. It wasn't the Mine of his world. That one he'd sent back immediately. There was someone she needed to bring here as soon as possible. "Damn, how is this even possible?"
This really shouldn't be possible.
"I swear if you kill him after he just came back to me…" Mine said, letting out a low, angry growl as she stepped towards him.
Tatsumi's son, Taven, a young boy that was just as serious as his father, and the Queen, a woman who seemed to be just as flirtatious as Rias' Queen, stood nearby, unsure of themselves. What should have been a happy reunion had turned out to be something beyond their ability to understand.
Azazel couldn't even begin to imagine what was going on in the mind of Tatsumi's kid. What did he think seeing his father flop over and die only minutes after reuniting? If it was Azazel, he'd have exploded in frustration.
"As I told the Queen and your son on the way here," Azazel started calmly. No need to get upset with a child. "Your 'Tatsumi' died seventeen years ago. Seventeen years ago, he was reincarnated in my world. That makes him the property of the Mine of my world, not you."
"What's mine's mine, and what Mine's mine," Mine stated firmly.
Azazel would have laughed if the situation wasn't so dire. "Well unless you want to lose him for all eternity, you'll let me do my thing." Without that thread there was no way for Tatsumi to return to his body. Without that he'd be lost… wherever he was. Both worlds would lose him.
His world couldn't afford to lose Tatsumi at this critical stage. There needed to be a bridge between Humanity and the Supernatural. Without Tatsumi, that bridge would crumble before they could finish building it. Then all of Azazel's hard work would go to waste. There was only one way he could ever see her again and it'll never happen so long as the Angels and his people were at odds with each other.
A flare of divine power in the distance caught his attention. It was so powerful it nearly drowned on Mine's despite her reaching her newfound height.
There was almost as much a difference between ten wings and twelve wings as there was between six and ten.
Azazel didn't have to wait long after that before a brilliant white glow appeared in the distance over the trees. It steadily grew ever larger. Just as the figure within that brilliant white glow became distinct enough for Azazel to make out it disappeared.
"What's going on, Azazel?" Gabriel demanded as she landed softly on the grass next to Tatsumi's prone body. There was none of her usual naïve, innocent self. "Mine was fairly scarce on the details."
"Well I didn't have time to tell you any more!" Mine snapped as she settled down on the grass. Her legs buckled under her, dropping her to her rear. Sweat poured down her face, a testament to how hard she'd pushed herself trying to keep up with Gabriel. "You left me behind!"
"You're here now," Gabriel said as if that was enough. Her eyes hadn't left Tatsumi since the moment she arrived. "Why is his body here?"
"Shall I assume he has an empty shell of a body back in our world?" Azazel asked lightly.
Gabriel simply nodded as she knelt on the grass beside Tatsumi's body. "Bennia has been in a panic ever since she found him collapsed in the bathroom. No one outside Night Raid and those that live there knows of his condition yet though. If it's discovered he's disappeared a second time in such a short period."
"Not good," Azazel said simply. Society could give him a pass once, especially since he got done in by the machinations of the Trickster God. This time though? And so soon after the previous? People would start to question his ability.
"Would someone tell me what is going on?" the Mine of this world demanded.
"Hush child," Gabriel said softly, "I need to be able to concentrate if I am to find his soul." She reached out and gently touched Tatsumi's chest. Her eyes closed and her breathing softened as she reached out. "If I follow this thread—" she gasped sharply and her eyes snapped open. She rounded on Azazel. "Impossible!"
"That's what I've been saying this whole time," Azazel agreed. "But impossible or not, it is happening."
Gabriel returned to Tatsumi with a renewed focus. Azazel felt, more than saw, Gabriel's conscious leave her body and follow the thread of Tatsumi's soul into whatever strange place he'd found himself in this time.
Azazel resigned himself to waiting for her to finish. At least she left herself bent over in an advantageous position. He tilted his head a little more to get a better view. Advantageous for him at least.
~o~
Tatsumi didn't know how long he floated there, held tight by some unknown and unseen force. It could have been seconds or it could have been days. Time didn't seem to have any meaning here. At least not the standard concept of time that every used to measure the passage of events.
That unseen force didn't speak again after those initial few words, leaving Tatsumi with nothing more than his own thoughts to keep him occupied.
How many lives had he seen? How many alternate realities? Universes? Timelines? There was a constant in each one. Mine. She was always there, always a part of his life in some way. It was like that concept humans had where everyone had a soulmate. Was Mine his?
He didn't know but… it wasn't an unpleasant thought. Mine could be brash, stubborn, loud, and haughty, but beneath all of that was a heart of gold and an iron clad desire to protect those she loved and cherished, no matter the cost.
If he ever returned… what would he do? Which life was real? Was the life he'd live until now that of a fake Tatsumi? A pale shadow of the original that existed at the core of all these different dimensions? What did that mean for Mine? For everyone he knew?
{All are real. You are you. Whether you are here or there, you are always you. She is always she. You two are always together. For good or for ill, always.}
But am I still Tatsumi? I am the Tyrant.
{Irrelevant. Souls merge all across creation. Oversouls they are called. Countless exist in as many ways as one can imagine. Combination and separation occur daily. For now, you are combined but Tatsumi you remain even as you remain the Tyrant. You are more, not less, greater than the sum. Still all that Tatsumi is, still all that the Tyrant is, and more.}
That was an oddly comforting thought.
But what of Mine? What was she going to think of him leaving her there in that world while he went off to start another battle and pick up a harem in the process?
{Good luck.}
And the helpful advice was gone. If he didn't know better, he'd think this entity was similar to Ymir.
{Quicker than anticipated. Growth noted. Good.}
He was about to ask what he meant when he felt it. In this void of emptiness and nothing, a warmth. It grew steadily closer, seeping into his being, making him feel alive despite not. Then there was a pair of hands on him, arms, two large mounds pressing against his existence, and more. He felt himself drawn into a warm embrace.
Tatsumi.
Who?
{Yes, larger is definitely better. I knew I was right.}
Tatsumi heard a loud gasp in his mind. How?!
{Please do take care of him, daughter.}
Tatsumi felt the first hand let go as the other entity started to withdraw. It was only when it started to move that Tatsumi realized just how unbelievably immense it was. Not just in strength or size, but in sheer concept.
Father!
{Farewell.}
And then the presence was gone, slipping away across some unimaginably vast distance in an instant.
The one whose embrace Tatsumi paused only a few moments beyond that before she too started to move, only this time Tatsumi was brought along. Even though he could see, hear, or feel anything, there was still this sensation of speed. A sort of constant acceleration. Faster and faster he could feel himself drawn back towards something.
The acceleration came to a sudden and abrupt halt as he slammed into something solid. He was ripped from the warm embrace.
The solid barrier was shattered. He could feel the hum of power all about him, cradled in a cocoon of pure energy. It pulled him up and Tatsumi shot up, gasping for breath like a fish out of water. Light painfully stabbed into his eyes but he didn't care. The pain was welcome. It meant he was no longer lost wherever that was. Oh it was so wonderful to be able to feel again. The warm sun on his skin, the gentle breeze across his face, the grass beneath him, and the unbelievably soft pair of enormous breasts pressed against his back.
He tilted his head and blinked at the beautiful, golden haired woman behind him.
"Gabriel?" he was surprised at how weak his voice sounded.
"Good, you're back, just relax," she said softly. "The bindings that normally keep your soul tethered to your body were severed. It'll take a few weeks for them to reattach fully. You need to be careful until then."
"What happened?" He asked weakly, still trying to process what was going on.
He was back in his world. The one he'd helped save with Night Raid and the Revolutionary Army. Azazel, both Mine's, Taven and the Queen were all gathered around him. Their eyes filled with varying degrees of worry. But just moments before he'd been… what? Tumbling across the dimensional gap between various dimensions?
He honestly had no idea what he just went through.
"That's what I'd like to know," Azazel said as he slowly rose to his feet. The large magical circle around Tatsumi disappeared as he did. "Although I know how it all happened, I have no idea why." He combed his hand through his hair and started to laugh. "He always was a strange one."
"Father has only ever done what was necessary," Gabriel said was quick to come to His defense.
"Wait, is that Pumpkin?" the sighted Mine shouted suddenly, her voice filled with incredulity.
Tatsumi looked down at what Mine was staring at and found Mine's Teigu, Pumpkin, resting lengthwise across his lap, completely intact. Pumpkin from before Mine overloaded it killing Budo. He remembered Mine entrusting it to him as she lay dying in the snow. How had it crossed the boundary between dimensions?
It hurt even trying to entertain that thought.
"Heh…" it was a sharp, bitter laugh, an indication of just how drained he was. This wasn't really a situation to laugh at, but it was all he could do. "Heh, heh heh."
"Tatsumi?" Mine asked worriedly.
"I'm going to sleeping," Tatsumi was all he managed to say before the world went dark and his eyes rolled into the back of his head.
~o~
When Tatsumi awoke, he found himself tucked into a warm, soft bed, with the covers drawn up to his chin. Mine's scent tickled his nose, one that he breathed in deeply. It was a nice scent. When she didn't smell of blood and violence due to her duties in Night Raid she'd had this particular, floral scent that eased your worries.
Even before opening his eyes he knew where he was. Mine's bedroom. They'd brought him here after he'd collapsed.
Cracking an eye open he let it be drawn to the window. Heavy pink curtains had been drawn across them to keep out the sun which, from the color of the rays that peaked through around the edges, indicated that the sun was setting.
Or rising. That was a possibility he mused after a moment. He didn't know how long he'd been out. He was refreshed though. The Tyrant, if nothing else, could recover quickly.
Opening both eyes wide he drew them across the room. Mine's bedroom was the one place in the entire house where'd she been allowed to have nice stuff and not run the risk of a young Taven breaking it. Everything looked stylish and expensive, from the large chest dresser, to the four post bed with its delicately carved posts and gauze curtains. A large dressing table with its gold sheathed frame, large mirror and delicate accents was her pride and joy.
His eyes fell upon Taven, his son, sitting in a small chair next to the bed, head bowed. His messy brown hair identical to Tatsumi's own framed a pair of worried pink eyes several shades darker than his mother's.
"Taven…"
His words caused his son to jump up out his chair. "Father! You're up!" Taven quickly leaned over the bed to check on him but hesitated, unsure what he should do.
"How long was I out?" Tatsumi asked, sitting up in bed. The covers fell to his waist revealing his bare chest. Mine had most likely undressed him. His eyes found a set of fresh clothing for him on the dresser.
"Half a day," his son said, wringing his wrists as he sat back down in his chair. "I…" he trailed off into silence.
Tatsumi could only imagine the thoughts running through his son's mind right then. What did you say to a father you thought had been dead for the past seventeen years? A father you'd lived your whole life hearing larger-than-life stories about and had aspired to belike?
He wasn't any better off. How do you hold a conversation with a son you didn't know you had until just recently and hadn't met until just this morning? A morning in which said son nearly lost the father he'd never known he had mere minutes after meeting him!
Without anything better to bring up, Tatsumi latched onto something they had in common. "So… I hear you've been accepted as a Royal Guard?"
"Oh! Yes!" Taven said quickly. Relief that he had something to jump on evident in his expression. He picked at the black and crimson uniform he wore. "I just finished the initiation. I'm going to be Queen Akeno's bodyguard from now on. Captain Raven and Sergeant Itania are really strict. They make sure I never miss any training and test me at every turn."
"Good," Tatsumi said, nodding, "one should always practice. I do so even now. Not a day goes by when I'm not doing something to improve." Tatsumi stared at the palms of his hands. How many lives had he taken with them? How many lives had he failed to save because he'd been too weak? "Never stop training. The day you do, is the day someone will take from you that which you hold dear."
"I won't!" Taven promised.
"So, how is Queen Akeno?" Tatsumi asked, sending his son a sly, sidelong glance. "I know an Akeno back in my world and if this one is anything like her, she'll have you tied to her bed naked in no time."
"W-We're not like that!" Taven said, blushing heavily. "S-She's always been affectionate. It's just her way. I'm certain that once I've settled in my role, we'll be back to normal."
Uh huh, Tatsumi didn't believe that for a single moment. "If you say so, just don't her push you around too much… unless you want her to." No accounting for taste after all. "Take a hold of your own feelings. Decide what they are and treat her based on that. You owe it to yourself, and to her, to be honest."
"I will."
"That being said, don't waste opportunities either," Tatsumi said, sending his son another sly grin. "Your mother and I when we were back in Night Raid. That night of passion came hot and furious and you came as a—"
"Father! I don't need to hear that!" Taven protested loudly. "I don't want to know what you and mother do!"
Bennia was definitely rubbing off on him and if it was this fun interacting with a son… he wanted more.
That was later though, Taven was here now. "Fine, fine, how about you show me."
"Show you what?"
Tatsumi nodded to the window and the outside world. "How good you are. I'm curious where you stack up compared to where I was at your age. I believe there are a pair of sparring blades in the shed." He'd seen them there while pulling the tools out this morning.
"Oh! My old training swords that Akame practiced with me when I was little!" Taven bit his lip, looking uncertain. "But are you sure? Mother said you should be resting and—"
"We just won't tell her then," Tatsumi said grinning.
"But—"
"I'm going to have to go back to my new world after this. You might not get another chance for a long time."
That blew away what little doubts remained. His son rushed across the room and brought his clothes over. "Mother washed these for you."
"A domestic Mine, never thought I'd see the day, honestly," Tatsumi said as he climbed out of bed. He took the clothes from his son.
"What was she like before?" Taven asked as he got dressed.
"She made me do everything."
"Oh, she made me do everything too."
"Guess that much hasn't changed," Tatsumi said as he tugged the clothes tight. "Let's go."
Tatsumi threw the blinds wide and searched for the hidden latch on the window he knew would be there. Mine would never sleep in a room with only one exit. Finding it he flicked it, and a large section of the wall opened outwards on hinges hidden within the wall itself.
Outside, Tatsumi found a place on the wide-open lawn and began to stretch as his son ran over to the shed. He wasn't as limber and strong as he'd been in the other world, but he was close to his peak during his time in Night Raid. It should be enough to test his son.
When Taven returned, he tossed a simple short sword his way. Tatsumi caught it in one hand and eyed it closely. It was well crafted. The steel was thick, durable, and oiled. The edges were blunted to prevent accidental dismemberment and death, but aside from that it was a perfectly serviceable weapon. Even the balance was correct.
Gripping the weapon in a loose, easy grip he rounded on his son who had settled into a basic stance that Tatsumi recognized. His style was strongly influenced by Akame. It was a good style, one of the best really, but Tatsumi knew it very well. His son was good. Not his level good, but still very good. The way he balanced himself, the grip on the sword, and the way he held himself. He had experience.
"Come on," Tatsumi urged his son.
An excited smile broke out across his son's face. He had probably wished all his life that something like this could happen. To spar against his father. "Alright, here I come!"
The ground was shredded in Taven's passage, his footsteps kicking up massive clots of grass and dirt. He was, faster than Tatsumi had thought possible. It came as a shock, even more so when his eyes turned yellow and the iris became elongated.
It was only due to his experience fighting Esdeath and Akame at their best that allowed him to react fast enough. A loud clang of steel on steel rang out across the property as Tatsumi got his blade up in time to block his son's strike. It was heavy, for someone his age at least.
He knocked the blade wide and slammed his shoulder into Taven's chest, throwing his son off balance. Taven let out a startled grunt and quickly tried to gather his feet back under him but Tatsumi acted faster. Grabbing Taven's ankle he quickly spun in a circle and whipped his son back across the yard.
Taven, to his credit, shook off the shock and righted himself in midair, landing on two feet. He'd even managed to maintain a grip on his practice sword. He was definitely no Akame, but he wasn't bad for his age.
Better than Tatsumi had been.
"Every part of your body is a weapon," Tatsumi told him. "Don't let your guard down just because you think you've got someone's weapon tied up."
"Yes, father, Akame said the same thing," Taven said as he climbed to his feet.
"Should listen to her."
"I'll remember," he said as he crouched low again.
It was his turn now. He wanted to wow his son, leave behind a lasting impression. He used all the knowledge of his old life. Searched the depth of his body for that core and drew forth the life energy within. His eyes shifted, brain evolved, and future movements of everything around him sprang forth causing the grass beneath his feet to become a sea of green shifting back and forth like ocean waves. Muscles bulged, strength surged, and a visible glow of energy enveloped his body.
The wonder filling his son's eyes brought a satisfied smile to his lips.
"Here I come," Tatsumi said.
Even prepared for his charge, there was little Taven could do. The ocean of green beneath him cratered and turned a dark, muddy brown as the earth crumpled beneath the force of his charge. His son had a split second to react. It wasn't enough. Tatsumi slapped his training sword into his son's, sending a loud, high-pitched squeal echoing across the property. The force of the strike ripped the sword from his son's grip and sent it spinning across the yard where it thunked into the wall of the house.
Tatsumi wasn't finished. Even as his son was knocked back by the force of his charge, Tatsumi disappeared from his son's sight once more. This time he circled around behind and was there for him to fall back against.
"You alright?" Tatsumi asked, gently patting Taven's shoulder.
"That was amazing!" Taven said, whirling around to face him. "How did you move so fast?!"
"Well you see—"
"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?!" Mine's voice cracked across the yard.
The both of them stiffened and turned to look across the yard. Mine, Taven's mother, was literally climbing out of the kitchen window in her haste to get at them as quickly as possible.
"M-Mother! Umm, we were just…" Taven trailed off nervously.
"You should be in bed resting, Tatsumi!" Mine snapped as she stomped across the grounds. "And you should know better than to humor your father, Taven!"
"But I—"
"No buts!"
"We were just bonding," Tatsumi said, remembering a lesson from Bennia. If you want to ease a person's anger, make them feel guilty. "Or am I not allowed to bond with a son I never got to watch grow up?"
That brought her up short. "I… That's not what I meant… Argh! Why swords?!" Mine demanded, shifting tactics. "Why did it have to be swords?"
"I just wanted to see how good he was," Tatsumi pushed on, victory now in sight. "You know the dream I shared with Sayo and Ieyasu was to get into the Royal Guard. Our son has done that. I wanted to see what his efforts had amounted to."
"Then have him demonstrate on someone else!"
"Who?"
"Urgh…" Mine shifted her gaze elsewhere. There wasn't anyone else and she knew it. He had her pinned. She'd either blow up on him or… "You don't have to worry about Pumpkin."
Change the subject. He'd won. It didn't happen often but he'd managed it somehow. He could be graceful in his victory. He tried his best to ignore the shining look of admiration in his son's eyes. He wasn't sure if it was due to his skill earlier or how he'd managed to bring Mine to heel so easily.
"What happened with it?"
"I have it, Tatsumi," the blind Mine said as she rounded around the front of the house. She wasn't alone. Everyone else had come with her, Azazel, Gabriel, and even Queen Akeno. "It seems the thing has taken a liking to me."
"It's very useful," Azazel pointed out. "We were able to confirm that it completely negates the charge time. You can hurl lances of light stronger than anything I could ever make, and just as fast. Faster even!"
"I never said it wasn't useful," the blind Mine said, sniffing delicately.
"If Tatsumi and his son would be so kind as to put away the practice swords, I believe there are some questions the rest of us would like to ask," Gabriel said in a soft, gentle voice.
"Like what the hell happened to you," the blind Mine said. "We've all shared our stories. We just don't know what happened with you."
He supposed he did owe them that much, even if nothing that had occurred was his fault or because of anything he'd done.
Tatsumi glanced about and saw that everyone shared her thoughts. "There isn't much to tell," he said, glancing down at his hands. He turned them over, glancing at their backs. "I was at school in the bathroom trying to wash a stain out of my shirt. Then someone…" he frowned. Tried as he might he couldn't seem to be able to recall anything about the person, only that there'd been someone there. "I don't know who, said some strange things that didn't really make sense. I start to fade out of existence and then the next thing I know," he glanced up at the sighted Mine, "I'm waking up in my old body, here, in the grave where I was buried and with the memories of the last seventeen years I lived fading away like smoke on the wind." He turned Azazel. "When I saw you, they all came rushing back and…" he trailed off.
He didn't really know how to explain what happened after that.
"That's when your soul became disentangled again," Azazel said. "I've seen something similar before."
"What did you see?" Gabriel asked gently.
Tatsumi turned to the Mine's. "I saw Mine. I only ever saw Mine. Each life, each world, each dimension… Mine was always there at my side. No matter how different the world, no matter how different the life we led, we were always together in some way."
"Well of course! You're mine I'd never let anyone else take you," the sighted Mine said.
…all are real. You are you. Whether you are here or there, you are always you. She is always she. You two are always together…
"I heard something in there," Tatsumi said. What the enormous entity had mentioned. "I am always me. You are always you. We are always together."
"You make it sound like you and Mine being together is predetermined by Destiny," Azazel said, sounding rather interested.
"I…" was that was he was saying? He'd certainly seen nothing to contradict that thought. "I guess so."
"It's not impossible," Azazel mused. He seemed to take Tatsumi at his word.
"Even in our world it happens," Gabriel added. "Soul mates that are born time and again that always find one another in each life, even if they're not aware of it. It is not so strange to think that the same could exist across the dimensional boundary."
"I don't like the thought of my fate being determined by someone else," the blind Mine said, scowling angrily at the thought.
"But if it's with Tatsumi, I suppose it's not so bad," the sighted Mine said.
"I guess it could be worse," the blind Mine admitted.
"So what did you all decide while I was out?" Tatsumi asked. There was no need to ask what it was they were deciding. His fate was the only thing it could be. After stories were shared, what would logically come next was how to deal with him. One mind, one soul, two bodies, two worlds.
"You're coming back with us," Azazel said simply.
The sighted Mine grumbled under her breath. "I, grudgingly, accept that that world does have more need of you than this one." She glared at him. "I still think you should remain here. you've paid your dues. You've given up your life, your very existence, for the sake of this world. You should at least be able to enjoy it!" She let out a long sigh. "I'd be going with you if I didn't need to stay here and make sure a certain someone keeps her hands to herself." She threw a meaningful look at the Queen who looked far too innocent to be sincere. "I'll be moving to the Capital as a result. I need to keep a close eye on the children."
"I can always come back!" Tatsumi said quickly. There was no reason to avoid this world anymore, not now that Mine knew he was alive.
"That's part of what we agreed on," the blind Mine said. "Once a month for a weekend."
"It will depend on your duties with Night Raid, of course," Gabriel added. "You can't rightly expect to drop everything simply because a month has come and gone."
Tatsumi gave his son a smile, "guess we'll have more time in the future to hang out after all."
Taven was all smiles.
"More time to annoy me from the looks of it," Mine said, throwing an irritated look at their practice swords. "But I should have expected this. Like father, like son."
"I'll bring Akame and Najenda with me if I can," Tatsumi said.
Her eyes flashed angrily. "Oh yes, please do so. I have some… choice words I wish to share with them for not informing me you were alive before they go traipsing across dimensions!"
Sorry Akame and Najenda, but he needed to direct Mine's ire somewhere and you two weren't here.
"Now that we have all that sorted out," Gabriel gave Tatsumi a wide smile. "How about making us all dinner before we head home?"
Tatsumi just rolled his eyes and started to laugh. Some things just never changed.
x~X~x
The four powerful individuals were each preoccupied with their own thoughts as they landed softly on the stone sidewalk outside Night Raid Headquarters. There had been nothing but silence between them after they'd left Mine's homestead. A deep, heavy silence brought about by the thoughts of those weighed down by heavy concerns.
Tatsumi couldn't get Mine out of his head. The revelation that he and Mine were always together. Soulmates bound to one another no matter the world or situation, had come as a bit of a shock. Seeing all those different realities, different worlds, different versions of himself and Mine.
It wasn't an unpleasant thought in and of itself. There was no doubt in his mind that he loved the Mine of his world. But the one of this world? The blind, pink-haired Fallen Angel that stood at his side now? She was immortal and he… he was something more than human. Something more than even the Tyrant. He didn't know what he was, or was becoming, but he knew he wouldn't live for just a hundred years, or even two hundred. This Mine at his side, she could stay at his side that entire time.
He needed time to process everything he saw and everything he heard. What that entity had stated while he had floated there had resonated with him. His feelings for the Mine in all those other dimensions and worlds he'd seen hadn't differed. They'd all been the same intense feelings he'd had for the one in his old world.
The same feelings that caused him to go as far as he did to save and protect Mine in Niflheim. The same feelings that rose up even now whenever he glanced in her direction.
He had no idea what to do. No, that wasn't right. He knew what to do. What mattered was whether it was enough for Mine.
Unbeknownst to him, the similar thoughts were running through Mine's mind as well.
Mine had gone to that world to resolve her internal struggle. Her feels for Tatsumi and in return, his feelings for her. She still didn't know if she had her answer. If the struggle was done. The Mine of that world had given her blessing. Pumpkin sat on her wrist as proof of that. She was free to love Tatsumi and be with him in whatever capacity she desired. In that regard, her burden had eased.
The problem was with Tatsumi. That he still had feelings for the Mine of old was obvious. He always would. There was no erasing that. She would have to accept that. But now that he had that Mine back… did he still feel the same way towards her as he had in Asgard? She didn't know what scared her more.
That he didn't, or that he still did.
Gabriel had come face-to-face with the realization that He wasn't dead. That her maker was still very much alive and had simply chosen not to return to them. It was comforting to know that He still lived in some capacity, somewhere, but it was tempered by worry and concern over his absence and what it meant.
Had the Angels disappointed him enough during the Great War that he'd felt they were hopeless, or was his absence a test? She still had his parting words to comfort her. It was all she had to fight off the worry that they'd been abandoned.
Azazel was the only one that seemed unfazed by everything. That God still existed in some capacity was more of an interesting conundrum than a soul shaking revelation and the introduction of Pumpkin into the equation was something he was very much interested in investigating more. His eyes constantly drifted to the new crystal topped bracelet Mine wore.
Tatsumi let out a sigh and stopped at the doors, hand on the handle. He looked back over his shoulder at the leader of the others. "How do I handle disappearing a second time?"
"An apology is always a nice start," Gabriel said, smiling.
"I know several that could be won over by kissing them into submission," Azazel added, referring to Bennia, Xenovia and possibly even Ravel.
"Ugh," Mine scowled darkly.
Tatsumi threw her a quick glance before shaking his head. "Apology then." Not that he had any choice in the matter, but an apology always helped and it didn't cost him anything.
He shook his head and turned back to the door. Hopefully things wouldn't be too bad. He hadn't been gone long. Gripping the handle tightly, he took a deep breath and opened the front door, stepping inside.
They were all there waiting for him when he stepped inside. Bennia, Akame and Najenda, Ravel, Xenovia and Hikaru. Even Ymir and Lenneth were there, although they hung at the back.
"Tatsumi!" ((Tatsumi!)) Bennia, Ravel and Xenovia all said in unison before the three of them rushed him. They nearly bowled him off his feet.
He glanced over his shoulder at Gabriel and Azazel, confused. How had they'd know he'd be here?
"I let Xenovia know we were returning," Gabriel said by way of explanation. Behind her Azazel was grinning knowingly. It couldn't be a coincidence that the three he'd suggested Tatsumi kiss in to submission had tackled him.
He turned back to the girls. "Sorry for worrying you again," Tatsumi said softly as he struggled to juggle the three girls while also making way for Gabriel and Azazel to step inside. "It wasn't planned."
((When is anything ever planned with you!)) Bennia said with tiny little tears in the corner of her eyes. ((How many times do you have to disappear on me before I put a tracking device on you?))
"Hopefully never again," he said, giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead.
She smiled brightly and pressed herself even closer against his side. ((Disappearing or tracking device?)) There wasn't any real conviction in her voice. Guess the kissing suggestion wasn't so bad after all.
Tatsumi chuckled. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips that nearly caused her to melt on the spot before rubbing her head and turning his attention to Ravel and Xenovia. "Sorry you two."
"I second Bennia's suggestion!" Ravel said with her face buried in his chest. "Stop disappearing on us! I can't manage Night Raid without you here!"
"And how am I supposed to have any babies if you disappear?" Xenovia demanded.
"I'm confident you two can manage, but I'll try not to let it happen again." A wry smile came to his lips as he looked past the three girls to Hikaru, Akame and Najenda. "Have I been gone long? And how is everyone taking it this time?"
"Not as bad as you fear, Tatsumi," Gabriel said as she walked past him into the lobby. Azazel wasn't far behind. The Governor of the Fallen made his way over to one of the large pillars and leaned back against it to watch.
Mine slipped away, unnoticed by all save Tatsumi, Akame and Najenda.
((The public doesn't know.)) Bennia said quickly. ((When you didn't arrive at class, I went looking for you.))
"I mentioned you'd gone to the washroom before class," Hikaru added. She glanced away from them, up to the third level in the direction of his room. "She found your body there."
((Brought you back before anyone noticed. Everyone just thinks you're off doing Night Raid stuff in secrecy. Najenda's idea.))
Tatsumi glanced over at Najenda. The older woman looked immensely relieved that he was here. "So long as the people think it's planned, they won't think negatively of your disappearance. We just needed to buy some time to figure out what happened to you."
"You have returned, too," Akame added. "Show up at school tomorrow and…"
"That might be a problem," Hikaru said as she suddenly frowned. "Why do you look like you just aged twenty years?"
He flinched involuntarily. "Ah-ha… that's… complicated." How was he to explain this? He could see the gears turning in Najenda's mind as her eyes narrowed suspiciously. She'd probably already figured most of it out. "You see…" he'd completely forgotten about that! What was he supposed to do now?
"Can help," Ymir offered, stepping forward. "Body is upstairs. Can combine it with this one."
"No!" Gabriel said quickly. She quickly regained composure and reassured the supernatural patience and grace she was known for. "There are dangers, side effects, like total obliteration."
Ymir tilted his head to the side. "Why? Interested in an unknown body. Can't explore if erased."
"But if you make a mistake, the world will be deprived of Tatsumi," Gabriel said gently.
"Mistake?" Ymir asked curiously. He looked as if he was tasting a new word he wasn't familiar with.
"Ymir has never made a mistake, and you know it, Gabriel," Azazel told the High Seraph. "We may not always understand why he does certain things, but when he states something will be, it will be. That is a universal truth."
((Ugh, I don't want my Tatsumi to be obliterated!)) Bennia said, clutching tightly onto him.
Ymir tilted his head to the other side. "Tatsumi is different from you. Body can be destroyed. Soul cannot. Like I. Like God. Like—"
Gabriel gasped sharply, her eyes widening with understanding, and fear. "What are you—"
"You can't be serious," Azazel cut her off. His full attention was on Ymir now. His eyes sharp and searching, filled with knowledge and understanding that no one else there had. "He's not capable of fulfilling…" Azazel trailed off, his eyes darting about the front lobby as if searching for someone not there. "Damn. He could. He very much could…"
"Tatsumi isn't a play thing." Gabriel said softly. "I won't let you turn him into one."
"Not turning him into anything," Ymir said simply. "It is simply what is. All it requires is recognition."
"And that's why you spoke up," Azazel accused him. He threw Gabriel a sidelong glance and then sighed. "Well, whatever, not like it'll affect me much." Suddenly there was a huge grin on his face. "Actually, it may even be interesting to watch."
"I feel like I'm missing something here," Tatsumi said. It felt like something earth shaking was being tossed back and forth but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was.
((Don't worry about it, Tatsumi,)) Bennia said, ((so long as you remain you, I don't care.))
Even Bennia seemed to understand what was being bandied about. Everyone else seemed just as confused as Tatsumi.
"It seems it falls to me, then," Gabriel said softly. She marched up to Ymir, passing Najenda and Akame without so much as a glance. She bent down and whispered something into his ear before moving on past him.
"He is what he is," Ymir said simply in response to whatever it was that Gabriel said, "he will be what he is meant to be. Fate decides. Not you. Not I. Simply stating things as is. Nothing can change that."
Tatsumi didn't know what sort of look Gabriel had on her face but it sent Lenneth scurrying out of her way as she walked past her and up the grand staircase to the upper floors. When she reached the top, she turned back to them, to him, with a warm smile on her face.
"You've had a trying time Tatsumi, be sure to get plenty of rest before school. What you need now is rest and relaxation. Come, Xenovia, there are things we need to talk about." And with that she was gone. Xenovia hesitated for only a moment before she hurried off after Gabriel.
"I should take my leave as well," Azazel said. "It seems there may be exciting things on the horizon. So many things to look forward to." He gave Tatsumi a pat on the shoulder and a wink before he swept past him and out the front.
"You said something about fixing my age?" Tatsumi asked Ymir, trying to get the conversation back to something understandable.
((The same thing can't exist in the same place,)) Bennia interjected quickly. She apparently knew, which made sense considering her true age. ((If you were to touch your old body one of two things would happen. You would either be obliterated or combined.))
"I see… wait, what would have happened if this Mine touched the Mine of my world?" Tatsumi asked quickly.
"Obliteration," Ymir said simply. "Usually. Depends on Universe. Each dimension handles things differently. But usually obliteration."
Tatsumi shuddered at that thought. Those two had been so close to touching so many times. Mere inches away from total annihilation.
"Won't happen with you," Ymir promised him. "Decide that here. Combining would reduce aging. Not total reversal. Average."
It was something at least. "Alright, let's do it."
"Are you sure?" Ravel asked nervously. "If we lost you for good."
"We have Ymir's promise," Tatsumi said, "and I don't want to have to explain to everyone why I look like I'm in my mid-thirties." He looked over at Hikaru. "Never mind explaining to the public why a middle-aged man is sleeping with a high school girl, because that can't go badly."
"It would be inconvenient trying to explain it to people," Hikaru did admit. She shot Ymir a long look. "If something happens to him, I'll hunt down all your incarnations."
Ymir was unperturbed. "Unoriginal. Take pointers from Gabriel."
Just what the heck did Gabriel whisper to the Universe?
"Alright, then let's do that," Tatsumi said, trusting Ymir not to obliterate him on the account that he had more to gain from keeping him around. "Let's go find somewhere comfortable and then I can explain to all of you what happened."
~o~
"How is she?" Tatsumi asked quietly as Najenda stepped out of Mine's bedroom.
"Exhausted," Najenda returned just as quickly as she closed the door behind her. "Not physically, mentally."
"Will she be fine?"
Najenda peered at him intently, searching his eyes for something. After a time she shrugged. "That depends on you." Najenda paused for a moment before continuing. "Why do you think she went to our world?"
So much had happened to him in such rapid succession he hadn't time to consider why before now. Why had Mine be there? Tatsumi wracked his brain trying to find an answer. Mine could be impulsive, sure, but not like that. She and Azazel had been there for a reason. She'd arrived with Taven and the Queen, which meant the two of them had used them to find… Mine.
Mine hadn't been there to find Tatsumi, but to find Mine. To speak with her?
About what?
What was there that the Mine of his old world that the Mine of this one would care…
He leaned back against the wall next to her door and let out a soft sigh. "She went there to speak to Mine about me."
"Yes, and now the most important question, why?" Najenda asked, pressing him further.
She'd gone there to speak with Mine about him. But what could she have to gain from anything Mine could tell her? Tatsumi's mind ran across a thousand different reasons but nothing seemed to jump out at him as 'the one.' Then his memories went further back, beyond Tatsumi, to a time when the Tyrant had observed its greatest prey and its greatest hunter.
It was in those memories. The memories of women fighting over men that Tatsumi found the answer. Those memories mixed with the realization that he and Mine were always together.
"Yes, that's it," Najenda whispered. "You said it yourself. Every Mine has loved Tatsumi, and every Tatsumi has loved Mine. Yet, what happens when there's two Mines and only a single Tatsumi?"
"I—"
"It's on you now, Tatsumi," Najenda said as she walked past him. She paused a few steps past him and threw a look over her shoulder at him. "She has accepted her feelings for you. What torments her, is whether you've accepted yours. I know you're not just Tatsumi anymore, but this isn't just Mine we're dealing with here either. You need to come to a decision, Tatsumi. The woman laying in bed in that room. What are your feelings for her? Accept her or not, that's your decision, but you need to make one. She deserves at least that much. She needs it."
And with that Najenda was gone, leaving Tatsumi alone with his thoughts.
What were his feelings for her? He already had that answer. The only question was whether it was enough for Mine.
He let out a soft sigh and pushed off the wall. There was only one way to find out. Whether they were enough, he didn't know, but Najenda was right. He needed to make a decision, and Mine had the right to know what that was.
Tatsumi knocked on the door and opened it a little. The room beyond was dark, the only light came from the hallway and the faint city lights filtering in through the drapes. "Mine?" Tatsumi called out softly.
Had she fallen asleep while he'd been talking with Najenda?
Just as he was about to close the door and try again in the morning he muffled voice floated over his way from the bed. "I'm awake. Come in and close the door."
"Coming in," Tatsumi said, wincing ever so slightly over the redundant statement. Never-the-less he quickly stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.
With the light of the hallway gone a deep darkness fell back upon the room. It took several moments for his eyes to adjust to the faint light filtering in through the drapes. He could just barely make out the faint outline of Mine's body under the covers. Only her face and hair were exposed, her long, pink hair spilling across her duvet as she burrowed her face into her pillows.
"How are you feeling?" Tatsumi asked softly, trying to find some way to break the ice. He couldn't just come out and say what he felt about her. Talk about embarrassing.
"Fine."
Tatsumi winced. He knew that tone. Whenever a woman said they were 'fine' with that tone, they were anything but.
He started across the room slowly, well aware that even with her face pressed into her pillow, she could feel his presence with that Dominion of hers.
"We haven't really had any time to talk, just us two, since Niflheim."
"Didn't know you even cared," Mine's voice was so low and muffled her words were nearly lost.
An opening! Whether she gave it to him on purpose or not, he was latching onto it.
"I do care," Tatsumi said as he stopped beside her bed. He sat on the edge and turned to face her prone form, still sprawled out beneath the covers. "I care a lot."
"Do you really?" She slowly lifted herself up, turning around so she was sitting on the bed, facing him with her legs sprawled out beneath the covers. She wasn't wearing anything. The darkness prevented him from seeing anything more than just a faint outline. It was enough for his imagination to run wild. He reined it in though. This wasn't a time to fantasize about her. "Or am I just a replacement?"
Her voice was barely more than a whisper.
He looked away, tilting his head to the ceiling. The large four-posted bed almost reached it. There were curtains on it that could be drawn. They were left open. He was going to give her his answer. It was up to her how to receive it.
It was all he could do.
"That's for you to determine," Tatsumi said softly. Closing his eyes he let his mind drift back to all those alternate realities he had experienced. "When my soul became lost, I saw different versions of you. Of Mine. Do you want to know what I felt towards all of them?"
It was a rhetorical question, not really meant to be answered.
"The same as you… the same as the Mine I left behind," Tatsumi said softly. He opened his eyes and turned back to her. He couldn't read her expression, not in the darkness. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is no Mine to replace. The Mine here before me now and Mine over there are, to me, the same. I guess, I think, I have always had feelings for you. They're always the same, no matter the world, no matter the dimension. The only thing that changes, is how I came to realize those feelings for you." He let a warm smile cross his lips. "In a sense, I was born into this world already in love with you." Tatsumi paused briefly, let those words sink in for a moment before he continued. "That's my answer. I don't know if that's what you're looking for but it's the honest truth about how I feel. You deserve that much."
Mine was silent for a time, her head bowed and bangs covering her face. He had no idea what was going through her mind, but she was thinking about his words. He was glad that she hadn't outright rejected them, but the silence made him nervous.
She clasped her hands together and brought them to her chest. Words too quiet to hear escaped her lips before she let out a long, drawn-out sigh.
"Prove it."
"What?" Tatsumi asked, not entirely certain he heard her correctly.
"Prove it," Mine repeated, this time through back the covers to expose herself completely. She hadn't a stitch of clothing on, not even panties. Her legs went wide and she held her arms out to him as if waiting for an embrace.
"I…"
"Prove you love me as much as you love her," Mine told him, growing more irritated by the moment.
"Are you sure—"
"Did you hesitate when you were with her?" she accused him. "That night you were together where you had your son."
Wait, she couldn't be seriously thinking about having children. About conceiving one right here and now, could she?
"If you won't prove it, then get out of this room and my life."
Tatsumi quickly grabbed her wrists before she could lower them. "That's not it at all. It's just… are you sure?"
Her response was a swift and merciless. A hot passionate kiss that sent a burning desire shooting through his body. He felt like his entire body was on fire. A raging desire surged through him and all he could think about was her. Was there something in her saliva or was it all her?
Those thoughts burned away along with all his inhibitions a moment later.
Mine let herself fall back to the bed, her head on her pillow with her undone hair splayed out in all directions. "Prove it," she said one last time in a heavy, lust filled voice.
He spent the rest of the night proving it.
Note on Mine: I had a different outcome for this chapter originally. I had wanted the resolve the issue of 'dual Mines' by combining them into a single individual through some made up universal law that the same person can't exist in the same place at the same time.
I STILL prefer that ending to what I have here, especially since the next chapter would have been absolutely amazing because of it, but this ending affords me more flexibility later. There is also a very important reason I went this route instead.
It doesn't nullify all the character development I spent the entire Asgard arc developing and doesn't erase all the consequences that had arisen from it. My previous ending basically made the Asgard arc pointless.
Author's Note: Leave a review and let me know what you think!