Chapter 2: Wanderer
(Ah! The first of several upsates dedicated to Alabirdie, whose birthday is this week and who LOVES Renji in distress! There will be plenty of that in this one, very soon! Enjoy the chapter...)
"Mmmmm," Tetsuya sighed contentedly as juice from the fresh blackberries he had picked, slid down his throat and cooled him inside, "I was so craving these! Thank kami you were there to come with me to the meadow. Byakuya and Renji hardly let me out of their sight since I'm so close to having this baby, but they were occupied with work matters...getting Renji prepared for his mission."
Which explains why it was so easy for you to slip away, commented Arashi, You know, I should have ratted you out to the house guards. You shouldn't have come so far away from the main house.
"In case you have forgotten, I am supposed to get some exercise. And I did not walk overly much, I rode you a lot of the way. You are perfectly capable of both protecting me and carrying me back quickly if I go into labor."
He leaned over a blackberry bush, picking out several more large, ripe berries and slipping them into his mouth.
"Oh gods, these are so sweet."
He reached up to wipe the sweat from his forehead and looked around.
Are you all right, Master?
"I'm fine. I just feel thirsty after eating all of those berries. I could use some water. Let's go back to the stream."
He walked quietly at Arashi's side, one hand on the stallion's shoulder and the other rubbing the swollen bump on his belly. A smile came to his lips as the baby's reiatsu brushed against his questioningly, and he felt touches of his former love's presence.
Despite your physical discomfort, you seem quite content, Arashi commented, But perhaps you should ride from here.
"Don't be pushy," Tetsuya sighed lazily, "I feel fine. You're just touchy because we are near the old prison."
They reached the stream and Arashi reached out his long neck and sipped at the cool water, while his master worked his way onto his knees, then gathered water in his cupped hands and drank deeply. He wetted his face to cool it, then sighed and slowly worked his way back onto his feet. Arashi watched him with a concerned eye, but spared his master the indignity of constant reproach. They walked along the bank of the river, then reached an old log crossing that marked the beginning of their return to the manor.
Tetsuya breathed in the gentle vapors of water flowers and pine, his mind traipsing back to the morning he'd spent in the arms of the two people who meant the most to him. And for no reason that he could fathom, thinking of them being together and so happy brought tears to his eyes. Halfway across the old log, he paused to brush the tears from his eyes. Arashi glanced at him quizzically, then gave a squeal of surprise as the battered log they stood on crumbled and they tumbled into the water.
Master! Arashi exclaimed, stiffening and holding himself back from thrashing about for fear of injuring the pregnant noble.
"I'm f-fine!" sputtered Tetsuya, surfacing near the stallion and carefully helping the beast to right him.
Arashi scrambled back onto his feet and snorted water from his nose, then shook the dampness from his mane.
"Watch what you're doing!" Tetsuya laughed, ducking most of the water, then losing his balance and falling into the water again.
Are you all right? Arashi asked, turning a reproving eye on the young man as he succumbed to a hormonally induced fit of laughter. He sat in the shallow water, laughing until tears leaked onto his face, pausing to take in Arashi bemused expression, then erupting into giggles again.
"Oh gods, this is torture!" he complained, "I cannot stop. I laugh until I cannot breathe!"
Arashi's gaze softened affectionately and he lowered his head to tickle Tetsuya's soft cheek with his soft muzzle. Tetsuya smiled up at him and pulled a wet horse treat from his pocket, feeding it to the stallion as he brought his emotions back under control.
It is good to see you so happy, Master.
"It is good to be so happy," Tetsuya answered, brushing the dripping black strands of unruly hair away from his sapphire blue eyes, "There was a time when I did not know what it was to laugh until I cried...when even to smile was a rare thing. But the one thing that always made me smile...was Naoki. And now, even after taking his leave of me...of this world...of life, he still touches me with that same happiness. I feel his eyes watching over me constantly and I know he is pleased that his life will go on in this little one."
Arashi gave a soft, equine laugh and huffed sweet, hay scented breath in the young man's face. Tetsuya placed a hand on the horse's lowered neck, behind his ears, letting Arashi steady him as he struggled to gain his feet. As he rose, pain flashed through one leg, making him catch his breath sharply.
Master? Are you hurt?
"Erm...I think I took a bad step and just twisted an ankle. I am not usually so clumsy, but balance is a dodgy thing when one is with child."
With child and out wandering about instead of following Byakuya's orders to stay close to home, Arashi chided him.
"We are close to home," Tetsuya sighed, frowning, "This isn't really so far. And those berries don't grow anywhere else on the manor grounds. What was I supposed to do?"
Hmmm, perhaps ask Koji or Torio to get them for you? Those two have been falling all over themselves wanting to do things for you, but you are very stubbornly independent.
"I wanted to take a walk," Tetsuya snapped, scowling at the stallion, "The last time I checked, that was not a crime. And you are the last one who should be speaking to me about stubbornness! That is glaringly hypocritical. Now leave off badgering me and help me back to the manor."
Tetsuya went quiet, biting at his lips to keep from complaining about the blossoming pain in his ankle as Arashi helped him to stand. He tried a cautious step, but winced and nearly fell again, then held onto Arashi's neck and hobbled to the edge of the stream, where he collapsed and bent to drink more of the cool water. He rubbed his belly gently as a tremor of pain passed through the area. Sweat broke out on his forehead and he panted softly, waiting for the pain to subside.
Arashi knelt next to him as Tetsuya's head spun from the odd blending of the hot sunlight, cool water and intermittent throbs of pain in his ankle and belly.
"Oh..." he moaned softly, closing his eyes.
Master? Arashi said worriedly, prodding him gently, can you climb onto my back if I kneel? I will use kido to keep you from falling.
"I...I don't..." Tetsuya moaned dizzily.
Master!
Tetsuya turned away from the stallion, crawling mindlessly towards the shade of a tree, then collapsing in a senseless heap. He remained there, his lips moving as strange dreams flashed in his mind, taking him away from the hot spring day in the meadows beyond the manor and setting him down again in a chill darkness.
He found himself on his feet and running, pursued by something foul and monstrous. He knew well that he couldn't let himself be caught, that the hollow that pursued him was going to destroy him.
But something inside him wouldn't let him fight the creature. He was certainly, he thought, strong enough. But something had happened before...something that made him run instead. He strained his mind, trying to remember as the hollow stalked him, following and maneuvering, trying to take him off his path and lure him. He carefully evaded each attempt to corner him.
But everything came to a shattering halt as he found himself running into a rocky area that opened into a tall cliff and closed in valley.
"Oh no..."
He turned back, flash stepping furiously, but felt skeletal hands take hold of him. Fear shot through him as he was lifted off his feet and hateful golden eyes glared down at him.
He saw it then...the sight that stopped his heart in its chest...the familiar array of black tattoos on tanned skin.
"Renji!" he screamed, "For kami's sake, Renji, stop! Don't! Renji!"
"Take it easy, okay?" Renji's voice said, cutting into Tetsuya's dream and bringing him awake suddenly.
He gasped and grabbed wildly at the front of Renji's shihakushou, tears leaking onto his face as his mind was gripped with how Renji had looked in that awful dream.
Renji's hands found his and rubbed them gently, then worked them loose. He kissed the soft fingertips and rubbed them some more, looking down into Tetsuya's glassy eyes as the noble recovered himself.
"It's going to be all right now. Byakuya is bringing a healer."
"A h-healer?" Tetsuya managed, trying to make sense of what was happening.
"Yeah," Renji chuckled, smiling down at him, "You know, those people from the fourth who help you when you're hurt or maybe having babies out in a meadow somewhere, instead of at home, where you belong?"
"Oh gods, please don't start lecturing me," Tetsuya groaned, "I only took a short walk, and I would have been fine but for that old log that collapsed and dumped Arashi and me in the water, where I sprained my ankle!"
"Yeah, well you should have..."
"Renji, stop, please!" the noble groaned, panting as a sharp pain passed through his belly, "This is grueling enough without you going on about that. J-just tell me...is everything all right with the baby? My senses are scrambled. I cannot sense anything properly."
"Yeah," Renji laughed softly "Yet, here you are, out in the middle of nowhere..."
"Stop that!" Tetsuya panted, swatting at the redhead, who grabbed his swinging hand and brought it to his lips, where he nipped gently at Tetsuya's fingertips.
"Sorry, couldn't resist," Renji said, smirking as he lowered his free hand to lay it on Tetsuya's belly, "But you wanna know what getting a good talking to is, then just wait until Byakuya gets back. I'm a kitten compared to that guy, when he's been disobeyed."
"Ugh! Do not remind me..." Tetsuya muttered, "But going back to what I asked before. Is the baby all right?"
"Yeah," Renji said, seeking Tetsuya's lips and tasting them warmly, "The baby is fine, Tetsuya. Don't you worry about that. And you'll be fine too...though once Byakuya gets through with you..."
"Renji!"
"Sorry."
Tetsuya went quiet, focusing on keeping his breathing slow and steady as the pains came and went. Renji's warm, rough hands caressed his belly and touched his face, and the redhead's gruff voice kept Tetsuya feeling connected to the world as his awareness wavered somewhere between reality and somewhere else. He surfaced again as the pain increased and the air seemed to grow brighter around him.
"Oh!" he gasped, "Oh, Renji..."
"Huh," the redhead chuckled, his state of calm drawing Tetsuya back from the edges of panic, "Isn't is just like you to wander out into the middle of nowhere and have this kid before Byakuya can even get back with a healer? You know, you give new meaning to the concept of stubbornness...obstinacy..."
"Oh Renji, p-please!"
"All right," Renji laughed, tickling his cheek and feeding him a placating kiss, "Now, it's not in my resume, but when I was a kid in Inuzuri, I helped more than a few of the street girls have their babies."
"You did?" Tetsuya panted in a surprised tone, "R-really?"
"Uh-huh," Renji assured him, "Granted, the way you have'em is a little different, but it's the same in that you just need to relax and breathe through the pain. I remember from when you had the twins that the babies emerge once your belly there loses enough cohesion, and that we wanna catch the glowing ball of light before it takes shinigami form and we let it drop onto the ground here."
"R-renji..." Tetsuya chuckled, wincing as another pain passed through him, "Ah...hah...R-renji, I feel...I feel it!"
The light around Tetsuya grew brighter, illuminating Renji's handsome, proud face as he rubbed Tetsuya's glowing belly and watched the reiatsu cluster pass through the abdominal wall and rise up above Tetsuya's body. He gathered the cluster into his arms and Tetsuya sat up next to him, the two watching raptly as the glow around the cluster began to resolve itself.
"It looks like I arrived a moment too late," Byakuya's voice said, making the other two men smile as the clan leader and Hanatarou joined them.
"Actually, you're here for the best part," Renji assured him.
The three men watched in awe as the baby's tiny body began to take shape, squawking as his head turned this way and that, trying to make sense of his surroundings. The small baby shape resolved into a lovely, pale skinned infant with surprisingly thick and unruly black hair and wide, gentle brown eyes.
"Ah," Tetsuya half sobbed, "N-naoki's eyes...his face...his skin...his fingers and toes! He is...!"
"He is the lovely image of his fathers," Byakuya said softly, caressing the baby's face with a gentle fingertip, "Congratulations, Tetsuya."
"Heh," laughed Renji, "And just like you to have the kid out here in the boonies instead of in our much more comfortable bed at home. But then, I'm surprised you didn't ask me to take you a few steps over to that old prison to have him there."
"No," Tetsuya said, shaking his head, "Our baby will never set foot in that horrid place. I am glad that he was born out here...free...unbound and not under anyone else's will."
"Yeah, and knowing you, I'd say that this little guy is going to be as much of a wanderer and troublemaker as you!"
"Renji!"
"He is shockingly reckless, at times," Byakuya added, observing his cousin with a stern eye, "but he has beautiful children. I think we are well compensated, ne Renji?"
"Oh yeah..." chuckled the redhead, giving Tetsuya a look that suggested it was more than the children that piqued his interest, "You've got that right!"
Renji sighed and accepted the little bundle from Tetsuya's arms as Hanatarou knelt beside the younger man and set about examining him.
"Ah," Renji went on, looking down into the infant's curious brown eyes, "I am...really glad that you decided to join us before I had to leave."
He leaned forward and kissed the baby's forehead, then chuckled as the infant's tiny fingers caught several strands of long, red hair.
"Hey, don't pull it out, squirt," the redhead laughed, freeing his hair and checking the baby's fingers to make sure that none remained wrapped around them, "I need that. Besides, you've got your own hair...lots of it!"
"Renji," Tetsuya said in a sleepy, but still happy voice, "I am glad you were here, too. It wouldn't have been right for you not to be here. It is always in my mind that you and Byakuya are the reason that I was able to have Naoki's child. I will never forget that. Thank you. Thank you both."
"You are most welcome, Cousin," Byakuya said, offering the baby a gentle smile.
"You decide what to name him?" asked Renji.
Tetsuya smiled and let a finger slide along the infant's cheek and down the line of his jaw.
"I never had to think about it," said Tetsuya, "There is only one name for this person who I carried on behalf of the one who kept me alive and sane through everything."
He looked down into the boy's eyes that were so like his late father's.
"You honor and continue your father's legacy," he said softly, "Welcome to the world...Naoki."