A/N: You know, I've had a bit of an epiphany.
Some people are just assholes.
For ever good person, there's at least ten more who live to hurt others. The reviews I got for A Most Unlikely Hero were certainly proof of that.
Pity party you say? Glad I almost got attacked in real life, you say? Don't give a fuck you say? Kill yourself, you say?
Now, I could go off on a rant and explode. But I won't. There's no need to. Because I understand now.
People...just don't care. How silly of me not to realize that. Downright foolish, really.
I don't think you quite comprehend what I'm talking about here.
Now, if folks well and truly want me gone for good...well. Why the hell am I even doing this, then? Why am I writing to cheer people up, when so many of those same people would gladly see me torn to shreds? I used to get joy out of writing. Now...now sometimes leaves a bad taste in my mouth; knowing I'm going to get bombarded when I post. So why bother? If my one greatest passion turns to ash, what do I have? What am I without writing?
Something to ponder I suppose. But I'm still alive. I don't think the world's done with me yet.
So here. Have this. It was going to be a new story for you all. A surprise.
It WAS going to be a different take, an emotional one.
A different outcome, one that never was.
Now...well its nothing. Its dead.
A fragment that faded.
They've killed it.
"Death comes for us all, in the end.
Short or tall, weak and small, without exception.
Some of us are ready; prepared to meet it. Others are not.
We all meet it. There can be no escape from it. Even heroes grow old.
Legends wither. Legends die. Legends are lost. Some die alone. Some...some die together.
And some...some are reborn. Some rise from the ashes like a phoenix. Others gutter out. Never to be seen again.
~?
A Most Unlikely Meeting
"So this is where you went."
She found him on the edge of the horizon.
An endless white expanse that stretched out into eternity itself; void but for the sensation of hard marble against her boots. The sound echoed hollowly as she strode toward him, reverberating endlessly into the void. No one was left to hear it; here, at the end of the world. Not even the Throne itself. She wondered if he could hear her approach. Perhaps he did. Perhaps he simply wasn't paying attention. Perhaps he was. Who knew? Her target simply sat there, staring at the last remnants of a dying sun.
"Are you going to run again?" she called out into the silence. Only her echo answered.
He made no move to escape, though it was well within his power.
After all, he'd been half gone the last time she'd seen him, well on his way to becoming a monster. A True Beast. An abomination-some said against his will-one that would have to be put down. There was no cure for what he was becoming, no wish that could undo what had been done. He did not hate the world. On the contrary. He loved it. That had been his undoing. He was too good. Too kind. Too pure. It made him all the easier to twist and corrupt, to taint, bit by bit, so slowly that no one noticed until it was too late. But he noticed. As did she.
So he'd left.
Just...vanished one day.
Took the Grail with him and fled, never to return.
Okita had been hunting him ever since. She'd been hunting for...well. A terribly long time. That word lost its meaning centuries ago. There had been others with her-three of them-in the beginning, but in the end each had fallen away by some means or another, be it violence or despair, exhaustion, or simple heartbreak. Still she'd continued on. Because she'd made a promise. She'd always tried to do the right thing, no matter the cost. She wanted to protect people. Him. The world.
Now she was here to bring an end to things. To him.
She owed him that much at least.
She would give him rest.
Her stride never faltered, indeed, that golden gaze remained fixed on that faint orange-black speck in the distance. Ashen hair swayed about her with every step, and a tan hand absently rose to swat a stray strand out of her eyes. She paused, confused. Tan? Her skin had been pale when all this began. Before the Counter Force. Before him. She'd walked to the very ends of the earth, until she could walk no more; then she'd kept walking in spite of what they said. In defiance of reality and time.
And here at last she had found him.
This close, she could see his coat, a loose, weather-beaten thing draped over his shoulders. It had been black and orange, once. Before time and tears had rendered it a shredded mess.
She remember that coat; remembered him draping it around her shoulder. His lips warm on hers, warm like his jacket-no! Okita clamped down on the fond memory before it could consume her. Don't think about it!
"Drifter." she spoke his nickname first, unable to say his true name. It caught in her throat, lodging against her tongue. Then it burst from her all at once.
"Naruto."
His back tensed.
"Geez," his voice cracked, rough and dry from lack of use, "Persistent, aint'cha?"
She could've drawn her blade then and there; struck him down and been done with it. Instinct screamed at her. So too, did her heart. This close, he looked almost human. It was only the slight tensing of his shoulders-an eerie aura of dread stemming from this facade-that told her otherwise. Even now he clung to his human form, like a drowning man clutching at a lifeboat. Would he change if she stabbed him? Would the Beast be revealed at last? Would she know the truth?
Peering closer, she glimpsed his bandaged right arm beneath the coat, saw the claws jutting through the cloth and leading toward the shoulder in an unholy union of crimson scales and pale flesh. Ah. So he was still trying to hide it. To stop it. His left clutched the Grail, concealed in his lap. Somehow he still had it-still hadn't used it-after all these years. Why was he still holding onto it? It was pure. Untouched by the crude corruption pulsing through his veins like sludge. It could grant him anything, short of a cure.
She had to move. Had to strike now before she hesitated.
When the ageless Alter Ego drew her blade, however, he looked at her.
Mismatching eyes creaked open over his shoulder and her heart skidded to a shuddering halt.
"You haven't aged a day, you know? Its not fair." A hand flew to her face when she saw...well, the state of his face.
One of them-the leftmost orb-remained a glistening sapphire, blue as the purest skies. It was the other that concerned her; for in his right the red slitted eye of a monster that gazed back at her, the corruption even now sinking its pallid veins across the length of his face. He'd tried to bandage that too at some point, but must've given up, for the cloth had been left to hang loosely around his neck.
"What happened to you...?"
"Happening." he chided her lightly, but there was a strained note to his voice. "Won't be much longer now. If you've come to kill me, now's the time."
Gilgamesh's power, the bulk of it, had been sealed in him as well. Maybe that was why he'd become this. Gone mad.
What he couldn't defeat he'd chosen to seal. And now that the moment had come...
She could. She should. She didn't.
Wordlessly, Okita sheathed her sword, sat beside him, and tucked her head into his shoulder. He didn't fight her. Didn't try to escape. If anything he deflated. She couldn't do it. Seeing him again after all these years was too much; it sapped her resolve even as she struggled against it. She was just so damn happy to see him, and yet she couldn't bring herself to harm him.
"Found you." she murmured softly, threading her hand through his.
A careworn sigh answered her. He sounded...tired.
"So you did, girl." he croaked, his voice weak. "So you did. How'd you find me?"
"Remember what you told me that day?" she prodded. "I am yours. And you are mine."
Naruto croaked out a laugh. "Never give up, huh? I'm glad its you. Didn't think I'd see you again, you know? Where are the others?"
The silence proved telling.
He laughed again, but it wasn't bitter. Only weary. "Gave up on me, did they? That's alright. I hope they're happy, wherever they are these days."
She felt her lips tremble and bit down hard, stubbornly riding out the wave of emotion even as it threatened to drown her. This...this wasn't who she'd come to kill. Naruto was thin. Frail. Weak. He looked half-starved and not at all the threat she'd thought him to be. He looked...afraid. Not angry, not scornful, or even disappointed that she'd gone to such efforts to track him down. Now he trembled against her and she found her mind cast back to the moment of their first meeting. It hadn't been all that different from this, though she dared not dwell on it. Naruto was trembling again.
"Will it be quick?" his voice was nearly a whisper.
Okita felt a tooth crack in her jaw. "...yes." she reassured him. "It will be."
"Will there be pain?" his hand jumped against hers and her heart lurched painfully next to her core.
Try as she might she couldn't bring herself to answer that. Of course there would be pain. Dying sucked. Dying hurt.
"No." the Servant lied through her teeth, fingers fisting around the war-scarred hilt of her blade. "You won't feel a thing. I promise."
Naruto seemed to consider that for a moment. A small, tinny cough shook his shoulders. "So this is it, then? I admit...I'm afraid. I don't want to die."
She sobbed. "I know. If there was another way-
And an idea struck her like a wave.
Did he have to die?
Truly?
Naruto couldn't be cured. Couldn't be saved. He was dying of this poison as surely as age, even if he didn't show it. Conversely, she wouldn't last much longer herself. Even if she did, she didn't want to live a life like this at the end of the world, a life alone, forgotten, unmourned. But they had a way to fix that, didn't they? It was sitting in his free hand even now, pulsing softly. The Holy Grail. Once large, now made small. That golden cup, brimming with magical energy gathered over years upon years of war and strife, then allowed to mature and age throughout the centuries. It could grant almost any wish. Perhaps even two.
In a single fluid motion she reached around him and seized the Grail; it came alive in her hands, giddy to be used after so many years.
Naruto peered over her shoulder, red-blue eyes widening.
"What are you doing?"
Her eyes burned. "Fixing this."
He nearly didn't have time to ask why. Or why.
"Oi!" he thrashed in her arms. "Knock it off! Seriously! Stop! You'll destroy yourself!"
Okita willfully ignored his protests and held him back with one arm as she threaded a thought through to the Grail, asked if such a thing-if her wish-was possible. She daren't speak it aloud. Not with Naruto leaning against her shoulder. Even so, the Grail's response nearly caused her to drop the darn thing outright, such as her shock. Credit where it was due, the Grail didn't waste any time. Scarce had she sucked in a breath than she felt something shudder to a halt in her chest. For there to be new life, the old one had to die. That was alright. If it meant rebirth, she was more than happy to die in his arms.
"Bye-Bye, Master. I love you." she murmured. "I'll see you again. Promise."
Naruto sighted softly into her shoulder. "I'll hold you to that."
She held his hand until the bitter end.
Even as he felt herself fade.
And then there was light.
A/N: Yes, that was Okita!Alter.
There. Hope you liked it, such as it is.
It is HEAVILY implied that they both used the Grail to reincarnate.
As in to start new lives. So...happy ending? Yes? No? Maybe so? Who knows.
You'll get the Jiraiya bit in the next "chapter" of sorts. If I'm still around. My health has gotten worse-stress does that to you-and who knows? I might make this into a story variation someday years from now when I wrap the others up. If this sickness doesn't take me. If I live.
So by all means. Feel free to review, comment, and do as you like. Or don't. Do as you please.
No previews. Not this time. Forgive me, but I'm in no mood to give them at the moment. Have a nice day/evening.
Regards,
~Nz.