#makes you realize that u won’t ever make up 4 the time they’ve shared :( sobs

[itoshi-s]

poly nagireo thoughts again 🧘🏻‍♀️

[shielddrake]

Rebel of Sky City Ch. 19

Hi everyone! I’m still looking for input regarding my next project.  I’ve decided that in addition to my other choices, I’m considering doing a sort of 100 theme list challenge as my next project.  I haven’t chosen which choice.  I’m still looking into it.  As such, the updated options for what I plan to write next after this story are as follows:

  1. Sequel to Rebel of Sky City, taking place five years after. Basically equivalent to season two.

 2. A sort of crossover of MCSM with Harry Potter, but without any characters or lore from Harry Potter. Basically replacing HP characters with MCSM characters and plotline.

 3. A portal hopping adventure, dealing with the Order’s adventures between episodes six and seven of season one. I would be taking suggestions from readers if anyone would like.

 4. A 100 theme list challenge, with each chapter being a different theme.  This would likely be focusing on Lukesse, because it’s my OTP and I say so.

 5. Something entirely different, with suggestions welcome.

 If you have anything to share, please leave a review with your vote, or go to my Fanfiction.net account (found here: https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1106919/shielddrake42) and leave a vote on the poll there. I really appreciate any participation to help me come to a decision.

 Enough of all that now! On to the chapter!  Whew, this chapter is longer than I anticipated.

Jesse wasn’t sure what happened next.

 She blacked out after seeing Lukas and her mother fall off the island. She remembered screaming, the clanking of swords, and the pounding of footsteps. The rest of the world was lost to her. All she could see or think about was her mother and the love of her life falling off Sky City’s island. Into the Void. Into nothingness.

 They were gone.

 Who knows how much time actually passed between then and the time Jesse became aware again. She finally noticed Reuben shoving his wet snout into her arm. By that point, Jesse had been moved out of the palace basement and back into the throne room. She was sitting on the floor in the corner of the chamber, close to the double doors of the entrance. Reuben was with her of course, not budging from her side and oinking in concern. Reginald kneeled by her as well, holding her shoulders and gently shaking her, trying to rouse her.

Jesse looked up at him, her vision blurry from the tears in her eyes.

 “Reginald…” she whispered, her voice and body both shaking viciously. “Lukas…Mother…”

 “Hush now. I know.” Reginald’s voice was quiet as he carefully wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I’m here, Jesse. I’m here for you.”

 In the back of her mind, she noticed that he didn’t say anything about it all going to be okay. He must have known it wouldn’t be.

 “I didn’t know…I didn’t mean for this to happen…” Reuben rubbed his head against her arm again. Jesse picked him up and pulled him into her lap. “I didn’t mean…”

Reginald hushed her again. “I know. It’s not your fault, Jesse. None of this is your fault.”

She gulped, surely loud enough that it could be heard across the room. “Lukas…I dragged him into all this…I never should’ve even talked to him…”

“You don’t really feel that way,” Reginald said.

 “And Mother…” Jesse ignored him, shaking her head. “The last thing I ever said to her was that I hated her…How could I—”

“Jesse.” This time, Reginald’s voice was firm and he squeezed her arms, forcing her to look up at him again. “I cannot stress this enough. You did not know any of this would happen. You did not do anything to cause this to happen.”

Of course, Jesse didn’t believe him for a second, but if Reginald felt better to tell her these things, she wasn’t going to stop him. “Where…Where are the others?”

“Aiden and his goons drove them out of the palace,” he explained. “I only saw them through here. I wasn’t going to leave you.”

The black-haired woman finally glanced around the throne room. The sun had risen, and the sky beyond the throne was bright orange and pink. Several guards were still in the room. Most of them were hovering over the mine carts filled with Eversource eggs of various colors. True to Reginald’s word, none of her friends were anywhere to be seen. Jesse’s breath hitched as she realized that neither was Aiden.

“Where’s Aiden?” Her gaze fell on the Eversource Eggs. “What’s he going to do with those?”

Reginald bit his lip as his gaze followed hers. “He said he was going to go declare to the townspeople that The Founder…”

Jesse’s eyes fell to Reuben in her lap. The little pig squeaked as her grip on him tightened. Reginald took a deep breath.

 “He was going to tell the people that The Founder had died and that he was in charge now,” Reginald finally managed to say. “He wanted to bring you out and tell them that you’re Isa’s daughter. He wanted to say you approved this, but you weren’t responding at the time.”

She let out the tiniest of laughs. “There’s no way the people are going to believe him. What is Aiden thinking?”

“I’m not entirely sure he is,” the captain reasoned. He pulled her hair behind her ear. “But I’m not going to let him get away with this. Understand?”

 Jesse stared up at him for several minutes. She wanted to believe his words, but had a hard time thinking anything was going to change for the better. She buried her head into Reuben’s back and continued to quietly sob. Reginald pulled the two to his chest, sandwiching Reuben between them. He didn’t seem to care about the cramped space though.

 Reginald looked down at the young woman in his arms. He always hated to see Jesse upset, whether it was simply from a scraped knee or because of an argument with her mother. To see her in such pain, the same pain that stabbed him in his own heart at the thought that he would never see Isa again. It was incomprehensible! He just couldn’t wrap his mind around it!

The worst part? There was nothing he could do to fix it, and there was nothing he could do to make Jesse feel better.

The doors to the throne room burst open. Aiden came charging inside, Gill and Maya close behind him. Jesse jumped at the sound and let out a gasp. She watched as Aiden walked over to the throne and kicked the side of it. His fists were clenched, while the vessels in his neck seemed to visibly throb.

 “I can’t believe these people!” He shouted, his voice rumbling with a growl. “How dare they!”

 “What happened, sir?” Jesse recognized the voice as that of Ron, one of the guards who must have defected to Aiden’s cause.

“They didn’t believe him,” Maya announced, her own scowl marring her face. “Wouldn’t follow his orders.”

 “Some believed him about Jesse being The Founder’s daughter, but only some,” Gill added. “Most didn’t believe a word he said and wouldn’t commit to him being the new leader.”

 “Even after he threatened them with the Eversource eggs—” Maya began, but she was immediately cut off by another of Aiden’s snarls. “Whoa, dude.”

 “If they think I was bluffing about using the eggs,” Aiden rumbled as he approached the filled mine carts. “They’ve got another thing coming.”

“So we get to use them now?” Aiden nodded at Gill’s question. He pumped a fist. “Yes! Which ones?”

Aiden gave his friend a smirk. “Any of them.”

 Gill and Maya both let out a whoop of triumph before gathering up as many of the colored eggs as they could carry. Many of the other guards in the room did the same, but at a more sedate pace. Aiden took a couple for himself as well. He then turned to where Jesse, Reuben and Reginald were all huddling in the corner.

“And if the people don’t believe me after some roughing up,” Aiden said as he approached them. “Maybe they’ll listen to The Founder’s daughter about how we’re a couple and we’re in charge now.”

Reginald gave him a glare as he slowly stood up, slowing releasing Jesse and turning to face the boy head-on. “Jesse is not doing anything for you.”

“I don’t think you’re in a position to argue with me, Reggie.” Aiden snapped his fingers at the guards. They pulled their swords out and began to advance. “Don’t make me hurt you.”

 “Not on your life.” Reginald quickly pulled out his own sword. “You won’t touch her.”

 “Reginald…” Jesse murmured, bringing herself to her own feet but not releasing her hold on Reuben.

 The guards lunged forward, attacking the captain simultaneously. However, Reginald was far better trained than any of the guards beneath him in rank. He was able to parry and throw off his assailants within a few seconds. A third guard ran up to his side, but Reginald saw him out the corner of his eye in time. He ducked away from the sword and then thrust his own weapon in retaliation. The guards moved back a few steps.

“I’ve supervised training for all of you,” Reginald proclaimed, giving them all a narrow stare. “Do you honestly think any of you can outfight me?”

Jesse could see the nervous glances the guards had between each other, and Gill visibly gulped on the sidelines. Aiden, however, grinned.

“One-on-one, sure, but in a group? You don’t stand a chance.” Aiden pulled out his own sword. “Come on, you chickens. Take him out.”

Aiden’s taunt had its desired effect. The guards smiled and crept up towards Reginald again. After a couple more blows, he was able to push back the line once more. Aiden rushed forward and slammed his blade into Reginald’s. The clang of metal on metal echoed through the throne room. The pair dueled for a time before Reginald gave a strong kick to Aiden’s stomach, sending the younger man flying backwards. He gave out a grunt, but managed to stay on his feet.

 “I told you, stay back!” Reginald shouted. He glanced over his shoulder at Jesse. “You need to make a run for it, Jesse. I’ll hold them off.”

 Her eyes widened while Reuben squealed. “There’s no way I’m leaving without you!”

Reginald stared at the young woman behind him, her eyes still moist from crying. They had always been the brightest green Reginald had ever seen. She got the color from her mother, but the shade was different enough. His eyes weren’t at all like that.

“I’ve already lost your mother to this monster,” Reginald said, turning back to give Aiden a deadly glare. “I’m not losing you too.”

 “Reginald—”

 “You know the secret your mother kept. Use it.” Reginald parried another guard away. “Go! Now!”

Jesse squeezed her eyes closed for a moment before darting out from her hiding place behind Reginald. He blocked a guard’s path to her in time to allow her to rush out of the throne room and into the palace halls. She kept Reuben pressed to her chest the whole time, and he oinked loudly at her grip.

 “Stop her!” she heard Aiden command. “Bring her back!”

 Jesse ran down the halls, trying to get as far away from the throne room as possible. She could hear the banging footsteps of guards chasing after her as she turned a corner.

“Reginald couldn’t hold them off forever,” she whispered to Reuben, who gave her a worried look. “I don’t think we’ll make it outside. We need to hide.”

Reuben oinked in confusion. Hide? Hide where? The guards were right behind them!

 “Don’t worry. Mother’s secret. She made a backup plan years ago.” She stopped in front of a large picture of a chicken sitting on six eggs. Jesse put Reuben on the floor and pulled on the picture frame. It swung open like a door, revealing a hidden passage behind it. “Get in! Get in!”

Reuben wasted no time jumping into the secret tunnel. Jesse joined him and shut the painting closed, making it look like a normal, empty hallway from outside. Jesse listened as the guards’ footsteps grew louder but then slowed to a stop. She put a finger up to her lips to gesture to Reuben to be silent. The little pig gritted his teeth to keep himself from oinking out, though his legs wouldn’t stop trembling.

 “I know she went down this way!” Ron shouted, his voice barely muffled by the painting.

“Well, she’s not here now!” Margaret complained. “Where did she go?”

 “We better find her quick!” Harry yelled, sounding like he was heading down the hall the other way. “Or Aiden’s going to be pissed!”

Jesse waited until their footsteps faded again before releasing the breath she had been holding. She gave a little nod to Reuben and then climbed the small set of steps, turning a corner down the secret passage.

“Mother built these tunnels when I was a kid,” Jesse whispered to her porcine friend. “Just in case of an emergency.”

Reuben squeaked quietly, his eyes squinting in the dark. He could barely see a thing! It wasn’t long before he tripped over something. He couldn’t see it, so it may have been his own hooves for all he knew. He landed on the stone floor, kicking up a huge cloud of dust that had previously been sitting on the floor. It rose up to Jesse’s face and up her nose, causing her to sneeze and cough at the same time. What a strange sensation that was.

“Mother must not have been in here since she built it either.” Jesse waved her hand to disperse the dust. They came to a four-way intersection and she paused. “Well, now what?”

 Reuben was sure that question was more for herself than for him, but he oinked in response anyway. He rubbed his head against her leg and gave her a small smile. It was all he could do to show she wasn’t alone.

 It must have worked, because Jesse returned his grin and rubbed him behind his ears. Reuben oinked again. He loved it when she did that!

 “Yeah, okay. Time to think. What to do now?” Jesse glanced down the three hallways, ignoring the one they had come from. She sighed and blew her hair out of her face. “With Aiden taking over and some of the guards going to his side, I don’t even know who to trust anymore. Reginald was the only one I knew for sure.”

Reuben oinked, and Jesse seemed to know what he was saying. “Yeah, I’m sure I can trust Axel, but I have no idea where he is.”

 At this, the little pig sat on his haunches and snorted. He didn’t know anything about what to do, and it was frustrating that he couldn’t think of anything that could help. The best option would be if they could escape the palace and get help in the city. Surely someone would be willing to help fight Aiden off?

 The problem with that is the guards would be looking for them everywhere. They were already looking over every nook and cranny for any sign of them. Finding a secret way out like Jesse had all these months were less likely to be feasible. The chances of getting caught were just too great.

 Getting help from the outside might be possible if they could get a letter or something out there. However, that led to the same problem of actually getting said letter to someone in the city. And even then, whom would they send the letter to? Who knew where Petra and Olivia were, and Aiden must have had someone following Milo wherever he went. They were all probably in hiding as well.

No. For the moment, they were on their own.

 Jesse snapped her fingers, making Reuben jump a little at the sudden noise.

“Ivor! He was still in the palace last time we saw him!” she declared. “He’ll have an idea of what to do. If nothing else, we can get out of here together.”

Reuben oinked, agreeing wholly with the prospect. The two friends smiled at each other. Yes, Ivor would help them!

“Ivor’s probably in his lab. Now the next question is, how do we get there from here?” Jesse turned her attention back to the three halls. After a few moments of staring from Reuben, she shook her head. “It’s been ages since I’ve been in these passages. I have no idea where we are.”

 Jesse took a moment to smack her head against the iron walls before trying to orient herself.

“Okay, so we entered the tunnels this way, and then we turned this way.” She positioned herself in the different directions as she tried to figure out where to go. “I think…Ivor’s lab is on the east side of the palace, so that means we should go…this way?”

She pointed towards one of the tunnels. Reuben looked up at her with narrowed eyes and a cocked eyebrow. She shrugged.

“Okay, okay. So, I don’t know for sure if this is the way,” she admitted. “But it’s better than just standing here, right?”

 Reuben nodded. He certainly didn’t have a better idea, so he followed his human as she starting walking through the halls. Whenever they came to another intersection, Jesse would pause to figure out which direction was the correct one. Reuben just watched as his friend tried to logic her way through the tunnels. Unlike the main hallways in the palace, he was in completely unfamiliar territory. He was absolutely no help at all, much to his chagrin.

 It took some educated guessing on her part, but eventually the pair came to a longer hallway.

 “Stay close, Reuben,” she instructed, her voice lowering to a whisper. “I think this might be it, but we better stay quiet until we know the coast is clear.”

Reuben let out a soft snort in agreement.

 The tunnel led to a small door, with the same appearance as the one the pair had used to enter the secret passage behind the painting. It was likely that a painting was also used to hide this door, although without checking Jesse couldn’t be sure. Embedded in the wall was a pair of eyeholes, allowing Jesse to glance into the room on the other side of the presumed painting.

“Hope this is Ivor’s lab.” Jesse had to stand on her toes to look through the eyeholes.

 Sure enough, by some lucky miracle, Jesse had managed to lead them to the passage ending at Ivor’s lab. It was one of the few places Jesse wasn’t allowed to go. Ivor didn’t want her to accidentally set off one of his potentially dangerous experiments he performed there. At least, that was the reason he always gave. Jesse often suspected it was because Ivor liked to have some quiet time to himself, without a young child running around underfoot. Even as a teenager and young adult, Jesse never ventured into his lab.

 Taking a look in the lab, Jesse realized that it was really more of a study than a lab. The walls were covered with bookshelves from top to bottom. Some of the shelves contained books of course, but many others contained some of the basic brewing ingredients that Ivor needed. Jesse was a bit surprised that he had so many books, especially when he could get one from the library any time he wanted. What kind of books did he keep there? Obviously, she couldn’t see the book titles from where she was.

She could, however, see the several brewing stations scattered around the room. The bottles on the stands glowed various colors, including blue, red, purple and green. The bright red one was bubbling fermented smell that emanated even through the eyeholes, burning Jesse’s eyes just a little.

 Jesse wiped the tears from her eyes and continued to look through. At the far end of the room, four iron blocks were stacked in the form of a T. They stood on a small pedestal made of wood, much like Build Club’s stage but on a smaller scale.

 She gasped as she saw the occupants in the room, and her gaze darted down to Reuben. “It’s Aiden! He’s already in there!”

 Ivor glared at Aiden, ignoring Gill and Maya as they stood at his sides, holding Ivor’s arms out to his sides. He sneered as Aiden walked around his lab, poking and prodding at a few of the potions that were brewing. The usurper splashed his hand in the cauldron of water in the center of the room.

“You want me to do what?” Ivor scowled.

 “I want you to provide me a potion for Jesse.” Aiden shook his hand dry and turned his attention back to the older man. “You’ve heard that Jesse is missing, right?”

“As I heard it, she ran away from you.” Ivor’s tone showed he was not playing into Aiden’s game. “After you killed her mother and young man.”

If Aiden reacted to the mention of either Lukas or Isa, he didn’t let it show for once.

“I would like something that would make her easier to catch, once she’s found,” he explained. “A Potion of Weakness? Or a Potion of Slowness? Something like that?”

Jesse felt a shiver flow down her spine at the mention of those effects. She was not a potion expert (she and Ivor hadn’t quite gotten to actually brewing together yet), but she did know many of their possible functions. She bit her lip at the thought of not being strong enough to even lift her arm, or being stuck moving in slow motion. Jesse shook her head to get those thoughts of out her head.

 “Oh no,” she whispered. What’s he going to do? Ivor wouldn’t really give Aiden a potion like that, would he?

She needn’t have worried. In response to the command, Ivor yanked his arms out of Gill and Maya’s grip. He stepped forward and crossing his arms across his chest. Neither of them made any move to restrain Ivor again, leaving him free to snarl at Aiden. Jesse could almost see his teeth beneath his beard, the man was so angry.

 “You must be out of your mind,” he hissed, his saliva flying as he spat. “If you think I’m going to give you anything that would harm Jesse.”

There was a pause as Ivor’s statement sank into the room.

 “It’s really annoying that so many people are staying loyal to The Founder like this!” Aiden stomped his foot. “I don’t get it! The Founder has controlled us for ages! Why do you insist on siding with her?!”

 “Jesse means a lot to the people in this palace, not just to The Founder,” the older man proclaimed. “In fact, if Jesse was here right now, hiding somewhere, I’d tell her to not reveal herself no matter what happens to me.”

 Ivor’s eyes seemed to flicker over to the painting where Jesse was watching. If she didn’t know any better, she would think he somehow knew she was there.

“How does he do that?” Jesse whispered to Reuben as quietly as possible.

She couldn’t see Aiden’s face, but Jesse wouldn’t be surprised if he frowned, at the very least, by now. The tautness of his spine was a clear indication of how much he was trying to hold in his rage.

 “You would rebel against your new leader? Just like that?”

 “I’m a lot of things,” Ivor said. “But disloyal is not one of them.”

 “I have a lot of guards in this palace, Ivor.” Aiden’s hands became fists. “I can make you give me a potion.”

“You are not in charge here, Aiden. No matter how much you want to rule,” Ivor answered with a shake of his head. “And you should know better than to threaten the best crafter in the city.”

 Before Aiden, Gill or Maya could respond, Ivor spun around and dived behind the four iron blocks. The three drew their weapons, ready to pounce at any moment. Meanwhile, Ivor pulled a pumpkin out of his inventory and set it down on top of the piled iron.

“If you won’t leave of your own volition, Aiden, I’ll happily remove you myself.” Setting the pumpkin on the iron, the blocks all shook for a moment before a large iron golem popped into existence. It stamped its feet and stretched out its long arms. “Show our friends the door, will you?”

The three turncoats screamed as the golem swung at them, knocking over one of Ivor’s shelves in the process. Jesse shook her head jerkily, he jaw dropping.

“Ivor, what are you thinking?!” She gasped, but remembered his indirect instructions to stay hidden. She cursed. “Dang it, Ivor!”

The golem seemed to do more damage than good really. After all, the only fighting abilities it seemed to know involved smashing and breaking things. It knocked over and shattered several jars of fermented spider eyes, glowstone dust, and ghast tears while trying to attack Maya. She was much too nimble to be caught, but Gill and Aiden slashed their swords at it to no avail.

 While the others were occupied, Ivor went to his workbench and grabbed three finished potions off the top. He turned just in time to see the golem take a swing at Aiden. He backed up right into the smoking brewing stand, causing it to emit an even larger amount of smoke.

“No! Not that one!”

The explosion that followed was enormous enough to cause the windows of the palace to crack and the stone beneath to crumble. The golem was unaffected, but the others were thrown back away from the center of detonation. The blast was large enough to cause some of the blocks on the walls to fall, including the ones on the far side of the room where Ivor had his workbench. Jesse jumped back from the eyeholes to hide from the flying debris. Some of the smoke even made it through, and she had to suppress a cough.

 She waited for the smoke to clear before she scanning the lab again. Aiden, Gill and Maya continued to fight the iron golem, despite the crumbling walls and burning books. The wall leading to the hallway and the rest of the palace had been partially blown away, leaving the hallway exposed. The iron golem couldn’t fit inside the hall, and the three humans were using that to their advantage.

 The far wall had been completely destroyed, leaving a huge gaping wound exposed to the sky. It was later in the morning by that time, and the sight of the blue sky let Jesse see that the entire area on that side was gone. That included the workbench, some of the shelves…

…and Ivor himself. He was gone as well.

 “No!” Jesse cried out. She immediately put a hand over her mouth to muffle the noise. Thankfully, Aiden and the others were too distracted to have noticed. She glanced at the destroyed lab once more before turning away. “Come on, Reuben. We got to get out of here before Aiden spots us.”

Reuben nodded. He had heard the conversation and the explosion, but having not seen any of the lab, he didn’t know what Jesse had just observed. It was obvious to him that his human friend was absolutely distraught. Considering the state she had been following Isa and Lukas’ fall off the island, that was saying something.

He followed as Jesse sprinted away from the eyeholes and back down the secret passage. She furiously scrubbed at her eyes, not looking where she was going. There were a few times she ran straight into a wall, cursed, and then took off running again. Reuben could only watch and oink in concern as he tried to keep up, his hoof beats echoing through the tunnel.

 After several minutes, Reuben began to suspect that Jesse either didn’t know where she was heading or she didn’t care. The latter was more likely, given how a sob would wrack through her shoulders every few seconds.

 Eventually she ran out of breath, both from running and crying. She slowly stumbled to a stop, leaned against the wall, and slid down into a sitting position. Her arms hung limply at her sides, and her legs bent at unusual angles, making her look like a rag doll that had been thrown around. Reuben walked up to her, thinking that was a pretty good description of how she probably felt.

 He lifted her flaccid arm, putting himself underneath it and against her chest. Jesse turned and buried her face into his back.

“Everything’s falling apart, Reuben!” She cried with a hiccup. “First Lukas and Mother, then Reginald, and now Ivor’s gone too…and it’s all because of me…”

Reuben squeaked and shoved his cold nose into her hand. It wasn’t her fault! She couldn’t have known this was going to happen! The whole reason she broke out of her room was to stop something like this from happening!

Jesse gasped for breath. “What am I supposed to do now? Aiden’s going to go after the others and then the rest of the city. With Mother…”

She lost her breath again, unable to even voice the thought about what happened to her mother.

“With Mother gone, I’m supposed to lead Sky City. I’m supposed to protect them.” Jesse took a deep breath. “I wish Lukas was here. He’d know what to do, or at least what to say. He always knew what to say.”

Reuben let out a sad oink. Jesse’s human boy was wonderful, and in the short time he had known him, Reuben had grown quite fond of Lukas. To his shame, there wasn’t anything Reuben could do to change any of this, or comfort Jesse the way Lukas could have. It was almost enough to throw him into despair himself.

All he could do was allow Jesse to hug him as much as she wanted.

 She cried and cried, and Reuben just let her. She had been crying a lot in the last day and a half. It must have been so tiring. Jesse also hadn’t slept since the night before last. She had spent the entire night helping Lukas and the others find Benedict. Now it was the following morning, and getting later and later.

Twenty-four hours without sleep and dealing with some of the most emotionally traumatic events of her life. Was it any surprise that Jesse was exhausted?

 Reuben’s theory was only proven when Jesse’s breathing began to slow and even out, her body still slumped against the wall. Reuben snuggled closer as she slept, doing his best to keep her warm.

Whatever they were going to do next, Jesse was going to need rest to do it.

[southsidestory]

For Everything There is a Season: Chapter Five

Rating: Mature

Summary: Waiting: it’s a practice Sakura is too familiar with. One she would happily let go, if only life would stop giving her loves to wait for. (Sequel to In Times of Peace. SasuSaku.)

Author’s Notes: This story would not have been possible without the people who donated toward a Nepal earthquake relief fund: @ashtronomica, @okwtfxia, Torikai, AkatsukiV, @disliking-u, @xxlovendreamsxx, @ashsch87, @uchihasass, @jentruth, @akako-chan, @laetia, @disliike. Thank you for being so generous, and for supporting the @narutofornepal project.

Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

August in Ame is hot and humid, the air so thick that breathing feels like suffocating, even as it rains (and it’s always raining here).

Sakura sits on the back steps of the orphanage, shielded from today’s storm by the awning overhead. The downpour floods the garden, despite every effort she took to protect it, beating down the glossy leaves and tender petals. Sakura watches one summer squall destroying three months’ labor, and she has to laugh. She’d encouraged the children to plant flowers—hardy blooms native to the area, ones that she thought would withstand even the heaviest rain. Sakura had hoped that this project would give her kids a sense of ownership, would foster hope that not everything fails before it can come to fruition. Maybe because that’s an idea she’s so desperate to believe herself.

She closes her eyes, and the rest of the world slips away. For the space of a heartbeat, all Sakura hears is the steady drumbeat of rain thumping against the small canopy above her, all she smells is the green scent of growing things and wet earth.

But moments like these, of quiet solitude, are rarer than diamonds in an Ame orphanage, so she isn’t surprised when Miyu calls for her.

“Setsu?” she asks.

Answering to her alias has become second nature, and Sakura doesn’t even hesitate. She stands, straightens her skirt, and hurries back inside. “Yes? Do you need me?”

Miyu throws up her hands. “I don’t know what to do with that boy. I leave him alone for two minutes—two minutes!—and he’s already started another fight.”

She doesn’t have to ask which child Miyu is talking about. It could only be Sojiro, the newest addition to their strange little house of the lost and left behind. A local genin delivered him to the orphanage last month, saying that he’d be thrown into the juvenile detention center if Miyu and Sakura refused to take him in. For a nine-year-old child, he’s remarkably destructive, and he’s managed to cause some kind of mayhem every day since his arrival.

Sojiro utterly ignores Miyu, curses the part-time caretakers, and fights the other children. He’s argumentative on his good days and aggressive on the bad, nasty to nearly everyone—everyone except for Sakura, really, and so her primary job for the last three weeks has been to keep an eye on him.

She finds Sojiro in the room he shares with two other boys, but since dinner is being served right now, his roommates are gone. He worries his split lip between his teeth, and it starts bleeding anew. A dribble of red slides down his chin, viscous and bright under the dim yellow lights.

Sakura points at his injured lip. “Do you mind if I fix that?”

Sojiro looks at her warily, pale eyes narrowed and mouth turned down in a frown. But he nods and says, “Okay. Sure.”

Sakura tries to be careful with her healing, only ever utilizing it within the walls of the orphanage, and she does her best to make her abilities appear average rather than exceptional. She lies about her origins to anyone who asks, claiming that as a young girl she’d moved from country to country and studied under a retired medic-nin for a time. Most people accept this story, but Sakura suspects that Miyu hasn’t bought a word of it.

Now she stands before Sojiro, holds her hand over his bruised and bloodied mouth, and summons chakra to the tips of her fingers. For a moment, the power of it surges through her, and Sakura tries to ignore the yearning she feels every time she performs even the simplest of medical ninjutsu. She misses the shinobi life often—always, lately—but most of all when she’s healing.

“There you go,” Sakura says, and she takes a full step back, giving Sojiro more space. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”

He shakes his head, then bites his lip again and flinches. It shouldn’t be painful anymore, although the skin could be tender, the way recently mended flesh usually is. It takes Sakura a moment to realize that maybe Sojiro made that face because it doesn’t hurt, and she worries that the whole point of his fights might be to harm himself.

She could ask him outright, but when faced with difficult questions, Sojiro is far more likely to shut down than open up. One wrong move could shatter the tenuous trust they’ve been building, and Sakura can’t afford to risk that.

Instead, Sakura takes a seat in the lone chair by the window and says, “You remind me of someone.”

Two someones, actually. Sojiro has all of Sasuke’s anger and sharp intelligence, but none of his drive, his focus. He lashes out wildly and causes chaos when he’s hurting, just like Naruto did as a little boy. Sakura sees pieces of her husband and her best friend in this child—in every orphan under this roof, if she’s honest.

For a moment, she’s lost, remembering sunny days as a new genin, before the world tore Team 7 apart and taught her the ugliness of life.

Thinking of Naruto makes her ache, makes her miss the Leaf and ramen lunches and the sound of his raucous laughter.

And then there’s Sasuke, the husband she can’t bear to think about, because the pain of separation only grows greater every day, every moment. Sakura has found something like peace here in this sad little corner of Ame—where she is needed, where the ghosts of her dead child and her broken marriage can’t haunt her so closely. But there is a difference in peace and fulfillment. The time is coming soon, she thinks, when it may no longer be best for her to hide here.

Sojiro draws his legs up to his chest and rests his head against his knees. He looks at her with wide eyes the color of ice and whispers, “You remind me of someone too.”

Sakura can guess, from the frailty of his voice and his trembling lower lip, that Sojiro means his mother.

He allows her to hug him, to pat his messy dark hair (much in need of a trim) and murmur soothing nonsense as he bites back quiet sobs.

They fit together too well: a son with no mother in the arms of a mother with no son.

Seven hundred forty-nine days: that’s how long it’s been since Sasuke last saw his wife.

He wonders if Sakura kept a count of their time apart when he was a missing-nin. Or when she lost their child. The son he didn’t have the chance to hold, who’s been ashes for far longer than he was alive—if you can consider a child who never took a breath to have been alive at all.

Sasuke pushes that thought away, because sometimes it hurts too much to remember all that he’s lost. Father, mother, brother, son, and wife. Gone forever, except for Sakura, and he’s determined to find her.

Not that he has any leads at the moment. Sasuke spent a week following up on a rumor that a skilled healer had taken up residence in a little River Country town. The healer in question was a retired medic-nin from Amegakure named Ikue. She let Sasuke sleep in her spare room and fed him three hot meals, and all she asked for in return was that he deliver a letter to her daughter in the Rain Village.

Ame is every bit as miserable and gloomy as Sasuke remembers it, a broken city dirtied by industrial grime. The marks of poverty permeate the whole village, from the abandoned factories to the scrawny alley cats.

Sasuke pulls his cloak around himself more tightly, though it does nothing to protect him from the storm. His clothes are soaked through, and he feels wet right down to his bones.

He finds a sad, threadbare inn in the northern quarter of the village, pays to stay for one night, and collapses on the bed without even undressing. Tomorrow he’ll wake to mud-splattered covers, his clothes damp and musty, but Sasuke can’t make himself care.

He’s just so tired. Worn thin from loneliness, hollowed out by fear. Even if he finds Sakura, he might not be able to convince her to come back home. She could be happier alone, far away from him.

But then Sasuke closes his eyes, and he remembers his wife in a hundred small moments: a little girl with her hair tied back by a red ribbon, her smile shy and cheeks pink; the security of her arms in the Forest of Death, anchoring him to the earth, bringing him back to himself when darkness threatened to swallow him whole; the taste of her rain-slicked skin the first time they went to bed together; how green her eyes were, bright and so happy, at their wedding.

Hope might be too much for Sasuke to muster, but he has faith in the bonds he forged with his team. And if he’s learned anything from Sakura, it’s that love endures, no matter how far it strays.

From dawn to dusk, all she hears is “Setsu, come here!” and “Kai won’t stop pulling my hair, Setsu!” and “Can you help me with my homework, Setsu?”

Sometimes Sakura wonders whether she’d even respond to her true name, should anyone from her old life track her down here.

It’s a stupid dream. Two years have passed since she abandoned Konoha, and no one has discovered her yet. Either she’s hidden herself too well for her team to find her, or they’ve simply stopped looking.

She’d believe it of Kakashi; he’s so used to loss that his natural response is to bear it and keep going. Not Naruto, though, because it isn’t in his nature to let go of his friends. And Sasuke’s answer to betrayal has always been righteous fury—although the way he chooses to express it has changed dramatically since they were children. As a boy, he sought vengeance, ready to burn his life to the ground if he could only catch his enemies in the flames. As a man, he channeled that anger into protectiveness, using it keep his village and his loved ones safe.

Sakura wonders what he’ll say, if—no, when—they see each other again. Because she can feel her days in Ame dwindling. Konoha pulls at her heart, insistent as a compass that always finds its way back to true north.

“Setsu! Kai scraped his knee. Can you fix it?”

Sakura swallows her homesickness, takes a deep breath, and gets back to work.

It’s a long, demanding day, like every other day at the orphanage. But that night, when Sakura climbs into bed, it’s with a light body and a calm mind. She’s doing important work here, and it’s been as good for her as it has for the children. Her homesickness can wait a little while longer. Konoha calls to her, but she isn’t ready to face the people (and the grave) she left behind. Not quite yet.

Sakura listens to the storm beating against her window, a wild melody played on fragile glass. It soothes her to sleep, into a dream of summer rain and kisses that taste of shochu.

“Setsu! Get up!”

She jerks awake, startled and short of breath. Only a split-second instinct keeps Sakura from throwing Miyu through a wall.

“What is it?” she asks. “What’s wrong?”

Miyu runs a hand through her hair, gripping it like she’s on the verge of pulling it out.

“It’s Sojiro,” she says. “He’s missing.”

Ikue’s daughter is a pretty ginger-haired woman named Umeko. She lives in the better part of town—still a slum, but as nice as anyplace can be in a village like Ame.

When Sasuke hands over the message he owes her, she says, “Thank you.”

He nods. “It was no trouble.”

Umeko invites him to stay for tea. It’s the least she can do to express her gratitude, she says.

It’s a kind offer, but Sasuke has always been able to tell when someone wants more than they let on. Umeko isn’t disrespectful or offensively forward, but Sasuke recognizes her flirting for what it is, and he couldn’t be less interested.

He’s never wanted any woman but Sakura. Not even when he was young and terrified of the weakness love wrought.

“I can’t,” he says. “I have a long way to go.”

Umeko smiles, but disappointment shows so clear on her face that it looks almost like a frown. “Oh. All right then. I hope your travels go well.”

Sasuke wanders back to the street, into the downpour that never ends, as persistent as the green of Konoha’s forests.

He rounds a corner that veers toward Hagane Street, and as he steps onto the sidewalk, Sasuke feels it: the presence of someone’s chakra, sidling up behind him. It’s a child, he can tell without looking. A boy walking on impressively silent feet for a civilian, his hand reaching toward Sasuke’s pocket.

He turns at the last moment, catching the thief by his skinny wrist. Firm, but not hard, because Sasuke only means to warn the boy.

“It’s dangerous to steal from strangers,” he says. “Most Ame shinobi wouldn’t have dealt with you kindly.”

Sasuke releases the boy’s wrist. He steps backward, cuts his eyes left and right, undoubtedly looking for an escape route.

“Didn’t know you were a ninja.”

He scowls so fiercely that Sasuke is reminded oddly of himself at that age; it’s an uncanny feeling, one that he doesn’t quite like.

The kid’s mouth twists into a smirk when he asks, “How’s anybody supposed to guess that when you’re dressed like a hobo?”

Sasuke almost smiles in return. “People aren’t supposed to know I’m a ninja by looking at me. That’s part of what makes me good at my job.”

“Well thanks for not killing me, but I gotta go.”

It’s naive, but mostly sad, that he expects Sasuke to let him wander off into a village like this with no protection.

Sasuke waves at the street. “Go ahead then. Lead the way.”

The boy rolls his eyes, but when Sasuke asks his name, he says, “Sojiro.”

He does as he’s told for three whole minutes, and Sasuke considers it an accomplishment that Sojiro only tries to ditch him twice.

It doesn’t surprise him that Sojiro’s home is an orphanage. A child who lives under his family’s roof rarely resorts to pickpocketing.

Sasuke knocks on the front door, and within a few moments, it opens. A middle-aged woman with grey-streaked hair mutters some sort of prayer, then herds Sojiro inside.

“Thank you,” she says to Sasuke. “We’ve been looking for this one high and low since dawn.”

“Shouldn’t have bothered,” Sojiro says. “I’m just gonna run again, so you might as well let me go.”

He crosses his arms over his chest, but his mulish expression doesn’t quite ring true. It’s too strained, already breaking along fault lines.

This kid wants a home, Sasuke thinks. But he isn’t ready to believe good things can happen, too afraid to accept that he’s safe now.

It’s a feeling that’s too close to his own heart for Sasuke to be comfortable with, and he starts to say goodbye. There’s parting advice on the tip of his tongue, some piece of knowledge that he’d like to leave Sojiro with. He understands better than anyone that avoiding your fears never helps you escape them, and in the end, you’ll only run yourself in circles.

Exactly what he means to say, Sasuke loses the thread of it, because a woman rushes forward to check on Sojiro. She’s scolding him, but the tone of her voice is soft, full of affection, even if her words are strict.

A curtain of long white-gold hair shields her face from view, but it doesn’t matter, because Sasuke recognizes her right away. He’s memorized the grace of her gestures, learned every inch of her body. Even in foreign clothes, with blonde hair and her chakra suppressed, Sasuke couldn’t fail to know his wife at first sight.

A desperate sound catches in his throat, but it must be loud enough to grab Sakura’s attention. She stands up straight and whirls around to face him. Her eyes widen, and they’re green, so green, as pale and pure as in his memory, because Sasuke never forgets the nuances of color.

She’s stunning, somehow more lovely than the last time he saw her, and so beautifully, unexpectedly here. Seven hundred fifty days of fruitless searching, of scouring every hamlet, village, and city he could think of. And by some strange turn of fortune, a thieving orphan boy led Sasuke right to her.

Sakura turns away, head lowered. Long hair falls across her cheek, and Sasuke hates the common blonde that she chose to mask the pink he’s always loved. It’s pretty enough, he supposes, but it isn’t Sakura.

“Miyu,” she says. “Will you take Sojiro to the kitchen? He probably hasn’t eaten since last night.”

Miyu glances between the two of them, her gaze sharp and knowing. Sasuke thinks she’s probably clever enough to guess more of their situation than he’d like.

“Come on to the refectory, dear,” she says to Sojiro. “It’s past time you had dinner…”

Sojiro steals a glance at Sakura, then Sasuke, but he goes with Miyu quietly enough.

Then they’re alone. Sakura lingers around the open doorway, one hand grasping the frame, like she needs to hold onto something to stay on her feet.

“Do you want to come in?” she asks.

Sasuke realizes, with a mild lurch of embarrassment, that he’s been frozen on the stoop like an idiot, getting drenched by Ame’s relentless rain.

He steps inside, pulls the door shut behind him, and leans toward her on an impulse that he can’t suppress.

Sakura scrambles backward, keeping herself carefully out of arm’s reach. That might hurt if Sasuke didn’t notice the tremble in her step, the way her gaze has gone heavy-lidded and keen. But he does notice, because he never misses fine details, least of all those about Sakura.

She’s must be as shocked to see him as he is to see her. Nervous and perhaps afraid, but Sasuke learned long ago how to read yearning in the lines of her body, and he sees it now. Sakura missed him. That’s enough to steal Sasuke’s voice, because he searched for his wife for two years, and he spent every day of that journey wondering whether any part of her wanted to be found.

He gives himself one more moment to drink in the sight of her, taking stock of the subtle changes that their time apart has brought to her face and figure. Sakura looks bright-eyed, with a healthy flush to her fair skin. Although her dress is modest, he can tell that her body is softer than before, a little fuller at her bust and hips. He’s certain that her strength is still formidable, even without resorting to chakra-enhanced blows, but there’s an unfamiliar, supple flair in the round of her shoulders and the curves of her calves. She’s been living like a civilian all this time, and it shows.

He hopes that she’s had a peaceful break from the shinobi life. That caring for injured children in this faraway place has given her a chance to heal from the loss of their son.

“Sakura, I—”

I need you, Sasuke thinks. I looked for you every day since you left.

He can’t bring himself to admit to these hard truths, not now. He never has had as much courage as Sakura when it comes to matters of the heart. The kind of bravery that might allow him to say I love you when he doesn’t know that he’ll hear it back.

Sasuke swallows, takes an unsteady breath, and says, “It’s good to see you.”

Author’s Notes: Hi, all! I hate that it’s been such a long time since I updated this fic, but some of its subject matter became a little too personal over the last year for me to work on it. I don’t want to make any inaccurate promises about an update schedule, but I finally feel ready to get back into this story. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Thank you to everyone who's commented on, liked, or reblogged my fic; your kind words really encouraged me. And I'd be very remiss if I didn't also thank @xxlovendreamsxx. Her support, beta work, and beautiful SasuSaku stories have kept my love for this ship alive.