#so. tis hard not to mourn. but till then there are papers to write and chapters to be read and then girl has to scurry

[madamescarlette]

You ever have to be like, "no babe you're not bone-breakingly heart-rendingly sad, you just had less than five hours of sleep"? Yeah.

[annie-banks]

Adore You - Harry Styles (2019) // you’re wonder, under summer sky // All About That Bass – Meghan Trainor (2014) // every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top // Alone Again – Betty Who (2014) // when it rains it pours and you drown me out // Anything Could Happen – Ellie Goulding (2012) // letting darkness grow, as if we need it's palette and we need it's color // Bad Girls - M.I.A. (2012) // leaving boys behind ‘cause it’s illegal just to kill // Bitch Better Have My Money - Rihanna (2015) // your wife in the backseat of my brand new foreign car // Blank Space – Taylor Swift (2014) // darling I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream // Bloodbuzz Ohio – The National (2010) // I was carried to Ohio in a swarm of bees // Bo$$ – Fifth Harmony (2014) // boss. Michelle Obama. purse so heavy gettin' Oprah dollas // Boy Problems - Carly Rae Jepsen (2015) // I think I broke up with my boyfriend today and I don't really care // Boys - Charli XCX (2017) // I wish I had a better excuse like I had to trash the hotel lobby // Butterflies - Kacey Musgraves (2018) // I was hiding in doubt till you brought me out of my chrysalis // Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen (2011) // before you came into my life I missed you so bad // Call Your Girlfriend – Robyn (2010) // don't you tell her how I give you something that you never even knew you missed // Canyon Moon - Harry Styles (2019) // doors yellow, broken, blue // Chandelier – Sia (2014) // I'm gonna fly like a bird through the night, feel my tears as they dry // Cherry - Harry Styles (2019) // I confess I can tell that you are at your best, I'm selfish so I'm hating it // Circles - Post Malone (2019) // we couldn't turn around, 'til we were upside down // C’mon - Panic! At the Disco and Fun. (2011) // feels like I am falling down a rabbit hole, falling for forever, wonderfully wandering alone // C’Mon – Kesha (2012) // feeling like a saber-tooth tiger sipping on a warm budweiser // Cruise (Remix) - Florida Georgia Line ft. Nelly (2012) // she was sippin' on southern and singin' Marshall Tucker, we were falling in love in the sweet heart of summer // Daddy Lessons - Beyonce ft. Dixie Chicks (2017) // it’s your song // Dark Fantasy – Kanye West (2010) // too many Urkels on your team, that's why your wins low // Death of a Bachelor - Panic! At the Disco (2016) // the lace in your dress tingles my neck, how do I live? // Demons- Sleigh Bells (2012) // They're gonna stand em up six by six by six // Diane - Cam (2017) // And all those nights that he's given to me I wish that I could give them back to you // Diane Young – Vampire Weekend (2013) // you torched a Saab like a pile of leaves // Downtown - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Grandmaster Caz, Kool Moe Dee (2016) // neighbors yelling at me like, you need to slow down going thirty-eight, Dan, chill the fuck out, mow your damn lawn and sit the hell down // End of the Day - One Direction (2015)// I told her that I loved her, just not sure if she heard. the roof was pretty windy and she didn't say a word, party died downstairs, had nothing left to do just me, her and the moon // Fireproof – One Direction (2015) // riding on the wind and I won't give up // ***Flawless – Beyonce ft. Nicki Minaj (2013) // mayday, mayday, earth to bitches // Follow Your Arrow - Kacey Musgraves (2013) // if you save yourself for marriage, you're a bore. if you don't save yourself for marriage, you're a whore-able person // Formation - Beyonce (2016) // always stay gracious, best revenge is your paper // Forrest Gump – Frank Ocean (2012) // my fingertips and my lips, they burn from the cigarettes // Freaks and Geeks – Childish Gambino (2011) // I have worked all winter, I will not fail summer, in the back of the bush, like Gavin Rossdale's drummer // Gay Pirates - Cosmo Jarvis (2011) // and I hope they didn't tie up your hands as tight as mine. I'll see you on the bed of this blue ocean, babe, sometime // Get Lucky – Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams (2013) // the present has no ribbon, your gift keeps on giving // Glory - Bastille (2016) // and then you put your hand in mine and pulled me back from things divine, stop looking up for heaven, waiting to be buried // Good Grief - Bastille (2016) // caught off guard by your favourite song, I'll be dancing at a funeral, dancing at a funeral // Green Light - Lorde (2017) // I whisper things, the city sings them back to you // Grown - Little Mix (2015) // no regrets, it's a lesson learned 'cause what you think ain't my concern // Hayloft - Nickel Creek (2014) // young lovers with their legs tied up in knots // Holocene – Bon Iver (2011) // and at once I knew I was not magnificent // I Believe - Original Broadway Cast (2011) // and I believe that the Garden of Eden was in Jackson County, Missouri // I Like It - Cardi B, Bad Bunny, and J Balvin (2018) // I like those Balenciagas, the ones that look like socks // I Love It – Icona Pop ft. Charli XCX (2012) // you're from the '70s, but I'm a '90s bitch // Judas – Lady Gaga (2011) // I'm just a holy fool, oh baby he's so cruel, but I'm still in love with Judas, baby // Juice - Lizzo (2019) // I be drippin' so much sauce got a bitch lookin' like RAGÚ // Just Hold On - Steve Aoki ft. Louis Tomlinson (2016) // feels like you're standing on the edge looking at the stars and wishing you were them // Laura Palmer – Bastille (2013) // what a year and what a night, what terrifying final sights put out your beating heart // Lemonworld – The National (2010) // I gave my heart to the Army, the only sentimental thing I could think of // Love on Top – Beyonce (2011) // I can see the stars all the way from here, can't you see the glow on the window pane // Make Me Feel - Janelle Monáe (2018) // it's like I'm powerful with a little bit of tender, an emotional, sexual bender // Making the Most of the Night - Carly Rae Jepsen (2015) // baby I'm speeding and red lights, I'll run // Meet Me in the Hallway - Harry Styles (2017) // just let me know I'll be on the floor, on the floor // Menswear – The 1975 (2013) // well, who's this? going for the kiss, I'm probably gonna yosh in your mouth // Mirrors – Justin Timberlake (2013) // if you ever feel alone and the glare makes me hard to find, just know that I'm always parallel on the other side // Monster – Kanye West ft. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, and Bon Iver (2010) // you could be the king but watch the queen conquer // The Mother We Share - Chvrches (2012) // I'm in misery but you can't see, as old as your omens // My Church - Maren Morris (2016) // I just keep the wheels rolling, radio scrolling 'til my sins wash away // N****s in Paris - Jay-Z and Kanye West (2011) // Prince William's ain't do it right if you ask me 'cause I was him, I would have married Kate and Ashley // Oh, What a World - Kacey Musgraves (2018) // did I know you once in another life? are we here just once or a billion times? // Old Town Road (Remix) - Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus (2019) // cowboy hat from Gucci, Wrangler on my booty // Otis – Jay-Z and Kanye West (2011) // luxury rap, the Hermes of verses, sophisticated ignorance, write my curses in cursive // Pineapple Girl - Mister Heavenly (2011) // I am besieged by the vagaries of power. I'm all alone and lonely in this tower // Primadonna – Marina and the Diamonds (2012) // I know I've got a big ego, I really don't know why it's such a big deal though // Pumped Up Kicks – Foster the People (2010) // he's got a rolled cigarette, hanging out his mouth he's a cowboy kid // Radio - Lana Del Rey (2012) // pick me up and take me like a vitamin 'cause my body's sweet like sugar venom // Raising Hell - Kesha ft. Big Freedia (2019) // hungover, heart of gold, holy mess. doin' my best, bitch, I'm blessed // Rivers and Roads - The Head and the Heart (2011) // been talking 'bout the way things change // Royals - Lorde (2013) // we don't care, we aren't caught up in your love affair // S.O.B. - Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats (2015) // I'm going to cover myself with the ashes of you and nobody's gonna give a damn // Satisfied - Original Broadway Cast (2015) // it's a dream and it's a bit of a dance, a bit of a posture, it's a bit of a stance. He's a bit of a flirt, but I'm 'a give it a chance. I asked about his fam'ly, did you see his answer? his hands started fidgeting, he looked askance? he's penniless, he's flying by the seat of his pants // Sex – The 1975 (2013) // and she said use your hands and my spare time, we've got one thing in common it's this tongue of mine // Shake It Out – Florence + the Machine (2011) // our love is pastured such a mournful sound, tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground// Shut Up and Dance - Walk the Moon (2014) // my discotheque Juliet teenage dream // Silly Love Songs - Darren Criss (2011) // how can I tell you about my loved one // Some Nights - Fun. (2012) // this is not one for the folks at home, I'm sorry to leave, mom, I had to go. who the fuck wants to die alone all dried up in the desert sun? // Someone Like You – Adele (2011) // we were born and raised in a summer haze, bound by the surprise of our glory days // Sorry - Justin Bieber (2015) // *dolphin noises* // Spaceship - Kesha (2017) // I knew from the start I don't belong in these parts. there's too much hate, there's too much hurt for this heart // Stars - Fun. (2012) // some nights I rule the world with bar lights and pretty girls, but most nights I stay straight and think about my mom // Stitches - Shawn Mendes (2015) // needle and the thread gotta get you out of my head // Sunflower, Vol. 6 - Harry Styles (2019) // *gasp* your flowers just died, plant new seeds in the melody // Super Bass - Nicki Minaj (2010) // and he ill, he real, he might gotta deal. he pop bottles and he got the right kind of build. he cold, he dope, he might sell coke. he always in the air, but he never fly coach // Take Me to Church - Hozier (2013) // I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies. I'll tell you my sins, and you can sharpen your knife // Thank u, Next - Ariana Grande (2018) // she taught me love, she taught me patience, how she handles pain // The Pachanelly Canon - Gentleman’s Rule (2012) // I'm getting pages out of New Jersey, from Courtney B telling me about a party up in NYC. can I make it? damn right I be on the next flight. payin cash. first class. sittin' next to Vanna White // The Wire - Haim (2013) // I just know, I know, I know, I know that you're gonna be okay anyway // Theme From “Cheers” - Titus Andronicus (2010)// I'm sick and tired of everyone in this town being so goddamn uptight, but don't you worry, I'll do all the talking when they turn on the flashing lights // Thieves – She & Him (2010) // I'm not a prophet, old love is in me. new love just seeps right in and makes me guilty // This is America - Childish Gambino (2018) // tell somebody, you go tell somebody. grandma told me, get your money, black man // Trouble - Neon Jungle (2013) // lights up let's have a toke, pour more whiskey in my coke .. Truth Hurts - Lizzo (2017) // you coulda had a bad bitch, non-committal // Uma Thurman - Fall Out Boy (2015) // and I slept in last night's clothes and tomorrow’s dreams, but they are not quite what they seem // Wetsuit – The Vaccines (2011) // with a cool, cool breeze and dirty knees, I rest on childhood memories // What a Feeling - One Direction (2015) // when the air ran out and we both started running wild, the sky fell down // Wilson - Fall Out Boy (2018) // I'll stop wearing black when they make a darker color // Wolves - One Direction (2015) // I feel the waves getting started, it's a rush inside I can't control // You Need Me, I Don’t Need You - Ed Sheeran (2011) // melody music maker, reading all the papers, they say I'm up and coming like I'm fucking in an elevator // You’re in Love With a Psycho - Kasabian (2017) // I'm like the taste of macaroni on a seafood stick

Songs that would have made the list were they on Spotify: We Can’t Stop - Bastille // I Love Clothes (Deadbeat Summer) - Childish Gambino //  G.O.O.D. Friday - Kanye West ft. Common, Pusha T, Kid Cudi, Big Sean & Charlie Wilson // Driving in Cars with Boys - Lana Del Rey // Blurred Lines - Vampire Weekend // a number of mashups (Office Musik, What Makes You Da One, Live While We Die Young, Brush Your Bittersweet Shoulders Off, We Are Complicated)

[aranciafiamma]

Killed in Action

[[MANGA SPOILERS AHEAD]]

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Summary: Instead of Kaigaku, it was Zenitsu who encountered the Upper Moon. [Content Warning: Major Character Death]

--

After Inosuke smashed through a window and informed Tanjiro about the new training session in place, a sense of urgency sunk into the Demon Slayer Corps. More and more hunters were pulled from their usual patrol routes and assigned areas to take part in the "super hard training session". Apparently, the demon activity had decreased to a nonexistent level. It was completely unheard of, like the calm before a storm. Tanjiro could practically smell the singed snap of ozone. Speaking of, with all the hunters gathering, he's surprised that Zenitsu hasn't visited him once. There hasn't been a hint of that crisp, metallic tang denoting the blond's scent.

Goto has been wary of his arrival. With Nezuko now walking freely in the sun, he predicted that Zenitsu's cheer would reach explosive heights. Explosive, noisy, obnoxious heights. But so far, with Zenitsu still absent, such a prediction has yet to come true. Tanjiro wonders if perhaps his friend got lost somehow. He may have gotten distracted by a lady... This is unfortunately extremely likely. The small and scared side of him, the leftover from that horrible discovery, the anguish that he will carry till the day he dies, that dark, firmly-hidden part of him whispers about demons and death.

Everyone has this vague feeling that those we love and revere will be alive tomorrow and the day after that. But it's only a desire, and nothing more. Nobody promised us that this is an absolute truth. But people, for some reason or another, still try to convince themselves that it is one. Tanjiro really should have known better.

Chuntaro arrives with the early morning light. He seems tinier than usual. His feathers appear dull, with bald patches here and there. Tanjiro can tell that the poor bird has gone through quite an ordeal. This is the first sign. There is a letter tied to his leg. The scent is from the Ubuyashiki household. This is the second sign. Here's the thing about Zenitsu. He didn't like writing letters. It's not like he couldn't, not like Inosuke. He was simply bad at replying in a timely manner. He was very easily distracted and not too considerate when it came to communicating regularly. He never wrote to his Master, his dubbed Grandfather, about Tanjiro and Inosuke or about all the feats they've accomplished since. Consequently, his Grandfather would never think to write Tanjiro. So, that left young Kiriya Ubuyashiki with the task of informing all parties related and connected to Zenitsu Agatsuma. It is a short note.

"It is my unfortunate duty to inform you that your friend, Agatsuma Zenitsu, was killed in action. A few days ago, Hunter Agatsuma encountered Upper Moon 1 within the town of __. Presumably, the demon had been preparing for Muzan Kibutsuji's final assault on the Demon Slayer Corps. Hunter Agatsuma attempted to flee, and in an effort to keep the Upper Moon at bay, he caught his enemy's interest. He was offered Muzan Kibutsuji's blood in exchange for his continued survival. Hunter Agatsuma refused. Upper Moon 1 beheaded him. His sparrow, Chuntaro, bore witness to the whole event. Please accept my deepest condolences. My family and I mourn with you."

When his family was murdered, he hadn't been there. But he saw their bodies. He suffocated from the stench of their blood. When Rengoku-san died, he had kneeled a foot from him. He had breathed in mouthfuls of that coppery scent as the Flame Pillar spoke his last words. The point is, he had been there. In some capacity, either during or after, he had bore witness to their deaths. He has no such luxury now.

He half-thinks that surely he must still be dreaming. He half-thinks that surely none of this could be real. Times where happiness is broken always carries the scent of blood. But right now, all he can smell is antiseptic, soap, and wisteria. He's safe sitting on a clinic bed in the Butterfly Estate. The letter speaks of a battle in some distant, lonely town where the scent of dirt and sweat must have filled the air. It's almost like reading a story about a man long dead. Sure, he must have been real once. But he hadn't been real to Tanjiro. He hadn't fought with him, shared meals with him, trained and slept and traveled and - and - and...

Oh. He's torn the letter. He stares at the two halves of paper. The words are still there, in plain black ink. He tears the letter some more. He tears it apart until there's nothing but tiny scraps, barely recognizable. The words are still there, imprinted in his memory.

"Upper Moon 1 beheaded him."

Of all the towns, of all the demons, of all the assignments Zenitsu could have taken, he got this one. It was a bad draw, a terrible role of the dice, just an unfortunate accident. Except it wasn't really. Zenitsu was a hunter. And risking their lives was part of the job. But really? Truly? Honestly? What were the odds?? How likely was this to happen? For Zenitsu to meet Upper Moon 1?? Of all demons, it had to be Upper Moon 1!

His head is pressed against something soft. A familiar scent envelops him like a blanket on a lonely, winter night. He remembers this smell from countless hours spent sitting together by a cookfire, playing together in the yard, working together to repair floorboards and cook dinners and gather firewood. A faint, acid zing weaves in between the smell of home and hearth. But he's used to that now. He's been carrying that scent on his back for almost a year. 

Nezuko holds him tight. Her chin rests on his head. There is gasping. There is trembling. Oh. That's him. He's gasping. He's trembling.

"WHAT'S THE BIG... idea..."

He hears Inosuke call out. His usual gruff manner tapers off to something softer, more subdued. Tanjiro looks up to find Inosuke standing at the entryway. His boar head watches them with its usual blank, blue stare. Tanjiro's crow has roosted on his head. Judging from the stray feathers all over Inosuke, Tanjiro can guess that his crow harassed Inosuke into coming here.

"Hey, you guys! First this stupid chicken wouldn't leave me alone. And now you're all..."

That's right. Inosuke can't read. He couldn't just get a letter and learn that way. No, he has to hear it from someone. He has to hear it from Tanjiro.

For once, Tanjiro wishes he wasn't the eldest son. But still, he sucks in a breath. Oh he definitely hasn't been doing his Total Concentration Breathing in the last five maybe ten minutes. But he doesn't find that too disappointing. Right now, he'd really like some air and he really doesn't care how he gets it. So he breathes in sharp, stuttering bursts more befitting a pneumonia patient.

"Inosuke... Something happened to Zen-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Tanjiro didn't get to finish before Inosuke has clapped his hands over his ears. He screeches, loud and high like a wounded animal. His intuition is really incredible and Tanjiro will never stop marveling over it.

"Inosuke..." Tanjiro murmurs, his brow wrinkling. "I'm sorry."

"WHY?! Why are you sorry, huh? There's nothing to be sorry about! Absolutely nothing!"

"This must be the first time... You've never gotten bad news before."

"I can't get any bad news if you don't give me any!" And with that, Inosuke flees. He whips around and runs straight out the door.

----

A/N: Inosuke out here with 10k IQ. Super self-indulgent. Likely not to finish. I just really wanted to think about this AU for a second. Hey maybe Demon Zenitsu later. That could be fun. 

[buffpidgey]

Au: Trisha Elric was the older sister of Petunia and Lily Evans, and as such when Lily dies Harry is sent to Amestris to live with the Elrics instead of to the Dursleys, as Trisha is a far more suitable parent and also it's far enough away to offer extra protection to Harry.

Ohhhhh… forget 5… this looks more like…. 10…………  oh no it got long…

1: When Harry arrives on their doorstep, Van is a little terrified. He’s barely gotten used to the idea of having one baby, but to suddenly have an entire one year old right here? But he keeps it together for Trisha, whose in her fifth month AND who just lost her sister.

She can’t travel all that way for the funeral, especially since she IS Lilly Potter’s Sister and the war isn’t quite done. She wears black mourning bands on her arms for the next three months though, and sends a letter to Petunia. Petunia doesn’t write back.

2: Harry’s accidental magic is another shock to Van, who sees it first. He frets for three months that he’s somehow contaminating the children, until Harry floats a cookie across the kitchen and Trisha laughs; she remembers this from when Lily was little. 

3: Van still leaves and Trisha still dies. Harry is convinced that he’s Bad Luck - after all, he’s killed TWO sets of parents now - so when Hagrid comes to collect him, he gladly goes.

Ed isn’t as mad at Harry as he is at Hohenheim, and he knows that Harry isn’t as good at alchemy as he and Al are, but he thinks it’s very stupid to assume that /Harry/ is the reason Mom died. After all, Harry is Good! If Harry is Good, he can’t have done something like drive away parents. After Ed and Al get lessons from Izumi he’s largely over it.

4: Harry is a little more used to being recognized (he grew up in a small town after all, of course people know him…) and he has a vague idea of what happened to his parents. Trisha explained a bit about the war and who his parents were, but not why they were so important. She was saving that for when he was older.

Harry grew up knowing his parents were heroes for fighting back against the bad man who came to attack him, but he wasn’t expecting them to be NATIONAL heroes.

Harry sends back lots of letters to his family - Ed and Al and Winry and Granny about his new friends - Ron and Hermione. Ron is really friendly and knows a lot about wizard stuff, and is as good at chess as Al! Hermione knows a lot too, and she would probably love talking about alchemy too!

(Harry befriends her really quickly because her attitude towards magic reminds Harry a lot of Ed and Al’s hunger for knowledge)

Some people are kind of nasty about him having an accent (Malfoy. It’s Malfoy who’s nasty), but mostly the first year is really cool.

He gets worried when the letters from Ed and Al stop coming back, but then Winry tells him it’s because they found a teacher themselves!

5: Harry talks a little bit about what happens with the Stone, but doesn’t talk about how it burned when he touched Quirrel, or how long he spent in the Hospital Wing.

6: In second year, Ed and Al send Harry a breathless excited letter when they get back from Izumi’s. Then Harry hears nothing at all for weeks, even from the Rockbells. He’s so scared. Not only has something happened to his family, something is happening in Hogwarts.

He gets a letter back from Granny saying that Ed and Al had an accident, but are recovering. After that, there’s too much going on for Harry to write back.

7: He kills the basalisk, the basalisk almost kills him. He goes back home to discover what happened.

Harry really does feel like he is cursed. First, his parents. Then his aunt and uncle, now his cousins have been seriously hurt.

He knows what they did was wrong, and they knew this would happen. He feels kind of responsible, though, that he wasn’t there to stop them. He knows losing family hurts! They shouldn’t have done this!

He’s also angry that he had to wait till summer to find out this happened. Isn’t he as good as their brother? Isn’t he family too?

8: It takes all summer, but Ed finally admits to Harry that he’s planning on joining the military this year, to help get Al’s body back. They have a screaming row about it, where Harry is basically trying to be The Oldest Brother at the same time as Ed.

The summer before third year doesn’t end as badly as it does in canon, but it’s still bad.

It takes until Winry ties Harry to a tree and locks Ed out of the house (conveniently next to said tree) for them to make up.

(Without two legs or two arms, it’d be hell for Ed to get back to the house… but oh, look, there’s a slipknot in the rope right where Ed can reach it, and if Harry were free he could help…)

(Winry might or might not have been helped by Al.)

They both get a bad case of sunburn, but at least when the grim starts showing up and the dementors raid the train, Harry does write and tell them about it.

9: Ed becomes a state alchemist. He writes to tell Harry, and that makes Harry feel like he needs to step up as a student. (He’s also realized that with Hogwarts’s Library he might be able to help restore Ed and Al!)

Meanwhile, Ed is also trying to balance the desire to help Harry, who is apparently being freaking stalked by specters of despair and also an omen of death while he’s doing Mustang’s chores. Not. Ideal.

Then it turns out there’s also a murderer after his cousin. What the freaking use is being a dog of the military if he can’t even help protect Harry? ????

Mustang does not let Ed travel a few thousand miles to be protection duty to one random civilian.

10: Then it turns out that specter of death dog is actually Harry’s godfather. Who offered Harry a place to live in Britain. Where Harry was born.

Ed visits the Rockbells more often because that’s where Harry sends his litters.

Ed reads all about this letter, and spends like 3 weeks stewing and wondering if Harry is even coming back. Then Mustang says he can’t wait for Harry to come home from school, he has to go back to work so Ed gets to stew LONGER, wondering even MORE about if Harry will come back.

It’s July before Ed manages to get back to Resembool, and he spends the whole train ride back in a brooding nightmare that Harry isn’t at home.

He is though! Surprise!

Winry gives him a knowing look and laughs at him as she steals his arm to give it adjustments.

Over the summer Harry talks with Ed and Al about lycanthropy and they take a research detour into biological alchemy with the addition of some of Harry’s transfiguration texts. They don’t get very far in the few weeks Ed has for leave in Resembool, but he does promise to keep an eye out when he’s in the library.

(It’s during this research that they start to figure that the wizarding philosopher’s stone is different than the alchemic philosopher’s stone. It might be, one could say, a sorcerer’s stone instead.)

11: Harry leaves early to go to the Quidditch World Cup with his friends. It’s great until the terrorists happen.

This year at Hogwarts, Harry applies himself fully to DADA both because he is forced to be in this deadly tournament, and because Ed and Al are out there doing military tasks while he’s at school.

Winry is furious that Harry can’t get out of the Triwizard Tournament, and so is Granny Rockbell, but there’s not much they can do about it. (Dumbledore tries to convince one of the Elrics or one of the Rockbells to show up for the second task, but everyone is way too busy. They do show up for the final task.)

Rita Skeeter makes a hell of an uproar about Harry’s accent in her article and Malfoy gives her some… insights. It’s not great. Harry’s a hot topic, but interestingly with mixed appeal.

Cedric still dies in the final task. Harry is still captured and Voldemort still returns. 

(Winry sees yet another member of her family bleeding and in distress and has nightmares. She pretends she’s just working very hard whenever the boys ask.)

(Harry once again wonders if he’s cursed.)

12: As a gift, Harry convinced Winry to let him send off a few of her tools and little bits and bobs to Sirius, as a gift (because of the motorcycle). That’s the only gift he sends off that summer since everyone is keeping secrets from him, and he’s been having horrible dreams.

He saw Ed and Al for only a few days that summer. Mustang is giving them more work in exchange for more leads. Sure, it’s nice to know that Ed and Al have leads, but he misses his family and it would be really nice to see them and know they’re safe considering how many damn nightmares he’s been having.

(He remembers when they were little, like maybe seven and eight, when he had nightmares about the green light they would all huddle in the same bed and Harry would fall asleep to the sound of soft breathing. And then loud snores.)

He reads the Amestrian papers, and the British papers he has delivered. There’s nothing about Voldemort in the British papers, but in the Amestrian papers, stories start appearing about “The Peoples’ Alchemist” after Ed blows up the office of one particularly corrupt asshole.

The bright spot of Harry’s summer is teasing his cousins about joining him in the ranks of the great and famous.

The dementors don’t show up, but the Ministry still puts Harry on trial. They try him for treason- giving away ministry secrets to a foreign power. After all, he is in constant contact with a high ranking member of the Amestrian military.

Dumbledor sweeps in with Mustang and Ed (Al has elected to remain in Grimmauld Place tyvm) and clears everything up. Ed gets to meet all of Harry’s friends.

Harry had told them Ed was short. They still had been expecting taller.

Ed removes the portrait of Mrs. Black about the same time he accidentally destroyed that wall.

That year at Hogwarts, Harry learns about sabotage, gets tips from Ed who has had some first hand experience at this now, and starts realizing just how screwed both his countries are. (Ed might not have been paying attention to national and international affairs on his journey, but Harry is friends with Hermione and has been reading newspapers all summer.)

umbridge is still a problem, but it doesn’t get to the point where she carves shit into Harry’s hand. More than once.

Harry is still getting weird visions. Mr. Weasly still gets bitten. But Harry works at things besides occlumancy and has mustered a really stellar D.A. this time around, since he has some insight that he didn’t before.

They also practice hand to hand.

Despite this, the bait is set and Harry goes to the Department of Mysteries.

Sirius doesn’t fall through the veil, but he is badly injured. (I’m not sure if he loses a leg or something here. But let’s all take a minute to imagine Sirius making his way in secret to Amestris to convalesce with the Rockbells who know about this sort of thing. Winry offers to make him special automail that can shift between human and dog…)

13: Ed tries to bargain with Winry to not tell Harry about how Scar almost killed him. He doesn’t want to distract Harry! Harry already has someone out there who wants him dead! It’s fine!

Winry gives him the longest, deadest stare.

Ed realizes that this was a very dumb thing to say, especially since last year Harry almost exploded because people weren’t telling him things.

Harry also almost explodes this time, because someone! Is trying! To kill! His family! A G A I N

So when Dumbledore tells him about Hourcruxes Harry immediately puts two and two together (because he grew up with Ed and Al and helLO soulbonded armor?) and realizes that he IS a Hourcrux after a few… delicately worded letters to Ed.

So on both sides of the channel, Ed and Harry are desperate to fly across the continent in order to strangle people they’ve never met. Fun times.

14: Ed gets pulled deeper into this whole homunculus plot, but so much of it is moving so fast he doesn’t have time to write it all down for Harry.

It’s gonna be one fun summer, that’s for sure. Now Harry knows what it feels like to come back and see how much danger his cousin has been thrown into. Oh how the turntables.

15: When Ed vanishes for 4 months while the whole Promised Day bsns goes down, Harry throws himself deep, deep into this Hourcrux hunting thing. Ron and Hermione follow him to make sure he doesn’t get himself killed.

(Ed hates being out of contact with his family. HATES it. Hopes Harry isn’t doing something stupid. Knows that’s exactly what he’s doing, because he, Edward Elric, has been doing the same fucking thing for three years.)

Ed resurfaces, fights Father, and the whole she-bang happens but because Harry is being heavily hunted he doesn’t have any good access to international news. When he does manage to grab a muggle newspaper and reads a report on how a small country to the east between here and russia went up in red light…

Harry does something… inadviseable and mixes magic and alchemy to try and keep Voldemort out of his head. It works, it does, he de-hourcrux’d himself.

Harry is out of comission convalessing for weeks.

They manage to use that mix of alchemy and magic to do away with a few more of the hourcruxes, in a much less dramatic fashion.

After they do away with the rest, after Voldemort is mortal again, Harry does send a letter back home.

He doesn’t want to die, but this plan is so risky, and the prophesy… Harry doesn’t know how to feel about it, but there’s always a chance he’ll die. He is cursed, after all.

Harry agrees to meet Voldemort on the battlefield, on the battlefield where he lures Voldemort to a special stretch of dirt. When their wands catch in that priori incantautum where they lock, the alchemy circle Harry aranged to have drawn activates.

Voldemort’s current body is a construct. It’s as much of a Hourcrux as anything else, and he comes apart.

16: Harry goes back to Resembool and sleeps for an entire week, then Winry and Granny make apple pie and life goes on.

[sagara-megumi]

SasuSaku Month - Day 15: The Slug and the Snake || [Fanfic] Till Death Do Us Part

Title: Till Death Do Us Part

Rating: T/PG-13

Notes: Sorry to keep you waiting, but at last, the final chapter is here ^^ It’s sad but at the same time accomplishing because it’s the first time that I finish a multi-chaptered story and that I write so much in such amount of time.

The notes are a bit long this time, but I’d like you to read them, since they can be useful.

This time, the prompt is symbolic. Looking for information for my next story (that hopefully will use some of the prompts I still haven’t done) I found on a book about Japanese Mythology that the snake, among other things, symbolises lust. Imagine the possibilities that opened in my mind at that moment *grin* Regarding the slug, the only thing I could find was the healing power, so Sakura gets stuck in the medical field once again.

I decided that both their names are written in kanji, since both of them belong to old families (I haven’t seen any examples of this written in hiragana/katakana, like in the manga). For those who feel curious…  団扇 佐助 // 春野桜 (I know that in Sasuke’s case those are the kanji for “uchiwa“, but… ^^U)

The events described in the fanfic are my impressions after watching several videos and reading about the topic. There will be mistakes, of course, so I apologise in advance.

Be aware that the rating has gone up. There’s nothing really explicit but you’ll know what’s happening. If I labelled it incorrectly, please don’t hesitate to tell me. Since a few years, the rating system has been a mess. I’ve found really strong things under the M/R and even the T/PG-13 tags and really innocent ones under T/PG-13 so, I’m more or less following my instinct.

Thanks to the lovely @isa-chi who put up with my ramblings and my frustration, and advised me on a couple of topics especially related to OOC. And also to all the people who read it, sent messages, liked, reblogged and followed me, waiting patiently for updates. You don’t know how happy each of those single things made me. And thank you to @sasusakumonths for organising it. It’s been really fun ♡

As always, if there’s something wrong (spaces, brackets…), please, tell me. I hope you enjoy this final instalment :)

Glossary: I’ve tried to keep the Japanese terms to a minimum, though some things are not accurately translated

-uchikake: the bridal kimono. It can be white (the most common used for the ceremony) or with colours (normally used for the celebration). it’s much more heavier than a normal kimono, and it’s tied differently too. -onigiri: riceball -nori: the seaweed that is wrapped around the onigiri

Words: 7339

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TILL DEATH DO US PART

Drinking a sip of her coffee, Sakura observed as Sasuke started to complete their marriage form, the pen in his right hand tracing the kanji of his full name slowly, as if he feared to make a mistake. They had decided to fill it and take it to the Ward Office together so, early in the morning, Sakura had gone to his apartment carrying the documents she would need.

Finally, the day had come. After their engagement, as soon as Sasuke had recovered, they had visited each family to announce that they were getting married. She still remembered the satisfaction in her grandmother’s eyes as Sasuke bowed to ask permission to her and her parents to marry her. At the beginning, she had felt a bit offended. It was as if Chiyo was telling her that she had caught the prized candidate when that had been the last thing on her mind practically from the beginning. However, later that night as she made her way to the kitchen for a snack before going to bed, she found her kneeling in front of the altar dedicated to her late grandfather, talking lovingly to him about the happiness she felt because her granddaughter had found a wonderful man, that she had seen in his eyes how much he loved her; reminiscing the time when they had met and how love had grown between them in the same way as in the young couple; that now she understood why they had taken their time to made their decision. And her heart had gone to the old lady who still mourned the death of his dear husband.

In the Uchiha clan’s house, things had not been very different. As Sasuke did, she had tried to ignore the whispers she heard about how pleased the elders were that the second son of the main branch had attained to such a wonderful heiress. Though, she had to say that his closest family had been truly happy for him as they wished them happiness.

“Sakura,” Sasuke’s voice, a bit disgruntled, reached her. “Are you listening to me?”

With a jolt, she looked at her fiancée, who was watching her with a delicate crease in his brows. He sighed.

“Obviously, not.”

“Sorry, Sasuke-kun… I had something on my mind…”

“I saw…” he smirked lightly. “Last minute jitters?”

She pouted, her eyes flashing defiantly.

“Of course not!”

He moved his head to the sides, a gesture that Sakura interpreted as mocking resignation, and then, he handed her the ball point.

“I’m finished.”

For a moment, she seemed to find fascination even in the action of him giving her that pen and she exhaled, exasperated at herself. She was too absent-minded that morning. She took it and with precise strokes, she wrote the information needed and took her family stamp to seal the document.

“Alright” Sasuke said standing up and putting the form inside the folder with his documents. “Let’s go. Today we have a very busy day ahead.”

Sakura looked at his retreating form for a moment before rising from her seat. It was the first time since they had met that she saw him in such informal clothes. It was summer, so he was wearing a dark blue polo shirt and white jeans. She could not help swoon a little. That man, who she had seen attract the attention of women without doing anything special wherever he went, was going to be hers from that day on.

“What’s with you today?” he was already in the hall, with his deck shoes on and one hand on his waist, looking at her with a mixture of concern and confusion. “Are you feeling well?”

“Yes!” she walked quickly to his side and put her cream-coloured sandals on, “I’m just a bit distracted.”

“Why?” he asked, checking that he had the keys for the house and the car in his pockets.

“Well” she put her hands behind her back and looked at the flat somewhat wistfully. “Today is a very important day… And, this will be my house from now on…” he looked at her with slightly widened eyes. “I suppose I’m feeling a bit melancholic apart from the usual nervousness…”

Sasuke’s features became warmer and he put a hand on her head, stroking it affectionally.

“Come on…”

.

They arrived at the Ward Office a few minutes after it had opened and finished with the last procedures quickly.

“The certificate will be available in two days” the friendly clerk at the desk told them. “Congratulations on your marriage.”

They thanked him and went back, Sasuke looking at his watch. Fortunately, it had taken less time than they had thought, so there would not be any delays in the tight schedule that they had that day. After his collapse, they had become very busy with their works and the wedding arrangements, but he had been careful not to cross the line again, especially with Sakura, Ino, Itachi and Naruto checking on him every day. The last few weeks, however, he had tried to do as much as possible to be able to clear those three days, from that one to the end of the week, for the wedding and an extremely short honeymoon that they had decided to spend mainly at home after the stressful preparations. They would have time for a proper wedding trip later on.

As they came out, they stopped and looked at each other, smiling. Even if they called off the shrine ceremony and all the events that were taking place in a few hours, they were now officially husband and wife.

Sasuke grabbed her hand with a satisfied expression on his face and started walking toward the car, she following him swiftly. But she could not help looking over her shoulder towards the entrance of the Office, swallowing hard and feeling a sudden rush of emotion. She had entered there being Haruno Sakura, and though nothing special had happened, a different person had come out. From that moment on, she was Uchiha Sakura.

.

“… Going forward, we’ll love each other, trust one another, share the good times and the bad and swear that this will stay unchanged throughout our lifetime.”

Sakura’s hands trembled slightly listening to Sasuke take their wedding vow before the gods in the shrine that his clan belonged to, as they held the paper where it was written. His voice, clear and steady was a reflection of his resolution to honour that promise.

“Husband, Uchiha Sasuke”

Despite her agitation, she breathed deeply, wanting to answer with the same conviction as him.

“Wife: Sakura”

Sasuke folded the paper again and left it carefully on the reclining set before them, stealing a glance at his bride. She had her head tilted down and he could only see her lips, painted in a rich shade of red, under the cotton hat she wore for the ceremony. To say that she was beautiful in her wedding kimono was not enough compliment. He had literally stopped breathing when he had seen her clad in the beautiful white uchikake embroidered with cranes and flowers that, as she had told him before while planning the wedding, had belonged to her family for years as her grandmother and her mother had worn it before her.

The Shinto priest, then, brought a tray with a box and offered it to Sasuke. He took the wedding ring with great care and offered her his other hand. She lifted hers, her heart beating wildly in her chest, and he took it as he put the ring on her finger. Sakura realised that he was trembling a bit and she lifted her face to him. What she saw stole her breath away. Maybe it was not the most beautiful smile of the world, but the one that graced Sasuke’s lips at that moment was radiant with content and tenderness. Sakura’s eyes filled with tears and she would have ended up crying if the priest had not put the tray in front of her. Swallowing hard and clenching her teeth to control herself, feeling relieved that with the hat she wore no one could notice her moment of weakness, she picked up the other ring. He extended his hand and slowly, feeling as if her heart could burst from all the happiness she was feeling, she put it on his finger.

.

“Ready?” one of the women dressed formally who were at the door of the reception hall looked at Sasuke and Sakura, and they nodded.

The double door opened and they entered the room, their guests clapping enthusiastically. Sakura had changed some of her clothes. She had taken off the hat and now wore her hair in a modest bun adorned with traditional hairpins, and had changed her white uchikake for another colourful one which belonged to Sasuke’s family.

They arrived at their table and bowed to the guests. Just then, the waiters and waitresses came out of a door and started filling their glasses while the host told the people they were going to toast to the groom and the bride.

Soon after, the food was served and the speeches began. One by one, their kindergarten teacher, Kakashi, their professors at university, Tsunade, as her mentor, and Itachi, as Sasuke’s superior, told anecdotes about the years spent with them.

Then, Naruto went up the platform and Sasuke felt himself cringe. They had gone through a lot together, good things and bad ones and their bond was practically unbreakable, but also, his best friend was aware of all his failures and most embarrassing moments, and though he was completely sure that he could trust him with his life, he also knew that sometimes, he talked too much. He could not help having a bad feeling about it.

.

“They make a fine couple, don’t you think, Madara-san?”

The man, with his arm crossed on his chest, nodded as he watched Sasuke and Sakura listen to his best friend, Naruto, give a speech which made people laugh and clap, as he talked about some of the moments they had lived together.

“I have to confess that, at the beginning, I was quite sceptical about your suggestion of arranging for them to meet, Chiyo-san” he said with a small smile, very similar to Sasuke’s. “I thought that you desired someone in the medical field for the future heiress of your legacy. Someone who doesn’t have any knowledge, like my grandson, is not going to be of great help.”

“I understood soon enough that my granddaughter didn’t need a husband like that. She’s extraordinarily intelligent and a brilliant doctor; after all, she’s trained under the famous physician Senju Tsunade” she said sparing a fleeting glance towards the renowned doctor, sitting at a table not far from theirs. “Any man in the same field of expertise would feel intimidated by her, even resentful. And, despite being burdened by responsibility and tradition, I love my granddaughter and I was not going to get her into a marriage where she would end up suffering. However, Sasuke-san can lend his support in other ways. Financially, of course, but also he can offer her advice based on his experience. A hospital chairman is a doctor and a business person at the same time.”

“You had your plans well laid” he smirked. “I’m impressed.”

“Well, not all of them” she folded her hands on her lap. “I hoped that, being young, they would grow some affection for each other with time. However, my wish became true much earlier. It is obvious that Sasuke-san cares deeply for my granddaughter, and sincerely, I could not ask for more.”

.

“Honestly I even thought once that he would never marry” Naruto continued his speech. “He’s got a weird personality and he sometimes doesn’t talk, probably thinking he’s so cool. Also, he can be really arrogant and a bit twisted, but he’s the best man I’ve ever met in my life. Sakura-chan, I know he’s a hassle and a pig head, as you probably noticed a few months ago when he fell ill, but, please, take care of him. I’m sure you two are going to be the happiest couple in the world” he made a victory sign. “After Hinata-chan and me, of course.”

People laughed as they clapped and Naruto went back to his seat. Then, as the host announced the next speech, Sasuke took a sip of his drink, relieved. Apart from some comments, like the last ones, about his character, and that he had talked about the first time he had got drunk, things had not gone so bad.

The hall became darker as Ino took her place behind the microphone.

“Good afternoon. I’m Yamanaka Ino and I have the fortune of knowing this two people for years. But today, I’m not going to talk as Uchiha Sasuke’s secretary, but as Sakura’s friend” she paused for a moment to look at her notes. “Sakura and I met in the first year of elementary school, when we ended up in the same classroom, sitting one behind the other. As you see, we have a long story together…”

A soft music started playing and they all turned to a screen located over the main door, where a video started to show. It displayed photographs of the two girls since their childhood: school events, festivals, graduations, parties… Ino had a memory for each of those moments, which people laughed about or had to dab at their eyes with handkerchiefs. Finally, the video ended with the two of them laughing at the entrance of the Todai University, the day of Sakura’s graduation.

“When she told me that her omiai partner was the President I work for, I was a bit wary because I discovered then that I was linked to both, and it was going to be uncomfortable if one of them felt hurt in case that there was a rejection. But when she said they were getting married, I was really glad.” she turned to the couple. “President, the only thing I’m going to ask of you in this life is to make her happy. Despite our arguments and differences in many things, she’s one of the people I love the most and, forgive me for my impertinence, I’d hate you if you made her suffer her. Congratulations…” she inhaled, trying to hold back her tears. “And stop crying, Forehead!

She bowed and Sakura felt the strong urge to run to her best friend and hug her. However, she had to repress it, since it was not the moment and with her clothes she would probably make a fool of herself, so she restricted herself to watch Ino coming down the platform and going straight to her seat, trying to hold her tears. She had to remember to hold her tight the next time she saw her.

“Are you fine?” Sai whispered putting an arm around Ino’s shoulders so she could lean her head on his shoulder, not caring about maintaining the appearances or the curious looks they were receiving.

She nodded and he dropped a soft kiss on her head.

“Good…” he paused for a moment. “Did you finally graduate from him?”

She nodded again and he could not help the smile that drew across his lips, relief washing over him. His heart filled with content at knowing that Ino was now completely and truly his, as he realised that a very small part of him that had been well hidden deep inside, had been really unhappy and jealous. Maybe, it was time for them to start thinking about tying the knot too.

Sasuke stood up, after a few moments. It was time for the groom speech. However, he did not move, he just looked at Sakura that smiled, carefully rising from her chair too. They were going to break the rules a bit. There was a soft surprised humming as the guests saw that both of them moved to the microphone, the expectation hanging in the air heavily.

He took a small slip of paper from the folds of his kimono and opened it, drawing in a soft breath. He was used to speaking in public, to weave his way and opinions without any doubts to business partners, directors and associates. However, he had never been good at expressing his emotions, at telling the people he cared for his feelings. His heart had been closed for many years after he had understood his position in his family and what they expected of him. His life no longer belonged to him, but to the clan. But that did not mean that he had become cold or had stopped loving them. That speech had taken him a lot of time to write, carefully choosing his words, rewriting once and again what he wanted to say. He only hoped he had been able to convey his thoughts in his words.

“Thank you to all of you for coming today and share with us this joyous event despite your busy schedules…” after the standard greeting, he breathed again. “When I was five, my life changed completely. From being a carefree child, I became someone who would have an important role in the future of his clan, and though, as a boy, could not see farther than my own selfishness, getting angry because things were not the same anymore, my family’s guidance and affection helped me to take the correct choices in life. I am what I am thanks to my father, who taught me the value of working hard, having perseverance and taking pride in my origins, my mother, warm and caring, but also stern when she had to be, and my brother who protected and comforted me as a child, and is someone I look up to every day” he glanced at Sakura. “Today, my wife and I are starting a new life. We are inexperienced in many things and we will probably stumble from time to time. I hope that you can continue watching over us the same as you have done for me up to now” he turned to Sakura. “Our beginning was difficult and we were unsure and full of doubts, and we have been through difficult moments. However, despite not being married, not even engaged, you were beside me during that time, strong and steadfast. Thank you, Sakura-san. I hope that in the years to come, I can be your support as you have been, and are, mine.”

He bowed, and Sakura had to bite her lower lip hard to contain her tears. When he lifted his head and saw her efforts, he took his handkerchief from his kimono and gave it to her with a tender smile that made those who saw it stare in awe. Sakura took a deep breath and straightened. Turning to their guests, she nodded.

“I’m sorry…”

Then, Sasuke took a step back to let her take his place. She took a paper from her obi and unfolded it. Breathing once more, she started reading.

“Thank you for being with us on such an important day in our lives” she inhaled again, calming herself, her voice becoming more confident. “I have always been aware of my role in life, and I embraced it enthusiastically since I was a little girl. I come from a family of doctors and I saw like a natural thing that I would become one in the future. I am one now. However, it’s not my merit alone. I had, along the way up to now, three wonderful people, my grandmother, my father and my mother, who were an example and my inspiration for all I wanted to achieve and I have been fortunate to count on their support and their advice in the steps I have taken along the way.” she paused for a moment. “Even though an omiai can be a very difficult event nowadays, when life offers us so many possibilities and ideas, I’m very glad to have followed my grandmother’s counsel and gone through it, because I met someone who has become very important for me” she tilted her head and looked at him. “Sasuke-san, let’s walk together this path that we have started today and build a household of our own following the example of the people who had surrounded and cherished us until this moment. I am sure that they will continue offering us their encouragement and love. As for us, as in all journeys, we will probably have good times and also encounter difficulties in our marriage. I want to be able to enjoy the first ones and solve little by little the second ones together with you, till death do us part.”

She gave a step backwards and together with her husband, she bowed to the guests, who were clapping and some of them crying openly. They could even hear one or two cheers from their louder friends. Then, two assistants gave them bouquets of flowers, and they made their way to the back, where their families were awaiting them. They bowed respectfully and then, gave the flowers to their mothers. Mikoto had a hard time controlling her tears, deeply moved because her younger child had never said what he truly felt since he was small and Fugaku put his hand on his back, smiling proudly at the respectable man that his son had become.

“Thank you…”

A tear fell down Sakura’s mother as she took the flowers from her daughter, who held her hand affectionately.

When they stepped aside instead of posing for a photograph, all the people in the hall held their breath again, expectant. Both of them approached the table nearest the place where their parents were, and the assistant gave her a second bouquet that she gave to her grandmother.

“Grandmother…” the old lady took it a bit disconcerted. “I know that you’re not in favour of breaking traditions and protocol, but it’s thanks to you that we’re here today. Sasuke-kun and I wanted to give you this.”

Chiyo blushed a bit.

“But it was Madara-san’s idea too…”

“But we can’t give him flowers, can we?” she said with a smile.

Then, she straightened and turned to his grandfather, bowing again.

“Thank you.”

.

Sasuke sighed as he adjusted his grey tie watching his reflection in the full-length mirror before letting one of the assistants help him with the frock coat. Despite liking kimonos quite a lot, he was definitely much more comfortable with those clothes, so similar to his everyday ones. He took the gloves and, nodding to the assistants, came out of the changing room. He walked along the corridor to where Sakura’s door was, ready to wait.

After the photographs with their family, they had gone out of the hall for a change of clothes. As they were planning the wedding, he had asked Sakura if she did not want to wear one of those big white Western wedding dresses that Japanese women dreamt of. Though her answer had been somewhat vague saying that it had been a little girl’s fantasy, he had realised that she still (tenía la ilusión). And he had finally managed to convince her to do it. Though they belonged to old families and they were going to follow tradition to the end, the wedding was theirs, and they could allow themselves a whim. Like the one with their grandparents. He had been surprised when he had learnt that his grandfather had played an important role in their omiai, despite being all Sakura’s grandmother idea. And when she had asked him if he minded that she paid a little homage to her, he had thought it would be nice to thank the patriarch of the clan too.

He was looking out of one of the windows on the wall opposite her room when he heard the door behind him open, and he turned. The sight left him breathless. Sakura was at the door, being helped by her assistants, and she was looking at him with a mixture of excitement and hope. She was wearing a beautiful empire style wedding dress with sleeves that only covered her shoulders, a bodice decorated with small pearls and a flowing skirt with two layers embroidered with lace. Her hair was tied in a side bun on the left side of her head framed by some organza lotus flowers.

“Oh, the groom” one of the assistants said with a smile. “We hope you are pleased with the bride’s look.”

He felt a knot in his throat. He wanted to say something and make her happy, it was obvious that she was expecting him to do it, but he just could not do it; not with those strangers listening and the people near the reception hall door waiting. If one day he complimented her, he wanted it to be for her alone.

Sakura smiled softly, as if she could sense his inner conflict and, turning to her helpers, she thanked them. Then, she approached her handsome husband, who was still looking at her with admiration, and took him by the arm. He did not need words to say what she wanted to know.

“Come on, Sasuke-kun” Sakura started walking towards the hall, changing the topic. “We still have a cake to cut and many greetings to give” he groaned a bit and she smiled widely. “And the after-party, let’s not forget about that!”

He chuckled lightly, letting her drag him away from the women who had put him in a predicament, calming down with her chatting. And he decided to follow her cue teasing her a bit.

“So, your intention from the beginning was to kill your groom of exhaustion and become a widow on your first day of marriage…?”

.

“What a day, um?” Sakura said with a sigh as she looked at Sasuke’s back, who was busy in the kitchen.

They had arrived at their flat a few minutes before, completely spent after the after-party with their friends and younger members of their families, where they had been drinking and playing games. However, neither in the reception nor that gathering they had been able to eat much so they had just been finishing taking off their shoes when Sasuke’s stomach had made a rumbling sound that had made her start laughing. He had shown her an irritated expression and had called her annoying but it was difficult to take his soreness seriously seeing the blush that adorned his cheeks.

After he had taken revenge tapping her on the head lightly and she had calmed down, he had suggested an early dinner and they had entered the kitchen. However, as she was asking him for an apron, he had taken her by the shoulders and sat her down on a stool, alleging that she had to be more tired than him, since her efforts during the wedding had been greater.

He made a sound of assertion as his hands took another scoop of rice and moulded it like an onigiri that he put on a plate.

“Are you going to wear that for the rest of the day?” he asked looking over his shoulder, clearly referring to her wedding dress.

“Of course!” she said with a childish smile, lifting her legs and wriggling her toes. “I really love it and it was very expensive, so the least I can do is enjoy it as much as possible” he chuckled lightly as he bent, opening a cabinet on his right and picking up a wooden board to cut the nori for the onigiri. “I’m thinking I could have it altered and have a new dress for any event that we have to attend.”

“It’s a good idea” he spared a brief glance at his grey frock coat, neatly folded on a chair near her. “Maybe I could do the s- Ouch!”

Instinctively, Sakura stood and rushed to his slightly crouched figure. He had his finger in his mouth, a mixture of pain and annoyance marring his face.

“Let me see” she commanded him with a professional tone, taking his hand and inspecting the cut.

Fortunately, it was not very deep but some thick drops of blood were running down his finger.

“Where’s the first-aid kit?”

“In that cupboard”

She put his finger under water from the sink tap and went to retrieve it. Looking for some bandages, she took his finger and inspected it again before pressing firmly to cut the bleeding. She guided him to the stool where she had been sitting and smiled softly to him as she lifted the gauze to take a better look at the little wound. After a few more minutes of pressure, she picked up another piece of cloth and dabbed at the cut delicately with some antibiotics cream she had found. Finally, she put a plaster on it.

“There, almost healed. Keep it covered for two day-” she brought her hand to her mouth. “Sorry… It’s the habit…”

“Thank you” he shook his head once, not really minding her doctor side showing.

She smiled as she put everything back in the kit and put it in the same cupboard.

“And now, let me finish dinner, okay? It’s better if you don’t get that cut dirty” she looked at the drawers on her left pensively. “And, it’s better if I get used to things here soon.”

He smiled, feeling inwardly happy.

“Second drawer.”

.

An hour later, Sakura heard Sasuke’s footsteps behind her and she turned in time for him to offer her a cup of tea. She smiled thankfully and he sat down next to her, giving a sip to his drink. They were sitting on the sofa in the living room watching the landscape, after enjoying dinner. As that night many months ago, they had turned it so it faced the large window, hearing the muffled sounds that came from the street and watching the sun sink slowly behind the buildings in a comfortable silence. Little by little the living room became darker.

“Give me your cup” Sasuke said standing up and going to the kitchen to leave them on the sink.

When he came back, he sat beside her again, looking at the rays of the sun reflected on the glass of the buildings near theirs and the light of the cars that went up the street opposite them, travelling in precise order. Absentmindedly, he took her hand in his, caressing the back with his thumb for a few minutes, and she answered to his touch squeezing it lightly. When he felt the roughness of the stones, he looked down and watched for a moment the two rings on her finger, playing with them lightly with his index. Then, he brought it to his lips and kissed it reverently, closing his eyes briefly.

When he opened his lids, slowly, he found her gaze on him, full of tenderness, and a soft smile on her lips. He leant forward and she met him halfway. It was a simple, lingering brushing of their mouths but it made them giddy with emotion and filled their hearts with happiness.

The first kiss of their married life.

They parted after a few moments and looked at each other, smiling softly. Then, Sasuke touched her forehead with his, and she laughed a bit.

“Are you happy?”

“Yes…” his smile widened a bit and she looked at him. “And you…?”

As a reply, he cupped her cheek with one hand, brushing her skin with his thumb. Sometimes, he felt so useless for not being able to express what was truly in his heart openly, to tell her all she wanted and needed to hear. She deserved so much to listen to them… However, his reserved character, his stern upbringing had made him like that. Maybe, someday, he would be able to tell her all the things he kept inside. As he looked into her eyes, shining with delight he found himself fortunate for having found a woman who understood him.

He kissed her again, this time deeper, wishing to express what he could not put into words, giving his all each time their mouths separated for a brief intake of breath just to join again more passionately. The soft moan that escaped her throat filled his veins with desire, and this time, he did not bother to tame it. She did not have to go back home, she was not a partner, she was not his fiancée… He did not have to contain himself anymore.

He left her lips and hid his head in her neck, leaving a trail of open mouthed kisses. She sighed his name and he went back to her lips, satisfied at her equally intense response.

When they parted, completely out of breath and quivering, Sasuke stood up and put an arm around her waist and another under her knees, lifting her from the sofa, her arms circling his shoulders, and he crossed the living room and entered the corridor, towards the bedroom.

“It’s still daylight…” she murmured, hiding her face in his shoulder.

“And, do you have any complaints? Do you want me to stop…?”

Her only reply was to move her head negatively, a deep blush covering her pretty face.

The room was still bathed in a soft orange glow. Closing the door after them with his foot, he advanced a few steps, kissing her again, before letting her stand again. He did not let her go, though. After releasing her lips, he brushed his mouth on her neck, just below her jaw.

“Do you want me to help you with that” he murmured softly, touching the flowers that decorated her hair.

“Do you mind…?”

He shook his head and turned her, facing the full-length mirror on the corner nearer the bed and they looked at their reflection for a moment before she lifted her arms and started taking pins from the headdress. He did the same with her bun, feeling it with his fingertips and removing them carefully not to pull her hair. Occasionally he gazed at the mirror. She was trying really hard not to look at it and he could not help a little smile at his wife’s sudden shyness.When he had gathered a bunch of them in his hand, he looked around and finally decided to leave them on the bedside table. He switched on the lamp to see better.

“You should think about what you want to change or buy for the flat…” he commented as he touched one inside her bun. “I suppose it’s not very comfortable for a woman…”

“Your house is fine, Sasuke-kun!” she said turning, and with the sudden movement, the pin he had just discovered and picked escaped from between his fingertips. “Just two or three things will be enough, and we can bring them from my former bedroom.”

“Our house” he said, and she looked at him a bit confused. “It’s not just mine, it’s ours.”

“Ah” her fingers flew to her mouth, realising her mistake. “Sorry…”

“You’ll get used to it…” he replied, touching her head lightly to give her the clue of where to tilt it, looking at the place where the pin he had missed was and retrieving it, his breath falling on her nape, making her blush again.

They continued their task for a few more minutes until all her hair was free from the hairstyle, and Sasuke started combing the tresses down her back, but it was really difficult with all the spray the assistants who had helped her with her change of look had applied. Then, he bent a little and he kissed the curve between her neck and shoulder.

“Sasuke-kun…” she said gasping softly when he grazed the tender skin just above her collarbone. “Ca-Can you cover the mirror…?”

He smirked against her neck and, leaving her, he grabbed the bedspread and threw it over the mirror.

“Is that better?”

She nodded and he extended his hand, touching her red cheeks. With her dishevelled hair falling on her shoulders and back, her darkened green eyes that shone like emeralds in the dim light and her red lips, swollen from being kissed, she offered the most tempting and lovely sight he had ever had in front of him.

“Sakura…”

As if falling under a spell, it was her who approached him this time, kissing him as her hands cupped his face, and he held her close, tangling his fingers in her hair. The others went to his shirt, suddenly bothered by it. They parted and she looked at him, one of her hands brushing his, as if asking if she could continue. He dropped it to his side, his gaze not leaving her for a second as she took the button with trembling fingers.

As each one came undone, his skin was exposed to her sight and she felt the temptation to kiss it, Sasuke noticed the change in her breath and the indecisive spark of her eyes.

“You can do as you wish” he murmured in her ear, his voice lowering down an octave, and she shivered. “I’m your husband…”

She let out a quivering exhale and crossed the step that still separated them, hiding her head and kissing him in the curve between his shoulder and neck. He took a sharp intake of breath as her arms made their way around his waist, pressing her body to his. And Sasuke’s fingers flew to her hips. As her mouth left timid kisses along his collarbone, his hands made their way upwards slowly until they found the zipper of her dress. It was then that she noticed the slight trembling of his fingertips.

The wedding dress fell on the floor in a pool of chiffon and embroidered organza, leaving her dressed in only her tights, undergarments and a short satin and lace white slip which covered her body.

“You’re so beautiful…” he whispered, and her heart missed a beat, thundering loudly just a moment later, as she felt her eyes damp.

He smiled tenderly as he cleaned her unshed tears with his sleeve and brushed her lips softly, his hands taking off his shirt, dropping it near her dress. Then, he held her tight by the waist, lifting her up and laying her on the bed delicately, kissing her and burying one of his hands in her hair as he joined her, and the other started a path filled with soft curves and the movement of her agitated breath. For what seemed hours, he worshipped her body with kisses and caresses as her hands slid across his shoulders and back as far as she could reach, whimpering when he found a sensitive spot. Slowly, the last clothes that still separated them fell on the floor and she could not help a shiver feeling each centimetre of her skin covered by his, their bodies getting warmer and warmer as passion slowly erased from their mind any thoughts that were not related to the other, or what they were feeling.

She called his name, gasping at the honorific, and he kissed it from her lips, not wanting to hear something that put a barrier between them. There, in the privacy of the bedroom that now belonged to the two of them, they were simply two human beings that loved each other in body, soul and mind: Sasuke and Sakura.

Fingers lacing and breaths mingling in their kisses, the tension between them increased with each passing moment until it suddenly broke. Her heart overflowed with feelings for him, and his followed a few moments later with only one certainty: She belonged to him as he to her.

.

Still regaining their breaths, Sasuke embraced Sakura protectively and rolled over on the bed, resting on his back. He was tired, the traces of passion slowly dissolving in his blood replaced by a feeling of completion that he had never experienced before. He closed his eyes, savouring it, smiling as she nuzzled his chest softly. He brushed her hair from her damp body.

“Maybe I should have it cut…” she said in a slightly raspy voice, lifting a hand and removing some strands that gone unnoticed to his fingers.

“I like your hair…” he stated in a gentle voice. “Maybe we should have left it in that hairstyle if you felt uncomfortable…”

She mused his words for a moment.

“I’d probably had all the pins piercing my scalp” she paused and hid her face a little in his chest. “Maybe next time I can tie it up before…”

Sasuke chuckled and kissed the top of her head. His hand brushed the space between her shoulder blades and she shivered a bit.

“Are you cold?”

She shook her head briefly, but stayed quiet, not moving except for her slow breathing. He would have thought she was falling asleep if it was not for the barely noticeable agitation of her fingers on his skin

“Are you alright?” he whispered, deeply concerned about having done something to upset her.

Did I pay attention to your needs? Was I too brusque, too anxious? Did you feel the same pleasure? That simple question was filled with so many others, with insecurity and a hint of regret, that Sakura felt guilty, and moved. She was just feeling overwhelmed by the powerful sensations that still coursed through her body and mind, She had never thought she could feel something like that. But how to tell him? How to make him understand the strength of her emotions at that moment? She only knew one way. She lifted her head and smiled tenderly, making him relax. She took his hand in hers and brushed a kiss on his palm, and then on his ring finger, the thin band of gold warm to her lips.

“Yes…” .

It was already well entered the morning when Sasuke opened his eyes with a soft intake of breath, and immediately, his features softened when the first thing he saw was Sakura’s face, still deeply asleep. Her expression was completely relaxed and content, her cheeks still slightly flushed and her lips a bit swollen from his kisses. They had loved each other once and again between short slumbers and sweet moments of titillation until just a few hours ago, and though he felt exhausted and tempted to curl up with her and go back to his dreams, a part of him fought back, wanting nothing more than to watch her until the moment when she woke up. Blinking a few times, he propped up on one elbow, resting his head on his hand, lifting his free arm to brush back a loose strand which had slid down across her cheek delicately, revelling in each single detail and engraving them all in his mind.

An hour later, Sakura opened her eyes, slowly, and her clouded gaze fell on his face. He was watching her with a tender smile.

“Good morning…” he whispered, cupping her neck and kissing her forehead softly.

“Good morning…”

THE END

Extra notes:

-Japanese people don’t kiss in traditional weddings (sometimes, they do in Western-style ones, like the ones we see in manga), neither do they in the reception.

-For Sasuke and Sakura’s wedding, I wrote the same vow as in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeJQMvydpzQ All the credit goes to its maker.

-There’s a change in the honorifics, I know ^^ I did it on purpose, since reading examples of speeches, I realised that the language is very formal, so I decided to make them talk formally too. That is why there aren’t contractions in it either

[thetoolswetook]

21/8/18

In Glorious Memory Of The Love I Lost

Another begrudged, Lap of the sun

On the outside we’re fine, We’re just two miserable magpies.

I remember the crack in your voice when you said “I’m leaving”. Just another person that left me behind

This Dream Of Mine (Dramamine?)

I remember it all. The rise. The fall. I remember it all. The climb. The crawl. I remember the ————

It’s the death and the birth. For better or worse.

Sick and tired. Sick of crying.

I think I’ve lost my mind. Where has it gone? I’ve been missing things for so long

I thought you were a magpie, turns out you are a crow. One for sorrow, two for joy. Now I’m all alone.

The Last Letter

To the moment I sleep, from the second I wake, I dwell on my mistakes

But you always cared

I’ve stared at these paper walls for so long

When I look back on my life, From my deathbed I hope the love of my life, Is someone I haven’t yet met.

You don’t want to make me well. You just want to know what makes me sick.

Mourning Song / Celebration Song

The side of the bed where you once slept is cold as hell

I am not defined by the illness in my mind

I lie awake at night thinking of all the days I’ve wasted

Still got my heart in a birdcage

Those days Maybe weeks Maybe months Made me weak

All of the pain that we harbour I wish we were kids in the garden Not just skeletal targets

Spill my guts So sick of love So sick of

I’m All out of rhyme All out of rhythm All out of time

__________________

I lie awake in bed at night thinking of all the days I’ve wasted All my shortcomings All the things I could’ve done The man I wanted to be The man that I sadly become The time that I spent licking my wounds rather than bettering myself I lie awake in bed at night, every single night

Give up on me Like everybody else Even myself

_____________

I remember the sun and how it I remember how young

I remember it all - The rise, the fall. I remember it all - The climb, the crawl. I remember the way the world fell at our feet, The way you lived your life for me. And how you felt unsure. I remember it all.

I remember the moon

_______________

And now my body shudders every time I hear your name. I know not of a love like ours; We’re chained.

Was it a magnetic field, or gravity, that brought you back to me?

When you walked in the room, how was I to know, That we were sat together, like blood in the snow?

________________

I am alone in how I feel. Until I meet someone who longs for a love they will eventually burn, out of boredom, for the sake of warmth, I always will be. And maybe on that day, we can fall in love with each other. Sit in the dark holding our matches. Eagerly anticipating and dreading the warmth.

________________

Carpe Diem

Seize the day before you seize to a halt and cease to exist. All the things that I’ve seen.

There’s so much beauty and love. Have you had enough? There’s so much poetry to this… Have you had your fix?

We’re a long time dead, my friend.

Have you lived enough? You heart is heavy… Is your soul full of love? I know it’s hard sometimes, but we survive in the eyes and the minds, of the ones we love. Our hearts are buried, while our souls float above. So live your life, while you have life left. Carpe diem; We’re a long time dead.

Was it terminal? Was it external? Were you ready or not? All the different things that lead to our sufferings.

When he takes me with his wings, I shall not feel a thing. On the day that I die, I’ll meet death with delight. The things that I share are the things that I find, and now I am survived in the parables I write.

Ask not about our granted days. For you’ll grow to fear the hands of time and their devastating weight. Ask not about our granted days, And don’t be bitter if heaven won’t let you in.

As you rest your gaze on the yawning abyss; Do you believe there’s more than this?

Have you lived enough? You heart is heavy, is your soul full of love? I know it’s hard sometimes, but we survive in the eyes and the minds, of the ones we love. Our hearts are buried, while our souls float above. So live your life, while you have life left. Carpe diem; We’re a long time dead.

Even the flowers on our graves will rot someday. Though we can’t be saved, our memories remain, when we’re laid to Rest.

___________ It’s safe to say that you are mine. A Songbird To A Morning Sunrise

Every Thorn

Part Of My Love

Nothing But Your Love

_______________

The way we thought. The things you’d seen. They live on inside of me.

Every day I thank god I can sing Every day I sing about you

Let Me Learn To Love You

Bury your head in the sand, as I bury my head in my hands

Live and die in black and white

You keep putting salt in the chip on my shoulder

My little luna, I’m blinded by your reflection

Young and in love, I’m adolescent and sad

Liability / Liar

We sit together like blood in the snow.

Stories From A Pilgrim

Sacred Blue

__________

Just so you know, I swallowed every bow, That tied me to you

___________

Passive passion

I’m not who you want I’m not who you need Exhausted, by it all

Being on this earth made your soul fragile - I hope you made it out

Holding Absence - Bone Music

Lilly white

And if I have to break my heart, to share it with you, I will

When you cross my mind, I beam with pride

Her/Hurt

I bite a chunk of skin off my bottom lip, For every word I never said, but wished I did

I only often speak about death, Because I love my family and my friends, And I’m scared of their lives coming to an end. So I guess it’s just my way of not being able to forget.

A pedestal to you is a gallows to I.

You’ve given up on yourself

Teach me how to love, Or fill me up, With lots of drugs, Till I am stuffed. Hopefully that will be enough.

Every time I sing you to sleep, My troubles subtlely dilate. You think it’s beautiful, more or less, But between the cracks in my voice, I’m crying for help.

Though I’m exhausted, I try not to sleep through the days, Because I hate the thought of you seeing the look on my face, when I’m dreaming of a better place, And painfully, miserably, I must awake.

I have spent years of my life, feeling guilty, For being ill behind this white picket fence But everybody bleeds differently, I’ll use that as my defence. Whether a disease is noticeably killing you on the outside, Or it’s just a minor fault of the chemicals inside your mind. That’s fine. The degree of your suffering is something I cannot define. Still, I hope you’ll heal in time. I find it hard to shoulder burdens far less heavy than some, and sit awake at night telling them “It’s okay to be numb”, when maybe in your shoes I would simply just crumble - But in the eyes of our issues it’s so important to stay humble. No matter who you are - Where you are or what you do. We’re similarly different… That much is true. Our key similarity also holds us apart: The dull numb ache of our beating hearts. So, now you know; You’re never alone. And in that knowledge, I hope you find hope.

Acid test

Like Home

Hide your ghost in my shadow

Mourning Song

You were there when I was alone, I just need to let you know, every word that I had said I had truly meant. I hope you know

And now I’m as alone, as I’ve always felt

If I could look into your eyes for the rest of my life, or walk the whole entire world with your hand in mine, I would never be ready die.

How I wish I was someone else. Someone far away.

_________

The train whistles you below

The Rosemary March

Like an arrow, sewn into a quiver. It’s in my marrow. It’s in my liver.

Helped me out of a hole

I’ve been waiting to hear God’s voice, be it in passing or depth. Maybe I’ll wait forever, because the devil made me deaf.

_________________

[kronecker-delta]

Short Horror Fiction Piece

This is a bit of a quick write. Horror, weird horror, (cosmic horror hints?). Actually rather referential if you know your old stuff. Just done for fun and to work the kinks out I suppose.

Warnings include a lot of fairytale murder, some relatively tame death methods, some not tame not-death methods, and eternal unpleasantness of the nondescript variety.

---

Long ago stories were wilder, weirder than they are now. Tales could pull and tug at what had happened and make it hadn’t. All sorts of beasts laid low now by pens and with bloody ink dripping from the volumes where they were buried still ran rampant across the land. The mundane was made magical where they tread just as entire lands and peoples were swept away into legend, lost to recounted words and mourning songs as their tragedies became epics and their doom carved then into history’s annals.

Thus the myths and mayhem grew, one feeding the other in a cycle that seemed without end.

Till the great city rose across the sea. Two towers reached high into the sky of twin suns, casting an eternal daylight and longer shadows on this city of travelers and tales. For every people did cross its threshold and every voice did add to its nature. Countless stories were told and retold. And written down one and again. In every version, in a thousand volumes. Tiny paper cuts that bleed dry the great monsters and captured them upon a shelf. A weight of a billion books that crushed the nightmares of the mysterious dark till they were known now only seen in paragraphs by candlelight.

There was no city like it before or since. It was a place of magic, of true sorcerery. For what is captured, what is killed can be used, remade. Changed by edit and new interpretation. The beasts of the wild yesterday, the old gods of the world…

They now belonged to the people of the city. And by their strength the city did grow.

King to Queen and back again. Each one more knowledgeable, more masterful in the arts of their chained creations than the next. Till it came to pass that every form of magic, every witch that is and isn’t, and all wizards no matter how old; did find their power descend from this, the most honored of all places.

But for all their power, all their might… they still had limits.

All stories end.

And thus do all people.

So each King and each Queen did die.

For that was the nature of it. Eventually everything ends.

Or at least it should…

-

The King hated it. He hated the sight of the portraits, the great busts and endless statues that lined the hall. Generations, great men and women, now not but ash and dead words. How was it that he, he that could write the stars out of the sky, who could make beasts of men or men of beasts with but a word, for whom the suns never set and all loved and adored by will and right…

How could he too be destined to die? How could one who set the scripture and made the angels dance, the gods themselves determined by his orders, how could he be mortal?

It didn’t seem fair that all this power couldn’t change his own tale.

These were the thoughts that burdened him when the Traveler arrived. Nameless, taleless, their face a corpse pale paper thin mockery of a man’s, they came from across the sea. They asked to see the King, claiming to be a carrier of the last wisdoms. That which is not written or spoken, never read or heard. Silent secrets that yet lay beyond the city’s reach.

Preposterous.

The King showed the Traveler how absurd he was. He had a maid fall from out a window and become a flock of crows before she hit the ground. He made the tower’s peaks crest upon an ocean in the sky, the confused fish that jumped to high raining onto the city streets below. Yesterday became tomorrow and they met again ten times over.

Till the Traveler asked if he was done with such simple tricks.

The King, infuriated, had the Traveler put to death at once. The headless corpse tossed into the shadows of the city.

And then the Traveler arrived the next day.

His broken body thrown deep, to feed forgotten creatures not fit for names or light, that dwelled beneath the city.

Next came fire, hot enough to make the iron pages of the greatest volumes glow white hot.

Then they drowned him, legs tied together and weighted down with a great stone as he plummeted into the river.

Poison, a goblet full of it, burning the edges as it was forced down his throat.

Crushed, pressed flat under the weight of a thousand blank books.

And when he came back next the King, now far beyond anger, did take one of those blank books and pen a death beyond death. An annihilation of thought, of memory, of essence and form. Flesh to smoke and blood to ash. Nothing became less than nothing.

And the Traveler vanished to the sound of tearing. Not paper, not flesh, but something other that broke apart and made the emptiness seem greater than before.

Yet the next day he stood before the city gates again.

This time the King did not greet him with anger though. He took the Traveler to the highest room of the highest tower. He gestured out to the city and all that it contained.

‘Tell me,’ the King pleaded. ‘Tell me how you deny Death and all of this will be yours.’

The Traveler looked out upon the city, the wonders of wonders. And he whispered a secret to the King.

‘Stories end so that new ones can take their place. As it is for tales it is for people.’

‘If no more came to be than whatever is could never end.’

In that moment of revelation the King knew what he needed to do.

-

There was a great festival, a masquerade for all the citizens. An ancient celebration of the city and what it had become. They wore the masks of the slain monsters and imprisoned spirits. Drank deep as plays and puppets told and retold their victories to the entranced and the inebriated. New tellings were tried and quickly forgotten amidst the revelry.

That night, as the entire city drank and cheered, the King went among them. Masked and cloaked, followed by his ten loyal retainers. Things that might-have-been men or might-have-been women but were no more. Door to door and house to house the eleven went.

Ten swords more stained with crimson with each they visited. A spreading of silence, of voices cut short and stories severed.

Till all the city lay quiet at last. A celebration made of corpses, laid low in the theaters and the libraries. No more audience and no more actors.

Everything ground to a stop.

Before the door to the highest room of the highest tower the King turned to his servants. The ten took their blades and fell upon them. Another stain of crimson to mar their gore covered cloaks.

And it was done.

He stepped into the room, his resplendent robes now the only cloth of the city not red as blood. He looked out over the city, shadows growing longer and darker as the twin suns set. It was done now. He alone existed, and thus he alone could exist.

Would exist.

Forever.

He turned to the Traveler to share his gratitude. Only to make a startling discovery. To see in the Traveler’s face reflection of the mask he now wore. And with no characters, no writers, nor readers… the tale did indeed have no end. For he most certainly could not die.

No matter how hard he tried to kill himself.

And thus did the King come to live eternal.

Much to his regret.