http://clampfix.fanworks.net/ss-fix/fate3.txt </head><body><pre>Hihi! Eep, I thought I posted this one already (whoops!) But here ya go. >_< I'm still working on part 4, but it should be around soon... ^_^ Questions and comments, pweese? *chibi eyes* warnings: Eh, some angst, retelling of miri's story, more angst, (I dun wanna spoil it for ya!) things NOT going as planned... disclaimers: CLAMP owns my bishies, I own Fate (yeah, if that don't sound wierd), Angel Miri, Silvara-sara, and Shironnyl (And redahl and bronwynn, though I don't *think* I mentioned them here...) As for the chara's from her story (which in our RPing sense, is *true, read it on the "musings" part of Jenova's Witness) Jessi owns- Archion Darkfyre (we've got pics at JW, too!) *ne, he's HOT!* Fawn Atkins owns: Azrael and tengu and Titania (or tit, as we hatefully refer to her as...) Sappy-chan owns: Essex (slutty!) And if I missed something, oops! ^_^ OH!! The lyrics are taken from "Parting ways" by Pearl Jam. Eddy Vedder, I love you. ^______~ So, enough with the babble, I bet ya wanna see the story! ^_^ Enjoy! MUAH!! ~miriya~ ~*~*~*~*~*~ Fate: Part 3: The Angel's Tale by Miriya Valentine dragon_nataku@yahoo.com ~*~*~*~*~*~ Behind her eyes there's curtains, And they've been closed to hide the flames, remains. She know their future's burning, But she can smile just the same, same, And though her mood is fine today, There's a fear they'll soon be parting ways... ~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Subaru Sumeragi wasn't quite sure he wanted to open his eyes. //Had it been a dream?// Only one way to find out. Bright light-sunlight-flooded his senses, sensitive green eyes trying to regain lost focus, attempting to distinguish where exactly he was. The memory of the willow was a haze...a dream? ...it was only a dream... The room was quite dark, save for that single ray of sunshine that poured through the open window. He strained his senses, a sensation kin to nervousness surging through him. Where was he? Actually, the bed he lay on was quite comfortable. Bed? He sat up abruptly, feeling the rush of blood going to his head, almost a dizzying feeling. Undaunted, he turned to stand. Subaru noticed that his first steps were rather wobbly, as if he hadn't walked around in a while. How long had he been sleeping? Such strange dreams... Subaru looked around the almost-empty room, noticing two doors on either side. //Right,// he figured, and tottered over, since he was already on that side of the bed, anyway...he didn't recognize this place at all. His mind wandered back to the water's edge as he turned the handle... //a dream, it was only a dream...// However, the sad-eyed girl sitting by an occupied bed in the next room effectively brought *that* theory to a sudden halt. For a moment, the Sumeragi just stared, trying to justify this in his mind. She noticed him, nodding and raising a hand in greeting, as if unaware of his intense confusion. This room, too, was close to empty, rather austere-seeming. Subaru's voice cracked the first time he tried to use it, vocal cords protesting against such sudden use. He tried again. "Who are you?" She smiled. "My name...well, call me Miri. How are you feeling? I'm glad to see you finally awoke..." "I'm alright..." his attention turned to the lone occupant of this room's bed, that face he loved, he hated...eyes closed peacefully, sleeping. "Seishirou-san," he breathed, stumbling to the bedside. Miri smiled slightly. "Yes...he's been out cold since we've been here." "How long?" Subaru's voice was filled with a gentle concern, gazing down onto the slumbering face of his long-time enemy. //In sleep,// he mused, //do we all look so innocent? Its like the sins have all been stripped away...// He resisted the urge to brush stray hairs from the sleeping assassin's face, instead focusing his attentions upon Miri. "About a week." "Ah...I see." Subaru frowned. That was a bit long...he hoped Seishirou was alright. Gazing back down, he felt the old familiar ache return-betrayal, hurt-all that Seishirou had done to him during that life... He closed his eyes slowly, taking a seat on the other side of the bed, across from the angel. So much pain had lived there... //Seishirou-san...how I loved you...// "No," he whispered, "I loved what I thought I saw. You are not him." Miri stared at the young onmyouji in shock and sorrow, her eyes lavender pools of pain. "Oh, Subaru..." He turned to look at her, saying nothing, merely raising an eyebrow in question. "I loved an illusion, too." Silence. Taking a shaky breath, the angel pressed on, her gaze never wavering from Subaru's startled face. "Do you remember anything from our last meeting?" The willow, the water...the words... "You said you'd tell me how you knew, later...didn't you? Why you were here?" She nodded, folding her hands under her chin, gazing at the wall unfocusedly. "Yes..." The Sumeragi leaned back in his chair, his attention directed at their sad-looking companion. //What makes you so sad?// "Not very long ago...I lived, too, among humankind...for a very, *very* long time..." Eyes closed, her expression held a sort of wistfulness, as if remembering her former life. "So...we're dead?" Subaru interrupted apologetically. "Technically...but for the time being, we live again." The angel smiled slightly, then paused until Subaru motioned for her to continue with the tale. "During my...last two incarnations-" "Incarnations?" Subaru ducked his head. "Sorry...continue..." Miri smiled. "No...it does indeed sound confusing. But I was...created a slave to Shironnyl, a man who was terrible and cruel...I was his finest--and supposed to be a cold-blooded, heartless creature...however, I was different. An empath, who felt the pain and grief and darkness which I lived in. And the first time I died, I realized another thing...my ability to jump from body to body, upon the destruction of the one I previously inhabited." "How did you die, then?" Subaru's green eyes flickered in intrigue...this girl was so much more than he seemed...but her words were true, he sensed *that* much. Briefly, he wondered what Seishirou thought of her. "My host, a silver dragon named Sara, was killed by a woman named Titania...she tried to kill me to get to my friend...and she disappeared before I could take her body. I was in a room full of people I cared for and trusted...so I took my own true form...the final manifestation. And besides, I was tired of living a thousand lives, a thousand deaths...I was tired of running from my master." Subaru nodded solemnly, understanding what she was trying to say. //How sad...to live such a horrible existence...// "But I digress," the angel sighed. "This is not what I meant to speak of... I fell in love with someone...his name was Chion Darkfyre. He was beautiful...charming, kind, gentle...and the things he said to me...oh, I'd die a million times over just to hear those words..." Subaru nodded, the description sounding familiar... "but?" Miri's eyes flickered open, resting on Subaru once again. "He was the god of evil--he was evil *himself*. I knew that from the first time I met him, it was one of the first things he said to me." She sighed quietly, her gaze turning inward, reflective. "It was Chion who made me believe in Love again...after I'd lost my husband and daughter to Shironnyl, I'd lost faith...until Chion. I knew the truth...but somehow, it didn't fit--how could someone so...perfect, be what he claimed? No, I did not doubt him...but it made me doubt all the things I'd believed in. All my life, I'd believed that there was no good in evil, that area was black, without light...and he turned that all around. Where I'd been nearly dead in spirit, his presence, his *kindness* brought me back from that hell." The boy watched her quietly. The story seemed so familiar... "Chion was also like me...but in a different way. His mother, the demon queen Lycavi, had done so much wrong to him, that he no longer felt. This, I also knew...but I couldn't stop, I couldn't just give up and let it go at that. I made it my life to help this person I loved so much...no matter what it might to do me. He was a creature of misery, just like me...unfeeling, cold...but I believed I could help, I could change him like he changed me. I felt it was the least I could do...when I wasn‘t caring for the children, I spent my time looking up every known book of magic, anything at all to find a way to help Chion. He used to get sick...he‘d come to visit for a few moments, coughing up blood...I almost died of a broken heart, then...and he saved me." There seemed to be a hidden storm brewing behind her eyes, like rain about to fall...the Sumeragi could feel sadness, betrayal, and forgiveness, wondering what indeed her love had done to her. It also reminded him of his own experience...only she knew what she'd been dealing with, whereas Subaru had been unaware. //Was that true? Or did I just refuse to see...spinning an illusion of who I wanted to love...// In the end, he realized they could relate to each other very well. "Eventually, he got a bit better...though I still had found no way to help him. It was like there was some sort of wall that I just couldn't get over. He stopped coming around...gods, I missed him. And life went on. I refused to give up, I was running myself into the ground...and then Shironnyl reappeared." There was still a flicker of fear in her expression, almost as if she was afraid he'd come back for her. "He'd returned for me...and took me back home...but my friends followed for me. I didn't want them to see me like that...but I couldn't stop them. And when I got back, another enemy, Tengu, was waiting for me." She curled up in her chair thoughtfully, surprising Subaru by pulling out a pack of cigarettes. Tapping one out of the pack, she lit it, holding out the pack and lighter to the Sumeragi. Subaru gratefully accepted...he had a feeling he'd need it. She smiled then, closing her eyes, taking a long drag. The smoke curled around her face, and she exhaled, sending a cloudy stream of air in Subaru's direction. And she continued. "We fought, but he was a magic user, and my knives were no match for him. He completely destroyed all the nerves in my right wrist and hand, beyond even the repair of magic, and broke quite a few ribs in the process. It was a good fight, though." She sounded proud. Subaru, being onmyouji, couldn't relate completely, having always had his magical skills and ofuda to back him up. But he'd seen other "normal" people fight against onmyouji...and for an engineered assassin as herself to be beaten so badly...Seishirou-san might even find her a challenge. //No,// his mind interrupted, //Seishirou-san would give her to his tree.// It saddened him. The cigarette was forgotten between her fingers as she relived her past to Subaru. "Chion eventually recovered completely from his mysterious illness, and one day came to see me. I was delighted, since I hadn't seen him in so damn long. He looked much better...but I could sense something was wrong. He seemed reluctant...but I ignored it. He came, he said, to see me." Her eyes took on a strange lucidity as she continued. "I didn't see it coming...he said he'd fallen in love with another, his name was Essex, one of my closest friends in that world. They'd been effectively married...as the ring Essex now wore held Chion's soul." Her eyes misted over, but valiantly, she pushed on. "Fate never cared much for me...and I could hold nothing to him...I knew he'd never promised me anything. But the things he said...I'd read everything wrong." The angel's voice turned into a choked whisper, "all I wanted was for him to be happy...and I loved him, gods, I loved him. I couldn't do a thing...but I was alright with it, because he told me Essex made him as happy as he could be." Subaru blinked suddenly, realizing he'd been staring at the angel. Head bowed, she looked so sad... "I'm sorry," he murmured quietly. A slight smile- "It's not your fault...I didn't have much time to think about that, however. Shironnyl came back. I acquiesced to him, so he'd leave my friends alone, he‘d already taken my husband and daughter from so long ago...I didn't want them to get hurt. But he knew my mind, he knew that even though I'd return, I'd no longer be his...he knew how much I loved Chion, and hated him for it. So, to break me...he decided to kill my love." The onmyouji gasped silently, his own eyes narrowing in sorrow. //How terribly sad...// She smirked slightly, the expression lacking all humor. "The irony was, I was the only one who could kill Chion. The dragon-daggers I held were the key to destroy him--my love was a dragon, as well. Shironnyl got a hold of them, though, and tried to attack my Chion..." Pain, so much pain in her tone--"I took the daggers for him...one last time I got to hold him as the blades claimed me...I just couldn't let him die. I knew there was nothing left for me, anymore...my purpose had been fulfilled." The angel sighed quietly. "I wonder if it meant anything...to him?" Subaru started at that. //I wonder if it means anything...I used to wonder that all the time.// "Did I die for that illusion, too?" Her questioning gaze went to Subaru, who took the last drag from his own cigarette, stubbing it out in a nearby ashtray. He didn't answer. Her voice was low, so soft he could barely hear, "oh, but what a wondrous illusion it was..." Miri paused, turning her gaze to the sleeping Seishirou, a sad look crossing her face. "But my story does have a point. I've been the hunter..." her eyes flickered up to Subaru- "...and the hunted. And I know what Fate will do when she gets her mind to it..." Miri stood, stamping out her own cigarette--she stopped at the door, looking at the young onmyouji very gravely, "what do you see in him, my friend? Have you seen past the illusion, too? Or...perhaps it's changed. I honestly don't know...but Fate has no hand here, this time...that is for sure." Subaru watched as the door closed behind her, leaving him alone with his other. "What do I see, Seishirou-san?" he whispered to the unconscious figure. //Assassin...killer...murderer...// his mind spoke softly, //the world does not need the Sakurazukamori...// He noticed, with a strange fascination, a pair of scissors lying on the nightstand beside Seishirou's head. //...The world does not need the Sakurazukamori...// He picked them up, gleaming silver shears with razor-sharp blades...they glittered with the fading, falling sunlight that shone through the window. The tips were sharp and narrow...they seemed somehow pure, as pure as his own ceremonial blade...he held them over the sleeping Seishirou's chest, poised, ready... The world does not need the Sakurazukamori... //...but I need Seishirou.// He let out a choked sob as the shears fell from his trembling hand, landing harmlessly on the spread beside Seishirou's arm. Utterly horrified, and just as confused, the young onmyouji reached out to brush the dark hair back from Seishirou's forehead. He watched, with tear-blurred eyes, the simple movement, his attention caught on the pale flesh of his hand. The pale, unblemished flesh on his hand... The star was gone. Subaru stared, first at that one, then at the other hand, which also lacked the mark of prey, suddenly feeling as if a great weight had been lifted from him. But with that lightness came a gentle ache, as if something most important had been lost to him, something he would miss dearly. For as long as he really remembered, he'd carried those stars, his bond, he realized, with this sudden stranger who lay sleeping before him. The person he'd just tried to kill. A chill ran through him at that thought. //Would I have really killed him?// But for now, he had much more to think about. Like the fact that he was free, was finally free... "Seishirou..." he whispered quietly, burying his face against the sleeping man's chest. //I am free...// ~*~*~ Ne...whatcha think? Am I cruel? *sees collective nodding from scared readers* It gets better... *snickers* ~miriya, pastor of muppets and story-bungler extraordinare ===== list mistress *X Fandom* www.egroups.com/group/Xfandom AIM: DoE Nataku ~*~Jenova's Witness~*~ http://members.tripod.com/dragon_nataku "Rock is dead. Long live paper and scissors." ...if the measure of humanity is not based on appearance, but on the level of compassion and truth in the heart, it is wise to say he is perhaps the most human of all. ~From the FFVII fanfic "Nightmare" "who are you to save me from myself?" ~miriya valentine</pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>