http://clampfix.fanworks.net/x-fix/angel2.txt </head><body><pre>Finally, a fic comment! ^^ I found it rather strange that while a lot of people requested for a sequel, they all seemed to refuse to comment... Disclaimers: They do not belong to us and... you know the rest. *** Aria: WATARI!!!!! Watari: [impish grin] nani? Aria: You put chibi-potion in my juice!!! Watari: [smiles even more] I did it for a reason. Chibis don't get SICK! [starts laughing] Aria: AHCHOO!!! Watari: [looks blankly at a sniffling Aria] Then again, I might be wrong...] *** In The Arms of an Angel By Watari Yutaka (watariyutaka@edsamail.com.ph) and Lady Aria (bukiminatenshi@mailcity.com) Part 2 "Subaru?" Kamui walked over to him hesitantly. "Subaru?" "How long has it been, Kamui?" The boy stopped in his tracks at the sound of his voice. It was raw, as though from disuse. "A month, maybe a few days over." "I see." Kamui took the last few steps until he was beside him. Subaru was thinner than he remembered and he looked like he hadn't been sleeping at all. Almost like he had nothing left to go on. "So, what have you been doing since...." "Thinking," he replied, still looking blindly at the city lights. "I met with Seishirou's lawyer. Apparently, he'd made a will just before he died, proclaiming me as his sole heir. He left me everything...." "...Including the Tree." "Yes," Subaru replied. "Especially the damned Tree." Kamui was at a loss for words. He was glad to finally have found Subaru, but he couldn't help but feel a bit scared. The man before him now was not the man he remembered. <What if becoming the Sakurazukamori also meant that he was now an Angel?> That thought kept nagging at the back of his mind. "You've... lost quite some weight since I last saw you," Kamui began. He had to start a conversation, any conversation, if only to keep such thoughts out of his mind. "You were already thin enough a month ago... this couldn't be good for you." "Are you trying to lecture me, Kamui?" Subaru finally tore his gaze from the city below and fixed his good eye on the boy. He watched as the young Seal took several steps back from him. "Because I don't exactly think you are in a good enough position to do so." "A-ano...." In a flash, the viewing platform dropped away and the two of them were plunged into the darkness of a maboroshi. Sakura petals swirled around Subaru as light emanating from the Tree became the only source of illumination. Kamui tried to back away but he found that thick roots had somehow managed to twist themselves around his ankles, keeping him in place. He watched in horror as the swirling blossoms stopped in mid air and rushed in his direction, tearing fabric and skin. Through all this, Kamui kept his silence. Two thoughts were the only things that kept him from succumbing to the pain. This is the man who saved me from myself. I had made a promise I must keep. Just as suddenly, the Sakura stopped their assault and he felt himself collapse to his knees as the bindings on his feet were released. Looking up, he saw Subaru towering over him. "Leave me to my fate, Kamui," he said coldly. "I am no longer a Seal, nor am I an Angel. It all ended the day Seishirou died. All that remains is a life filled with death." "That's not true," Kamui interjected. "Sakurazukamori or not, you are still Subaru Sumeragi, the thirteenth head of the Sumeragi Clan and one of the Seven Seals. This isn't you talking. You've known the pain of losing someone you love before, but still you managed to live. You saved me from my own despair when Kotori died. I'm here because I need you to come back." Kamui reached up weakly to the hand that still bore the mark of the Sakurazukamori. "Subaru... onegai...." Subaru looked into the youth's pained eyes imploring him and felt the light brush of his hand on his before the teenager's hand began to slip back down. He knew that Kamui had been looking for him but he also knew that being with him wouldn't lead to anything good happening to the boy nor to the rest of the Seals. He knelt before the wounded youth and held him, channeling energy from the Tree to heal Kamui's wounds, much to the Sakura's consternation. "I'm sorry for putting you through all this, Kamui," Subaru whispered into his ear. "But you must understand that I can no longer go back." As the two got back on their feet, the maboroshi melted away to reveal once again the viewing platform and the majestic sunset. "This wasn't exactly the first on my list of places to find you," Kamui said quietly as Subaru once again stared off. "Any particular reason?" "When I was sixteen," Subaru began, leaning his elbows on the guard rail, "I was asked to exorcise a spirit that haunted Tokyo Tower. Seishirou-san... well, he stayed with me that night. The ghost didn't appear until past midnight, so you could imagine how long we waited. We talked about a lot of things.... That was before I knew that he was the Sakurazukamori.... Before I realized that I was in love with him." "Is life so horrible without him that you're letting yourself waste away?" Kamui surprised himself then. The words were meant to come out laced with anger, but instead, they were sad. "Would he have wanted you to be like this?" Subaru sighed as he hugged himself. "Frankly, I don't know what he would have wanted me to do." "Ever think that he'd have wanted you to live?" Kamui replied. "On what?" Subaru countered. He was starting to tire of the pointless exchange. "I died with Seishirou that day, don't you see? Why can't you understand that?" "It's you who doesn't understand, Subaru." Bitterness started to well in Kamui's throat, like bile. "You want to have something to go on, then let me help you." "How?" "I'll think of something," Kamui said as he closed his hand over Subaru's. "In the meantime, let's get some meat into those bones of yours." Tsuzuku... *** Watari: How was I supposed to know you'd still be sick? Aria: You're the alchemist, you're SUPPOSED to know! Watari: Oh, come on. Why're you...? Aria: Kawaii fukurou.... Watari: Huh? [looks over in time to see Aria glomp 003 and start to give the owl a hug. Shakes his head] That was fast. Tsuzuku... ***</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>