Fireflies

9/22/o6 fri. TGIF!

Tonight was a cold enough night in which you could see your own breath. If you weren't wrapped up properly, it would be all too easy to catch a cold. There wasn't even the usual hoot of an owl or the buzzing of loci. All that there was, was glowing spheres that floated up in the air and created a mystical sight. They glowed a strong but gentle yellow color, and they were fireflies.

Phoenix watched them as she waited for Arca.

He had left the tavern again and had been gone an entire four months. The shape shifter had told his fiancee that before he left, she should expect him back within that time frame. Summer had ended and it was well into autumn now - exactly four months after he left. Today, he would be back in her arms.

She smiled to herself as she went over the things she planned to do once he was back within the doors of the tavy.

She would hug and kiss him first, then drag him inside and feed him huge helpings of whatever he wanted. She would get his ale for him (and she had chilled it before hand) and wipe his mouth for him when he made a mess of himself. (Here, she giggled lightly.) Then she would help him upstairs and into the bathroom so he could wash off all that dirt and grim that had accumulated from his tiring journey. She'd run a nice hot bath for him and then she would wash his hair. She'd lather the shampoo so much, that he'd have a bubbly afro. Then she'd help him dry off and pull some fresh new smelling clothes, before leading him to the bedroom. Once she tucked him in, she'd lie next to him and curl up by his side, stroking whatever came within arms reach. And if there were things to do afterwards, well... (Here, she blushed deeply.)

The eighteen year old shook her head, her ponytail slapping against her back as she did so. Such perverted thoughts...

Sighing, she cleared her mind as she ran her hands up and down her upper arms. She was standing outside in her usual attire, for the exception of a black and white stripped scarf wrapped loosely around her neck, and a pair of black gloves. She knew that once Arca saw her, he would go on about how she should be dressed more appropriately, and how she shouldn't stand outside to wait for him (as though she listened anyway). But she had planned to smother him with kisses to cut off his rant, anyway.

Teehee. X3

She glanced behind her at the warm lights of the Riki Tiki Tavy. Inside, one of the customers brought their kid in for their eleventh birthday, but it was all to be a surprise. In fact, they should be waking the little boy up now so that he can come down from the rented room and have everyone pop out and sing him happy birthday. Any minute now, the lights would be shut off and she would hear 'surprise!' shouted off by the entire family and tavy crew.

The teenage tomboy turned back around and shivered slightly as she bounced up and down on her heels, trying to occupy the time until her lover came back.

Kami-Sama - she couldn't wait.

Her lilac eyes lay trained on one specific firefly closest to her, which flew around sporadically. She followed its path as it drifted onto the dirt road that had been driven into the earth by many trips to and fro. In the distance behind the glowing ball, the shadows seemed to have moved.

Her eyes squinted, and the darkness shifted again.

The wide brim of a hat emerged from the inky blackness, the flaps of a trench coat following after until the body of a man was defined.

Phoenix gasped lightly, before she smiled brightly and ran towards him.

Arca had finally come home.

"Koishii!" she breathed as she threw open her arms, getting ready to throw herself at him and welcome him back.

He turned his face up - looking up from the ground he was previously staring at - and the brim of his hat moved, revealing his face to her.

She immediately slowed down to a stop a couple of feet away from him when dark blue eyes greeted her rather than burning yellow.

"Arca?" she panted lightly, questioning violet searching deep sapphire.

Silence issued afterwards, and the two lovers stood there, staring at each other. The illuminating fireflies danced around them.

Phoenix blinked, confused by his expression. "Arca..." she murmured, taking a step forward.

"Phoenix-san," his voice came immediately afterwards, making her stop. His tone was soft but firm.

Something was wrong. Her excitement at his appearance was diminishing quickly, and panic started to settle into its place.

'Just please, don't let him leave again. Not so soon, not when he just got here...'

"Arca...?" She blinked, concern and worry written all over her face.

His expression softened, and he took a step forward. He reached out and straightened her scarf, smiling lightly to himself as he did so.

"What did I tell you about waiting for me out at night, my lady...?" he asked, chiding her gently.

Phoenix's expression changed into one of a blank stare, before she returned his smile. "I don't know. I was kind of ignoring you and thinking about how you cute you looked when you're worrying over me."

They both grinned, and the tension was gone.

Phoenix sighed. The weight of worry had been lifted off her shoulders and now she had Arca all to herself. She raised her arms to envelop him in a hug, when he wrapped his arms around her torso and entrapped her in his own hug.

She blinked, not expecting this, but smiled as she found it comfortable anyway.

She sighed in contentment, allowing her eyes to slide shut as she buried her face into his shoulder, inhaling deeply through her nose and taking in the rich scent of her future husband. His chin was resting on her shoulder, his cold cheek pressed into her warmer one. His arms were wound tight around her own, so she couldn't really return the embrace. Even so, her hands caught onto the ultra flexible armor of his trench coat. She was doing all she could, just to hold him close to her. And God, it felt good to be back in his arms again.

"I must leave again."

The lights in the tavern shut off.

They were encased in total darkness, for the exception of the swarm of fireflies that seemed to circle around them.

It took a while for what he said to sink in.

"...What...?"

There was hesitation, before he continued. "There's been What I want is taking longer for me to get to than I had expected..."

She wanted to say 'What about what /I/ want?' but automatically scrapped that idea to avoid being selfish. But she couldn't help it. All she wanted to do was be in his arms for a little while and she was even denied that.

"...I'm so sorry..." he said after a couple of minutes of silence in waiting for her to answer.

Her eyes pricked and burned, tears welling up and blurring her vision. Phoenix hiccuped, which made her shoulders shake.

Arca's hold tightened.

He didn't want her to cry, but he knew it was inevitable. Gods, he wondered why she put up with him half the time. He figured that he would never know.

She blinked, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I will be back in the next two or three months - I promise. At the end of next month, I'll contact you. I swear Phoenix-san, this is the last time. The last time," he muttered next to her ear as she shook again.

This time she gasped, and a subtle sob followed afterwards. Her hands clenched his coat tightly, unwilling to let him go.

This was killing him...

He pulled back, staring into her tear streaked face. Some of her tears had gathered onto his cheek, but he ignored the moisture there as he leaned in and kissed the corners of her eyes.

These tears were for him again. He licked his lips and the salty water was bitter to his taste.

The dim light that emanated from the fireflies reflected off of her tears and showed him clearly just how they filled the brim of her eyes before they ran down her cheeks - just so that they could fall off her face and onto her scarf.

This is the last time. The last time he would do this to her.

His large hands drifted down to her own. Arca uncurled her fists, and brought her hands up to his mouth. His kissed her knuckles as he took a step backwards.

"I'm sorry..." he mumbled against her skin, before he released her hands and turned, facing the darkness as he began walking back into it. The sooner he left, the sooner he'd be able to come back home to her.

Phoenix was being torn up inside. Her high hopes came crashing down to the ground. He would be gone for about half a year all together - and during that time, this passing moment would be the only opportunity to see him before he left again. It wasn't enough, it was too short.

'Not again, he can't be leaving again.'

She began to take a step forward, in an attempt to stop him - but then she remembered that this was for his deceased family. There was no way she could stand between him and a goal that he's set for thousands of years. There was no way she would allow herself to be such a selfish idiot that she would get in the way of something so important.

So she stopped.

But it didn't mean that the pain went away.

Phoenix sunk to her knees, quiet sobs wracking her shoulders as she watched him disappear through the fog of tears, and fade into the nothingness. Even when the lights were turned back on in the tavern, the now brightened area still had no trace of Arca.

He was gone.

She buried her face in her gloved hands as she leaned forward, crying to herself in the middle of the night. She couldn't even feel his warmth on her anymore, nor smell his scent that comforted her so. Her hot tears soaked into the material of her gloves, and her lungs burned with each icy cold breath she sucked in and heaved out.

There was a round of applause in the background, coming from somewhere inside the tavy. Everyone was inside. Her only audience was the fireflies that had watched the entire scene unfold.

Owari