Title: Fantasia

Author: Regina Wren

E-mail: wren13 @ gmail.com

Fandom & Pairing: Janne Da Arc; ka-yu x yasu

Keywords: yaoi, romance, AU

Rating: Teens

Words: 19,435

Status: Complete

Disclaimer: I don't hold any rights over anyone contained herein, except for the story, which is mine. And just because I should probably point this out legally: this is a fantasy, plain and simple, it's not meant to harm anyone directly or indirectly, I'm not making any profit from this, and it's only meant for entertainment and enjoyment purposes.

Fantasia
By Regina Wren

Part 11

 

 

Yasu groaned softly as his eyelids flickered open.

"Yasu?"

Ka-yu watched the man he was sitting beside blink against the sunlight. Then a very confused look crept across his beautiful face. "Ka-yu? What happened?"

But instead of replying Ka-yu suddenly leaned forward to press his lips firmly against Yasu's, completely ignoring Kiyo on Yasu's other side. Right now he didn't want to think about what may have happened if things had turned out differently or about the quiet pain that had accompanied him every step of the way here. Yasu was alive and he was with him. He wasn't going to have to leave alone now or ever.

One of Yasu's hands reached up to cup his face, touch gentle and warm.

He never wanted the other man to leave him; that fear was still too fresh to let him relax completely, but the warmth of Yasu's hand on his face was real, this was no dream, and they were still together.

When he finally pulled away Yasu smiled at him, maybe understanding something of those unspoken thoughts. Now Ka-yu couldn't keep a wide smile from spreading across his face. "It's over, Yasu. The beast is gone."

With a little effort Yasu pushed himself into a sitting position groaning and pressing a hand against his head. He winced. "Where are You and Kiyo?"

"Kiyo's sitting right next to you."

Yasu blinked. Then his gaze fell. "Oh."

Kiyo glanced at Ka-yu and got to his feet. "I'm going to go see what You's up to."

Ka-yu nodded. Yasu never even looked up.

A fresh wind picked up some of the leaf litter and rustled through the trees, and in two steps Kiyo had disappeared among the giant trees leaving the two men alone. Ka-yu reached for Yasu's hand, and when Yasu looked up again he was smiling. "We really succeeded, didn't we?"

The sparkle was back in his eyes and just seeing that was encouraging. "Yeah, we did."

Yasu glanced around at the forest, absently preening leaves out of his hair. Clear sunlight now flooded the area, and the tall silver trees were mostly still unharmed, looking like always. "So what actually did happen?"

As Ka-yu talked he glanced at the broken branches and upturned earth showing where everything had occurred. But in the peaceful mid-morning warmth everything seemed much less threatening. Peace had returned to the forest like a tranquil ocean after a storm, and even the memory was becoming distant.

When Ka-yu finished speaking Yasu laughed with delight. "You shot it? Why didn't I think of that?"

Ka-yu grinned. "Because you were thinking of another solution all those months you were following me like a lovesick puppy." Yasu poked his tongue out at those words. "Besides," Ka-yu added, "things worked out alright in the end."

Yasu's eyes settled on the hunting knife still lying where Ka-yu had abandoned it nearby. "Yeah." He reached tentatively for the knife and pulled it towards him. "I still can't believe it..." The blade looked like it had been scorched and Yasu touched it wonderingly. His fingers brushed off some of the soot as they trailed down the flat blade, and he stared at his own hand in amazement.

Finally he handed the knife back to Ka-yu, his smile never fading. "We should get going if we want to make it to the Duke's court before night." He watched as Ka-yu slipped the knife back into its sheath. "I'll show you a shortcut back," he finished mysteriously.

 

 

* * * * *

"Are they still there?"

Ka-yu turned to look behind them at where You and Kiyo stood by a tall Ash watching them leave. "Yep, they are."

Yasu raised a hand to wave in the direction he knew the fey must be. He couldn't see them wave back, but he smiled, knowing that they would anyway.

His best friends, and he couldn't even see them or speak to them anymore. Glad as Ka-yu was to have Yasu at his side, that thought was somehow sobering. Yasu was human now. A very beautiful human, but his eyes had lost that mysterious darkness, and when they gazed at Ka-yu, the hunts master could only see his own reflection in them, like any eyes that had never seen a faerie.

The blond turned his back on the to-him-invisible beings and smiled at Ka-yu instead. "Let's get going."

"Where are we heading?"

Yasu pointed. "Through those trees." Two oak trees rose infront of them, their branches entangled, their roots entwined: the space between two Oaks, the gateway into another world. "Just remember the time you want to go back to and step through them," he smiled and grabbed Ka-yu's hand. "I'll show you," and Ka-yu was suddenly being pulled along by the energetic blond.

There was nothing to mark the passing from one world into another, but when they had stepped over the old roots and Ka-yu looked back, there was no sign of Kiyo and You, only the deep woods on all sides.

He shook his head as if to clear it. The air smelt familiarly of recent rain and crushed undergrowth and he suddenly noticed how small and pale the trees here were. He didn't need to ask to know that he was home, and at once his head felt wonderfully clear like he'd just woken from a deep sleep. But beside him walked one of the most beautiful men on Earth, one whose light-hearted humour and lively personality had ensnared him so easily.

"Yasu, what day is it?"

"The same day your horse bolted and you stepped off the road into fairyland."

Ah. So then he wouldn't have been missed yet.

Yasu stepped lightly on the uneven ground, leading the way once again. He walked carefully but easily, climbing up the incline before them, a lifetime of living in the forest not going without its rewards. He was still as graceful and agile as ever, so naturally, he was the first to top the slope. His feet stepped up onto the road, while Ka-yu still hurdled the spongy soil.

Yasu glanced back at his less adapted companion a couple of steps behind him. "Hurry up, I want to go home."

Grumbling. "You know, you could help."

"What? And miss the chance to watch you struggle?" Yasu grinned impishly.

A moment later he found his back pressed up against a tree.

"Yasu, I told you I would strap down that tongue of yours one day," Ka-yu reminded him, trying to look grim whilst biting back the urge to smile.

"And just how are you going to do that?" The words were full of merry playfulness.

Ka-yu pretended to consider it. "Well, I could start by putting a muzzle on you..."

The blond laughed. "Shut up and kiss me already."

A hand slid into Ka-yu's hair to pull his face down towards his own. Their mouths met, melting against each other for a long, sweet kiss. Briefly Ka-yu wondered if he should use this method to shut Yasu up more often since it was so successful at keeping his tongue occupied. He smiled inwardly, before giving himself up to the kiss.

They only broke apart when the rustling of the undergrowth caught their attention.

Looking around, a proud stag stepped out from the trees and onto the winding forest road ahead of them. His magnificent crown was held high, muscular body gleaming richly in the sunlight.

Ka-yu didn't dare move. It had been so long since he'd seen deer around the forest and he kept very still, not wanting to startle the fine creature. Yasu's breath whispered against his neck, the other man just as quiet beside him.

A doe stepped out of the trees while the stag kept his gaze on the humans. A few moments later the deer were gone again, but the impression was not lost on the two watchers.

"The animals are back," Ka-yu said almost reverently.

"They're not afraid anymore."

The hunts master nodded. "Yeah, it looks like it."

Again that happy smile, devoid of any trace of mischief, lit Yasu's face. Ka-yu didn't think he could ever get tired of that smile.

 

"Let's go home. We have a long way to walk," he gave Yasu's hand a short squeeze.

"Oh yes," Yasu's eyes lit up with mirth. "I want to see you explain a lost horse to the stable master."

Ka-yu groaned. He'd forgotten about that. It was going to be impossible to explain his story to anyone, including Shuji, he realised trying to imagine the stable master's face when he came walking back with no horse and a boyfriend beside him. Then again, just seeing Shuji's expression might be worth it.

Yasu giggled and set off, hips swaying lightly as he walked. "Well then, let's go."

Ka-yu followed him as seemed to be his new mission in life. Though it certainly could have been worse. A smile formed on his lips as he watched the blond amble along infront of him. Now they were together, and that in itself was more than he could ever have asked for.















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2003.01.01 – 2003.01.11

Last re-written: 2005.03.06

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Ende.