storypaint (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
storypaint) wrote2009-09-15 09:18 am
storypaint) wrote2009-09-15 09:18 am
Live (Watanuki gen)
Title: Live
Fandom: xxxHOLiC
Length: 738 words
Prompt: n/a
Pairing: Yuuko and Watanuki gen; Clow/Yuuko, very slight Doumeki/Watanuki
Other: Spoilers for xH 186. I am always writing canon-fixing fic, I think.
Excerpt: He was skinny, pale, leaving one in mind of some sort of oversized bird, and he looked no older, a fact that she found very odd indeed. She had only a moment to draw breath before Watanuki had thrown himself into her arms, sobbing with relief.
When Watanuki came to the afterlife, everyone knew. He still shone like a beacon in the darkness. In a place like this, no one could miss him.
And because that wasn't what Yuuko had expected, at all, she untangled herself languidly from Clow and went to see the boy that she had raised, more or less, for the part of his life that he could remember.
He was skinny, pale, leaving one in mind of some sort of oversized bird, and he looked no older than he had when she had died, a fact that she found very odd indeed. She had only a moment to draw breath (from habit) before Watanuki had thrown himself into her arms, sobbing with relief.
"I waited to see you again, like I promised!" he cried into her kimono; she stroked his hair for a moment. "I promised that I would! I kept the shop, I even kept that idiot. But I had no customers, Yuuko-san, though I said I would grant their wishes with the power that you gave me."
That was the moment when she clouted him over the head; spirit-world or not, he barked out a startled protest. She glared balefully down at him.
"What was that for?" he said, stepping back and staring.
"Of course you've had no customers," she answered. "You haven't granted the first wish you promised."
"I haven't promised--"
"You said you would grant my wish," she said softly. "Because I was always granting someone else's."
"Yes," Watanuki returned after a moment, brow furrowed in confusion, "but--"
She reached out and deliberately poked him in the forehead.
"Then go live. The shop will keep, even if you leave. Do not lose those who kept you from disappearing. To pine over someone who has gone ahead of you into death is to waste the opportunity to meet new people."
She half-smiled. One could see the smoke trailing around her, almost, from a pipe she no longer smoked. "I always granted the wishes of those who paid. It was a contract, remember?"
"Yuuko-san..." Watanuki sighed. "Is this a dream?"
She just grinned. "In dreams, all worlds are connected," she answered.
He nodded. After a long moment, he sighed and turned away, walking out of the dream.
"He looks a lot like you too, actually," Clow observed. Yuuko turned and rolled her eyes at him.
"He's definitely a relative of yours. Stubborn and very good at missing the point," she answered.
Clow just laughed, so she clouted him too.
*
Watanuki awoke with the smell of smoke hanging over him, and for the first time in a long time, he actually noticed it. He was lying on the couch in shadow, and unsurprised to look up and see that Doumeki was the one making that shadow.
Normally the other man would say something biting if he came home to find Watanuki still asleep at this hour, but he said nothing. He was holding a little golden egg in his hand, staring at it more than he was staring at Watanuki. His free hand had crept up around the eye that they shared. Watanuki knew he had seen his meeting with Yuuko.
He reached out for the egg.
"Wake up," Doumeki said finally, pressing it into his palm. And Watanuki didn't flail about the fact that he was already awake, because he was beginning to think he hadn't been for a long time.
He shut his eyes, and when he opened them again, Yuuko was still gone. He was still lying on her couch, still bathed in her old smoke, still clothed in her old kimono.
Doumeki's brow furrowed.
"Nothing will be born from this egg," Watanuki told him, but he still cupped it in his palm as he got up from the divan and strode toward the door. The quiet boy followed after him.
"I thought you couldn't leave," he said when the two of them were standing there before the gate.
"I made a promise," Watanuki said, stepping forward and letting the egg fall from his hands and crack on the sidewalk. There was a sharp flare of magic that crept under his eyelids, and then nothing. He couldn't have those four years of growth back.
But there would be more.
"I'm going shopping," he said, striding off down the street without waiting for the archer to catch up.
Doumeki smiled, just a little, and caught up anyway.
Fandom: xxxHOLiC
Length: 738 words
Prompt: n/a
Pairing: Yuuko and Watanuki gen; Clow/Yuuko, very slight Doumeki/Watanuki
Other: Spoilers for xH 186. I am always writing canon-fixing fic, I think.
Excerpt: He was skinny, pale, leaving one in mind of some sort of oversized bird, and he looked no older, a fact that she found very odd indeed. She had only a moment to draw breath before Watanuki had thrown himself into her arms, sobbing with relief.
When Watanuki came to the afterlife, everyone knew. He still shone like a beacon in the darkness. In a place like this, no one could miss him.
And because that wasn't what Yuuko had expected, at all, she untangled herself languidly from Clow and went to see the boy that she had raised, more or less, for the part of his life that he could remember.
He was skinny, pale, leaving one in mind of some sort of oversized bird, and he looked no older than he had when she had died, a fact that she found very odd indeed. She had only a moment to draw breath (from habit) before Watanuki had thrown himself into her arms, sobbing with relief.
"I waited to see you again, like I promised!" he cried into her kimono; she stroked his hair for a moment. "I promised that I would! I kept the shop, I even kept that idiot. But I had no customers, Yuuko-san, though I said I would grant their wishes with the power that you gave me."
That was the moment when she clouted him over the head; spirit-world or not, he barked out a startled protest. She glared balefully down at him.
"What was that for?" he said, stepping back and staring.
"Of course you've had no customers," she answered. "You haven't granted the first wish you promised."
"I haven't promised--"
"You said you would grant my wish," she said softly. "Because I was always granting someone else's."
"Yes," Watanuki returned after a moment, brow furrowed in confusion, "but--"
She reached out and deliberately poked him in the forehead.
"Then go live. The shop will keep, even if you leave. Do not lose those who kept you from disappearing. To pine over someone who has gone ahead of you into death is to waste the opportunity to meet new people."
She half-smiled. One could see the smoke trailing around her, almost, from a pipe she no longer smoked. "I always granted the wishes of those who paid. It was a contract, remember?"
"Yuuko-san..." Watanuki sighed. "Is this a dream?"
She just grinned. "In dreams, all worlds are connected," she answered.
He nodded. After a long moment, he sighed and turned away, walking out of the dream.
"He looks a lot like you too, actually," Clow observed. Yuuko turned and rolled her eyes at him.
"He's definitely a relative of yours. Stubborn and very good at missing the point," she answered.
Clow just laughed, so she clouted him too.
*
Watanuki awoke with the smell of smoke hanging over him, and for the first time in a long time, he actually noticed it. He was lying on the couch in shadow, and unsurprised to look up and see that Doumeki was the one making that shadow.
Normally the other man would say something biting if he came home to find Watanuki still asleep at this hour, but he said nothing. He was holding a little golden egg in his hand, staring at it more than he was staring at Watanuki. His free hand had crept up around the eye that they shared. Watanuki knew he had seen his meeting with Yuuko.
He reached out for the egg.
"Wake up," Doumeki said finally, pressing it into his palm. And Watanuki didn't flail about the fact that he was already awake, because he was beginning to think he hadn't been for a long time.
He shut his eyes, and when he opened them again, Yuuko was still gone. He was still lying on her couch, still bathed in her old smoke, still clothed in her old kimono.
Doumeki's brow furrowed.
"Nothing will be born from this egg," Watanuki told him, but he still cupped it in his palm as he got up from the divan and strode toward the door. The quiet boy followed after him.
"I thought you couldn't leave," he said when the two of them were standing there before the gate.
"I made a promise," Watanuki said, stepping forward and letting the egg fall from his hands and crack on the sidewalk. There was a sharp flare of magic that crept under his eyelids, and then nothing. He couldn't have those four years of growth back.
But there would be more.
"I'm going shopping," he said, striding off down the street without waiting for the archer to catch up.
Doumeki smiled, just a little, and caught up anyway.
no subject
This is great...Watanuki meeting Yuuko and all~
...and I'd have to agree with Clow on that one: Watanuki does look a bit like Yuuko..hehe. :)
great fic! <3
no subject
But thank you~ I'm glad you like it.