Numerous threads of fate entwined, bringing us here

[heavenly_earth]

Characters:: Neji, Auron
Location:: Auron's apartment
Rating: PG-13; alcohol, mentions of death and violence
Time: August 27th, early evening
Description: Two dead men have a talk about death.



It took him a few days to decide on a proper gift for Auron. He knew he had to get him something however, because Auron had done a lot for him in the past week. Letting him barge into his place and bleed over his couch, not to mention taking charge of the Watch while he recovered.. But the older man didn't seem to have much in way of hobbies, though he did know that his second was partial to alcohol.

With nothing else to go on, Neji wound up buying a few bottles of beer and making his way to Auron's apartment- this time without needing to be carried. He knocked shortly and waited, hoped Auron wouldn't mind the brief visit after everything he'd put him through. He'd leave the gift as he had for Kakashi's team, but didn't quite trust Auron's neighbors..

Comments

[heavenly_earth]

So that was it. Auron was dead, had died and probably only lived as long as he had out of sheer will. It was why he'd left Yuna to someone else's care. But through some deep drive that rejected the state of the world, being the only person that knew the truth and could hope to fix all the wrongs he survived as some form of the undead.

A bit like the resurrected faces in their world, though it hadn't been their own wills that brought them back or guided them.

Neji looked over Auron, taking in the aged and worn appearance with new context. Little wonder why he'd asked him about the circumstances surrounding his death. He'd been there and suffered- still did to a degree.

"Did your world ever change before you came here?"

[nofarplaneyet]

"I had to watch over Jecht's son, Tidus, until he became old enough. Jecht was still...aware inside Sin and we could talk to each other when he came around. We figured out a plan but Tidus made it happen." A glow of pride filled Auron's voice. "Ten years and more I stuck around and with the next pilgrimage, led by Yuna, I let them find out the truth in their own experiences. Jecht was freed from Sin and could be free to go to the Farplane. As was I.

"Until I ended up here. Alive." Auron snorted. "BREW has a sense of humor. When Yuna was here, she told me things were starting to change so I guess I did some good after all. Still...I wish my friends were here."

He sighed. Some part of him was always still -there- in that terrible moment of loss and always would be. He would deal with it as he'd always done. Alone. On his own. Until finally death came for him.

[heavenly_earth]

So it was Braska and Jecht's son that brought about the change in their world, guided by Auron. How fitting. And then the older man had wound up here.

But the yearning for his friends he'd fought so hard for was a loss even so. Inevitably, there were things they'd miss and people they'd never see again.

"It's not impossible," he reminded him and for the first time, wondered how old Auron really was. "But in the meantime, we're left in a strange position, no longer belonging to any world."

[nofarplaneyet]

"Which brings me back to my original point of wanting to help you." There, with a goal and a focus, Auron could easily stuff all of his pain somewhere deep. It's what he'd been forced to do, to become someone so unbelievably hard in order to do what had to be done.

"I'm used to that feeling. It's normal but don't let it consume you. Let go the land you came from and trust that the people you left behind won't screw it up too much. So it leaves you of what to do here. Far as I'm concerned, keep doing what you're doing. You have a job, friends and a life here."

[heavenly_earth]

The atmosphere shifted back to something more closely resembling normalcy, and Neji nodded, leaning back with a drink. He really shouldn't down much more, or he might not be returning to Lee sober.

But he didn't think he'd ever let go of Konoha completely, too many memories of those trees and streets he knew intuitively. But Death City was his home now, and he did have faith in those he'd left his world to. Naruto, Hinata, Tenten, Lee.. would all carry his will forward.

"Yes," he agreed mildly. "There's still plenty of work to do."

And so long as there was work to be done, he'd spend far less time plagued by troubling thoughts. "I just hope Shibusen doesn't send all of us back to our deaths after everything."

[nofarplaneyet]

"That's not up to us, Neji. Hearing how people get returned right where they came from, seems like, means the same for us." Auron, of course, had had far more time to accept this simple fact for being Unsent for so long. "If we win the war, we might get to stay or we might have to leave. Dwelling about it will keep you up at night. Accept the fact that every day you get now is a gift and it's going to get taken away from you eventually. For now, live."

[heavenly_earth]

Sobering advice, but sensible. Shinobi lived day to day in their own world, and he'd continue to even after death. But he sighed, knowing Naruto and Sakura would take it very hard. Lee would cry because he'd certainly know by that point, and there wouldn't be anything he could do for them.

It was difficult not to worry about it, but he'd work to keep from dwelling on the uncertainty that would always linger. Not to mention the inevitability of dying a second time even if they did stay. But here he had a future, which was more than he had in his own world.

"In any case, I'm free now," he said softly, reflective. "My seal is gone, and I'll be sure to enjoy it for as long as I'm able."

[nofarplaneyet]

It was a sobering bit of reality, but Auron was an expert at providing that. The sooner Neji realized what he was in for, the easier it would be.
"Without the seal, what does it feel like?" Auron asked. "I don't have any special powers. Unless you count using a sword."