[ EVENT: So long and thank you for all the fish ]

[soul_mods]

Characters: Everyone in Death City
Location: Death City
Rating: G
Time: October 8th and onwards
Description: It's time to say goodbye



A day after Medusa's defeat, Shibusen makes an announcement on the network: BREW is acting up again but instead of bringing new people in, it has created a portal.

It's in the Kishin Chamber, available to anyone who wants to go through it. Anyone who looks into it will see the place they came from, frozen in time. The moment you step through everything resumes and, maybe you'll forget or maybe you won't. Either way, there's no need to hurry right now. Shibusen assures all of you they will keep a sharp eye on BREW's energy readings and tell you the moment anything changes. For now, the portal is stable so take all the time you need to say goodbye and settle everything before you go.

Comments

[sharingan]

Hn.

[ the concept is foreign to Sasuke, that anything but duty would tie him down. he still isn't sure of Naruto's reasoning— why he would choose Death City, to stay with Sasuke when he would never see any of the people back in Konoha ever again. Naruto had far more ties than Sasuke ever did to that village, more so now that he's older, and what Sasuke had heard from the others...

but it wasn't his to argue. arguing with Naruto, Sasuke had long since learned, was akin to fighting with a wall.

Sasuke watches Kurapika as he speaks, like he could parse any hidden meaning out of his words. if it were him, if he had no more to hold him here— if he still sought his vengeance— he might choose the same.

it doesn't give him peace, but it gives him... something. stability, perhaps.

his fingers flex at his sides. goodbyes were never Sasuke's forte. but what he finds, here, is that he doesn't want to say goodbye. ]

permission to baby the woobie (not a hug this time, tho)

[ih8spiders]

[It's a combination of knowing what he'd feel in Sasuke's place, of reading the different Sasuke-isms he's come to recognize so far (this particular "hn" means that the other boy is having a hard time thinking of what to say next, maybe), and simple empathy and picking up cues in Sasuke's posture that tells Kurapika that he hasn't done enough, not yet. He's the one leaving a friend, here, of his own volition, after all. Causing pain is the last thing he wants to do.

Kurapika exhales and beckons for the other boy's hand, at the same time stepping forward and closing the distance between them.]

Come here.

you always have permission ok

[sharingan]

[ any other day, any other time and Sasuke may have hesitated. some sort of inherent distrust or training that has him keep an arm between himself and the rest of the world. too many times, has closing that distance resulted in tragedy. born of his own choices and decisions as much as the other party.

come here, he says. Sasuke takes a step forward, and it brings him half into the light from the shadow of the tree he'd been hunkered under. ]

[ih8spiders]

[They're the same height now, and isn't that just a bit odd? He's older, and has the vaguest impression of Sasuke being shorter, but maybe that's only because the last time he's had to do this in any capacity, Sasuke had felt so fragile in his arms. Kurapika doesn't pull them into a hug this time around, but cradles the back of Sasuke's head with his free hand and touches their foreheads together.

His eyes are closed as he breathes slowly, and he uses the moment of silence to reflect and think of how to put his thoughts into words. He can feel--and hear--warm skin and the other boy's breathing mingled with his own, remembers how Sasuke was even a year ago, and realizes that he doesn't have to worry anymore.

When he next opens his eyes, he makes sure that Sasuke's staring straight into them.]

You'll be fine. [Softly, but firm with the conviction that he knows exactly what he's talking about.] This isn't goodbye, okay? And it's not the end... of anything.

[sharingan]

[ Sasuke remembers, because it'd be impossible for him not to. Kurapika had done so much more than just pull him off the streets that night— he'd been a safe place for Sasuke when the weight of everything fractured the last of his carefully crafted foundations. he half expects, in the heartbeat between Kurapika reaching for him and the touch of their foreheads together, for the gesture to be repeated.

but the blond pulls him in, anchors him, and Sasuke closes his eyes in the wake of it. the weather is cool, but Kurapika's breath is warm on his face. his hand is just as soothing on the back of his skull. the moment, chaste as it is, feels both endless and too short for the young Uchiha.

his hands are loose at his sides, but it's an effort not to lift them. to not grab Kurapika by his lapel and speak his heart as he'd learned to over the course of his stay in Death City: don't go. it cinches up in his chest, clutches at his ribcage and tightens his throat enough that Sasuke couldn't say a word if he wanted to.

the boy's eyes are black, heavy, and intimate when he finally forces himself to look. he doesn't pull out of Kurapika's hold, and can taste his words as much as hear them for how close they are. you'll be fine. he swallows, thick, and though his expression doesn't change, tears ooze through his dark lashes and crawl down his cheeks. ]

[ih8spiders]

[Kurapika's breath hitches in reaction to seeing Sasuke being brought to tears--it's impossible not to react in this situation, with neither of them knowing for certain if they'll ever meet again--but he makes himself smile instead. It's a sad, gentle thing, and infinitely fond, like he's trying his hardest to pack all of his affection and regard for the other boy in one last expression. He rubs his fingers through the unruly spikes, ruffling the dark hair almost cajolingly. Hey. Don't cry. Everything will be okay.

He pulls back a bit, to give Sasuke space, but doesn't let go just yet. He has a few more points he needs to hammer home, because he has a feeling that Sasuke might just be the type to get stuck on them.]

I know I can't offer any scientific guarantee that I'll ever find my way back here, but, well--us meeting like this was supposed to be impossible, in the first place. As long as we're alive, anything's possible. Who's to say that someone else won't make another badly-worded wish?

[sharingan]

[ there are, Sasuke thinks, less than a handful of people in his life that have looked at him like this. like, regardless of his path, the things he has done and what might lay before him, he is still loved. the emotion is complicated to him— it's always been balanced with a heavy dose of hatred, fear and pain. Kurapika is trying to soothe him of his pain, and while Sasuke grips it tight because it's one of the few things that keep him going, he recognizes it for what it is.

Sasuke's eyes jump between Kurapika's, like from this close he's trying to look into both of those dark mirrors at once.

anything was, of course, possible. there was no telling if the Witches would be forever defeated. there was not telling if, somewhere in the vast expanse of the universe, someone else might cry for help and they would end up in another world entirely. Sasuke doesn't dare to hope, because hope has never been in his repetoire. hope was left for people like Naruto, who weren't soaked in darkness.

he blinks, and a fresh swell of salt water eases over his skin, a steady stream Sasuke has no way of controlling. they aren't the ugly tears of before— but his sadness is deep and obvious. there's not much to say to that. Kurapika is right, but it's few and far between that Sasuke will openly admit to someone else that what they say is meaningful.

he takes a breath to speak. embarrassingly, his voice trembles like an autumn leaf. ]

Don't do anything stupid. [ he says, instead of don't die. stay alive. give us time to meet again. ]

[ih8spiders]

I won't. [Now his smile isn't as sad as before, and almost fever-bright, acknowledging the impact such a simple statement can make on what might be a very real possibility. It was an understatement, saying that this world is a lot tamer than his own, and he's been wondering if he should mention the danger he'll be going back to, but that's a moot point now.]

I never break promises I make. And I won't forget you. If I do, I'll just have to remember you. [Kurapika's voice is fierce when it was soft just seconds ago, as if he can make it truly so just by saying it out aloud, and that might just be the case, because he and Kuroro are very strong, mentally. A memory block from an alien device won't last that long, and if they really are already on the verge of remembering, then this second trip might just trigger the recall for him that much faster. He can't--won't--forget something this important, not this understanding he's found with a teen plagued with the same hate, the rush of protective fondness coursing through his heart, and his own realizations after seeing Sasuke struggling with his demons.

There's regret, when he finally processes that this really might be the last time--but it's only for a while. He wasn't lying, when he told Sasuke to believe in the impossible. His grip on the younger boy's hand tightens for the briefest moment, a squeeze of reassurance, more for himself now, as he lowers his other arm.]

You stay safe as well. Don't let this world screw with you. And give my regards to Naruto.

[sharingan]

[ Kurapika lets him go, and Sasuke does his best not to acknowledge the bereft sensation he's left with. there are very few Sasuke has been attached to, even fewer he has allowed himself the freedom to build a bridge with, when once he had decided this went against everything he needed to do in the order of gaining strength.

it was Kurapika that helped him foster his relationship with Naruto again. in so many regards, Kurapika changed his life. but this wasn't the parting his brother left him with. this was kinder— a far kinder thing than Sasuke has known in the past six years of his life.

when the other steps back, Sasuke remains rooted to his spot. he doesn't lift his hand to wipe his tears, as though by doing so would admit he was crying at all. but his lips part and he exhales (steadying himself, like stone) before he speaks again. ]

I will.

[ih8spiders]

[He's startled to feel his eyes itching, not with the prickle of unshed tears but the pressure telling him that they're close to reacting to the storm of emotions hanging heavy in the air between them--but he shouldn't be surprised, really. This feels very close to grief, and the loss of finding everyone he loved brutally killed (leaving, now, and not the one left behind, but somehow it doesn't feel that much different). Even the regret is present, the what-ifs and what-might-have-beens, if he'd be happy staying here in the place Sasuke and Naruto have carved out for themselves, if he didn't have the burden of a murdered clan on his shoulders, if he didn't have the ties drawing him back to his world, and yet--

It's different. He's only surprised because it's rare for them to react to something other than all-consuming rage. And he feels warm, and light, buoyed by the knowledge that there will be someone waiting for him if he ever has cause or the ability to come back here. Kurapika closes his eyes one last time and breathes deeply; they're darker when he opens them, the near-violet of red bleeding into blue, but he doesn't care. This is love he's feeling, and he wants Sasuke to see and know: to have his clan's legacy trigger because of something positive for once is a gift to him.]

Thank you.

[He steps back, once, full into the light, gaze still holding the other boy's and committing everything into memory. He will remember, he swears, and the plan to retrieve one of Kuroro's Excalibur's books is forgotten because this, here, now, is more potent than anything he can possibly bring with him.]

Take care.