FATIMA

by Katsuai

Wah! This part was torture to write ;_; so don't be surprised if it's a bit short. I was going to put an interlude right after the first part, but it didn't work
that way ^^;; The bit at the end was from Vols. 5 & 6 of the manga.

Woohoo! Thanks to VM, and Lady Sakura for hosting the fic... I'm glad you liked the first part. For M&M ^_^  And I know I'm forgetting someone, gomen!
C&C please?
 

PART TWO: CLAIR DE LUNE

Kaoru creased his forehead in concentration as he scanned below for any signs of the missing MH. He instructed Kyo to direct the machine closer to the ground,
his eyes and ears alert to pick up anything that might give them a clue. Four hours after the order to retreat, the Knights standing before Amaterasu was short one person, and a quick check with the meister working at the Mirage MH Bays gave alarming news: Pandora didn't report in. Mirage Knight No. 24 is missing.
"See anything down there? Damn, these trees are so thick," Kyo complained.
"I doubt even the thickest patch could hide a LED Mirage as huge as Pandora. Check with Lie Ex and see if they're having any luck."

Pain. He quickly shut his eyes again as a sharp stab of pain shot through from his spine to his head. Die tried to turn on his side but was startled at the heaviness he felt against his chest. Looking down the length of his body, he found his fatima curled by his side, an arm around his waist and a cheek resting on his chest. Careful not to wake the boy, he shifted around slightly to get a better look at the sleeping Toshiya. The bruise was fading away quickly, he noted, and the way his fist curled just beside his nose was adorable.
"A sleeping angel," he whispered, one hand drifting to lie on Toshiya's shoulder. As sudden as the words left him, so was the surprise he felt for thinking something like that.
What was it that this fatima could make him feel, when he thought he was beyond caring? Die sighed and closed his eyes again, the pounding on his head increasing in intensity.
He could feel Toshiya stirring out of slumber and he quickly took his hand away, slowing his breathing down to feign sleep. Die cracked his eyes slightly open, watching the boy sit up and yawn loudly, one hand combing through a tangle of blue while the other rubbed against an eye.
He bent over to check up on his headdliner before he stood up to examine their battered comm unit. Dismay crept through Toshiya's heart when he found that there were no replies to his distress calls from the night before. Due to his preoccupation, he didn't notice that Die had staggered to his feet and made his way out of their sheltered cave, intent on finding the nearest tree.

"Dammit, trees everywhere. Gah! Where the hell did I come from?"
After doing his business, Die turned only to find himself disoriented and lost. The forest encircled him and the trees looked exactly alike. Deciding he couldn't just stand there forever, he started on the direction he was now facing, cursing the low branches that scratched his face and entangled with his hair. One particular branch snared his shirt, ripping it and causing the bandaged cut underneath to reopen.
"Aw shit."
Die stopped short, eyes wide. He knew he had taken the wrong route... he was now deeper into the forest.
Panic suddenly gripped him--- the same panic that Toshiya was now experiencing, having found out of his disappearance--- and in one move, Die plopped heavily on the ground and stared helplessly at the towering trees that surrounded him. He had been lying on the forest floor for some time when he heard quiet laughter off to his right and he swung his head around.
"Silly Die, got yourself all banged up and then got lost. You should know better, ne?"
"Heh. Hit my head pretty hard, too," he replied, the strangeness of the situation eluding his cloudy mind. Carelessly, he sat up and propped himself against a nearby tree. The spirit crouched in front of him and poked his forehead with a finger, grinning from cheek to cheek.
"You should be ashamed of yourself... worrying Toshiya like that. And now, he's having a heart attack while looking for your sorry behind."
Die laughed and swatted the hand away teasingly.
"Well, if my behind really is sorry, I wouldn't mind employing your help."

Meanwhile, Toshiya had gone back to their battered MH in hopes of finding Die there. He carefully balanced himself atop Pandora's head as he scanned the surrounding area like a hawk, worry gnawing at his insides like a leech.
"Don't worry yourself too much on that baka!"
Toshiya, in his surprise, would have fallen a 61-foot drop if his blouse didn't get caught on the inactive laser cutter mounted on the MH's head. A little bit shaken,
he peered down from his perch and regarded the person who peered back at him, wondering in the back of his mind why he looked familiar.
"Gomen, I shouldn't have sneaked up on you like that. Are you okay?"
"Ha-hai. I think so," he replied weakly.
The other waited patiently while he rubbed a hand against his chest and took a deep breath before he cautiously began a slow descent from where he was hanging.
"Number 50, right?"
Toshiya looked at him quizzically, unsure at the slight expectation in the other's voice, but he nodded.
"Fortune... Father created another masterpiece. Come."
The stranger beckoned for him to follow and the two disappeared in the maze of fallen logs and green foliage. He was amazed at the chatter his companion was engaged in, the other turning to him several times, waiting for a comment or an answer, and he tried his best to comply.
"I don't know what you see in Die, but I really shouldn't say such a thing because I was like that over him, too."
"You know Die-sama?"
"Yeah. We worked together in the past. Don't let him treat you that way, Toshiya. You're special, you know?"
They stopped beside a large oak tree and the other reached out to lightly trace the faint bruise, eyes holding Toshiya’s own in an intense stare.
"Just tell me if he hurts you and I'll let him have it, okay? No one messes around with my little brother without me knowing," he winked and pushed Toshiya in front
of him, one slender finger pointing to the direction of a thick bush where he could see a clump of red peeking from behind it. Toshiya turned around and opened his mouth to ask but there was no one there but himself. Soft tinkling laughter hung in the air as he heard a whispered prophecy that sent chills down his spine. And then he knew who it was.
"Shinya..."

"The wind will blow from all directions... north, south, east, west... and from Fortune. Sooner or later, everything is woven into Destiny."
 

To be continued…