Tokyo Babylon: Sound part 9: Breathing / Anticipation Sakurazukamori took three steps forward, closing the space between them, and knelt down before the child who was nearly the duplicate of his father. Carefully, gently, he touched the black feather-soft locks, caressed the smooth cheek, read the emerald eyes. "Another Subaru-kun," he marvelled to himself. "Sakurazuka-ojisan," the boy said, speaking in gentle, cultured tones. Seishirou smiled. This one, like his mother, unlike his father, he could never kill, never injure, never harm. * * * Midori breathed out, relieved, as she saw the entranced look on her brother's face. She had judged the Balance correctly. With only the slightest of magics, she now could ensure her son's safety for a long, long time to come. Quietly, she put her hand on Subaru's, not surprised to feel a tense fist as he watched his child and her brother. "Come," she said, and led him from the room, leaving Sakurazukamori and their child alone. They were outside the office, on the deserted street, before she spoke again. "He can't harm or kill Su-chan, Subaru... the same as he can't hurt me. He promised, and he is *incapable* of breaking his word." "I know," Subaru replied tensely, but she could see his control was breaking. His control over his pain, over his rage, over his feelings of helplessness. And she knew why. She had given part of their son away, given it to her brother. To Sakurazukamori. "It was the only way," she murmured, hand still over his fist. She needed to soothe him. If he lost control of his powers over emotion... if he ever hit back.... "Don't go self-destructive on me now, Subaru... please. Now is when I need you...." His eyes seemed to clear of the near-overwhelming chaos of Subaru's emotions for a minute. "*Do* you need me, Midori?" he asked. "You have our son... you have a good life... now you even have your brother back...." Midori stood still for a moment, absorbing everything that Subaru had said and implied. She understood now, understood what was wrong. "You weren't listening right that first night, when I called you, were you?" she asked in reply. He thought that her love for him had died.... "I need you, Subaru. I *love* you... I always will." Her hand tightened slightly on his. "You should know that... you're the one who deals with emotion." "I didn't touch yours," he murmured, eyes clouding behind distance again. "At least, I tried not to. It would have been too intrusive." "Don't do that to me," Midori warned sharply. "Don't you dare retreat behind that veil you can use to shut out the world, Subaru. That is the greatest insult you have ever given to me." He blinked once, and his eyes re-focused on her. "That's better." She paused and closed her eyes, drawing a soft breath. Then she opened them again. "I love you, you silly onmyouji," she said, carefully enunciating each word so that he couldn't fail to understand. "When this is over, I intend to either marry you or proposition you. Either way, I am going to keep you. I am not going to live another eight years without you. I'm not going to run ever again. I have a life, and I want you to be part of it." * * * "Mi...dori...." Subaru couldn't quite believe what he had heard. Then he smiled. "I thought the gentleman was supposed to ask the lady to marry him, not the other way around," he teased. "I figured if I didn't, you might never get around to it, the way things have been going," she replied with a shrug, her hand still holding his. He shifted his fingers to lace with hers. "People might talk if I just lived with you," he murmured, taking his chance, now that he'd been given it. "A teacher can't afford that. Will you marry me?" Midori actually paused and seemed to consider. Then she smiled impishly. "On one condition," she replied. "What?" "That you kiss me." "Gladly." Subaru moved his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him, and touched his lips to hers, fleeting memories flashing through his mind. Her yelling at him in mistaken anger, the pain of her sharp slap stinging his cheek, her trying to outrace a magical dragon created to destroy him and Sorata, her seriousness as she told the complete truth about herself at Tokyo Tower. How she had withstood his anger and yelled back at him afterwards. The passion of the night that had followed, and her charming shyness in the morning. A beautiful young woman, standing in the sunlight on a balcony, and running to absorb his power in order to save her brother. A hesitant voice on the telephone, and then seeing her calm maturity. Tears of apology, strength in a crisis. He wanted it all. He wanted her. he thought as the kiss kept deepening. * * * Midori finally broke away with a gasp. "Too... much more of... that... and we'll end up... doing something that's... illegal in public," she joked while trying to get her breath back. Subaru seemed to be having the same trouble with rationality. "Yeah," he agreed, shaking his head a bit, as if to clear it. "We should go back inside," Midori suggested, hoping he wouldn't let go of her, only partially for the practical reason that she wasn't sure if she could stand without his supporting arm or not. "Mmm," he agreed with a nod, holding onto her as they walked back into the clinic. * * * "He's neat!" Subaru exclaimed, holding a squirming ball of red fur that seemed intent on licking his face. "What's his name?" "He doesn't have one," Seishirou replied, *feeling* as he watched this child. He *felt* slightly amused. Interesting. It seemed that the abilities of the parents to affect him had been passed on to the son, though he had not yet locked away that which the younger Subaru had caused him to feel. It appeared harmless for now, so why bother dealing with the void yet? "He was brought in off the street by a passerby. He's a stray, hit by a car." "His leg's broken, isn't it?" Subaru asked, critically looking at the splint that held the puppy's back left leg immobile. "What kind is he?" "His leg is about half-healed," Seishirou replied. "I've been considering holding an adoption fair soon, to get all of the unowned animals in here in good families. That one's an Irish Setter." "Midori," he accused as the door to the outer offices opened and his sister and Subaru-kun returned, "you can't tell me that you denied your son the right of every boy to have a puppy?" "I'm a cat person," Midori replied with a shrug. "Why, have you set your heart on one?" she asked, looking at her son. Seishirou noted that she and Subaru-kun were holding hands and that both of them seemed slightly flushed and drew his own conclusions. "Can I keep him, Okaasan?" Subaru asked, showing her the affectionate puppy he held. "Well..." she hedged. "I'll take care of him and feed him and take him for walks and everything!" Subaru promised. Midori looked hesitantly, pleadingly, at Subaru-kun, who took the puppy from his son's arms and scratched the genki bundle behind the ears. "It does seem a basic right, Midori," he agreed with Seishirou's analysis. "And it's a good breed...." "All right," Midori said with a sigh, giving in, "you win, both of you." She looked at Seishirou, who was smiling, and revised herself: "No, make that 'three of you'. You can keep the puppy, Su-chan." "Thank you, Okaasan!" Subaru said, giving her an enthusiastic hug, then retrieving the puppy from his father and playing with it. Midori gave another sigh. "I hope it's not too much to hope that it's been housetrained, at least?" she asked Seishirou with a plaintive note in her voice. ***** Author's Word: About Su-chan's puppy... I don't know if there are Irish Setters in Japan or not, but my family (and I am no exception to this) have always adored Irish Setters. Su-chan could have nothing else but one of the breed that produced two of the sweetest dogs I have ever known.