twenty-six crows (朱) action/voice - slightly forward dated to wednesday morning

[yourhatred]

[Itachi wakes with a sharp intake of breath, lungs (new or unused for some time?) greedily taking in air with or without his consent. His pulse is heavy in his ears, the air flowing chill across warm skin. They were the bright, crisp sensations of life that everyone took for granted, and he would have done the same if not for the fact that it was just moments before, or at least what felt like moments before, that he hadn't been alive at all.

He'd been experiencing some semblance of life, certainly, but it had been a pale imitation, his soul tethered to the stolen body of another wrapped up in his physical appearance like so much paper mache. But here, this was truly living again, and for just the briefest of moments the ninja allowed himself to wonder if all of that hadn't been some sort of strange dream.

But then he awakens further, and as he does so it becomes apparent that only one eye is functioning at all. The left eye sees nothing, sight completely taken from it - the price he'd paid to stop their enemy. Not a dream, then. He'd been returned to experience the ressurection technique only to be brought back to Luceti in the end.

He recognizes the feel of this forest. The trees. The sore wings pressed between his back and the ground only cement this realization. And then there's another thought, one that snaps him immediately out of his confused daze.

He doesn't know how long he's been gone.

The ninja rises to his feet unsteadily. He feels heavier, freed and confined all at once, but he'll readjust. His journal is nearby, and he's quick to retrieve it, but he leaves no message at first. He has no way of knowing who's still around, and if Law isn't...

If Law isn't... then he isn't certain a locked post to him won't become unlocked for all to see.

He just wants to be cautious.

So he makes his way slowly towards his home, hoping it still is his home, and that it hasn't been months, even years, in Luceti's time since he was there before.


It's only after he's been at home for some time and has gotten caught up on what little there is to catch up on that he'll make a public message:]

This is Uchiha Itachi. For anyone this may concern, my disappearance was not a permanent one.

((ooc: Feel free to run across him on his way home as well.))

Comments

[deathsdoctor]

[And guess who greets you even before you even get in the house or past the edge of the woods that melts into woods.

Two cats. One black. One grey. Both dashing up.

... they aren't supposed to be out. But Sumire has a way of getting out despite Law's best measures and it appears she's taught Amaya her tricks.]

[yourhatred]

[Itachi stops, not wanting to accidentally step on or trip over the cats as they wind around his ankles.

Once the initial surprise wears off, he bends down to pick one up with each arm. They're both still around, at least. This is somewhat promising. And they're in good health, meaning they're being cared for still.]

[deathsdoctor]

[They snuggle in, attempting to show their affection.

As for the two story house in front of Itachi, nothing's changed. The greenhouse is there, filled with whatever plants Itachi placed their before his disappearance. The garden plot remains - soil made ready for spring and planting. The house itself needs painting - it's weathered much in the time the men have lived there.

But it is quiet. ... so quiet. Did the pirate run off to sea? Unlikely, due to the cats' presence. Law would have taken them with him. Or is the pirate drowning himself in work, as he's wont to. Or at the bar.

... or merely asleep and not risen yet to greet the man in the yard.]

[yourhatred]

[One eye spins bright red with the Sharingan as he takes in as much as he can. It can't have been that long at all, and he's glad for it.

He lets himself inside, cats first - they scamper ahead of him with their greetings completed, hardly making any noise himself. No, it hasn't been long. Very little has changed. Relief washes over him, but he's not at ease yet. The most important matter has yet to be verified.

The ninja climbs the steps slowly. The closer he gets to the top, the more certain he is that Law is there. He isn't surprised to find him on the bed when he at last makes his way in. It's almost as if he hadn't left at all, which he might have considered to be the case had enough things not been out of place for him to know otherwise.

He has no desire to wake the pirate. Not yet. And he's tired. Everything is just too much in this body right now, so he's perfectly content just to crawl up beside his partner for the moment, the red fading from his eye so there's as little to startle Law with as possible.]

[deathsdoctor]

[Law makes a soft mournful noise as he rolls over towards Itachi, still very much asleep and tries to pull the ninja to him. Bury his face in his collar bone, thread his fingers through his hair.

Unconsciously try to reconnect through touch alone. Regain what he's lost.

Sooner or later the pirate realizes that the warmth and the weight in his arms is real and not something just his own head is making up as a product of his grief. But he can't really believe he's so lucky either.

So he raises his head and begins to open his eyes.

It's New Feather season and it's just a dream. And he's about to be bitterly disappointed.]

[yourhatred]

[When Law's arms find their way around him there is a sharp pang in the ninja's heart that has nothing to do with his recent revival. He lets himself be held, reaching one hand around to rub at the other man's back below his wings - just slightly, he doesn't want to wake him if it can be helped.

He's not disappearing, and if he has his way that will be the case for some time to come.]

I have no good icons for this

[deathsdoctor]

[Law's eyes finally open and there is a inaudible gasp.

Itachi.

-pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease-

He can't speak. Just raises a hand to slowly caress the ninja's cheek with a fragile expression. Silently pleading.

-remember.

do you

remember?

me?

and everything we shared?-

And suddenly it breaks for him, and damn the consequences, and he pulls Itachi for a fierce kiss. And he hates how he can't be strong here, because there's something hot tearing up his eyes and dribbling down his cheeks. And he can't deny now he's been reduced to tears and something inside is shattered and bleeding and has been since Itachi left.

He won't let him go. He won't.]

[yourhatred]

[If Itachi didn't remember, would he have been in the bed beside him, as he was now? It seems unlikely, unless the Malnosso were being particularly cruel.

But that look... The ninja isn't sure how to feel about it. It displays a sense of loss he hasn't felt in himself since... something still too fresh in his mind from playing it back for Sasuke's sake.

Thankfully he doesn't have long to think on that, or how anyone could feel that way toward him, before Law desperately latches their lips together. He returns it of course, holding the pirate tightly and trying to do what he can to just be there, as that's the only sort of comfort needed right now.

He's glad for this, honestly, as words would fail him.]

[deathsdoctor]

[The Malnosso would be that cruel.]

[Did you know I was planning on giving you a funeral by myself? You never had one at home. ... not just for you, but for my sake as well. I had to say goodbye... I had to let go somehow...

... I'm so glad I didn't...]

[The tears continue to flow, like a wound lanced and draining. Exhaustion takes hold. The pirate is simply worn out - too much felt, all at once. Too much built up, released all at once.]

... I kept this safe for you.

[Whispering as he pulls back his lips slightly, and entwines his fingers with Itachi's. Then he guides the ninja's fingers to his neck. To the necklace.]

[yourhatred]

[He rubs his thumb along the chain, blinking in surprise. That had stayed here? How odd. He'd expected to have to pick it up in the item shop later.

That isn't as important right now as Law's mental state, however.]

Shhh...

[He entwines his fingers with Law's again.]

Thank you.

[deathsdoctor]

[Law quiets and nods, curling against his partner, and his tears dry. He keeps their fingers entwined.

Yaki-ire.

Did he break or was he tempered?

Law reaches inside.

He's still whole, Itachi. Still unbroken where it counts. The rest will heal.

Even if he's not strong now, he will be again.]

[yourhatred]

[Itachi will remain there for as long as his partner wants. Silent. Comforting.

He won't urge the other man to rise, nor will he encourage him to go back to sleep. Once Law is more secure in the knowledge that the ninja won't disappear on him right away again, Itachi has faith that he'll be able to start pulling himself together.]

[deathsdoctor]

[And he re-centers in the ninja's arms, quietly breathing, still so tired and spent. Head laying against Itachi's chest and listening to his heartbeat.

Finally he speaks, and it's the same quietly soft, calm tones he normally uses when they talk like this, together.]

I don't know if you've already found out, but you're only missing five days since you left.

[He could have checked the journal before he woke up, or he may have not.]

[yourhatred]

Mn. I wasn't sure, but I guessed it hadn't been long.

[Everything was just a little too much how he'd left it.

He presses a light kiss against the top of Law's head.]

It was longer in my world, but it's hard to say exactly how long. Not too great a span of time.

[deathsdoctor]

Longer?

[Shifting slightly to look up.]

What do you mean by that?

[You... died. ... didn't you?]

[yourhatred]

Ah... Things happened that I didn't entirely expect.

Would you like me to show you? [One eye spins to red. Just the one.]

Because it can wait.

[deathsdoctor]

[There is only one Sharingan. Just...

What the hell happened?!]

Please... show me.

[Quiet, but firm. He needs to know.]

[yourhatred]

[The eye spins again, dark markings forming into the Mangekyou. As he'd done for Sasuke not long before, he allowed Law to witness long moments of time within a few scant seconds.

Here it was his own revival through the Impure Resurrection technique. His confrontation with Naruto and the words shared between them. His escape and team-up with his brother against Kabuto. And, only because it's Law experiencing it, his ending of the jutsu and final words to his brother.

The he releases the other man again, blinking his eye back to a dull black.]

[deathsdoctor]

[The Mangekyou? He's never seen it. Nor does he have time for wondering as he's sucked into the illusion and loses the perception of time in the real world as the dream world's replaces it.

And he sees, among other things...

Nagato and Itachi walking through the wood...

The fight. The Susanoo. Naruto. Have faith your friends. You can't do it alone.

... heh. Even though he's watching the events with a silent steady sense of outrage at the violation of Itachi's rest and the use of the dead, he's got to think. Well. There's a lesson Luceti's been teaching him.

Then...

The chase. The fight. Kabuto. The sacrifice.

Izanami.

Sasuke's words. The end.

"You never have to forgive me. No matter what happens to you from here on out, I will always love you."




Itachi... my Itachi...



Scant few seconds have passed in real time and as the genjutsu releases, Law becomes aware of the proper flow. What can he say. I'm sorry? Sorry doesn't cover it and he doubts Itachi's sorry for closure of any kind. I'm going to kill that son of a bitch? They both know that is Law's sentiment, and the pirate already has a grudge against Madara for his role in fucking up Itachi's life through his clan.

No, he's not going to say anything yet. He's going to just be there for Itachi, like the ninja has been there for him. What they both really need.

They're both already close. Law pulls the ninja closer.]

[yourhatred]

[That technique doesn't wear Itachi out as much as he expected it to, which is a little surprising given how things had worked when he was in Luceti before, but that's a matter to think about later.

He rubs slow circles into his partner's back again, letting the other man just absorb everything.]

I am glad. For that, and for my time here, I'm glad.

I'm sorry that you had no warning beforehand.

[deathsdoctor]

And I'm glad you're glad. I can't express how good it is to have you back.

[Law just shakes his head a little before lying it back on Itachi's chest.] That's just how it is here. [They both know that. It didn't stop him from grieving or having the most viciously violent 'argument' with a mountain that he's ever had or anything else. But there are certain facts to Luceti romance and that's one of the big ones.] It's a hard thing, but that's what it is.

[yourhatred]

I was content then, to just end it.

[His chin rests lightly against the top of the pirate's head.]

Is it selfish of me to be pleased that I returned here instead?

[deathsdoctor]

No. I don't think so. It's not selfish to be pleased when fate deals you a hand that's to your liking.

[He closes his eyes and continues to listen to Itachi's heartbeat.]

Or if it's selfish, then I'm being equally selfish. I'm happy we have more time together.

[yourhatred]

Hm...

[There's a long, thoughtful pause.]

I think... I'll just lay here for a while. I'm rather tired.

[deathsdoctor]

Mmmm... okay. I'm staying put too. I'm comfortable. Don't want to move.

[Also suddenly drowsy. He'd be perfectly content to stay curled up for a while in a pleasant haze.]