#i have been fighting for my life drawing crocodile to not fall into the he does not fucking look like that trap

[slydiddledeedee]

they are so funny. to me.

[nejibaby]

The Only Thing I Got Right

Pairings: Ace x Y/N

A/N: I just finished watching the Marineford Arc and I cried so much so I wrote this on a whim. Sorry in advance if there are grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. It's the tears' fault, I swear! 😭 ((I just desperately wanted Ace to survive, you know? 😭))

This song reminds me of Ace, idk why.

You’re shaking. It would’ve been nice if it was because of the cold or if it was from excitement, but this isn’t the case. You’re shaking from fear, from anxiety. Today, Ace, the love of your life, is going to be executed and you didn’t know if you’d make it on time. You barely got out of Impel Down alive with the help of Ace’s little brother, Luffy.

You hate the fact that you got thrown there with Ace courtesy of Teach, or should you say, Blackbeard. You hate the fact that you couldn’t save Ace from Blackbeard no matter how hard you tried fighting him. It was frustrating, but if a Devil Fruit user like Ace had no match for him, what more of you? You have no powers like that, the only thing that you have is your knowledge on Rokushiki and daggers.

You got imprisoned at Level 3 of Impel Down while Ace was rumored to be on Level 5. Being thrown on a relatively lower level was understandable, even if you are part of Whitebeard’s crew, you are no commander like Ace. Still, even if you are weaker than Ace, you desperately wanted to go get him out of there but it was impossible. Or so you thought.

When you saw a Straw Hat on a male running around with two others on Level 3, you instantly knew it was Luffy. It seemed like god was in your favor because apparently one of your cellmates, who you came to learn was Mr. 2 from Baroque Works, was Luffy’s friend. When he got Mr. 2 out of the shackles, you begged to come with them, telling him your relationship with Ace. Luckily for you, Luffy needed all the help he could get so he easily got you out with the help of the other prisoner he was with. It was all chaos after that.

You’re currently hiding in the crow’s nest of the Marine ship you helped steal alongside Crocodile, Mr. 1, and Jinbei. Your body is already aching from all the running and fighting you did just to escape Impel Down. But even before that, your body had already been tired from the lack of nutrition and of sleep. How could you even dare to sleep knowing Ace was somewhere else, probably beaten to a pulp? And if that wasn’t enough, the sudden knowledge of him being executed in a few hours added more strain and tension to your body. You didn’t want anyone to see you in such a state. You didn’t want anyone to pity you.

But if you’re hurting this much, then it must’ve been so much harder for Luffy. You make a mental note to talk to him before crashing to Marineford. For now though, you need to rest — not only for your body, but for your mind as well. You have to be ready, the worst is yet to come. When you closed your eyes, you welcomed sleep like an old forgotten friend.

Your sleep didn’t last long, however, because of both the nightmare of Ace reaching out for you with bloodied hands and of the waters that suddenly rocked the whole ship. Before you could even get down the crow’s nest, the ship abruptly stilled and the air chilled. When you looked down, you clenched your teeth at the sight of the sea that turned into ice.

A mental clock was ticking like a time bomb in your mind. How were you supposed to save Ace now?

As if hearing your question, Luffy started gathering the people in the ship about his plan. At this point, you would do anything just to get to Ace so you didn’t hesitate to help him in his plan on freeing the ship from the ice. But the next thing you know, you were falling after kicking the thick layer of ice as hard as you can.

Just as you looked down to where you’re supposed to land, you realized that it was Marineford and the war had already started. With a little tilt of your head, you see Ace in the scaffold, shackled up. Worry was etched on his face, his focus on Luffy. You could almost hear him saying how stupid his little brother is.

Was it wrong to smile at the sight of him at a time like this? But how could you not? He’s still alive! You have a chance at saving him. You release a sigh of relief.

You try not to draw his attention to you. He already has a lot to worry about — namely, the Whitebeard pirates, the allied pirates, and Luffy. It was a good decision that you didn’t change out of your prison clothes, it was easier not to get noticed by him this way. For all he knows, you’re just one of the many escapees Luffy helped. You want to keep it that way. At least for now.

There’s no time to waste, so when you landed, you immediately head off to the direction of the scaffold. After seeing that Ace was still alive, you feel yourself get pumped up again. You fight each and every Marine who tries to stop you.

No matter how hard each blow you receive, no matter how painful each swipe of the swords you get, no matter how many times you get knocked down, you keep on fighting. You keep on standing up. There’s only so much your Tekkai could do when you’re severely outnumbered. Nevertheless, you keep on going. Nevermind the multiple cuts and bruises you have. There is only one thing in your mind and that is saving Ace. Even at the expense of your own life.

From the way Luffy fought at Impel Down, you know he’s incredibly strong and tenacious so you find yourself backing him up. You don’t go near him, knowing Ace’s attention was on him, but you guard him from your side. Not a single Marine was able to pass through you from your side of the battlefield. But you can’t cover every area for him. Despite that, he managed to take down anyone who was in his way.

Your ears are ringing from all the overlapping noises of guns being fired, screams of agony from pirates and Marines, swords clanging, and hurried footsteps. At one point, you block all of the sounds while you focus on your own breathing as you run.

Even when everyone stopped moving to watch as Pops descended the Moby Dick and made his move, you continued running. You have to keep up with Luffy. There’s no way you’d let Ace die.

The only moment you actually stopped running was when Luffy unconsciously used the Conqueror’s Haki. So he can do that too, you thought.

That was also the moment you actually got to look at the surroundings properly and realized that Pops had been stabbed. Your knees buck from the sight and you fall down. Regret immediately flooding your body. You’re so focused on trying to save Ace that you didn’t notice Pops needed help too.

The Marines took this opportunity to attack you. Just as a sword was about to hit you, McGuy blocked it.

“What are you doing, Y/N? Snap out of it. This is war. There’s no way we’d be able to rescue Ace if you don’t get your bearings straight!”

The harshness in his tone brought you back to reality. He’s right. Pops ordered everyone to lend their strength to Luffy, and that’s exactly what you’re going to do.

You, along with everyone else, push yourselves to your limits to help Luffy. He did not disappoint. He even punched his own grandfather, Garp, just to be able to reach Ace and free him.

The moment the scaffold collapsed, you almost collapsed with it. Tears start falling from your eyes as you see Ace finally free from his shackles. A smile has finally graced his face as he fought side by side with his brother. At that moment, you think that he’s at his brightest when he’s with his sworn brother. You couldn’t be any more happier.

Now that he is free, it’s time to figure out how to escape. Everyone’s running towards the ships but you stop after noticing Pops wasn’t making the same movement.

“The order I’m about to give will be my final captain’s order!” Pops announces. “You and I will be parting here.”

Your breath hitched at the declaration.

“All of you, make sure you survive, and reunite with each other in the New World!”

You don’t listen to whatever he says next. You refuse to. You stand your ground. You’re not going to abandon the man who warmly accepted you into his family without hesitation despite knowing all of the crimes you committed.

As if sensing your refusal, he turns slightly to your direction, “Are you disobeying your captain’s orders?!”

Stupid old man, he should know by now that you’re no good at following orders.

Ace is one of the last persons to follow his order. You turn away from the conversation they are having, knowing it was a private matter.

When they’re done talking and Ace finally starts running towards the ship, Pops turns to you. He doesn’t talk, he just looks at you.

Shame suddenly overcomes you. You didn’t get to stop Ace from coming for Teach. When he left, you begged Pops everyday to allow you to set sail, promising that you’d bring Ace back. When he finally allowed you, you didn’t waste any time. But even when you found him, you couldn’t bring him back, it was too late and you were just too weak. It was your fault this happened. “Pops, I’m sorry I—”

“I did this. This is all my fault.”

“But—”

He shut you up with his stare.

“Let’s leave here together,” you plead.

But he doesn’t reply. With his stare, you can tell that he isn’t backing down on his order, no matter how much you persuade him to. You release a shaky breath. With tears streaming down your face, you gave one last bow and one last thank you.

And then you ran.

The others are already further away from you but you notice a group of them stopping in their tracks. There in the center of the commotion is Akainu and Ace, seemingly discussing something.

There’s no time for this, you thought.

“—In other words, Whitebeard is an eternal loser, who will never surpass Roger. That’s all he is. Everything I’ve said is the truth,” the admiral says. “He reigned the seas for decades, yet he never became a king or gained anything.”

You clench your jaw at the bullshit he’s spouting, after everything Pops had done to save you, you’re livid to hear him be deduced as a loser. But regardless of the anger rising in front of you, you know this wasn’t the time to get riled up.

The thing is, Ace gets easily riled up. It’s one of his flaws as a person. So when he starts walking to Akainu’s direction, Izo is first to shout, “Don’t fall for it, Ace! Turn back!”

But it’s no use.

That’s when you let your presence known, you shout at the top of your lungs, “Just turn back, Ace!”

Everyone whips their head at the sound of your voice, except Ace and Akainu.

Even you, who are usually able to keep Ace in check, couldn’t snap him out of his anger.

It’s too late.

They exchange blows. Ace falls down, magma is far greater than fire, after all.

“The Pirate King, Gold Roger. Dragon, the Revolutionary. These two men’s sons being stepbrothers is quite a frightening thought.” Akainu says.

When he looks over at Luffy’s direction, you immediately know what he plans to do. You don’t even think twice. There is no second to waste.

“Soru.”

The sound of your voice finally reaches Ace. His eyes widen in realization of what’s going to happen.

“Wait!” He pleads.

But before he could even stand up, you already placed yourself in front of Luffy. “Tekkai.”

But the admiral’s strength and power is far greater than your ability. His fist goes through your chest.

“Y/N!” Ace shouts.

The rest of Division Commanders are in shock.

Akainu clicks his tongue at the sight of you and detaches his fist from your body.

You slump, Luffy catching you in the process. “Oi, Y/N-chan... What did you…? Why did y-you d-do that?” He asks.

In no time, Ace comes to Luffy’s side. “Y/N…”

You smile sweetly at the two men and then you turn to Luffy. “You’re Ace’s brother, silly. Of course I’d do this for you.” You cough out blood and then hiss at the pain.

“Stop talking!” Ace demands.

While Luffy and Ace are distracted, Akainu makes his move once again. But the slight motion didn’t go unnoticed by Jimbei and the Division Commanders. Even if you aren’t a Commander, you acted like Ace’s right hand. To the crew, you’re as important as Ace is. There’s no way they wouldn’t fight for you. So altogether they start covering for the three of you.

You feel your body shutting down on you. You could barely hear Ace calling for a doctor and Luffy desperately asking Ivankov to help you. But you know it’s no use. “I… can tell my body is at its limit,” you whisper.

Ace doesn’t agree, then he gently takes your body from Luffy. “No, I’m going to find someone else who can help—”

“Ace…”

“—you. There’s got to be someone who—“

“Ace… My organs have been burnt. I know this’ll be the end of me.”

“No, don’t talk like you’re dying, Y/N!”

“But I am…” You say. “Look Ace, don’t worry, okay? I was prepared to die when I came here. I was ready to die just to get you out of here.”

“Why would you…”

“Because I love you,” you whisper. “You know… when I take a look at my life and all of my crimes, you’re the only thing that I think I got right.”

Ace hides his face on your neck as he hugs you. With the little strength you have left, you give a comforting squeeze on his shoulder. “Don’t go around disobeying the captain’s order and don’t go around breaking your promise to Luffy. You said you won’t die, right?”

You feel Ace nod at your words.

“Go to the ships and take everyone else. Please don’t follow me too soon.”

Ace hugs you tighter, panting as he continues to cry.

A small smile reaches your lips once again. At least this time he’ll listen, you think. “I can’t raise my voice anymore but please tell Pops and everyone else, even Luffy, they made my life worthwhile. I’m sorry if our journey ends he—”

You didn’t even get to finish your sentence because darkness had consumed you.

[kaizokuou-ni-naru]

The Voyage So Far: Whole Cake Island

east blue (1 | 2) || alabasta (1 | 2) || skypiea || water 7 || enies lobby || thriller bark || paramount war (1 | 2) || fishman island || punk hazard || dressrosa (1 | 2) || whole cake island || wano

sanji is such a self-sacrificial idiot. and i know that’s not exactly a ground-breaking statement, but it does define the entire first half of whole cake island, so it may as well be reiterated here: sanji does not value his own life as much as he should, and fails to grasp that other people care about him outside of what he can offer them, which is why he’s so surprised when luffy later comes charging headlong into big mom’s territory.

zou is a really good little arc, and it also mirrors the themes of whole cake island in miniature. the minks collectively make a massive sacrifice and risk absolutely everything to protect raizou, and wci is essentially all about loyalty and sacrifice, whether its sanji giving himself up to protect the strawhats and zeff or luffy and the strawhats facing impossible odds to rescue him to pedro giving up his life to get them all out of there safe.

huge fan of this panel partly just because it’s cute and partly because it’s a great visualization of just how dysfunctional the heights are in one piece.

zou is one of my favorite settings in one piece just for the sheer creativity of it. zunesha is so massive and so mysterious and so strange. and she really looks unspeakably old just from how she’s drawn, looming over everyone and everything, eyes hollow and empty, an entire forest and an entire people growing on her back that have been there for thousands of years. it’s just so neat and so wildly inventive.

this applies to zou as a whole, but i think it’s really cool how all the little threads that will become important during wano are set up so effectively even before whole cake island starts. we get this shot here of kidd beat to shit and then forget it because so much happens between here and when he shows up again in wano, but then oda punks us into caring about him and killer so much and this retroactively becomes very important.

ever since his introduction sanji’s always been a character basically defined by his adherence to his principles: always feeding the hungry, never wasting food, never hurting women, never using his hands in combat. he’s probably the most firmly principled person on the crew, and that’s more obvious in whole cake island than in any other arc except maybe baratie.

sanji is very stubbornly good, which puts him in acute contrast to his siblings and their general cruel apathy. it’s something i really like about him.

i’m a huge fan of big mom’s introduction, which is also our introduction to tottoland in general. it’s cutesy and colorful and musical while simultaneously being deeply creepy, with lyrics about killing people for ingredients and making jam out of blood, which is a great summary of the core of big mom’s character. she’s an old lady all in pink who lives in a cartoon fairy-tale land- but she’s also a deranged cannibal, and all those singing trees and flowers are animated by the life she steals from her citizens as tax.

whole cake island draws on a lot of fairy tale motifs (especially with brulee), and the contrast that saccharine appearance creates with how fucked up the actual content is is super effective and memorable, i think.

honestly i find most of the content of sanji with the vinsmokes just plain upsetting, which i’m sure is intentional, so i’m not going to go into it a lot here, but i am including this panel of him kicking niji in the face.

sad as this scene turns out, luffy’s absolute thrill at finding sanji and the corresponding bafflement of the vinsmokes as to how the fuck he even got there always kinda makes me grin.

i always love seeing people’s underestimations about luffy get thrown right the hell out the window- because let’s be honest, he’s easy to underestimate, he’s like a five and a half foot tall rubber teenager and not very physically intimidating and all, and then he goes and pulls off the impossible without blinking.

the thing that makes luffy unique as a captain has always been his willingness to rely on his crew, and his willingness to openly admit that reliance, like he did all the way back in arlong park. most of the other contenders for the pirate king’s crown we’ve seen- big mom, kaidou, crocodile once upon a time- have been stubbornly individualistic people who explicitly shown not to care for their crew and allies, generally seeing them as disposable.

luffy is the opposite of all of them, because his crew are everything to him, to the point of being willing to sacrifice his dream for them. and the loyalty he wins from them in return is unmatched, as opposed to big mom and kaidou, who both get cheerfully betrayed not just by their own crewmates but by their own children.

brook is really cool in whole cake island, and honestly it comes at just the right time for him as a character. ever since his introductory arc in thriller bark until this point he hasn’t gotten a ton of focus, so it’s great that he gets to be the mvp here and demonstrate exactly why he’s a strawhat pirate and how much he’s grown over the timeskip.

oda is generally really good at introducing and handling characters contained to a single arc/saga, but i do think he absolutely knocked it out of the park with pedro. he has an interesting backstory, compelling motivations, and basically an entire sub-arc ending in his death that never distracts from the main plot, but only ever adds to it.

pedro really feels like a fully realized character who’s had a whole life offscreen, who we just happened to catch at the very end of his story. i think that’s super impressive.

i really love this moment, because for me, this is the moment where whole cake island becomes a tremendous arc, and where the tides begin to turn and the dominoes begin to fall, one after the other. this is sanji hitting absolute rock bottom. the one ray of light he pinned all his hopes on was a lie, and he can’t even light a fucking cigarette.

but one piece is, very often, a story about picking yourself up even when you feel like you can’t.

i think there’s something lovely about how much one piece emphasizes the value of honestly asking for help. luffy waits for nami to ask for help, and for robin to say she wants to live, and for sanji to admit he just wants to go home, and then says, “okay, i’ll make that happen.”

it just makes me so happy how happy the stawhats are to know sanji’s back with them. it reminds me a lot of how they all brush off robin’s thanks after enies lobby. sure, they’re going to have to crash the wedding and confront big mom directly and might all die, but who cares? they’ve got sanji back. i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, i love how much they love each other.

i think the gangster outfits are super fun, and i love that oda is committed enough to his aesthetics to come up with an excuse to put them all in formalwear. it pays off, they all look extremely snappy.

i know i just said it in the dressrosa posts but i’m reiterating it here because this is my favorite example of it by far: i love when oda does this split-screen thing with his panels. the contrast between the two halves of pudding is so severe and yet they’re so clearly the same person i honestly just find this pair of panels fascinating to look at.

this panel also kind of gets at my favorite thing about pudding as a character, really. i know she’s a little controversial in fandom, but i’ve always found her entertaining (at least post-reveal), especially in the contrast between her unhinged evil side and her genuinely sweet romantic side and her post-wedding tendency to randomly ping-pong between the two.

i just always like reminding people that sanji is fast enough and his observation haki good enough to dodge a surprise attack, while thoroughly distracted, from katakuri.

sanji in this arc tends to get shit from a certain side of fandom for being ‘useless’ since he doesn’t have a big climactic fight despite being the focus of the arc, which i think is thoroughly missing the point. sanji is still plenty capable in combat, as demonstrated both here and later, with chiffon and oven. it just happens that his strength isn’t what saves the day ultimately, because combat ability isn’t everything, which is the entire point of the vinsmoke backstory/subplot. sanji saves the day just by being kind.

i’ll admit big mom’s flashback isn’t one of my favorites, taken in isolation- there are some parts of it that kind of unresolved (at least as of now- i still suspect they’ll be followed up eventually), and in general, although there is a tragedy to it, it doesn’t quite hit the way many of the other more effective flashbacks do. that said, i do think it does a really good job of succinctly explaining why big mom is the way she is in the present: she’s a child who was never told no, who never grew or matured past the disappearance of her adopted mother. that’s it, and that’s enough.

i’ve always been a little bit in love with how seriously and consistently one piece handles its themes of found family, and sanji outright disowning judge in whole cake island is maybe the most outright they ever get: family is found, not made. you owe nothing to your blood and are never beholden to your abusers.

and i just like that a whole lot.

i do think the tamatebako is one of the best uses of chekov’s gun i’ve ever seen. we’re first shown it at the end of fishman island, it’s revealed it got sent off to big mom rigged with explosives which is a minor “oh fuck” moment, and then it gets forgotten about, because the entirety of punk hazard and dressrosa happens in between! which is a lot!

i remember when i reached the moment in whole cake island where we’re reminded that that bomb still exists and is still waiting to explode, i just started laughing hysterically out loud, because i’d completely forgotten, and now that i remembered i was just delighted to know it was going to definitely go off at some point, almost certainly in a very satisfying way.

pedro is, if i remember right, the first time the imagery of the coming dawn that will become quite important in wano really has attention drawn to it in-text- the recurring motif is there before this, of course, dating all the way back to the names of the first chapter (romance dawn) and first island (dawn island), but this is the first time it’s actively addressed in-story.

in doing so, oda essentially presents a fresh mystery for us, but one that has been set up so consistently ever since chapter one that it feels like it fits perfectly into the world and story.

luffy’s been punching way above his weight class ever since crocodile all the way back in alabasta, fighting enemies who clearly outmatch him but always managing to win anyways, but his fight with katakuri is maybe the clearest the sheer differential in strength ever gets, because katakuri’s powers are similar enough to luffy’s that he can pull off pretty much all of luffy’s techniques, but better. so luffy has to fall back on the two things that have always been his greatest strengths, again all the way back to crocodile in alabasta: innovation and sheer fucking stubbornness.

one thing i love about one piece is how no character is immune to being clowned on. absolutely nobody. everybody looks like an idiot sometimes, and it makes everything so much more fun than if the series took itself more seriously. katakuri basically actively tries to avert this by building up a fearsome, flawless, and utterly no-nonsense persona, but it winds up failing hard because it actually only makes the contrast and surprise of his actual personality and vices that much funnier.

i’ve always loved this one panel of carrot going sulong, because she just looks so monstrous, like a true werewolf. the same goes for the shift in big mom’s design when she starts going truly mad with starvation and gets even more threatening-looking (below). i just think oda should let women be monstrously scary more often.

i do really love that the entire climax of whole cake island hinges on the degree of trust and faith the strawhats, and sanji and luffy specifically, have in each other. they’re all facing massive challenges that would seem insurmountable to an outsider- luffy facing down a yonkou’s commander with a bounty of over a billion and sanji remaking a massive cake that took months to plan and make in just a few hours, the others evading big mom’s full forces and big mom herself for a full night- but none of them have even a shred of doubt that the others can manage it.

i wrote a meta post awhile back about one piece’s concept of ‘honor in a pirates’ fight, and what it came down to is this: honor can never be expected between pirates, but the best of them will show it anyways, and it can be a very telling judge of character. nobody would expect katakuri to do this, and luffy even calls him an idiot for it, but he has enough respect for luffy as a strong opponent to do it anyways, and that’s how we know for absolute certain that even though he’s an antagonist, he’s also a good, honorable person.

i really like the gesture of luffy leaving his hat over katakuri’s mouth, especially because until this point, we’re never even given any indication that he’s really noticed it, let alone that katakuri is insecure about it. he never reacts to or comments on it (which is in itself kind of unusual from someone who tends to nickname opponents by their appearances as often as luffy does) one way or another.

and then he does this, confirming all at once that he did fully notice and understand, he just doesn’t care. which i think sums up one of the more under-appreciated aspects of luffy’s character- he’s generally way more observant than people give him credit for, especially when it comes to people, it’s just that he has a very different sense of what’s important and what’s not than your average person.

i love the sheer contrast between big mom’s delighted, rapturous singing as she devours the wedding cake against the violence taking place on screen as her army rains fire and hell down on the thousand sunny. it parallels her initial introduction at the start of the arc perfectly, and is just an excellent way to close out the arc with a bang.

i said it earlier but it bears repeating here, for a different reason: luffy is not very physically intimidating. he’s shorter than most of the other main characters, he’s a lanky teenager, he dresses casually and his most identifiable accessory is a farm hat.

but then there are times when he looks like a captain, like a future pirate king, and it just looks so natural on him. i can never get over it.

i really like that, after spending a whole arc demonstrating just how different (and how much better) sanji is than the vinsmokes, it ends like this- showing us just how similar he’s grown up to the man he’s chosen as his real family, and just how proud zeff would be of him.

[thepandapopo]

Absolute Truths

This idea wormed its way into my head and for the life of me I couldn’t get it out.

This oneshot is a little longer than the stuff I usually write (a whopping 8539 words), but I loved every minute of it. I tried editing it to the best of my ability, but honestly I suck at that. No beta, we die like Glenn. #SorryNotSorry #TooSoon ?

Please note this is non canon. The time frame for this is sometime after the Battle of Gronder post time skip and it is a mash up of the GD and BL routes (ie. Dimitri joins Claude and is no longer crazy; Rodrigue still dies. RIP).

Cross posted to ao3.

Pairing: Sylvain x Felix

Warnings: mentions of child abuse and PTSD

Synopsis:

When Felix and Sylvain get hit with a dark magic spell that reverts them back to children, the Resistance Army gets a deeper look into their bond and learn 5 absolute truths that form the foundation of their relationship.

OR

5 undeniable facts of Sylvain and Felix’s relationship.

Word Count: 8539

“Felix!”

Fuck. Sylvain loses sight of him for only a minute but that is all the enemy needs to overwhelm the already bombarded swordmaster.

Pulling the reigns sharply to the left, the Paladin charges across the battlefield, skewering any unfortunate enemies that dare block his way, the lance of ruin glowing like a beacon of fury despite the thick coating of blood on it. The air is heavy with the smell of smoke and dark magic, making it hard to breathe and blurring the red head’s vision. Regardless, Sylvain presses on; determined to get to his best friend in time before the group of mages over the hill finish casting… whatever ominous looking spell they are aiming at Felix.

“Sylvain, get out of here!” Felix shouts angrily, not even pausing his fighting to face the sight of Bella charging her way through the throng with her master astride her.

Shit. Felix cuts down another enemy.

It is never ending. No matter how many falls to his blade, another two enemies take their place. Felix isn’t stupid – he can see the group of mages prepping a dark magic spell in the distance, which makes him even angrier when he spots Sylvain riding to his aid.

Like hell he’ll give his childhood friend another reason to toss himself into harms way. Felix isn’t weak. He doesn’t need protection. And he sure as hell doesn’t want Sylvain to be the one who gets hurt trying to fix his mistakes just because he got a little too cocky and split from the rest of his battalion.

“Fuck.” Felix grunts and pushes his sword hard to disengage the thief that has him in a sword lock. He doesn’t bother to see if he is being pursued and dashes towards Sylvain who is now dismounting a short distance away, Lance of Ruin making quick work of anyone who strays too close for comfort.

Sylvain was undoubtedly within hit range of the spell now. If that idiot insists on being his usual self-sacrificing self, then the least Felix can do is use his own body to shield the older man and take the brunt of the damage.

The tell-tale crackle of magic behind him sets the hair on his nape standing.

Shit. Shitshitshitshitshit.

He isn’t going to make it. Damn Sylvain for being so slow – this is exactly why he keeps telling him to take his training more seriously-!

“Fe!”

The last thing he knows before succumbing to the darkness is a hard chest plate knocking the wind out of him and warm, strong arms that remind him of summers spent with a heart lighter than air.

----

1.       Sylvain always has, and always will protect Felix until the day he dies.

Leonie is one of two on the first shift of babysitting duty.

Undeniably, the orange haired paladin would be the first to admit that she wasn’t the greatest with kids, however there is only so much the tiny, and thankfully unconscious, Fraldarius boy can do given his current predicament.

No one really knows what happened after the enemy spell envelops Felix and Sylvain, the larger of the two curled protectively around his companion as they fall. No one even knows what the spell is.

But what they do know is that now, instead of a regular sized Felix Hugo Fraldarius and Sylvain Jose Gautier, they have a chubby cheeked blue haired cherub and an unfairly-cute-even-as-a-child ginger.

It is in the middle of bemoaning her poor luck at drawing straws when the mini-Felix begins to stir and she feels panic clawing its way up her throat.

“Ngghh…” small, unscarred hands balled into fist come up to rub at bleary amber eyes before they widen almost comically as they take in his surroundings.

“Uhh… hey.” His gaze snaps towards Leonie and she can feel her terror rising with mini Felix’s hysteria, clearly evident by the shiny glaze beginning to cloud his eyes and the fat crocodile tears gathering at the edges of his almond eyes.

“It’s okay, Felix. It’s just me.” She reaches out a hand tentatively in a placating gesture, but quickly withdraws back as young Felix lets out a squeak and scurries as far back into the corner of the bed as he can get, taking his older self’s wool Fraldarius crest blanket with him, as if it could shield him.

“Wh-wh-who are you?” The poor thing is absolutely terrified and damn it, Leonie wants to comfort him, but she is equally as distressed here and this is exactly why she didn’t want to babysit.

“It’s me, Leonie. You don’t… you don’t recognize me?”

It comes out sounding more like a statement than a question.

It’s so painfully obvious that little Felix has no idea who she is.

Which means he doesn’t have his memories.

Which means they are down two of their best generals.

Which means they are well and truly fucked.

So, Leonie does the only thing she can logically think to do.

“Come on,” She says, rising from her bedside chair and reaching for his arm. “We need to go tell Linheartd that the situation is much worse than we had originally thought.” But as soon as her hand wraps around his forearm, Felix screams.

“Oh shi-! Felix! Calm down, I’m not going to hurt you!”

If anything, this just seems to have the opposite effect and the wails increase to near piercing.

Leonie thinks it may be a trick of her mind, and probably her ears because holy crap does little Felix have a set of lungs on him, but she is pretty sure that Felix is screaming out a name.

Specifically, a name belonging to a certain red head that is, the last time she checked anyways, unconscious two doors down from his room and currently being watched over by Caspar.

“Fe!” The door bursts open and suddenly there is chaos.

Was being watched over by Caspar, Leonie amends in her mind.

“Get back here!” The blue haired warrior lunges and swipes his arm out trying to catch mini Sylvain who is slipperier than a fish in water, using his short height to duck between legs and launch himself onto the bed.

“Leave Fe alone!” Honey brown eyes that are so very familiar yet also so different, are glaring holes into Leonie and Caspar, proudly defiant and blazing with determination. Short arms stuffed into the smallest adult shirt they could find on short notice stretch out protectively, completely shielding Felix from sight.

“S-Sylvain,” comes the little sob from behind him and the older boy spares a second to throw a comforting smile behind him. “Don’t worry, Fe. I’ll protect you.” And Goddess, he sounds so genuine and earnest that it makes Leonie wonder what happened to cause their Sylvain to hide behind fake laughs and charming lilts of the tongue.

“Sorry, Leonie.” Caspar is gasping for air like he has just run a marathon. “I tried to keep him in his room but as soon as he heard Felix screaming, he was out faster than I could blink.”

“Ugh. Just go get Ingrid and the Professor.”

----

2.       Sylvain hates himself and his crest, but Felix likes him in spite of it.

A day later finds Ingrid watching over the five year old Felix (“What?! He’s five? But he’s so tiny.” “Don’t let him hear you say that or he’ll cry again.”) and seven year old Sylvain.

“Just stay in this area, okay?” She calls out over the din of raucous laughter echoing throughout the courtyard. “I don’t want you two wandering off and getting into trouble.”

The play wrestling pauses for a brief moment and little Sylvain sticks out a tongue at her.

“We don’t get into trouble! You’re just a party pooper!”

“Yeah! Party pooper!”

Shoving down the urge to smack her childhood friends into the next moon, Ingrid settles for watching with pursed lips as Felix dissolves into giggles, Sylvain’s grabby hands finding purchase in his sides and tickling him relentlessly. The look of such carefree happiness on their faces makes her heart clench and eyes sting.

If Ingrid is being completely honest… she misses this.

She remembers what it was like not carrying around a broken heart for a man buried six feet under, his remains not even whole enough to bring home. Back when she could play wrestle with Fe, Sylvie, and Dima in the dirt and then go to Glenn to kiss her knee better when one of them inevitably accidentally activated their crest and used too much strength, resulting in tears and scrapes and bruises.

It doesn’t do her any good to dwell on the past.

The dead should be left to rest, and the living should move on.

For an emotionally constipated guy, Felix is dead on with his philosophy.

Though she has long come to terms with her betrothed’s death, the small sliver of envy she has for her two oldest friends still lingers in the deepest, darkest recesses of her heart.

They’re lucky that they still have each other, even though they spend half the time bickering and denying their feelings.

“Is that the Gautier boy?”

Two monastery staff members stop beneath the path archway and look with undisguised admiration.

“So handsome at such a young age!”

“And I hear he’s incredibly charming too.”

Ingrid knows that Sylvain and hear them. He has always been keen of hearing, especially when it involves others gossiping about himself, for better or for worse.

Felix takes advantage of Sylvain’s distraction to get the upper hand and rolls on top, completely oblivious to the onlookers.

“If I were his mother, I would have secured him a betrothed as soon as he was tested for a crest.”

A hum of agreement. “Yes. His family is blessed with good looks so it would not be hard to secure an advantageous match. The Gautier line will likely continue on stronger than ever with such a prized heir.”

“Sylvain? Why did you stop?”

Felix is all wide eyes and adorable pouty cheeks, staring confusedly down at his best friend underneath him who has gone strangely silent with a strangled expression.

“Don’t you have duties to attend to?”

The two gossipmongers snap to attention at Ingrid’s sharp tone, her expression clearly telling them to get the hell out of here or risk facing her wrath.

With rushed replies of “yes, sorry miss!” and “our apologies”, they scurry off down the pathway and disappear around the corner.

But unfortunately, the damage is already done.

“Sylvain? What’s wrong? Why are you sad?”

Gently, the older boy extricates himself from Felix’s death grip of a grapple and stands up with his eyes cast downwards. “Sorry, Fe. I… I don’t want to play anymore.”

“What? What do you mean? Where are you going?”

“I’m tired. I want to go back to our room.”

It only takes one look at Sylvain’s expression before Felix is latching his fists into the fabric of Sylvain’s pants with a scowl on his face.

“You’re lying to me. Why are you lying?”

“I’m not lying, Fe! I don’t want to play anymore.”

“We’re best friends aren’t we?”

“Well, yeah, of course we are.”

“Best friends don’t lie to each other.”

Ingrid has patiently watched the exchange between Felix and Sylvain to this very moment, hoping that they can sort out this argument without her intervening like she always did as a child, but through years of experience, she can sense that one of them is about to snap and she would very much like to avoid that.

“You know the only reason we’re best friends is because our parents are friends and we both have crests.”

There it is.

It’s absolutely heart breaking how Sylvain has already learned to self destruct at the tender age of seven. If Miklan were still alive, Ingrid would skewer him a thousand times over for instilling the mantra of ‘you’re not worthy of love’ into Sylvain’s head.

“Hey guys, do you wanna go-“

“You’re a stupid head if that’s what you think.” Felix’s interruption shocks her. His usually bright amber eyes are fixed in a watery glare leveled at the boy opposite him. Right now, Ingrid may as well be invisible for all Felix cares.

“What?”

“You’re a stupid head!”

Sylvain looks absolutely affronted.

“No, I’m not!”

“Yeah, you are!” a few tears have managed to slip beyond the barrier and trail down Felix’s cheeks. “I don’t care that our parents know each other. And I don’t care about any stupid crests.”

Felix marches up to Sylvain with all the anger he can muster in his five year old glory and reaches up to smoosh his cheeks together. “I’d still pick you to be my best friend in the whole wide world because you’re funny and nice and I’m always happier with you than Ingrid or Dima.”

Sylvain can only stand there with his lips parted in round ‘o’ from his cheeks being pushed together and a dazed look in his eye. Felix takes this as a sign to continue his little tirade.

“And I know you’re smart so you should stop being such a stupid head because I don’t care what you think. You’re my best friend and I’ll always pick you over any stupid crest.”

“Fe…”

She recognizes that tone. Ingrid looks away then because she fears that if she doesn’t, the part of her heart that belongs to Glenn might just twist its way into her throat and choke her with envy.

Sylvain is giving Felix that look that she has seen many times throughout their lives whenever she watches her two friends from afar. It’s one that everyone, except for Felix, has seen a million times and knows that to Sylvain, the world around him has fallen away except for one person.

“You’re my best friend, Sylvain. So, don’t lie to me.”

For the first time since the gossipers appeared, Sylvain lets a smile slip through.

“Okay. I promise.”

Felix eyes him warily and searches for any hint of a lie in Sylvain’s expression. Once satisfied, he loops his own pinky around the one outstretched to him.

“Good. Now let’s go play Knights and Bandits!”

Perhaps it is because Felix is always looking ahead that he never sees how Sylvain looks at him like he was the one who hung the stars and moon in his dark sky, illuminating his life with happiness and love.

----

3.       Felix feels so much and Sylvain is the only one who understands him even without words.

A collective sigh echoes throughout the monastery when they find out that mini Felix and mini Sylvain aren’t too picky with their food.

Granted, even as a child, Felix shows a proclivity towards eating meat; but with a little friendly jostling from his best friend, even the youngest Fraldarius son can be convinced to eat his brussel sprouts.

Which is exactly why Claude is so baffled when Felix starts to protest eating during mealtimes.

“What do you mean he won’t eat?”

He’s well aware that he probably sounds like an idiot, if the exasperated look Lorenz is giving him is anything to go by; but they haven’t had any trouble before so it makes absolutely no sense that Felix would start being picky now.

“It’s exactly as I said,” Lorenz frowns. “We were all simply sitting together enjoying a meal, when Felix stopped eating and refused to finish his dinner. I’ve been told this is now the third occurrence in a row that his has happened.”

“Was he full?” Byleth pauses from looking through some supply requests to chime into their conversation. Although she has not outright said anything, Claude knows his love well enough to tell that she is stressed about their current predicament. Felix throwing a silent protest against food is just one more thing to add to her pile of worries that she doesn’t need.

“Don’t worry, Teach,” Claude winks and flashes his signature grin. “I’ll get to the bottom of this. You just worry about securing our supplies for the next moon, yeah?” His chair lets out a deafening screech as it drags across the floor, drowning out any protests their former professor may have and providing Claude the distraction he needs to usher Lorenz out of the room with him.

“Claude, are you sure you know what you are doing?” The doubt rolling off Lorenz would have offended a lesser man, but Claude has spent his life being the underdog and he lets the words bounce harmlessly off him. “Felix is not an enemy to be outsmarted. He is simply a child who only adheres to emotion.”

“I am aware of that, yes.”

“Then why do you look as though you are about to hatch a scheme?”

Because he is.

And although Felix is not an ‘enemy’, per say, doesn’t mean that Claude can’t use his usual tactics of watching and observing his opponent until he has hatched a plot to take them down. Hence, leading to Claude’s current position tucked away in the far corner of the mess hall during the following breakfast.

Even on his off days, Claude is always watching and learning. He knows the favourite foods of all his fellow comrades in arms and he also knows whom everyone’s preferred companion is.

There is very little that escapes his notice, and the Resistance Army leader is confident that he will have a plan by sundown at the very least.

It is a little past 8am when the two children sleepily trudge their way into the dining hall with Bernadetta, their ward for the day, close behind them.

Nothing seems particularly strange or odd when they join the line to retrieve their meal; and nothing remarkable happens either when Bernie leads them to the only empty table left in the middle of the hall.

“Good morning, Bernadetta!” Raphael greets cheerily and shuffles his mountain of food over to join the trio at their table. “Good morning, Felix, Sylvain!”

The little ones mumble back a greeting, but their voices are lost in the din of the morning meal chatter.

So far, so good. Felix is still eating his porridge (albeit with an adorable frown on his face) and talking animatedly about goddess knows what with Sylvain, who occasionally turns to answer a question from the adults.

“Oh, good morning, Bernadetta, Felix, Sylvain!”

Slowly but surely, the table begins to fill as their friends meander into the building in search of food to start their day. Greetings are exchanged and unsurprisingly, Felix and Sylvain garner a lot of attention due to their current forms. Sylvain, ever the chatterbox that he is, fields most of the questions; Whether it is because he is being considerate of his quieter friend or if he simply relishes in the attention is debatable, but Claude cannot help but notice how his eyes constantly dart back towards Felix who grows increasingly frustrated.

“Oh, you’re just too adorable!” Annette’s squeal of delight reaches even Claude’s remote corner and he assumes that the wince he sees from Felix is due to the sheer volume of the orange haired mage. Sylvain, the current object of attention, just flashes her his prize winning smile; his dimples making him look even more endearing than he already is.

The adults gathered around the children don’t even notice that Felix has stopped eating. Nor do they see Sylvain quietly reach below the table to grab Felix’s smaller hand in what looks to be a gesture of comfort.

In fact, it takes another five minutes of cooing and fawning before Raphael, of all people, notices that Felix is now glaring with teary eyes at his bowl of half eaten porridge.

“What’s wrong, little buddy? Not feeling well?”

Immediately the attention shifts to him and the effects are just as disastrous as Claude predicts.

“I’m not hungry.” Some of the porridge finds its way onto the table as Felix pushes his bowl away with such ferocity, Claude is half surprised it doesn’t completely tip over.

“What do you mean you’re not hungry?” Annette frowns. “This is the fourth time you’ve left a meal unfinished. Are you not feeling well? Do you need to go see Mercedes?”

“No. I don’t wanna eat anymore.”

“Are you sure you’re feeling okay, Felix? We just want to make sure you’re not getting sick.”

“I’m fine.”

It’s a big fat lie and anyone with half a brain can hear the distress and frustration in the blue haired boy’s voice. One lone tear manages to squeeze its way out of Felix’s water logged eyes and that’s all it takes for the table to burst into a flurry.

Claude almost feels bad for Felix as the adults descend on him like a pack of vultures, all of them crowding him and trying to coax the reason for his distress out of him. The Almyran prince has half a mind to go over and rescue his friend in arms from a situation that is probably in his top ten worst fears, but before he can even get out of his seat, Sylvain is already bounding out of his chair with a teary Felix in tow.

Sylvain shouts something about ‘Knights and Bandits’ and they’re out the southern doors before Bernadetta can even process what has happened.

Felix’s half eaten bowl of porridge sits on the table completely forgotten.

----

At lunch, Claude decides to test a hypothesis.

He asks Mercedes and Hilda to sit with the kids at lunch and pay special attention to Felix.

To everyone else, he gives them strict orders to leave their table alone.

Satisfied with how his experiment is set up, Claude finally seats himself back in his observatory spot with his own lunch sitting in front of him.

He’s not expecting amazing results. In fact, he’s not expecting his first hypothesis to be a success at all, but he wants to try it none the less because there is always the possibility that mini Felix fundamentally operates much differently than the Felix that he is used to.

What he doesn’t expect is for Felix to immediately shut down the minute Hilda tries to engage him in some conversation about the games him and Sylvain play in the courtyard.

Today’s lunch special is Daphnel Stew and Claude has it on good authority that it is a favourite of Felix’s (technically Dimitri is a reliable source, right? They were childhood friends after all).

Sylvain tries his best to jump into the conversation and pull some of the attention to himself, but Hilda is every bit as smooth of a talker as Claude is; deftly maneuvering the conversation back to Felix no matter what Sylvain does.

This time, it is Felix that reaches for Sylvain’s hand under the table.

Except instead of just holding Sylvain’s hand, Felix starts to pull at it every time Mercedes or Hilda asks him a question, as if pleading for his friend to save him.

At least Claude could now say for sure that Felix is not, and never was, a fan of being the center of attention.

When the first afternoon bell tolls signaling the end of lunch, Felix’s stew remains uneaten and untouched. On the way out of the hall, Claude looks the other way and pretends not to notice when Sylvain steals an apple from the pantry.

His experiment doesn’t exactly succeed, but he cannot write it off as a failure either. The information gathered from his two observation sessions is plentiful and a solution is forming within his mind even as he makes his way up to the war room to meet Byleth for their afternoon strategy session.

By the time he pushes open the door to his usual haunt, Claude is absolutely certain of two truths.

One, that Sylvain knows Felix better than anyone could ever hope to compare, and two, Felix Fraldarius is incredibly lucky to have an attentive best friend like Sylvain because stars above, does he suck with using his words.

----

When the hour before dinner time rolls around, Claude makes sure to talk to everyone he passes by and give them the order that no one is to approach Felix and Sylvain’s tables at mealtimes anymore. He tells them to pass the word around and it doesn’t take long before the entire monastery is in the know of their Leader’s command.

“Care for company?” Byleth smiles and sets her tray down beside his own without waiting for a reply.

Claude does a quick survey of the area to make sure no one is looking before leaning in to land a quick peck on Byleth’s cheek. Joy flutters in his stomach at her rising blush and he merely laughs and winks at her stuttered protests.

“Check it out,” Claude quickly changes the subject and nods his head over to where Bernadetta sits exhausted with a now cheerful Felix and Sylvain. The latter nodding enthusiastically to their conversation with the occasional laugh and both of their plates near devoid of food.

A tiny rush of pride swells when he sees the relived expression on Byleth’s face.

“Told ya I’d take care of it.”

Underneath the table, he flips his palm facing upward so that he can intertwine his fingers with her searching ones.

“Yes, you did.” The unspoken thanks lingers in the air between them, louder than the constant buzz of activity in the room.

For the first time in a while, the former professor looks more at ease. And Claude, being the shit stirrer that he is, cannot help but toss a little fuel into the fire.

“So… who do you think will wear white at the wedding? Between the two of them, I think Felix is the better choice.”

“What?!”

----

4.       Felix has an unwavering faith and belief in Sylvain that he’s not afraid to stubbornly stand by to the bitter end.

“Annie, are you sure this is a good idea?”

If Mercedes is concerned, then Lysithea is absolutely certain that no, this is most definitely not a good idea.

They are at the part of the training grounds where the various magic users can come to practice and hone their spells. The ground is singed with charred marks from stray thunder and fire spells, the black streaks contrasting starkly with the pale stone underneath. To the side, there is also a sand pit where mages can practice some more destructive flame based spells.

“I’m just a little curious, is all!” Annette whispers back. “I know Sylvain is really good with magic even though he never uses it. He was the one who helped me understand that magic formula that I was stuck on for a week, after all. I was thinking maybe he might show an aptitude for Reason as a child.”

“That’s fine and all; but I’m not really sure how safe it is to teach a child how to conjure a fire spell. That just seems like a recipe for disaster.”

The orange hair mage cannot help but look slightly put out by Lysithea’s comment.

Yes, maybe it wasn’t the safest idea ever… but Annette just really wants to find out the extent of Sylvain’s inherent abilities. Even after she makes him promise to take his training more seriously, she still feels like he is holding back on her when they are paired together.

“What kinda magic are you gonna show us?” Felix is eager and bouncing on his toes. The House Fraldarius specializes in swordplay, not magic, so this is a treat for him and he can barely contain his excitement.

“Oh well, I was thinking we could start off with a basic fire spell!”

“Oooh, fire!”

Annette really hopes that Felix doesn’t have a penchant for pyrotechnics.

As much of a bad idea as this is, Lysithea can’t exactly bring herself to leave them in case something goes terribly wrong. She is the strongest, most advanced Gremory the Resistance Army has; with her around, she’s confident that the worst that could happen would be some singed eyebrows and possibly an impromptu need for a haircut. But even that is an outcome that she is hoping to avoid.

Once the target is set up, Sylvain and Felix eagerly make their way over to the sidelines to watch Annette demonstrate a basic fire spell.

It’s nothing special really. Even the older Felix and Sylvain could probably cast it without much problem, but to their younger versions, the small ball of fire is so grand and spectacular that it warrants oo’s and ah’s and enthusiastic applause.

“Wow! That is so cool! Isn’t that so cool, Sylvain?”

Felix is pulling on Sylvain’s sleeve and the older boy nods emphatically with admiration shining in his eyes.

“Do you think you could do it too?”

Lysithea is startled to hear the question Felix asks Sylvain. Of course, Annette was already planning to ask the Gautier boy to attempt the spell, but that was out of curiosity.

From the shining look on Felix’s face, Lysithea knows that he is asking because in his mind, there is nothing that his smart, talented best friend in the whole wide world cannot do.

“Magic is difficult to learn and takes time. It can take years for some to learn just the basics.” She cuts in before Sylvain can answer.

She doesn’t want Felix to unwittingly trap him with an unrealistic expectation that he cannot meet and she figures it is better to disappoint him now rather than allow the red head to try and then feel guilty when he disappoints his friend.

“Sylvain is smart. I bet Sylvain could do it!”

Felix is pouting in that way that they are all quickly learning means ‘I’m right and you can’t convince me otherwise’.

“I’m sure Sylvain is very smart!” Mercedes agrees and gives the boys her best placating smile. “But I’m not so sure that a person could learn how to cast a Fire spell in one day! Why, it took Annie and I at least a week of practicing before we could do it!”

“Yep, I remember I almost burned my eyebrows off the first time I tried! But I can teach you the basics maybe and then we can bring you here again next time to practice?”

The urge to verbally reprimand the warlock for her relentless pursuit to satisfy her own curiosity rises and Lysithea has to physically clutch her biceps to stop herself from bursting.

Fine. If they were so eager to set themselves down this path, then so be it.

“Yeah!” Felix is literally vibrating with excitement and Sylvain looks nervous but determined to not let his admirer down.

Heaving a sigh, Lysithea moves to settle next to Mercedes who sends her an apologetic smile.

It was going to be a long afternoon.

----

Unsurprisingly, Felix does not do so well with learning the basics.

The diagrams and symbols are a little too much on the side of complex and it becomes apparent rather quickly that there is a reason the Fraldarius men carve through the battlefield with swords instead of magic.

“Aw, it’s okay Fe! You’re still the best with a sword anyways. You don’t need magic!” Sylvain ruffles his hair and smiles. “You’ll always beat me at swordplay.”

The small admission is enough to cheer Felix up and after a bit more nudging from the older boy, he runs off to play around with the wooden practice swords they have on the other side of the training room while Annette and Sylvain continue to work on creating basic magic circles.

It’s only after the third hour and Mercedes has long left to attend to various chores that Lysithea turns to watch Felix go through rather crude sword forms instead.

“You need to spread your feet farther apart.” Using her own foot, she nudges Felix’s left heel to the side to widen his stance. “Try striking again now.”

The wooden sword wobbles a bit in its trajectory, but the swing is undoubtedly much better than before. The sheer delight that lights up in Felix’s eyes almost makes Lysithea laugh out loud because she recognizes it as the same gleam she sees in the older Felix’s eyes when he executes a particularly hard maneuver.

“Why aren’t you watching Sylvain and Annie?”

For a five year old, Felix is incredibly perceptive.

Rather than lie to him, Lysithea opts for honesty because she is sure that’s what older Felix would have wanted.

“I don’t think he’ll succeed.”

Felix frowns. “You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do. I know how hard it is to learn magic. I’m sure Sylvain is very intelligent, but it takes a lot of hard work to use Reason.”

“Sylvain can do it. I know he can.”

She sighs and turns a baleful eye down at Felix. “You’re a stubborn one aren’t you.”

“Glenn said that to me too when he didn’t believe me that I could stay up all night waiting for Sylvain.”

“And did you prove him wrong?”

Felix turns to full face her, expression full of gravity.

“Yup.” The dead seriousness of his tone looses Lysithea’s first laugh of the day and she cannot help but be drawn towards this little boy, the same way she was drawn to his older self.

Deigning not to continue a lost conversation, the cake loving Gremory opts to turn back and watch the progress that the other two have made, leaving Felix muttering to himself about his steadfast belief in his best friend.

----

“Alright, let’s see what you’ve got!”

The sun is setting and it is nearly time for dinner by the time Sylvain and Annette break away from Magic and Sorcery: Vol 1. to actually put some practice to the theory they have spent all day studying.

“Now, don’t be too disappointed if you can’t get it.” Annette says while moving out of the way. “You did just learn the basics and it takes a lot of practice!”

Lysithea has not moved from her perch from a nearby bench. She’s still extremely skeptical that Sylvain will manage to do very much at all. Yes, it is true that he had a budding talent for Reason during their academy days, but Sylvain hardly ever applied himself to any of his studies. The professor had to literally force him to attend one on one magic lessons with her before his aptitude for spells finally emerged.

Although, she muses, this younger Sylvain seems to be more enthusiastic to participate in things he was interested in. Even now, the scrunched up look of concentration on his face is indication enough that the Sylvain Lysithea is used to is a much different creature than the one before her currently.

House Ordelia does not really have any established trade routes with the Gautier territory, but the Ordelia heir has heard enough to know that the current Margrave is an arrogant, crest-obsessed prick.

It doesn’t take a prodigy to connect the dots and surmise that Sylvain’s carefree attitude and refusal to apply himself to anything is a product of his father’s suffocating expectations.

Fuck Margrave Gautier.

Maybe Lysithea does want Sylvain to prove her wrong and succeed; then at least he can go back home and light his father’s breeches on fire.

She’s only slightly disappointed when her expectations prove correct and the best Sylvain can conjure is one tiny flicker from a lone flame in his hand. However, it is still much more than she thought Sylvain would be able to do and for that, she is genuinely impressed.

Annette is also very much awestruck with Sylvain’s quick learning and happily informs the boy of this all the way to the dining hall. Sylvain is uncharacteristically quiet as he listens to the older mage praise him, but he is not yet skilled enough in the art of hiding behind a mask and the slight downward tilt of his lips does not go unnoticed.

“You really did an amazing job learning so much in such a short time, Sylvain! Don’t be too disappointed that you couldn’t do it.”

Sylvain gives a weak smile in return, but it is Felix who ultimately responds; one hand clasped tightly in the Gautier’s and the other one balled into a fist.

“Sylvain can do it. Just watch.”

----

Dinner passes without much fanfare and the boys are eventually tucked in for the night. Claude and Byleth have long decided that a full-time night chaperone is no longer necessary; although occasionally, one of their friends will peek into the room in the dead of night before they retire, but very rarely do they find anything wrong that requires their attention. A week has already passed with no incident, so there should be no need to exhaust their soldiers by keeping them up at night.

Except this time, when Petra nudges the door to their room open – being extremely careful not to open it too fast lest the hinges squeak – she does not see any sign of Felix or Sylvain anywhere.

It is the dead of night, but Garreg Mach Monastery blazes alive with a flurry of panic at the toll of the emergency bell.

“You’re absolutely sure no one saw them leave their room?”

Seteth slams his palms on the table and interrogates the night shift guards; his brows furrowed and mind racing a mile a minute.

If the enemy has somehow managed to sneak into Garreg Mach and kidnap the children, then they are well and truly fucked. They may have to abandon their home base or at the very least do an extensive investigation of their current ranks and re-evaluate their current passive defense.

“There were no signs that a struggle was happening.” Petra voices from her place around the war table. “I am having confidence that they left with willingness.”

“Goddess, please keep them safe.” The situation leaves a bad taste in Flayn’s mouth; it is much too reminiscent of when she was kidnapped and although it has been years since the incident, the memories still plague her.

Byleth’s voice leaves no room for discussion, “everyone split up and search the grounds. Most of our facilities are locked up at night so that should help limit the number of places we need to search.”

Everyone dashes out of the room with their orders and branch off at the second floor corridor. Those once belonging to the Black Eagle house comb through the main hall while the former Blue Lion students check all surrounding independent buildings; the Golden Deer fanning out to cover the outdoor grounds of the monastery.

An hour passes. Then another. And another.

Soon it is 3 in the morning and the panic is truly beginning to set in, giving rise to an unsettling fear clawing its way up from the depths of the night.

“Dimitri, Dedue! Have you found anything?” Ingrid pants and skids to a halt just below the stairs to the Sauna; the rest of her Blue Lion classmates run up to join her and debrief their findings.

“Nothing,” Dedue’s tone is flat as usual but his strangled expression is enough to betray his underlying worry. “We have searched all the open buildings and the grounds. There is no sign of them at all.”

Annette is near tears now and Mercedes places a hand on her shoulder, offering her silent support even while she herself is fiddling with her shawl, an attempt to keep her mind occupied before it spirals.

“It’s not like them to run away,” Ashe frowns. “Did anything happen today? Were they acting weird at all?”

“Not really. All we did was practice magic at the training grounds.”

Mercedes frowns. “Perhaps they left something there and went back to retrieve it?”

“The training grounds should be locked at 11PM. No one should be able to get in or out until sunrise.” Dimitri shakes his head.

“Well then we’re clearly running out of ideas here!” Ingrid throws up her hands in frustration and rakes them through her hair which is on the verge of looking like a bird’s nest. “We’ve checked the dining hall and the greenhouse but –“

“Your Majesty.” Dedue’s raised voice cuts Ingrid short and they look over to see the doors to the training grounds swing open slowly with a slight push of the man’s hands. “The doors were not locked as we thought.”

It takes only a heartbeat for them to scramble through the large wooden doors and down the hallway, their rushed footsteps echoing like thunder in the stone corridor.

“Oh Goddess. I smell smoke. Does anyone else smell smoke?” If her heartbeat accelerates any more, Annette is pretty sure she will have a heart attack.

“It’s coming from over there!” Their King leads the charge towards the magical training arena where the smell of smoke is the thickest.

When they burst into the open area, they are prepared for the worst. Weapons are drawn and hands raised with spells on the tips of tongues, but the sight they are greeted with is enough to shock them into stasis.

There in the middle of the sandpit, hunched over and panting hard, albeit with a brilliant grin on his face, is Sylvain. The practice dummy a few feet in front of him is alit with flames, illuminating the room with an orange glow, casting shadows along the stone walls that flicker like a live audience.

And off to the side bundled up in a woolen teal blanket that they all recognize, is a tired, but extremely proud looking Felix Fraldarius staring directly at the newcomers.

“I told you he could do it!”

----

5.       Sylvain has given Felix all the pieces of his fragile, fractured heart, even if he isn’t aware he possesses it.

Although once his greatest secret, Ignatz no longer hides his passion for art from his fellow Resistance Army members.

It’s not uncommon these days for people to find him at random places in the monastery with his art supplies sketching away at preserving a moment in time on blank paper forevermore.

Today, he is sitting on a bench next to a large oak tree, just a stone’s throw away from the main grounds. Beneath the shade and tucked between two large roots lie Sylvain and Felix, both completely tuckered out from their earlier attempts at climbing the towering tree. Sylvain is starfished on the ground with his arms stretched wide; to his left, Felix lays curled away from him with his head pillowed on the outstretched limb.

Sylvain and Felix have been the talk of the monastery for the past week and it is pretty obvious why. It’s not every day that you see two high ranking generals revert back to their child forms. Especially the most notorious bother-me-and-I’ll-bite-your-head-off and if-it-breathes-I’ll-flirt-with-it Generals to boot.

Of course, stories of their shenanigans and troublemaking usually fill the daily meal conversations, but there is one topic that floats above all else; the one that makes the maids in the kitchen giggle and even the burliest of knights crack a smile:

It is clear that even from a young age, Sylvain Jose Gautier and Felix Hugo Fraldarius are absolutely smitten with each other.

The two are inseparable and Ignatz is pretty sure that even a blind man would be able to see the absolute trust and unspoken devotion they have towards each other.

Ignatz has spent the day watching Felix and Sylvain, not just because it’s his turn to babysit, but also because he is fascinated with their bond. He had once thought that the Goddess was the most beautiful thing in the world, but the rawness and purity of their relationship fills him with more piety and awe than any portrait or statue of Sothis ever did.

It is like they are two parts of a well-oiled machine. Where one gives way, the other will step in to fill the gap; whenever Sylvain’s insecurities flare up, Felix is always there to chase the demons away with clumsy words and a physical display of affection, using his own body to ground his best friend and keep him close. Likewise, whenever tears well up in the youngest Fraldarius’ eyes (which is unfortunately quite often), Sylvain is there to wipe away the salty tracks and light up Felix’s heart with a smile warmer and brighter than sunshine.

Ignatz’s original plans were to draw the oak tree and the beautiful meadow of primrose flowers, but it seems that there will be a last minute change in muse.

Taking up his piece of charcoal, he begins the outline of what he thinks will be his fondest work to date.

Ignatz doesn’t know how long he spends sitting on that bench hunched over his sketchbook in silence with only the occasional birdsong floating through the silence. It’s so calm and peaceful that he doesn’t even notice that Sylvain has begun to stir until he looks up to find one of his subjects in a different position.

Leonie had warned him that Sylvain has a tendency towards nightmares. She had discovered that unfortunate fact in the first three days when each time she tip-toed into their room to check up on them, she found Sylvain wide awake with wild terror in his eyes and a sleepy Felix clinging to him comfortingly.

Strangely enough, Sylvain also does not startle awake from his nightmares. Instead, he slowly rouses himself as if from a deep sleep and if it weren’t for the glaze of lingering fear in his eyes, none would be able to tell that he had just woken up from a night terror.

That same glazed look is now flickering rapidly around him as if searching for the shadow of a monster that exists only within his mind.

“Sylvain…?”

Wild brown eyes finally settle on steady molten amber ones.

“Fe.”

“It’s okay, Sylvain. I’m here...”

Felix yawns and shuffles around until he is half wrapped around Sylvain with his left hand settling over Sylvain’s pounding heart.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you…” Small hands curl around the material of Sylvain’s shirt in a death grip. Felix’s loyalty and protectiveness so painfully evident even when the boy himself is half asleep. He manages to cling to the realm of the conscious for a little while longer, until the rapid thump thump thump of Sylvain’s heart slows to a steady lulling rhythm, pulling Felix back down under the veil of sleep.

Ignatz has silently watched this entire exchange and to be honest, he’s not really sure that Sylvain or Felix even remember that he is here with them. He cannot bring himself to make his presence known, so he continues to watch and observe.

He watches as the fear that was once in Sylvain’s eyes slowly recede again, the monsters inside his head vanquished in the company of his best friend. It only takes one more glance at the boy cuddled up to him with a hand protectively hovered over his heart to melt away the chains that bind him to the expectations of the people around him.

Here under this oak tree in a field of blooming young love, there is no crest or Miklan or nobility. There is only Felix and Sylvain.

Sylvain holds onto that truth as he wraps his free arm around the younger boy, tucking him more securely under his chin, letting the cool summer breeze lull him back to a dreamless sleep.

Ignatz pulls out a new page and starts a fresh outline. It takes him a little longer than anticipated to finish his drawing, but he figures it’s not such a bad thing since he likes this new version much better.

Later, as he trails after the now energetic boys back towards the monastery, Ignatz tucks his newest masterpiece securely under his arm, being very careful not to smudge the drawing or crease the paper.

After all, Claude did mention something about a wedding and Ignatz thinks that his drawing will make a fine gift.

----

Bonus: They’re just two idiots in love.

“Go away. Can’t you see I’m trying to enjoy my meal?”

“Aww, don’t be like that, Felix! You know, the younger you was much cuter. Definitely less prickly, too.” Dorothea pokes his cheek and snatches her hand away before Felix can stab it with his steak knife.

It’s been roughly a week since Felix and Sylvain have returned to their normal sizes, the dark magic having run its course and fizzling out without so much as a final spark. To the rest of the Army, this is a joyous occasion as it means that two of their best generals are now back to normal and can command them again. But to the last class of the academy… it is bittersweet.

Of course, they want their friends to return to normal. But that also means that Felix will go back to hissing and spitting with all the fury of a spooked cat and Sylvain will go back to seducing any individual that makes eye contact with him for longer than half a second.

“Better do as he says, Thea. Felix’s looking extra grumpy today and we wouldn’t want you to lose a pretty little finger.” Sylvain winks at her as he sets down his own meal and settles in the seat across from the swordsman.

The opera singer snorts, “right back to the flirting as usual. Save your hollow words for some other girl.”

“Ouch. Give a guy a break! I just recovered from a dark magic spell after all. Doesn’t that warrant some pity?”

“The only pity is that you immediately lost all your innocent and cute appeal when you reverted back to your regular body.”

Felix scowls at them, “if you insist on continuing your flirting, I’ll just eat my meal elsewhere.” He moves to stand but Sylvain is quicker and grabs his wrist, preventing him from moving.

“I’m sorry. I’ll stop. Just stay, okay? Please? For me, Fe?”

Sylvain is looking at Felix with that expression which he knows he cannot resist and Dorothea takes this opportunity to slip away while the two engage in a silent conversation with only their eyes.

“Fine.”

Their meal continues with little fanfare and easy conversation. Around them, their old classmates are scattered in their own little groups and if they notice, none of them mentions anything about how everyone seems to avoid sitting at Felix and Sylvain’s table.

Easy conversation flows into dessert, or more specifically: Felix wordlessly giving Sylvain his peach sorbet and Sylvain beaming a rare genuine smile and promising to join him at the training grounds first thing tomorrow morning.

The sun is slowly dipping below the horizon when Sylvain and Felix gather up their dishes. On their way out of the dining hall, Ignatz stops them with a heartfelt congratulations and a bundled up package that looks suspiciously like one of his works.

“Congratulations? For what?” Artfully tousled red hair shifts as Sylvain tilts his head in confusion and reluctantly accepts the gift.

“O-oh, well Claude just said…”

Dread rises up from the pit of Felix’s stomach. “What did that schemer say this time?”

“…He said that you two were getting married.”

“What?!”

[recentanimenews]

The 42 Greatest Anime Moments of Monkey D. Luffy

  May 5 is the birthday of One Piece's main character Monkey D. Luffy, and over the past couple of decades of his existence, he's given us some moments that will stay in our minds forever. And so I've decided to chronicle 42 of his best ones, antics that will hopefully remind you how much you love the free-spirited, determined, ridiculous Birthday Best Boy. One note, though — while this list does contain some of those sweet, sweet fight scenes, I've already written a list that ranked his 20 greatest knockouts against bad guys. So, in order to not repeat that list entirely, I've tried to mix it up a little bit. 

  1. Luffy Wakes Up From A Great Nap

I can't think of a better anime debut for Monkey D. Luffy than "wakes up in the barrel that he miraculously survived a whirlpool in and immediately knocks out some pirates by accident." It's everything fun about the dude rolled into one.

2. Luffy Gets Coby To Hit Him

    One thing that doesn't get mentioned enough about Luffy is his haphazard, yet skillful ingenuity. He knows that Koby will never get to join the Marines if he's associated with pirates, so Luffy, his one brain cell working overtime, gets Koby to punch him in order to prove that they're not friends because would friends brawl on the floor of a restaurant? 

3. Luffy Gets The Straw Hat

A moment from the first chapter of the manga that was delayed until Episode 4 of the anime, Luffy getting the straw hat from Shanks is iconic. It sets in motion his entire journey and creates a symbol that represents freedom, adventure, and destiny.

4. Luffy Gives Nami The Straw Hat

  Luffy giving Nami his straw hat is more than just a simple, comforting gesture. It's Luffy telling Nami that if she wants, she'll be a Straw Hat now and for the rest of her life. Nami may have problems, but she'll never have to deal with them alone ever again.

5. Luffy Gets His First Bounty

    By gaining a bounty when he takes down Arlong, Luffy is introduced to the wider world of pirating, the World Government, and eventually the Grand Line. Though Buggy's reveal that he knew Shanks and Mihawk's appearance hinted at a wider world, this is Luffy's first real step into it.

  6. Luffy Smiles At Death

    Luffy obviously doesn't want to die. But as he smiles at the crowd and his crew while Buggy brings a sword down onto his neck, he grins. Because he didn't die in vain. He never became Pirate King and he never found the One Piece, but he did live his life exactly the way that he wanted to. And that's more important than any title or treasure. I'm glad he didn't die, though. They never would've found the Grand Line if Zoro had ascended to the role of Captain. They'd probably still be arguing in the Loguetown harbor.

7. Luffy Holds Up Hiriluk's Flag

   Wapol wanted to destroy Hiriluk's flag and thus eliminate his legacy. But Luffy — smoking due to being recently shot by a cannon and holding up the flag — proved that's not something you can just do. As long as someone is there to fight for it, a flag is forever.

  8. Luffy Disagrees With Vivi

   Vivi, frustrated, enraged, and embarrassed about the treatment of her country, was more than ready to sacrifice herself for it ... and only herself. But Luffy wasn't hearing it. If she was going down, they were all going down. It wasn't just Vivi's fight anymore. The Straw Hats had reached Ride or Die status.

  9. Luffy Beats Crocodile

  I did a list of Luffy's best knockouts so I'm not gonna list every major punch here. However, the ones that are especially meaningful deserve recognition. And this one, where, after two defeats, Luffy battered Crocodile up through the streets of Alubarna, is inarguably one of the most memorable. It's a triumph that's a long time coming, equal parts brutal and satisfying.

  10. Luffy Lets Himself Get Beat Up And Meets Blackbeard

  Mirroring Shanks' restraint when he let himself get harassed by the Mountain Bandits, here we see Luffy decide not to fight Bellamy and instead he listens to Bellamy's foolish proclamations about why dreams suck and why you shouldn't have them and why Mylo Xyloto is the best Coldplay album, probably. However, even if he didn't need the pick-me-up, Blackbeard meets him outside to reaffirm that dreams never die. It would be a super nice remark ... if anyone but Blackbeard was saying it.

  11. Luffy Is Immune To Enel

  Until this point, Enel is borderline unstoppable, able to strike down anyone in his path and — with the help of his "mantra" —  barely takes any damage in the process. And it's made him pretty cocky. But to see Enel's face distort in cartoonish disbelief when he realizes that Luffy is a Rubber Type Pokemon and that he's impervious to Electric Types is so joyously satisfying.

  12. Luffy Decides To Get Rid Of The Going Merry

    With the Going Merry slowly becoming unusable and actually becoming a handicap to the crew, Luffy figures that it's time to find a new ship. It's a sad moment, but you can't help but see Luffy's side. A good pirate crew needs a good pirate ship. And if the Going Merry suddenly sinks, Luffy is dead. Like very, very dead.

  13. Luffy Faces Usopp

  Usopp relates to the Going Merry, fearing that its "weakness" and "inadequacy" represents his own. And so when Luffy decides to get rid of the ship, Usopp lashes out, causing Luffy to have to "put down" Usopp. It's a difficult decision, but it shows that Luffy isn't all laughs and "I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!" declarations.

14. Luffy Does Not Recognize Sogeking

    And then, after the most heartfelt showdown in the series, Luffy doesn't even recognize Usopp's Sogeking disguise, despite the fact that he has most of Usopp's traits, most of Usopp's weapons, and showed up only a little while after Usopp left. Oh, Luffy. Never stop being you.

  15. Luffy Goes Second Gear

  Power-ups are pretty common in anime. But Luffy saying that he needs to take his skills up another level so that he won't lose his friends still feels pretty special. And then the music kicks in and Luffy beats Blueno to a pulp and it's one of the most hype scenes in the entire series.

  16. Luffy Declares War On The World

   He'll always have a target on his back, he'll never be able to rest easy again, and the World Government will pursue him as long as he draws breath. Luffy knows this, but when the time comes to save Robin from CP9 in Enies Lobby, he doesn't hesitate to take on the whole world. It's just what friends do.

  17. Luffy Refuses To Fall

  When Luffy and Lucci fight, it isn't a quick contest. They go to absolute war on one another. And when Lucci thinks he's won, having left Luffy spitting up blood on the floor, we see that ... no. Luffy will not leave his feet. He has too much pride, too much grit, and too much determination. Defeat is not an option here. He will stop fighting to retrieve Robin when he's dead.

  18. Luffy Is Reunited With Garp

  For a long time, Luffy's actual flesh and blood family was a mystery. Shanks is kind of a cool uncle and Ace is someone that Luffy considers his brother, but where did Luffy, ya know, come from? As it turns out, his grandpa is the cannonball-throwing Marine Vice Admiral Garp, who is not only just as goofy as Luffy, but also really, really, really strong for being 76. What's his secret? Low carbs? Eiichiro Oda, please let me know.

  19. Luffy Punches The Celestial Dragon

  Luffy can't stand bullies or anyone that relishes the misery of others. So when a Celestial Dragon shoots Hatchan in the auctioneering house, Luffy walks right up to him and turns his face into a catcher's mitt.

  20. Luffy Loses His Crew

   Luffy's darkest hour (so far) comes when, in a fight with Kuma, Kizaru and the Pacifistas, his whole crew eventually gets wiped out and spread across the world. All the while, Luffy is powerless to stop it — his Gum Gum skills no match for Kuma's abilities. It's a truly pitiable thing to see Luffy beat his fists on the ground in futility, something entirely unlike any scene in the series before.

  21. Luffy Covers Sandersonia

   Back in Little Garden, Luffy agreed it wasn't necessary to actually have a reason for the fight between the giants. They were having an honorable contest between warriors. That was enough. Later when Sandersonia's scars were about to be revealed after a battle, Luffy covered them up. He had no interest in killing them or exposing their secrets. That is not what the battle was for. The contest was simply one that he wanted to win so he'd eventually get back to his crew.

  22. Luffy Decides To Save His Brother Before Reuniting With His Crew

   When Luffy learns that Ace is to be put to death, he must make a choice: Get the gang back together or dive into the depths of Impel Down and try to rescue his brother. He ends up choosing the latter, which shows a great deal of trust and respect for his crewmates. He knows they're strong enough to be OK without him for now.

23. Luffy Embraces Mr. 2

    This is just plain wholesome. Luffy's love for his friends is might be the best thing about him.

24.Luffy Falls From The Sky

    Luffy's story isn't just about his quest to find the One Piece, but the formation of a legend. And when Luffy and the other Impel Down escapees plummet from the sky into the Marineford war, you can practically see that legend being written.

  25. Luffy Faces The Admirals

  Yes, Luffy's attempts to kick a frozen log at them goes nowhere. And yes, Luffy is almost immediately knocked down by Kizaru when he tries to rush past him. But the guts in that kid! Facing down three of the most powerful men in the One Piece universe and demanding they give Ace back to him. That is moxie, my dudes.

  26. Luffy Goes Comatose

  Ace is dead. The mission has failed. A brother is lost. And all Luffy can do is go numb and lifeless. He has no words or actions to explain or react. A chunk of his soul has been ripped away.

  27. Luffy Realizes He Still Has His Friends

    Yes, his attempt to save Ace was a bust. But in the most hopeless of times, Jimbei asks him what he still has. And Luffy remembers he still has his friends — friends he has been there for in the past and who will most certainly be there for him later. They are still there. And because they are still there, Luffy's existence has worth.

  28. Luffy Gets An Upgrade

  Reuniting with his crew in Sabaody, it doesn't take too long for Luffy to find a way to show off the results of two years of training. He's been doing some grinding, so his skill tree has some new branches. He's unlocked some new abilities, and he's reached his evolved form. When a Pacifista comes at the Monster Trio (Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji,) they beat the bear out of it.

29. Luffy Decides To Make Fish-Man Island His Territory

    For the most part, Luffy doesn't really care about the dominance sought by other powerful characters. But after he's gotten to know the citizens of Fish-Man Island and he sees the terror caused by Big Mom, he tells her straight-up he's gonna defeat her and take Fish-Man Island under his protection. It's the closest that Luffy has ever gotten to being a character in Goodfellas.

  30. Luffy Allies With Law

  And then, shortly after talking trash to Big Mom, Luffy teams up with Trafalgar Law in a plot to overthrow Kaido, another Emperor of the Sea. It's a real leap forward for Luffy. One day, you're just a kid from East Blue punching everyone that seems mean. The next, you're taking an active role in changing the power structure of the entire world. That's just how it is sometimes, though. As Logic once said, "Who can relate?"

  31. Luffy Has Been "Picking Fights All Along"

    Luffy knows he doesn't just tumble from one situation to another. He isn't just a poor guy caught up in the gambits of powerful evil forces. No, Luffy has definitely chosen to live a life where he will interfere with your best-laid plans if he feels inclined to. And if that includes a lot of fighting, well, so be it.

  32. Luffy Reunites With Sabo

  It's been pretty much non-stop action since the beginning of the Post Time Skip era, and that hasn't really allowed for a ton of emotional moments for Luffy. But when he reunites with Sabo in the coliseum and his scream comes out as a mix of happiness, confusion, and surprise, he finally gets one. Cry it out, buddy. We love ya.

  33. Luffy And His Allies Head For Doflamingo

  From orchestrating a breakout in Impel Down to creating a charge toward Doflamingo with all the allies he met in the tournament to win the Flame-Flame Fruit, Luffy has slowly gone from being the captain of a small crew on a ship with an animal head on the front to being the full-on leader of a Pirate Alliance. Luffy 2020 is what I say.

  34. Luffy Goes Fourth Gear

  Years after the reveal of Second and Third Gear, we get Fourth Gear, a power-up that even more freakishly transforms Luffy's body. It's not graceful, nor is it particularly beautiful to behold, but it gets the job done.

  35. Luffy Beats Doflamingo

  Doflamingo — a man that's been a thorn in the side of nearly everyone in the world for about 15 years of anime history — finally gets taken down. And still, it's only a stepping stone to Wano. Somehow, Eiichiro Oda creates these moments that seem like the biggest events in history, and yet, they're only just the beginning.

  36. Luffy Refuses To Fight Sanji

  Luffy knows Sanji is conflicted and not really a bad guy. And he's also aware of the fact that he'll be creating an even bigger issue if he fights back against his chef. So he just takes the kicks, hoping Sanji sees there's another way out of this. Sadly, it'll be a few episodes before he realizes that.

  37. Luffy Waits For Sanji — And Then Punches — Sanji

    Sanji finding Luffy because his captain's stomach is grumbling super loud is so cartoonish and lovely — because what is Sanji's role if not to feed his captain? Of course, Luffy enjoys Sanji's rain-soaked cookin' and then he punches Sanji for still being a twerp that won't admit what he really feels.

38. Luffy Clashes With Big Mom

    Luffy stood beside Whitebeard, but this is his first real showdown with a Yonko. And it doesn't go very well. Big Mom is easily able to block him, which shows that, while Luffy has come a long way, he's still got a bit farther to go.

  39. Luffy Places The Hat On Katakuri

  Much like the previous covering of Sandersonia's shame, Luffy covers Katakuri's mouth with his hat after their duel. The two combatants fought and earned each other's respect. And so Luffy leaves Katakuri with his pride.

  40. Luffy Knows He's Arrived In Wano Due To The Swords

    That giant baboon is using a sword? Obviously this must be Wano, the land of samurai. That's Luffy logic at its most pure. 

  41. Luffy Promises Tama She Will Not Be Hungry Again

  For the most part, heading to Wano seemed like a pretty impersonal act. The only reason he thought about going there in the first place was because Law seemed pretty confident it was a solid idea. But then he meets Tama and learns that she — along with most of the country — is starving. So his journey to take down Kaido gets some personal stakes. He's now shouldering the hopes of an entire group of people.

  42. Luffy Is Beaten By Kaido

  OK, so Round 1 didn't go so well. Luffy pummeled Kaido with everything he had and Kaido one-shotted him with a melee weapon attack. Luffy has to rethink his strategy and expand his move-set and maybe, with some luck, Round 2 will be a tad more even. I can't wait to see what Luffy moments we have in store when One Piece returns!

  What is your favorite Luffy moment? Do any on this list stand out to you? Let me know in the comments!

      Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

  By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[lady-charinette]

idk if you've done this already— and if you're still accepting ideas and such but— Lukanette: wherein Mari goes to one of Luka's gigs and be the supportive wife/gf that she is? also Mari designed the outfit Luka's wearing— and lowkey advertising her works (even if she's known djwjjcjwjdj) sobs in please thanks

Hey anon!! Thank you so much for the cool prompt! I loved it! I hope you'll like this piece, I wrote it late at night and I think there are some mistakes here and there, but I really hope it's okay-ish! Feel free to send more prompts my way! :3

Rocking their World

They were walking through a narrow corridor, the booming of the crowd was so loud it left the floor shaking.

Marinette sensed her husband's mild trepidation, his guitar was a bit too tightly wound around his neck and the constant rolling of his ring on his finger was too fast to be casual.

They were nearing the backstage area, people rushing left and right, lights of all colors flashing even through the blinds hiding the backstage area from the wild crowd.

Marinette smiled, dressed in a shirt representing her husband's band, the words 'wuw you papa' messily scrawled on the entire front of it, partly covering the band logo, but neither parents could care about that.

She grasped Luka's hand and stopped, feeling resistance before Luka finally stopped a step in front of her, turning back to look at her. "What's wrong, Marinette?" Concern twisted his handsome features and Marinette shook her head.

He still thought of others even when he was a mess.

She lovingly adjusted his shirt and jacket, checking the mic on his shirt, running a hand through his already messy hair to calm him.

It helped, if the deep exhale was any indication.

Part of his weight melted against her, Marinette's hands skillfully rubbing the singer's back, voice humming his song, one she thought of years ago on their wedding day, into his ear.

He sagged against her, strong arms coming up to press her tightly against himself, drawing energy from her silent strength. She was so strong, he still sometimes couldn't believe how lucky he managed to be in life.

Marinette kissed his cheek and the couple broke their embrace to stare at each-other. Luka took a deep breath, before he opened his eyes again and nodded.

The shorter woman grinned, hands resting on his chest, over his heart, where the previously wild pace settled into a more calming beat. "You'll be great Luka, just like you always are. You'll see, their attention will be all on you."

A smile stretched his lips and his aqua eyes turned impossibly soft, leaning down to lovingly kiss her forehead. "If I manage to just capture your attention, that's all I need."

A blush rose to her cheeks and the sight of her shyness managed to bring some of his confidence back, if the grin on his face was any indication.

Marinette playfully slapped his arm, slapping her own cheeks to curb the sudden wave of shyness, trying to ignore his laughter.

He was her husband for heaven's sake. She was supposed to be over blushing in front of him.

A gentle hand on the back of her head made her focus on him again, staring into aqua eyes that asked for permission, lips only a hair's breath away.

A smile curved her lips and her hands fisted his shirt, pulling him in close. They shared a long, slow kiss, giving each-other strength and support in actions than words.

When they broke apart, before her stood not the nervous musician but the confident rockstar she knew he was.

"Thank you, Nette." she smiled, raising her hand.

Luka mirrored her smile, raising his own hand enveloping her smaller one with his larger hand, wedding rings clinking together when their pinky fingers met.

It was a promise.

A promise to do his best and give his all.

A promise to cheer him on and support him all the way until the end.

Just like they did now, just like they always have.

They could hear the crowd's cheers dying down slowly as another announcement was made for the arrival of the next musician to take the stage and that was Luka's cue to go.

With a fluidity that spoke of years of trust, Marinette and Luka broke apart and walked in different directions, Luka to the stage, Marinette to the crowd.

It was showtime.

The crowd's defening roars increased when Luka's name fell from the announcer's lips, who quickly rushed off stage to escape from the loud screams and to give Luka the spotlight.

Tonight would be his solo performance in a while without his band, he just hoped he wouldn't mess up.

No, he wouldn't mess it up.

Not with Marinette's encouraging words still ringing in his ears and the warmth still blooming brightly in his heart.

He would do this.

He spoke into the microphone and he was surprised to hear his own voice with how loud the audience was. "Hey everyone, thanks for coming to my solo gig tonight. I hope you'll like this single, it's a new song I've been working on after the birth of my kids! Rock on!" he stepped back for a moment, the loud roars and cheers and screams even louder than before, bordering on eardrum breaking proportions.

Luka chuckled when he saw the banners and cloths held up high over people's heads.

'WE LOVE U MAN!'

'LUKA COUFFAINE 4 THE WIN!'

'I'M STILL SINGLE!'

'WE LOVE UR SONGS!!'

'CALL ME XXXX'

'VIPERION IS HOT! HOT! HOT!'

'YOUR KIDS AND WIFE ARE SO CUTE BRO!'

A particularly big one caught his eye and he had to back away from the mic to laugh.

In the middle right, a bit closer to the stage, there was a semi-large group of people wearing the familiar white unicorn masks he remembered Kitty Section wearing when they debuted.

And everyone was there too.

His sister, Rose, Mylene, her boyfriend Ivan, Alya and Nino, Adrien, Kagami, Alix, Kim, Max and of course the most important person, holding the biggest banner someone her size possibly could, with strength gained from years of being a hero.

His wife.

His gaze softened when he managed to catch her eyes and she stretched her arms as far as they could, waving the banner in the air.

That one was his favorite.

'ROCK THEIR WORLD, DEAR!'

Decorated with hearts, her signature flower design and his old Kitty Section mask drawn in the corner.

Luka grinned, taking out his favorite all time guitar pick, which never failed to bring him luck.

He had it custom made.

A picture of his wife and kids on the front, with his sister and mom on the back.

With a final breath, he strummed the pick across the strings of his guitar and the crowd boomed.

A little while later...

Luka Couffaine signed autographs with a smile, meeting each fan's eyes and making silly faces on photographs to make them memorable.

It was his third favorite thing after performing on stage to do.

His most favorite thing was currently running straight at him.

Marinette dived into his already waiting arms, body vibrating with energy, as if his song was still coursing through her veins.

She had a big grin on her face and her eyes shone like stars and Luka found himself falling for his wife all over again.

Their friends in the back were trying to fight their way passed the fans, the Gorilla and Fang, whom Jagged often allowed to accompany Adrien's bodyguard because they made a surprisingly good duo.

Luka still didn't understand how the odd friendship came to be, but it was always entertaining seeing the previously wild crowd of fans parting like the sea when a large hulking man and a equally sizable crocodile marched their way through them.

And then, the fans rounded on them, camera flashes and eager faces in their view.

"OMG! It's Marinette Couffaine-Cheng!!! LUKA IS WEARING HER DESIGN!" one fan screamed, obviously a fan of his wife too, if the red earrings on her ears and a shirt with her signature flower design was any clue.

Marinette laughed, smiling and also signing autographs, fans shouting praises.

Luka kept to the background but remained visible enough for his wife's handy work to be seen.

Everything down to his socks was designed by his wife. A black leather jacket with her pink and white flower design on the breast pocket with a green snake, too similar to Sass to be a coincidence, curling around the sleeves of the jacket. Underneath the jacket was a white shirt with the band's faces drawn in simple but artistic art lines, a nod to his old Jagged Stone shirt he used to wear in his youth.

On the front was the biggest head, his own, accentuated with blue lines, followed on either side by his sister's in purple, Rose's in pink, Ivan's in red, Adrien's in yellow and Alix's in green.

His pants were dark blue denims, ripped at the knees how he liked it, decorated with small subtle music notes here and there, not too many to be tacky, but enough to catch attention, in colors of white and light blue. Simple black boots covered his feet.

His hair, dyed teal blue near the ends, the root with his natural black and the very beginning tips which remained untouched by blue were covered by red instead, completed the look.

Red like a certain heroine's suit.

He smirked proudly at the rightful attention his wife gained, more and more of his fans immediately catering to Marinette, who accepted praise and compliments with a beaming smile and blushing cheeks. He was fully convinced most if not all of his fans were already his wife's, he was also convinced they loved her more than they did him and that was fine by him.

He loved her more than he could ever bring to love himself too.

He caught her flashing her wedding ring a few times in response to male fans with phone numbers plastered to their banners and Luka had to chuckle at that.

He was there to lead her back to their friends waiting patiently in the lounge of the hotel, after having signed some of their own autographs with their fans having accompanied Luka's gig tonight.

He was there when they finally hit the soft, inviting mattress of the hotel bed, chuckling like teenagers when they called their kids, babysat by Nathaniel and Marc, cheering at their parents for their father's performance and scolding them for staying up so late.

Marc had blushed to the roots of his hair for the scolding, with Luka trying to reassure him they weren't scolding him and Nathaniel shaking his head helplessly.

They knew how rowdy their kids could be, despite them being generally well-behaved and sweethearts. They'd inherited both of their parent's more wild streaks; Marinette's impulsiveness and Luka's rebelliousness.

With blown kisses and soft whispers of good night, with plentiful 'thank you's to Nathaniel and Marc for watching over them, they ended the video chat with their kids and set the phone aside.

With the much welcomed silence filling the room, Luka hissed when he rolled onto his back, stretching himself after the strain of the long night.

Marinette scooted closer and rested a hand on her husband's chest, the couple sighing deeply at the other's closeness.

She drew soothing circles on his naked skin, humming a soft tune.

No, not a soft tune, his tune.

He smiled and wrapped an arm around her, gathering her close and kissing his wife's head. "You were amazing Marinette."

She glanced up at him with an amused smile. "Me? You were the one with the hour long gig remember?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "No, I meant before it all started. I was nervous and you calmed me down before I made a fool of myself." He pressed another kiss to the top of her head. "You're always there for me and I can't thank you enough with words."

His wife giggled, raising herself up and kissing his nose before pecking his lips sweetly. "There are many other ways you can thank me other than with words."

Luka smiled and chuckled when his wife kissed him again and he felt like the world was right.

[raendown]

Pairing: None Word count: 4702 Chapter: 4/4 Rated: T+ Summary: Months after the village is built Izuna is near his breaking point. Peace is nice, don’t get him wrong, but he could do without the pale shadow that follows behind him everywhere he goes. All he wants is to understand. What the hell is Tobirama’s obsession with watching him?

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Chapter 4

Stumping in to his friend’s home the next day, the first thing Madara does is sweep the building with his senses, breathing a sigh of relief to find no other signatures smoldering away in some hidden corner. Hashirama has already promised that both Mito and Tobirama will be busy with other engagements tonight but Madara knows as much as the next person how quickly plans can change.

Following the voice that calls to him from down the hall brings him in to the kitchen where he finds Hashirama with his hair pulled back and a frilly green apron tied around his front. It’s an incredibly domestic sight that drives an unexpected sliver through Madara heart. Not that he yearns for this man in any way; he won’t deny that Hashirama is attractive, any blind idiot can see that, but the giant stump is his best friend and Madara has never desired anything more from him. Rather the pang in his heart is a quiet wanting for something like this of his own. Now that he’s achieved the peace he always dreamed of he realizes more and more with every passing day that there still remains one glaring emptiness in his life. He’s lonely.

That’s not what he’s come here for, though. Nor are the questions in his mind the entire reason he’s come either but they are the foremost issue pressing at him and much more important than his desire to find a life partner.

“Just in time!” Hashirama chirps. “Could you set the table please? I forgot to before I started cooking and I don’t want the sauce to burn if I step away from it.”

“Hmph. What a great host, making me work for my dinner.” Even as he grumbles Madara moves to pull bowls and cups out of the cupboard. His eyes fall on the kettle steaming away and he quickly swaps the juice cups for teacups. Green tea with dinner sounds amazing after working himself in to several headaches with paperwork all afternoon, trying to coordinate several different projects while people swan in and out of his office indiscriminately.

“I’m just a little turned around tonight. When Mito told me that she was going to dinner with her friend in the Akimichi clan I thought ‘that’s alright, I’ll have dinner with Tobi’. But then Tobi said he was doing some sort of inspection? I think? He’s staying late at the office anyway and I didn’t want to be lonely so I thought this would be the perfect time to have a nice dinner with you!” As he chatters away he continues chopping vegetables and stirring in his pan, barely even seeming to draw breath. “Then this morning Mito said that her dinner was cancelled since her friend I think picked up a cold or something and that made me worry; you and her don’t really get along that well. So here I am trying to run around and figure out something else to cook that would be fast so we could all eat then you and I could go off on our own somewhere but then she got called over to have dinner with a different friend and I’m just–”

Madara cuts him off before the flood of words can drown them both. “Flustered, yeah, I can see that.” His companion sends him a painfully grateful look.

“You’re always so understanding, my friend.”

“Ugh.”

Doing his best to ignore the fond smile the other man directs at him, Madara sets the dishes out and retrieves the kettle only moments after it boils, transferring the water in to a teapot to properly brew them a batch of green tea. Then he sits himself at the table with a sigh and decides that subtlety is for people worried about offending others.

“Can I ask you about your brother?”

Hashirama's smile turns to curiosity. “Tobirama?”

“No, the other brother that you’ve hidden for years. I’ve uncovered your secret.” When his friend only continues to stare at him with a blank face Madara rolls his eyes. Sarcasm is wasted on this idiot. “Yes Tobirama. What is his deal?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“What is his deal? What’s his problem? Did you know that he’s been stalking Izuna around the village since we all moved in here?”

Judging by the look on Hashirama's face he hadn’t known that. Something pops in the pan behind him but the tension between his shoulders is painfully visible as he turns around, voice drifting back across the kitchen with an undertone of caution.

“Can you give me a little more detail?”

“More than you want, probably. I can’t believe you haven’t noticed this! Every time my brother’s in the tower yours is right there up his ass, staring at him from across the room, standing so close they’re practically breathing the same air. And when he’s not in the tower it’s even worse! Tobirama follows him all around the village like he thinks he’s being sneaky – except he doesn’t even bother to conceal his presence! That’s probably the biggest insult of the whole affair!”

As he listens Hashirama removes their dinner from the stove with slow movements. In a strangely quiet voice he asks, “How long did you say that this had been going on?”  

“From the day we all got here, as I understand it. I don’t remember if he was doing anything funny the few times we saw him before the migration, neither of us thought to pay any particular attention to him, but I know for sure he’s been stalking Izuna for months now.” Madara scowls. “For the most part Izu’s just confused. Irritated. He’s gotten pretty riled up a few times and said something about beating some sense in to his little shadow but an incident like that could be detrimental to clan relations right now.”

“Has Tobi seemed angry at all?” Hashirama's expression says that he already knows the answer but needs to ask the question anyway.

“No. Well, not at Izuna. He looks really pissed at whoever gets close to my brother and that’s probably the weirdest part. It’s started a few different rumors but Izuna’s convinced that it means Tobirama wants to kill him still and that he wants to do it himself.” As much as Madara can follow the sketchy logic behind that idea he still can’t make himself believe it.

Which is why he feels a very brief flash of vindication when Hashirama shakes his head to deny the half-assed theory. It’s always nice to be right, especially as an older sibling. The flash is very short-lived, however, in the face of how deeply troubled his best friend looks with every word he takes in.

“You’ve noticed some things that I haven’t it seems. I-…I should have been paying more attention. Especially with-” The words cut themselves off for the man to let out a morose sigh.

“Go on?”

“If he doesn’t seem angry then how would you say he does look?”  

“Uh?” Madara scratches the back of his head, trying to picture a face in his mind that he’s honestly never concentrated very hard on. “If I had to put a name to it? Sad. He doesn’t look violent or yearning or angry, he just looks, I don’t know, resigned I suppose.”

As though a great weight has just fallen upon his shoulders Hashirama closes his eyes and trembles. “Oh Tobi…”

“There’s something we’ve been missing about this, isn’t there?”

For a long time there is no answer. In silence Hashirama plates their dinner, his eyes far away from the food he carries over to the table. Only the fact that such a mood is incredibly unusual for him holds Madara's tongue until finally he watches the man fade back in to reality looking somehow even sadder than before. Wetness gathers and clings to his eyelashes, so different from the way he is normally given to massive crocodile tears streaming freely down his cheeks.

When he speaks again it is soft and solemn. His words are heavy with a pain that Madara both can and can’t understand, the pain of almost in a way he’s never quite experienced, a pain borne in the name of another you cannot help.

“During the final battle between the Uchiha and the Senju, I’m sure you remember what stopped the fighting.”

“The apparition,” Madara breathes. He can hardly believe that he’s forgotten.

“It was no apparition.” Hashirama drops his gaze to the chopsticks before him, fiddling at the ends without picking them up. “That really was my Tobi. Older but the same. He- it was- it’s hard to explain. You know how smart he is and how he likes to research seals. Apparently years from now he will – did? – invent a seal allowing him to travel back in time and he used it to…to…”

Once more the words stop coming but this time Madara understands as he listens to Hashirama's voice crack and break on a muffled sob.

“Take your time,” he murmurs. He jolts when Hashirama finally meets his eyes, stomach clenching as he takes in the pain and helpless despair staring back at him. He has seen that look before.  

“He travelled back in time to kill himself.”

“What!?” Madara sways in his seat with disbelief.

Hashirama brings his hands in close to wring them together. “It’s the truth! And he said the most awful things! Madara, he saved Izuna’s life that day. He – the one from the future – he said something about killing Izuna and that it ‘broke the world’. Said that he would rather kill himself so that I could keep my dream!”

So many different emotions and thoughts and reactions all clash together in Madara's chest he has to clamp one hand over his stomach for fear that it all might come spilling out over the table with shock. It’s too much to take in at once. He remembers that they’d had their speculations, of course, over what had really been going on that day. Yet he also remembers that it had seemed so unimportant in the face of peace, of lifelong dreams coming true, securing the future for his clan and the only brother left at his side.

“Let me see if I’ve got this right,” he mumbles. “There were two Tobirama because one was him from the future. He was trying to kill himself in the past.”

“Yes! That’s why he disappeared! Or that’s what Tobi says, anyway.”

“Right. And he was trying to kill himself because…he didn’t want…to kill Izuna? But he didn’t kill Izuna.” Madara scrunches his face with confusion, not entirely following. He distinctly remembers seeing his brother this morning and the man was most certainly not dead.

“No I know that. That’s the point. I told you it’s complicated!”

When all he does is cock his head to one side and frown Hashirama sighs and wrings his hands tighter.

“In the life that the older Tobirama lived he did kill Izuna in that battle. But because of that Izuna’s death somehow kicked off a different set of events that led to this village failing, I think. The destruction of my dream. So he came back in time to stop himself from killing Izuna…by killing himself instead. For me.” Another sob cracks his voice and Hashirama closes his eyes.

Madara can understand why. The reality of what he hasn’t known comes crashing down over his head like a mountain crumbling to bury him underneath the hurts he’s had no idea his friend is carrying around. It’s hard to decide what to freak out about first. Should he give in to the shadow of panic that Izuna dies in another world, would have in this one if not for the future’s intervention? Or should he close his eyes in solemn solidarity with the idea of having another love you so much they will damn themselves to lift you in to the light? Either way he has a very strong urge to go home and hug his brother tightly.

Although he isn’t sure he could bear to explain why at the moment.

“So he’s...what? Following Izu around and trying to find a way to apologize? Atone?” Guilt touches him for the way Hashirama flinches at his words but he needs to know as much as he can and this is a conversation he doesn’t wish to put his friend through a second time.

“No, I don’t think so.” Hashirama frowns. “I should have been paying more attention. He seemed to be doing so much better since we came here.”

“Well then what do you think he’s up to? There has to be some kind of reason he’s stalking my brother and I get that it’s probably connected to what happened but I can’t see exactly how.”

“If I know my brother then…then I think he’s trying to protect Izuna. He was so worried that something might still happen, convinced that if Izuna died in any way it would bring everything we’ve built crashing down. It would be so like him to take it upon himself to make sure that doesn’t happen. Oh, my Tobi…”

As Hashirama crumples in his seat Madara fights through the ever-increasing levels of shock keeping him rigid where he sits, dragging himself up out of the fog through sheer force of will to walk around the table and awkwardly pat his friend on the back. Comfort has never been a great skill of his. Trying to do it while he is still reeling himself leaves him feeling more awkward than ever but at least Hashirama seems to appreciate his graceless efforts. After taking a few deep breaths to collect himself the man turns to look up at him with shining grateful eyes that immediately send Madara scurrying back to his side of the table and practically throwing himself in to the chair as though it might shield him from any possibility of an unwarranted hug.

“Protecting him, that’s unexpected,” Madara admits once he is settled. “I think I might have jokingly suggested that but I would never have believed he was really playing guard dog.”

“My brother is not a guard dog!”

“He’s appointed himself as one,” he corrects, perhaps a bit harshly.

“Ah. Yeah. I suppose you’re right. He seemed to be doing so much better since we came to the village. And he was talking to me so well before, confiding. I never would have thought he’d slid back this far.” Hashirama shakes his head.

Loathe as Madara is to be the one pointing it out, he has to ask. “Are you sure he was confiding in you? Or was he just putting you off because he didn’t want you to carry his burdens?”

The widening of Hashirama's eyes tears at his heart and he is more than happy to let the conversation taper off for a short while, both of them eating in silence. He regrets starting their night off with such a terrible subject, mentally kicking himself for his lack of patience, making it even more of a relief when his friend eventually begins to haltingly murmur about something that happened at the tower that afternoon.

He does his best to be a better friend for the rest of their visit. By the time he goes home a couple of hours after dinner Hashirama has stopped looking as though he might burst in to tears at a moment’s notice, so there is that. Tobirama is probably in for a nasty surprise of a conversation when his brother catches up with him and yet Madara can’t bring himself to feel guilty for that. If the man truly is so caught up in his obsession it will probably do him some good to have the one he trusts most knock some sense in to that spiky head of his.

Walking home in the dark, Madara closes his eyes to let his feet continue on the path they know by heart while he stretches his senses out, picking through the confusing mass of signatures as best he can until he finds the one that burns the brightest in his eyes. It comes as no surprise to find Izuna waiting for him at home. Since he knows that his brother is probably waiting impatiently for the answers they’ve been wanting so badly he picks up his pace and hurries along, nodding to the voices that murmur greetings without stopping to chat as Hashirama has been encouraging him to do lately.

Building a rapport with their citizens can wait. This is a more immediate issue.

Izuna springs off the couch as soon as the front door opens, immediately freezing and sliding back down on to the cushions in an effort to seem as though he is only changing positions. Madara hopes he remembers to tease the idiot for that later.

“So how was dinner?” his brother murmurs with affected nonchalance.

“He knew the reason, to answer the question you really wanted to ask.”

Watching his younger sibling literally trip over his own feet trying to lunge off the couch a second time is just the sort of thing that Madara needs to lift his own mood after spending all evening trying to repair someone else’s. Izuna scowls and grumbles in to the tatami mats, crawling across to roll himself under the kotatsu blanket instead and glare until Madara joins him, wheezing with his efforts to contain the barks of laughter trying to spill out.

Amusement can only last so long in the face of such serious news, however. Only a minute or so after he sits down and tucks himself in Madara is talking a deep breath to sober himself again as he tries to sort through everything he’s learned and figure out how to pass it on.

Izuna listens with the sort of serious expression he normally reserves for war meetings and battlefields, brows drawn towards each other in a deep frown that wrinkles the sides of his mouth as well. Though it isn’t exactly surprising that he is able to keep himself from interrupting his silence is almost creepy considering how vocal he’s been about this entire affair since it started. All the frantic energy that he’s clearly been holding inside as he waits at home draining away slowly, bit by bit, gradually replaced by a different sort of tension with everything that Madara has to say. When the tale is over he crawls around the table to lean against his brother’s side.

“Well,” he murmurs, “at least he’s not secretly in love with me.”

“That’s all you have to say!?” Madara squawks.

“Honestly I don’t know what to say to any of that. Somehow the fate of this village rests of my survival? That’s a little strange to think about even if I can sort of imagine why.”

Brought up short, Madara looks down at the head nuzzling in to his shoulder. “You can?”

“Yeah, easily. If you lost me can you really say that you wouldn’t go a little ape shit?” Izuna looks up at him and waits until he concedes with a wry nod then adds, “Now imagine if you were somehow talked in to making peace with the man who killed me.”

The very thought makes him shudder. It’s impossible to imagine a world where he could allow himself to be somehow tricked in an action so terrible – and yet he realizes with a jolt that this is exactly what they have asked of both their clans, of every clan who agrees to move here and call themselves a shinobi of Konohagakure. All that differentiates himself from so many others is the penance he would pay for the powers gifted to him by the Sharingan. Izuna is right; the death of his most precious person would drive him over the brink of madness. Perhaps not right away but the descent would be inevitable from that moment and the process made faster if he were forced to interact with the one who took so much from him.

“So how do you want to handle this?” Madara asks, shaking away the what-ifs he hopes he never has to deal with.

“First thing I think I need to do is go scream in his stupid face. What the hell is he thinking? I mean this whole thing is crazy but if what he did to – what did you call it? – break the world was to kill me in that battle then when his older self came back through time to attempt sui-murder-cide then wouldn’t that have, like, changed the course of events right then? Things should be fine now. I think.” Scrunching up his brow, Izuna’s eyes fall to one side as he tries to think his way through what he’s just said.

Having had a few more hours to wrap his head around all these strange concepts gives Madara the confidence to nod that his sibling has spoken correctly. “That’s how I understand it.”

“Right, so then everything should be fine now. No need to panic. Definitely no need to be following me around like some overenthusiastic babysitter.”

“Be gentle. We both know that I’m the one who’ll have to listen to Hashirama if you aren’t.”

“No promises.” Izuna sits up straight with a sharp look in his eyes.

Madara rolls his own. “At least wait until tomorrow then. He’s probably going to have his hands full with his own brother tonight and I doubt either of us want to be around for that flood of tears.”

Pausing for both of them to shudder, Izuna leans over to rest against his shoulder again.

“Good point,” he admits. “I suppose it can wait until tomorrow. He’s always right there when I get in to the tower so kami knows he probably comes looking for me in the mornings even before I think to check whether he’s around. The second I find him, though, he’s getting the third degree.”

“If you think you can pin him down long enough to listen then more power to you,” Madara scoffs.

As it turns out, the task is both easier and harder than either of them expect. For once in his life Tobirama comes when he’s called, stepping in to the office when Izuna hails him the next morning and looking entirely unperturbed to be shut in to a room with two determined looking Uchiha. Now that he knows to look for the signs Madara notices the man even relaxing a small bit. If not for what he’s learned recently he might never guess that relief is from seeing Izuna locked away safe from the rest of the world.

When the focus of his obsession demands to be left alone Tobirama refuses him flat out with no hesitation, not even a hint of surprise. Clearly there had indeed been another conversation the night before.

“I can handle myself,” Izuna groans after the two of them have gone in circles of demand and refusal several times.

“Your skill indeed is a close match to my own but this is not something I am willing to chance.”

“For fuck’s sake, why?”

Tobirama’s answer brings silence like the cutting edge of a blade.

“Your survival is essential to the survival of my brother’s dream and I will do whatever I have to in order to protect that. If that means I must give my life in place of yours then so be it.” For such profound words he speaks with the lightness of a man who has spent hours considering them. The ease of total belief in a chosen path.

In the wake of his declaration neither of the Uchiha siblings are able to find words for quite some time. Tobirama, strangely, waits contentedly as they try to find their bearings. Whether because he feels better here where he can keep an eye on the one he so desperately needs to protect or simply because he wants to get this over with now so no one will track him down again later, all he does is fold his arms and wait with the air of a man not particularly in a hurry to be anywhere else. Which is ridiculous. He probably has more to do than either of them put together. How he manages to complete his duties around all the stalking is just yet another mystery.

After several minutes have passed Izuna is the first to recover, visibly bracing himself to speak.

“For your brother, huh? I guess I can understand that motivation. I don’t like it, still think you’re insane and need some help, but I can understand. Look, if you’re going to follow me around like a creep anyway at least just come sit in the room with me or whatever.”

“What!?” Madara is jolted back in to motion with indignation. “You’re just going to let him keep stalking you!?”

“He’s going to do it anyway! At least if he stops pretending to be sneaky about it, I don’t know, it would just lower the creepy factor for me.” Izuna shrugs.

Tobirama’s head falls to one side as he contemplates the offer, a little dubious, but in the end all he does is nod and turn to leave without another word. He has an obsession but he also has things to do and when they’re all piled on top of each other here in the tower it’s only too easy for him to monitor Izuna’s chakra for any signs of distress or danger. Considering his sensitivity it would not be outside the bounds of his ability to keep track of every chakra signature that enters and leaves the tower to watch for possible threats.

“Are you insane?” Madara snaps the moment the door is closed, uncaring whether or not Tobirama can still hear them through the wood. His sibling rubs at the space between his brows with a long suffering expression.

“Maybe, who knows? I meant it when I said I could sort of understand his motivation but…think about it. Rather than following behind all the time or hiding in the shadows, if he’s there in the room then it would all feel a lot more normal.” The hand falls for his eyes to linger on the doorway. “And if he’s there in the room then maybe we can show him that I really can handle myself. There’s nothing for him to worry about. Or maybe convince him to get help or some shit.”

The two of them share a look. Madara holds the other’s eyes for as long as he can but in the end he is forced to concede to this as well. It isn’t like he has any better plans himself.

Eventually Izuna wanders off back to his own office as well, leaving Madara alone to stand by the window and look out over the buildings around them without truly seeing anything. All he sees is the sky, blue and never-ending, a freedom he might never have been able to admire again if not for the last piece of his family left in this world. Izuna isn’t the only one who can see merit in Tobirama’s motivations, hard as that is to admit.

Something dark and heavy lies faint on the edge of the horizon, a storm that looks to be coming their way. As he examines the shape of it Madara can’t help his inner Hashirama from comparing it to the climate hanging over the near future. Life promises to be very strange for a while, stranger even than it has been for the last few months, and it chafes that none of them can predict what the outcome will be. He knows as well as any farmer that a storm does not have to be a bad thing. Crops need the rain, summer heat needs to be broken, assassination targets need to be driven off the road in to vulnerable places like roadside inns. Many things might follow a storm.

He can only hope that when the rains pass the sun will come again for all of them. Strangely, against everything he has been raised to believe, he finds himself hoping the same for Tobirama.

[beerecordings]

Drown, Bury, Plant

Part 7 of My Brother’s Keeper. (Part 1 l Previous l Next)

My taglist is a separate post, so let me know if you would like to be added or removed! I hope you guys like this one. I rewrote it so many times cause I have so many things I want to set up!  There’s so much I want to happen! This plot stretches out across the mountains and every chapter is one more lamp at my feet.

HEY @aether-mae MADE SOME INCREDIBLE ART FOR THIS VERY CHAPTER BASED ON JAMIE’S DRAWINGS AT THE VERY BEGINNING and I love it so much. You can see it here

Should we go back to Anti and Jameson? To the demon faeboy and the stolen brother who is struggling, struggling, struggling under the black-pain power that has always existed around his throat? What’s the point in struggling, puppet? Go to sleep.

Anti can taste Jameson's despair. Like charcoal.

He takes a deep breath.

Jameson is curled up in the corner of the motel room, ragged and tired, drawing in his little coloring book, which he snatched out of the backpack from between a stolen laptop and a covered mirror. He uses his twelve-pack of crayons so erratically that Anti once tested him for color blindness, but he's no worse off than the rest of his brothers. It's just the way he draws: hard strikes of red, black, blue, and green, every color shoved together side-by-side, always neat within the lines and steady-handed, but wild as a plague.

Fucked up kid, Anti thinks, watching him scratch venom green onto a cartoon character's mouth. Not that he cares. As far as he's concerned, Jamie is almost exactly as he should be. He just needs to smooth a few edges out, and then they'll be ready.

“Dapper,” he says.

Jameson looks up. His mouth and his moustache are lopsided with concentration. His eyelashes are longer than Henrik's. He gives Anti a small, shaky smile. Rising to his feet, Jamie approaches his brother the same way he would approach a bobcat in a trap.

“Come here,” says the glitch, beckoning with stolen hands. “Come here, you need to listen.”

Jameson's heart flutters. He moves carefully onto the motel bed, perching anxious beside his brother.

“What's got you so riled up?” Anti asks.

“Nothing,” signs Jamie.

“Bad dreams,” says Anti.

“No,” says Jameson, and then a hand is on his throat. Anti's eyes burn cold and black, his teeth narrow and gritted. Jamie chokes and tries to cry out.

“Don't lie to me,” he hisses.

“Sorry!” Dapper signs frantically, choking. “Sorry, I'm sorry. Yes, bad dreams.”

“About what?”

And Jamie doesn't want to talk, Jamie doesn't want to say –

“The doctor,” says Dapper. “And Mr. Jack.”

Anti lets him go. Dapper shakes. For a long moment, there is only fear and silence.

“Angry?” ask Dapper's trembling hands.

“Come here,” says Anti. “Come here.”

Usually Jameson loves to to be held by Anti, to be soothed by him, to have his hair and his eyes stroked, but now he feels revulsion heavy as a six-in-the-morning fog, cold as the stomach of a toad, and he does not want to obey.

Why does Anti always touch him? Why is Anti always watching?

“Bad dreams indeed,” Anti growls, and grabs Jameson by the hair, yanking him down beside him. Dapper swallows down a silent sob.

“We don't have time for you to be doing silly things. I need you to listen.” Anti's voice is too sweet now. If it were syrup it would make Dapper gag. “Dapper, listen. Jackie's coming.”

Fear like a firework.

Jackie's coming?

It can't be. It can't be. It can't be the day Jackie finally catches them.

“He's coming? He found us? How?”

He's been warned a hundred times, a thousand times. Jackie the pretender, Jackie the soldier, Jackie the killer. Jackie the thief.

“Don't be scared,” says Anti, but Dapper can't help it. He's never been able to whimper, but he can reach out to wrap his arms around Anti's neck, put his head down, and tremble against his collarbone.

Anti is a monster, but he's a familiar monster, and in the face of a terror all new, the fears of an hour past fade away like early dew. Anti knows. Anti calculates. Anti shapes.

“I don't want Jackie to find us,” says Dapper, hardly taking his hands from his brother's shoulders to speak. “I don't want him to hurt us.”

“I know,” Anti whispers. “It's okay. Everything will be okay. But we're in for a fight, alright, Dapper puppy? We're in for a scuffle. If you want to get out alive, you need to do exactly what I tell you. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Anti, I understand.”

“You'll do as I tell you?”

“Yes, Anti.”

Anti sighs, soft and content. He can make terror soften and melt like butter. With Dapper, who has so long been his, it hardly takes any power at all. He runs his stolen fingers through Dapper's hair and savors the feeling of his brother's trembling hands clutching at his shirt.

Anti hums a Christmas song. Dapper watches his black eyes, which swallow all color, open and close, open and close, steady as the beating of a clock. He's grateful for the comfort, grateful for the warmth, grateful for the blanket of ink that drips over the folds of his brain. Oh, he's dizzy, but Anti holds him.

“Baby boy,” Anti murmurs, touching his throat. He is a crocodile, and he drags the little one into deeper and deeper waters. “Darling brother. You look tired, Dap. Are you tired?”

Dapper smiles sweet and confused. He didn't hear the question, but it's wonderful to be the center of Anti's attention. Wonderful to have hands on his ribs and in his hair. Wonderful, wonderful, to look into Anti's eyes.

Anti leans down and presses their foreheads together, singing against his mouth.

“Silent night, holy night... how long have we been together, puppy?”

A breath. Henrik's blue mouth kisses Dapper's nose and cheeks. Dapper shivers, but not from the cold. He's warm and tired. The whole world has gone soft and sweet at the edges.

“Months and months. A long time,” he says, reaching out to touch his brother's face. He strokes Anti's cheeks and tries to hum back, but he can't make a sound.

“And you've always been mine, haven't you?”

He has. Or he thinks so anyway. He's always been safe in Anti's hands. And this is easy, to fall. To let everything drain away like water in the earth. This is easy.

“Yes, Anti, yes.” His eyes droop.

“You always will be mine. Look at me, Jameson. Look at me.”

Dapper looks up. Anti's eyes are black and deeper than the stomach of the sea.

Fear, doubt, memory fades, and Dapper begins to forget. Why do strange dreams matter? Why does the doctor? All there's ever been is Anti.

Realizing he can't move isn't frightening. His head rests against Anti's shoulder, staring up, barely breathing. Dapper is consumed.

“You want to do what I tell you,” says Anti.

“I want to do what you tell me.”

“You don't know your name.”

“I don't know my name. I don't know my brothers. Just you, Anti. Just you.”

Anti takes hold of his shoulders and lays him down on the bed. Dapper stares at the ceiling, struggling to breathe. “Go to sleep,” whispers Anti. “Go to sleep, puppet.”

He kisses Dapper's cheeks, and his little brother is unconscious before Anti can draw his cold mouth away.

The air tastes like copper and smoke. Anti breathes in deep and giggles.

“What a good boy you are,” he says. His voice is a dead snake, and his laughter echoes from every side. He puts aside delusions of affection and lets his power soak the whole room in black and red. “Listen close, mo stoirín, because I have plans for you.”

Someone stumbles in the hall and Anti stiffens, but only for a moment. There's time yet. It will take Jackie some hours to reach them. By the time he does, everything will be ready. He turns back to Dapper and leans over his still body, touching his neck with frigid hands.

“You'll do as I tell you,” he says. Dapper's heart beats a slow tick-tock against Anti's skin. “You were created with my power filling up your pale eyes and tearing at the ends of your fingers. You were only ever made to be mine.”

He grabs Dapper's wrists and squeezes hard, digging blood from beneath his flesh, his teeth gritted with fury.

“I don't care if you pretend to be theirs until you've found him. But once you do, you will remember yourself. You'll remember! Disobey me and you will find yourself digging the life out of your own fragile heart. I taught you how to use a knife for a reason. Your hands belong to me. You belong to me, Jameson Jackson, not to him. You belong to me and you always will.”

He puts a knife in his brother's hand. Slowly, Dapper's fingers close around it. Slowly, his mouth opens up a blank smile, and ink seeps into his eyes.

“Tonight you'll put on a good show, puppet,” Anti says. “You'll fight, you'll thrash, you'll do your very very best to scream, my little attack dog. You can have a savor of this furious power I keep in my chest. But afterwards? When they bring you with them?”

Passion makes his chest burn and blood floods Henrik' throat. Shaking with joy and with hatred, Anti laughs and swallows back thick mouthfuls of copper. It's a cold night and the stars have never been darker.

Anti places his cold mouth at the base of Dapper's ear.

“Find Jack, Jameson,” he whispers. “Find Jack, and lead me to him.”

[swanqueeneverafter]

What Dreams May Come, Pt.20

Hook’s Dreamscape. Storybrooke. The Jolly Roger. (While Hook examines Excalibur, Mr. Gold climbs aboard the ship.) Hook: (Sheathing the sword:) “I wasn't sure you'd show.” Mr. Gold: “And miss my chance to take your other hand?” Hook: “No, this won't do. This has to be a fair fight. I can't have your surviving family members blame this loss on your limp.” (Hook uses his Dark One powers to heal Mr. Gold’s leg.) Mr. Gold: (Tossing his cane away:) “It's been centuries since I stood here a mortal.” Hook: “Oh, you mean when I took Milah? I remember thinking that day, what type of sad little man is too afraid to fight for his own wife?” Mr. Gold: “Yeah, well, I'm not afraid anymore. I know I have to fight for the people I love.” Hook: “Don't you mean die for the people you love?” (Draws Excalibur.) Mr. Gold: “We shall see.” (Mr. Gold attacks first and the duel is on. They are pretty evenly matched until Hook side steps Mr. Gold and the older man falls down the steps. Advancing with powerful thrusts, Hook eventually brings Mr. Gold to a knee. Then, suddenly, Mr. Gold thrusts his sword into Hook’s stomach, impaling him.) Hook: “Oh! (Chuckles:) We can do this all day. But until you have Excalibur, it won't make a lick of difference. (Killian uses his hook to cut into Mr. Gold as he pushes him away:) They say the first cut is the deepest. Well, they lied. (Stands over Gold, pointing Excalibur at him:) Well, I have to hand it to you, Crocodile. You lasted a lot longer than I expected. If you'd fought me with such vigor back in the day, I might have given you your wife back.” Darkness: “What are you waiting for, pirate? Finish him.” (Mr. Gold uses Hook being distracted to let loose a sandbag, which hits Hook from above. Mr. Gold grabs Excalibur and stands over Killian.) Hook: “Well, get on with it, Crocodile.” Mr. Gold: “There's nothing I'd like better than to run you through. But I think... I think I'd rather let you live, knowing for the rest of your life that I bested you.” Hook: “Today.” (Hook disappears in a red puff of smoke, while Mr. Gold throws the sword to the ground.)

Storybrooke. Present. Morning. (Awakened by the sunlight pouring through the curtains, Emma groans and rolls over, reaching out a hand for Regina. Feeling only sheets, Emma lifts her head in time to see her wife returning to their room carrying a tray of food.) Regina: (Smiling:) "Breakfast in bed." Emma: "Hey, I should be doing that." Regina: "Well you can get it next time. Here." (Taking the tray, Emma places it at the foot of the bed before helping Regina lower herself back against the pillows.) Emma: (Bringing the tray laden with food back up:) "This looks delicious." Regina: (Smiles:) "Now that neither of us have anywhere to be, I thought I'd do something special." Emma: (Taking a bite of toast:) "Yeah, but now I feel like such a- Ooh, I know. Move over a little." (With some maneuvering, Regina finds herself sitting in the middle of the bed while Emma puts one of her pillows under her feet.) Regina: "Emma, what-" Emma: "Foot rub! The book mentioned something about them." Regina: (Chuckles:) "No, I mentioned it. Several times actually." Emma: "Yeah, well now I'm taking the hint. (Begins massaging the soles of Regina's feet:) Hows that?" Regina: "Wonderful. (Groans:) You know, foot rubs are good for anytime, not just during pregnancy." Emma: "Is that so?" Regina: (Enjoying the attention:) "Mmhmm." Emma: "Great, so you can do mine next." (They share a smile, Regina buttering her own slice of toast.) Regina: "Henry's not home. His bed wasn't slept in either. I'm not sure I like him spending so much time in the dream world. We don't know what he's doing in there." Emma: "I do." Regina: "You do?" Emma: (Casually rubbing her wife's feet:) "Yep. I knew you'd be curious sooner or later, so I asked him." Regina: "And?" Emma: "Well, he didn't tell me any specifics, but he's basically living out his fantasies. Sword fighting, danger, romance, adventure. Being the hero in his own story. Who knows, maybe he finally kissed the girl." Regina: (Sitting up:) "Girl? What girl?" Emma: "Um, well he didn't say anything, but I kinda got the impression there's a girl involved. Hey, relax, it's not like-" Regina: "Start from the beginning. Tell me everything, and keep rubbing." Henry's Dreamscape. Dungeons. The Next Morning. (Ella stands over a still slumbering Henry.) Ella: "Good morning, sunshine." Henry: (Turning towards her:) "Ow. (Holding his head:) Hi." Prisoners: (Also standing over him:) "How are you?" Henry: “Oh, God. Ow.” Ella: “Rough night?” Henry: (Sitting up:) “I don't remember what happened.” Jester: “You said her pretty brain exploded and went all over her face. And you tried to kiss her.” Henry: (Sighs:) “Well, that's the least of our problems. I think I might have ruined our only chance, and now I don't know what to do.”

Gareth: (Entering:) “Good thing I do. (To Richard:) Wake up, sire. We've come to get you out of here.” King Richard: (Rising from his bed:) “Oh, God. (Stands:) Well, I knew you cared.” Gareth: (To guard:) “Take him outside.” King Richard: “This place is horrible.” Ella: “All right, everyone, take only the bare essentials. We can always pick up odds and ends on the road.” Gareth: “None of you are coming, except you.” Henry: “What?” Gareth: “You're coming with me.” Henry: “I'm not going anywhere, not without everyone in here.” Gareth: (Grabbing his arm:) “You don't have a choice, son.” (Quickly, Henry kicks Gareth in the gut, then slams his head into the cell door, knocking him down.) Henry: (To Ella:) “Listen, I remember what I said last night, and I meant every word. I think you're the most wonderful... (Ella kisses him:) I think I'm falling in love.” (Suddenly, Gareth hits him from behind with a chair.) Gareth: (To Ella:) “Nice kiss. I hope he remembers it. Come on, you.” Ella: (As Gareth drags an unconscious Henry from the dungeons:) “Henry, no! Please, Gareth!” Hook's Dreamscape. (Hook stands alone at the edge of the water, staring out at the lake when the Darkness joins him.) Darkness: "So, after spending centuries quelling your bloodlust, you threw yourself right back into that darkness, quite literally, for your chance at revenge. How did it feel? Oh, that's right, you failed. (Giggles:) Even with the power of the Darkness you couldn't get the job done!" Hook: "Quiet!" Darkness: "Oh, no no no, dearie. Now is the time for you to be listening to me. Because you see, if you can't bring yourself to kill your enemy now, in a dream world, where none of it matters, then how can you possibly think you're incapable of change?" Hook: (Turning to him:) "What?" Darkness: "All of this is happening inside your head. You should be able to do whatever you desire. And yet, you couldn't kill your Crocodile. Could it be then, that what you crave more than retribution, is a chance to atone for your past?" Hook: "I can't bring my father back... or David's. Nor any of the countless men I killed on my quest for revenge." Darkness: "No, but there is someone in this world you can help. And, perhaps in doing so, it will allow you to embrace your own future, free from the shadows of your past."

Storybrooke. Present. Heritage Park. (Strolling through the park, Regina and Emma walk hand in hand towards a bench and take a seat. Watching as Regina kicks off her heels and sighs in relief, Emma chuckles.) Emma: "Don't you own any comfortable shoes?" Regina: "What, and have you tower over me more than you already do?" Emma: "It can't be good for you or the baby." Regina: (Curling her toes, wincing:) "It wasn't mentioned in the book." Emma: "Yeah, because the guy probably didn't think anyone was crazy enough to wear heels while pregnant." Regina: "Oh hush. There was no way I was going to visit the leaders of the united realms while wearing Uggs." Emma: "Who the hell cares what shoes you wear?" Regina: "I do." Emma: (Sighs, smiling:) "I don't get why you had to go see them anyway, Snow's in charge now." Regina: (Snorts:) "Emma, please. Letting your mother deal with the day to day running of Storybrooke is one thing, but sending her to speak to other realm leaders is entirely different. One morning spent with the council of Lost Boys and Snow would've signed away half the town to them." Emma: "Hey, mom can be tough when she needs to. She kicked your butt pretty good back in the Enchanted Forest." Regina: "She got lucky." Emma: "Uh huh." Regina: "The point is, now that we've spoken to most of the leaders, it's one less thing for your mother to worry about." Emma: "Sure, and that's why you did it. Nothing at all to do with you being a control freak." Regina: "Well exactly. Mostly." (They laugh.) Emma: "You know, I'm glad we get to take this time for ourselves. I mean, once the baby arrives, we're not gonna have a heck of a lot of down time." Regina: "True. Juggling Henry and work was no picnic, even though having the townspeople under a curse did help a little." Emma: "Yeah, well there'll be two of us to share the load this time. No need to curse anyone." Regina: "Just wait till the 2am feedings, you'll be cursing all right." Emma: (Laughs:) "I'm sure. Until then, I think we both need to learn to let go and relax a little." Regina: "Maybe. But for right now, I need to eat something, I'm starving." Emma: "Hm, me too." Regina: "Any suggestions?" Emma: "Actually, yeah. (With a wave of her hand, Emma transports them to a table outside the Rollin' Bayou food truck:) I thought we could learn from someone who leads her people, but still finds time to do what she enjoys most." Tiana: (Approaching with a tray of fresh beignets:) "Hey guys!" Emma: (As Tiana places the tray on their table:) "Thank you. Tiana, please tell Regina what it's like to rule Wonderland and still find time to follow your passion." Tiana: (Chuckles:) "Well it wasn't easy. Back when I was little, all I ever wanted to do was cook. I worked so hard to start my own business, then when my father died, my mother and I were threatened with losing everything, so my priorities changed." Emma: (Smiling as Regina starts on her second helping:) "So what changed for you?" Tiana: "Family. When Will and Alice came into my life, I realised that I could have it all. I could rule Wonderland alongside Will, who really knew the people, had a connection with them. And while Will was helping, along with my mother, in matters of state, Alice was helping me with my food dream too." Regina: "Point well made, Emma. (To Tiana:) I'm so glad your dream worked out for you, because these are delicious." Tiana: (Smiles, watching Regina pick up her third beignet:) "Thank you, Regina." Emma: (Smirking:) "Do you think I could get one of those?" Regina: (Through a mouthful:) "Only if you're quick." (As Emma quickly takes one from the tray, Tiana turns and heads back to her kitchen to make another batch.)

Henry's Dreamscape. (Henry is thrown down onto the beach.) Henry: "What's this? Where am I?" Gareth: "These pirates will take you and the king back to his kingdom, where he'll be safe.” King Richard: “What? No.” Henry: “I'm not leaving her. I'm going back.” Gareth: (Blocking his path:) “I've left word with my men. You step one foot in that castle and everyone you love gets the ax. No more games, Henry.” King Richard: “Listen, Gareth, I'm moved, but I've made my bed, and for once, I should lie in it.” Gareth: “You get in that boat.” King Richard: “Oh, Gareth. I know you're doing this because you love me.” Gareth: “I don't love you. I don't even like you. No one here likes you, so go.” King Richard: “Well, now you're just being mean to me so I'll go.” Gareth: “You're self-centered, self-absorbed, and you wear too much velvet.” King Richard: “Now you're just going into a lot of specific details, so I'll believe you.” Gareth: “You have a skinny left calf and a crooked...” King Richard: “Okay, okay, fine. I'll go. But you're not fooling anyone.” Gareth: (To Henry:) “Go on. And you.” Henry: “Not one hair.” Gareth: “I give you my word.” Henry: “And know this... I will return for them. Justice will be done.” Gareth: “I'm excited for you, but let me give you a couple of instructions. He can't sleep at night if he ain't got a second pillow to hug. Dairy makes him gassy. And if he gets cross, give him some salty snacks. It's good for his electrolytes. But if one hair on his head gets harmed, I will hunt you down, I will gut you, and I will use your skin as a lap blanket. Do you understand?” Henry: “We have a deal. (Gareth and Henry clasp each other’s forearms in a warrior’s handshake. He turns, walking towards the boat where Richard is already seated:) So who’s captaining this vessel anyway?” Hook: (Revealing himself for the first time:) “Why, that’d be me, lad.” Henry: (Shocked:) “Hook? How did you get here?” Hook: “There’ll be plenty of time for explanations later. (To the crew:) All right, shove off, me hearties.” Pirates: “Arrr!” Gareth: (Watching from shore as they sail away:) ♪ Good night, my friend ♪ Kingdom of Valencia. Throne Room. (Queen Madelena and Kingsley enter as several guards hurry back and forth.) Queen Madelena: “What in God's name is going on here?!” Guard: “Henry and King Richard have gone. We don't know where they are.” Kingsley: “Find them or I'll eat your firstborn for breakfast.” Queen Madelena: (As Gareth enters:) “He's behind this. I know it. Where have you been?” Gareth: “I'm sorry, milady, I must have slept in.” Queen Madelena: “Oh, really? Well, why don't you help yourself wake up by going down to the dungeon and killing everyone who's left?” Gareth: “Okay. It will be my pleasure.” Courtyard. (Gareth opens the doors, leading Ella and the other prisoners to safety.) Gareth: “Okay, here's the plan. One of you is gonna knock me out and take my keys.” Ella: “What? You're not going to kill us?” Gareth: “I keep my promises, and I promised your little lover boy that I'd take care of you. So who's first? Come on. (One by one, the remaining prisoners to knock out Gareth, without success. Sighs:) Just take the keys and go.”

Storybrooke. Present. (It’s early morning and Emma and Regina are driving in the rain to their next doctors appointment.) Emma: “Ugh. Why did we have to get an appointment so early?” Regina: “Because it won’t be as busy at the hospital and it’s our best chance that Whale won’t be drunk yet.” Emma: “We really need another doctor.” Regina: “Well maybe your mother can add that to her list of-” (Suddenly, Emma slams on the brakes to avoid hitting a knight on a horse at the intersection.) Emma: (Rolling down her window, shouting:) “I had right of way, jackoff!” Regina: “Maybe Grumpy had a point after all.” (Just then, she looks up sees a man standing at the corner of the street. Regina cannot believe her eyes.) Regina: “Daniel?” (She closes her eyes. When she opens them again, Daniel is gone.) Emma: “Are you all right?” Regina: “I-I’m fine. Let’s go.” Henry’s Dreamscape. Kingdom Of Valencia. Throne Room. (Gareth returns to the throne room, where Kingsley and Madelena await him.) Queen Madelena: “Gareth, did you kill everyone who needed to be killed?” Gareth: “No, milady.” Kingsley: “What kind of kingdom are you running here? (Stands and approaches Gareth:) A henchman that doesn't kill, a queen who does nothing about it. (Draws his sword:) This place has gone soft...” (These words turn out to be Kingsley’s last, as he is literally stabbed in the back by Madelena.) Queen Madelena: (Wiping her dagger clean:) “Turns out he wasn't my type. (Gareth takes the sword from Kingsley’s cold, dead hand:) You just got a promotion. (Indicating the throne next to her:) Sit.” Gareth: (Taking his seat:) “You're gonna have to either lose or gain a lot of weight.” (Madelena smiles and they both watch as Kingsley’s body is carried out of the room.)

[littlemisssquiggles]

mojo72400 asked

“Combat goggles is yang x neptune and gelato is neo x roman”

yellow-eyed-green-crocodile replied to your post “What's your favorite rwby ships? Mine are rosegarden, white knight,...”

Gelato is the ship between Neo and Roman, but I don't know about Combat Goggles. I think it's Yang x Neptune. Which I ship myself, because of the cool girl/uncool guy dynamic.

lookyeekiti replied to your post

“What's your favorite rwby ships? Mine are rosegarden, white knight,...”

I agree with Rosegarden and the between of Blacksun and bumblebee wholeheartedly!

niteangel496 asked 

“On the subject of RWBY Ships, I ship Rosegarden (they're just so precious), Renora (been shipping them together since v1), Jaded (their back & forth banter is amusing to watch), & Gelato (Torchwick showing worry for Neo in v3, then fighting Ruby even more ferociously afterward basically made me like the ship even more). I also kinda have a softpot for Illia x Blake (I love how Illia didn't resent Blake for loving someone else & how she was so focused on helping her people no matter what)” 

Squiggles Answers: 

Thanks for clarifying the ships for me Mojo, Yellow and Nite. Appreciate it. Funnily enough, I thought Roman and Neo’s ship was called Froyo for some reason. Blame it on RWBY Chibi.

RWBY Chibi made me appreciate the Gelato ship. Their relationship dynamic in the Chibi-verse is too cute especially with how eagerly devoted Neo is to Roman. I loved the episode with the red button where Roman ends up falling into a black hole and Neo’s all like “He’s a dum-dum but he’s my dum-dum” before jumping in to join him. 

I thought that was adorable. Gelato in the Chibi-verse is win-win in my books. 

Ooooh yeah, I forgot that Yang and Neptune had a ship too. If that’s the case then I used to like Combat Goggles as well. Back when Neptune was introduced in V2, ever since the ‘Paint the Town’ episode where Neptune was paired with Yang, I liked how Yang and Neptune looked together. 

While they lacked any kind of romantic chemistry, still thought they looked cool. I even did a little fanart of them together once because I thought they looked so cool side by side. Aaah good times.

Combat Goggles was part of Past Squiggles along with the time I considered shipping Lancaster and…begrudgingly Team RWBY with Team CRDL. Now before you thwack me, let me explain.

Back in Volume 1, when I first got into RWBY and was still getting used to the characters, I considered Jaune and Ruby because Jaune was technically the first person to reach out to Ruby and from there, I always liked their rapport as the two leaders of our two main teams.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to ship them. I was more like, “Well, if things don’t work out for Jaune with Weiss or Pyrhha then Ruby would be my third option.”

At the time, I wasn’t sure if romance was in the cards for these two but for the first volume, I saw Ruby as Jaune’s backup love interest in a sense. But that was since RWBY V1 days. I don’t think about Ruby and Jaune’s relationship like that anymore and you can tell that the main canon series is more or less setting up Jaune and Ruby caring about each other like family. Jaune is the big brother figure in Ruby’s life and was the proxy replacement for Yang during V4 and V5. And Ruby is like a little sister to Jaune. He obviously cares a lot about her but not in way that screams anything beyond platonic and mutual respect. This is only my opinion though. No disrespect for the proud Lancaster shippers.

As for CRDL and RWBY---Again, wayyyy back in V1 when we got our first glimpse of Team CRDL during the ceremony when the teams were being formed by Ozpin, I actually thought CRDL, as the main all boys team would be paired with RWBY.

I thought the series might pull a Winx Club---y’know where the main all girls team would be paired off with the members of the main all male team like how it was with the Fairies of the Winx Club and the Specialists team.

BOY WAS I WRONG! I thought that was going to be the case…up until the episode afterwards where CRDL were revealed to all be a bunch of irredeemable jerks that would bully Jaune and harass poor Velvet for being a Faunus. It’s a stain on my past as a RWBY shipper. One that I can shamelessly admit now. But hey, I was young and still getting into RWBY back when all it had was the one first season. Mistakes were made.

@lookyeekiti and @niteangel496 Damn skippy RoseGarden = love! Joooooooin me brothers and sisters! I honestly have high hopes for Ruby and Oscar’s friendship. Though I’m still unclear if the CRWBY Writers plan on getting romantic with these two younglings, it’s a concept I welcome because, for me, it’s refreshing to see Ruby getting attention from a young boy closer to her age that isn’t just purely companionable; if y’know what I mean.

Oscar was hinted at having a crush on Ruby last volume so I’m really hoping that, even with all the madness to come from this new volume with the journey to Argus, the show still takes the opportunity to highlight this aspect of Oscar’s feelings towards Ruby. If RWBY is an anime then in true anime fashion, I want some deep blushing moments where Ruby smiles or just breathes in Oscar’s direction and his whole face turns into a spotted tomato.

Bonus points if Maria Calavera picks up on Oscar’s crush on Ruby and boldly designates herself as his wing women; playing matchmaker by constantly creating opportunities where Oscar and Ruby can be alone or at least closer to each other. It doesn’t need to be on-the nose since, as I said, there’s a lot to come this season for both Ruby and Oscar’s development. But little hints and nods and gabs would be greatly appreciated.

@niteangel496 Ilia and Blake are cool. Speaking of Illia, I hope she and the Belladonnas keep safe this volume. While I’m still unclear on what the CRWBY Writers’ intentions for Adam’s story are this season---hunt down Blake for revenge or…personally target cutting down the New Faunus Brotherhood since the Belladonnas are a part of it along with Ilia in order to hit Blake where it hurts and draw her out to face him. Whatever they decide to do with Adam, I’m concerned for what it will mean for Ilia’s fate.

But for now, let’s only think of the cute moments with Ilia. Speaking of which, can I just say that I really adore Ilia’s new look. I like how it shows off her freckled tum-tum which I find so cute as its covered in spots. I want somebody to poke the freckled tummy, mainly Sun because he totally would.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2018)

[snowbellewells]

Self Promo Sunday: “Heart in Hand, I Know Your Worth”

In the aftermath of that doozy of a two hour midseason finale back in season four, I had all kinds of ideas rolling around in my head for all the other ways that Killian’s heart being taken could have played out, along with how Emma fighting to get his heart back could have gotten more time. I still don't own these two characters, or anything related to the show, but if i did we probably would have seen a powerful True Love's Kiss all the way back here.  {Canon divergence in the midst of 4x11}

Also on AO3 or ff.net

"Heart in Hand, I Know Your Worth"

by: @snowbellewells​

This cannot be real, cannot be happening again. Another man she loves – yes, loves – falling to the cold, hard floor of the Sheriff's station, clutching his chest, mouth gaping in a struggle for breath, eyes already going half-glassy from their usually crisp, brilliant blue.

"Killian!" Emma chokes, falling to his side and reaching for him, forcing herself not to scream. His body stretches out before her limply, looking too much like Graham's had nearly three years ago, too much like the horrifying death pose seared into her mind's eye, no matter how much time has passed. She wants to ask what is wrong, but is petrified that she doesn't need to; she knows exactly what is happening to her pirate. There had been nothing she could do when she was in this position before, and this is so much worse, so much more desperately necessary.

As she reaches out to shake Killian, gripping his shoulders with frantic hands, begging him to stay with her, stay awake, her eyes fall on the shoelace wrapped around her wrist – her reminder of the gentle, kind man who had died in her arms in this same station – and tears well over her eyelids, spilling down her cheeks to fall on Killian's paling face. Those lovely, kissable lips that have always been so soft and tenderly coaxing on hers are open, panting, as he struggles to form her name, his one good hand clasping hers to pull her closer where she can hear his desperately whispered words. "Em-Emma…Love, I'm sorry…I k-know I promised…you d-didn't have to w-worry…I m-may not be as g-good at…surviving…as I p-promised. The Crocodile…has m-made sure of it…this time…"

Emma can feel her brow furrowing, leaning nearer and clutching at the material of his black vest, as if to lug him up off the floor and back into the fight for life. "Hey," she whispers hoarsely near his ear, wanting to shake him as she sees his eyes fluttering closed despite his best efforts. "Killian, hey, stay with me."

His stunning eyes labor to open again, trying to focus on her, though it is obviously an uphill battle. His breath is rattling harshly, bringing sympathetic pain to Emma's throat as he continues to fight for air. Her hand presses warmly to his chest, wishing she could hold the missing heart in place, even though she is too late.

Tears are pouring, slip-sliding down her cheeks, and Emma knows the pain clenching in her gut is only going to get worse if she cannot stop this. She knows Killian has done the best he can to be with her, to become a better man for her, but all she can think is, 'You promised! You promised you'd stay if I let you in. I can't lose you too!'

She finds herself fisting her hand and pounding it against his chest repeatedly, despite her worry for him; she has to let out the hurt and fear. Her forehead falls to rest against the warm, furred skin of his chest, his ridiculously still-open shirt, allowing the blessing of his living comfort a bit longer. It is going to be taken away, he is going to leave her, and all because some power-hungry imp wants her magic as well and to settle an old grudge. All Killian has done to change. All he has given up to protect her is illustrated in his dying form sprawled before her. He has sacrificed the very heart in his chest just to warn her, in hopes of seeing her still alive and unharmed.

"Why didn't you tell me, Killian? Let me try to help you? We could have figured this out together." She whispers the words tearfully against his neck, into his skin. She wants answers, knows she will debate and wonder and wish from now on – why he didn't feel he could come to her, why she had taken so long to trust him, why she hadn't let him know how much she truly felt for him, that she had done something, anything, different to avoid him suffering this fate. Beyond that though, she wants to hear him, savor his voice, the cozy, affectionate burr of it as it thaws her long-cold heart.

Killian manages to draw yet one more ragged, shaky breath to respond. "How…could I…Love? What would…you have…thought of me…if I had?" He clumsily manages to snag her wrist and pull that hand to lie along his cheek, turning his face into her touch. "Besides…though I do not…wish to…leave you…I will gladly go…before I see…that monster…take you from me."

His eyes drift closed again, his struggle for breath eases, and Emma feels his body relax against hers. Praying he isn't gone already, a strangled scream finally escapes her when he doesn't respond to her further touches. "Killian, no! Please!"

"I'm afraid you're wasting your breath, Dearie," a taunting voice chortles evilly behind her. A chill runs down Emma's spine before anger floods her, rushing into every space where she could feel fear. Her head whips around to glare over her shoulder at Gold, every fiber of her burning to blast the smug, victoriously gloating smile off his face.

Letting that emotion swell, Emma gathers her feet under her, shifting to stand and face Killian's Crocodile. As if he senses the risk she is about to take, the way she is letting her fury overrule her caution, her pirate tries to pull her back, though too weakened to truly hold her. "Don't, Swan! I'm not worth your crossing him!"

Emma shakes her head angrily, wanting to argue with him that he is more than worth it, but she doesn't want him expending any more of his desperately needed breath. Instead, she pulls her hand from his slackening grip and completes her stand to face Gold. Literally vibrating, rage sparks and begins to tingle under her skin and through her veins. "I am not letting you do this," she grits out between clenched teeth, eyes narrowed and tone practically a growl.

"Please do try to stop me, Miss Swan," the pawnbroker, who is more and more Dark One all the time, challenges, the thin veneer of polite civility no longer masking the hatred beneath the surface. He stands before them, hands resting atop the head of his ornate cane, feet planted, stance wide. "I do intend to put an end to this wretched pirate's life once and for all, as I should have done ages ago, and then I shall have your powers before I go."

Emma doesn't answer, but focuses instead on the advice, the incantation that Regina had given her to combat their now-common enemy. She had needed him present before she could attempt her counterattack, and now that he is, she can't afford mistakes. Closing her eyes, and quickly raising her hands up and outward towards the spinner, Emma tries to whisper the correct words, while concentrating on Killian, his love for her and how she cannot do without him, how much she needs him, and what she hopes to accomplish, all before Rumplestiltskin reacts and stops her.

The air around them whooshes with magic, as a raw burst of power seems to roll out from between she and Gold, then fades again. There is an eerie silence for mere moments, before Emma feels a separate, living pulse in her hand. She opens her eyes with almost breathless hope, and there within her careful grasp is Killian's beating heart, glowing brightly red.

Her glare flicks back to the Crocodile, even as she casts a protection spell over Killian's heart, much like the one Regina protected Henry's with after getting it back from Pan. Once she returns it to his chest, they will not suffer this again, not while she draws breath.

Gold lets out a bloodcurdling giggle, which sounds frighteningly mad rather than the least bit humored. It is as though her strike against him was an invitation to a deadly game. He throws his hands forward in what Emma is sure will be a horrific curse. Before it can reach them, she has created a shield and thrown it up in front of them. She sees a ripple in the translucent barrier before her eyes, but her spell holds, keeping whatever the Dark One has attempted to strike them with at bay.

"All to save that miserable cur's hide!" Gold howls with rage. "You will regret this!" He waves his hand wildly, and then vanishes in a puff of smoke.

Once sure that he is gone, Emma falls to her knees at Killian's side again, letting the shield fall and focusing all her energy and attention on this reckless, infuriating, incredible man, having to believe he still has a chance. She runs her hand back through the dark shock of hair that has fallen across his brow, stroking trembling fingers over his forehead and cheeks, then down to his neck, hoping for a pulse. The exertion flagging from expending so much magic, the fear and anxiety, and now the frantic need to bring Killian back around, are taking their toll, but she cannot falter now.

Holding Killian's heart gingerly in her palm, barely using any pressure with her fingers, Emma moves it to hover above the area of his chest where it belongs. Killian barely stirs, and Emma knows there isn't time to waste. There has already been too much torture – squeezing, manhandling, whatever else Gold has done to it – but uncertainty makes her hesitate. Could she finish him off if she gets this wrong?

Breathily, the barest words escape his lips, soft and low, but enough to give her the push she needs. His chest barely rises and falls, but Killian manages to force the words out, "You…can do this…Emma. I…trust you…"

She nods, setting her resolve, and then without any further lingering, plunges her hand and his beating heart into his chest cavity. Praying it will be enough, Emma releases the organ and withdraws her hand, willing things to return to the way they were before it was taken. Sitting back on her haunches, Emma watches his face tensely for some sign.

Endless, stretching minutes seem to drag on before Killian suddenly lunges forward, drawing in huge gulps of air, eyes frantically wide. She quickly reaches around him, hand supporting at his back though she can feel herself trembling with relief and emotion. She wants to ask a dozen things at once, but Emma bits them all back, trying to first let him regain his bearings.

When Killian finally blinks and looks to her with recognition once more in his haunting gaze, Emma swallows a sob and can't help leaning forward, half wrapping him up and cradling him in her arms and half falling into his. Soon, she is letting her eyes fall closed, a sigh escaping her lips as her adrenaline drains and the curve of Killian's hook rubs soothingly up and down her back, his voice warm in her ear. "There now, Love. I'm still here…thanks to you. Bloody brilliant you are, Swan."

Sniffling, Emma nods into his shoulder, burrowing closer to his warmth, craving the contact. "You can't do that to me, Killian," she chokes out. "If you think I don't need you, that I'll be fine whether you're here or not, you're wrong. You are worth it. You mean more to me than anyone outside of Henry." She leans back only slightly to look into his eyes and be sure that he sees how seriously she means her words.

Her pirate captain appears to have no ready response to her admission, but the volumes in his eyes show how overcome he is as she watches him swallow hard, mastering his own churning emotion. "You must know you mean everything to me as well, Emma. We might have to agree to disagree on my worth." He wets his lips, gaze tentative under his dark brows as he studies her face. "You retrieved my heart. You defeated the bloody Crocodile! …But you took quite the risk, Love. A risk I would not have had you take merely for my benefit. Are you alright?"

A laugh escapes her that is tear-soaked and a bit hysterical, but real, and she clasps his hand firmly. "I am now, Captain," she avows. "Let's keep that heart of yours in your chest from now on, and things should be just fine."

His roughly calloused fingers rise to delicately brush a flyaway strand of golden hair from her cheek and tuck it behind her ear, and then he lets his hand linger to frame her face with his palm. "What a beautiful avenging angel you make, Swan. I would never have thought a princess would be fighting to save me." Leaning forward, Killian pauses only when his nose brushes hers, warm puffs of his breath heating her skin. "Truly, Lass…You are a marvel."

Emma shakes her head, flushing and embarrassed at the effusive praise. "Enough of your pretty words, Sailor," she mutters, even if good naturedly. Standing, she never breaks her connection to him at their entwined hands, but instead pulls him rather shakily to his feet. "Come on, let's not hang around here like sitting ducks. Gold isn't finished, just regrouping. And I want Regina to have a look at you; make sure things are okay with your heart now."

Killian dips his head in acquiescence, his gaze not leaving hers, as though searching to see if she has recovered, despite his being the one who was in danger. "As you wish," he murmurs, moving to the coat rack and holding her red leather jacket out for her as she slips her arms into the sleeves.

She smiles at him over her shoulder, the tears still shimmering on her lashes, but a pride and happiness beginning to sparkle in her green eyes. They cross the room before Emma turns out the lights and locks the station for the night. Moving towards her little yellow car, Emma suddenly pulls him up short, holding him with her stare. "I should have told you this much sooner," she whispers, her voice suspiciously raspy, "but I love you, Killian Jones. Whatever happens from here on, no matter what either of us do…I love you. And don't you forget it."

Wrapping her arms around his neck, Emma drags Killian's face down to kiss him urgently; swallowing his 'I love you too'. She already knows. Has seen it in all he has given up for her, has felt it in every hopeful, guiding, sheltering touch, and has heard it in every endearment and 'as you wish'. His hand and hook come up around her back to hold her, and he sighs into her kiss in contentment.

When they do part, Emma sees the peace and fulfillment on his face as she pulls him along rather than relinquishing her hold of his hand; her heart swells at not letting go.

Tagging: @searchingwardrobes​ @whimsicallyenchantedrose​ @kmomof4​ @laschatzi​ @lfh1226-linda​ @hollyethecurious​ @teamhook​ @revanmeetra87​ @jennjenn615​ @therooksshiningknight​ @winterbaby89​ @stahlop​ @thislassishooked​ @winterbaby89​ @tiganasummertree​ @optomisticgirl​ @shireness-says​ @thisonesatellite​ @darkcolinodonorgasm​ @profdanglaisstuff​

[helihi]

The Good, The Bad and the Dirty: RWBY Vol 6 Ch 7

If you have stopped squeeing about Jaune’s sister and her lovely family, you are welcomed to read try thoughts on this episodes.

#TurnsOutMariaWasKindaHot

So, I have a lot of thoughts. I’ve decided to organize this review a little different than what I usually do.

Rating: 5/10

I’ve mentioned a couple of times how RWBY episodes can be classified as a “group of scenes that happen to be in succession fo one another”. Though this doesn’t always happen to be true (see the Salem/Ozma flashback episode, or last week’s episode), this weeks’ episode does fall into that description.

In order to analyze the episode better, I’ve decided to follow the stream of scenes in the order they come and rate them appropriately.

Scene #1: Cinder and Neo.

Where does it belong? The Dirty.

This scene mostly elongated the set up we have seen in the previous episodes: a defeated Cinder trying to get herself back together and planing her next move, oh also, Neo is there. 

Aside from finally displaying the agreement between everyone’s favorite ice cream girl and the fallen Cinderella. This scene only provides us with one piece of new information: Salem has instructed Cinder not to kill Ruby.

I fill like this scene should have been shown earlier. It feels disconnected from everything else in the episode. If you have to squint in order to see how the scenes of one episode are connected, there needs to be a re write.

One could assume this detail of Cinder not being allowed to kill Ruby and her playing with the knife could be more foreshadowing of the “eye for an eye” theme we have been going for since the Volume 4, only because of the Maria scene afterwards.

I can already see it: turns out Summer also lost one of her eyes, and when Ruby does so as well (all the RWBY girls will have a physical scar) and she will look just like her mother.

Scene #2: Grandma Katara’s flashback’s and the coin on the “character development” jar.

Where does it belong? The Good + Some tiny Bad.

Before I deconstruct this, I just want to say I’m kinda bothered by the fact that Young María looks nothing like old María. They look like two completely different characters, and though yes, as people get old they tend to change and  slouch, these two models are too different to one another.

So, we get an awesome fight scene with a younger Grandma Katara, and I’ve got to say: her weapon is one of the coolest from the whole show. Without a doubt her double mini scythes are 100% better than Qrow and Ruby’s in my opinion.

The animation flew great, you got a rush of adrenaline, and seeing that giant Nevermore get turned into stone and then crumble when hitting the ground was amazing.

Then a couple of bandits showed up, and is it me or is that gal simpered by the Peter Pan crocodile? Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.

Anyways, María loses her eyes were fighting with these people and I was just as horrified as everyone on the cart was. Also, did anyone notice how weird it seems that people are hunting down others that can actually protect humanity from Grimm?

If you tell me that Salem’s lackeys pay people to get silver eyed warriors neutralized, the it means that almost no one knows about these clearly powerful hunstmen that can save thousands of lives. Odd.

The Grimm Reaper seems like a cool name for her. Goodbye to all the fanfics that used to describe Ruby like that unless it’s a purposeful omage (Well get to that).

I liked how María purposefully spoke about how the loss of her eyes affected her personally, and how she draws attention to Yang. Though she will be Ruby’s teacher, turns out that Yang can learn a thing or two from this woman who has chosen the wrong path to recovery before.

Which takes me to the bad:

Qrow says The Grimm Reaper was a legend, that he built his weapon after her and that he wanted to be like her. This is good character building and makes Ruby’s inspiration on her uncle’s weapon kind of funny.

My problem with this is that The Great Grimm Reaper wasn’t eve named dropped before. What kind of world building is that?

Scene #3: Argus.

Where does it belong? The Dirty.

The team finally reaches Argus and though I am happy to get some historical backdrop of the city and see my precious children: Ren and Nora again. I am a sucker for world building, and this union between Atlas and Mistral to create a city so far away from Mistral’s capital aligns perfectly with the fact that these two kingdom’s were Allies before and during the war. Of course they would have each other’s back.

Now. I absolutely dislike the change in tone this episode has.

We just heard how María lost her eyes, and got a moment of self reflection, but we are back with the funny hijinks and the exaggerated animations!

I saw that embrace between Yang and Ren and I’m loving it.

Nora, never change.

I really like that small interaction between Jaune and Ruby, because in case you don’t know: these kids have faced death so many times during the pasts months that Jaune is scared as hell of losing them.

So... Are we going to meet Pyrrha’s family? Guess not.

Scene #4: Jaune is an uncle.

Where does it belong? The Dirty.

I’m happy to meet one of Jaune’s sisters, and I like the family dynamic it presents. Though, if I’m being honest, most of Jaune’s sister’s look exactly the same.

Turns out RT promised some LGBT+ representation, and if Illia and Pilot boi weren’t enough, here we have the Cotta-Arcs. Don’t get me wrong, I love them and I love how Weiss and Yang interacted with that precious baby boy, but I hate that the FNDM is going to focus on that more than analyzing and criticizing this chapter.

I wish we could have gotten this family life and mentions of Mistral-Atlas relationship in a separate chapter.

It’s not Scene #5 but: what was that last shot.

It doesn’t belong in the episode unless this episode started with the last scene. It’s connected to the last scene but has no momentum or relation to the rest of the episode.

Like I said before: WHERE’S THE THEME????

Rating: 5/10

A.N.: I need a montage of Grandma Katara training the Branwen-Xiao Long-Rose family and telling them to get off their asses and be better people.

For extremely scientific reasons.

[thatcrazyfanfictionwriter]

Secret of the Sewers: The End of an Era

At the United Nations building, all of the world leaders were in a panic over Zanramon's threats. His latest warning, as well as the decrease in their time limit had them all pulling their hair out. As all the leaders were yelling and shouting out ideas, a lone man in a business suit and shades stepped forward. Adjusting his black tie, he walked into the center of the room, all of the leaders quieting as he did.

"Ladies and gentlemen, now is not the time to devolve into primitive hysterics." he insisted. "My name is Agent John Bishop. I am a member of the Earth Protection Force."

"And what exactly has your 'Protection Force' done to combat this alien threat?" The French representative demanded.

"We are doing everything we can to maintain peace in the city." Bishop reassured. "I have my best field operatives on the case, even as we speak."

"And what of these strange creatures?" the United States President questioned. "These… 'Gamarons'?"

Before Bishop had a chance to answer, the large video screen that dominated the room suddenly crackled to life, displaying the face of a livid Prime Leader Zanramon. All of the World Leaders gasped in fright, but Agent Bishop remained unfazed. He faced the screen, adjusting his glasses.

"Prime Leader." he greeted. "I'm assuming your forces have yet to locate your targets."

"I have not." Zanramon replied. "And your time is running out. So I suggest you hand them over, before I reduce your planet to stardust!"

Suddenly, something struck Zanramon on the side of the head, knocking him to the side. The camera suddenly tilted sideways, the feed cutting off. Everyone stared at the screen in confusion, but Bishop merely smirked.

"About time." he let out.

...

Zanramon slowly picked himself up off the ground, looking down at what had struck him. His eyes widened when he saw it was a familiar metal fan.

"They're here!" He let out. "Find them!"

A group of troops nodded as they spread out to search the area. While Zanramon's back was turned, a large figure darted past, taking the tessen back before disappearing into the shadows of the room. The soldiers continued looking around for any trace of their assailants, but found nothing. Suddenly a shadowy figure darted behind them and struck one of them in the back of the head, knocking him out. Said figure then grabbed the downed soldier by the ankles, dragging him into the darkness.

"Did you hear something?" One of the soldiers questioned.

"I think so." another soldier replied.

Both soldiers were then forced to head-butt one another, knocking each other out before they too were dragged into the darkness. Only two more soldiers remained, and having lost track of their compatriots, they were beginning to feel on edge. Commander Mozar observed the scene, letting out a growl.

"Prime Leader, we need reinforcements." he insisted. "We can't afford to let these creatures win."

"Very well." Zanramon relented before activating his comms. "All additional forces to the communications chamber! Repeat, all additional forces to the communications chamber!"

...

Having heard the call, most of the Triceratons in the lower levels were making their way towards the communications chamber. After a few minutes, the sound of footsteps died down and the hallways emptied. This was when a large manhole cover slid away, allowing Traximus to climb out. He glanced down the hallway, checking for stragglers before turning back to the hole.

"All clear." he announced.

Once given the go ahead, Lisa, Monza Ram, and the rest of the Resistance fighters climbed out of the sewer. They kept close to the wall, moving on Traximus' signal towards the armory.

"No doubt there will still be guards on duty." Monza Ram whispered. "Be ready."

Lisa merely primed her laser gun, putting herself on one side of the door as Traximus took the other. After exchanging nods, Traximus opened the door to reveal a group of about seven Triceratons scattered throughout the room. The two quickly entered the room and started shooting at them, taking them out. About three fell before the remaining four began to return fire, forcing Lisa and Traximus to take cover. The four soldiers fired upon them relentlessly, not giving them even the slightest opening.

"Rakkan hell!" Lisa cursed.

That's when Monza Ram and the All-Stars entered, returning fire of their own. They wasted no time shooting down three of the four remaining Triceratons with relative ease. The last Triceraton looked at his opponents, as well as Traximus and Mona Lisa, then promptly dropped his weapon and raised his hands. Traximus snorted.

"A wise decision." he commented.

Mona Lisa kept her gun trained on the guy as Monza Ram moved across the armory. He approached a small crate off in the corner, lifting the lid to reveal a palm scanner.

"This is how we get in." he announced, turning back towards the captive soldier. "Open the way for us."

The Triceraton nodded before placing his hand on the scanner, opening the door. As the door opened up, Lisa ushered the captive Triceraton towards a closet where the rest of the guards were being put. He willingly stepped inside as the door was shut, locking with a pneumatic hiss.

"How many will be down there?" Lisa questioned Monza Ram.

"At least four." he answered. "One to man, three to guard."

"We take the guards first." Trax deduced. "Then we focus on the one manning the cannon."

"Once we disable the men, how do we stop the cannon?" Lisa asked.

One of the all-stars smashed open a box, pulling out a collection of Triceraton detonators.

"We destroy it." he answered.

Lisa nodded as the group went out.

...

Back with the turtles and their friends, they continued to move in the shadows to avoid detection by the Triceratons. This was difficult with Hisako just barely there and being carried by Leatherhead. Thankfully, the crocodile was excellent at playing the part of the silent hunter. He kept Hisako close as he skulked in the darkness, staying out of the reach of their alien pursuers. Splinter and Murakami stayed close to one another, the former aiding the latter in remaining unseen. Casey stuck close to the ground, a stolen shock staff in his hands as he waited for an unfortunate victim to cross his path.

About that time, reinforcements arrived, pouring into the room. Mozar gave silent orders, having them fan out and scan the room. The new soldiers watched each other's backs, making sneak attacks nearly impossible.

"That's a lot of Triceratons." Raph hissed.

"We're gonna have to move fast to take them down." Leo responded.

"Keep it stealthy my brothers." Mikey told them. "We got th-"

Suddenly, a laser blast struck the ceiling where he was hanging. It started him, causing to let go of his holding with a yelp. He fell down into the open, right into the middle of a bunch of waiting Triceratons.

"Uh… hey everyone." Mikey waved sheepishly.

The Triceratons aimed their weapons at the turtle as the others leapt out of their hiding places to fight the Triceratons head on. Donny swung his staff at a Triceratons face, causing him to stumble back. Raph jammed his sai into the barrel of another's gun, wrenching it from his grip before freeing his weapon and kicking the Triceraton aside. Leo sliced a Triceratons gun barrel clean off as Mikey ran up, leapt off Leo's shell, and kicked the Triceraton right in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Yeah, Goongala!" Casey cheered, jamming his shock staff into the gut of a Triceraton before twirling it around and hitting another. "Time for the hunters to become the hunted!"

"You heard him, Leatherhead." Hisako grinned, holding onto the croc's back with one arm and drawing her tessen with the other. "Let's show these things whose boss!"

Leatherhead barreled out and proceeded to slash and maim every Triceraton in sight. Hisako's tessen went out in an arc, striking any attempted snipers hiding in the shadows.

"Woo!" she cried out. "Even running on fumes, I still kick shell!"

"Way to go, sis!" Raph cried out, elbowing a Triceraton in the face.

Splinter meanwhile, was holding his own against the Triceratons quite well. Striking the alien warrior at key nerve points caused them to go stiff as boards, falling over like dominoes. Murakami was having similar results, dodging and weaving the loud, hulking beasts with ease.

"If only the Yakuza had been this loud and gangly." Murakami quipped. "Perhaps the true Foot Clan would have managed to wipe them out."

"If only!" Splinter called back.

As the fight continued, Mozar and Zanramon observed the fight with a mixture of contempt and anger.

"How are these off worlders defeating the best soldiers in the Triceraton army?!" Zanramon demanded.

"The Gamarons and the humanoid have proven valiant warriors in the past." Mozar reminded.

"They are pathetic, worthless scum of the universe!" Zanramon shrieked. "I want them destroyed in the next cycle, or you'll join them on the execution block!"

"Y-yes sir!" Mozar replied.

Grabbing a gun for himself, he ran into the fray.

...

Back with Traximus and his team, they were enduring an incredibly tense elevator ride down to the Decimator Cannon. Lisa glanced over at Monza-Ram and the rest of the All-Stars, clearly conflicted about how she felt about them. She gripped her weapon, as if contemplating whether or not to use it. Finally, the elevator stopped, opening up to the control center for the Decimator Cannon.

"We need to move fast." Monza-Ram informed the group. "Even with the off worlder's distraction, it will not be long before our efforts are noticed."

"Just tell us where to plant the charges." Lisa replied coldly.

"Right." Monza-Ram replied, focusing up. "Follow me."

The group followed him, planting the charges wherever Monza-Ram directed them. Thankfully, the job was a quick one.

"Charges planted." Traximus reported. "How are things on your end, April O'Neil?"

"All charges are linked up to the set-up down here." April reported over a comm link. "I'll be ready to detonate on your signal."

"Good, then it is time we leave this place." Traximus declared.

The team quickly made their way towards the elevator. As they tried to make their escape, the doors opened, revealing a squad of Triceratons.

"Seems the Commander was right." One spoke up. "The off worlders were a distraction."

"Take them all." another ordered. "We'll make them all squeal."

The Triceratons opened fire, causing the team to scatter. One of the All Stars managed to tackle Lisa out of the way, but she just shoved him off.

"I don't need your help!" She insisted, opening fire on the Triceratons.

Blaster fire zipped back and forth, pinning the team down and not giving them very much options. Laser fire was traded between both groups, neither getting lucky enough to hit the other. Traximus was becoming increasingly frustrated by this turn of events, and part of him feared that one stray shot would set of the bombs prematurely. He ducked out from his position and fired off a few shots, actually hitting one of the Triceratons before ducking back.

"We need to make for the elevator!" he shouted.

"Well there are a dozen enemy Triceratons between us and it!" Mona Lisa snapped, peeking out and letting off a shot before retracting once more.

"We need a way to clear our path!" Monza-Ram proposed.

Two All Stars both popped up, letting loose a volley of fire at the enemy to try and do just that. The Triceratons moved towards the corners of the entrance, allowing a small opening for the team to escape. Mona Lisa went for it first, alerting the enemy to their ploy.

"They're making a break for it!" One shouted.

"Not for long." another retorted.

He leveled his gun with Lisa, firing a shot. Monza-Ram saw the blast and moved on instinct. He was struck in the stomach by the blast, crying out in pain as he fell.

"Monza-Ram!" One of the All-Star's shouted.

Lisa turned to the downed Triceraton in shock. Her surprise at his actions allowed the Triceratons to surround them, their guns aimed at her and the downed Monza-Ram.

"All of you will surrender, or these two will be the first to die!" One of the enemy Triceratons swore.

Lisa sneered at the Triceraton, then her eyes glanced down at Monza-Ram. Despite her earlier confliction, she found herself pained by his condition. She looked over at Traximus, reluctant acceptance in her eyes.

"Do it." she said quietly.

Begrudgingly, Traximus tossed down his weapon and raised his hands in surrender. Lisa did the same as the Triceratons took them prisoner. The other All-stars followed suit as the enemy Triceraton opened a communication line.

"Commander Mozar, this is Trooper Zog." he reported. "We've captured the rebel leader and his forces. What are your orders?"

"Bring them to Prime Leader Zanramon." Mozar ordered. "He will decide their fate along with the Gamarons."

...

Back with the fight, despite the increased number of Triceratons, the fight was starting to go in favor of the good guys. Raph leapt into the air and brought his foot down on top of a Triceraton's head, knocking him out. Leo did a handstand, split kicking a pair of Triceratons before flipping back onto his feet. Mikey leapt onto the back of one and pulled on its horns, causing it to thrash around trying to get the turtle off. Casey was doing the same thing, and the two quickly made their Triceratons bash into one another, hopping off at the last second before sharing a high five.

Donny dodged around several blaster shots before extending one of his blades and stabbing it into the Triceratons blaster. He then wrenched it out of the Triceratons hands before smacking it across the face. Splinter ran towards a Triceraton and leapt into the air, kicking it in the chest and knocking it into a wall. Splinter then threw his walking stick at another oncoming Triceraton, disorienting it so he could come up and strike it in the head, knocking it out.

Murakami stood in the middle of a group of four Triceratons, effortlessly dodging and weaving to avoid their blows. One tried to punch him and he grabbed the arm, flipping the alien dino over his shoulder and into another. The other two were easily dealt with via a well times double kick counter. Leatherhead was tearing into one Triceraton after another, Hisako on his shoulders. Her strength was back, so she flipped off of him, throwing her tessen in wide arcs. They disarmed several of the soldiers, leaving them easy pickings for her crocodile boyfriend.

"Nice to have you back in action, sis." Raph replied, punching out a Triceraton.

"Good to be back." She replied, getting her tessen back. "I hate being laid up like that."

The two then returned to the fray, knocking out a few more Triceratons along the way. Still watching all of this, Zanramon's already limited patience was coming to an end.

"My finest warriors… beaten by these offworlder… ingrates!" He exclaimed. "How is this possible?!"

"It matters not." Mozar assured him. "This fight is ours."

Zanramon turned to see Traximus and his team being lead into the room cuffed up. The turtles and Hisako froze, Casey, Splinter, and Murakami all doing the same.

"Lisa!" Raph cried out before turning to Mozar. "You even think about hurting her, and heads are gonna roll!"

"That depends on you, Gamaron." Zanramon replied. "Stand down now, or your comrades suffer the consequences."

The soldiers holding their allies prisoner all aimed their weapons, making it quite clear what those consequences would be. Raph glared intensely at the Triceraton Prime Leader, wanting nothing better than to take him out. Reluctantly though, he dropped his sai. Everyone else dropped their weapons as well, even Master Splinter and Casey. Zanramon grinned.

"Take them all, and prepare another camera." He ordered. "I'll execute all of these miserable creatures as an example to all who cross the Triceraton Republic!"

"But sir," Mozar spoke up. "What about a right to trial?"

Zanramon turned on Mozar, grabbing him by the front of his uniform.

"Are you questioning my orders?" He snarled.

"N-no sir." Mozar replied. "I just… want to see these creatures face true justice."

"I decree that they are to be executed." Zanramon snapped. "THAT is true justice! They, and all of their traitorous, rebel filth will be destroyed! Now do as I say, or join them!"

"... yes, sir." Mozar relented.

He gestured to the men, who grabbed the turtles and their allies, cuffing them and leading them off.

...

Sometime later, all of them were lead into the throne room, getting dropped to their knees in a long row. Monza-Ram's stomach wound had been given a temporary patch, Zanramon determined to make him live to see his proper execution. Traximus looked up at Mozar, just watching all this take place.

"Why are you just standing there?" Traximus questioned. "You know this isn't right."

"I have my duties Traximus." Mozar told him. "I cannot disobey the Prime Leader."

"You know that he has corrupted our once great republic." Traximus insisted, struggling to his feet before he was forced back down by guards.

"I do what I must." Mozar replied. "Just like all those years ago."

"All those years..." Leo repeated, remembering what Traximus had told them back when they first met. "You. You're the one who sold him out!"

"My duty is to the republic, and whoever may be in command of it." Mozar told him.

"And how long until that republic goes against everything you believe in?" Leo challenged. "Will you still blindly follow orders?"

"Silence, Gamaron!" One of the guards snapped, hitting Leo on the back of the head with his gun.

"Leo!" Raph let out.

"Sis, can't you Dark Phoenix us out of here?" Mikey questioned.

"I'm physically better, but my mental powers are running on fumes." Hisako replied. "I could barely levitate a paperclip."

"Terrific." Donny dreaded. "And the cameras will be rolling any minute now."

"Making this the… second worst capture we've ever had." Mikey commented.

"Not a consolation Mikey." Raph replied.

"Do not lose hope, my children." Splinter told them. "Not all is lost."

"I hope you're right Sensei," Donny replied. "I hope you're right."

…

Back at the U.N., world leaders were all still talking amongst themselves, Agent Bishop trying to maintain order. Unfortunately, everyone was starting to lose patience as more time passed and the Triceraton ships remained in the sky.

Everyone," He spoke up. "Everyone, just calm down."

"You told us that you had your best agents on this case!" The Japanese Ambassador exclaimed, slamming his palm on the table.

"And they are, I assure you." Bishop confirmed. "We just need to be patient."

"This Zanramon's time limit has nearly reached its end!" The German ambassador pointed out. "If this situation is allowed to escalate-!"

That's when the screen began flickering once more. Zanramon graced the screen with a sinister grin on his face.

"Creatures of this backwater planet, I have great news for everyone."

He stepped out of the camera, showing off all of the captives lined up, ready for execution. Everyone in the U.N gasped, terrified mutters and shocked whispers of disbelief flitted through the Ambassadors. Bishop's gaze remained unreadable, but his eyes narrowed and his fists clenched.

"The Gamaron fugitives who have eluded me in the past have finally been captured." He declared, the camera panning to show everyone. "More than that, I have captured the rebel scum that has plagued my system for far too long! Now, I will finally rid myself of this pestilence, and have given your planet the honor of witnessing Triceraton justice."

The guards behind each prisoner readied their weapons, guns aimed right at their heads. All of the turtles flinched, Hisako beginning to tear up. Traximus, however, remained bold. He didn't flinch at the gun to his head, just staring at the Prime Leader with a proud look on his face.

"You truly believe you have beaten us?" Traximus questioned.

"You stand to be executed for crimes against the Triceraton Republic." Zanramon replied. "You and all your allies have been captured."

"Not all of them." Traximus corrected. "Now O'Neil!"

…

From her spot down in the Rebel headquarters, April slammed her hand on the fire button, setting off the charges in the Decimator Cannon. The charges went off, blowing the cannon and starting a chain reaction that began spreading through the entire Triceraton Home world.

"Whoa, guess we should have known blowing up a planet destroying weapon would have devastating effects." April realized.

She ditched her post, running for the exit as everything began to shake.

…

From the throne room, massive earthquakes began shaking everything and everyone inside. The Hamato Siblings took advantage of the chaos to get to their feet, jumping over their bindings so their hands were in front of them. They then spun around and kicked the guards holding them in the stomach. The guards doubled over, allowing them to dispatch them with ease. Donny managed to grab some keys off one of the guards, allowing him to free himself, and the others.

"The Decimator Cannon must have been linked to the power center of the entire Home world!" He rationalized. "This entire place is coming down on top of us!"

"We gotta get out of here!" Mikey yelled.

Upon hearing this, Mozar immediately grabbed his comm.

"All units, get to your escape crafts!" He ordered. "Repeat, get to your escape crafts!"

Everyone began scrambling to escape, rebels and loyalists alike. One rather violent quake shook the room, dropping a piece of the ceiling. Mozar saw it was aimed at the Prime Leader and reacted on instinct, shoving him out of the way. The resulting rubble fell on top of Mozar, trapping him underneath. He cried out in pain as Zanramon got to his feet.

"Prime Leader..." Mozar wheezed. "Help me..."

Zanramon just ignored Mozar's pleas and bolted. However, his cries did not go unheard. Traximus looked over, seeing his former friend trapped. He paused running, intercepting Leatherhead.

"Leatherhead, I beg you to help me." he requested, pointing over at Mozar.

"Why should I?" Leatherhead asked. "He sought... to hurt us. To hurt Oracle."

"He was my friend." Traximus begged. "And no one deserves to be left to die."

Leatherhead softly growled in response, knowing that he had a point.

"Very well." Leatherhead relented.

The two then got to work, clearing the debris and helping Mozar to his feet. Mozar looked at them both in shock.

"Why…?" he questioned. "Why would you-?"

"No time for sappy explanations!" Mikey shouted. "We gotta get off this hunk of rock!"

"Anyone thought of exactly how?" Raph asked.

"The prime leader's personal hanger is the closest." Mozar answered. "It may be your only chance!"

"Then let's book!" Leo called out.

...

Zanramon ran to his personal cruiser, rushing into the pilot's seat. He was just preparing the launch sequence when he heard the sound of a laser gun being powered on. He then felt the barrel of said gun against the back of his head.

"I wouldn't if I were you." April warned. "I'm just itching to pull this trigger."

Zanramon slowly turned around and saw her standing there, wielding a large laser gun and aiming it right at him.

"Do you honestly believe you intimidate me?" Zanramon asked.

April shot the ground just centimeters from his foot. He stepped back on instinct as she leveled it with his head again.

"Next one will be higher." she warned.

Zanramon relented and held his hands up. April just smirked as the others came running onto the ship. Casey went wide-eyed when he saw the scene before him.

"April..." he let out. "Did you-?"

"Pick your jaw up off the ground, Casey." April told him. "We need to get out of here."

"You got it." Casey replied. "Anyone know how to fly this thing?"

"I can." Traximus spoke up.

He went to the controls, resuming the powering sequence before pulling the ship out of the Triceraton Home world. He then hit the throttle, causing them to jet out at breakneck speed just as the explosions got more and more violent. The cruiser joined an entire armada of other escape vehicles as the entire Home world exploded in the air. Everyone looked out the windows and watched the Home world reduced to dust floating in space.

"Well..." Raph let out. "That happened."

About that time, the cruiser's communications array started squawking, the various scattered ships trying to get in contact with the Prime Leader.

"Mozar, tell them to take this ship." Zanramon ordered. "I want these… these… insolent creatures destroyed."

Mozar's good eye narrowed and he walked towards the communication array. Leo went wide-eyed, moving to intercept. However, Hisako put up and arm, stopping him as Mozar activated communications.

"This is commander Mozar to all ships…" Mozar spoke up. "The Prime Leader is no more."

...

The personal cruiser landed on another one of the Triceraton land masses surrounding earth.

"So, now what?" Mikey asked.

"I have already put in a call to the army on board." Mozar explained. "Once they heard of Zanramon's cowardly act, they turned against him in an instant."

The former prime leader let out a snarl, struggling in the grip of two All Stars.

"They'll make sure he faces justice for his crimes." Mozar promised. "All his crimes."

The doors to the cruiser opened and a platoon of soldiers met them there. They marched towards Zanramon and took him into custody. A few more came and started tending to Monza-Ram, the patch starting to wear out. With their enemy gone and their friend getting the medical care he needed, it was time to discuss some serious matters.

"So what's gonna happen to the Triceratons now?" Leo asked.

"They will need a new leader." Murakami spoke up. "Without proper leadership, there is little chance of rebuilding their Republic."

"The blind one speaks true." Traximus agreed before turning to Mozar. "Who will they turn to?"

"You." Mozar told him. "There is none I can think of possessing more honor and integrity than you, should you accept."

Traximus was stunned by the suggestion.

"You should take it." Monza-Ram spoke up. "I will happily accept you as Prime Leader."

"As will we all." One of the All-Stars declared.

"You got our vote." Mikey chimed in.

"Mine as well." Lisa spoke up.

Traximus admittedly was surprised by all the support he was receiving. Eventually, he straightened up, meeting their eye.

"While I am honored by the nomination, I believe it is time for the true republic to return." he declared. "I will rebuild the council, so no single Triceraton will ever sit on the throne of our people again."

"I will aid you in this." Mozar promised. "If you will allow."

"It would be an honor to work by your side once more, old friend." Traximus allowed.

Mozar smiled at the prospect.

"Thank you, my friend." Mozar replied.

"But what about the turtles and their allies?" Mona Lisa questioned.

"Us?" Leo questioned. "We go home and face the music."

"Yeah, so much for our days of being New York's dirty little secret."

"I am sorry your lives have been altered so much because of our world's meddling." Traximus apologized. "I wish we could make it up to you."

"Perhaps they could stay as citizens of the Triceraton Republic." Mozar suggested. "They'd be welcomed as heroes for freeing us from Zanramon's tyranny."

"We are humbled by your offer, but we must decline." Splinter said with a bow. "Our home is on Earth, and we are its protectors."

"Then perhaps you could use a protector of your own." Lisa spoke up.

"You… you wanna stay?" Raph asked in surprise.

"There is nothing for me here but bad memories and sorrow." Lisa replied before taking his hand. "On your planet, I see hope, and a chance for a new life with someone I care for deeply."

Raph smiled at the idea as Mikey leaned in close.

"She's talking about you." Mikey joked, causing Raph to shove him back.

"Life ain't easy in the big apple, and it's gonna get harder after this fiasco." Raph warned her.

"I don't want easy." she told him. "Where's the fun in that?"

"And that there is why I like you." Raph remarked.

The two embraced affectionately as Leo turned to Traximus.

"Thanks for trying to help us." Leo told him. "Good luck rebuilding your home."

"We will do what we can." Traximus replied. "It is all any of us can do."

...

The personal cruiser, now vacant of all that were not destined for earth, returned to New York City. By this point, all of the ships were pulling out of the atmosphere, taking off into space. The occupants inside were understandably nervous, though Casey was just happy to pull the atmosphere converter out of his mouth.

"Glad to be rid of this thing." Casey commented.

April pulled hers out as well, as did Leatherhead, Splinter, and Murakami.

"So, what now?" April asked.

"Hopefully, we can stash this thing at Galactic Enterprises, then get below ground." Donnie answered.

"I fear it will not be so simple." Lisa reported from the driver's seat. "Incoming vessel."

They looked out and saw a fighter jet coming in close, getting in behind them. Mikey's eyes went wide.

"They're gonna shoot us!" he shouted. "Brace yourselves guys!"

As if on cue, the jet fired two missiles at the cruiser. They made contact, not doing too much damage, but did make the ship rock a little.

"Shields at 40%!" Lisa announced. "Though primitive, your technology is quite dangerous!"

"We need to ditch this ship, fast!" Donny declared.

"Central Park!" Murakami suggested. "We can lose our pursuers in the woods!"

"Good plan!" Raph agreed. "Hurry!"

"I do not know what this 'Central park' is that you speak of!" Lisa informed him.

"That large green patch right there!" Leo clarified, pointing through the windshield. "Go! Before-!"

More missiles hit, killing the shields.

"Shields are down!" Lisa cried out. "Brace for impact!"

Leatherhead grabbed Hisako, curling around her protectively. Casey did the same with April, and Splinter took hold of the turtles. Murakami clung to the wall as the ship took a nosedive into central park, skidding through the picnic area before coming to a stop. Inside, everyone was flat on the ground, unaware of the soldiers closing in on the wreck.

[forever-more-never-again]

The Princes (A Winchester AU!)

So this is a story I originally wrote a long time ago. It is based off the Dream works movie The Prince Of Egypt. Although it does not follow the story line exactly. I changed it to become a Winchester AU! I hope you guys like it.

Pairing: None. Jewish!Egyptian!Reader

Word Count: 2166

Warnings: Character Death. Slavery. 

Masterlist

Her lungs were burning, the crisp October air scorching her throat with each breath. But the girl kept going, kept running. Not for her life, but for the child cradled in her arms. The stalks of straw smacked into her face, whipping past her in a blur of yellow. Her breaths came in gasps as she swung to the right. There in the distance; a tree with the roots bare. Using a burst of energy, [Y/n] surged forward and dived into the roots.

“Come now, [Y/n]. We do not want to make the Pharaoh angry, now do we.”

The gentle male voice, spoken in the language she grew up with,  wafted towards [Y/n] where she was huddled in mud. She dared not move. Chills raked her spine as she heard the footsteps draw near her hiding place. Pure fear caused bile to rise up in her throat. She crushed her bundle to her chest. A startled cry had her immediately pulling it away. She quietly hushed her baby as he looked up at her with his bright hazel eyes. [Y/n] smiled and brushed a finger against his silky cheek.

“[Y/n], I know you are here.”

Panic gripped her once again. The reason the guard was after her, the reasons she had to flee from Egypt… Her son was the blood of  Pharaoh Johhun. He had forced himself onto her. It did not take long for [Y/n], the simple serving maid to the Great Royal Wife, to realize what the changes of her body meant. She also knew what the Pharaoh did to his illegitimate children and their mothers. She tried to keep it a secret for as long as possible, luckily her belly stayed small. But once she gave birth,  by herself in her room, she knew she had to run. She had been running and hiding for three days with her newborn son before the Pharaoh even noticed that she was gone, and tortured the information from another servant about reason why.

A twig snapped, drawing [Y/n]’s attention. Through the opening in the roots she could plainly see Helel’s sandaled foot so close she could have reached out to touch it. She slowed her breathing, terrified that he might hear her racing heartbeat. After a moment, he moved on. [Y/n] breathed a sigh of relief and thanked God that her son had stayed silent through it all. She glanced down, he was asleep, his breaths coming in tiny coos that made [Y/n] start to calm. She settled down further in the mud and waited.

The silence was suffocating. The night was dark as a tomb, and [Y/n] felt as if she was trapped in one. It had been hours, and the guard had ‘supposedly’ left. but with her child’s life hanging in the balance, [Y/n] was not taking any chances. She strained to hear anything from inside her root sanctuary. Her only hope now was to run along the Nile until she came across some nomads and joined them.

She glanced down at the sleeping bundle in her arms. He was all she had, she would give up everything, had given up, everything, for him.

She waited another long moment before finally crawling out and stretching. With half a moon shining weakly on the fields, her vision was obstructed. The warm october air blew her brown hair blocking her vision even more. Pushing it back with one hand, she scanned the area. She could see no movement in the darkness of the night.

[Y/n] sighed, “Luck has been with us so far, little one. Let us hope it stays.” She started for the river, the water capturing the silver moonbeams. It beckoned her closer, promised her freedom.

As she reached the water's edge. She froze. Something was following her. The stalks of straw were whispering as something moved through them towards where she stood on the river's bank. Her breathing became shallow as she turned to face whatever, or whoever had followed her.

[Y/n] was prepared to fight, tightening her grip on her baby, she readied her stance, prepared for anything. She was not prepared for the calf that walked out of the straw. [Y/n] nearly fell over in relief. She smiled at the tiny animal, “Well, how did you get here?”

That cute distraction cost her. One second, [Y/n] was standing, and the next she was falling. Thinking quickly she managed to turn herself so that she did not land on her baby. Instead her leg got twisted and landed on a rock. She felt something break, and a scream tore from her mouth before she could stop it.

Scrambling to stand back up, she slowed at the sound of a chuckle. Glancing back confirmed her fear, Helel was back. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, smiling broadly at her. He already thought he won.

You think wrong! [Y/n] thought vehemently. She continued getting up until she was standing between Helel and the river. Only then did she register that her son was wide awake and angry at the world. She attempted to stop his thrashing, but could do nothing about his continuous wails. When she had him somewhat contained she glared up at Helel and snarled at his arrogant face.

He just laughed, “Enough of that [Y/n]. You have nowhere to run. Now come along and let us go let the Pharaoh see his son.”

“You know what he will do to him! How can you stand by while he kills an innocent child! While he kills me!” Her voice, was clear, and Helel felt a flash of remorse. [Y/n] was one of the few young maids who bothered to ask how the young guard was, and bring him food when he was on guard for long hours.

But orders were orders especially since “The pharaoh is the morning and evening star, what he says is law.”

[Y/n] looked at Helel with brown eyes full of sorrow, “I was hoping you no longer believed that. That you realized the Pharaoh is only a Cruel man, nothing special.”

“How can you say that!? The Pharaoh was handpicked by the gods to rule us all. Egypt has been blessed by the lineage of such great kings.” Helel might feel sorry for turning [Y/n] over to the Pharaoh , and he knew she had radical views, who wouldn't after spending as much time as she did amongst the hebrews, but he steadfastly believed in his kinds ancient beliefs, and nothing was going to sway him otherwise.

He was so caught up in defending his beliefs that he did not pay close attention to [Y/n] as she crept closer and closer to the water’s edge. Helel shook his head and snapped at [Y/n], anxious to get his job over and done with, “Okay. No more games. Let me take you to the palace. It will be a relief, honestly. To no longer be a slave, to live amongst the gods. Death is the best choice.”

As [Y/n] felt the water with her foot, she allowed her gaze to drop to her childs. He was still upset, but his sobs were muffled and hiccuped. [Y/n] smiled sadly and kissed his downy head. “To tell the truth, Helel, you are probably right. But for him, for my son, I choose life.” and she flung herself into the unforgiving rapids of the Nile.

“No!” Helel jumped forward, attempting to grab onto [Y/n]’s tunic, but grabbed nothing but empty air. Desperate, he raced along the water’s edge, scanning the river for any movement. The Pharaoh would be violent in his anger if Helel came back with nothing to show except to say that a simple serving maiden had escaped from the elite palace guards. Unless...Slowly Helel smiled. He scanned the river one more time, and the fast current decided for him. The Pharaoh need not know that the girl escaped. Helel could be a hero, he only needed to tell the Pharaoh that both the child and its mother were killed. He figured, even if [Y/n] had somehow survived the merciless river, she would not be coming back to Egypt any time soon. No bodies would be needed if he said that they had been fed to some waiting crocodiles. Pleased with his plan, Helel started to whistle and walk back to the palace.

Way down the river, past reeds and marshes, a head burst forth from the water and gasped for air. [Y/n] checked to make sure she still had a firm grasp on her child and thanked her god that he was silent. She attempted to kick her legs and start swimming and immediately stopped. Her left leg was in so much pain, she could not move it. Reaching down, she felt unusual warmth surrounding her leg. Bringing her hand back up showed that she was bleeding. Further inspection revealed, to [Y/n]’s horror, that the trip down the river had caused her leg bone to break through her skin. Her breathing was rapid and shallow, and it took everything she had to stay awake and alert. Blood brought predators. [Y/n] had to watch out for crocodiles, hippos, any animal that might think she was easy prey.

Glancing up brought dread to the pit of her stomach. She had not remembered that the Pharaoh had split the river so that fresh water was constantly flowing through a section of the sanctuary of the Great Royal Wife. Frantically, she attempted to stay out of the rivers flow that led through the sanctuary. But unable to use her legs and arms full of her child, she could do naught but watch in panic as the river took her back to the place she had fought so desperately to escape.

In the sanctuary the Great Royal Wife, Mariam, was relaxing in the healing waters of the Great River. Her two faithful handmaidens stood at the edge waiting, one holding the the tiny hand of a boy that was the Prince of Egypt. The Great Royal Wife had been blessed with child four years ago and had since then not been separated from her son. She sat serenely on the last step leading into her part of the river, thoughts turned inward, and she did not see the dark floating object headed towards her until it was inside her sanctuary. Immediately one of her handmaidens reached in to take her out of the water, for fear it was a hippo or a crocodile. But when Mariam heard the cry of a child coming from the object she shooed her handmaidens away and waded in until she could clearly see the thing that has invaded her sanctuary.

“Oh! Bastet have mercy!” Mariam recognized the object, for the object was a person. It was her loyal Lady-in-waiting, [Y/n]. Mariam had been told by her husband that [Y/n] had been killed two days past by the terrible boils that ravaged the people of Egypt. “[Y/n]?” Mariam whispered. Afraid that she would disappear, that she was a figment of her imagination.

“Mariam! May my god grant mercy...Look after him! Protect him...from...Pharaoh…” [Y/n]’s voice faded as her strength left. She shoved a bundle into the surprised arms of Mariam.

At the persistent cries, Mariam looked down, straight into the wide open eyes of her husband. “Merciful Ra!” Mariam cried. The boy child, who looked only days old, was her husband reincarnated. Mariam knew then, what had happened. She turned to confirm her fears with her loyal lady, but when she glanced back to the river, she saw nothing but the calm waters of the Great River. [Y/n] was gone.

Mariam looked back at her handmaidens, they both looked solemn as they indicated that [Y/n] had gone adrift with the current. A terrible pain hit Mariam with so much force, she decided that she would lie. She would lie to protect him, as her loyal lady had begged of her. Mariam looked at her two handmaidens, who she knew were only loyal to her and ordered them, “You saw me give birth to another son here tonight. The Gods granted me this blessing. There was no one else here. Obey or by the power of Isis may you be barren for eternity.”

The maidens nodded their heads, they would never betray their lady. Even though the rightful son of the Pharaoh looked as different as night and day to the slave girl’s son, even though one was the pharaoh reincarnated and the other was brunette with bright green eyes, they knew the fury of the Pharaoh, and would not willing do anything to put themselves anywhere near him.

The two boys would grow up as Brothers. The rightful Heir, Deanu and his younger brother, Samuel.

FOREVER Taglist:

@sxph-t @littlestfangirl @rainydaysrnevergrey @not-jk-rowling @sociallyawkwardcircus-freak-hi

Supernatural Taglist:

@jadepc

[italicwatches]

Animal Sentai Zyuohger - Episode 41

I can scarcely begin to describe the depths of my frustration with the postal service right now. My package was three hours away. I could have day tripped going up to pick it up. In about three hours, it will have officially been a week since I paid for it, and it has been “in transit” almost the entire time, lost somewhere in the system. I just…Ugh.

Okay. Happier subject. Animal Sentai Zyuohger, episode 41! Here we GO!

-PREVIOUSLY ON Animal Sentai Zyuohger, Kubar stole a hand and shot a secretary in the face.

-PRESENTLY ON Animal Sentai Zyuohger, Azald and Genis are noticing that Naria isn’t around…Genis has the utmost trust in his assistant, but Azald doesn’t like the situation, and quite frankly is bored as he goes to look for the others…

-Which puts him down on Earth. And leaves Kubar with a rare opportunity to catch Genis totally alone…

-While out in the park, Yamato notices Misao off on his morning jog…Misao, who runs into a cloud of fog, fog that reveals Genis?! Misao’s panic is raw, palpable…As even miles away, the others get the most intense vibe of their entire lives…

-Misao panics, fight or flight kicks in, and he doesn’t even issue a battle cry before kicking off THE WORLD! RHINO! He charges in, terror holding him in its grip!

-Opening!

-Episode 41: The First and Only Chance

-So The World’s swinging his rod wildly, unable to hit Genis…And when he snaps to WOLF to fire it as a gun, Genis just blocks every shot! Even as a CROCODILE, The World can’t even get close enough to do anything, as he’s slammed into the ground, his armor ripped off of him and his body bloodied…

-The others arrive in time to see Genis hauling the unconscious Misao up, and he wants to play a game. They’re going to meet again at a mansion not far from town, and there the fun will begin…Then he’s gone, before they can do anything. And Yamato, who had no idea, gets the call of what just happened…He’s, of course, in shock.

-While Kubar reveals the true depths of his plans. So he’s got Naria all chained up after knocking her out earlier, and it turns out that this Genis we saw? Yeah that’s a phantom that Kubar cooked up from Naria’s memories. All to trick the Zyuohgers into fighting the real Genis, with even more motivation…And away from the Big Bow.

-Which gives Genis’s body life. Away from it, he’s a shadow of himself! Kubar has learned so much from your mind, Naria, so very very much…And now, to make things even more interesting, he uses her to make a phantom of good old Azald…

-Back at the cabin, everyone’s reacting in various ways. Panic, anger, fear, and Yamato of course is in pure and utter guilt and despair. He was a minute away. He saw Misao, seconds before the encounter! If he’d just called out and said hello, Misao would have known he was close enough to help! He could have changed the script! And now, Genis has him…Misao can feel nothing but his own utter failure.

-Then there’s Mario, but Yamato doesn’t even bother to fake it. They’re leaving to save Misao.

-So they get there, to a cliffside mansion, where Shark can hear Misao’s voice…They sprint in at top speed, as the search begins…And the very instant the door shuts, they’re of course sealed in.

-And then they get trapped further into a single part of the manor…But Eagle decides that’s not going to happen, as he unleashes the Gorilla’s strength! LET! HIM! THROUGH!!!

-Up on the Big Bow, Kubar arrives with “Azald”, who tells Genis that the Zyuohgers have kidnapped Naria! they’re trying to force a fight with YOU, sir! …Then a fight, those fools will receive. He’ll play along, and make them regret it…

-In the manor, the barrier suddenly falls, and they’re too busy racing through to question it…And they find Misao! Yamato’s to him in a second, and oh god, Misao, are you…

-Misao awakens, and finds he’s around friends. He’s been saved. Yamato feels so much guilt for failing his friend this is a phantom. This is a phantom Misao. Tusk is the first one to realize something’s not right…

-And then they get a vibe that makes the phantom of Genis, feel like gentle scritches from a lover. It’s the single most intense feeling they’ve ever h—

-The wall explodes open, a single shot offered from Genis, who’s arrived to take back Naria! Well, they’re ready to take him down for stealing Misao away! Instincts Awakened! They leap down to face him, as backed by Kubar and Azald…

-And a whole mess of phantom MotWs that Kubar calls into play….

-Who surround Genis. As he decides to play his hand! A phantom Azald, and plenty more, plus the Zyuohgers…What will you do now, Genis!

-Meanwhile the real Azald is bumbling around the woods trying to find his buddies.

-Kubar reveals everything. That he stole Bunglay’s hand, that he’s been working towards this end, all to get vengeance for his people that Genis slew, the planet he subjugated! You DIE HERE, Genis! This planet will be your grave! Zyuohgers, do you want to protect your planet?! This is the man who has been behind it all! Stand by him and end this war!

-They’re left with a whole mess of confusion…When The World says they’ve got to do it. It’s their best, only shot at taking Genis down! They can worry about Kubar later! And thus things turn into a crossfire…

-A crossfire that Genis utterly rejects, before mounting the memory unit Naria gathered for him into his own chest….Gathering power….And sending it out in a massive shockwave! Everyone’s knocked back, as Genis’s body recovers, his life support system finally no longer shackling him…He’s figured out how to use Cube Whale’s combat data to draw power from this…Earth, you humans called it? Yes, it has a very pleasant feeling…

-Kubar realizes, in utter horror, that he got out-played. Genis had it all figured out. He suspected from the start, and he made plans to isolate Kubar, to be in a position to take him down when the vengeful fool tipped his hand…

-Congratulations, Kubar. You played yourself. But the game’s not over yet! Genis fires two quick shots that scrape Kubar’s head, exploding behind him in fire. The terror that hits Kubar’s heart is overwhelming, overpowering, and of course, it’s that terror that Genis lives for!

-Kubar desperately sends everything he has at Genis, while The World leads a panicked charge! Lion and Shark back him up, Eagle goes to Whale, and Tiger is left with Elephant to be the last two in the fray…

-But even with everything they’ve got, Genis is throwing phantoms around left and right, knocking the crew around with ease, and dodging everything they can throw at him! With his body now sustained by an entire planet’s life force, there’s nothing he can—

-Heyyyy, The World goes down in gold mist. Told you it was a phantom. The others realize that this was all a plan…Kubar set them up from the start! And Whale realizes Misao is still out there. …KUBAR! WHERE THE FUCK IS MISAO?! Kebab flees in utter panic, leaving them with no answers…

-As Genis throws energy into the remaining MotW phantoms, making them get big and turning them into rampaging beasts that seek only destruction…!

-And Whale is forced to abandon the hunt for Misao, to deal with this…And he is pissed about it. Animal Combination! THREE! TWO! ONE! FOUR! FIVE! SIX! ZYUOH KING! ZYUOH WILD! And from the skies, Animal Transformation! DODEKAI-OH! You three will fall! They have them all surrounded, blocked in and isolated in a clear area away from the bigger buildings, as mecha fight starts!

-Meanwhile, Bard’s hunt has found four Cube Animals…When he sees the distant mecha fight. And to make it worse, Azald finds him. Well this is a right mess…

-As the mecha fight continues…But they flip parts for a ZYUOH MEGATON KICK, Mole Drill ZYUOH BREAK, and DODEKAI-OCEAN SPLASH! Kicked, stabbed and shot, these three drop hard. And Whale immediately returns to the hunt…!

-While Bard, seeing Azald for the first time, tries to figure out who, or what, he is…Made entirely of cubes…

-As the hunt for Misao is on…And the real Misao is miles away, hung over the river…!

-Credits.

Ohhhhh fuuuuuuuuuck

[darcyfirth]

someone holds me safe and warm

read it on ao3.

Happy holidays loves <3

It was several hours before midnight, Eggsy checked after a quick look at their grandfather clock, the one that Harry hated but always forgot to throw out because they were constantly on their business trips around the world.

Outside, their snow-covered garden glowed with the Christmas decorations and fairy lights Eggsy had helped Harry put on the previous week.

From his place on the couch, legs comfortably perched on the armrest and back supported by Eggsy’s entire body, Harry shifted the lavender blanket to cover his lap and said, “Are you bored?”

“From what?” Eggsy idly observed how the fireplace light danced on the curves of his husband’s hair and profile, the faint glow softening Harry’s sharp features immeasurably.

“Sitting here and having to watch Anastasia with your boss-slash-lived-in-housemate,” said Harry as he ate a handful of popcorn from the bowl on his stomach.      

In an unforeseen gesture driven entirely by his overwhelming fondness for the man, Eggsy bent his upper body and closed Harry’s mouth with his. He was young, Eggsy thought, he could afford to sit at an awkward angle for a while. 

A while turned out to be something like five minutes.

It was partially Harry and his hand’s fault for coming up to rest on his husband’s neck so that he could draw Eggsy in, pressing their sides together, and despite the barrier of clothes, Eggsy could feel Harry’s body heat slowly rose.

Harry smiled that smile of his, and Eggsy’s vision blurred as he gladly accepted his defeat.

Their lips kept meeting and separated, sometimes short and soft, other times lingering and tinged with a sea of longing. Mingled breaths and brushes of skin. The smell of Harry’s cologne and Eggsy’s hot chocolate coalesced.

His hands in Harry’s hair, under his shirt, around his narrow waist, leaving a trace of warmth and unabashed desire.

Galaxies could collide and Eggsy wouldn’t give it a single thought.

Slowly, he licked Harry’s bottom lip and gave it a small bite.

Even when Eggsy was seeking comfort for his now burdened back on the couch, his eyes would not leave Harry’s face. A hard task, it seemed, for everywhere he looked, he found love and affection and adoration. He wanted to look away, he wanted to never close his eyes.

“What was that for?” asked Harry, the man didn’t bother to hide the arousal in his voice.

“Popcorn. I wanted to taste some,” lied Eggsy.

Because they had been married for two years, and because he knew who Eggsy was, Harry played along, “Any good?”

Licking his lips, he faked being deep in thoughts, “A tad sweet. What flavour is it?”

“Cheddar cheese and caramel.” Harry put the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table, it didn’t fall on the carpet during or after their snog, a blessing he suspected would not come again.

“I thought you hated cheddar cheese?” Eggsy pulled the discarded blanket back on to cover his legs.

“I do. With a passion,” the corner of his lips quirk, “but you like it.”

Puzzled, Eggsy asked, “But I said I was full after that mug of chocolate, how would you- Oh.” It dawned on him that Harry didn’t work as a spy for twenty and some years for nothing.  

“Am I that predictable? Have I failed in being a surprise to you now?” He lamented, his hand theatrically came up to cover his face, there was a crocodile tear coming.

“No. It’s actually the opposite. In fact, I find myself being surprised by you every day,” Harry said as he touched Eggsy’s forehead with his, “I guess I’m just an expert in reading the Unwins.”

Eggsy’s hands dropped for him to stare at Harry’s brown eyes, kissing him on the eyelids and nose and cheeks would be ideal right now, but, “I hope you’re not looking forward to graduating?”

“They say learning is something you spend your entire life doing. And I’ve always been a devoted scholar, I’m afraid.” If it was possible, Eggsy would bind his and Harry’s souls together, so that they would keep meeting each other in every future reincarnation. An alarming thought, he realised, but fighting it would be futile.

“You know, when you told me the stories of soulmates,” he lowered his eyes to look at their entwined fingers, “it came to me that in some universes, what if you didn’t find me? What if you were just a stranger that I would walk past on the streets? I suddenly pity the Gary Unwin that misses his Harry Hart.”

He heard Harry inhale and exhale, twice, before saying, “What if I kept finding you but you didn’t choose me? Because I assure you, Eggsy, that it’d be hopelessly moronic of me to disregard you.”

“Then I’d choose you, Harry. I chose, choose, and will always choose to be with you.”

“Good,” he pressed his lips on the top of Eggsy’s head, “now we can get back to watching this boring movie that I like so much.” He shuffled his legs, rearranging them to a suitable position, and when he was satisfied, looked up to Eggsy and smiled.

“It’s not boring,” huffed Eggsy.

“Are you sure?”

“If it’s something you like, then it must be the most attractive, appealing, and captivating thing in the world.”

“Pride is a deadly sin, didn’t you know?” laughed Harry.

His scrunched up nose, the swaying curls on his forehead, his thin lips, the lines on his face, the dimples that appeared whenever he was happy. Eggsy meticulously memorised each one.

“Yeah,” he nodded. On the screen, the song Once upon a December was playing, Anastasia was remembering her past as a princess.

In their living room, Eggsy smiled sheepishly and touched Harry’s cheeks, “I’m afraid you’ll have to bear with me for the rest of your life.”

Leaning on Eggsy’s palm with close-lidded eyes, Harry promised, “It’d be my privilege.”