Fic: Tangled: Chapter 12
Title: Tangled: Chapter 12 - THE END
Author: white_cross_b
Type: Fiction
Characters/Pairings: Aya/Chloe, Side B, Velvet Under World
Rating: NC-17
Beta:
whymzycal with additional insight from
orlisbunny
Chapter summary: "You're you," Aya said simply. "You're Edward, you're Chloe, you're whoever you want to be. You can even pick a new name if you like."
12 MONTHS LATER
***
Aya was dreaming.
There was a rhythm to this dream, time ticking away with the rhythmic sound of machinery and of air whooshing in and out. Without realizing it, Aya's own breath matched the rhythm perfectly as he breathed. In and out... in and out... Aya's life, artificial life, they were one and the same. He dreamed, but his eyes were open wide, picturing a time when he wouldn't be keeping vigil beside a hospital bed, where he wouldn't have to see someone he cared about lying motionless beside him.
His sister's coma had been the worst of all. It was quiet, with not even the sound of a respirator to tick away the time, and so time seemed to suspend, to stop, and even Aya herself never aged. The saying is that life goes on, but Ran died back then, replaced by someone... no, something else. Something that didn't need love or happiness or friendship. Cold, calculated, and efficient, he became Aya, a mockery of his own sister's name, a name that he had desperately wanted to preserve, for her to live on.
Aya had visited Yohji one night, late, once the staff had lulled themselves into their quiet, nightly rituals. Yohji was the only patient who had no name. No one from Kritiker had come to claim him, no one from Kaoua Academy, only Aya, in the dead of night, holding Yohji's hand as he whispered into sleeping ears, "You promised me that you would live." Aya left behind his katana, which the staff had propped against the sterile hospital wall beside the bed. If Yohji were ever to wake up, perhaps he'd see the katana and remember.
Still Aya mirrored the respirator... breathing in and out... in and out...
A nurse came by the check Chloe's vitals, scribbling something down on a chart that was kept clipped to the end of Chloe's bed. The best doctors that money could buy. Chloe would be smug, knowing he deserved only the best, but he lay motionless, the machines the only things keeping him alive.
Aya had been banned from the lab. Slamming the darts down on the table, he had snarled, "You've got four of these things! Why can't you find an antidote?" Aya didn't want to hear that once the darts had punctured Chloe's skin, the poison had gone from their tips, not leaving enough behind to draw a sample from for examination. The wrong antidote could be deadly, and these men were some of the best in their field. Aya was escorted from the room so they could continue to work, but not before he had broken a few pieces furniture and one of the windows. Aya never knew chairs could fly.
"Chloe wouldn't want this," Michel had said quietly, risking bodily injury as he took a raging Aya by the arm before he could do any more damage. Aya was silent after that.
Reports came to him from time to time. Cedric had been killed that night, along with the rest of the missing Side A team -- that much Aya already knew -- but the rest of the Children of Dwer had been hunted down and eliminated, their organization wiped out completely. Christine was safe; that should have at least been some sort of comfort for Chloe's sake.
Still Aya breathed... in and out... in and out...
The room was white, the sheets were white, the bandages on Chloe's face were white, and the thoughts in Aya's head were white, ghostly things that drifted slowly by, with no direction or purpose. Then there was sudden shouting and the sound of running footsteps and the quiet of the room was invaded with nurses and doctors, all wearing white. Aya closed his eyes.
***
Chloe didn't speak much.
It was too cold for him to be outside on the balcony or to sit in the garden, so he spent the days sitting by the window, but his eyes always faced straight ahead and never to the ground below. He did what was expected of him. He ate, he slept, he suffered the visits downstairs to the clinic where he had the bandages on his face changed. He never looked in the mirror anymore.
The others came by from time to time. Michel chatted about flowers, school, the new coat he was beading, while Free stood silently by. Ken was awkward, not knowing what to say, never having been all that close with Chloe himself, and Yuki went on about mission details and revenge. Chloe no longer cared. He was, quite simply, done.
Aya stayed by his side, quietly reassuring, giving Chloe space when he needed it, when everything seemed to be too much.
"I can't stay here," Chloe said one morning, looking out the window as always, the sunlight hitting the right side of his face, the side that wasn't kept covered. His life had become an old fairy tale, with the castle and grounds and everyone around him as Beauty, while Chloe himself had become the Beast. He was the Phantom of the Opera, Rapunzel locked in a tower, or Cinderella after the stroke of midnight. He couldn't bear the thought of staying there, carrying on like nothing had changed when everything had. He wouldn't look at the sympathetic faces full of pity as they looked at Chloe and thought to themselves, what a tragedy, when Chloe had once been so beautiful. Aya nodded, but said nothing.
It was a few days later that Aya came to Chloe, sitting down next to him, his eyes full of purpose. "We need to talk," he said and Chloe braced himself for the inevitable. This was where Aya would leave him and Chloe really would become the tragic fairy tale figure, living the rest of his life alone.
"KR is giving us a generous severance package. It'll be more than enough to make a new start. Wherever you want to go, Chloe. We could go to Switzerland and play in the snow if you want." Aya's words were a glass slipper, waiting for Chloe's foot to slip it on.
Chloe was weak from relief. Aya was coming with him.
Before they left England, Chloe set Trabant free -- or as free as an owl raised by a human could be. Nana would look after Trabant if the owl needed it, but as Trabant took off into the trees, Chloe knew that she wouldn't be returning. There would be nothing to keep her there. Chloe hid his face behind his bangs and went to his room, locking the door behind him.
***
Geneva was cold. Chloe walked the nighttime streets alone, his collar and knit scarf pulled up high, covering most of his face, covering his sin as flurries of snowflakes fell into his hair and eyes. Chloe had fallen from God's grace and God had marked him, the scars on his face a blatant reminder of a judgement Chloe couldn't possibly begin to understand. Snow turned to slush, to water, to rain, and still Chloe walked, stalking elusive answers in the dark.
Chloe found it increasingly harder to sleep or to have even the most casual of conversations as the time went on. When he did sleep, his dreams were a jumble of confusing images that wouldn't leave him even when he was awake. His rosary lay on the bedside table instead of its usual place around Chloe's neck. He had always associated beauty with God, and now he was forsaken. He spent long hours tracing over the scars on his face with his fingertips, wondering where he had gone so wrong. Not even Aya's gentle admonishments to get Chloe out of his thoughts could rouse him from his waking dreams. Aya brought home flowers, beautiful long-stem roses in colours that Chloe could never make with his own hands. He meant well, but it cut Chloe deeply. He wanted to be alone.
Three months after they arrived, Chloe left Aya. He walked out of their apartment one night and simply never went back. He was an orphan, after all. He slept in an alley that night, next to a trolleybus station vent that gave off heat in gentle waves, dreaming of the brief time when his life seemed to make sense, when he thought he had had all the answers. Two days later, Aya found him there, knelt down on the ground in front of Chloe, and reached for his hand. "Come home," he said softly, but Chloe shook his head -- no. "I have no home," he said, taking in the look of hurt and concern in Aya's eyes, keeping the pain deep inside where it would burn and keep him warm in the dark. "I don't want to hurt you," Aya said, "but I will," and he gripped Chloe's arm tightly, forcing him to his feet and steering him back to the apartment. Chloe lay next to Aya in their bed and waited until his breathing deepened and evened out, and when Chloe knew Aya was asleep, he dressed quickly, leaving his key behind on the table. He made his escape before the morning rays of the sun touched the sky.
Chloe adjusted to life on the street. He knew when the bakery would be throwing out their day-old goods and when the grocery would get rid of their wilting fruit and vegetables. He never went back to the place where Aya had found him, and he never slept in the same place twice. He was dirty and his hair hung in greasy strands over his face, the roots of his fiery red hair bared for the world to see, but no one looked at him anymore. They simply walked on by and pretended he didn't exist. He had become invisible, and it was exactly what he wanted. Then he found the boy.
It was well after midnight and Chloe was looking for a quiet place to sleep when he came upon a man and a boy in a deserted alley. If he had been in his right mind, he would have heard the sounds for what they were, but Chloe's mind was long since numb, and so he stumbled upon them quite by accident. The boy had his pants down around his ankles as he faced the wall in front of him, his head leaning against his arm, propping him up against the wall as the man thrust roughly into him. When the man's hands found their way around the boy's throat and started to squeeze, Chloe suddenly found himself standing over the man, a gabishi in his hand, watching the man's life run out of his throat in a river of blood on the filthy pavement. Where was the smell of roses coming from? When the boy recovered his breath enough to move, he scrambled over the dead man, dirty hands rifling through his wallet, which turned up empty.
"He said that he'd pay me, that he'd get me something to eat," the boy said hoarsely, sniffling and wiping at his eyes.
"What's your name?" Chloe asked, realizing that this was the first time he had spoken aloud in days, possibly weeks. His voice sounded alien to his ears, like it came from someone else's throat instead of his own.
"Chadrick," the boy replied.
"And how old are you, Chadrick?" Chloe asked.
"I'm fourteen," he said, trying to stand up straight, to make himself taller, his emotional armour sliding back into place. Chloe knew that look, had seen it enough times in his childhood to see it for what it was: a way to cope and stay alive. Chloe wiped the tip of the gabishi on the dead man's shirt and slipped it back into the inside of his coat. He hadn't even remembered it was there at all. It was part of a lifetime that he had lived a long time ago, a lifetime where things were warm and beautiful, and he'd had a purpose, a reason to wake up in the morning.
"I can get you something to eat," Chloe said, and turned and walked away from the alley, not looking back. Two minutes later and the boy was at his heels as Chloe navigated the streets toward something that used to be familiar.
Aya's face turned white when he opened the door. Chloe could tell he'd dressed in a hurry: his t-shirt hung crookedly off his shoulders, and he hadn't bothered to knot the tie in his pants before opening the door, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Chloe was overwhelmed with a rush of emotion that squeezed his heart painfully and made it hard for him to breathe. Here was beauty, standing right in front of him. How could he have not realized it all this time? He felt the sting of tears and blinked them away, his voice coming out in barely a whisper as he asked, "Hello, Aya. Can we come in?"
Aya closed his eyes for a brief moment, and Chloe was certain he was going to turn and close the door on them, but instead he stepped back and held the door open wide. "Of course," he said, and Chloe could hear the tremor in his voice.
Time slipped away from Chloe as he sat with Chadrick at the kitchen table while Aya cooked them a meal of stir-fried chicken and vegetables over a bed of rice. All he could do was watch Aya and the way he moved, how everything he did was full of such grace and beauty that Chloe couldn't possibly look away. Even when a plate was placed in front of him with steaming hot food, Chloe could only stare in wonder. "Please eat," Aya urged, gently touching Chloe's cheek with his fingertips. "You're so thin." Chadrick needed no such urging;, he wolfed down his food in mere minutes, then promptly fell asleep next to Chloe on the couch. Chloe watched with heavy eyes as Aya covered them both with a blanket; and then he was asleep, safe and warm. For the first time in months, he didn't even dream.
Chloe woke slowly, blinking in the early morning light to find Aya sitting across from him, just watching as Chloe had slept. He looked just as he had the night before, rumpled clothes and tousled hair, and Chloe had to choke back the feeling of longing. Had Aya sat and watched him all night?
"I need to go out for a while," Aya said quietly, trying not to wake Chadrick, who was still sleeping peacefully beside Chloe. "We need groceries, and he needs some clothes."
"Okay," Chloe said. He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Aya didn't move, just sat looking at Chloe with that intense amethyst gaze that Chloe knew so well, and he couldn't bear it. He had to look away.
"Will you be here when I get back? Aya asked gently.
"Only if you want me to be," Chloe replied.
"Please," Aya whispered and Chloe nodded, closing his eyes against the raw emotion he could hear in Aya's voice. He drifted off to sleep again, not even waking when Aya left, the door clicking shut behind him.
When Chloe woke again, Chad was eating an enormous sandwich in front of the television while Aya spoke in low tones on the phone. There were clean clothes laid out for Chloe, and he gathered them up and retreated into the washroom to take a shower. What he saw in the mirror scared him to death, and he held onto the sink as the ground tilted around him dangerously. He had dark rings around his eyes, so dark that they almost looked blackened. His hair was long, longer than it had ever been, and it fell down to his shoulders in dirty strands covering his face. His hands shaking, Chloe pushed his hair back and took a good look at his face for the very first time. Underneath the dirt and grime, the scarring on his face stood out pink against his pale white skin. He could no longer run away from his life, he realized; it always came along with him. He wept, big choking sobs that tore at this throat and burned his eyes, and then there were strong arms around him, holding him up. "I'm here, Chloe," Aya murmured into his ear in soothing tones, holding Chloe as if he would never let go, until the sobs subsided and he was left sniffling and hiccuping, so weak he could barely stand. In fact, a moment later, he found himself sitting on the floor, Aya's arms still around him. How could someone feel so much pain without simply dying? The theory of a broken heart now seemed somehow plausible.
"Why are you still here?" Chloe choked out. "Why haven't you gone, back to Kripton Brand, or Japan, or wherever?"
"Tch. Idiot." Aya said, rubbing Chloe's back in slow, soothing circles. "I've been looking for you. I fell in love with you a long time ago, Chloe. I'm not leaving without you."
Chloe was overcome with a fresh wave of tears, this time of gratitude and not sorrow. "You must have," he said eventually. "I can't imagine what I must smell like."
"I'm not breathing through my nose," Aya replied, and Chloe could hear the humour behind the words. Chloe laughed, a low, guttural sound that actually felt somewhat good and lightened his spirits, despite his aching throat. Feeling a bit brave, he dared to ask, "How long have I been gone?"
There was no mistaking the emotion in Aya's voice when he replied, "Two months and ten days."
***
They said goodbye to Chadrick at the rail station after giving him his one-way ticket to London. From there, Ken would be picking him up and taking him to the flower shop, where he'd be given a part-time job and a place to live. It was more than Chloe could have given him, and he was grateful.
Earlier that morning, Aya had taken a pair of scissors and cut Chloe's hair, trimming off the blond ends, leaving his hair much shorter and completely red. Chloe frowned at himself in the mirror, no longer afraid of what he would see. "I don't know who I am anymore," he said solemnly, brushing the bangs back to look into his own eyes.
"You're you," Aya said simply. "You're Edward, you're Chloe, you're whoever you want to be. You can even pick a new name if you like."
Chloe scrutinized himself for several more moments. "Chloe is Greek," he said finally. "It means 'bloom.' Maybe it's appropriate because I feel like I've been reborn."
Aya reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out Chloe's rosary, the onyx beads sliding together and glinting in the washroom light. Chloe flinched visibly, backing away. "I can't wear that, Aya."
"Have you lost your faith?" Aya asked. Chloe shook his head. "God has lost His faith in me," he said. "This isn't just about what happened to my face, Aya; even I'm not that shallow. It's about my relationship with Him."
Aya sat on the side of the side of the tub, fingering the beads as he had seen Chloe do so many times before. "Do you know the story of Job?" he asked.
"Wasn't he the one that God tested," Chloe asked, "with boils and the loss of his family and other horrible, horrible things?"
Aya nodded, not taking his eyes off Chloe. Chloe gasped. "You think this was a test, that God is testing my faith?"
Aya shrugged. "Maybe. Who knows? I'm not sure what I believe when it comes to God."
Chloe reached out tentatively, his fingertips just barely grazing the beads in Aya's hand as if undecided, but then he grasped them firmly, holding them up to the light before slipping the rosary around his neck. "God gave me you. Perhaps I never really fell from grace," he said, tears in his eyes.
Aya brushed a stray tear from Chloe's cheek with his thumb. "What do you want, Chloe?" he asked.
“I want to go back to work," Chloe said. His voice was firm. Aya nodded.
***
Chloe was restless. They spent some time in Rome, Paris, and Berlin, but Chloe felt disconnected and always wanted to move on. In the end, they took a chance on Tokyo, and Chloe fell in love with the city and wanted to stay. Aya was skeptical, but when Chloe reminded him that he could keep a personal eye on his sister, he agreed that Tokyo was the right place, so they took an apartment and settled in. Neither of them was keen on working for someone else's ideals any longer, and so they built their own organization from the ground up, vowing that their ideals would not be politically or personally motivated, but would instead be for the good of the people.
Velvet was the first to be recruited. She reminded Aya of Manx, with her eccentric style and no-nonsense attitude, and she was as tough as nails. As the granddaughter of the superintendant general of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, she brought with her many valuable resources from which they could draw. From the streets of Tokyo, she began the process of presenting potentials for the new team for Aya and Chloe to approve or reject, as neither of them would be going back in the field. They had both lost too much already.
Almost all of the recruits had had some sort of trouble with the police, which is what led Velvet to their initial discovery. The potential recruits would then be brought in to meet with Aya and Chloe and were given the ultimatum, to either work for their organization -- to put their talents to good use and receive their organization's protection -- or risk prison. It was an attractive proposition, one that the potentials could hardly refuse, and none of them did. There was a reason they did the things they did, after all: they enjoyed them.
Kuro became the gatherer of information. Once a paparazzi photographer, he became interested in the yakuza and its inner workings after witnessing a hit on a dark street while he waited for a pop singer to leave a love hotel with his same-sex lover. It was a fascination that would eventually end up getting him killed. He brought with him surveillance skills that could not be equaled, and partnered with Miwa, an ex-reporter, they became the perfect investigative team. Their reports were concise and to the point, with revealing photos and details that became the basis for all of the group's missions.
Rock and Lynx became another perfect team, with their military background and proficiency with weapons. Rock had been a former Ranger and was used to harsh conditions and getting the job done, no matter the odds stacked against him. Lynx had been a sniper and could pick off a target from 915 yards away, a feat that far exceeded the record held by a Canadian sniper, Master Corporal Arron Perry, but Lynx would never be acknowledge by the rest of the world.
When Velvet brought in Fake, a disguise expert, Chloe choked on his tea. "Oh my God, it's Willy Wonka," he said dryly, referring to the ridiculous getup that Fake was wearing: black and white striped pants, a long, obnoxious yellow coat, and a matching tiny hat perched jauntily on top of his turquoise hair. "Not to be critical or anything," Chloe continued, wanting to stab his eyes out with his teaspoon, "but isn't that getup rather loud?"
Fake smiled, pushing his ted-tinted sunglasses up higher on his nose. "I stopped you on the street yesterday and asked you for the time. Do you remember what I looked like?" Chloe frowned, remembering the incident but not the face of the man who had asked him. Fake then turned to Aya. "I served you both dinner in the restaurant across the street. I didn't work there, but I convinced the staff I was a new hire. In and out in an hour, with none the wiser."
"But," Chloe started to protest, "our server was a woman." Fake just grinned.
"You're hired," Aya said, and Chloe could do nothing but agree.
From there, they acquired Pawn, a promising bomb specialist who was no more than just a kid. A product of abuse as a small child, Pawn began to act out, first by setting small fires, then progressing on to more violent hobbies, such as building bombs. He was a pleasant kid, smiling and generally sunny, but inside him lurked a violence that needed to be channeled into a more positive direction before he himself combusted.
303 was a thief, skilled at safecracking. He could break into any building or private dwelling and avoid any variety of alarms and detection devices. Despite being tall and thin, he could bend his lithe frame into impossibly small spaces and never left any evidence of his crimes behind. He called himself 303 because of the number of heists he managed to pull off before Velvet found him, aided by the skills of Kuro and Miwa. He was greatly admired by Garagara, their "cleaner." Garagara was called in to do his job when the others had gone, wiping away any evidence left behind at the scene of a kill when things went wrong. Also a young kid, he was the result of alcoholic parents. Needing to control his environment, he was meticulous and possibly a bit obsessive, and he kept things in strict, clean order.
Dry joined the team as a computer specialist who began his career in illegal activities when he changed his high school grades in order to graduate. From there, he progressed rapidly -- until he made the mistake of hacking into air traffic control for the Japanese air force, effectively shutting down operations for an entire afternoon while he howled with laughter. He was caught and thrown into prison, where he was then freed by 303 and immediately recruited.
Always on top of the news for crime and politics, Aya was the one that discovered Noi. Intrigued by the rash of sudden earthquakes in a specific Kyoto region, he called upon Kuro and Miwa to see if his suspicions were in fact correct. What they found was an orphanage in the center of the quakes, and from there it was easy to find the cause. It was a young girl named Noi, orphaned when her house collapsed, trapping both of her parents inside. Reminded of Nagi, Aya took her in, understanding her power for what it was and hoping that in a stable home, she would eventually learn to control her powers before she did even more damage. Noi was looked after by Birman, a former beauty queen who became embroiled in a political scandal when it was discovered that she was having an affair with a very married political official, and had, as a result managed to become highly influential in government affairs. Beautiful and quick-witted, she could charm her way into any man's heart -- or bed.
Aya and Chloe knew their team was complete when Velvet brought them Uruyu Tomoe, half-dead and maimed as the result of an investigation he had been working on as a PI, attacked and left for dead. He spent several weeks in a Tokyo hospital, where he lost his left hand and was fitted with an artificial replacement. Retaining no memory of his life before the attack, all he was left with were the names of the thirteen men who had attacked him, carved into his body with a knife. Chloe was aware of Yohji's past as a private investigator before being recruited by Kritiker, and he also knew about his eventual amnesia left by their final mission, so he was in no way surprised by Aya's interest in Uruyu. Uruyu was disinclined, glaring at Aya and Chloe as he received his invitation to join their organization.
"What's in it for me?" Uruyu asked, making clear his reluctance.
Aya was unfazed. "We will help you reach your goal. Using our resources, you can hunt down each person that did this to you and receive our protection. In return, we will get the gift of having them removed from society."
"You'll actually help me?" Uruyu asked in surprise.
"You have our word," Chloe promised. Uruyu agreed, making it quite clear that if he was hindered from his goal in any way, he would leave without a second thought.
Aya and Chloe had long ago decided they would not be returning to the field themselves. They were getting older, had suffered enough at others' hands and, quite honestly, Chloe no longer had the heart. Instead, Chloe began training as a field medic, learning CPR and the necessary skills needed to immediately care for one of their own should something go wrong, which they knew from experience would eventually happen. They had no medical facility at their disposal and no doctors on call, and Chloe wasn't about to leave any of their team without the proper care that they would need in the event of an emergency. Chloe would be on hand for immediate response. He and Aya would be the invisible partners, controlling things from behind the scenes, where they could observe and make impartial decisions. Uruyu would be the driving force of the group and their leader. There were thirteen men he had to hunt, and with his addition to the organization, they now had thirteen operatives. Aya and Chloe knew their search was over -- they had their group. Aya, in a move that shocked Chloe nearly speechless, gave his name to Uruyu and returned to his childhood name, Ran. The name Aya would live on as the protector of the innocent. It seemed fitting.
***
"I saw your sister today, as I promised," Chloe said one evening as he returned home from a day of errands. He handed Ran a bouquet of roses, beautiful, long-stemmed red flowers, wrapped in paper and tied with a black satin ribbon. Chloe smiled at the brightness in Ran's eyes as he smelled the flowers and got out a vase to put them in. "How is she?" he asked, his voice smooth and seemingly unconcerned. Chloe knew better.
"She was rattling on the phone to a friend about boys when I first arrived," Chloe said with a smirk. "And before you start wanting to break things, she made it very clear that she wasn't interested in the boy in question."
Ran frowned. "Are you telling me that just to make me happy?"
"When have I ever done anything just to make you happy?" Chloe laughed. He slid his arms around Aya's waist and winked mischievously.
"Brat," Ran said.
"Beast," Chloe shot back.
Their lips met briefly as they kissed, warm and tender, before Chloe pushed Ran away with a smile. "And how is Yohji?" he asked. Ran's eyes didn't lose their sparkle as he replied, "He looked at me today. I mean really looked at me. I sat at the table in front of him while he drank his coffee and I caught him staring from time to time."
"Have you ever looked at yourself?" Chloe asked, chuckling. "Maybe he wanted to take you home and fuck you. Or maybe he wanted you to fuck him," Chloe said with a grin. "I know I would."
"That can be arranged," Ran said. His voice was husky in Chloe's ear, and he slid his arms around Chloe's waist, bringing them closer together again.
"I want a codename," Chloe said as he shivered from Ran's hot breath on his neck. "Something ridiculous, but not one of your cat names. I want it to be funny and lighthearted." He was starting to lose rational thought as Ran moved his hands down Chloe's back to his ass and squeezed firmly.
"Blueberry," Ran said, his breath a whisper against Chloe's skin. "It's your favourite pie."
"Blueberry," Chloe chuckled. "I like it. It makes no sense whatsoever."
Chloe didn't need Ran to tell him that things were going to be all right any longer. He knew that on his own now. He had made his peace with God, and he and Ran were doing what they were perhaps born to do: protect those that couldn't protect themselves. They were back where they could look after Ran's sister, and though he had never mentioned it, Ran could keep an eye on the Takatoris. Everything was as it should be.
They were finally home.
***END***
Official Velvet Under World site here
Author: white_cross_b
Type: Fiction
Characters/Pairings: Aya/Chloe, Side B, Velvet Under World
Rating: NC-17
Beta:
whymzycal with additional insight from
orlisbunny
Chapter summary: "You're you," Aya said simply. "You're Edward, you're Chloe, you're whoever you want to be. You can even pick a new name if you like."
12 MONTHS LATER
***
Aya was dreaming.
There was a rhythm to this dream, time ticking away with the rhythmic sound of machinery and of air whooshing in and out. Without realizing it, Aya's own breath matched the rhythm perfectly as he breathed. In and out... in and out... Aya's life, artificial life, they were one and the same. He dreamed, but his eyes were open wide, picturing a time when he wouldn't be keeping vigil beside a hospital bed, where he wouldn't have to see someone he cared about lying motionless beside him.
His sister's coma had been the worst of all. It was quiet, with not even the sound of a respirator to tick away the time, and so time seemed to suspend, to stop, and even Aya herself never aged. The saying is that life goes on, but Ran died back then, replaced by someone... no, something else. Something that didn't need love or happiness or friendship. Cold, calculated, and efficient, he became Aya, a mockery of his own sister's name, a name that he had desperately wanted to preserve, for her to live on.
Aya had visited Yohji one night, late, once the staff had lulled themselves into their quiet, nightly rituals. Yohji was the only patient who had no name. No one from Kritiker had come to claim him, no one from Kaoua Academy, only Aya, in the dead of night, holding Yohji's hand as he whispered into sleeping ears, "You promised me that you would live." Aya left behind his katana, which the staff had propped against the sterile hospital wall beside the bed. If Yohji were ever to wake up, perhaps he'd see the katana and remember.
Still Aya mirrored the respirator... breathing in and out... in and out...
A nurse came by the check Chloe's vitals, scribbling something down on a chart that was kept clipped to the end of Chloe's bed. The best doctors that money could buy. Chloe would be smug, knowing he deserved only the best, but he lay motionless, the machines the only things keeping him alive.
Aya had been banned from the lab. Slamming the darts down on the table, he had snarled, "You've got four of these things! Why can't you find an antidote?" Aya didn't want to hear that once the darts had punctured Chloe's skin, the poison had gone from their tips, not leaving enough behind to draw a sample from for examination. The wrong antidote could be deadly, and these men were some of the best in their field. Aya was escorted from the room so they could continue to work, but not before he had broken a few pieces furniture and one of the windows. Aya never knew chairs could fly.
"Chloe wouldn't want this," Michel had said quietly, risking bodily injury as he took a raging Aya by the arm before he could do any more damage. Aya was silent after that.
Reports came to him from time to time. Cedric had been killed that night, along with the rest of the missing Side A team -- that much Aya already knew -- but the rest of the Children of Dwer had been hunted down and eliminated, their organization wiped out completely. Christine was safe; that should have at least been some sort of comfort for Chloe's sake.
Still Aya breathed... in and out... in and out...
The room was white, the sheets were white, the bandages on Chloe's face were white, and the thoughts in Aya's head were white, ghostly things that drifted slowly by, with no direction or purpose. Then there was sudden shouting and the sound of running footsteps and the quiet of the room was invaded with nurses and doctors, all wearing white. Aya closed his eyes.
***
Chloe didn't speak much.
It was too cold for him to be outside on the balcony or to sit in the garden, so he spent the days sitting by the window, but his eyes always faced straight ahead and never to the ground below. He did what was expected of him. He ate, he slept, he suffered the visits downstairs to the clinic where he had the bandages on his face changed. He never looked in the mirror anymore.
The others came by from time to time. Michel chatted about flowers, school, the new coat he was beading, while Free stood silently by. Ken was awkward, not knowing what to say, never having been all that close with Chloe himself, and Yuki went on about mission details and revenge. Chloe no longer cared. He was, quite simply, done.
Aya stayed by his side, quietly reassuring, giving Chloe space when he needed it, when everything seemed to be too much.
"I can't stay here," Chloe said one morning, looking out the window as always, the sunlight hitting the right side of his face, the side that wasn't kept covered. His life had become an old fairy tale, with the castle and grounds and everyone around him as Beauty, while Chloe himself had become the Beast. He was the Phantom of the Opera, Rapunzel locked in a tower, or Cinderella after the stroke of midnight. He couldn't bear the thought of staying there, carrying on like nothing had changed when everything had. He wouldn't look at the sympathetic faces full of pity as they looked at Chloe and thought to themselves, what a tragedy, when Chloe had once been so beautiful. Aya nodded, but said nothing.
It was a few days later that Aya came to Chloe, sitting down next to him, his eyes full of purpose. "We need to talk," he said and Chloe braced himself for the inevitable. This was where Aya would leave him and Chloe really would become the tragic fairy tale figure, living the rest of his life alone.
"KR is giving us a generous severance package. It'll be more than enough to make a new start. Wherever you want to go, Chloe. We could go to Switzerland and play in the snow if you want." Aya's words were a glass slipper, waiting for Chloe's foot to slip it on.
Chloe was weak from relief. Aya was coming with him.
Before they left England, Chloe set Trabant free -- or as free as an owl raised by a human could be. Nana would look after Trabant if the owl needed it, but as Trabant took off into the trees, Chloe knew that she wouldn't be returning. There would be nothing to keep her there. Chloe hid his face behind his bangs and went to his room, locking the door behind him.
***
Geneva was cold. Chloe walked the nighttime streets alone, his collar and knit scarf pulled up high, covering most of his face, covering his sin as flurries of snowflakes fell into his hair and eyes. Chloe had fallen from God's grace and God had marked him, the scars on his face a blatant reminder of a judgement Chloe couldn't possibly begin to understand. Snow turned to slush, to water, to rain, and still Chloe walked, stalking elusive answers in the dark.
Chloe found it increasingly harder to sleep or to have even the most casual of conversations as the time went on. When he did sleep, his dreams were a jumble of confusing images that wouldn't leave him even when he was awake. His rosary lay on the bedside table instead of its usual place around Chloe's neck. He had always associated beauty with God, and now he was forsaken. He spent long hours tracing over the scars on his face with his fingertips, wondering where he had gone so wrong. Not even Aya's gentle admonishments to get Chloe out of his thoughts could rouse him from his waking dreams. Aya brought home flowers, beautiful long-stem roses in colours that Chloe could never make with his own hands. He meant well, but it cut Chloe deeply. He wanted to be alone.
Three months after they arrived, Chloe left Aya. He walked out of their apartment one night and simply never went back. He was an orphan, after all. He slept in an alley that night, next to a trolleybus station vent that gave off heat in gentle waves, dreaming of the brief time when his life seemed to make sense, when he thought he had had all the answers. Two days later, Aya found him there, knelt down on the ground in front of Chloe, and reached for his hand. "Come home," he said softly, but Chloe shook his head -- no. "I have no home," he said, taking in the look of hurt and concern in Aya's eyes, keeping the pain deep inside where it would burn and keep him warm in the dark. "I don't want to hurt you," Aya said, "but I will," and he gripped Chloe's arm tightly, forcing him to his feet and steering him back to the apartment. Chloe lay next to Aya in their bed and waited until his breathing deepened and evened out, and when Chloe knew Aya was asleep, he dressed quickly, leaving his key behind on the table. He made his escape before the morning rays of the sun touched the sky.
Chloe adjusted to life on the street. He knew when the bakery would be throwing out their day-old goods and when the grocery would get rid of their wilting fruit and vegetables. He never went back to the place where Aya had found him, and he never slept in the same place twice. He was dirty and his hair hung in greasy strands over his face, the roots of his fiery red hair bared for the world to see, but no one looked at him anymore. They simply walked on by and pretended he didn't exist. He had become invisible, and it was exactly what he wanted. Then he found the boy.
It was well after midnight and Chloe was looking for a quiet place to sleep when he came upon a man and a boy in a deserted alley. If he had been in his right mind, he would have heard the sounds for what they were, but Chloe's mind was long since numb, and so he stumbled upon them quite by accident. The boy had his pants down around his ankles as he faced the wall in front of him, his head leaning against his arm, propping him up against the wall as the man thrust roughly into him. When the man's hands found their way around the boy's throat and started to squeeze, Chloe suddenly found himself standing over the man, a gabishi in his hand, watching the man's life run out of his throat in a river of blood on the filthy pavement. Where was the smell of roses coming from? When the boy recovered his breath enough to move, he scrambled over the dead man, dirty hands rifling through his wallet, which turned up empty.
"He said that he'd pay me, that he'd get me something to eat," the boy said hoarsely, sniffling and wiping at his eyes.
"What's your name?" Chloe asked, realizing that this was the first time he had spoken aloud in days, possibly weeks. His voice sounded alien to his ears, like it came from someone else's throat instead of his own.
"Chadrick," the boy replied.
"And how old are you, Chadrick?" Chloe asked.
"I'm fourteen," he said, trying to stand up straight, to make himself taller, his emotional armour sliding back into place. Chloe knew that look, had seen it enough times in his childhood to see it for what it was: a way to cope and stay alive. Chloe wiped the tip of the gabishi on the dead man's shirt and slipped it back into the inside of his coat. He hadn't even remembered it was there at all. It was part of a lifetime that he had lived a long time ago, a lifetime where things were warm and beautiful, and he'd had a purpose, a reason to wake up in the morning.
"I can get you something to eat," Chloe said, and turned and walked away from the alley, not looking back. Two minutes later and the boy was at his heels as Chloe navigated the streets toward something that used to be familiar.
Aya's face turned white when he opened the door. Chloe could tell he'd dressed in a hurry: his t-shirt hung crookedly off his shoulders, and he hadn't bothered to knot the tie in his pants before opening the door, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Chloe was overwhelmed with a rush of emotion that squeezed his heart painfully and made it hard for him to breathe. Here was beauty, standing right in front of him. How could he have not realized it all this time? He felt the sting of tears and blinked them away, his voice coming out in barely a whisper as he asked, "Hello, Aya. Can we come in?"
Aya closed his eyes for a brief moment, and Chloe was certain he was going to turn and close the door on them, but instead he stepped back and held the door open wide. "Of course," he said, and Chloe could hear the tremor in his voice.
Time slipped away from Chloe as he sat with Chadrick at the kitchen table while Aya cooked them a meal of stir-fried chicken and vegetables over a bed of rice. All he could do was watch Aya and the way he moved, how everything he did was full of such grace and beauty that Chloe couldn't possibly look away. Even when a plate was placed in front of him with steaming hot food, Chloe could only stare in wonder. "Please eat," Aya urged, gently touching Chloe's cheek with his fingertips. "You're so thin." Chadrick needed no such urging;, he wolfed down his food in mere minutes, then promptly fell asleep next to Chloe on the couch. Chloe watched with heavy eyes as Aya covered them both with a blanket; and then he was asleep, safe and warm. For the first time in months, he didn't even dream.
Chloe woke slowly, blinking in the early morning light to find Aya sitting across from him, just watching as Chloe had slept. He looked just as he had the night before, rumpled clothes and tousled hair, and Chloe had to choke back the feeling of longing. Had Aya sat and watched him all night?
"I need to go out for a while," Aya said quietly, trying not to wake Chadrick, who was still sleeping peacefully beside Chloe. "We need groceries, and he needs some clothes."
"Okay," Chloe said. He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Aya didn't move, just sat looking at Chloe with that intense amethyst gaze that Chloe knew so well, and he couldn't bear it. He had to look away.
"Will you be here when I get back? Aya asked gently.
"Only if you want me to be," Chloe replied.
"Please," Aya whispered and Chloe nodded, closing his eyes against the raw emotion he could hear in Aya's voice. He drifted off to sleep again, not even waking when Aya left, the door clicking shut behind him.
When Chloe woke again, Chad was eating an enormous sandwich in front of the television while Aya spoke in low tones on the phone. There were clean clothes laid out for Chloe, and he gathered them up and retreated into the washroom to take a shower. What he saw in the mirror scared him to death, and he held onto the sink as the ground tilted around him dangerously. He had dark rings around his eyes, so dark that they almost looked blackened. His hair was long, longer than it had ever been, and it fell down to his shoulders in dirty strands covering his face. His hands shaking, Chloe pushed his hair back and took a good look at his face for the very first time. Underneath the dirt and grime, the scarring on his face stood out pink against his pale white skin. He could no longer run away from his life, he realized; it always came along with him. He wept, big choking sobs that tore at this throat and burned his eyes, and then there were strong arms around him, holding him up. "I'm here, Chloe," Aya murmured into his ear in soothing tones, holding Chloe as if he would never let go, until the sobs subsided and he was left sniffling and hiccuping, so weak he could barely stand. In fact, a moment later, he found himself sitting on the floor, Aya's arms still around him. How could someone feel so much pain without simply dying? The theory of a broken heart now seemed somehow plausible.
"Why are you still here?" Chloe choked out. "Why haven't you gone, back to Kripton Brand, or Japan, or wherever?"
"Tch. Idiot." Aya said, rubbing Chloe's back in slow, soothing circles. "I've been looking for you. I fell in love with you a long time ago, Chloe. I'm not leaving without you."
Chloe was overcome with a fresh wave of tears, this time of gratitude and not sorrow. "You must have," he said eventually. "I can't imagine what I must smell like."
"I'm not breathing through my nose," Aya replied, and Chloe could hear the humour behind the words. Chloe laughed, a low, guttural sound that actually felt somewhat good and lightened his spirits, despite his aching throat. Feeling a bit brave, he dared to ask, "How long have I been gone?"
There was no mistaking the emotion in Aya's voice when he replied, "Two months and ten days."
***
They said goodbye to Chadrick at the rail station after giving him his one-way ticket to London. From there, Ken would be picking him up and taking him to the flower shop, where he'd be given a part-time job and a place to live. It was more than Chloe could have given him, and he was grateful.
Earlier that morning, Aya had taken a pair of scissors and cut Chloe's hair, trimming off the blond ends, leaving his hair much shorter and completely red. Chloe frowned at himself in the mirror, no longer afraid of what he would see. "I don't know who I am anymore," he said solemnly, brushing the bangs back to look into his own eyes.
"You're you," Aya said simply. "You're Edward, you're Chloe, you're whoever you want to be. You can even pick a new name if you like."
Chloe scrutinized himself for several more moments. "Chloe is Greek," he said finally. "It means 'bloom.' Maybe it's appropriate because I feel like I've been reborn."
Aya reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out Chloe's rosary, the onyx beads sliding together and glinting in the washroom light. Chloe flinched visibly, backing away. "I can't wear that, Aya."
"Have you lost your faith?" Aya asked. Chloe shook his head. "God has lost His faith in me," he said. "This isn't just about what happened to my face, Aya; even I'm not that shallow. It's about my relationship with Him."
Aya sat on the side of the side of the tub, fingering the beads as he had seen Chloe do so many times before. "Do you know the story of Job?" he asked.
"Wasn't he the one that God tested," Chloe asked, "with boils and the loss of his family and other horrible, horrible things?"
Aya nodded, not taking his eyes off Chloe. Chloe gasped. "You think this was a test, that God is testing my faith?"
Aya shrugged. "Maybe. Who knows? I'm not sure what I believe when it comes to God."
Chloe reached out tentatively, his fingertips just barely grazing the beads in Aya's hand as if undecided, but then he grasped them firmly, holding them up to the light before slipping the rosary around his neck. "God gave me you. Perhaps I never really fell from grace," he said, tears in his eyes.
Aya brushed a stray tear from Chloe's cheek with his thumb. "What do you want, Chloe?" he asked.
“I want to go back to work," Chloe said. His voice was firm. Aya nodded.
***
Chloe was restless. They spent some time in Rome, Paris, and Berlin, but Chloe felt disconnected and always wanted to move on. In the end, they took a chance on Tokyo, and Chloe fell in love with the city and wanted to stay. Aya was skeptical, but when Chloe reminded him that he could keep a personal eye on his sister, he agreed that Tokyo was the right place, so they took an apartment and settled in. Neither of them was keen on working for someone else's ideals any longer, and so they built their own organization from the ground up, vowing that their ideals would not be politically or personally motivated, but would instead be for the good of the people.
Velvet was the first to be recruited. She reminded Aya of Manx, with her eccentric style and no-nonsense attitude, and she was as tough as nails. As the granddaughter of the superintendant general of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, she brought with her many valuable resources from which they could draw. From the streets of Tokyo, she began the process of presenting potentials for the new team for Aya and Chloe to approve or reject, as neither of them would be going back in the field. They had both lost too much already.
Almost all of the recruits had had some sort of trouble with the police, which is what led Velvet to their initial discovery. The potential recruits would then be brought in to meet with Aya and Chloe and were given the ultimatum, to either work for their organization -- to put their talents to good use and receive their organization's protection -- or risk prison. It was an attractive proposition, one that the potentials could hardly refuse, and none of them did. There was a reason they did the things they did, after all: they enjoyed them.
Kuro became the gatherer of information. Once a paparazzi photographer, he became interested in the yakuza and its inner workings after witnessing a hit on a dark street while he waited for a pop singer to leave a love hotel with his same-sex lover. It was a fascination that would eventually end up getting him killed. He brought with him surveillance skills that could not be equaled, and partnered with Miwa, an ex-reporter, they became the perfect investigative team. Their reports were concise and to the point, with revealing photos and details that became the basis for all of the group's missions.
Rock and Lynx became another perfect team, with their military background and proficiency with weapons. Rock had been a former Ranger and was used to harsh conditions and getting the job done, no matter the odds stacked against him. Lynx had been a sniper and could pick off a target from 915 yards away, a feat that far exceeded the record held by a Canadian sniper, Master Corporal Arron Perry, but Lynx would never be acknowledge by the rest of the world.
When Velvet brought in Fake, a disguise expert, Chloe choked on his tea. "Oh my God, it's Willy Wonka," he said dryly, referring to the ridiculous getup that Fake was wearing: black and white striped pants, a long, obnoxious yellow coat, and a matching tiny hat perched jauntily on top of his turquoise hair. "Not to be critical or anything," Chloe continued, wanting to stab his eyes out with his teaspoon, "but isn't that getup rather loud?"
Fake smiled, pushing his ted-tinted sunglasses up higher on his nose. "I stopped you on the street yesterday and asked you for the time. Do you remember what I looked like?" Chloe frowned, remembering the incident but not the face of the man who had asked him. Fake then turned to Aya. "I served you both dinner in the restaurant across the street. I didn't work there, but I convinced the staff I was a new hire. In and out in an hour, with none the wiser."
"But," Chloe started to protest, "our server was a woman." Fake just grinned.
"You're hired," Aya said, and Chloe could do nothing but agree.
From there, they acquired Pawn, a promising bomb specialist who was no more than just a kid. A product of abuse as a small child, Pawn began to act out, first by setting small fires, then progressing on to more violent hobbies, such as building bombs. He was a pleasant kid, smiling and generally sunny, but inside him lurked a violence that needed to be channeled into a more positive direction before he himself combusted.
303 was a thief, skilled at safecracking. He could break into any building or private dwelling and avoid any variety of alarms and detection devices. Despite being tall and thin, he could bend his lithe frame into impossibly small spaces and never left any evidence of his crimes behind. He called himself 303 because of the number of heists he managed to pull off before Velvet found him, aided by the skills of Kuro and Miwa. He was greatly admired by Garagara, their "cleaner." Garagara was called in to do his job when the others had gone, wiping away any evidence left behind at the scene of a kill when things went wrong. Also a young kid, he was the result of alcoholic parents. Needing to control his environment, he was meticulous and possibly a bit obsessive, and he kept things in strict, clean order.
Dry joined the team as a computer specialist who began his career in illegal activities when he changed his high school grades in order to graduate. From there, he progressed rapidly -- until he made the mistake of hacking into air traffic control for the Japanese air force, effectively shutting down operations for an entire afternoon while he howled with laughter. He was caught and thrown into prison, where he was then freed by 303 and immediately recruited.
Always on top of the news for crime and politics, Aya was the one that discovered Noi. Intrigued by the rash of sudden earthquakes in a specific Kyoto region, he called upon Kuro and Miwa to see if his suspicions were in fact correct. What they found was an orphanage in the center of the quakes, and from there it was easy to find the cause. It was a young girl named Noi, orphaned when her house collapsed, trapping both of her parents inside. Reminded of Nagi, Aya took her in, understanding her power for what it was and hoping that in a stable home, she would eventually learn to control her powers before she did even more damage. Noi was looked after by Birman, a former beauty queen who became embroiled in a political scandal when it was discovered that she was having an affair with a very married political official, and had, as a result managed to become highly influential in government affairs. Beautiful and quick-witted, she could charm her way into any man's heart -- or bed.
Aya and Chloe knew their team was complete when Velvet brought them Uruyu Tomoe, half-dead and maimed as the result of an investigation he had been working on as a PI, attacked and left for dead. He spent several weeks in a Tokyo hospital, where he lost his left hand and was fitted with an artificial replacement. Retaining no memory of his life before the attack, all he was left with were the names of the thirteen men who had attacked him, carved into his body with a knife. Chloe was aware of Yohji's past as a private investigator before being recruited by Kritiker, and he also knew about his eventual amnesia left by their final mission, so he was in no way surprised by Aya's interest in Uruyu. Uruyu was disinclined, glaring at Aya and Chloe as he received his invitation to join their organization.
"What's in it for me?" Uruyu asked, making clear his reluctance.
Aya was unfazed. "We will help you reach your goal. Using our resources, you can hunt down each person that did this to you and receive our protection. In return, we will get the gift of having them removed from society."
"You'll actually help me?" Uruyu asked in surprise.
"You have our word," Chloe promised. Uruyu agreed, making it quite clear that if he was hindered from his goal in any way, he would leave without a second thought.
Aya and Chloe had long ago decided they would not be returning to the field themselves. They were getting older, had suffered enough at others' hands and, quite honestly, Chloe no longer had the heart. Instead, Chloe began training as a field medic, learning CPR and the necessary skills needed to immediately care for one of their own should something go wrong, which they knew from experience would eventually happen. They had no medical facility at their disposal and no doctors on call, and Chloe wasn't about to leave any of their team without the proper care that they would need in the event of an emergency. Chloe would be on hand for immediate response. He and Aya would be the invisible partners, controlling things from behind the scenes, where they could observe and make impartial decisions. Uruyu would be the driving force of the group and their leader. There were thirteen men he had to hunt, and with his addition to the organization, they now had thirteen operatives. Aya and Chloe knew their search was over -- they had their group. Aya, in a move that shocked Chloe nearly speechless, gave his name to Uruyu and returned to his childhood name, Ran. The name Aya would live on as the protector of the innocent. It seemed fitting.
***
"I saw your sister today, as I promised," Chloe said one evening as he returned home from a day of errands. He handed Ran a bouquet of roses, beautiful, long-stemmed red flowers, wrapped in paper and tied with a black satin ribbon. Chloe smiled at the brightness in Ran's eyes as he smelled the flowers and got out a vase to put them in. "How is she?" he asked, his voice smooth and seemingly unconcerned. Chloe knew better.
"She was rattling on the phone to a friend about boys when I first arrived," Chloe said with a smirk. "And before you start wanting to break things, she made it very clear that she wasn't interested in the boy in question."
Ran frowned. "Are you telling me that just to make me happy?"
"When have I ever done anything just to make you happy?" Chloe laughed. He slid his arms around Aya's waist and winked mischievously.
"Brat," Ran said.
"Beast," Chloe shot back.
Their lips met briefly as they kissed, warm and tender, before Chloe pushed Ran away with a smile. "And how is Yohji?" he asked. Ran's eyes didn't lose their sparkle as he replied, "He looked at me today. I mean really looked at me. I sat at the table in front of him while he drank his coffee and I caught him staring from time to time."
"Have you ever looked at yourself?" Chloe asked, chuckling. "Maybe he wanted to take you home and fuck you. Or maybe he wanted you to fuck him," Chloe said with a grin. "I know I would."
"That can be arranged," Ran said. His voice was husky in Chloe's ear, and he slid his arms around Chloe's waist, bringing them closer together again.
"I want a codename," Chloe said as he shivered from Ran's hot breath on his neck. "Something ridiculous, but not one of your cat names. I want it to be funny and lighthearted." He was starting to lose rational thought as Ran moved his hands down Chloe's back to his ass and squeezed firmly.
"Blueberry," Ran said, his breath a whisper against Chloe's skin. "It's your favourite pie."
"Blueberry," Chloe chuckled. "I like it. It makes no sense whatsoever."
Chloe didn't need Ran to tell him that things were going to be all right any longer. He knew that on his own now. He had made his peace with God, and he and Ran were doing what they were perhaps born to do: protect those that couldn't protect themselves. They were back where they could look after Ran's sister, and though he had never mentioned it, Ran could keep an eye on the Takatoris. Everything was as it should be.
They were finally home.
***END***
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