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lal-nila-syrin · 9 years

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Countless Hours

I wanted to do more With/Marron angst fluff but more within canon because after writing that Hogwarts AU angst, I had a thirst for more sad OTP fics. I may have borrowed from an old prompt fic I did and turned it sad too.

Also because I really like this line and I wanted to use it within a canon context: They spend countless hours memorizing each other’s scars, just trying to take it all in and understand, after so many years apart.

This fic features my human!With and human!Marron and uses a headcanon that With’s species normally only shapeshifts into two forms (which is what Marron is limited to)--but With gained others over time because of Dark’s magic. I’m pretty headcanon flexible in general, though, and I can’t decide just one way for things to go normally, but since we’re going for angst, this fic is going to go with the headcanon that Krad “killed” Marron (and also takes from the AU where Marron lives). I also accidentally developed more headcanons about With’s species throughout the course of writing this, so hopefully it’s interesting and makes sense.

I was listening to “For the Dancing and the Dreaming” from HTTYD2 while writing this, and admittedly a song for long-lost lovers only helped to make this fic sadder. It inspired the ballad With sings, and I wrote out the whole song, so I’ll post up the full lyrics later~.

Warnings: implied/referenced past self-harm, implied underage (depending on how you look at it).

Enjoy~

❤ Dedicated to hiwatari-satoshi~

~~~~~~~~~~

With stared down at his hands contemplatively, wondering how long it had been since he had last been in a form he could call his own. His hands are pale, a few shades lighter than Dark and Daisuke’s, and he stares at them from behind a curtain of creamy beige hair. His eyes are red, just like the Niwas’, but they’re more pink than theirs, and more aged and ancient and wizened.

Dark slept for twenty years at a time, after all. With was awake in all the years between--he might have been younger but he was older and sometimes even Dark forgot that.

He was awake all the years in between, watching the time pass until the next time Dark needed him. Once, he wondered if Dark knew that With needed him just as much.

Some days were unbearable, because he would watch all the people he loved grow up and move on, and he couldn’t catch up with them. He would watch as the world spun, as each successive generation was born, raised, taken into the sky, and mourned. He would watch as each Tamer granted him his one constant friend for a little while, and then age and go to places he couldn’t watch over them, because he was frozen in time just as Dark was.

Dark’s curse was to live forever in the bodies of the Niwas, but at least it was a promise that he would never be alone.

With had no such blessing.

He wasn’t like Dark, who only met people for a little while, who didn’t have enough time to get so attached. But With saw the Niwas grow up--he helped raise them from the moment they were born... and he would be there till the day they died. And with each death, loneliness hammered itself deeper and deeper into his heart, with the knowledge that he would never see them again.

He was comforted by the assurance that he would always see Dark again, as long as he protected the Niwas. But still, the wait to see him each time felt like they were getting longer in between, and he sometimes wished he could go to sleep too, so he wouldn’t have to spend so many lonely years awaiting his return.

He had spent four hundred years doing this, waiting for the tiny handfuls of happiness, taking it wherever he could find it. But these days... these days he was sad, and he wondered if Dark ever noticed.

The hours were getting longer and he was getting older and sadder, and it felt like this had been going on forever, even though it had only been two hundred years since the clock felt like ticking for him.

He stared down at his hands, small and young and soft with only the faintest of callouses, forever sixteen years old like the rest of his body. They were the same as they were when he had last been in this form, two hundred years ago--when he had last had a reason to be in this form... when he had last been really, truly happy.

He closed his fingers and trailed his eyes over the white skin on his knuckles, remembering why he never took this form anymore.

He didn’t know why he did today. Something felt like it was calling him, but he wasn’t sure what. He lifted his gaze to stare out at the ocean he was so deathly afraid of, listening to the quiet, whispering winds and the distant, roaring waves, and he let his hands fall to his sides, taking a deep breath.

He thought back to Daisuke--to the birthday party the previous day, where Dark had complained about not getting birthday gifts, and how the boy had drawn Dark’s portrait in response. With heard him refusing, trying to act like he was better than it, but the moment Daisuke fell asleep, Dark was staring at it in wonder and awe. With said nothing as he watched Dark write a “thank you” in the corner and go back to sleep, smiling to himself.

Dark would never admit it out loud, but there weren’t a lot of things he could call his. He didn’t have his own body, or his own room, or his own friends or lover or anything. He had With--and now, he had that drawing too. No one had ever given Dark anything to call his own, but Daisuke had. It was the first time anyone had ever done that, and it had made him so, so happy.

Seeing their smiles, With yearned to join them, to be just as happy--because his own happiness was fleeting, and Daisuke seemed to have an abundance of it to give away. Something about this generation was different--something about Daisuke was different from all the rest of the Tamers, and he was making Dark different too--he was changing Dark, he was changing the paradigm, he was changing everyone’s lives--and With wanted to be a part of this change too.

But he was just a rabbit, to Daisuke. He was just the family pet, Dark’s familiar... no one paid attention to him, as usual, and he was used to that. He knew that if he wanted to change his life... he’d have to trust Daisuke with it, and talk to him. He had to really, really talk to Daisuke--not just passively sit by and be useful, but he had to show the boy that he was more than just a rabbit.

He was ancient, he was old, he was wizened... and he was sad. And he wanted nothing more than to be happy again.

He exhaled deeply and clenched his fists, turning around and facing away from the sea, making his resolve.

His eyes alighted upon a lone figure behind him, and he froze.

It was a somewhat round girl about his age, with soft, curly auburn hair that shone amber in the dying sunlight. Rich, dark brown eyes met his rose red ones, filled with uncertainty and hesitance but burning with a gentle determination.

His breath hitched in his throat as he realized that she was familiar. He could have sworn he knew her--there was something about her that made his heart beat ten times louder in his chest. He knew her... he was sure that he knew her.

Her eyes flickered with the same recognition, and some of the uncertainty faded from her gaze. But that was impossible--how could anyone recognize him, when he had not worn this face in two hundred years?

A face two hundred--three hundred years forgotten flashed across his memory, and his mind stopped.

Was it... was it really her? Was she really there? Maybe he was dreaming, but the expression on her face mirrored his own--longing and melancholy and oh god it was her. It was impossible, there was no way it could be true, but she was there and she was real and it couldn’t really be her could it?

They stood there staring at each other silently for a long time, both at a loss for words and seemingly in disbelief.

He took a hesitant step forward, his lips parting wordlessly as he reached out his hand slowly. In a voice that was cracked with disuse, he whispered hopefully, brokenly, “Marron?”

Her cherry-pink lips tugged upward in a smile, but her smile was as broken as his voice. His heart hurt, because that smile was so foreign on her face, yet it still managed to light up her eyes and dazzle him and stop the world from moving.

“With.”

Time stood still as his name rolled gently off her tongue, and tears came to both of their eyes as his soul pulled frantically toward hers.

One more step brought him to her, and she moved forward too as the tears escaped. His fingers brushed against her wet cheek carefully, as if she would shatter at a single touch. She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand, her own coming up to rest over it, pressing his warmth closer.

Her milky voice reached him again, desperately trying to assure herself that this was reality, that it was really him. “With...”

He choked on his sobs as he nodded, taking her other hand and squeezing it gingerly. “Marron... you’re alive,” his chest tightened as if anticipating that she would disappear at any moment, as if expecting her to be nothing but a ghost. “I--I thought you died. I saw you die.”

“I’m here, With, I’m real,” she assured him, opening her soulful brown eyes again and gazing up at him, and he saw the age in those ancient orbs, as lonely and worn as his own. “It’s me.”

“Marron...” His thumb caressed her tears away, and he couldn’t believe that she was really there, that he was really touching her, that he was seeing her again when he never thought that he would ever see her again. He shook as he cried, barely managing to speak right. “I thought I lost you.”

It had been two hundred years since he had lost her, and she was just as beautiful and untouched by time as he was. He didn’t know how she was standing here, when he had watched her die, but she was perfect in every way, just as he remembered her, and he still wasn’t sure if this was a dream or not.

She said nothing as she brought their joined hands up, holding it between their chests as she stepped closer, just as he leaned down so close that their foreheads touched. He could feel her breath on his face, warm and sweet and smelling like spring despite the falling leaves of autumn. Her hand on top of his shifted to his hair, tangling into the snowy white locks, slender fingers familiar and soothing against his temple.

“I’m so sorry, With,” she whispered, so softly he almost couldn’t hear her, “but I’m back now.”

He nodded weakly, closing his eyes and pulling her in, pressing a longing, gentle kiss to her lips. She kissed back and he could feel the two hundred years of yearning, of faith, of hope, of love...

It felt like eternity, but after so long apart, somehow the kiss only lasted a second, and when he opened his eyes again, he murmured mournfully, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.”

He held her close and carded his hand through her hair, and she buried her face in his shoulder, clutching him as if he were a lifeline, trembling in his arms.

Explanations could come later--for now he was just glad she was there. He promised himself he would never let her go again, just as she promised herself that she was never going to leave him if she could help it.

He sobbed quietly into her hair, his voice small. “Marron...”

Two hundred years was too long to have gone without her, and he never, ever thought he would be as happy as he was when he was with her. He never thought he would ever feel that happy again, and yet he was, and the emotions welling up inside his chest filled his heart till it threatened to burst.

Happiness like this was fleeting for him, though, and that scared him.

He held her tighter, praying desperately that their time together now would be as eternal as their love.

~~~

They were walking quietly back to the Niwa house, hand in hand, when he finally broke the tense silence.

“You died.”

With wanted to hit himself for such a stupid opening line, because obviously Marron wasn’t dead and she wasn’t a ghost--or at least he was pretty sure she wasn’t, since she was solid and warm--but she simply glanced at him, her gaze somber, and replied, “I didn’t.”

“I saw him kill you.” He squeezed her hand, biting his bottom lip, nightmares coming unbidden to the forefront of his mind.

He saw those cruel hands wrapped around her neck, he saw her tiny form struggling for freedom, he saw her fall limp and drop like a dead weight into the ocean.

She banished the thoughts when she squeezed his hand back.

“I was alive,” she said quietly, her gaze on her feet--and he didn’t fail to notice the limp, but it was just one more thing she had to explain later. “I fainted, when he choked me.”

“But, the water...”

“I don’t know how I survived that either,” Marron shook her head, “I woke up before I was half-drowned, changed form because it was easier to swim that way, but... you know I can’t swim.” Her voice was distant, caught up in memories, “I blacked out, and I woke up someplace I didn’t know, and... I had to live there, had to survive there, until I could find my way back.”

With’s brow furrowed, and he stared at her in confusion. “Where were you?”

“Somewhere in the Americas. I... I was on the west coast, but I didn’t know that. I took the long way back, on accident. Pretty stupid, huh?” Marron tried to smile, tried to joke, but neither of them laughed. “It... wasn’t easy.”

With could only imagine what had happened that would take two hundred years for her to finally come home.

“I heard about Dark. I followed the stories,” the brown-haired girl said softly, gazing up at him, “I knew if I did, I’d find you again.”

They stopped walking--the Niwa estate was just beside them, the lights in the house bright yellow beacons in the night. With glanced through the gates almost hesitantly.

“I heard you calling me,” Marron’s voice drew his attention back to her, and when he looked back at her sorrowful eyes, she continued solemnly, “I heard you calling, but I couldn’t come right away... and I’m sorry.”

He shook his head, pulling her into another hug, tucking her head against his chest. “I stopped, though. After so many years, I... I stopped,” he murmured mournfully, “I’m sorry I stopped calling for you.”

“No. I heard you calling today.” Marron shook her head slightly, “I heard you calling me yesterday... and in the days before, I’ve heard you, every time you thought of me.”

The white-haired boy pulled back, startled. “I--you... you heard that?” He asked in disbelief, “You heard me?”

She nodded, smiling that tiny, broken smile again. “I love you. Of course I did.”

With cried again, and she kissed away the tears. “I was just getting off the boat when I heard you today... I couldn’t believe you were there, so close to me, and I... I thought I was dreaming.”

“I--I heard you calling too,” With realized, his eyes wide, “I heard you calling, so I came, and...” he trailed off breathlessly, taking her face in his hands lovingly, “I’ve always heard you. I think I’ve always heard you too.”

“Dummy, did you forget how this works?” Marron laughed quietly, and god her laugh was so beautiful even when it was so subdued. “We’re soulmates. We’ll always hear each other. I might not be able to come to you, since I can’t fly, but I can hear you when you say my name.”

He teared up once more, because he knew he hadn’t said her name out loud in two hundred years--but that didn’t mean he hadn’t thought about her.

“Every Christmas, every St. White’s Day, every Solstice....” He realized, “I heard you.”

Marron smiled sadly and nodded, “Every Christmas, every St. White’s Day, every Solstice.”

He leaned down and stole another kiss as his heart began to flutter. “I love you so much,” he whispered timidly, “I’m sorry I never came when you called my name.”

His love shook her head. “I didn’t,” she admitted, surprising him, “I thought about you, but I didn’t say your name.”

With was speechless. “I--but, Marron...”

“You had something you had to do,” Marron stroked his face gently, “I wasn’t going to take you away from that.”

He stared at her, his mouth open in shock, and she gently pushed his chin up. “You were meant for greater things than me, With,” she said gently, “you know that.”

“B-but you...”

“I’m not special, With. I’m just here for you. Except--except I wasn’t, and I’m sorry I left you alone, all this time,” she murmured, leaning up and kissing him again, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, “I know I promised you that I would never let you go through eternity alone, so... I’m sorry. It must have been really lonely, when Dark was gone.”

He nodded numbly, his arms settling around her waist. “I... it was a long time, without you, Marron.” He choked out.

“I’m sorry,” she said again, resting her head against his shoulder, “I’m so, so sorry, With.”

They remained there for a long time, cradling each other’s hearts in their hands, and they weren’t sure how much time had passed until they looked up and the house beside them was completely dark.

With pulled back, looking toward his home. Marron looked with him, squeezing his hand insecurely. “...I know I have a lot to explain, but tonight... can we rest?” She asked shyly.

“Yeah. Yeah, I think that would be best.”

~~~

With didn’t tell anyone about his guest, but no one really questioned where With was anyway. Daisuke was at school, Dark was with him, Emiko was building new traps into the house, Kosuke was studying in the library, Towa was cleaning in the basement, and Daiki was scouting for new artworks for Dark to steal.

Everyone was busy. On a normal day, With was just asleep as everyone went about their routine. No one noticed he wasn’t in his usual spot on the couch, used to ignoring the little rabbit when they knew he could take care of himself. No one noticed their silent guardian absent from his post--but that was okay, he thought. He had spent so many days watching over them, and they were always fine--so he could take a few days for himself.

He spent days hiding in the attic, listening to Marron’s adventures, in awe at how worldly she was now. She had traveled all over, trying to find ways to get back to Japan without crossing the sea, as afraid of it as he was. Marron had never liked spending too much time in human form, which probably accounted for the time it took to come back and why it was so long, but she had been forced to grow and change with the world and learn how to be human to get by.

With was a thief, he was fine with taking what he needed when he needed it. But Marron--oh, his lovely Marron... she might not have understood humans, but she understood fairness. She had come and gone through the gates of hell because she had wanted to stay honest.

With didn’t know if he would ever be as strong as Marron--Marron, who spent two hundred years alone, with only the thought of him to drive her forward. With had always at least had Dark and the Niwas. Who did Marron have?

His heart ached as he realized her trials were not simply physical.

~~~

With hadn’t returned to human form in two hundred years because nobody looked for scars when scars were covered by fur. He preferred it that way.

Dark knew about them, of course--Dark was the only one who knew where all of With’s scars were, where he had hurt himself trying to protect his partner, or his family. There were scars on his soul that no one else could see, too, because it was his soul which gave him wings, which gave him what he needed to help Dark.

Not that it didn’t come at a price.

Sometimes his greatest pains came from his soul, and the heart that held it. He knew he was different from all the rest of his kind, able to shape his soul however he liked and stretch it beyond its limits. He had made it into a chain and linked it to Dark’s, so Dark’s destiny became his own. Dark was his anchor--the reason he lived this long, the reason he survived, and the reason he stayed even when he was lonely.

Chaining his fate to Dark’s had been his curse, and that was what hurt the most--he loved Dark and the Niwas and being able to fly, but he hated the immortality and the timelessness and the death that followed him. Sometimes he didn’t know if Dark really understood what he went through, every generation. Dark never had to watch people grow old and fragile and die--they were usually already gone by the time he returned, and he never had to say goodbye.

For two centuries, With’s only solace was that his soulmate would live as long as he would, tied to him the way she was, her soul molded against his--stuck in time with him until the clock would move again. She never minded time the way he did, and though she was sad that their families died of old age long before them, she took comfort in that she would never lose him either.

She had always been by his side, his perfect and wonderful Marron. He never thought he would lose her.

But then he did, and the two hundred years that followed left him wondering if his soul was broken, lost without its other half. Dark filled in the gaps as best he could, but he wasn’t Marron.

And now, finally, he was back with her, he was beside her once more, and he felt her soul resonate comfortably against his own, the same as it always was--beautiful and lovely and perfect.

But her body was broken and flawed, and it hurt his heart to see that time had not been kind to her. Tears welled up when she explained the leg mangled by a hunter’s trap, the ear torn by a close encounter with a rabid dog, the countless other scars hidden by fur. Phantom pain shot through his soul when she reluctantly told him about the crueler things she had seen and been through in the past two centuries.

He wondered how she could still smile, when all he wanted to do was cry for her.

Her smile was broken though--she couldn’t smile like she used to, and that made everything worse. That lively, playful girl he had fallen in love with seemed like a memory from another lifetime.

He wished he could shape her soul like he could shape his own, because as perfect as he thought it was, he still saw the mars hidden just beneath the surface. He loved her nonetheless, but he realized that she wasn’t the same as when he last saw her.

There were imperfections etched into her heart, and he couldn’t heal them, no matter how much he wanted to.

~~~

They didn’t say much, laying together in the dark corner of the attic--Marron was exhausted from her long and arduous journey, and With still didn’t know what to say or do. He had never been good with words, and she had always liked the quiet, anyhow, so talking wasn’t necessary.

Neither of them said anything as they tried desperately to remember how they used to be--how happy they had once been--and yearned to get back to that.

With brought Marron candies and strawberries, and with every day that passed her smile grew more real. With’s innocent laugh, once a facade for the Niwas and Dark, slowly became more genuine. It was something small, but it was a step toward healing, even if they still didn’t understand each other.

Some days they did talk--about their past, about what once had been--and they were happy again... if only for a moment.

“It’s almost December, kyuu,” With purred, hopping over to the attic window and peering out at the gray skies and distant storm clouds, “it’s going to snow soon. Christmas is coming up.”

Marron never understood human holidays, but she had celebrated them with With before, and they were her favorite times of the year, often the source of some of her most treasured memories.

“We should go on a date, myuu. Like we used to.”

With looked back at her, quiet for a moment. Dark brown eyes studied him, confusion settling across her expression as she recognized the hesitance there.

“...Why not?” She asked softly, getting to her feet and padding over to the window too.

“I don’t want anyone to know you’re back, kyuu,” With shook his head sadly, “he’ll take you away again, if he finds out, kyuu.”

Auburn-tipped paws nudged at his side, and a velvet nose nuzzled at his cheek. “I can’t stay holed up in this attic forever, With.”

“I know, but...” With trailed off, feeling a tug on his soul. He straightened in an instant, and Marron pulled back knowingly. He spared her an apologetic glance. “Dark’s calling me.”

She nodded in understanding, giving him a reassuring smile. “Go.”

She saw remorse flash across his face before he steeled it, and his form twisted into a flurry of feathers as he slipped through the attic trapdoor.

With alighted on the ground in the living room and returned to his bunny form, blinking his big red eyes up at his partner. Dark was lounging on the couch almost casually, his eyes narrowed at the ceiling contemplatively.

“Did you need something, kyuu?” He tilted his head, hopping up on the couch next to him. He kept up his innocent facade, as usual, settling comfortably into Dark’s lap. “Is there a note to deliver?”

Dark looked down at him, one hand absently stroking his white fur. “Emiko’s writing one up, yeah,” he answered, arching an eyebrow at his familiar, “though it’s weird that I knew about this heist before you did. You usually know before Daisuke and I find out.”

With shrugged, snuggling against his hand. “Why’s Daisuke not here, kyuu? Did something happen at school?” He asked, and Dark didn’t miss the way he changed the subject.

“Had a run-in with Riku after club today.” Dark frowned, changing the subject back, “Where have you been, With? I haven’t seen you around lately.”

Of course Dark would be the first--and probably only--person to notice With’s disappearances.

With felt a little warm inside at the thought, but he avoided the question, purring gently, “It’s nothing, kyuu. Just resting a lot, that’s all.”

“Where?” Dark picked him up with both hands, holding him level so that claret eyes met rose, “You know, we looked for you before I called you. Couldn’t find you in any of the usual haunts--and it’s too cold for you to have been outside.”

“Did you check under Daiki’s bed, kyuu?” With offered with a wry grin.

“Yeah, and Emiko’s, and Towa-chan’s too. We even checked the basement.” Dark replied, and he watched as With’s expression fell slightly. He studied the little white rabbit as he squirmed uncomfortably in the hold, noting the apprehension in his expression. “What’re you being so nervous about, partner?”

“Nothing, kyuu,” With insisted. “Can you put me down now, Dark?”

Dark sighed, placing the bunny in his lap again. He absently returned to petting With, gazing down at him with concerned red eyes. “You know, Daisuke’s noticed he hasn’t been waking up with you on his face, for a while, and that you haven’t been there when he goes to sleep. He’s worried about you too.”

With looked up at him, smiling a little at the “too” that implied Dark was worried about him as well. Though the fact that Dark had begun and even insisted on staying on this line of questioning was already enough of a clue that Dark was worried. It had been a long time since Dark had had to worry about With--and it felt nice, to be thought about. With couldn’t help but be a little touched that Daisuke had noticed his absence at all--he wasn’t surprised Dark had noticed, but Daisuke... well, he was the one “different” Niwa, so maybe he shouldn’t have expected anything less.

“I’m fine. I really am, kyuu,” With crooned with as much cheerfulness as he could muster, “I’m... better than I’ve ever been, in a long time, actually.”

“You don’t seem better,” Dark murmured, scratching him behind the ears, “you’ve been acting weird since Daisuke’s birthday. You seem like you’ve not been all here.”

“...Is that so... kyuu...” He should have known he couldn’t hide anything from his best friend.

“I can’t hear your soul the way you can hear mine, With. But even so, I can tell something’s changed.” Dark said quietly, “You’d tell me if something was wrong, right?”

“Nothing’s wrong, kyuu,” With assured him, cuddling against his stomach and curling up, “I promise. I just... there’s someone I’m worried about, that’s all.”

Dark blinked in surprise, drawing his hand away. There weren’t a lot of people With worried about--the only people he really knew were the Niwas and Dark, and the Hikari Arts and Satoshi. But as far as he knew, everyone was fine--there was no one in danger, or sick, or hurt... so why was he worried?

He stared down at the tiny white rabbit, his eyes soft. When he really thought about it, With’s demeanor was subdued--almost depressed, or mournful--and even his attempts to assure everyone he was fine was halfhearted. The last time he had been like this, it was after...

Suddenly he remembered the quiet winters With had spent curled up in the library, staring longingly at the faded mementos from the Tamers past. Dark was used to people disappearing from his life--but unlike With, he never had to witness it, so he never brought the thought of it to the forefront of his mind, except in moment likes these.

Moments when he was reminded that With was older and lonelier than he was.

“Daiki’s not dying any time soon,” he murmured--that was the only person he could think of that With might be currently worried about. He had spoken in present tense, after all.

“I’m not worried about Daiki right now. He’ll live for ten more years, kyuu,” With mumbled in response, and Dark frowned deeply at that.

“You know, it’s a little creepy how you can predict that,” the thief shifted, curling over his familiar and moving to stroke the fur on his back again, “but ten years... really? That’s so... short.”

“I’ve had a lot of practice, kyuu,” With sighed sadly, “and with as much magic as he used when you were partners... he’ll be lucky to last ten more years, kyuu.”

Dark’s frown grew. “Still creepy, With.” He ran his other hand through his hair as he shook his head, trying to get back on track. “Who are you worried about, if it’s not Daiki?”

“...Can’t say, kyuu.”

“Can’t?” Dark lifted an eyebrow, “Why not? Is it Hiwatari or something? I won’t laugh if it is.”

“I can’t, Dark,” With repeated solemnly, in a tone that was entirely foreign for the normally cheerful, innocent bunny. “The last time... you got hurt, kyuu.”

“Last time...? What do you mean, last time?” Dark echoed, his concern doubling, “How could knowing who you’re worried about hurt me?”

With didn’t answer--he didn’t have to, because Emiko entered the room and Dark saw his face fall into its carefully neutral innocence.

“Dark, did you find With--oh!” Emiko grinned, “There you are, With.”

“Hi, kyuu,” With waved jovially, hopping out of Dark’s lap as Emiko knelt and held out a card to him.

“Think you can deliver this to the station?” Emiko asked, “I’ll give you some cookies when you get back.”

“Sure!” With nodded affirmatively, taking the message in his mouth and flapping his ears, leaping through the window and racing away.

Dark stood up, staring out the window after him, his frown never leaving his face.

~~~

Marron had laughed when he answered her demand to know why he kept looking at her so sadly. It was a real, genuine laugh, almost as cheerful as she used to be, softened only by a lace of melancholy and guilt.

“K-kyuu?” With squeaked, his fur standing up in embarrassment. “W-why are you laughing, kyuu? What’s wrong with wanting to heal you?”

“I do have scars, With, but you can’t heal them, myuu,” she shook her head, shifting slightly to nuzzle him comfortingly.

His ears drooped in confusion. “But...”

“You don’t heal scars, With. You heal wounds,” she told him gently, “and I’m not wounded, myuu. Not anymore, at least.”

With’s red eyes searched her dark brown ones, and he shuffled closer to her, purring sympathetically.

“I wish you didn’t have scars, Marron,” he murmured, thinking back on her story, on the things that had hurt her that didn’t hurt her anymore. Even if she wasn’t pained by them, he was. He wished she never had to go through any of that.

“Scars fade,” Marron snuggled deeper into the nest of blankets in the corner of the dimly lit attic, warm against his side, “someday, at least, but... I’m fine right now, With. I’m home, myuu. I don’t need anything else. I don’t need you to heal me--I just need you to be with me, myuu.”

“Okay, kyuu,” With nodded, resting his head on top of hers, “okay.”

They fell silent, their eyes closed, and the wooden room around them echoed with their quiet breaths.

When With thought she was asleep, she crooned softly, “Tell me about yours, myuu.”

“Kyuu?”

“Tell me about your scars. Your wounds.” Marron didn’t open her eyes even as he opened his to look down at her, “I can feel them, myuu, but I don’t understand.”

That was right... Marron could feel his soul.

His soul which he hurt and scarred and broke, after so many years apart from her. How had he forgotten that the only thing that hurt her more than her own body... was his pain?

They were soulmates--they could hear and feel each other even when they were far apart. And now, as their souls touched and tangled, she could sense the imperfections more than ever.

What must she have felt from him, all these years he tortured himself in the loneliness? What had she thought about, when she worried about him, and how he was doing, and if he would heal? When she could do nothing, when she had no explanation for his pain--had she blamed herself? Had she desperately tried to reach out, to soothe him, even when he didn’t realize he could hear her?

He closed his eyes and filled in the blanks, and told her all about the years in between, when he was watching and waiting and all alone.

~~~

With was just as much of a human as he was a creature, but no one ever really noticed that. Dark forgot it too, some days, but With didn’t blame him--he often defaulted to rabbit form when he was tired, and it had been so long since he had been anything else that people forgot he was more than that. The Niwas didn’t even know he had any other form he could default to--or, they hadn’t known for ten generations, at least.

The Niwas thought of him as a rabbit, albeit a mysterious, enigmatic one. But he was as human as they were--the shape of his body was a mere manifestation of his soul, and even when he was taking on someone else’s face, he didn’t feel any less like “himself” whether he was walking on two legs or on four.

His true human form was just as much “him” as his rabbit form was, but he had abandoned it to hide from time and pain. He had stopped turning human, because he couldn’t hide behind an innocent facade when there was nothing cute and fluffy to distract from the mars on his skin, the tear stains on his face, or the trauma behind his eyes.

But he didn’t need to hide when he was with Marron--no matter what form he was in, his soul was bared to her and nothing would distract her from trying to understand it... just as he tried to understand hers.

It was hard, seeing the soul that fit perfectly against his own, and realizing it was a different shape now. It was hard realizing his soul was a different shape too--endless days had beaten it down and worn it away and dragged it through the mud, and it was a wonder she had been able to recognize it at all.

What once was purity and its protector was now a mess of broken innocence surrounded by the shattered remains of what could have been.

It would take a long time for them to understand each other again, but they wouldn’t give up trying. They would piece together what they could, even if they bled while holding the shards of their other half’s heart.

~~~

“With, please.”

With averted his gaze, shaking his head solemnly. “No, Marron.”

The brown-tipped rabbit pushed her nose against his cheek, her quiet whines begging him to look back at her. “You were human the first day back, myuu... why not?”

“I don’t want you to see, kyuu,” he mewled brokenly, “I know you. They’ll hurt you more than they hurt me.”

“I want to see,” she implored, nuzzling him lovingly, “please, myuu. I want to understand.”

He fidgeted, closing his eyes. “...Then... you too. I know you hate being human, but... you too, kyuu.”

Marron nodded, waiting--watching as his soul remolded his body and returned him to the form he had not been in for two centuries before that autumn day. She frowned at the clothes, a long-sleeved turtleneck and black pants hiding what she knew was beneath--what she had wanted to see.

Her own form shifted, and she realized how cold it was when the air hit her unprotected skin. In a flash she was in similar turtleneck dress, shivering.

“You okay?” With asked mellowly, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to him, not commenting on her brief moment of nakedness.

She nodded, curling up in his lap as he leaned back against the attic wall. She let him warm her, giving him time to get comfortable in his disused form, her hands resting against his chest--the pulse of his heart beneath them quiet and soothing.

“...You’re cheating,” she mumbled, resting her head against his collarbone and moving her hands to take one of his, entwining their fingers as she pushed down his sleeve.

“It’s cold,” he defended weakly, not protesting her explorations, though he did bite his lip hesitantly.

His eyes trailed up her exposed legs, wincing at the marbled texture that ran over the length of her left thigh where mangled muscle had healed incorrectly. On her other leg, he spotted four long, parallel lines of what would have been a cat scratch on her other form, but in her human body it looked like she had been mauled by a tiger. When he brushed her hair back and gently tucked a lock behind her ear, he saw the nick in her lobe that turned into a disfigured mark running down her neck.

With knew how she got her scars, but seeing them... it was different from knowing. The sight of them put his heart in agony.

Marron stared quietly at the mottled skin on his wrist, turning it over to find splotches of pale white on the other side too. They were bite marks, she realized--they were the long-healed remains of an attempt to chew his paw off. She could imagine his other arm was the same, as were his legs and back, and she wished she could see--she wished she could see how many scars he had, how bad they were, how far they spread.

She turned her head to look up at him, their eyes mirror pools of melancholy and anguish.

“Why?” She asked sorrowfully, her voice full of grief, and his heart broke because she had seen how his scars were still open wounds--ones that he had tried to hide.

He didn’t answer her, and she cried softly into his chest, clutching his hand to her heart. He knew this would happen if she saw his scars, not just felt them, but he was helpless to stop her tears.

She knew her “death” had caused him pain, but to have left these marks on his body... she wanted nothing more than to heal them, these still-bleeding wounds on his soul, because she knew it was her fault they were there.

Loneliness did things to people, and after two hundred years apart, Marron was finally starting to understand what those things were.

Scars told stories--that was why he didn’t want her to see them. The story of his unending sorrow, his broken heart, his mangled soul, was written across his whole body, and it was still being written.

Her own body was wracked with sobs, and With could feel her soul resonate with sadness.

Her soul--her beautiful, lovely, broken soul... he felt the scars left on it by time, traced into her being by the world. They were different from the scars on her skin--those were scars she never minded because the story her body told was one of love, of longing, of struggles to cross the very universe to come back to him.

Her scars may not have faded, but her wounds had healed and made her stronger and she had moved forward despite all else--despite how marred her soul was, she had loved him so much that the scars never mattered.

He had loved her so much that scars were all he had left--the scars were all he was, now. He wasn’t the cheerful, optimistic boy she remembered, and that hurt more than it should have.

She finally realized that no matter how well he hid his pain, he wasn’t okay--and neither was she, when she looked at him now--and her heart broke too.

Marron didn’t understand why, and she desperately wanted to.

~~~

Daisuke’s brow furrowed as he watched With nose despondently at his food--it was unusual that the cheerful little bunny didn’t have an appetite. He usually ate anything and everything, so Daisuke wondered if he was sick.

He crouched next to his strange familiar, reaching out his hand and petting his head and ears.

“Hey, With... you okay?” He asked gingerly, concern painting his expression.

“Kyuu...” With looked up at him and offered a smile, but it was weak and a little sad. Daisuke could tell he was trying to reassure him that he was alright, but Daisuke didn’t know how to respond to him properly. With obviously wasn’t okay, but Daisuke didn’t know how to make him better.

“If... if you say so...” he patted With again, standing up to go back to his chores, cleaning up after dinner and washing the dishes.

“Something must’ve happened to that person he’s been worried about...” Dark muttered, and Daisuke blinked in surprise.

“What?” Daisuke paused thoughtfully, “Is this about two weeks ago?”

He hadn’t understood Dark’s conversation with With at the time, but he had heard Dark’s half of it. Sometimes he wondered how Dark understood With, but maybe it came with so many years together. At first he thought Dark was just responding to With’s expressions, but some of the things he said made Daisuke realize he was having a full conversation with his familiar.

Dark had mentioned that With was worried about someone--but he couldn’t say who, because Dark would get hurt or something.

“It probably has to do with where he’s been disappearing to, but...” Dark made a frustrated sound, “I can’t figure out what’s on his mind!”

“I’m sure he’ll tell you eventually?” Daisuke shrugged uncertainly, “You’re his best friend, after all.”

“Yeah, that’s what makes this all worse.” Dark sighed.

The redhead frowned in worry, looking over at where With was--or at least, where he had been. He was gone now, and his food had disappeared along with him--though somehow Daisuke doubted that With had actually eaten it all.

“Where’d he go this time...” Daisuke shook his head, finishing the dishes and wiping his hands on a towel to dry them.

“Check the library. He usually hides out there, when he’s depressed.” Dark suggested.

Daisuke nodded, going downstairs and peeking into the library beside the basement, looking around. Towa was dusting off the bookshelves, and his father was sitting on the floor between a few stacks of books, paging through an old-looking photo album.

“Hey,” Daisuke waved, stepping into the room, “did With come through here?”

Towa and Kosuke looked up, the former blinking in confusion and the latter shaking his head.

“No, son, sorry,” Kosuke replied, glancing around for the white rabbit anyway.

“I think we would’ve noticed if he had,” Towa gave a crooked grin, “he’s usually pretty loud.”

“Huh,” Daisuke tilted his head somewhat doubtfully, “alright then. Carry on.”

Daisuke backed out of the library, scratching his head. “Why would With come to the library anyway?” He asked his head mate as he made his way back upstairs.

“To be fair, no one used to go down there before. I guess he wanted the space and solitude.” Dark sighed, “He must’ve found a new hiding spot since Kosuke is always there now.”

“Well that could be anywhere, now--I mean, the house is huge, but there’s also the tunnels and all the vault rooms...” Daisuke frowned, continuing onward up to his room on the second floor.

“Dai, he’s a good a thief as me and you,” Dark muttered wryly, “if he doesn’t want to be caught, he won’t be.”

Daisuke paused with his hand on his doorknob, surprise crossing his expression. “With’s a thief?”

“He’s my partner, did you really not think he’d be as skilled as I am?” Dark snorted. “He’s as much the Phantom Thief as we are.”

“Huh,” Daisuke entered his room, “I never thought about it, but you’re right.” He sat down in his chair, looking up at the ceiling contemplatively, “What... what even is With? I know he’s not a rabbit, but... what exactly is he?”

“He’s ‘sort of’ a rabbit,” Dark answered with a mental shrug, “technically speaking, though, he’s a soul in physical form. I’m not entirely sure why his kind takes on the appearance of rabbits, though, but I know his parents and girlfriend were ‘sort of rabbits’ too.”

“Soul in physical form?” Daisuke echoed in confusion, then paused in disbelief. “Girlfriend? He has a girlfriend?”

“Had one,” Dark corrected nonchalantly, “but yeah. Souls are sort of... shapeless, you know. So they can take on whatever form they want--but a physical soul is bound by whatever form they had before they became physical, and whatever form they’re born with after that--that is, the rabbit form. But they still retain the properties of being a ‘soul’, like how they communicate and change shape if they want to.”

Daisuke absorbed the explanation in fascination, his eyes wide as he glanced at Dark’s reflection in the mirror. “But--what about With, then? He has... that wing form, and he can turn into you, and me...”

“And anyone else I’ve ever been linked to,” Dark mused, “With was... I think he was a newborn soul. It made him malleable--unique among his kind. He didn’t have another form, but he made one after he linked himself to me.”

“Linked... what does that mean?” Daisuke’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“It’s kind of a pseudo-soulmate thing, I can’t really explain it. But why do you think he always comes when I call?” Dark rolled his eyes, “We’re connected--he can hear me, just as I can hear you. It’s a weird chain of one-way links.”

Daisuke blinked slowly, nonplussed, staring at his other self as he stared back seriously. “You can hear m--”

He cut himself off when a sound above his head caught both of their attentions, and the thief and his Tamer trailed their gazes upward simultaneously.

“...Are those footsteps?” Dark asked incredulously, falling silent just as Daisuke did to strain his ears, trying to catch the sound again.

They heard it--the uneven, lightly-treading thuds on the ceiling.

“The... attic?” Daisuke stood up, exiting his room and making his way down the hall, looking up at the trap door above the hallway closet. He frowned, going into the closet and grabbing the step-ladder, placing it below the trap door and climbing up, straining his ears again to catch voices beyond the wooden barrier.

“Are you okay?” A soft voice whispered, filled with pain and worry. Daisuke’s eyebrows furrowed, wondering who was in his attic--the voice was unfamiliar, but at the back of his head, Dark made a surprised sound of recognition.

Dark? Do you know who’s up there? Daisuke asked in confusion.

“Yeah, but... who’s he talking to...?”

Daisuke listened again when he heard more footsteps, and the next word was so quiet he had barely caught it.

“...No.”

The second voice was milky and mellow, sounding as if it belonged to a girl. Dark seemed confused by the owner of the voice as well as the reply itself, and Daisuke climbed a step higher as the first voice responded.

“I’m sorry--I just... please...”

There was silence, and an audible sigh. Daisuke briefly wondered about the voice’s desperate tone, before it continued after a few seconds.

“...You know you’re always on my mind... so there’s nothing I won’t do,” sung the gentle, sorrowful voice, “and if you simply asked me to, I’d steal the sky for you.”

There was a pause. Hesitance. And then, “Don’t...”

“Please... please let me?”

“I can’t.”

Dark gasped as he finally recognized the second voice. “Is that...?” He breathed in disbelief, “No way... it couldn’t be...? But that song...”

Daisuke, curious now, carefully lifted the trap door, peeking through the crack at the dimly lit room and the two figures standing by the window, silhouetted by the moon. The taller figure, a slender boy with feathery hair, had his arm around the chubby-looking girl in front of him, his other hand entwined with hers.

The boy moved slowly as he continued his song somberly, his voice cracked and broken, “You’re worth the moon and all the world, and the shining stars above...”

They were dancing.

The girl leaned her head on the boy’s shoulder as he tucked his chin against her long curly hair, seeming reluctant to move with him--Daisuke noticed with a start that one of her legs were lame.

“But I would give you anything, if you would--”

The boy cut himself off with a gasp, apparently noticing his eavesdropper. Daisuke flinched as he turned his head sharply toward the trap door, and bright, pink-red eyes stared into his ruby ones with muted shock.

Seemingly instinctively, the boy pulled the girl closer to him, holding her tightly against his chest. She made a startled noise, turning to look too, and nearly-black eyes alighted on their intruder as well. Daisuke cringed, caught, and pushed the door aside completely, pulling himself halfway up.

“Um--hi...? Sorry, I... um...”

“D--Dai...” the boy squeaked nervously, stepping away from the light of the window as if he could hide himself and the girl in the shadows, “What are you... what are you doing here?”

Daisuke’s eyebrows furrowed, and he blurted out without thinking, “What do you mean? I live here. What are you doing here? Who are you?”

“Ah, Daisuke, that’s...” Dark groaned, “You know what, he’s about to introduce himself, why am I bothering.”

The boy blinked at him, and the girl looked up at her friend quizzically. He slowly unwrapped his arms from around her, stepping away and over to Daisuke and crouching so he was eye-level with him.

Daisuke was startled to see his features lit up by the hallway light below them, because the boy looked just like a Niwa. He looked a little older and he had creamy white hair, but he had the same distinct, chiseled face and vivid red eyes, though he was paler than Daisuke himself.

“I’ve... never actually introduced myself to you like this,” the boy said awkwardly, running a hand through his fluffy hair anxiously, “but... I’m With.”

Daisuke’s jaw dropped, and he nearly let go of the trap door frame. “W--With?!”

The white-haired boy grinned sheepishly, and in a blink, he was gone, and Daisuke’s more familiar pet bunny was sitting in front of his face. “Kyuu,” he waved in greeting, driving the point home.

“What the... so this is where you’ve been going!” Daisuke gasped, and as his eyes came up to look around With’s hiding spot, he caught sight of the brown-haired girl again, standing timidly in the corner. He blinked at her in confusion. “Um... okay, I get With, but who are you? And what are you doing in my attic?” He asked as politely as possible.

The girl glanced down at With, who nodded back at her and gave a resigned sigh. She limped forward shyly, bowing slightly to the boy. “You must be Daisuke. Sorry for the intrusion,” she murmured apologetically, straightening up. “My name is Marron. I suppose you would call me With’s girlfriend.”

He stared at her in wide-eyed bewilderment as she, too, changed form, and another rabbit was sitting before him, brown-eyed with auburn-tipped ears, tail, and feet.

“I knew it,” Dark muttered breathlessly, “but... she’s supposed to be dead. How...?”

Suddenly With was a white-haired boy again, picking up the other rabbit gingerly. “We should... sit down somewhere. You both probably want an explanation, huh...” he shifted awkwardly, eyeing a spot over Daisuke’s shoulder as if he could see someone else there looking back at him.

Daisuke nodded dumbly, making his way back down the stepladder to the hallway, and With followed, with Marron cradled carefully in his arms.

They settled down in Daisuke’s room, with Daisuke in his chair and With sitting on the bed. Marron was in With’s lap, where she curled up as he smoothed out her fur absently.

“Um, so... Marron’s my girlfriend,” With started out, mostly for Daisuke’s sake since Dark already knew who she was, “and, as you know, I’m a shapeshifter, and she is one too.”

“She’s a physical soul? And your body right now--that’s your other physical form?” Daisuke asked in awe, and With quirked an eyebrow at him before glancing at the mirror where Daisuke could see Dark eyeing Marron.

“How long ago did you tell him?” The white-haired boy asked offhandedly.

“Literally like twenty minutes ago, tops,” Dark replied, shrugging. “By the way, welcome back, Marron-chan.”

“Myuu?” Marron stared at Daisuke in bemusement, seeing as Dark’s voice had just come out of his mouth. No one else seemed to mind it though.

With snorted, returning his attention to Daisuke. “Anyway. Um. She came to town about a month ago, and I’ve been sort of hiding her here since then.”

There were a hundred other questions Daisuke wanted to ask, but he found himself parroting, “Hiding?” His brow furrowed in concern, “Why? From what?”

“Krad, mostly,” With shrugged in reluctant admittance. “He killed Marron about two hundred years ago--or, well, I thought he did. It’s a long story, but she survived. But if Krad finds out she’s alive...”

Dark’s eyes widened. “Then it’ll be just like last time, but worse,” he realized, “Krad won’t make the same mistake twice.”

With nodded solemnly, and Marron shifted, nudging his stomach comfortingly with a soft mewl. He put his hand on her head to reassure her that he was fine, continuing in a stronger voice, “Krad hurt Marron to distract me. I was trying to save Marron, and... Dark got hurt because I couldn’t reach him in time.” His eyes, lit with a determined, mournful fire, met Daisuke’s gaze. “Please don’t tell anyone she’s here.”

“I... I won’t,” Daisuke promised, looking down at Marron in concern, noting the protective way With held her vulnerable form. He suddenly realized that With had said he had thought she was dead for two centuries... and he still obviously loved her very much.

Those two hundred years must have been torture for both of them.

Daisuke took in Marron’s soothing croons, and With’s forlorn rose gaze, and he remembered their broken ballad, and it dawned on him that they were still suffering. They were still trying to mend their relationship, trying to heal from the long and lonely years of separation.

They went back to the attic not long after With briefly explained where Marron had been all these years. Daisuke could hear their soft footfalls as he lay down to sleep--and if he really listened, he could hear their soulful, sorrowful song too.

With was choked with melancholy as he begged her to dance with him with those lyrical words, and Marron’s voice bespoke unimaginable pain when she sung back to him, her voice catching in her throat.

“...I fell in love with you, my dear, with your tears and all your scars...”

Daisuke could imagine them dancing in the moonlight, just like when he first saw them, their arms wrapped around each other so intimately.

Abruptly he felt his other half’s heart aching with his vision of Marron’s appearance. Something had dawned on the thief--a memory from a long forgotten past.

“She hated holding still.” Dark whispered, his voice tinted with grief.

What? Daisuke asked in confusion, and Dark pushed the image of Marron’s form into his mind. He thought hard for a moment about the mangled rabbit foot, and the lame leg that had shocked him earlier.

And suddenly he realized why it had shocked him so much--it was the same reason why Dark’s heart was breaking for his best friend.

She can’t dance anymore.

Daisuke looked inward and saw Dark’s face as contorted with sadness as With’s had been earlier, because Marron hadn’t just been With’s friend--she had been Dark’s too. He had memories of With and Marron laughing as they spun in silly circles until they collapsed on the grass, dizzy but happy. Somehow those memories felt so far away and surreal, as if from another life.

“Marron used to love to dance.”

Daisuke’s heart went out to all of them as he realized Dark had lost a friend two centuries ago too, and he didn’t know how to deal with having her back--returned in a body broken by time.

With and Marron’s wistful, haunting ballad echoed into his soul, and Daisuke thought that he wanted to help them, but he didn’t know how.

“...There’s nothing I won’t do... and if you simply asked me to, I’d steal the sky for you....”

~~~

It was Christmas Eve when With finally introduced Marron to the rest of the Niwas.

She came down from the attic at last, With alongside her, and though neither of them took human form and no one explained that they could, she was accepted wholeheartedly into the family.

Dark and Daisuke had been the first to greet her, and then they properly explained who she was when everyone else was confused by her presence. After that, she got to mingle a little bit, and even without words, everyone could tell she was a friendly, charming girl.

Emiko and Towa thought she was the sweetest little thing ever, and they spoiled her with candies and treats. Kosuke had been fascinated to find out she was as old as With, and spoke to her with the same respect he accorded the family familiar, asking her careful questions about anything and everything that came to mind as he idly studied her. Daiki teased With relentlessly about finally getting a girlfriend, complimenting her to make him flustered.

Dark treated her like an old friend, giving her gentle smiles and a considerate amount of space when he saw that she needed it. He quietly checked up on her to see how she was doing every so often, noticing little things like how her ears flattened against her head when the noises became too much or how she trembled anxiously when she was crowded. He took it upon himself to remind everyone to turn down the volume, or give her an escape route, or do any number of other small favors that he normally only did for With, so she could go hide under the Christmas tree until it was okay to come out again if she wanted to.

Daisuke smiled softly as he watched the auburn-tipped rabbit cuddle up to her other, who had joined her under the Christmas tree to offer her comfort and a solid feeling of safety in this strange house that she had once called her home--that she was going to call home again someday.

Dark told him stories about Marron, about how With used to cower when she lost her temper, about how she used to nip With’s ear to get him to stop bothering others when he was bored, about how the two of them used to have dates on Christmas Day. The Marron they saw now was a subdued version of the bunny girl in those stories, and some things didn’t match up, but Dark more than anyone knew how time changed people, so he simply watched from the sidelines as With and Marron tried to get back to their smiles.

Dark would be there for With and the girl he loved when he needed it. He was With’s best friend, after all.

With spent the evening giving him grateful glances, glad that Marron was being welcomed back rather than just being welcomed--that someone other than him remembered who she was. It made her feel less lonely and isolated, gave her a sense of something familiar, and offered her more ways to heal her broken heart.

Marron crawled out from under the tree at one point to sit on Dark’s lap, warbling her thanks to him for his friendship--for taking care of With all this time when she couldn’t be there. Dark quietly helped her understand the missing years without needing to be asked, because he knew she needed to know what had happened to her With. He understood what she wanted because he saw the way she looked at With so adoringly even through her sadness. Neither of them needed words because they knew how precious With was to both of them.

That year, With spent Christmas asleep at Marron’s side, snuggled together warmly under the Christmas tree, because being able to be with her again was enough. He didn’t need fancy gifts or a romantic date or a big holiday because he was beyond blessed to have her back.

Maybe soon they could be happy again, and they could never ask for more.

~~~

Marron didn’t come out of the attic very often, though when she did she was quietly watching her beloved interact with his new family, her expression deep with thought.

With acted different around the Niwas, compared to how subdued he was when they were alone in the privacy of their hideaway. He was livelier, he smiled more, he purred cheerfully in response to affection and complained loudly when he didn’t get it--he reminded her of their younger days, when nothing was wrong with the world and they were naive to the trials of time.

But she could see his soul, and what she saw didn’t match his face.

She wondered when he had gotten so good at acting, able to fool nearly everyone else in the household into thinking he was alright now. She wondered how long he had worn his mask of innocence, and how much of it was real.

He pretended he was okay so that his family didn’t worry--so that they forgot he was more than just a rabbit, an animal, a pet. He put on a smile so that they wouldn’t see how time had hurt him, because he loved them so much he would put aside his own pain to make them happy.

Marron remembered the Niwas of ten generations ago--and how she had loved them just as much. They were her family too after all, though it had been so long since she had had a family that the idea was foreign to her.

The Niwas now were strangers to her, just as With was sometimes. And then there was Dark--Dark was a little different too, from what she remembered, but she was still familiar with his mannerisms. He was softer and kinder, older now, wiser now--but not as wise as With or herself. He wore masks of innocence like With did too, though his masks came more in the form of playful cockiness and loud confidence.

He laughed more, but Marron remembered a time he didn’t laugh at all. His smiles felt genuine only part of the time, and Marron found herself looking between her old friend and her love and thinking their smiles were the same. They hid the same pain, after all, and no one else realized how aged their souls they really were.

She watched Dark argue with his Tamer--idly thinking how he never used to do that either--and wondered how two people who shared a soul couldn’t understand each other.

The Niwas always fascinated her, really, and she observed them quietly as they went about their days. Nobody thought twice about the pair of rabbits curled up on the couch, as usual, thinking them nothing more than the family pets.

“Ah come on, it’s just a few traps. It’s nothing I can’t handle. Or are you afraid?” Dark jeered to his head mate, tightening the strap on his black leather trench coat. On the other side of the room, Emiko was preparing the case he would have to use to carry the statue they were stealing that night.

“I am not! But Hiwatari-kun warned us--”

“Myuu...” Marron tilted her head curiously, finding that Daisuke’s voice coming out of Dark’s mouth was strange and unfitting.

“Hiwatari is the police commander, kyuu,” With explained, mistaking her confusion, “he’s also Krad’s host in this generation, kyuu.”

“Not Hikari, myuu?” Marron mused as they continued to watch the argument in amusement.

“Jeez, you’re always so quick to trust that Hiwatari kid, Dai--”

“It’s complicated, kyuu,” With shrugged, perking up as Emiko handed Dark the carrying case.

“He’s helped us before, I think we should listen to him!” Daisuke protested, and Marron wondered if Dark and Daisuke ever even realized that they were speaking out of each other’s mouths. Emiko giggled, not perturbed at all by the outburst.

“Stop worrying so much, we’ll be out of there in no time,” Dark said dismissively, holding his free arm out to With. “Come on, we’ll be late. Let’s go, With.”

“Kyuu! That’s my cue,” With nuzzled Marron once before he hopped off the couch, landing nimbly on Dark’s hand and climbing up to his shoulder easily.

“Good luck, myuu,” Marron smiled a bit at her love’s eagerness and sat up to wave farewell, just as they disappeared through the door.

Emiko sighed fondly, turning back to the living room and turning on the television, switching it to the news channel to keep track of the heist. Marron watched her silently, wondering if she had even noticed that the little rabbit was still there, as she went about her routine to prepare for Dark’s return.

When she went downstairs to get some statue cleaning supplies and repair kits, Marron was left alone, and she idly watched the news in disinterest, lost in her speculations about the Niwa family. Or at least, she was alone until someone joined her on the couch--the subject of her latest thoughts, coincidentally.

“Myuu?” She glanced up at the silver-haired teenager who sat beside her, watching the television in anticipation. “Towa-chan?”

Towa blinked, looking down at her. She grinned, holding out her hand and hovering it over Marron’s back, waiting for permission before she touched the small creature. “Hey, Marron-chan. How are you tonight?”

Marron nodded to let her know it was okay to pet her, shrugging in response to the verbal question. Towa’s gentle fingers tread her fur, and she purred in contentment.

“Are you worried about With?” Towa asked softly, but Marron didn’t answer except for another shrug and a wordless mew, so she sighed and went back to watching the news, absently stroking the brown-variegated bunny.

Towa was the one member of the Niwa family that currently baffled Marron, because she technically wasn’t a Niwa. She smelled of magic and With had explained she was a Hikari Art in living form, but Marron was unfamiliar with that--she had only ever seen Hikari Arts in their slumbering state, and she had been under the impression that active Hikari Arts were dangerous. Towa was anything but, really.

The silver-haired girl was kind and quirky, perky in her excitable demeanor, and always eager to help despite how much she complained about chores. Marron had been astounded by Towa’s chirpy personality, because she had heard about how Towa had come into the Niwa family, and she thought that it contradicted the girl’s cheerful disposition.

Towa had been alone atop a lighthouse, until Daisuke had offered her a new home. Marron couldn’t imagine staying in one place for so long without any company or the thought of a loved one to keep her sane. Idly she wondered if sleep had been Towa’s salvation--but then she wondered why Towa was awake now, if that had been the case.

“Ah, look, it’s Dark!” Towa squealed, her eyes glued to the television set. Marron glanced over too as Towa sighed dreamily. “Oh, he always looks so cool...!”

“That’s With, myuu...” Marron murmured to herself, her lips tugging upward in amusement as she watched the Phantom Thief on the screen smirk playfully at the crowds.

“Oh?” Towa looked down at her with raised eyebrows, “How can you tell?”

Marron couldn’t hide the surprise that flashed across her expression, and it took her a moment before she answered slowly, “He doesn’t have the carrying case. Also I just... can, myuu.”

“Oh! I guess you’re right,” Towa turned back to the screen, giggling, “well, With is cool too, hehe. They’ve done this trick before--With distracts them while Dark sneaks inside. It probably won’t fool Satoshi-san though.”

Marron said nothing, staring nonplussed at Towa before she turned to watch the news too, reaching through her connection to With to see how he was doing.

She felt mischief come through their link, but there was an underlying layer of nervousness--it was worry for Dark and Daisuke, because apparently he had been paying more attention to the argument earlier than she thought. But most of all, she felt his excitement--he was having fun. The smile she saw on the screen now was real. With had always loved flying after all--it was one of his few true joys in the world, and it was a trait he shared with Dark. Marron herself had been blessed when he shared his gift with her, taking her to the skies just to show off the nightscape that no one else had touched, but she had always been more enchanted by the look in his eyes when he was flying--it was peace and serenity and bliss. She was glad to know that he still felt that when he flew--that his “curse” still brought him joy, no matter the circumstance.

With vanished from the sky, and the news reporters and cops became frantic. The cops still remained outside the building though--perhaps they were ordered to stay away? It must have had something to do with Daisuke’s warning before...

Towa sighed and sat back on the couch cushion. “Well, now to wait until they make their escape...”

Marron trailed her gaze back to Towa. Before Towa could get up to go back to cleaning or whatever she usually did, the rabbit girl asked, “How can you understand me, myuu?” It was just one more thing about Towa that baffled Marron. “Are you a living soul too?”

“A what?” Towa tilted her head inquisitively, “No--at least, I don’t think so. I’m just a Hikari Art, I’m not like you or With.” She shrugged, “Maybe we’re just similar enough to understand each other? I’ve always been able to understand With, and so has Dark, so I never really thought about it.”

Marron sighed and nodded, accepting the explanation and saying nothing more. Towa continued petting her gently, and after a minute, Towa said, “You know, I used to think With was such a little kid. He was always pretty childish--it never really occurred to me that he was older than I was, until you came along.”

Marron blinked up at her, dark chocolate eyes meeting emerald green. “That seems to be the general consensus,” she replied with a soft giggle, “except you and Kouske-san are the only ones who have really realized how old we are, myuu.”

“I think it became more obvious when he got depressed,” Towa murmured quietly, “it was just so out of character... and then we found out about you.”

The rabbit’s expression fell, and she nodded. “Have you ever loved someone, as much as With loves me, myuu? Have you lost someone?”

“No, I haven’t, so I can’t imagine what he went through,” Towa shook her head, pulling her hand away from Marron to gesture as she spoke, “I mean... that was two hundred years. That’s twice as many years as I’ve existed.”

“He stopped mourning me after a generation or two, myuu,” Marron shrugged knowingly, remembering the waning calls to her soul, all those years ago, “but my death wasn’t the only one With mourned, myuu.”

Towa stared back at her despairingly. “Yeah... I realize that now.” She reached out to stroke the fur on Marron’s head with one finger, “I never realized how... damaged he was before, going through all those generations--I thought living alone at the top of a lighthouse was bad. But I didn’t have anyone to mourn, so I never understood.”

“To be fair, he hid it well.” Marron tilted her head, nuzzling Towa’s hand comfortingly. “How did you survive it, myuu? Those one hundred years alone...”

“It was ninety-eight years, and I’m not sure,” Towa shook her head, her expression bittersweet, “but I guess I had hope that one day I’d find something better--I’d find someone else to lead home, or wherever they needed to be. I’m the Eternal Guide, after all, but I always thought I’d find a greater purpose.”

“I could have used your help, myuu,” Marron laughed soberly, “maybe I could have made it home sooner, if I had found you. Or if you found me, myuu.”

“...How can you and With smile like that, when you’ve suffered so much?” Towa wondered, in awe at her tiny, mewling laugh.

“Because... we’re healing. It’s not fun to be sad all the time, myuu,” Marron shook her head uncertainly, though she still smiled, “isn’t that why people mourn and move on? To have been as sad as I was--as sad as With was--we had to have known happiness just as much at one point, myuu. I want to know it again. And With... With never wanted anyone to ever feel as sad as he had, that’s all. So he worked to make people happy, myuu.”

“Heh, I guess it’s true, what people say. The saddest people smile the brightest.” Towa grinned down at her earnestly, and Marron gazed at her in surprise. “At least you’re honest about it.”

“Towa-chan!” Emiko called from somewhere downstairs, “Can you come help me?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Towa called as she jumped out of her seat, glancing at the little rabbit left on the couch. “Hey, we should hang out more, Marron-chan. It’s nice to finally have another girl around here.”

And with that, she ran off, leaving Marron to stare after her in astonishment.

Suddenly Towa’s lonely past and her cheerful demeanor weren’t so baffling anymore. Maybe Towa could understand Marron and With more than they realized, even if she didn’t know it.

And, Marron thought, maybe it would be nice to have another friend, after so many years without any. Maybe friends would help to heal them faster, though it would still take time.

Marron looked back at the TV as Dark appeared again, smiling at the image of her old friend flying on the wings of her beloved’s soul. She watched Dark taunt his pursuers and laugh as With took him out of their reach, and she caught a glimpse of red eyes at Dark’s back.

She reached into her connection to With again, for a moment feeling his relief and triumph. And it was refreshing, she thought, to see With’s face match his soul. Right now, the sky was the only place she had ever seen his guard come down... but maybe someday soon, with a little help from his friends and his beloved, With wouldn’t have to be in the air for his masks to come off.

~~~

With and Marron didn’t know each other anymore, but they fell in love with each other again regardless, and they spent countless hours trying to re-familiarize themselves with every mark, every quirk, every habit, and every flaw. They told stories about their separate experiences, and learned what was okay and what was the same, and what never would be again. They comforted each other when they learned what made their other sad, and assuaged their fears when panic and anxiety struck at their more horrifying remembrances.

They spent countless hours memorizing each other’s scars, just trying to take it all in and understand, after so many years apart. On gray mornings and cold nights, they laid in each other’s arms completely unguarded, with gentle fingers ghosting over scars no one else had ever seen. Their masks were stripped, and every vulnerability was exposed and bared with unquestionable trust. They were afraid to really touch each other, to add more marks to the maps on their bodies, because they were both fragile now. Their bodies were unfamiliar but they gingerly tried to love each other again anyway, to give each other dreams of tender, warm caresses.

It took time and it took patience, yet they spent countless hours trying to move forward, to move on, to make new memories and to find their life together again. Their souls were broken, but they were starting to heal, little by little, with each day that passed. They couldn’t get back their years, and they couldn’t get back their innocence, but they could get back their happiness--however slowly it may have taken. It might not have been the same happiness they had before, but it was happiness they cherished nonetheless.

After they spent countless hours feeling lost and incomplete, their souls had finally come back together and they felt whole again. After they moved past the pain and mourning and yearning and saudade, nothing was more worth it than the brilliant, beautiful smiles that graced their faces when they looked into each other’s eyes.

And they would spend countless more hours falling deeper and deeper in love, not minding one bit that they would never stop.

#nila writes #dnangel #fanfiction #kyuuchuu #akikaminari #hiwatari-satoshi #with #wiz #maron #marron #with rp #bunny fluff #with/marron

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