beloved sun
Characters / Pairing: Japan, The Netherlands
Wordcount: 573
Kiku and Jan allow themselves to rest under the sun and the flowering trees. It's springtime in Edo, nature blossoms and so does love.
Jan could swear the sun feels different in Japan. It’s easy to note the difference when his skin has tasted its rays almost in every corner of the world, sometimes burning too bright, sometimes barely showing him any warmth… But in Japan, every ray sneaking through the flowering trees feels like a warm, comforting caress on his face, and almost like a hug on some occasions…
(And isn’t this exactly what he was looking for without even being aware of it? The perfect sunshine that sometimes seemed evasive in his own land.)
— Ah, you’re awake.
By now the words in japanese flowed naturally through his ears. Jan looks up at the owner of that soft-spoken voice: While laying his head on his lap and from that perspective, Kiku seems to be crowned by the sunlight he learnt to adore so deeply, the graceful features of his tranquil face looked even more lovely from there. It's enough to make his heart skip a beat.
It’s spring in Edo, and whatever storm may raze the world, it would never reach that flowering island. (Jan swore he would do everything that was in his power to avoid such a thing from happening).
Smiling, Kiku caresses the top of his head with a gentleness the dutch didn’t know it was possible for creatures like them to have. Moreover, the black-haired man sometimes gave the impression to be a walking contradiction - Only decades earlier the same Kiku would roam around the battlefield in full armour and weaponry, doing war as if it was second nature to him. (“I strive for harmony. And I must walk on contradictory paths to achieve it”, the japanese had told him once.)
— Would you like to stay here for a little while? The bakufu won’t require any other duty from us today.
— Hm, the sun is especially nice today…
Jan closes his eyes and allows himself to melt under Kiku’s hands. The feeling of wanting to stay there forever scares him a little, but the warmness is so tempting and inviting that he knows he doesn't have any choice in the matter but to surrender to that possibility, like a man in the deep sea knowing he has to let go and allow the waves to take him.
— Spring is always generous with its gifts. Including the warmth of our beloved sun…
“The symphony of the birds…
The blooming flowers…
And the dutch that have come to see them.”
A soft smile appears on Jan’s lips. — How fortunate I am to have my own personal poet.
And then, a ray of sunlight caresses Kiku’s face as he mutters:
— And how fortunate I am to have you.
There's a moment of silence between them in which Jan is tempted to say something - some reply tainted with some subtle yet classic self-loathing… But, almost as if he could read his mind, Kiku gives him a reassuring smile and a tender caress to his cheek.
Jan’s gaze softened as he took Kiku’s hand and leads it towards his own lips, pressing a kiss on it.
Impermanence was the truth of the world: Kiku knew that very well since a young age, and the beauty of spring would fade soon enough… And yet, in Jan’s presence, he finds another reason to keep believing that love endures. Even if he's proven to be wrong, eternity would keep safe that moment in his heart.
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