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When Leo left to visit Usagi in his world, he did not anticipate getting trapped in a cave. The running for their lives while having arrows rain down on them? Unexpected but not surprising. Seeking shelter in a cave only to have the enemy deliberately cause a cave-in, trapping Leo and Usagi inside? Never crossed Leo’s mind as a possibility. Granted, he’s spent his whole life surrounded by concrete and steel. And to top it all off these mountains were cursed, because of course they are. Damn turtle luck.
Leo coughed, trying to clear his airways from the dust and dirt that was swirling in the air. The rumbling overhead had finally stopped. Leo and Usagi had moved deeper into the mouth of the cave to avoid the rocks that fell down and filled the entrance. Only tiny beams of light made it through the cracks of the new wall. Leo’s eyes searched for Usagi.
“Usagi? You alright?”
Leo heard the sound of rustling clothing, turning to see Usagi in the process of standing up. He was covered in a fine layer of dirt, dusting his white fur brown. Usagi moved to sheath his katana, “I am fine, Leonardo.”
Leo put his swords away as well, walking towards Usagi before facing the new wall.
“Well, we can’t go back the way we came.”
“Yes. Attempting to move the rocks could cause more collapse. And even if we did, our enemies have us surrounded.”
“So, what do we do?”
“There is only one path left to us,” Usagi turned around to face the darkness, “We go in deeper and hope to find another exit.”
They searched the immediate area for flammable debris and fashioned a rudimentary torch. Usagi held it as they made their way further into the cave, the flame cast long shadows on the rock walls.
Leo, used to the darkness, took the lead.
The air got cooler as they continued walking. The sound of dripping water was all around them, echoing. Thankfully the cave continued to be fairly wide.
“Leonardo, you are hurt.”
“Huh?”
Usagi had fallen behind Leo, having tripped and recovered mid-fall. With Leo now in front of him and the torch’s light Usagi had a full view of his back. Leo had a few scratches and pricks that drew blood from when they were running through brambles, but the emotion in Usagi’s voice suggested that wasn’t what he was talking about. Leo looked over his shoulder, but didn’t see anything.
Usagi stepped forward until he was directly behind Leo. Leo tensed up when he felt warm fingers prod at his shell.
“What is it? I can’t see from this angle.”
“There are two slash marks, both bleeding. One running from here,” Usagi moved his hand over Leo’s shell, fingers ghosting the surface, “to here. And another from here to here.”
“Oh,” Leo relaxed, “those are just from the arrows.”
“You were hit! Why didn’t you say something?”
“It was more like grazed. And it hardly hurts, I didn’t even notice I was bleeding. Most of the time when my shell gets knocked around it doesn’t bleed, since the outer layer is pretty tough.”
“Outer layer?” Usagi asked. He was still touching Leo’s shell. It was nice.
“Of skin. The carapace itself is bone but the outside is covered in keratin and skin. If something breaks that skin then there can be blood, like when skin breaks on other parts of the body.”
“I see. Does it hurt?”
“Initially, yes. Right now it’s just a dull pain.”
Usagi’s lingering touch finally pulled away, and they continued on their trek.
Something crunched under Leo’s foot. Leo looked down to see bone scattered along the ground.
“Uh, Usagi, I think we might’ve just walked into something’s den.”
“No,” Usagi did a large sweep with the torch, “this is not the work of a predator.”
Leo looked over to Usagi, and then followed Usagi’s eyeline. There were several skeletons laid against the far wall, clothing and other materials strewn around them. These were clearly people, and they clearly died in here.
“So the legend, it’s true?”
“Yes,” Usagi began reciting what they were told in the marketplace a few days ago, “‘These mountains are cursed. Most who attempt to pass over them vanish, taken by the ghost of a grieving widow.’ Although,” Usagi gestured at the skeletons, “passing through seems to result in the same fate.”
The torch ran low. Leo and Usagi were following the sound of water, hoping it would lead to an exit.
The sounds came from a large cavern, a cavern that two very rectangular slabs of rock placed in the middle. Usagi, still holding the torch, crept closer, Leo right behind him.
There was writing engraved onto the tops, and below the writing a picture of two people kissing. There were also engravings along the side, depicting a story of some kind, that began on one rock and continued on the other.
“What does it say?”
“It says,” Usagi answered, “‘love is brightest in the dark’, and these carvings tell a story of love and war. This must be the widow and her husband’s tomb.”
Leo felt a chill go through his body.
Usagi crouched down to look at the pictures more closely, “This story aligns quite well with one of the old folk songs. The song sings of two lovers from different worlds and how they can never be together. This depicts the widow and her husband on opposite sides of a war before falling for one another, but the war keeps them separated.”
“How does it end?”
Usagi reached out to place a hand on the rock, “The husband dies in battle. The widow succumbs to her grief, living the rest of her days out in these mountains alone.”
“What about the song? How does that end?”
“The lovers must remain in their own worlds, and trust in their love for one another to last until they meet again.”
“Perhaps they are connected?”
“Perhaps.”
The torch was nearly extinguished. Leo and Usagi sat against the cave wall as they watched the light go out. Usagi broke the silence, “You have an idea.”
Leo felt his cheeks heat up, “Yes but, it’s a stupid idea. It’d never work.”
“Leonardo, what is it?”
“Well, uh…” Was Leo actually going to suggest this? Usagi will think he’s crazy.
“Leonardo,” Usagi prodded again.
Alright, Leo thought, here goes nothing.
“I was thinking, how the song says the lovers will be separated forever and must ‘trust in love’, and here, on the tombs, it says ‘love is brightest in the dark,’ and has a picture of them kissing…”
“And?”
Leo squeezed his eyes shut and spit it out, “If they really are connected, maybe we’re supposed to kiss?”
It was quiet for a moment. Leo’s eyes shot back open when he felt a warm hand touch his face, moving to cup his jaw and pull him towards Usagi.
“Okay,” Usagi said softly, his breath brushing against Leo. If Usagi wasn’t already holding it in place, Leo’s jaw would have dropped.
And then Usagi leaned in the rest of the way, and they were kissing.
It was fairly quick. Just one kiss, dry and chaste. But Leo tried to commit every detail to memory, knowing this would be the only time he would ever get to kiss Usagi. The way Leo was awkwardly leaning over the gap between them. How hot all the areas in contact with Usagi were feeling, along with the heat rolling off Usagi’s warm-blooded body.
Usagi pulled back, slowly taking his hand with him. Leo was sure he was grinning like a loon. Good thing they had run out of light.
Leo kept his eyes shut, savoring the memory, until Usagi said with wonder, “Leonardo, look.”
Leo opened his eyes to see they were surrounded by faint green light. The light was coming from the ceiling, which was speckled with glowing crystal-like structures. It was beautiful.
The light wasn’t very strong, Leo only being able to make out Usagi’s outline, but it was significantly better than the pure darkness they were just in.
“Do you think-”
“They lead the way out?”
Leo and Usagi set off, following the crystals out of the cavern.
Leo and Usagi began running when they saw the first slivers of daylight. Soon they were out of the cave system and overlooking a valley. A valley with a village only a few miles away.
They made it to the village just as the sun dipped below the mountains. A local pointed them towards an inn, and Usagi procured them a room and a bath. Usagi forced Leo to bathe first, as he was concerned Leo would get an infection if the musty cave dirt stayed in his wounds any longer, and Usagi wished to brush the dirt out of his fur, worried if he got in now the whole bath would turn to mud.
Leo tried not to laugh when Usagi re-entered the room. His fur was fluffy in places and upturned in others, most likely from towel drying. Usagi pointed a finger at him, “Not. A. Word.”
Usagi grabbed an already lit candle off the table and sat down directly behind Leo, investigating the arrow grazes. As Leo had thought, they truly were just scratches. They had even begun to scab over, but Usagi insisted on treating them and the long scratch on Leo’s arm anyways. Leo should’ve argued that it was a waste of supplies, but Usagi’s concern was touching and Leo selfishly enjoyed having him this close.
When Usagi moved to Leo’s arm, Leo got to see Usagi’s concerned face. It was adorable. Usagi’s nose was scrunched up and his brows went down, giving him wrinkles on his forehead. Leo wanted to lean forward and kiss them away.
Wait, the kiss.
Leo was glad Usagi was single-mindedly focused on his arm at the moment. Leo’s face felt warm just thinking about it. The kiss. He had kissed Usagi. He had kissed Usagi.
He couldn’t help but compare the feeling of Usagi’s fingers on his arm to the way they had felt on his face.
Usagi finished up, and after Usagi made sure his fur was smoothed down, him and Leo went searching for dinner. Leo would become momentarily distracted before remembering that kiss in the cave. It went on long enough that Usagi asked him if he was feeling well, since Leo seemed to be ‘caught up in your thoughts’. Usagi wasn’t acting like anything was wrong, like anything world altering had happened today, so why should Leo?
If only Leo could believe that.
After returning to the room, as they were blowing out the candles, Leo finally broached the subject.
“I’m, uh, sorry about the, um, cave.”
“It was not your fault. Neither of us knew our attackers would bury us in there.”
Leo looked down at his last candle, so he wouldn’t have to face Usagi, “No, I mean, for having to kiss me so we wouldn’t die. I know you probably didn’t want to do that.”
Leo could feel Usagi’s eyes on him.
“What do you mean? That I did not wish to not-die, or that I did not wish to kiss you?”
Leo busied himself with blowing out the candle, “The second one.”
“Do you think I regret it? I do not.”
The last bit of light went out as Usagi blew out the last candle. Trapping them in the dark together, again. Leo heard Usagi’s footsteps as he approached, stopping close to Leo to place the candle base down on the table.
“Do you know why I do not regret it, Leonardo?”
Leo loves the way Usagi always says his name so carefully, as if he’s still scared of mispronouncing it after all these years. Everyone but his father called him ‘Leo’. Leo felt it was special, how Usagi was the only one who didn’t.
Usagi stepped even closer to Leo, and whispers, “Because I have wanted to kiss you for a long time.”
Leo’s heart skipped a beat.
“And, Leonardo, if you would let me,” Usagi placed his hand on the inside of Leo’s elbow, gently turning Leo to face him, “I would very much like to kiss you again.”
Leo stood there in shock. He could hear the amusement in Usagi’s voice as he said “Preferably right now, but later works as well if you-”
Leo’s arm shot up to grab at Usagi’s as he pulled away, holding him in place as Leo took half a step forward and closed the distance. He could feel Usagi’s smug smile against his lips, and decided he was going to kiss it right off. No matter how many kisses it took.
Later, Usagi would say Leo gave it a valiant effort, but he didn’t quite succeed. After all, it was hard not to smile when Leo kept giggling in happiness. Leo would counter and say it was because Usagi’s whiskers kept tickling him. Gen just wishes they would stop looking at each other like saps when he was trying to have a conversation with them.