Work Text:
Shion's hands felt like water running through his skin. Nezumi was suddenly under the water, but he could breathe, open his eyes and observe the sky through the hue of blue, and the sun's anger blurred. He kissed Shion to offer him this relief from the human condition, and they both sank into the ocean's depths. Unafraid of the unknown sea creatures, they were joining them in this travel guided by the current of the tides, fighting for their return to the shore. It wasn't selfishness from the universe; it was the unfixable nature of it. Earth kept claiming these creatures that did not belong to the stream but to the air on their skin and the sand prickling their feet.
With a gasp, a whale hopped out of the water, creating a wave that brought Nezumi and Shion back to the place they call home. Except, they had never left since their embrace was that safe refuge from less gentle creatures. If they held hands, they were strong enough against bipedal animals twisting their words into growls, their teeth into fangs. They were each others' armor, disguising their lamb-like figures into beasts that could run and hunt. It was an advantage they would use to escape to the top of a mountain to grow wings and dance in the sky. They were covering their bodies with each of their feathers to protect their eyes from the indistinguishable frigid current of the wind.
Nezumi and Shion might never grow the mechanics of other animals to survive this untamed planet with its nonsensical rules. Still, by the power of their union, they can devise strategies to free themselves from life's shackles.
They become a ball of fire that lands on unknown ground, feeding its grass with dust and creating holes into the soil where some seeds have fallen to grow beautiful trees. Nezumi and Shion ask for forgiveness from this terrain for leaving an impact mark. They forget their desire to grow gills, wings, and nictitating membranes and use their hands to water and harvest flowers and fruits. Once again, without needing to develop any new mechanics or defying physics, they belong to this world with a sense of freedom and completion. They know as when it pours, the big branches of the trees they've grown become a roof; when they experience hunger, the apples turn sweeter; when they thirst, the river's stream roars to remind them it's there. They had hurt this pristine land, but they've made amends, and love has birth between men and land.
Nezumi and Shion have learned the power of the love of men. Yet, with the earth's care surrounding them. They have discovered a new lesson: Love isn't innately reciprocal but something you give with a hint of trust and a touch of dependability. Then, only then, Love becomes nature's law. Unavoidable, unfixable, inescapable.
