Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Calli could hear her own footsteps echo throughout the stairway chamber as she ascended it. Step by step, the clang of her shoes against the metallic framework had a way of accentuating how hollow these places always felt. It made for an atmosphere befitting the grim reaper's apprentice.

Not that she was acting in her capacity as such at the moment. No, even her current attire, though a little dated by today’s standards, still felt nothing if not human. Retro they might have been, her preferred streetwear aesthetic is something that has remained with her all this time.

And it wasn’t the only thing. In ages long since past, Calli would have just flown around everywhere. Turning into a black mist certainly had its advantages when it came to mobility. Yet here she was, walking up a flight of stairs. It was a great example of how much her entire lifestyle has changed since those days of yore.

She couldn’t even quite remember just how long it had been since she’d descended upon the mortal realm, but she never seemed to tire of…being mortal, so to speak. The human experience and all that.

…and the person that caused that change in her was the same reason she was here right now.

As Calli reached the top of the stairs, she stopped before the door that would lead her to the building’s rooftop, pulling a letter out from her pockets.

Well, calling it a letter might have been a bit of an exaggeration. It was really nothing more than a scrap of paper. A scrap of paper with a date, time and location written on it. 

It was something that had been given to her several long years ago now. Centuries even. But it was something she had made sure to preserve, all for this day.

Today was the day, the time was just about right, and this rooftop was the designated location.

Steeling herself, Calli took in a deep breath, and gathered the courage to push open the door before her…

It isn’t as though she didn’t know what to expect. After all, when a time traveler gives you a time and place hundreds of years into the future, it wasn’t exactly something that took a rocket scientist to figure out. 

But still, even with all the time in the world, this wasn’t something she could ever truly prepare herself for. 

So perhaps it was only natural that the second she opened the door, her first reaction was…nothing. 

She couldn’t think of anything to say, nor did she have any idea what she was supposed to do. All she could do was continue to stand there like a statue, looking on as the figure before her began to turn around.

It was the same flowing blond hair that always got Gura of all people in a sappy mood. The same bright blue eyes that Kiara always had a habit of unabashedly and flirtatiously gazing into. The same iconic detective attire that Ina loved stealing to huddle under during cold nights. That same all-knowing smirk that never failed to rile Calli up …always adding some excitement into her life. All illuminated under the bright lights of the nighttime cityscape. 

It was almost ethereal. As if the image from her memories had been given life.

For Calli, it had been hundreds of years. But the girl before her hadn’t changed even a little from those memories. It was really her.

It was Amelia Watson. Their beloved little gremlin of a detective. Their Ame.

With Calli being so consumed by wistful nostalgia, it was said gremlin who was the one to break the ice.

“Geez Calli, what’s with the staring? You’re gonna make me blush.”

It was hearing her voice again after all this time that helped it really settle in Calli’s mind that this was real. It was really happening. 

And it was also Ame’s voice that broke her out of her thoughts and made her realize she was getting a little misty-eyed.

She wiped away the stray tears. If this were the Calli from those bygone days, perhaps she would have also tried to play it off and attempted to maintain her 'cool' image. 

But this was a Calli that had grown since then. A Calli that had learned to be more honest with herself. All because of the very girl in front of her. So instead, she wasted no time in reaching out to pull the blonde into a hug.

Though taken a bit by surprise at first, the detective didn’t hesitate to return it. She was the first to try and disengage though, but Calli just pulled her right back in. The reaper wasn’t about to waste this. Not after all this time. Ame had no choice but to acquiesce, chuckling as she let Calli hug her a little longer.

“Missed me that much didja?”

Calli almost scoffed. What an absurd question.

“No shit, Sherlock.”

“Watson actually.”

She pulled back, complete with that shit-eating grin of hers…it really brought Calli such an incredibly strong sense of nostalgia.

“Yeah…yeah I really did miss you Ame.”

Sheepishly deflecting the sentimental stuff in that Ame way of hers, she reached out to the nearby tabletop, where she had a couple bottles already prepped. Taking one for herself, she tossed the other at Calli.

She took a single glance at the label before staring back at Ame, raised eyebrow and all.

“Really?”

“What? You mean to tell me you don’t want to drink something as premium as MoriZakura? Why, renowned hip-hop songstress Calliope Mori would be disappointed in you.”

Ame beckoned Calli over to the edge of the rooftop. She followed, albeit not without some degree of grumbling. Leaning onto the railing, they clinked their bottles together with a customary ‘kanpai’.

For the longest while, they simply stood there, gazing down into the city below. 

Ame seemed like she was waiting for something, and Calli was happy enough just to bask in her presence.

But eventually, Calli broke the silence with a question that had been weighing on her mind.

“So Ame…why’d ya choose Halloween anyways?”

Ame grinned, again in that all-knowing way of hers. 

“Well, it’s perfect for the grim reaper isn’t it?”

“Grim reaper’s apprentice.”

“Same difference. But that sure is some perfect timing you’ve got Calli. The answer to your question is riiiiiight…there.”

Ame pointed down at the streets below. Following her line of sight, Calli spotted a group of children. Five of them. They were laughing their hearts out as they ran across the streets knocking from door to door. 

A little blue shark girl, a pink reaper, a flashy orange restaurant manager, a purple octopus themed priestess, and leading the pack was a little detective girl.

It really was a heartwarming sight. The five of them together…it brought back so many memories. 

At the end of all things, even Death will die. Yet it was Ame who showed her that maybe, just maybe, some things could transcend even death itself.

When put into the perspective of her countless eons of existence, the short time the five of them spent together was almost nothing at all. And yet…it was those few short years that made her who she was today. It was those memories that continued to define who she was even now.

The same was true for all of them. It was a funny thought. The most mortal among them that had left perhaps the largest impact, and everything that she had given them continued to stay with them so far into the future. But that just proved the point didn't it? If anything did transcend death, Calli would like to think it was the bond between the five of them. That Myth really was forever.

And to think, it all started with the crazy little girl who built a time machine.

Calli looked over at Ame, the crazy little girl all grown up, who seemed to be in a rather wistful mood herself. Not that it stayed for very long. Ame always did have the spirit of a trailblazer after all.

Placing her drink back on the table, evidently still unfinished, Ame made a show of stretching her arms before turning back to Calli with an inviting smile.

“Alright, no time to waste! I’ve got one night here, so whaddya say we go out and paint the town red?”

It had been hundreds of years, and yet some things really felt like they hadn’t changed at all. So of course, when one of her dearest friends asked her for anything, there was really only one answer Calli could give.

“Yeah…that sounds pretty nice.”

Chapter Text

The cold, misty air of the early morning accompanied Kiara as she ascended the steps to the shrine. It was to the point she could clearly see her own breath. At times like these, Kiara was glad that she was a phoenix. 

Not that something as minor as a cold morning would have been enough to get to her anyways. Not today. There was nothing in the world that could have done anything to dissuade her today. This day was too important.

Besides, she’d been a shrine maiden once already, so it’s not like she wasn’t used to the cold morning air.

Although that did beg the question of why this shrine seemed so abandoned. It seemed to be in pristine condition, perfectly maintained. A far cry from what an abandoned shrine would look like. Sure, it was a fair bit out of the way in the countryside, and it was early enough that the sun hadn’t quite yet risen, but she’d have still expected there to be at least a handful of locals swarming a place like this. Especially on New Year’s Day. 

But she didn’t dwell on that for long. There were more important matters at hand. 

Taking a look around the shrine though, Kiara didn’t see any signs of the one that had called her here. But she did spot an omikuji box begging to be noticed amidst the shrine grounds. 

Figuring it was worth a shot, Kiara approached and decided to draw a fortune. It seemed to be rather empty, and Kiara suspected there was only the one stick in there. Regardless, the one stick that did pop out had written on it ‘behind the shrine’. Kiara smiled at the sight.

It really was quite like her to do things in such roundabout and unconventional ways. Kiara had certainly never received a fortune like this before, and yet she had never felt so fortunate.

She followed the instruction of the stick and began circling around the shrine itself, her excitement building all the while. 

There, she saw an open clearing leading to the craggy cliffside.

And sitting there, looking exactly like Kiara remembered, was Ame. 

It had been so long now, but there was such a familiarity to the sight of Ame being so carefree, whistling and swinging her legs without a care in the world. As though she wasn’t dangling over the edge of a couple thousand meter fall.

Kiara’s first reaction was, of course, to scream.

Her immediate second reaction was to dash towards Ame and pull her as far back as she could.

“Ame! What the hell are you doing!? You could have died!”

Trapped in Kiara’s tight bearhug of a chokehold, Ame could only chuckle at her response.

“Missed you too Kiara.”

Kiara scoffed.

“Of course I missed you! You have no idea how much. But you could have fallen to your death just now!”

“You’d catch me.”

And what was Kiara supposed to say to that? There was so much trust in Ame’s voice. The complete conviction that Kiara would never let anything happen to her. 

She was right, of course. She always was. Kiara didn’t know how long it had been for Ame, but for her it had been so, so long. Torturously so. And yet so little had changed. 

She couldn’t stop it. The tears just came rushing out. They always did when it came to Ame. That’s just what it was like being the number one Ame gosling. That hadn’t changed either. Kiara’s embrace tightened. 

Even when Ame began trying to tap out, she had no intention of letting go. 

“K-Kiara, come on don’t you think that’s enough now?”

“No! I’m never letting you go!”

Ame let out a sigh, a little exasperated, but much moreso filled with all sorts of nostalgia. 

“C’mon Kiara. If you don’t let me go, how can we get to all the cool plans I have for us today?”

At that, Kiara reluctantly let Ame go. To an extent. She still made sure to take Ame’s hand into her own to compensate.

That, Ame had no problem with. She led Kiara back to the cliffside, and sat them both down in spite of Kiara’s grumbling about dirtying her kimono.

Not that she could ever really say no to Ame. 

So here they were, on the edge of a mountaintop behind a functionally abandoned shrine, gazing off into the horizon.

It really wasn’t a bad way to spend New Year’s at all. 

“Pretty nice view isn’t it Kiara? I had Fauna help me set up the shrine and everything. Really adds the perfect ambience don’tcha think?”

“...yeah, it’s nice. Really nice. Any time with you is.”

And the tears were starting back up again. She couldn’t help it. It was impossible to not get sentimental when it came to Ame. 

And Ame could understand. Gently, she helped Kiara wipe her tears, even passing her a handkerchief.

“C’mon Kiara, it’s starting soon. You can’t enjoy the first sunrise of the year if you can’t even see it.”

Kiara knew that. Not just in regards to the sunrise, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to enjoy herself if she stayed stuck being miserable like this. And she’d been dreaming of smiling and laughing alongsidE Ame for so long.

Still, it was a lot easier said than done.

By the time Kiara did get herself under control, the first rays of sunlight were beginning to shine down on them. The first break of dawn. It coloured the sky in a brilliant orange glow. 

Ame flicked the tips of Kiara’s equally orange hair, and the gesture almost had Kiara crying again. 

“Happy New Year’s Kiara.”

Ame was so unbelievably sweet. But instead of more tears, she gave Ame a smile. That’s what Ame deserved. 

It would be hard to say goodbye again. It would never get any easier. But for now at least, Kiara could let herself enjoy what time they had until then. That was the Ame way after all.

“Happy New Year’s Ame.”