Consolation

29| Tempo Rubato (Or, stolen time)

Asuka felt better the moment they stepped out of the gate to the other side. There seemed to be less "time pressure" in the Ninth Circle, like they had arrived in the eye of a hurricane. Behind her, Kurama swayed, like he was coming around.

She gently tugged his hand as they walked through the lush jungle plants, colored deep greens and bright pinks and glorious yellows. They were the same plants Asuka had seen in her vision. There were no animals, bugs, or birds of any kind in the circle. Just plants, flowers, vines, and trees. Above, the ceiling of the cave was dark and whatever was above them twinkled in the perpetual night. It was calm and familiar, like coming home. If the first circle was a dream, this was heaven.

When they stepped out of the foliage, Asuka saw the same lake that she had seen in her dreams. The water was still as ice and stretched beyond what she could see.

"We made it," Kurama said.

Asuka turned to her husband and buried herself in his arms. "I'm glad you're feeling better. I was so worried about you."

He squeezed her. "I would not have made it without you anchoring me."

"I wouldn't have made it without you, either. Thank you."

"You are most welcome, Love." He gave a small, pained smile.

Asuka went to let him go, but Kurama stopped her. She furrowed her eyebrows at him, curious. He ran his fingers through her hair.

"Kurama?"

"Happy Tenth Anniversary," he whispered.

Asuka's eyes widened.

"We must've passed it, even up in the Ningenkai, right?"

"I...I think so. We must've. Maybe? I'm not sure."

"Either way..." Kurama inched his face down and covered Asuka's mouth with his. She melted in his arms as his lips caressed hers. "I love you. Until the end," he whispered.

"And I love you." Reluctantly, Asuka let go of Kurama and stepped up to the shoreline. As soon as her feet touched the water, a gong sounded. She looked back at Kurama and found his face awash with tension.

Water started lapping at her feet. The gong sounded again and an ancient song filled the air. Music. Piano and the erhu and something sounding like a choir. The wind blew stronger as a gigantic electric green dragon came up out of the lake. Its body glowed, and twinkling orbs flew around it as its claws gripped the air as if it were swimming.

As the dragon got closer, the electric green light glowing across its body blinked as if the light in its body was going off and on. It groaned, and its body fell toward the lake. The light in its body flickered on, and the dragon managed to swim upward, only for the light to blink off again. The dragon fell.

Asuka jumped out of the way as the dragon crashed into the water with a tidal splash. A wave from the lake doused her and Kurama with water, and indistinguishable images passed through her mind as it did. When the water cleared, steam rose from the dragon's nostrils with a painful sigh.

"Are you alright?" Asuka asked as she hurried toward the dragon. Its eye was the same size as her head, and it blinked slowly.

"Maeko..." it said. The dragon didn't move its mouth when it spoke, but Asuka could hear its booming voice as if it were reverberating off the water.

"I heard it too," Kurama said as he came alongside her.

The dragon groaned. "We have been calling for so long. You finally returned to us. The world as it is cannot last much longer. We must...rest."