Consolation

30| A Battuta (Or, return to normal tempo after a deviation)

Asuka wove time. Painfully, thread by thread at the bottom of the world, in the last circle of the Makai, where no one could see.

The lake itself held the threads in a watery globe where Asuka saw time as both an unraveled thread and as a completed tapestry. Her mind was a schism among everyone's choices and timelines. She saw how a word or a whisper changed the direction of the universe and how people of all existence planes strived. Sometimes it was for the better, and sometimes for the worst.

It hurt.

Asuka wasn't sure how long she was down there or how fast the world moved. She only wove. Sometimes she saw a crying baby or a dying uncle. Once, she caught a glimpse of Yusuke far into the future, but the moment passed. All she could do was weave the threads together to keep the loom from unraveling.

Until one day, the dragons awoke. They zapped their power back and flung Asuka out of the lake so abruptly, she didn't realize what happened until she was on all fours, back on the shoreline, dripping wet.

Asuka coughed. "Kurama?"

There was no reply.

"Kurama?" she stood and pushed her long hair backward.

Still nothing.

Asuka stumbled as she walked forward. The memories of her time in the lake were fading fast, but they still left her discombobulated. "Kurama?" She tripped over a log on the shoreline and fell. "Kurama!"

Up ahead, she spotted something among the oversized lily leaves that dotted the shoreline. She stumbled forward as her eyesight became sharper. "Kurama!"

He was laying in the leaves, completely still. His body was slumped over, and his hair was covering his face. She turned him over. "Kurama!"

No response.

Asuka blinked back tears. How long had it been? What was happening? She looked at his perfect face and cupped his strong jaw, noticing he had thinned while she was away. "My love...it's me. Wake up. Please." His skin was warm still. With a shaky breath, she moved her fingers down to the pulse point in his neck. It beat against her finger, painfully slow.

"You're still alive," she whispered. "Thank goodness." Asuka placed her forehead against Kurama's and flared her ki. When he didn't respond, she moved her body underneath his head and wrapped as much of herself around him as she could. She placed her hand over his heart and called his name. "I'm here. Find your way back...please."

Asuka hummed the third movement of Liebestraum over him while her fingers danced over his chest as she played the imaginary keys. O Lieb, so lang du lieben Kannst. Come back to me. We have so much more loving to do.

She pressed her fingers across him, humming still. As she channeled her ki into his chest, she channeled every ounce of love she had for the man in her lap. The man who turned her world upside down. Who had saved her and loved her with every fiber of his being.

Kurama stirred. He inhaled a deep breath and coughed. "Asuka?" he asked, his voice scratchy as he blinked.

"Kurama."

His amber eyes connected with hers. He reached up and wiped away the iridescent tears that fell. His fingertips ghosted her lips, and she shivered under his touch.

"Are you okay? I was so worried. I thought you'd..." she couldn't bring herself to say it.

"I'm okay," he murmured. "I'm sorry I frightened you. After a time, I decided it would be best to enter a coma before I became any weaker than I was." He pushed himself up on his elbows and then sat upright. He kissed her lips and then wrapped his arms around her. "I'm all right, Love. I promise. How are you?"