Title: Serenity
Author: Rhyssa Fireheart
Pairing: Casshern / Lyuze
Characters: Casshern, Lyuze, Ringo, Ohji
Fandom: Casshern Sins
Rating: K
Prompts: NA
Disclaimer: Don’t own it, never will. Just like to play around with it in my mind. Song “Racing Cars” belongs to Snow Patrol (and a very excellent song it is, too!)
We’ll do it all
Everything
On our own.
We don’t need
Anything
Or anyone.
The four of them got out of the battered truck, looking around in curiosity. The ruined building against the cliff was still mostly intact and could easily be repaired. Low hills rolled gently across their view, dusty and empty. A blank slate, just waiting for someone to make a mark upon it.
“This is perfect!” cried Ringo.
“Well then, I guess we’ve found a place to live.” Ohji smiled as he watched Ringo run towards the building before following after her.
Casshern stood in silence as Lyuze walked up the path slowly. Ringo’s laughter filled the air over the murmur of Ohiji’s and Lyuze’s voices. He was worried about Lyuze but it was still a distant concern. Even though she and Ringo hadn’t accepted Luna’s healing, he still hoped they’d find something, anything to prevent the ruin. He didn’t want to see her… any of them… die. Not when he would live on and on and on without them.
If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me
And just forget the world?
The night air was exceptionally clear and Lyuze stared into the darkness, counting the stars spreading across the sky. She could faintly hear Ringo giggling as Ohji helped the little girl get ready for bed. Slowly, all sounds faded away, leaving her wrapped in a bubble of silence. It was peaceful, even soothing. She could just look into the darkness and pretend her arm didn’t hurt, that her ruin didn’t exist.
She knew exactly when Casshern walked down the path and paused when he realized she was there. Knew when he continued down on the hill above her before settling on a convenient rock nearby.
“What are you looking at?” His voice was soft, curious. She felt a warmth fill her chest.
“The stars. They’re so perfect and beautiful. Ruin will never affect them.” She heard his breath catch slightly when she said ‘ruin’. “I’m glad I got to look up at them today. It makes me so happy.”
She stopped there, words finally deserting her. After a few minutes, he stood and she thought he was leaving. Instead, he moved down the hill and settled to the ground beside her.
“You’re right; they are beautiful.”
I don’t quite know
How to say
How I feel.
Those three words
Are said too much
They’re not enough.
As the days passed, Lyuze helped Ringo fill pot after pot with flowers. As the blooms grew and flourished, they would transfer them from pot to ground in a pattern known only to Ringo. Ohji found grass seed for them to spread and moss hiding in the shade of rocks was encouraged to spread. All the while, Casshern watched over them all with a bemused smile.
He found he liked watching Lyuze; seeing her smile at Ringo. He listened for her laugh and felt somehow more complete when he heard it. And he found himself making sure he was nearby as she slowly, inevitably got weaker, so he could catch her if she fell.
If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me
And just forget the world?
If the days were filled with activity, then her nights were filled with quiet joy. The weather was warm and temperate, making it safe to stay outside all night. So she did, gazing at the stars and falling asleep surrounded by the growing beauty of the flowers.
Casshern rarely spoke when he came to sit beside her on those evenings, but that was fine. She was the one who’d always been filled with words waiting to spill out. Sometimes she could draw him out, asking about what he was helping Ohji with or where he’d been that day with Friender. Mostly though they sat in peaceful silence. Eventually, she’d lie back and finally, finally fall asleep. She never let Casshern know that she knew he would lie down next to her and carefully slide his arm beneath her head, pillowing it on his shoulder. He was always gone before she woke up in the mornings.
Forget what we’re told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden that’s bursting into life.
Casshern watched as Ringo and Lyuze made life bloom across their home. Pots of flowers dotted the landscape all around and more waited to be filled. He could see how much joy it brought to Lyuze to see the colorful display. Ringo could find happiness in just about anything, but Lyuze… her happiness was quieter, more solemn. It made him sad because as she helped bring life back to the land he could see her growing weaker and weaker. All he could do was watch and hide his own pain from her.
I need your grace
To remind me
To find me own.
Over the months he’d spent trying to figure out his past, Casshern hadn’t tried to imagine what he’d find out. He couldn’t have imagined that someone like that Lyuze would accuse him of murder. Of killing Luna, their sun that was named moon. His journey kept bringing him to Lyuze, over and over again, as if the world was trying to tell him something. She’d become ingrained into his life, a part he didn’t want to ever lose.
She’d forced him to keep moving forward, to keep looking for the truth of his past. And now he also wanted, needed to find a cure for Ringo and especially for Lyuze, who’d become part of his present and future. Her determination had pushed him to keep seeking Luna and the truth, to keep trying even when he wanted to stop.
All that I am
All that I ever was
Is here in your perfect eyes
They’re all I can see.
Lyuze sometimes wondered if refusing Luna’s salvation was the right decision, but looking into Casshern’s eyes made the doubts go away. She pushed aside the pain, the marks the ruin left on her skin. She focused instead on what future she could find living with Ohji and Ringo, with Casshern. It was all she needed now.