Ame
By SMYGO4EVA

For the longest time, Fai always loved the rain; when it was raining no one would see him be marked with crystalline tears, no one would see him cry.

The lonely magician could walk through the ruins of a once beautiful metropolis or a flourishing kingdom and no one would see him. There was no one around when it rained.

It wasn't that different from when the sun shone down at the world. The magician would simply put an emotionless façade on, or smile one of his famous smiles for no one would see that he was in pain, physically, emotionally, or both.

How he loved the rain.

Yes, he loved the rain, yet he felt deep hatred for it. It made him feel weak, so weak that he felt that he would collapse at any moment, and no one would be there to catch him.

The rainfall felt as if it were Heaven's tears, releasing the sorrowful waters in the hopes of cleansing the Earth with its own sadness, in a dream that would never be fulfilled. But its sadness would be volatile at that.

Sometimes the rainstorms made it appear as though the world was about to drown, to cleanse the wickedness in the world and rebuild it anew. Sometimes there was the kind of rain that would dance over trees and flowers, when a new paradise was to be formed.

The rain was always beautiful, but in a beautiful sadness. It can never be beautiful, only admired from afar, never close, or one would drown in the waters that stemmed from such anguish.

Could it be lovely and in sorrow?

He let out a small dry chuckle at his own foolishness. "Don't be stupid," he muttered bitterly to himself. "Just because it wishes for it doesn't mean it deserves anything…"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," a deep, rough voice replied, causing the mage to spin round, startled.

Kurogane, the warrior who had always looked beyond his smiling mask, almost daring him to show his true colors, was leaning against the side of a ruined building, the focused look on his face eerily familiar.

"So, the cream puff was telling the truth," the warrior muttered, staring straight at Fai, his intense crimson eyes staring straight into the mage's sapphire-colored ones.

The mage didn't even bother to smile – he didn't want to at this point. "What are you doing here? The rain is fierce right now. You wouldn't want to get soaked, do you?" His voice was monotone, more or less bitter and uncaring.

"Don't patronize me, magician. I know that you just want to get away from all of this, from the kid, from the princess, from me, so don't pretend to have any concern when you really don't care anymore."

Fai narrowed his eye and set his focus on the glaring Kurogane. "That may be, but it doesn't change what happened now, does it? The time isn't right for me just forget what has be foretold, no matter how much you want to me to forget."

The warrior rolled his eyes. "I don't need this bullshit. Maybe it's about time you get out of your own troubles and try to at least help the others, if you feel like unwrapping yourself from selfishness. If you can, anyway. I mean, how would I know?"

Fai had no answer. He was stricken with the all-too familiar guise of silence, which had finally overtaken him.

Noticing this, Kurogane tried to get more out of him. "Come on, wizard. What do you want to do now? Wallowing isn't going to help anyone."

The mage cringed. The one time when he actually wanted to, actually needed to be alone…

He took a breath, and said deliberately, "Kurogane." He could imagine the wind escaping the warrior's chest.

He continued. "Please – just let me be. At least for now. You have your way of dealing with situations like this. And I have mine. So please – I beg of you. Leave."

There was a long pause before Kurogane finally responded. "Fine."

He turned to leave, but after a few moments, his steps crunching against the earth, he had a thought. From the corner of his eye, he could see it.

The rainfall was Heaven's tears, and the magician wouldn't want the warrior to see him cry.