I go down there sometimes. It's so easy to slip past the clouds, spiral down towards the earth on flaming wings that change to ash as soon as I touch down. I don't really understand the voice in the back of my head, a voice that reminds me faintly of my own days of mortality; I don't understand why it begs for me to travel around the world, pleading so gently that I cannot refuse in the end.

Earth is different now that I'm immortal. I have a mundane body, thankfully, but everything is sharper, clearer. I hate it though; I can smell the despair, taste the smoke that shoots out of every exhaust pipe. I can hear the screech of teeth scraping together as someone tries to hide their displeasure. Tokyo may be considered the city that can party itself to extinction for Japan, but I had a similar experience in America.

Then again, once you become timeless, you can visit every era. I think I was only a babe at the time that I chose to visit Tokyo; well, my human form was. It becomes confusing after some time, just wait until you're dead to the world and you'll understand what I mean. I've visited places where my human body has been dead for centuries.

But I remember my trip to Tokyo the most. I met a man there; he was funny.

I ended up in this park. It was filled with cherry trees, with one in particular blooming fully, pink blossoms spiraling downward, much like my descent earlier had been. I hated that tree. Everyone around me was lounging in a certain tree's shade, but three families had chosen to set up camp around it.

I passed through one picnic blanket loaded with food on my way to that damned thing's side. Mortals can't see me, thankfully. Their objects are not disturbed in any way; I can continue on my merry way without being asked why my eyes are red, why my hair is silver, why I am dressed in such strange clothing, and why I am covered in runes etched across my skin like tattoos.

But, underneath that evil tree, I met a man who could see me. At least, I think he was a man.

Though my eyes are sharper than any mortal's, I could not see him hidden in its shade until I was right beside him, he standing close to it with head tipped slightly to the side, listening to some unknown voice. But, upon my approach, he fixed his posture, mismatched eyes of amber and emerald flashing for a moment before dulling considerably.

"Good evening," he said quietly, so softly that no one else heard him. I was in shock though; he could see me, was staring at me with this quizzical look in his green eye. The other one just seemed to scoff at my appearance.

I was startled by this newest development and was only able to stutter out his words, parroted back at him. He didn't seem to mind though, body relaxing as he edged slightly closer to the tree. "I thought you were another one of those. "

Something about his words, though so casual was the tone, made me shiver slightly, the patterns across my body coming to life suddenly, made to destroy the wicked, before fading once more to their dull black. The tree seemed to answer then, an abrupt wind whistling through it, showering those underneath it in cherry blossoms. I sneezed as one brushed past my nose.

My companion seemed unfazed though, only smiling gently and asking, "Aren't the cherry blossoms lovely?"

I couldn't help but stare at him oddly, my brow furrowing before I chose to answer solemnly, "Not unless you're its child. I don't think it likes anyone else."

"Aa, that's true," he remarked conversationally, not allowing me to ponder the utterly ridiculous exchanging of words we were having, "I think it likes me though."

The man paused then, tipping his head once more to the side, looking like a child trying so very hard to understand something. Abruptly, he straightened and said, "Sakura-chan says she doesn't know about you. She says that you're bad for our health."

I frowned at the man in front of me before shaking my head and laughing. "If you mean the tree, tell her I think she is bad for my health."

I only earned a frown and the words, "That's who I was talking about."

Suddenly understanding, I turned new eyes to the tree, red turning to gold. It pays, to be both immortal and a Watcher. We can see magic, if we so choose to.

And now, I saw souls, silvery and flitting about the tree, some so distorted that I nearly stumbled backward simply because of the moving mass of limbs swimming past me. But, these souls never went beyond the shade of the tree. But there were two that I focused on, one a girl so very similar to this man before me and the other a man standing right behind him, a transparent hand cupping his shoulder with a tender smile etched across his face.

Understanding bloomed. It isn't often that one meets a guardian for some demonic tree.

I closed my eyes and reopened them with the red back in place. I smiled at the man before me. "Well," I laughed, suddenly feeling slightly overwhelmed, "I hope that you enjoy your life, boy. I'm leaving for now though."

I turned on my heel and started away from the tree, only pausing when he cried, sounding suddenly like a little lost child, "Wait! Don't leave me."

I called back over my shoulder, already planning my route back to my home, "I'll be back when I'm needed, boy. Until then, be good."

Among the clouds once more, I awaited my brother's coming, he who was my kin when mortal and who is my kin now, though of a different breed.

I didn't wait long. Lounging against my personal fluffy cloud, I stared down through a gap in its center, eying a certain scene that replayed itself over and over. I had just begun to watch it for the tenth time when he came.

"Desen, how often do you call me, I wonder?" His voice was like honey, frozen over and devoid of life to those who didn't know him. For me, it was like he was singing cheerfully, ready to throw his arms around me and squeeze the life out of me. Ha ha, what life?

"Kaoru, I found the one I was searching for. And I fulfilled my promise. See?" Giggling slightly, I waved a hand over that empty expanse, drawing forth the memory of my human days, a day that had changed me completely.

Settling beside me, the young man watched out of icy blue eyes as a younger version of me, perhaps thirteen years of age, ran to that very same tree I had visited, brown eyes sparkling merrily as she tugged her older sister along, begging her to grab a cherry blossom, c'mon it's summer vacation, we need a souvenir!

But, Morgan refused, balking ten paces away from the tree, eyes suddenly huge in her pale face, sable hair swinging as she refused.

The younger me only pouted and ran closer, one slender hand reaching out to touch the rough bark, but never quite making contact as she improvised a dance around the tree.

And then, he was there, warning me back with quiet words, green eye shining with relief, some odd spark that might have been happiness. It had been nine years, his green eye said, but you hadn't forgotten our promise.

The younger I only pouted, black bangs being shoved behind ears as she scowled irritably up at him. But, after a minute, she grinned and wrapped her fingers around his hand, wringing it in some parody of a handshake.

"Thank you," she said softly, childlike innocence shining through past the cold façade she had put up, some strange emotion being born in her chest.

"Are you scared of the cherry blossoms still?"

My younger self could not answer though, for then her mother called her back, and she went, casting one last smile at the man.

As the scene faded to nothingness once more, Kaoru drew away from the pool, shaking his head in mock humor.

"Honestly, it's a wonder you didn't die then."

I only closed my eyes and smiled faintly, "A cat has nine lives, Kaoru. And that was not the first time I met Sumeragi Subaru, even if it was the last."

Those whose souls are condemned in one world do not always remain so in the next; that was the last time I met Sumeragi Subaru, but it wasn't the last time I met his soul.

Mortals are so very strange.

by Perfect Image

Subaru-centric

guest stars: muses Desen, Kaoru, and Morgan le Fay

I own only the muses. Subaru of X/1999 does not belong to me.