When I'm Sixty-Four

Pairings: Kuwabara/Yukina

Continuity: Anime

Author's note: So I found this prompt calling for a Kuwabara pairing, based on the song "When I'm Sixty-Four" by the Beatles. (No, not a songfic. A prompt-based-on-a-song-fic. Very different.) So this is just a little fluff I wrote in response. Enjoy!

Summary: Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm sixty-four?

How had it come to this?

Kuwabara sat with his head in his hands, trying to find a way out of his predicament.

He was in love. He really, truly was.

He wasn't an idiot. He knew of his habit of switching crushes on a moment's notice, and had fully expected someone new to take his fancy.

What he hadn't expected was for this particular obsession to blossom into something real.

Which was why he was sitting silently, head in hands, wondering what the heck he was supposed to do with himself.

He was in love with Yukina…which was about the worst possible thing he could think of.

She was an ice maiden—virtually immortal by human standards, a race that didn't even need men to reproduce, much less form any sort of romantic attachment with.

Even if, by some miracle, her mixed heritage allowed her to love him…he would grow old and gray, would die, before she even approached middle age.

And because he loved her, he couldn't put her through that.

"Kazuma? What's wrong?"

They had grown to know each other better, it was true. He could even call them friends.

"Huh? Oh! Nothing, Yukina."

She looked at him for a long moment, and then slowly sat down on the couch next to him.

"I…don't think I believe you."

She had also gotten better at reading humans. Or was it just him?

"I don't know, I just…"

What should he say?

He didn't want to tell her. How could that possibly help? But he couldn't lie, couldn't insist that nothing was wrong when it was clear to her that something was.

"What is it?"

Her soft voice was always so full of honesty. While it wasn't true that she had never lied, that didn't stop her from being the most honest person he knew.

"I'm…in love."

"But Kazuma…isn't that a wonderful thing?"

He bowed his head. "But I could never be with the person I love."

She looked puzzled.

"Why not?"

"Because…" Suddenly all the simple, obvious reasons seemed utterly impossible to voice.

"Because I'll be old."

That…was completely unhelpful, wasn't it?

Kuwabara bowed his head. He should clarify, he should say something, but he couldn't.

"Do you really think she would care?"

He looked up again, to see her smiling slightly.

"I…but, she'll still be young…and I don't want to trap her with me..."

"She would never feel trapped with you."

The tone of certainty in her voice shocked him. He opened his mouth to ask something, anything, but she continued before could say anything.

"She doesn't care. Her people may not be like yours, the customs she grew up with may not be the same, but…she's found a home here, a place where she doesn't have to be anything else. She may have had a hard time learning what…what love means to your people, but…" She took a deep breath.

"Kazuma, I…I love you."

Kuwabara could only stare at her. He had never imagined….

"But…will you still love me when I'm sixty-four?"

Why had he said that? Surely there were better ways to respond to a declaration of love—especially one he reciprocated. Still, he pressed forward, desperately needing an answer.

"Will you still love me when I'm old and gray and bent? When I'm just an old grandfather, digging in his garden? When you're still young and beautiful and could be anywhere else you wanted?"

"Kazuma…"

"You would be trapped, feeling obligated to stay in something you never should have agreed to."

He turned away, not wanting her to see the tear that had accidentally slipped from his eye as he felt this sweetest of futures slip away from him.

Yukina hesitantly reached out her hand, and gently touched the side of his face.

"Kazuma…please, listen to me."

He turned slightly, still not meeting her eyes.

"Among my people, love is…a very different thing. Relationships among people are formed based on mind and heart, not looks. I know that they're not the same sorts of relationship you're looking for, but…" She stroked he cheek. "Do you really think that your heart will grow old? That your mind will become bent and gray? Do you really think that the things I love about you will ever truly fade away?"

Not quite sure he understood, not quite daring to hope, Kuwabara finally met her eyes.

"I want…I want to have a human relationship with you…if you'll have me. But I am an ice maiden, and the way I see you is based on that. It is your human heart that I have grown to love…and yes, I will still love you when you're sixty-four, or eighty-four, or a hundred and four, or however long a life you're blessed with. No matter how gray and bent you become, I will still love you. And nothing could make me happier than the thought of you as a grandfather, and the father of my children. And even when you die and I still live, I will treasure whatever time we were given as the most precious thing in any world. So, Kazuma, please…I must know. Do you love me too?"

She dropped her hand and turned her own face away, afraid. Her own tear slipped down her face, beautiful and precious.

Kuwabara reached out and caught it.

"Yukina…"

The words caught in his throat. She really…she really thought that? He actually meant that much to someone as wonderful as her?

"Yukina…with all my heart."

He reached out hesitantly, and, when she responded, pulled her into a desperate embrace.

"I love you."