Lamp oil

14. Dancers

Tobirama

I wouldn't say we were friends, fire and I...

I turned on my feet, juggling my poi on either side of my body, changing sides from time to time, letting them travel from one hand to the other.

... There was nothing friendly between us...

The warmth from the fire reflected on my face, made me feel warm, made me feel home.

... I would say we had more of a symbiotic relationship...

But I still wasn't home.

... The fire enabled me to take my mind off things...

I was only home when he was with me.

... And I enabled the fire to come alive.

I danced with myself for a while. I hadn't considered myself a dancer before, but now, I did. I was a fire dancer. Not a fire artist.

I danced until my arms ached of the weight of the poi, and then I danced a little more.

Until I saw him. Standing in the opening of my tent.

Madara.

I remembered when Izuna had come in, and I had kept dancing with him. Now, I let the poi die immediately. It wasn't a conscious action. It just happened.

"Hello", he said.

"Hi", I said.

He was wearing a T-shirt and shorts and had a backpack on.

"I'm leaving", he said.

I smiled.

"I know."

We stood opposite each other for a while, neither of us knowing what to say.

"I'll think of you", Madara finally said.

"Will I see you again?" I asked.

Madara took two steps towards me and hugged me. I hugged him back, breathed him in.

And just like that, he took a step back, and I didn't feel him anymore. 

I was reminded then of something I'd read online. That atoms never touched and so, when you hugged someone, you didn't really touch them. You could never touch anything. Or anyone. It made me feel incredibly lonely.

I remembered that when I had read that, I had chastised myself for not knowing atoms never touched, that I'd thought that if only I were educated, I would have known. An echo of the opinion of my parents. I had hidden my shame behind making the cut-mark being success, no matter how educated you were. Meeting Izuna, however, had changed that. The cut-mark was kindness. Now, I felt no guilt now regarding not knowing dick about atoms. I knew Izuna's favourite colour was green, and that was all I needed to know.

"I've appreciated you", I told Madara.

He smiled.

"Thank you for telling me", he said. "And I've appreciated you, too."

"I've been a dick", I told him.

"I appreciate dick", Madara said, and I burst out laughing.

Then, he reached into his pocket and took out a note.

"Here", he said, and I took it. "Read it once I'm gone."

"When will you be gone?" I asked.

"Now", he said. "Goodbye, Tobirama. It's been a blast."