A way away

4. The crack

There had been a crack in the light pink facade of Tobirama's family home, back in his birth country.

Of course, that crack did not exist anymore as their house had been bombed, but he remembered the shape of it so well, he could have drawn an exact replica of it without reference. He was surprised to find that crack meant so much to him. Of course, during his previous life, before the war, he hadn't given that crack much thought. Now, however, it was everything simply because it didn't exist anymore.

Tobirama pondered this often during his walks. Tobirama loved walking and running. It was the closest he could come to his old habit of swimming exercises, something he could no longer do because one, there was no swimming pool on the island, two, the ocean was ice cold, and three, even if there had been a swimming pool and tropical water, he was nowadays terrified of water in any shape or form.

He had started taking walks around the island as soon as he had gained some strength, which took a while. But as soon as he began, he noticed the ugly glances from the island people, heard their whispers: Foreigner! Foreigner! Of course, they came to him in his practice when they needed to, but he couldn't help but notice the absence of people who came for minor complaints that were usually so common when you were a general practitioner. They didn't trust him, he knew. So he used as few words as he could with them when he was their doctor.

And had started walking either at dawn or after dusk to avoid them.

That was how he had come upon the lighthouse. And he had soon come to notice that in the facade of the lighthouse, a part of it that was red, was a crack almost identical to the one in his former home, making he feel incredibly drawn to it.

So he came to the lighthouse every walk to put his hand to the crack. Sometimes, he even closed his eyes, pretending he was back at his house which he had earned after working for years as a doctor. He missed his house. He missed his country.

He missed his brother.

At this part, Tobirama forced his thoughts away, because nothing good ever came of thinking about Hashirama. What good could there be? They had been separated in the bombings, and despite Tobirama's desperate searches on social media and with the help of different help organisations, they hadn't been reunited.

Instead, he thought of that kind face he remembered from the night he arrived on the island. The one who had taken care of him. He had searched and searched and searched among the few people he met on his walks and when he had to go grocery shopping. He had searched in the face of the patients that came to him. But he was not among them. And he had nobody to ask.

It was the crack that finally brought them together. If it hadn't been for the crack in his old house, he wouldn't have come to the lighthouse every night, and then, he wouldn't have stumbled across him.

Or rather, he wouldn't have stumbled across Tobirama.

"What are you doing at my lighthouse?"

The tone wasn't accusing. It was actually rather playful. Tobirama hadn't noticed anyone coming to stand behind him, the sound of steps in the soft sand being washed out by the sound of the waves. Tobirama turned round...

And he immediately recognised that face.

It shocked him how certain he was. He had looked so closely at others, thinking maybe, maybe not. But once he caught this man's face, he immediately knew it was him.

The man wore a grey hoodie and black jeans, and a faint and pleasant scent of alcohol was carried by the wind from him. He had those glassy eyes that Tobirama knew so well that meant you were tipsy, and he swayed adorably.

But something seemed to happen to the man when Tobirama turned around. Tobirama had had his hood up so the man hadn't recognised him from behind, but when he turned, the small man blushed and looked shocked.

"Oh! Sorry! I didn't know it was you! I just... Sorry, I'm the lighthouse keeper. I'm usually here a couple of hours earlier. I just..." He hiccupped. "I'll just go check."

And he fumbled with a set of keys and, after many tries, managed to unlock the door.

Tobirama stood and looked at the door, contemplating how faith must have brought them together exactly this night, because he had been here every evening, and the man must have been here every evening, and even so, they had never stumbled upon each other.

It was close to midnight, and Tobirama left the lighthouse where Izuna, unbeknown to Tobirama, had first seen him arrive on the ferry.

When Izuna came out, Tobirama was gone.