A way away

16. Waterfalls

Everything reminded him of the letter on his desk at home. The rustling of the grass. The flatness of the calm ocean. His paper-white skin.

Tobirama was nervous as he walked with Izuna, holding his hand. He was still in his frock, and Izuna was in his dress, and they had left for a walk after giving up trying to look as if they hadn't just fucked. There probably wouldn't be any people where they were going, anyway. Tobirama squeezed his lover's hand as they walked up the grassy hill, it's straws still green despite the surrounding orange.

And then, they arrived at the spot. A beautiful cliffside protruding about a valley like a tongue, overseeing the vastness beyond. The main piece of the view was a broad waterfall, its frothy white like a wedding dress among an autumn landscape.

Or, no, Tobirama thought, looking at the man at his side. The main piece of the view was Izuna.

"There is something I need to tell you", Tobirama said.

Izuna nodded.

Then, he broke down crying. Tobirama bent down, putting an arm around him.

"Izuna..."

"I know!" he wailed, and he sounded so heart-broken that Tobirama believed the waterfall was truly Izuna's bleeding heart. "I know! About everything!"

Tobirama was taken aback.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I read about it a few months ago. About the war dying down in your country. And Hashirama has gotten the same letter as you, right? He told Madara, who told me."

Tobirama suddenly realised what this was all about. Of course. Of course Madara would know and tell his little brother! Tobirama felt stupid for not having thought about it earlier. One part of him felt relief that he didn't have to say it himself.

"Izuna..."

"And Hashirama is staying but you are leaving! You are leaving me to go back!"

And he cried. He cried and he cried and he cried. Tobirama saw no use in saying anything at this point, but let Izuna release his feelings while holding him. His crying was drowned by the roaring of the waterfall. The roaring of the waterfall was also drowned by his crying.

When Izuna had stopped crying, Tobirama started talking, still with his arms around his lover.

"It is true", he said. "That I have been asked to go back. But I'm not going to."

Izuna looked up at him with huge, shiny eyes. In that moment, if there had ever been any doubt in his heart, which there hadn't been, Tobirama knew he had made the right decision.

"What?" Izuna whispered.

"I'm not going to."

Tobirama took the letter out of his pocket; he had put it there before he and Hashirama had gone to the harvest festival. Then, in front of his lover's eyes, he tore the paper in small pieces, and threw them out over the valley like confetti.

"Tobirama..." Izuna said.

Tobirama took Izuna's face in his hands.

"I miss my birth country, yes. But I wanted to go back because there, I had a home and a family. Now, I have a home and a family here."

"Your apartment and your twin", Izuna whispered.

Tobirama shook his head.

"No. You. And you. You're both family and home. And this island is family and home. And I have decided to stay here. To live here. And..." Izuna was crying now, and Tobirama kissed his hand in order to hide his face because he was crying, too. "I will stay no matter what you decide. But..."

Finally, he gathered enough courage to look at his lover. Izuna's eyes promised him all of the stars in the universe.

"Please", Tobirama said. "Be with be. Become my partner."

Izuna laughed and threw himself into Tobirama's arms, and Tobirama twirled him around.

They spent the rest of the night, up until morning, at their spot. They made love again, naked in the grass. They watched the valley's shadows change with the orbit of the never-setting sun. Tobirama couldn't take his eyes off the waterfall, thinking it looked like a wedding dress...

And he looked at his partner, his milky skin clad in the cream chiffon, and he thought that maybe, just maybe, it was possible to die of love.