Finale Breath

Love

Shion POV
I stood looking down at Rat. I felt slightly bad that he had to have been the one to tell mom just how we had met. But it didn’t matter. What I told him was the truth. My life changed by meeting him. I would do it a thousand times over even if it meant the same result. The end was, he was here in my mother’s bakery, looking up at me with…
Awe. It was the only way I could describe the look on his face. He had once told me what that moment had meant for him. How it had been the lowest point in his life, until he saw me. He still thought I was clueless. I didn’t care, as long as he thought of me.
I gave him a smile as I walked down the remaining stairs. Looking past him, I saw mom watching us. “Little Shion wanted some cherry cake. I came down to see if you had made some.” I said to her. She gave me a small smile.
“Yes, they are on the counter let me go get them for him.” Rat was still looking at me like I had grown an extra head. I gave him a tiny smile not really meeting his gaze. Mom walked around the counter to start placing the cakes on a plate.
“Would the girl ad Mr. Rat like one?” she asked looking up. “I know you no longer like them.” Rat blinked.
“Since when?” He asked his voice husky.
“Since you left. I haven’t been able to eat them without….” My voice trailed off. I hadn’t been able to eat them without thinking of him. Worrying if he was alive. Wondering what he was doing. I blinked away the tears in my eyes.
“Oi, Shion. You really are an idiot.” He said laughter in his tone. He walked over scooped up a cake and marched to stand before me.
“I’m right here.” He said taking my hand and placing it against his chest. “And unless Masters finds a way of killing me, I’m not leaving anytime soon.” I looked at him, my mouth falling open. He took the moment to shove the cake into my mouth. He laughed as I sputtered on it.
“You love this dessert.” He told me. I managed to swallow the mouthful. I glared at him.
“Are you trying to kill me?” I yelled. He laughed. Tossing his dark head back and laughed hard. I smiled at him. Mom was looking at us with a soft smile as well.
“Wow, I never saw you even smile.” The voice brought Rat back to himself. He blinked looking up at Sarah.
“You should laugh more often, it suits you.” She gave him a tiny smile. He gave her an apprising look.
“We need to find you and that baby a place to live. I’m pretty sure my old place here doesn’t exist anymore.”
“Actually, I had it unburied a few years back. It didn’t sustain much damage. Everything is as it was… then.” I mumbled the last. Rat blinked at me. I hurried on. “But you don’t have to go back there. I mean I have plenty of room in my place.” I drew a breath. Rat smiled, briefly. Then his face closed to all of us. His eyes looked off into the distance.
“There’s nothing out there any longer, right?” he asked. At my nod he nodded back.
“It would be a good place to hide.” Mom said. Rat looked over at her. His mouth twitched.
“You really want me to steal your son away to West District again?” he asked. She gave him a shrug.
“If Shion is with you, I know he will be safe.” They stared at each other for a long moment. Rikiga cleared his throat.
“I wouldn’t count on that.” He glared at Rat.
“Oh, cool it old man. Rat wouldn’t let anything happen to Shion.” Dogkeeper walked into the bakery. Rat looked back at her.
“Since when did you become my biggest supporter?” he asked. She chuckled.
“That would only happen once someone manages to kill whitey over here.” She tossed her hand in my direction. Rat looked around at the room. He was in the very center of us all. All the people that wanted to help him. There was a look in his eye, something that lit up a wave of unease in my gut.
“Just because you have people that care about you, doesn’t make you weak. Now you have something to lose, now you have a reason to fight.” Dogkeeper’s tone was deadly calm as she watched Rat. Her face void of any amusement. Rat watched her blankly.
“I’m not running, Dogkeeper.” He whispered. She gave him a knowing look. He threw a towel at her. “I need a computer. I placed a few bugs in Masters home.” He said watching her.
“You need to eat first. It looks like you have been surviving on your own cooking for far too long.” When Rat didn’t move or respond she added. “I have everything you need. Even a place for the mom and kid. It’s clean and heated.” She added holding her hands up when Rat was about to protest. “No charge, unless that kid is yours?” she didn’t even look over at Dani. Rat rolled his eyes.
“Yeah I left Shion to have a kid with an underage teen.” He growled. Dogkeeper snickered.
“Don’t” Rat warned her. Her dark eyes glowed with amusement. “Don’t.” Rat’s voice became deadly.
“You love Shion!” Dogkeeper yelled right before running out the door. Rat ran after her. We could hear her laughter as she ran down the road. Rat was nearly to her when we got out to the door. Four dogs came out of nowhere. Rat flung his scarf at two of them, blinding them. He was on Dogkeeper a second later. Spinning her in his arms I gasped when I saw a flash of silver in his hand.
Yet Dogkeeper was still laughing. Rat said something to her. She tried to hit him, he pushed her away. Catching her arm before she fell into the road. He laughed. Looking up the concrete to where the rest of us stood. He was distracted long enough for Dogkeeper to sweep at his legs. I covered my mouth when I saw her move. He jumped at the same time.
“Low.” He muttered.
“Come on back here. I have some butternut squash soup, salad and breadsticks ready.” Mom called down to them a smile lightening up her face. Rat and Dogkeeper walked back to us. Once he reached me, his arm fell across my shoulders. He bent pressing his face into my hair. He didn’t say anything as I felt him draw in a deep breath. He straightened up, gave me a smile and walked into the bakery with me.
Lunch was a comfortable affair. Rat and I, well mostly me, filled them in on what had happened in Number Three. Rat told Dogkeeper what he had done and what he needed. It was very technical and I didn’t follow much of it. It was like the two of them had their own way of communicating.
Near the end of lunch Dani started crying. Sarah couldn’t get her to calm. Rat stood, taking the baby from her, he walked away from us. Pacing around he began to sing as he patted the baby in his arms. Little Shion watched him with his mouth open. My son had said nothing to the dark man in our mist. When Rat looked at him, he would blush and hide behind me.  I had told the boy stories of Rat. Stories of how Rat saved us that day when the wall fell. Maybe he saw Rat as some sort of super hero. I knew Rat well enough to know he would be furious if that was the case.
“That was beautiful.” Mom said when Rat finished. “Rikiga told me about Eve and the lovely voice.” She gave him a smile. He looked away, color creeping into his cheeks. He gave the now sleeping babe to its mother.
“Will you ever return to the theater, Eve?” Rikiga asked. Rat shrugged.
“Shion has created a rather nice one in the city center.” Mom gushed. Rat looked away. His face a mask.
“It appears Shion has done a lot for my return.” He muttered.
“It was a way for me to remember you. Even though it hurt to see.” I looked down at my hands. I couldn’t look at him.
“Oi, Shion!” His voice was soft. He knelt before me burying his face into my lap. His arms curled around my waist as he hugged me.
When he looked up his face was wet with tears. “I am so sorry I was gone for so long. I thought, I …” his voice cracked. “I made myself believe you had moved on.” He mumbled. I smiled touching the side of his face. I used my thumb to wipe the tears away from his eyes.
“Never.” I told him. I was pressed back into the chair hard as his mouth crushed mine. His eyes closed as he kissed me, in front of everyone. I locked my fingers behind his head to return the embrace. When he pulled away, I was slightly surprised to see his face reddened. I laughed out loud, kissing his nose. He shoved me away from him giving me a disgusted look as he swiped as his face. I saw the twitch of his lips, I smiled back.
“It’s getting late. If you are going to take them out to West District…” Mom’s voice trailed off as Rat looked down at little Shion.
“Not him.” He said. Rat moved to kneel in front of my son. “If I take you out there, they will know your dad is back here. You need to stay with…” Rat looked up at my mom.
“Nana.” Shion supplied. Rat reached out to place a hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“I promise, I will keep your dad safe.”
“And bring him home as soon as you can?” Shion asked. Rat’s head nodded. Shion stood there a moment. His solemn eyes flashed to mine. Then he threw his little arms around Rat. Little Shion had known nothing but love and affection. They all leapt to their feet when he flung himself at the one person who could react very poorly to him.
For a second Rat didn’t move. I knew he had heard the scraping of chairs. Knew that those on the balcony didn’t trust him so close to the boy. Everyone except Sarah… and me. His head turned back to look at me. I remained setting, watching him with my boy. Rat’s arms reached up to hold the boy to him. Not taking his eyes from mine he said.
“And bring him home as soon as I can, I promise.” The tension left the others.
“Daddy told me you are really good at reading stories. That you do the voices and all.” The child looked at him expectantly.
“Shion…” I began. Rat laughed. He then brought his voice up a few octaves, in order to sound more feminine. “I think I can.” He squeaked. Shion laughed. Rat took his hand. “Let’s go find a book.” Rat walked back into the house holding my son’s hand. Little Shion was telling him about his favorite book.
“He is different than I thought he would be.” Mom said. One hand held at her throat where she wore a necklace with a small Shion flower on it. A gift from me when I moved out. Her eyes followed the boys into the house.
Rikiga snorted. “He is never like you think. I wouldn’t trust him.” Mom smirked leaning back into her husband’s arms.
“I trust that he love’s my son and grandson. That’s all I need to know about him. She turned to look at me. Our eyes met. I knew that she was happy for me. We still had to figure out what to do about Masters.
“Tell Rat, as soon as I find a truck, I will bring the things he needs out to his place.” She paused looking back to where the subject of the conversation had last been seen. “Let him know you were the one to show me where he had lived.” She added looking at me. “He never trusted me with that.” Rikiga snorted again.
“He never trusted anyone with that. Until Shion came the people living near him didn’t even know he lived in that hole.”
“How sad.” Mom said. “Such a lonely way to live. How did he get hurt so badly?” She asked. We looked anywhere but at each other. Turning to lift my gaze tot eh darkening night, I whispered. “Number Six.” I heard her gasp.