FIC: Selective Memory (Wolf's Rain, Tsume/Blue) for Zero
Title: Selective Memory
Fandom: Wolf's Rain
Pairing: Tsume/Blue
Author/artist: penguins at the disco
Recipient: Zero
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Summary: Tsume tries to figure out why he can remember people he's never met before.
A/N: This is a post-series fic, taking place in the world we only catch a glimpse of in the final episode.
He's missed work so many days this month that he's probably going to be fired, but it's worth it for the chance to stay at home and relax. There's no shortage of jobs around anyway, and he doesn't need that much money to live. It's a beautiful day, and the noises of happy people enjoying the warm weather filter up from the street and through his open window.
Tsume looks out from his apartment window into the beautiful city and he thinks, something here is missing.
*****
Tsume is used to recognizing strangers. People tell him it's just deja vu, a trick his mind is playing on him, but there are certain people that he knows he's met before, even if he can't remember when or where.
"Hey," says a girl, waving at him from the other side of the bar, and the familiar feeling washes over him again. She's pretty, with dark hair and skin and bright blue eyes - he knows he's seen those eyes somewhere.
So he gets up and moves over to where she's standing, because now he really needs to know if she remembers him too, or if she's just a stranger waving at some guy she thinks is attractive in a bar.
"Hey," he says. "Hey, this may sound weird, but do I know you from somewhere?"
She tilts her head to the side a little, and she spends a fair amount of time thinking about the question. "I'm not actually sure," she finally says. "But now that you mention it, yeah, you do look kind of familiar."
Tsume can feel his heart skip a beat.
*****
He doesn't tell her about the dreams at first. It's weird enough that they already seem to know each other, but he's never told anyone about the dreams. He doesn't know how to say I have these dreams where I'm a wolf, except I don't think they're dreams exactly in a way that won't get him thrown into an insane asylum.
Except that now that he's with Blue, there's a black wolf with bright blue eyes in the dreams with him. She hangs around the edges of the pack, but still, she's there. And even though he hasn't told her all this yet, he feels less alone than he used to.
*****
He meets her dad during the third week of their relationship. He stops by her house to pick her up for dinner, and it's Mr. Yaiden who answers the door. There's that moment of deja vu again, and Tsume clearly remembers that he does not like this man. And by the way Mr. Yaiden is glaring at him, he doesn't think the feeling is one-sided.
"Are you looking for Blue?" says Yaiden, and he somehow manages to make a non-descript question sound like an insult.
"Yes," says Tsume, and he squashes the urge to start a fight. There's no way Blue would appreciate him starting something with her old man. Yaiden gives him one last dirty look before he retreats into the house to fetch Blue, and Tsume lets out a breath of exasperation.
Blue comes out a minute later, and he thanks God that her dad doesn't follow her out.
"I don't think your dad likes me," he says.
"Yeah," she says as she fiddles with the strap on her purse. "Sorry about that. I wasn't really expecting him to."
He almost asks her why she was expecting it, but in the end he decides to keep the question to himself. After all, lots of fathers don't like the boys their daughters bring home.
*****
"This is going to sound stupid," he says. It's going to make her think he's an idiot, or possibly crazy, but it's been two months since they met and he has to know. He has to know if the reason this whole thing is working so well is because she's had the same experiences he has.
She raises an eyebrow at him, and he pauses a little bit before he goes on. The words aren't arranging themselves in his head like he wants them to.
"I have these dreams," he says finally. "It was the end of the world, and there was this girl who smelled like flowers..." If he doesn't mention the wolves, maybe she'll fill in the blanks herself. Or if he's wrong, at least maybe she won't think he's crazy.
But he wasn't wrong - he knows he wasn't wrong, because she's breathing deeper now, and she's looking past him.
"I remember the girl who smelled like flowers," she says, and he wants to laugh. So many years of wondering what was wrong with him, and now she's vindicating it. She's here to reassure him that it's not all in his own head. "We were wolves, weren't we? But now we can't change back. We forgot how."
"Yes," he says, pulling her closer. "You were there when it all happened."
"I remember it in fragments," she says. "But I do remember it."
He hugs her close, and he thinks he might never let her go. She's his proof now.
*****
"Hey, do you remember this kid?" she asks, pushing a picture of a mousy little kid in front of his face. It trips something in his memory, but looking at a photo isn't the same as seeing someone in person. It doesn't have the same impact.
"Maybe?" he says, and she nods like that's good enough for her.
"He's in my class at the college. I know I remember him - we just need to get a chance to talk to him, alone."
"People are going to think we're trying to start a cult," he says, and it makes her laugh.
Eventually they're going to put together all the pieces and figure out what happened in that other life, even though they both know it might take all of this life. But for now, he's happy enough just knowing that he isn't alone.
Fandom: Wolf's Rain
Pairing: Tsume/Blue
Author/artist: penguins at the disco
Recipient: Zero
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Summary: Tsume tries to figure out why he can remember people he's never met before.
A/N: This is a post-series fic, taking place in the world we only catch a glimpse of in the final episode.
He's missed work so many days this month that he's probably going to be fired, but it's worth it for the chance to stay at home and relax. There's no shortage of jobs around anyway, and he doesn't need that much money to live. It's a beautiful day, and the noises of happy people enjoying the warm weather filter up from the street and through his open window.
Tsume looks out from his apartment window into the beautiful city and he thinks, something here is missing.
*****
Tsume is used to recognizing strangers. People tell him it's just deja vu, a trick his mind is playing on him, but there are certain people that he knows he's met before, even if he can't remember when or where.
"Hey," says a girl, waving at him from the other side of the bar, and the familiar feeling washes over him again. She's pretty, with dark hair and skin and bright blue eyes - he knows he's seen those eyes somewhere.
So he gets up and moves over to where she's standing, because now he really needs to know if she remembers him too, or if she's just a stranger waving at some guy she thinks is attractive in a bar.
"Hey," he says. "Hey, this may sound weird, but do I know you from somewhere?"
She tilts her head to the side a little, and she spends a fair amount of time thinking about the question. "I'm not actually sure," she finally says. "But now that you mention it, yeah, you do look kind of familiar."
Tsume can feel his heart skip a beat.
*****
He doesn't tell her about the dreams at first. It's weird enough that they already seem to know each other, but he's never told anyone about the dreams. He doesn't know how to say I have these dreams where I'm a wolf, except I don't think they're dreams exactly in a way that won't get him thrown into an insane asylum.
Except that now that he's with Blue, there's a black wolf with bright blue eyes in the dreams with him. She hangs around the edges of the pack, but still, she's there. And even though he hasn't told her all this yet, he feels less alone than he used to.
*****
He meets her dad during the third week of their relationship. He stops by her house to pick her up for dinner, and it's Mr. Yaiden who answers the door. There's that moment of deja vu again, and Tsume clearly remembers that he does not like this man. And by the way Mr. Yaiden is glaring at him, he doesn't think the feeling is one-sided.
"Are you looking for Blue?" says Yaiden, and he somehow manages to make a non-descript question sound like an insult.
"Yes," says Tsume, and he squashes the urge to start a fight. There's no way Blue would appreciate him starting something with her old man. Yaiden gives him one last dirty look before he retreats into the house to fetch Blue, and Tsume lets out a breath of exasperation.
Blue comes out a minute later, and he thanks God that her dad doesn't follow her out.
"I don't think your dad likes me," he says.
"Yeah," she says as she fiddles with the strap on her purse. "Sorry about that. I wasn't really expecting him to."
He almost asks her why she was expecting it, but in the end he decides to keep the question to himself. After all, lots of fathers don't like the boys their daughters bring home.
*****
"This is going to sound stupid," he says. It's going to make her think he's an idiot, or possibly crazy, but it's been two months since they met and he has to know. He has to know if the reason this whole thing is working so well is because she's had the same experiences he has.
She raises an eyebrow at him, and he pauses a little bit before he goes on. The words aren't arranging themselves in his head like he wants them to.
"I have these dreams," he says finally. "It was the end of the world, and there was this girl who smelled like flowers..." If he doesn't mention the wolves, maybe she'll fill in the blanks herself. Or if he's wrong, at least maybe she won't think he's crazy.
But he wasn't wrong - he knows he wasn't wrong, because she's breathing deeper now, and she's looking past him.
"I remember the girl who smelled like flowers," she says, and he wants to laugh. So many years of wondering what was wrong with him, and now she's vindicating it. She's here to reassure him that it's not all in his own head. "We were wolves, weren't we? But now we can't change back. We forgot how."
"Yes," he says, pulling her closer. "You were there when it all happened."
"I remember it in fragments," she says. "But I do remember it."
He hugs her close, and he thinks he might never let her go. She's his proof now.
*****
"Hey, do you remember this kid?" she asks, pushing a picture of a mousy little kid in front of his face. It trips something in his memory, but looking at a photo isn't the same as seeing someone in person. It doesn't have the same impact.
"Maybe?" he says, and she nods like that's good enough for her.
"He's in my class at the college. I know I remember him - we just need to get a chance to talk to him, alone."
"People are going to think we're trying to start a cult," he says, and it makes her laugh.
Eventually they're going to put together all the pieces and figure out what happened in that other life, even though they both know it might take all of this life. But for now, he's happy enough just knowing that he isn't alone.