The Photograph
Title: The Photograph
Description: One photograph seen from five different viewpoints.
A/N: A little piece for Merry May to combat the forces of (extremely good) angst that prevailed last month. Prompt here.
The Photograph
The photograph is crooked, but he doesn’t care. He’ll carry it in his wallet until it gets hopelessly creased and the faces become too faded to recognize, except it won’t get creased and the faces won’t become too faded to recognize because he is Kunzite and he’s had a dozen copies made, including digital ones.
The photograph is crooked, but he doesn’t care. His hands moved at the last minute when Ami hugged him from behind, the first time she’d ever hugged him in public, and that’s nearly as special as the moment he was trying to capture.
The photograph is crooked, but he doesn’t care. Nephrite has never been one for perfection. He never gets tired of tucking the escaped curls behind her ear, kissing the midsummer freckles on the bridge of her nose, and counting the brown and gold flecks in her eyes. After all, the desserts that are just a little too crumbly or a little too sweet are the ones Makoto sets aside and the ones he gets to eat.
The photograph is crooked, but he doesn’t care. To Jadeite, it’s a symbol of all the promise this life holds. If the leader of the Shitennou can propose to the leader of the senshi, and if the two of them have set their wedding date for spring a year from now, the rest of the guardians can get married, too.
The photograph is crooked, but he doesn’t care. Mamoru would give anything to see his Shitennou happy after everything they’ve given up for him. He carefully tucks the photo into the worn leather album, right beside the ones of Rei and Jadeite sitting on the balcony at sunset, Makoto smearing cake batter on Nephrite’s nose as he’s going in for a kiss, Ami and Zoisite on their graduation day, and Usagi’s smiling face. These are the talismans he always carries with him, the brightest memories of days gone by and dreams fulfilled.