Uniform
Name: Uniform
Fandom: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle
Rating: G+
Characters/Pairings: Fay, mentions of Kurogane and canon Ashura involvement.
Warnings: Spoilers-ish for Fay's past, but only ish.
Summary: Fay feels regression and remembrance as he dons his Celes uniform for what might be the last time.
Fay snapped the clasps shut on his uniform with slow, heavy hands.
This outfit, the one he’d worn for years and years, had never felt so foreign to him. The white seemed too pure and unblemished. The black seemed too solid and absorbing. The fur was too soft, the buckles too shiny.
Kurogane had once commented that all the layers were like some ridiculous cocoon. It was only now that Fay truly understood what the ninja had meant, for he very much felt like a moth that was being forced to shed its wings and become a larva again.
With each layer of fabric he put on, the more he was once again resigned to his mission. Each clasp, each tie and each belt tied him tighter to Ashura-ou. Every remnant of the journey that he shed took his ties to the group down with it.
He welcomed the feeling.
It would only make what was to come that much easier.
Fay picked up his thick undercoat and shook the dust off of it before putting it on, fumbling clumsily with the inner buttons before clipping it at the front. It’s not as tight fit as it was before. He used to eat little but now…
He sighed, hand drifting up to the patch of cloth that covered his left eye socket. He didn’t know how the upcoming battle would go… his magic, while strong, was only at half its power. His previously perfect aim was now permanently impaired, and hand-to-hand combat was useless in respect to what he was up against.
He pulled something out of his pocket and his eyebrows drew together. His bare thumb traced the lettering on the black cloth of his armband and his heart twisted at the pride that this item had once made him feel. For the first time since he left Celes, Fay let himself reminisce. He felt his heart sink and twist…
x
“I’m going!” Determination, “I’ll go and confirm it, and if it really is a beast-“
“Wait,” Concern,
“The number of people to become victims is increasing!” Urgency, worry.
Hesitation, “Is that so?”
Curiosity, desperation, “It may be something that hasn’t been in Celes before now.”
“You’re wrong.”
Confusion
“It has always been in Celes.”
x
Sadness. Guilt. Hope.
Urgency.
“I will go and destroy the beast, however many days it will take! For more of Celes’ people to die-“
“In that case”
Confusion.
Disbelief.
“You must defeat me, right?”
X
Fay stared at his reflection until he could no longer bear the sight and, walking toward the meeting room, was struck by a sobering thought.
He knew he would kill someone today.
He just wondered which side they would be on.