Prompt 15:
Sleigh Rides
Noboru, a man not known for his patience in either life, waited. It was cold that night, but thankfully, it wasn’t snowing. The sharp wind was unwanted. He stood on a hill in the park he had been told; it was a foreign neighborhood but he was never quite unaware of where he was. If there was one thing he was grateful to inherit from his past, it was his precise sense of direction. He couldn’t bury his chin deeper into his scarf without looking away from the stars, which were so bright that particular night that he wasn’t able to ignore them.
Enthralled by their brightness, he barely heard the flurry of kicked up snow behind him. It was only when the horse stopped beside him, neighing slightly at the pull of its reins, did Noboru look away. He turned to find a chocolate colored stallion under the weight of a harness that was connected to a bright red sleigh. The beast exhaled heavily, jerking its head up in a way that begged for permission to move forward. Noboru patted the beast’s nose gently, calming it as his eyes fell on the sole passenger of the sleigh.
“Good evening, Makoto,” Noboru said, his smile still a bit confused. “What is all this?”
The girl with the bright chestnut hair beamed cheerfully, the reins gathered in her lap. She wore a deep, hunter green jacket that fell just above her knee, white gloves and scarf, and a black pair of earmuffs. Her long legs were covered up to her thighs with brown boots, but they were folded elegantly underneath the seat of the sleigh. Her cheeks were filled with a rose color bright enough to rival her carnation earrings. “What’s it look like?”
He sighed, releasing the beast and moving towards the sleigh. “It looks like you went through a whole lot of trouble.”
“Not as much as you’d think, but enough to be upset if you don’t join me. So, are you coming?”
“Makoto,” Noboru began.
“I won’t take no for an answer.”
He looked up at her face, with her bright wide smile, and saw the hidden nerves behind it. She always did put up a brave front, but behind that was always the timid, scared girl that was afraid of everything that everyone else was. Whether in battle or love, she put herself out there and refused to admit that there was any hint of fear in her at all. For him, that is what always made her the strongest of the Senshi. Without another word, Noboru climbed into the sleigh and sat beside her.
“Here,” she said thrusting the reins into his hands. “You were always a better driver than me.”
“As I recall, there weren’t many times I let you take the reins,” he said with a light laugh, to his own surprise. When he first remembered anything, he was sure there was nothing in the past to laugh about. He snapped the reins and the horse move forward.
Makoto shared a short laugh, but she fell silent quickly. Her smile faded so that there was merely a hint that she had ever been happy at all. “No, there weren’t.” She paused. “You always took care of me. Do you remember it all?”
After a moment, “I do.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, Makoto,” the words came out more forceful than he intended. “It is I who failed, and the regret is mine alone. There is nothing you should be sorry for.”
They traveled along at a steady pace. It was not enough to bring a strong wind, but when the night breeze blew, Makoto shivered. Noboru hated the silence but found no words. Instead, he simply gathered the reins in one hand, and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. For both of them, it felt as if they had slipped back a thousand years. Noboru no longer felt like an gargantuan, incapable of tenderness. Makoto felt small and protected. For once, her safety was not in her own hands and she could relax.
“It can’t be like it was, Nephrite,” Makoto whispered in the night. “The wind still warns me against you.”
Noboru swallowed hard, the use of his past name not even registering past the other, more important words. As much as he relied on the stars, she listened to the wind. “It always did. Nothing has changed since then.”
“It was right last time.”
He didn’t answer. They both knew what happened last time.
Makoto’s head fell on his shoulder as she gazed up at the dotted black velvet sky above. “Do the stars talk to you about me?”
“Perhaps something had changed, because you never cared what the stars said before.”
“I lived among them. Their words held nothing of interest to me then. So, what do they say about me?”
“Did I say that they spoke of you?”
“No, but that is exactly why I know they do. You never were good at lying.”
“Omission is the easiest way to avoid both falsehood and the truth.”
“Whatever you say,” she sighed. “What do they say?”
Noboru pulled on the reins, stopping the horse, He reclined his head, tightening his arm around her. With his head back, he could smell the sweet rose scent of her hair, and the perfume on her neck swam up to meet him, like fresh rain. Above him, the stars twinkled brightly, whispering in their own silent way. He smiled broadly but did not ask them anything. He just let them talk, the last quiet observer of the mystical conversation.
“Well?” She urged, also never known for her patience.
Nephrite sighed, his breath escaping in a cloud of vapor. “They say what they’ve always said. That you are the most beautiful creature in the galaxies. That I don’t deserve you. That you will make me a better man.”
“You’re lying.”
“The stars know all.”
