Chasing You Through Time

Patience is a Cruel Lesson to Learn

"Here."

"Hm?" My eyes moved to the other man who was hanging me food. "Oh, thank you." I took it, and sat criss cross beside Emiya. He finished his food quickly, and afterwards decided on propping a hand behind my back, and leaning against me while I ate seconds. I stopped and thought for a moment on a bite. "Hey Emiya?"

"Hm?" He hummed, eyes not leaving the fire.when I looked at him, the image of the bright flames danced in his eyes, skipping and swaying beautifully. It almost made me forget my words. Taking a deep breath, the words came back. "I want to know more about you." This made him look at me. "I want you to tell me about your life."

He stared blankly at me. "My life?" I nodded encouragingly for him, but a small frown fell on his face as he looked back into the flames. "Well there's not much to tell."

I nudged his side with my elbow. "Oh come on, you're exaggerating."

"Ha... but I'm not."

"Let me be the judge of that. Come on, tell."

He sighed heavily, caving into me, both literally and metaphorically. "Well, I guess you can say I lived a somewhat fulfilling life, dying satisfied with what I'd accomplished, realizing later all the stupid desicions I'd made."

"Emiya, I didn't ask about how you died, I asked about how you lived." Emiya looked to me with wide eyes. "I want to know about your childhood, how you grew up, what you enjoy doing, what you accomplished?"

Getting over the blank stares, he chuckled softly. "Alright, Cu."

He told me of a fire, and a man (who I couldn't remember the name of for the life of me) who took him in. Going on, he talked of the house he grew up in, the people in his life, and confirming the fact his passion for cooking is rooted deep in his past, which for some reason made me smile. As Emiya continued, he got more and more into the story, free with his tongue. The soft glow in eyes, the sound of his voice, the press of his side to mine, it was all so warm.

For a moment, my mind wandered, trying to envision Emiya as a kid. Looking over at his hard jaw, broad shoulders, and almost stoic eyes, I chuckled softly.

"--What?" Emiya stopped mid sentence to question me.

"I was trying to picture you as a kid, messy white tuffs and all." I rustled his hair.

"Red," he said, waving my hand away.

"Hm?"

"Red, I had red hair."

"You... what?" For a moment, I thought he was joking, but his expression strongly suggested otherwise.

"I had red hair for most of my life."

In that moment, I attempted the impossible; imagining Emiya with red hair. Me breaking out into laughter was the reaction I think neither of us were expecting.

"What, you have something against red hair?" Emiya pinched a strand of his hair, almost as if he forgot it was white.

"No no, it's just I can't possibly imagine you with red hair." Much chuckles subsided, leaving a lazy grin behind. I leaned away a little, really examining him. "You've got to be kidding, there's no way."

"Oh? Can you suddenly see into my past and check that? I'm pretty sure I know the color of the hair I was born with."

"Still, I'd have to see it to believe it."

Emiya looked up, leaning back on his arms. "Well you will see it... eventually."

"How so?"

Without moving his head, Emiya's eyes turned to mine. "I told you once before, you do meet my past self."

"Hmm, I'm almost excited now, seeing something I can't even imagine. Not only that, I'll be able to see a young Emiya. It must be quite the sight."

He laughed stiffly. "It's nothing too great."

"One thing you don't understand is anything that involves you," I poked his chest. "Is great."

Emiya raised an eyebrow, but never challenged my words. "Alright Cu, no more stories tonight." He rubbed my side softly. "Let's get to bed."

We cleaned up dinner, and I was sure to tuck Emiya into bed before climbing in the covers on top of him. My arms curling under Emiya's shoulders, I nuzzled my head into his neck. The fresh forest scent mingled with Emiya's, creating the perfect smell that enlightened my nose. I gave him a soft hum as his fingers moved along my spine. It was all wonderful.

"Mmm... what am I going to do when I don't have you for a bed?" My words were slurred in a sleepy mutter.

"Sleep like a normal person." His voice was the typical blunt Emiya tone.

"But I don't like the way normal people sleep."

"Well I guess you don't really fit in the category of 'normal people'."

"Heh heh, true."

I felt his silent chuckles. His hand moved momentarily to my hair patting it softly. "Goodnight, Cu."

"Goodnight, my love."

I woke to the sunlight and birds early morning. There was something else as well;. Emiya tickling my back. I glanced up at him with little to no movement. His eyes were fixed thoughtfully on the trees, flickering from one branch to another. I watched him silently, just trying to guess his thoughts. Are they about this journey? Probably, he's the type to run through everything we need to do before we do it. Are they about what he needs to do after he leaves me? Hopefully not. Are his thoughts about me? Hopefully yes. Is last night's conversation on his mind, or has he really been thinking about the trees the whole time? I smiled.

Emiya's eyes moved around, grazing mine momentarily. They took a double take back. "Oh, finally awake?"

"Supposedly." I replied.

"Well then, shall we get up?"

"Hmm," I furrowed my eyebrows. "But you seemed to be enjoying yourself quite well watching those trees." Emiya gave me a questioning look, so I just continued on. "Alright let's get up."

Sliding from the blanket, I rolled off Emiya, falling onto the dewy grass. I looked up at the trees. Emiya came into my view above me just a moment later, his messy hair flaking up in all directions except the front.

"Really?" He asked as I made no effort to move. Emiya closed his eyes and shook his head, hair waving softly. "You can't say something, then do the opposite. Honestly, you make no sense sometimes." Without a word, I raised my arm expectantly. A sigh escaping his lips, he grabbed the outstretched hand, tugging me to my feet.

We were back on the road not too long after, a quiet trot through the woods. The day went by very similar to the one before. At night, I'd even managed to get Emiya to tell me more about his life. It was interesting to try and imagine the kid Emiya once was. Judging from the stories, I could tell he was incredibly different, yet so similar at the same time. In the end, it turned out to be like the red hair. I couldn't imagine it. The stories ended up making me quite anxious to see his younger self, and put a man to the tales. But just like everything else, I'd have to be patient. Emiya wasn't kidding when he said he'd teach me patients.

Morning came around too soon, and we were coming too close to Cathbad. Everything seemed to be moving so fast, I couldn't take it. The forest around us shifted as we went, not physically, but spiritually. I felt rather than saw as we entered into the sacred grove.