Aosh's boot dug into the dirt at the edge of the pathway, mindlessly kicking it around while Tiza visited his mother. He was still fuming and fighting the urge to go back the way they came to finish Roland off regardless of what Tiza says. Even if he respected Tiza's wishes it didn't mean he had to be happy about it. He was also a little mad at himself as well for losing it and letting his anger get the best of him.
His eyes flit up from where they've been watching the ground. Tiza sits against his mother's tombstone, looking at peace. Good. That was the whole reason they went on this trip; so that Tiza could get his closure on his terms. But then why did Aosh not feel the same sense of peace?
He could play it off and say it's because he was still ruffled about earlier, but Aosh would be lying to himself. It was because he knew that this peace wouldn't last for long. Aosh was going to tell Tiza how he felt. He couldn't put it off anymore, even after everything that happened today it still had to be done. It was like ripping off a bandaid, it needed to be done fast so the sting won't last long. Although doing it here, in the presence of Tiza's mother hardly felt appropriate.
Tiza comes trotting back over to the path, his aura like a breath of fresh air.
"Let's go," he says, starting back the way they came.
"Where are we going now?" Aosh quietly says.
Tiza turns around, the breeze blowing his blonde hair as he does so, "Some place I think you'll like."
Tiza's smile is brilliant, stunning, and despite being upset it has Aosh eagerly following after him.
......................................
Aosh deserved a happily ever after. He deserved to have love, he deserved to have everything he had been chasing after his entire life. He deserved to have Tiza not just in body but in heart as well. But just because he deserved it doesn't mean the universe would let him have it. It does mean that it will taunt him with the idea of it.
It would flaunt this new form of Tiza in front of him, as close to carefree as he's seen him, only for Aosh to realize he'll ruin it with a confession. He would blame the universe for giving Tiza the idea to bring him to one of the most beautiful botanical gardens he's ever seen, and that it was going to be in this place his heart would be broken beyond repair.
The universe was cruel and he had come to accept that quite some time ago, but that doesn't mean it didn't still hurt.
Chrysanthemums and camellias litter the gardens, bringing pops of color against the lush greens and rich olives of the dogwoods and daphnes. The clear winter sky seems like it stretches endlessly over them. In many ways it was the perfect day to go for a walk in a garden.
As they walk along the stone path just beyond the entrance, a small cafe comes into view, one that Tiza says they'll stop by for lunch later after their walk. He grins, an action that Aosh has never seen Tiza do when it comes to food, and he wonders if he would still be grinning by the time they leave.
Tiza drags Aosh deeper in and Aosh is inclined to follow, allowing himself to get lost in the scenery if only for a little bit. He needed a pleasant distraction.
"Do you like it?" Tiza asks as he leads Aosh over a bridge. The stream below flows calmly. Crystal-like water sparkles as it rushes over smooth rocks; the occasional leaf floats lazily downstream.
"I thought that you might," Tiza continues, "I used to go on a lot of field trips here when I was in school."
They walk deeper into the gardens, to the point they come across fewer and fewer people until they are alone; the only thing accompanying them is the rustle of the leaves and the birds that flit around above.
They end up stopping in a grove, where the path tapers off into gravel. Japanese magnolias that have just begun to bloom in the late winter surround them. The blush and creams of their blossoms make everything seem soft and serene. The breeze blows petals down whenever it passes through, sending them drifting down to the ground without a care in the world.
Tiza has drifted behind Aosh as they come nearer to a larger magnolia tree, but Aosh doesn't notice. In his head he's going over the words he needs to say over and over, until his anxiety gets so overwhelming he stops in his tracks. Taking a deep breath through his nose he decides to go for it.
"Tiza we need to talk."
"You're right, we do."
Aosh turns around to face Tiza, "It's...about us. I don't think-" he stops talking when he realises Tiza isn't where he thought he was.
Tiza was kneeling on the ground.
Aosh quickly came closer, concerned, "Did you fall!?"
"I guess you could say that," Tiza says, schooling his expression, trying not to crack a smile. Both of his hands grab hold of Aosh's.
"Aosh, as far as birthdays go, I know today hasn't been the best. There were so many things I wish we could've done today. But I got to spend it with you and that's all that matters to me. I wanted to give you something, a birthday gift, and I hope that it makes up for today and a bunch of other things," Tiza reaches into his pocket.
"Wait. I-I have to tell you something first."
"What?" Tiza's hand has stopped inside his pocket, the grass ring he made clutched in his hand.
"I love you, Tiza." Aosh says, holding his breath for what was to come.
There was a beat of silence broken by a chuckle.
"I know," Tiza smiles, "That's why I want-"
"No. I love you."
Tiza looks to the side confused.
"Yes, I know. You already told-"
"No! Like-," Aosh drops down to his knees. His hands, emboldened, come up to cup Tiza's face so he has no choice but to take his emotions head on.
"I love you so much! You're all that I think about. You're my world. My everything. All I want is you. All of you. You've ruined me, to the point where I want nothing but you! But…" His emotions die down as his eyes run over Tiza's face, trying to commit every freckle to memory. Aosh's hands begin to tremble against the warmth of Tiza's cheeks.
"I can't make you love me back. And that's why...I don't think we can do this anymore," he mumbles, letting Tiza go.
"Wait wait wait, Aosh I feel the same way!" Tiza says.
"Don't start saying things out of pity," Aosh pouts "Just tell me to get lost already."
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Tiza shakes him by the shoulders, "Aosh I want you!"
Aosh doesn't look convinced.
"Why wouldn't I want you?"
"After everything you've been through, how could you want somebody, let alone me. You've made it clear from the beginning. You never wanted a fated mate," Aosh hangs his head, no longer able to look at the other.
"Wow, you really don't believe me do you?"
Had so many people gone and left Aosh that he had so little trust in what Tiza says? Aosh was so convinced that nobody, not even his fated mate would want him, when that was the farthest from the truth. Tiza gritted his teeth, peeved at all the people who had hurt Aosh to this point, including himself. To hell with the ring, to hell with waiting.
The small clinking of keys resounds between them. Aosh looks up.
Tiza's neck, pale and stunning, comes into view as the Omega unlocks his collar and shoves it in Aosh's hands.
"Bite me!" Tiza demands.
Aosh's eyes go wide.
"Believe me when I say, I love you Aosh Tsutsumi! I want you! Whether you're my fated mate or not, I'm choosing you! And I'm not going anywhere even if you made me! I'm man enough to prove it, so bite me! Right now-!"
Tiza is tackled backwards into the bushes behind him. His back hits the ground with a soft 'thud'.This guy always had a bad habit of knocking him down, from the very beginning, but Tiza didn't seem to mind anymore. Aosh looms over him, tears running down his flushed cheeks. They drip down his chin onto the grass below.
"Do you mean it?" Aosh says, voice broken with disbelief.
"Every word. The rest of my life is a long time to be stuck with someone. But I won't regret it," Tiza wipes the tears away with his thumb and smiles up at his Alpha, "Not if it's you."
As if he's afraid the other would change his mind, Aosh abruptly leans down, nudging his face into Tiza's neck. Their chests press together, filled with anxious breaths, but Aosh can feel how steady Tiza's heartbeat is; and how sure he is of his choice. Of choosing Aosh.
Aosh bares his teeth, grazing Tiza's scent gland.
"I love you," he whispers.
"I love you too," Tiza whispers back.
At first it feels like a pinprick, but as Aosh bears down on his neck, it turns into a searing pain edged in ecstasy. The sensation starts at the point where they are connected and travels down Tiza's body, like a tidal wave. He can feel it. Feel his body being claimed by Aosh. Like every cell inside him was being re-written to only respond to the man above him.
Tiza had feared this moment his entire life, the inevitable moment an Alpha would claim him. But Tiza felt so overwhelmingly happy. Because it was Aosh. The man that made all of his tomorrows possible and his yesterdays bearable.
Aosh can't stop crying as he keeps biting Tiza, his warm tears continue to fall onto his fated mate's neck relentlessly. The Alpha's hands clutch at the ground below, snapping blades of grass in half in his iron grip. Aosh was so overwhelmed, so happy, so in love with the man underneath him.
It was hard to not think that he wasn't worthy of all this , that he was worthy of not only meeting his fated mate but also having his unrequited love returned as well. But as he bites Tiza and feels their bodies being connected, Aosh lets himself have this. Because this was all he had ever wanted. To be loved as much as he loved in return.
Tiza manages to crack his eyes open after having them squeezed shut. Magnolia petals fall slowly, the peach colored blossoms still on the tree above sway lazily in the breeze. The sky is as clear and endless as their future. Tiza holds Aosh's head against him and cards his fingers through his hair.
"I'm never going to leave you again."
It's pretty to think that all along Aosh and Tiza were tied by this string of fate. By this unexplainable force, manifested in the form of a name, that bound the two to eventually come together. But sometimes pretty doesn't cut it. Love is messy and unpredictable. Love is wanting someone despite their demons and helping them get stronger because of it. Love is accepting someone in all the ways society won't. Love grows with time, it is not something that a simple name can determine.
Love will never abide by the rules of Fate.
No, Aosh and Tiza weren't brought together by a string of fate, but one of love they wove themselves.