#detective!verse

It is a clear, sunny, spring day when he meets her again.

Tsuri, sometime in the middle of the night--or maybe early morning (who knows when she sleeps?)--had gotten the brilliant idea of going shopping for some detective gear. Now that they had solved their first few cases, she had said, it was time for them to become official detectives, and official detectives had cool hats and magnifying glasses and mustaches, and are you paying attention Rieux because this is important!

He had thought it was a completely ridiculous idea of course. He thought most of Tsuri's ideas were ridiculous, poorly thought out, even downright stupid at times. But, he didn't voice these thoughts. He had learned quite early on that arguing with Tsuri was like arguing with a rigid, unyielding tree--chances are, it wouldn't listen to you, and, on bad days, it could even drop pine cones on your head.

So, as always, Rieux, albeit reluctantly, goes along with Tsuri's whims.

In retrospect--because hindsight is 20/20, as they say--he is irrevocably grateful to Tsuri for having such whims in the first place. (It was just yet another thing Tsuri did right without even knowing that she did.)

It is at the sixth (or was it seventh?) hat store that Rieux sees her, standing on the other side of the crosswalk, unobtrusive, innocuous, barely even looking his way.

But it is her. Rieux had no doubt.

So, when Tsuri accosts the shopkeeper, jabbering on about detectives and mustaches, Rieux leaves the store and crosses the street.

She smiles when she sees him coming her way, as calm and radiant as he remembered.

An infinite amount of words flood his mind, and, just as quickly, those words disappear, so that all he is left with is a whispered, barely audible, "Saber." Her name. It has been so long since he said it that the taste of it on his tongue stings--of unbridled happiness and of nostalgic sorrow.

"Rieux," she answers, her lips curved into a smile, her eyes reflecting mirth and happiness, love and understanding.

I missed you, he wanted to say, but couldn't. Why did you leave? Where were you when I needed you? I needed you. I still need you. Come back. Come home. I loved--love--you.

He cannot say any of those things. It is too much, too soon, too quickly. But, Saber understands; she always does--did--after all. (It is yet another thing they do not have in common. Saber and Tsuri, that is.)

"Let's go to the park, Rieux," she says, with an undisguised joy that lights up her face with happiness.

This, he thinks, as he allows her to lead, this is a thing they have in common.

-

Saber sits on the swings, and Rieux stands beside her.

They do not speak.

In this moment, at this time, they do not need to speak.

The silence speaks for them, weaving truths and promises, for there is an understanding, deep and profound, between them.

It is a promise of eternity, and the understanding that this eternity shall never come to pass.

"I'm sorry," Rieux says, finally, breaking the magic, ending the moment. (But, then again, hadn't the moment been over a long time ago?)

Saber turns to look at him. Her eyes are curious, questioning. "For what?" she asks, as if she truly does not know.

For leaving you behind, for moving on--for everything, he thinks, but says, "For not being able to save you."

Her hand reaches out to touch his own. "It's not your fault for letting go, Rieux," she says, quietly, as if she could read the meaning behind his words, "There's nothing to forgive."

Rieux looks at her, really looks at her, and sees the girl she was, five years ago. He is older now, and she is still exactly the same.

He wants to cry.

But, instead, his hands over to grasp hers, intertwining, and she smiles and closes her eyes, sighing contently as she leans on him for support.

They stay like that, in that warm cocoon of warmth and love, until Tsuri finally finds them.

-

In true Tsuri fashion, she bursts in with shouts and benedictions, rudely interrupting any form of peace and calm that might have been present.

Saber and Rieux quickly extricate their hands as Tsuri starts on her tirade.

"Rieux, I've been looking for you forever! At least tell me if you're going to run off on me! Anyway, can you believe it, the day's already almost over and I can't find a single suitable detective's hat! What kind of businesses are these people running anyway?! How can they expect me to work without a hat! Don't they know that true detectives--"

It is only at this point that Tsuri stops, realizing that Rieux is not the only one there. "Oh, hi," she says, unabashed, "I'm Tsuri."

"I'm Saber," the other replies, eyes full of laughter, "I'm an old friend of Rieux."

"Wow, really?" Tsuri exclaims, as if she couldn't believe it. "I didn't know he had such a beautiful female friend," with absolute sincerity.

And, Rieux briefly wonders how exactly it is that Tsuri is able to sound so charming in front of females but downright insulting in front of him.

With a speed that almost gave Rieux whiplash, Tsuri and Saber are laughing and giggling away as if they had been friends for centuries. In another moment, Tsuri had excitedly extracted a promise to eat ice cream together and had hurriedly, in typical Tsuri fashion, run off to buy some, all without even considering Rieux for one iota of a second.

"She's nice," Saber says, her wide smile the product of the whirlwind that had just passed through, "I like her."

"Good," he mutters, and, sardonically, "She'll probably marry you if you asked her."

She turns to look at him again, her smile lessening but never disappearing altogether. "She's good for you. You look happy."

"Don't," he says, pleads, because the words are beginning to sound like a farewell.

"You know I have to go, Rieux. You know I can't stay."

He shakes his head.

She stands up and puts her hands on his. "You've grown up," she whispers, looking at his face, "I'm happy for you."

Don't leave me, he wants to say but doesn't.

She smiles her usual smile, because she had heard it, regardless. "I won't. I'm not. I'll always be here if you need me."

Rieux wants to protest, wants to cry and scream and demand that she stay. But, he doesn't. It's the least he can do now, not making things difficult for Saber, for himself.

Instead, he simply states, "I won't forget you."

And, with a beautiful, painful laugh, she says, "Well, I'll see you later then, okay, Rieux?" and with a final squeeze of the hand, she is gone.

-

Bearing ice cream, Tsuri comes back thoroughly confused.

"Where's Saber?" she demands, as if Rieux had somehow magicked the other girl away somewhere.

"Dead," Rieux answers, curt.

Tsuri stops, midway through her ice cream, and shouts an exclamation.

Sighing, he clarifies, "I mean, she's been dead. For a long time now."

After a bit of a coughing fit in which Tsuri desperately tries to get the vanilla out of her nose, she regains enough composure to piece things together. "Then," a cough, "then that means the Saber that was here just now was a..."

"A ghost," Rieux finishes for her, seeing as she was otherwise incapacitated by periodic wheezes.

"Why-- why didn't you tell me?! Now what am I going to do with this ice cream?!" she yells, gesturing wildly with the cone of her first ice cream to the second ice cream she holds in the other hand.

Rieux raises an eyebrow. "Eat it?"

Tsuri calms down. "Oh. Good idea."

-

It isn't until Tsuri had finished off both ice cream cones and then washed her face of leftover vanilla that Rieux decided to do something he had been considering for a long time but had never done because it is, well, simply put, a stupid thing to do.

But, talking to Saber again had reminded him of those feelings, and all the times he had been overcome with regret because it was too little, too late.

So, for once, Rieux decides to be a little less sensible, a little more stupid.

They are on one of the piers overlooking the ocean. Rieux is leaning against the railings, looking out at the blue expanse of the sea, while Tsuri is completely draped over the metal bars, eyes downcast, sighing over the loss of yet another beautiful female from her list of friends.

It isn't a comfortable silence, per se, not like the one between him and Saber. It is more of a self-absorbed silence, with each too caught up in his or her own thoughts to even consider talking. But, regardless, it is familiar, and, perhaps, in that way, it is even comfortable, maybe.

"Hey," Rieux says, breaking the silence. He doesn't even wait for Tsuri to completely lift her head before, "I love you."

"Huh?"

"Don't misunderstand. I don't love you as a friend. I love you as more than a friend."

Tsuri is fully conscious now, staring at him, shock written all over her face, completely and utterly speechless. (It is, Rieux thinks, sardonically, the quietest he has ever seen Tsuri.)

It is at this moment that Rieux takes to kiss her.

It is chaste, more of a brushing of lips than a true kiss, but, Rieux decides, it is suitable enough to get his point across.

Afterwards, Tsuri makes a noise that would have sounded like "What" if fifty other words hadn't also been thrown into a mix.

Rieux tilts his head, more than a little amused but unwilling to show it on his face, and leans back against the railings.

Finally, after several minutes of decidedly awkward silence, Tsuri finally regains the use of her vocal cords. "I don't know what to say!" she exclaims, the words coming out ten times fast.

"You don't have to say anything," he replies, calmly, "I don't need an answer. I just wanted you to know."

"Oh," she says, "oh."

-

The next day, Tsuri arrives at Rieux's apartment at the usual time (which, as always, is much too damn early).

The awkwardness of the previous day had completely disappeared, whether from a restful night's sleep or a dozen cups of caffeine, Rieux does not know, but he finds himself once again grateful to Tsuri for never taking things too deeply to heart.

Everything will continue like always.