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In the reflection of the sea water, in the darkness of the night, it was noticeable in front of the royal castle, even at such a distance from them, a bright blue dot floating outside the balcony of the royal bedroom.
At the same time, the jump that the white-haired one took from the boat— to stand inside it to be able to see the floating lights clearly as they slowly approached—, rocks the transport so hard that Keigo hits his back on the wooden edge and almost fell out of the boat and into the open sea because of the scare.
(But right after pulling himself together, holding the side of his rib that was injured by the impact with the wood, exactly when he would ask what the fuck was that, he closes his mouth again almost instantly, because when he notices the bluish light reflecting on his scars, along with the animation shining in the boy's eyes; he feels as though he could overcome any fear if he could continue to lose himself in those eyes as blue as the sea below them.. A really stupid thought, after all, the sea isn't even blue.)
Standing on tiptoe to see as much of the event as possible, Touya holds tightly to the bow of the boat for support, feeling the food he ate earlier at the festival stir in his stomach because of the sudden movement, but he chose to swallow hard and ignore the reflux in favor of watching while the non-stars joined the real stars in the night sky.
It was truly beautiful, a jaw-dropping and eye-shining sight, while all the lanterns of the population and of the queen were thrown into the air in honor of the deceased prince's birthday, deep down, Touya wished that those were really for him, for his birthday and not to mourn someone's death, perhaps a morbid wish. Thinking about it makes him feel a throbbing in his head and an anguish as if something is missing— a part of himself, someone or something, he wouldn't be able to say, even though he grew up wanting to know.
The lanterns launched by the largest boats around theirs fill the field of vision much faster, illuminating the front of the kingdom, the sky above the sea, and even some parts of the forest as they spread, it is unparalleled to observe lanterns of all sizes and shapes rising in the night sky, decorating the world with its brilliance together.
To have the pleasure of seeing this up close, see the air lift it all, it was truly magical. It was feeling on the skin that this whole trip was worth it.
(It was feeling the bitter taste in his mouth of realizing that the whole trip was coming to an end and they would probably never see each other again.)
“Hey, firefly..”
It was hard to take his eyes off the lanterns to look at the blonde sitting behind him in the boat, but when he did, when he saw him holding two lanterns especially for them in each hand, looking strangely shy as he moved his head slightly towards the other seat in front of him, as if silently asking him to sit down, he only managed to feel as if one of the flames that were in the lights had been lit inside his chest.
Keigo's apprehensive smile turned gentle when Touya sat down quickly in the seat in front of him on the small boat, observing the two lights with those blue eyes with the real excitement of someone who would launch one of these for the first time.
(After all, he would indeed launch a light for the first time.)
As if he remembered something when he looked at his face, Touya turned to the side, “Ah.. And I also have a.. Surprise, for you,” On the side of the boat that he turned, he pulls out a brown bag with some red and gold embroidery. It was Keigo's bag, the one that started it all—and that would probably end with all that too—. When he sees the gleam of the prince's crown coming out of the bag, he feels a strange sensation settling in the pit of his stomach, “I should have returned this to you a long time ago, but..”
I was scared.
He doesn't finish the sentence.
“And you know what? There's nothing holding me back from giving this back to you anymore,” He smiles, in a somewhat insincere way, “Do you understand?”
The blond puts his hand on top of the bag he was holding, pushing the bag until the other boy lets it go and places it still on his own lap, "I'm starting to..”
They smile at each other as Keigo finally hands Touya his lantern. Without much daydreaming, both cast their lights to the sky, watching them climb together and alone before joining the thousands of others above them without ever separating.
Soon after the lights rose to the point that he could no longer recognize which ones were theirs, Keigo, impulsively, looked at the birthday boy sitting in the boat with him.
What he found was an animated Touya leaning on the boat to see the floating lanterns around them, barely containing the excitement when another lantern starts flying towards their boat, pointing at the flashlight and saying something that the blonde doesn't pay attention to while observing the smile on his face.
He leans out of the boat, stretching until his arm is out of the boat and his hand is under the lantern approaching, Successfully managing to push the lantern back into the sky, preventing it from falling into the sea.
Without thinking much, seeing the glow shining in that face, Keigo takes one of Touya's hands in his, feeling the difference between his calloused hand from work—and some thefts, by the way,— and the other's delicate and well-groomed hand on his.
The surprise on the white-haired man's face was obvious, but he just accepted it so quickly, holding the hand against his hand more tightly and taking the other hand of Keigo in his other hand too, that the blond’s heart missed a beat.
It was strange for them to stare at each other in silence while holding and caressing each other's hands, but their gazes expressed so many things that they didn't even need to speak loose words to the wind. They just needed to keep looking at each other to know what they needed.
The further the boat sailed to the other side of the bank, but their faces unconsciously drew closer. Their breaths getting closer and closer, Keigo's left hand slowly rising up the other's arm and shoulder until reaching his face, placing a loose strand of Touya's white hair behind his ear and, for a moment taking his hand away from his face, until the blonde decided to let her hold the back of his neck, slightly pushing his face closer.
But, when they really get close, when Touta’s eyes are already closed and when Keigo was going to close his, he sees on the shore of the island that they were approaching, a bright green light and next to that light, two large figures looking directly at them.
And suddenly he realizes that he can't before resolving this, he can't do it, so he distance himself from the other, he takes his hand off Touya's neck and straightens up in the boat seat, feeling regretful while watching the other person realize the situation and sits back down normally, Releasing a small laugh that demonstrates different emotions mixed—confusion, sadness... He doesn't really know, Touya is difficult to read.
An awkward silence hangs between them for a while, the two of them looking at everything except each other. After a few seconds, Keigo grabs the oar and starts directing the boat towards the island.
“Hey..” Keigo starts, somewhat lost on how he could start the explanation without scaring Touya, but like the coward he always was, he prefers not to say anything before resolving the situation, “Can you stay here while I quickly sort a few things out?..”
Touya remained silent for a moment, saying nothing long enough for Keigo to think that he was not going to answer him.
“Are you coming back?”
“I will, I promise I will,” Even though the fact that he can't look him in the eye while saying that isn't the best promise.