Work Text:
“Pete?”
Hm.
“Pete, open your eyes…”
Tired.
“For me, please, Pete. Please, open your eyes.”
He’s so tired. But… he can’t not listen to that voice, especially when it sounds so pleading and anxious, so desperate.
He opens his eyes.
And he’s rewarded with the most beautiful sight, a sight he didn’t think he would ever get to see again. Kao. His Kao. His and no one else’s! Not a sleeping Kao in his dreams, no. His Kao, leaning over him with tears in his eyes and a shaky smile on his lips, holding his hand.
His Kao…
A miracle.
They tell Pete a strange tale. They say that Non shot him. But… well, that’s not how he remembers it. What he remembers - and he remembers it clearly, he will never forget it - is Kao getting shot, Kao dying in his arms. He can still feel Kao’s warm blood, sticky on his hands. This is how it happened.
But apparently not.
Apparently, when Non pulled out his father’s gun, Pete jumped in front of Kao, he shielded Kao and got shot instead. It was he who almost died in Kao’s arms, almost but not really. Instead he spent the past few weeks in a coma. And Kao was there, all the time, holding his hand and talking to him, talking and talking till his voice turned hoarse, keeping watch over him.
His Kao…
A miracle.
It’s night and Pete should be asleep. He is tired, sure, but he also thinks he’s slept enough, thank you very much. Instead, he’s holding tight onto Kao’s hand, watching Kao sleep. His lover is curled up in an armchair next to the hospital bed, allowed to stay by a very sympathetic hospital staff. It’s a sight Pete’s never going to tire of. The sight of his lover, alive and there and breathing and warm. So warm.
And so thin. Pete’s dad told him that Kao wore himself down keeping watch over him here at the hospital. He barely slept, barely ate… And now that it seems like he can finally rest he still won’t let go of Pete’s hand. It makes Pete smile. At the same time, though, it worries him how pale and gaunt Kao looks. Because he’s always loved how solid Kao felt to him, so strong yet soft, so very cuddly in his oversized t-shirts and too short pants. He’s going to have to take better care of Kao from now on.
Suddenly, there’s a hum and a pop and something changes. Everything turns sepia tinted and Pete feels… better. The dull ache is gone from his joints and he doesn’t feel so weak and limp anymore. And that scares him. Because it can’t be real.
“It’s not,” says a grumpy, annoyed voice.
Pete turns and his heart jumps. Because there, at the end of his bed, there sits that obnoxious magical brat, the one that promised to fulfill his wish only to twist his words and make him suffer and suffer and suffer even more, so close to a Kao, so many Kaos yet none of them his.
“Yeah, yeah, blame me, why don’t you,” huffs the kid. “You should’ve worded your wish better.”
With his heart hammering hard in his chest, Pete turns to look - and lets out a sigh of relief. Kao is still there, fast asleep. And he’s still holding Kao’s hand in his as if it were his lifeline. He squeezes harder, holding on tighter. No one, no one will take Kao away from him again. Ever.
“Why?” Pete croaks out.
The kid clucks his tongue. “Why the dreams or why... this?” He waves a hand around. “Well, the former? Because I could. The latter? Because I had to.” He doesn’t seem to like it.
“Had to?” Pete asks.
“You saved that Kao’s life,” the kid explains. “Remember the dream where you met your other self? Where you told him about what happened to your Kao? Where you warned him? Well, he remembered. And it saved his Kao’s life. And that created an imbalance. Because that Kao was destined to die just like yours. Suddenly, there was too much happiness in one universe. I had to correct that.”
That Kao lived! Pete has to blink back tears. It makes him so happy that at least one Pete won’t have to go through what he went through. At least one. And… and it also gave him his Kao back? He looks at his lover again, still asleep, still oblivious, and strokes the knuckles on Kao’s hand, tucked safely in his, with his thumb.
“I had to add a little happiness to some other universe to balance things out,” the kids explains. “I could’ve chosen any other Pete - because there are many Petes out there who grieve for their Kaos - but I decided to give it to you. Because I’m generous,” he says haughtily but then he adds, words dripping with irritation, “and because I’ve had it with you and your meddling!”
Pete swallows hard and his heart breaks for all his other selves out there, in the multiverse. But he’s not so selfless as to give up this chance at happiness to someone else. No, he’s earned it, every little pinch of it. And his Kao deserves to live. They deserve to be happy together.
“But I warn you,” the kid says sharply, almost angrily, “this was a one-time deal, you hear me? If that-that boy toy of yours gets mowed down by a bus tomorrow, you won’t get him back. Got it? No third chances for you. So… you take better care of him, or else!” he adds grumpily.
Staring at Kao, Pete nods and has to swallow hard to whisper, “I will. And thank you.”
But when Pete looks back, the kid is simply gone. The sepia tones start seeping out of his surroundings and weakness and pain start seeping back into his joints and muscles, making him feel woozy and faint. Pete doesn’t care. He doesn’t care at all. Because he’s lived through the agony of losing Kao and compared to that, this… this is nothing.
Slowly, carefully, Pete rolls onto his side, towards Kao, and goes back to watching his lover sleep again. He’s never felt so happy in his life.
His Kao...
A miracle.