Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Hey, Shiroe," Void said suddenly, as they were cuddled up in post-coital bliss, both totally naked with only the sheets covering them. Void propped themself up on one elbow, looking at him thoughtfully.

"Hm?" Shiroe asked, momentarily distracted by their naked breasts bobbing as they shifted position.

"Have you ever thought about the fact that if we go back to the other world, we won't be able to understand each other?"

They had discovered very early on that Theldessia itself seemed to be translating for them. Even written words became readable, as if they had been written in the person's native language to begin with. Shiroe hadn't questioned it when he'd made Rudy's contract - he had honestly assumed Rudy was signing it without reading it, anyway. But after further discussion with Void, he had concluded that because of the global nature of Theldessia, it magically translated everything for them.

This was convenient, and difficult to investigate by it's very nature, so he mostly let it be.

"I hadn't actually, but that's true," Shiroe remarked, pushing his glasses up thoughtfully. That was a troublesome problem. "My English was never amazing to begin with, let alone now that it's rusty..."

"It's probably better than my Japanese ever was, though," Void said with a laugh. "I took four years in high school, but between the quality of the class and the fact that it was, y'know high school, I was pretty shit at it. Great at memorizing vocab and kanji, but...your grammar is confusing as hell."

Shiroe gave a quiet snort at that. "English grammar has so many odd rules and exceptions...spelling too..."

"I won't argue with that," Void replied, shrugging a bit. Then, with an ease that left Shiroe breathless, they said, "but for you, I would put in the work without any hesitation."

"For...for me?" Shiroe's eyes widened, his hand going unbidden to his chest at their sweet words. "You would really do that, for me?"

"Of course," Void said. "I love you, and I would find you as soon as I could, Kei Shirogane."

The use of his real name coupled with the earnestness of their tone melted him into a useless puddle. He stared at them, aware that his expression was dopey but unable to do anything to change it. Void smiled at him again, scooting over to press a chaste kiss to his lips.

"Did I break you?" They asked.

"No, I- yes?" He giggled, cheeks warm. "I just...I admit, when we started this conversation, I was...worried maybe you wouldn't want me if we ever went back." He lowered his gaze, smile self deprecating. "But that feels like a silly thought now."

"It isn't silly to worry about it, but I hope that I've assuaged your fears," Void said quietly. "I love you, and I can't imagine that you would be anything but the person I love regardless of where we are. Even if you look different, you'll still be you."

Shiroe sighed happily. "That's true. And the same holds true for you."

"Well," Void's smile wavered, hesitation clear on their face. "Maybe."

" Void ," Shiroe said firmly, frowning at them.

"Ah..." Void looked away, smiling awkwardly. "It's just...I think I might be too much of a burden, really. Chronic problems, and the latest one I had yet to resolve...I was getting there, but..."

Shiroe waited a moment as Void looked like they might speak, but they fell silent.

"Wendy Golden," he said firmly, fixing them with an intense gaze as he pushed his glasses up, "I love you as you are, and nothing could change that or make you a burden to me."

"Even if I never get better?" They whispered, swallowing hard. Shiroe recognized the telltale signs of incoming tears. His expression softened.

"Even if you never get better. Even if things get worse. We would face those things the same way we've faced things here - together ."

Void let out a whimper, and Shiroe pulled them on top of him in a hug. They wrapped their arms around him, shaking a bit. He held them, and they cried until they were done, lifting their head up and wiping at their eyes.

"And you know what?" Shiroe said softly, wiping a stray tear away with his thumb.

"What?" Void asked, smiling despite their shaky voice.

"It would be fun to learn English for you," he replied, expression going even softer. "You could teach me how to say, 'I love you'."

"I bet you already know that one," Void replied, giggling. "I mean, I know it in Japanese..."

"Well," Shiroe smiled, "you might have caught me there. Hm...I wonder..."

He took a breath, and spoke.

"I love you."

This was not the crisp and perfect unaccented English Void had been hearing up until now. This was clumsy, spoken by someone who's native language was not English, with inflection in the wrong places, and pronunciations that weren't quite right.

"You really said it, didn't you?" Void stared at him with wide eyes. "That wasn't a translation."

Shiroe grinned, laughing a bit. "Was it okay?"

"It was wonderful. And," Void looked bashful, biting their lower lip before saying, "愛してる."

Shiroe leaned in and caught their lips in a kiss. He could feel them laughing breathily for a moment, before they settled into the kiss, pressing their lips to his with a passion that made him burn.

"I think we'll be okay," he said breathlessly as they pulled away.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. If we can say that, we can work the rest out."

Void giggled, pressing another kiss to his lips.

"You're right. No matter where we are, as long as we're together...we can figure it out," Void said, beaming. "We managed it here, so what's the old world too?"

Shiroe laughed. They grinned.

And they kissed again, and again, and again.

Chapter Text

Wendy awoke suddenly in their hotel room, laptop in front of them. The Elder Tales logo was on the screen, indicating they were no longer logged in. Their breath caught in their throat.

They couldn't believe this reality for a long moment, sitting unmoving as they took it in. This was not the horrid dream that came with in-game death. This felt different. It felt real.

It felt like nothing had changed, and yet in their heart, everything had.

They closed their laptop lid, scanning the room. It was all as it had been at that moment when they'd sat down. That told them that little if any time had passed while they had been gone. This was a hotel after all - if a patron suddenly disappeared for months, years , leaving their luggage behind, the room would be cleaned and reallocated. That was clearly not the case.

So they were here.

Shiroe...

His face came unbidden to their mind's eye. They wanted to find him. They needed to find him. Suddenly, the fact that he wasn't there by their side, just a tap away via telepathy, made their blood run cold. He had been there almost since the beginning. Multiple years had passed.

And right now, they had no way to contact him.

Perhaps they could have logged on to the game again, to reach out via chat, but they dismissed that idea. It was risky - who knew if they would be sucked back in? They didn't think so, but the possibility was undismissable.

"Shiroe," they mumbled, beginning to pack up their things. "Shirogane Kei."

His name. His real name. That alone wasn't enough to find him. But...they had also memorized his address. It was one of the things he had shared in some of their chats about the hypothetical future. He was in Tokyo, and they were in Kyoto currently, but that didn't matter. They would go to him. They would definitely go to him.

They repeated the address to themself, scrambling to open their laptop again, exiting out of Elder Tales and opening notepad. They typed the address down, scanning it to ensure they made no mistakes, before pulling up a maps program and entering it. They felt almost frenetic, their heartbeat pounding. Shiroe. They had to find Shiroe. Shirogane Kei.

Did this hotel have a printer? They could barely recall. No matter, they could copy the instructions down onto their journal anyway. Satisfied with that, they closed the laptop again. They would have to check the timetables for the shinkansen again once they finished packing and were ready to leave.

They were going to see Shiroe.

---

It had been late - the expansion had launched at midnight, of course. Wendy had finished mostly packing up before they realized there wouldn't be a train until the early morning. As such, they'd tucked themself into bed for a quick nap, setting an early alarm, comfortable with tomorrows timetables and directions jotted down neatly in their notebook.

They'd woken up, checked out of their hotel early, grabbed some food, and headed out. They practically ran to the station, and before they knew it they were on their way to Tokyo. They kept their notebook clutched tightly in their hand, even as they drifted to sleep on the bullet train.

By the time they arrived, they were hungry again. It was tempting to grab some food, but they only did so once they realized exactly how bad Tokyo rush hour was. They had forgotten with their years spent in Elder Tale .

" There's no sense rushing. If you don't eat and take care of yourself, you'll only cause problems for yourself and those around you. " Shiroe's words came back to them.

Besides , they thought to themself with some amusement, would Shirogane Kei even be up by now? Shiroe tended to stay up late, and Kei is a grad student, and who knows how late he was up talking to everyone. A lot of them were friends in this world too, right?

That thought gave them pause as they ate their onigiri. Everyone was probably abuzz with activity when they got back, all reaching out to make sure it was real , and that they were all safe and here...

Void had been alone again, hadn't they? It was a bitter, bitter thought and they shook it off. Not now. They wouldn't be alone now. In fact, some of their friends in America were likely awake - but Wendy felt that they wanted to see Shiroe first, before they talked to anyone else. They needed to see Kei. They needed to know...

Were things the same between them? Void and Shiroe, Wendy and Kei.

With second breakfast finished and the crowds thinning, Void checked their directions, and headed for the platform.

---

Wendy tried to stop themself from running, in truth. They tried hard. But as they saw the address coming into view, they couldn't help but get excited, dragging their suitcase along behind them. This body was so weak compared to the one they had in Elder Tale - but they pushed it, running until their lungs burned, hefting up their suitcase to climb the stairs, booking it towards the door that would bring them to Shiroe. To Kei. To their partner.

They paused in front of the door, forcing themself to stop and compare the address to the place in front of them. Yes...this was the right door. They were breathless, hair a mess no doubt, panting and heaving. But they didn't want to wait another second.

They knocked on the door as loudly as they could.

---

Kei was only barely awake when he heard the knocking. He was still mulling over exactly what had happened. They had returned, but could they go back? Why had seemingly no time passed in this world? What the hell had he even been doing before he got taken away, and what should he be doing now?

He frowned to himself, slipping on a pair of sweatpants to make himself decent as he made for the door. Who could possibly come knocking? It was rare for anyone to come by unannounced. Part of him wanted it to be Void, but he was certain it was too soon for that to be the case.

Assuming it ever would be.

Void was one of the few he couldn't get in contact with. Of course not - he'd never gotten their phone number, and even if he had, it's not like they'd be able to have much of a conversation, right? And their phone was American, so...the cost...his pragmatic brain tried desperately to justify this oversight, even as it left him feeling bereft. He had wanted to hear their voice, even if he couldn't see them, even if he couldn't understand a word they said. That would have been enough.

He would have said, "I love you".

Void had his address, if they still remembered. It wouldn't be unreasonable that they had forgotten. They knew what University he attended, too. That and his name might get them reasonably far in finding him, if their Japanese was up to snuff. Though, honestly, the school would likely react poorly to someone trying to get information on a student like that. It was a sticky problem, and one the two of them had somewhat put off solving. If they did remember his address, they might one day make it here.

But their hotel was in Kyoto, as he recalled, and they weren't slated back in Tokyo for several days. For them to arrive this early...they would have had to be on the earliest shinkansen available, no doubt.

He peered through the peephole, and forgot to breath. That was-

That was Void.

For a moment, he forgot to move, and then he flung the door open, staring at them.

They stared back at him for a moment, taking him in. They were a mess - they were panting, taking deep, heaving breaths. Their hair was pulled back, but several strands had come free, sticking out at unattractive angles. They had a backpack on, and a suitcase beside them, their jacket practically falling off one of their shoulders, if not for the backpack strap. Despite this, it was obvious who they were, even without the fox ears and tail.

"It's..." he struggled to recall his English. "It's actually..." he reached out a hand to touch their hair, brushing against their cheek. "...purple."

Void blinked, before breaking into a wide smile, pressing their cheek to his hand. He could feel them shaking, and then a few giggles slipped through, and then they were laughing and wrapping their arms around him, and he was laughing too.

"愛してる!" They said between laughs, repeating it over and over until it become muddled.

"I love you," he said in turn, burying his face in their hair for a moment and taking a deep breath. They stood still, holding him, eyes closed. They smelled different, but that was to be expected. He liked this smell, too. "お帰り, Void."

They blinked, before breaking into a wide grin. "ただいま, Shiroe! Ah, well..." They looked down for a moment, expression sheepish. Shiroe wondered if they thought they'd misspoke - they hadn't. "ただいま, Kei-kun..."

He stared as they met his gaze, feeling as if his heart was going to burst out of his chest. To hear them say his name like that...it all hit him that this was real . Void - Wendy - was really here. He hadn't lost them. They were here .

"Wendy," he breathed out, before ushering them and their luggage inside.

And once the door closed, without hesitation, he kissed them.

He almost missed - those missing 3 cm of height threw him off, for a task he had only ever completed in Elder Tale. But once his lips connected with theirs, they fit together perfectly, exactly as he remembered.

"Wendy," he mumbled as he pulled back from the kiss. "You are...here. How?"

"これ!" They held a notebook up triumphantly. He stared at it for a moment.

"あああ…そうですね." It appeared to be directions in English to his place, with multiple times listed out for each train.

"これは!" They said pointing at one of the times. Kei looked closer. Oh! A shinkansen time table. And the specific time...

"とても早いですね," he said in shock."だからもうここに来たんですね."

"Eh?" Wendy blinked at him, smiling wide in total confusion, mouth open.

"あの...e-early," he replied, struggling to find the word.

"Mm!" Wendy nodded happily. "Yes."

"...why?" He felt almost stupid for asking such a question. Why . That made it sound almost like he wasn't happy to see them, like he wasn't blown away by the fact that they had come straight to him.

"I- 私-" They struggled. "I needed to see you. As soon as I could." They smiled sheepishly at him. 

He stared at them, his entire body burning. He didn't need to understand perfectly to get what they meant, to realize what it was they were saying to him. They had wanted to see him so badly, they had dropped everything to find him in Tokyo. It shouldn't have surprised him so much, after all they had been through together. But here, in this world, such a thing felt unthinkable.

"わかりますか?" Wendy asked after a moment, stumbling over the syllables with brow furrowed. "I mean, I-"

"はい," Shiroe replied, smiling bashfully at them. "わかりますよ, Wendy." He wanted to kiss them, but he wanted to cry, but he wanted to hold them, but he wanted to tell them everything he was feeling. He could not do all of that at once.

They looked at him with big, round eyes, and smiled with a soft, "oh".

He opened his mouth to speak again, to say something to tell them what that meant to him, but he found no words, least of all words they might understand.

"I love you," he said again. "I love you, Wendy."

He kissed them. And they kissed him back.

There was so much to resolve. There was so much to do. But for now, it was enough.