The Twelve Days of Christmas

THE FIFTH DAY

Requested by: Namine-YaoiLover

Prompt: Japanvisits Hawaiiand reminisces on the past with America

Alfred had to admit, Kiku’s suggestion that they spend Christmas in Hawaiicertainly had its benefits.  The American was fond of snow but only in carefully controlled quantities for the shortest duration possible.  Somehow the childish joy of romping through the powdery white faded in the wake of freezing temperatures and icicles forming between his fingers as he trudged to the supermarket for something warm.

No, strolling down the docks of Oahuhand in hand with his Japanese lover was a definite improvement.  They should holiday here more often in the winter.

“I do not think I have been here before but somehow this place looks familiar.”

The younger man blinked down at his Asian boyfriend but Kiku’s attention was focused on the ships docked a few dozen yards away.  These were not merchant vessels and the Japanese man regarded each battleship in turn, silently trying to understand the connection to what felt like a repressed memory.

“This is Pearl Harbor.”

Although Kiku was prone to withholding all emotion under normal circumstances even Alfred could see a moment of understanding cross the Japanese man’s face before he bowed his head in what appeared to be shame.  There would be soldiers here this time of year, some new but many long retired and seeking only to pay their respects to a generation of men that had passed away in a single moment of fire and shrapnel.  These men had died in battle before they even realized that war had come knocking on their doorstep.

“Perhaps...I should not be here, Alfred.”

“The past is way behind us, dude.”  The American grinned and even wrapped his arms around Kiku’s waist to prevent the nervous Asian from trying to leave.  “We’ve both made a hell of a lotta mistakes in our lives.  I think it’s time we let that shit go and focus on the future.  What good is the past if you can’t learn a damn thing from it and prevent the same shit from happening again?”

It wasn’t very poetic, but something about the blunt and yet completely honest way that Alfred discussed Japan’s bombing of the USS Arizona and the loss of thirteen hundred lives in a single day was refreshing to his lover.  For being a country deeply focused on history and self-awareness, the Japanese didn’t often discuss the more unpleasant chapters in their history books.

Even today Yaotraded with Kiku only out of necessity while giving him the coldest looks imaginable under social circumstances.  There were times when the younger Asian wondered if honoring their ancestors who had died during Chinese occupation was even worth the mounting tension between him and his brother, but tradition was deeply rooted in Japanese society and the Yasukuni Shrine infallibly commanded the worship of each Prime Minister that came to power while the Chinese watched in disgust.

How then?  How in the world could Alfred forgive him for the Japanese massacre of innocent American lives while Yaomaintained his own grudge fifty years later?

“It is hard to believe that you would forgive me enough to welcome me back to this place.”

“Dude, I freaking love you.  That means ALL of you, past and present.  You know I’d be a lot less happy if I didn’t have you here in my life, right?  My hands aren’t clean either, Kiku.  You gotta take life’s lessons as they come and realize that there’s nothing bad in making a mistake as long as you learn a lesson from it.  That’s the problem with other countries, man, they can’t get over the fucking past and just move on.”

Alfred had a crude way of talking sometimes but the Japanese man actually found it rather endearing after more than a decade as lovers.  They had become codependent in a way, and although the mere thought of having such a weakness would have been deemed unacceptable during the last Great War now it hardly seemed like a negative aspect of their relationship at all.  He was deeply in love with the brash American.

“What did you want for Christmas, Alfred?”

“Sex.”

The Japanese man paused walking to stare up at his lover in shocked silence but Alfred only grinned with a twinkle in his eye.  It was way too much fun to say randomly unexpected things in Kiku’s presence.  The expression on his usually stoic lover’s face made it always worth it.

“I…I was being serious, Alfred.”

“So was I.”

“…Did Arthur ever teach you a bit of shame or tact in your childhood?”

“Nope!”

Kiku shook his head but the corners of his lips were quirked upwards in a tiny smile.