I flew him for a long, long time.

I turned my head round from time to time to check up on him. Or, really, just because I wanted to see his pretty fucking face. But every time I looked at him, he was wide awake, curiously looking out the plane window at the landscape below, not a trace of the nausea or discomfort that had lined my first flights to be seen. Izuna was good at flying, and I wondered if that was something he had practiced during his military training as well, just as he had practiced shooting people.

I swallowed, trying to take my mind off the pain that was still lingering despite Izuna having treated me. Trying to talk my mind off the apartment where Izuna had done the treatment. What kind of place was that? Why did Izuna have access to it?

... Had he fucked another man in there?

Some things were best left for later. This was one of those things.

I tried to focus on the task ahead of me instead, which was to transport us a way away; far, far from the war. I wished I could take him to a turquoise beach where we could forget all of our problems, but that would take too long, of course, and we didn't have fuel for that. Despite, I didn't believe for a second that you left your problems behind you just because you moved yourself geographically. You brought your problems with you, no matter if you flew to the next street or to the other side of the earth.

But I needed a change of scenery. We needed a change of scenery. Everything that had happened between us... How could we recover if the backdrop of our recovery was the same as the backdrop of what we needed to recover from?

Izuna's face changed when the landscape did. It was as if a relief washed over him as the snow that he must associate with war was exchanged for beautiful autumn leaves. I was flying below cloud level, but suddenly, the sun shone through, and Izuna's face was the only thing brighter than it. I hadn't realised how long ago it was I saw that burning ball of fire in the sky. I wondered how long ago it was Izuna had seen it.

I landed us in a river surrounded by all that autumn fire, the safest way for me to land. Izuna didn't say anything or show any fear, my brave, brave boy. I climbed out and took Izuna's hand to help him out, and we swum ashore. The sun was warm; we would dry comfortably.

As soon as we came ashore, Izuna stood opposite me.

"Tobirama..."

There were tears in his eyes. I realised then magnitude of the situation we were in; we were reunited after I had been badly tortured, and he had saved my life. The tension between us was indescribable, and I was trembling out of desperation to take him into my arms.

"Izuna..."

I was filthy. I was covered in burns that were still leaking. I had lost hair. My clothes were torn and dirty. On top of it all, I hadn't prevented my own men from beating him up and had also tortured his brother. And he stood in front of me like an angel, like my saviour. How could he ever forgive me? How could I ever repay the debt I was in?

But Izuna had a heart of gold because he seemed able to see beyond that, and threw himself into my arms.

"I'm sorry!" he wailed. "I'm so sorry!"

"For what, stupid?" I asked, my voice wobbling with emotion, kissing the top of his head over and over.

"You are just following orders", Izuna said, crying. "Just as he was."

"Izuna, I need to explain..." I swallowed. "I need to explain about the torture of your brother. I'm not making excuses!" I added hurriedly. "I'm not saying this to make you like me any better. I just... I just need to tell someone and you're..." God, this was hard. "You're my only friend. The only one I trust."

And Izuna listened. He listened while I spoke about my desire for revenge that had made me sign up for the Air Force. He listened while I spoke about my struggles as a pilot. He listened while I explained how that desire for revenge had changed for something else, for anxiety and a feeling of extreme pressure and responsibility.

And I told him, I told him about the torture of his brother, how I had tried to keep the suffering to a minimum and how I had, finally, freed him.

Izuna didn't say anything. He just held me.

"Izuna..?"

He reached up and kissed me.

Through the ugly things I had done, through my destroyed appearance, through everything, he kissed me.

And this man's kisses could save lives and it had saved mine so many times.

We were fast. We tore at our wet clothes to get them off, my military jacket and trousers and his proper civilian. We kept kissing, the point of contact between us only broken when we needed to pull something over our heads.

We were naked within seconds. God, it felt so, so good to be naked with him. We kept kissing. He was moaning deliciously, pressing his body close to mine. I sat down, and he clambered onto my lap, moving his body in pretty waves above me without having me going inside him. His hands tracked my tattoos, and he followed the pathway his hands created with his lips. I leaned my head back and grunted; I loved his touch so much.

"I love them", he murmured, referring to my tattoos.

I put my finger beneath his chin.

"I love you, little bird."

I roamed his waist with my hands. He arched deliciously underneath them and underneath my words. I pulled his ponytail for a kiss, and he let himself be dominated with ease.

"I want you", Izuna whispered "I want you."

And I hesitated, and Izuna instantly felt it.

"Izuna..."

"What's wrong?" he asked, sounding so worried it made my heart crunch.

I turned to him and kissed him.

"Don't worry, I just..." I frowned and looked away. "I don't want to be in the Air Force anymore." There. There, I said it. "I don't want to be in the military at all. I want to retire, and have a normal job, and come home to you every night and cook for you and be a good man to you. I want to take care of you. I can't do that like this."

Izuna put a hand on my cheek. I looked at him, afraid to see disappointment. There was only understanding.

"You put too much responsibility on yourself. You saved my brother's life. You can't keep doing this to yourself. It's not your job."

I took his hand and kissed it.

"You know..." I began. "I've had this dream. I've had this dream of moving somewhere tropical. Somewhere warm." Where the sand smell of coconut and sugar. "Change of scenery, you know?" I looked at Izuna. "Would you come with me?"

"Yes", he said without a second's hesitation.

I stared at him. I had said it as a way to comfort us, but Izuna... His beautiful, kind brown eyes with the flecks of blue I loved so much looked eager.

"Really?"

"It sounds amazing. I'm a businessman; I can open shop anywhere. I have no idea what you can do, but I don't care. I don't need much."

And with this man in front of me, this forgiving, clever, wonderful man, everything seemed possible. I realised then that dreams were not meant to torture you; they were meant to be made into reality.

"I will go back", I said. "I will go back and resign. Then, I'll come back for you." I grabbed his chin and forced his lips close to mine. I took a handful of his thigh with my other hand and squeezed suggestively. "To be your man. And to finish what I started."

We kissed again, my body aching for him, yet calm in the knowledge that when I could finally, finally be one with him again, I would be a free man.