Akatsuki (Magi Ja'far X Fem Reader)

(Y/n)

I'm not sure what it was in those words that made me use my voice for the first time in days to tell him something that I haven't been called for years.

My name.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was just an errand to deliver some things to an official visiting Sindria. I never expected the beautiful sight that outshone the mansion's grandeur. As the gentle waves spread through the blue-green waters, a little smile also began spreading across my face.

When Ja'far asked me if I was okay, I covered my mouth. I still couldn't get that stupid smile off my face. Focusing on hiding my smile was probably why I failed to stop my bird from falling into the water.

"Look! I can see its head!" Ja'far yelled.

He wasn't even halfway through his sentence before my shoes were off and I jumped out of the window and into the water. Cool water rushed up my face. For a second, I panicked, remembering myself drowning in a bucket of icy water. Then I open my eyes.

Colourful seaweed and coral decorated the white sand, which gently shifted along with the waves. A school of silver fish swam amongst the seaweed. A lattice of sunlight rippled over it all.

Just then, I spotted an out-of-place bundle of feathers and swam towards it before finally heading to the surface for air. I turned when I heard Ja'far splash into the water nearby.

"Are you crazy?" he yelled.

"I got the bird," I said, holding up the drenched fluffy ball that was still chirping cheerfully at me.

Since his robe was weighing him down, I led him to the shallow part of the water close to the shore, where we tried to dry ourselves off. Sadly, that attempt was in vain because I failed to hide my snicker when I see Ja'far jumping away from a wave.

I froze in surprise when he splashed me with water. I smirk. "So that's how it is, huh?" I thought. We splashed each other with water until we were completely soaked. A water fight, how childish! But...it was the most fun I'd had in a long time.

Then I started laughing. A full-blown laugh that made me bend over and hold my hurting stomach. The kind of laugh that probably sounded embarrassing and made me look ridiculous.

But out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Ja'far blushing. "Wow. He sure looks cute when he's blushing," I caught myself thinking. "Come on. Let's head back. It's getting late," he said, running a hand through his soaked hair.

The 'hai' I replied with sounded much softer and happier than it usually was.

~~~~~~~~~~

"You're going to catch a cold," Ja'far said, trying to cover me with his robe for the fifth time. I shook him off stubbornly. 

"Come on, (y/n). Just take the stupid robe!"

"No. There's no need for you to be a gentleman."

"Take it,"

"No!"

"Your bird's going to get cold!"

"Fine!"

After quite some fighting, we were both half-wrapped in Ja'far's robe. A vein popped up in his forehead. "(Y/n), why do you have to be so stubborn?" he muttered. "Shut up, you're going to catch a cold too!" I whispered back. 

We half-argued, half-waddled back to the palace, half-covered by a single damp robe.

~~~~~~~~~~

I looked up as the fireworks went off, makeshift stars of white, red, yellow, green, and purple shooting fast across the sky, as if someone was throwing giant handfuls of coloured powder at the dark canvas of the night.

Wait...why am I so enraptured by these fireworks? I'd seen much grander fireworks back in Kou, except this time, I helped make them. Sure, I only gave the dark-skinned man a few tips about gunpowder, but the thought that I could play a role in making something so beautiful filled me with a happiness that I never thought I could feel again. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

I glared down at Ja'far, who was sitting at his desk ready to finish the paperwork. You'd think that after the festival and the powder fight and the fireworks and all that, he would loosen up. Yamuraiha wasn't kidding when she said I needed to take care of him.

I picked up a stack of papers, sat on the floor and began to read. After all, I did tell him that as long as he kept working, I'd keep working too. But that night, I was just too tired to keep my promise.

And again, the nightmares clawed their way through my sleep. But this time, I woke up to see Ja'far staring at me.

"Crap! He saw!" I thought.

"Uh...do you want to stay here?" he asked.

I shouldn't. I don't want him to see any more of that. I shouldn't bother him.

I nodded, accepting the offer.

I dozed off several times during the night. Every time, the nightmares would come again. And every time, I felt Ja'far's hand on my shoulder, pulling me back into the odd comfort of the calm Sindrian night.

~~~~~~~~~~

I looked up at the Kou empire flag on top of a very familiar-looking ship – the royal ship. "Hey! It's you!" an even more familiar voice exclaimed.

I turned to see Kouha Ren approaching us. "I've been looking for you!" he said. "Come on, I can take you back to Kou-" he stopped mid-sentence.

"Kouha-sama. My deepest apologies, but I request for you to let me stay in Sindria. Thank you for coming all this way for me," the words came out of my mouth before I could really think about them. Why? I don't usually say things like this. Then I realised, those words were how I really felt in my heart. I realised that I didn't want to leave Sindria, the place where I sparred with the king and his officials, the place where I could stay up late with Ja'far, the place where I could laugh a full-blown laugh, the place where I could speak from my heart.

"Very well. I'll let you stay."

I bowed gratefully in front of Kouha Ren while my friends celebrated behind me.

"I must say, your eyes sure have changed since the last time I saw you," the prince said before finally returning to the ship. But as my friends squeezed me into a group hug, the joy in my heart quickly dissipated, for leaning against the ship's doorway was Judal.

~~~~~~~~~~

I stood behind Ja'far as he scribbled away at his desk, catching the familiar sound of his pen scratching against paper, a sound that I knew would soon stop.

"Kill him," was the message Judal had mouthed to me. I knew who he was talking about. Back in the Kou palace, he'd said casually, "Man, it sure would be great if we could kill Sinbad. But instead, you're going to have to save him first to keep things from getting too messy. Besides, if we really wanted to kill the king, there's something we must do first."

I pulled a knife out of my sleeve, his words ringing through my head.

"Kill the man closest to him."

I grit my teeth, fumbling with the knife before gripping it tightly, blood beginning to seep out of my reopened wounds. You are a soldier of Al Thamen. Nothing else.

Screaming inside, I lunged at my target. 

Author's Note: Feel free to give me feedback/comment on any grammar mistakes or typos. Thank you to everyone following this fanfiction. I really appreciate it!