Fic: Tale as old as Time (6/6)

[starsandsea]

Title: Tale as old as Time (6/6)
Rating: PG
Pairing/Characters: Bruce/Clark, Alfred, Dick
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Author's Note: For bradygirl_12's birthday. Previous parts can be found Here. Unbetaed, so point and I shall correct.



Bruce opened his eyes slowly. There were bright stars above his head. He blinked at them.

"Bruce?" Dick's voice. He looked away from the stars to see his son standing by his side, face alight with joy. Bruce raised his arm to touch him, then stopped and stared at it. His arm... it was human. He sat up and stared at himself. It was... it was gone! All the fur, the wings... they were gone, replaced with his old skin. The curse had been broken! Bruce took a gasping breath, laughing in disbelief. Dick hugged him tightly. Bruce wrapped his arms about him, and hugged his son for the first time in years. Dick was laughing too. Alfred was standing behind him, a delighted smile upon his face. Bruce slowly pulled away from Dick's embrace to see Clark, several paces away, staring at him in shock and confusion.

"Clark." Bruce held a hand out to him, the man who had saved his life, when he had finally given up, when he knew the last petal would fall today.

"B-Bat?"

Bruce slowly stood up, keeping the dark mass of material that Alfred must have placed over his naked body close. "Yes. Or at least I was. But you..." He broke off in wonder. "You broke the curse," he whispered, awed. He moved closer to Clark, who still looked confused. Bruce reached out and caressed his face with his fingers, staring into Clark's amazing eyes.

"B-Bruce?" Clark barely breathed.

Bruce nodded, face alight in wonder still. "Yes. Yes, that's my name."

Clark gently reached out and touched his face, his hair. Bruce closed his eyes and whimpered softly. Clark's hand was shaking. Bruce couldn't resist. It had been so long since he had been touched. He pressed his lips to Clark's gently, feeling him slowly start to respond. He broke away lingeringly, opening his eyes to stare at him in amazement.

"You freed me."

"Bruce..." Clark shook his head. "You're a prince."

Bruce nodded slowly. But... he didn't think he had much of a kingdom left. If at all. From what Clark had told him, Gotham was a name from the past, not the present.

"The tales are true?" Clark whispered in disbelief.

"I don't know. I don't know what tales there are. But I know that I love you."

Clark stared at him. "Bat. Bruce..." Clark leaned in to kiss him this time. They broke apart to laughter. Dick was dancing at their sides. Bruce laughed with him, his arms about Clark, seeing the castle returned to it's former glory. Clark joined their laughter, kissing his forehead, staring at him in amazement. Alfred was smiling on the sidelines. Bruce looked from his son to his lover, grinning. He softly kissed Clark again. He was free at last!

Comments

[saavikam77.livejournal.com]

Yaaaaayyy!!! *twirls* ^_^

Oh, Clark, of course he's a prince!! :D

I'm so filled with warm fuzzies from this. *sigh* Beautiful job, hon!!

[svgurl.livejournal.com]

omg! what a wonderful ending to an absolutely marvelous fic. i love clark's reactions. it was so cute. :D and they're together. i love happy endings! :D

thanks so much for writing this and sharing it with us!

[tmelange.livejournal.com]

Wonderful, beautiful ending! Congratulations on completing this story. I truly enjoyed reading this, and thank you for sharing. :)

[greeneyelove.livejournal.com]

This is a classic happy ending that is wonderful and leaves me feeling warm inside and smiling. I loved this fic. His true love set him free!

[bradygirl_12]

Oh, my! How lovely, Star! :)

Clark's bewilderment was a delight, and Bruce's joy was wondrous to see, as was Dick's and Alfred's.

I have no doubt that Bruce will have a kingdom again, even it's just the estate, and this fairy tale truly deserves a 'Happily Ever After'. :)

Thanks again for such a wonderful birthday fic! *hugs*

[cavaleira.livejournal.com]

Awww, this was such a sweet ending! I'm glad that Clark broke the curse and now they can live out their fairytale ending. Great job with this story, it was a great read!

[dm-wyatt.livejournal.com]

Aw...

*sigh*

So sweet!

[jij.livejournal.com]

Oh, shifting POV to Bruce here worked really well! It was so great to finally see in side his head after five chapters of only seeing him "from the outside" so to speak.

Bruce held a hand out to him, the man who had saved his life, when he had finally given up, when he knew the last petal would fall today.

Aw! I had wondered why Bruce was so gloomy in the last chapter, but I hadn't realized he was having his final doom...and so stoically, just like Bruce. *pets him*

"I don't know. I don't know what tales there are. But I know that I love you."

I love the simplicity and poetry of these lines, they ring really well! Great job! *hugs*

[supercaptain182.livejournal.com]

Beautiful! I loved the progression and romantic ending. Fantastic job!

[ladybugkay.livejournal.com]

What a lovely way to wrap this story up. I love fairy tales, and when you combine it with DC, it's all kinds of wonderful.

[arch-schatten.livejournal.com]

Awww! It's over, noooo! Lol, I gobbled at the chapter in one sitting last night, so I guess I'm just greedy :P

"I don't know. I don't know what tales there are. But I know that I love you."

I feel so sad for Gotham! a thing of the past, aww :( I love how... magical that turn of phrase is, how simple but... kind of far-away, I don't know, Bruce not knowing how long has it been, what are the tales, what has happened, but knowing that this man that has fortuitously found his way into his home is vital to him. So pretty! Thank you so much for sharing this, Star! It was lovely :)

[crimsonquills.livejournal.com]

I love Beauty and the Beast adaptions, and Bruce and Clark fit into the frame so well! I confess, I wished for a little bit more togetherness between Bruce and Clark at the end, but what we got was so sweet and wonderful and romantic, I only wished a little. :-) Thanks for sharing!

[x-pixilated-x.livejournal.com]

oooooo I loved this so much! and the ending XD *is incoherent*
You did a great job! well done :)

[paxwolf.livejournal.com]

Hi, Star - I was trying to catch up on fics for the WFAs, and this was one of the stories I read - you were recced, actually! And I can see why! This was the most unique S/B AU I've read, and one of the most sweet. As a fan of fairy tales, and as a fan of S/B, I think you did a beautiful job of capturing the essence of both. Lovely work. Thanks for making me smile. :-)

[xj-t.livejournal.com]

He was free at last!
Yay! Beauty and Beast is my favourite fairytale!
I really love the living room scene, Bruce was so gentle when he read to Dick. :D
This is great!