` If That's What It Takes `

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Petz stared at Saffir for a moment, allowing her question to hang heavy in the air. It was several seconds before the former prince raised his head, the water of the rain dripping from his saturated blue hair. "Konban wa, Petz... and don't call me prince. I don't lay claim to that title anymore."

"Did you ever?" snorted Petz, in what sounded like genuine anger. However, she stood back and allowed the man room to step inside. "Why don't you come join us, Saffir-sama? I must say, it's wonderful to see that you can still put up with us commoners."

Ignoring the sarcastic remark, Saffir shuffled inside, taking off the heavy jacket. Petz noticed with a degree of shock that he seemed to have lost a surprising amount of weight. However, she masked her surprise, and purposely kept her eyes averted from the three pairs she could feel burning into the back of her head.

"So," she said petulantly, purposely letting the word hang in the air, in an effort to prompt Saffir into making some kind of reply. However, this former prince was hardly one to be forced into anything. Instead, after removing his sodden shoes, he politely folded up his jacket, holding it draped over both arms. He then looked up wearily, and finally addressed the woman.

"Excuse me for intruding on you so late at night, I just... had to come and speak with you."

Petz's eyes flickered with a strange emotion for the briefest of moments before that cool cloak of detachment clouded her view once more. "It doesn't matter. Come in, Saffir, come in and join us."

Her barely veiled sarcasm and hostility caused her three younger sisters to exchange worried glances amongst themselves, but they didn't say a word as they hurriedly made their way into the living room. Petz brought up the rear, her arms crossed over her chest. The expression on her lovely face was decidedly furious, though none of her relatives could quite say why.

"Sit down," she more or less snapped at the blue-haired prince, who quietly accepted the less-than-philanthropic offer. Actually, it had been more of an order, but Saffir was so out of it he didn't seem to care.

She then spun around to face her sisters, her mouth set in a hard line. "Would you mind leaving us alone for a moment? I wish to have a word with Saffir -- in private, if you please."

Cooan opened her mouth to protest, but as Beruche ground her elbow into her chest, she had a remarkable change of heart. Calaveras quickly shoved her two younger siblings out the door, giving Petz a brief and harried look that was an assurance she would try to give them the privacy she desired.

As Petz quietly closed the door behind her departing sisters, the younger pair immediately fell into a frantic discussion as Calaveras more or less dragged them into her own room. "Look, would you two keep your voices down already?!"

"But he must be here from the Prince!" Cooan reiterated desperately, eyes wide and terrified. "I mean... we betrayed the family and the entire planet, didn't we?"

"Don't think like that!" Calaveras hissed, closing that particular door closed behind them as well. "We don't know that -- and besides, if they do court-martial us, they'll have to give us a trial first. There are always loopholes somewhere..."

Beruche sighed, long fingers picking nervously at her white braid. "We're as guilty as the man on the grassy knoll, Calaveras. Let's hail a cab and cruise down Real Street -- if Saffir-sama is here on judicial terms, we're in for it."

Calaveras sighed heavily and joined her sisters in sitting on the edge of her bed, burying her face in her hands. When she didn't reply to Beruche's optimistic statement, Cooan nervously broke that silence. "You know, Petz was behaving awfully weirdly... I think she's going to make it worse for us, if she keeps talking to him like that."

"She has good reason to, even if he's here to arrest us," Calaveras muttered, not looking up.

Beruche's brow furrowed, her azure eyes troubled. "How's that?"

The brunette sighed, her hands knotting together as she raised her head. "It's a long story... and not a particularly nice one, either..."

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"I think this is what you would call civil unrest," Rudra remarked in his apathetic voice, not looking at his companion as his cold blue eyes walked themselves over the projection. It illustrated the uneasiness of the population of the capital city of Omerna, the seat of Demando re'Adamant's power.

Serpentine moved his eyes from watching the well-defined profile of the Mooncat's "face" and looked back to the projection. "This troubles you, does it not?" He mouthed this rhetorical question even though he knew the answer -- for Rudra to come down out of his Tower of Law, something had to be amiss.

"Many things about this treaty trouble me," snorted the Prime Minister, sounding remarkably human in his newest tone of voice. For the first time in his association with the Siamese Mooncat, Serpentine saw genuine anger in his azure eyes. "It seems to me that Demando was not himself when he agreed to this particular travesty of a reconciliation."

"Because in satisfying the Earthen contingent, he has alienated his own people," Serpentine concluded quietly, echoing the thoughts that had flown about the planet since Demando had returned. As it stood then, no-one had really been expecting Demando to come right before the people and justify their defeat. He himself was mysteriously injured, not to mention coping with the completely unexpected death of his only brother. And he had never even told them why... about anything.

"Yes, but that's really the crux of the matter, isn't it?" Rudra asked quietly, his voice tinged with suspicion and slight anger as he picked up on Serpentine's thoughts. "Demando is hiding something from us."

The purple-haired man nodded slightly, looking down at his hands. He and Rudra were alone in this particular chamber, both seated at a long table with the projection before them. Their voices echoed eerily about the spacious chamber, but it didn't disturb Rudra on his high chair. "He has never explained to us anything that happened in the Twentieth century, aside from the fact he somehow found it in himself to withdraw our forces from Earth and hand it back to the now-awakened Empress."

Rudra nodded self-righteously. "He hasn't addressed the matters the people want him to address, and they grow uneasy. Demando is slipping."

This statement saddened Serpentine in ways he couldn't describe. Demando may have been acting more than a little strangely as of late, but the old respect was still there. This deterioration in his judgement and authority worried Serpentine, but what worried him more was Rudra's apathy to this. It was the belief of Serpentine that it was only a matter of time before the Mooncat got annoyed enough to do something about the situation himself.

"The forces are still being withdrawn from Earth," Rudra said in an unreadable voice. "They are streaming back into Nemesis from all over the blue planet... and it seems that no-one understands why it is they were ordered to hand back the land they claimed. They won it by virtue of their fighting skill and dedication, and they saw no reason why they should have to hand it back."

"However, the Prince of Nemesis had decreed it so; it had been a part of the peace treaty between Earth and Nemesis," Serpentine added softly, while in his mind he continued. And no-one can question his orders... yet.

Yes, and there are things that we still wonder, we who live under this cold and distant man... one thing that disturbs us, the people, is the fact that it is our remote and isolated Prince giving the orders. To the people, to us, Demando has forever been a God-like figure, thoughtful for his people but unable to come down amongst us. At first, we had not minded this; it had seemed essentially right. Demando had promised us things only a true divine could guarantee, therefore it seemed logical that the White Prince was almost a God himself.

"And therein lies the problem," Rudra said slowly, deliberately, continuing to vaguely hear the thoughts of the latest Field Marshal of the Nemesian army. Serpentine allowed himself only a second to wonder how it was that Rudra knew what he was thinking. Was he genuinely psychic, or just talented at reading people's faces and actions? "The most trusted people at Demando's side are all dead and gone." A small tic of a smile played at his cat mouth -- at least, it was what Serpentine assumed was a gesture of dark amusement. "And none of us know how or why."

Serpentine chose that moment to reflect back on the people so lost -- Rubius, Esmeraude, Saffir and the Wiseman. Of course there were others, but those four were the problem. No-one could really account for them, most especially the Wiseman and Saffir. Esmeraude and Rubius had been on the front lines of the twentieth century operation; their rarely mentioned deaths were hardly surprising. In war, there was always death, even of the most superior of commanders.

Saffir had been a Savant. There was no conceivable reason for the blue-haired physicist to have been anywhere near a place where he might be killed. Yes, his fierce loyalty to Demando was his driving force, and Serpentine suspected that the Blue Prince cared little for titles or power himself, or the accumulation thereof. As it stood, Saffir would fight only for his brother... and that would be the only reason Saffir would become any semblance of a warrior.

But there was the problem with that theory -- only Demando could order him into battle, but why would he do such a thing to his much cherished younger brother? It made no sense.

And the Wiseman and his jakozuishou... both up and vanished. No-one spoke of the mysterious counsellor anymore. From the way Demando had spoken of the Wiseman briefly on his return, Serpentine garnered the impression that the Wiseman had gotten himself executed for something amounting to treason. He had gone no further on that account; Serpentine couldn't blame him. A Prince would rarely speak of incidents of high treason; it was bad luck to do so.

Serpentine looked to the Mooncat, choosing his words carefully. "Do you think there is something suspicious about their deaths, Rudra-sama?"

"No, not really," he replied airily, though there was an atmosphere of sagacity about him. "Demando's real problems lie elsewhere -- and that is in the fact that he can't concentrate of matters of state for more than ten seconds before excusing himself and vanishing somewhere so that he can be alone." Rudra shook his head, obviously unamused by this. "The people are not impressed. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a revolution of one kind or another in the next few months."

Serpentine was aghast at this thought -- and at the apathetic look on Rudra's face. Why, he didn't even care!

When he thought about it, however, it made sense. Rudra was immortal, and over the past thousand years, as Prime Minister of Nemesis, he had seen many changes in the balance of power. The Mooncat probably even thought it was high time for a new revolution; he tired of such supreme superiority quickly. The thought of Rudra withdrawing his support of Demando made Serpentine feel quite ill; if such a monstrously bad thing happened, Nemesis would most assuredly plunge into the most bloody of civil wars.

The most disturbing fact, however, was that Demando must know this. And the essence of the matter was that he simply didn't care.

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Petz leaned against the closed door for a moment, her eyes locked on the bowed and soaked head of the Blue Prince whom she had once loved so well. For a second, she was so heartsick that she thought she was going to scream in agony. She had thought she would never see him again...

"So, Saffir," she managed finally, her voice dead yet angry. "You've finally dropped in for a visit." A twisted little smile crossed her features as she almost spat out her next words. "So, how's your brother?"

"I wouldn't know," replied Saffir, voice muffled as he refused to look up at his companion.

Petz snorted in open disbelief, throwing herself down in the chair opposite the former prince. "I find that a little hard to believe, Saffir."

"You're still going to have to believe it, though," he muttered, not looking up at her. "It's the truth."

She sensed almost immediately a raw pain in his words; it startled her right beyond belief. "You're not seriously meaning to imply that you don't know how your beloved brother is?" she asked disbelievingly, trying desperately not to laugh. "You, Demando-sama's incessant little shadow? Pull the other one, Saffir -- both of us know you're willing to give anything up for your brother."

An unspoken accusation hung heavy in the air between them as they sat in silence, Saffir still unable to look up at the green-haired woman he shared this space with.

Petz had to speak when it become clear Saffir was not going to say a word. She shifted in her chair, subconsciously straightening her messy hair with one hand. "I must say, Saffir, you have some gall, turning up on my doorstep."

He looked up at her from beneath tired eyelids, a small smile playing on his lips. "And I must say, Petz, you're remarkably rude for a woman who betrayed her clan."

She stiffened, her hands ceasing to move over her hair. "You're meaning to say that you've come here to place us under arrest?"

Saffir snorted. "Hardly. Think about it, Petz -- I just told you I haven't spoken to my brother in some time. Why would I be arresting you unless he had told me to, hmm?"

A bolt of anger shot through her heart at the scorn in his words. "Don't you tell me to think," she snapped, eyes flashing with anger. "All the time I've known you, you've told me to think in a voice that tells me how low you consider my intellect." She snorted in disgust, giving him one of her old glares, a glare she hadn't felt the urge to use since her healing. "It seems to me that you Savants are incredibly arrogant; none of us non-Savants are up to your standards, are we?" A bitter smile tinged her features as she stared directly into his eyes. "Well, except for your brother, that is."

Saffir rolled his eyes. "Oh, so it's the same old argument, isn't it? You sure know how to hold a grudge, Petz."

"Considering what you did to me, can you really hold that against me?" she snapped, her eyes narrowing. "Or have you forgotten already?"

The Savant openly laughed at that remark in disbelief. "Forget? Petz, as you've just pointed out, I am a Savant -- how could I possibly forget anything?"

"You certainly seemed to forget that you told me you loved me well enough, though," she accused in a low voice, her anger turning into pained frustration. "Didn't you?"

Saffir's pale face lost its anger as he took in the pained expression on her features. "Petz, there was a lot more to that than you're taking into consideration-"

"Yeah, but you take everything into consideration because you're a Savant and you know everything. Yeah, whatever, Saffir. Excuse me if I hit you; it's just a jilted-lover reflex."

"I see your temper is just as volatile as it always was," he mused almost thoughtfully, and he then sighed. "Yes, you've changed only a little, Petz."

"No, I've changed a lot -- it's just that you seem to bring out the worst in me, Saffir-sama," she replied, sarcastically emphasising the honorific. "It's probably because you always tried to change me when we were back on Nemesis... I was like the crystal that you loved to fashion into what you wanted it to be." She frowned as she leant her face closer to his, to give weight to her words. "Well, I won't change for anyone. Not even you, Saffir."

"As I discovered," he replied evenly, matching her fierce stare. "You know, Petz, we always were the odd couple. I think that perhaps my brother had a point after all."

"You must've thought he had a point in the first place," she shot back. "After all, you dumped me by the wayside when he told you to, didn't you? You're like a little puppy, running blindly into the dark when your master calls. Sometimes, I really wonder what I saw in you."

Saffir rolled his eyes, used to Petz's stinging words. She had always been outspoken and direct; it had been one of the things he had despised about her, tried to change. "I wonder what I saw in you sometimes, Petz. Sure, sometimes you could be soft, sweet... but most of the time, you were a right little bitch."

She cocked an eyebrow, primed for an argument. "Oh, I see you've lowered yourself to the point of cursing, Saffir. Now, there's a surprise -- isn't that awfully vulgar behaviour for a prince of your status? I would've thought your brother had trained you better..."

"Because I'm his little pet Savant and I listen to every word he says, right?" asked Saffir, repeating an old insult she had used against him.

She stood and moved to the window, trying desperately to contain her anger. "It seems so, Saffir. After all, you listened to him over me..."

Saffir looked down at his hands and sighed, his anger disintegrating. "I never did tell you how sorry I was, did I?"

"You're sorry about what happened?" she asked softly, her own anger vanishing as she heard the change in his mood. She did not turn away from staring out the window; consequently, Saffir did not see the tears glistening in her green eyes.

"I never meant for things to turn out that way," he replied softly, tone genuinely regretful. He laced his fingers together as he spoke, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice. The thing was, Petz simply wasn't capable of thinking the way he did; truthfully, only Savants could think in that logical, straight manner. He had to try and voice his logic in a more accessible way to those who weren't Savants, something he had always found next to impossible. "Look, Petz... you must have known from the beginning that we were too different to be together for long... you were a soldier, I was a Savant... you had a temper equalled only by your vanity, while I was a detached little mathematician who had emotions only for his beloved elder brother... we were just too different..."

"So you're saying we were doomed even before Demando-sama took it upon himself to separate us?" she asked softly, closing her eyes in agony. "Is that what you're saying?"

"I suppose so," he said gently, standing up slowly. He ambled carefully to her side, though he didn't look at her. Instead, he chose to stare out the window, following her gaze. "However, there really is no justifying the way I treated you."

"You hurt me, Saffir," she murmured softly, trying to fight back the tears that threatened to overflow from her flickering eyes. "I never forgot...

She bit her lip as the memory of his words came back to her, trying to fight back the tears.

Saffir sighed, the sound pained. "Petz, you know why I did it, don't you?"

"Because Demando thought our relationship frivolous and pointless," she muttered, not looking at him even now. "You made that clear enough -- your brother said "dump" and you did as ordered. Whatever your other faults, Saffir, I can at least say that you certainly know how to follow orders to the letter."

"I wanted to say sorry," he said finally, still not looking at her. "I know you probably don't believe me, and I can't blame you, but..."

"You're really sorry?" she asked sadly, finally turning to look at him.

He swivelled his head to meet her verdant eyes with his dusky blue, expression miserable. "You know, Petz, I can't work out why -- we're completely incompatible -- but..."

"But what?" she asked wearily, trying to fight the urge in herself to throw herself forward into his arms. Even though she knew that they were doomed, she couldn't help feeling those old, burning feelings for the younger brother of Prince Demando.

He bit his lip, his eyes bewildered and confused. "I really do love you."

The statement was so absurd she burst out laughing. However, she quickly shut up when she saw the expression on his face; he looked as if she had ripped out his heart and drop-kicked it into the waste disposal unit. "Gomen nasai, Saffir, but it's as you said... we're completely incompatible."

"It seems my brother is right, as usual," he muttered, causing a frown to cross Petz's face.

"You know, Saffir, I've never heard you say 'oniisan' with such... anger?" Her confusion was evident as she leant forward to scrutinise his features, trying to decipher what was going on. "Saffir, what's happened? Why are you here? And I don't mean at my apartment -- what are you doing in the twentieth century?"

"I live here," he stated clearly, though she heard the pain in the voice. "I live and work here."

"But... why?" she asked softly. "Are you doing something for your bro-"

"No," he snapped, the topic obviously a sensitive one. "As far as everyone is concerned, I'm just a normal human being... I have no ties to Nemesis."

"But... why?" she asked, completely baffled. "You, of all people, abandoning Nemesis and Demando-sama..."

"That's the way it goes sometimes," he replied softly, picking up his jacket from the chair. "I'm sorry to have disturbed you, Petz. It was just something I had to do."

She trailed him as he walked to the front door, eyes sad. "Apology accepted, Saffir. Though actually... I don't think I've ever forgiven you for the crystal garden."

He turned back to her, expression miserably amused. "Ah, the Garden. You know, I never apologised for that either, did I? Although I never realised what it meant to you until you screamed your accusations at me..."

She folded her arms over her chest, only vaguely amused. "Are you going to apologise for that, too?"

He stared at her for a second, his eyes clouded. "Gomen nasai," he whispered finally. "I can't give it to you even now, but..."

She watched in slight apprehension as he moved his fingers to the collar of his shirt, fishing around until he came up with a delicate gold chain. He undid the clasp and removed it from his neck, pulling up a slender pendant as he did so. He pressed it into her palm, closing her fingers over it softly. "I want you to keep this," he whispered, intense eyes meeting hers. "I kept it for so long, but it really belongs to you."

She nodded, continuing to meet those eyes solidly. "Thank you, Saffir... and even though you live here..."

"I won't bother you again," he said quietly. "I just wanted to apologise... and I wanted to tell you that I lied when I told you I had never loved you. You deserved better than the way I treated you."

"I appreciate it," she replied softly, watching as he put his shoes and jacket back on. He didn't say another word as he left, but his eyes spoke volumes.

"Saffir no baka," she whispered mournfully as she closed the door, trying to fight back the tears. The pain of his rejection of her was easier to bear now that he had apologised, but it didn't stop the pain of the love she still felt for him.

She really did begin to cry when she opened her palm to see the pendant of the necklace Saffir had obviously worn ever since he had made it.

It was herself -- a tiny quartz figurine of herself, and she knew without needing to be told that it came from Demando's crystal garden. The Crystal Garden, made so lovingly by Saffir for his brother, even though it had been Petz who wanted it so badly...

She placed the pendant around her neck even as she wept and turned to the inner recesses of the apartment. The real task still lay ahead -- she now had to face her three sisters.