`
If That's What It Takes `a
a aBy Celeste Goodchild
a
a aPart Eleven - I Love You, Always Forever
a
a aUsagi turned to give her friend a concerned look as the two blonde Senshi made their way down the stone staircase, Luna following her gaze from Usagi's shoulder. "Minako-chan? Is something wrong?"
The other blonde jumped, nearly knocking Artemis off her own shoulder. "Huh?" she asked, blinking wide, baby-blue eyes in her surprise.
Usagi frowned slightly even as Luna spoke up. "You're really troubled about this whole Prince Demando thing, aren't you?"
For the briefest of moments, Minako considered lying about it. However, the three pairs of eyes looking at her, two blue and one brown, were too concerned and honest for her to go against. With a sigh, she nodded. "I know I shouldn't care -- and I don't, not really. It's just that... he looks so sad, all the time. And I can't describe what I saw happen when he saw that man wake up before... it was suddenly as if his pain fell away from him... but it came back the second Saburo or whoever he is pushed him away." She chewed thoughtfully on her lower lip, looking more than a little disturbed. "I don't know what it is, really... maybe I just feel sorry for him, but it's just... they just seemed so right together."
Artemis gave her a sadly speculative look. Minako thought altogether far too much with her heart... and he had the feeling it would only lead her into trouble. What really disturbed him, however, was that if Minako got into trouble, her feline companion would inevitably end up in it as well.
For not the first time, Artemis began to wish fervently that he and Luna had gotten different assignments, even if that meant he would end up with Usagi as his charge. Well, that was until Usagi saw Mamoru and ran screeching to his side to hug him, succeeding in squishing the little cat firmly between them.
Artemis rolled his eyes, but he was smiling, for where would they be without clumsy Usagi?
a
a aDemando moved through his antechambers, his eyes angry and miserable, yet somehow resigned. In his quick and forensic mind, he was repeatedly going over the incident that he had just been party to. His emotions flickered back and forth between a grand variety of emotions, never pausing over one for even the briefest of moments.
His brother, his beloved, sweet, reasonable, younger brother had turned on him... Saffir had rejected Demando, told him to forget him just as Saffir had already forgotten him. The absurdity of it make Demando want to scream. It was impossible! Why would he do such a thing?
Knotting his hands together as he sat in his chair, Demando fought through his pain in the way he had always done it -- he pushed it aside and brought to mind more calming, more logical and reasonable topics... inevitably, these topics were his state, his kingdom...
But even as he thought of his kingdom, he realised a terrible truth; there was nothing about Nemesis that was reasonable anymore. The people were in an uproar; even though there had yet to be any obvious manifestations of their anger and feelings of betrayal -- they had lost a war they had thought they'd won -- it was only a matter of time before something went horribly wrong. Demando knew this; it depressed and then angered him to realise how blind he had been.
Yes, and look what my blindness has cost me! I was right when I told Saffir I was selfish; I have forsaken my people in my own misery, and have so forgotten the true place of the White Prince of Nemesis.
"Demando."
The Prince started at his name; he turned the chair from the over-sized monitor to observe quietly the cat who stood in the open door of his chambers. "Rudra-sama," he finally said, very carefully. It had not escaped Demando's sharp mind that Rudra had not used an honorific with his name... and it also bore noting that Rudra was spending a remarkable amount of time away from his Tower of Law. Rudra was not well known for leaving his private bastion; the fact that Rudra spent more and more of his time in the Citadel indicated that trouble was bubbling away quite nicely.
"I wish to speak with you about the Tower Avatars," Rudra said clearly, moving into the room with his usual inhuman grace and feline arrogance. It never ceased to amaze Demando, the presence and manner of this cat. The Mooncat commanded respect and instilled fear by merely blinking his azure eyes; it wasn't just his age that did it, either. Rudra's presence was just as ingrained in him as was Demando's ambition and need for vengeance.
He sighed, leaning back in the chair, subconsciously aware that this was a habit favoured by his little brother. "You had to come to my personal study to do it? Why, I'm surprised, Rudra-sama -- why didn't you call me to the Tower of Law?"
"Don't you get smarmy with me," Rudra stated in a cold voice, the words causing Demando to frown. Rudra almost never got angry -- anger clouded one's judgement, which was why Demando found his hair-trigger temper to be a liability on more than one occasion. "I was not responsible for the well-being of the four sisters... I do believe that you left that particular assignment to your recently-deceased Grand Admiral."
"What are you meaning to imply, Rudra?" asked Demando tiredly, not particularly in the mood for the Mooncat's games. Rudra was well-known for dancing about the subject at hand; whether he did it to provoke his audience to actually think or for his own amusement was debatable.
The Mooncat widened his cold blue eyes, feigning innocence. The gesture alone made Demando shudder; the following sweetly-spoken words only compounded his unease. "I'm not meaning to imply anything, Demando-sama."
The Prince cast a brief look back at the latest economic projections, sighed, and looked back to Rudra. "What do you want to tell me, Rudra-sama?" he asked wearily, recognising the direction of this conversation. It was an old one; Rudra liked to bring up matters of importance without actually speaking them aloud himself. However, Demando was not in the mood for his hints and games.
The Mooncat did not seem at all put-out by Demando's silent refusal to "play ball." Instead, he seemed to smile. Demando swore that if he could have done it, Rudra would have arched one eyebrow in amusement and actually laughed. "The Tower Avatars are gone, Demando-sama -- what else is there to say?"
Oh Gods, I didn't even think about that...
Wincing as he carefully blinked his eyes several times, Demando looked directly at the Mooncat. "So they are," he said finally, trying to hide his sudden panic. He had never really even considered the implications of the desertion of the Sisters. It went without saying that wherever they now were, they couldn't manifest the powers as the Avatars. However, that didn't explain what would now happen to the Towers themselves, without the Avatars who personified them. Suddenly tired of the complications of Nemesian politics, he swept his papers off the desk and onto the floor in a gesture of helplessness and frustration. "I suppose we'll just have to get some new ones then."
Rudra almost burst out laughing, the suggestion was so absurd. Why, the Avatars were like the Senshi; they too personified the powers of the planet, and it was not something just anyone could do. If such a thing were possible, someone would have long ago stolen a Senshi's henshin wand and crushed her with her own attack. No, such power belonged only to the ones the power deemed worthy... and they were gone.
"And how do you propose we go about such a thing?" asked Rudra carefully, his feline face quite unable to show the emotions that were obviously roiling about in his calculating brain. "Demando-sama?" he implored somewhat nastily, the honorific less than complaisant.
"Are you meaning to say that I am going to have to do this myself?" he asked slowly, distinctly. His anger was yet to manifest itself in any noticeable way, yet Rudra could pick up on the inherent negativity of the shiroi oujisama.
Rudra almost shrugged -- indeed, it is difficult to say whether a cat can shrug or not -- his face unreadable as always. "I think it may be a tad difficult for you, actually."
That was an unwise comment to make; Rudra saw that seconds after the words left his mouth, which was by then far too late. Demando stood in a fine rage, his violet eyes flashing with anger that he had never before revealed in front of the Prime Minister.
"If it's such a difficult task, why don't you do it, oh great and wise Rudra-sama?" His face contorted in anger once more as he spun on his heel and stomped from the room, his cape flaring behind him as if caught in an ungodly wind. The door slammed shut with only the force of Demando's magic, though this childish display did not surprise the Mooncat at all. Demando's temper was legendary (even though Rudra had never before borne witness to it himself); it was the top reason why those in his service constantly changed as he fired and hired people in his typical rages, like a madman.
Rudra watched Demando leave with irritation, a rare emotion for the Mooncat. Typically, it would have taken a lot more than a bit of lip from Demando to rile him, but as it stood, things were not ordinary in this day and age.
Rudra's eyes narrowed as he considered Demando's movements. From the trace energies he sensed, Demando had gone a lot further than the inner recesses of his citadel for his solitude. The Mooncat, long accustomed to the ins and outs of magic, recognised the trace energy of a timeslide -- Demando had left Nemesis and the thirtieth century entirely.
The suspicions of the Prime Minister had been growing for a long time; Demando did not go to the twentieth century merely to escape the pressures of his life here. That was simply not in Demando's nature; he didn't run away from his problems. He stayed to fight them out, generally by force. No, Demando was not running away -- he was running to something. The real question was what was he running to?
A thought occurred to Rudra, a thought that made him both apprehensive and annoyed. The only solution to this mystery involved someone going back in time to follow Demando and actually see what he was getting up to back there. However, Rudra did not trust anyone to carry this task out to his high standards... or without getting themselves caught, either.
The very idea of leaving his Tower of Law and timesliding was enough to make the Mooncat feel physically ill; he was not a field agent, not in any sense of the word. But if one wants something done right, one has to do it themselves. He was well-aware he was going to have to take a familiar with him, for a speaking cat might raise a few eyebrows... and aside from that, there were several other problems...
Rudra began to plot in earnest.
a
a aThe chamber was calm and collected, tidy and organised in precise and logical lines. That did not surprise her in the least; the man whose study she stood in was well-known for such correlation of his personal belongings. He was, after all, a Savant; a statistical and mathematical prodigy. Even though he adored the Chaos Theory and was a firm believer in the precept that nature moved towards disorder, Saffir re'Adamant kept his chambers almost painfully tidy.
Petz could see him outlined in the silver light of one of his computer monitors, his pale beauty even more starkly so. His skin was as pale as her own; his dusky blue eyes stood out dramatically against this pale flesh. Long and nimble fingers moved slowly over the object he held so carefully in his hand, as if he were examining every minute detail.
He did not notice her; Petz found that alone disturbing. Typically, while in his study, Saffir would be working away quietly and furiously with his beloved numbers. Disturbing him only took so much as walking past his door, let alone opening it and venturing into the room, just as Petz had done.
Yes, Saffir did not spend his days playing with flickering objects; he did not fail to notice people entering his presence. It made Petz frown to see him do it now. With careful, precise steps, the tall green-haired woman moved to stand at Saffir's left, before one of his many monitors. He was parallel to the screen, leaning back in the chair absently as he continued to finger the figurine in his hands.
He looked up almost as an after-thought when he heard the distinctive click of her heels against the cold marble floor. His expression was unreadable as he looked up at her. It was obvious what he was thinking.
Petz had been doing this to him for quite some time now. She made little secret of the fact that she had, apparently, fallen in love with him. He could simply count himself lucky, however, that Petz was unable to actually follow him around the way he imagined she would if given half a chance. The problem there was that Saffir was Demando's shadow, and it was next to impossible to find Saffir outside of his brother's audience chamber.
Unless one knew where to look. His study -- quietly away from the rest of the living in a rarely-visited sector of the White Tower, the division of the citadel which was the home of Demando and his inner clique -- was next to impossible to find unless one knew exactly where to look for it. Invariably one would find Saffir here, unless he had some immediate and pressing duty as Lord Savant to the White Prince.
Occasionally, Saffir wondered how she had ever found her way here, though he was far too polite to actually ask. Truthfully speaking, it embarrassed him to know that Petz was indeed serious enough about what Demando dismissed as a "fleeting infatuation" to try and find him alone.
Looking up at her tiredly -- Saffir needed his sleep, and he hadn't been getting enough of that as of late -- he tried to smile in a friendly manner, but really failed miserably. The Savant was known to smile only very rarely, and then it was only in the presence of his elder brother.
Petz swallowed, shifting uncomfortably on her heeled feet. "Excuse me for interrupting, Saffir-sama, I was just... wandering past, and I thought I might drop by and say hello..."
The excuse sounded lame, even to her ears; she dreaded to think how it must have sounded to Saffir. However, the Savant kept his emotions carefully in check, his face completely unreadable as he blinked once before speaking. As his eyes came back into focus, Petz had to sigh; Gods, they were beautiful! They were the colour of an ocean at twilight, a calm and peaceful Grecian ocean that looked so solid one should be able to walk on it.
"It's nice to see you, Petz," he stated carefully, his voice its usual unintelligible tone. Inside, he was confused, almost saddened. For months, she had been doing this; following him about, dropping in at odd moments just because she "chanced by." Saffir knew quite well how unlikely that was -- this wing of the White Tower was frequented by two people only, both of them princes -- but he had never pulled her up on it. Even though he knew in his deepest heart this could go nowhere, he couldn't bring himself to shatter that shy smile by telling her to leave him alone. Frankly, it amazed him, this change in the vindictive woman's behaviour. From some of the stories Rubius had told him about the four Tower Avatars, they were crafty, vicious little monsters when they felt the urge to be, which was often. Petz was in fact the first Avatar he had really spoken to, for Saffir rarely spoke to people outside of his brother's closest counsellors. That was just another facet of the Blue Prince that both frustrated and enchanted the people of the White Prince; the fact that he was rarely seen, and never without the presence of his elder brother.
"What's that?" she asked with false brightness, indicating the small statuette he held loosely in his gloved hands. Her heart was painfully twisted as she realised Saffir did not seem at all enthused at her appearance on his doorstep.
Saffir was uncomfortable as Petz leaned down over him, reaching with one gloved hand to run a finger down the smooth lines of the crystal. She was altogether too close for his liking; it reminded him of the only time that he had let Petz kiss him, that tentative kiss in the chamber that housed the jakozuishou. She had believed that she had had him then, but he had again pushed her away, not wanting to involve himself in such a relationship. She didn't entirely understand why; it seemed that there was indeed not enough room in his heart to love two people so completely after all.
She carefully took the crystal from his unprotesting fingers, looking at it carefully and with no small admiration. "Did you make this, Saffir?"
"Yes," he replied softly, gently taking it back. "It is part of a series of little baubles I'm working on..."
Petz frowned slightly, both enchanted and surprised by this odd display of Saffir's artistic talent. She watched with curiosity as he carefully, lovingly placed the model Indian elephant down on the desk, beside one of his keyboards. His gaze lingered over it until Petz spoke again. "I never knew that you liked to make models, Saffir-sama... I mean, I knew you could shape crystal, but I didn't know you did it outside of business-type work..."
"Everyone has their hobbies," Saffir remarked softly, his midnight blue eyes now trained on Petz's dark emerald. "It makes me happy."
And few things make you happy, isn't that right Saffir? The thought was bitter and saddened; Petz was well-aware that while his continued and continuous love for his brother had once been admirable, now it was going a little bit too far. Saffir obviously objected to many of the things that went on in his brother's mind in regards to this war, but he never really tried to change things, because he loved and trusted him. But it seemed to Petz that Demando was getting to the stage where he didn't need his brother as much as Saffir apparently needed him.
"Can I see the rest of your work?" she asked suddenly, resisting the sudden urge to take his hands in hers and pull him to his feet.
His eyes were wide as he looked up at her from the chair, obviously somewhat baffled by this unusual request. "You want to see my work?"
Petz swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded, quite unable to speak. The reason for this was simple; Saffir was looking at her in a way that he had never used before. He actually looked at her and saw someone equal to himself. That was one mannerism of the Blue Prince that the people found unnerving; even though she suspected he didn't always mean to do it, he tended to place himself above the more common people. The shock of seeing him look at her as an equal almost made her want to weep with joy; finally, she had gotten just that little bit further through the walls he had built around his heart!
Saffir looked down at his hands -- talented fingers caught in the blue of his gloves -- seemingly a little embarrassed. "Petz, I've never shown my little Garden to anyone, you understand? It's just something I do when I'm bored, when I need something to do that isn't borne of numbers and patterns."
"I still want to see this... Garden," she said, quite unable to keep the excitement out of her voice. "Please, Saffir-sama?"
The aoi oujisan stood quietly, his eyes ducked from those of the woman at his side. "If you really must," he said, sounding somewhat resigned. Petz immediately realised that she had won some kind of victory here; even though Saffir was polite to a fold and kind to anyone he had to converse with, there was no way she could have coerced him into this without his own consent.
Saffir took the elephant into his hand, indicating that Petz should follow him. She quickly fell into place at his side, following him as he moved to one of the other internal doors. He danced his fingers absently over a security panel, lowering the hideously complicated wards without even concentrating. Petz was more than a little surprised to see the extent of Saffir's security -- his outer study was only mildly warded -- but she had little time to ponder it. Saffir had impatiently indicated that she step through the door; hurriedly she made to obey this order. The second she did, the feeling of an energy surge indicated that the wards were firmly back in place.
She looked around, startled; the huge room was a huge mess. It was then that she realised the truth. This immense room, loaded with computers, keyboards and various pieces of the machinery was Saffir's actual study; the other room was his less-operational study, which he obviously used for guests and visitors, rare as they were.
She looked around at the immense room, stunned. Most of the screens were on, covered with colourful graphs and projections, or lines of binary code and calculations, or amusing little screensavers, or even pages of writing which Petz suspected was some kind of report. But what startled her even further was the paper strewn over every visible surface. Paper -- indeed, any agricultural product -- was a valuable commodity on Nemesis. The fact that Saffir used all this paper showed that he had little concern for money. That didn't surprise her -- his family was wealthy -- it just seemed to her that Saffir was the last person to be wasteful about anything. After all, it was he who openly protested about the waste of innocent lives in war.
She took one sheet of the stiff parchment into her hand, noting with a wry smile the painfully neat Japanese script of Saffir. It was something characteristic to Savants; their handwriting was simply hellishly neat. You could dictate a memorandum to a Savant while poking them with a hot branding iron and get a perfectly formed letter back, not one character showing any indication of pain or distraction.
"Please don't play with that," Saffir said in his painstakingly polite way, carefully removing the paper from Petz's hand. He indicated the other far-end door that he had just unwarded, looking a little apprehensive. "The 'studio' is through there... the second door on the right." He almost herded her onwards, obviously beginning to regret having brought her here. However, she shot him a brief smile, with he returned with only a little bit of bemusement. "Through there," he indicated when he thought that Petz was about to open the wrong door.
She turned the knob and pushed the ornately carved door inwards, following it inside. Her breath caught in her throat for a second time, an audible gasp escaping her throat as she let the air out. "Saffir-sama!"
Saffir joined her side, looking strangely peaceful -- his eyes were unusually tranquil -- as he smiled sadly at Petz. "Do you like this room?"
Flabbergasted, the dark haired woman's hands rose to her mouth as she tried not to laugh in sheer delight. "Saffir-sama, it's beautiful!" She continued to gasp as she moved her eyes about the room, turning her slender body in circles as she attempted to take in all of her surroundings. The room was not large, but it was exceptionally well-lit. Only one narrow window looked out over the city of Omerna; otherwise, it had no exterior lighting at all. Only the pure white light of the chandeliers and wall lights illuminated the crowded room.
It was what covered the walls that garnered her attention, however; literally dozens of paintings were scattered across the walls, some in watercolour, some in oils, acrylics... then there were drawings in pastel, charcoal, pencil and ink, but all of them had something in common.
They were all of Earth.
"I didn't draw or paint any of those," Saffir commented slightly wryly, before Petz could voice that assumption. "I collect them... Demando-oniisan helps me find them, actually...he loves them just as much as I do." He smiled again, giving Petz an oddly affectionate look. "Do you really like them?"
She stared at an exquisite, very old painting done in egg tempera on wood. It was a beautiful, fairly large mural of an ethereal garden on earth, filled with wildflowers and a pale gazebo covered with climbing vines and blooming jasmine. A figure sat alone in the gazebo, long blonde hair obscuring her face from view as she quietly read her heavily bound book. The quality was so real it was almost photographic; Petz was quite enchanted by it. She moved several canvases away from the cluttered corner in order to see the whole thing in its entirety. It was no wonder that Saffir wanted Earth so badly, if this romanticist piece was any indication of the tranquillity of the blue planet...
She turned away from it, brushing away the threat of tears. "Yes, I really like them..." Her voice faded away as she stared about the room, looking beyond the walls. Several benches stood about the room, heavy and ancient tomes stacked carefully amongst the reams of paper that were split asunder across the dark oak. Pens and pencils lay about the tables, some marking places in books, others merely resting on the open pages. One far desk was different; upon it lay piles of misshapen and raw quartz, surrounded by various tools and implements for its manipulation. She looked past this though, to the shimmering collection that sat to its left.
She drifted over to its table, eyes wide and startled, completely bemusement and filled with wonder at its beauty. "Saffir-sama! This is... beyond description..."
The Blue Prince appeared somewhat embarrassed as he looked at the wonder on the woman's face. "They're just toys, Petz... they're not worth showing to people, you know..."
"I don't think so," she said suddenly, turning her dark green eyes upward to stare at Saffir, giving him a shock. "I think these animals, this Garden... I think it's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!"
He couldn't speak for a moment; for the moment, Petz was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. In her enthusiasm for his work, she was sweet and understanding and oh-so-beautiful...
His gloved hand moved upwards to touch her face with a feather-light caress, troubled blue eyes suddenly serene and divinely calm. "Petz," he murmured softly, moving forward to brush his cold lips over hers, sending a jolt akin to electricity through Petz's prone body. Before he could even consider breaking the tentative kiss, she moved her slender arms about his neck, pressing her body into his as she did so. Saffir almost made to back away, but he reluctantly surrendered himself to the taste and the scent of the woman who held him captive in her arms.
She broke away at last, face curiously flushed, her breathing heavy. "Saffir-sama..."
His breathing wasn't any easier, though he looked a little more contrite than she did. "Petz, I don't think-"
"You think too much," Petz berated affectionately, an old insult. Sensing that Saffir was uncomfortable by their close proximity, she agreeably backed off, for the moment sated by the simple passion of that kiss, only the second they had shared. She looked back down at the crystalline figures, willing herself not to reach out to the man at her side, no matter how badly she wanted to hold him.
Saffir moved closer to her, his hand moving to gently stroke the head of a lioness, a cub held protectively in her front paws. "Are they really that beautiful, Petz...?"
"I never realised how much you loved earth, Saffir-sama," she murmured softly, her own hand moving to touch the orca whale that twisted in a wave, so close to its prey, a tiny fur seal. "You want it so badly... I can see it in your work, and that alone is what makes it so beautiful. Your hope, your desire... Saffir-sama, what are you going to do with all this?"
Surprised, Saffir looked up from the pride to turn uncomprehending eyes on his companion. "What?"
"What are you going to do with all this?" she repeated patiently, her eyes light and honest as she smiled tenderly at the blue prince. "It is so beautiful, Saffir-sama... it not make a wonderful gift?" She leant in closer to him, her face terribly near to his as she rested one hand on his shoulder. Saffir looked at her with perplexed eyes, not really used to such gestures except from his brother. The minor confusion in his eyes even suggested he wasn't quite sure how to react to this, but Petz didn't give him a chance, anyway. Instead, she raised her face to his again, the gap between them so minute he could feel her breath on his face, smell her sweet and fragrant scent. "Saffir-sama, it is so wondrous and perfect, you could only give it to one who loves you in all your entirety; someone who holds you dear in their heart and understands how much you love the Earth... someone you can share this Garden with..." She smiled slightly, her lips almost brushing his again as she moved ever closer. "There are only two people who need be in your Garden, Saffir-sama... make those figures, and put them there... and give the Garden to the one who loves you above all else." Petz went to kiss him then, but Saffir raised a bewildered finger to her lips, shushing her quietly.
"The one who loves me best...?" he asked softly, dusky blue eyes soft as he looked into hers.
"Yes," she whispered emphatically, pressing herself into him as she moved ever closer to his delicious lips.
I am the one who loves you above all else, Saffir-sama... there is no logic behind my love, we are two different people...but still, I love you...
He smiled almost tenderly back at her, understanding dawning in his eyes. "I know now what you mean, Petz-san." He touched her cheek for the briefest of moments, his hands delicate and tentative as he did so. "You'll have to excuse me, Petz... I should work to complete the Garden, so that I can give it to the one who loves and understands my love for Earth... and that person is the one I love beyond all comprehension."
She smiled, bowing her head in gentle respect as she took her leave of him. "As you wish, Prince Saffir-sama..."
She left him then, warm and delighted in the knowledge that she had finally broken through to Saffir... he now understood, she saw how much she loved him... and he loved her in return!
But Petz soon found herself to be wrong; the Tower Avatar was left confused and hurt by Saffir's next move. She just didn't realise what she had said... and how Saffir had taken it. Yes... Saffir's face had lit up in an understanding that Petz mistook for being his love for her. He thought he knew who to give it to, he thought he understood what she had been implying.
He gave it to Demando.
a
a aSaffir drowsily opened his eyes, completely disoriented. The bed linen beneath him, though comfortable, felt completely alien to anything he had experienced in the past few weeks. The pillows beneath his head were less comfortable than the ones he remembered owning at his new apartment, and the dull ache in his chest was new.
He attempted to move one arm from his side to brush his hair from his eyes when he realised that it was wrapped about someone. Shocked, his eyes popped open as he abruptly sat up, staring down at his companion.
Sleeping peacefully at his side was the curled up figure of Petz, her long green hair carelessly arrayed about her narrow and lovely face. Saffir's shock was curbed somewhat by the realisation she slept on the bed while he was under the covers, and that she wore a belted dressing gown and slippers on her feet. He himself wore the shirt and trousers he recalled putting on the day before, much to his relief.
With a soft, barely audible sigh, Saffir leaned back down into the pillows, trying his damnedest not to awaken the slumbering woman at his side. However, she stirred as the bed moved beneath them both, opening dark green eyes to stare sleepily at Saffir. "Ohayoo, Sunshine."
He smiled wearily back at her, quite unsure of what to say. "O-ohayoo, Petz... uh, I hope you don't mind my asking, but how did I end up in here?"
Petz smiled in a manner that was both pitying and affectionate, curling her long legs beneath her as she sat up. "You came to my door and burst into tears, remember? You told me the strangest story about how you had lost your heart or something, and you saw your brother, and the Senshi..." She furrowed her brow, only half-joking as she spoke next. "You know, I think it's you who owes me a bit of an explanation, Saffir."
Saffir choked back on a bitter laugh, trying to ignore the flare of sudden agony in his chest. "Actually, I think that pretty much sums it up, Petz-san..."
The woman with the dark green hair sighed and rubbed tiredly at her eyes. "If you don't want to talk about it, I suppose I can't force you to... but honestly, Saffir. What happened?"
Saffir shook his head slowly as he waded through the glue of his memories, more than a little confused. "Oh, I don't know... there was Eudial going crazy on me, then I saw Demando, then she shot me-"
"She what?!" Petz almost shouted, garnering the immediate attention of one of her younger sisters. A brunette poked her head in the slightly ajar door, dark eyes concerned.
"Oneesama, is there something wrong?"
Petz almost laughed; she instead got off the bed and moved to the door, pulling it open to reveal all three of her sisters. "Spying, dear sisters?" she asked sweetly, staring down at the three upturned faces.
Only Beruche had the good grace to blush; the other two were too busy staring at Saffir, as if he were an apparition. The blue-haired man had to blush himself under their close scrutiny. "Uh... hello."
"Ohayoo gozaimasu, Saffir-sama!" piped up Cooan, slipping out from underneath her two sisters to go to his side. Calaveras and Beruche immediately slid to the floor, screeching as they did so, but Cooan's attention was on the Lord Savant... or, rather, the former Lord Savant. "I didn't believe Calaveras when she said you were here, but..."
Saffir smiled in a decidedly flabbergasted manner; he was not used to seeing any of the Ayakashi sisters in such amiable moods. His general impression of them had been that they couldn't be in the same room together without instigating a sisterly war... he had only seen the kinder side of Petz. "You had better believe it, Cooan-san -- I am really here."
Fascinated, she stared at him; Saffir quickly got the impression that he was like an impossible mirage to her. When he thought about it, he couldn't blame her. After all, he was a part of a past that she was probably better off forgetting... and hadn't she once been in love with Rubius re'Stephanite, his expired cousin? Ah, what tangled webs these threads may weave...
"Saffir-sama, why are you here? I mean... in all the time I lived on Nemesis, I saw you without your brother perhaps once... not even that, actually. Where is Prince Demando-sama?"
Saffir bowed his head, fingers tightening about the sheets. Without a word to the surprised Cooan, he stood up, flinging the bedlinen away from himself as he climbed to his feet. "I don't want to talk about him," he muttered under his breath, wrath evident.
Cooan bit her lip; this was another side of Saffir she had never seen. Why, she had barely seen the Blue Prince of Nemesis even speak, let alone raise his voice or say something in anger. Her memories of Saffir were of a detached, silent and tall Savant who stood like a pontiff or a saint at his brother's side. Saffir, the silent conscience, the counsellor who dealt in right and wrong... Saffir, who was both ignored and forgotten by most of Demando's court... and, upon occasion, by even Demando himself.
Petz gave all three of her sisters a warning look before moving forward to put a tentative hand on Saffir's arm. She felt him stiffen under her touch, but she did not remove her hand. "Saffir, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Still... if you want our help, you're going to have to tell us the entire story."
Saffir shook his head, not looking at her. "Gomen nasai, Petz... but I can't, not yet." He sighed, brushing his limp hair from his dark eyes. "Look, I'm going to go home for awhile, okay?"
"Are you going to be all right?" piped up Beruche, looking a little concerned. "You look terribly pale, Saffir-sama... do you really think-"
"I'll be fine," he interrupted kindly, a slightly bemused smile on his pale features. It was obvious he was confused about their concern for him. "But if you're really worried about me, I'll leave my address and phone number for you... and I'll come back and explain when I'm feeling a little more coherent." He smiled again, this time sadly. "After all, I think we're going to be sharing this earth for a long time... we should try to get along."
They all trailed him to the front door as he collected his shoes and jacket, straightening his hair after a brief glance in the mirror. Finally Petz spoke, a little hesitantly. "Are you going to go to work, Saffir...?"
Saffir started at the question before shaking his head, looking weary. "I'm not going to work, no..." A sarcastic smile crossed his face; he was bitterly amused by this suggestion as he made to leave. "No... I think I'm about to use one of my sick days, actually."
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