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[The big C word]

Sorry... old broad here. A locum is someone who covers when your doctor is unavailable.

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[The big C word]

There's no excuse for your father's doctor not to have left a locum, and even less excuse for him not to have foreseen that your father would face increasing difficulties in eating and breathing.

With recent bouts of dental work myself, I resorted to fruit smoothies and protein drinks when solid food was unmanageable for me. It's not much in the way of help, but it may at least help get basic nutrition in for your father.

I'm so very sorry you and your family have to endure this.

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[Official Tagging System.]

I do understand what you're suggesting, but I don't know if the archive code will support a blog-style tagging system. I know that other archives are experimenting with the idea, but again, not being the coder, I can't say for sure what's coming.

In the meantime, we do make an effort to try and at least provide the tools for users to narrow the search parameters a bit.

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[Update Alert]

Many authors announce updates via email or on Twitter. At the moment, the archive does not offer an alert feature, and I do not know if that is part of the new code that is being implemented over the next few months. If it is, it will be announced with all due fanfare.

[Official Tagging System.]

Tags are actually a part of the story summary, and therefore searchable in the archives.

In larger archives, there are categories for het, slash, femmeslash, and certain pairings.

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[Sandcastles and Fireworks]

Sand thought his heart would explode as he watched Satoshi plummet from the cliff, utterly silent, his face still covered in that glorious smile.

"Oh, saiai, please," Sand muttered, and he took a deep breath and dove under the water to look for his beloved husband. His heart was hammering so hard in his chest that he was sure it would be visible, and he scanned the clear waters of the Pond for a sign of his sweet pierced husband. He could see a faint trail of bubbles that might lead to Satoshi, and he began to swim downward with powerful strokes.

A few feet below him, there was Satoshi, his arms and legs kicking hard at the water to propel him towards the surface, his cheeks slightly puffed, and a few bubbles escaping his mouth as he smiled happily at Sand and waved enthusiastically. Sand could tell by the way Satoshi was squinting his eyes that he was not quite sure who was swimming down to rescue him, nor did he seem to care much as he continued his awkward strokes, his face looking to the surface, which suddenly looked frighteningly far away.

Erion was a silver flash as he swam over, meeting up with Kenji at the point where Satoshi had entered the water, and where Sand had also disappeared. Yuji arrived a breath behind Kenji, and Kansas was there as well.

"Fuck, FUCK!" Erion shouted, his eyes nearly black with panic. "Where is he? What the fuck was he thinking? Oh, fuck..."

Kansas grabbed Erion and spun the young elf around. "He'll be fine. Can't you feel him?"

"What do you mean? What are you talking about?" Sadao demanded, and Kenji's eyes widened.

Erion stopped dead, looking at Kansas and then he blushed furiously. "Oh, fuck me sideways," he moaned. Erion reached out and felt for Satoshi, and although he could feel a mild touch of panic, the overwhelming sensation from his pierced husband was elation.

"Later, isilmeamin," Kansas promised with a grin, and Erion flung himself into Kansas's arms with a yelp.

Yuji grabbed hold of Kenji's arm when he heard the relief in Erion's voice, and said quietly to Kenji,

"They are saying Satoshi is fine. I'll explain it later. Go and calm Satoru before he has a heart attack."

Sadao continued to tread water next to Yuji and yelped in surprise when the water close by them erupted with a shout as Sand and a sputtering Satoshi emerged, Satoshi looking radiant despite coughing breathlessly.

Sand kept his arm tightly under Satoshi's arms as he swam, powerful strokes despite only using one arm, until he had brought Satoshi over to the small rocks where the children jumped off, Hikaru's green eyes huge in wonder as he perched on the rock.

"Really, saiai, they tell me that an elf can't have a heart attack, but you're intent on proving that wrong, aren't you?" Sand looked at Satoshi with an expression of exasperated love as he nuzzled his husband. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Masato," Satoshi managed to squeak out, breathless and smiling. "I got a little water in my mouth when I was trying to swim to the surface, before you grabbed me like a crazy person."

Yuji swam up to the rocks as well, followed closely by Sadao, but Kansas held onto Erion to make him follow more slowly.

Satoshi laughed as he saw the panic on everyone's faces, but his eyes did not stray long from Sand's eyes, and he cupped Sand's face between his hand, sneezing softly to clear the water from his nose.

"Honestly, saiai, I'm fine. That was a little scary, but it's alright because I couldn't see how far it was anyway. It was all very blurry up there," Satoshi said with a laugh, and stroked Sand's cheekbone lovingly.

Yuji reached out and slapped Satoshi's arm hard enough to leave a faint mark and he growled, bursting out laughing at the same time, "You idiot. You scared us half to death."

"Although you looked amazingly magnificent jumping like that," Sand said, his blue eyes filled with love. "And your back, saiai, I can't believe how beautiful that is. My naur'dulin, my perfect phoenix."

Satoshi giggled and nodded his head. "Satoshi reborn from the ashes," he whispered and leaned over Sand to plunder his mouth with great passion.

Yuji lingered next to the rock, and Satoshi reached out blindly to push at Yuji's head, trying to dunk him, and Yuji reached up to slap Satoshi on the head, making the pierced imp laugh into his kiss.

Kansas finally reached the rocks, and crawled up to grab Satoshi's shoulders forcing him to break his kiss with Sand, so Kansas could kiss Satoshi lovingly.

"You, my beloved Satoshi, are fucking insane," he whispered, and Satoshi laughed even louder.

"I know. And I love it, truthfully," Satoshi said, his hands still cupping Sand's face.

"Maybe I should try to swim over there to talk to the rest of my glaring family," Satoshi said, and nodded his head towards his father, and his wife, where they sat with the little kids and his uncles.

"Let them come to you," Sand replied, his eyes dancing with mischief, and he pulled Satoshi in for another kiss, his hands sliding into Satoshi's wet hair.

"You kissing a lot," Hikaru observed from his perch overhead. "Chichi and tousan kiss a lot, too. And ankisan kisses oniisan all the time. And everybody kisses mama." Hikaru sighed. "A girl at school kissed me, too."

Satoshi laughed brightly, hugging Sand tightly, and Yuji rolled his eyes a little bit, reaching up to tickle Hikaru's chest a little, as he asked,"And did you like it, kame-sama?"

Satoru and Kenji slowly made their way across the Pond, Satoru still shaking a little and Kenji looking practically stormy.

Hikaru looked thoughtful for a moment. "It was kind of wet, tousan. She lickeded her lips first."

Sand watched Kenji and Satoru approach, and decided to head them off a bit. "Otousan, Kenji-san. Look at our newest cliff diver. Wasn't he glorious?"

Yuji snickered at his son, and made an icky face as he answered, "Yuck, that sounds terrible, kame-sama. You'll just have to watch all of us, and then teach her how to do it properly."

Kenji all but glared at Sand as he approached, but Satoru shot past him and swam up to Satoshi, pushing out of the water to wrap his arms around Satoshi's shoulders, whispering breathlessly, "You are nuts. I'm telling you, I have never been so scared in my life. I thought you weren't coming up again."

Then Satoru leaned back a little and looked into Satoshi's eyes, smiling brightly. "But I have never been more proud, my little hero. You were magnificent."

"Thank you, otousan. I did feel a little scared, but I'm not afraid of water any more. I'm going to learn how to swim properly now," Satoshi said with a giggle, but then looked contrite when he looked at his uncle.

Satoru moved out of the way, to let Kenji at his nephew, and Kenji grabbed Satoshi's arm, yanking him into the water again, Satoshi sputtering when he faceplanted into the water. Kenji wrapped his arms around Satoshi's neck and squeezed him with a loud laugh. "I'm not sure if I want to fucking kiss you or drown you, you little maniac. Honestly, Satoshi. That was glorious."

"You should kiss him, otooji." Hikaru jumped off and landed with a large splash in front of Yuji, and giggled happily as he was scooped up for a tickling. "But I needs to watch!" Hikaru squealed, his bright laugh ringing out.

Erion peeked from behind the crowd of people and smiled a little shyly at Satoshi. "You did dive pretty spectacularly, baby."

Vale swam over, shaking his head at Yuji, laughing as much as Hikaru. "You realize he'll be after us all to kiss all the time now?" He turned to Satoshi, grinning. "Gorgeous, baby, even if you are fucking nuts."

Yuji laughed happily and grabbed Vale around the back of the head, pulling him in for a ferocious kiss, whispering back between kisses, "And can you imagine how much trouble we'll be in when the school starts calling home to tell us that Hikaru is going around french kissing all the girls?"

"I'm so glad I gave them your cell phone number," Vale teased, his green eyes filled with love as he kissed Yuji back, Hikaru watching avidly.

Satoshi laughed happily as Kenji smacked a loud kiss on his cheek, and then he was bodily passed along to Erion, where he received a quick kiss before he was back in Satoru's embrace. He did try to tread the water a little bit himself, but his legs got tangled with someone else's legs, and Satoshi floundered a little.

Immediately Satoru, Sadao, Kenji and Yuji reached out to lift him back up onto the rock, but Satoshi held out his arms to Sand, and squeaked with a laugh, "Please, save me. They'll drown me quicker than diving off the cliff will."

Sand burst out laughing and scooped Satoshi up into his arms, like a bride on the threshold, and he leaned in and kissed Satoshi for so long that Hikaru squeaked.

"Keifu, you gots to let gifu breathes," Hikaru advised. "Tousan letted chichi breathe."

"Right, that's it for you. Turtle toss. Erion, go long," Vale said, and Erion whooped and swam out to the center of the Pond, Hikaru screaming with laughter as Vale tossed him to Erion.

Kansas jumped up and kissed Satoshi's cheek quickly, before he took off into the pond after Erion and Hikaru.

Satoru laughed and petted his son's shoulder before he swam back himself, and Kenji followed him. Sadao and Momo let themselves float out into the pond as well, and Yuji leaned against the rocks, giggling as he watched Hikaru fly. "Well, now I've seen everything. Turtles can fly."

Suddenly Ryuu said quietly, right behind Sand, "Is this really my chichi? He's not some wizard pretending to be chichi? Because my chichi doesn't jump like that or swim like that."

Satoshi looked around Sand's shoulder, and cocked his head a little bit as he whispered, "My perfect little bronze dragon. My one perfect thing."

Ryuu sobbed softly and held his arms out to Satoshi, and Satoshi wriggled out of Sand's arms to grab Ryuu.

"Chichi. You are all healed now," Ryuu sobbed quietly and Satoshi nuzzled his wet hair.

"Yes I am. I can play my guitar, and I can swim, and I even jumped off the cliff. Although, I'm not going to do that again until you can jump too. I'll just jump off the little rocks like you do for now."

"Chichi ryu," Ryuu whispered, and nuzzled into Satoshi's neck, Satoshi hold him tightly as they trod water together, and his voice was brimming with love when he whispered back, "Watashi no ryuu."

Sand watched them for a moment, giving them their time, and then he swam over to hug them both. "My two dragons," he murmured. "My perfect dragons." He nuzzled Ryuu's hair and kissed his head, and then did the same to Satoshi, the simple cuddle all he needed aside from his open bond that shone with love.

Ryuu reached out his short arm and tried his best to wrap it around Sand's neck, and he whispered,

"Watashi no tousan ryu."

Satoshi giggled, and nuzzled Sand back, whispering, "What does that make you? A moon dragon, or a blue dragon."

"No. Aniki-san is a blue dragon. Tousan is a moon dragon. Just like you are, chichi. A moon dragon and a water dragon," Ryuu said with a bright smile.

Suddenly something small hurtled itself at Sand's back and grabbed his long black hair to pull itself out of the water, and Takara's bright voice roared into his ear, "I'm a wild cat!"

Right behind her came Yori with a sheepish smile, telling Satoshi, "She's so fast. I can barely keep up."

Sand was glowing from his promotion to dragonhood, and he burst out laughing when he was tackled by Takara. "Oh, Yori-san, we don't even try to keep up with this little bundle of energy, do we, wildcat?" Sand nuzzled Takara lovingly, her little hands still fisted in his hair. "She can wear out Hisao-otooji, and Tetsuo-itoko is the only one she hasn't bested, hmm?"

Hikaru came swimming over, giggling happily. "Come on, 'Kara. I can swims you back over to our spot."

Takara screamed in glee and launched herself onto Hikaru, her small arms wrapping around his neck as she draped herself over his back. "Swim fast, 'Karu."

Hikaru obligingly paddled off, sticking to the shallower water as Takara shrieked happily, Hikaru's blond curls tickling her as he swam.

Sand looked at Yori with a sweet smile. "How do you like my home town so far?"

Yori smiled as he watched the kids go, Sadao, Momo and Kenji keeping an eye on them as they swam. "I like what little I have seen. Kenji has been holding my hand most of the day, and for some reason it isn't half as embarrassing as it always feels back home. I am still struggling with the notion of elves, but honestly, I feel like the outsider here, because everyone is indeed elves," Yori answered, his voice serious, but his eyes danced with his good mood and he seemed to be very relaxed.

Satoshi stared at Yori for a few moments, and then he exclaimed, "Your arm. Your arm looks better. Your shoulder isn't twitching like it used to when you moved it that way."

Yori blushed a little, and then shook his head, glancing over at Kenji and Sadao where they were tussling in the water with loud laughter. "Eryn-san healed Sadao's knees this morning, and then to prove to me that elves have magic, Kenji made her heal his shoulder, and then all of his banged up body. And finally she healed my shoulder. I feel like I was never injured at all."

Yori's voice was reverent and he blushed faintly as he lifted his arm above his head easily, a movement that had been almost impossible for him, even after the treatment that he had received from Vale and Sand.

Sand's face lit up. "My mother finally got her chance to do something useful, hm? Trust me, I grew up with that particular refrain. She's big on doing something useful, and being practical, neither of which I've managed, and yet she loves me anyway." He laughed merrily. "But in all honesty, she's one of the best elven healers alive. She's saved injured elves that we were sure would die, and she made it look simple. She'll tell you that she's simply lucky that the gods allow her to help, though."

"She did. Although she also mentioned something about a Spring that regrows lost limbs. I'm not sure how to understand that," Yori said with a small smile, but Satoshi answered that.

"That's where I've been for the past three weeks. And it is true. The Spring does regrow lost limbs. You'll all get to meet one such patient tomorrow night at dinner." Satoshi held out his hand to Yori and giggled, "Just look. Half of my calluses are gone. We didn't think of shielding them, until a few days in, and they were almost gone. Both my guitar calluses and the sword calluses."

Yori stroked his fingers over the hard skin of Satoshi's palms and grimaced a little. "That's going to be hell to work back up. But what do you mean shielded them?"

"Masato made up a spell, to shield my scars, on my back, so the Spring wouldn't heal them. He did the same with his own scars. I don't feel right without them, you see, so he decided to make sure I wouldn't lose them," Satoshi said, and patted Sand on the head with a giggle.

Yori nodded his head, and then shook his head, his voice a little strange. "I'm still trying to process this whole thing, Satoshi-san. Don't mess with my head."

"Alright. How about we just go and lounge somewhere and have a smoke then?" Satoshi said and started to swim along the bank slowly, his hand reaching out from time to time to touch the rocks, as if to make sure that he had a safe place to run to if he started to panic. Yori swam clumsily beside him, his strokes halting and unfamiliar, as if he was still getting used to swimming with two arms.

Sand watched them swim away, the two beautiful young men, and he turned his head slightly as Kenji swam over. Ryuu had wriggled free and gone off to play toss with Erion and Falon and Ichirou, the boys using a leather ball instead of Hikaru.

"They're beautiful, our husbands," Sand said with a loving smile. "And here there's no need to hide how we feel. No one here cares who we love, or how we love, simply that we do love. That's the most important thing."

Kenji smiled and leaned against the rocks that were just under the surface, his voice low. "Is Satoshi's philosophy rubbing off on you?"

"Which philosophy is that?" Sand said quietly, his blue eyes warm with friendship.

Kenji laughed softly and looked over at his nephew and his beloved. "That no matter what you should love. The more you are denied love, the more you should love. That anything and anyone can be conquered just as long as you love." Kenji smiled at Sand and glanced at Yuji where he was messing around in the water, far enough away to not hear him. "Mix that with Yuji's idiocy, and you get Satoshi's bastard child of a philosophy, that as long as you don't disturb the waters you can go unnoticed, and yet love everyone around you."

Sand chuckled softly. "I hardly go unnoticed, and I've disturbed the waters for a great many years. I'll introduce you to my old swordmaster tomorrow, and you'll get an earful. I'll even let Yuki-kun translate. But I do tend to love well. It's part of our culture, to love. There's a temple we'll pass on the way home. It's devoted to our goddess of love and beauty, and making love in the grottoes in the temple gardens is considered an act of worship. There are even plants that secrete a natural lubricant. We celebrate love, and cherish it when we see it."

Kenji nodded his head, his eyes a little sad. "Sadly, my culture does not. We do not make much of emotions and love. For us it is all about honor and not making ripples. Then you get people like Yuji, that live for making ripples. I was always worried about Satoshi with him, but he has proven to be a loyal husband, as far as loyalty goes with him. Although, without him Satoshi would not have become the man he is today. And then you showed up and completed him in ways that I can't explain."

"I'm glad if I've helped him," Sand said seriously, looking into Kenji's eyes. "I've seen the darkest places in his soul, and apparently, we've lived and loved before, through many lifetimes. Satoshi is my soul's true partner, and it's taken us a long time to find each other again. I won't lose him now, and I'll love him as well and truly as is possible. I promise you that."

Kenji's eyes widened a little with curiosity and his voice grew slightly urgent as he asked, "What do you mean, you've lived and loved through many lifetimes?"

Sand looked at Kenji, still quite serious. "We saw our former lifetimes together. I was a monk, and he was a wounded warrior whom I rescued, and nurtured through a winter on a mountainside, and loved deeply. I was Ishikawa no Masato, and he was Mori no Satoshi." Sand smiled a little. "There is a small shrine, on the grounds of your estate, that bears those names. His wife killed us. I died first, and he buried me at that shrine before he followed me into death. But we were cursed, and our souls have met and been parted again and again, loosing each other tragically, until four hundred years ago, when mine was reborn as an elf. We couldn't rejoin each other, until now."

Kenji stared at Sand, his eyes so wide they were almost round, and his voice trembled with excitement, when he asked, "Ishikawa no Masato, and Mori no Satohsi? Really? Seriously? How long ago was this? When did this happen?"

"We met first in the Nara period. I was a warrior turned monk, following the new path of enlightenment called Buddhism." Sand smiled, his face lighting up. "I was a scholar and a monk, on my quiet mountainside, and this young warrior appeared in my life, and I loved him. Oh, sweet kami, how I love him still."

Kenji stared at Sand utterly astounded, his voice reverent as he practically whispered, "The Nara period? A shrine in my family shrine? The wife... The wife? Was she a witch?"

"She was," Sand confirmed, his voice barely above a whisper. "She hated me because he loved me, even though he brought no shame to her, and they even had another child. She poisoned him, slit my throat, and left us to die."

Kenji slipped off the rock he had been leaning on and fell sideways into the water, his hand grabbing Sand's arm tight enough to bruise a human, and he yanked himself upright, wiping his face as he spoke urgently. "Do you have any idea how important this is? Ishikawa no Masato, and Mori no Satoshi were the ones that connected the two families. The estate belonged to the Mori clan, but when Mori no Satoshi died, he left the estate to his oldest son. But when he died he had no heirs, so his sister took over the estate, and her husband, the son of Ishikawa no Masato took over, making the estate an Ishikawa estate. Their great grandson lost the estate, and it passed around for a while until it came back to us during the war, but that's a totally different story. Those two men are the beginning of the friendship that has remained between our two families. And you are the monk Ishikawa no Masato reborn?"

Kenji gave an excited squeak, so out of character for the usually stoic sensei that Yori looked over at them with an arched eyebrow, but Kenji only waved at him excitedly.

Kenji smiled up at Sand, and shook his head as he asked, "So, four hundred years ago, what happened then? How did your lifetime end then?"

Sand's blue eyes widened a little at Kenji's enthusiasm. "I suppose I am that monk reborn." He laughed a little, shaking his head. "Let's see. It was the late Sengoku period, and I was an older samurai whose younger lover was to marry the daughter of the enemy. We were parted, and met again on the battlefield. He took a spear meant for me, betrayed his lord for me, and I left him there to die alone. I betrayed him, and that was when my soul ceased to be human, and was born into an elven life."

Kenji listened to Sand's words, nodding his head while he did some quick calculations in his head, and then asked, "The battlefield, was it beside a forest, with a river running through it, in the mountains? And your name was Masato then too? And you lived for about seventeen years after Satoshi died?"

Sand's voice was filled with excitement as he answered. "Yes, it was. I lived about seventeen years, utterly miserable with the memory of his death around my heart. I died in battle, when an archer killed me, and I think I was glad to die that time."

Kenji nodded and shook his head at the same time, his eyes dark with excitement and something that Sand could only understand as wonder, his elven ears picking up the mumbled words easily, despite the racket around them.

"So, that's why I had to bring it with me." Kenji looked up at Sand and spoke to the elf, his voice still tittering with excitement. "And there the name Masato disappeared from the family trees of the Ishikawa family, as well as the Mori family. Save for three times. There were three Mori that were given the name Masato after that, roughly a hundred years apart. One was killed in the Edo period, after he murdered some poor beggar boy. He was a retired samurai, with a family and very wealthy, but he had an affinity for young men with light eyes. Then there was another who was found stabbed to death near the harbor in Edo, which is now Tokyo, and the suspicion was that a Dutch sailor had killed him, but nothing was ever proven. And finally there was an Ishikawa Masato who died on the dunes of Iwo Jima, when the Americans made landfall. He had also always been fascinated by people with blue eyes, but he died on the island, probably killed by an American soldier. But honestly, Masato-san, now I want to go back to the mansion, to show you something. Yori very nearly kicked my ass from home to kingdom come when I insisted on taking my musty old books with me, but now I think there was a reason I felt I had to."

"Never apologize for books," Sand said dryly. "Remind you to show you my library. My mother says that I rival the Academy of Magic's library for both quantity and dirt." He began to laugh. "Don't get her started on my desk."

Kenji laughed happily, and patted Sand on the shoulder. "Yori sometimes insists that the older part of the house is held up by old books and ink. And cobwebs. He hates what he calls the inner sanctum, which is the oldest part of the house where I keep most of my old books and manuscripts. Would you mind if we go to the mansion now and take a look?"

"Not at all," Sand said. "Let me just tell my saiai where we'll be. Watch the face he makes." Sand grinned, looking young and mischievous as he swam over to Satoshi.

"Saiai, Kenji and I are going to go poke in some books of his, and maybe mine as well. We'll be at the mansion if you need us." Sand nuzzled a tender kiss from Satoshi. "Amin mela lle, cormamin."

Satoshi smiled when Sand came over but when he mentioned poking in books, Satoshi wrinkled his nose and pursed his lips, making a little hum through his nose. "What kind of books? Old and dusty ones?" he asked, his eyes bright with interest, but the rest of him showing a great distaste for the dusty and musty books that Sand seemed to prefer.

Kenji swam behind Sand, heading towards Yori, but he lingered long enough to observe the exchange between Sand and Satoshi.

"I'm afraid so, saiai," Sand confirmed, his eyes sparkling. "You know all the best tidbits are in the old and dusty books, and I'll no doubt have at least one cobweb in my hair and a smudge on my nose before I'm done."

Satoshi stuck his tongue out at Sand, and shivered a little bit, telling the elf with a tone that was both commanding and plaintive at the same time,"Wash your hands properly when you're done, and preferably shower and put on clean clothes. You have no idea what could be crawling around on those old books. But have fun. I'm going to stay a little longer, but given that Takara and Hikaru are slowing down, we might not be much longer."

Kenji chuckled softly behind Sand, then swam over to Yori with a few powerful strokes, sliding between Yori's legs and into his arms, with a bright smile on his face.

Yori looked at Kenji's face, and huffed loudly, his voice carrying over the Pond, "You're going to go look at those nasty books of yours, aren't you? Are you dragging Masato with you?"

Kenji giggled and nodded his head, his voice sweet and teasing, but Yori only pursed his lips and shook his head. "I'm not dragging him with me, but we need to go and look at a few things. I need to show him something."

"You love those moldy old books more than me. I'm telling you, you should have married them instead of me."

"Oh, but they don't keep my bed as warm as you do, saiai."

"Oh, shut up and go and look at your stinky books. I'll just stay here and maybe I'll find some pretty elf who will love me more than some wrinkly old books."

"I'm sure you will, my love, just remember to let me know, so I can babysit for you."

Yori giggled and pushed Kenji off him, the older man smacking a quick kiss to Yori's lips before he swam towards the bank where his clothes were, winking at Sand.

Sand swam after Kenji, his strokes sure and graceful, and he dried himself and slipped on his yukata, letting his hair hang loose over his shoulders and down his back. "How they indulge us," he grinned. "But honestly, Satoshi's had to drag me back to bed some nights, so I can't exactly fault him."

Kenji laughed as he pulled on his hakama and t-shirt, somehow managing to make it look completely natural. "Yori doesn't even bother anymore. He used to when he was younger. He would even go so far as to grab the books out of my hands and run to bed with them. Now he just kisses me good night and goes to sleep, then comes back every couple of hours to check on me, and when I do fall asleep in my books, he put a blanket over me, and lets me sleep with my books."

Sand led the way back to the Hayashi mansion, nodding to a few passing elves that greeted them cheerfully. Most bowed to Kenji as well, managing a greeting in Japanese as well as elven. Kenji was pleasantly surprised by the warm greetings and the respectful bows that he received, bowing back with equal respect he returned the greetings in Japanese.

"Oh, I'm sure Satoshi will get to that stage with me as well," Sand laughed, his face bright with love for his husband.

When they got to the Hayashi mansion Kenji hurried to the room that he shared with Yori and Masaaki, and pulled a large bag from the wardrobe. He sat down by the desk in the room, which had already been cleared completely.

First Kenji pulled out a pair of white cotton gloves, and put them on, then handed one to Sand as well. Then he opened the bag reverently and the smell of old books and leather filled the air for a few moments. Carefully Kenji reached in and pulled out a leather bound book, filled with thin paper, the pages discolored and cracking, dry with old age.

Setting the book down on a cotton cloth that had been set on the table, Kenji sat down and opened the book very carefully, turning the pages slowly until he seemed to find the correct page. "Here, Masato-san, do you think you can read this? This is about four hundred years old Japanese, but perhaps you can understand some of this."

"Let me see," Sand murmured, leaning over and barely breathing as he scanned the handwritten kanji, his eyes widening as he was able to pick out words, and then sentences. As he read, he felt a shiver run up his spine, as he was brought back to that day in the forest, that battle where his beloved Satoshi had turned on his own men to save Masato, even taking a spear meant for his former lover. He could feel the horror and fear that had coursed through his own veins, the cowardice that drove him to abandon the younger man as he lay dying, to save his own miserable life in the face of that pure love and courage.

Sand stepped back abruptly, using the sleeve of his yukata to dab at a tear that had beaded on his lashes, not wanting to damage the fragile manuscript. He looked at Kenji with a wry smile. "Apparently, it can still wring a bitter tear of shame from me to this day. I know I shed a lot of those for the last seventeen years of my life."

Kenji watched Sand while the elf read, realizing that Sand did indeed remember every word that stood written on the page. When he stepped back to dab at a tear in his lashes, Kenji rose again, and lay a hand on his shoulder, his eyes full of warmth. "I am sorry. I did not mean to cause you pain, my friend. I did not mean to take any of these old tomes with me, but the ghosts of my house kept insisting. And now I understand why they did. You do remember this? This is written in your own hand, isn't it?"

Sand smiled warmly. "It's been long enough that the pain is only a faded memory, but yes, I wrote this, or rather, my last human incarnation did. The next time I was reborn, it was as Sand en Nosse Iradil, here in Evereska. We've come full circle again, though, because even here, I'm now Mori Masato en Nosse Iradil."

Sand reached into the pocket of his yukata, and pulled out a small leather-bound book. "You won't be able to read this, I don't think, since it's written in elven script, but it's a journal I kept when I was very young. I woke up from my reverie in tears, having dreamed about a strange world. I felt a terrible pain, and I saw a man lying on the ground, and a young man with pale eyes and blood on his hands. I knew that the man on the ground had asked the other man about his eyes, but the other man couldn't understand him, and struck in fear, and I felt such loss as the wounded man died."

Kenji's eyes widened with surprise, his hand instinctively reaching out for the journal, but he caught himself and he bowed his head respectfully. "Tell me about this man? Do you think it was the Ishikawa Masato that was probably murdered by the Dutch sailors? It was written down as a robbery, but the truth was that nothing was stolen. He was just found at the side of the road, with a single stab wound to the chest. It pierced a lung. He had his jewels, and his money, even his priceless katana."

Kenji smiled softly and gave Sand a small knowing look. "I doubt Satoshi realizes, but that is the same katana that he owns. Although he hasn't used it since you gave him that new katana."

"Is it really?" Sand looked surprised, and then slightly pleased that Satoshi favored his gift. He handed the elven journal to Kenji almost absentmindedly, forgetting that Kenji would not know the espruar or the language. "We'll have to look into some sort of proper display for that katana, then. It should be cared for well. But I'm very sure that the man I saw dying was that Ishikawa Masato. I had that dream in my reverie more than once, and every time, my brother would hold me until I could rest again."

Sand ran a slim hand through his hair, his eyes bright with the pursuit of a good mystery. "The thing is, Kenji-san, elves don't dream the way humans do. When we rest, it's more a very deep meditation, and we relive actual memories. Our minds don't create fantasies or wishes when we rest. So there were only two explanations for my visions in reverie, and both were deeply disturbing. Either I was remembering something real, which made no sense at all because I couldn't have seen that, or I was mad, completely insane. My mother had the Temple rule out insanity, which left the impossible as the explanation."

Kenji stroked Sand's arm gently, the elf's journal open in his hands, even though he could not understand the writing, and his eyes filled with understanding. "That must have been frightening for you. And the bond between you is indeed strong, for you to have visions of his death, when you were reborn on a different world."

Kenji pulled Sand gently back down on the chair beside him, and handed the elf's journal back to him. "I had a similar problem with my family. Both of my parents were secretive about their family and their history, and whenever the subject of the family gifts was brought up, my father and I would argue like cats and dogs. When I refused to back down and deny my gifts, he would beat me. Once I argued with him for a week without stopping, because the spirits were warning me, but my father would not listen. He ended up beating me until I could barely move, and then locked me in my room for four days. The servants were allowed to bring me food, but I was not allowed out of the room. On the fourth day the house caught fire, and three of the workers that were working on restoring the house died. I would have died as well, if the lock on my door had not been opened by someone. No one admitted to it, and my father had the only key, which he only gave to the servant that brought me food."

Kenji sighed and rose from his chair to find another book in his bag. This book was far newer, although the spine was slightly cracked and the pages smelled musty. Sitting down, Kenji opened the book at a marked page and lay it on the table in front of Sand.

"He does look a little like our Satoshi, doesn't he?" he asked with a small smile, and pointed Sand at the full page picture in the book.

There was a portrait of a young soldier, dressed in his Imperial Army uniform, small medals on his chest, and a very serious look on his face, a young proud man, ready to defend his country. Below the picture was a short text, Private Ishikawa Masato, Ome, Tokyo.

"He looks remarkably like our Satoshi, and I know this man," Sand said, his face bright with excitement. "I saw him, running over a dune, on a beach. The sand, oh, Seldarine, the sand was soaked with blood, but he ran when the orders came, and he ran into a foreigner, another soldier. The enemy. He stopped because there was something about the foreigner's eyes. He just stood there, and the foreigner shot him."

Sand looked at Kenji. "I was at my workbench, in a city that I later fled, and I felt that gunshot. I remember it so clearly. The pain was intense."

"He was my grandfather's younger brother. He fought in the war, and was at Iwo Jima when the Americans made landfall. His family always considered him a little odd, but it was not until after he died that they found out just how odd. They found journals in his bedroom, hidden under a false bottom in his wardrobe. These journals had descriptions of strange dreams, all of them about a man with blue eyes. There were even drawings of blue eyes everywhere in those journals. It would have been judged an obsession these days, but back then it was just hushed up and the journals hidden."

Kenji smiled at Sand and rose to get yet another book out of his bag, this time a small scroll, so fragile that Kenji scarcely dared to breathe as he unwound the scroll, and spread it out on the cotton cloth. "This, my friend, is an account of the esteemed Mori no Satoshi, from the Nara period."

Sand held his breath as he looked at the fragile scroll, his eyes flying over the kanji. "This is incredible, Kenji-san," he whispered. "It's all real. It's not a dream we shared. It's all real."

"It is, Masato-san. This is an account of his winter on the mountain, where he was saved by the monk and nursed to health, and taught the ways of the new religion. There is no mention of them having been lovers, not directly, but see here." Kenji pointed to a column of faded kanji, running his finger down to show Sand where to read. "Just read the way he describes a simple day out, hunting for rabbits for their food. The way he speaks about his sempai."

Sand's eyes followed Kenji's finger, and he smiled as he read the kanji, not all of it clear to him, but the care and attention to the way his sempai was described was more than enough for Sand to know how much they had loved. Kenji translated the word Sand did not know, and by the time they were done, both men were smiling.

"That's what we felt, Satoshi and I, when we saw those memories. We felt that love begin, and grow, and we saw it endure until their deaths. Our deaths." Sand spoke in a reverent whisper. "And it endured beyond death, again and again."

Kenji rolled the scroll back up, very carefully and painstakingly slow, while he spoke. "You have no idea how happy you make me, confirming these texts as truth. They have been considered to be part fable, part family history for centuries. I will not make you read the chapter, where he spoke of his wife and her trial, and the death of his sempai. But that woman was a vile creature. She was drowned in the pond at my estate, and those waters have been frightening ever since. Many children have drowned or nearly drowned in that pond, and I have never allowed Satoshi near it."

Kenji shivered involuntarily, but then continued, a tone of wonder in his voice. "But then, just around the time Satoshi came out of his coma, something about the pond changed. The waters run clear now, and that evil feeling that surrounded it is gone. Yori even went down to it before the first snow fell and stuck his feet in, and he said it felt quite pleasant honestly."

Sand nodded. "You're one of the few people who'd believe this. Satoshi and I met her in the dream world, while he was still in his coma. This will require an explanation." Sand looked at Kenji. "How insane would you think I was if I said I was a mage, a wizard?" Sand smiled a little. "Of course, considering that you traveled through portals to get here, and are sitting in an elven city, I expect a little magic doesn't seem too farfetched."

Sand stroked his neck lightly, a faint glow under his fingers. "When they tried to bring Satoshi out of the induced coma, he fell into a real coma, and I followed him into the dream world where he was being held. That's when we saw our past lives, and where we met the witch again. She was holding Satoshi there."

Sand took a deep breath. "We know that it was Mori no Satoshi who had to drown his wife for the murder of his lover and the attempted murder of himself. The executioner feared her curses too much. It seems only fitting that Mori Satoshi struck the blow in the dream world to end her existence once and for all time. She's gone, Kenji-san. She's not coming back again."

Kenji only nodded his head when Sand mentioned magic, and it did not surprise him when Sand said he was a wizard. Kenji realized that it explained quite a few of the small quirks that he had noticed about Sand, as well as Ota Jun's explanations of how Sand had just suddenly appeared on the night when Yori had decided to commit ritual suicide, after Kenji had fallen down the hill below their house.

When Sand said that the witch was dead, Kenji gasped softly, then broke out in a radiant smile. "She was haunting him? Or did she possess him? Satoru and I have long suspected that there might be something like that going on. Satoshi has had a shadow over him all of his life. Ever since he drowned when he was one."

Kenji jumped up and hugged Sand impulsively, still excited beyond measure. "Thank you, Masato. Thank you. He has then gotten rid of the oldest and most dangerous foe of the Ishikawa and Mori families. In this dream, what sword did he use? Do you remember? Was it the katana that you gave him, or the old one that he had before?"

"It was his old one," Sand said, his voice sure. "I remember thinking that it was appropriate that he chose that katana. The older blades have power of their own, have you noticed that?"

"They do. My katana is very old as well, and it sings differently than any other sword that I have ever wielded. There is a feeling that comes with them, that cannot be ignored. I held Yori's katana once... he told me to use it, since he would never again be able to, but it felt wrong." Kenji frowned a little bit, and scratched his nose with his forearm, pulling his white cotton gloves off while he spoke. "It fit perfectly in my hand, and the weight was perfect, but the feeling was just wrong, like the sword itself did not want me to hold it. Then Yori took it the other day and tried it for a few swings, and he said it felt like holding an old friend."

Kenji peered into his bag again, reaching in to bring a book from the bottom, but as he did so, another modern leather bound book spilled out, the flap falling open and a large collection of photographs spilled over the floor as the book landed on the floor.

"Oh, fuck," Kenji exclaimed and fell to his knees to gather the photographs.

Sand dropped to his knees with fluid grace to try and help Kenji. "I know how you both feel. My songsword was made for me, for my hand alone, and the one I gave Satoshi was made for him. His feels awkward to me, but when he uses it, it's pure poetry."

Kenji nodded his head quickly, scrambling around on the floor to pick up the photographs, dusting them off carefully, as if he was afraid they would get scratched, but then he laughed softly and calmly settled back on his heels. "Why am I panicking so much? You know that Yori is my lover... my husband now. I'm sorry, my friend. I don't think I've ever let anyone see these before," Kenji said with a small shy smile, his eyes lingering on the photos in his hands.

They were instant photographs, the type that developed right out of the camera, and each and every single one was of Yori.

"He was so beautiful back then," Kenji whispered and handed Sand one of the pictures he had in his hand. The picture was of Yori, still a teenager, lying in a bed, buried to his ears in the covers, and his eyes sparkling as he stared up at the camera, the shyest smile on his lips.

"I take one of him once a week. Have done ever since the first night we slept together," Kenji said with a shy giggle, and continued to look through the photographs.

"My pictures live in my reverie, every night," Sand said just as softly. "He's still beautiful, your Yori. I've heard some of the elves speculating that Japan must have been an elfhome once. Who knows? It might even be true." Sand continued to look at the pictures with Kenji, admiring Yori's beauty even if his own heart was already full of the beauty of a certain pierced man.

Each photograph was marked with a date, and it appeared that they had been hidden in the book in chronological order. Kenji tried to gather them in the correct order while showing them to Sand as well.

There were pictures of Yori as a teen, when they had first started being together, the fifteen year old boy and his twenty nine year old trainer. For two years the pictures seemed to have been taken during their secret meetings.

Then there was suddenly a picture of Yori in a hospital bed, bandages covering part of his head and face, his shoulder, chest and arm. He was obviously unconscious and his face so bruised and swollen that it could hardly be recognized as human.

Kenji sighed painfully and touched that picture softly, his voice filled with that old pain. "He looked horrible there. I died inside when I saw him there. He looked so small and so alien. Truthfully, I almost ran when I saw that."

Sand reached out to touch Kenji's arm lightly. "I understand. I saw Satoshi when they brought him out of the surgery, and for a moment I wanted to shake the doctor and scream at him that it wasn't my husband on that gurney, not my Satoshi, with his sweet smile and beautiful eyes full of life. He was so broken, and there wasn't a bit of him that wasn't purple with bruises. I actually fainted. I've never done that before, no matter – well, no matter what." He smiled a little. "But we didn't run. We stayed, because they complete us."

Kenji nodded his head slowly, showing Sand picture after picture of that broken and bandaged Yori, one picture a week, the slow and painful healing that he had gone through.

The pain was obvious in Yori's eyes, and there were times where his whole visage burned with hatred and anger, while other times he was obviously crying and losing hope.

"He hated me, you know. For a very long time he hated me," Kenji said quietly, and handed Sand one more hospital picture, Yori's face relaxed and his eyes glazed, his hand wrapped tightly around the button that controlled his morphine drip. "You remember what he said, that night when I fell off the rokan? He was right. I did go to Daichi, and beg him to forgive me, that day when he killed himself. I did hold his body and scream for forgiveness, begging him to come back. But I only wanted him to come back so I could ask his forgiveness."

Kenji grabbed the book that had held the photographs and opened it, tugging a much older photograph out of a pocket in the back cover, and handed it to Sand. "That's the only picture I have of him. I burned all the others. I did love him, but he was older, and I thought wiser, but he was only my father in the guise of a lover. He beat me if I did not obey, and treated me like a servant when we started to live together."

The man in the picture was barely above average height for a Japanese, stocky, and rippling with muscles, his face stern and square, his eyes small and cold. He was the kind of man who kept everyone at a certain distance, but demanded utter loyalty and devotion from those he deemed worthy of his affection.

"Perhaps that is why I fell in love with Yori. He was so sweet and loving, and so open about everything. I would have become cold and bitter without him."

"My heart ached for you both that night," Sand said quietly. "You were both hurting so much, and the pain was in the way of the love that you had for each other, but that love would not have lasted, not the way things were going. I suppose my mother revealed our little subterfuge with Yori's treatment, but it was all we could think to do. The pain made him hide inside the drugs, and the drugs were killing you both."

Sand looked at Kenji, his blue eyes intent. "I'll admit that I don't always understand the way you all need to ask forgiveness from each other for things that, to me, seem like simple survival or just good sense. Like you leaving Daichi. I can feel his coldness from his picture, and no one has the right to beat another, or demand service and obedience. If anything, he should have begged your forgiveness for his cruelty." Sand sighed a little. "But what I meant to say, before I sidetracked myself, is that even if I don't understand it, I can grasp that you need it, and so will you allow me to beg your forgiveness for being less than honest about Yori's healing?"

Kenji smiled when Sand spoke about their love, and the truth was more than obvious in his eyes. "Humans have a tendency to blame themselves for what others do wrong. My father taught me to believe that I deserved to be beaten, and when Daichi told me the same, I believed him. I needed Daichi's forgiveness for cheating on him. For loving Yori and being with him while I was still with Daichi. Honestly, I would never have forgiven him his cruelty, because he used it as a weapon. He knew that my father beat me, so he did the same to control me."

Kenji leaned over and hugged Sand tightly, telling him, "I forgave you the first moment Yori moved his hand. When he could feel my heartbeat again, I forgave you. Every time he plays with our son, or holds him, I forgive you for your subterfuge. Let me show you..." Kenji flipped through the large pile of photographs, until he found one very recent picture and handed it to Sand.

"This is what you gave me, so of course I do forgive you. You are right. Yori would have killed himself one way or another, if you and Akira had not helped him. The pain was too much for him. But look at what you gave him. What you gave me. That is the result of your little subterfuge, so it is all forgiven."

The picture was only a few months old, Yori as he was now, sleeping in his bed, his injured shoulder bared, to reveal faded scars and the well formed muscle underneath. Beside him lay Masaaki, only a few weeks old, content and happy in his father's arms, and Yori's sleeping face was radiant with happiness, his soft lips touching the infant's wispy hair.

On the other side of Masaaki lay Kenji, with his silver framed glasses on his nose, and an arm above Yori's head, the most loving smile on his face, his eyes seeing nothing but his beloved, and their son.

Sand held the photograph, looking for all the world like he was committing it to memory, his smile sweet and warm. "That's beautiful. Really, Kenji-san, it's simply perfect. I'm glad it's worked out, and I'm glad atara, okaasan, finished what we started. We were trying to make it look non-magical, and just more like medical advances. Poor Yori, the shots were just vitamins."

Kenji took the picture back and added it in the large stack, in its appropriate place, showing Sand more pictures that he had taken that summer and fall, mostly of Yori sleeping or cuddling in bed with Masaaki.

"Oh, he didn't mind the shots so much. He's quite used to being pricked and prodded, and he often jokes that if he ever springs a leak he'll be like a fountain. It was that damned drink that you made him drink, that supplement that really did him in. He acted like it was nothing in front of you all, but the moment we were in the car to go home, he was scrubbing at his tongue with a tissue, and it even got the point that he always kept a bottle of mouthwash in the car. I never tasted it, but he complained constantly about the taste of it. He said it was the worst imitation of ginger tea he had ever tasted in his life." Kenji started laughing while he described Yori's reactions to the troll's blood potion that Sand had created for Yori, and tears of joy started to bead in his lashes, as he gasped between laughs.

Sand laughed as well. "It's not the easiest thing, to make some of the healing agents taste decent. Ask Akira, who was forced to taste some of my nastier concoctions. Among my alleged talents is what we call alchemy here, but what you might call a combination of chemistry and pharmacology back home. Akira will tell you that the potions I don't care to make tend to taste more evil than is strictly necessary."

"I did have Satoshi taste test that one for me, though," Sand added hastily.

Kenji sighed as he caught his breath again, and answered, still chuckling a little, "Oh, poor Yori hasn't been able to look at a cup of ginger tea the same again. I'm glad that Satoshi helped you with your potion making. Yori did say that the ginger taste was decent. It was a good imitation, but there was another lingering aftertaste that ruined everything. But I thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for that potion, because it gave me the best laugh I had had for years. Yori is so cute when he gets angry at me, and after his arm started to heal, the make up sex was worth it tenfold."

Sand grinned. "It is a good thing, isn't it? Make-up sex?"

Kenji wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, tucking the huge stack of pictures of Yori back into the book, which Sand realized was actually a leather bound folder, not a book at all, and holding the last picture in his hands he said dreamily, "He is beautiful, my Yori. He has only grown more beautiful as he's grown, and Masaaki brings something out in him that I have never seen before. I fear that I am going to turn into my father, although I will never raise a hand against my child. But Yori keeps telling me that I am in no danger of becoming like my father. It's just that it seems to come so naturally for Yori, while I just stand there and can't understand why Masaaki is crying, or why he's fussy."

"I think it's a bit harder for me as well," Sand admitted. "I never knew my father at all. He died when I was an infant, and although my brother tried his best, it's never the same. I was also the youngest, and never had smaller siblings to look after. Akira was also the youngest, and lost both his parents early, but he seems to be a natural parent. I have to think about it. Not the loving part, but the what to do part."

Sand ran a hand through his silky hair, looking slightly befuddled. "I look at Michi-chan, and I know she's my daughter, and I'm utterly dumbfounded. I can handle the older children easily, but she fusses sometimes, and Hikaru has to tell me what's wrong. It's humbling." He chuckled ruefully. "But then I hold her, and it all makes sense again."

"Oh, it is. Yori was the younger of two, but his brother was always the favored one, because he is like their father. Yori on the other hand has always been quiet, and feminine and delicate. Physically I mean. Mentally he is as male as you and I are. But it seems to be a natural talent with him too. Only three days after Masaaki was allowed to come home with us, Yori woke in the middle of the night, the moment Masaaki made the slightest sound, and the tiniest whimper had Yori up and at it, changing diapers, heating the bottle, or trying to burp the baby. It was like instinct with him. I on the other hand stand there and look for the instructions, while Masaaki screams his little head off at me. I nearly faint when I have to change poopie diapers, and when I try to feed him, he refuses anything I try. But for some reason, he only burps for me. And now that is coming to an end. He's getting too old to be burped, which makes me redundant, I guess." Kenji sighed dramatically and laughed a little bit, his eyes sparkling. He looked sideways at Sand and continued, "But you do make a perfect father, you know. The way you are with not only Michi, but Takara and Ryuu too. When Ryuu accepted you into the family so easily, it made Satoshi even more convinced that he should be with you, you know."

"Did it?" Sand looked utterly delighted. "Ryuu hated me at first, but everyone said I should let him make the choice to come to me. I think I always knew that if Ryuu didn't approve, that I'd lose my chance for anything serious with Satoshi. I'd have just been a Neverwinter lover, and left behind when they returned to Tokyo. No matter how much Satoshi loves me, Ryuu needs him more, and I don't question that. But I was lucky, and Ryuu accepted me after a bit. I think the best moment of my life, right up there with Satoshi agreeing to marry me, was when Ryuu asked if I was alright with him calling me tousan. And honestly, I do think of Ryuu as my oldest child. I'd do anything for him."

"Ryuu is a remarkably astute little boy. He always has been. Perhaps it is because of his gifts, or because he is probably above average intelligence. Either way, he was the one who started calling Yuji tousan, before you and Akira came along, and Kansas became onii-san. And according to what Satoshi told me, then Ryuu discussed this whole marriage thing with Yuji for a long time, before you all came here to marry, and it was Ryuu who suggested to change all the titles around. And he was the one who told Aika how it should be for her."

Kenji smiled and rose to his fee, expecting his joints to react stiffly like they always did, but was slightly surprised when he jumped to his feet like he was twenty years younger.

"Well, think about it logically, Masato-san. If the situation had been reversed, would you have chosen your new lover over your child? Even if he was your soulmate? I know I would not have. But Ryuu accepted you, thankfully, because Satoshi would not have lived long without you. And now Ryuu does proudly call you his father, equally to Satoshi. But now, I meant to show you this. I've been dabbling in it over the years. It is a family tree, but it focuses on the direct male lines in the Ishikawa and Mori families. I was interested in finding how they entwined, and perhaps you will recognize the names here." Kenji grabbed the book he had been trying to get when the picture folder had fallen out of his bag, and he unfolded the long panoramic album on the table.

The tree started with the two men that had started this all, Satoshi's and Sand's first incarnations as lovers, and then traced their lines all the way down to Kenji and Satoshi.

Sand looked at the careful compilation of names and dates, and the kanji for his name and Satoshi's jumped out at him time and again. While he knew that certain names did get carried on in families, the pattern was far too consistent to be merely coincidence.

"Do you see the pattern?" Sand commented, but his blue eyes were still focused on the family tree, and he was nodding at some of the names. "I do know some of these names. This one, this was Satoshi's son in that incarnation, and this Mori married my daughter in that lifetime, when I was Ishikawa. It's so peculiar, knowing that these are relatives of mine, my ancestors." He looked up and smiled. "You are my family as well, truly."

Kenji smiled proudly and nodded his head slowly, tracing the tree with Sand, pointing out a few names that he knew had been in some of the books that he had lent Sand before.

"These entries here are actually rather interesting." Kenji said, moving to the end of the long family tree, pointing to Satoshi's name from the Edo period. "Do you see his wife's name? Hayashi. She was an ancestor of Yuji, through his grandfather Yuichi. For those three lifetimes, before you found Satoshi again, there was a Hayashi in his life, which honestly astounded me."

"But it's somehow fitting, because Sora is an elf, one of our own from Evereska. My House and her family House were always friendly, and when Sora left Japan, she came to my mother when she found her way back here. It makes perfect sense now, but what a splendid mixture, don't you think?" Sand sat back, his expression one of delight. "Somehow, I think this is how it was supposed to be."

Sand lifted his head, listening for a moment, his face lighting up. "I hear our beloveds all returning, my friend. We should put this all away before curiosity consumes our Hikaru. He is learning to read, and he knows a handful of hiragana and the kanji for our names, and loves to look for them everywhere now. You should see him in Shinjuku, where every other lunch stall sells Hayashi rice."

Kenji laughed and folded up the family tree carefully, putting it in the bag again, with the rest of his old books, but then he hesitated, holding the journal of Sand's last human incarnation in his hands. He grabbed the white gloves that he had lent Sand and handed both gloves and book to Sand, saying quietly, "Do you want to read more of it? It is quite dull to begin with, but after he met his Satoshi, the writing becomes most intriguing, and I have seldom found such passion in a journal as I did in this one, especially when it came time for his Satoshi to marry to the enemy. The writing is exquisite honestly. Just be very careful with it, and don't read it without the gloves, the paper can be damaged by the oils in your skin. Please, I think it is only fitting that you read this."

Sand's eyes widened with amazement and joy, and he bowed deeply, so moved that he could not find words for a moment. "I'll treat it like the treasure it is," he promised. "Thank you, Kenji-san. Thank you for understanding, and for accepting us. And thank you most of all for understanding that I'd die for Satoshi, four our family. He's the most precious thing in my life, and I'm so glad we found each other again, at last."

Kenji patted Sand's shoulder and bowed a little too. "I know. You are the most precious thing in his life too, and I am eternally grateful for everything that you have done for him, because I doubt that he would still be here, if he did not have you. You are a Mori, and an Ishikawa, apparently, through and through."

There was a noise at the door, and Yori said with mock exasperation, "See, Satoshi-san. I told you we would find them here, with their grubby noses in their musty old books. They've probably been talking about the shoe sizes of the Shogun's escort in the Asuka period or something like that."

Satoshi laughed happily, Michi perched on his shoulders, and Takara hanging off his belt, whining that it was her turn now, and Erion trotted past with Ryuu on his back.

"Oh, they were probably discussing the dietary plans of the kitchen staff in the Royal palace in the Heian period." Satoshi answered with a sweet little giggle, and Kenji sighed loudly, nudging Sand slightly.

"I do believe we are being made fun of, my friend."

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