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BronxWench

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  3. The big C word

    in Personal Rants & Journals

    Posted

    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.

  5. Official Tagging System.

    in Fiction Archive

    Posted

    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.

  7. Update Alert

    in Fiction Archive

    Posted

    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. :D

    Sandcastles and Fireworks

    in General RP

    Posted

    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."

  15. Another Who Can't Log In

    in Archive Tech Support

    Posted

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    Sandcastles and Fireworks

    in General RP

    Posted · Edited by BronxWench

    Sadao woke up promptly at five in the morning, as he did most days, and swung his legs out of bed, his feet hitting the floor a little hard. He winced, waiting for the sharp lance of pain from his bad knee, but there was nothing, and he was reminded of the morning after the body hunt.

    Sadao had woken with a massive hangover, very late in the morning, Momo cuddled up face to face with him, and Erion curled up with his back against Momo's back, wrapped in a blanket of his own. If Sadao had not been trying to decide if he needed to piss or vomit more, he would have stopped to smile, but he needed to get to the bathroom urgently. He rolled over far too fast, fell out of the bed, and landed on his bad knee sharply enough to have him limping all day.

    Sadao had managed to smother his scream, and made it to the bathroom in time to purge himself of the excesses of the night before, his head throbbing in time with his knee. Once his stomach had stopped rebelling, Sadao had pissed endlessly, and then washed his hands and face and scrubbed his teeth twice before wandering down to the kitchen in search of a restorative cup of tea. On his way out of the bathroom, Sadao mumbled hello to Erion, who looked surprisingly refreshed and cheerful as he bounced into the bathroom to piss and scrub his own teeth. Sadao muttered one of his mild curses, wondering how Erion managed to show so few ill effects.

    Eryn had not been in the kitchen, but there was a fresh pot of tea, and Sadao had poured a cup with an almost sexual moan, taking a greedy drink and feeling his entire body all but purr in relief. He had limped over to the counter and pulled out a stool, sitting down to savor the tea, the house peaceful enough to suggest that Satoru had taken the boys with him on an errand.

    Sadao had taken a moment to smile as he thought of the way he had woken up, though, with Momo curled up so sweetly. Sadao had to admit it had been a bit surprising to see Erion in the bed with them, but Erion and Momo were apparently not joking about things between them being strictly platonic now, and Sadao felt himself let go of a fear he had not even realized he held.

    Sadao had done what he usually did when his knee flared up, worked out at the dojo and tried to master the pain through meditation, but banging his feet down this morning had not helped in the slightest. He grumbled through a fast but thorough shower, brushed his teeth, and got dressed, Momo still asleep under the covers and looking delicious. Unfortunately, the state of his knee meant that Sadao needed more time to get warmed up before his first lesson, and his young lover would have to wait.

    Sadao limped down the stairs in search of tea, knowing that Eryn was up as early as he was, but for a change she was not in the kitchen. He grabbed a mug of tea and limped over to the dining room, his brow creased in a frown as he sat down to enjoy the last few moments of quiet before the boys came down. The pain made him feel mildly queasy, and he had the beginnings of what promised to be a bad headache, so he decided to stick tea rather than have breakfast.

    Sadao took a sip of tea, contemplating some of the things Momo had been hinting at lately. He found himself trying to remember if he had actually seen Erion's ear correctly that morning, if it did really come to a graceful point as it peeked out of the mass of silver hair. He knew Sand had oddly shaped ears, having seen them far too many times at the dojo, and Erion was Sand's nephew. He shook his head a little and then groaned as his knee complained a bit.

    Sadao knew that Eryn kept headache tablets in the kitchen, well out of reach of the children, and he stood up to go and get some, the sharp pain in his knee adding to the rest of the misery that clamored for attention. Sadao muttered another of his totally innocent curses as he limped past the laundry room in search of the headache pills. He nearly screamed and dropped his mug when he heard Eryn's voice just as he got past the doorway.

    "Sadao-san, what's wrong with your knee? Why are you limping like that?" Eryn took Sadao by the arm and guided him into the living room, sitting him on the sofa and looking at him with one of her looks that brooked no opposition or nonsense.

    Sadao found himself reacting like he was a teenager who had stayed out too late, his cheeks pink. "I got out of bed wrong and banged my knee the other day, and it's been aching ever since. My own fault for working out on it more than I should have. I was going to get a headache pill for the pain..."

    Sadao never got to finish his thought, as Eryn made a very unladylike noise and grabbed his knee in her small but strong hands, her fingers deftly probing the damaged joint. Sadao yelped, both from pain and from surprise, but then a peculiar warmth and tingling began to spread through his knee, and the pain faded as the warmth grew. It never got unpleasantly warm, but Sadao could literally feel things shifting a bit, and he looked at Eryn as though she were an alien.

    The gracefully pointed tip of Eryn's ear was pale against the raven hair tucked behind it, and when Sadao looked down again in confusion, he saw the soft glow that surrounded Eryn's hands. He blinked, wondering if he was actually still asleep and just having some weird pain-induced dream, and then he realized all his pain was gone, his stomach was calm and he was hungry.

    "Honestly, it's like raising a pack of elflings all over again," Eryn said, standing back up. She looked at Sadao with exasperated affection, and reached out to pat his shoulder. "When you hurt, tell me. It's what I do, Sadao-kun. I heal people. I've been doing it longer than you've been alive, and I'm more than good at it."

    Sadao stared at his knee like it had grown another head, and then slowly he lifted his eyes to meet Eryn's blue eyes, staring at her as if she had just claimed to be a unicorn.

    "What just happened?" Sadao asked, and poked at his knee, then grabbed his kneecap hard and gave it an experimental twitch. The small flat disk of bone did not budge. It remained utterly where it was supposed to, and the tendons that had been screaming in agony a moment ago were sweetly silent.

    Sadao rose slowly from the couch, and gingerly started to put some weight on the knee, until he was standing on one leg, bouncing lightly on the ball of his foot. Ichirou came ambling down the stairs with a huge yawn, Ryuu following him, and Ichirou mumbled with a slightly teasing tone, "I keep telling you, tousan, ballet is not your sport."

    Sadao put his other foot down when Ryuu started snickering, and he stared at Eryn, utterly confused. "It doesn't hurt anymore. At all. What is going on here? What did you do? I mean, I know that you do this spiritual healing thing. Momo's always reminding me. But my knee feels better than it has in fifteen years. What happened?" His voice trembled a little bit as he bent his bad knee, and he did not feel the slightest tingle of pain.

    Eryn looked at Sadao with a small smile, her beautiful blue eyes serene. "You've been making it worse all this time, you know. Every time you'd push yourself harder, you'd damage the tendons a little more, and wear away at the bone a little more. You were close to a knee replacement, and from what I can tell, those are not ever good enough to let you do what you love. We won't even mention that you're too young for so drastic a measure."

    Sadao frowned at his mother in law and pouted a little bit, again putting all his weight on his bad knee, and realizing it actually felt better than his good knee. "You've been chatting with my doctor, haven't you? He's been mumbling something about knee replacement for a few years. Ever since I got dislocated at the tournament three years ago, actually. How can my bad knee feel better than my good knee? And my headache's gone."

    Sadao's eyes widened and he pinched himself in the arm, almost hard enough to bruise and then yelped a bit, biting his lip to keep in his shout of pain. "Oh, fudge. I'm not dreaming, that's for sure." He gave Eryn a wary look and mumbled, "You people are weird. Momo's been making all sorts of weird innuendo, and you keep talking about elves and elflings. You are all totally weird."

    Sadao made his way around the coffee table, eying Eryn suspiciously, and then headed towards the kitchen, mumbling still. "Maybe we should rescue your kitchen from the little morning monkeys." He stopped and bounced on his knee again, then looked at Eryn, blushing faintly, as he mumbled hastily, "Thank you. Whatever you did. Thank you. It feels fantastic."

    Eryn arched a graceful eyebrow at Sadao. "Now what sort of weird innuendo has Momo-kun been making? Honestly, you would think he'd be used to us by now." She chuckled and patted Sadao's arm. "You want omelet this morning with your soup and fish? Maybe now that you're not in pain, you'll eat your food rather than just torment it with your chopsticks."

    Ryuu yawned, his raven hair rumpled, and he looked at Eryn and Sadao, slightly confused. "Sobo, you fixed otooji's knee? It's about time. He was stomping all over." He grinned at Sadao, his beautiful eyes perfectly innocent. "It's okay, otooji. Sobo's good at fixing hurts. She even fixed Takara's head when she cracked it."

    Sadao stared down at Ryuu, asking incredulously, "She cracked her head?"

    Ryuu nodded his head emphatically in response, his voice very serious. "Takara-chan ran into the wall of the house, and got a very nasty cut and cried like she had just broken her head. But sobo fixed it so it was only a little hurt and healed without making a scar. She was also very angry when chichi broke his ankle and he and tousan were silly and went to the hospital instead of asking her to fix it."

    Sadao stared at Ryuu, his eyes even wider, and then he waffled for a few moments before he looked at Eryn again. "Mamoru has been making innuendo that you are not human. That you, and Yuki-kun, and Akira-san, and Masato-san are not human. But that's impossible. Although it's far too confusing to think that you all share this weird gene thing. It should be impossible for Hikaru-kun to have those ears if that were true..." Sadao trailed off as he noticed Ichirou staring at him like he barely had two braincells to rub together.

    "What, ichigo?" Sadao asked plaintively, and Ichirou shook his head, his tone slightly patronizing.

    "Honestly, tousan, sometimes I think Ishikawa-sempai has kicked all the sense out of your head. Of course they are elves. I mean, they live in a whole different world, and can do magic, like Harry Potter. It's so obvious, I'm just amazed that you haven't figured it out."

    Sadao stared at Ichirou for a moment and then he looked at Eryn, his face pale, and he swayed a little on his feet.

    "Come and sit down, Sadao-kun. You're as white as a ghost," Eryn said, and guided Sadao to the dining table. "Really, dear, it shouldn't be such a surprise. You've known Kenji-san long enough to know that he believes in all sorts of things that most people would consider nonsense, and yet you were also here the night that evil kami attacked Satoshi-kun. What is real and what isn't often blurs. Would it be so terrible if we were elves? It's obvious that we don't harbor any ill intentions."

    Eryn moved over to the kitchen to check the rice cooker and turn on the heat for the soup. "Poor Satoshi-kun was limping around on those crutches, and it was the last thing he needed at that point. I could have healed his ankle for him on the spot, and he would have been fine. Instead, he wound up spiraling into his depression even more while he struggled around on those crutches."

    Eryn sighed a little and began to mix the omelet as Ichirou and Ryuu set the table. "In my land, my world, I'm a cleric, a priestess who serves the elven gods and who is granted healing magic by them. What I did just now was a small healing, nothing easier. I'm capable of much more powerful healing as well."

    Sadao stared at his mother in law, his heart thudding slightly in his throat, but his mind was agreeing with everything that she said. He had indeed known Ishikawa Kenji since he was seven years old, and he had been hanging around the Ishikawa estate for twenty years now.

    He had indeed seen far too much, even without any sort of special talents of his own, to be able to dispute that there were things in this world, and others apparently, that defied explanation.

    He had himself seen the woman in the green kimono run screaming down the rokan of the main house, blood filling her footsteps. He had felt the cold spots by the stone garden, and he had never liked the feeling of the pond on the estate. He had himself gone looking for the crying child in the older part of the dojo, along with a handful of other trainers, only to find the sound in a corner, but no child to go with it.

    He had even once been attacked by something near the training grounds and pushed off the path into the rough hillside. He had insisted that the small thorn bushes had torn his kimono and hakama, but the tears had been far too regular to have come from anything but claws.

    Sadao shivered as he remembered that cold night, and the fear in Kenji's eyes when he had bandaged Sadao up.

    "But ghosts and demons are one thing. Elves are quite another. There isn't even any folklore about elves in Japanese folklore. Elves are purely western concepts. But still..." Sadao reached out and touched the delicate tip of Eryn's ear, only the slightest feathering of fingertip against ear tip, and he shook his head. "This means there are other worlds out there. Gateways that lead out of this world. You are asking me to just let go of everything I've been taught and accept that we are not alone in the universe. That is a little hard, Eryn-san."

    "It's very hard, Sadao-san. But think of it as having found friends and allies against the darker things. Not all that's out there is evil, after all." Eryn looked at Sadao and smiled. "I came here because Masato fell in love with Satoshi, and because I genuinely love this odd but wonderful family. I suppose it's fair to say that for the elves of my homeland, love is our most important guide. We believe that hearts are led to where they belong, and to deny the joining of two hearts is wrong. We've accepted people of the same gender loving each other all along."

    Eryn folded the omelet deftly and began to dish out the slices of sweet omelet to the boys, who grinned happily as that was followed by grilled fish, soup with fried miso, and bowls of rice. She gestured for Sadao to sit and served them both.

    "The night of the attack here, if you remember, Satoru was not terribly surprised. Angry, yes, that she would dare to attack here in our home, but not surprised. It is a gift of the Mori family as well as the Ishikawa family, to see and feel such things. Afterward, Masato and I wove what protections we could, to keep everyone safe for the night." Eryn smiled reassuringly.

    Satoru came down, and Eryn stood to kiss his cheek and bring him his breakfast.

    Sadao sat by the table, quietly drinking all that Eryn had said, and then suddenly when she and Satoru were seated, Sadao said quietly, "The panther."

    Satoru looked up at Sadao, then glanced at Eryn with a slightly arched eyebrow, asking her silently what Sadao was talking about.

    Sadao looked at them both quizzically, continuing, "I always thought it was a dream. But that night, when Satoshi-san was attacked here, I had trouble falling asleep again, but Mamoru fell asleep very quickly. At one point I looked up, and I thought I saw a shadow in the corner of the room. It looked like a panther. Like the one Mamoru has tattooed on his hip. He's often joked that he has a panther looking after him, like a spirit guide."

    Satoru nodded his head slowly. "It is one of the gifts of the Mori family. Satoshi's is a pair of koi fish. My Kiyoshi had an eagle, and my Yuki had a crane. The panther belonged with Amaterasu, so it surprised me when it showed up again, following Momo around. My spirit guide is an owl. My brother had a bear. I can sometimes see these animal spirits as clearly as I can see you now. Most of the time they hide though. When we do not need them, they are dormant. On the other hand I see ghosts, most of the time. Spirits that remain for one reason or another. Satoshi's gifts are greater than mine, and so are Ryuu's. Kenji also has a gift, as you know."

    Sadao nodded his head slowly, eying the two little boys that were eating their breakfast happily, planning their day off with excitement.

    "Is that also why Momo periodically checks under the bed, and in the closet?" Sadao asked quietly, and Satoru nodded slowly.

    Momo pulled up a chair next to Sadao, making his lover jump a little, and as he sat he whispered, "Yes, I still check for monsters under my bed. I always have."

    "So really, is it any harder to believe that I'm an elf?" Eryn asked with a small smile, reaching out to take Satoru's hand. "Look at it this way. Even if I'm crazy, it's a pretty harmless sort of crazy, and I still do good work fixing the aches and pains of my family."

    Ryuu looked over, his gorgeous eyes happy. "You're not crazy, sobo. You're an elf, and I'm one third elf."

    Ichirou nodded his head emphatically, and chimed in, "Ryuu is only one third elf because his tousan is an elf, not his chichi, you see."

    Ryuu nodded his head even harder in agreement with Ichirou.

    Sadao blushed and shook his head a little, staring at his in laws, but then Momo ended whatever was going on inside Sadao's head, as he pulled Sadao closer to himself and kissed his temple softly, whispering with a voice full of love, "Just don't think about it, my love. The fact that you haven't run screaming out the door yet, indicates that somewhere deep inside you want to believe us, and I know you love me enough to trust me. So, just trust me, and let go of it, and just go with the flow on this one. Otousan and okaasan are going to Evereska, where Satoshi is, for the holidays, and everyone is going with them. I want to go too. I want to take you and Ichirou with me. So, please, my love, just let go of disbelief and trust me?"

    Sadao turned to look into Momo's eyes, and for a moment he wanted to get up and leave with Ichirou in tow. But the sparkle and love in Momo's eyes grabbed that thought and kicked it out instantly. Instead Sadao leaned in and kissed him softly, and whispered into the thick lips, "Whatever kind of crazy that you are all eating, I think it's rubbing off, and I think I'm liking it. I'll let go and go with the flow, just for you, my love. You have the strangest influence on me, Mamoru."

    Momo laughed softly and kissed Sadao deeply, before turning to his breakfast.

    Sadao blushed a little and looked up at Eryn, a small giggle in his voice as he decided that he had indeed lost it. "Eryn-san, could you maybe do something with my other knee as well? I haven't dislocated it, but it's taken it's fair share of hits, and now that feels worse than my bad knee."

    Eryn knelt and laid her hands over Sadao's other knee, feeling the small bits of damage that were beginning to accrue.

    "I do feel it. You worked this knee harder to compensate for the bad knee, and it's taken a toll indeed." Eryn's hands glowed again very faintly, and Sadao felt that same warmth and mild tingling as things inside his knee seemed to move into the right places again. "That wasn't bad yet, but it could have been just as bad, if not worse than the other. You very nearly ruptured the synovial membrane." The human medical terminology sounded briefly odd, and Eryn smiled brightly. "I read a great deal on medicine as practiced here, and learned the names for anatomical structures, since I am the equivalent of a doctor."

    Sadao giggled sweetly, and shook his head. "I barely know the terminology myself, Eryn-san, but thank you for this. Now I can kick Ishikawa's butt next time we spar. He's still giving me a hard time about my hangover, after the body hunt."

    Momo giggled at that, and nuzzled Sadao's shoulder, mumbling, "I still can't believe you were hungover for two days."

    "Oh, shut up. I'm older than you, so it's harder for me."

    From the other end of the table, Ichirou could be heard whispering to Ryuu, "See, I told you he's old. He's almost as old as obasan."

    Sadao rolled his eyes with a groan and hung his head in defeat.

    "Don't fret, my dear," Eryn said sweetly. "I'm much, much older than you."

    Sadao looked up at Eryn, and smiled softly, nodding his head, and the words escaped before he managed to think them through, "Twenty years isn't that much of a difference, Eryn-san, but thank you."

    Momo giggled sheepishly, and Satoru grimaced a little bit as if he felt sorry for Sadao.

    "It's a little bit more than that, actually, but we won't quibble," Eryn said, and got up to offer more tea and juice. "Now then, when were we planning to leave to join Satoshi and Masato, and the rest of the family?"

    Sadao arched an eyebrow at Satoru, but when he feigned not to notice, Sadao turned to Momo, but he just leaned in and kissed Sadao soundly on the lips, telling him to eat his breakfast.

    Satoru cleared his throat and answered a little loudly. "We're going to meet Yuki, Kenji and Yori at the estate just after noon today, and then we were going to go together."

    "Oh, that's lovely," Eryn said happily. "I can't wait to see how big Masaaki-kun has gotten. Honestly, he's a gorgeous baby, and Kenji and Yori are wonderful parents. I should have asked if Taren needed me to bring anything from here. Maybe I should just pack a few things just in case. We were running low on soup stock and she can always use tofu."

    "And pocky," Ryuu added cheerfully. "We should bring lots of pocky."

    "But isn't Kansas going with us?" Eryn asked. "I know he's been working but he must have a little vacation time for the holidays."

    "Kansas left last night actually. He got permission to leave early, but he has to come back between Christmas and the New Year's to work for a few days. He's going to try and spend the New Year's with the family, but he isn't sure if he can make it. Although I had hoped we would all spend the New Year's in Tokyo," Satoru said with a smile and reached out to ruffle Ryuu's hair gently.

    "I'm sure Satoshi-kun would rather be back here for New Year's." Eryn stood and began to gather things that she wanted to pack to take with her. "Satoru, my love, would you find the bag of holding? Ryuu, you and Ichirou can pick out what things from here you want to bring, and I'll be up shortly to pack those for you."

    Ryuu nodded eagerly, looking at Ichirou with his bright smile. "You need clothes and pyjamas and a toothbrush. We got a lot of other stuff there. You can bring your iPod 'cause Akira-otooji knows how to make them work if they need electricity."

    Eryn chuckled at Hikaru. "You should bring a swimsuit as well, Ichirou-kun. It's quite mild where we're going and there will be swimming if I know my grandsons. Momo, could you and Sadao clear the dishes for me? I'll wash them in just a bit."

    Satoru and Momo both nodded and Satoru took off to find the bag Eryn had requested, while Momo and Sadao started to clear the table, as they had gotten in the habit of doing since Sadao had moved in.

    Sadao nudged Momo a little bit and asked under his breath, "I can't take Ichirou with us, can I? I mean, we're leaving the country, and I'd need his mother's permission."

    Momo laughed softly and shrugged, answering with a cryptic look on his face, "Well, that sort of depends on your definition of leaving the country."

    Ryuu looked up at his grandmother slightly puzzled and asked loudly, "Sobo, why do we need swimtrunks? We've never needed those before. The elveses always swim butt naked."

    "Of course we elves swim naked, as the gods made us, but Ichirou might not be as comfortable with swimming like an elf." Eryn bent over to kiss the thick silky hair of her sweet grandson. "We want Ichirou to be comfortable, and Sadao as well, right? You can swim the way you always do."

    Eryn leaned over near Sadao and murmured very softly, "Your father in law is a lawyer, you know. You can ask him about whether or not this constitutes leaving the country."

    Ryuu looked at his grandmother when she spoke, considering her words, then he turned to Ichirou and told him, "We'll all bring our swimtrunks and if you don't feel comfortable swimming butt naked, then Hikaru and me will wear our swimtrunks too. But I promise, you will love Evereska. It's just magical."

    Sadao arched an eyebrow at Eryn, but then excused himself from his chore and hurried up the stairs to find Satoru. Knocking shyly on the open bedroom door as he entered the master bedroom, Sadao ducked his head at Satoru, but the older man answered before Sadao could even bring up his question.

    "You really need to stop bowing at me," Satoru said, his head halfway inside the wardrobe where he was rummaging through a drawer that seemed to contain mostly handkerchiefs and scarves. "These damnable bags are so small that I keep losing them. I might end up giving them a drawer of their own. Maybe the closet monster keeps stealing them because they are so damned convenient," Satoru continued and Sadao sniggered.

    "You are right. I do bow too much at you and Eryn-san. But I need to ask you a legal question, Satoru-san. I just realized, you are all assuming that Ichirou is coming with us, but I can't take him out of the country without his mother's permission, and a written consent, plus he doesn't even have a passport. I don't even think mine is valid, and on top of that, I have no idea where it is."

    Satoru looked up, a bunch of small pouches in his hand, and he looked suddenly sort of comical, with his hair standing on end, wearing a slightly oversized t-shirt with a big heart on the front that read World's Greatest Grandad, and fancy silk sleep pants, and a bunch of what looked like women's purse pouches to Sadao.

    "Well, technically speaking we aren't leaving the country. And since this is your week, and you said you would be having Ichirou for Christmas, you have every right to take him with us, without permission. And where we are going, we don't need passports. In Neverwinter all we need to do is wave around Akira's name, or Masato's, and we can go about wherever we want, and in Evereska we can either use their name, or Yuji's and everyone will know who we are. Or at least so Eryn and the rest of them tell me."

    Eryn stuck her head in, looked at the collection of pouches in Satoru's hand, plucked two from the batch and kissed him sweetly. "What do we tell you, dear?"

    Satoru kissed Eryn back and nuzzled her cheek with a giggle. "You all tell me that our son and Akira are some fancy to do heroes in Neverwinter, and now Yuji is Lord Hayashi in Evereska."

    Eryn laughed happily. "Masato is something of a hero, I suppose, and as for Akira, well, wait until you see his Cloaktower. And Yuji is a Lord in Evereska, and so is Hawk." She wrinkled her nose a little. "I tried giving up my title, but they don't listen."

    Sadao stared utterly confused at Satoru, and then he threw up his hands and muttered, "I give up. I must have lost my mind somewhere between here and the fire."

    Satoru laughed and patted him on the shoulder sympathetically. "It's hard, I know, son. Why do you think I refuse to think of Eri-chan as anything but three years younger than me? Her real age is just too baffling. I've actually never allowed her to tell me exactly how old she is. Nor have I let Masato tell me how old he is. But you have an open mind, Sadao. You are like us, and it will get easier with time. Just trust in us, and trust Momo, and all will be well. Now go pack." Satoru smiled as he handed Sadao one of the small pouches, and Sadao stared at Momo as he came sauntering up the stairs and hooted, "Yay, we get a bag of holding too? You think our bed will fit in there?"

    Eryn helped Ryuu and Ichirou pack their bag of holding, and then went back downstairs to pack the things she wanted to bring for Taren and to wash the dishes from breakfast. It seemed to take her no time at all to tidy her kitchen and leave it as neat and orderly as ever. She waited patiently for the men to finish getting ready, smiling to herself as she realized this would be the first time she had taken Satoru to her homeland.

    "Maybe I should explain about the eagles when we get there," Eryn murmured to herself. "Unless Nathe has the portal open to the Academy. Hmm."

    Sadao gaped a little at Momo's joke about the bed, and Momo patted him on the head with a chuckle. "Don't worry, love. I won't try to fit the bed. We have more than enough beds in Evereska. And there are at least a couple of houses that we can stay at. But trust me, this little pouch is everything we need. I've seen Yuki pack a week's worth of clothes into one of these."

    Sadao followed Momo meekly to their room and then stared wide eyed and slightly reeling while Momo packed their clothes, Sadao's training gear, their laptops, and their toiletries all into the tiny pouch which did not start to fill, or bulge or grow much heavier. Momo even stuck a couple of favorite toys into the bag, and then looked around the room with a frown. "What else do we need?" he asked, pulling a couple of cartons of cigarettes out of his wardrobe and chucking them into the bag.

    Finally he grabbed his school bag and hoisted that onto his shoulder, and held out his hand to Sadao. "Come on, love, lets go and make you lose your mind completely."

    Ryuu was sitting on the bottom step of the stairs with Ichirou and was excitedly explaining about the giant eagles to his adopted cousin and Sadao paled visibly, while Momo sat down with the boys and asked Ryuu to tell him too, since he had never gone to Evereska.

    Eryn came over and sat with the boys, her eyes bright as she listened to Ryuu's explanation.

    "There's these giant eagles, and the elves ride on them and they fly in the air. It's so cool because sometimes we land on this hill, and it's a long way down into the valley where Evereska is, but then Hisao-otooji is in charge of the elves that ride the eagles, so they give us a ride." Ryuu's eyes were shining. "The elves hold us really tight so we don't fall, but the eagles are very careful flying us, so I never worry."

    Ichirou stared wide eyed at his cousin and then looked up at Momo, full of excitement.

    "Oh, that sounds so cool. Aren't you scared at all?" Ichirou exclaimed and Momo seconded that question, but Ryuu shook his head very seriously,

    "No. Well, I was a little the very very first time, but now I'm used to it. It's a ton of fun. And some of the eagles really like it when you scream with them. Aniki-san always screams like his head is about to explode."

    Sadao stared at the three boys and then looked at Eryn with an almost terrified look.

    "It's perfectly safe, Sadao-kun," Eryn said calmly. "The eagles are very intelligent, and they willingly partner with our warriors and carry them happily. My son in law is a Captain of the Vale Guard, and so the riders often treat us and take us down the hill to the Gate. I would never risk my grandchildren by letting them do anything foolish."

    Eryn reached out to take Sadao's hand gently. "Yuki-kun says it is really our version of technology. You create machines and circuitry, and we use magic and nature. The end results are often the same."

    Sadao nodded slowly, but then turned a slightly miserable face to Eryn and said quietly, "Just please don't tell me that the animals talk, or walk around on two legs with hats and stuff. I think my little brain would not be able to handle that."

    Ichirou looked around and stared up at his father like he had just lost his mind and then turned to Ryuu and muttered, "Honestly, sometimes I think he just can't be related to me."

    Eryn laughed, her laughter bright and silvery, and Sadao could hear Erion in the sound. "I think my little brain would be equally challenged by that. No, my dear, our animals are simply animals, and not all that different from yours. Our diet is very close to a Japanese diet, and we live fairly simply. I think, once you get past the notion of being elsewhere, that you'll like Evereska."

    Eryn looked at Sadao, her eyes widening. "I should have Masato take you to the training grounds. You can see where he learned his swordsmanship when he was still an elfling. His former master is still teaching, I believe."

    Sadao sighed a sigh of great relief and sank down on the steps, Momo sliding up on his knees to kiss Sadao soundly, and both Ryuu and Ichirou made disgusted faces at Momo's back.

    "You will love it, Sadao. I swear, you will," Momo whispered and Sadao nodded, his mind still reeling, but the sincerety and love that shone in Momo's eyes calmed him, and somehow made it less difficult to believe.

    "At least I know that there is something similar to my martial arts there, and to Ishikawa-san's swordsmanship, so I won't be completely lost. And I'll have you," Sadao whispered and leaned into Momo's embrace, and Momo chuckled, "Trust me, love. It took me hell of a lot longer to get used to this, so you are not alone."

    They split up between two cars, Eryn and Satoru taking the boys to give Momo and Sadao a little time to talk, and headed for the estate where Erion was waiting, his eyes shining as he greeted them. Ryuu flung himself into Erion's arms, and Erion scooped him up, scooping Ichirou up as well when Ichirou came over with a shout.

    "Kenji-san should be here in a few minutes," Erion told Satoru. "Apparently, Yori repacked three times before he was sure he had everything Masaaki would need."

    Momo gave Erion a quick hug, then found himself a seat on one of the lounges that still stood on the deck, wrapping himself tightly in his thick coat as he lit up a cigarette. Sadao went inside with the rest of the family to wait for Yori and Kenji.

    They arrived some twenty minutes later, and Kenji looked slightly downcast, while Yori was practically bristling, Masaaki fussing in his car seat. Satoru offered to take the baby boy immediately, and Kenji was grateful. He shook his head at Eryn with a sad look and Yori all but huffed past her, headed for the kitchen to feed Masaaki.

    "I do apologize, Eryn-san, Satoru-san. He's been like this since last night. He is utterly refusing to believe that you are elves and that we are going to your homeland. He even accused me of thinking he was daft," Kenji said with a tone of defeat, waving weakly at Erion.

    "Oh, dear, Kenji-san," Eryn said with quick sympathy. "I'm so sorry. I forget that most people think we're an utter fantasy. How can we help?"

    Erion had headed into the kitchen to help Yori prepare a meal for Masaaki, his silvery eyes darkening a little with worry. "Yori-san, what's wrong? I thought you'd be excited to get away for a bit with Kenji-san and Masaaki-kun."

    Yori huffed a little at Erion, tugging the plate of fruit he was preparing away from Erion, then grabbing both plate and sippy cup he bustled out of the kitchen again, headed for the dining room table where Kenji had put Masaaki in one of the highchairs, the little boy still being fussy and loud.

    Masaaki yelped and grumbled loudly when Yori all but slammed the sippy cup down in front of his son, and Satoru grabbed the young man's wrist, as Kenji fled outside to filch a cigarette off Momo.

    "Yori-kun. Stop it. Go outside and talk to your husband, and whoever else you need, to settle this. There is no need to frighten your son half to death, because you are upset. I'll feed him," Satoru said gently, stroking Yori's shoulder fatherly, and Yori all but melted under his touch.

    Satoru let go of Yori and sat down, cooing at the beautiful little boy. "How is my little pretend grandson? How I've missed you. It's been ages since I saw you. You want some juice?"

    Yori trembled for a little bit, but then he stalked outside and stood next to the lounge, glaring down at Kenji and Momo, his arms crossed over his chest. "So, You believe this nonsense too, Mamoru-kun? Honestly? Is this some stupid joke?"

    Sadao had followed Yori outside, after waving at Erion to follow him. Erion hurried after Sadao, utterly confused by Yori's attitude and anger. He ran a slim hand through his hair and gusted a sigh as he lit a cigarette and flopped onto a chaise lounge.

    Momo stared up at Yori, his eyes wide but he was not afraid, even though the beautiful slender man did manage to strike a very frightening pose with his anger. "It's no joke, Yori-san. It's all true. Yuki, okaasan, Akira and Masato, and all of their relatives are elves."

    Sadao giggled helplessly for a moment, and then blushed when Yori glared at him, Momo continuing, "It may sound weird and stupid or whatever, but it's the truth. There is no need to have a hissy fit about it. Just be open and go with it. That's what I did."

    Yori glared at Momo, then frowned heavily, and turned his anger to Erion. "How can you just expect us to believe this like it's the most normal thing in the world? Prove it! Prove to me that you are really an elf."

    Kenji raised his hand a little, his voice calming, but for some reason, it came out sounding like he knew who wore the pants in their relationship.

    "Saiai, don't get so angry. Yuki-kun hasn't done anything to deserve your anger..." he stopped talking the moment Yori's glare turned to him again, and Yori hissed, "Except claiming to be a fucking elf. Now prove it. Show me that you are an elf. How long would you say the distance is around the house? Three hundred meters? Then go! Run around the house and show me how fast you are."

    Erion looked up at Yori, his eyes widening. "Shit, Yori-san. I mean, prove you're human. I could give you a blood sample, but that's not going to do much, is it? You already know about the ears." Erion tucked his hair back behind one ear, the graceful point showing plainly. "So, you want me to run? Fine."

    Erion peeled off his jacket and his shirt, standing bare-chested in the cold, his skin not even prickling into gooseflesh. He twisted his long silver hair into a rope, and tied it into a loose knot, and then turned to Kenji.

    "Ishikawa-sempai? Will you do me the honor of timing me?" Erion bowed respectfully, and looked at Yori as he waited for Kenji to call the mark. On Kenji's signal, Erion took off, graceful and swift, moving with a speed that seemed impossible as he skimmed over the deck.

    Yori glared at Kenji, but Kenji decided to ignore him, pretending to be preoccupied with his job as time keeper.

    Sadao sat down on Momo's knee and noticed that a look passed over Yori's face when he realized that Erion's footfall had been practically silent when he took off. Sadao knew that Yori knew what was the world record in a four hundred meter dash, which was a rough estimate of the distance that he had just ordered Erion to run, and Sadao realized that if Erion would break that record, he himself would be finally completely convinced.

    Yori on the other hand had squared his jaw and stood there like a pissed off schoolmarm, his arms crossed over his chest and his foot tapping on the boards of the deck.

    Erion turned the final corner, still moving with that eerie silence as he came to an abrupt stop in front of Yori, his eyes turning to Kenji for the count. His bare chest was not even heaving, his breathing easy and regular, and he reached up to untwist his hair, shaking it free over his shoulders.

    "Twenty-five seconds," Kenji announced, his eyes widening just a bit.

    Erion looked at Yori. "I'm pretty sure that isn't going to convince you, so what next, Yori-san?"

    Kenji held up his phone to show Yori, knowing that Yori would not believe him, and that Yori had seen him press the button the moment Erion had taken off.

    Yori's eyes widened a little at the sight, but the look on his face told the others that he was still struggling to remain unconvinced.

    "What do you mean, what's next? What else are you elves known for? Climbing? Being superstrong?" Yori barked, and frowned a little, when Momo started giggling.

    Sadao nudged Momo slightly, answering with a soft voice, "I do believe their heart rate and blood pressure is below what is normal for humans. And as you can see, he's not even winded after that dash. Also their body heat is unusually high. I noticed that the other day when Yuki spent the night at our house."

    Yori glared at Sadao and Momo, who was trying to smother his giggles in Sadao's back. Yori took a step closer to Erion, but he asked before he reached out, "Can I feel your heartbeat?"

    "Of course you can," Erion answered. He watched as Yori laid his hand on Erion's chest, where a human heart would be, slightly to the left of the breastbone, and he reached up and shifted Yori's hand carefully, his face expressionless. "My heart is directly under the breastbone. It makes a little more sense to protect it a little more, don't you think? My breastbone is also a little thicker than a human's but it should still transmit my heartbeat just fine."

    Yori's eyes widened again as Erion shifted his hand, and then he felt the warmth of Erion's silken skin. It was warmer than it should be, especially considering he was standing outside in five degrees below zero Celcius, and shirtless. Against Yori's cold hand it felt like what would be normal for a human, indoors at average room temperature. And his heartbeat was slower. Where Yori expected to find an elevated heartbeat, he felt only slow steady and strong beats, far slower than was needed for an average person to remain conscious. He was reminded of one of Kenji's deep meditations, where Kenji's heartbeat slowed down to below that of coma patients.

    Yori pulled his hand away, and rubbed his hands together, as if to convince his hand that he had not felt what he had felt. The anger in his eyes had mostly been replaced by wonder and curiosity now, but he still glared at Erion and the rest of them, Kenji rising to hand Erion his t-shirt and jacket.

    "Well, elves are supposed to know magic, right? What can you do? What kind of magic do you have?" Yori all but barked, the anger seeming to have turned more inward than outward now.

    Erion opened his mouth to reply, and then shut it again. He took a deep breath before speaking. "Not all elves know magic, you know. That's like expecting every Japanese person to know judo. What about the other disciplines? And even if I knew magic like – "

    Sadao stood up and interrupted Erion, laying a gentle hand on the young elf's shoulder. "Yori-san, please. He doesn't know magic. Eryn can do magic of sorts, though. She's a healer. She healed my knee," Sadao said in a friendly tone, and Yori seemed to relax visibly at his friend's words.

    Kenji on the other hand turned to look at Sadao. "I thought your knee was fine," he said with a frown and Sadao smiled sheepishly.

    "Well, it is now. But it wasn't three days ago. I rolled out of bed and fell out of it, landing on my bad knee, so it's been killing me for the past three days, and Eryn-san caught me. She lay her hands on my knee, and I could literally feel the damage reversing. Not just the pain that I had just caused myself, but all the damage. She fixed it so well, that it actually got better than my good knee, so she fixed that too, and told me I was only inches away from damaging that too. It's not like she can conjure things out of thin air, but she can heal the body."

    Kenji glared at his friend and colleague, and Sadao grinned back at him, saying, "I can prove it." and Kenji automatically took up a defensive Kempo stance.

    Momo grabbed Erion and pulled him back and without warning Sadao bowed ever so slightly and then started throwing every kick in the book at Kenji.

    Kenji blocked and blocked, but Sadao moved too fast for him to catch a hold. Finally he managed to grab Sadao's ankle, and twist. Where he expected his old friend to cry out and stop their game like always before, because of his damaged knee, Sadao simply grinned and jumped up to flip himself away from Kenji's grip, the older man stumbling slightly as he lost his grip and before he could react, Sadao had him pinned on the wet deck, his muscular legs holding Kenji fast.

    "Damn it, Sadao. Your knees are stronger than before you first hurt it," Kenji said, clapping Sadao's calf to tell him to let go, and Sadao jumped to his feet, helping Kenji rise as well, and laughing he answered, "I know. It feels great. I haven't felt any irritation in the joint all day. This is real, Yori-san. They really are elves and we are very blessed to have them in our lives."

    Erion had watched in wide-eyed admiration as Sadao and Kenji sparred, forgetting to even put his shirt back on as he took in the sheer beauty of their mastery. Part of him was very glad that Yori had not pushed the magic issue harder, since he did have a peculiar sort of magic native to star elves. Erion preferred not to call his shadows to him lightly, however, and it really was not his place to discuss what his uncles could do. It was bad enough that they would have to transit through Neverwinter and the Cloaktower.

    Yori stared while Kenji and Sadao sparred, his heart quickening just a little at the sight, like it always did when he watched Kenji spar. The magical grace in his movements had always stolen Yori's breath away, and Sadao and Kenji knew each other so well, that the two of them together was always a magnificent sight.

    When Sadao helped Kenji to his feet, he patted at the wet back of Kenji's jacket and then he said quietly, "Actually, maybe Eryn-san could fix your shoulder, Ishikawa-san. That damage is similar to my knee, but then I think she's capable of healing practically anything. Even if you think about it, the elves were the ones that healed Yuji-san's cancer, right?" Sadao looked at Erion for confirmation, Kenji already heading towards the door into the living room with a smile on his face.

    Yori turned and followed him and Momo giggled as he ran after them.

    Kenji smiled his brightest as he took his jacket off and then pulled his sweater off, and plopped down on a chair next to Eryn, his voice full of laughter.

    "Eryn-san. Please prove to my silly husband that you are an elf, and show us some magic? Can you heal my shoulder the way you healed Sadao's knee? I've dislocated my shoulder more times than I can count, and by now it literally pops out of socket if I sneeze too hard." He shifted his right shoulder a little closer to Eryn, his smile strangely similar to Sand's cheeky grin.

    Eryn shook her head, running her hands over Kenji's shoulder. "Honestly, you are all like a pack of elflings today. Yuki-kun, put on your shirt, would you? You're very pretty, but really."

    Erion blushed and tugged on his t-shirt, reaching for the chambray shirt he had intended to wear and putting that on as well.

    Eryn nodded, her hands beginning to glow faintly as she healed the damage to Kenji's shoulder calmly. "I'm glad you had the sense to ask me, Kenji-san. The surgeons here mean well, but it's like trying to use an axe to crack an egg. This is so much more efficient." She sat back and patted Kenji's shoulder briskly. "There you go. That should do it."

    Yori stumbled a little bit when he saw the glow around Eryn's hands, and the look of wonder that passed over Kenji's face when he could feel the decades old damage disappearing. He grinned sheepishly at Eryn and twisted his other shoulder towards her, with a slight nod of his head. "I don't want to be too pushy, but I'm an old man, with over thirty years in the arts under my belt. Every single joint in my body hurts most of the time."

    Yori suddenly rushed over and grabbed Kenji's arm, poking his fingers into the damaged shoulder, which only moments ago would have only needed a small twist to pop out of socket, but now it remained where it was supposed to be, and Kenji leaned his head back to look up at his husband.

    "I love you with all my heart, saiai, but that fucking hurt."

    "Old man? Hardly," Eryn teased, her blue eyes twinkling. "You have no idea how good it feels to actually be useful for a change. I've been here, and for the most part, I've felt about as useful as a log. But this is what I've done all my life, healed people. Just give me a moment."

    Eryn closed her eyes for a moment, her lips moving in a silent prayer to Corellon, and when she opened her eyes, the petite elven woman seemed just a bit taller, more majestic somehow as she called down the divine power she had been granted. She placed her small hands on either side of Kenji's face, and she smiled with a sweet innocence as Kenji's entire body was bathed in warmth, tingling wherever the powerful magic found old damage to repair.

    Erion leaned over and whispered to Sadao, "She's actually the most senior cleric and healer in the Temple back home. She just likes to pretend she's a sweet, harmless little woman." He smiled brightly at Eryn, knowing full well she had heard him, and he giggled when she spared him a quick look.

    Sadao leaned back and whispered, eying Eryn discreetly to see if she could hear him too, even though his whisper was barely above a breath. "No wonder she scares me worse than my older sister and mother combined, when she gets that look on her face. You know what look I mean."

    Yori let go of Kenji's shoulder when he complained that it had hurt when Yori poked him, and he stumbled back a couple of steps when Eryn healed Kenji.

    Suddenly large tears welled in Yori's eyes and he sobbed so hard that his whole chest ached, his hand reaching up to touch his own damaged left shoulder.

    "Do you mean... Can I..." he sobbed, and then broke down crying.

    Ryuu jumped up from his seat in the living room and raced across to the dining room, wrapping his small arms around Yori's waist and burying his face in Yori's chest, whispering, "Don't cry, Yori-otooji. They can heal you and make you all better, just like they are doing with chichi. He is being healed in Evereska, and he is going to play the guitar again, and he's going to do both Kempo and Kenjutsu. Don't be sad. This is a good thing, Yori-otooji. You can be healed, too."

    A small spasm of pain passed over Ryuu's brow, and Yori wrapped his arms around Ryuu, holding him tightly as he cried softly, staring at Eryn with a desperate plea in his eyes.

    Eryn could feel Ryuu's gift trying to pull away the pain from Yori, and she released Kenji, knowing that she had healed all the old damage.

    "Ryuu? Sweetheart, don't try to take it all," Eryn said gently. "I'll help. I'll always help, for as long as I draw breath. Yori-san, beautiful child, will you let me help you?"

    Ryuu trembled a little bit as he let go of Yori, his face slightly pale and Momo rushed over to grab his nephew, lifting him easily and cradling him tightly.

    "You're so brave, Ryuu. But you have to be careful," Momo whispered, sitting down by the table and offering Ryuu a peach from the fruitbowl on the dining room table.

    Yori looked up at Eryn, tears still flowing down his cheeks, and he shook his head and nodded at the same time, his voice trembling with emotion. "How can you help me? Did Akira and Masato use magic to heal my shoulder? But there were injections, and all those research papers. Can it be fixed? Like it was never damaged before?"

    "Akira and Masato were trying very hard to make it look like it wasn't magic, Yori-san." Eryn's voice was soft and infinitely kind. "The injections were vitamins, which you needed anyway. It was the water that your arm was bathed with that held the magic. It is from a place in Evereska, called the Shining Spring. The waters are filled with the magic of our gods, and can heal injuries far worse than your shoulder. Elves have regrown lost limbs there. But yes, my dear, to answer you, I am able to finish what they began, and to make your shoulder whole again."

    Yori trembled from head to toe, and held out a hand to Kenji, begging him silently to be held. Kenji jumped up and with the gentle care of a lifetime old love, Kenji lifted Yori from the chair, and sat down himself under Yori, holding Yori tightly.

    "Please..." was all that Yori managed between his sobs, and Kenji unzipped his hoodie for him, easing the soft fabric off his slim shoulders.

    The neckline of Yori's longsleeved shirt was wide and Kenji tugged on it a little to make it slide down from Yori's injured shoulder, revealing faded scars, and a shoulder that was still weaker than the right shoulder, but it was not as withered as it had been, muscle clearly formed under the skin, but there was still an indication of the damage that he had suffered in the past.

    Eryn nodded, her small hands moving deftly over the shoulder as they began to glow again, and the pure warmth of her healing magic flowed into Yori's shoulder, washing away the twinges and small aches that had still been so much better than the raging agony before Sand and Vale had concocted their healing plan.

    Eryn spoke in that soft and tender voice as she worked, hoping to reassure Yori. "My foolish, sweet son. Masato has a very kind heart, but he tends to prefer indirect methods, and Akira is no help at all. That elf is a born intriguer, although I will admit that he does research his fictions very carefully. They did a decent job, though, given that neither one of them is a healer." Eryn smiled. "We're almost done. But Yori-san, I have to tell you that Masaaki gets more beautiful every time I see him! He is just the sweetest baby."

    Yori looked up at his son, the little boy mashing a piece of banana happily everywhere in his face, except his mouth, and a radiant smile spread over Yori's face. "Thank you, Eryn-san. He is beautiful. Our precious little boy. He is the light of our life, honestly. I consider us to be blessed beyond measure to have him."

    Kenji nodded his head, his hand drawing slow circles on Yori's back, his lips pressing against Yori's other shoulder, and he could feel the pain leaving Yori's body.

    Yori sobbed again, moving his shoulder ever so slightly at the tingling warmth, and he realized that all the damaged was being healed. Even the nerve damage that had been caused accidentally by the drunk neurosurgeon that had received Yori at his initial arrival at the emergency room. The surgeon had covered up his mistake without fixing it properly, so the damage had been made worse by Yori's second surgery, and with that his arm had been paralyzed.

    Yori looked up at Eryn with tears flowing down his cheeks, and his voice raw with emotion, but hope brightened his eyes. "Do you think I will be able to wield a sword again?"

    "You use a katana like Satoshi-kun, don't you?" Eryn said. "Of course you will be able to use your katana again. I'm going to make sure that your shoulder is perfect, Yori-san. Masato and Akira did the bulk of the work for me." Eryn could feel the initial damage now, the stupid drunken slip of a scalpel that had robbed Yori of his arm and a large part of his life. She deftly repaired the damage, healing the nerves and soothing the last of the pain away. "That should do it quite nicely, I think."

    Erion appeared at Eryn's shoulder, handing her a tall glass of juice. "Yulna sina, atararim, drink this."

    "Cheeky thing," Eryn said, and the love in her voice was evident. "How do you feel, Yori-san?" Eryn did sip the juice, though, the sweetness welcome.

    Yori moved his shoulder a little and sobbed when he felt nothing that hindered his movement, no pain, no stiffness, and best of all, no misguided messages from his brain to his arm. He looked at Kenji with wide eyes, large tears still rolling down his cheeks, but these were tears of happiness.

    "I can't remember when I last felt this good in my shoulder," Yori managed to answer between sobs, and Kenji held him tightly, letting his dear husband cry on his shoulder.

    Kenji reached out a hand to Eryn, his voice trembling with happiness. "Thank you, Eryn-san. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have given us a gift that we are both eternally indebted to you for. Just give us a few minutes and then we can head on out to Evereska."

    "There's no debt at all. I do this because I can, and because it is how I serve my gods. Thank them by loving each other and loving that beautiful son of yours." Eryn kissed Kenji's cheek and Yori's cheek.

    Sadao helped Kenji get Yori to his feet and to the living room, where Kenji snuggled down on a couch with Yori in his arms, Yori crying into Kenji's chest.

    Sadao returned to the dining room to help Ichirou with his fruit, while Satoru helped Ryuu eat, to regain his strength, and Masaaki smiled proudly at Eryn, raising his hands to show her that he had managed to mash all of his banana to a mush, that he had then smeared all over his face, neck and hands, and a small glob was sliding slowly down under the neckline of his shirt.

    Eryn chuckled and got a clean washcloth, wetting it with warm water and gently cleaning Masaaki off, cooing at him happily. "Look at you, sweet gorgeous boy. You are so clever to be able to cover yourself in mashed banana, aren't you? Do you want to know a secret? It's even better inside your tummy."

    Masaaki giggled happily as Eryn cleaned him up and murmured a small cantrip to tidy his clothing, not wanting to disturb Yori and Kenji to ask about luggage. She smiled at Erion as he came over with a small bowl of rice and some minced fruit, and Eryn fed Masaaki with many more giggles.

    Kenji helped Yori to the large downstairs bathroom to wash his face with cool water, and if Yori's lips were just a little kiss swollen when they emerged, no one was about to mention it.

    Ryuu snuggled up to Satoru, the peach helping him to regain his own strength, and Erion curled up on the other side of Ryuu, praising him for being so loving and generous. He had gotten a big glass of orange juice for Ryuu as well, and Ryuu drank it through a straw as Satoru pressed kisses to his silky raven hair.

    Finally, with everyone fed and feeling restored, Erion opened the portal to Neverwinter, looking almost shy as he did so. Yori's eyes were huge, and he held Masaaki a little tighter, but Kenji's eyes were shining with excitement as he put his arm around Yori. Sadao held Ichirou's hand, and reached for Momo as well, and Erion grabbed Kenji and Yori's luggage and slipped it into a spare bag of holding when they were not looking. Eryn held Ryuu's hand on one side, and Satoru took his other hand.

    "It's just like stepping through a doorway," Erion said quietly, trying to reassure Sadao and Yori. "Willow went through the portal when she was pregnant with Hikaru, and you know no one would have let her do that if there was any danger."

    Yori relaxed a little, concentrating on how good it felt to hold Masaaki in his arms without a single twinge, and Kenji beamed as he looked at his beloved husband, seeing the beauty that had captivated him so long ago and held his heart ever since.

    Ichirou tugged on Sadao's hand, ready to charge through the portal, and Momo giggled a little, having done this before.

    "Come on, my dragon. Let's go find your chichi," Satoru said, and they led the way.

    Erion grabbed Ryuu and Ichirou when they arrived in Neverwinter, pausing long enough to hug Maela before leading everyone to the Cloaktower where Nathe waited to open a portal. Ryuu was busy filling Ichirou in on everything they passed or saw, and Sadao was trying not to be obvious as he listened in to the bright chatter, although he did do a small double take when he saw a dwarf walk past.

    "This is the Cloaktower," Erion said as they approached. "Basically, it's the Neverwinter branch of a mercenary mage guild, the Guild of the Many Starred Cloaks. Dumb name, but damned good mages. Akira is the Captain of the Cloaktower Guard here, and sits on the governing council of the guild as well, so he's sort of the head of this branch."

    Sadao looked at Momo, his eyes wide, but he saved his questions for later.

    "We're going to meet Nathe, Akira's second in command. He'll open the portal to Evereska." Erion shot Eryn a look. "I'm not sure where we're supposed to arrive?"

    Eryn smiled angelically. "Why don't we arrive outside the Vale, and we can have the Kingfishers bring us down?"

    Erion shot Yori a quick look, but nodded. "Right, so we'll arrive just outside the walls of Evereska, which is actually really pretty."

    "Outside the walls? Not going to let me torment the Academy of Magic and drop you off inside the wards?" Nathe grinned at the assembled group, his Japanese fluent, and he bowed deeply to the newcomers. "Greetings, and welcome. I'm Nathe, much abused assistant to the ever absent elf you all call Akira. Come right this way, and I'll have the portal open in a moment. I know Master Ryuu wants to see his chichi somewhere around yesterday."

    Ryuu giggled and grinned up at Nathe. "Can you do that?"

    Nathe grinned back. "Not yet, but knowing your tousan, that's next."

    Nathe led them to the portal chamber, and keyed open a portal. "Have fun, and give this to my alleged boss. He can drop the signed parchments off on the way back." He handed Erion a small pouch, and Erion flashed Nathe a grin before taking Ryuu and Ichirou through the portal. Yori was much calmer this time, and Sadao actually grinned a bit.

    This time they emerged on the hillside outside Evereska, the elven city spread out below them like a jewel. Erion's face lit up, and he looked at Ichirou with a radiant smile.

    "That's my home," Erion said, his voice filled with pride. "And here come our rides down to the Gate."

    Several giant eagles landed nearby, the elves riding them leaping off gracefully and bowing very deeply to Eryn. One elf stepped forward and greeted her in slightly halting Japanese. "My Lady, welcome. Captain Santhiel sent us to bring you down."

    "Lovely," Eryn replied happily. "Now, there aren't enough eagles to take us all at once, so who wants to go first?"

    "Come on," Ryuu said, tugging Sadao and Momo, Ichirou's eyes lighting up. "We can go first."

    The elves helped Momo and Sadao each get settled on an eagle, the two men slightly dubious as they sat in front of their elven escorts, while Ichirou and Ryuu were each scooped up by an elf and held securely.

    "Don't forget to scream," Ryuu called to Ichirou. "The eagles scream with us."

    "That they do," the elf holding Ichirou reassured him. "Scream as much as you want."

    The four eagles lifted off, circling down slowly to give their riders a beautiful view of Evereska, Ryuu and Ichirou shrieking with joy as the eagles joined in. The senior rider was still atop the hill, watching his elves bring their passengers down and nodding as they dismounted.

    The four eagles flew back swiftly, and Yori held tightly to Masaaki all the way down, Kenji's eagle staying close, while Satoru grinned as brightly as Ryuu on his eagle. Eryn and Erion shared a quick smile, Erion's heart soaring as he headed down to where he knew Kansas would be waiting.

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