[Sandcastles and Fireworks]

The Vale Guard bowed deeply as he caught sight of Eryn in her priestess's robes, the white and blue of Corellon unmistakable.

"Arwen en amin Iradil," the Guard began, and then, with a look at Kansas and another bow, he began again. "My Lady Iradil, we did not expect you, but our hearts sing to see you." His eyes felt on the medallion around Kansas's neck, and he bowed again.

"This is Hiyashi Tatsuya of House Iradil, my son by my word and will," Eryn said, her arm through Kansas's arm.

"A star shall shine on the hour of our meeting, young Iradil," the Vale Guard replied. "Evereska welcomes you home."

The Guard touched something on his belt, and the stone simply vanished, revealing a path that traveled by gentle switchbacks through a series of planted terraces down the steep slopes to the valley below. The slopes were still misty, but the valley was drenched in sunshine, and Kansas's keen young eyes could make out the gleam of marble and blue of water past a tall wall. A gilded gate sat in the wall, at the end of the winding path. Beyond the wall were three hills, and atop them sat Evereska. There were blueleaf trees and shadowtops everywhere, and gardens.

Kansas looked at Eryn, his eyes huge. "Jitsubo," he whispered. "It's so beautiful. Is it really real?"

"It is real, sochi-chan, utinuamin, and it is your home." Eryn pointed. "Do you see that hill, to the right of the water? That is Moondark Hill, and our home is there." She looked at Kansas carefully, her healer's instincts taking over for a moment. "The walk is not as long as it seems, but if you are tired, we can arrange another method of getting down to the Meadow Wall."

The Guard nodded. "I can summon a pair of the Kingfishers, Lady Iradil."

Kansas opened his mouth to say that he was fine to walk, but Eryn gave him a look that sparkled with such mischief that he decided not to say anything.

"Would you, please? My son has been ill, and I would not want to strain his health." Eryn smiled brightly at the Guard, and he touched something else on his belt, speaking briefly in murmured elven.

It was only a minute before Kansas heard the whirring of wings, and a pair of giant eagles landed, chainmail-clad elves seated on them. He looked at Eryn in wonder.

"Come, my dear, let's get you mounted up." Eryn led Kansas to one of the eagles, the elven rider holding out a hand to the imp.

Kansas climbed up carefully, using the mounting stirrups that hung from the saddle. Light as he was, the eagle barely noticed the additional weight, looking at the imp with a wise black eye as he got settled behind the elf. He looked over to see Eryn similarly mounted.

"They will take us as far as the Meadow Wall, and the rest of the walk is very easy." Eryn grinned, looking almost as young as Kansas. "Shall we?"

The eagles took off, circling lazily down the slopes that surrounded Evereska. The elf in front of Kansas turned and grinned. "You can shout if you want to," he said, his eyes friendly. "She likes the noise, my feathered lady. She'll scream with you."

Kansas giggled, his cheeks pink, but he did let out an exultant yell, and the eagle screamed with him, Eryn's bright laughter ringing out to complete the song as Kansas arrived home.

[Sandcastles and Fireworks]

The next morning found everyone in a flurry of activity, packing bags of holding and corralling children as Vale prepared to open the portal to Tokyo.

Sand remembered something he had left in his room and dashed back upstairs.

"Ithilamin! Get your gorgeous ass back down here now!" Vale shouted, and turned around to see Ryuu elude Willow, who had her arms full with Hikaru. Satoshi took off after Ryuu, who was halfway up the stairs in hot pursuit of his gifu.

Yuji chuckled, Aika safely in his arms, and Vale turned to glare at him.

"It's like herding pixies," Vale complained. "Did anyone remember to let Hideko know that we're coming, or are we planning on scaring the shit out of her?"

"What a mouth you have, sweets," Willow laughed, putting her face up for a kiss.

Vale grinned and kissed Willow, lingering a bit, while Hikaru managed to snag a handful of Vale's hair. "Eru," Vale muttered, gently peeling his son's fingers open and kissing Hikaru's head. Then he walked over to the foot of the stairs.

"Whatever it is, we don't need it! Let's get going!" Vale ran a hand through his hair.

Satoshi appeared at the top of the stairs with Ryuu, who was protesting loudly.

"Otooji, too big a voice! Itai!" Ryuu frowned at Vale, and then burst out giggling over Vale's expression. Satoshi gave Vale a crooked grin, his glasses slightly askew, and Vale gave up and chuckled.

"Okay, no more yelling, but if gifu doesn't get down here in the next minute, we are leaving without him," Vale warned.

"GIFU!" Ryuu shrieked, loud enough to make Vale clap his hands over his ears. "We got to go!"

Satoshi was struggling not to laugh, and Vale reached out and straightened his glasses, stealing a kiss.

Ryuu leveled a stern look at Vale. "If this is a hurry, no time for playing husbands."

Sand finally reappeared at the top of the stairs, looking utterly tranquil. "Why is everyone yelling?"

"Lle lakwenien? Tula sinome, sii', ithilamin, n'ala amin quoralle," Vale growled.

Sand ran gracefully down the stairs, stopping to kiss Vale lightly before slipping his arm around Satoshi's waist.

Vale threw his hands up and headed back to the living room to open the portal, and Satoshi looked at Sand.

"What the fuck did he say?" Satoshi asked.

"Literally?" Sand chuckled. "First he asked me if I was joking, and then he told me to come here, now, before he choked me."

"I meant it!" Vale's voice drifted in, and Sand threw his head back and laughed.

"We'd better go, cormamin." Sand grinned happily. "He might be serious this time."

[Sandcastles and Fireworks]

Sand turned to Willow and held out a hand. "You do look tired, Willow. Why don't you sit, and I will fetch some tea, or some wine, if you prefer. Have you tried Saerloonian Glowfire? It is quite refreshing and light."

Willow held up a hand, a small smile creeping over her face despite her desire to remain furious with the damned elf. "The wine, okay? It'll help me relax, and one small glass won't hurt my milk."

Sand smiled and went into the kitchen, returning with a chilled bottle of pale wine. He opened it and poured a glass for Willow, and she took it, sniffing curiously.

"It smells like pears!" Willow exclaimed.

"It does," Sand agreed, sitting beside her with a glass of his own. His hair was still loose after the shower, and he had not even bothered to braid it at his temples like he usually did. In the sunlight streaming into the living room, his hair shone like silk, and Willow had the urge to touch it.

"Your mother will make sure he's okay, right?" Willow asked, looking into Sand's blue eyes.

"She will, I promise you that. You really do look tired, Willow. It must be hard, with Hikaru having you up all hours," Sand said gently. He reached out and ran slim fingers through her auburn hair. "And to have all the added worry of Kansas's injuries? I'm glad you were able to get a chance to rest after my mother healed the worst of Kansas's injuries."

"Yes," Willow replied, sipping the cool wine. "I was so exhausted, I couldn't keep my eyes open."

"Well, we were all here for the children, so it was for the best that you rested." Sand watched as Willow nodded, the revised memory taking hold as naturally as could be.

Willow looked over at Sand, wondering why on Earth she had been annoyed with him, or her husbands. She sighed a little, chalking it up to being overtired and overwrought. "Did I remember to thank you for helping our imp, sweets?"

Sand smiled, a radiant smile that made him look as young as Kansas. "There's no need for thanks, truly. I love him as well. I've come to love you all, quite deeply." His fingers were playing in Willow's hair again, and she gave in to the urge to touch the black silk that spilled over his shoulders and down his back.

Sand smiled again as Willow tugged on him, her hand sliding to the back of his head, her face tilting up to let his lips meet her. Sand dove into the kiss, and as her lips parted, he explored her mouth thoroughly, his arm sliding around her back to pull her close. Willow nipped his lower lip, her hand straying to stroke one elegantly pointed ear, and Sand shivered a little and moaned into the kiss as he put his wine glass down.

Sand's fingers were deft as he unfastened her blouse, his lips exploring her creamy pale skin as he revealed it. He lavished kisses along the swell of her breasts, cupped in a lacy bra as he slid the blouse off her shoulders, draping it over the back of the couch.

"You are so very beautiful, Willow," Sand murmured, his hands busy with the waistband of her pants. He slid them gently over the swell of her hips, pausing to kiss her belly, and Willow moaned softly as his hot breath tickled her. Her panties were as lacy as her bra, and Sand sighed appreciatively. "Vanimaer, beautiful one," he murmured, cupping her breasts and kissing the tops, teasing flicks of his tongue tracing the edges of her bra. He reached around and unfastened it, and Willow leaned back as his thumbs stroked her swollen nipples.

Sand quickly stripped off his t-shirt and loose linen sleep pants, his cock hard as Willow arched her back under his touch. Her skin was so very silky, and Sand leaned forward again to kiss his way down her belly and along her hip, easing her lacy panties off and draping them with her other clothing as he kissed his way over to the soft curls between her thighs.

"Oh, fuck," Willow whispered, her hands fisting in Sand's hair. He parted her thighs, his tongue dipping into the folds of her pussy to lap at her clit, a small moan of appreciation escaping him as he traced lazy swirls and circles. He could feel her thighs trembling already, and he stroked his tongue more firmly over her clit, teasing the hooded nub with the very tip of his tongue.

"Oh, shit," Willow groaned, her back arching even more. "Fuck, Sand!"

Sand's tongue found the nub again, and Willow screamed, her thighs closing around his ears as she writhed beneath him, lost in an explosive orgasm. Sand laved soem more, long broad strokes that kept her quivering for several more moments, her head thrown back and her eyes closed in ecstasy.

It took another minute or so before Willow was able to release Sand, and he gave her that radiant smile again as he moved up to enter her, pressing in with a wanton moan of his own.

"Oh, vanimaer, you are magnificent," Sand murmured, sliding his cock into the liquid heat of Willow's passage until his balls were snug against the firm curve of her ass. "Do you know how lovely you feel?" He began to thrust, a sweet steady pace that had Willow moaning again as the heat built in her belly, his cock angled to graze her clit with every thrust. Willow's legs were wrapped around his slim hips, and her hands dug into his shoulders, and she screamed again as she felt another wave of pleasure rush through her, the elf never pausing in his steady rhythm.

"Fuck, FUCK!" Willow howled, her legs tightening around Sand. He leaned in and kissed her, a fierce and searing kiss, her lips tender from their earlier kisses. She wasn't even quite sure how he managed, but one strong arm slid around her. the other gripping the back of the couch, and Sand rolled himself with his cock still buried in her until he was sitting up and she was riding him.

Willow set a faster pace than Sand had done, feeling that generous cock gliding over the sweet spot inside her as he lavished kisses on her breasts, lapping up the few drops of milk that had leaked out when she came. Her hands strayed back to those elegant ears, and Sand moaned as well, his cock twitching as she teased the tips of his ears.

Sand could feel his balls tightening, and he gripped Willow's curvy hips, encouraging her to ride him a little harder, a little faster. He could feel the muscles of her passage rippling along his cock, signaling that she too was close, and he moaned again, a lush and wanton sound that made Willow shiver a little.

A few more thrusts, and Willow cried out again, yet another orgasm ripping through her. This time Sand howled along with her, his balls drawing up as he came, his back arching and his head falling back.

Thoroughly spent, Willow slumped forward into Sand's arms, her face buried in the crook of his neck as his slim, strong fingers stroked her back. He turned his head to nuzzle her hair, pressing soft kisses to her temple. He cradled her like that for several minutes, enjoying the feel of her sweat slick skin against his, the scent of her filling his nostrils.

"Amin mela lle, Willow," he told her. "I love you."

[Sandcastles and Fireworks]

Sand had smiled when Satoshi remarked on Kansas's pendant, but then Satoshi's next words sent a chill up his spine. Still, he had promised Satoshi that there would be no dark corners, no secrets between them. He had bared his soul to Satoshi once already, and Satoshi had returned only love and acceptance. That was not something to be repaid with deceit.

"Kansas saw the telkiira when I caught him. I could not find an open bond, not Vale's, not yours, and I do not have one to Kansas." Sand paused, wondering how to put this in a way that Satoshi could understand. "I needed a way in to where he had fled, inside his mind. Here, in this reality, he was just cutting himself and licking his own blood. Inside, though, there were huge walls, black and terrible. I used the telkiira to get past those walls. I can do it without causing harm, cormamin, and I swear to you that I caused Kansas no pain or harm."

Sand's blue eyes pleaded with Satoshi to understand the desperation that had driven him to use his power so. Satoshi nodded, and Sand relaxed visibly. The elf touched Kansas's cheek again, very gently.

"I could not hurt him, my heart. That much you must believe. But when the walls dissolved, enough to let me pass, I saw his world within." Sand paused again, the memories so vivid in his mind. "The mind produces its own reality. In that realm, we are who we truly are, no disguises. I saw Kansas, and he saw me. And there were dragons, fighting in the sky above us, their blood falling on us like rain." Sand's eyes were dark blue as he remembered. "He was tearing down his world. I watched mountains crumble and fall, and lakes run black. In the middle of it all was Tatsuya. In there, he is always Tatsuya, and the dragons serve him. He is a god."

"I always thought it was just something he said, that it wasn't real," Satoshi breathed.

"His dragons, on his thighs, they live in there. Migime and Hidarime, his right eye and his left eye. They tore my shoulders open to try and keep me from him." Sand breathed out a shuddering sigh. "And yes, cormamin, I saw some of his memories. I saw, and I will never forget what I saw." A single tear trailed from the corner of Sand's eye to fall on the arm under his head. "I don't know why he let me live, but he did. But he must meet Adalon. I have never been more sure of anything in my life. After the wedding, Vale must take him to Adalon."

[Sandcastles and Fireworks]

Eryn had stepped out to give the men privacy to talk, but returned to the room when Yuji and Vale left, smiling at the sight of Sand and Satoshi cradling Kansas between them. This was a healing greater than anything she could bestow as a cleric, the healing that came with unconditional love. She thought that Kansas was asleep, until she heard his voice, calm, and steady, and stronger than it had been.

"Thank you both for what you did. Thank you for loving me so much." Kansas burrowed tighter between Sand and Satoshi, his eyes tightly shut.

Eryn realized that Kansas had not heard her return, and she waited for a few moments before she made a slight noise, loud enough to alert Kansas to her presence.

"Are you awake, sochi-chan?" Eryn asked softly.

"A little, jitsubo," Kansas murmured, his eyes fluttering open. He looked up at Eryn with a small, sweet smile.

Eryn smiled back, letting all her love for this very special imp shine in her eyes. "Yuji asked me if it would be possible for you to return to Evereska with me, ahead of the rest of the family. I need to go back and make arrangements, and prepare the house for everyone. I've had so much of it shut up for so long." Eryn laughed lightly. "Mist lives with her lover, even if she won't stoop to actually marrying him yet, and Hawk is never home. So, it's mostly just me, so I would actually enjoy the company if you would come with me."

Kansas's smile widened. "I'd like that, jitsubo. I want to see Evereska, but the rest of you had better come fast. I mean in less than two weeks, or else." He looked at Satoshi very seriously. "Please?"

Satoshi pulled Kansas to him, nuzzling his soft hair. "I swear it, love. We have to get married legally, don't we?" He smiled at Kansas's face lit up.

"Wonderful," Eryn said happily. "That will give Kansas and me plenty of time to get everything ready. Oh, and we need to make the official recording of your name at Cloud Crown Palace, although you are already on my personal roll. I was going to put you down as Hayashi Tatsuya of House Iradil. Does that sound about right?"

Kansas's answering smile was so perfect and radiant that Eryn did not need words to know how he felt. She reached around her neck and unfastened a delicate chain. A small platinum medallion hung from it, the likeness of Selune and Her Tears engraved on the cool metal.

"This is the symbol of our House. Wear it proudly, my son." Eryn hung it around Kansas's neck and kissed his forehead, her eyes shining with unconditional love for the young man. "Now rest, my dears, all of you."

Kansas reached out and caught Eryn's hand, his eyes filled with tears of joy. "Jitsubo..." he whispered.

"Always," Eryn replied. She watched as he sighed and settled back between Satoshi and Sand, letting a healing sleep claim him, nightmares banished for the moment.

Vale looked at Yuji, his green eyes filled with dismay as he dragged Yuji into their room. "This is all my fault," he moaned. "I shouldn't have let him go, I should have warned him."

Yuji grabbed Vale's shoulders. "Vale. Look at me."

Vale bit back a sob, turning his face away from Yuji with a wail. "I did this, just as much as that filth. Oh, fuck, Kansas..." Vale's voice trailed off into a sob.

"Vale!" Yuji's voice was sharp this time, commanding, and the elf's head whipped around, tear glazed green eyes wide. "You didn't do this to Kansas. None of us was thinking straight. Fuck, Vale, all I could think of was you, and fucking you until you screamed the house down. I didn't stop him either."

"But I gave us those potions," Vale said brokenly. "Why didn't I think? Charm potions? I must have been out of my fucking mind."

Yuji put his arms around Vale and drew him in to a tight hug. "Stop it, love. Don't do this to yourself. Kansas punishing himself is enough, okay? You need to let this go."

Vale buried his head in the crook of Yuji's neck. "I want to listen, I do..."

"Then just do it. Listen to me, love. Trust me." Yuji lifted Vale's face, kissing the elf with a possessive fierceness. "And no confessing your feelings of guilt to the imp, do you hear me? You'll just break him all over again. Let it go, and let's worry about Kansas healing and us all getting married at what's going to be the biggest fucking wedding Evereska ever saw."

Vale hiccuped a small laugh, his green eyes brightening a little. "Just hold me for a minute more?" he pleaded, pressing against Yuji.

"You do that again, and it'll be more than holding," Yuji warned, and Vale's small giggle made Yuji take a deep breath in relief.

"Yuji? Thank you, amaelamin." Vale sighed, content in his husband's arms.

[Sandcastles and Fireworks]

Sand cradled Satoshi gently, his own face streaked with tears, but he smiled a beautifully sweet smile as he looked into Satoshi's eyes. "Oh, my heart, I love you so very much, and you are a formidable warrior yourself. I am proud to be your husband, for the way you so fiercely fought for Kansas's sake."

Satoshi looked at Sand and at himself, their clothing ruined beyond merely cleaning or repair. "You know what I want? I want to burn these fucking clothes, and I want to shower until I feel fucking clean again."

The undercurrent of raw grief tore at Sand's heart, and he pulled Satoshi into a kiss, nibbling his lower lip tenderly. "And then we can go and see how Kansas is doing."

Satoshi bit back a sob. "What the fuck did you see? When you caught him?"

"Dragons," Sand replied, his own eyes dark with the memory. "Dragons, and a young man who is a god." He sat up carefully, and called a fireball, tossing it into his fireplace with practiced ease. Then he reached into the nightstand, finding one of Vale's stashes of healing potions. He offered one to Satoshi. "We might want to be walking without a limp, for Kansas's sake."

Satoshi nodded and drank the potion. "You know Willow is fucking furious. We should have fucking warned you. She's got this idea about justice and the law."

Sand drank his own potion and then began to strip the remnants of his clothing off. "I have acted as a lawyer in the courts of Neverwinter. I've always tried to abide by the law, and what we did today may have skirted the edges, but Vale would have done worse. And the City Watch stills looks at me like some sort of hero, all wide eyed and courteous. They would have washed their hands of it all and given them to me anyway." Sand collected his clothing and tossed it into the fireplace, as Satoshi followed suit. "Justice in Neverwinter is fairer than in other places I have dwelt, but at the end of it all, death is a frequent penalty."

Sand followed Satoshi into the bathroom, and they stepped into the oversized shower stall, turning on the dual showers and luxuriating for a moment in the feeling of hot water sluicing over their bodies. Sand reached for the soap and began to lather Satoshi generously, massaging his shoulders as he did so. Satoshi grabbed a scrubbing sponge and began to scour himself roughly.

"Justice is such a fluid concept. What we did today is justice, as I see it. Cruel, perhaps, but no more cruel than the crime, and I will not feel guilt over this." Sand sighed, running his soapy hands down Satoshi's back and over his sides. "There are lands here on Toril where slavery is still common, although here on the Sword Coast it is not permitted. Life is cheap and life is harsh, and we can only do what mortal beings can do. We can love and live as best we can."

Satoshi turned around to face Sand, letting the elf soap his chest, hissing a little when Sand played idly with his nipple rings. "Is that the answer? Just do the best we can?"

"I can think of no better answer. We try to do good, and hope for the best." Sand smiled a little and leaned in to kiss Satoshi sweetly. "Have I told you that I love you, cormamin? I am supposed to be adept with words, but there are not enough words to tell you how I feel about you. You are a wonder to me, so fierce and yet with so much love for all of us."

Satoshi took the soap from Sand and began to lather the elf, running his hands over the pale skin and feeling the heat of Sand's body beneath his fingers. Sand leaned in to his touch, his blue eyes darkening with love and desire, his cock half hard already, and Satoshi nuzzled Sand's ear, rubbing the piercings in his lower lip over the shell of the elf's ear.

"You make me crazy," Satoshi murmured. "I look at you and I want you. You fill me up, and complete me in ways I didn't know existed. I love you. How did you say it, forever?"

"Ten'oio," Sand replied, seeking Satoshi's lips.

"Ten'oio," Satoshi repeated. He kissed Sand, without the desperate urgency of earlier, this time love in every movement between them as they washed away the darkness and fell into each other instead.

Vale came downstairs with Ryuu chattering happily alongside as he carried Aika on one hip and Hikaru against his chest. Yuji looked up at the rather odd picture of fatherhood that Vale made, chattering to Ryuu and Aika in the same baffling mix of English and Japanese, and then cooing to Hikaru in both languages plus elven. Ryuu and Aika were freshly showered and dressed, and Hikaru was drowsing, a drop of milk at the corner of his mouth.

Vale shrugged apologetically as he stooped to set Aika down. "Hikaru woke, and Willow fed him. Then she told me I was on duty. She's really pissed, amaelamin."

"Eh, Sand didn't know." Yuji smiled at Vale brightly as the elf picked up the portable cradle and set it on the floor, laying Hikaru gently down and disentangling a small hand from his hair. "You look very natural as a father, you know."

Vale gave Yuji a wry look, but together they managed to get the children fed, and sent food upstairs for Eryn and Kansas. Willow did come down for breakfast, and while she fussed and cooed over the children, she was still short-tempered with her husbands until Yuji mentioned the idea of asking Eryn to take Kansas to Evereska with her. Their brilliance was rewarded with a slight thawing in Willow's manner, and Yuji even got a fast kiss on the cheek.

Kansas was healed, and mostly sleeping, but Eryn was worried more about his mental state at the moment. She was far from an innocent, and it had been more than obvious what had happened to Kansas, but she deemed he needed to spend the day sleeping rather than being questioned, and so she bided her time and merely watched as he slept. Even when he woke at dinnertime, the imp was subdued and asked to eat in his room, and Eryn stayed with him, making sure that he felt as loved and safe as possible.

There was enough tension between Willow and her husbands and Sand as it was, and Eryn was fairly sure she knew why. Eryn knew her son and Vale well enough to know that Sand had been sent hunting for the culprits, and he had taken his husband Satoshi with him. Eryn sighed to herself. When she had lost her husband, she had joined the party that went after the culprits. Cleric or no, Eryn was as well trained in weaponry and fighting as any other Evereskan elf, and her prayers and divine spells had been more useful than not. Still, Willow came from a land where justice was held to a high standard, and others dealt with the criminals, and Eryn could not fault Willow's intentions or devotion to justice.

The tension persisted into the evening, and when it came time for the children to go to bed, Satoshi and Yuji took their children upstairs while Willow went off with Hikaru, pointedly closing the bedroom door once he was fed and asleep in his crib. Vale and Sand were left to their own devices in the living room for a bit, and Vale decided this was as good a time as any to speak to Sand. Vale opened a bottle of elven wine and curled up on the couch next to his husband, toying idly with his long black hair.

"When we return to Tokyo, you should really let Kai do something with your hair," Vale said. "Maybe some amethyst streaks to match Satoshi? Or red, to be different. That would look wonderful."

Sand chuckled a little. "No more dull daggers and families of squirrels, I see." He reached out and touched Vale's hair, the pale blond shot through with emerald strands. "You've changed, anoramin, and all for the better, I think. Loving this family of yours has been good for you."

"It has," Vale agreed, dipping in to kiss Sand sweetly, savoring the moment. "Ah, ithilamin, we lead such complicated lives when it comes to love, don't we?"

"Are you worried about our bond?" Sand asked. "Do not be. I was hasty when I bound us, before all that nonsense that came between us. I never asked you if you were ready, and I should have."

"But if we hadn't been bound, we never would have wound up on that vacation, and we wouldn't have met Yuji or Satoshi." Vale grinned and took a healthy swallow of wine. "I don't know about you, but I think I'm going to entice Yuji to fuck me bowlegged tonight."

Sand burst out laughing. "There's a fresh batch of healing potions in the basement, should you wish to tuck them away in the various hiding spots you have."

"We do have a favor to ask, though, Yuji and me," Vale said. "Before I wander off to be wanton, that is. Willow... This isn't going to go away after a night's sleep. This is serious, and I was wondering if you could make her forget about the whole vengeance thing? Maybe think she napped after Eryn took care of Kansas?"

Sand poured a fresh glass of wine for them both. "You know what you are asking? I can do this, and she will be none the wiser, but that is an odd request from you."

"I know," Vale replied. "I don't ask lightly."

Sand leaned in and kissed Vale, his long fingers running through Vale's hair with easy familiarity. "I will take care of it. Now, grab some more wine and go enjoy Yuji."

Val grinned, and chose a bottle of wine that he thought Yuji would enjoy. It was a stronger wine, dark and with a slight sweetness that did little to mask its potency. He ran up the stairs lightly, dancing into Yuji's bedroom to wait for his husband.

Yuji did not make Vale wait long. He came in only a few minutes later, his eyes lighting up when he saw Vale and the wine. Vale was barefoot and had discarded his shirt, and his tight tank top clung to the lean muscles of his chest and stomach. His jeans hugged his ass and Yuji noticed, with a great deal of amusement, that Vale had managed to wear out a few spots, leaving delicious tears that showed the pale gold skin beneath. Vale gave Yuji a sultry look over his shoulder, his hips swaying suggestively as he walked over to pour a glass of wine for his husband.

Yuji took the wine and downed a gulp, finding it nowhere near as intoxicating as the desire in Vale's green eyes. The elf sighed as Yuji slid a hand into those green and gold strands, and tugged Vale into a searing kiss, feeling the elf melt against him. Yuji grinned his sweet, crooked grin as he looked at Vale, his perfect eyes as heated.

Vale winked back and peeled off his tank top, stretching as he did to show off his flat, tight stomach, his nipple rings glinting. Yuji growled a little, deep in his throat, and he caught Vale around his slim waist and tumbled him onto the bed, winding up crouched over the supine elf, never spilling a drop of wine. He could feel Vale's cock pressing up against him as the elf wiggled teasingly.

"Oh, no, not yet, my wicked elf," Yuji laughed. He dripped a little of the dark red wine onto Vale's chest, and bent down to lap it off, his tongue dragging over the steel nipple rings he had brought back from Tokyo for Vale, and Vale moaned lasciviously as he writhed beneath Yuji's tongue. Vale's hands slipped under Yuji's shirt, sliding along that silky golden skin, and Vale moaned again, begging for a kiss. Yuji obliged, plundering Vale's mouth, claiming him as thoroughly as possible before sitting back up.

Vale let his fingers dance down the buttons of Yuij's shirt, opening them deftly and sliding the shirt back and off Yuji's shoulders. Yuji let the shirt fall to the floor as Vale peeled his tank top up, running his hands along the hard muscles of Yuji's stomach with a mewl of pure lust.

"Hold this." Yuji gave Vale the wine glass and finished peeling off his tank top, Vale's free hand already sliding up to tweak a nipple and roll it between slim fingers.

"Gods, Yuji," Vale moaned. "I need to taste you, please." He wriggled impatiently, and Yuji chuckled as he slid off the elf and stood. Vale bounced up eagerly and was out of his jeans and boxers in a flash, his cock rock hard and standing up proudly as he reached for Yuji's waistband. Vale opened Yuji's jeans and slid them down, moaning again as Yuji stepped out of them. Yuji's boxers followed and he sat on the edge of the bed as Vale crouched between his knees, his green eyes bright.

Yuji dribbled a little of the wine on his own hard cock, and Vale mewled and slid his hot mouth over the head and along the shaft, his tongue flattened against the underside and his throat already relaxed as he took Yuji in to the root, his nose buried in the soft black hair of Yuji's groin. Vale slid back and then down again, humming a little and it was Yuji's turn to moan as the vibrations shot up his spine. Vale pulled back slowly, sucking as he did so, his cheeks hollowed. He released Yuji with a soft pop, his kiss swollen lips wet.

"Stand up," Yuji said, and he stood as well, putting the wine down and bending Vale over the bed, that perfect ass presented and ready for the taking. Vale threw another sultry look over his shoulder as Yuji positioned his spit-slick cock against Vale's pucker, and he breached the elf in a single thrust, sliding in until his balls were pressed against Vale's cheeks. Vale howled with joy, gloriously full, and he pushed backward to make sure he had all of Yuji within him.

"Oh, fuck, Vale, you're so tight," Yuji moaned happily, and he began to thrust, Vale bucking back into him eagerly as he leaned over the elf, one hand on his hip and the other reaching for a nipple ring, tugging and twisting.

"Yuji, shit, oh fuck!" Vale yelped as Yuji slid over his prostate, sending fireworks exploding behind his eyes. Vale could feel his balls tightening already, so eager was he for this, and he mewled, his ass wriggling delightfully. "I can't... I'm going to cum," Vale whimpered.

"Then cum for me, love," Yuji groaned, his own balls drawing up as Vale's ass began to tighten around his cock. Vale howled, his ass clenching almost painfully, and Yuji screamed with him as he filled Vale's ass, his cum even hotter than that tight passage. Gasping, he fell forward, slumping onto Vale's strong back as the elf mewled through the last throes of his own orgasm, his cum splattering the bed below.

Vale slid off Yuji,s cock, easing his husband down on to the bed, and he crouched between Yuji's thighs, lifting his balls and dragging his tongue along the cleft of Yuji's ass until he was pressing against Yuji's asshole. He thrust his tongue past that tight muscle, one hand dropping to stroke his own cock, hardening again under his fingers as his tongue opened Yuji.

"I'm ready," Yuji moaned, his fingers buried in vale's hair, his back arching as he felt Vale's tongue plunder him. The the elf was moving, his dripping cock replacing his tongue as he carefully pressed in to Yuji's ass, watching the rosy flush creep up over Yuji's cheeks as he slid all the way in. Yuji's lags wrapped around vale's slim hips, and the elf began to thrust, a slow and steady pace, gliding across Yuji's prostate lightly, and making him howl each time.

"Oh, fuck, Vale," Yuji moaned, as vale leaned forward and claimed his lips for a burning kiss. "Come for me, love, fill me up," Yuji pleaded.

Vale stroked a little faster, and his back arched as his balls tightened. "Ah, fuck!" Vale howled, and he stiffened as he came, hot spurts of cum flooding Yuji's ass. He shivered, his whole body relaxing all at once, and Yuji pulled him down to rest on his chest, stroking Vale's back as the elf nuzzled into his neck.

They lay like that for a few moments, until vale was coherent enough to slip out f Yuji and roll to the side. Yuji turned to face him, and they kissed softly, fingers trailing along the other's face, their eyes bright with the love between them.

"Vale," Yuji murmured. "I'm sorry."

"Whatever for, amaelamin?" Vale asked, pressing another kiss to Yuji's lips.

"For smacking you," Yuji said, his perfect eyes searching Vale's his expression one of regret and dismay. "I'm so sorry, love."

Vale smiled, his face radiant. "It's forgiven, and forgotten, verno'amin." He stroked Yuji's cheek. "Thank you, my love, for caring enough to worry, though. Did I tell you yet today that I love you?"

Yuji smiled as well, his glorious crooked grin, and Vale melted into his arms, utterly content.

[Sandcastles and Fireworks]

Sand walked over to the sylvan elf that was still held by his spell, his sword still loose in his hand. Satoshi joined him, glaring down at the sylvan.

"Why is this one still alive?" Satoshi demanded. He glared at Sand.

"I want to question him," Sand replied, and the tone of his voice made Satoshi look at him sharply.

The sylvan looked up at Sand and growled. "What makes you think I'll answer you?"

"Because if you do not, I will rip what I want to know from your mind in the most painful manner imaginable," Sand replied. He tapped the skin just below his collarbone, and a violet gem appeared, suspended from a delicate chain. "Do you recognize what this is?"

The sylvan's eyes widened in surprise. "That is a telkiira, a loregem." He looked uncertain for the first time.

"It is," Sand agreed. "I wield high magic, the magic of the Feywild. You should know what I can do, and will do if you dare defy me." Sand gestured, and the sylvan was freed from the spell that had held him fast.

"Ask." The sylvan sat up, but made no move to stand.

Satoshi was tense, every muscle coiled, and the burning hatred in his eyes as he watched the sylvan sent a wave of heat to Sand's groin. The club was back in Satoshi's hand, held loosely, but the tension in Satoshi's frame made Sand very aware of how quickly that could change. Sand sheathed his sword, a clear gesture to Satoshi that the wild elf was his.

"You saw the pendant that Kansas wore, did you not?" Sand asked. "The anorongil, the dawn star?"

"Where did the little slut steal it from?" The sylvan's voice dripped contempt.

Sand nodded to Satoshi, who brought the club down on the sylvan's ankle. He moved so quickly that the wild elf never had a chance to dodge.

"I suggest you rethink that response," Sand suggested. "Kansas was given that pendant by his husband, Vale en Nosse Anorongil, Captain of the Cloaktower Guard and member of the governing council of the Guild of the Many Starred Cloaks. Vale happens to be my husband, as is Satoshi, the gentleman who just shattered your ankle."

The sylvan's face was pale, his pain obvious. "So he's a pet of sorts?"

Satoshi moved again with that eerie speed, and the sylvan howled as his other ankle was shattered.

"Kansas was also formally adopted into my House. By our laws, the laws that govern all elves, he is not to be harmed by any other elf, and yet you felt free to do so." Sand raised an elegant eyebrow. "Your half elf associate and the rest of the scum that were with you are dead. So are your companions. The only choice left before you is how badly you die."

Tears were streaming down the sylvan's face, but he still managed a glare. "He's human!" He filled the word with such utter contempt, and Sand nodded to Satoshi.

Again, the Japanese man moved with preternatural speed, and the sylvan's right hand and wrist made a sickening crunch at the club impacted them.

"So is my husband." Sand folded his arms and looked at Satoshi. "He will last a long while like this, my heart, won't he?"

"Long enough to regret not fucking dying sooner," Satoshi grated out.

"Mmm," Sand agreed. "I will admit, I am looking forward to his screams."

Satoshi shifted slightly,and the sylvan flinched. "He can't fucking scream for long enough to make up for one tear from Kansas. Not even if he fucking screamed until the world ended."

"True, my heart, and he hasn't even screamed much yet. You can fix that, I think." Sand reached out and stroked Satoshi's cheek lovingly.

The sylvan tried to dodge, but Satoshi had anticipated him, and the club landed squarely on his left wrist and hand. The sylvan screamed in spite of himself, ending in a choking sob.

"Last chance. What made you think that you could violate our laws and get away with it?" Sand tilted his head a little, examining the sylvan as though he were vermin.

"The little slut thinks he's good enough to associate with elves? He isn't good enough to speak to elves!" The sylvan's defiance was unbelievable, and Satoshi snapped.

Satoshi looked around and saw a splintered branch on the ground, and he snatched it up. He worried a good-sized splinter free and grabbed the sylvan's shattered right hand, hearing the elf hiss with pain. Satoshi jammed the splinter under the sylvan's fingernail and shoved.

Now the sylvan screamed in earnest, his broken hands making it impossible for him to fend off Satoshi. Satoshi readied another splinter.

"He wanted it," the sylvan choked out, when he could draw a breath again. "You should have seen the way he was all over us. It didn't even take that much Feywine."

Satoshi rammed the next splinter home, and the sylvan collapsed, his shrieks making Sand's ears ring. It took longer for his screams to die down, and finally he raised a tearstained face to Sand and Satoshi.

"The little whore took two cocks at a time in that pretty ass, and never missed a stroke of the cock he was sucking. Little slut loved it...." The sylvan let his head drop again.

Sand looked at Satoshi, his rage washing through Sand and mingling with the moon elf's own fury.

"What did you just say?" Satoshi reached down and fisted his hand in the sylvan's hair, dragging his head up.

"He took two cocks, mine and my brother's, and he loved it! He was moaning like a whore the whole time!" The sylvan choked as Satoshi shook his head. "Then he took my cousin and that sailor, and he took Marsh and the fancy human lord. He never stopped begging, not for a moment!"

Sand felt his heart plummet as he heard those words. The telkiira pulsed and he knew there was more.

Satoshi was barely able to contain himself. Everything he was wanted to rip this darker elf to pieces with his bare hands. He wanted to feel the blood as it ebbed out, and watch the sylvan die slowly.

The sylvan continued on. Whether or not he realized it, he was dead the moment he had said those words. "That was nothing. He was so ready for it, so needy that he took Marsh and the dock worker on after we were done with him...both of them in that ass, but it wasn't so tight anymore..."

Satoshi threw the sylvan on the ground, face first, and looked at Sand. He did not need words. Tears had washed a clean path through the blood that marked Sand's face, and he gestured, the telkiira pulsing again. The sylvan's armor vanished, and his body contorted so that his ass was in the air.

"How tight are you, you fucking piece of shit?" Satoshi growled. He took the club, and breached the sylvan's asshole roughly, the elf's howls of agony barely beginning to satisfy Satoshi's desire for vengeance. Sand immediately used a spell to hold the sylvan in place, and then brought him up to a kneeling position to allow Satoshi to use his fists to pummel the sylvan's face. Sand watched impassively as bone shattered under Satoshi's fists, and he wondered for a moment if his husband even knew that he was crying.

The elf was choking on his own blood as it trickled down his throat, and Sand adjusted his angle under the spell so that the blood fell to the ground instead. Satoshi grabbed the dagger from his belt and grabbed one of the sylvan' ears, twisting the sensitive tip painfully and then cutting it off altogether. Sand hissed a little, and Satoshi looked up at him, but Sand merely nodded.

"Help me," Satoshi grated out, looking at Sand. Sand released the spell, letting the sylvan fall forward onto his hands and knees. His shattered hands and wrists would not support his weight, and he fell forward onto his face, equally battered and thoroughly unrecognizable. Satoshi laid a hand on the handle of the club, and looked up at Sand. Sand laid his hand over Satoshi's hand, and together they began to press downward, the sylvan having no escape for the inexorable progression of the club through his guts. His screams echoed throughout the Back Alley for a long, long time, as Kansas's husband and his elven spouse tore him apart one slow inch at a time.

[Sandcastles and Fireworks]

Sand flicked a quick glance over at Satoshi, who appeared to be going for an unarmed assault. Sand gave a mental nod. He had seen Satoshi fight like this in the tavern, and he was the equal of many a monk in the skills necessary for unarmed combat. Sand knew he would be aware if Satoshi needed help, and he knew he was fast enough to be able to come to his husband's aid.

In the meantime, there was a sylvan ranger with a sword bearing down on Sand, and he brought his own blade up, falling easily into the defensive stance of a bladesinger. The sylvan was aggressive, his swordwork fast but flawed, and Sand took full advantage of the openings presented. He used his own fine blade to parry and conjured a magical blade to wield in his off hand. The sylvan had to break off his assault to parry the magical blade, and Sand's longsword hummed as he slid it past the opening presented to score a long shallow cut that laid the sylvan's leather armor open, a faint line of blood following seconds later.

The sylvan screamed his defiance, and Sand parried another wild swing, darting forward and laying open the other elf's arm to the bone. Sand followed with a fast spell that staggered the sylvan with a burst of intense cold, rime forming on his leather armor. A slap with the flat of his runesword shattered a large chunk of the leather, and the sylvan swore as he caught one foot on the frozen pieces of armor as they fell.

Sand spun, all grace and flying hair, and sank his longsword into the sylvan's exposed chest, murmuring another spell that sent a line of flame down the blade to disappear inside the sylvan. As the other elf stood there, impaled and dumbfounded, Sand lifted one booted foot and casually shoved him off the blade, watching as he exploded into flame. The sylvan's screams as he collapsed and writhed in agony on the sere field lasted only moments, but each one was music to Sand's ears.

"Nadorhuan," Sand muttered, spitting on the burning corpse. "Mandu' sana lle, saurar."

*Translation: "Cowardly dog," "Abyss take you, foul one."

[Sandcastles and Fireworks]

Sand looked at the man on the bed, his eyes cold and hard. "I will read the truth of it in your mind." The violet glow pulsed brighter and Scarlet moaned again, but he did not resist like Marsh had done. In fact, the whole thing lay on the surface of his mind, and Sand read him easily. After a long moment, Sand released Scarlet from his domination and turned to Satoshi.

"He knew, and he let it happen. He saw what they did, and he did nothing, said nothing. He turned his back and went to sleep, while Kansas wept so hard he couldn't breathe." Sand's voice dripped contempt. "And later, when the sylvans were done with Kansas, and Marsh decided to take him again, this one joined in." Sand tightened his grip on his sword.

Satoshi's eyes were as hard as Sand's and his voice just as cold. "Then he fucking dies. Do it."

"No!" Scarlet begged, his tears flowing copiously.

Sand just looked at him. "Coward," he spat. "You did nothing, you said nothing. He was so pretty that you just had to have him." Sand raised his sword and brought it down, hard and fast, striking at Scarlet's neck and nearly cleaving it from his body. He watched the blood geyser for a moment, and then slow as Scarlet's heart ceased pumping.

Satoshi grabbed Sand, spinning him around and crashing him into the far wall, his mouth on Sand's mouth, hard and demanding. Sand growled back into the kiss, returning it with equal ferocity as Satoshi yanked at the laces of his breeches. Growling again, Sand shoved Satoshi's hands out of the way and undid the laces himself, letting Satoshi tug the breeches down past his slim hips.

Satoshi spun Sand around, and as the elf braced himself against the wall, Satoshi tugged his hips back and fumbled his own stiff cock from his cargos. There was no foreplay, nothing gentle or loving about what followed. Satoshi rammed his cock into Sand's ass, and the elf howled and shoved backwards at the same time as Satoshi set up a punishing pace. Satoshi's hands gripped Sand's hips hard enough to bruise, his balls slapping against Sand's ass with every savage thrust, and only Sand's braced arms kept his head from slamming into the wall.

It was catharsis, pure and simple, all their pain over Kansas and their rage at his tormentors coming out in a brutal fucking that left them both shuddering as Sand spilled without even being touched, and Satoshi emptied himself in Sand's ass a moment later. They stayed joined for a moment, both of them breathing raggedly, and then Satoshi pulled out, a sob catching in his throat.

"Fuck, Sand," Satoshi moaned, looking at the livid marks on his husband's hips.

Sand straightened slowly and turned around, pulling Satoshi to him and holding him tightly for a moment, nuzzling the amethyst tipped hair.

"It's nothing, my heart. I love you, ten'oio, forever." Sand pulled Satoshi's face up and kissed him, tenderly this time, nibbling at the pierced lower lip. Satoshi returned the kiss just as tenderly, his fingers straying into Sand's silky hair. When they finally broke for air, Sand tugged his breeches back up and laced them as Satoshi straightened out his own clothing.

"I have an idea where the rest have gone. There are three more, and they are wild elves," Sand told Satoshi. "They will not be as easy as these fools, but they are no match for us."

"Where are they?" Satoshi looked at Sand, no hesitation in his heart.

"The Back Alley," Sand replied. "It is a slum, near the Dolphin Bridge." He snorted. "They put up a fine gate to make the citizens of Neverwinter think that the rabble was confined, and a small group of City Watch to keep an eye. The dregs of Neverwinter live there, and it is where they would go in hope of disappearing."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Satoshi asked. "Let's finish this."

[Sandcastles and Fireworks]

Vale nodded, turning and racing out of the room. He flung himself into his room, all thought of propriety and proper behavior gone. Eryn was already awake, to Vale's relief.

"Please," Vale moaned, his green eyes wide with grief. He was not sure who he was more worried about at the moment, Kansas or Sand, and he hated asking Eryn to come and heal her sons. "Arwen en amin Iradil, saes, ta naa Sand ar' Kansas." He turned and fled again, not waiting to see if Eryn was behind him.

Vale slipped past Sand and Willow, pausing to look at Kansas, bloodied and battered on the bed as Satoshi and Yuji did their best to clean him off. Eryn was right behind Vale, and shoved him unceremoniously out of her way.

"Get healing potions, now," Eryn muttered to Vale. She took the cloth from Yuji, patting his shoulder reassuringly. Then she murmured a healing prayer, her hands glowing as she stroked the worst gash on his thigh, healing it seamlessly, the dragon tattoo pristine once again. Eryn's blue eyes darkened as she took in the other injuries, not just the myriad small cuts that Kansas had inflicted on himself, but the other damage to his slender body.

Vale returned from the bathroom, a small woven basket of potions in his hand. He offered it to Eryn, looking at Kansas and seeing the damage wrought to the imp, and his expression hardened. His eyes flickered over to Sand, who was trying to sit up with Willow's assistance. Vale took one vial, and handed the rest to Eryn. He knelt by Sand, taking in the blood running from Sand's shoulders.

"Ithilamin," Vale murmured. "What the fuck happened?"

Sand drank the vial's contents, and looked at Vale, his blue eyes bleak. "There are no words, anoramin." He sent Vale a silent plea to wait until Eryn was done. "How is he?"

"How the fuck should he be?" Vale slumped forward, letting Sand embrace him. He murmured, too softly for the humans to hear, "Do what needs to be done and I will see that no one interferes. Take Satoshi. Don't ask why, just do it."

Vale stood and returned to Kansas's side. He sighed, his heart aching for the imp, feeling helpless and frustrated as Eryn eased Kansas up and slowly fed him a healing potion.

Eryn looked up at the family. "I will stay with him. Go, and let him rest now, and let me care for my son. I will get you if I need you."

The family gathered themselves, each one kissing Kansas softly before leaving the room. Sand led them downstairs, and found a bottle of dwarven whiskey. He poured for them all, somber and grim.

"Kansas believes he betrayed us. I believe he did not, and I told him so." Sand looked at his whiskey, and then drank it straight down without flinching. "I don't know what happened. I was afraid to push to find out. I barely got him back as it was, but I intend to find out. Satoshi, I would like you to come with me, my heart."

"You didn't think I'd let you go without me, did you?" Satoshi growled. He slugged back some whiskey, and gasped, his eyes watering. He looked at Sand, who had poured another glass of the whiskey. "What the fuck is this?"

"Dwarven whiskey. It's a little rough, I grant you." Sand drained the second glass without blinking.

Yuji stood, his perfect eyes hard as ice. "I'd rather be with you than sitting here, but I trust you, Sand. Make them fucking pay, you and Satoshi both."

"Our word on it, Yuji." Sand looked at Satoshi. "Whenever you're ready, my heart. I believe I have an idea of where I wish to begin." The moon elf looked at Yuji again. "When we return, I'll tell you all I can, I promise, but we need to do this first."

[Sandcastles and Fireworks]

Sand stood slowly, his skin like liquid moonlight in this strange world, a violet glow pulsing through his skin just below the hollow of his throat. He realized he wore only a simple black kilt, his hair loose and unbraided, his only weapons in this hellish place his spells and the telkiira that pulsed beneath his skin. Raw arcane power shielded him, flickering like lightning around his flawless skin.

The slender boy stood on a small rise with his back to Sand, his arms stretched out to his sides, his milky skin shimmering with the crimson rain, muscles rippling under his skin.

Gasping for air, Sand wiped his hands over his face, the rain sticky and strangely thick against his skin. Looking down at his hands Sand realized it wasn't rain, but blood that rained down from the heavens. The blood of the battling dragons above him.

The light changed slowly, the grey light of the predawn, and the barren landscape slowly emerged, scorched and shattered, ash caking the frost riddled ground, the trees burned and fallen. And the skies filled with dragons fighting for their lives.

They were standing in the middle of a large field, the corpses of men, elves, orc and goblins, minotaur and werebeasts and other races that Sand couldn't name, scattered around them, hewn to pieces, only the gentle rise where they stood untouched by the annihilation that was happening all around them.

Two suns shone dimly through the grey air, their light fading as they seemed to be crashing into each other, the remnants of two moons falling from the skies, burning up as they fell, and in the distance Sand could see an ocean, heaving and boiling, black waves breaking over the shoreline, tearing down the mountains that surrounded the edge of the circular island.

"Kansas! Tatsuya! Please hear me. Where are we?" Sand shouted over the roaring noise that surrounded them, crying out the imp's names, hoping that either one would get through to him. Sand poured out his love for the imp in the hope that it would reach him, only to realize that their bond was not there any longer. The bond that the imp had shared with Vale was gone, as if it had never existed.

Sand gasped at the realization, his heart sinking in fear. He had no idea how to reach the young man without that bond, unless he invoked the ancient powers of the loregem beneath his skin, and he feared Kansas might never forgive him that.

"Kansas. Tatsuya. Where are we? Look at me, please, look at me." Sand screamed over the din, and then a voice reached his ears, as clearly as if the speaker were standing right next to him in a silent room.

"Tatsuya is his name, his name is Tatsuya. Yes it is, the Master goes by many names, but in here he is always Tatsuya."

Sand stared in awe as the head of the blue dragon tattooed on Kansas' right thigh separated itself from Kansas's body and turned to stare at Sand.

The dragon was purely Japanese, like the dragons in Ryuu's storybook, and shimmering azure blue, his eyes gleaming yellow, his claws digging into the flesh of Kansas's ass, drawing blood that glistened black in the eerie light.

As the dragon spoke, Kansas seemed to become aware of Sand and turned his head slowly to look at the elf over his shoulder.

Sand walked a little closer to the imp, begging, "Please, Tatsuya, speak to me, tell me where we are."

The young man's face was a hard mask, his eyes staring at Sand for a few moments as if he had never seen the elf before, then he blinked, and recognition spasmed over his face.

The head of the left dragon peered around Kansas's belly, and the split serpent's tongue snaked between glittering teeth, his wicked grin no less frightening than the right dragon's.

Kansas stared down at Sand as he turned slowly, an aura of immaculate power flowing out of him in breathtaking waves.

"This is my world. How come you are here? How did you find me?"

Kansas' voice reverberated through the air, and suddenly the din around Sand was quiet, subdued so he could hear the voice of the one who ruled this world.

"I followed you. You are breaking. I promised someone that I would never let you fall into darkness, I promised you that I would never let you go, that I would always catch you no matter how deep you fell. I followed you. You led me here. What is happening, Tatsuya? Why is this world falling apart?" Sand spoke calmly, his own power not insubstantial, arcane energy flickering around him in shades of moonbeam and violet.

"What are you?" Kansas demanded. "You look like Sand, but you're more."

"I am what I am, Tatsuya. I am Sand, an archmage of Neverwinter, holder of the telkiira of my House and wielder of the ancient high magic of my people. I have been and would be once again your lover, and perhaps one day your husband, as I am husband to Satoshi and to Vale." Sand held out his hands. "What are you doing here?"

Sand opened his arms to the imp, but the two dragons snarled at him, where they were half emerged from the imp's body.

"I am tearing it down. I am killing it. I cannot hide in here any more. It isn't enough to sustain me." Kansas' eyes were dull, sadness mingling with his godlike power, and Sand swallowed as he decided to gamble it all.

He advanced on Kansas, until he could cup one blood tainted cheek, his voice clear and strong as he spoke. "You will die if you do this, Kansas. You need this world like you need air. You can't bring it down around you. You will die. And if you do, so will I."

"NO. You swore to me. You swore that none of you would follow me into death. You gave me your word that you all would not be affected by my death, that you would be safe." Kansas glared at Sand, his power rippling outward.

"The others are. But I am in here with you. If you die now, I will die too. You will drag me down with you. Please, stop this." Sand watched Kansas's power wash across his own, pushing against the shielding energy that surrounded the moon elf.

"And if you die, Satoshi will die," Kansas whispered, resting his cheek in the palm of Sand's hand for a moment.

Sand nodded his head, his mind wild with the hope that this would stop the imp's self destruction, his heart stopping in his chest for a moment as Kansas seemed to consider the option of dragging the elf into death with him, to be followed by Satoshi, and then the long ridge of mountains lining the north coast of the island crumbled into the broiling ocean.

"Please don't do this, Tatsuya. Please stop this. Let me help you. Let me catch you. You are the creator of this world, you can stop this." Sand felt a single tear, crystalline and pure, trickle down a moonskinned cheek.

"I can't. I need to tear it down. I need to die." Kansas's voice was hollow with anguish.

"Why? Why do you need to die? What have you done that is so terrible? Nothing. There is nothing that you have done that could warrant this. Stop it, Tatsuya. Stop it." Sand put power into his voice, attempting to compel Kansas by the force of his will.

"NO." Kansas turned to glare at him, his silvery eyes terrible and cold, nothing human left in them.

"Halt it then. Halt it for a moment and speak with me. Tell me what you think is so terrible that it warrants your death." Sand offered a silent prayer. Sehanine, by your blood that I share, lend me your strength and help me to reach him.

Kansas' eyes wavered for just a moment, the silver grey darkening by half a shade.

"I betrayed them all." He spoke so low that it was impossible to hear him, yet his voice rang out as he was screaming it at the top of his lungs.

"You haven't betrayed anyone, Tatsuya. Maybe you failed us. But failure is inevitable, we accept it freely, and forgive it easily. Please, halt this." Sand stood his ground, his blue eyes filled with love as he reached out mentally, trying to force open the bond just a little.

Kansas stared at Sand for a few more moments, then turning around with grace that rivalled the most graceful of elves, he walked back up to the top of the rise, and raising his arms to the skies he closed his eyes.

Sand watched, utterly dumbfounded, as the two dragons dug their claws into Kansas's skin and crawled out of his body, growing and changing as they moved, until they were rising above him, supported by his slender arms, their tails still inked into Kansas's skin, and both dragons roared at the sky.

The sound was so powerful that the ground shook and Sand nearly fell down on his knees, his eyes never leaving the slender youth. He realized that he was in a sense looking at a god, the creator of this world that was crashing down around them. At best, he was a demi-power here, but the true power lay in Kansas.

As the roar of the dragons died down, the thousands of dragons that had been battling in the skies stopped and hovered silently in the air.

The light of the suns grew slightly, and Sand realized that there were both chromatic and metallic dragons flying above them, there was no discrimination, no distinction of their loyalties. Every single dragon had been fighting for his own survival with blatant disregard for all the others.

Kansas turned around again, his face blank once again, and the two dragons growing from his body half emerged, their heads weaving above the imp's head.

"Why should I believe you?" Kansas asked, his voice so full of broken promises that Sand sobbed.

His blue eyes filled with tears and he answered with the only thing that he could find in his heart. "Because we have never lied to you. We have always forgiven you before."

"But this is different. I broke the rule. I betrayed you." The pain in Kansas's voice tore at Sand.

"What did you do? Tell me and I will tell you if you betrayed us." Sand kept his voice calm, although his heart was hammering. He was so close to losing Kansas, and he would not allow that to happen.

"I betrayed you all. I know I did," Kansas screamed back, the terrifying power that he held inside this world knocking Sand to his knees, his head spinning, and the elf realized Kansas could easily kill him inside this world. Sand was utterly at the imp's mercy in here, although he would not die easily.

"I forgive you, Tatsuya. No matter what it is. I forgive you." Sand called on the telkiira, allowing its power to augment his own, and he stood with a fluid grace that would have suited one of the Seldarine themselves.

"Why would you forgive something that you don't know what is?"

"Because I love you. If it does turn out that you have betrayed me, then I might lose some trust in you, but trust can be regained. Trust can be regained, betrayal can be forgiven and love can only deepen once the trust is regained. Vale and I have learned that lesson well." Sand took a shuddering breath. "Please. Don't do this."

"I need to die. I cannot live with what I did." Kansas's voice faltered and Sand sobbed.

He grabbed Kansas by the shoulders, ignoring the black talons that dug into the skin of his arms as the twin dragons grabbed him in return.

"Only then have you betrayed us all," Sand screamed, letting his tears flow from his eyes, and he shook the imp slightly.

Kansas blinked his eyes, the grey irises darkening to the shade of the skies above them, and a tiny tremble ran through his lips.

Sand stared him straight in the eyes, and screamed again, letting all of his pain and fear and love for the imp taint his voice. "Don't you understand? If you kill yourself, that will be the biggest betrayal of all. That is the one thing that Satoshi would never be able to forgive you. I would never be able to forgive you. Death is not the answer to your fear. Standing up and being truthful is. Fear will only follow you into death if you give into it. If you die like this you will truly have betrayed us."

[Sandcastles and Fireworks]

Beredir barely noticed the little imp at first, only glancing at the door as the large warrior exited, but for some odd reason his eyes kept sliding towards the end of the bar, only to be interrupted by a customer.

After a short while Beredir finally managed to work his way down to the end of the bar, and he knew who the customer was before he even looked up, only judging by the reactions of the two women sitting close to the door.

"Evening, Kansas." Beredir said with a smile, and pulled his own barstool from under the table, his bartender managing alone for a few minutes. Looking up at the little imp, Beredir was startled by the aura of beauty that surrounded him, even though Kansas had not gotten dressed up for the evening. His hair was tousled and stood up in every direction, going a little limp, his bright grey eyes sparkled, and his lips parted in a delightful grin.

"Evening, Beredir. Could I have a pint of ale please?" Kansas asked, and Beredir served him with more haste than he had served anyone tonight. He was rewarded with a beautiful smile and Beredir sat down on his barstool inside the bar, resting an elbow on the table.

"You are alone tonight? Where is everybody?"

"Uhm, home fucking. Sand and Satoshi got married this morning, and have been consummating all day." Kansas tittered into his pint, his eyes sparkling with delight.

Beredir exclaimed in surprise, but the happy smile on Kansas' lips told him that this was a good thing.

Beredir had been very surprised when Sand had told him nearly a year ago that Vale was going on a long trip to go after someone he loved, but he had not questioned it. He knew the tangled history between his childhood friend and the beautiful sun elf, and he knew that neither one would ever risk losing the other again.

He had been pleasantly surprised when Vale had returned with three husbands and a wife, and a child on the way, but then Sand had brought Satoshi and Kansas over for a drink one afternoon. The two children had run around the tavern with delightful laughter, Beredir's daughter chasing after them so they wouldn't hurt themselves.

Beredir had seen the immaculate love that existed between Sand and Satoshi, and he had grown to adore the little imp within those few hours that they had sat together, enjoying a bottle of wine, while Sand had filled Beredir in on everything that had happened since Vale had left.

Kansas had started coming around for a quiet pint or two in the evenings, more and more since Hikaru had been born, and Beredir had sort of gotten used to seeing him sitting by the end of the table nursing his drink.

"That was sort of sudden." he said, amused, and smiled at the imp.

"Yes, and no. I mean, Saotshi's been planning to ask him for weeks. But they had a fight this morning, like I'm going to rip your head off and piss down your throat kind of a fight. But then they were making up, and Satoshi just asked accidentally. They didn't crawl out of bed until just before dinner. But they're as happy as they could possibly be, if not happier." Kansas grinned, his eyes sparkling.

Beredir chuckled, and ran off to greet some customers, shaking his head but knowing full well how mercurial Sand could be. He and Sand had fought spectacularly when they had enjoyed a brief affair back home in Evereska, and had made love with equal intensity afterward. It didn't surprise him that Satoshi would be the same as Sand in that regard, and he found himself overjoyed for his dearest friend.

Kansas glanced around the room, the two women by the door waving him over to their table, but he just ignored them. He noticed one other woman who had become a frequent admirer of his, but he did not find her attractive, and he found it repulsive that she was old enough to be his grandmother.

A young man sauntered over to the bar as Kansas downed the dregs of his second pint, and with a suggestive wink the man ordered himself a pint and then pointed at Kansas, his voice humorous.

"And a pint for the young gentleman as well, barkeep."

He then turned to Kansas and with a slight bow, similar to Eryn's elven bow, he said,

"The name is Marsh, young master. I do hope it is not too forward of me to offer you a pint, but I have been hoping you would allow me to make your acquaintance."

Kansas looked up at Marsh, his eyes widening. He was a half elf, and that intrigued Kansas immensely.

Marsh was devastatingly handsome, perfectly porportioned between his human and elven sides, and his mahogany eyes sparkled with a zest for life shared with Kansas. As they chatted, he admitted to being 37 years old, but since his mother was elven he didn’t really feel older than twenty. Kansas found himself drawn to the half elf, and Marsh flirted masterfully with Kansas, never overstepping the line, always toeing along it in a graceful dance.

They were not alone for long. There was a young noble, dressed in the finest silks and damask, who had abandoned his friends the moment he had noticed Kansas.

Then there was a commoner, who did not hide his dislike of the noble, a dislike that was painfully mutual, but they kept it civilized for the entire evening. Kansas couldn’t for the life of him remember what the man was called, but he’d started calling him Scarlet, because he wore a scarlet bandana around his neck. Scarlet’s hands were rough and worn, his arms bulging with muscles, and his clothes were coarse, making Kansas imagine he was a farmer, or a labourer.

Then there was a bronze skinned sailor, his eyes dark and mysterious, his speech lilted by a strange accent, and the blue eyed shop assistant that fawned over Kansas with great theatrics.

There was also a strawberry blond elf, his cheek bearing a faint scar, as if he’d been lashed across the face with a riding crop. He wore the same type of robes as the ones Kansas had seen Nathe wear at the Cloaktower, but his were stained and worn as if his position was a more physically demanding one than Vale’s and Nathe’s. He looked close to Vale in age, but there were faint lines around his eyes that Kansas quickly determined were not caused by smiling to much. In the six hours the elf had been sitting by the table, he had only smiled once, and that had been when Kansas had been showing them how to do tequila shots.

Although Beredir did not have real tequila Kansas had found some type of spirits that tasted similar. But by the amount of buzzing that was going on his head by now, after only three shots, he guessed that Beredir’s tequila was quite a bit stronger than the actual thing.

The final member of his fanclub was an elf, too. Darker of skin and hair than Sand and Vale, he had an intensity in his eyes that made Kansas’ heart flutter, but at the same time Kansas had the uneasy feeling that the elf was dangerous, that he would be smart to run, and run fast.

He looked old and young all at once, and his face was hard and impenetrable, his coal brown eyes always holding Kansas’ gaze a moment too long. But Kansas found himself inexplicably drawn to the dark elf, the lean muscles rippling under the tight clothes and the suggestive bulge in his breeches made Kansas’ mouth water.

Kansas giggled a little, sipping at his pint and the four men closest to him smiled brightly back. The other three laughed loudly and one of them waved to Beredir for another round.

Since Sand had introduced the irrepressible imp to him Beredir had grown to adore Kansas, and it always amused him how much the small man could drink before he finally started feeling it. And it amused him even more that once Kansas started feeling it, he got shitfaced drunk in a heartbeat.

But tonight there was something different about Kansas, and Beredir couldn’t put his finger on it. He was adorable beyond belief on a bad day, and on a good day it was nigh impossible to deny the little imp anything, but tonight he had been bending over backwards to please the little rascal.

And the fan club that Kansas had gathered tonight was larger and more male oriented than usual. Usually there would be at least three or four women vying for his attention, and being quietly competed with by a male or two, but Kansas never ended up going through with his shameless flirtations. He always ended up going home to his family.

Tonight felt different though and Beredir felt a stir of worry in his gut. He just couldn’t wrap his head around what it was that was so different about Kansas, but he felt like he should know what it was.

Beredir came walking over to the table, a slight crease in his forehead and he sent Kansas a small wry smile as he spoke, with an easy authoritative tone, born from years of dealing with rowdy customers. “I’m afraid it’s closing time now, boys. I’m sorry, Kansas. As much as I’ve enjoyed your company tonight, I’ve got a boss that wants you out now.”

One of the men looked up and asked with a titter, “You’ve got a boss? I thought you were the owner of this place.”

“Well, I am… but the wife is still my boss.” Beredir smiled to take the sting from his words.

“No problem, Beredir. Just let me finish my pint?” Kansas asked with an impish smile, and Beredir huffed a little, with a shrug of his shoulder.

Sauntering back to the bar he said with resignation, “Finish up then, but hurry.”

Kansas felt a new kind of thrill over all this attention he was getting, even though he was dressed like he normally was, without any make-up or flashy accessories, and had just gone to The Greymist for a couple of pints.

He had quickly grown used to the attention he drew, but this was utterly new. The women had gone wild over him, but when he had blatantly disregarded their advances for the favor of the men’s attention they had sat around the bar pining for him.

The men had literally thrown themselves at him, men of all sects and statures, and the seven that now sat around the table with him had been the most aggressive.

“I know a place that’s still open,” one of the men said quietly, as if to not let Beredir hear him, and Kansas smiled, sipping the dregs of his pint too fast and sloshing some down his chin.

The man right next to him, Scarlet, let out a breathy moan, and Kansas felt a stirring in his pants.

Kansas hugged Beredir quickly as he left, the seven men sauntering down the street ahead of him, and the innkeeper grabbed the imp hard around the waist.

“Go home, Kansas. That lot is up to no good, and Sand will murder me if I let anything happen to you. Go home.” Beredir's voice was low and urgent, the worry in his eyes real.

Kansas laughed brightly, and patted Beredir’s cheek,

“Don’t be silly. I’m an adult, I can do what I want. And I can take care of myself. I’m just going for a couple of more pints, and then I’ll go home. I’ll be alright,” he said with a smile, and slinked out of Beredir’s embrace.

The innkeeper stared after the imp as he ran after his fanclub, and cursed himself under his breath as he debated going to Sand’s house and letting the family know what the imp was up to.

His wife called to him from their apartment in the back, and sighing, he closed that door and barred it, before he walked through the inn, blowing out candles as he went.

He would just have to trust the imp’s judgment, no matter how uneasy it made him.

[Sandcastles and Fireworks]

Sand merely arched an eyebrow at Vale. "The tailor will need to work quickly, then. We'll need those jewel caskets, and I'll need to convince atara that we do not need the entire Court there."

"Good luck with that," Vale snickered. "You know your mother has been waiting for a chance to have a huge feast." He sobered suddenly. "I have clothes already. Don't I?"

Sand sighed. "You call them clothes. I call them objectionable. Our spouses will need clothing as well."

"They'll wear hakama and kimono," Vale retorted. "They'll look gorgeous, like they did at the vacation house."

Sand looked thoughtful. "That is true, they did. But braids are a must, and Willow? Willow must have something gorgeous to wear, with pearls, and diamonds for her hair." He headed for the basement, deep in thought.

Vale cleared his throat, getting Yuji and Satoshi's attention. "We're going to need to clear up a few things if we're going to Evereska."

Yuji looked a little mutinous. "We're going, love."

Vale slid next to Yuji and pulled him into a kiss. "Yes, we are, and we're going to see your great grandmother, and we are going to exchange a great many vows between all of us. And we're all tired, thanks to Hikaru keeping us up all night. And we're going to want to celebrate those vows, but I swear to you, I may fall asleep in the middle of sex."

Yuji chuckled, putting his mouth beside Vale's ear and whispering very softly, "Dragon cheese." Vale erupted into laughter, flinging his arms around Yuji and covering his face in a flurry of kisses.

"Tomorrow morning," Vale grinned, his eyes bright. "But tonight, you and Satoshi and Kansas need to get Sand to read to Ryuu. I found some of his old charm potions, and you really need to taste these."

"That bad?" Yuji grinned.

"Trust me, he's going first tomorrow." Vale laughed again, nuzzling his face into Yuji's hair.

Later that night, as Sand curled up with Ryuu and read his bedtime stories to him, Vale gathered his husbands in Satoshi's room. He held a vial of a pale green liquid aloft with an expression of triumph.

"This is the sort of thing he's had me taste for years." Vale opened the vial carefully, and handed it to Satoshi. "You and the imp split that one, and I have another for Yuji and me. It's only a charisma enhancer, so it won't hurt us, but I swear to you, it makes your stuff taste good."

Yuji laughed and took a swallow, his eyes beginning to water. "Oh, fuck, love, what the fuck is in here?"

Satoshi took a quick gulp at the same time, and he made a gagging sound, his eyes bulging. "Whatever it is, it fucking died three times over before he squeezed it into this shit."

"I want to taste!" Kansas giggled and grabbed the vial from Satoshi and drained it. He managed to get half down before his expression changed to one of utter dismay as he looked frantic.

"Just swallow," Vale advised with a grin.

Kansas shook his head, all but hopping on one foot as Satoshi tittered. Vale and Yuji exchanged glances, and Yuji grabbed the imp while Vale pinched his nose closed until Kansas choked down the potion.

"Fucking shit!" Kansas gasped. "You drank this shit for fucking years?"

Vale nodded sadly. "There are worse ones."

Kansas was already in the bathroom, scrubbing his teeth vigorously, Satoshi crowding in with him. Yuji was looking at Vale's portion, one eyebrow raised.

"Oh, fuck," the elf sighed, and chugged his share with a shudder.

[Funny Typos]

From the archive...

she ran out of the manner

[Sandcastles and Fireworks]

Vale was chuckling as he and Yuji brought the trays back to the kitchen. "Did you see Sand's face, amaelamin? He looked so flustered!"

Yuji was giggling a bit as well. "I wish I had, love."

Eryn was about to take the tray from Vale when something caught her eye. She reached for the pendant around Vale's neck, the one Yuji had given him back at the vacation house. Startled, Vale shied back, colliding with Yuji, who wrapped a protective arm around the wide-eyed elf.

"Stop being an idiot, Vale en Nosse Anorongil, and stand still," Eryn snapped. "Where did you get that?"

"My Lady Iradil," Vale gasped, his green eyes huge. He looked ready to bolt.

"I gave it to him," Yuji said, puzzled and wary of this harsher Eryn.

Eryn turned her blazing blue eyes on Yuji. "How did you come by it?"

Yuji was more irritated than frightened, but Vale was trembling against him. "It belonged to my great grandmother. What's this about?"

"That is the symbol of an elven House, a House that is no more for all intent and purposes." Eryn looked stern and regal. "Tell me about your great grandmother."

Yuji looked at Vale, who nodded, every muscle coiled. "My great grandfather found her in the woods outside his village. She was hurt, and her ears were mutilated. She spoke almost no Japanese." Yuji shrugged. "His family took her in, and cared for her, and eventually she and my great grandfather married. The family was opposed to it, because she wasn't Japanese, and they didn't know anything about her family."

Eryn drew herself up, and for a very small elven woman, she seemed very imposing all of a sudden. Vale muttered something that might have been a small prayer, his elven words tumbling out breathlessly.

"Didn't she tell them who she was? Or didn't they believe her?" Eryn glared at Vale, who subsided at once.

"Hey!" Yuji was more than a little angry by now. "Great grandfather Yuichi gave up everything for her. He walked out on it all, and they started a life together with nothing but the love they had for each other and a lot of determination. The rest of the family might have thought Great grandmother Sora was batshit crazy, but I loved her, and she loved me."

It was Eryn's turn to subside a bit. She seemed to shrink back to herself, and she laid a hand on Yuji's arm in apology. "I'm sorry, my dear. So it was Sora, after all." Eryn looked at Vale. "Go and fetch some wine, Vale. We need to talk."

Yuji went with Eryn to the living room, and Vale followed quickly with wine and glasses. Yuji poured, handing a glass to Eryn.

"Great grandmother Sora used to say she was an elf, until they threatened to put her in a home." Yuji looked at Eryn. "That would have been my grandmother, her daughter in law. My grandfather loved her as much as I did."

"This requires a little background, so bear with me." Eryn took a sip of wine, followed by a deep breath. "The Seldarine, our gods, walked on Toril once, when they first crossed over from the Feywild. There are still a very few families that can trace their bloodlines back to the Seldarine. My family is one of them. When I married my husband, he took my name to honor that heritage."

Eryn paused again. "I am descended from Sehanine Moonbow, wife to Corellon Larethian. The amulet you wear, Vale, is the symbol of House Sathoness, who could trace their line back to Hanali Celanil, the goddess of love and beauty, of romance, of fine art and artists. House Sathoness had waned, and its lord and lady were the last save for their daughter. She disappeared one day, and despite every effort, she was never found. Sand would remember this, I think, although he had left Evereska already. The lord and lady faded, their grief unendurable, and we thought the House finished."

Yuji was tense now, and it was Vale who had an arm around him. "What else do you know?" Yuji asked, barely daring to breathe.

Eryn looked at him for a long moment. "She found her way home. Sora arrived one day on the outskirts of Evereska, and as you said, her ears had been mutilated, but she was unmistakably ours. She was brought to me for healing and care. I am returning home tomorrow, and I will speak with her. When you come to Evereska, it's my hope that she will be willing to see you."

Eryn drained her wine and stood. "Hayashi Yuji-sama, how this will end, I cannot say, but it has been too long since we have seen a new House in Evereska. Perhaps it is time we did." She smiled a little. "If you will excuse me, I think I need to rest for a bit."

[Problems with the Rich Text Editor]

I just uploaded using the RTE, and it worked perfectly as a copy/paste from Open Office to a Word Box. The only thing I needed to do was remove the extra line between each paragraph, and the story posted with all my other formatting intact. Yay!

[Week 19: 2-13-11]

Pen Name: BronxWench

Story Link: http://games.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600086325

Type of Fic: Flash Fic

Rating: Adult

Fandom: Dragon Age: Origins

Warnings: AFFO, ChallengeFic, M/M, NoSex, OC

[Sandcastles and Fireworks]

Sand smiled, and Satoshi felt his gentle amusement.

"What're you thinking?" Satoshi asked, utterly relaxed in Sand's embrace.

"I'm thinking that I held you like this once before," Sand murmured, pressing soft kisses to Satoshi's forehead. "It felt so right then, and I'm sorry I didn't see that sooner, my heart, but we've found each other now, and I'm never going to leave again."

Satoshi smiled peacefully. "I wasn't going to let you leave, crazy elf."

Sand laughed, a joyous sound. "The bath water is getting cold, though. Let's get dressed."

They managed to get out of the bath, and dried each other tenderly, kisses covering newly dried skin. Sand managed a cleaning cantrip to deal with the water they had splashed everywhere.

Back in Satoshi's room, they sorted out clothing, but the sight of Sand in tight boxers was a little more than Satoshi could stand. He ran an admiring hand over the curve of Sand's ass, and Sand all but purred at Satoshi's reaction.

"I'm not often given to smallclothes, but these are really quite stimulating." Sand ran a wanton hand over the front of the boxers, his cock half hard already, his chin raised a little to flaunt the love bite Satoshi had left on his throat. "How do they look?" Sand turned a little, putting a sway in his hips that made Satoshi moan.

"Where are you getting the energy from?" Satoshi asked plaintively, but his own cock was already hard from watching Sand as the elf ran his hands over slim hips, his eyes dark with renewed desire.

Sand chuckled, a heated look in those blue eyes. "It must be the sight of you, so eager and ready to be touched and tasted." Sand reached out and pulled Satoshi in for a fierce kiss, nibbling at his husband's pierced lower lip. "It occurs to me that consummating our marriage in the bath might not be valid. Don't they talk about the marriage bed?"

Sand guided Satoshi over to the bed, laying him down and stroking Satoshi's nipples with his fingertips before tugging on the rings.

"You're going to kill me," Satoshi giggled, wriggling a little as Sand's long hair tickled him.

"Mmm," Sand agreed, feathering kisses down Satoshi's stomach. "But you'll die happy, I promise you."

Sand flicked out his tongue, the tip of it swiping across the head of Satoshi's cock.

"Fuck, Sand!" Satoshi yelped, his hips bucking. He grabbed the elf's long hair, his fingers twisting in the silky locks. "Fucking nympho, that's what you are!"

Sand lapped at a bead of precum as it oozed from the slit of Satoshi's cock. "It's entirely your fault for being so irresistible." He savored the taste of Satoshi for a moment. "And delicious."

Satoshi was blushing furiously, but his eyes were bright with joy. "You're fucking nuts, you know that?"

"I am?" Sand asked, laughter in his voice. "If you insist, my heart." The elf dipped his head, sucking one ball into his hot mouth and laving it with his tongue carefully.

Satoshi's eyes rolled up briefly, and he howled at the sensation. The other ball was swiftly treated to the same loving licks, and then Sand's wicked tongue laved Satoshi's cock slowly and deliberately from the root to the head. Satoshi's fingers tightened in Sand's hair as he tried to guide his cock into that sinful mouth, but Sand just blew lightly across the head, and Satoshi forgot everything for a single heartstopping moment.

"The nuts were very nice," Sand observed. "But I think I'm in the mood for something more substantial."

Satoshi could only mewl, his eyes wide as he watched Sand slide wet lips slowly over the head of his cock, the tip of his tongue teasing the cleft underneath. "Oh, fuck, I'm going to fucking die right now."

Sand did not reply, instead taking all of Satoshi right down to the root into his mouth and throat in a single fluid motion. Satoshi howled again, the muscles of Sand's throat rippling along the head of his cock as the elf swallowed once, and twice, before pulling back slowly, sucking hard until Satoshi's cock left his mouth with a wet pop.

"Oh, that's very nice," Sand purred, his eyes blazingly blue. "But I have an even better idea."

Sand rolled Satoshi onto his side and moved so that his own rigid cock, still tucked inside the skin-tight boxers, was positioned near Satoshi's mouth, while the elf returned to teasing the slit of Satoshi's cock with darting little probes from the tip of his tongue. Satoshi peeled down the boxers and freed Sand's cock, his mouth literally watering at the sight of that gorgeous shaft. His hand found Sand's hips, and Satoshi proceeded to fuck his own tight little mouth with Sand's generous cock. Sand lavished attention on Satoshi's cock, swallowing him to the root again and easing off, Satoshi's howl of pleasure music to the elf's ears.

Satoshi retaliated by using the ball stud in his tongue to tease Sand, swiping it over the slit of his cock, and around to the cleft underneath. Satoshi was delighted to hear Sand moan around his full mouth, and he thrust his hips slightly, fucking the elf's mouth as he turned his attention to sucking Sand's cock. Satoshi plundered that generous cock, taking as much of it as he could into his mouth, relaxing his throat and swallowing hard. Sand moaned wantonly, his hips twitching, the ball stud teasing the underside of his cock and driving him half-mad with the intense sensations it produced. Sand's balls were already tightening, and he wanted to take Satoshi over that precipice with him.

Sand engulfed Satoshi again. swallowing his cock down to the balls and purring, the vibration making Satoshi's balls draw up sharply. Sand purred again, his own orgasm imminent, and Satoshi howled around Sand's cock as he exploded, filling Sand's throat with spurt after spurt of cum. Sand swallowed happily as his own balls tightened, and Satoshi moaned happily as he swallowed Sand's cum eagerly.

Spent once again, Sand managed to turn himself around, gathering Satoshi in his arms and kissing him tenderly. "I love you, my heart, my husband, today, tomorrow, forever."

"And I love you, my elf, my husband, forever and a day." Satoshi rested his head on Sand's shoulder, his beautiful brown eyes fluttering closed, and Sand held him close while he slept, the elf letting Satoshi's beauty fill his eyes.

[Sandcastles and Fireworks]

Sand sobbed with pleasure as Satoshi drove his cock into Sand's ass up to the balls. He could feel what Satoshi felt, the heat and tightness, and his own joy at being filled spilled over and mixed with Satoshi's to create an almost unbearable emotional surge.

"Oh, my heart," Sand managed before he subsided into wanton moans, his hands braced on Satoshi's shoulders as he lifted himself up and drove himself down forcefully, needing to be thoroughly plundered. Satoshi was quite happy to oblige, thrusting upwards as Sand bore down, filling that tight ass as thoroughly as possible. Sand's hair had come loose, and Satoshi fisted his hand in the silky black mass, pulling Sand down to plunder his mouth as fiercely as he was plundering the elf's ass. Sand returned the kiss fervently, sucking on Satoshi's tongue, his own tongue playing with the stud that pierced it, small whimpers escaping him.

Sand's cock had hardened again, and he dropped one hand down to stroke himself, adding that pleasure to the delicious swirl of emotion that flowed back and forth between the new husbands. Satoshi growled and swtiched his attention to Sand's ear, biting the tip sharply and making the elf shiver in a paroxysm of lust.

"Ner, more," Sand begged, writhing in abandon as Satoshi pounded his prostate, mixing elven and English indiscriminately as he felt himself building to an even more shattering orgasm. "Saes, cormamin, please..."

"Oh, fuck, Sand," Satoshi groaned, feeling his balls drawing up so tightly that they ached with the need to empty. "Come on, love. Let it go for me."

Sand moaned and stroked himself harder, his brain on total overload, but still capable to registering Satoshi's words. "Uma, oh, yes!" Sand's voice rose to a wail as he felt himself let go, his balls emptying and his ass clamping down on Satoshi like a vise. Satoshi screamed, his own balls on fire as he pumped Sand's ass full, his cum feeling like it would never end.

Sand sobbed in utter satiation, slumping forward to rest his head on Satoshi's shoulder, shivering happily as Satoshi caressed his scarred back gently, their hearts pounding in synchronization, and their breath ragged. The two of them were exhausted, elated and utterly content, wrapped in each other's arms as the world shrunk to the size of the tub.

[Suggestion?]

I bookmark the author's profile, or even the story itself. That way I can get back to it quickly.

[Sandcastles and Fireworks]

Sand's fingers feathered up Satoshi's chest to tug and twist his nipple rings, the elf's tongue flicking at the piercings in his husband's lower lip. Satoshi moaned into the kiss again, his cock hard as it pressed alongside Sand's own length and his fingers teasing an equally wanton moan from Sand as Satoshi teased the elf's ears by stroking the edge of the shell and toying with the tip.

Satoshi knew, from their earlier communing, how Sand loved to be marked, visibly and boldly, and he nudged Sand's chin until the elf's head fell back, exposing the pale column of his throat. Satoshi seized the tender skin of the pulse point, biting and sucking until the metallic tang of blood tickled his tongue, and then he lapped at the livid mark as Sand purred in pleasure.

Sand's free hand slid between them, and he wrapped slender, strong fingers around both their cocks, stroking firmly, grinding them together as he let the soapy water lubricate them. Satoshi whined as Sand's eyes locked on his, dark with desire, and he dove in to nip the elf's lower lip sharply, feeling Sand's cock throb against his.

Sand stopped before the pleasure became too intense, and his hand moved around Satoshi's hip and snaked along his ass to find the cleft. One slick wet finger breached Satoshi's ass, and Satoshi growled as Sand thrust, beginning to loosen the tight asshole. The imp squirmed against Sand's thighs, grinding his nipples against Sand's chest, cocks rubbing as Sand added a second finger. Sand began to carefully scissor his fingers, easing Satoshi's tight muscle open even further until he was bale to add a third finger.

Satoshi mewled as Sand glided over his prostate, the wave of pleasure igniting fireworks behind his eyes. "Fuck, Sand, I'm ready," Satoshi managed to gasp.

Sand withdrew his fingers and wrapped strong hands around Satoshi's hips, guiding the imp onto his cock. Between the loosening and the heat of the soapy water, Sand breached Satoshi's ass easily, and he let the imp settle down as his own pace until Satoshi's balls were snug against his thighs.

"Oh, gods, you're so tight," Sand moaned blissfully. He opened the bond between them, letting Satoshi feel what he was feeling, the glorious heat of that sweet ass, and the love he felt for his husband. Sand rocked his hips slowly, the motion rubbing his cock against Satoshi's prostate and coaxing a howl from Satoshi.

"Show me how it feels," Sand rasped, his voice thick with desire. "You're so beautiful when you're like this, when I'm buried to my balls inside you."

Satoshi opened up to the bond, and Sand's cock jumped a little within his ass as the elf felt Satoshi's ecstasy at being so thoroughly filled, the pain totally morphed into pleasure as Sand rocked. The elf's hands lifted Satoshi, helping him against the resistance of the water, and Satoshi began to fuck himself blind on Sand's eager cock.

[Sandcastles and Fireworks]

Sand looked at Satoshi, his eyes brimming with love. "I accept your promise with all my heart. You are my life, and I will add to my promise this as well. When your life ends, I will follow you, for this world would be empty without you, and there would be no joy for me until we meet again in the afterlife. Will you accept my promise, and my bond as your lifemate, our souls as one?"

"Why do we need to bond again?" Satoshi asked, startled.

Sand's eyes widened slightly. "It is a deeper bond, my heart, one that we elves make among ourselves when we find our soul's twin. We both would rather fade than live without the other, and among elves, that makes us lifemates. When you die, I will fade and die shortly afterward. We think of it as the pinnacle of love, to love so utterly that we cannot live apart. I make that offer with joy, Satoshi, and I do not mean to make you feel hurt by it. It's just that I love you far too much to live without you."

Satoshi's lip quivered slightly with emotion as he looked at the elf. "I accept your promise, and your offer, but I need to ask one thing. I want to speak to Kansas before we bond. Will you let me do that one thing?"

"I can deny you nothing, my heart." Sand kissed Satoshi again, pouring every bit of his love into the kiss. "Speak with Kansas, and when you are ready, we will form that bond, but I would wear your ring now, if that is alright."

Satoshi slid the beautiful ring onto Sand's finger all the way, and Sand did the same with Satoshi's ring. Then they fell into a kiss, not breaking apart until they were dizzy with the need to breathe. Sand looked at Satoshi, his eyes shining. "My beautiful husband. My heart is complete."

Sand looked around the room at the mess, and murmured a cantrip to clean and repair the mess, smiling at Satoshi's slightly wide-eyed reaction. "I'm sorry, my heart. I know the magic makes you uneasy, but we're already in a state." He got to his feet, swaying a little with exhaustion, but radiant. "I think I left some here." Sand rummaged in a wardrobe, and pulled out a couple of healing potions.

Satoshi had to giggle. "Do you just stash that shit all over the house?" He took one vial and drank it down as Sand drank the other.

"The way we go at it? Oh, yes," Sand replied with a grin. "There should be a few more in the bathroom." He sank back down beside Satoshi and pulled him close again, relishing the warmth of his husband in his arms.

[Sandcastles and Fireworks]

With a trembling voice Satoshi whispered between soft lips, "I love you, Sand Iradil, with all that I am. Marry me?"

Sand drew a shuddering breath, his heart soaring as he heard those words. "Mori Satoshi, with my whole heart and soul, yes. Oh, Seldarine, yes, I will marry you, a thousand times if need be. Cormamin, my heart..." Sand let his voice trail off as he kissed Satoshi tenderly, not pushing for more than the sweet contact of lips. He cradled Satoshi carefully, feeling a thousand small wounds knit and vanish. "I've seen your dark corners, my heart. Walk with me now, and see mine."

Deep within their communing, Sand led Satoshi to a room where a stout woman wielded a flexible wooden rod with great enthusiasm. Long black hair masked the face of the naked elf whose wrists were suspended from the ceiling by chains, his his legs spread and ankles chained to the floor. Welts and bruises covered his entire body, and the stout woman seemed to be looking for any unmarked flesh. Remarkably, there was no blood to be seen, only tormented flesh, bruised and swollen.

"You will learn not to defy the Hosttower, elf. Wizards like you are easy enough to come by, and the next time will not be so gentle." She gestured to a pair of guards. "Take him to his room and lock the door. No one enters without my permission, and he is not to be healed." As they unchained the nearly unconscious elf, his head lolled back. Sand's face was unmarked, except for where he had bitten his lip to keep from crying out.

Other scenes followed. Satoshi watched Sand being beaten and raped by a ship's captain who had been well paid to rescue him from the Hosttower. He watched as Sand was forced to write a letter to Vale ending their relationship, the pain of the parting driving Sand to shear his hair in abject grief, close to fading from sorrow. He saw Vale reject Sand when Sand finally returned to Neverwinter, both of them proud and hurting too badly to think straight.

"My scars," Sand whispered, holding Satoshi close. "Even Vale has not seen this."

Sand led Satoshi up a mountain, where a red dragon waited, evil radiating from her. A small woman, oddly pale and with hair that seemed to move on its own, challenged the dragon, and she and her companions attacked it. Sand was among those companions, and despite all his arcane might, a wing buffet bowled him over, sending him tumbling. The dragon moved with impossible speed, huge claws settling over the elf, scales shredding his robes and the flesh beneath. Sand fired off a barrage of spells, blood pooling around him, and the small woman loosed a lightning storm that shook the mountain, while a tall human pulled Sand free before the dragon fell. His stomach was a bloody ruin, but his grin was fierce as he looked at the fallen dragon.

Then they were in ruins, deep underground, and the feeling of menace was tangible. The small woman was there again, and others, but Sand stood at her side, a slim elven longsword bare in his hand and wands tucked in his belt. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail, no braids or elegant jewels to be seen. They entered a room, and the thing they faced was so monstrous that Satoshi was not sure he could even give it a name. It looked like a man, but three times a man's height and black as night, with talons as long as swords.

"He was called the King of Shadows," Sand murmured. "Once he was a man, but he became a creature of pure magic, a guardian of an ancient realm. Magic faltered once, and he turned to a darker source of power and was corrupted. He was banished, at great cost, but returned, and it was our task to end him."

Satoshi watched the pitched battle, the small woman wielding a sword that could turn into a hail of shards and then reform. Sand used his wands, and his spells, and finally used his sword, working to distract the creature while others in their company destroyed odd statues set around the room. The small woman cried out, and Sand spun, distracted, and those talons raked his back, laying it open to the bone from his shoulder diagonally down to his hip.

That battle ended the King of Shadows, but the small woman was taken through a portal and Sand followed, gulping a weak potion and staggering as he passed through the glowing light. And Satoshi watched as the small woman faded slowly, her soul sundered and her pain far too great for her to stay, Sand at her side until the end

Sand tugged Satoshi, and led him away, to a familiar place, the vacation house, a drowsy Satoshi curled up in Sand's arms on the couch, and the elf watching him with tenderness and desire. Then it was Satoshi, slightly bewildered, stepping through a portal into the Cloaktower, his beautiful eyes wide behind his glasses, and Sand's heart gave a leap of joy to see him. That faded into the vision of Satoshi's face in the moonlight, atop the Cloaktower, lost in his music and looking so beautiful that Sand was dizzy, aching to hold that beloved man in his arms. The first time they had made love in Neverwinter, Sand's heart nearly bursting with his love for this gentle man, and then the sight of Satoshi sleeping, his face so peaceful and radiant. And finally, Satoshi in the garden of their house in Neverwinter, playing his guitar, lost in the music and unaware of the elf who sat, rapt, adoring him beyond reason.

"I can promise you that I will fail you as magnificently as possible, and I will make you want to throttle me, and I will make you scream with passion, and I will love you until time stops." Sand kissed Satoshi softly. "My beautiful lover, my heart..."

[Sandcastles and Fireworks]

Sand cradled Satoshi, his tears unheeded as he watched the attack begin again. "No," he murmured aloud, his soul repeating the word, deep in the communion with Satoshi. "No, not again, my heart. Not this. Show me what happened to them." He could feel Satoshi's soul resisting, wanting to lose itself in the attack, the scars going so much deeper than mere flesh could ever hold.

Sand battered the resistance with the only thing he had left, his love for Satoshi that ran as deep as time, and as true as the stars. He forced that love into the communing, letting it push Satoshi's soul off balance enough for Sand to wrest control for long enough to end that looping memory, the thuds of boots against flesh fading before he would be forced to hear the flames again, and the screams...

"What happened to them, my heart? The one who scarred you, who was roused by your pain? What happened to him?" Sand wrapped that endless love around Satoshi's soul, trying to ease some of the agony, or to at least dull it enough to be able to reach the man.

Satoshi moaned, and Sand no longer knew if it was deep in the communing or if it was in the shattered bedroom that he heard the sound. It did not matter. All that mattered was what unfolded before his eyes now. Sand knew, with a certainty born of Satoshi's memory, that the one who had touched himself was called Ogawa. Sand watched as Ogawa was sentenced to two months in prison, and forced to pay money, both of which seemed scant payment for his crimes. He watched, his heart cold, as Ogawa began to take substances that made reality change for him, and to steal to pay for those things. Sand watched as Ogawa lit a cigarette one night, and fell asleep, his substances addling him once again, and Sand smiled inwardly as Ogawa burned to death when his cigarette ignited the cheap mattress in his squalid apartment. The body was found near the door, which was stuck, whether from the heat of the fire or from general neglect, none could say, and again Sand buried the smile that wanted to curve his lips. Such justice as this he understood, far more than stone walls and petty coin.

"What kept you going, my heart? After all that, what held you here?" Sand pushed again, using the force of his love to buffet Satoshi's soul, pressing for another memory, his own desire for vengeance buried so deeply that Satoshi could not feel it.

Again, a memory unfolded, Satoshi swaddled in white gauze, bruised beyond recognition, endless tubes snaking out of the bandages to clear pouches of liquids. Beside him, on a chair, so young but still recognizable sat Yuji. Yuji's hand was wrapped around Satoshi's hand, but what should have been a scene of comfort was overlaid with unbearable agony. No adults were present, no one that could have been a parent or other relative, and Sand's heart gave a sickening lurch. Satoshi was alone, as he had always been before the brutal attack, except for Yuji's quiet presence. Each morning Yuji arrived, and stayed until the last possible moment before he had to leave for school, and in the afternoon Yuji returned to sit beside Satoshi, books spread out around him on the floor, murmuring quietly and trying to connect with the wounded boy in the bed. The meal would arrive, and Yuji would patiently coax Satoshi to eat, each time one bite more, helping him to build strength enough to heal the wounds, and Satoshi had no idea why. Uder the physical pain, his soul screamed in agony, the only solace Yuji, and still Satoshi could not see the love that shone from Yuji's eyes. He was blinded by his own devastated soul.

Another memory, uncoaxed this time... Satoshi at school, his glasses askew as a group of children surrounded him, their scream of laughter shrill and tinged with fear as they ripped open Satoshi's shirt to bare his scars and elicit shrieks from other younger children. Satoshi's anguish meant nothing to them, these small, cruel creatures, and Sand's sob echoed through the broken room and the soul bond equally. Satoshi would sink sobbing to the floor, clutching the torn remnants of his shirt to himself, trying to hide the livid scars, and there would be a gentle hand on his shoulder. Yuji. A new shirt and the hand of a friend, and still it could not heal what had been done. Satoshi was lost in the pain, reeling from each new humiliation, unable to see a way out of the darkness. But always Yuji was there, offering a jacket when Satoshi's was torn beyond repair, drying his tears, patient and with a fierce love burning in his eyes. There was a shadow on Yuji...

"Please, my heart," Sand coaxed, infinitely gentle. "What does that mean?"

Yuji, pale and sick, the first bout of his cancer sapping him, and Satoshi stood beside him, lending him strength when Yuji needed it. The shadow had been there when Yuji had been sitting beside Satoshi during his convalescence, and now it was Satoshi's turn. By now, Satoshi could see the love in Yuji's eyes, but it still did not heal him. Instead, it burned like acid on Satoshi's battered soul, guilt consuming him. Yuji had been burning up his strength in caring for Satoshi, and Satoshi could not accept that Yuji thought it worth it. Satoshi's guilt tore at him, even as he offered Yuji all the comfort of his vast and gentle heart.

"Oh, my love, my heart, how could I have been so blind?" Sand mourned, his soul-self holding Satoshi as lovingly as his physical self did in the shattered bedroom. "Let me show you now..."

It took almost all of Sand's remaining strength, but he shifted the memory on his own, knowing the price he would pay for such an effort later and not caring a whit. This time he let a memory unfold, but not merely a memory. It was an amalgam of memories, a thousand glimpses compiled into a single image of Satoshi, as Sand saw him, as Sand would always see him. It was Satoshi smiling his most beautiful smile, his gorgeous brown eyes bright behind his glasses, his skin golden. It was Satoshi, with a heart large enough to love Yuji through his illnesses, to love Willow with abiding passion, to love Kansas enough to fight for the imp's very survival time and time again, to love Vale with all his impulsive charm, to love Ryuu with a pure and selfless perfection, and Aika with as much adoration as any proud father. And it was Satoshi, whose heart was still large enough to find room for one moon elf, who had failed as spectacularly as he had promised, but who loved Satoshi with all that he was, imperfect and impatient and eternally Satoshi's. In all that vast love, Satoshi shone like the Tears of Selune against the night sky, brilliant and spectacular and beautiful enough to render words meaningless. There was just the hope that one flawed moon elf might be reason enough to claw back out of the darkness, that Sand's love could offer enough strength to Satoshi.

"Forgive me, my heart. Hate me if you must, but don't leave me," Sand begged, feathering kisses over Satoshi's face, their tears mingling.

[Sandcastles and Fireworks]

Eryn finished dressing, sure that the delicate moments between Yuji and Satoshi were over. The sounds of Sand and Kansas returning with the children was the final reassurance for the elven woman. She smoothed the sheer blue overrobe, twitching it into place over the white sleeveless shift in a gesture that Vale would have recognized immediately as Sand's. Sweeping her black hair back, she peered quietly to check the new parents and baby, and then headed downstairs.

Kansas and Ryuu were in the kitchen, and Aika had claimed her father. Sand was sitting, rapt, listening to Satoshi coax an exquisite melody from an instrument that resembled a lute, but larger and flatter. Satoshi himself was as caught up in his music as was Sand, and Eryn stopped to listen for a moment, her soul soaring along with the notes. They looked so perfect together, her youngest son and Satoshi, and Eryn wondered if the shy and terribly sweet human had asked Sand yet.

Shaking her head a little at her maternal musings, Eryn headed into the kitchen. Ryuu looked up at her with a smile.

"Sobo, we have foods." Ryuu gestured proudly, as Kansas flashed his sweet smile before ducking his head to hide behind his black and blue hair.

"I see that, magomusuko. You and my sochi-chan have done a wonderful job." Eryn bent over and kissed the top of Ryuu's head, making him giggle. She slipped an arm around Kansas's waist and pulled him in for a kiss on his cheek. "I need to make a strengthening soup for Willow. Do you want to help, Kansas?"

Kansas nodded. "Is it an elven soup?" He was so curious, since they had been eating mainly Japanese style food even in Neverwinter, aside from a few snacks purchased at the market, but those were human dishes.

"It is," Eryn confirmed. "You might find it tasty as well." She began to prepare a vegetable broth, but many of the vegetables were completely unfamiliar to Kansas, and when Eryn would offer a taste, Kansas took it eagerly. He liked the dakesi, a red root that tasted a little salty. Corence reminded him a little of water chestnuts, and of course there was the famous elven wheat, secirna, that Eryn used to make small dumplings. There were herbs as well that Eryn told Kansas would help Willow feel stronger and recover quickly from the birth.

While the soup simmered, Eryn washed some berries she called davalsa, which Kansas thought tasted like grapes. Ryuu liked them as well, having wandered by in search of a snack, and Eryn sent him off with a small bowl. As she bustled about the kitchen, Eryn let her hand fall on Kansas's shoulder for a soft pat, or touched his cheek gently, the way she had done with her children when they were still young. There was something about Kansas that was so sweetly innocent and vulnerable, and Eryn felt the need to shelter him a little in her unconditional love.

Vale wandered into the kitchen as Eryn was taking the soup off the flame, leaving it by the hearthfire to stay warm. "You made suilpar?" he asked, stretching a little. "That's perfect. Willow's awake and hungry as a lioness."

"I'll bring the soup. Kansas, do you want to bring Ryuu and Aika to meet their brother?" Eryn smiled at the imp, and despite the fluttering in his stomach, Kansas collected Ryuu and Aika, hoisting the small girl on one hip. Ryuu insisted on bringing gifu as well, and Sand took his hand with a radiant smile. Vale grabbed a cup of tea for himself and for Willow as well, and led the way back upstairs.

"Willow? I brought the children and Sand and Kansas to meet Hikaru, and Eryn made soup." Vale leaned over and kissed Willow before handing her the tea. Hikaru was swaddled and lying next to Willow, and Vale put his cup down and gathered up the baby tenderly. He was still terrified he would break this fragile new life, but Eryn's smile reassured him.

Vale sat carefully on the edge of the bed, and smiled at Ryuu and Aika. "Come and say hello to your new otouto-chan. This is Hikaru."

Ryuu giggled. "He has ears like you and gifu, otooji."

"Otouto-chan," Aika said, touching the swaddled baby very gently.

Vale laughed. "It'll be a while before he can play with you, but I think Hikaru is going to love his big brother and sister."

Sand came over as well, his blue eyes shining. "He's beautiful, anoramin. He looks a little like both of you." Sand leaned over to kiss Willow as well. "How are you feeling?"

"Sore, tired, and very, very happy," Willow replied, beaming up at Sand.

Kansas was hovering near Eryn, watching Vale and the baby from under his bangs. He wanted to see the baby, but he was still so afraid, all the old worries of being replaced rising in his mind even though he knew better. Then Eryn slipped an arm around his waist, and kissed his cheek again, so very maternal and loving, her gentle warmth soothing him.

Vale stood up carefully, and walked over to Kansas. "Look, alasse'amin. He's awake!"

Kansas looked down at Hikaru, and the infant looked back at him, blue-green eyes wide open. All his fears melted away, and he broke out in the most beautiful smile as he looked back up at Vale for a moment.

"Can I...?" Kansas reached out a finger and touched one velvety cheek. Hikaru's eyes were fastened on Kansas, and the imp's smile got wider. "He's looking at me," he whispered, tears of joy filling his stormy eyes.