This fic was inspired by the doujinshi, "The Way of Darkness" by Kaim Tachibana; translated on Mink's site by Jink. And I thank them deeply for their inspiration. Though it does not follow that story-line a whole lot, there are some scenes that remain virtually unchanged from the doujinshi. This is my first finished and published fanfic, so please send thoughts, praises, and constructive criticisms my way; but no flames please. I do not own Ronin Warriors/Samurai Troopers or any of the characters therein (Not that I wouldn't like to… :) : Wistful smile). Now on with the fic, please enjoy.

Star Dragon (queenamidala@uswest.net)

Warning 1: This fic is yaoi, if you don't like that please back away from the fic.

Warning 2: Lemon!

Transcendence Of Love

The sky was luminescent that day, and the brightness of the sun made the green landscape shine with life. A young man, dressed in plain gray samurai armor, stood in the middle of the field; the bright green grass reaching up to his knees. His dark blue hair seemed somewhat highlighted by the golden brilliance in the sky. Cale's blue eyes danced with excitement, this was his first time away from home and he was going to enjoy it despite having to be in a war. Wars were supposed to be hard, but he didn't care; this was the place where heroes and legends were made. And he intended to make himself one of them. He smiled as he took note of the small grove of trees at the end of the field and decided to go relax under one of them. He sat down beneath one of the tallest trees in grove, leaning back against it. He sighed contentedly, it would be some time before the army resumed their march, plenty of time for him to fit a nap in. And with that final thought he drifted off into sweet slumber, pleasantly shaded from the bright sun's rays by the soft green leaves of the tree he laid beneath.

Sometime later Cale shifted in his sleep, beginning his return from the world of dreams. He let out a soft groan, wanting to resist his return and stay within his dream.

"You awake?"

Cale was mildly surprised by the voice, someone must be with him under the tree. "Mmmm…" The soft sound emanated from his throat as he stretched out his arms and legs, groggily opening his eyes to look at the man next to him under the tree.

The young man was a rather breathtaking sight. He was, to put it quite simply, beautiful. The sunlight filtered through the tree's leaves behind the young man, creating a golden halo about him. His hair was long and golden, reaching down past the middle of his back; and a patch of it hung down gracefully, blocking his right eye. He was wearing samurai armor the same as Cale.

"You've been asleep for a while now." The young man commented.

Cale nodded. "Are we starting the march again?"

The young man shook his head. "I don't think so. I heard it'll be stopped for a while longer."

Cale frowned, "Hmph. Some morale."

"How old are you?" The young man asked quietly. 'Even his voice is beautiful', Cale noted.

"Sixteen." He frowned slightly at his answer, he didn't want to be thought of as young; though the other couldn't haven't been much older than himself. "Almost seventeen." He added quickly.

"Oh. So you're a teenager?" The young blonde seemed to contemplate that for a moment. "What's your name?"

Cale snorted with a smug look. "I ain't telling you."

The young man didn't say anything, he just looked at Cale with a look on his face that Cale couldn't read.

"I'm gonna rule the world someday and I like having my own way." Cale continued, a huge smug smile on his face, not really knowing why he was revealing his dreams to this stranger. "But I don't like too many people knowing my name, even though someone like you probably wouldn't live long enough to tell it anyway. You should try and stay alive you unworthy fuck."

The young man's eyes were wide and he seemed a bit taken aback by Cale's words. "Y-you…"

Cale raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"You really are uncouth!"

Cale narrowed his eyes and scowled at him.

The young man smiled softly at Cale, "Forgive me…"

Cale didn't say a word, he just looked at the other man. 'A smile like that…', Cale thought, 'Could make even the most hardened of men forgive him…Hmm…' He suddenly leaned closer to the young man, startling him slightly. "Hey… Your eyes are a weird color." He announced.

"What do you see…?" The young man asked gingerly.

Cale frowned slightly, gazing into the other's eyes. His eyes were quite beautiful, they were violet in some places, lavender in others. With varying degrees of light and darkness of the colors. "Dark… and Light…" he answered after a few moments of silence had passed.

"Will you… come with me…?" The young man whispered, gently reaching out his hand to Cale as they both stood from under the tree.

"Me?" Cale asked. He didn't know what to think, but there was something about the other… something not quite tangible.

"Together…" The young man answered, gazing soulfully into Cale's eyes. Cale tentatively reached out his hand to the young man, their fingertips touching lightly at first as Cale took his offered hand.

"What's your name?" Cale asked softly, yet almost urgently, he needed to know.

The young blonde gave Cale a lopsided grin, "I asked you first. You still haven't answered."

"Cale." He answered, this wasn't someone he needed to fear; somehow he just knew that.

"Heiru." The blonde said with a smile as he gently squeezed Cale's hand. Cale returned his smile.

"I don't need to worry about you telling anyone my name now, do I, Heiru?"

Heiru laughed lightly, "Not at all."

"Good." Cale had a smug look on his face. "How old are you, Heiru?" He asked casually.

"Seventeen, just turned." He answered. Both young men turned sharply as they heard rustling and shouts in the distance.

"Looks like they're beginning the march again!" Cale observed excitedly. He quickly took off towards where the other soldiers were gathering, dragging Heiru along with him.

*********

"Are you sure?" Cale asked looking around the dimly candle-lit tent.

Heiru turned his head, while still laying out the blankets they would need for the night, "Of course I'm sure. There's plenty of room for both of us." He smiled reassuringly at Cale.

Heiru's family must have been loaded, not only did he bring his own horse, which he had let Cale ride with him, but he had brought his own tent for the night as well. Heiru kept the tent folded up neatly and stored on his horse during the day, Cale had helped him unload it and put it up that night, and then Heiru had offered to let Cale sleep there as well. It could get pretty cold at night, even in the spring months. Heiru was busy making two beds out of the blankets that he and Cale had both brought with them for their journey with the army.

"There that should do." Heiru announced, patting the bed lightly as he got up from his knees.

Cale unceremoniously plopped himself down onto one of the beds made of blankets. He cocked a grin at Heiru. "Thanks." He put his hands behind his head as he leisurely laid back.

Heiru smiled. "You're welcome." He reached down beside the other bed and picked up a small brown satchel then walked over to Cale and knelt down beside him. "Let me see your arm." He said, reaching out his hand.

Cale frowned, he hadn't really thought of his injury since he had gotten it. He reached out his left arm to Heiru, there was a rather painful looking gash from his wrist to his elbow. "It's barely more than a scratch."

Heiru gave an exasperated sigh and winced at the gash, "It looks to me to be quite a bit more than a scratch." He gingerly reached into the satchel and removed a small bottle.

"What's that?"

"Ointment made from herbs." Heiru replied softly, "It'll help the healing." He opened the bottle and began to gently apply its contents to the gash in Cale's arm. Cale winced, the stuff stung. He watched intently at the care Heiru took in tending to his wound. After he finished with the ointment, Heiru reached into the satchel and removed some white linen bandages, which he then tenderly began to wrap around Cale's arm.

"There." Heiru smiled as he finished up and placed the bottle and left over linen bandages back in the satchel. "Should be good as new in no time… Though I can't guarantee you won't have a scar."

Cale smiled, a scar wouldn't matter, and it'd be a badge of courage to him.

"Shall we get some sleep now?" Heiru asked, perched to blow out the candles for the night before he laid down on his own bed of blankets. "I'm sure the march will resume early tomorrow."

Cale nodded, "Sounds good to me." He grinned, maybe he could continue that nice dream he'd been having that afternoon.

"Goodnight." Heiru whispered as he blew out the candles and the tent became pitch darkness.

"G'night." Cale returned as he closed his eyes for the night.

*******

Two weeks later…

The serenely beautiful forest was filled with the sounds of laughter, the laughter of two teenaged boys taking the time to relax. Cale and Heiru were bathing in a creek they had found while on a hunt, the water came up about their waists. Cale playfully splashed Heiru with the clear water and accompanying laughter.

"Hey, watch it!" Heiru's voice was angry, but his sly smile gave him away as he joined Cale's antics and splashed him back. The splashing and joyful laughter continued back and forth. The two had met only two weeks earlier, but were already becoming inseparable; they were rarely seen apart from one another, even in battle. Cale wouldn't admit it yet, not even to himself, but he was relived to have someone like Heiru with him. Someone to take his mind off the atrocities of battle, someone he could talk to about the terrors that lurked in his dreams now. And someone who proved that he wasn't alone in how he felt. They helped each other… They saved each other from the horrors of war. Neither one of them would have been able to get through these trying times without each other, for without each other they would be either insane from that which they had witnessed… Or laying dead on some blood-bathed battlefield. Apart they were small, alone, and weak… Together they were brave, unstoppable, and destined for greatness. Cale now felt they had been destined to meet, together they would someday rule the world. Friends forever, both had said that several times over the past few weeks, there was nothing that could ever come between them.

"Cale?" Heiru called as he got out of the creek and headed toward his horse, a dark chestnut colored beauty who was tied to a nearby tree, "Perhaps we should head back to camp now with our catches?" The catches he spoke of were two birds and several fish which were secured to the side of his horse's saddle.

Cale nodded as he got out of the creek as well, picking up his own clothes while tossing Heiru's to him. "Sounds good." He grinned, "I'm starved." He quickly began putting his clothes back on.

No sooner than Heiru got his clothes back on he was on his horse. He reached out a hand to Cale to help him up. Cale quickly grabbed a dusty dark blue bag off the ground and slung it over his shoulder as he took Heiru's hand and pulled himself up onto the horse to sit behind his friend.

"Ready?" Heiru asked, looking back at Cale. Cale wrapped his arms around Heiru's waist and nodded. Heiru smiled and pulled on the horse's reigns so that horse turned around, taking them back to camp.

******

Cale awoke from his sound sleep as he heard tortured cries and thrashing across the tent, the cries tearing at his heart.

"Cale!" Heiru cried out, thrashing around wildly in his sleep, his golden locks in disarray.

"Heiru!" Cale stumbled in the darkness towards his friend. "It's alright, I'm here. Wake up!" He placed his hands on Heiru's shoulders and gently shook him in an attempt to rouse him from his nightmare. Heiru's violet eyes snapped open, they had a wild and terrified look to them as they darted around the tent. His eyes finally focused on Cale after a few moments.

"Cale…" Came the soft whisper from Heiru as if he was surprised to see Cale there.

"I'm here." Cale soothed his friend, gently bringing a hand up to gently stroke Heiru's wild blonde locks. "Don't worry, everything's okay… It was just a bad dream." He held his friend close, gently rocking back and forth as he stroked a hand through his hair, taming the wildness a bit. Heiru clung to Cale tightly, as if afraid that if he let go Cale would be lost forever.

"No… Not a bad dream…" Heiru sobbed into Cale's chest, "This war… is all too real…"

Cale nodded grimly, "I know. But we can get through this, together." He breathed into Heiru's hair.

"Together…" Heiru repeated softly, a slight smile coming to his lips.

"Yes, together. Never alone." Cale whispered, "I'll always be here for you." A spark of a smile lit his lips as well. "Shall we get some more sleep now?" He asked after a few moments of silence. "I'll stay with you, if you want…"

Heiru's smile brightened at that. "Yes, please do…" Cale returned his friend's bright smile, then gently laid down on the bed of blankets; Heiru still enfolded in his arms. Both were soon back in slumber land, the nightmares not returning… At least not that night.

*******

Four months later…

Blood dripping down his brow, Heiru stumbled over to a nearby tree. He had taken his enemy down, but his world was spinning. He could feel bile inside him threatening to rise to the surface, and he let out a pained moan.

"Heiru!" He heard Cale's concerned shout in the distance, but Cale was getting closer. It was all he could do to hang onto the tree, it was the only thing keeping him upright at the moment.

"Heiru…" Cale wrapped an arm around his friend's waist as he reached his side, he took one of Heiru's arms and draped it over his shoulders as he moved to find a better place for his friend to rest. They had become very close over the past four, almost five, months; and Cale wasn't about to let anything happen to Heiru; just as he knew Heiru wouldn't let anything happen to him. "I'll get you out of here." He whispered softly into Heiru's blonde locks. Heiru could only moan in response. Cale retreated further into the forest, half-carrying Heiru.

Once they were a safe distance from the slowly disintegrating battle Cale gently laid Heiru down on the forest floor and began checking his wounds. Heiru's once lovely blonde hair was matted down with blood on the left side, the blood seeping onto his face. Cale began to examine his head wound first, it seemed the most serious; the other wounds were mostly a series of small scratch marks and one bruise. Cale tried not to panic as he looked over the wound, he wasn't sure how bad it really was and he didn't want to scare Heiru; not that he thought Heiru was afraid of dying… Cale was more afraid of Heiru dying than Heiru would have been. Heiru groaned in pain despite Cale's tender touches.

"I'm not sure how bad it is…" Cale admitted, "It doesn't look too deep…"

"Just hurts bad…" Heiru murmured softly, "I'll be alright…" He managed to smile at Cale.

"Are you sure…?" Cale asked in concern. All he wanted to do was make his friend better… and hold him in his arms… Cale closed his eyes in thought. And… kiss his sweet lips, he was sure Heiru's lips were sweet, if only he could just taste them… Cale abruptly jolted himself back to reality, he didn't have the luxury of such thoughts at the moment. He sighed, he had grown increasingly attracted to his close, and only, friend over the past couple months, and he didn't know what do to about it. What does one do when they fall in love with their best friend? He was sure it wasn't normal to do such things, but he couldn't help it. Heiru was like… The other half of his soul. Yes, that's exactly what he was.

"Cale…" Heiru spoke softly as he noticed the dreamy look on his friend's face. "What is it?"

Cale couldn't help himself and blushed. "N-nothing…"

"You sure?" Heiru asked as he tried to sit up, but Cale quickly pushed him back down.

"Yes, I'm sure… You shouldn't get up, you're hurt."

Heiru grinned, "I'm feeling better." He placed his hands on Cale's shoulders and rose himself up to a sitting position so that he was face to face with Cale. "The dizziness is gone…" He murmured while leaning closer to Cale, their faces not even an inch apart. For several silent moments they just gazed into each other's eyes…. Then Heiru closed his eyes and bridged the short distance between his lips and Cale's. Their lips touched for the first time, sending a soft jolt of electricity up Cale's spine as his eyes widened in bewilderment. He certainly hadn't expected this, he been dreaming of it for so long now… And it was bliss, like heaven. He had been right, Heiru's lips were sweet; the sweetest thing he'd ever felt or tasted. Heiru deepened the kiss suddenly, slipping his tongue into Cale's slightly parted mouth to taste and feel the heat and sweetness within; he was so intoxicating.

Slowly, with great reluctance, Heiru pulled his lips apart from Cale's. He was blushing a fierce crimson color, as was Cale.

"I'm sorry…" He whispered, casting his eyes downward, obviously thinking that Cale would hate him for his rash actions.

His blush fading to nothing, Cale's face was overcome with a dreamy look as he put his fingers under Heiru's chin and gently lifted his face so that their eyes met. For a moment they simply looked into each other's eyes, each feeling that the other was peering into their soul.

"Don't be sorry…" Cale whispered with a smile. "Heiru…" He took a deep breath, "I believe I've… fallen in love with you…" Heiru's one visible eye shined brightly, shimmering with tears, and a happy smile adorned his beautiful face. He reached out and wrapped his arms around Cale in a loving embrace as he leaned in and whispered in Cale's ear.

"I love you too."

*********

Cale delicately traced a figure along Heiru's lips as they lay in bed together that night in their tent. Heiru smiled up at him while reaching a slender pale hand up to tangle in blue locks. Candle light glowed on their bodies, creating halos about both of them. Heiru's one visible violet eye shimmered in the dim light, a look of blissful happiness on his face as he looked up at Cale.

"So beautiful…." Heiru murmured as he ran gentle fingers through his love's hair.

Cale blinked and blushed a light rose color. "Me?" He could scarcely believe what Heiru had just said. He was beautiful? Heiru was beautiful to be sure, but Cale had never before thought of himself as being beautiful. "You think… I'm beautiful?" Heiru's eyes danced as he focused that gloriously radiate smile of his on Cale.

"The most beautiful I've ever laid eyes upon." It was a gentle whisper before their lips touched in a passionate kiss, their tongues meeting in a heavenly embrace. To Cale the kiss made him feel like he was being embraced by pure white light, heavenly and almost blinding; It felt like the intangible was being made tangible. Every nerve in his body was tingling, the nerve endings of his fingers felt like fire as he gently brushed his fingertips along his lover's bare chest; eliciting a soft moan into his mouth in response.

Cale slowly broke the kiss which seemed to last an eternity and a mere instant all at once. Breathless and practically intoxicated by the feel and taste of his lover, he gazed down lovingly at Heiru. "Are you… sure about this?" He asked after a brief time of simply gazing into each others eyes. "It… will probably hurt…"

Heiru simply smiled that extraordinary smile of his. "More sure than I've ever been of anything before." He brought his hand down from Cale's hair to gently trace the contours of his ear. Cale shivered at the delightful touch as he leaned back in to taste his lover's sweet mouth once again. He tenderly slid a hand into Heiru's golden locks as he felt Heiru's other hand brush across his rear before the slow caresses began.

Cale pulled back from the delicious kiss as he lifted one of his lover's legs to rest on his shoulder, he then brought Heiru's other leg to rest against his side. He pulled Heiru into a tight embrace as the head of his sex gently nudged the entrance to his lover's body. Taking a deep breath, Cale captured Heiru's mouth in a kiss as he began to push into him. Beneath him, Heiru tensed in pain, tears leaking through closed eyelids. Heiru wasn't the only one in pain, Cale suppressed a groan of pain as Heiru's body constricted painfully tight around him.

Cale reached one hand behind Heiru to gently rub his lower back in an attempt to relax him. But even as he did that he broke away from their kiss. He wanted nothing more than to be with Heiru… But he knew he was hurting his lover, and that caused him more pain than he could express. "Do you want me to stop? I can…" He murmured in concern.

"No." Heiru gasped out, "I want to be with you… more than anything. It won't hurt forever… Just please… don't stop." Cale felt a single tear slide down his cheek, he loved the man beneath him more than anything else in the world. And with his words he knew they were meant to be together. He placed a gentle kiss on Heiru's forehead before he slipped a hand down to lovingly caress his lover's sex.

Cale once again took Heiru's mouth into a hungry kiss as he began slow thrusts into him. Heiru let out a moan of pain intertwined with pleasure into the kiss, he tangled one hand in Cale's blue locks as he placed his other arm tightly around Cale for comfort. Their tongues dueled and danced in an intimate expression of their love.

Cale began to increase the pace of his thrusts as he felt the warm body beneath him relax. He gently nibbled on Heiru's lower lip before he began to trail kisses along his jaw then his throat. Heiru's mouth opened in unvoiced pleasure as the pain faded. For both of them this was more than a mere joining of their bodies, it was a joining of their bodies, their minds, their hearts, and eminently their souls. For one shining moment they both saw eternity, their eternity together. Heaven was made tangible in life as their bodies moved flawlessly together, binding their souls together, each one completing the other.

"Cale…" Heiru whimpered blissfully, lost in the ethereal magic of their lovemaking.

"Heiru…" Cale's lips pressed against Heiru's once more. He too was lost in the paradise of it all, lost to all thought except those of their love for each other. His strokes on his lover's sex quickened, stirring loud pleasured moans from the other man. Cale's thrusts into Heiru hastened once more as he felt heaven enfolding him in even more rapture. It was like an explosion when their climaxes hit. First came Heiru's, hot white liquid poured onto his abdomen and Cale's hand; resounding ecstasy boiling in his blood. His hand tightly gripped Cale's hair almost painfully. Next Cale came, stopping all movement as he released evidence of his pleasure deep into Heiru's body. Once he was spent he collapsed onto Heiru, his head rested on the other man's shoulder, sweating and panting as he took in his lover's intoxicating scent.

Heiru, hair clinging wetly to his face with sweat, had a glazed over look in his eyes as he loving gazed down at Cale. Neither of them said a word, there was nothing to say, their bodies had said it all. They fell asleep that night locked in the tight embrace of each other.

Six months later…

The horse's hoofs made an almost thunderous sound as he galloped along the narrow dirt road with his two passengers. Cale had his arms wrapped securely around Heiru's waist, his head pressed against Heiru's shoulder, his eyes were closed and a smile played upon his lips.

"We're almost there." Heiru spoke softly as he slowed the horse down to a walking pace. Cale opened his eyes and peered out over Heiru's shoulder at the village visible on the horizon.

"Good." Cale all but purred, his breath hot against his lover's ear. "After we get our supplies we can head back to camp… And find more interesting things to do." He grinned and gently nibbled at Heiru's ear. They had been lovers for six months now, out of the ten and a half months they had known each other, but their love never ceased to amaze Cale. It was like all was right with the world when they were together, like paradise.

Heiru smiled, "Then we'd best hurry." They made haste to the village.

*

Heiru had his horse by the reigns as he and Cale walked through the crowded village marketplace. They had already gotten a few supplies, some food and a new blanket, which were loaded on the horse's saddle. Cale stepped up to a stand selling fresh melons, and talked with the vendor for a bit. He then turned to Heiru, holding out two of the melons. "How about these?"

Heiru didn't seem to hear him, his eyes were fixated on another stand across the marketplace. "Heiru?" Cale put the melons back and walked to Heiru. "What is it?" He asked, placing a hand on the other man's shoulder. Heiru started slightly at the light touch.

He turned to Cale and smiled. "It's nothing… I just…" He gestured to the stand he had been looking at. The stand was slightly out of place amongst the others. It was elaborately decorated in a bright array of colors. It belonged to an artist, a few of his painted works were on display.

"I thought maybe…" Heiru continued, "We could see how much it would be to get a portrait of us done."

Cale frowned, "I don't know… That might be a little much, considering the war and all…" He felt his heart sink at the disappointed look on Heiru's face.

"But… I… We've got plenty of money for it…"

Cale sighed, he couldn't refuse that look. "I guess we could… check it out." Heiru smiled brightly.

******

As Cale prepared his bed for the night Heiru snuck up behind him, wrapping his arms around Cale's waist.

"Almost done?" He purred into Cale's ear before planting a gentle kiss on the back of his neck.

Cale nodded with a seductive smile. "Almost… My aren't you eager tonight."

Heiru laughed, "Quite eager." He murmured into Cale's hair, his lips brushing across a few strands. His hands found their way up Cale's bare chest, delicately tugging at his nipples. Cale moaned a pleasured response at the touches.

A feral grin crossed Heiru's lovely face at the response from Cale. He traced gentle wet kisses along Cale's neck as he kept one hand tugging a Cale's now taut nipples, the other hand he moved lower to tenderly embrace his lover's growing erection.

Cale dropped the blanket he held from his hands and gave into the pleasant sensations Heiru's blessed hands were creating. He arched his head back, giving his lover a grand view of his hunger-filled sparkling blue eyes. He reached one had up to delicately trace the outline of Heiru's lips with trembling fingers. Heiru quickly caught Cale's fingers in his mouth and began to sensuously suckle on them. Cale's eyes fixated on that act, watching in almost fascination. Cale shuddered in pleasure and let out a moan as Heiru ran gentle fingers along the length of his shaft.

Heiru gently licked Cale's fingers one last time before releasing them from his mouth. At the same time he removed his hand from Cale's sex and unwrapped himself from around Cale. Cale let out a small whimper at the loss. Heiru simply smiled as he retrieved a small blue bottle from the tan colored leather satchel laying near by. Inside the bottle was an aromatic blend of oils and spices that they had bought at the village earlier that day. He uncorked the bottle as he moved back to Cale. He gently nudged Cale to lay on his stomach, Cale complied eagerly, knowing full well what was coming.

Heiru smoothed one slender hand across his lover's delicious looking backside before pouring a bit of the oil into his palm.

Cale let loose a joyous moan, while clasping blankets in his fists, as one slick oily finger invaded his body. Oh, gods, it felt so good. "Mmmmm… Heiru…" He pushed back, trying to get the heaven sent finger deeper inside himself.

Heiru could barely control the urge to dive himself into his beautiful lover right then. "Patience…" He murmured as he slipped a second slippery finger into Cale, slowly massaging him inside as he gently stretched him. Cale's response brought a grin to his lips.

Cale arched his back and growled in frustration. Heiru was teasing too much tonight. "Please… My love." He whimpered, raising his hips and pushing back against Heiru's fingers. If he didn't feel his lover inside him soon he was going to scream.

Heiru planted a kiss on the back of Cale's neck, "As you wish." His fingers slid out of Cale. Cale felt empty at the loss, but he was excited by the knowledge that they would soon be replaced by something much better.

Heiru picked the small blue bottle back up and poured more of the enticingly scented oil into his palm. He re-corked the bottle and set it aside before smoothing the oil onto his own erection. Placing one hand securely on Cale's hip, he got into position, his sex nudging the entrance to his lover's body before he slowly dove in.

Cale practically meowed in pleasured response. "Ohhh." He clawed at the blankets, fingers digging deeply into the soft fabric. Such bliss, his mind purred at the penetration. Heiru tossed his head back, his eyes closed, as he pushed all the way into Cale in one slow thrust.

"Oh, god, Cale." Heiru gasped out as he became immersed in the soft velvet inside of Cale. Good god, this was sheer bliss, no matter how many times they made love that fact never ceased to amaze him. His thrusts started out slow, wanting to savor each wondrous sensation. Cale was purring and moaning, moving rhythmically along with Heiru's thrusts. Cale could barely take the slowness of his lover's movements, he whimpered, pushing back hard in a wordless attempt to let Heiru know how he felt.

Heiru understood and complied with his love's silent demands, increasing his speed, forcefully slamming into Cale's delightful tightness. Cale smiled as he let out a loud pleasured cry.

Heiru reached his hand around to work Cale's sex, stroking feverishly in time with his thrusts. Cale closed his eyes tightly and opened his mouth in a soundless cry as ecstasy embraced him in both of his most intimate places. The fevered pace of body, hands, and moans increased as both lovers neared completion. It all came to head in an explosion of rhapsody, glistening white erupted from Cale, coating Heiru's hand. Heiru stilled as he spilled his essence into his lover's body at the same moment.

As the fireworks ended Cale fell gasping onto the mussed bundle of blankets beneath them, Heiru coming to rest on top of him. For long moments the only sounds were the gasps and panting of the two lovers. Then Heiru rolled off Cale before gathering him into his arms.

"My god, I love you." Cale murmured, a blissful smile on his face. Each time they were together it seemed like the term heaven on earth received a new definition.

Wearing the same look as Cale, Heiru murmured back. "I love you too."

******

It was a dark day, despite the fact that the sun loomed brightly overhead, it was like an ominous sign that the day would not end well. The battlefield was a gruesome sight to behold, the ground was stained crimson with blood, bodies lay everywhere, most bloodied and open; some simply dying. Still others stayed fighting, sword against sword, man against man. Soon the majority of them would be dead also, it seemed as though this was the bloodiest battle of the entire war. Cale frowned, he couldn't see Heiru anywhere… They must have gotten separated during the fighting. Cale felt a hard pressure in his chest. They hadn't been separated during a battle for several months, and he didn't like it. Ignoring the remnants of battle around him, and the blood seeping down his brow, Cale went off in search of Heiru.

He trudged through mud, blood, and the bodies that littered the ground. He avoided looking at anything which wasn't alive, for if he didn't he wouldn't have been able to go on. After what seemed like hours he stopped, terror gripped his heart at the sight that held him paralyzed.

In the middle of a battlefield, cluttered with dead and dying bodies, stood Heiru and another young samurai. The young samurai's sword impaled in Heiru's abdomen. Abruptly Heiru fell back, the blade slipping from his body as he hit the ground with a soft thud. Cale's eyes welled up with tears of heartbreak.

"NNNNNOOOOOOOOO!" He screamed out in the torment that ripped through his soul. He lost all thought in the moment, overcome with sorrow, pain, and rage. Hot burning rage fueled him as he drew his blade and launched himself at Heiru's attacker.

The young boy in samurai armor looked startled at first, but quickly gained his composure and drew his sword back up as Cale came at him. Their swords clashed in a flurry of motion, one fighting for survival the other for vengeance.

Cale cried out in pain as the other warrior's blade struck his face. He closed his left eye tightly as blood flowed freely down his cheek. He wasted no time, catching his foe in surprise, he struck quickly; driving his own blade deeply into his enemy's chest. The young samurai let out a scream of pain as his eyes widened in startled terror. Cale's rage went from a boil to a simmer as the young samurai's eyes rolled back in his head and he fell off Cale's sword to the ground. The sword wavered in Cale's hand then fell to the blood soaked ground below. He turned, his eyes focusing on the downed form of his love off to the side.

"Please be alive." He prayed as he raced to Heiru's side. He fell to his knees beside Heiru's prone form. "Heiru…" He whispered, gently taking Heiru into a tight embrace in his arms.

Heiru's eyes fluttered open, "My love…" After a moment his eyes seemed to fixate on Cale's facial wound. "You're… hurt…"

"Shh… Don't talk. Save your strength… I'll get you some help…" Tears poured down Cale's cheeks as he spoke, mixing with the blood already there. He almost smiled, it was just like Heiru to worry about him when Heiru was the one that was really hurt. He couldn't die… He just couldn't, Cale would die himself before he'd let Heiru die. "Y-you… Can't die on me… Please…"

A light, gentle smile touched Heiru's lips. "It's too late… " Pain gripped Cale's heart at his beloved's words.

"No, you're going to live. I won't let you die…" Cale murmured. This couldn't be happening, Heiru was… everything… He was his friend, his lover, he was… the other half of his soul. Without one the other could not be.

"I'm sorry…" Heiru whispered. Cale stared down at him in heartbreak and disbelief.

"Remember… I will always love you…" Heiru continued before letting out a groan of pain. "We… will be together… again… I will see you in… our next… life… I will love you forever." Heiru smiled that radiant smile of his one last time, then his eyes fell closed and his head rolled to the side.

"No…" Cale sobbed as he felt his lover's heart and breath stop. Pain ripped through his soul, hot, cold, and searing. He pulled Heiru's body as close as he could to his own, then unleashed a rage and sorrow filled scream that spoke of the anguish he felt in his soul.

"NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He screamed until his voice was lost to him, but he couldn't scream enough to unleash all the anguish and rage he still felt burning within him. With his voice spent he just held his love's body close and wept for hours.

He was still weeping when the darkness came… Along with a voice…

"Come, embrace me." The voice bade him, "Away from this carnage… What I seek is older than light. You are beyond help. Your devotion to me will embrace nothing but darkness… " The voice was soft, and deceptively comforting. "I can take away the pain…" It promised. "And I can give you the vengeance you seek… On those who began this war… Those who have truly slain your love. The darkness will take the pain away."

It was tempting. Vengeance, an end to the pain. It was so tempting, but… Cale opened his mouth to refuse, but the voice spoke again.

"If you come with me… You will have power, immortality…" Even more tempting, but…

"And you will see him again when he comes back… Will you come with me?" That did it.

"Yes." Cale answered quickly, and in that moment his heart sank into darkness….

400+ Years later…

Cale, Warlord of Corruption, stood atop a rooftop looking down at the five Ronin Warriors in the street. 'Young fools' He thought of them, 'They are foolish to resist… They should know they can't win…' He briefly wondered why they didn't wear the face plates of their armor down. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly, the Ronin in green catching his attention…. That face… Cale stared in horror… at the face he hadn't seen in over four hundred years. The face of the warrior in green, Halo, was identical to his beloved Heiru.

"Can't be…" Cale murmured to himself. After all it was impossible, Heiru had been dead for over four hundred years… He remembered his death vividly, he had died in his arms. 'I will love you forever…' Heiru's last words came back to haunt him. True, Talpa had promised that he'd see him again… But he certainly hadn't meant as an enemy, had he? 'Impossible… Can't be, not after so long… Has to be a descendant…. Of a relative… ' Cale rationalized in his mind, "Yes, that's it…" He murmured to himself aloud.

"What is it, Cale?" Cale heard Dais' voice over the blur of his own thoughts, "It's not like you to lose concentration."

"The human's world… I never imagined I would be here again." Cale answered dryly.

"Battlefields all look the same, you realize. Don't be shocked." Sekhmet commented, arms crossed over his chest.

"Silence! Are you calling me a coward?" Cale snapped at the green-haired warlord. He licked his lips and smiled, "I've waited long enough for this assault. I was born to serve Talpa." He stole a quick glance at Anubis, who was speaking to the Ronin Warriors below.

******

Cale, in sub-armor, knelt alone in a place shrouded in darkness. His eyes were closed, and if one didn't know better it would have looked as if he were praying. His thoughts drifted back to his confrontation with Sage of Halo earlier that day… He had almost had him, if not for the interference of that young boy and The Ancient's staff…. He frowned into the darkness as memories of his fight with Sage in the darkened subterranean levels of the city shifted though his centuries old mind. Halo's eyes… He remembered looking into them as the warrior had let loose his power. The eyes were the mirror to the soul, Cale had always found that to be true, and what Sage's eyes had revealed to Cale… Cale's eyes snapped open, round and wide, pain deeply evident in his sparkling orbs.

"Heiru…" He murmured, bringing his hands up to clutch his chest. He had realized the truth those eyes told, that Heiru and Sage were one in the same. The same soul. That his beloved Heiru was now in another lifetime… With no memory of Cale or the love they shared. He screamed into the darkness, filling the void with the pain and anguish of his shattered soul.

"Why?" He slammed his fists into the black floor. He was torn, he didn't want to fight against his beloved, he wanted to go to him… Make him remember and hold him in his arms once more. But he couldn't do that… He had to obey his Master, Talpa had given him so much… and promised so much more. Talpa was his master, he was bound, and he could not… would not disobey. Perhaps… Perhaps if there was a way… Cale clung tightly to a sliver of desperate hope… If he could get Heiru… No, Sage, it was Sage now… If he could just get him to turn… Pledge his loyalty to Master Talpa… Yes, yes, that could work… Cale was the warlord of corruption after all, if anyone could make it work, he could. He clung steadfast to that hope and smiled his first real smile in over four hundred years….

"You will be in my arms again, my love, I swear it…"

*******

Cale lay on his stomach, sans armor or anything else, on a white marble floor; the rest of the room was shrouded in darkness. His cheek lay against the cold marble, his tightly clenched fists up by his head. His eyes stared blankly into nothingness, a glossy pained look in them. He had tried so hard today… So hard to turn him. Heiru had always hated hunting, even though they'd had to do it to survive… So Cale knew that Sage would become angry when he was forced to fight the innocent deer… Hopefully, Cale had thought, enough for him to give in to his darkside. Unfortunately it had backfired… It had only served to bring Sage closer to his beloved light… And caused him to hate Cale even more. And now Sage was captured by Talpa, held prisoner and tortured when he should have been serving Master Talpa… When he should have been in Cale's arms once again after four hundred years of separation. Where once long ago there had been love, now there was only hate. Forever hadn't turned out to be as long as he'd thought it'd be.

Cale curled himself into a fetal position. It all hurt so bad, how was he to go on? How was he to serve Master Talpa now? Tortured screams from outside made their way to the room, echoing off the walls. Tears filled his eyes, he knew who some of those screams were coming from; and it pained him to know that he couldn't… and wouldn't… do anything to stop them. If he tried to help it would only make things worse… for both of them. He clenched his eyes tightly shut as his silent tears spilled out onto his cheeks.

"Imagine…" He whispered pitifully, heartbreakingly, into the dark room, "The darkness… in love with the light…"

******

"We must obey, it is Talpa's will." An internal battle had begun even as the words spilled from Cale's lips. He was wrapped in a painful contortion of Badamon's power along with Dais and Sekhmet. Anubis had turned traitor, and because of their Master's true plans it sounded as through Dais and Sekhmet were about to as well. Anubis had been right, Talpa only wanted their armor… But that didn't matter to Cale now, Talpa was still his master…

"Even if we are sacrificed, it will bring great honor to the evil dynasty!" While one part of Cale meant every word, another part recoiled in disgust. 'Honor.' That part of his mind spat, 'There is no honor in this…'

"Nonsense." He heard Dais spit angrily in response. "This is sheer humiliation. What great reward do you think you'll gain serving as his paperweight?!"

Cale tried very hard to think of a point of disagreement… But Dais was right, and he knew it. The next thing he knew he was floating up, until he had reached his own funeral barge, heading for his own tower. Thoughts ran rampant through his mind. This was honor for Talpa, he reasoned with himself, for the glory of the dynasty… He was willing to do this… The image of the young blonde wearer of the armor of Halo flashed through his mind. But Heiru, no Sage… got to remember it's Sage now, was not willing to do this. He was being forced to share the fate that Cale had brought upon himself. Anger, sadness, regret, love, and hate all welled up inside him to the breaking point. He began to struggle futilely against the power that bound him in place, he would not let this fate befall Sage.

Suddenly he felt himself sitting on something, he couldn't see as his eyes were closed, and he just knew he was in one of those damnable towers. He was surrounded by nether-spirits, he could feel them. Slimy, cold, they disgusted him now. He struggled in vain, he couldn't move a muscle. 'I'm sorry… My love. This is my fault…' His thoughts stuck on Sage, he could do little more than immerse himself in self-pity. It couldn't end like this, he didn't even get to tell him that he still loved him…

His thoughts went on like that for what seemed like hours… And then he felt it… A bond he had known for so long suddenly ripped from his senses. Anubis! No! It couldn't be, but he was gone. More pained ripped through his soul, a bond forged through armor and battle suddenly gone forever. Cale mourned.

Sometime later Cale's senses tingled, something was coming. Power, raw, pure, surging power. And then he was free from his invisible bonds. Cale immediately leapt to his feet within the tower. He was free! And now that he was free Talpa was going to pay, he was going to pay for everything; but Cale would make him pay especially hard for hurting Sage. Calling upon all his power, Cale left the tower in ruin.

*********

Cale sat, arms wrapped around himself, at the golden water's edge. He gazed out at the sparkling liquid, his last few tears sliding gracefully down his cheeks; one making a pathway down the scar under his left eye. It was over now, Talpa had been defeated. For good, he hoped. The pain in his heart hurt worse than before now, but he had made his decision and he wasn't going to regret it. He smiled as he remembered how happy Sage had looked with his friends after Talpa's defeat. No, he would not regret his decision. Sage would be happy now, even if Cale could not be part of that happiness he didn't care all that mattered was that the one he had loved so long ago, and still loved, was happy. He knew Sage would be better off without him trying to force some un-recallable memory of a past love from a past life on him. Besides he was nothing but an old relic from a lost time that could never be brought back, he had faced the truth and now he had to live with it. He belonged here now, in the dynasty, and Sage… Sage belonged to the modern world. Their souls had crossed paths before, maybe they would again in a new life.

"Maybe… Someday…" He whispered into the wind, "But goodbye for this lifetime, my love." He smiled. He would mourn the past no more.

Five Years Later

He stared down in absolute horror at the sword that impaled his belly, his own crimson blood dripping down his gray armor and the offending sword. He hadn't seen it coming… How foolish, he thought dejectedly. He rose astonished violet eyes to look at his attacker, and astonished eyes met the horror filled eyes of a young man that could be no older than himself. 'I must be his first kill…' he noted from the look on his attacker's young face. He was dead… Or he would be, he knew, there was no way to survive this wound. The sword slid from his belly as he collapsed backwards, falling to the soft grass.

"NNNNNOOOOOOOOO!" The horror filled scream broke the crisp morning air. He frowned slightly while clutching the wound in his belly, he knew that voice… And he most certainly did not want his love to see him dying like this… A weak shudder racked his body, well… too late now. He closed his eyes.

He heard the sounds of sword against sword… His lover had arrived to avenge him… Maybe he would get to lay eyes on him once more before he died. He tried to move to see what was happening, but his body was too weak now to handle the resulting pain and he slumped back with a groan. He heard two screams of pain, two voices, then the sounds of the swords stopped. He heard the sound of a body dropping to the ground with a thud. His heart froze for a moment and he prayed that it wasn't his love that lay dying or dead not far from him. He listened more intently, hoping to find out more… He heard sluggish, and obviously pained, footsteps coming towards him. He opened his eyes and was rewarded with the sight of his lover hovering over him… Actually rewarded wasn't the right word…. The dark blue eyes were filled with pain and terror, or rather one dark blue eye was… The left eye of the blue haired man above him was clenched tightly shut, blood running from a gash that started at the bottom of his eye and ran down his cheek.

"Heiru…" His dark blue-haired companion murmured sorrowfully as he took him into his arms in a tight embrace.

"My love…" Heiru barely found the strength to choke the words out, it hurt even to speak. He could taste blood in his mouth, and the taste filled him with a wave of nausea. "You're… hurt…" His own mortal wound forgotten in concern for his beloved.

"Shh… Don't talk. Save your strength… I'll get you some help…" Both eyes of his companion poured out tears, mixing with blood by his left eye. "Y-you… Can't die on me… Please…"

Heiru smiled lightly up at his love. "It's too late… " He looked into his lover's tear-filled open eye, and he knew he had to speak again despite the pain. His lover murmured something he couldn't quite make out, he figured his hearing must be going along with the rest of him now. "I'm sorry…" He looked lovingly up at his blue-haired love, who had brought so much joy to his young, and very short, life. "Remember… I will always love you…" He groaned as the pain became worse, his time was almost up. "We… will be together…" Each word was becoming harder to say as he felt his body shutting down. "… again… I will see you in… our next… life… I will love you forever." He smiled one last time at his love, then all strength left him and his world went black…

Sage awoke with a startled cry, panting and sweating, terrified by the dream he'd had. He reached over and switched the small lamp on his night-table on. He heaved a sigh of relief, murmuring to himself that it was only a dream. But he knew better than that… He shuddered, he had dreamed his own death… His brows furrowed in confusion. The time frame of his dream didn't seem right though… And the armor wasn't Halo… It was just plain armor, from like four hundred years ago… Then it wasn't a future death, but a past death, he reasoned. Or maybe it was simply a silly nightmare… But it had seemed so real. He clearly remembered the face of the blue-haired man in his dream that had invoked such emotion. The young man was familiar, but Sage couldn't place him. The eyes had been especially familiar. He had a feeling he'd seen those eyes much more recently than a past life…

"Sage?" The soft voice and the creak of the door opening disrupted his thoughts. "Are you alright? We heard you cry out?" It was Cye. Sage looked up to see Cye in the darkened doorway, plus three shadows lurking behind him in concern.

Sage nodded. "I'm fine… Just a bad dream." He tried to smile, but failed miserably.

"About what happened in New York again?" Cye inquired as he entered Sage's room completely. Sage hadn't had nightmares about that in over a year, and the guys thought the night terrors had gone away… Until they heard Sage cry out that night. Ryo, Kento, and Rowen stepped into the room after Cye.

Sage shook his head. "No… It was different."

"You wanna talk about it?" Ryo asked cautiously, Sage didn't usually like to talk about what was bothering him. But all of them would be there for him if he needed them.

Sage shuddered, he could still remember the feeling of having the sword lodged in his belly. "No…" He barely rasped. He looked at the four of them, his violet eyes begging them not to pry further. He couldn't talk about this dream, something about it disturbed him even more than the events that had taken place in New York did.

"Do you want us to stay with you?" Cye asked, sensing that Sage's mind was still on the nightmare he'd had.

Sage was about to say no… He never got the chance. The other four were already in bed with him before he even got his mouth open to say the word. He sighed in defeat, he didn't feel like putting up a fuss about it tonight.

"Get some sleep." Cye murmured to Sage as he gently nudged him to lay back down. He placed a tender kiss on Sage's forehead. "We'll be here if you need us." Sage gave another defeated sigh as he looked at the other four. He was in the middle, with Cye and Ryo curled up on one side of him and Rowen and Kento curled up on the other side of him. Soon the small lamp on the night-table was out, and as soon as Sage was back asleep the other four felt slumber calling them back.

*******

Kayura stood on a balcony watching Dais, Sekhmet, and Cale somewhat wistfully. Sekhmet had managed to get Dais to pick up a sword and the two of them were practicing their fighting skills. Cale was off to the side of them, sitting cross-legged and leaning against one of the courtyard walls. His eyes were closed, so Kayura figured that he must be taking a nap. She sighed, it would be lonely here without them… But she knew what she had to do. In a way she wished she still had Anubis' armor, which at disappeared shortly after Talpa had been defeated, that way she would have to go with them and things wouldn't get so lonely. She still had duties to perform here in this place, to make sure things stayed peaceful. How was she ever to tell them they had to go? She was glad they were here, but the armor bearers had to be together… The armors were meant to be a team, and the three ex-warlords would have to establish a bond with the five Ronins if that was to be. They belonged with the Ronins, there was no denying that. They were like the missing pieces to a puzzle, the picture incomplete without them. She knew why they had stayed with her, the real reason, they were afraid. Afraid of how much the mortal world had changed. It was alien to them, but they would have to learn about it and learn to live in it if they were to protect it.

"Boys," She called down to them. Cale was the first to look up at her. 'So he wasn't asleep after all…' She mused. "There's something important we need to discuss." She finished.

*******

In the living room of the Ronin household Kento and Ryo were watching television, while Rowen had his nose buried in a book, and Sage was lightly skimming through a newspaper.

Cye walked in from the kitchen, wearing an apron, looking somewhat dazed. "Guys… I just heard from Kayura." That was all it took to get their attention. Ryo and Kento looked up from the TV, Rowen set his book aside, and Sage neatly folded his newspaper in his lap.

"What'd she want?" Ryo asked, wondering what was going on. They hadn't heard from Kayura or the warlords in about five years, since Talpa was defeated.

"Well…" Cye began, fidgeting with his fingers somewhat. "She kinda made a little… um… request." He wasn't quite sure how the guys would take to this particular *request* considering the past, but Kayura had made it sound like the most important thing in the world.

"Well, what is it?" Sage prompted after Cye didn't continue.

Cye inhaled deeply, and exhaled slowly. "You see… Kayura feels that Dais, Sekhmet, and Cale need to learn about the modern world, as she put it. And she requested that we teach them about it… And let them stay with us, since they have no place else to stay while here…"

Sage raised blonde brows, Ryo looked unsure, and Rowen looked like he was pondering something, and Kento scowled.

Kento was the first to speak up, "Is she crazy?" He crossed his arms over his chest, "After everything we had to put up with from them before? No thanks, not again."

"But they've changed." Cye protested, "They're not our enemies anymore…"

"I hate to admit it, but Cye's right." Sage spoke almost reluctantly, and he shuddered at the thought of his former nemesis of darkness staying in the same house as him. Four pairs of eyes swiveled over to look at their leader.

"What do you think, Ryo?" Sage asked.

"Well… I…" Ryo's eyes were downcast to look at the floor, he just plain wasn't sure about this. Cye had a point, but so did Kento. He sighed. "Well… Their armors did come from the same place as ours… So I suppose it's like they're Ronin Warriors too… And we probably shouldn't just turn our backs on them." There, he had said what he thought. He raised his eyes back up to look at his comrades.

Cye smiled, he had two somewhat in agreement with him so far, and the majority usually ruled… But… He looked to Rowen, who still hadn't given his opinion.

"Hmm…" Rowen drummed his fingers along the coffee table, all eyes were suddenly focused on him. "I don't know… They were our enemies…" Kento smiled at that remark from Rowen. "But on the other hand…" Kento frowned as Rowen continued. "They did turn and help us fight Talpa."

"Then we should help them?" Cye almost beamed, looking like an innocent child, which he wasn't. Three nods of agreement, and one negative shake of the head answered him.

"Aww… Come on, Kento. They need us." Cye bounded over to Kento, turning beautiful sea-green puppy dog eyes on him.

Kento cringed at the look on Cye's face, how could he say no? "Oh… alright…" He gave a defeated sigh.

"Did she say how long they'd be staying, Cye?" Rowen asked.

"A couple of… months?" Cye managed to cringe at the looks on the other guys faces.

*******

Sage smiled as his dark blue-haired companion kissed and nibbled along his throat, causing him to emit a pleasured moan. His eyes gazed momentarily about the darkly lit tent. This dream was proving to be much more pleasant than the last, and it wasn't just because of the content. He found he liked past life dreams much better when he was aware of his current life, and also aware that he was dreaming. He wondered desperately at what the name of his lover had been as he toyed with dark blue locks of hair. He moaned as a delicate hand brushed lightly against his growing erection. A hot mouth suddenly captured his in a passionate kiss, and he melted against his companion. He had loved this man very much once… And he knew he still did, that was what made him sad; he had fallen in love with a memory… He wondered desperately what happened to the soul of his beloved, and if there was any way to find him now.

A loud crash suddenly emanated from outside the tent. Sage's violet eyes widened in alarm as he saw a familiar armored figure step into the tent.

"Cale!" He growled. To be seen by one's enemy in this position was not good. He frowned briefly, eyes furrowing in confusion before he let out a sigh of relief. This was only a dream, and Cale was no longer his enemy he realized. He looked back to his lover to make sure he wasn't too startled by the intruder… But the dark blue haired boy was gone…

"No…" Sage reached out a hand to the spot where his lover had been only moments before. He growled in anger as he turned back to Cale. "What do you want?" He demanded of the dream phantom of his former enemy.

The phantom image of Cale only stood there in silence as his armor melted away to nothing. Sage gasped in utter shock. Cale, no longer hidden by the mask of his helmet, was identical to the boy that had been with Sage only moments before. Identical with two exceptions, the first of which were his eyes, they looked darker and older. And the second was the scar beneath his left eye… A scar which Sage had witnessed his sweet lover receiving in the previous night's nightmare.

"Can't be…" Sage whispered to himself in horror, "It's… impossible…" He knew the warlords were old, but the thought of his sweet dream lover ever working for Talpa was just too impossible to believe.

With that last thought Sage awoke from his dream, clutching the sheets of his bed in tightly clenched fists. He looked up at the ceiling, "Why?" He asked it. His grip on the sheets tightened and he looked over at the clock on his dresser, 3:45AM. Tonight he would find out if his dream had been accurate… For the former warlords would be here tonight. They were supposed to stay here for a couple months to learn about the modern world… Sage closed his eyes, what was he going to do if his dream was right… If Cale really was… He didn't know how he'd make it through the next couple of months.

******

"I wonder what this does…" Sekhmet lightly touched the small button beside the front door of the manor he, Dais, and Cale were standing outside of.

Dais shrugged, "It's probably just decoration."

Sehkmet frowned, "It's not very decorative for a decoration." He gingerly pushed the button. Nothing happened. "It doesn't seem to do anything…" Maybe Dais was right… But he was sure it had to do SOMETHING. Frowning, he pushed the button again, and again. Yet still, nothing happened.

"Stop that." Cale chastised as he knocked on the door…. Or rather he had intended to knock on the door, instead he found his fist encountering something far softer than the wooden door… He looked up to find a blue-haired young man, in a light blue t-shirt and a pair of black jeans, rubbing the now sore spot in his chest. Cale blinked in surprise, "Strata?" He bowed his head in apology, "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to hit you, I didn't know you were there… I'm sorry."

Rowen's face lost the scowl that had been forming, the dark blue haired man before him looked so regretful that he couldn't stay mad. "S'alright." He murmured, a light smile forming. He wondered which warlord he was speaking to, he had never seen these three without their armor's face plates down before… And here they were, sans armor, in normal almost modern clothes, looking perfectly human.

"How did you know we were here?" Dais asked.

Rowen gestured to the button Sekhmet was still intrigued by, "Doorbell." He answered the white-haired man wearing the eye-patch.

Sekhmet turned away from the door bell as a thought occurred to him. "You've never seen us in anything but full armor before." He stated matter-of-factly. Rowen nodded. Sekhmet smiled, "I'm Sekhmet." He gestured to the white haired man, "He's Dais. And the one who tried to knock on you is Cale."

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Strata?" Cale commented dryly, while trying not to scowl at Sekhmet for the way he had introduced him.

Rowen nodded with a smile. "It has. And please call me Rowen." He opened the front door completely and gestured for them to come in. Smiling, the three walked in and Rowen closed the door behind them.

*

Sage, seated on the sofa, was about to take a sip from his teacup when Rowen walked into the living room with the former warlords… His eyes widened with a bundle of emotion as he caught sight of the blue-haired ex-warlord, Cale. The teacup fell to the floor and shattered into several pieces. His dream had been accurate…

Cye gasped and began to pick up the teacup pieces. "Sage, what's wrong?" Being startled like that was not something that usually happened to Sage.

"Nothing…" Sage answered. He took a deep breath and formed a mask of composure.

Cye frowned at that, but decided to let it go… at least for now.

Cale's eyes fixated on Sage almost as soon as they entered the room, the old feelings were returning, how was he ever going to make it through the next couple of months? He wondered why Sage had dropped the teacup and had acted so surprised. He had known they were coming… hadn't he? He's still so beautiful, Cale sighed wistfully, wishing he could tell Sage how much he missed him. He frowned when he felt someone poke him in his side.

"You okay?" Sekhmet asked.

"I'm fine." Cale sounded perfectly composed, but he could feel a faint blush creeping to his cheeks.

Sekhmet didn't believe him for a second, there had to be something… After all Cale was BLUSHING, a faint blush, but a blush nonetheless. He followed Cale's line of sight as his eyes returned to Sage. Ah, so that's it, his mind purred. He never would've guessed. A wicked smile curved his lips. So Cale had a thing for Halo… He could have some fun with this new information. It was a good thing Cale didn't realize how easily readable he was to Sekhmet.

******

It was some time later, after which warlord was which had been taken care of and after the bedroom arrangements had been dealt with, that the eight warriors sat gathered in the living room. Sekhmet and Dais were nuzzled next to each other on the sofa, Rowen beside them and Kento on the floor comfortably leaning against Rowen's legs. Cye and Ryo were snuggled against White Blaze on the floor, and Sage and Cale sat in a pair of chairs right next to each other, looking decidedly uncomfortable. Most eyes were on the television, where Star Wars: A New Hope was playing. Cale was stealing glances at Sage when he thought he wasn't looking, and Sage was trying very hard to watch the movie instead of watching Cale.

"So then… this isn't real?" Dais asked of the movie.

Rowen shook his head, "Nope. It's all special effects and actors." He got a glazed over look in his eyes, "But sometimes I wish it was real. Traveling to the stars…" He sighed, "If only it were that easy to do."

"Don't forget, you've been up there before." Ryo piped in.

"Yeah, but he was sorta napping at the time." Cye countered.

*rrrrrrriiiiiiiinnnnngggggg*

The phone rang loudly just then, causing the three former warlords to practically jump out of their skin.

"What is that?!" Cale demanded, standing atop his chair, suddenly wearing his red on red sub-armor. Dais and Sekhmet were also alarmed, and on their feet in an instant. The phone continued to ring as all five ronins tried to control their laughter.

Sage, grinning like a madman but not laughing, reached for the black telephone seated on a nearby table. "It's just the phone. " He picked the phone up. "Hello?" He immediately wished he hadn't picked it up. There was a chatty salesman on the other end. He sighed, how was he supposed to get a word in when the man didn't even stop talking to take a breath?

"Phone?" Cale asked Rowen as he dismissed his sub-armor and stepped down off of the chair. Sekhmet and Dais relaxed visibly as the ringing stopped, and they sat back down to hear what Rowen had to say about it.

"It's a communications device." Rowen explained, his laughter subsiding. "Allows you to talk to anyone in the world, as long as they have a phone, and they have your number… Or you have theirs."

"Amazing…" Sekhmet murmured his eyes roaming over to Sage, along with Cale's and Dais'. He wondered why Sage was frowning while he held the marvelous device to his ear.

"Um, no thanks. Goodbye." Sage spoke into the phone, frowning as he hung up. He turned to the others. "Salesman." Four heads nodded in understanding.

"Hmm…" Cye frowned as he gingerly got up and examined the old-style gray shirt that Sekhmet wore. His eyes then roamed over the clothing of the other two ex-warlords. "We need to take you guys shopping in the morning." He announced with a smile. "Your outfits are a wee-bit outdated…"

Each warlord looked down at their clothes, then back up to Cye. Cye beamed, he was gonna get to play dress-up with the warlords; and that should prove fun.

*******

In the room he would be staying in for sometime, Cale gently unwrapped the only item he had brought with him besides the clothes on his back and his armor orb. He carefully unbound very old white, stained beige with time, linen wrappings from a rectangular object in his lap. He smiled sadly as the worn tapestry of color was revealed. The color had faded slightly with time, but not much, this was Cale's prize possession and he took meticulous care of it. It was a painting, but it was more than just a beautiful work of art to him, it represented his best memories of life. The background was a colorful and crowded ancient marketplace, and in the foreground… Was a young smiling Cale with no scar. And next to Cale was beautiful and happy looking young blonde man, a patch of golden locks hanging over his violet right eye. The two happy young boys stood arm and arm in the painting.

"We were so happy that day…" Cale breathed wistfully into the room. He lightly traced a finger over the face of the young blonde in the painting.

******

He gazed about the grove of trees, the sunlight filtering brightly through the trees. The blonde smiled, it was a grand day, despite this foolish war. Why was he in this war to begin with? He frowned, oh yeah, he was forced to be here. He had been surprised that his family's money hadn't been able to get him out of this. Oh well, it was no use crying over spilled milk, he was here now and there was nothing he could do about it. At least the march had stopped… And it was sunny out, he loved the sun. He smiled to himself as he walked amongst the trees.

He stopped in his tracks as a sight caught him that took his breath away. Nuzzled up against the trunk of a large tree slept a young samurai, a beautiful young samurai. He gazed in awe at the sight that held him spellbound. The sleeping boy had midnight blue hair, and wore gray samurai armor like his own, a light smile played on the boy's lips as he slept. An obvious sign of a good dream. The sunlight filtered through the leaves, creating a shimmering glow about the sleeping boy, causing him to appear like an angel in mortal guise. Enchanted, he bridged the distance between them quietly, as to not awaken this sleeping angel, and seated himself carefully next to the dreaming boy. He gingerly reached a hand out to softly touch midnight locks, careful not to awaken the angel. He pulled his hand back regretfully, what was he doing? What were these strange feelings taking form inside him? He almost got up to leave, unsure of himself. But he couldn't. He couldn't leave his angel, not now, not ever.

Several hours had passed, and he contentedly watched the angel sleep peacefully. After so many hours he had become used to his angels soft murmurs and breath, so he was truly startled when the angel began to stir from his slumber and let out a soft groan.

"You awake?" He asked the angel.

"Mmmm…" Came the soft reply from the angel. The blonde smiled as the angel opened his eyes and looked at him. The blue haired angel had the most beautiful eyes Heiru had ever seen, and he couldn't help but gaze into them as if enchanted.

"You've been asleep for a while." He informed his angel.

"Are we starting the march again?" The angel asked.

Heiru shook his head. "I don't think so. I heard it'll be stopped for a while longer."

The angel frowned, "Hmph. Some morale."

"How old are you?" Heiru asked quietly, the angel didn't seem like he could be any older than Heiru himself was.

"Sixteen." The angel frowned for some reason, "Almost seventeen." He added quickly.

"Oh. So you're a teenager?" Like me, Heiru thought. "What's your name?"

The blue-haired angel snorted with a smug look. "I ain't telling you."

Heiru didn't know what to think, this angel was starting to seem rather rude. But for some reason that did not make him lose his appeal to Heiru, somehow it just made him more intriguing.

"I'm gonna rule the world someday and I like having my own way." The angel continued, a huge smug smile on his face. "But I don't like too many people knowing my name, even though someone like you probably wouldn't live long enough to tell it anyway. You should try and stay alive you unworthy fuck."

Heiru's eyes widened in surprise at the boy's brashness, this was definitely no angel. "Y-you…"

The boy raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"You really are uncouth!" The words were out of his mouth before Heiru could stop himself, and he immediately regretted it.

The boy narrowed his eyes and scowled at Heiru.

Heiru smiled softly at the blue haired boy, he had been told before that his smiles were disarming, and he hoped it was true because he really did wish to get to know this boy better. "Forgive me…"

Quite abruptly the blue-haired boy leaned closer to Heiru, causing Heiru to jump back in surprise. "Hey… Your eyes are a weird color." The boy announced.

"What do you see…?" Heiru asked carefully, hoping it was nothing bad.

The boy frowned slightly, gazing into Heiru's eyes, and Heiru gazing right back into his eyes.

"Dark… and Light…" The boy answered after a few moments of silence had passed.

"Will you… come with me…?" Heiru whispered, gently reaching out his hand to the boy with the midnight blue locks as they both stood from under the tree. He couldn't help it, something inside told him he should be by this boy's side, that they should be together. And he NEVER ignored his intuition.

"Me?" The boy asked, sounding completely bewildered.

"Together…" Heiru replied, gazing soulfully into the other boy's eyes. The boy cautiously reached out his hand Heiru, Heiru felt an electric surge as their fingertips met just before the boy completely took his hand.

"What's your name?" The boy asked softly.

Heiru gave the boy a lopsided grin, there was no way he was going to let him get away with that. "I asked you first. You still haven't answered."

"Cale." The boy answered.

"Heiru." He smiled at Cale and gently squeezed his hand. What a beautiful name, he thought. Cale, he just liked the way it sounded. Cale returned his smile.

"I don't need to worry about you telling anyone my name now, do I, Heiru?"

Heiru laughed lightly, "Not at all."

"Good." Cale had a smug look on his face. "How old are you, Heiru?" He asked casually.

"Seventeen, just turned." He answered. Both young men turned sharply as they heard rustling and shouts in the distance.

"Looks like they're beginning the march again!" Cale observed excitedly. Heiru gasped as Cale took off toward the other samurai, dragging him along for the ride.

Sage awoke from his dream and sat up in bed. This dream hadn't really been disturbing… He sighed, "Cale.." He whispered into his darkened room, a hand over his heart. "How do you do this to me?" His heart was still pounding, it was as if the event he had only dreamed about had taken place yesterday, not in a dream nor even in a past life.

********

*bbbbbbbbbbuuuuuuuuuuuuzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz* The deafening sound erupted from the small digital clock on the dresser.

Dais bolted upright in bed, eyes wide open, he was now fully awake. Sekhmet let out a cry of surprise and fell off the bed he shared with Dais, tangled in sheets, with a thud as he scrambled to get away from the infernal racket emanating from the small box on the dresser.

"What the hell?" Dais bounded over to the small box in confusion. Then he remembered, he let out a sigh of relief, Torrent had set the clock last night so they'd get up early enough to beat the crowds at the mall. Whatever a mall was. Now, how did he say they were supposed to turn the damn thing off… He searched for the proper button to press.

"Make it stop!" Sekhmet, ears covered with his hands, bade his lover. "PLEASE make it stop."

Thankfully Dais finally found the right button, and the sound that had surely come from hell itself stopped. Sekhmet sighed in relief as he collapsed backwards onto the floor.

"C'mon." Dais said as he grabbed one of his lover's arms and pulled him up to his feet. "We have to go wake Cale up. Luckily for him, he doesn't have one of those contraptions in his room."

"Yeah, well maybe we should put THAT one in his room." Sekhmet grumbled as he got to his feet, "I don't like it."

*

"Sage…" Cale murmured in his sleep, a smile on his face, as Dais shook him.

"You see! I told you!" Sekhmet said excitedly as he got ready to grab hold of Cale's feet, in order to drag him out of bed if necessary.

"I don't believe it." Dais' eye widened, and he stopped shaking Cale. "I never thought he'd fall for anyone… Let alone Halo."

"Shh." Sekhmet hushed him, "We don't want him to know that we know… At least not yet." He grinned. He yanked Cale's feet forward, eliciting a groan of protest from the sleeping warlord.

"C'mon, Cale, wake up. We don't have all day." Dais resumed his shaking of the slumbering man.

"Wha…" Cale let out a cry of surprise as he was yanked out of the bed, and onto his rear, by Sekhmet.

"Time to get up, sleepyhead." Dais smiled almost wickedly down at him.

"You guys need to come up with less abusive ways of waking me up." Cale grumbled as he got to his feet and rubbed his sore rear.

"We've tried that before, nothing else works." Sekhmet said with shrug.

"Hmph." Cale frowned at them both.

******

The mall was crowded that day, luckily though, the men's clothing store wasn't. Dais and Sekhmet were trying on clothes, with Cye and Rowen telling them how they looked and giving them advice. Ryo and Kento were browsing in boredom, they didn't like shopping much. And Sage had dragged Cale off to another store, where he had spotted some clothes that would be, in his words, just perfect for Cale.

Cye nodded as he walked around Sekhmet, who stood in front of a full length mirror. "I like it on you." Cye smiled at the outfit he had picked out for Sekhmet. Sekhmet was wearing light green sweater, trimmed in gold around the cuffs, and a pair of tight black denim jeans.

"Me too." Dais commented as he approached Sekhmet from behind. Dais was clad in a pair of blue jeans and a pale blue, almost white, silk shirt. He firmly squeezed Sekhmet's ass, eliciting a small "eep" of surprise from the other man. Dais grinned as he whispered in his lover's ear, "You look very… tempting…"

Sekhmet couldn't suppress the faint crimson blush that adorned his cheeks or the smile that followed. "Thank you." He murmured as he turned to look at Dais in his new clothes. "I could say the same about you." He said with a grin.

*

Meanwhile in another part of the mall… Sage gently smoothed out the lines in the dark blue t-shirt Cale was wearing. He stepped back and looked at his work, bringing his fingers to his chin. He tilted his head to the side as he looked over Cale's clothing. The dark blue t-shirt, and a pair of black denim jeans. Sage frowned, "It's missing something…" Sage smiled then, "You stay here, I'll be right back."

Cale nodded as Sage left. He looked in the mirror in front of him, this was like the tenth outfit Sage had picked out for him. And he liked them all… but this had to be a bit much. Sage had picked out everything from casual to formal wear so far. Cale had to admit though, that he was enjoying the attention he was getting from Sage. It was beginning to remind him of… He shook his head to clear it, it was best not to think about the past.

Sage returned carrying a black leather bomber jacket, something Cale had certainly not expected of him.

"Here, try this on." Sage smiled as he handed Cale the jacket. Cale complied and put the jacket on, feeling the soft leather with his fingertips before looking back to Sage.

"How does it look?" He asked, wanting another opinion, despite of the fact that he saw how well it looked on him in the mirror.

Sage grinned, the word 'yummy' came to mind, and he almost said it. He momentarily had a glazed over look in his one visible violet eye. "Good. Very good."

The almost purr startled Cale, as did the look in Sage's eye. Could it be… possible? 'Don't be foolish,' Cale's mind chastised, 'You're just projecting your own hopeless fantasies onto him.'

Sage regained a composed look. What was wrong with him? First those damn dreams came, and now he was starting to lose himself and act lovesick. He cleared his throat. "Yes, it looks nice on you."

Cale smiled, "Good." Then he asked almost cautiously, "Are we about finished?"

Sage shook his head with a grin. "Nope… We still need shoes… And a pair of boots would go great with that look."

*******

Cale looked himself over in the mirror, he was wearing the last outfit Sage had picked out for him. He liked the way the soft black leather of the jacket felt beneath his fingers. He smiled as he admired the way he looked in the clothes, Sage had good taste. He frowned slightly, Sage had been an enigma to him today. Sage had seemed terribly uncomfortable around him last night and early this morning, Cale wasn't sure if any one else had noticed, or even could notice the subtle signs, but he had. But at the mall… He was completely different. He had brightened visibly, even his friends had seemed startled when Sage had suddenly dragged Cale off to a different store. Sage had practically showered him with attention, though not the kind of attention he so desperately wished for from the blonde, it was wonderful. Cale blushed as he recalled some of the compliments he had gotten from the guys on the clothing that Sage had picked out for him, particularly for the outfit he was now wearing. But when they had returned to the house, Sage began avoiding him, and that confused Cale to no end. He wondered if Sage would avoid him tonight while they were… What was it Rowen said they were going to do again? Oh, yeah, clubbing, whatever that meant… It was something Strata was pretty insistent on doing, but the images that came to mind when Cale heard the word were not things he could imagine any of the Ronins doing. He guessed he would find out what it really was tonight, though he was sure he had spotted Cye explaining it to Sekhmet; he just didn't feel like going to find out what it was beforehand.

Cale reached his hand up to his face, delicately tracing the lines of his scar as he watched his mirrored reflection. Until the day he had heard Sage's tortured screams within Talpa's palace he had considered the day he received that scar as the worst day in his life. He momentarily wondered if he should tell Sage about his feelings for him, but then discarded it, it would probably make the blonde warrior avoid him even more; and he certainly didn't want that. To be separated from one's soul mate was truly terrible torture.

*******

Sage lay back on his bed, engrossed in thought. He stared almost blankly up at the ceiling. His emotions were confusing him to no end. Being around Cale frightened him, when Cale was around he was barely able to maintain control. And those dreams… He shuddered. Yes, the dreams were nice, with the exception of the first one, but they were the past… And the past had no bearing on the future, did it? He sighed, it wasn't just the past… The things he had felt today had been all to current. He had avoided Cale for the most part in the morning, because of how uncomfortable he felt about the dreams he was having about the other man. But at the mall… Everything that Cale said or did, how he moved… the curious look in his eyes as he spotted things he had never before seen, all of it stirred intense emotions in Sage like he'd never known before. If his dreams were telling him that he was in love in the past, then his heart was telling him that he was falling in love in the present. He had been at ease with Cale earlier, before he had begun to think about what he was feeling at least. He had even talked to him about his childhood, something he'd never done with any of the other guys before. It was like his heart and soul were trying to tell him something that he didn't want to hear, but at the same time couldn't ignore. He didn't like ignoring his intuition, unfortunately his intuition was telling him that his heart belonged to his former enemy. And quite frankly, he didn't want to hear that.

Sage sighed as he sat up on his bed, crossing his legs into a lotus position. Whatever was he going to do? He certainly couldn't go on like this… He frowned, he should be getting ready to go soon, Rowen was dragging them all out to go clubbing. Hopefully that would take his mind off things, with the help of a few drinks maybe…

********

Inside the club it was wall to wall people, some dressed to the nines, others barely dressed at all. The atmosphere was hot and smoky, and dark, the only lighting was the dim multi-colored lights spilling down onto the crowd. And the music was blaring so loudly that one could scarcely hear themselves think. Four of the eight warriors sat at two small round tables, downing their drinks. The other four, Dais, Sekhmet, Rowen, and Cye, were out on the dance floor. Ryo figured they were probably drenched with sweat by now, he grinned slyly at the thought of a soaked Cye. He licked his lips at the thought and downed another shot of scotch. Beside him, Kento took a drink of his beer as he intently observed Rowen's graceful form on the dance floor.

Cale tried to keep his eyes off Sage, but with the alcohol now in his system that took all his concentration. He averted his eyes to the dance floor several times, watching the people, but his eyes always returned to Sage. He couldn't help it, Sage just looked so… delectable tonight. He wore black jeans so tight fitting that they revealed every perfect muscle in his gorgeous long legs, and a black silk shirt buttoned low to reveal a bit of his enticingly pale chest. He had never before imagined the warrior of light wearing all black, but it made Sage sensuously alluring, so much so that Cale couldn't keep himself from watching the blonde.

Sage was having much the same problem, and he sought to solve that problem with drinking… It was only making things worse. Maybe he had picked out Cale's clothes a little too well, 'yummy' was an understatement. Light was shining down from the ceiling, highlighting Cale's enchantingly soft-looking midnight blue locks, making Sage want to curl his fingers into those locks of hair.

*

Sekhmet smiled from the dance-floor. He and Cye had been observing the looks Sage and Cale were giving each other when one thought the other wasn't looking.

"You see the way they watch each other?" Sekhmet had to practically shout over the loud music.

Cye nodded with a smile. "I guess…" He shouted back with a knowing grin, "That we should help them along if they aren't going to do anything about it…" So that had been the reason for Sage's strangeness lately, he hadn't suspected it before… But somehow it just made sense.

"Which neither of them will…" Sekhmet grinned, "Without our help that is."

Cye grinned mischievously back at him.

*

Cale excused himself and got up to go get another drink from the bar. Sage watched his retreating form as he headed to the bar. He rested his chin in his hands as he silently observed Cale, his eyes traveling from the back of Cale's head and downward. He finished off the rest of his drink and considered heading back up to the bar himself.

Cale had ordered a tequila sunrise and was waiting for the barkeep to return with it when he felt a hand grab his rear firmly from behind. He blushed crimson when he felt light pressure applied in a squeeze. He whirled his head around to face the offender. The offender was a man in about his mid-thirties with jet black hair slicked back with gel, he was dressed nicely in a blue business suit and a long black trench-coat. And he had the most dangerous-looking pair of brown eyes that Cale had ever seen. He could smell the alcohol loudly on the man, he was quite obviously drunk.

Sage, still observing Cale and now the man with him, felt fire rise up inside him. His one visible violet eye narrowed dangerously as he glared malevolently at the man that stood with Cale. He stood from his seat, catching the attention of both Ryo and Kento.

"What do you say you an' me head to the men's room…" The man whispered, his voice like that of a predator, as he traced a finger along the line of Cale's scar.

"Excuse me?" Cale demanded as he whirled the rest of his body around, just case he needed to fight the man off. He may have been a bit confused by the man's wording, but Cale knew EXACTLY what he meant. He was rather shocked by such a blunt come on in such a public place.

"Ya know…" The man lazily traced lines along Cale's chest through the dark blue fabric of his shirt. "An' have some fun…" The man gave him a feral grin that unnerved him.

Cale was about to shove the man away when he saw one vivid violet rage filled eye, attached to a blond head, appear behind the man. He knew that look… And he most definitely did not want to be in the drunk's shoes right now.

The man let out a startled gasp as he was roughly grabbed from behind and pushed away from the dark blue-haired boy by a very angry-looking blonde guy. "Hey wha…"

"He's taken." Sage snapped at the drunk.

A savage grin came to the man's lips and he reached out for Sage. "That's okay. I can take on both of you."

Cale's eyes grew wide in shock and he wasn't quite sure if it was because of what the predator had said… or if it was because of what Sage had said.

Sage glowered at the man in rage and slapped his hands away. Of all the audacity!

At that moment the barkeep returned with Cale's drink, paying no attention to the show as if it were something that happened all the time.

"Not in a million years, creep." Sage snapped angrily. He then grabbed Cale's drink with one hand and Cale himself with the other, leading a still bewildered Cale back to their table.

Back at the tables Ryo and Kento each flashed the other bewildered looks, the same thing on both of their minds… That Sage was acting uncharacteristically emotional tonight.

"You okay?" Sage asked as he and Cale sat back down at their table, concern evident in his eyes as he brushed the blonde patch away from his right eye only to have it fall right back in place.

Cale nodded mutely. He was more unnerved by Sage's actions than he had been the drunk man's before. He wondered briefly if Sage had just been rescuing a friend in distress… or if there was a possibility that it had been more…

Sage sighed, "It's best just to tell assholes that like you're taken… And if that doesn't work…" He balled one hand into a fist then slammed it hard into the palm of his other hand to show what he meant. He heaved another sigh, this time with a small smile, "The polite approach doesn't always work."

Cale cracked a small smile as well. "Thanks… for saving me back there." He almost shuddered at the thought of the look that had been in the drunk's eyes, and he didn't even want to think about what that could have meant.

"Anytime." Sage looked down at his empty glass, the thought of that drunk touching Cale sent chills up his spine and made his blood turn to ice. That stupid drunk had just made his situation about a hundred times worse, he had lost control of himself and he didn't like not being in control. He couldn't control the feelings he had for Cale, they controlled him, and to make matters worse he didn't know how to regain control. Should he confess how he feels? Would that bring the control back? Or make things worse? What if Cale didn't return his feelings… Sage didn't know if he could handle that, not after those dreams, memories, had depicted such grand love affair. He sighed, he needed another drink…

******

Cale, still in the clothes he had worn last night, groggily opened his eyes, then immediately wished he hadn't, the afternoon sunlight filtered through the window, blinding him. He looked away from it and blinked, he didn't remember the window being on that side of the room. His head was throbbing but that was minor compared to the mystery of the window. He was laying on his stomach in bed, not exactly a comfortable position for his tastes. He sat up on the bed with a groan, and once again he had done something he immediately wished he hadn't. He leapt off the bed with a cry of pain, the worst stinging sensation he'd ever felt in his rear. He gently rubbed the sore spot, wondering why it had become so tender. As he did that a hazy memory took form in his mind. "I didn't…" he whispered aloud. But he knew he had even though he only vaguely remembered the event, and he couldn't seem to remember what his new tattoo looked like…

Cale started as he heard of groan from the bed. That seemed to explain everything, no wonder the window was in the wrong place, this was Sage's room. And the reason he couldn't remember what his tattoo looked like was because Sage had picked it out and Cale himself hadn't even seen it yet. He looked down at Sage, who was beginning to stir from sleep, he noted that Sage also was in the same clothes from last night… Except his shirt of course, that had been tossed to the floor. The image of a beautiful green dragon blazed across Sage's pale right shoulder and part of his chest. The dragon was exquisitely done, it had a golden sun in the middle and in the middle of the sun blazed Halo's kanji virtue, Rei, in vivid green. Cale partially recalled picking out the design himself.

Sage's eyes fluttered open and over to the other occupant of the room. "Cale?" He asked, he of course wished he hadn't opened his mouth, his voice had come out so loud that it had his ears ringing. After the pain faded a bit and he had sat up in bed he asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I was wondering that myself…" Cale frowned slightly, wondering if he should mention the tattoo before Sage noticed for himself. By the time he decided it was too late.

"What… is…" Sage, shocked, gingerly touched the exquisite image tattooed on his body.

"Your idea…" Cale murmured, new clouded memories coming to the surface.

Sage couldn't believe it, he had a TATTOO. He must have been really wasted last night to do something like that… And Cale said it had been his idea too… Sage groaned. It was a very nice tattoo… beautifully done… But it was a TATTOO. He looked up at Cale, "You get one too?" He asked, hoping beyond hope that he wasn't the only one to do such a thing while drunk.

Cale nodded with a light rosy blush, which prompted Sage to ask, "Where is it?"

"Well…" Cale tried hard not to blush anymore than he already was but he couldn't help it, this earned a grin from Sage. "It's on my ass…" he finished.

Sage raised his eyebrows. "Really?" He was suddenly quite happy with the location of his own tattoo. He barely resisted the urge to ask Cale if he could see it, to lay eyes on that perfect rear might cause him to lose control. He flashed Cale a toothy grin, "I don't think you're going to be able to sit down properly for a while."

********

"You got a WHAT?" Dais demanded, an amused look in his eye. This conversation had started when Cale had refused to sit down and the others had wondered why.

"A tattoo…" Cale repeated, little more than a mutter this time. "Sage got one too…"

From the sofa Cye raised his eyebrows. Sage with a TATTOO? He grinned, now that he had to see to believe. Dais chuckled softly, falling into the green chair behind him.

Sekhmet grinned wildly, "Let us see yours…"

Cale shook his head, "No way." He hands immediately went to protect his rear.

"Aw, c'mon…" Sekhmet's voice bordered on a mock-whine, "Or do you want us to hold you down…" His grin took a wicked turn, causing Cale to blush lightly.

"Alright, alright… I'll let you see it." Cale sighed in defeat as he lifted his white sweater slightly and began to unbutton and unzip the pale blue jeans he was wearing. All those in the room besides Cale, which consisted of Dais, Cye, Sekhmet and Ryo, suddenly took an interest. Cale winced, this was humiliating. He pulled the jeans, and black silk boxers beneath, down low enough for the others to view the tattoo on his right buttock.

The design was beautiful. The design was of an exquisitely drawn wolf with vivid blue eyes and a full silver-blue moon above the wolf's head. And in the middle of the moon was Cale's kanji virtue, Ko, ablaze in a brilliant mix of red-pink .

"It's beautiful." Cye breathed. Murmurs of agreement came from the others. Cye gingerly reached out a hand to lightly touch the image, causing Cale to blush brightly red.

That was the moment Sage chose to walk into the room. "And just what is going on here?" He asked with an impish grin as he noticed Cye's hand on Cale's rear. Cale had been so wrapped up in his embarrassment that the new voice caused him to let out a tiny yelp of surprise. Both Cale and Cye flushed, and Cye pulled his hand back. Cale immediately pulled his boxers and jeans back up.

"Cale was just showing us his tattoo…" Ryo tried to stifle a laugh at Cale and Cye's reactions to Sage's presence.

Dais looked up at Sage with a wicked grin, "We hear you got one too…"

"Mind showing us?" Ryo asked with a smile, wondering just where Sage's tattoo might be on his body.

Sage shrugged and pulled off his green t-shirt, revealing the lovely dragon tattooed on his body.

Ryo nodded, "You two have good taste… But what made you decide to get tattoos?"

Sage frowned, "I wish I knew. We were wasted." His eyes drifted over to Cale and he couldn't help but grin, "I'm just glad I can sit down." With that said he sat down on the sofa, earning himself a scowl from Cale.

Cye was pouncing on Sage in a heartbeat, examining the exquisite dragon tattoo. "Are you guys going to get them removed… Or keep them…" He lightly traced the kanji in Sage's tattoo, "They're awfully beautiful…" He murmured. It'd be a shame not to keep them, he thought, but didn't voice that opinion.

Sage shrugged, "I'll probably keep it…" He smiled, "I kinda like it."

Cale looked at them in confusion, "You can have tattoos removed?" He could've sworn tattoos were permanent, though they apparently weren't in the modern world; not that he wanted his removed. Sage had picked it after all, and that in itself was enough to make him keep it. Besides the other guys thought it looked good.

Three heads nodded in reply to Cale. "But I hear they're even more painful to get removed than they are to get done in the first place." Ryo added.

********

Sage tenderly kissed the navel of his lover before biting the soft skin that surrounded the indent. His lover moaned in response, bringing a grin to Sage's lips. He felt warm fingers curl into his hair, and he looked up to his lover's face. Cale's eyes were closed, his mouth slightly parted in a soundless display of euphoria. Sage smiled softly and moved up to examine the lovely face of his lover. He placed several gentle kisses along the lines of Cale's scar, causing the other man's eyes to flutter open and reveal sparkling dark orbs of beauty. Cale smiled at him.

"I love you."

In his sweet, dream-filled, slumber Sage smiled, unconsciously pulling the covers of the bed tighter around himself.

********

Cale, in armor but sans his helmet, stood alone in Talpa's empty and dimly lit throne room. He glanced nervously around, what was he doing here? Talpa was dead… and he wanted no part of this, whatever it was. He nearly leapt from his armor as a loud tortured scream echoed through the room.

"No…" He looked around frantically, there had to be a way out of here. He wanted out of here NOW. He ran for the nearest exit, only to be confronted by a horrifying sight that tore at his very soul. In the doorway, barely standing upright was Sage. He was nude, his body bloodied and beaten. The patch of hair that normally covered his right eye was slicked back and matted down with blood, revealing both of his eyes which were normally vibrant and light-filled, only now they were dull and lifeless. Cale stepped back, not wanting to believe his eyes. He couldn't help but stare for long, silent, moments at the sight that froze his blood.

Sage looked up at him, seeming to take notice of him for the first time. "How could you… let this happen?" Sage's voice was raw and pain-filled as he asked the question of Cale. "How could you do this…"

"No… I…" Cale crossed the distance between himself and the battered form of the wearer of the Halo armor. "I never meant…" He made an attempted to take Sage into his arms, only to be rebuffed when the blonde made a weak attempt to push him away.

"Of course you did." The blonde snapped, "This is all your fault!"

Cale felt tears welling up in his eyes, "No… I only wanted you to be with me." He reached out to touch the wounds on the other's body. "I love you."

Sage laughed sarcastically at that. "What would you know of love?"

Cale downcast his eyes to the floor, "I'm sorry…" He looked back up at Sage, tears spilling from his eyes.

"Hmph. Sorry isn't good enough." The blonde snarled before pulling out a silver dagger, seemingly out of nowhere, and lunging for Cale's throat.

*bbbbbbbbbuuuuuuuuuuuuuuzzzzzzzzzzz*

Cale awoke, sweat-drenched from his nightmare, with a start at the nerve-racking sound that came from the small alarm clock that sat atop his dresser. Saved by the bell, the expression he'd learned a few days ago now had meaning to him. The same nightmare as always, only this time he'd awoken before the blade had pierced his throat and before the kiss of death that always occurred while the life drained out of him. He glared at the clock as it continued to make its racket, he didn't remember having one of those in here before. It may have been his savior, but that noise was beyond annoying. He scowled, Sekhmet must have snuck it in, he'd been the one complaining about them before. He got out of bed and walked to the dresser, glaring at the small clock as he wondered why the hell it was still making noise now that he was awake. Grumbling something about modern torture devices he yanked the power cord out of the wall outlet and gathered the aforementioned torture device up in his arms. Savior or no, it had to go.

*

Sekhmet awoke to the sound of his bedroom door slamming. He opened his eyes groggily and took note of the blue-haired man glowering above him. "Cale?"

"What was this doing in my room?" Cale demanded, holding out the alarm clock.

Dais, now awake and sitting up in bed, looked on in amusement.

"Well… You said you wanted a less abusive way for us to wake you up…" Sekhmet explained as he sat up in bed.

Cale glared icily at the green-haired warrior. "This" He said, tossing the clock onto Sekhmet's lap, "Is more abusive, not less."

Sekhmet and Dais both cringed as Cale stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind himself.

"I don't think he much likes these contraptions either." Sekhmet commented, tossing the clock to Dais. "Still… He didn't have to be so grumpy about it."

********

Cye and Sekhmet sat at the kitchen table, drinking tea and discussing Sage and Cale. It had been about two weeks since they had gone out to the nightclub. And the two had thought for sure that Cale and Sage would get together after that, especially after the tattoos they had gotten together. Cale had, after all, mentioned waking up in the same bed as Sage, and they had taken that as a good sign. Cye and Sekhmet had tried just about everything so far to get them together. But no such luck. In fact Sage and Cale seemed to spend the majority of their time avoiding each other, with the exception of the time they spent gazing longingly at one another when one thought the other wasn't looking. So in hindsight not much had changed.

Cye lightly tapped his fingers along the table top while trying to come up with ideas to get Cale and Sage together. So far he was stumped on ideas other than confronting one of the two and telling them to confess their feelings to the other.

"Maybe we could… " Sekhmet began with a small grin, "Lock them in a room together, naked of course… One of them would have to cave…"

Cye snickered mischievously at the idea. "Perhaps… But we may have to use that as a last resort."

"Hmm…" Sekhmet began tapping his fingers on the table as well. He snapped his fingers as he came up with another idea. "We could slip them a potent aphrodisiac and see what happens."

Cye laughed, "They'd kill us… Probably literally." But the idea had merit, as long as they could find a way to escape the wrath of the two once the drug wore off.

"Probably…" Sekhmet grinned, "But still, it would be fun." He took a sip from his teacup.

"You'll get no argument from me on that."

"We need to do something soon though…" Sekhmet sighed, "Cale's getting more cantankerous lately."

Cye raised his eyebrows, "What happened?"

Sekhmet shrugged. "Oh nothing. He just objected to a little object I placed in his room last night."

"What was it?"

"One of those… alarm clock contraptions."

Cye snickered, "No wonder he's cranky. Well… tomorrow is another day, time for a new plan I suppose."

"Lock them up or drug 'em?" Sekhmet licked his lips with a sly grin, "Or both?"

Cye simply smiled.

******

Sage knocked softly on the door to Cale's room, he had no idea what had possessed him to come here tonight… Okay, so he knew why, but he still wasn't ready to accept it. Damn those dreams. "Come in." Came the soft reply from inside. Sage already knew that Cale knew it was him, though he wasn't quite sure how he himself knew that. He turned the door knob slowly and a bit apprehensively before he entered the dimly lit room. The room was mostly dark, except for the small lamp on the dresser and the moonlight shining through the window. The moonlight illuminated Cale beautifully, making him resemble a fallen angel…

"I just…" Sage began, how to explain this… "I just wanted to see if you were still up." It was a lame excuse he knew, but right now he didn't much care. Everyone else in the house was asleep by now, except for Rowen probably, but he couldn't sleep tonight for some reason, and apparently Cale couldn't either… Either that or he was an insomniac like Rowen.

"I am." Cale sat on his bed, the tattoo didn't hurt so much anymore. Was it just him or had Sage sounded somewhat nervous? Cale frowned, what would Sage have to be nervous about. Cale was nervous himself, but he had good reason. He wasn't entirely sure he could keep his hands off the blonde, he also wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to. Sage was only wearing the white silk bottoms to his pajamas, his bare pale chest was enticing; the dragon on his shoulder sparkled in the moonlight, Cale was held breathless. "Have a seat." He finally breathed with a smile, gesturing to the unoccupied end of the bed.

Sage gingerly sat down on the open spot on the bed, his nerves getting to him. Why am I so nervous… It's not like anything is going to happen, he thought almost dejectedly.

"So why are you up so late?"

"Can't sleep."

"Neither can I."

Moments of uncomfortable silence began to pass and Sage found himself looking around Cale's mostly bare room. He felt his blood freeze when he laid eyes on a painting that was carefully arranged in a corner of the room. He felt his heart pounding so loudly in his chest that he was sure he would wake everyone in the house. He couldn't remove his eyes from the specter of the past that was bringing so many intruding memories to the surface, memories which really shouldn't have been his… But they were.

Cale stared hard at Sage, he looked like he'd just seen a ghost. "Are you alright?" He placed a concerned hand on Sage's shoulder, causing the other man to jump slightly with start. But Sage's eyes never wavered from the painting. Worried, Cale followed Sage's line of vision with his eyes, and gasped when he noticed that Sage's eyes had fixated on the painting of himself and Heiru. Cale began to panic, how was he going to explain…

"Do you still love m… him?" Sage tore his eyes from the portrait which had brought back so much to stare into Cale's blue orbs. His visible shimmering violet eye was begging Cale to understand that he meant himself, to let him know that he remembered. He gazed into Cale's eyes, seeking to find if that love still existed in them, or at the very least the possibility that it could be brought back.

Cale looked away from the emotions playing across Sage's eye and down to the bed's comforter. He couldn't have seen what he thought he saw in the other man's eyes, could he? It was just good to be true… if it was true. He looked back up at Sage, tears threatening to burst forth. "Sage… I…"

When he saw the look in Cale's eyes Sage realized with both horror and joy that there was no control anymore. He leaned in close to Cale, their lips mere inches apart. He took both of Cale's hands in his as he whispered, "Didn't I tell you that I would love you forever?"

Tears spilled gracefully down Cale's cheeks at the soft spoken words even as his eyes widened in shock. He couldn't believe it, Sage knew, he remembered. It was like an impossible dream had just come true, a hope lost forever finally realized. "Am I dreaming?" Cale wasn't entirely sure that he wasn't dreaming.

Soft beautifully familiar laughter emanated from Sage at the question. "Not at all." He bridged the short distance between his lips and Cale's, kissing the other man delicately at first then with fierce passion as his hands went to tangle in midnight-blue locks. God, it felt good to finally taste that sweet mouth and tangle his fingers in that soft hair.

Cale was almost giddy with happiness, something he had never been before. He was quite sure that he was the luckiest person on the face of Earth right now. He kissed Sage back fiercely, putting all of himself into the kiss as he slipped his tongue into the blonde's silken mouth. He wrapped his arms tightly around Sage, determined that now that he had him in his arms at last he was never going to let him go.

In that moment they first felt it, as if they were beginning to transcend all time and space, their souls touching. Their essences merging, light and darkness, life and death, the sun and the moon, the magical and the natural. The dragon and the wolf. It was as if it had all happened before and yet at the same time it was like the first time.

The kiss broke breathlessly in unity, both of them pulling back to gaze into each other's eyes, seeing beyond the masks of flesh to the souls inside. They smiled at each other, and all was suddenly right with the world for two soul-mates had finally found their way home to each other.

"I missed you." Cale spoke softly, his voice warm and gentle. He delicately reached out and traced one finger along Sage's soft cheek.

Sage traced the contours of Cale's ear with a single slender finger. "I missed you too… I just wish I'd realized it sooner."

Cale placed a gentle chaste kiss to Sage's forehead. "What matters is now." He whispered.

Sage slipped his arms around Cale's waist, laying his head on the other man's shoulder. He smiled as he took in Cale's scent and committed it to memory, he smelled of a perfect winters night just after the first snowfall, and of the evergreen trees that lived on forever in the forests. "In this moment." He breathed into Cale's neck. Cale smiled as he curled his fingers into Sage's golden locks.

For long moments they simply sat there wrapped in a tight embrace, basking in the warm glowing presence of each other. No words in existence could convey their emotions properly, so silence reigned. Though it was not complete silence, at least not to them, their feelings being conveyed though an ancient bond between the two which was quite possibly older than time itself.

Hours seemed to pass by like seconds, not a word was spoken. The silence was broken with four simple words from Sage. "Make love to me." It was a soft-spoken request.

For some reason Cale hadn't been expecting the soft words he had been waiting so long to hear, it was a moment which would stay with him for all time. Did Sage know how long he'd waited? How much he'd longed for this?

"Of course I know." Sage murmured in answer to Cale's unspoken questions.

Cale smiled, he should have known that Sage would know every thought and emotion inside him. His fingertips brushed lightly across golden strands of hair. He slipped his unoccupied hand down to play at the drawstring waist of Sage's silk pajama bottoms. Sage slid a hand up Cale's white night shirt to caress the muscular chest beneath. "Make love to me." Sage murmured again.

"As you wish." Cale all but purred as he slipped his hand beneath the waist band of the blonde's pajama bottoms to embrace Sage's forming erection, Cale grinned at the wondrous feel of his lover's soft velvet skin. Sage let out a delighted moan and raised his hips at the warmth that suddenly embraced him. Sage's hands began to tug at Cale's black boxers almost of their own accord, trying to pull them off and gain access to the treasure inside.

Cale reluctantly released Sage's sex in order to get out of his clothes. He quickly pulled his night shirt off while Sage hastily pulled off his boxers before removing his own pajama bottoms. Their lips met in a tender kiss as their clothes were tossed carelessly to the floor. Cale gently nudged Sage onto his back as his hands began to roam the blonde's chest in soft caresses. Sage wrapped his arms around Cale's waist as his hands went to lovely squeeze the perfect, and tattooed, rear of his blue-haired lover. This was all so RIGHT, nothing had ever felt so right.

Cale's mouth slipped away from Sage's as he began to trail warm wet kisses along Sage's pale throat. Sage rose his hips causing their sexes to brush up against one another, eliciting soft moans of pleasure from both. Sage's mind was awhirl, this was all too perfect, even better than he had dreamed. He slipped a hand into Cale's soft locks, twirling his fingers in the feel of silk. Cale's kisses had gotten lower, down to Sage's chest, then his navel, until Cale reached the treasure he sought.

Sage arched his back and let out a delighted gasp of pleasure as his sex was engulfed in hot wetness. He gripped Cale's hair in his fingers tightly as he let pure sensation take over his body, by the gods it felt spectacular. Cale wrapped his tongue around the exquisite velvet of Sage's shaft as he took him into the back of his throat, his hand drifted up to his lover's chest to gently pinch his taut nipples while his other hand took a firm grip on his rear. Cale let his teeth graze delicately along the length of Sage's sex as he pulled his mouth back only to plunge back and take Sage all the way into his mouth once more as he reached the tip. Sage's head rolled to the side as he closed his eyes, his sweet parted mouth emitting sounds of ecstatic pleasure. They continued like that for an all too short eternity, Cale working him amorously, and him moaning endlessly. Sage climaxed in blinding white, his hot salty liquid essence spilling down Cale's throat.

Cale didn't pull back until Sage was completely spent and fevered moans and turned to breathless pants. He smiled at the young man below him, golden strands of hair clung to his sweat-drenched forehead, and his lips were parted in an euphoric smile. Cale couldn't help himself and he leaned in and captured Sage's mouth in a fierce kiss, he slipped his tongue past Sage's parted lips to taste the inside of his hot silken mouth. Sage could taste himself inside Cale's mouth as their tongues dueled in a passionate dance.

Sage spread then lifted his legs, wrapping them around Cale. He tangled his fingers in Cale's midnight-blue locks even as he sent a gentle yet firm message to the other man's mind.

*Now* Cale heard Sage's soft command reverberate through his mind. Not being one to hesitate, Cale pulled back from the kiss and lifted one of Sage's legs to rest on his shoulder. He positioned his fully erect sex at the tight entrance to his love's luscious body, he began to gently caress Sage's inner thighs with one hand before he propelled himself into his soft velvety tightness in one swift thrust and a loud moan. Sage, his eyes clenched tightly shut, let out a cry as he was filled in a delightful way. He was in heaven, and he was quite sure that it wasn't supposed to feel this good, at least not at first entrance and with no lube. His body convulsed with intense pleasure as Cale took his sex in hand and began to pump in time with the slow thrusts he was beginning to make into his body.

"Oh, god, Cale." He moaned breathlessly. Gods, it felt so perfect. Cale looked down at his lover, surprised to see only blissful pleasure written on his beautiful face. He moaned in ecstasy at the exquisite feel of the tightness of his lover's body. Gods, how he had longed for this moment. And it was here, it was actually happening, and felt so good. His thrusts quickened as the pleasure built to alarming levels. Beneath him Sage writhed helplessly as pleasure bombarded his body. He reached up and pulled Cale down into a tight embrace as everything seemed to intensify, he held on tightly as if it was the only thing in that moment he could have control over.

Cale's thrusts hastened once more as climax drew closer for both of them, his lips met Sage's in a hungry kiss, muffling both of their pleasured cries. Sage screamed out into Cale's mouth, sending delightful vibrations, as he erupted in glistening white; his hot seed spilling out onto both of them. Cale let out a similar scream as he felt the tightness of Sage's body constrict gloriously around him, taking him over the edge. He stilled as he spilled his hot, white, essence in his love's body.

Moments of nothing but breathless panting and light caresses passed slowly as the two rested, the two nuzzled together in a tight embrace. "I love you." Cale murmured into Sage's ear after the silence had passed. Sage smiled, still feeling like he'd died and gone to heaven.

"I know." He grinned and placed a tender kiss to Cale's temple, "I love you too." His strength regained, Sage took the opportunity to turn the tables on his lover, so to speak. He rolled over on the bed so that Cale was now on his back, and Sage was on top. The blonde grinned wildly down at his lover before leaning in to lightly nibble his bottom lip, gaining a small whimper in response.

Cale shivered delightfully with sensation, he knew the look in the blonde's lavender eyes, apparently some things never changed. It was all just too perfect and if it hadn't felt so real he would've sworn he was dreaming. Except his dreams, even when they were good, they were never this good. "It's my turn now." He heard Sage whisper against his lips, the words and the feel of his breath very much erotic.

Sage reached a hand down between their bodies to stroke Cale's re-surging hardness, at the same time capturing his mouth in a fiery kiss. Cale squirmed beneath the blonde as his pulsing sex was heatedly stroked with warm masterful fingers. He moved his hands up to Sage's shoulders, gently kneading his muscles as he let out a soft moan into the kiss.

Sage pulled back, his eyes dancing with undisguised passion and he smiled down at Cale. He got off his lover and knelt down on the bed's comforter. "Turn over." He commanded softly. Cale complied, turning over and resting on his hands and knees as he knew Sage wanted of him. He could feel his heart pounding hard in his chest in anticipation of what his blonde lover was going to do.

Sage grinned as he lightly traced the pattern of the wolf on his lover's rear with his fingertips. He admired the beautiful design, the exquisite blue of the wolf's eyes, the silver-blue of the moon as his fingers glided across the kanji within. He leaned down and spent several minutes placing delicate kisses in and around the tattoo, sending shivers of delight up Cale's spine. When he pulled back he gently traced the lines of the image with his fingertips again. "Very lovely." He murmured.

Cale threw Sage a look of hungry anticipation over his shoulder, his dark blue eyes smoldering. He wiggled his rear a bit in silent request. Sage laughed softly, "Alright, alright." He grasped his lover's hips and pulled him into place. He planted a wet tender kiss on Cale's lower back before positioning his throbbing hardness at the tight entrance. "Ready?"

"Mmmm…" Came Cale's affirmative response. He licked his lips then inhaled sharply as Sage plunged all the way into him in one slow thrust. Sage tossed his head back and let out a loud pleasured moan at the hot silken tightness that he'd just impaled. God, it felt good… But Cale was so tight that it made him momentarily wonder if the blue-haired ex-warlord had gone four hundred years without, but that was a question for another time. He reached one arm around to embrace Cale's hardened sex in his hand as he began thrusting in and out of his body as gently as he could.

Cale buried his face into a nearby pillow and unleashed a muffled moan as Sage began to pump his throbbing erection in time with his thrusts. It felt so wonderful to feel this again, so right. The slow perfect thrusts seemed to last forever until Sage's thrusts and strokes on Cale's pulsing sex quickened as the pleasure intensified, continuous cries of ecstasy falling from both of their lips.

They went over the edge at the same moment, explosions of pleasure rocking their sweat-drenched bodies. Sage went motionless after one final shudder of delight as his essence flowed into his lover. Cale's glistening whiteness spilled over onto the blonde's hand as well as the bed before his knees gave way and he collapsed onto the bed, Sage fell atop him, his breathless pants hot on the back of Cale's neck. He curled his fingers in midnight-blue locks as he nuzzled his lover's neck. That had to have been the most wonderful experience of his life, he was in awe, never knowing that anything could feel that good.

Silence passed contently by as afterglow surrounded them before Sage spoke. "Remember, forever, my love." He murmured before placing a gentle kiss to the back of Cale's neck.

"Forever." Cale murmured back with a smile. "I'll never forget." Their love had transcended everything that life and death had thrown at them and they come through it, their love as vibrant and strong as ever. They would be together forever, bound throughout time to each other, as it was meant to be.

The End

(author's note: The 'darkness in love with the light' quote comes from the dubbed version of Tenchi the movie II: Daughter of Darkness <that's the dubbed title>. I just thought it'd be a perfect line for Cale to use in this fic.)

Star Dragon