Disclaimer: We go through this every time. Saint Seiya does not belong to me.

Notes: I guess I'm just on a creative/Panda buzz. DHC was telling me how my previous works made her really like the Panda pairing, to the point where she is starting to like it more than Ikki/Pandora. I personally do not like Ikki/Pandora, but I have often imagined something like the following story unfolding when the two meet. I know it doesn't really happen like this, but just pretend I'm filling in or something.

Oh, one more thing. This is dedicated to Naotoki Yamanouchi nee-san, because she also loves this pairing. It's kinda long and rambly, but please bear with me and read it all the way through.

"I...may have fallen in love with you, Phoenix." Pandora knew it was always easiest to speak the truth straight out, so that it would hurt quickly and much, but be over with soon. So she inserted her innermost thoughts into the conversation, thinking to be finished with her suffering. Ikki did not smile at her, as she fantasized he would, nor did he turn her away, as she was pretty sure he would.

"Would you like my honest judgment?"

"Yes." She swallowed, feeling unsure of herself.

"I do not believe you love me."

"What?!" She was indignant. "How dare you--"

Ikki shook his head. "Nor do I love you, so we are even."

"How do you even know what I do and do not feel, Phoenix?" she spat, angered at his nonchalance.

"Because." He shrugged. "I see much more than you think I see." She glared at him and did not respond, eliciting a sigh from the young Saint. "Let me tell you a story, Pandora. Many years ago, a young boy was sent to hell. There, he fought for his life every day, clinging to breath only by the thought that one day he would get out of hell and find his brother. But as time passed, hell grew lonelier, and sometimes even the hope of leaving did not sustain him. Until, one day, a beautiful girl came to him, to help him when he was wounded and talk to him when he needed a friend. Because of her, the boy did not die, and instead grew older day by day. Because of her, the boy became a man and a warrior, and attained his goal of leaving hell. But what did he give her in return? Death. Even if he did not kill her himself, it was for him that she died, it was because of him that she was nearby when the attack meant for him killed her instead. That boy, indeed, departed hell, but he left there the girl, his sanity, and his heart. And even if he found some of those things again, he will forever keep his heart locked away, in that beautifully painful hell."

"Why are you telling me this?" Pandora demanded impatiently.

"That boy became Phoenix Ikki, and the girl he left behind was an angel named Esmeralda."

"And what does this have to do with me?"

"Think, Pandora. I love Esmeralda for many reasons--ultimately because she gave me hope with nothing but her presence. And she..." Here he winced slightly. "I like to believe I made her glad, and that is why she cared for me. She and I knew each other for many years, and lived together through a world of life and death. On the other hand, how many minutes have you and I spent together? When have we ever conversed pleasantly up until now? What kinds of certain death have I helped you live through?"

"But still--I do believe I love you as well. Even if--" He cut her off.

"Love is not something that can occur at a single glance. You may be interested in someone, you may be willing to attempt to find love with that person, but you cannot love just in that moment. From the short time you have known me, the greatest feeling you could possibly foster is interest. And I know that you are a deeper person than that. Perhaps you already have someone who gives you hope and joy, who has supported you through life and death. Perhaps you only need to look."

"There is no one."

"Are you very certain of that?"

"I..." Pandora paused. "I don't know."

"Many people died today. Did you not mourn for any of them? Will you not?"

"I never mourn. Every cycle is a repitition anyway." Ikki shrugged.

"So you do not care about the deaths of Aiacos, Rune, and all the others?"

"No. They will return again."

"You do not mind that Rhadamanthys, your most loyal, is gone?"

"No." In truth, she had not let herself think about it. Too many important things were hanging in the balance in that moment, and whatever her thoughts of Rhadamanthys's death had to be surpressed. "I hate Hades for allowing some of his subordinates to kill my family, now that I can remember. And I hate all of his subordinates for allowing him and aiding him to do such a thing. Therefore, I hate Rhadamanthys, I hate Aiacos and Rune, and I hate everyone in the underworld but you."

"You barely know me, Pandora. You can neither hate nor love someone you do not understand." Pandora looked to interrupt, but Ikki stayed her with a hand. "Let me finish. You want to assign blame for the past, go ahead. Just know that it doesn't help. I should know. But if you insist on assigning blame, assign it to the deserving parties. Did Rhadamanthys or Aiacos truly kill your family and make you miserable?"

Pandora discovered that Phoenix was right. The sankyouto, sometimes mutually competitive, had still managed to make living bearable in the past years. Aiacos's practical jokes and Minos's snarking had brought some humor to the dark places. And Rhadamanthys...suddenly, as if her mind were released in that instant, Pandora remembered every time Rhadamanthys had come to her to inquire after her safety and sanity, every moment he had spent guarding her, every comforting or loyal or encouraging word--and there were so few of those, for his words were always few--he had ever said. It was because of him that she had survived hell. And suddenly, Ikki's story, and her life, and all the things that had happened made sense.

She stopped trying to hold her tears. Everything made too much sense.

Ikki did not embrace her or comfort her. She understood. He was not Rhadamanthys--she meant much less to the Phoenix Saint.

"I am sorry," Ikki told her, placing his hand lightly on her shoulder.

"Why?" she demanded. "You made everything clear for me--you have done nothing wrong."

"Because I am not him. Even if I were to hold you, it would not comfort you."

"I know."

Ikki smiled. "That is well. It's better to understand." He turned away. "Goodbye, Pandora. Perhaps next cycle you will remember what I've told you."

When she looked up again, he had already passed through Giudecca.

Perhaps the legendary Phoenix Genma Ken was not simply an attack after all.