Disclaimer: I do not own these boys or their universe; that belongs to Asano Atsuko.

Reviewers: All 31 of you, thank you!

Author's Note: I love that I'm going back into my books purchased for my English major to find relevant quotes for this story, who'd have thought ::winks::? In any case, this chapter's and next chapter's title are adapted quotes from Alexander Pope's An Essay on Man, better known for the famous quote "Hope springs eternal in the human breast." I hope you'll see why I chose them if you read it.

In any case, please enjoy this next chapter!

Rating: T (language)

Summary: Almost exactly three years after No. 6's downfall, the wandering star returns home…(Post-Series. Reunion-fic. Multi-chapter.)

"Speech"

Personal Thoughts/Memories (Italics)

.:No More Farewells:.

By Sentimental Star

Chapter Eight: A Moment's Time

(Twenty Minutes Later)

Nezumi rubs embarrassedly at the back of his neck as they make their way downstairs twenty minutes later.

"Ah…you're sure it's all right for me to wear your clothes? I mean…" he pulls slightly at the shirt Shion has given him, the only real problem with it being that what is supposed to be long sleeves is three-quarter length on him. "Won't your mama be upset? She did make this for you, after all…"

Shion laughs, "Nezumi…knowing my mother, she'll insist on making three more shirts for you that go with it."

Nezumi's cheeks tinge pink and he turns away, scratching sheepishly at the back of his head, "Well…it's nice to be taken care of, I suppose…" he mutters.

Shion feels a hard pang in his chest, remembering all too vividly Inukashi's words last night:

"They seriously didn't know the meaning of 'restraint.' Not a fucking hide was left in Mao…except for an old granny and our rat, and even she died long before he met you…"

Releasing a breath that shudders slightly, Shion reaches out to brush the other young man's fingers, bowing his head as their pinkies tangle, "Hey, Nezumi…there are several things I'd like to do this afternoon, but you know…if you have questions about anything, I can answer them." He takes in a deep breath and continues, "There will be a lot going on soon, and I want you to be part of it."

Nezumi pauses at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at Shion who is a few paces behind him with a lightly furrowed brow, "Why this so suddenly? I already told you I wanted to be with you today, you know…"

Shion stops a step above Nezumi and glances away, a faint blush on his cheeks as he releases Nezumi's pinky and brushes his white hair out of his face, "Yeah, I know…Next weekend's slightly different, though. I know you probably don't want to be a part of any event No.6 has, but…it's Peace Day then. It will have been exactly three years since Elyurias-"

Nezumi's hands settle gently around Shion's waist, cutting him off and startling his attention back to him. His gray eyes are earnest and very serious as they gaze up at Shion, "It's important to you, right?" At Shion's mute-shocked nod, he blows out an exasperated breath, "You idiot…of course I'll come!"

Shion's surprised yelp is smothered against Nezumi's chest as the taller boy jerks him into a hard hug.

He remains frozen in total shock a moment, before his arms cautiously reach out and wrap around Nezumi's body.

Ba-thump, ba-thump…

Shion buries his face in Nezumi's chest, unintentionally shutting his eyes as he calms, and listening to the other nineteen-year-old's steady heartbeat:

Ba-thump, ba-thump…

Ah, there it is again. He's…really okay with this?

As if in response to his thoughts, Nezumi's arms tighten around him, "You airhead…what are you thinking about?"

Ba-thump, ba-thump…

Shion smiles, nuzzling into his warmth, "You haven't even heard the whole explanation, yet…"

"Meh…" Nezumi rests his chin on top of Shion's head, burying his nose in the white strands against his cheek. The question he asks is rhetorical, "Does it really matter? I'll be with you, after all."

Blush warms Shion's cheeks as he curls his hands into Nezumi's shirt, "…Right."

IOIOIOIOIOI

(Half an Hour Later, Bakery Kitchen)

"Oh, my…you'll really be gone that long?"

Shion drops his chin into his hands and watches his mother take a fresh tray of braided bread she calls challah out of the oven. "Not so very long, 'Kaasan. We'll probably only be gone a week, maybe not even that long. It all depends on Nezumi, really. I-I'm not sure how he'll react…"

Karan smiles sadly and moves the loaves to cooling racks, "I think you're underestimating yourself, Shion. Nezumi, too. He…seems like he's been alone too long, carrying a burden too heavy for just one person to bear."

Quietly, Shion marvels at how well his mother is able to read Nezumi, despite only knowing him for less than a day. "…Maybe I am," he sighs at last, thankful that Nezumi is currently in the shower and so, nowhere in sight.

"Will you at least be back for Peace Day?" Karan asks, holding out a croissant.

Shion accepts it with a grateful smile, "Y-Yeah…I'd like Nezumi to see it, or at least the Illumination."

Karan smiles, "It's a beautiful ceremony, Shion. I'm sure he'll appreciate it."

Shion drops his gaze to the croissant he is turning over and over in his palms, still not entirely convinced Nezumi will want any part in a No. 6 commemoration. "…'Kaasan?" he finally asks softly.

"Mmm?"

"…Do you mind that Nezumi is staying with us?"

Karan glances up in surprise, carefully placing the tray of croissants she has picked up back on the counter, "Of course I don't, Shion! Why do you ask?"

Shion inhales a deep breath and looks up at her, murmuring uneasily, "We're…sharing a bed, you know…"

Karan suddenly laughs, "Of course I know, Shion!"

Shion's eyes fly open wide and color floods his cheeks. "You do?"

His mother smiles, "He did kiss you in front of me, after all, and this morning when I went up to your room…" She trails off, shrugging and laughing slightly, "It was very obvious, sweetheart."

Heat flushes Shion's face, "You…don't mind?"

Karan's smile softens, "You love him, don't you?" At Shion's flustered nod, it turns into another laugh, "Then it's perfectly fine." The smile on her lips turns down to the challah loaves she's finished unloading, "You've loved him since you were twelve, after all."

Shion blanches, "You know?"

She turns her smile up to him, "Shion…I've known for three years, or at least suspected."

"…You aren't angry?"

A cool hand reaches out and cups his cheek. It smells of freshly baked bread, "How can I be angry, Shion, when he is the one who saved you?"

Shion's entire face eases, turning very tender. He reaches up to clasp her hand in place, "That's true…he has saved me. So many times he has saved me. I'm not sure there will ever be any way I can repay him."

Karan laughs again, "That makes two of us, then." She strokes back his white hair, "Love him, Shion. Love him with all your heart. That is the greatest gift you can give anyone…"

IOIOIOIOIOI

Nezumi's thoughts are an incoherent mess as he blindly makes his way into Shion's room. His face is on fire and he hastily makes a beeline for the bathroom he left not ten minutes ago.

His core trembles with more emotions than he can name and he is so damn overwhelmed that his mind can hardly process the conversation he has accidentally overheard.

Shit, I don't even know how to fucking deal with it!

He turns on the faucet and splashes his face with cold water, trying unsuccessfully to corral his emotions into some sorry resemblance of order, but they are haywire—at one moment hurtling him towards highs he can barely cope with, at others restricting his heart with an iron band.

Swiping his eyes free of water, he glares at his still-fogged up reflection in the bathroom mirror, desperately searching for the man Shion has fallen in love with and not finding even the boy that Karan feels she owes an unpaid (and unpayable) debt to.

How can I possibly be who they think I am? After all I put them through…! I'm the one who owes a debt that can never be repaid…!

Releasing a shuddering breath, Nezumi turns away from his reflection, slamming the lights off as he exits the bathroom. Once outside, he slides down against the wall, pulling his knees up and crossing his arms over top of them as he leans his forehead against where they connect.

I have absolutely no reference point for situations like this. It's the first goddamned time I've been in love—how the fuck should I know what to do! And it's not like there was ever anyone else...It's always been Shion. He saved my life and stole my heart, and I've never wanted it back. Even three years ago…even when I was so afraid of being hurt again...I never asked for it back. I doubt he even knows I gave it to him in the first place.

"Nezumi…?"

Shion is standing in the doorway when Nezumi glances up, looking as concerned as he has ever seen him.

Such impeccable timing…

He looks away, cheeks searing with color and heat, "What is it?" he mutters.

His white-haired counterpart enters the room and crouches in front of him, reaching out to touch his chin. "What's on your mind?"

Nezumi opts to remain silent. He isn't sure where he would even begin.

The waterfall of books tumbles into his vision:

Well, that's as good a place as any, I suppose.

"Shion…" his begins, but his voice trails off.

Crap. I don't even know how to start. What the hell can I say? Anything I think of seems too damn trite and so fucking inadequate. I'm scared shitless, but there's no way in hell I'm leaving. So what the fuck am I supposed to do?

Shion exhales through his nose and slumps his shoulders when no other response is forthcoming. The taste of failure is bitter on Nezumi's tongue, but that is nothing compared to what he feels when a small, resigned smile spreads across Shion's lips, "It's all right, I've played the waiting game long enough. If I have to, I can wait again."

As long as you need me to, Nezumi, is the unspoken addition.

A lump lodges itself in Nezumi's throat, and he holds his hand out to Shion, unable to vocalize his thoughts:

Fuck. See what you do to me, Shion?

When Shion takes it, he tugs the shorter man down by his elbow, tilting his face up and sealing their lips together.

The kiss is firm and warm. Nezumi's arms circle around Shion's waist and squeeze. A moment later, he releases the other nineteen-year-old's lips to rest his forehead against Shion's stomach.

There is a few seconds of silence before Shion's fingers come down to gently tangle in Nezumi's hair. He gives a light pant, "Nezumi, what…was that for?"

Nezumi's arms tighten around his waist, "…Ask me after we get to wherever it is we're going today," he finally mutters.

IOIOIOIOIOI

(Forty Minutes Later)

You've gotta be fucking kidding me…

Nezumi swivels his gaze around the thriving marketplace, completely at a loss for words.

This is the West Block?

Indeed, it looks nothing like the vast hive of poverty and depravity he remembers, and it is a struggle to reconcile the West Block of his memories with the gush of humanity weaving around him now.

"Shion...you did this?"

The question tumbles from his lips, pulled there by sheer, dumbfounded shock as he takes in the changes three years have wrought on the place he's lived for nearly a quarter of his life.

There are food stalls everywhere: at least ten for vegetables and fruit, half a dozen for meat, and several for beans and bread scattered throughout…there is seafood, there are grains…To Nezumi, who has never seen the West Block filled with anything more than a handful of vendors for each (and for some things, none at all), this marketplace is absolutely laden with riches. The heady scent of hot chestnuts, interwoven with kettle corn, interwoven with any one of half a dozen other smells is actually making his mouth water…

Shion beams at him, "It's a Famers' Market. Have you ever seen one? No. 5's is pretty impressive—it's what the Reconstruction Committee based ours off of."

Nezumi privately thinks No. 5's is nowhere near as impressive as this.

But then, No. 5 doesn't have a former West Block, either.

Nezumi lends half an ear to the conversation Shion strikes up with the nearby chestnut vendor. He hears the word "candle" a number of times, and "Illumination," too, but he is far more enthralled by sights and sounds swirling around him than in a conversation that involves illuminating candles.

His senses are telling him something is off: the..."marketplace," for lack of a better term…that he remembers was near here. He knows that. He also remembers, quite clearly, that it was absolutely demolished during the Hunt three years ago, and hundreds of souls with it.

A woman in a shawl who is carrying a basket over her arm brushes against Nezumi's elbow. The little one with her nearly runs into his legs, before she redirects him, apologizing profusely the entire time. Two laughing young women weave around him, taking a peek at his face, before giggling together and hurrying on.

Nezumi feels heat crawl up his neck and flush his cheeks. He touches Shion's arm, glancing around in wordless unease. This new West Block grates on nerves far too accustomed to solitude and silence. The sheer crush of humanity alone is overwhelming his senses, and Nezumi begins to feel a little stifled.

He is used to wide open spaces and little human contact, diametrically opposite to where he finds himself now. If Shion weren't with him...

Shion seems to sense his unease. Smiling pleasantly at the vendor, he bows slightly and then turns, gently taking Nezumi by the hand and leading him away.

Nezumi, much to his chagrin, can do nothing else except follow his lead.

"…Are you all right?" Shion asks softly, once they reach a sparsely populated corner. He stops and faces Nezumi, reaching up to brush back the other young man's raven hair, "I should have known it would be too much. The Farmers' Market is usually not that crowded, but between the Illumination and Peace Day-"

Nezumi blinks down at him, the cacophony in his head quieting somewhat as its ache eases, "The Illumination…? You mentioned that earlier. What exactly is it? Something else you're dragging me into?"

He tries for joking on that last question, but his white-haired companion only manages tiny upward quirk of his lips. Shion holds his other hand out and Nezumi takes it wonderingly, unsure what to expect.

The palm of that hand is sweaty. Shion is nervous, and Nezumi, for the life of him, can't imagine why, "You'll understand, I think, once you see it."

Nezumi frowns slightly, rather puzzled. Willingly, he allows Shion to pull him around the corner…and stops dead in front of a gate marking the entrance to a park that most certainly had not been there three years ago.

End Chapter