Standard disclaimer applies.

That Which Feeds the Inner Flames

Chapter Four

By: Luna

...

"Kyo... do you know how much you mean to me? Every time I see you, every time I catch your scent, I go mad with wanting you..."

Limbs entangled, sweat slicked bodies moved to a rhythm as old as time itself. Gasping, reaching, lips searching for each other, arms reaching for each other, they soared on their way to eternity. Heat exploding again and again and again within each other as their cries and fingertips touched the edge of heaven before softly, slowly, they cascaded down to the ground, only to begin once again.

"I burn for you, Kyo... do you burn for me too? I can't stand it when I'm away from you."

He cried out, silently; lovingly; beautifully. She reveled in the sound of it, the near painfully beautiful look on his face every time he reached that highest peak; that pinnacle of light that burns you from the inside out and makes you explode into a million pieces of shattered stars. She reached for him. Needing him, wanting him, doing everything in her power to stay with him in that moment of utter bliss.

His breath hissed out of him as he settled over her, laying his cheek against her breast while his other hand reached up to rest over the other one. He breathed in her scent, smiled lazily as he licked off sweat from her porcelain skin. His grin became one of satisfaction when he heard her sigh in pleasure, then slowly turned into one of completeness as her whispered voice breathed feathery words above him that bypassed all his walls of ice and pierced his heart more easily than it should have, worried him less than it should have.

"Forever, Kyo... I love you... I will love you forever..."

When Yuya awoke the next morning, she was alone.

At first, she was worried and had sat up in bed so fast that her head spun for a moment before she looked around the room. Kyo had donned all of his clothes, and nothing but the lingering scent of their lovemaking and the rumpled sheets beside her where he had laid indicated he was even there at all. She brought the edge of the blanket up to her chest with a sense of modesty – a useless gesture seeing how she was alone in her room.

But then she felt something brush up against her wrist and, looking down, saw that the red ribbon carelessly torn from her hair the night before was wrapped neatly around her wrist, tied with a bow so badly done she had to smile at the cuteness of the gesture. Remembering the sight of her own ribbon wrapped around his wrist, she stopped her hand from taking it off.

She moved over to her packed clothing, wincing a bit at her slight soreness. But it was a good hurt, she decided, hugging herself in quiet happiness. She remembered the night before, how Kyo accepted that she hadn't had anybody else but him without hesitation, as if the thought of her betraying him in that aspect had never crossed his mind. Still naked, she reached down to grab her ivory comb.

And felt a muscled arm wrap around her waist while the other hand covered her mouth.

She jerked in surprise, opting to ram her elbow into the other mans ribs or sternum instead of screaming. The man grabbed her elbow easily, and when heat ignited inside of her at the simple touch, she knew who it was instantly. But instead of just giving up – which in any normal circumstances would be wise – she lifted her foot to stomp on the one wedged between her legs, only to swiftly change direction and kicked him in the shin. When he cursed, she laughed aloud at her small victory.

"Damn wench." He muttered darkly as he moved both his arms to wrap more completely around her.

Laughing again, she relaxed against him. "Stupid male."

Nuzzling her neck, he gave her an affectionate nip before resting his lips against her cream shoulder, content for the moment to just hold her and keep her there in his arms.

"Yuya-san? Yuya-san? Are you in there? I was wondering if you knew where Kyo was." Dropping her head a bit in silent defeat at being interrupted, she opened her mouth to tell Yukimura "no", when Kyo started growling low in his throat, then barked out a curt, "Go the fuck away!"

She should have said something – anything – to distill the sudden awkward silence on the other side of the shoji doors, but for some odd reason, every time she opened her mouth nothing would come out, so she stayed silent. When Kyo felt their interrupter go away, he went back to nuzzling the soft skin of her shoulder, licking and blowing a cool breath of air into the shell of her ear. She shivered, then made a small noise in the back of her throat as she attempted to turn and face him. But he held her in place, exerting his control over her as he slowly lowered her to the ground until she rested one her knees and elbows. His grin was pleased and slightly ruthless at her silent submission to his dominance.

As her cries lifted and rose in the air, Yukimura closed his eyes tightly and clenched his fists as silent tears streamed down his face.

Yuya was humming when he encountered her next, and he stood watching her until she noticed him. She didn't, not immediately. Not like she did with Kyo. He let his eyes slide over her, took in the lusty sheen of radiant gold hair that cascaded down her back without any ribbons to restrain it. Took in the indigo blue of her kimono and the silver threads of her obi. Stared at the red ribbon she had wrapped around her wrist the night before and had yet to take off.

He knew it was time to admit defeat. He knew it was time just like he did when confronted with the Tokugawa. He fought, and he fought, and he attempted to tear the reign or power away from that horrid clan, and in the end only a few farmers and one fighter out of the Sanada Clan still lives to tell about it. His clan was dead. They would die out and disappear as if they had never been real in the first place, never been human beings that had fought so hard for something they felt was in their grasp, only to get the cruelest reality check when they were faced with the ever mounting tide of defeat.

He himself would become nothing but a myth, just something that people thought had happened, not someone people knew had been there. He had gone after Yuya with the hope that maybe Kyo really hadn't claimed her like Okuni once whispered in his ear. He had hoped that she would still be single, that she would still be fresh and pure like those years so long ago when he had the opportunity to bask in her light all the time. He was a fool for such hopes, for too many years had passed, and if someone as beautiful as she remained single for nearly seven years without at least one man touching her, then it was because she had set that course for herself deliberately. Something he knew she would never do.

He had not searched for her. It was Fate that he had depended on, and Fate alone to bring them together. That too, was foolish. Yes, they were brought together by Chance, or maybe even Fate, but by then she had already been claimed by a man whom he had considered one of his closest friends and much needed ally. Those days were obviously gone, for Kyo most definitely did not like Yukimura sniffing around his wife, for either friend or comrade.

But if Fate had brought them together, or if Chance had brought them together, why would the gods want to inflict such pain on his already broken heart by showing him that a woman he believed he was in love with clearly loves another? He didn't even want to think about the odd, disturbing hurt that rose in his chest every time he thought how she was loved in return. Why should he feel resentment over that? Shouldn't he be happy that she now had everything her heart had ever desired? A man to love, a house that was secluded, while at the same time not?

There were going to be children in her future. He knew she wanted those almost as badly as she wanted and still wanted the man that stands at her side, and he also knew that Kyo would not refuse her very long in that desire.

He loved her, and he would not hold back for very much longer.

But, oh god, he hurt. He was the leader of the dwindling clan of the Sanada's. He could hide his feelings and withstand the stench and sight of blood and even withstand killing. Yet his heart was broken by the mere hope that a woman who was already in love with another might deem to see it fit that she loved him too.

Foolish. It was utterly, utterly, foolish…

"Yukimura-san?" Yuya was looking at him strangely, so he forced a cheerful smile to his face and kneeled down beside her.

"You seem awfully chipper this morning." He let an affable grin come to his face, wanting to erase the uneasy, slightly uncomfortable look on her face.

Needed to let her know that he was, or would be, all right. Even if he wasn't and never would be.

She relaxed, smiling at him genuinely. He might have withered away and let some things about himself die, but he was at least glad that he still had control of his facial features and the ability to lie.

Maybe that was what's wrong with him.

Unlike Kyo, who had remained himself throughout all these many years, Yukimura had never stayed the same. Sorrow gripped him, even when he tried not to let it, and he had allowed that sorrow to take control and change him. Kyo never changed. Kyo always remained murderous, always deadly, always so damned committed to every damn thing he put his mind to. He wanted to be the strongest samurai in the world.

He was.

He wanted to save the world – whether he really wanted to or he did it only to remain the strongest was still undetermined.

But he had done that, too.

But there was one thing that happened that the great samurai hadn't planned, Yukimura thought with a sad smile. He did not want anybody to bind him to anything, and yet a small slip of a girl came along and pestered her way into that dark mans life, and wound herself smack dab in the middle of his icy hot heart where not even the mysterious Sakuya managed to touch, and she bound him.

Tight.

Love, Yukimura realized, really was a wondrous thing, even if that wondrous thing would always remain one sided – at least on his part. It allowed him to see both sides of the coin; Yuya's, and even Kyo's.

He was allowed the painful pleasure of watching a young girl grow up to be an elegant and beautiful woman. A woman he never did and never would have. He was allowed the painful experience of watching a cruel man morph into someone worthy of Yuya's love, a love that was returned fully and unconditionally.

Suddenly, that darkly elusive presence was felt, and Yukimura looked up to see Kyo standing over his wife, studying Yukimura in an assessing sort of way, as if wondering if he still posed a threat. Yukimura stood, offering a small, sad smile of defeat. Kyo didn't offer a look of understanding or gratitude, just a mere nod from a man who knew he had been the victor all along.

Without a word, Yukimura turned and left.

Once Yukimura left, Yuya looked up to her husband with a dejected, knowing look. She wasn't the only one who knew how to hide her emotions – and judging how Yukimura obviously hadn't realized she knew, those skills hadn't diminished. "Do you think he'll hate me?"

Kyo stared down at her, a weird expression that she had never seen him possess in his eyes. "No." He said curtly after a moment, and Yuya got the vague impression that he was valiantly trying – and failing – in defending Yukimura, or at least attempting to stand up for him. "I think he'll love you forever."

Gaping openly at him, it took Yuya a moment to absorb his words before a smile so radiant spread across her beautiful continence. She stood, dusting invisible dust from her kimono. "Well!" she exclaimed. "If I didn't know better, my dearest husband, I'd say you're getting soft in your old age."

He snorted and crossed his arms, his red eyes deep and promising as he gave her a grin that had her nerve endings tingling and her eyes to widen in anticipation even as her breath started to come out in short, quiet gasps. "If you think I'm old now," He drawled in a manner that was completely unlike him. "You're going to be positively ancient looking when you're my age."

Her mouth popped open. "Why – why you dreadful wretch! I'll be looking better than you!" she smiled inwardly even as she fumed at the fact that he could always bring out the child inside of her. She secretly hoped that he would never stop.

It was then that he reached out his arms, and held her.

Simply held her.

Laughing, she merely gripped him tighter as she let her happiness flow over her completely, losing her inside it's warm tide that she never wanted to surface from it, simply drown right then and there. Their life would not be easy. They would fight, and they would forgive each other, and they would simply love each other.

It was, she thought with a smile, quite simply the most wondrous thing that could have ever happened to them.

Yukimura watched them approach with no small feeling of dread. Instead, he just felt an aching sadness. He shook his head. That, he thought ruefully, was something that he should have accepted as a part of himself a long time ago.

They were leaving.

She was leaving.

"Yukimura..." She looked nervous, and he watched as her tongue darted out to wet her lips. Oh damn. She must have grown not only smart, but observant as well. How deep did she realize his love for her was...?

The sad thing was, he knew she didn't care enough to offer any words of comfort.

Slowly, he took her hand in his, marveling at the small, delicate fingers that simply lay there against his open palm. He heard a strange sort of choking sound come from her throat, and when he glanced up, he saw that she was crying.

Her hand was small in his, her tears a single stream running down her cheeks. How could it have come to this? She had been so happy the night before, but now the only thing left to do is say goodbye forever without ever looking back. She had, after all, sworn to herself that she would never do that again. She hadn't meant to hurt Yukimura – she hadn't even realized the depth of his emotion when she had joyously welcomed his friendship after so many years of separation.

She hadnt a chance to say goodbye to Sasuke – he'd disappeared somewhere after last night and hadnt been seen since. She thought that he might never come back, but after all had been revealed in this eventful week (or was it weeks) she truly could say she no longer knew her most dearest friend. And now, watching Yukimura, she waited while he gathered the right words to say goodbye.

"Yuya..." He spoke on a sigh, with out the added honorific. "I will always be here." his voice was fierce, his expression pained. "Always. If anything ever happens... just call my name, and I swear I'll hear you from where ever you are. I'll be here. Do you understand what I'm saying? I'll always... be here."

Choking back her sobs, she threw her arms around him, holding him close to her. "I understand, Yukimura. You may not think I do, but I do!" With that choked off word, she turned on her heel and strode towards Kyo who, without even bothering to say something, turned on his heel to follow her as she walked away.

This sadness would pass, she knew. In the near future, there would be another addition to Yuya and Kyo's tiny little family. It was too soon to know for sure, but there was a little warmth in the pit of her stomach, a small little glowing coal that placed itself right next to heart that made her know. And, knowing that, gave her the courage to walk away from a friendship that had developed so long ago, only to be so easily cracked by the simple, yet complicated occurrence a friend made by taking that friendship too far. But the sadness would pass. She knew it just as much as she knew the sky was blue.

The sadness would pass.

Yukimura watched them, feeling sick at heart, but smiled anyway. "I thought you had left me."

"I thought I did, too." Sasuke said as he materialized out of the shadows to watch with Yukimura the retreating figures of the two people Sasuke held in the highest esteem. "Guess sticking by your side is what I was meant to do."

Yukimura smiled, a bit genuinely this time. "I'm glad, Sasuke. I'm really glad."