Author's Note: The anon meme requested that I continue from where Let Your Heart Be Light left off, which isn't hard, because I have so much more in my head that what's even in this story. ^^;; I appreciate all the commentary on the first story, especially the people who've found me in person at conventions to give me their thoughts~! I've had a lot of fun writing for Tiger & Bunny, and I thought it might be fun to post it here while it's in progress, because not everyone reads the meme. ...This one is really for all of you. You know who you are.

XOXOXOX
~K

The silver heart sparkles, catching the light as it dangles from the end of the delicate chain clutched tightly in Kaede's fist. She still can't believe that it belongs to her, that any of this Christmas was real… that it's soon to be a new year, with her new powers, with her new knowledge, and what has begun to feel like a new life…

"How am I ever going to decide what pictures to put in this…?"

It's a momentous decision, not to be made lightly.

o/~ Maybe it's much too early in the game
Ooh, but I thought I'd ask you just the same
What are you doing New Year's
New Year's eve? ~/o

Kotetsu T. Kaburagi is having a lazy mid-afternoon doze while sprawled on the couch, sunlight streaming in from the window to warm his face, when a sharp knock on his front door rouses him. Cracking one eye open while trying to pretend he is still asleep does him no good though, as his partner-in-more-ways-than-one doesn't even bother to glance up from his reading before addressing him.

"It is your house, Kotetsu," Barnaby Brooks, Jr. says smoothly, his lips quirking in amusement when the tiger growls a little before rolling off of the couch. "Perhaps you should answer the door?"

"Cat naps can be interrupted, but reading can't, Bunny?" Kotetsu protests as he shuffles towards the front door, but he pauses to ruffle Barnaby's curls with one affectionate hand as he passes by the over-stuffed arm chair the blond is seated in, book in hand.

It's two days after Christmas, and the Kaburagi household is still in recovery-mode after an extremely busy holiday full of surprise visitors. The weather's been downright unpleasant, hovering on the freezing line, resulting in slush and mud… and so most of the daylight hours have been spent the way Kotetsu enjoys winter best – warm and by the fire, preferably with a good drink and a generous plate of leftovers. He is not at all tired of stuffing yet. Turkey, well, …maybe.

Kotetsu pulls the door open to reveal an energetic red-cheeked delivery boy, who immediately peers under Kotetsu's arm as he thrusts a clipboard at him to sign, barely glancing at the name. "You're… Kaburagi Toratetsu?"

"Kotetsu…" Kotetsu corrects, reaching to sign the paper for the delivery as he raises an eyebrow at the boy who now looks up at him, stars in eyes.

"Is it true that… I mean, is it also possible that… " he flusters, taking the clipboard back and flipping hastily to the next page. "Barnaby Brooks, Jr. is... is also here?" He utters Barnaby's name with such reverence that Kotetsu bites his lip to keep from cracking a smile.

Oh, this is definitely not the news Kotetsu wants getting out, however much smaller Oriental Town might be compared to Stern Bild. "Where did you hear that?" he inquires casually, shifting back and forth to try and keep the boy from seeing inside.

"I have a delivery for him as well, at this same address!"

It's too late, though, as Barnaby has already gotten up to come to the door upon hearing his name. "Delivery? Who would be sending me mail at your address, Kotetsu?"

If it is possible for the delivery boy to get any more flustered, he does – dropping the clipboard and staring raptly at Barnaby as he appears at Kotetsu's side. "It's true!" he squeaks.

"Why don't you go get the packages from the…?" Kotetsu gestures, bending to pick up the clipboard and hand it to Barnaby to sign. It's cold and wet out here, and the fireplace is calling his name.

"Only letters…. P-personal courier," the boy stammers with a sharp shake of his head, reaching into his shoulder bag to withdraw two large white envelopes. "Mr. Brooks, sir, it's an honor to meet you! I'm… I'm such a big fan!"

Despite the oddity of the situation, Barnaby is so used to his fans that he can't help but respond automatically, looking up from the clipboard with a smile and sparkling eyes, holding out a hand to shake. "Thank you, Adam," Barnaby smoothly pulls the boy's name off of his embroidered shirt pocket.

Kotetsu waits, all but forgotten, until Barnaby has signed another paper, this time an actual autograph, and then he shakes his head as he closes the door behind their delivery boy. "I don't know how you do it."

"Tolerate the fans?"

"Get so many star-crossed fanatics…"

"You're just jealous," Barnaby smirks a little, wandering back to the couch and sliding one finger carefully under the edge of the envelope to open it. It's always easy to rile his partner, especially on this topic. And even if things have changed a little between them lately, teasing Kotetsu is still something he can't help but enjoy.

"Hah, no M'not. " Kotetsu hmphs in denial, flopping down beside Barnaby on the couch, but it's not entirely true. It does…. Bug him, just a little… but it also seems a weird thing to say 'jealous' when neither of them are heroes anymore. What is there to be jealous of? "So who's sending us letters by personal courier…?"

"Who else…" Barnaby murmurs, pulling out the heavy gilded cardstock to read what turns out to be an invitation. He already has a very unsettled feeling about the possible contents.

Kotetsu doesn't bother to open his own, but only leans into Barnaby, looping an arm around his lower back and resting his chin on his partner's shoulder to read it with him. "Our presence is requested at a New Year's Eve gala? Wait, wait, wait… they want us to come back to Stern Bild?"

Barnaby's slender fingers trail lightly over the embossed lettering as he frowns and then nods. "It would appear that Hero TV is celebrating Lloyds' appointment as Apollon's new CEO and Agnes' promotion to OBC president with a gala event."

"We're not heroes anymore," Kotetsu scoffs immediately, straightening and snatching up his own letter, ripping the envelope in half to make sure his invitation is the same. It is, with the exception of a hand-written note from Agnes herself at the bottom.

Don't simply wear the same old thing.

Kotetsu's ears tinge pink as he tosses the invitation down on the coffee table, where Barnaby picks it up, reads it, and then smirks at him again. It's a little bit true. "Are you saying you don't want to attend? It's an honor that we've been invited, after all, and if you'd taken the time to read the entire thing, you'd see that all of the heroes are being honored that night as well."

"Eh…" Kotetsu sighs, reaching with one hand to scratch at the back of his head as he argues with himself. "I know it'd look good for Hero TV if we were there, and it's not as if we're incapable of attending. But… we don't work for them anymore! And I always hate those kinds of parties! At the same time, I bet all of the other heroes would want us to attend and I wouldn't want to disappoint them. But… ugh, fancy suits and ties? Don't simply wear the same old thing? Small talk with bigwigs? But then, the food is usually delicious…"

Barnaby listens to his partner argue both sides back and forth before cutting him off impatiently. He is not an idiot – it's been obvious that Kotetsu is restless and misses the city, even if he refuses to talk about it. That fact frustrates Barnaby and he snaps a little when he tries to interrupt. "Kotetsu, are you so busy arguing with yourself that you don't care what I think?"

"… and going back to Stern Bild, this soon? It's been such a nice holiday, a good rest, and… back on Hero TV, wouldn't it feel weird? Heh, it's like we can't really escape ever, can we?"

"Old man!"

"…Bunny?" Kotetsu mutters sheepishly, finally stopping in his ramble. Truthfully, the idea of going "home" when he's already "home" is rather unsettling and exactly what he wants to avoid – being reminded of everything he's chosen to give up. Been forced to give up. At the same time, he still has the most important thing – his partner – and he knows without even thinking about it that if Bunny wants to go, he'll go too, no matter the feelings it churns up.

Barnaby frowns and reaches to touch the back of Kotetsu's hand lightly where it rests on his knee, trying to choose his words carefully. There is no way he can go back to Stern Bild and not respond to the letter he hasn't told Kotetsu about yet, the one he'd been debating over simply ignoring for awhile longer. At the same time, blowing off an event that is at least partially in their honor seems a very unheroic thing to do, contract or not. Even if going back to Stern Bild right now might not be the best thing for either of us? "If you really don't want to attend…"

"You have to go!" A third voice interrupts the argument and both men turn to look at Kaede, where she stands in the doorway to the living room with a large puzzle box tucked under her arm, her eyes wide with excitement. "Those are invitations to the gala, right?"

"How do you know about this already?" Kotetsu protests, pouting when Kaede rolls her eyes at him and dumps the puzzle in his lap to reprimand him.

"They've been talking about it on Hero TV for the last two days!" Kaede crosses her arms over her chest and looks from her father to Barnaby, who only remains poker-faced. "Sheesh, are you telling me you haven't turned it on even once since Christmas?"

The two partners glance at each other side-long, then shrug simultaneously, and Kaede sighs in over-exaggerated exasperation, slapping a hand to her forehead.

They haven't actually bothered to watch it in the last two days, but neither have they talked about why they haven't. They haven't talked about much at all, beyond the visit from their friends or the terrible state of the weather.

"Wow…umm…" Kaede isn't sure what to say to that, so she simply reaches for the remote and turns the TV on.

"…they're already billing us as returning guest stars?" Barnaby frowns as the screen comes to life on an advertisement for the live footage of the gala. Somehow he's already certain that there isn't any getting out of this, any of it.

"Agnes is already acting like we said yes!" Kotetsu complains, but it's half-hearted, as a slow grin spreads across his face. Seeing all the familiar faces reminds him of their Christmas visit, and maybe it wouldn't be that terrible just to attend some dumb party to see the other heroes for a night…

"Uh… more like special guests or something," Kaede answers, but when she turns to look at her father, she's surprised to find him riveted to the screen. She'd immediately thought of them as heroes upon seeing the coverage - and how exciting it would be to see them attend the grand event. But now, the intensity of the look in Kotetsu's eyes reminds her suddenly that this is also her father… and she only just got him back. What if this leads to him changing his mind? "It's only for a day or two, right?" she suddenly backpedals with a forced smile. "…Right?"

Barnaby doesn't miss the sudden change in Kaede's tone and he elbows Kotetsu out of his daze as he answers her, neutral. "If we even decide to attend."

"We'd be disappointing the viewers now too, though…" Kotetsu starts wistfully, surprised when Kaede cuts him off, further surprised at Barnaby's sudden elbow. Did I miss something?

"It's pretty important, so you should probably go…" Kaede says with authority, leaning forward to poke her father in the shoulder. "But you have to promise to come right back." There's a heartbeat of silence, but before Kotetsu can answer her back, she turns to Barnaby and pokes him in the shoulder with her other hand. "And you too, Barnaby."

"Of course, sweetie," Kotetsu promises immediately, opening his arms to try and draw her into a hug. The last thing he wants to do is make her unhappy again, and his own feelings don't matter to that end. "And if you really don't want Papa to go to some big dumb party…"

"Oh nonono," Kaede laughs, soothed by the gesture even as she tries to avoid the hug. "I am not going to be your excuse!"

Barnaby can't help but feel a touch awkward at Kaede's demand for a promise, but he is unable to find a good enough excuse to present to her. The fact is that he knows there's a lot waiting for him back in Stern Bild, but he doesn't want to talk about any of it… especially not now, not in front of her, before he's had a chance to discuss it with Kotetsu alone. "We'll book return tickets before we depart, if you prefer," he finally settles on, reaching to adjust his glasses as he glances away from his partner.

"Okay!" Kaede grins cheerfully, feeling reassured, and then she picks up Kotetsu's invitation and reads the note at the bottom. ".god," she snickers, waving it at Kotetsu. "Did Agnes write that?"

"I don't have anything else to wear," Kotetsu continues to protest, mostly to get a rise out of Kaede. "And I sold the apartment, so I don't even have a place to stay!"

"You'll stay with me," Barnaby gives him a raised eyebrow look that says he's being ridiculous and then pulls his cell phone out to book their tickets. He listens to Kaede tease her father about being uncool, especially in style, especially compared to Barnaby, and before long their plans are confirmed. "We'll be returning on the 2nd of January," he turns the phone around to show her. "Sufficient?"

"I'll take that as a promise," Kaede smiles and nods, then points to the coffee table where she's dumped out all of the pieces to the puzzle she's carried in. "Wanna help us? Hey, maybe sometime this summer, we'll all go to the beach. Wouldn't that be great?"

Kotetsu smiles at Barnaby over Kaede's head as he sorts the puzzle pieces for edges, but says nothing, which is nearly a dead giveaway to Barnaby that something is weighing on his partner's mind. Maybe if I talk, he'll talk too. "… I suppose it would be… relaxing."

The afternoon dissolves into the work of the tiny-pieced puzzle, a fantastic and colorful underwater seascape of fish and coral that inspired the beach sentiment, and Barnaby finds that his thoughts drift like the ocean currents while they all work in silence on a different corner, each heading towards the middle.

It isn't until after dinner, after Kaede's gone to bed and the house is quiet, that Barnaby finally finds himself alone with Kotetsu again. They are departing at midday tomorrow, and if he doesn't tell Kotetsu about the letter now, then… he doesn't think he'll even be able to sleep tonight.

It isn't as if I meant to hide it… Truthfully, he'd been so surprised by it, in the midst of everything else that had happened on Christmas, that he'd subconsciously decided to ignore it for a while. A long while. I still could…

Kotetsu is lost in thoughts of his own as he prods at the fireplace, adding another log and shifting it around until it catches. Sitting with his legs folded up under him, he watches the flames as they dance, picking up and turning the bag of marshmallows over and over in his hands. It's late and he should be tired, but instead, he feels restless, too awake, too jumbled.

"Kotetsu…" Barnaby stands just two paces behind him, a bottle of rose wine in one hand and two glasses crooked between two fingers of the other. "Can I… talk to you about something?"

"Always," Kotetsu says immediately, turning and climbing to his feet, a warm smile on his face. Dropping the bag of marshmallows on the coffee table, he sits down beside, but facing, his partner on the couch as Barnaby pours them each a glass of wine. "What's on your mind, Bunny?"

Barnaby hands Kotetsu a glass and takes a sip of his own, trying to find a way to make this sound better than he knows it will. "I… received a letter from Saito."

"In the invitation?" Kotetsu asks in confusion, his head tilting as he waits for Barnaby to continue.

"No, actually…" Barnaby looks down into his glass, then up again. "It was in the box with my call bracelet." It's impossible for Barnaby to miss the hurt that flashes immediately across his partner's face and then disappears, but Kotetsu says nothing, still waiting for his explanation. "I… I wasn't planning on responding to it right now, but with the sudden change in plans…"

Kotetsu is a little hurt that it took Barnaby two days to tell him about this, but his partner is telling him now, and he's not so proud that he doesn't recognize their progress. At least they are learning to confide in each other more openly than before, in hopes of preventing anything like the disaster they've already lived through. "What did it say?" he keeps his tone light, but tips the glass back, draining half of it in a somewhat-undignified gulp.

Barnaby hates the fact that he's once again inadvertently hurt his partner, who has once again said nothing about it, but he can only assume that sharing the truth will mend the worst of it. "Not very much at all, actually… just that he had some further information as a result of the safety on the robotics being engaged… and wished to share it with me at some point, in person."

"Sounds pretty classified," Kotetsu nods, waiting to see if there's more to the reveal. When Barnaby only swirls his wine around and looks uncomfortable, Kotetsu prods a little more. "Any idea what he's talking about?"

"Not really…" Barnaby sighs, the weight of everything he's been through in the last month, year, life creeping in to overtake him again. "And I… I really didn't want to deal with it right now – the robotics, suit designs, Apollon, my parents' stolen research… Maverick… but if we're going to be in Stern Bild, it seems unbelievably rude not to pay Saito a visit and at least find out what he's talking about."

"Sounds good to me." Kotetsu knocks back the rest of his wine, setting the glass down on the table and reaching for Barnaby's free hand, squeezing it lightly. He wants to think that everything that's happened in the last week has been to the benefit of both of them, but whenever Barnaby gets this haunted look in his eyes, Kotetsu can't help but second-guess. Is there something else I should be doing for him? "You know, if you want to talk about anything…"

It's aggravating to hear Kotetsu offer to listen when Barnaby doesn't really want to talk, but would rather know what's going through his partner's head right now. He squeezes back anyway, leaving their fingers intertwined as he takes another sip of wine. "I know…" For better, for worse, Kotetsu is his most important person, his point of balance, and the one thing he is certain belongs to him, his own heart… his own memories. He only wants to do as much for him as the old man has already done in return, but he makes it so… difficult.

There's a long moment of silence and then, as their eyes meet…

"We could just stay here."

"We don't have to go."

Kotetsu is the first of the two to crack a smile at their similarity, and heedless of the glass of wine still in Barnaby's hand, he immediately wraps his partner up in a hug, pulling him closer and mumbling into his curls with relief. "You know I love you, ne?"

"Kotetsu!" Barnaby protests, quickly sipping the last of his glass before it ends up spilled across them both. Setting the empty glass down on the table, he wraps his arms around Kotetsu in return, hugging him back and letting his chin come to rest on the older man's shoulder. "… you should know that I love you too. And I mean it… we don't have to go. I imagine it brings up a lot you'd rather not think about too."

After all, they've been happy here for the last week in this quiet life together with Kotetsu's family, so peaceful that it's been easy to just shove other thoughts and concerns away and simply appreciate the moment of bliss they'd been granted. Why should it have to end?

"We could stay here…" Kotetsu echoes himself again, but doesn't let go of his partner.

"But you and I both know that we're going to end up going."

"Heh…yeah…" Kotetsu chuckles softly and nods, lifting a hand from Barnaby's back to play with one of his curls. He rather likes the fact that he can get away with it far more often than he used to be allowed. "But hey, at least we're going together."

Batting Kotetsu's hands away from his hair after a minute, Barnaby nods, withdrawing to pour them some more wine. It seems that Kotetsu doesn't want to talk anymore than he does, so they might as well continue engaging in one of their favorite mutual pastimes. "It's only for a few days, but… Kotetsu… if… if I decided…"

Kotetsu waves a hand dismissively, then grabs up his forgotten bag of marshmallows, rising to get a stick from beside the fire for roasting. Right now, he doesn't want to hear about how his partner might decide to go back to the hero business without him, or stay in Stern Bild or… or do anything besides be at his side. "Forget the ifs for awhile, Bunny… whatever comes up, we'll deal with it together, won't we?"

Barnaby relaxes a little at that statement, the tension sliding out of his shoulders, and he gets up from the couch, leaving the glasses behind to sit beside Kotetsu on the fluffy rug. The fire is warm, chasing away the damp and uncertainty with its light, much the way Kotetsu always seems to chase Barnaby's worries away. "Yes… together."

"Want a marshmallow?" Kotetsu grins as he sticks two at once onto his stick, his age falling away with the twinkle in his eyes, the gold in them standing out in the firelight.

"You can eat mine for me," Barnaby declines generously, smiling, and he doesn't complain when Kotetsu draws him closer, looping an arm around Barnaby's shoulders in his usual affectionate way.