A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own Magi and its characters.
The timeline for this story is sometime past the Belial dungeon arc and before the Hakuryuu & Judal vs Alibaba & Aladdin fight.
The night had run its dark veil to the sky. It was a clear, moonless night and only the stars shined among the consuming darkness. Judal was staring at that sky wondering how many nights he had left to see.
He always loved the nights more than the days. Days with their radiant light were for those who had a light heart and a future filled with happiness ahead of them. The night was the home for all the wicked creatures like him: for all those who found salvation on its welcoming darkness.
On nights like this, he often starred at the sky thinking about his King's rebellion and wonder what would happen next to them.
No one would be a better choice for a king candidate than the fourth prince of Kou Empire; or he should say the fourth Emperor, as he had recently declared himself so. He had no regrets in choosing him over all of his siblings. He was the one who, when everybody else cowardly stood aside, had the courage to raise his sword to the tyrannical Empress. He was the one who had a fire of hatred burning up his chest. He was the only one who was the same as Judal was and for that he should be treasured.
Lately some dark thoughts had entered his mind. What would happen to them if the rebellion failed? Would they kill them in a fair way, letting them keep some of their dignity or would they ridicule them, letting them die in an agonizing way? They would have to rely on Kouen's kindness and such a thing didn't exist.
Judal was never afraid of dying. He didn't value his life that much and wouldn't mind to throw it away if that helped him to mess up further with the world. His mind was telling him that he should accept what the future may bring but lately his heart was dictating otherwise.
Deep into the darkest corners of his soul, laid a terrible fear; a fear he hadn't experienced before. He was afraid for Hakuryuu's life. The mere thought of his King dying before him was enough to send silvers down his spine. He didn't know if it was selfish of him to want to keep Hakuryuu alive when he had no problem throwing his life away, but he didn't care. All he cared for was keeping his King alive; he would make sure of doing so.
As his thoughts traveled to Hakuryuu, a certain idea entered his mind. He decided to pay his king a visit. He wasn't sure what urged him to do so. He could always wait for the morning light to visit the Emperor as it was inappropriate to go to him in the middle of the night. Probably, he wouldn't even be awake. But Judal was a person who never cared for formalities and instead he always did what he felt like.
After walking in the long corridor he was in front of the wooden door with the golden details. He decided against of knocking the door and instead opened it quietly.
As he let himself inside the room, it took him a few minutes to adjust to the total darkness of it. Once his eyes were familiar with the darkness, they traveled across the room and locked to Hakuryuu's bed, where his graceful form was sleeping.
He walked with a determined strike towards the bed, his eyes never leaving his king's face. Once he was right next to Hakuryuu he sat quietly on the corner of the bed making extra effort not to accidentally wake him up.
He preferred them to stay that way. During the daylight, both of them were usually too busy to spend time together and when they did meet Hakuryuu always made harsh comments trying to appear rougher than he was. But right now, he was looking exactly the troubled kid he actually was. There was nothing intimidating in the way he was curling up on bed and he could pretend that his closed eyelids hide an innocent gaze behind them.
When Hakuryuu was sleeping calmly like that, Judal felt even more desire to protect him. How could he not, when he looked so innocent and peaceful?
Judal felt embarrassed with himself. It was ridiculous of him to care for anyone else except himself and yet here he was promising to always protect the sleeping form in front of him. He wasn't supposed to feel that way. And yet he did.
A sudden urge forced him to lower himself to bestow a butterfly kiss on Hakuryuu's forehead. That was the first time he was kissing anyone he cared for. In the past, he surely had his urges and had kissed plenty of people to satisfy his needs. But that was never a tender action; it was only about satisfying himself and no one else. Things were different now that his kiss was an act of fondness towards Hakuryuu.
Even more embarrassed with himself he decided to take his leave. As he started to stand up a tight hold kept him in his place.
"Please, stay" Hakuryuu murmured in his sleep. Still, he didn't let go of Judal's robe.
A/N: This fanfiction was lost among the files in my computer. I'm glad I was able to find it again. I hope you enjoyed reading this story. Please review and let me know what you think :)