AN: This is not what I was supposed to publish next but I had a writer's block, a really bad one, and then this came to my head from somewhere.

This is kind of a sister story to ALL THEY WANTED but you don't have to read that one to understand this one. There are just a couple of people who are introduced in that story but I tell who they are in this one, too. Just won't explain where they came from.

I can't believe how long it has been since my last story... Due to a lot of things, this is NOT MY BEST WORK!

I will publish another story soon but I am so freaking busy at the moment it's ridiculous.

Anyway, I hope you like it.

His mother had gone mad.

Wolfram couldn't decide was it good mad or bad mad. The ballroom looked spectacular but the young demon was surprised to realize he didn't know how happy he was with it. He had always thought he wanted a huge wedding but now, when the hall would be filled with almost 500 guests the very next day, he found himself thinking just both of their families would have been more than enough. As long as the cake had at least seven layers.

But of course, that wasn't even a possibility. Not when the Maoh was the one getting married and not when Cecilie von Spitzweg was the mother of the... bride? Wolfram huffed. The last month in the Blood Pledge Castle had been pretty crazy. One night the royal love birds had been woken up in the middle of the night by a maid who was screaming something about a disaster and that someone should be executed. Expecting to find someone dead, Yuuri and Wolfram had jumped out of the bed in their pajamas and ran after the hysteric maid.

An ice sculpture had arrived two weeks too early. It was that night that Wolfram had suggested that the two of them would take Greta and move to the Bielefeld lands until the wedding. Yuuri would had been more than happy to agree but their plans were rudely ruined by Gwendal who reminded Yuuri of the amount of paperwork there was (but actually just refused to stay to deal with their mother alone).

To everyone's relief expect maybe Lady Celi's, all the fuss was going to be over tomorrow.

Wolfram's heart jumped.

He was getting married.

Married.

He.

The youngest.

To a half h...

"I sure hope mother doesn't find out you're still up." Wolfram turned around, his hand on his sword but relaxed almost immediately as he recognized Conrad. "Didn't mean to startle you."

Wolfram humphed and put his arms across his chest. After a moment or two of glaring, his arms dropped to his sides. "You're not gonna tell her, are you?"

Conrad chuckled. "Your secret is safe with me. Why are you up, anyway? Tomorrow is a big day."

"No need to remind me," Wolfram mumbled, looking around the room again. It was decorated with all sorts of flowers, mostly with the ones Lady Celi had named after him and Yuuri but also with Secretive Gwendals, Conrad Stands on the Earths, a new flower named after Greta and lot of ones that Wolfram was quite sure his mother had bred just for this occasion. He could just imagine the names of those: The Love Between Two Boys or The Everlasting Happiness of the Royal Couple.

"Wolfram?" Conrad said and Wolfram was ashamed that he jumped yet again. "Is something bothering you? You seem tense." Wolfram just shrugged, knowing it was useless to flat out deny what Conrad had said. "It's only natural to feel nervous."

"I'm not. No, really, I'm not," Wolfram said when Conrad cocked his eyebrow. "I want this, I do. I mean, of course I want to marry him, I love him more than anything... That... That is... the problem." From the look on his brother's face, he could tell Conrad didn't quite understand. He sighed, not really knowing if he wanted to talk about it or not. The night before the wedding...

Maybe it was the perfect time.

"It's just that... I can't help but wonder... Conrad, how long do... how long do humans usually live?"

This wasn't a question Conrad had been expecting. He had been preparing himself for something a lot more... well, intimate, private, and with one word, embarrassing. After a couple of dumbfounded seconds, he understood. A soft, small, almost a sad smile appeared on his face. "It depends of their health and lifestyle. In average, I think humans live until 85 or so. A lot of them live longer though," he added hastily.

"How old...?" Wolfram started but stopped, looking hesitant. He shot a look at Conrad that clearly said "you don't have to answer, I'm sorry I asked," but the older one's smile just grew a little wider.

"My father died at a really old age for a human. And he was fit until the very end. His Majesty is athletic and in very good health. I'm sure you two are going to have a long life together."

Wolfram nodded but Conrad was sure his fears had not gone away. They stood in silent for what felt like a long time. The ballroom seemed to be glowing in the moonlight that came through the window. The whole castle was filled with expectation, one could almost feel breathing it.

"Is it because he was born on Earth? Or because his mother is a human? You know, that he is not aging like... us." Wolfram's voice cut the silence. He had a frown on his face and Conrad was pretty sure he had been meaning to say 'you' in the place of 'us'.

"I honestly don't know, Wolfram. Most likely it's a little bit because of both." Conrad's voice was almost apologetic. Wolfram picked up on that and shook his head to say there was no need to feel that way. He sighed again, looking defeated.

"Maybe it will slow down, you know? Because he has spent so much time here."

"Maybe..."

"But still," Wolfram whispered and his voice had become raw, as if there was a lump in his throat. "I'm going to outlive him by decades." Conrad didn't know how to reply to that. Wolfram let out a chuckle that was anything but happy. "I'm even going to outlive Greta." The green eyes shined with tears at this point. "It's a curse instead of a blessing sometimes, isn't it?"

"Yes," Conrad agreed.

"In the end I guess I... I'm going to be alone."

And they both knew he didn't mean 'alone' as in 'without Yuuri.' He meant 'without everyone'. Conrad could see that he truly feared this, feared the day, days, when he was going to be forced to bury his friends, family. Without knowing what to say, realizing there was nothing really to say, he put a hand on Wolfram's shoulder and squeezed it. He couldn't promise his baby brother much that could give comfort. He couldn't promise there were going to be children to be raised or that the life in the castle was never going to be lonely. Of course the castle would always be packed with people. Soldiers, maids, cooks... But it hardly mattered if nobody truly cared.

But there was one thing that Conrad could say, could promise. "You will always and forever have the memories. No one can take those," he said. "I know it's not the same but just as long as you keep the memory alive, those who you love will never truly be gone. I can't promise you that it won't hurt, you and I both know I'd be lying and you don't deserve that. But just like you can't let the past to stop you from having a future, you can't stop your fear of the future stop from being happy now."

Wolfram stared. The thought of just having memories to live with didn't seem like the way he wanted to live his life after Yuuri was gone. But then again, if that was what he was going to have left, was he going to let every memory to be darkened by fear?

No, he decided.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Now, Wolfram, you really should be in bed. Mother is never going to forgive you if you have dark circles under your eyes tomorrow."

They both knew that one day these fears would surface again. But for now, it was okay.

"What are these?"

Wolfram knew what they were. His brother-in-law and the Great Sage wore the same kinds of things all the time. But what were they doing on their nightstand? He was watching Yuuri getting ready to join him in bed, his arm crooked so he was resting his cheek against his fist.

"Oh, those are my reading glasses. Mom insisted since I complained about the small print of the newspaper. Oh man, I think I'm getting old."

You know that feeling when you remember something very important that you have forgotten to do and it's supposed to be done in a few hours? Like a homework assignment? Or the feeling when you realize you were supposed to be at work half an hour ago?

Well, think about that feeling and multiply it with a few thousand. That's what kind of a jolt Wolfram's heart made. He actually let out a yelp and shot up so he was now sitting on the bed, breathing hard.

"Wolf?"

Yuuri had just turned 27. The birthday party had been last week. He had let his hair grow an inch or two and looked more and more like the Maoh inside of him. He might have lost most of his innocent features and in turn become more handsome but Wolfram had never thought of him as old. They had both matured but Wolfram had been relieved to see that Yuuri seemed to be too much of a wimp to ever lose that quality of him completely.

"Wolf, hey? Are you okay, you look a little pale."

Wolfram's mind came back to the reality and he saw Yuuri sitting in front of him, looking at him with worried eyes. The Prince Consort swallowed air and stole a glance at the glasses before throwing himself in Yuuri's arms, tackling him on the bed. "You're not old," he stated before attacking his husband's lips with his own.

For a few seconds Yuuri was too surprised to move but then something in his mind clicked and he moved so that Wolfram was under him. Wolfram didn't complain, he just tightened his hold around Yuuri's neck and kissed and kissed like there was no tomorrow.

Happy memories...

"The kids..."

"They're with Greta," Wolfram mumbled without ever taking his lips off of Yuuri's. His hand found the buttons of the pajamas Yuuri had just put on and started to open them, one by one.

Yuuri's mouth moved to his neck while he removed the blue pajama shirt completely. The steamy silence that surrounded them was only broken by sighs and quiet moans.

The pink night gown soon joined the blue shirt on the floor.

Wolfram felt Yuuri's hand stroke his hair which meant that neither one of them was asleep. He wasn't sure if Yuuri realized he wasn't alone in the waking world but didn't say anything, not sure if he wanted Yuuri to know. The silence worked for him, it let him sort out his thoughts.

Yuuri wasn't old. This night proofed that. But now that he thought about, he saw that Yuuri did look more like he was the same age as Conrad than the same age as Wolfram. A heavy feeling took a hold of his heart as he tried to keep himself from panicking. There was still so much life to live, he reminded himself. Happy memories to make, like Conrad had said. And still he found himself staring at the glasses and felt as if they were looking back at him, almost mockingly. He felt a sudden urge to reach out and smash them but before he could move, Yuuri's arm wormed around his waist.

"That was pretty amazing, Wolf," the King said and Wolfram knew he knew he wasn't asleep.

"It was," he replied earnestly, a small smile appearing on his face despite of everything that was going through his head.

"So you wanna tell me what's bothering you?"

"No." He didn't feel like lying. Yuuri knew, why argue?

"Wolf."

"It's nothing really. Just... thinking."

"About?"

"Drop it, Yuuri."

"And if I don't?"

Wolfram sighed. He should have known Yuuri would not let it go. "It's nothing you should worry about."

"Just tell me."

And so Wolfram did. He didn't know how Yuuri managed to convince him with that one simple sentence. Maybe it was the simplicity of it, the honest concern just shined through and Wolfram was powerless against it. So he told Yuuri about his fear of being left alone and about the conversation he had had with Conrad right before the wedding. He spoke really fast as if he wasn't really even breathing and Yuuri just listened, sensing that Wolfram had been bottling this up for a long time.

"It's not that I didn't always know that you don't age like us," Wolfram said and Yuuri blinked when he recognized envy in his voice. "But at some point I remembered what that actually meant. And it's so scary. I know it sounds stupid but..."

"It doesn't," Yuuri interrupted. "It's not stupid at all. I never even thought about that... Oh God, Wolf," he said as he gathered the blond into a hug. "Why didn't tell me?"

"How many people want to reminded of the fact that they are going to die?" Wolfram said, his voice a tiny bit sarcastic which made it sound more normal.

"But you know what they say right? That dying is what makes life worth living. We just have to make the best of every day that we have," Yuuri pushed Wolfram away so that they were facing each other. "And you'll have Elai and Cali. They'll need someone to tell them not to be wimps."

A small smile appeared on Wolfram's face as he thought about their adopted twin sons. They were five now, still just babies and at the stage where their big sister was their biggest hero.

Their big sister...

"We should take all three of them for a picnic or something tomorrow," Wolfram said.

Yuuri smiled. "That's a great idea! We can spend all day up on the hills. Maybe do some tree climbing..."

Wolfram gave Yuuri a blank look. "The boys are five, you idiot, no way in hell are they going to do any tree climbing yet."

"I wasn't talking about the boys."

"Greta is too cautious with her dresses to...

"I wasn't talking about her, either."

"Then who are you..." Wolfram's eyes widened for a second and then he smiled. "That'll be a sight," he said.

Yuuri's expression turned into a mischievous grin. "Whatever it takes to proof that I am not that old yet."

It was nostalgic to be there, to say the least. It had been a long time. And to be perfectly honest, being there with his best clothes was probably not the best idea in the world. It was dusty there as the building was never used and today should be the last day he wanted to be there.

But there he was.

He should have been sad. And yet he couldn't keep the smile off his face. This place had such a special place in his heart, he couldn't be sad here.

Yuuri had died at the ripe age of 106. During the last few years of his life he had given more and more of his duties to Wolfram and now, two weeks after the funeral the official mourning time had ended, Wolfram was going to be crowned as the 28th Maoh. He was more or less the obvious choice, looking at the popularity he had been gaining among the people of Shin Makoku during the last 80 years or so. He had been preparing for it, even if he had once already declared he had no desire to be the king.

But things were different now. Yuuri wouldn't come back and he had left behind a country that he loved so much and where his children were going to grow up in. He had brought peace between the demon tribe and the humans and so he was going to be remembered as the greatest king since the Great One.

Wolfram, however, had his own memories. He could still see the 15 year old boy with big, confused yet determined black eyes. He remembered how happy he had looked when Greta had baked him his first ever father's day cake and how he had got up in the middle of the night to feed the twins. He remembered the picnics and the tree climbings and the stories they would read together as a family until the kids fell asleep. He remembered how happy they had been on the day Greta had gotten married and how bittersweet it was to see her leave the castle with the man she loved. He remembered the day when they had become a grandparents.

Wolfram chuckled. If that didn't make one feel old then nothing would.

"Dad?" Wolfram looked up. Elai and Cali were looking down the hole that had never been repaired. "Uncle Gwendal sent us to find you. Do you need help getting up?"

"Not just yet," Wolfram said. "Why don't you guys come down first?"

"How?" Cali asked.

"Jump. I'll catch you."

He didn't care if they were going to be late because no one could find them. He wanted to show this place to the twins. Once they were finally down, they looked around more than a little confused.

"Uh, Dad...? You know this place is filled with funny looking white cocoons, right?" Elai asked.

"Yeah. They are bearbee eggs. They are going to hatch soon," Wolfram replied.

"Seriously? This is where they lay their eggs? I thought they just came from under the ground!" Cali said excitedly. "Is that why you're here? To seem them hatch?"

"Yes. And no. This place is where I first realized I really did love your papa."

Elai and Cali stared at Wolfram in their blue and black uniforms. "In a dusty basement?"

Wolfram chuckled. "Yeah. He was so naive. We didn't know bearbees had taken over this place and thought we were going to be eaten once they came out of their cocoons. He wanted to let them be born anyway. Such a wimp..." His voice was affectioned.

"Sounds like papa," Elai stated and Cali nodded. Wolfram didn't blame them for looking sad.

"It's okay to miss him. I do," he said. "And so does the kingdom. But life goes on. We can't and shouldn't try to stop it from doing that." When had he become so wise and mature?

"And you're going to be a great king, Dad," the twins said together. They did that sometimes and it never failed to amuse Wolfram and Yuuri.

"Sure hope so. This country doesn't deserve a weak one," Wolfram said. "We are really late, aren't we?"

"Yeah."

"Well. Since we're already late it doesn't matter if we stay here for a while longer. You guys do wanna see them come out, right?"

In the end the ceremony started almost three hours late. It was somehow fitting though that the newborn bearbees flew around the courtyard as Gwendal placed the crown on Wolfram's blond hair. It made the whole thing a little bit less formal and Wolfram couldn't help but chuckle as he watched his oldest brother's left eye twitching.

He couldn't in all honesty say he was ready for it when someone called out his official name for the first time. His Majesty, the 28th Maoh Wolfram von Bielefeld. After that his mind didn't register anything else. He watched as the pink creatures flew into the distance, disappearing one by one as the sun went down. The last rays of light illuminated the capital, making it look golden. Elai or Cali, he could tell which if his mind hadn't wondered off, gave him a small nudge and a smile which he answered with a nod before the twins disappeared to find something to eat.

"I will look after what you left behind," he said quietly as he watched the two boys go. He had made that promise once before and now was the time to keep it.

And if he would feel lost along the way, all he had to do was remember.

AN: I actually thought about killing Wolfram so the ending wouldn't be quite so obvious but when it came down to writing down the words 'Wolfram is dead', I discovered I couldn't do it. And I just couldn't more than mention Greta in the third scene, I think she is too precious as a little girl :( She reminds me of my little sister.

I'm a wimp...

Anyways, if you haven't read All They Wanted and you want to know where Cali and Elai come from... well, you know what to do.

And as I said, I'm going to publish another story, soon. One more Wolfram-torture story won't hurt anyone, will it? 'Cept for Wolfie... Oh well, he's tough, he can take it.

Hope you liked it, see you soon!