"Come on, Jayesh, just this once," Kari wheedled. She clasped her hands in an attitude of supplication. "Please? It's the only gift I'm asking for."

Her husband, Jayesh, sat on their sofa with his shoulders hunched. His complexion was as dark as hers was fair, and at the moment, so was his expression.

"I've never played any games in the Crucible," he muttered.

"It's Crimson Doubles this week!" Kari said, sitting beside him and pushing back her short auburn hair. "Teams of two verses teams of two. You're the only partner I want to run with. We'll be excellent!"

Jayesh gave her a sideways glare. "You know how much I hate dying."

"It's not a big deal," Kari assured him. "They're running the arenas in the Core district, right beneath the Traveler. The Light is so strong, our ghosts can heal and rez instantly." When Jayesh still looked doubtful, Kari said, "Please? It'll be fun!"

"I've got a ton of work to do," Jayesh argued. "And who will watch Connor?"

"Nell's agreed to babysit," Kari said. "And you can leave the Archives alone for one afternoon. Come on, Jay."

Jayesh sighed and summoned his ghost, Phoenix. "What do you think?"

"I want to try!" Phoenix exclaimed, spinning his red and yellow shell in excitement. "I'll be an excellent Crucible ghost."

Jayesh groaned. "Fine. I guess I'll try it. But only because it's a holiday, Kari. Never again."

She laughed and hugged him. "It'll be totally fun! You'll see!"

Kari and Jayesh entered the Crucible's Crimson Doubles division. The computer matched up the teams and displayed them on a big screen in the ready room, where various teams stood around, laughing, talking, and waiting for their games to start.

"Rindel and Samantha," Kari muttered. "Great." When Jayesh gave her a questioning look, she whipped a smile onto her face. "It'll be fine! I've run against them both before."

"And never won a match," said a voice.

They looked up to see a lanky Awoken walking toward them, his blue eyes glowing in the dim room. His shock of hair was cherry red - the only bright color about him. His Hunter armor was all blacks and browns, perfect for blending with the wilderness. Beside him walked a warlock in the robes only awarded to Crucible champions. She was a blond human who looked as if she had never heard of any expression but intense determination.

"Hey there, Rindel, Sam," Kari said, shaking their hands. "This is my husband, Jayesh."

"Unranked, eh?" Rindel said, sizing him up. "First time?"

Jayesh swallowed and nodded, wishing he felt as tough as these two looked.

Samantha nodded at the screens. "Shaxx is giving out a hand-modded compound bow to the winner. That bow is mine. Got it?"

"Whoa, chill," Kari said. "We're just here for a little fun."

"Right," Sam said, eyes narrowed.

Jayesh began to seriously doubt Kari's judgment in dragging him into this. He also doubted whether he could look these two in the face and pull the trigger. As a warlock who specialized in healing, the very ideal galled him.

The first batch of teams were called to the arenas. Half the crowd walked out, transmatting weapons and checking magazines. Kari and Jayesh crossed the room to one of the smaller game match screens to watch. Rindel and Samantha followed.

"Oh yeah," Rindel said casually, watching as two teams charged each other. "Hand cannons are big this season. I had one blow a hole in me the size of a grapefruit." He cupped his hands together. "Effective, though. Instant kill."

"Too bad heavy ammo is so hard to come by," said Samantha. "Simpler just to lob a rocket in the other team's direction. Takes longer to resurrect when their ghost has to find all the pieces."

Jayesh was suddenly as terrified as if facing down a charging mob of Taken.

Kari's hand found his and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

In Jayesh's head, Phoenix muttered, "They don't really blow Guardians to pieces ... do they?"

"I took out a whole team one time," Kari laughed. "Control game. Their team was capturing a control zone. I sneaked up and went Stormcaller on their asses. You should have heard Shaxx yelling."

Rindel nodded at Jayesh. "You've got a good partner. Keep your eyes open and you'll learn a thing or two."

On the screen, the two teams were having a fierce firefight. One of the doubles went down. The other instantly ignited their super power and charged the opposing team with a fiery hammer.

"See?" Kari said. "That's how this works. Lose your partner, you get insane amounts of extra Light."

Jayesh's mouth was too dry to respond, but he already knew how this would go. He'd be the one dying, and Kari would be the one inflicting vengeance.

In a few minutes, the first matches were over. The fighters returned, talking to their partners and fingering weapons, ready to resume the fight. Many had blood splattering their armor and gear.

The second batch of teams were called. Kari and Jayesh headed out into the arena, followed by Rindel and Samantha. Both teams went to their starting points at either end of the arena.

This arena was a disused concrete factory-high towers, catwalks, and plenty of chipped concrete barricades for cover. The Traveler occupied the sky directly overhead, its very nearness making Jayesh's blood tingle.

"All right," Kari said, "stay behind me. We're headed for that tower over there, where they'll have trouble flanking."

A klaxon sounded, signaling the beginning of the match. Kari and Jayesh dashed to the tower. Kari leaped to a high doorway and made it inside. Jayesh followed, saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and took a shotgun blast to the face.

He awoke as Phoenix resurrected him, still on the tower catwalk. Kari knelt beside him, firing her graviton lance. "Grenade!" she exclaimed.

Dazed, Jayesh summoned a solar grenade and lobbed it at the source of the opposing gunshots. "Did you get extra Light when I died?"

"Yep," Kari said. "Come on, you jokers, just break cover for a second-"

Jayesh's grenade exploded in a flash of orange. Rindel and Samantha dashed out of hiding and ran toward the foot of the tower. Jayesh drew a bead on Samantha with his own pulse rifle, but hesitated. How could he kill a fellow Guardian like this?

Samantha looked him in the eye and shot him.

When Jayesh resurrected, Kari was twenty feet away, wreathed in a maelstrom of lightning. She'd killed Samantha and was after Rindel. But Rindel suddenly blazed in purple Light and laid into Kari with spectral blades. Kari went down.

Light rushed into Jayesh, along with unreasoning fury. Logically, he knew that she was a Guardian, that she'd resurrect in a moment. But emotionally, seeing her fall, dead, stirred a grief and rage he couldn't control. Without thinking, he summoned the fiery Dawnblade sword and hurled bolt after fiery bolt at Rindel's position. Had he got him? He couldn't tell-

Jayesh had turned his back on Samantha's body. She resurrected and shot him again.

By the time the match ended, Jayesh was done. "I quit," he told Kari as they walked back to the ready room. "I can't do this. There's nothing fun about dying."

"But you got a kill!" Kari exclaimed. "Look, I know the first time is pretty shocking. But this match is best two out of three. You can't quit now."

Jayesh went to one of the benches against the wall and sat down, arms tightly folded. His robes were soaked with blood and stuck to his skin. The wounds beneath had been healed, but the mess remained. It sent horror creeping through him, and he despised feeling that way. So he sat there in silence, not trusting himself not to snarl at Kar i- or hug her and start crying, he didn't know which. Kari had a little blood spatter across her left side and that was all. She'd only died once. But that had been enough for Jayesh.

Rindel and Samantha walked up, also wearing the gory trophies of several deaths. "Hey, not bad," Rindel said. "We still face rolled you, but you put up a decent fight."

"Your ass is mine next match," Kari said. "I swear, Rindel, I will beat you for once."

The Awoken smiled, showing his teeth. "You're welcome to try. It'll be fun to watch."

Samantha said nothing, but meaningfully checked her rifle magazine.

Jayesh avoided eye contact and said nothing.

Rindel gazed at Jayesh a moment. Then he crossed the room to the drink cooler. He returned, sat beside Jayesh, and held out a bottle of water. Jayesh hesitantly took it, with a suspicious look to see if it had been poisoned.

"Crucible's not for weaklings," Rindel said. "You play hard or get out, know what I mean?"

Jayesh said nothing, just stared at the water bottle.

"He's only here because I dragged him along," Kari said. "Call him a weakling again and I'll blow your head off, right here."

Rindel raised a hand. "Cool your jets, Kari. I'm not picking a fight." He turned to Jayesh. "So, out in the field. What's your fireteam role?"

"Healer," Jayeah muttered.

Rindel nodded, raising one eyebrow. "Healer. Guess what you need to do in the Crucible? Heal."

Jayesh gave him a sideways look. "Hard to do that when I'm having holes the size of grapefruit blasted in me."

Rindel pointed at Kari. "You keep her healed. She protects you. Together you're unbeatable. Surely you two can come up with a strategy that works."

Samantha looked up, eyes flashing. "You're telling him how to beat us, Rin?"

"You want a good fight, right?" Rindel shot back. "The rookie needs some pointers." He swatted Jayesh's shoulder and stood up. "Drink that water or the blood loss will get you next round."

Jayesh mechanically opened the bottle and drained it, watching Rindel and Samantha drift toward the observation screens, arguing in low voices.

"What do you think?" Jayesh asked Kari.

She nodded slowly. "I think he's right. We need to play to our team strengths. Can you summon your well of radiance?"

Jayesh nodded, cheering up a little.

"All right," Kari said. "Next round, here's what we need to do."

The klaxon sounded. The two teams charged into the arena, rifles ready for a shot.

Kari and Jayesh ran for the nearest concrete tower and dashed inside. The ground floor space was a small, empty room with two doorways, one on either side. It offered cover, and was also a bad space to share with a grenade.

Jayesh summoned his fiery sword. It leaped to life at once, granted by the Traveler blotting out the sky overhead. He slammed the sword into the ground. The ground ignited with shimmering golden light, pouring healing into both Guardians. Jayesh held the sword's hilt with one hand and gripped his sidearm, Drang, with the other.

Bullets pinged into the room. Kari knelt beside the doorway and fired in short, deafening bursts. Jayesh kept watch out the other doorway, pistol lifted, anticipating enemy appearance.

Samantha swerved into view, a grenade of Light charging in her left hand. Jayesh fired twice, aiming for the center of mass. Samantha stumbled and went down.

Trying not to feel guilty, Jayesh turned to help Kari, only to take three bullets in the ribcage. Rindel was firing indiscriminately through the doorway. The Light healed Jayesh within a second, the pain fading. Kari ducked into cover.

Jayesh was looking straight at Rindel when the Hunter summoned a golden gun that wreathed him in flames. Even the powerful well of radiance couldn't withstand the might of another Light attack. Jayesh went down, and the healing sword went with him.

As his ghost resurrected him, Phoenix was saying, "Too bad. It was a good strategy, though. Just a minute and I'll have your super back up."

Jayesh climbed to his feet. He was still in the tower room, but Kari was outside, her lightning crackling around her as she retaliated.

"This isn't very romantic," Jayesh thought, hiding just inside a doorway.

"Maybe in a primal sort of way," Phoenix replied. "Rawr, you hurt my mate, kind of thing."

Rindel hit the ground. Samantha blazed into the air, fiery wings springing from her shoulders and a sword appearing in her hand.

"I'm dead," Jayesh thought.

"Actually, this will be cool," Phoenix replied, and handed him the burst of Light necessary for a super.

Jayesh ignited his own fiery wings and sword. Light filled him - the state of being he loved most. Fear vanished. He blasted out of hiding with a laugh and charged Samantha. She slashed with her sword, flinging a fire bolt at him. Jayesh dodged with the help of his wings, and his sword clashed with hers. Light flashed.

They had a quick, furious sword fight in midair, molten Light flying in all directions, circling each other, diving and weaving. Rindel and Kari stopped to watch. It wasn't every day that two Dawnblades took each other on.

Samantha fought with fury, but Jayesh had been a Dawnblade since his resurrection. He thrust and parried, weaving around her firebolts, scoring her with his sword over and over. Finally, her guard slipped, and he ran her through. Her eyes widened as she toppled out of the air, her flames fading.

Jayesh fell with her, gripping the sword, and slammed the blade into the ground. Still embedded in Samantha's body, the sword flashed from lethal damage to healing magic.

She convulsed and groaned, looking up at him. "I didn't die. That didn't count."

He grinned and offered a hand, pulling her off the ethereal blade. "You don't need to. That was a great fight."

The klaxon rang, signaling the end of the match. The scoreboard showed 2 to 1 in Rindel and Samantha's favor.

Samantha studied the scoreboard, then gave Jayesh a suspicious look. "Did you throw the battle?"

"No," he said, looking around for Kari. "I really tried to kill you. But I'm a healer."

Kari walked up and stood in the healing circle, panting and pushing her hair back. Rindel followed, and all four Guardians let the Light refresh them.

"Good game," Kari said. "I'll beat you next time, Rindel."

He winked. "Bring your hubby. He gets good, you might stand a chance."

Rindel turned to Jayesh. "You had some serious Dawnblade moves, kid. I was thinking you only knew how to heal. Bring those skills to a Mayhem match and you'll clean house."

"No thanks," Jayesh said with a grimace. "I'm done dying recreationally. But if you ever need a fireteam, look us up. We have a pool of friends we trade around."

"Might take you up on that," Rindel said. "Good game."

As they walked back to the gate, Kari took Jayesh's hand. "Good game," she murmured. "Thanks. I knew you'd be awesome once you hit your stride."

He sneaked a kiss on her cheek. "You were awesome the whole time, even carrying me."

"Dinner date tonight?"

"You bet."

That evening, tired out, they put their toddler to bed, then ate takeout in their room in bed.

"I don't know if I could play Crimson Doubles with you again," Kari said between bites.

Jayesh looked up. "Why?"

"Because ..." She hesitated, gazing at him. "I don't like seeing you die."

He grinned a little. "I don't like seeing you die, either."

"No, I mean ..." Kari took a bite and swallowed before continuing. "I know that the Crucible's pretty safe. Phoenix and Neko have us back up in a few seconds. But seeing someone kill you, seeing that moment of pain on your face as you die ..." Her voice broke. "Jay, I watched that monster in the Reef eat you. And there would have been no resurrection from that. Your scream ... It's still here." She touched her chest. "I enjoy Crucible games, but I can't stand seeing you suffer."

He set his plate in his lap and put an arm around her. "I feel the same way," he murmured, leaning his head against hers. "You're too good. I love watching you fight. But watching you fall ... I can't handle it. I feel like I've failed you, somehow. Like I should have protected you, or healed you, or ... or did anything but stand there and watch. And I'm sorry I was such a lousy partner today."

Kari smiled, and tears glistened in her eyes. "You were magnificent," she whispered. "I love seeing you go Dawnblade. And fighting Samantha one on one like that? That was the most fantastic thing I've ever seen. Then you turned it into a healing rift instead of finishing her. I know it didn't score points, but it was so ... you."

Jayesh laughed a little. "It's so me to be too weak to kill a fellow Guardian? It's so me to heal a fellow avenging angel? Light, Kari. The psychology of this. I can't do Crucible."

She kissed him. "The Light in you is too black and white. And you know, that's fine. I like it that way."

He nuzzled her and returned her kiss. "You don't think I'm weak?"

Her arms tightened around him. "You're kind. That's not weakness. Never stop being kind."

"And you." He traced the line of her jaw. "Are the most passionate, compelling woman I've ever known. We don't need the Crimson Days holiday for me to see that."

They kissed for a few minutes. The tension and guilt slowly left Jayesh, leaving him peaceful and relaxed.

"When we finish dinner," he said, retrieving his plate from the blankets, "I think we need to get friendly."

"I agree," Kari said. "If only to make it up to you for dragging you into the Crucible."

Jayesh grinned. "I like that kind of apology."

The end