The cold icy wind blew lightly around them, making a howling noise get caught in their ears as they kept on moving over the snowy ice covered ground. Each step made a crushing sound appear as their shoes left footprints behind them from the weight of their bodies as their more than normal clothed legs carried them along. On top of warmer pants both Ace and Marco wore a long winter jacket just to be safe since the temperatures were far below zero here.

As far as the eye could see there was nothing but white due to the wind that made the snow dance in it as it continued to roar lightly around them, making it slightly hard to see what was in the distant, but Marco's keen eyes had no problem making out shapes as they went on. Had it been anyone else than the two fire-users then the cold would have made their cheeks turn red by now, but since they didn't get affected as strongly as normal people, their skin only flustered a light pinkish color.

After a few minutes of nothing but the sounds of nature, Ace suddenly decided to break the peaceful atmosphere while tugging at Marco's hand as he stumbled bit in his attempt to slow them down.

"Marco~! How much longer do we need to walk?" Ace pulled out his lover's name in a child-like manner before starting to walk properly again while gazing at Marco with a questioning glint in his dark orbs.

"A good while yet, yoi. Just enjoy your surroundings. After all, it isn't everyday that we get to do this, so bear with it. I promise that you're going to like it," Marco answered, as he craned his neck to direct a small smile at Ace before looking back at the path he had chosen in front of them - if you could call it a path, it was more like just a direction they were walking, which they had done for an hour plus now, no one really kept track of time. The only thing that indicated anything was the sky which grew darker as they went on.

"Look at what? There is nothing but snow and uneven ice forms.." Ace half-whined, yet kept on following his lover, tightening his grip on the gloved hand slightly which was covered in a thick woolen glove just like Ace's own. He had complained before they had left the Moby Dick, claiming that he didn't need it, but Marco had had none of it, saying that they wouldn't go before he did, and of course then Ace had complied as he really wanted to see where his lover was going to take him.

"You're not paying enough attention if that is all you have been seeing, yoi." The statement made Ace release a huff as a pout made its way onto his lips before he pushed the words aside to instead focus on something else.

"Why don't we just fly there?" As a reply Ace heard Marco chuckle softly which made him furrow his eyebrows in confusion. Right before he could ask what was so funny, his lover answered.

"Because we need the dark for where we're heading. If we flew there then we would have to wait for a good thirty minutes before I could show you what I want to show you." Marco said it in a matter of fact tone, but still had a smile gracing his lips so Ace didn't try to question him any further.

After they had walked for a while, Ace suddenly came to a halt as something caught his eye. Marco, who didn't catch on, nearly fell backwards at the unmoving weight on his arm due to their hands still being linked. Marco's thin eyebrows rose as stoic features turned slightly baffled as Ace didn't voice why he felt the need to stop.

After a few seconds of silence, Marco understood that he wasn't going to get an answer and instead turned to look at his lover. Upon seeing the awestruck expression, his half-lidded gaze followed in the beautiful dark orbs direction, landing on something that made him smile tenderly - especially combined with Ace's expression which flashed in his mind – a baby seal. It was clear that the arctic animal was pretty young as it still had some of its fluffy fur covering random parts of its body, making it look even cuter than it already did with its big round black liquidy eyes staring back at them with curiosity dancing in them while it tilted its head slightly to the side. Marco could figuratively make out the little baby's thoughts at the way it seemingly tried to figure out what they were.

"I told you, yoi.." Marco voiced softly, while delivering a light squeeze to Ace's hand as the raven kept on looking at the seal with wonder. Feeling a tug, sky blue orbs turned to look at the freckled features. Marco wasn't surprised upon seeing the pleading look in the captivating night-like orbs, already knowing that Ace was silently asking if they could go closer to the little seal. A quick glance towards the skies was all Marco needed before he directed a smile at his lover, telling Ace that they could. It was becoming dark, but he couldn't say no when Ace smiled from ear to ear as they slowly moved towards the fluffy pup. The seal peaked at them with its big eyes that made it look like a curious puppy, showing no sign of fear.

Once they were a few feet away, the pup suddenly let out a noise. Marco would never forget how Ace's expression changed as long as he lived.

A huffed laugh escaped Marco's mouth before he silenced it with his slender hand as he bent slightly forward, body shaking from the now muffled sound, and in the meanwhile a blush spread over Ace's freckled cheeks; both from embarrassment and because Marco looked so extremely cute with the way he tried to stop the wonderful sound from escaping. Ace didn't even care that his lover was most likely laughing at him in that moment. However, as soon as the sky blue orbs focused back on him, a pout appeared.

"Not funny." At this, Marco smiled tenderly as they both once again turned to gaze at the pup which had moved closer, now standing a mere arm's length away which made Ace's eyes widen before a grin spread over his face as he started to speak in a soft tone.

"Hey there little guy.." Marco made a silent gesture for Ace sit down on his knees. Ace immediately understood and did as he was told. Soon the fluffy pup started to wobble over towards them. Marco took a step back, letting his lover have this moment.

A smile broke out onto Marco's lips when the seal crawled all the way over to Ace before reaching up; like it was asking for a kiss. If he hadn't been as stoic as he was, then he would have melted at the sight of Ace being utterly clueless as of what to do at the sudden closeness.

"Don't touch him, yoi. Just let him make the move, if you do it can cause problems with the mom."

Hearing this, Ace leaned back in an attempt to get some room between them, however, the grin surfaced once again when the seal flopped down with half of its body in Ace's lap which made Ace turn to gaze at Marco who smiled back.

"Why is it so friendly? Shouldn't it be seeing us as some threat?" Marco shook his head lightly at this as he moved his gaze to the - what looked like now – sleeping baby seal on Ace.

"They're called the dogs of the ocean, yoi. Many of them behave like dogs and are very friendly. They don't see us as a threat because they don't know any better, yoi," Marco replied, before looking up at the darkening sky. Ace followed his gaze before moving his dark orbs down to focus on the pup which peeked up at him and once again reached up, but his time the seal successfully delivered a wet kiss to the freckled features which made Ace fall backwards in his surprise, resulting in him landing on the snow covered icy ground with a huff leaving his rosy lips. However, laughter soon filled the air as the seal laid unmoving on Ace's body, seemingly deciding that it had no reason to get off and that the body beneath it was a perfect bed.

Marco's features turned tender at the adorable display, but that soon changed as he remembered what he was about to say before the pup so cutely decided that his lover needed a kiss - or what could be taken as a kiss, at least in his eyes.

"Sorry to interrupt your private moment, but we need to get moving, yoi." A teasing smile could be seen tugging at the corner of Marco's lips at the statement. In response Ace blew his cheeks up before he directed a smile at the seal as he sat up and then proceeded to lift the baby off of him. "Now you should go find your mommy." Dark orbs turned to look at his lover with a slightly questioning expression.

"His breathing hole is right over there. So you can help him, yoi," Marco stated as he pointed over towards a pile of what looked like snow covered rocks which formed a half circle around a hole in the ice.

Ace smiled as he took a secure hold of the pup before getting up to proceed over to the breathing hole as Marco had so intelligently called it. He wasn't an animal expect, but he knew that his lover read a lot of books so it wouldn't come as a surprise for Ace if Marco had read about seals before.

Reaching the opening, Ace craned his neck to glance one last time at his lover which made Marco nod with a soft smile. Understanding the gesture, Ace lowered the pup before letting it slowly glide into the water. A smile appeared on the rosy lips as dark orbs saw the little flipper flap from side to side before disappearing into the pitch black depths.

Ace extended his arms above his head as he stretched before turning to Marco, directing a beaming smile at him, showing his obvious happiness. He then walked over, wasting no time taking a hold of one of his lover's hands as an indication that he was ready to leave.

xxx

After a good fifteen minutes they arrived at their destination: a cave.

The entrance to the cave was pretty narrow, there was just enough room for one or two people which made him question how Marco had found this in the first place.

Looking over at Marco, Ace was met with half-lidded sky blue orbs and pair of slightly smiling lips.

"Now, yoi.. it's going to be very dark when we go in there, but I will ask you to not use your fire before I say so." With that, Marco guided them towards the narrow entrance with soft features.

Ace didn't say anything as they walked in. He was feeling a sudden rush of excitement. He just couldn't wait to see what exactly Marco wanted to show him that was worth traveling all this way for.

Marco had been right, Ace could barely see an arm's length in front of him. It was rather uncomfortable if it weren't for the hand that held his which gave a light squeeze every now and then as they went along the narrow path.

Suddenly the slightly ice covered rocky wall expanded in what Ace would describe as an open space. Well, he could see the middle at least as a small beam of moonlight shone in from a hole in the cave's roof and he had to say that it was really beautiful, but not something out of the ordinary.

Dark orbs focused on Marco as they stopped in the middle with a curious glint in them, however, Ace didn't get time to voice his curiosity before Marco spoke up while letting blue flames come to life on one of his hands that he held up to Ace.

"Now, yoi." Understanding what his lover meant, Ace lifted one of his own hands, intertwining their fingers before allowing his red flames to join the blue ones. The sudden change of scenery made a gasp escape his now parted lips as his jaw went slack at the sight.

Around them were thousands of crystals which lit the cave up in a rainbow of bright colors from their mixed flames. It was something truly breathtaking and all Ace could do was stare with a surprised and taken away expression until Marco spoke up, making him turn to focus on him. Each word slowly morphed his features.

"I wanted you to see this, Ace.. because I wanted you to see exactly how beautiful you are in my eyes, yoi. Even though, I didn't take you here to compare you to this sight, I took you here because you're more beautiful than anything else that I have ever seen. None of this.." Sky blue orbs met black with a loving and tender glint in them as Marco continued after a short break in his heart filled speech, "is as beautiful as you, Ace.. I wouldn't care if I could stare at this all day, not when I got something that makes me happy, makes me smile and makes me fall in love each and every day, yoi. For you, Ace, you were the one who made me understand what true freedom really was. You, who made me understand that I was missing a piece of my heart, and that piece was you, Ace."

Without a warning Ace threw himself at Marco with a huge smile that threatened to split his face in two.

"Thank you so much, Marco! It's so beautiful, I-I don't know what to say, I just love you so, so much. You were the one who lit up my life and my life would be nothing without you. So please, never ever leave me." Ace tightened his hold on his lover as he buried his nose in the crook of Marco's neck.

Toned arms soon embraced Ace's form as Marco dipped his nose into the raven locks.

"I love you too, Ace, with all my heart, yoi. And I promise to never leave you, as long as I live."