Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story except for the plot line and the large amounts of angst that you are sure to find.

~Prologue~

An Asian woman stared, dreary eyed, out the window of the cab she was riding in. Her head was propped up against her arm, dark amber eyes staring blindly out of the window, and her mind began to wander. Exhaling, she could still taste the booze which clung to her breath with a mixture of the scent of nicotine which always seemed to cling to her body. Her life was a mess at the age of 30 she was trapped in a loveless marriage, stuck with two sons whom she could feel no attraction to, and held a fatal addiction to both liquor and smokes. As the vehicle came to a halt she let her arm drop and head to loll to the side. She had had her fun and lost herself for the night in a sea of bright lights, deafening noise, and mind numbing liquids. But she knew at the end of it she would have to return to reality.

Opening the door of the cab she slid her body uneasily out of it. Sauntering her way from the driveway to her house, she unsteadily took one ungainly step after another. Finally she managed to make her way to the door, fumbling with the keys in her hands trying to find the one which fit the lock in front of her. After a few minutes she succeeded in finding the lock's mate. Stepping into the dark entry way she kicked her shoes off somewhere into the darkness.

Down the hall from the guestroom she could hear the moans of her husband and those of another woman. She smiled bitterly to herself; she had always had the inkling that her husband had a mistress but until that moment she had never had the proof. At any other time she would have burst into the room to expose her husband for the worthless bastard he was but at that moment she was tired… oh so tired. So instead she chose to drag herself to the nearest bathroom to purge her system of the poisoning liquid she had filled it with only hours previous, only to curl up on a couch in the living room with a bottle of cheap wine to wait for her husband to finish his business.

xXxxXx

"Thanks for tonight," said a man, who looked to be of Chinese descent.

"No problem," crooned a woman who appeared to be about ten years his junior. "I can't imagine how lonely it must be for you in this house..." Her hands trailed up the man's body, coming to rest on his cheek as she leaned up to whisper the rest of her sentence in his ear. "…how long you were trapped in that frigid winter before I came to save you."

"Mm, oh, God if I could, I would leave her for you."

"I know you would, baby, but I know you can't."

"You should leave out the back, just in case."

"You don't have to remind me; we've been doing this long enough for me to know."

Watching the woman go, the man sighed and walked over to the living room. If he wanted to fool his wife he would have to be in the living room reading or something of the sort. However it was all so troublesome, and he somtimes wondered why he even bothered it wasn't like they had actually ever loved eachother.

"My, my, getting lazy I see," came his wife's voice as he was readjusting the buttons on his shirt.

"Oh, you're home, dear; I didn't think you'd be back till later tonight."

"No, you didn't, which is why you allowed her into our house."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Cut the crap." She stood up off the couch and walked over to face her husband. "You know perfectly well what I mean."

"Calm down you've been drinking, you're not thinking right."

"I'm sober enough to know you've been doing... bringing that woman into our house. Fucking her when Yao and Kiku are sleeping only a floor above you."

"Don't play that card! Don't start acting like you care about them all of a sudden. God damn it! I work hard and for what? Some worthless whore of a wife whose only work is to go out and drink herself blind every few days!"

"At least I'm not the one who is being sucked off by his secretary and smoking the hemp he bought off the janitor."

"Like you're any different! Back when we were 17 you practically begged for me to go to bed with you... and because of that Yao was born and I was stuck with you."

"You worthless son of a bitch I begged for an abortion and you wouldn't let me we both know that."

"Like it matters! You asked for it again, even after that, like the slut you are."

"God, you're one to talk. How many women have you had since Kiku was born - four, ten, twenty?"

"Don't you fucking dare talk to me that way."

"I'll say whatever the damn I please."

"Ugh! I don't need this crap! I'm going to bed."

"You bastard, don't walk away when I'm talking to you." She raised the half empty bottle of wine in her hand, pulling it back. She was stopped in mid-swing as she felt a tugging at her leg.

"Mama, Papa please stop fighting," sobbed a little boy whose bangs fell neatly over eyes that had tears streaming forth from them. "Please-" he shrieked as the wine bottle in his mother's hand made contact with his face. The boy fell to the ground crying clutching at his face as a mixture of wine, blood, and glass fell from his face.

"Monsters!" yelled another boy as he darted out from the shadows where he had previously been hiding. "Get away from him!" Quickly, he scooped up the fallen boy in his arms. The older boy began to run, never looking back as he left the house. Even as his lungs began to burn and his legs turned to dead weights he continued to urge his legs forward. During the whole escapade the younger boy continued to sob in his saviour's arms in pain.

"Brother, where are we going?" the boy in his arms had whimpered a few times.

And every time he would respond, his breathing becoming more laboured each time. "Away Kiku, away from all pain."

Finally, when he deemed them to be far enough away from all previous danger, the older boy finally stopped, setting his brother on the ground before falling to it in exhaustion.

"Yao" whispered the smaller boy, his hands clutched to his face and his forehead creased in pain. "I-I can't open my eyes... where are we?"

"Safe... finally safe," Yao managed to pant out gasping for breath. "Now let me see your face." Yao moved over to where his brother was trying to move the younger boy's hands away from his face.

"No! Stop, Yao it hurts!"

"It's okay, Kiku, I'm just trying to help you. Trust me."

"O-okay," as Kiku moved his hands away from his face, Yao blanched at what he saw. Immediately his heart was filled with anger and hate for his parents. In front of him sat his little brother, blood seeping down from multiple cuts on his face, mixing in with wine stains that had already dried. But what disgusted him the most was his brother's eyes... or more correctly what had once been his eyes. All that was left now were two sightless eyes. The right was sealed shut, punctured by a glass shard which connected the eye and the lid together. While the left was in no better condition, torn almost literally in half. It was nothing more than a flap of hanging skin and an eye that was no longer distinguishable.

"Are we going to be okay?"

"We're going to be fine because we have each other." The older brother hurdily ripped some cloth off the tunic he was wearing quickly bandaging his brother's face with them.

"What are you doing Yao?"

"Nothing I'm just making sure no more blood gets out."

"Oh I see," the words almost broke Yao's heart. He may have been young, but it was apparent to him that his little brother would never be able to see again.

"Kiku," Yao whispered softly, embracing the latter in a hug, "you're my little brother and I will always be there for you."

xXxxXx

Kiku's Pov.

That's what I remember about my 7th birthday: a drunken mother, a father with no love for anyone but himself, and a brother who would do anything for me. I also remember the first night that Yao and I spent on the streets. It was February and where we lived, the snows had for the most part stopped - but that night it snowed. Yao had found us shelter in a back alley and had did the most he could with a few filthy blankets he had scoured from a few dumpsters we had passed by. He quickly fell asleep from exhaustion but pain and anxiety kept me awake. Then I felt it the first snowflake landing on my skin and melting, turning to a droplet of water and falling down my face. Then the snow came down harder and harder and whatever landed on me would turn to water. As a seven year old, I couldn't help but think that maybe the sky was crying for all the hardships that my brother and I had felt, not only that day but our whole lives. Then, as quickly as it had started, it stopped, and then my mind went black as I fell into a dreamless sleep.

That was the last pleasant memory that I had for a while after that. The way Yao had spent his first 12 years and I my seven was nothing to boast of. However, we never realized until we were on our own how lucky we really were. On the streets no one cared if two boys were starving and barley making it because that's the way they all lived... and sometimes died. Yao would never tell me but I'm pretty sure that at least once we passed by a frozen body half covered in snow.

My brother never complained once during our time on the streets, though I could tell his soul was close to its breaking point. Out of the two of us, he had it the hardest and I knew that I was probably making the situation harder for him than it needed to be. I remember thinking once that I should just sneak away during the night and lessen his burden. But I was too scared and I couldn't do it and for ever day after that I hated myself for being so weak.

I could tell that after a certain time Yao just wanted to give up. I knew because one night we stopped earlier than usual for sleep. He murmured a few encouraging words to me then held me close to him and told me to go to sleep. That night it snowed again but it was much harsher and soon the snow had covered us both. I think that's what Yao had planned for - a painless death in which we would both freeze to death in our sleep. Looking back on it I really don't blame him. He was only 12 at the time and I'm surprised that he made it as long as he did. But maybe God felt sorry for us for once because Yao's plan failed.

We were saved that night because a woman had happened to slip and fall directly on the snow pile which covered us. Maybe it was a coincidence, but I like to believe that maybe somebody out there was watching out for us. I can still recall the blow of the impact and how she seemed shocked and looked like she was about to run away - yet stayed and helped us. The one thing I can't ever remember though is the feel of the warmth of her body. I know it must have been there but when she touched me to pick me up I felt nothing. Perhaps this was a premonition of the future, telling me I would never be able to give my heart away to another, or maybe the snow had just numbed out my nerves. The truth of this I will never know.

That woman was our savior. She brought us to her friend and told us we would be cared for. Before she left, she had hugged me and I could hear her crying. I was so confused. I looked up even though I couldn't see, placed my hand on her cheek, and softly asked "Why?"

Suddenly I could feel her tears stop and she tenderly held the hand that I had placed on her cheek. At first it seemed she would not speak but then she did.

"Forgive me," she had said. "You just reminded me off my own little boy."

"I'm sorry the fact makes you sad." I had replied.

"No, no it's not because of that. I'm just sad because I know that I will never see him again and I would give anything to go back and see him just one more time." Before I had had the chance to ask why she could not simply go back for him, the woman was gone. After that, I had asked Yao what she had looked like. He said she had been a woman of average height, with waist length curly brown hair, skin white like porcelian, and green eyes. From that description I formed an image in my head of Agape, for that was what she had told me her name was... an image of Agape the angel.

~5 years later~

"Kiku do you want me to help you redo your bandages?" asked a middle aged woman.

"It's okay, Rhea I've got it," responded a pre-teen boy, his hands weaving a strip of white cloth around his eyes.

"My, I can't believe how long you and your brother have been with me. You've both grown up so much these past five years."

"Thank you for taking care of us for that long I hope you're not burdened by us."

"Never," the woman smiled rubbing his shoulders tenderly. "You know you're like my children."

"What's wrong? You seem worried?"

For a minute Rhea stopped her ministrations on Kiku's body. "Kiku," her voice turned grave, "Yao wants to speak with you. He's in his room."

xXxxXx

Kiku felt his way around the house where he had spent the last few years of his life in. They had been the happiest he had ever felt. Rhea loved him more than his own mother had and treated him with a kindness and affection which had felt so alien to him when he had first been put in her care. And Yao - for once his older brother had ambitions and dreams, things that their parents had never encouraged them to follow. One thing nagged at him, though, and that was the darkness. It was true that for the past five years he had been safe and cared for, however, he had also been trapped in a sightless world a prisoner of the darkness... forever.

"Yao you wanted to see me?" Kiku asked as he reached his brother's room.

"Ah, Kiku, you're here."

Stepping into the room, Kiku felt an immediate unease. There was a lack of warmth which probably meant the blinds were closed, and the air in the room seemed stale like a window hadn't been opened for at least a week. The boy shifted around, making his way to his brother's bed and sitting down.

"Kiku how's school going for you?" Yao finally asked, sitting down next to his brother.

"Fine I guess."

"Good... good"

"Yao what's up with you, you don't seem like yourself."

"It's nothing." A sigh echoed throughout the room. "Kiku, are you happy right now?"

"Yeah I guess so; Rhea's good to us and we finally have a stable life."

"But do you feel like you have someone you can turn to for anything?"

"Well you I guess. You're my brother."

"Does death scare you?"

"I-I don't know. I know it's a part of life and that it happens everday, but I'm not sure."

"Well then, what about the death of someone close to you?"

"Yao, why are you acting so odd?" Kiku reached over to his brother grabbing his hands.

"I'm dying." Those two words hit Kiku like gunfire.

"Wh-what, Yao you're joking... joking right?" his voice wavered becoming weaker.

"I'm not... remember those headaches I told you about?"

"Yeah, you said that they were getting worse."

"Well they were getting really bad and I was even having trouble remembering things. So I went to the doctor and... and I have a rare brain tumour."

"You mean cancer?"

"Yes, and at most the doctors gave me seven months to live."

"Well why does that mean you have to die! Plenty of people survive it." The younger boy was close to tears now. "... you ... you have to live."

"You don't understand. If they tried to remove it I would die during the surgery, if they tried radiation or chemotherapy... the long term effects would make a lobotomy look pleasant. Kiku, I'm dying and there's nothing I can do to stop it. Kiku," Yao whispered softly placing his hand on his brother's shoulder.

"You promised..." the boy murmured softly.

"I promised what?"

"You promised we would always be there for each other!" With that the boy leapt off his brother's bed running as fast as he could. He continually began to bump into the walls and other objects before finally reaching his own room. Slamming the door and locking it he curled himself miserably in a corner... and for the first time since he had lost his sight Kiku could feel tears forming from the corners of his maimed eyes.

xXxxXx

"You told him then?" Rhea asked Yao.

The teenager merely stared solemnly at the wall in front of him finally he answered. "Yeah I did."

"Are you sure you don't want to try and treat this?"

"No I can't... there's no hope."

Rhea's eyes began to fill with tears, "Aren't you afraid?"

Yao embraced his foster-mother in a hug, "No, not of death at least. It doesn't matter how many years we're given, in the end we all die."

"That little boy who first came to me." She paused to put on a pained smile. "Well, he's not here anymore is he? Yao, you've turned out so well and I couldn't ask for anything more. Except that it was me who was dying now," her voice started to become choked with tears. "Be-because I love you both so much."

"I know... mother."

~Several Months Later~

"Kiku," Yao's voice came out weak and barley above a whisper. The newly turned 18 year old had been bed ridden for nearly a two weeks now and it was apparent to him that the cancer had finally caught up to him. Turning his head weakly he smiled at the boy sitting next to his bed even though he knew the latter couldn't see it.

"Did the pain get worse again? If you need any more pain killers I can get Rhea." A bitter feeling entered Kiku's heart, Yao had become so secluded and withdrawn ever since his cancer had gotten worse. In the past two weeks the only times Yao had talked to him was to ask for his meds.

"No it's fine, I just wanted to ask you. Do you remember how when you first realised that you're eyes had been permanantly damaged? You asked me, did it make you ugly, and how I never answered? Well I'll finally give you an answer. Your appearance isn't what makes you beautiful; it's the dreams you hold and the kindness of your soul."

Yao lifted up his hand weakly and pulled off the wrappings that covered his brother's eyes. He looked at his brother's face sightless holes that had once held brown orbs, covered by scarred lids. They had been battered and stitched back into their original form yet still looked slightly inhuman with the slicing patterns of scars which adorned them. "Do," Yao stopped gasping for breath, "do you know wh-what I see?"

Kiku merely shook his head in response, afraid that the pain in his heart would show if he even tried to utter a word.

"I see the most perfect brother that anyone could ask for." Yao's breath was now becoming laboured as he struggled to take in mouthfuls of air between each word. "Be-because I see I beautiful heart and a kind soul... do-don't ever," Yao words were becoming rushed. "For-forget ha-ha-how to l-lov..." Suddenly his body began to become wracked with tremors. Then as quickly as they had come they were gone leaving Yao's body completely still.

"Are you alright?" asked Kiku, "Yao answer me!." Frantically the boy's hands moved over his brother's wrist searching for a non-existant pulse. "C'mon, speak to me don't kid around," Kiku sobbed vainly still hoping that his brother was just playing a cruel joke.

xXxxXx

The cold November wind cried out, beating anyone who dared venture into the outdoors with a strong torrent of stormy gales. Up above, the sun had been extuinguished behind a dark veil of gray clouds. Rhea looked at the casket which lay in front of her through a curtain of black lace, keeping a gentle grasp on Kiku's shoulder. The Asian boy's usually well groomed hair was being blown around with the wind and the dark suit which he wore did nothing to shield him from the icy bite of the wind. In the background the voice of a priest could be heard as a black casket began to slowly be lowered into the ground. Shovels began to pile mounds of earth upon the casket until it was completley hidden from sight leaving nothing more than a patch of dark soil surrounded by withered grass.

Author's Note: I hope that this was an enjoyable read and I apologize for killing Yao so quickly. Reviews are highly desired and I promise that the Giripan will show up soon.

Special thanks to: anyone who took the time to read this and I hope you enjoyed it.
And to Tamer Lorika for editing this story thank you thank you thank you so much. Go read her stuff it's excellent.