A missing scene for episode 78. What happens when they all think Yuuri is home on Earth for good this time, and later when he's able to come back.

Yuuri stared up at his ceiling. His normal, blank ceiling in his family home on Earth. It felt strange to think that he couldn't go back now, that he wouldn't be back there tomorrow or the next day or whenever he least expected it. But this was his home. He was glad to be back, even if he couldn't go to the other world again.

Absently, he wondered if it would have been better to try to bring something back as a memento. Not that there had been time for anything like that, and it would just make him homesick for that second home. . . Maybe cuttings for his mom's small flowerbeds. She would have loved the flowers Celi had bred, the ones she had named after her family.

When Yuuri finally fell asleep, it was with the image of that many-hued flowerbed in his mind. Only, as he stopped and looked at them, the colors seemed to go dull and darken, until the flowerbed was full of black flowers. It seemed depressing to Yuuri, all of those black petals clustered together as if in mourning.

There was someone kneeling in front of them, touching the flowers gently. Yuuri blinked in surprise as he realized that he recognized the figure as being Wolfram, dressed in the same pink neglige he had worn when he would sneak into Yuuri's bed at night.

"Wolf?" Yuuri approached the boy cautiously, worried that he would find Wolfram either inconsolable or about to throttle him. Or that he would turn around and be someone else entirely.

"Yuuri!" Wolfram whirled to stare at him, his green eyes going wide.

"What are you-" Yuuri was cut off abruptly by Wolfram jumping on him and hugging him for all he was worth. The minute Wolfram touched him, Yuuri was suddenly consciously aware that he was dreaming, even though the feeling of arms tight around him and Wolfram's face pressed against his shoulder felt perfectly real. "Ano. . . you can let go."

"No! If this is a dream then I'm going to hold onto you as long as I want to."

"A dream?" Yuuri was already aware that he was dreaming, but it felt odd having someone in that dream confirm the fact.

"Of course it's a dream! Why else would I be gardening in my nightclothes!?"

Yuuri couldn't argue with that. He let out a frustrated sigh and let Wolfram hang on him for a minute, reaching up to pat him awkwardly on the back.

He did notice, as he looked over Wolfram's shoulder, that the black flowers Wolfram had been tending had come into sharp focus, so that he could see each petal and leaf. He'd hardly been aware that they were just a blur before. They were all different patterns and sizes. Some of them were merely dark, dark blue or purple or red instead of black. Others had leaves and stems of such a dark green that they were almost black as well.

"What are all of those?" There was still something depressing about the whole bed of black flowers.

Wolfram lifted his head from Yuuri's shoulder and turned to follow his gaze. "Mother wanted to breed a new species for you. I don't think she was happy with any of them, though." He tugged on Yuuri's arm, leading him over to take a closer look. "There's the Black Maou," he said, pointing to one flower that looked rather like a black rose. "Those are called Maou's Winking Eyes," Wolfram explained, of the small flowers clustered on a creeping vine that wound through the other plants. "And that one is the Maou's Justice. Don't touch it, it has thorns."

Yuuri reached up to rub the back of his neck in embarrassment, at the names as much as the obvious effort. "She really grew all of these?" There were so many different ones. No two were exactly the same, yet the huge flowerbed was packed with them. He pointed to one with drooping petals and leaves that seemed to be sagging against its neighbors. "What about that one?"

"Wimpy Yuuri," Wolfram answered promptly.

"I told you to quit calling me that!"

"It's the plant's name! It's not my fault if the name fits you too!"

Yuuri would have bet that Wolfram had named that one himself. He twisted out from under the other boy's arm, only to have Wolfram grab him by the hand and practically drag him around to the other side of the flowerbed.

"You have to see this one," he insisted. He tugged Yuuri down beside him next to a small flower with five broad, velvety petals, each covered with fine, silvery hairs that caught the light and gave the impression of a small glowing halo around the flower. "Yuuri's Gentle Hand."

"It doesn't look a thing like a hand." Apart from having five petals, anyway.

"That doesn't matter! It has a nice smell."

Yuuri gave Wolfram a skeptical look, doubting he could smell anything in a dream. Wolfram gave him a push towards the flower in question. To his surprise, he found he could smell something sweet, though he couldn't remember the scent from anywhere else.

"It's nice," Yuuri admitted as he sat back. Wolfram's hand was still clasped firmly around his own, even when he gave his arm a little shake to loosen the grip. "You can let go now."

"If I let go, you'll just disappear again." Wolfram hugged Yuuri's arm stubbornly. "So I'm never going to let go."

"That's a little extreme, isn't it?"

"You're just a dream, so you shouldn't mind! I know the real Yuuri would never let me, but I. . . miss you."

Yuuri watched Wolfram in confusion, because he was 'the real Yuuri.' Wolfram seemed to think he was dreaming as well, even if he was a part of Yuuri's dream. It was an odd feeling. It almost seemed possible that this was a real meeting of the minds, even from across worlds.

"You wanted to show me this before, right?" Yuuri reached out to touch the flower with one finger. Its petals were velvety-soft and it swayed at the slight touch.

"Yes. Mother's still working on her masterpiece, but she won't show it to me. And you're not here to show it to, anyway. But this one was my favorite."

"You collected all of the rejects for me." Yuuri didn't have to put it as a question, though he was surprised at Wolfram collecting those little reminders in his own dreams. "Thank you. I like them all."

"You're still such a wimp. You can't even pick a favorite?"

"Do I have to?"

Wolfram was silent for a long moment, then smiled again. "I think I could never guess which one would really be your favorite."

Yuuri sighed, because obviously Wolfram still thought he was only a dream. "Is that all you wanted to show me?"

Wolfram let his head fall against Yuuri's shoulder and the silence stretched. The way he was clinging unnerved Yuuri a little. Even when they had been together Wolfram had never been this clingy, had he?

"You want to tell me something." Yuuri was sure of it. That was why he was here. That was why out of everyone Wolfram was the one dreaming of him, and dreaming hard enough to actually wind up in Yuuri's dreams. Or maybe Yuuri was dreaming so deeply that he only thought Wolfram was dreaming of him because he wanted the other boy to want him that much, or. . . no, that was ridiculous. How relieved had he been when Wolfram had let him go, even ordered him to go?

"Yuuri?" Wolfram was right in front of him all of a sudden, looking hopeful and hopeless all at once.

Yuuri shook himself out of his thoughts. He would ask Murata later if it was possible, that was all. "I'm listening."

"I wish I had gone with you."

"Huh?" Yuuri blinked in surprise. That was not what he expected to hear after all of the rough reassurances Wolfram had given him while he was leaving.

"If you had just asked, I would have gone with you! But you didn't even think of that because you're such a wimp! And I didn't get to thank you for saving me, or tell you that I love you! It would have made it harder for you to leave, right? So I couldn't say anything like that." He hid his face in his hands, which didn't seem to do anything in the dream, because Yuuri could still see somehow, that Wolfram was on the verge of tears.

"But you've said it now." Yuuri patted Wolfram's shoulders bracingly. "You feel better now, right?"

Wolfram nodded, then shook his head, then nodded again, apparently unable to decide. He leaned against Yuuri, who was about to start panicking because he didn't, even in his wildest dreams, have any idea how to deal with a completely hysterical Wolfram. "Wolfram, you feel better, right? Right?"

"Yes." Wolfram dropped his hands and made a visible effort to control himself. "I'm fine. It's just, I promised myself I wouldn't burden you with that while you were leaving and now I can't-"

"Wolfram, look at me. I'm here so that you can talk to me." And maybe it was better if Wolfram thought he was a dream, because this way when they parted again it wouldn't feel like parting to him. It would only be a single, sweet dream. "I want you to be happy. And you know if I really could come back I would say the same thing."

"I know." Wolfram finally smiled for him. It was shaky, but Yuuri knew that he meant it. "But, you know, if you really were here, I wouldn't say any of that."

"I know that. You'd yell at me and call me a wimp for leaving everyone in the first place, right?"

"I would not!" Wolfram grabbed Yuuri by the shoulders, so that Yuuri expected Wolfram to start shouting and shake him. Instead he simply said, "I would do this," before he tugged Yuuri forward and kissed him square on the mouth.

Yuuri froze in surprise, held immobile by the soft press of Wolfram's lips against his own. He stared, wide-eyed, while Wolfram's eyes slid closed in contentment. It was. . . he couldn't even think what it was because his heart was beating so fast and it felt so warm he thought he would melt.

Wolfram sighed when they parted, a sound that seemed to echo all around Yuuri like a rustling wind. It filled up the confused half-words he couldn't seem to say as Wolfram leaned heavily against his chest.

"I don't want to wake up," he whispered.

And then, in the space between one heartbeat and the next, he was gone.

Of course it had been a dream, Yuuri told himself for the thousandth time. It was a dream, because he had wanted to come back so badly. Well now he was really here and he didn't need to think about it anymore!

Wolfram certainly hadn't behaved the way he had in that (ridiculous, impossible) dream. He hadn't cried on Yuuri or kissed him, though for a moment Yuuri had been afraid he would do some of both. Wolfram had been Wolfram, taking out his emotions by yelling at Yuuri as he always did and Yuuri had never been so happy in his life to be throttled.

It was good to really be back! Yuuri felt like humming all the way up to the castle, with everyone sticking close at his sides as if he might disappear at any moment, or at least need grabbing out of an inconvenient body of water. He felt lightheaded with happiness, at least until he came up into the front courtyard.

"What are those?" Yuuri pointed to the circular flowerbed in front of them. All through it, in between the masses of brightly colored flowers, were small, black blossoms. Five velvety petals with tiny silvery hairs that caught the light. . .

"Ah, your Highness is so observant!" Gunter exclaimed as Yuuri approached for a better look. "Wolfram wanted those planted there," he added, with a small sigh that gave Yuuri the idea that he had gone to a lot of fuss to get his own way over it.

"It looks nice." The black flowers looked a lot more cheerful in between the brighter colors, not all by themselves.

"If I remember correctly, the name is: The Maoh's-"

"Yuuri's Gentle Hand," Yuuri interrupted, absentmindedly. He looked up, finding Gunter holding up one elegant finger in preparation to gently correct him, and Wolfram. . . Wolfram blushing and shaking like he had when he had first seen Yuuri appear again in the fountain. Yuuri froze, thinking this time Wolfram really was going to kiss him in front of everyone, or break down, and he didn't know which was going to be worse.

"Yuuri. . . ."

"Eh?" Yuuri tensed at the dangerous tone in Wolfram's voice. That was not what he expected.

"Why didn't you tell me it was really you!?"

"Well," Yuuri tried, waving his hands in front of himself, to placate Wolfram, "Um, well, you see, I just meant to. . ."

Wolfram took one step toward him, and Yuuri bolted back into the castle, leaving a crowd of confused retainers behind him and his angry fiancé hot on his heels.

It was good to be back, really.