Title: A Time of Peace

Authors: Chrissy Sky and Rose Thorne

Pairings/Characters: Break/Liam, Shelly, Sharon .

Rating: M.

Warnings: angsty fluff. Alternate universe. Boarding school.

Summary: Liam had accepted the fact that he would always watch from the sidelines. That's not what fate has in store for him, however.

A/N: Though this is AU, it is not modern, and the characters are still wearing Victorian-ish fashion. All teachers wear the Pandora uniform. All students wear the uniforms from Elliot, Leo, and Ada 's school.

Liam had thought his life perfectly ordinary, up until the day he and Headmistress Rainsworth's daughter found a strange man at the front gates of Pandora Gakuen. His clothes, once fine, were shredded and bloodied, most of the blood coming from his face. Sharon , not even old enough to be in school yet, had gone running back inside the main school building for help. Liam had stayed by the man's side, checking his pulse – still alive – and trying to staunch the wound.

One red eye fluttered open and looked right at him. "Crap," the man rasped before passing out again.

The man, Xerxes Break, recovered slowly. Despite the controversy of his mysterious arrival, Shelly Rainsworth insisted the young man remain at the school. Xerxes didn't seem to care about anything in those days, preferring to be alone, telling everyone to go away. Although Liam had been the one to initially treated his injury, the one time he dared touch him, when Break was making it bleed, the angry man pushed him so hard that he'd wound up sprawled on the floor with his glasses knocked off.

After a while, Liam became used to the cold treatment, and stopped hoping for it to change, stopped trying to get closer than he already was to the man he'd foolishly developed a crush on.

It was clear that, whatever had happened to Xerxes, Liam was not going to be the one who could help him through it, as much as he might want to be that one.

So one afternoon, as he served them tea, Shelly surprised Xerxes into laughter, and he couldn't help but feel jealous.

It wasn't necessarily his job to wait on them anyway. There were a few servants in the schools, maids that cleaned the rooms, and cooks that fixed their meals. But Shelly continued to ask Liam to serve Break.

"The staff is too frightened of him," she said. "You're ahead in your classes so you have some free time, right?"

"But he doesn't really like me," Liam confided, embarrassed, remembering all the times Xerxes had either completely ignored him or told him to go away. Even recently.

Shelly smiled. "Oh, I'm sure that's not true."

Liam didn't particularly believe her; Shelly often seemed all-knowing, but all the evidence in Xerxes Break's behavior pointed otherwise. He was far too polite to contradict the Headmistress, though.

So Liam just soldiered on, watching from a distance as the pale-haired man read in the gardens, or doted on Sharon. He even played with children who snuck over from the elementary school next to Pandora. They would sneak in through a hole at the bottom of the fence, searching for the mysterious "albino."

"Oz, I don't think he's that much like an albino," said the dark haired one. "He looks like a normal guy."

"Of course he's not normal, Gil!" argued the blond.

Xerxes chuckled and looked at them evilly. "Oh, I'm definitely not normal. I'm a terrifying monster! Rawr!"

Liam watched with a small, hidden smile as Xerxes would then chase the squealing children around the indoor garden. Xerxes was better with children than he pretended to be. It was just frustrating that the man seemed to like everyone but him. He treated nearly everyone with a warmth that was absent with Liam.

So he'd given up on ever being important to Xerxes and resigned himself to helping in any way he could. He couldn't help but be depressed about it.

When he brought Xerxes his tea one afternoon, almost a year after the man had been found at the front gate, Liam looked up to see him juggling three oranges. His cravat was slightly askew and his waistcoat had been long discarded in the afternoon heat.

Liam blinked. "I didn't know you could juggle," he said, then waited for Break to ignore or dismiss his comment

Instead, Xerxes smiled at him, the smile he usually devoted to Sharon and her mother, and laughed softly. "I haven't felt like doing it in awhile."

"You're… You're very good," Liam offered hesitantly, pushing his glasses up his nose. He hadn't expected to be addressed, let alone graced with affection, and it left him flustered.

"Thank you, Liam-san."

Liam hadn't even realized that Break knew his name. He took the exchange as permission to stay, and continued to watch, quietly amused, as Break pulled out a handmade doll to show him his ventriloquism, and ate enough pastries to make himself sick.

The teen didn't understand the change, but he was relieved that Xerxes seemed to at least want to be friends. He got the man back to his room and into bed, leaving him with some medicine for his stomachache before returning to the student dorms to finish his homework.

It was raining the next day when he went back to Xerxes' room. The maid handed him a towel for his hair and held onto his umbrella before he climbed up the staircase. The teachers' dormitory, located nearest to the main school building, looked the same as the student dormitories. Under normal circumstances, Liam wouldn't be allowed inside, but he had special permission from the headmistress. Just for Xerxes. It was no wonder people thought she was favoring the red eyed man, or that people believed they were lovers.

Liam, who spent a lot of time with them, knew that these rumors were far from the mark. Xerxes may adore little Sharon , but it wasn't because he was having an affair with Lady Shelly. He looked on the woman as a mother, and she treated him as a son. Sharon even called him "Xerx-nii." Maybe Liam was still just a child himself, but he would've noticed something; a casual touch that went on too long, a lingering smile. Something, anything. It wasn't sexual at all, and it wasn't denial spurred from his own feelings.

Walking up to the second floor, he knocked on the door before entering. There was a piece of paper on the door with Xerxes' name on it, done with crayon and glued-on sparkles – Sharon's artwork. It always made Liam smile just a little bit.

Inside the room, he found Xerxes out of bed, sitting by the window and watching the rain. His long, slender legs were pulled up to his chest in the comfortable chair. It struck Liam, not for the first time, just how skinny Xerxes was. The man could eat his weight in sweets and would seem to burn it off somehow. It still made Liam want to feed him even more, to help put on a healthier weight.

"Are you feeling better, Xerxes-san?" the teen asked, cautiously coming over. He was a little worried that the day before had been a fluke and now Xerxes would treat him as he always had.

But Xerxes offered a very small smile. "Yes. My eye just acts up when it rains."

Liam blinked. "It hurts?"

"Yes."

The teen nodded, relieved to be of use for something beyond tea service, and fixed a warm compress, pressing it to Xerxes' wounded eye. The bandages had long been replaced with an eye patch. Instead of an albino, the kids from the elementary school were calling Xerxes a pirate. He seemed to like that better.

The pale man's smile grew. "Mm, thank you, Liam-kun. This helps."

Liam had to look away, feeling flustered. He did wonder how Xerxes had lost the eye, but to his knowledge not even the Headmistress knew what happened. Thinking about the quiet, brooding person Xerxes Break had been made his heart ache. Although that smile generally wasn't for him, he liked it much better now that the older man was smiling.

Even if lately he had been acting a little clownish.

The next day, Liam could hardly get out of bed. Shaky, dizzy, he rose only once to alert a maid he would not be attending classes. She had blushed and averted her eyes – he hadn't even felt like grabbing a dressing gown to put over his pajamas, which was certainly inappropriate – then promised to bring him some fresh water. Liam returned to his bed, never more thankful that he didn't have a roommate as he fell back to sleep.

He was woken a little while later by a cool hand on his forehead. When he forced his eyes open, Liam was startled to see Break standing over him.

"You didn't get sick taking care of me, did you?" the man asked softly.

Liam offered a tolerant, tired smile. "Just not feeling well."

"Well, then I'll just have to take care of you for a change."

He shook his head. "I'm alright. You don't need to worry over me."

"Of course I do," said the man. "I have very few friends left, after all. I'm not losing anyone else." He frowned a little, as if the admission bothered him.

Liam was surprised by it also, but too tired then to think too much about what the confession meant. "I'm just a little under the weather. Nothing that serious."

Xerxes' smile returned and he pressed a finger to the teen's lips. "No arguing!"

Liam flushed at the touch and flinched away. He flinched again as cool fingers stroked his cheek, turning his face away. "I probably just need to rest, Xerxes-san," he said, almost pleading. Couldn't Break just let him sleep?

"Liam-san," Xerxes spoke firmly.

Liam continued weakly, babbling, not sure what that firm tone could mean, uncertain about the shift in Break's behavior toward him. "I likely have a fever, and that means my body is fighting it off. Rest and fluids, and I'll be fine tomorrow."

Then those fingers on his cheek turned his face back and Xerxes' lips were pressed against his, quieting him.

Break smiled, giving him a smaller peck after that first one. "Tea or juice?" he asked, as though the kiss had been perfectly normal.

The incoherent noise he made was supposed to be "water," but what he really wanted to do was demand what was happening. Xerxes obliged him with a glass of water and after he took a few sips, Liam managed to ask, "W-why did you do that?"

"I've wanted to for a while," Xerxes said with no inflection in his voice. His red eye focused on Liam's face, not looking away, and the absurd eye patch was half hidden by pale fringe. He seemed almost… nervous.

Liam stared, made speechless. Xerxes got him to drink more water while he couldn't respond, and the teen began to think he was doing it on purpose. "But you didn't even like me before..."

Xerxes shook his head, smiling awkwardly. "How I behaved when I first came here had nothing to do with you."

"No, even after. You never wanted me around."

Xerxes fingered his pajamas and for a moment Liam stared at the pale digits, suddenly very aware that he was quite underdressed. "It's been very hard to grow close to people again. Friends are one thing, but someone that I'm attracted to – someone considerably younger than me, that's something else."

Liam's blush renewed. "I... I thought you hated me."

The man seemed honestly surprised. "No. I never hated you, Liam-san. Lately I've been concerned, since you seemed so withdrawn and depressed than when I first arrived. I decided to try to cheer you up. It's helped me get over my insecurities, I suppose, thinking about your welfare rather than my fears."

"I guess I finally managed to do something useful," Liam rasped, managing a little smile.

This got him another startling kiss. "You've never been useless. You have always been nearby, even when I really did not want someone there."

Liam shivered, partly from the kiss and partly because he really was sick. He really wished he weren't. He wanted to enjoy whatever this was while it lasted. He didn't think it would – in fact, he was rather suspicious that it was a fever-dream rather than anything real. If that was the case, he hoped he didn't wake for a while.

Xerxes felt his forehead again. "Yes, definitely a fever. I believe chicken soup is also good for these things."

He nodded, still trying to process what was happening, feeling dizzy because of more than just his cold.

Xerxes took care of him the rest of that day, which was an interesting change, and Liam enjoyed it far more than he probably should have. He felt better the next day, and got up to find that Xerxes had caught his cold while taking care of him. When he got there, Shelly was standing over him, scolding the man for being irresponsible and not a good caregiver to "young Liam."

Liam flushed and hurried onto his first class.

Despite Liam's initial doubt, Xerxes continued to pursue him with obvious intents of a romantic relationship, never doing too much for Liam to handle at once, never pushing too hard. The man did not try anything beyond an occasional kiss and eating lunch together. When they finally got to hand-holding, it felt particularly racy, not to mention awkward. Xerxes' hands seemed to sweat terribly, and he would politely pull away to wipe off on his pant leg. Somehow, Liam didn't mind it so much, though it obviously embarrassed the older man.

The pace made Liam uncertain, as did the awkwardness, and he wondered if Xerxes would change his mind. It took him a few weeks to realize Xerxes was only concerned about his age, and only because it came up in conversation.

They were having tea with the Headmistress and her daughter when Shelly suddenly asked, "Xerxes-san, what are your intentions toward Liam-kun?"

Xerxes didn't seem as bothered by the question as Liam was; he hadn't been aware that their pseudo-courtship was known to anyone. "I'm going to ask him to marry me when he graduates. Wasn't that obvious?"

Liam started, spilling his tea on the lacy table cloth. "W-w-what? When were you going to talk to me about this?"

"Hm, I could've sworn I did." Xerxes pulled out Emily and choked the small doll's throat. "Emily, this is your fault!"

Sharon , sitting on his knee, giggled. "Xerx-nii is so silly."

Liam was bright red with embarrassment, and Xerxes assuring him (and everyone in hearing distance) that he wasn't lying didn't help much. He saved his reply for when they were alone.

"I'm fourteen," he protested weakly. "You can't possibly be willing to wait three years for me!"

Xerxes smiled fondly and fed him a chocolate, his fingers brushing his lips in a motion that was shockingly sensual. "Why not? Liam-san, you worry too much."

Flushed, Liam nipped his fingers. Perhaps it was petulant, but Xerxes sometimes inspired those feelings.

Neither the state nor the church recognized their union, but they had a little ceremony the day after Liam graduated. There were even more rumors afterwards, but at least any tales of illicit affairs between the one eyed man and a student were closer to the truth. (They managed to wait until Liam was sixteen, and the first time had been more fumbling than sex.)

Shelly Rainsworth presided over the small event, and they only invited friends, as neither had any family to speak of. Being recognized by them was just as meaningful as having the law do so, and it would become one of Liam's most cherished memories. (Even if Xerxes had gotten Oz and Gil drunk. The three of them had played pirates one last time, much to Liam's disapproval. Upon the two boys coming to Pandora when they were old enough, they and Xerxes had driven one another mad by turns. Oz Vessarius and Gilbert Nightray were among the few students who weren't afraid of the man.)

They stayed at the school, since neither had any other place they wanted to go, even after their honeymoon spent visiting areas outside their fair city. Once Glen Baskerville approved, Xerxes became an instructor and Liam began work in the library. They shared a small suite of rooms in the teacher's dormitory and were very happy. Even if Xerxes often stole his coat, replacing it with his own – which was too small for Liam to wear in public, as it could not be buttoned and revealed far too much of his vest for Liam's comfort (although he did know that it was a popular style, he found it ridiculous and unprofessional) – and took candy from his desk.

Lily giggled at the end of the story. She sat perched on one end of Liam's desk, taking a few of "Xerxes' sweets" for herself. She always came to visit Liam when she sneaked over from the elementary school, Sablier Gakuen, though Liam couldn't really understand why. Certainly there were more entertaining places to go in Pandora.

Not for him, of course. Liam loved the library, with its tall ceilings, windows above the bookshelves to let in light during the day. Every wall in the two-story building was filled with books, ranging on every subject from classic to contemporary. The smell of old paper permeated the air. It was Liam's domain, and it was an orderly, quiet place. He was very proud of his work and enjoyed it very much.

Lily seemed to have a curiosity for the books, and he often found her in a corner with one or several of them – at least when she wasn't pestering him at his desk. She wore the blue uniform dress of the elementary school, with the bell skirt going down to her ankles, trimmed in white. Her warm-colored hair was cut into a short bob that framed her face.

Liam smiled fondly. "Was it entertaining?"

She'd begged and pleaded until he told her the story of how he and Xerxes met. Leaving out the intimate details, but not the more colorful ones, he'd rarely felt so comfortable talking about the past. Lily had a way of lowering his guard.

She nodded vigorously, nearly getting her short hair stuck to the lollipop she was sucking on.

"You should probably get back to Sablier," Liam remarked, and he helped her off the desk.

"Aw!" she complained. "Do I have to?"

"Yes. If you don't get good grades, you won't graduate, then you can't come to school here."

Liam held her small hand, guiding her to the entrance. Outside, it was a perfectly warm, sunny day - where a girl like Lily really belonged.

Lily continued to pout. "Alright," she complied and walked off in the direction of the elementary school.

Liam stood by the doorway to watch her disappear behind a hedge, crawling under a hole. It was different than the one that kids used to use. No matter how good Doug, the groundskeeper, was at his job, children would still be children.

His mind wandered for a moment, remembering again. He had been working as the Librarian for nearly eleven years now. Xerxes seemed happy in his post as well. He was in charge of physical education, and the students seemed to enjoy his lazy approach to this, except in regards to his fencing course. The man was very skillful with a sword, something that most people didn't expect from him. While Liam had been a student, Xerxes had given the former instructor a run for his money on many occasions. His peers would often place bets on their duels, secretly, and Liam suspected some of the adults had too. That was, perhaps, the reason no one had been surprised when Glen Baskerville had allowed him to take over.

Returning to his desk, Liam nearly jumped out of his skin as he saw Xerxes sitting there. He had his feet propped up on the desktop and he was taking candy from a small jar. It had a note stating 'Do not eat – This means you, Xerxes!' but the man always ignored it.

"Hey, sweetie!"

Liam frowned. "Can't you come through the door like a normal person?" The door was the only entrance, and he hadn't seen his lover come in.

Xerxes smiled, almost indulgently. "As I've said on many occasions, I'm not normal."

"That excuse is getting old." Liam relaxed and sat on a clean space left on his desk, taking the jar away absently. "Don't you have a class right now?"

"I have them running the track," Xerxes said, popping another candy into his mouth. "You and that girl seem to get along really well."

"How do you know they'll keep running?" Liam asked, ignoring the remark.

"If they didn't stop, I'd be disappointed in them." Xerxes returned to the subject stubbornly, red eye glinting with amusement. "Do you want a little girl like Lily-chan?"

Liam rolled his eyes. "We can't have children, Break." He hoped using the man's surname would get him to drop the issue.

It didn't work. "Yes, yes, I could possibly be a dangerous criminal, we're both men. Whatever. Do you want one anyway?"

Sighing, the librarian reached out, brushing nearly white hair away from his lover's face. The tendrils seemed to always be getting in the way, in no small part because Break styled his hair to hide even the eye patch.

"And have you traumatize them with Emily? I don't think so," he replied, carefully sidestepping the question – he had learned from the best, after all.

Whether he did or didn't wasn't the issue. He didn't want Xerxes to feel guilty about something neither of them could help (their gender or Xerxes' past).

Xerxes pretended to pout. "Eh? But children love Emily!"

Liam rolled his eyes, pleased he'd been successful in his diversion. "No one does. One day, Sharon-sama's going to steal it and use it as a washrag."

"Nonsense. Sharon would give it to the maids to use as a washrag."

He laughed at that, just a little. They were both very fond of little Sharon, who was now a teenager attending Pandora Gakuen. She wasn't a snobbish girl, but he hadn't seen her clean except on times when it was her turn to clean a classroom. Even then, she was so popular that the boys would offer to do it for her.

"Oz-kun and Gil-kun are coming back," Xerxes said, out of the blue.

Liam blinked, focusing back on his lover. "What? Why?"

Oz and Gilbert had graduated almost seven years ago. Gil had managed to skip a grade and graduate the same year as his best friend, the two never wanting to be apart. The young Nightray wrote occasionally; he and Oz were apparently using their family names and money for various noble causes, like building parks and giving orphaned children homes. They hadn't come back to Reveil, the capitol and location of Pandora, in a long time.

"It seems they're tired of wandering and of their families – mostly Jack Vessalius – nagging them to find jobs. Lady Rainsworth has offered them positions at the school."

"Huh." They wouldn't be the youngest teachers. At age twenty-two, Charlotte Baskerville would still be the youngest. Though her uncle was the current school governor, it was not just her name that had gotten her the job. She was a genius with chemicals, lotions, and – some suspected – even poisons. "I can't imagine them teaching. For what positions?"

Xerxes shrugged. "I'm not sure. Shelly-sama said she wanted us to be surprised."

Liam raised an eyebrow. "That can't be good."

The older man giggled. "I suspect not." Suddenly, Xerxes leaned in and wiggled his eyebrows. "Let's go into your office."

"Xerxes, not during working hours! – Let me go! Put me down! Xerxes!"

All in all, it was a normal afternoon in their unusual lives. He hoped things would remain just as peaceful in the future.

End of first installment.