A/N: This is the first in a series of short stories I am writing for my adopted Imouto-Chan, AuroraExecution. Yeah, it's weird starting with Libra, but I'm taking it as the birthdays come. Today is Dohko's birthday, and this is his fic. Enjoy!
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Sleep. If there was one thing Dohko of Libra enjoyed, it was getting his full night's worth of rest before he got up again to endure more of his grueling training. He may have only been six-years-old-or rather, seven now, as it was well past the midnight hour and therefor his birthday-but he still understood that a decent amount of sleep eased the aches in his bones and not only made training easier, it made his lessons more bearable.
Dohko threw himself down onto his mattress and pulled his single blanket over his body. He brushed his auburn hair off his face and positioned himself comfortably. His green eyes slipped shut. Within seconds he was asleep.
"Dohko...are you awake?", a half-whispered voice pulled him from his sleep what felt like seconds after he drifted off. Dohko groaned and flipped onto his stomach, pulling his blanket over his head.
"Dohko...", the voice grew louder, more urgent.
Dohko tossed back his blanket, startling the person in the room with him. He or she dropped their candle, engulfing the room in darkness. Dohko sighed.
Feeling almost unbearable pain as his muscles protested, the little boy climbed off his mattress and lit a candle, trying to see who was in his temple. His first thought was it was the Pisces Saint, Neoma, was passing through. She had a habit of staying back and always turned into bed late-well, later than everyone else. Closer inspection revealed not Neoma, or even the other female saint, Nimue. No. This person's mask-less face indicated that he was male. A young male, around Dohko's own age, with wild pale-green tresses and mischief-filled violet eyes.
Dohko groaned. Shion of Aries, who had a major tendency to cause trouble, stood in his temple. Shion had taken a liking to Dohko for reasons the Libra Saint did not understand. All he knew at that moment was he wanted sleep and he wanted Shion to leave. Not one to be rude, but also not someone who pretended he was happy to see someone when he wished they would leave him alone, he asked "What do you want, Shion?"
The slightly older boy grinned at Dohko through the dim candle light. "Well, it's your birthday. I wanted to show you something."
"And this couldn't wait until morning?", Dohko asked.
"No. You have to see this at night...", Shion replied.
Dohko sighed again, but decided to humor Shion. He'd go see whatever it was, shake him off, and get some sleep. "Show me."
Shion picked his candle up off the floor and re-lit it using Dohko's. "Come. You'll like this", he said eagerly.
Dohko did not share Shion's enthusiasm as he picked up his blanket and slung it around his shoulders to keep warm.
Shion, dressed in a long-sleeved gray tunic that he had paired with matching leggings and a cloak, led the way out of Libra temple...out of the other temples...down the steps leading out of Aries temple...outside the Sanctuary...
"Shion...where are we going?", Dohko asked.
"How good are your teleportation skills?", Shion asked, ignoring the question.
"Ummm...not good?", Dohko asked-replied, his heart hammering. This was crazy-of course Shion had breaking the rules in mind.
"Good thing mine are-take my hand."
"Shion, this is crazy. We'll get in trouble.", Dohko protested.
The green-haired boy smiled broadly, showing off his missing baby teeth. "It's OK. I've done this nightly and have never been caught."
"That doesn't make it OK".
"It'll be alright, I promise." Shion held out his hand to Dohko.
The auburn-haired boy eyed the pale, chubby hand warily. His green eyes locked into the violet eyes of Shion. They looked so eager Dohko felt sorry for him.
"Alright", he said, grabbing Shion's hand. "A quick look. Then we come back."
"You got it"
With those words they were off. Dohko hated the feeling of teleporting, the main reason he wasn't that skilled at it. To him it felt like someone pulled his stomach out so it could be left behind on his travels. If teleportation bothered Shion, he didn't show it. Not that the feeling lasted long-about 25 seconds, tops-but it seemed a lot longer when you hated it.
The boys slammed against the ground with a thud that knocked the wind out of Dohko. Shion pulled himself to his feet and extended his hand to Dohko to pull him up. The auburn-haired boy took ahold of it and allowed the green-haired boy to tug him to his feet. His eyes shot open as he took in the surroundings.
"Shion, where are we?", he breathed.
The green-haired boy shrugged. "I don't know...I actually found this place by accident. I knew you'd like it, so I worked on finding it again until I could get here and back with no problems."
That explained why Shion had been appearing tired in classes the past few days...Dohko bit his lip feeling guilty because he'd always wanted nothing to do with Shion.
"Well, don't just stand there like a stuck pig. Let's get moving", Shion called, snapping Dohko out of his daze.
"Ah...right...", Dohko stammered, rushing to catch up with the green-haired boy.
Pink and purple flowers and lush green plants surrounded the area. He understood now wht Shion wanted to take him at night-the area had a fantasy-like quality.
"Hurry up, slow-poke. We haven't gotten to the good part yet."
"Shion, there's no need to run!", Dohko protested, hurrying after legs that begged him to stop the movement.
"If you want to get any sleep tonight you must hurry along."
Dohko's legs continued to scream at him to stop as he quickened his pace after the other boy.
"Shion", he called when the other boy slipped out of view.
"Here", Shion called back. "I'm up here!"
Dohko sighed and followed Shion's voice. He found himself ontop of a cliff. "Woah..."
"Impressive, huh?", Shion asked, stepping beside Dohko.
Dohko nodded, unable to speak. His green eyes wandered over the spread before him. They were standing over a magnificent waterfall that rushed into a lake deep below them. The moonlight made the surface appear to glitter.
Dohko closed his eyes, thinking he could let the sounds of the waterfall lull him to sleep.
"Dohko...take my hand again."
"Hang on...", Dohko said, not quite ready to leave the waterfall and all its lush surroundings behind.
"We can come back, I know how to get here. Come on, I want to show you something else."
"Hey, who's birthday is this anyway?", Dohko asked.
Shion laughed, his eyes twinkling at Dohko. "Yours, but if you stay here looking at the waterfall, you'll regret not seeing what's inside."
"Inside?", Dohko asked.
"Well...since you want to admire the waterfall..."
Dohko grabbed Shion's hand eagerly. He didn't even mind the feeling of teleporting this time.
It took his eyes a few moments to adjust to the darkness, but once they did, he could not believe what they were seeing.
They were inside a little cave behind behind the waterfall-a cave filled with all sorts of glistening rocks. He didn't even realize he was holding his breath until the need to breathe kicked in and his lungs started to burn. He released his breath and gazed around wild-eyed.
"Shion-this is amazing!", he managed to get out.
Shion mearly smiled. Maybe it was the lighting, but Shion no longer looked wild and crazy to Dohko. He no longer looked like a delinquent. His eyes looked kind, his features gentle.
Shion genuinely cared about him, Dohko realized. He wondered how long the other boy had been planning this, how long he'd waiting for the chance to extend his friendshp to him.
Tears filled Dohko's eyes and he realized he was crying. He who never cried, not even when he was in pain, was shedding tears.
"Dohko?", Shion whispered, stepping towards him. "What's the matter?"
Dohko shook his head. "Nothing", he whispered."Nothing's the matter."
Shion looked unconvinced, but did not press the issue any more. "I went in here once" his pale hand guestured around the expanse of the cave. "There were some interesting things. You're not afraid of bats, are you?"
"Bats?", Dohko questioned, forgetting his tears as a wave of panic took him. "There are bats in here?"
"It's possible...I encountered a few here last time..." Shion frowned as though showing his dislike for bats.
"I don't really like bats...", Dohko replied.
"Ah, well. It's time to go back anyway." Shion looked a little disappointed. He quickly brightened and held his hand out to Dohko. "We'll come back...I mean, if you want to..."
Dohko took hold of Shion's hand. "I look forward to it", he replied.
Shion squeezed his hand a bit and teleported them away. Dohko experienced the same feeling of leaving his stomach behind, the same feeling of getting the wind knocked out of him as they hit the ground, but this time, no interesting scenery awaited him.
They stood just outside the enterance to Aries Temple-because no one, not even the temple owner, could teleport directly into a temple-noth of them shivering and cold. Shion's pale cheeks where flushed from cold, Dohko thought he'd never regain feeling in his fingers. He was also extremely tired. He yawned.
Shion grinned at him. "Stay the night?", he asked.
Dohko nodded, too tired to think of a reason not to.
Shion gave him a change of clothes, even though his clothes where too small for Dohko, and changed himself. The two little boys fell side-by-side on Shion's mattress.
For a few minutes, Dohko was able to forget they were Saints. Being with Shion, he felt as though they were normal little boys.
"So, did you have a good time?", Shion asked.
"Yeah", Dohko murmured truthfully.
"I'm glad", Shion replied.
Dohko stretched out a bit and closed his eyes. "Thank you."
"For what?", Shion asked. Dohko felt his body shift, as though he were sitting up in bed.
"Being my friend", he replied.
Shion was quiet for a moment and Dohko felt his weight shift again as he lay back down. "You're welcome."
Dohko drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face. He may have been very young, but he knew this birthday was not one he'd soon forget.