The Lady and the Lizard

Chapter 1

They sat together on a cliff overlooking the sea.

"Do you love her?"

Shun looked at him, then out at the water. "W-We're not supposed to think about things like that. We've got a world to protect. Our first duty is to Sainthood."

"Shun, don't be foolish." The admonition wasn't unkind in tone. In it he could hear some of the old Ikki. "Remember what I was, wanting to close myself off from such things? And you have to remember that I was in a similar situation, once."

"I know. And it would be...nice for her to know that I've finally found my brother."

"Heh."

For several days the two of them had been trading their stories of death and pain, after Shun had slowly come to understand that they had no place to go. Hyouga had his home in Siberia, Seiya and Seika could live in Japan, Shiryu had Rozan, but them? They were Japanese, too, but Shun didn't feel any need to go back there.

Ikki had given no opinion either way, and so they both had remained in Sanctuary; there were already many Saints living there, but room for more. And with Athens close by, there was enough to satisfy anyone who wanted to take toys from the modern world, or just to taste it for a while.

But he wanted her here. He wanted to talk to her. "The truth is that I'm not really sure."

"Well, when you are sure, believe that you've earned it. You fought for Athena and justice, and were never lead astray. You are free, and she wants you to live a normal life."

"I understand that."

"Are you afraid to lose me? That if you leave I will be gone again?"

Shun couldn't laugh. The thought made him feel terrible. "Maybe a bit."

"Hm. You say that June lacked faith in you?"

"Athena said that she did," Shun corrected him.

"Then how many times will you face a challenge, conquer it, then go back to believing that you're Crybaby Shun still?"

Shun winced.

"Go," Ikki said, soft but intense. "Trust yourself. Others already do."

"Thank you, Big Brother."

"Heh. Thank yourself, Andromeda Saint. The one who lived where ninety others died."

Shun smiled at him, though knew it was morbid to do so.

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After the battle with Poseidon, Shun had fought the urge to ask for an audience with Athena, thinking that it would have been far too selfish to ask while she was recovering from such an ordeal. But when Athena had made the request herself, he had gone easily enough.

Shun had spoken with Athena as she lay on the great stone bed in the Pope's chambers. She had told him where June had gone, and gave him permission to seek her out when the time was right.

Now she had lent him a motorboat for two, and then one of the household servants from her other life, had shown him how to use it. Athena had pointed out that because of their divine lightness, not even two Cloth boxes would send the boat to the bottom of the ocean, and certainly not one Cloth box and a collection of supplies. She had added that June had joined the final battle in spirit, meaning that she was still alive.

The pulse of energy had drawn him east, to the Dahlak Archipelago which held Andromeda Island. Shun sent out his own Cosmo in return, and while she didn't respond, June didn't seem to be fleeing.

There was fear. He could mess everything up...no, he had to remember what Ikki had said. What he, himself, had done.

June's Cosmo was not on Andromeda Island, but being near his training grounds made it easy to slip into memory, to feel not nostalgic but sad. Without Master Daidalos, the loner, there was no one in operation on the island, making it just another of the many nameless islands.

When June had rescued him for the first time, Shun had asked, "Did he raise you?" It was impudent, he knew, and he'd apologized immediately, but she hadn't seemed concerned

"I was told that I came from a family still loyal to the gods of Greece. There are people like that all over the world, even if they pretend to support someone else, and sometimes they give their children to Sainthood. But they take us early, so we can begin training right away. There wouldn't have been much of a future for me anyway."

"Oh."

"I-I was surprised to see another female Saint without a mask. It was only after hearing your voice that I knew you were a boy."

Shun hadn't been able to help a twist of his mouth. "That happens to me a lot."

"Well, then...just say that we've got similar problems."

That had made Shun sit up, just before he'd winced from the resulting pain. "Huh?"

She had touched the mask upon her face. "Wearing this means that I'm no longer a girl. I've got a girl's body and a girl's voice, but I am a Saint. I must forget the spirit of womanhood."

Shun had turned to her, gripping the mattress and leaning over the edge of the bed to look more closely, before drawing back, apologizing again. "Are you ever allowed to take it off?"

"Only in private." She wasn't allowed to eat with him and the Master, separated in her room instead of in the main one. "But I can see through it and breathing isn't any trouble, so I barely need to take it off."

That had puzzled him, for how could the blank metal eyes see anything? "I-I didn't know. Mitsumasa Kido brought just boys to the Grande Foundation."

Her hands had clenched in her lap. "I hope that I meet Master Daidalos' expectations."

Because there is nowhere else to go? But the thought had disappeared as soon as it came. Thinking of an alternative to Sainthood was like thinking about a life born with wings.

Suddenly she had straightened up in her chair. "Do you know the rule?"

"What rule?"

"If a man sees a female Saint's face, she must either kill him, or fall in love with him. She has to do this, to silence the secret, or to embrace the womanhood which she's let free. To her, showing her face should be more shameful than showing her body."

But what if it happens again? he had wanted to ask. Or multiple men at the same time? It had seemed strange to him at first. The choice to kill seemed too much like a Saint killing for personal gain, which he'd been told was forbidden, and it would deprive Athena of a warrior either way. And to love a man she really did not, but did not want to kill? What if someone wicked removed her mask on purpose?

He wouldn't bother June with all those questions, though had thought, If a boy who looks like a girl can be allowed, why not just a girl?

But now he was at his true destination for today. Killing the motor, Shun closed his eyes and concentrated, delicately probing the rocks with his extra senses. Her Cosmo was still open and near. He swallowed, drew in a breath slowly, and opened his eyes again.

Strapping the Cloth box to his shoulders and tying the supply bag around his waist, Shun set off for the cliffs, climbing easily as a mountain goat, stopping every few seconds to check the familiar pulse in the air. He knew this was more out of paranoia than real need, but continued regardless.

It was still hours before he found her, though she hadn't been running, in fact stood waiting in the middle of nowhere. She wore her non-Cloth outfit, which she'd seen him off in. Her hair and sash whipped in the hot wind, the blonde locks almost obscuring her face. Of course her mask was back.

Shun straightened up, watching her closely. He almost expected to be jumped on and clutched, but she kept still.

Shun walked as close as he dared. "June, I..."

"You're alive." She took one step forward, throwing up a little puff of sand.

"I didn't come to ask you to stop. I just wanted to see you again. Sa--Athena gave me permission to come here. She told me where you were, why you left. And I can understand that, I can sympathize, even. But I just wanted to see you again."

"I'm sorry for not having faith in you."

Shun smiled. "It's fine. I needed to learn the same thing. To have faith in myself, I mean. And whatever you want to do here, you can." He dared to reach over and touch her shoulder. "You're a good Saint, June. You wouldn't have made it otherwise."

"Shun, I, I--"

"It's all right. I know."

"That I love you."

"I remember all the rules. I told myself that I shouldn't think about things like that, but I miss you, and now that I have another place to go, I want you to come with me when you're ready."

He took two steps forward and hugged her tightly.

But she gripped his upper arms and gently pushed him away. "What happened to you? Did you find your brother?"

"Oh, um, sorry. There's a lot of things that have happened, but I did find my brother. I want to tell you everything, if you're interested in listening."

"I am. But maybe not here."

"Wherever you like. I don't want to pressure you into coming back." No, he didn't need to repeat that. He'd just told her his feelings on the matter.

As they walked, he noticed that her body was covered with small bruises and scars, and there were stitched tears in the leather, bathing suit-like outfit that she wore. "But what've you been doing?"

"I spent some time on Andromeda Island in our cottage, trying to remember when I hadn't disappointed Master Daidalos, and if there had been any times when I was strong. I have sworn not to wear my Cloth again until I think that I am worthy, and left it where it used to be kept.

"I use the rowboat to get from island to island, but sometimes I try to just swim. Besides meditating, I've tried to get my body go farther than it's ever been, to show myself that I can control my pain, my needs." She stopped, grabbed his shoulder and shook it. "Rites of passage have to hurt, Shun. They have to tear you down and make you into a new person. It's the same thing as when I put on my mask for the first time. It seared--not literally, it wasn't hot or just-forged, but somehow it bonded to my skin, and it hurt."

"Yes," was all he could think of to say. How could he disagree?

"I know that you avenged Master Daidalos."

"It's another one of my stories. I still don't like to fight, June, but I need to hold my own, and not be a burden on my brothers."

"Brothers?"

"Well, half-brothers. Heh. Ikki was the first one who knew; Mitsumasa Kido was the father of all of us."

June stopped, gasped, and Shun was surprised to see her actually put a hand to her face. But, "Who else survived? I knew there were other Bronzes, but nothing else."

He named them, both his closest brothers and the other five. He barely realized that he was walking along the edge of the island instead of going straight down to the boat as he planned, as he was telling her about Ikki's betrayal and redemption, the enemies they had fought, those whom Shun had defeated on his own and with the help of others.

But there was another part of the story. The thought of telling her, though, made him want to pause, to gloss it over or leave that detail out.

"Shun?"

He couldn't do that. "Do you remember my mother's necklace?"

After that he showed her the divine Andromeda Cloth, but did not put it on, merely let the walls of the box collapse, leaving the figure resting on its platform. It had shone almost terribly bright in the midday sun, but somehow felt good to look at.

When they went down onto the boat, she politely refused to take any of his food or water. "I need to find my own. We both know how to survive on these islands, and more difficulty helps make my heart stronger."

Shun nodded. "But about that: I've been thinking on it, too, and I know that that kind of love is different, but I do love my brothers and that doesn't make me weak. It makes me stronger, so that I have something to fight for, to help me overcome my reluctance. My weakness. Couldn't this kind of love serve the same purpose?"

June was looking out over the water. "That kind of love overwhelms the senses, and it makes things unclear. It takes you over in the way that none other can. At least that's what I guess, and Athena seemed to agree with me."

"It...might be true."

"But it's part of the rule, Shun. You fall in love with the man, and it means you're a woman again. No longer a Saint. In the early days they were always stripped of their Sainthood for that, but now sometimes they leave it to the female Saints themselves to sort it out, because there is a chance that Athena won't lose a warrior."

"I know. But Athena has lived for thirteen years as a mortal girl. She's having to get used to things, just like us, and sympathy and human feeling are part of her power. If Athena loves this world, she probably would allow her Saints to fall in love and stay Saints." He was likely blushing right now, but there was no way to check. He should be thinking of how presumptions he was being, how he wasn't exactly sure about June yet, but those ideas seemed difficult to remember.

"Then if we are both weak, maybe we could give each other strength."

"What?" Now he was definitely blushing, and his heart was beating faster, too. "Um. But we also don't know anything about things like this. I want to learn, but to tell you the truth, it scares me a little, too."

"When I think I should, I will come back. I want to learn with you."

"But you can't...you're not allowed in the outside world." It was true. Though those sympathetic to Athena existed everywhere, and the Saints weren't exactly hidden, what with events like the Galaxian Wars, still it was frowned on to bring civilian attention to Sainthood, and a girl walking about in a metal mask certainly would qualify, and her going unmasked wasn't possible.

"Does this mean that you don't want to try?"

"I just said that I wasn't sure. But not enough to stop. I think that I do. I'm in Sanctuary." Yes. It would take a while for the feelings to solidify, but they were beginning to. "But we have to remember the danger in it." He thought of Lyra Orphée, but Eurydice was not a Saint. "I wish...I wish for a lot of things. I wish that I could make a choice without pain, but if I have to choose between Sainthood and love, I'd chose Sainthood."

"As we all should," June said, quietly. "But if she lets us, I'm hoping that we can keep this...if you want to."

"I think that we could."

She didn't say anything for a few heartbeats, then gently took his wrists in her hands, slowly pulled them towards her face, and placed his hands on either side of her mask. The metal was oddly cool on his hands, despite the hot air. Shun swallowed, then tightened his grip just a bit and gently pulled her mask off. A strange feeling was sent down his fingers as it happened, some physical resistance whose source he couldn't see.

June bowed her head a little, eyes closed, then lifted it slowly, opening her wide blue eyes. They were oddly innocent-looking, a contrast to her strong, muscular body, but all of it was June, and that was the most important thing.

They kissed, just once delicately on the lips. Shun looked at her, shyly. It wasn't as awkward as he'd thought. June reached between them took her mask back from his slack fingers, and with no strings or other support, it reattached to her face, leaving it empty once more.

Not at all muffled by the metal, her voice came through. "Someday."

The boat rocked as June plunged into the water. Shun twisted to the side of the boat, gripping the rail, watching as she began to swim away. Perhaps it was another of her endurance tests, to tear herself away so fast. Another way to hurt and improve herself, body and mind both. Until she was ready.

Eyes misting, he fished the ignition key out of his jeans pocket and restarted the motor. For one moment regrets threatened to choke him--he should have invited her back to Sanctuary, at least to see Ikki!--but he swallowed them. He'd done everything he could, and now needed to wait.