A/N: Here's part two of three in my installment. Let us see what happens next, as Athena's Christmas party looms ever nearer...kukukukuku...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- -- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"The looks on their faces when I showed up was priceless!", Aiolia told Aiolos as the three headed to the market. "And of course, Deathmask learned not to kick girls that day..."

"Well, I did walk right into the middle of their "golden round"...", Lithos said. She was blushing. The silly things that happened nine years ago where not the things she expected to talk about.

"Woah...", Aiolos gasped, in a tone that suggested he hadn't really been paying attention to what Aiolia was saying. "That is a tall girl..."

"That's a girl?", Lithos asked, following Aiolos's gaze. The "girl" was at least six foot four, taller even than Aiolia, with broad shoulders.

"Yeah, I saw her face. That's a girl."

"Funny, Lithos", Aiolia said. "I seem to remember saying the same thing about you."

"You thought Lithos was a man?", Aiolos asked.

"She was a little girl, and wearing boys' clothes...", Aiolia replied.

"Galan knew I was a girl..."

"Galan was special..."

A silence fell on them. They both missed Galan, Aiolia realized. Lithos broke the silence with a snort.

"Do I LOOK like a man to you?", she demanded.

"Well, I've never seen a man as short and skinny as you are, so I will have to say no."

"Now, Children. Behave, or I will be forced to buy packing tape and gag you", Aiolos teased.

"We are older than you!", Aiolia reminded him.

"But I'm being more mature...Oh! I haven't seen one of those in forever..."

Aiolia saw the wooden model airplane Aiolos was looking at and sighed as his brother hurried into the shop to inspect the toy closer.

"So how old's your brother?", Lithos asked.

"Sixteen", Aiolia replied. He left out the part where Aiolos had been dead for thirteen years and had been revived with the rest of them after the battle with Hades. There were some things Lithos didn't need to know.

They walked into the shop after Aiolos so they could pull him away from the toys.

"This is the worst stalker song ever", Aiolos commented as they got closer. "I wish I could be a fly on your wall, I'm in your window...if I was invisible, I'd follow you all night long... Seriously. People find this romantic? If I was a girl and someone sang that to me, I'd file a restraining order."

Aiolia and Lithos laughed.

"Come on. We can look at toys later. We have to get food first," Aiolia told Aiolos.

Aiolos put down the toy and followed his brother out of the store. Lithos caught up a few moments later, a small brown bag tucked under her poncho. Aiolia had the suspicion she had bought the toy for his brother and found himself wondering if Marin would buy him useless toys if he found one he liked.

He really needed to talk to her...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- -- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Marin, what's wrong!?", Ophichius Shaina asked, her green eyes wide with alarm.

Marin was sobbing hysterically, barely able to catch even a breath. Shaina had never seen Marin cry before-ever. The green-haired girl walked over to her friend and wrapped her arms around the redhead's shoulders, trying to soothe her. Marin finally got herself calmed down enough to look Shaina in the eyes.

"A-Aiolia...he has a girlfriend...", she choked out.

Shaina stared at her. "Are you sure?"

"I saw him with her earlier..."

"Oh, Marin, I'm really sorry", Shaina said gently.

"Why the sad faces, ladies?", Aphrodite asked. Then he turned to Deathmask and said "No. Don't stop, Angelo. Take that tree where it belongs."

Deathmask grumbled, but obediantly took the tree away, leaving Aphrodite with the girls.

"What's Aiolia's girlfriend like?", Shaina asked curiously. She wanted to see what Aphrodite would say about this weird girl Marin had seen Aiolia with.

The blue-haired man stared at her like she had fifteen heads. "Aiolia doesn't have a girlfriend. Believe me, you can't keep secrets like that in the Sanctuary. Every time Milo brings a woman in, everyone knows within ten minutes-and half the times she sees Camus and decides he is more attractive than Milo..." A smile played across his mouth.

"Well, what if...you know, he wasn't bringing her in. Like if he was sneaking out to meet her?", Marin asked.

Aphrodite shook his head. "We Gold Saints are watched more closely than lower-ranked Saints. Aiolia might be able to give Kyoko-Sama a valid excuse for leaving a few times, but not often enough to have a girlfriend. After the fourth or fifth time, someone would have been sent after Aiolia to see what it was he was doing. Why the sudden interest in Aiolia's dating habits?"

The girls blushed.

"Ah, I get it now...", Aphrodite waggled his finger. "Marin likes Aiolia, but thought he had a girlfriend, and you were soothing her, Shaina. Trust me, Aiolia's not seeing anyone...but if you're so concerned, why don't you just go talk to him?"

"I...Can't", Marin murmured.

"When the time is right, you will..." Aphrodite trailed off at the sound of a crash and Deathmask cursing. "ANGELO! YOU'D BETTER NOT HAVE DONE WHAT I THOUGHT YOU'VE DONE!... Sorry, girls. I have to take off or Athena's Christmas scene is going to look like I don't know what. Don't give up, Marin. Everything will be alright."

The girls watched him run off.

"Wow...hard to believe he used to be the vainest man in the Sanctuary, huh?", Marin commented.

"We've all changed", Shaina told her. "Come on, now. Let's find you a nice dress to wear to Athena's party."

"But-what if Aphrodite is wrong? I know what I saw..."

"You won't know until you try. Some couples don't make sense-like Seiya and I. You and Aiolia, though, you two belong together."

"Woah...stop pushing me, Shaina!", Marin protested as her green-haired friend nudged her back to get her moving.

Shaina marched Marin into town to find her a dress, ignoring her friend's protests. This silliness with Marin and Aiolia had gone on long enough.

The only thing she wondered about was who was the woman Marin had seen Aiolia with and why her friend had over reacted.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- -- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Why do we need mistletoe?", Mu asked Aphrodite.

"You can't set up a Christmas theme without mistletoe", Aphrodite replied cheerfully. "Or snow", he added, smiling at Camus.

"You don't need me. It's snowing on its own."

"You can make sure the snow doesn't melt."

"Why do I have to move everything?", Deathmask grumbled, setting down a box of garland in front of Mu.

"Because you want me to feed you", Aphrodite replied. "And where do you two think you're running off to?"

Saga and Shura stopped in their tracks and stared at Aphrodite.

"We were just trying to find Aiolos...", Shura said.

"Aiolos can wait. The party is tomorrow and I have much baking to do and need help getting this place set up."

Will you be wearing a pink frilly apron?", Milo asked as he walked up carrying a box of tree lights. "Can I watch you cook? Actually, can I help you cook?"

"Let me think...", Aphrodite said. "No, no, and, um...no."

"You're no fun", Milo pouted.

"I don't wish to assasinate half of Sanctuary, which is exactly what would happen if I let you help me cool. Anyhow, I am going to get started on the food for tomorrow's party. Mu is in charge, you will decorate exactly as he tells you to."

"Oh, the madness", Camus moaned.

"Let's humor him...where should we put this, Mu?", Saga asked, lifting some gold tinsil from the box.

Mu closed his eyes. "I trust you to do whatever...I've never celebrated Christmas before and I have no idea what's supposed to go where."

"Right-O! Let's get started then..." Milo trailed off. "Umm...Camus?"

"No", Camus replied.

"Saga? Shura?"

"You did that to yourself. Get yourself out", Shura said.

Under Mu's faux-supervision, the group got Sanctuary decorated for Athena's party. Everyone except Milo, that is, who was trying furiously to untie himself from the tinsil he'd gotten wrapped around himself.

This was going to be a long night, Mu realized. He suddenly wished he'd taken up drinking.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- -- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Aiolia was so exhausted he could hardly keep his eyes open after they finished dinner.

"Go to sleep", Aiolos told him. "Lithos isn't going anywhere."

"It's too early to go to bed. It's only seven-thirty."

"And you've been up since three-thirty this morning."

"Three-thirty!?", Lithos gasped. "Go to sleep!"

"If I go to sleep now, I will start a pattern of getting up and going to sleep insanely early."

Aiolos shrugged. "Suit yourself. We'll step over your unconscious self after you pass out in a heap on the floor."

Aiolia rolled his eyes and picked up the dishes off the table. "You're not going to clean the dishes. You'd leave them on the table all night."

"Well, dishes aren't exactly of pressing importance", Lithos said, picking up the glasses off the tiny table they'd been eating at. She carried them to the small kitchen and set them in the sink.

"We represent Athena. We should keep the temples she entrusted to us clean.", Aiolia grumbled.

"You know, Shura once said almost that exact same thing to me? Except he scolded me for torn clothing, not dirty dishes."

Aiolia's eyes roamed over the torn state of Aiolos's clothing. His brother just didn't care about his appearance-at all. Still sloppy clothing he could deal with-messy temples he could not.

After Aiolia had finished moving the dishes to the sink to soak for the night, he sat down with a book and read until he finally fell asleep.

Aiolos glanced back at his sleeping brother and went into the kitchen to wash the dishes so there would be one less thing for Aiolia to do in the morning.

"Need help?", Lithos asked, coming up beside him.

"Could you dry the dishes as I wash them?"

"Sure."

They worked in silence a few minutes. He washed and she dried and put away. While they worked, Aiolos thought about his brother and his hopeless situation with Marin. He had to do something-he hated seeing Aiolia so miserable.

"Oh-" he gasped. The knife he'd been holding slipped from his grip and sliced deep into his palm. It wasn't the pain that made him gasp, though-he'd felt much worse than a little knife slice before. It was the idea that had suddenly sprung into his mind.

Lithos, however, thought he'd gasped because he'd sliced open his hand and set about at once trying to find a first aid kit in Aiolia's temple.

"Sit!", she ordered, coming back with some bandages.

Aiolos obediently sat down and let her clean his hand and bandage it up.

"You have to be careful with knives!", she scolded.

"Lithos, could you help me with something?", Aiolos asked.

"Hm?", she murmured.

"I want to set Aiolia up with the girl he likes, but I can't do it by myself..."

Lithos nodded. "I'll do what I can."

"Good. Here's my plan..." Aiolos lowered his voice and began to explain.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- -- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A/N: And that's all for chapter 2...I will post the conclusion either Saturday night or Christmas Eve morning, depending when I get home. Enjoy!