I'm getting a lot of inquiries whether there would is pairing in this fiction. Originally it wasn't planned but when I extrapolate the current plot line...yeah I think this is going to be a SaiHikaru. For those of you who were encouraging this: I'm a fan too, and I agree there is not enough SaiHikaru fictions. For those of you who are against it: it won't be very explicit, I'm trying more to show emotional intimacy instead of physical.

Title: Light of a Beautiful Stranger
Summary: Sai returns, but not for the world of pros and not even for Go.
The sun was shining. The sky was clear. A chick chirped from its nest, calling for its parent. On the side walk a child yawned as his dog tugged playfully on the leash. A cat scurried back into the house before it was noticed. Women crossed the street with shopping bags, headed to the market. Men entered their cars with a briefcase in hand.

It was a beautiful morning.

BANG.

"HIKARU! HIKARI! OPEN THE DOOR!"

BANG. Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Hika-tachi! Open the door!"

Hikaru fell off the bed, landing undignified on the floor. "What?"

"Hika-tachi! Are you still asleep?"

Hikaru whimpered. "Sara, no." He burrowed deeper into his cocoon; pull the rest of the blanket to the floor with him.

"Hikaruuuuuuu-chhaaaaan. I brought you your new clooooothes." She sang melodious from the other side of the door. "I have t-shirts and khakis."

Hikaru grumbled and tried to make himself comfortable in his new spot, curling up next to his bed frame.

"Don't make me use my copy of the key!" Sara threatened. "Who knows what sight might greet my innocent eyes!"

Hikaru groaned and proceeded to crawl out of the warm covers, towards the front door.

"You two could be undressed, half-naked! Two skinny, single, lean muscular young men…" The words trailed off in a thoughtful tone. "No shirts…possible pants…"

"I'm up!" Hikaru shouted, half-frightened. "I'm up! Wait a sec." He didn't bother changing from his pajamas, opening the door before she burst in. "Stop with the scary ideas."

He knew she was rolling her eyes on the other side. "You're eighteen; I'm surprised it still embarrasses you."

He really questioned the necessity of her having a copy of Sai's key in case of emergencies. It seemed more dangerous then safe. He opened the door to watch a beautiful, fashionable woman stumble into the apartment when her arms overloaded with square bags and more hanging from her elbow.

"T-shirts and khakis?" He questioned dryly as she dumped them all by the side of the couch.

"Among other things," she waved her hand dismissively.

The whole department store? He mentally shouted but refrained from commenting. He learned early on she could hear any mutterings under his breath and it would always turn out worse for him.

"I saw this and it was so cute, I thought of you and I just had to get it!" From one of the many bags she pulled out a rimmed t-shirt with the words 'Soccer Star' in English encircling a pentacle in the front. The back, as she flipped to show him, said 'Bona fide Player'.

He tilted his head at the words. There was something itching in the back of his mind at the words, some phrase from English class, but Hikaru had never been too concerned with the foreign language and after a moment when he couldn't place it, he shrugged the feeling off.

"It's ok." He told the dyed-blonde star who smiled like the Cheshire cat.

"Lovely." She chirped and threw it onto the couch, reaching in for the next piece of clothing.

Dragging his sleep deprived body towards the kitchen table, Hikaru picked up a note: out to get food, be back soon – Sai. He yawned and his attention was pricked when the sounds of tissue paper crinkling stopped abruptly. He turned to see Sara frozen; partially bent with a pair of multi-buckled pants still half in a shopping bag.

"Sara?" He followed her gaze to the Goban in the living room.

"Where's Hikari?" She asked quietly.

"Out to buy food." Hikaru replied, rubbing his eyes.

"Did he…look okay?"

The blonde banged Go pro blinked, "Fine."

She dropped the pants and turned to smile at him shakily. "Did you…play Go with him, Hikaru?" The teenager nodded, confused at the sudden behavior. "Did he...say anything? Act funny?"

"Other then demanding another game? Nothing different."

"Hikaru…I mean…Sai…Go…" She struggled to find a way to convey her concerns, "Was he…was he happy?"

Hikaru beamed. "Ecstatic. He said he hadn't had anyone play him in a long time."

Sara stared. "He…" She bit her lip and smiled. "Of course, the rest of us aren't that versed in Go. He just kept beating us, and it took all the fun out of it. But he had a good game with you?"

Hikaru rolled his eyes. "Many. We played all night; I think we went to bed when the sun was coming up. He beat me, but not too badly. And he still kept demanding another game, even when he showed no mercy. Pouted until I had to give in. Screamed so loud in my ear because he was so happy when I agreed."

Sara watched the muttering teen enter the bathroom and close the door behind him. Sounds of the tap being turned on then gurgling. She looked silently at the unpresuming board.

Hikari hadn't played Go for a long time, hadn't been allowed to play. Originally when they had been trying to sort through his confusion and issues, Go had been used as an item of comfort. But when the doctor finally convinced Hikari to choose his own name, to start living once more, Go became something that dragged his emotional level down instead of lifting his spirits.

As others refused to help him learn long distance calling and encouraged him to be more active, Hikari immersed himself deeper and deeper into Go. The others on the set had always been happy to play a game with him, but few knew the rules, fewer had talent, and none were as obsessed as Hikari. With his new name they all thought he was open to the idea of starting a new life.

But as time went on, they noticed that he spent more and more time in front of the Goban and the expression in his indigo eyes was scary: too dark, too focused, too desperate. Each game he played gave him momentary satisfaction but then he fell into a melancholy. He would come out of it enough to play another game but the pattern repeated, falling into a deeper melancholy. It continued until it was detrimental to his health. He wouldn't eat, barely drank, never slept, pleading for only one more game. Hikari was searching for something in the depths of the board, but it was clear that none of those playing against him was helping him find it.

For his own good they had took away the Goban and stones, placed them somewhere he couldn't get to. The Doctor prescribed antidepressants and advised the others to take him outside, make him move, give him fresh air, keep him busy, anything to keep his mind off the game.

That was when the crew decided to audition Hikari into a real role instead of fill-ins and extras. It would give Hikari a purpose, earn him money; allow him to think of something other than the empty blanks in his memory.

Hikari was a success, more than they even expected. Cast in a drama as a courtier from olden Court, Hikari made his lasting impression with vivid emotions and soulful eyes. Originally a side character but received with overwhelming response, the drama signed him on permanently.

Work flooded in and Hikari was always up and about; photo shoots, commercials, rehearsals, daily filming. Until there was no time left to contemplate his faded origins and the mix of stones which had consumed him. They had thought it was past.

They had taken care to avoid mentioning or bringing Hikari to Go related things, but now there was a Goban. And according to Hikaru, one which Hikari had played game after game on the night before.

Yet the board was clear, Hikari was buying food, he had smiled and laughed after the game finished. It wasn't consuming him.

Perhaps Hikari was healed.

Sara smiled, flicking her eyes to the door of the bathroom. Perhaps Hikari was. Perhaps he found whatever he had been searching for.

Katoruma was not all convinced Hikaru was good for Hikari. The boy had appeared out of no where, Hikari had dragged him in from the street, and he followed the starlet everywhere. He was a Go professional. A fast rising star in the Go world. But every time Ruma tried to even hint in that direction Hikari bristled and told him to back off. Sara knew which battles to fight and which ones were already lost. There was something between the teen and their young friend that she and Ruma couldn't get in the middle of.

Sara hadn't seen her friend smile so brightly and freely since when they first found him ashore the sandy beach, where the ocean seemed to suck away his health and vitality each passing day as he stared across the blue depths to the other side of the world.

Originally Hikari had been cheerful, positive, and enthusiastic when they first found him. But as time passed he turned into a distant, polite, and reticent character. He was beautiful and well mannered, the media loved him, the agencies wanted him, but something in him was cold.

What ever had been frozen was slowly melting again. She saw it in the careful way Hikari treated Hikaru, how the older man smiled brightly at the energetic teen. The way Hikari skipped, pouted, hung off the blonde banged boy. The way Hikari sulked, nuzzled close, and prodded the young emerald-eyed man. It was in the way Hikari laughed, full of love and freedom at the nonsensical mumblings of a half asleep Hikaru.

It was a healing, and Sara was so glad it finally came.

. : end chapter : .