Author's Note: I rather liked this chapter, thought it was a bit harder to write. 'Course, with my luck, this will be either one of those chapters that everyone loves and will review or one that is considered absolutely loathsome and no one will review. Kind of like the last chapter. Stories need building scenes, you know. Ah, well, here it is. A lot of dialogue in this one but it's to be expected. Life would be too easy if your long lost love would suddenly appear and everything returns to normal. It would be nice if it did; a bummer that it doesn't.


Chapter Three: Where Tomorrow Becomes Today


The music was soft and alluring, coxing her from her exhausting slumber. Saya's mind was muddled and her body numb. Where was she? The images came back in such a hastened blur that Saya struggled to keep her breathing even. The emptiness inside her heart had scared her, and yet with the memory of his music flowing through her mind, that void began fill.

But it was a dream—a memory.

Saya didn't dare open her eyes in fear of the swelling behind her lids was indeed the tears she had been holding back for some time now. She would not cry. Hagi had wanted her to be happy, had wanted her to smile. And yet accomplishing such a feat seemed near impossible.

Kai had once told her that time would heal all things. She had thought it to be true, too. But that's all she was. A creature of time. She had all the time in the world and while the idea that time would heal all seemed plausible, she knew it was something she could never apply to her life. It was a saying created my mortals whose existence was no longer that a fairies' sigh. Too much had happened already that time could simply not erase—could not mend.

Joel, the man who had taken care of her, who had been the first to raise her; to give her a home; give her a life.

Diva, her sister, and the woman who had destroyed everything she had known, forcing her into a battle of the ages.

Hagi, the boy who had befriended her even when she didn't understand the terms that came with friendship. The one who had gotten himself killed because of her arrogance; the one that had faithfully followed her, even after she had condemned him to a life of agelessness; the one who had sacrificed himself for her upon countless occasions; the one who loved her.

George, her father; the one who had taken her in as his own daughter, even after knowing what she was—even before she did; the one who gave himself for her in the end; the one who gave her a conscious; the one who gave her a father's love

Kai, the brother who comforted her when she was down; the person who tried his hardest to keep his family together and to protect them. The person who found the love in his heart to accepted her as his sister even after finding out her history.

And Riku, beloved Riku… The brother who saw only the goodness in people; the brother who did not judge her for sentencing him to a life of immortality; the boy who gave the ultimate sacrifice that ended not only his life, but the war.

No matter how long she lived in the new age, free of fighting, she would never forget how she got to that point.

Awareness came to her, along with the heavy feeling of eyes upon her unmoving person. The gaze, though unmistakable, felt like caress that lingered on her cheek—a touch that a husband gives his wife when he thinks she's not awake. She hadn't realized the music had stopped.

Saya's eyes opened slightly and without so much as a movement, she spoke into the night air.

"Who's there?"

Her voice sounded dead; raspy in her own ears. The dive had taken more out of her than she realized.

There was a stillness in the air as she tensely awaited the reply from the intruder.

"Saya," The voice breathed. Her body froze, her heart stopped.

"Hagi?" Her voice was disbelieving. Was this really happening, or was she just hearing things like she had been hearing Diva's voice so evidently in her mind of late? Saya nearly groaned. She didn't want to be haunted by Hagi's memory, as well.

Summing up the courage to sit up, Saya squinted into the darkness of the room, doing her best to make out the filmy silhouette of a man.

"Hagi?" she asked, again. "Is that really you?" Her eyes began to burn.

His response was to step out of the shadows of the doorway and into the moonlight as it cascaded through the window. His form was just as haggard as the last time she had seen it, if not more so. He looked so very tired and worn. The sight broke her heart and yet mended its torn seams. With sudden strength in her legs, Saya pushed herself from the bed and stumbled across the room and into his embrace. Her hands clung tightly to the folds of Hagi's shirt while she rested her head against his forever silent, chiseled chest. She felt an unexplainable, utter joy when his hand came round her hair, cradling her head softly like a child.

"How is this," Her Chevalier's voice was deliberately slow—hesitant, almost. As if he too was unsure of this moment, afraid that it was a dream. "…possible?" he finished.

Tears were still threatening to slip beneath her lashes. "How is this possible? You weren't there when I awoke, and I called for you. I couldn't sense you. I thought you had died."

It made sense the moment she said the words. How stupid and naïve she was not to have seen it sooner.

"I was in France when I first sensed the waking of your mind." he said. "The pulses were so faint, and all I would see were these images of Diva, of myself, of Riku. I came back only out of a foolish hope that somehow you had awakened early. But still, you slept.

"I left again, and that was when I felt you truly had awaked. I was torn between my own self delusions and what was really occurring. I was—am, still very weak. Your mind had already been so active, why should it be any different? Ten years had scarcely passed.

His deep, baritone voice had gone soft with the wonder of his resolution. Saya didn't dare to look up to his face in fear of her own breakdown.

"But then you called me, and I knew that I couldn't be dreaming, this time. I came back and I was greeted by the sight of you hitting the water…"

So it hadn't been one of her allusions. It had been Hagi, after all. His hidden question trailed off and Saya knew he was waiting for her reasoning.

"I…" She struggled, "was questioning myself—my existence, or my role on this earth. I felt alone." She finally looked up into his worn face and gave a weak smile. "I thought you were really gone."

Gently, almost carefully, Hagi's hand settled on her cheek and gently wiped away the single tear that had escaped. Involuntarily, she leaned into his lingering touch. He seemed to hesitate. The front door could be heard opening.

"If it be in your desire," he said. "We will relocate someplace where we cannot be heard."


The pair found themselves on the sandy beach and far enough that city lights could not dim its beauty. The moon shown brightly above them, casting moving shadows on the ocean's waves. Saya sat on the ground with her knees drawn tightly to her chest to ward off the chill. Hagi stood behind her.

"So Kai was right after all." Saya said with a bitter twist of her mouth. How foolhardy she had been! "You came when I called for you."

"We have been bound together for centuries and I promised to always return to you. You doubted me?"

"I have never doubted you, Hagi." She could feel his stare boring into the side of her face. "But that final fight… you went into it believing you weren't coming out. Isn't it only natural that I think the same?"

"Ah," he stated, simply.

"I was afraid." She said. "The prospect of eternity seemed so much bleaker without you by my side."

The air became thick with silence and Saya kept her eyes stubbornly on the sea before her, wishing for its end. After a moment, he spoke:

"So that's why you didn't call for me shortly after the battle." His voice was quiet and unbearably perceptive. Saya slowly nodded.

"I was afraid that if I called you so soon, my fears would be confirmed. I went into hibernation believing, hoping you would be there when I awoke. But you weren't and thanks to Kai, I was pushed into the right decision. He told me to have faith."

"A wondrous thing, faith is. For in truth, Saya, I nearly did die. And even if you had called for me before your sleep, I would not have made it. I still bear the scars of Amshel's claws and probably will for the rest of my feeble existence. And I have been conserving what little energy I had left for ten years now, impossible as it may seem. Maybe it was your faith—your belief that I would return, that kept me alive for the Tomorrow."

Saya gave a vacant, wide-eye stare as she absorbed all that he had said. Hagi had even been able to exceed the limitations of a Chevalier. For her. All for her.

"Hagi?"

"Yes?"

"What you told me at the Met at the very end… do you still mean it?"

The Queen was surprised to hear a soft chuckle breathe past his lips and she looked at him and found a gentle smile upon his usually stoic face. Hagi knelt before her, but did not touch her.

"You have known me for many years, Saya, and though I may have withheld the truth from you, I have never altered it from what it was. I will never lie to you. My feelings for you cannot change during the course of ten years when they have had over a century to grow. My feelings will not fade, Saya. They have passed the test of time again and again and will continue to do so."

His words crumble the dam holding back the flood of emotions and the tears finally came in a steady fall. Grasping his Chiropteran hand tightly in her own, she took in a shaky breath. "Part of me died when I saw you buried.

"I will be frank with you, Hagi, just as you have been with me. I have cared for you deeply over the many years, but have not given love a thought because of the war we had been thrust into. But it was also because I thought myself incapable of being love, incapable of loving someone in such a way."

She felt his hand tighten around her own. She continued on.

"But it's amazing at how ten years worth of dreams reflect the inner struggles, and the truth is that I can't image living this life without you. You were with me close to the beginning, albeit you didn't like me much, but you were there."

There was a hidden smile in his voice when he spoke. "You were young, naïve, and didn't understand the lessons of friendship."

Saya realized that once she found his glorious eyes there was no tearing them away. She reached forward to brush aside a strand of his dark hair.

"Even so, that's how it was. And even then you were bought to be a servant and have known nothing else for a very long time. I always looked at you as my friend and nothing less, but you have always followed my heart's desires, forsaking your own.

"From the bottom of my heart I thank you for remaining by my side. I know putting up with my personality changes wasn't the easiest, but it was worth it. To reach this moment in time, it was all worth it."

Noticing her trembling form, Hagi unbuttoned his coat and gently placed it around her shoulders to which she thanked him quietly.

"Which is why," she continued. "From this moment on, you are a free man; one no longer bound to me as my Chevalier."

Seeing his body stiffen, Saya quickly pressed one before her nerve was lost. "You are free to go, if that be your desire. But I meant what I said at the Met. I want to live with you and Kai and everyone."

With the end of her speech, the stones were set, the wheels were rolling. There was no turning from this moment and neither wanted to. With the same hesitance Hagi showed at the Met, he leaned forward, gently placing his brown on her own; raggedly breathing in her scent. Trembling, Saya remained still as Hagi shifted closer, gently gliding his cheek across her own, relishing in the warmth that radiated from such a simple gesture. His parted lips followed the same path the side of his face had. Saya's breath caught; her heart began to pound.

Facing her again, Hagi held her face in his human hand, allowing his lips to hover just above her own.

"I want to stay," he said in the barest whisper. "With you."

With that, Hagi pressed his lips firmly to Saya's. The kiss was soft and tender; slow and coaxing. When both, Queen and Chevalier pulled away, their bodies were trembling from the rush of emotions. Both were home at last. Both had made it—if only just barely, into the Tomorrow that became Today. Saya laced her fingers with his and smiled softly when he pulled it forward to kiss her knuckles.

"I love you." She said.

"And I you."


Beneath the thin sheets, Yuki and Yoko flashed overjoyed smiles at one another.

"I knew it would all work out for the best." Yoko boasted.

Yuki made a disbelieving gurgle at the back of her throat. "Liar."

"I am not!"

"Then prove it."

Yoko smiled in such a manner that confused Yuki; smugly. When had Yoko ever acted smug about anything?

"I saw it."


I'm curious as to see how many people understood the meaning of that last part. I would think it would be glaringly obvious… A Hagi plushy to the best guess on what's to happen.

And just to settle the score, this story is not finished.

I've decided to hold the next chapter for ransome. The more reviews, the quicker the update so... please review!