Notes: Sorry for not updating Athena Exclamation...I don't have Shaka written yet. Darn Buddha is so frickin' difficult. Anyway, I do have a few of wnk written, so I decided to post the next one. Yes, Niteskye, I DO know that Aiolia and Marin are a couple with much publicity, but most of the fanfic about them is usually post-Hades everybody-is-together world, not in the middle of the series, which is where this one is set. I got to thinking about masks and their relation to love/death. So this is what resulted.

Anyway, thanks so much to LSN, Nao-san, DeathIsVirtue, and irrelevantmaverick for their lovely reviews! I would definitely love to hear everyone's comments on my writing.

By the way, this takes place right before Hades Sanctuary, and I wrote it thinking that Marin has not told Aiolia she likes him yet. But it kinda works either way, so you can pick how you want to think about it.


Aiolia – Last Goodbye..

There was a tentative knock on the stone side of the archway of the Leo temple. Aiolia paused in his hair-toweling to think about what to say. If it was who he thought it would be, he would rather pretend he was not there. But if it was not who he thought it would be, it would be rude, and perhaps lead to unwanted consequences, if he said nothing. In the end, he chided himself for being a coward and managed to utter the words, "Come in."

Quiet footsteps echoed through the temple. "Aiolia?" said a woman's voice. The Leo Saint sighed soundlessly with a defeated look on his face. This was exactly what he wanted to avoid.

The Aquila Saint's head appeared in the doorway—such a familiar face of red curls framing a silver mask. How often he had wondered what was under the mask, what kind of beauty the woman was hiding.

"Marin?" The woman straightened and continued into the room. "What are you doing here?" Marin paused, as if thinking of how to reply.

"Will we make it through this?" she finally asked.

"This?"

"The holy war, the fighting, the battles…all the horrible things that are about to begin when tomorrow comes."

"We will," Aiolia told her confidently. "Athena will be protected from Hades, no matter what the cost." Marin shook her head.

"No…I mean, will we make it through this. You. Me. Our friends. The people we care about." Aiolia stared at her, stunned. "And I know it's selfish to ask this, but…but…" A perfect line of tears formed on the bottom edge of her mask.

"Marin…" Aiolia walked forward until they were almost touching. But not quite. "I can't promise you I'll live. I can't even promise you you'll live, as much as I'd like to. We are Athena's Saints. This is our destiny—to fight, and to lose those we love, and, finally, to die." At this, Marin seemed to simply collapse inside herself.

"I love you, Aiolia," she choked through her sobs. Briefly, she removed her mask and wiped her face, while still keeping the mask between herself and Aiolia. The Leo Saint waited for her to finish, then gently pressed the mask back onto her face. Then he bridged the gap between them, still without touching her, and kissed her through the mask.

"I can't promise you we'll live, Marin," he said after he broke away. "But I promise you…even if I die, I'll still love you." She turned her face away, and Aiolia felt his own eyes burning. After a long silence, filled with aching from both sides, Marin finally looked back at him.

"I can give you the same promise." He nodded.

"Thank you."

"Fight well, Leo-Aiolia," she whispered, as she disappeared into the night. The Gold Saint watched her receding shadow until the darkness swallowed it. They had not said goodbye, but Aiolia did not regret it. Goodbyes would have made the aching worse.

If a man saw a female Saint without a mask, she was forced to marry him or kill him. But if a man loved a female Saint, it did not mean he had to see her face. And Aiolia knew, even if he never saw the face beneath the mask, he would still keep his promise.