A/N: And here's Aphrodite's birthday fic... I really like this one. I've had it done since November, even before Aiolos's was complete. It's up there with my favorites. Not my number one fave, that will come later, but it's up there. Little Aphrodite is so much fun to write 'cause I see him as being kind of like Shun...I've had my suspicions that Aphrodite was actually kind under the vanity since I read the 1st volume of Episode G, and those suspicions where confirmed when I watched episode 25 of Hades-Sanctuary Inferno. Enjoy!

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Aphrodite of Pisces winced as his eyes took in his new cuts and bruises. Angelo of Cancer-he would die before he called his friend "Deathmask"-did not know what it meant to go easy when training. He carefully eased himself out of the bathtub and pulled on a pair of silky white pants and a matching top to sleep in. He was too exhausted to worry about his wet hair and opted to just pull it back into a ponytail. He wandered into into his sleeping chamber. He deserved a nap after being Angelo's punching bag. How had the session been fair? The young man threw back the sheets and slipped between them. He grabbed his little alarm clock and set it to wake him in an hour-they had a meeting with the Kyoko-sama that night. Then he settled down and closed his eyes, Within moments, he was asleep.

Six-year-old Aphrodite sighed as he surveyed his rose garden. Poisonous plants with the purpose of killing anyone who somehow made it past him. A mute point since anyone who made it to him would have had to pass Saga and Angelo, and if somehow they had survived that, they would have had to passed Aiolos and Shura-which was pretty much impossible.

He hadn't seen a normal flower in nearly a year-since a few days after his fifth birthday when he was brought to the Sanctuary to start his training as a saint-but back in Sweden his mother had had the most beautiful rose gardens. She would sit with him on her lap and tell him what the different roses meant- the language of flowers, she called it. He would smell her sweet perfume and drift off to sleep. He was safe in his mother's arms.

"Mother, why do you have so many yellow roses?", Aphrodite asked.

She'd smiled, her strikingly beautiful features glowing at him.

"Don't they make you feel happy, Dite?"

Aphrodite wrinkled his nose at her nickname for him.

"The white ones look nicer."

"That may be so, but nothing's as bright as a yellow rose. You see, Dite, yellow roses are the symbol of friendship. When you have people you care about-not just friends, but your family, too-even the toughest tasks seem easier because you have someone to fall back on."

"Oh", he replied.

His mother's smile grew even brighter and she brushed his shoulder-grazing locks away from his eyes.

"Are you ready to go in now?"

Aphrodite nodded and took his mother's hand, allowing her to lead him away. As she guided him back to their house, he kept looking at the yellow roses. People he cared about...

So here he was on his birthday, spending it by himself in the company of roses that would poison him if he touched them. He shut his eyes, wishing the whole situation would go away.

"Well, well, well...", a loud voice called, pulling him from his thoughts.

Aphrodite turned and found himself face-to-face with Angelo of Cancer.

"I still say you look like a girl", Angelo said, walking over towards him.

"And I still say you smell like a baboon. Showers after training will not kill you", Aphrodite retorted.

"How come you skipped training today?", Angelo asked.

Aphrodite inwardly sighed. Of course his absence would have been noticed. There were only five kids in the Sanctuary-he, Angelo, and Shura always trained together, while Saga and Aiolos, who were older, had their own separate session.

He shrugged.

"Didn't feel like it."

Angelo nodded, apparently finding that acceptable.

"Sheesh...what's up with this place?", Angelo questioned.

"We can't all live in dark dungeons".

Angelo glanced around Pisces temple, looking both awed and disgusted.

"I have never seen a boy decorate like this before."

"When you have something useful to say, I'll be listening", Aphrodite turned his attention back to his roses.

Angelo looked at him, as thought embarrassed. He finally sighed and left.

Aphrodite paid Angelo no mind as the Cancer saint left. A wistful smile crossed his face as he recalled yet another day out with his mother. He would have to ask Kyoko-Sama if he could visit her...

"Mother", Aphrodite asked, wiping his fingers on a napkin to get the chocolate off them. "Why do you like spending so much time outside?"

He sat across from his mother at a small white table amid the snow-covered garden. They were eating cookies-well, he was eating cookies, she was watching him-and sipping hot chocolate. He was freezing.

His mother's lips formed a frown.

"You don't like it out here?"

Aphrodite glanced down at his plate.

"It's just it's kind of cold out here, Mother..."

His mother reached across the table and straightened his hat.

"Enjoy it, Sweetie. It won't last forever. Dite, do me a favor and get me one of those red roses off the bush, please."

Dutifully, the little boy did as he was asked. He carefully plucked the biggest, most beautiful blossom off the bush and brought it over to his mother.

"Look closely, Dite. The flower is very pretty, isn't it?"

"Yes, mother", he replied.

"But it is frozen", his mother curled her delicate hand around the flower, smashing it to bits.

Aphrodite gasped at seeing such a beautiful thing smashed to a million pieces.

"Frozen things, be they plants or a person's heart, can not survive, Dite. A frozen flower, though beautiful to look at, has lost its ability to thrive. A person with a frozen heart may have a lovely face, but they have no essence left that makes them human."

"Essence that makes them human?", he'd asked. He was a very bright child, but he was still only four years old.

"You'll understand one day when you're a little older, Dite", she replied, her eyes sad, as though something bothered her.

Of course now he understood what she'd meant. She'd been warning him against letting his heart grow so cold he could no longer appreciate the beauty that was around him. She'd known all along that he would become a gold saint.

"Still sulking, I see"

Angelo was back, Aphrodite thought dully.

"If you look at them long enough, those flowers might get up and dance", Angelo said.

Aphrodite turned to face Angelo.

"Here", Angelo added. "I don't usually make it a point to give other boys flowers, so I'll pretend you're a girl..."

Angelo pressed a silver bowl into Aphrodite's pale hands. Roses. The bowl was overflowing with yellow roses. The scent touched a part of his heart he was frightened had withered up and died, making it come to life with new-found vibrancy. As he inhaled, he caught a whiff of something sweet and familiar, something that suspiciously smelled like perfume...

"Where did you get these?", Aphrodite asked, struggling not to cry.

"I think Sweden...I'm not sure. Where ever I managed to teleport to, there was this giant rose garden. Fields and fields of them. So I grabbed a bunch and brought them back. I remembered today was your birthday...", Angelo spoke candidly, there was no embarrassment in his voice.

The dam burst and Aphrodite felt his tears come out. He rushed forward and gave the older boy a hug, splashing rose-scented water all over them. He was sure Angelo had taken the flowers from his mother's garden.

"Woah!", Angelo gasped. "Just because you look like a girl doesn't mean you have to act like one!"

Aphrodite pulled away and faced Angelo.

"You took these flowers from my mother's garden, I'm sure of it. I can smell her perfume on the buds", he whispered.

Angelo paled. It was obvious he thought Aphrodite was angry with him.

Aphrodite smiled.

"It's just what I needed", he continued. "Thank you."

Angelo smiled.

"Since you're not mad at me, I'll confess that I stole a plate of cookies from her, too. They looked so good."

"You stole her cookies, too?", Aphrodite stared at Angelo. "What are you? A kleptomaniac?"

"Sorry, I speak Italian and Greek, not gibberish", Angelo replied.

"A kleptomaniac is a person who compulsively steals"

"Ohhhh...", Angelo said, grinning obnoxiously at Aphrodite. "I guess that means you don't want to come back to Cancer temple and eat them with me?"

Aphrodite's eyes grew as wide as saucers.

"Are you crazy? Of course I do!"

Angelo threw his arm around Aphrodite's shoulders.

"That's what I thought"

The two boys walked back to Cancer temple and took seats at Angelo's small table. The temple was dark, but it wasn't dungeon-like. Still, it was a sharp contrast to the bright and sunny quality of the house of Pisces.

Angelo set a plate of chocolate chip cookies between them and they each grabbed one.

"Your mother is one hell of a cook", Angelo commented. "Did she by any chance pass the talent on to you?"

"She might have", Aphrodite said, knowing full well she had.

"Good. You can cook dinner for me every night. Somehow I burn everything. And you can train with me everyday."

"And why would I want to do that?", Aphrodite asked.

Angelo grinned impishly.

"It's in the friends' handbook"

"Why would you want me for a friend?", Aphrodite asked.

"You seem more interesting than Shura", Angelo replied.

A loud, blaring sound cut through the air.

Aphrodite opened his eyes at the sound of his alarm clock going off and rose from his bed as gracefully as someone who had just been roused from sleep could. He turned off his alarm and went to the bathroom to get himself ready for the meeting. He frowned when he caught sight of his appearance in the mirror. His mascara was smudged under his eyes. Apparently he hadn't gotten all of it off when he had taken his bath. He grabbed a few cotton balls and a bottle of baby oil and carefully dabbed away the remnant of his mascara.

Aphrodite eyed his bare reflection in the mirror. He really did look like a girl. He studied his wide-set, baby blue eyes, long blue hair of a similar hue, pale skin. His lips were naturally a soft pink and his hands were small and delicate. He looked almost exactly like a younger replica of his mother. Almost because his mother's hair had been white. He smiled slightly.

He glanced at his watch-he still had a little time before he had to leave. His thoughts went to Angelo.

He knew it seemed odd to anyone that observed them that they would be friends. They had absolutely nothing in common on the surface. Yet they had an understanding between them.

He went back into his room, to his vanity table, and picked through the various perfumes, lotions, moisturizers, and foundation bottles until he found what he was looking for-his tube of passion rose lotion. It reminded him of the perfume his mother wore. After he'd applied the lotion, he spritzed on some body spray in the same fragrance. He re-applied his makeup and got into his cloth. He left his still wet hair in the ponytail he wore because he had no time to fix his waist-length hair. He then left his room and headed for the meeting.

On his way out, something caught his eye. A bouquet of yellow roses in large glass vase sat just outside the entrance way of Pisces temple. Aphrodite picked up the flowers gazed at them. A small white envelope was tucked between the blossoms. He carried the flowers into his temple and set them down on his table. Carefully, he eased the envelope open and lifted out the card.

A note, in Angelo's sloppy hand. It read

"You are eighteen now. Meet me after the meeting and I will take you out for drinks. Manly drinks, not sissy ones with flowers.

-D.M"

All Aphrodite could do was smile.