"Lord Setsuya?"

The vampire lord's eyes fluttered as though awakening from a deep sleep, as he leaned against his desk with a poignant expression hidden by an aura of authority. Before him stood his close advisors, Ryuichi and Hayate, the former carrying in his arms a deceased boy with alarming bite marks driven into the left side of his throat. Ryuichi stared down at the young man sadly, holding him with a tenderness similar to that of Setsuya while embracing Zuko. Hayate stood motionless by his side, eyes set firmly on the elder vampire as he spoke again, "Lord Setsuya, what should we do?"

Setsuya struggled for a moment to find control of his body before speaking softly, "Take the boy to the lower chambers and make sure someone is watching him at all times. After seven days, you have my permission to bury him. You have no clues as to who did this?" It was common knowledge among the vampires that one must report all human murders to Setsuya, no matter the circumstances. If he or she temporarily lost control, they were granted first-offense amnesty as long as the incident was reported. It was uncommon, perhaps once every ten years that a murder went unaccounted for. While taking the blood of a human was unacceptable, leaving a potential vampire alone in the midst of the human world was an act of utmost selfishness and disregard for the safety of not only the human world, but the vampiric as well.

Hayate shook his head, eyes settling the victim. "I'd imagine it was a rogue-"

"No member of our own population would be this ignorant," Ryuichi interjected harshly, causing Hayate to shush him. Ryuichi promptly ignored him, eyes still set on the young boy as he whispered, "Heartless bastard."

"Very well," Setsuya said, crossing his arms at his chest with a slight frown. "Please take him downstairs, Hayate. Go around and see if you can't pick up on any rumors. I don't expect anyone to step forward now. At dusk's end, I'll send a party to track down any other vampires that might be in the area. This cannot continue." Hayate bowed, carefully accepting the corpse that Ryuichi handed over to him. Setsuya's shoulders buckled as he sighed, rounding his desk and collapsing into his chair once the man was gone, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Even in the midst of his dejection, strands of his onyx hair framed his pale face analogous to the way a halo illuminates the face of an angel. Ryuichi longed to take the vampire lord into his arms and comfort him, yet he knew that he would be pushing his luck. Instead, he would settle for a few generic words that anyone would say in his place.

"It's not your fault," Ryuichi informed him, watching Setsuya flex his fingers contemplatively against his desk. "Nobody can blame this on you."

"People trust me, Ryuichi. I made a promise one-hundred years ago not to let this happen. A promise to myself, a promise to the community, a promise to the Fire Nation. And look at how many of us there are, how many innocent lives are taken and warped because of my incompetence!" The vampire lord clenched his hands together atop his desk, shaking his head slowly. "I fail my people every time this happens."

"You made another promise, Setsuya," Ryuichi insisted, leaning down on the other's desk to look him straight in the eye. "You promised to take in any person, no matter who they were or why they became one of us. You protect them, give them a home, and provide them with anything they need to make them happy. Every time this happens, it is the population that lets you down." The scarlet-eyed man smiled, inclining his head in a somewhat challenging way. "After all, you've been our leader for over a century and we haven't kicked you out of office yet. You must be doing something right."

Setsuya returned the smile to some extent, as though he was merely humoring the man by accepting his words as true. "I'm not sure which I would prefer- a criminal amongst our own people, or a rogue out to slay humans for unknown purposes. How I grow weary of this…" The vampire drew his arms into his lap and leaned back in his chair, rather relieved after unloading some of the stresses that came with being the population's authoritative figure. He felt comfortable around so few people, it was difficult to express his qualms as a leader. "Ryuichi, would you go back to my room and check up on Zuko? He was feeling under the weather a few hours ago, and he was looking rather pale when I left him."

"Of course, Master." Ryuichi didn't notice the man wince slightly at the title, as he withdrew and left the vampire lord to dwell in his paperwork and executive management. When the violet-eyed vampire barely heard his light footsteps echo in the hallway, his posture slumped and was disregarded due to his bustling mind. Some of the elder vampires that lived in the first district made sure to stop Ryuichi in to ask if the rumors of a human death were true, yet the man simply shook his head and asked them to wait until Setsuya held a council meeting in order to receive news. No need to cause alarm, he assured himself upon reaching Setsuya's room with a heavy heart. Not until all of the facts have been straightened out.

Upon reaching the door to Setsuya and Zuko's room, Ryuichi instantly knew there was something wrong. Zuko's heartbeat was speeding up and slowing down at inconsistent intervals, almost as though it was hiccupping. He knocked politely on the door, only to be greeted by a loud coughing fit in-between the muffled words, 'Come in'. The vampire entered the room, wincing at the sight of the teenager curled up in bed, coughing half a lung out into his lap. The boy was pale, and a tray of uneaten food lay abandoned in the corner. "Hey Ryu," he grunted, barely opening his eyes to greet the man as he rolled over onto his side and began another coughing fit more violent than the first.

"Don't you look happy," Ryuichi mumbled under his breath, coming closer to inspect the ill teenager. "I find it hard to believe Setsuya left you alone like this."

"It was hardly this bad earlier," Zuko groaned, tossing the sheets strewn across his form aside and revealing his bare chest and loose pants. The teen's body shone with a thin layer of sweat as he dimmed the remaining candles in the room with a wave of his hand before burying his head into his pillow. "I swear, I'm going to die. Die, die, die-" Zuko interrupted this sequence by blowing his nose into one of Setsuya's handkerchiefs. "Die," he finished, collapsing back onto the bed with a sigh. "You realize this is because I stayed out last night, don't you? I caught a cold! It's all Setsuya's fault! I hope he chokes on animal carcass, the stupid vampire."

Ryuichi snorted with laughter, stepping forward to rest a hand on the boy's forehead. Yelping, he instantly leapt away and shook his hand out into the air. "That's one hell of a fever," the vampire cursed, holding his nearly-injured hand to his body. "Must be a firebender thing. My brother used to get terrible fevers, ones that ought to have been classified as fatal. Is there anything I can get you?"

"Maybe some ice and a big, sharp knife," Zuko asked hopefully, facial features quite clearly expressing the purpose of desiring such a weapon.

"We don't have the means to store ice here," the vampire admitted, scratching his neck in thought. "We don't have anything that needs preserving. As for a knife, I doubt Setsuya would be happy if I gave his delirious lover a knife."

"Setsuya, Setsuya, Setsuya! It's always about Setsuya!" Zuko muttered, wiping the sweat from his brow. "If he cared what happened to me, he'd be here right now!"

Talk about teenage angst. "Shall I call him for you?" Ryuichi sat at the edge of Zuko's bed, smoothing his hair back behind his ears. It had been a long time since he'd taken care of an ill mortal, and the parental affection gave him a warm feeling inside of his heart.

"Hell no! I don't want that jerk here!" the teenager called weakly, his throat constricting his voice to a mere whisper. "Don't," Zuko murmured, catching the other's wrist in his hand as he attempted to alleviate the teen's aching forehead. "You'll catch it."

Ryuichi laughed, shaking his head as he caressed Zuko's feverish face gently with his hands, amazed by the warmth of his flushed skin. "Vampires don't catch colds, Zuko. You ought to know that by now. Our immune system might not function, but it doesn't need to. We aren't subjected to those awful diseases you humans are used to."

"Really?" the younger mumbled, clearly perplexed as he shivered from a sudden chill despite his body's erratic temperature. He curled up into a ball with a shiver, though Ryuichi anticipated his discomfort and draped the bed's covers over him. The vampire ran a gentle, comforting hand around the width of his shoulders, neck, and throat trying to put the teenager at ease.

"Yes. Our digestive and circulatory systems aren't needed as well, although they are preserved from decay within our bodies. We can manually circulate received blood through our body, and our muscles and nerves are also stimulated using the mind, unconsciously of course. Almost like telekinesis. Even our respiratory systems don't serve us any purpose." His small sermon was interrupted by another of Zuko's coughing fits, followed by his uneasy, congested breathing. Ryuichi smiled, putting a gentle hand to the boy's throat. "Allow me to give you a demonstration- Oxygen in," Ryuichi breathed in deeply, before titling Zuko's chin and pressing his lips against the other's open mouth, breathing the air into the teenager's body in its full capacity. "Oxygen out," he said with a mischievous laugh. He continued the process for a minute or two until Zuko's breathing and heart rate had calmed and his throat's irritation was soothed.

Zuko touched his forefingers to his lips, before disregarding the sensation and laying his head down against the pillow in surrender. His next words were dazed enough to be considered interjected rambling, but not quite irrelevant enough to label the boy oblivious. "You know, the best part about not being at home is the coursework. My tutors would force me to write an essay if I was bleeding from the eyes." His voice was gentle, as though afraid that any sudden vibrations of his vocal cords could cause another coughing hazard.

"What a lovely image," Ryuichi informed him in an equally soft voice, petting the boy's hair with affection. "You're lucky I'm not so cruel. You'd be flailing around a pair of broadswords if I was. Instead, I'm going to be so kind as to take care of you. Now then, can I get you something to eat?" Judging from the look on Zuko's face, he quickly inferred that food was not the answer to his ailment. "Well, I can find someone to fetch you medicine after sunset. Until then, you should take some time to sleep off the fever. I'll stay with you, and if it gets any worse I'll call in a doctor to have a look at you. I think Hao was a doctor as a mortal... He lives two corridors down, I believe." Ryuichi blew out two of the three remaining candles around the room and returned to find Zuko sound asleep with his expression completely at peace. The vampire smiled, before inching silently over to examine the renovations done to Setsuya's room. It seemed that either Setsuya had taken up a new hobby, or his human roommate was an artist with quite a few demands.

Kneeling down, he picked up the first sketchbook that's binding was slightly worn and began to flip through it. It may seem to an outsider that the vampire was being an irritating combination of rude and nosy, but there are far different standards for living amongst such a population, and the first and foremost of these would be the discouragement of secrecy. His eyes lit up in wonder as he brushed through Zuko's artwork, marveling at the potential of the young man, for Ryuichi had seen much artwork in his time. When you have an eternity ahead of you, why not culture yourself by spending a few hours staring at paintings and the like? "Remarkable," he said aloud, if only to break the silence of the room. He closed the sketchpad and placed it on the ground when a few loose papers fell out from beneath its folds. With a wince he gathered up the drawings, but before he could slide them back into place, their contents quickly drew his attention.

These were… These were drawings of him. One full body view and two portraits, each created in his own likeness. Inferred by the manner in which he was drawn, Zuko had never seen him shirtless, but this imagined portrayal was flattering to be sure. Ryuichi could feel his heart flutter, for surely no one had ever thought him worthy to be an object of art. Yet this teenage boy had seen him and reconstructed him into a being of merit, a being of depth (which was certainly more than he saw in himself). He was almost tempted to wake the sick boy up and demand what he saw in the vampire that he could have used to expose him so beautifully. Despite this urge, he quietly slid the papers back in their proper place and crawled masterfully onto the bed without so much as causing the younger to stir. He sat for the remainder of the hour, staring at the young man who had brought him to life not only with his words and outright affection, but with a piece of parchment and a sketching pencil.

xXxBloodlustxXx

"Sir, it's happened."

Those three words were what led up to the young boy shivering in Setsuya's arms as he fought through his blood, sweat, and tears to take control of his body. "He's struggling too much," the vampire lord murmured, as Hayate knelt beside his master and observed the rare phenomenon taking place. "He's in so much pain, it's possibly a false alarm. Agni, please let it be so." Setsuya's voice turned desperate as he murmured prayers beneath his breath. The young pale-skinned brown-eyed youngling in his arms began to hyperventilate and moan with the pain that coursed through his body. In the dark lower chambers of the underground city, this boy was potentially undergoing a transformation into one of the cursed creatures that survived by drinking of other organisms' life.

"But my Lord, it's only been three hours!" Hayate exclaimed, watching the wound on the stricken boy's neck gradually become less prominent.

"Three hours since you found him," Setsuya corrected him, barely sparing the man a glance. He held the boy protectively to his chest, trying to keep his expression free of worry. "It's difficult to say how long he's-" His speech faltered as the boy began to thrash against his hold, causing Setsuya to stroke his forehead and whisper soft words of little meaning. Hayate's hands twisted nervously at his sides, as though trying to deliberate between murdering a person or jumping off a cliff. The vampire lord sensed his apprehension, turning to his advisor and whispering, "It's alright. We've done all we can."

The boy's groans grew louder, echoing against the dark chamber walls. Setsuya closed his eyes and murmured a final, desperate prayer to the Spirits as the young man's thrashing calmed and his moans quieted. Unfortunately, the Spirits were not on very good terms with the vampires at the time. The brunette's eyes, once brown and now tinged orange, fluttered open as he breathed unevenly through his teeth and tried to swallow, moistening his dry throat. His dazed eyes met Setsuya's violet ones and a silence passed between them that could only be explained as timid empathy. The young one tried to form words with his mouth, but couldn't seem to find the strength nor the dexterity.

"He needs to feed," Setsuya spoke quietly, his voice lacking its former hopefulness. "I will stay with him. Find him a smaller animal, one with skin easy to pierce. His incisors are growing in slowly."

"Y-Yes, my Lord." Unable to fathom what he had witnessed, Hayate dashed quickly into the upper levels without a sound as Setsuya still held the boy gently, but firmly in his arms.

"It's alright," the vampire lord said, wiping the sweat from the young boy's forehead affectionately. "We'll take care of you from now on."

xXxBloodlustxXx

"A new vampire? As in, one that's just...?"

"Died." Ryuichi completed the sentence with as much indifference as he could, sitting cross-legged on the edge of his friend's bed. "And awakened into their new existence." Zuko had only woken up a half an hour ago and, after forcing some food into the young man's system, Ryuichi was trying to keep him distracted from his cold until medicine or, perhaps even better, Setsuya arrived. Unfortunately, neither seemed to have any intention on gracing them with their presence soon. Despite this, it was the least Ryuichi could do for the boy whose life he'd inadvertently put in danger. "I can sense him in a spiritual manner. All vampires in the area can, with varying ability. Setsuya is with him, no doubt coaxing him through his transformation."

"I- I thought creating new vampires was forbidden," Zuko said with uncertainty, resting his head against his pillow with a grunt of discomfort. His voice was more ragged than usual, adding a certain unintentional sensuality to his words that was better left ignored for those susceptible to kissing teenage boys breathless. Setsuya and quite possibly Ryuichi had much to fear from it.

Ryuichi shivered, pulling his legs to his chest as he bluntly said, "It is." He dipped his head as though ashamed as he muttered, "Even vampires can be rotten if given the chance. We may be physically flawless, but we can still harness the evil we had when we were humans. Egotism, indulgence, crime… We can never fully rid ourselves of our mortal nature. Mind you, that was paraphrasing from the first lecture Setsuya gave me upon becoming a vampire."

"So what happens to the vampire who fed from the human?" the younger asked while running a hand through his sweat-tainted hair. Curiosity about Setsuya's response to criminals among the population stung at Zuko's mind. Since there wasn't a world full of vampires, the man must have some sort of intense disciplinary system. "Surely Setsuya won't allow this to go unpunished?"

"That's just the thing," Ryuichi said with a bitter smile. "Usually we're able to find a scent on the body, but neither Hayate nor I could recognize it. It's either a vampire of rogue origin or one that was separated from the colony over seventy-five years ago, when Hayate first joined. We brought him to Setsuya as soon as we could, but the scent was too faint to distinguish from the corpse. There's a vampire near, but he or she is either too smart or too lucky to get caught. That's the disadvantage of being underground," Ryuichi added, his nose wrinkling in distaste. "The soil damages the extent of our smell."

Zuko shuddered, suddenly very aware of the damage even one vampire could do to him with his back turned. No wonder Setsuya is so protective. "How many rogue vampires are there exactly?" he wondered aloud, as the other gave him a comforting smile.

"Not many. Rogues often make their way towards the edge of the island, knowing damn well Setsuya will catch up to them if they don't. Most of them are sick of our rugged, modest existence. Others simply desire human blood. Setsuya is a good negotiator, and can usually persuade without force. But the ones who get away? Perfect example of bad blood." He chuckled at his joke, running a hand contemplatively through his hair. "Vampires like that… It's not only a matter of their killing off humans that makes them so detestable. It's the fact that they don't take responsibility for their younglings." Ryuichi fell silent for a moment, only to burst into a fitful rage as he spat, "It's sickening! They create vampires and leave them to suffer without even the knowledge of what they are! Some of us are too weak, too confused when we awaken to even understand how to survive in the hunger that possesses us! Who, who could be that heartless?!"

He let out a shaky sigh, clutching at his heart while the other marveled wide-eyed at the passion that beheld the vampire. Ryuichi rose and paced about the room, expression fiery with frustration. He came to a slow in the center of the room and began to breathe deeply, turning back to the teenager. Ryuichi swallowed, his scarlet eyes glowing as he explained in a shaky voice, "The bond between a vampire and their maker is sacred, even before the transformation takes place. The elder vampire has an unspoken responsibility to teach and care for their charges until experienced enough to handle themselves. To neglect this is, for a lack of a better word, inhuman."

"Teach you?" Zuko asked, tucking his legs beneath him as Ryuichi returned to sit on the bed. "Instincts aren't enough?"

"It's the principle of the thing," the vampire muttered, still seething as he twisted his fingers together with unease. He could sense the boy; he was awakening, slowly feeding upon his first meal as one of them. "Setsuya… When I became a vampire, he taught me all that I needed to know immediately. How to hunt animals with stealth, where the blood was the sweetest, how to use my senses to my greatest advantage, and how to maintain my sanity at the prospect of an eternity. He was my mentor, and it was what drove my desired intimacy with him. He cared for me just as all makers ought to care for their younglings, and most do. But those who don't even wait around to see if they have pulled another into this infinite hell? Disgraceful."

"I imagine they have no desire to converse with their conscience," Zuko murmured, closing his heavy eyes and wrapping a finger in his hair. He could understand vaguely what Ryuichi and Setsuya had; it was written in their faces every time they made eye contact. "The poor souls." After speaking, he realized he wasn't sure whether or not he was referring to the vampires or their respective creations. Ryuichi seemed to infer the context as the latter.

"We find most of them," he consoled, a sadness cast over his eyes. "Setsuya will take anyone in and teach them as he did me. But they are often incomplete in regards to the uncertainty of their maker."

"Akane told me once never to ask a vampire how they became what they are."

"Good advice, if you are not particularly close to a person. I don't suppose that Akane expected that your visit would be an extended one." The moment the words slipped out of Ryuichi's mouth, only years of self-procured coolness of demeanor kept him from raising a hand to his lips.

"What do you mean?" Zuko asked, bordering a concerned tone as Ryuichi quickly sought out an appropriate answer.

"Well, we th-thought-" Oh, just that Setsuya was going to eat you. "Um.."

Whether it be by the luck of the draw or the good will of the spirits, the door opened and Setsuya entered with a rather enthusiastic greeting from the younger vampire. "Oh! Setsuya, thank goodness you're here! Zuko is just feeling awful. He needs medicine right away! It's just about sundown, isn't it? I'll go fetch it, yes?" No sooner than Ryuichi had bolted out the door, than Setsuya attained an expression of worry.

The forlorn vampire immediately turned, crossing the room to kneel down next to his companion and put a hand to his cheek to feel the moderate temperature of the young man. "Is it true? How do you feel?" Setsuya murmured, pressing his head against the chest of the other, who shivered slightly at the sensation. Without waiting for an answer, the vampire lord sighed and pulled away. "Your breathing is strained. What can I bring you? Soup? Water? Wine? Blankets? This is my fault for leaving you outside all night! I-"

"Setsuya!" Zuko finally cried in his weakened voice, causing the man to quiet without delay. "I'm fine," he whispered in a raspy tone, making room for Setsuya to lie next to him on the bed. "My head just hurts a little and I can't decide whether I'm hot or cold. I promise, I'll survive. More importantly, how are you?"

Setsuya looked ready to distinguish the importance between the wellbeing of the two of them, but simply sighed and said, "I suppose Ryuichi told you about the boy." The despondence in his voice was unmistakable, much less veiled while in the presence of his mate.

"Is he alright?" Zuko asked gently, pressing his body up against the other as a descending calm swept over Setsuya at the presence of his counterpart. Their expressive bond was approaching its peak with every fresh emotion that sparked in the hearts of the two men. Setsuya was slowly readapting to the vulnerability of his situation, and Zuko was learning to block Setsuya from his emotions (which he rarely employed), sense the other's on command, and alert his mate of rising emotions through their deep connection. Would the teenager had been informed of this concept before meeting Setsuya, he'd have skeptically waved it off as a joke.

"He suffers greatly," the vampire murmured, wrapping his arms around the younger. "He grows ill at the sight of blood, even as desire for it courses through his veins. Hemophobia, they call it. It took me a while to convince him to feed, and even then he was trembling in disgust from the relief he received from it."

"A vampire afraid of blood. How ironic," Zuko mused with a sigh, stifling a cough into his hands. He groaned and curled into Setsuya's cool body, which held him with great care and concern.

"He spoke in his sleep as well. He's under some emotional stress at the sudden separation from his family," Setsuya continued, breathing in his mate's scent at his neck. "He's so young to be…" The vampire lord faltered at the disdainful look he was receiving from Zuko.

"So you can tear me away from my family without a second thought, but you show sympathy toward a boy you hardly know?" he asked coldly, pulling away from the man and turning to sulk at the wall. "That's petty, Setsuya."

"Not petty so much as compassionate!" the vampire muttered, cursing his inability to keep his mouth shut. "If you consider them family, then consider me your savior!" They could both sense an inevitable argument brewing, one untouched yet extremely sensitive. However, Zuko took a moment of peace and bit his lip in thought.

"I don't want to fight, Setsuya," he finally whispered, rather pathetically due to his scratchy voice. Needless to say, he earned the other's sympathy on command. "I'm sorry. Let's forget it."

The vampire looked away with suppressed guilt on the verge of exploding within his chest. You're taking him for granted. "Of course. I'm just… being stupid." The vampire made to lay back down with the boy, who caught his forearm and held it to his chest.

"Let me paint you," Zuko pleaded suddenly, his pale face tinged with sudden redness along his cheeks. "Please, I need to."

"You're ill," Setsuya murmured, nevertheless rising to strip himself of his outer robe and change into the shirt he'd worn the previous day. It wasn't often Zuko claimed to need something, so when he did, it was worth complying with. The vampire lay out on the bed while the artist, who had taken a particular liking to Setsuya's crimson handkerchief, wiped his nose and adjusted his canvas in the center of the room. "You're anxious," Setsuya stated with hesitance, reacting to his mate's apprehension in the very pit of his own stomach. Certainly I didn't worry him enough to-

"I'm sorry." Zuko spoke with sincerity, preparing the first canvas with a blush. "This is my first painting of a live person. I really don't want to impose on you, and it's unnerving to focus so deeply on someone with eyes of such intensity. I-" He looked wondrously at the floor, realizing he didn't have anything else to say. He snatched up his pencil and said brusquely, "Of course. I'll begin the outline. I'd like to hear more of your background, if you're up for it that is."

"I am 'up' for anything," Setsuya said with a hint of annoyance. "You, on the other hand, are as pale as-" He stopped himself abruptly, taking a second to glance at his own hands before falling back into his pose with a huffy silence. Zuko hid a smile behind his canvas as his eyes scoured the other's figure, as thought meeting him for the first time. Finding the constant attention much too overwhelming, the vampire saw fit to shut his eyes.

"So did Kuzon manage to survive school with your gracious assistance?" Zuko asked in a rugged, sparkling voice as he made light, yet confident strokes across the canvas.

"By the skin of our teeth," Setsuya assured him with a chuckle. "By the time his ninth and my eighth year of classes began, we had much more leisure in choosing our lessons. Out of five classes a day, Kuzon took three art courses. That was when I finally grasped the full extent of his intentions to become an artist."

"The only kinds of artists who make any money nowadays are the ones who paint for textbooks," Zuko said in somewhat of a sour tone. "The rest are living on the downtown streets. The only craftsmanship worth anything would be artifacts dating over a thousand years old."

"It was the exact opposite back then," Setsuya explained, further appreciating his soul mate's admiration for creativity. "I lived in an age of liberal arts. There were so many flourishing artists, standing out in the crowd was incredibly difficult. Still, art was bought by the upper classes, not created. It was considered below our level. But his mentors paid so much attention to his work, whether praise or criticism, we were sure he was on his way to greatness. I on the other hand, chose a path that was a tad bit less promising."

"Philosophy?" Kuzon snorted, handing Setsuya's schedule back to him with a scoff. "Setsuya, that class is a bunch of garbage. You hear what they say about the teacher! He's nuts! You can't be serious about taking that class."

"I talked to a senior who said the class was amazing," Setsuya defended, folding the paper and setting it back into his bag with a huff. The two sat beneath the willow tree just a few yards away from the school entrance, waiting for the gong to sound and classes to begin. Setsuya leaned against the trunk of the tree with indignation and a threatening desire to push Kuzon's head out of his lap. Golden eyes full of skepticism stared up at him, to which Setsuya looked away coldly. "I think it would be interesting. I browsed through the books, and I found it to be appealing."

"That whole area of study is nothing but a bunch of crap a few Air Nomad loonies got together and devised in order to avoid studying science and math." Kuzon nodded decisively, tracing patterns in the grass beside him.

"Strange… That sounds like something you would do." The older man frowned with false anger, immediately breaking into a smile as Setsuya stuck his tongue out. "Kuzon, when you consider their liberal freedoms, art and philosophy aren't that different.

"Except for the fact that art is real," he pointed out, sitting up to wrap an arm around the other's shoulders. "It's not that I don't appreciate your enthusiasm for an out-of-the-ordinary study. I just don't want you mixing yourself up with worthl-, um, questionably productive subjects. You're so smart, it would be a shame for you not to take… advanced biological genetics, or something like that."

Setsuya smiled, touched by his friend's concern, regardless of the fact that no such class existed. "You're sweet, but I think I can really get something out of this course. If it's not all it's cracked up to be, I promise I'll transfer into 'advanced biological genetics'. I've never-" Setsuya's words were muffled by the school gong echoing across the campus, causing them both to unconsciously sigh and stand in unison. "If there's one thing about school that I won't miss, it'll be these damn uniforms," Setsuya muttered, straightening his blazer with a grunt. Just for rebellion's sake, he decided to leave his shirt untucked. He was an upperclassman now, after all. At fourteen, you should have such liberties as leaving your shirt untucked. How his older friend's uniform became wrinkled and dirt-smeared on the first day of school was beyond his own comprehension.

"I'll see you at lunch," Kuzon said, chewing a piece of grass between his teeth as they walked towards the front gate of the school along with the other mindless zombies dreading the first condemning day of the educational prison. "I have to meet with my advisor, so I'll be a few minutes la-"

"Oi! Setsuya!" The pale boy froze, and instantly Kuzon was by his side. He was on alert, his firebending instincts kicking in as the approaching threat made a beeline for them.

"Remember what I told you, Setsuya," the older quickly hissed, his form tensing yet restrained. He must let his friend learn to stand up for himself, or those boys would never leave him alone. "They won't hurt you; I'll burn them to a crisp before they even lay a hand on you."

The violet eyed boy shivered and took a deep breath before turning to meet the three boys approaching them with no less than malice in their eyes. "What do you want, Naoki?" he said as coldly as he could, flinching as his voice cracked. He wasn't used to being unpleasant, and Kuzon's self-defense classes had done little to cement his confidence. Not to mention a pale, one-hundred and fifteen pound fourteen-year-old boy wasn't even slightly intimidating. The leader of the three thugs approached them, larger than Kuzon with premature facial hair stereotypical of his type.

"I want to know why a half-breed like you is still hanging around this school!" Naoki's deep voice made young Setsuya's knees quiver, while Kuzon was standing silently behind him shaking with anger. "I thought your whore of a mother would have drowned you by now." His lackeys beside him were no less spiteful, cracking their knuckles in a threatening manner. They often took little mercy on their victims, and their immaculate records proved their parents' connections with the school.

'They could kill me and leave me in a ditch. Nobody would know it…'

Setsuya's eyes flickered nervously behind him to see that the student body had completely deserted the courtyard. "I'm glad to say that my mother loves me very much, Naoki. I'm also afraid that's more than can be said for yours. When was the last time she talked to you? When she told you about the divorce?" Setsuya bit his tongue in order to keep from apologizing, while Kuzon breathed a huff of approval and moved even closer to his friend.

Naoki's chubby face turned a sickly tinge of deoxygenated blue as he hissed, "You just don't know when to quit, do you? At least I'm of pure blood! And you!" He turned to Kuzon with a disgusted look on his face. "Disgracing yourself by hanging around with this bastard child! Your parents are top class, Kuzon! Honestly, wasting your time hanging around this dishonorable slime."

"With all due respect, Setsuya has a thousand times the honor you ever will," Kuzon said with restraint, his fists clenching at his side. "Now why don't you hurry along to class? Agni knows you can't afford to be late."

"Just as I thought! As worthless as your company." Naoki stepped forward towards them, raising his fist in a threat.

Setsuya's chest constricted, then enflamed with rage as he stepped forward and swung his left fist with all of his might, an acknowledgeable force when furious. Naoki was thrown to the pavement and his minions lunged forward. Setsuya felt a stinging blow to the side of his head, splatters of red and blue tainting his vision. Kuzon threw the boys to the ground only a moment too late. He murmured apologies into his companion's ear as he put a supporting hand under Setsuya's elbow and around his neck.

"You're wrong!" Setsuya groaned, his head spinning as he stumbled to his knees with the other's help. Clutching at the throbbing, pulsing forehead he spat, "As for worth, I may not be worthy of Kuzon's company, but you sure as hell aren't!"

"Setsuya!" He heard the sharp bark from the left, Kuzon's appalled voice bordering on anger. Even in his daze, the younger teenager's heart sank at the other's tone.

Naoki's face turned a deep crimson as blood rushed to his face. He leapt to his feet and screamed, "Says the purple-eyed freak! Why don't you crawl back into an igloo where you belong?" The following millisecond found the boy sprawled out on the street once again, this time with a thick stream of blood emerging from his nose and tainting his lips red. Eyes rolling in their sockets, Naoki groaned and slipped into unconsciousness along with his companions.

"His eyes are violet," Kuzon said quietly, slipping back into his cooler demeanor as quickly as he had emerged from it. He stepped forward and helped his friend regain a sense of balance. Setsuya leaned against his friend's strong body frame with a groan of pain. "We should get you to the infirmary," Kuzon said with a less-than-charming frostiness to his voice. "Your forehead ought to be iced." While a remarkable friend, Kuzon often lacked compassion and sympathy when it came to matters that troubled him. One of these matters was Setsuya's personal self-esteem.

"We shouldn't leave them," Setsuya murmured, nodding toward the three unconscious boys. Kuzon sighed and rolled his eyes pointedly. How just like Setsuya, to care for the enemy who had insulted and beaten him to the ground. Of course, that had been his fault entirely. He had promised to 'burn them to a crisp' before they landed a hand on Setsuya. It seems that he had failed his friend in more than one respect.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll tell the nurse they're out here." Kuzon sighed, taking care in walking his friend back to the school. At least Setsuya had stood up for himself this time…

"The school allowed fights like that to happen?!" Zuko exclaimed, forced to withdraw his hand from the canvas as it had begun to shake at the thought of anyone being so cruel to Setsuya. It was a wonder that Setsuya became the leader of the vampire population, with the track record of self-respect that he had.

Setsuya's eyes fluttered passively as he chuckled and slightly shifted his neck, only to shift it right back into place again. "We had money. We were allowed to do whatever we wanted. Certainly our parents were informed of our misconduct, but no one could punish us in matters of social confrontation. It was only another skill we needed to learn as heirs to our respective nobilities."

"Did people treat you that way often?" Zuko asked weakly, trying to avoid the other's eyes by returning to his sketch. However, he found that the moment his eyes returned to settle on Setsuya, his line of sight was once again drawn to meet with his counterpart's. In the other's deep eyes lay a sadness that the teenager found to tear at his heart as he continued to create bold strokes with his pencil.

"I'm afraid so, but only because I let them." The vampire's tone was suddenly very serious, causing the younger's ears to perk up. "That was the first day I'd taken the initiative and stood up for myself. Kuzon may have had to deal the physical blows, but I defended my honor with an amount of dignity that was unusual and almost uncomfortable. I've never forgotten what he told me after I woke up in the infirmary. He took my head into his hands, touched our foreheads together and whispered, 'If you ever so much as doubt your worth around me ever again, Setsuya, you'll find that I will not be as forgiving. You mean more to me than any other person, and I'll not have you drowning in your own pitiful melancholy.'" Noting Zuko's troubled expression he added, "Yes, it was a little harsh. But that was Kuzon's nature, and his strength completed me where I was fragile. He was my support as I was going through my teenage angst phase, when I was convinced everyone was out to get me… Which they were," he added sulkily, eyes half-lidded and distant.

"I see," Zuko murmured, finishing the framework of the bed with shifting eyes. He began tracing the figure of Setsuya, blushing as his sight lingered on the other's body. "So he was your support. Although Kuzon didn't seem to approve of your philosophy class, did he?"

Setsuya laughed, shaking his head in agreement. "No, I suppose he didn't. He thought it was a bunch of gibberish, and so did many others at the time. The era of philosophy had ended, and if I hadn't met Kuzon I would swear to this day that I'd been born in the wrong time period."

"I never truly trusted in the worth of philosophy myself. It's a banned study in the Fire Nation now, on the grounds that it 'corrupts the minds of the children'. You enjoyed the class then?"

"Immensely. I was late for the first class that day, and found that only six other students were taking the course. Every class was a rather in-depth discussion between all of us. The teacher never acted as though he was our superior, and he easily earned our respect without having to frighten us into line. I don't quite recall his name, but-" Setsuya hid a mischievous smile as he spoke, "He was my first crush."

"You had a crush on a teacher?!" Zuko stumbled for his pencil which he'd so conveniently dropped, only to drop it again once he straightened up and stared into his mate's face with horror. The thought of a fourteen-year-old Setsuya attracted to some creepy old man was just… an unthinkable thought. The other obviously read his expression and was quick to clarify.

"It was an intellectual attraction for the most part," the vampire laughed, cutting off the teenager's attempt to interrupt him. "Although he was rather charming, and I would blush every time he urged me to speak during class. Tall, dark, handsome, and fresh out of the university. He taught me for four years and I was one of his favorite students, unfortunately."

"Unfortunately?" Zuko retrieved his pen, blushing all the while. Setsuya… Crush… Teacher…

"We would sit and talk for hours afterschool and between classes. His favoritism gave the other students reason to hate me even more." He suddenly rolled his eyes and threw his arms up into the air. "I can't believe how much silly, shallow drama I was caught up in."

"You're mortal life would be an excellent basis for a novel consoling modern day outcasts," Zuko comforted him, only before lunging forward and fixing the other's pose back to perfection. "So did Kuzon ever get jealous of this teacher?" Zuko winked, trying to make a joke out of the fact that Setsuya had a crush on a teacher, which he was having a difficult time wrapping his mind around. Setsuya appeared troubled by the statement, his eyes avoiding the other's line of sight.

"A question for another time," Setsuya said with a strange gleam in his eye. He answered Zuko's questioning glance with a forced smile. "Kuzon's jealousy is a matter to discuss later on. My own jealousy would be more appropriate to the chronological order. You see, his ninth year was the time when Kuzon saw it fit to get his first girlfriend."

"Girlfriend? But I thought…" Zuko blushed, clucking his tongue anxiously.

"Yes, well Kuzon had a rather ambiguous orientation when it came to attraction. It hardly mattered the gender of a person, it was the person him or herself that enticed him. A blessing and a curse to be sure. Kuzon took to a young girl named… Shinju, in a pottery class next to the water color studio that Kuzon practiced in." Zuko couldn't help but notice how he failed to remember the name of his teacher whom he'd had a crush on, yet recalled the name of Kuzon's girlfriend immediately. "Our school was exclusively for boys, but the girls from the neighboring academy often came to take our visual arts courses since their own school couldn't afford the resources. Shinju and Kuzon spoke every day about, oh, politics and artistic trends. After about three weeks into the semester..."

Setsuya stared at the sight before him, trying to keep hold of his senses as he watched the scene unfold. This was a coincidence, a misunderstanding to be sure. Kuzon had only forgotten about their engagement at the beach. Yes, that was it. Kuzon had forgotten that just before school ended he'd promised to meet his best friend for dinner at the coast restaurant to celebrate five days off from lessons. Of course Kuzon had forgotten, which would explain why he was here sitting with Shinju in the middle of a public café and kissing her rather fervently in a matter questionably acceptable for a noble. It would also explain why Setsuya had been left with a bill of twelve gold pieces from the coast restaurant that accounted only for five hours worth of ginger ale and a plate of cold, untouched appetizers. Yes, all of that could be explained by Kuzon merely forgetting.

"Kuzon!" Oh. Well, he certainly hadn't meant to call out for his friend. A reflex perhaps. Now he must deal with the consequences.

"Setsuya!" Guilt. Pure guilt was written across his face. Guilt for forgetting, to be sure. Kuzon pulled Shinju against his body and whispered a soft apology with a nip against her earlobe. He kissed her on the cheek as she giggled at his suave manner. Setsuya turned away in an attempt not to gag. Kuzon stood and took Setsuya by the arm, guiding him into the outer portion of the café to the farthest corner of the balustrade surrounding the tables where lovers sat eating their warm appetizers and talking to their dates who did not, in fact, stand them up. "Setsuya, I know I promised to meet you after school. I'm really sorry, but you see… The International Arts Convention was in town for only a single day. The best artists around the world were there, and Shinju's friend gave her two extra tickets!" Kuzon's eyes were brighter than the fireflies fluttering about in the town square. "I only had a moment to decide, and I knew you would understand. You do understand don't you?"

Oh yes. Setsuya understood. Kuzon hadn't forgotten. His best friend deserted him without warning for an art show and a big breasted girl. Whatever. It was fine. So what if that was the third time this week he'd been duped by Kuzon? Art and pretty girls were obviously important. Much more important than Setsuya, anyway. He didn't mind that he'd been brushed off for such things. No. Not at all.


"You son of a bitch!" Oh, how vulgar. Perhaps he minded a tiny bit. "How many times are you going to brush me off for that ugly, airheaded bimbo?!" So what if the girl was pretty, smart, and abnormally nice to Setsuya? She was an ugly, airheaded bimbo for stealing Kuzon's time away from him. And for sucking his lips off. That too. She certainly must be bad to make Setsuya this bitter. Honestly, completely out of character. Cursing out Kuzon in the public square and all. Oh well. He'd worry about it tomorrow.

"You're just saying that because she's a peasant!" Kuzon snapped, letting go of his friend's arm and pacing furiously. It was his excuse for any criticism against his girlfriend. "You're just like the rest of those shallow bastards!"

"That would be pretty damn hypocritical of me!" Setsuya spat, ignoring the curious stares they were receiving from those around them. "Social class hasn't always treated me well, unless you've forgotten. Or perhaps you have, considering we've hardly spoken in two weeks!"

"You're a liar! A petty liar!"

"How could you possibly speak to me when your lips are attached to the bimbo's?!"

"Don't you dare call her such things! So I didn't come to the damn beach with you. Grow up! Believe it or not, there's more to my life than babying you!"

These words struck a chord in Setsuya that reverberated about his skull for a full minute, as Kuzon stood silently fuming at him with undignified wrath. An unimaginable ache formed deep in his chest, as he struggled to make sense of this betrayal. Only a few moments later, he calmly raised his head, looked Kuzon straight in the eye, and stated, "You're absolutely right. I'm sorry for disturbing your evening. I'll see you at school in a few days." With these words, the violet-eyed teen promptly brushed passed his friend and out of the restaurant, ignoring the strangers whispering behind his back and giving him bizarre, unpleasant looks.

xXxBloodlustxXx

"How was your day, Setsuya?" Mother asked with a smile as he closed the manor door with a slightly shaken hand.

"Good," Setsuya automatically responded, turning to face his parents seated at the dining room table to enjoy the roasted turkey-duck the cook had so graciously prepared for them. His stomach contracted unpleasantly at the sight of food, as he turned his eyes to the floor. "I finished my psychology presentation and my teacher wants me to move into the advanced class." And my best friend hates my guts. Normally Setsuya would tell his parents the truth, but he didn't feel like being coddled at the moment by anyone. At least, not after what Kuzon said.

"Setsuya that's wonderful!" Father exclaimed, raising his glass to his overachieving son. "I knew you would do well. Do you think you can handle it with all of your other class work?"

"I suppose," Setsuya said, not quite meeting his parents' eyes. "She's going to let me sit in on a few classes before I make my decision. It's full of older kids, though."

"Yes, that could be rather intimidating," Father agreed, raising a thoughtful eyebrow. His pale, rough hands folded on the table as he spoke, "I've talked to the principle about the troubles you've been having with the other students. Ever since the fight at the beginning of the year…" He sighed, shaking his head at the undeserved punishments of his son. "Well, it just seems that the others are jealous of you. It's difficult to be the first generation in a family to be born into a noble title."

"But you must remember that they're just as intimidated by you as you are of them," Mother added, her smile fading but her comforting gaze holding strong. "You're such a good student, Setsuya. Try not to let them get to you. There's only so much we can do to help outside of school."

"I understand," Setsuya murmured, his face paling. This was what Kuzon was talking about. He let everyone else try to figure out his problems while he cowered in a corner. "I-I'm going to take a shower now."

"Wait!" Mother protested, gesturing down to her plate. "Did you already eat with Kuzon?"

Setsuya froze, his hand clutching the stairwell banister. "Yes, Mom. I've already eaten." He sped up the stairs, not glancing back to see his parents exchange worried looks. Setsuya, while a good liar when it came to concealing the truth in his eyes, could not easily trick the ones who had raised him. Upon reaching his bedroom door, Setsuya stripped off his blazer and uniform shirt, tossing them onto his bed while trying to contain his tears. He was useless, and everyone knew it! Even, no especially Kuzon! Why, why did he-?!

He froze, realizing that his best friend was holding his discarded clothing and staring at him from the edge of the bed. "Ku-Kuzon! What the hell?!" He covered up his bare chest with crossed arms, heavily blushing as the other continued to stare at him. "How did you get into my room?" Surely his parents would have told him if they knew!

"I climbed up the wall and through the window," Kuzon said impatiently, throwing the clothing that had landed on top of him aside. "I didn't think you'd want to see me if you knew." Oh, so he climbed up three stories just to get into Setsuya's room without anyone else knowing? That's not odd at all. He stood to face the other, stepping within three feet of him with a determined expression. The violet-eyed teenager, too shocked at Kuzon's presence to consider the threat, wrapped his arms even tighter around his body frame and looked away.

"What do you want?"

"Setsuya..." When the younger boy looked forward, he jumped slightly to see the other's nose only two inches from his own. "I broke up with her tonight." The silence that followed was unmistakably bewildered and disbelieving, causing Kuzon to quickly elaborate, "Right after you left, I thought about what you said and I realized I was being a brat. I only started dating Shinju because I knew my parents would disapprove. They found out about my marks being so low last year, and I distracted them the only way I could- I fooled around with lower blood. I know it was wrong, but I really enjoyed her company and well, she was pretty and smart and I-"Cutting his rambling short, Kuzon made a frustrated noise and pulled at his hair.

"Setsuya, I'm so sorry! Never, not once, have you ever asked me to protect you! I do that because I care about you, and I've never had to 'baby' you. I said what I did because I was angry, you were angry, and everybody was just angry! I'm the biggest jerk in the world, you know that? Damn it all!" He groaned, grabbing Setsuya's shoulder with one hand and his neck with another. "Setsuya, please forgive me! I'll never date another girl again! I was just…"His lips were silenced by a gentle hand pressed up against his mouth.

"It's okay, Kuzon," Setsuya murmured, surprised by how quickly his anger and misery had faded. Kuzon might be able to hurt him, but he was the only one who could take the pain away just as quickly. "I forgive you. I was just jealous, that's all. I know you didn't mean what you said. Just warn me next time you're going to ditch me for a pretty girl." He smiled, trudging over to his dresser in the corner of the room. "Could you-?" Before Setsuya even finished his sentence, Kuzon turned his back to the other and allowed him to change into his nightclothes in privacy. "So how did she take the breakup?" Setsuya asked, trying not to sound smug.

"Very well, actually," Kuzon said to the floor, a light blush creeping along his cheeks. "It seems that her reason for dating me was to impress her parents. We decided that being friends would be just fine."

"Not causing a ruckus for once? I'm surprised," Setsuya muttered with all honesty, buttoning up his red silk shirt before fishing out a pair of loose cotton pants for his friend. It was an unspoken fact that the other would be spending the night at his house, and possibly the rest of the week. The older teen stuck out his tongue before snatching the pants away from the other. He changed quickly while Setsuya lay back on one side of the bed, sinking into the blankets with relief.

"It's true! She didn't cry about it. She even smiled!" Kuzon muttered, shrugging out of his shirt and crawling onto the bed next to his friend. "All she said was…" His eyes suddenly widened, as though suddenly realizing something.

"Yeah?" Setsuya prodded, raising an eyebrow.

His next words were spoken deliriously, as though he was half asleep. "She told me to go catch up to my boyfriend before he got away." The silence that followed was odd, as golden and violet eyes met. The friends shared a peaceful moment before Setsuya broke the silence.

"Well, it sounds as though she was a little bitter about it then." The younger smiled, capturing a strand of the other's hair between his two forefingers. "I'm sorry it didn't turn out for you Kuzon. If you ever need a rebound make out, your 'boyfriend' is on his toes." Kuzon shoved the other away with a laugh after receiving a playful kiss on the cheek. Nevertheless, neither of them would complain in the morning when they awoke to find Kuzon's arm wrapped around Setsuya's waist, whose head was buried into the other's neck.

"So he was only dating her to freak his parents out," Zuko said, somewhat relieved as he focused on the cracks in the earthen walls behind Setsuya's form.

"Supposedly. Kuzon did have a small string of girlfriends following that, though none ever lasted more than two months. He did talk to me once about asking out a boy in the year above him, but I could never figure out whether he was serious or not. Either way, I was the first he went steady with. I never really had time for girls, with my studies and such. They're lovely creatures, but I've never quite communicated well with them."

Oh, the romance of it all. Zuko inclined his head mischievously. "I think there's more to the fight than you're telling me," he suddenly informed the vampire. "I've seen a jealous Setsuya, and he's nowhere near as calm as you made him out to be." He winked at the flustered man, licking his finger and dabbing away at a small mistake at the corner of the canvas.

"I'd have gotten much angrier if Kuzon hadn't said what he did," Setsuya assured him, knowing he would have blushed if he had the blood to do so. "Kuzon was the only person I could get angry at without reserve, considering he could take a punch and I couldn't. He often became more frustrated than myself, although he could never lay a hand on me, particularly when we were together. He knew that my parents would scream bloody murder if he so much as left a bruise on me. I was, after all, weak in stature compared to him."

"Double standards," Zuko laughed, brushing his hair out of his face. The teenager stifled a heavy cough in the back of his throat, feeling his sickness taking a toll on him. He finished up the fine details of Setsuya's shirt, when he realized that he had created a good structure for his painting to begin. "They're tough on everyone, but they can certainly have their advantages. Although, you and I don't seem to have any trouble smacking each other around." He set down his charcoal pencil with a contented sigh

Setsuya smiled, nodding his head in guilty agreement. "Yes, I suppose. Your nature is prone to defensive aggression, as my own is. More so after I became a vampire." Noting his mate's fluttering eyelids, he relinquished his position and stepped forward to drag the younger towards the bed. "You ought to rest. Next time, I promise I'll tell you how Kuzon and I became a couple."

"That ought to be interesting." Zuko smiled, sighing as Setsuya drew the blankets around his form. "I think we're getting close," he said softly, as a cool hand traced his fever-ridden forehead. "To completing the Revelation stage, I mean. It's getting easier… I can't help but wonder if it's an invasion of privacy, being so attuned to how you feel."

"Remember what you read on the first stage? We have no secrets, and no privacy in turn." Setsuya laughed, running his fingers through his hair. "Wait until we reach the second stage to ethically question our bond. Then we'll talk about privacy."

"What do you mean?" Zuko asked quickly, receiving only a kiss on the forehead in return.

"I'm going to check on our new vampire and do a little investigating. Ryuichi should be back with medicine sometime soon, hopefully with something to bring that fever down. He's fairly experienced in caring for ill firebenders. Take care, hmm?" With these words, the vampire left the confused and tired teenager alone to sleep off his acquired illness. Zuko sighed, tugging at the blankets before falling asleep with a worried grimace.

xXxBloodlustxXx

"How is he?" Setsuya questioned the woman quietly, watching the boy from afar. The young vampire's physical traits had been altered with almost unnatural intensity after his transformation- his light brown hair had been turned ashen silver, his \ skin was a gentle blend of dark and light grey, his pale lips had turned a deep purple, and his eyes a murky mix of orange and white. He sat in the corner of his room, a cloak given to him by Setsuya strung across his shaking form.

"Sickly, my Lord," the vampire whispered back to him, her soft features etched with worry. "He needs to feed further, sir. I simply cannot convince him."

"Leave us," Setsuya murmured, bowing to the woman solemnly. "Thank you for watching over him. You needn't worry. I'll help him." The female nodded, ascending up the stairs with a worried gaze at the young man in the corner. The vampire lord closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, crossing the room toward the motionless boy, taking care to kneel in front of him a few feet away. He waited patiently, and when the young one took no heed of him, he began to speak, "My name is Setsuya. I promise, I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to. I just want to get to know you and maybe help you, if you'll let me."

This got the boy's attention. He looked up at Setsuya with a frightened gaze, eyes watering with glistening tears. "Please, don't make me drink blood! Please, please I-"

Setsuya shushed him gently, opening his arms. "Come, come. It's alright." The boy let out a soft sob, shaking his head and shirking away from the man. Of course he's frightened of me… A vampire did this to him. "It's okay," he said softly, retracting his arms with caution. "I'm not like the one who attacked you. I would never hurt a human, or anyone for that matter. I'm here to help you. You can trust me." Setsuya approached the young one, inching an arm forward and placed a gentle hand to his cheek. After only a moment of examining the sincerity shining in the vampire's violet eyes, the boy was crawling forward into the other's arms and burying his head into the his chest. He stroked the youngling's hair, whispering comforting words to him. "It'll be just fine. Now, why don't you tell me your name?"

"K-Khai," he whispered, calmed as Setsuya's arms wrapped around his slim figure.

"Khai," the vampire lord repeated, smiling as the boy visibly relaxed. "A strong name. I understand what you're feeling, Khai. It's alright to be afraid of blood and nobody is going to force you to drink it. Let's talk about you for a little while. Do you know what's happened to you?"

"I-I'm a v-vampire," the young teenager whispered, visibly flinching at the word. Setsuya sighed, understanding that the modern world child had much to learn about the nature of their kind.

"Now, in order to have become a vampire there must have been someone who… attacked you. Can you remember such a person for me?" Setsuya winced as Khai pulled away, not wishing to frighten the younger into silence again. However, the teenager let out a sharp breath and nodded fervently. He regained his maturity, his fears slowly receding.

"Yes, yes. There was a man with black hair and p-pale skin that was almost purple in the light… I was walking home from school when he cornered me in the alleyway next to th-the marketplace. H-He-" Khai turned, inclining his head in what Setsuya perceived would have been a blush.

"Khai?" Setsuya urged gently, rubbing the back of the teenager in a comforting gesture. "It's alright to tell me what happened. I need to know so I can help you, and maybe even save a lot of people. I won't tell anyone, I promise." A vampire attack, as Setsuya was well aware of, was a difficult thing for a person to talk about. There was a shared intimacy, sometimes expressed more often than not, between a vampire and a human victim. Their souls were said to 'touch', and this experience seemed to somehow determine whether or not the being would pass on or remain as a member of the undead.

The boy appeared almost suspicious, and began edging along as he spoke, "I'm not entirely sure what happened. He pushed me against the wall and asked for my name. Wh-When I wouldn't tell him he st-started to take off my shirt. I tried to hit him away, but he was strong and I- I just… just couldn't." Khai looked away, eyes shut tight. "He whispered a hymn into my ear, one that I couldn't recognize. After that, he- he put his teeth to my neck and…" He took a sharp breath and shivered. "Why? What did I do to deserve what he did to me?"

"Nothing," Setsuya assured him, embracing the boy with sadness in his eyes. "Nothing at all."

xXxBloodlustxXx

Black hair worn in a long braid. Skin a mild purple tint, veins and arteries subtly noticeable. Unknown eye color, suspected to be a dark shade. Voice deep with a low hum succeeding soft constants. Speaks in hymns during assault. Seems to favor young males and females with noteworthy beauty and physique. No related deceased victims yet discovered.

"It's more information than I would have suspected, as the attack was so recent."

"Indeed, the account is remarkably detailed. You're certain it's trustworthy?"

"I've no reason to think otherwise." Setsuya sat calmly in front of his subordinate council as they reviewed the information he'd recovered. He fidgeted as he leaned against his desk, then lowered himself to the floor in order to meet the eyes of the others, who were circled on mats around him. Never before had Setsuya felt so uneasy before his council- the problem was bigger than he was making it out to be, and the unspoken truth haunted his conscience. "While it's relatively important for us not to base our conclusions on this information alone, it may be easy for several of you to attribute this account to a vampire of our history. A party has already been assembled, led by myself, in order to find the offender. He's too dangerous to be left unchecked, and we must see to his arrest and discipline."

"I knew that bringing a human here would be nothing but trouble," one man hissed, and was instantly hushed by the rest of the congregation. Setsuya pretended not to hear, stifling his instinct to protect his mate.

Zuko has nothing to do with this! he fumed silently, the only noticeable shift in his composure being the twitch of his thumb. "Feel free to tell the rest of the population at this point. Rumors will begin to circulate, and we must deliver the people the truth before they imagine something far worse." His eyes flickered to his office door, before rising and bowing respectfully. "You're dismissed." His cloak swished behind him as he strode across the room, slipping out of the room to find Ryuichi lingering nervously outside of the door. "How much did you hear?" he asked, his voice suddenly urgent as they walked swiftly down the hall. Normally he would have reprimanded his assistant for listening in, but now was not the time to be insincerely shocked and indignant.

"I made it here while you were just starting to talk about the boy. You mentioned other attacks thought to be by the same vampire. How many are there?" Ryuichi fumbled with his hands nervously at his sides, unable to make eye contact with the vampire lord.

"Three, including the boy. One last month and one two weeks ago. Two females and now... You don't-? No, of course you wouldn't. It was before your time." Setsuya frowned, troubled by his own train of thought.

"My Lord?" Ryuichi bit at his lip fretfully. Please don't ask me what I think you're going to ask me. They kept walking, pausing to briefly acknowledge those who approached them with greetings, but only waving away questions they received.

"Don't concern yourself with it, not yet. I don't want to trouble you. When you finish transcribing the accounts I've left on my desk, you're dismissed for the week." Setsuya suddenly felt his stomach twist into knots and a great pounding in his chest, almost as like a… heart. His thoughts turned to Zuko as the long forgotten tingle of adrenaline coursed through his body. The boy was troubled. The vampire lord put a hand to his frozen heart, trying not to lose his senses in the unbearable inner jolt.

"Of course," the younger murmured, curling a finger thoughtfully around his hair, unable to distinguish the change in Setsuya's stoic demeanor. "May I feed tonight, my Lord? I'm feeling, how would you say, under the weather."

"Not by yourself," Setsuya murmured, trying his best to control his body's shaking. "Take someone with you, or at least stay close to the patrol. Just…" He stopped, intercepted by Ryuichi's patronizing smirk. The man had been alive for over sixty years. Just because he'd shown a moment of vulnerability, it didn't mean that he was completely helpless. He could take care of himself. "Thank you, Ryuichi. I'll send Zuko over to you for his lessons once he feels better." The younger vampire bowed, casting a long glance at the other over his shoulder before continuing on his way while shaking his head. To understand Setsuya was to perform a miracle.

Barely waiting until he was out of Ryuichi's line of sight, he walked swiftly and silently to his quarters as a foreign and uncomfortably blissful pulse pounded in his chest. Clutching the door handle, he could not help but notice the sweat coating his palms.

"Zuko?"

xXxBloodlustxXx

"Come now, Setsuya. Only a taste, I promise."

Struggle, pain, blood…

"Relax, love. It can be good for the both of us."

Restricted, frightened, wounded…

"Beauty, pure beauty."

Repulsed, enraged, disgusted…

"Oh, how I love you."

Shaken, hopeless, defeated…

"Setsuya!"

Zuko awakened, his heart pounding and sweat drenching his form. Unable to stop shaking, he pushed the blankets away from him and pulled his knees up to his chest in an attempt to stop his heavy breathing. A nightmare… Just a nightmare. However, based on what he knew of Setsuya's past, he wasn't entirely sure that it had been just a nightmare. There was a man, obviously a vampire, whom Zuko had never seen before. Surely he would have remembered such eyes full of malice and desperation. And then there was Setsuya, his skin a gentle mortal crème and his expression full of terror as the vampire descended upon him with ravenous intent. Not only blood, but purity had been taken. But it… it was real. He could still feel the tingles of an emotional and physical pain running through his body. It must be our bond. The more Setsuya shares about himself, the tighter our bond becomes. But, the Revelation stage is only an emotional bond. There had to be mental connection intertwined with what I saw. Could that be-?

"Zuko?" Setsuya flung open the door, not taking the time to knock.

Damn, I forgot how attuned his is to me. I should have blocked him. Wiping away the sweat from his brow with a subtle shrug, he faked a yawn and asked, "Yes, Setsuya?

"How is your fever?" the vampire lord asked with dubious eyes, as though he expected someone to burst out of the ground and attack him. He edged toward his soul mate, his hand lingering on his chest just above his unbeating heart.

"It's gone down," Zuko assured, conjuring up a small smile. He cursed his shaky voice, praying that Setsuya would attribute its scratchiness to his illness. "Ryuichi gave me some herbal tea that knocked me out in five minutes. I just had to sweat it out a bit."

The vampire tilted his head and tapped into their bond, but felt no disturbance in Zuko's disposition. "Very well. I may not see you for the next few days. A small group of trackers and I are going to hunt down this deviant vampire. Ryuichi and Hayate will make sure you're taken care of properly, and Akane will check in on you when she can." He stepped forward and gave the young man a kiss on the cheek. "Take care." He was about to turn around when a weak voice questioned him softly…

"Setsuya? Can I see the next scroll for the bond development?" After receiving an odd look, he quickly explained, "For a little bedside reading. I'd like to know what to expect."

"Yes, of course," Setsuya murmured before disappearing in a flash, before reappearing in an instant at his soul mate's side, holding out a scroll with a smile. Zuko started for a moment, before letting out a low laugh. It was difficult to remember the vampire's physical advantages when he hardly ever flaunted them. "Here you'll better understanding the distinction between two humans bonding, and circumstances involving a supernatural creature such as myself. Don't be afraid by what you read- our bond will not cede to personal boundaries."

"What do you-" But Setsuya was already gone. "…mean?"

Zuko released an annoyed sigh, opening the scroll with bitterness.

Stage Two: The Psyche

The second stage of bonding, when occurring between mortal boundaries, is of a vague awareness of your partner's mentality, amongst words spoken and unspoken. When your partner is a vampire, this process is enhanced a thousand fold. After this stage is complete, you will be able to comprehend your mate's every gesture and word to its intention. Privacy has now become a thing of the past. From now on, your every thought is surrendered to your significant other's awareness. While an oversimplification of your bond, you will find yourself able to "read" your mate's thoughts.

Zuko checked the seal on the front of the scroll to make sure it was valid, before shaking his head in wonder. Honestly, nothing ought to be able to surprise him now. But reading Setsuya's thoughts?! Or Setsuya reading…? No. He didn't even want to think about that.

This stage often overlaps with Revelation, intertwined specifically with the sharing of pasts between soul mates. If one or both partners have been revealing themselves consistently and thoroughly to their significant other, he or she will develop a mental connection early on during the bonding process. It is first exemplified through dreams or rather, memories. During their deepest cycle of sleep, the human will visualize memories of great emotional gradient. These visions may or may not be those that your partner has thus shared with you. Slowly, the visions will become more clear and detailed as both time passes, and the vampire counterpart reveals more of themselves. If the human in turn has been revealing their own past, their memories can only be accessed during heavy spiritual meditation by their vampire partner. Here is one of the few stages where the human has easier access to the implements of the process than the vampire.

Zuko suddenly felt sick to his stomach. What he saw… It had been real, for Setsuya at least. He had never truly processed what it meant to be taken against one's will, and he had truly glimpsed his own mate being ravaged. Would they always be nightmares such as those?

Eventually, the partners will develop a mental connection strong enough to consciously tap into each other's minds. This is accommodated by many agreeable advantages, slightly clouded with the dust of former privacy barriers. This includes the ability to speak mentally with your mate and estimate their location through visual images created by the mind. At first, the human may not be able to sense their mind being infiltrated, stimulating a sense of vulnerability. Eventually the human will learn by will to sense and block what they may feel to be 'intrusions'. This defensive strategy should be used only sparingly. There is no time for attempting to spare another's feelings or conserving your thoughts for the benefit of the other. What sort of message would you receive if you attempted to communicate mentally with your mate, only to be instantly rejected? In turn, while you should always leave the connection between yourself and your counterpart open, do not constantly absorb where, when, and what state of mind your significant other is in. This exhibits a lack of trust counterproductive to the objective of the process.

The Psyche stage introduces a powerful and often frightening prospect for a human whose spirit has not been exposed to such paranormal situations. To be so deeply connected to a person, while nerve wracking, is a rewarding and unimaginably beautiful experience. If the soul mates are thus far sexually active, the second stage is also incredibly enhancing and deepens the experience greatly by communicating what your body desires, but cannot express into coherent word or thought due to the passionate heat of the moment. The soul mates will find that bed play-

"That's enough of that," Zuko growled, tossing the scroll aside with a flushed face. His memories, his thoughts, his mental images… All were forfeit to Setsuya once he took the time to disclose his own past to the vampire. Since the vampire had already experienced the milder sensation of a bond with Kuzon, does that mean he could more easily read Zuko's thoughts without him knowing it? Could he be reading Zuko's thoughts right now?! Calm down, he scolded himself, slipping beneath the blankets of his bed with a shiver. Thoughts were only thoughts after all. It's not as though he had anything exceptional to hide, other than the occasional modest fantasy involving (the majority of) their clothes still very well intact.

On a more somber note, he would continue having vivid dreams of Setsuya's past. For some reason, he felt as though he ought to ask for some sort of permission before taking memories of his mate's into the realm of dreams. Even as he began drifting off, he wondered whether or not the memories would always be akin to a nightmare.

xXxBloodlustxXx

"Has our tiger discovered his new cub?"

"Yes sir. They've taken him in as one of their own."

"Hmm… He who exemplifies predictability hails no suspicion of his habits. The supplies?"

"Finding the murderer has been their first and foremost priority. The stolen supplies have been nearly forgotten."

"Very well. You're dismissed for a time."

"Sir, there may be a potential dilemma in the plan. The mortal boy-"

"Ah, yes. The most valuable assets are those that can be the most ruinous. Let our agent settle in and find out the mortal's relations with our tiger. I want to know how and why he became a prisoner. The divinity in his blood is immeasurable. He may be the one I'm searching for."