Title: Birthday Blues

Genre: Romance/ Adventure

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I no own!

Note: This is an AU fic and also is a Yaoi.

Warning: Unbeta'd so beware the errors!!!

Summary: Being Revamped. AU. - Forced into an arranged marriage Prince Toboe does what any teenager would do: run away with a band of thieves, whose leader is temptation itself. With the world at the brink of war will he be able to find love? Or die trying?


Chapter 9: Confrontation


Kiba looked down at the ground; everyone else had gone their separate ways. He wished that he could go as well, but he knew that he had to speak with Mew.

"Toboe knows," she said while readjusting her hair, acting as if the conversation were like one of the weather.

Kiba looked at her with wide eyes, "how?"

"He overheard Cheza and I speaking then ran away. I'm guessing that the kid hates us all equally now," she gave him a bland smile.

He continued to look at her. When had she grown so much? When had they both gotten so old? "Mew," he began, lost on what exactly to say to her.

"And you know what Kiba? I think I hate you too," she was still smiling as she turned around, "good luck in this war. Goodbye."

As soon as Mew's carriage began to roll she closed her eyes and rested her head against the window. There it was; she cut ties with Kiba, perhaps forever. It was closure, and it was what she needed.


Toboe cracked his eyes opened as he looked around at his surroundings. Where was he? This wasn't Jagara's dungeon! It was then that everything from before came back to him. A girl named Tia had rescued him, or so she said. Where was she? And where was that Sully guy?

"Your majesty!" a voice chirped from the chair that was to the right of the bed. He looked over, Tia was sitting there, book in lap, smiling sweetly.

Toboe felt the blanket on him slide off his chest as he sat up; it was then that he realized that he had no shirt on, just bandages. He looked down at himself in shock before pulling the covers up around himself.

Tia continued to smile. "It's alright. I'm not going to tell anyone," she said. Her eyes held nothing but understanding, "I know what it's like to hide who you really are." She looked over at Toboe.

"You see, for the most part of my life I had to pretend I was a boy. It was really the only way to get respect from my tribe. I'm a native from the mountains you see. When I met Iik, well, I didn't have to pretend to be someone else anymore," her eyes softened as she spoke about the young king. She looked back over to Toboe, "But, if you don't mind me asking, why did you hide what you were?"

Toboe looked at her, and told her the lie that he was fed his whole life, "So I wouldn't have to marry Jagara."

Tia raised a thin eyebrow at him.

"Where are we?" Toboe asked, changing the subject.

"Well prince, we are in the Kingdom of the South, the castle to be precise," Tia grinned, "would you like to me to get you some clothes?"

Toboe blushed after looking under the sheets, realizing that the only thing he was wearing were the bandages, "yes please." The young woman had seen him nude, which did not make him comfortable.

"Male or female?" Tia asked, it made Toboe a little uneasy that she was so understanding.

"Something that can go for both please," he replied, this time a bit more confidently.

Tia only nodded before getting up from her seat, placing her book where she once was.

"I'll get you a set of clothes, and then while you're dressing I'll tell the King that you are awake. I'm sure you and him will speak about things before deciding what else to do. Correct?" she asked.

Toboe nodded, watching as she left before lying down again. Briefly he wondered where Tsume was, if he was okay, if he was dead. How Hige, Blue, Quent, Cher, and Hubb were doing, and how his parents were. Slowly he closed his eyes, wondering how everything managed to get so complicated. It felt as if it were only yesterday when he was formally given to Darcia, and later that night running off with Tsume. Everything seemed to evolve into…this.

"How? Why?" His voice was the only noise in the silent room.

Why was all of this happening? Why? Why did there have to be war? Why couldn't anyone solve anything with words instead of violence? Wasn't the world bad enough with its poverty and slums? There was already enough orphans, widows and widowers, did there have to be more?

"Why?" he asked again, his mind falling into the world of sleep.

Why?


Tsume and Gehl nearly flew behind a sturdy wall as they ran for cover.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Gehl asked in a hushed tone.

Tsume merely nodded.

The two of them watched as, at random times, certain parts of the castle would explode on the inside, the fire was easy to see through the windows. The screams of the soldiers could be heard clearly.

"Now here comes the good part." Tsume said as Jagaras soldiers began to run out of the castle, only to be greeted by angry peasants at the gates, each holding a weapon of their choice.

"Wow, you know, if you weren't so popular Tsume, this would've never worked," Gehl said as they watched with detached amusement. Every now and then both would wince when something extraordinarily painful occurred.

"If you think this is bad, you should've seen what they did to the soldiers at other parts of the Kingdom," Tsume chuckled.


Iik smiled as he watched as Toboe rode off in a carriage back to the east. He waved briefly when Toboe had turned around to watch them as he left.

"Are you sure it's wise to let Toboe go off like that? Jagara's out to get her," Tia said, continuing with the act that Toboe was a girl, but was sincerely worried that the young prince would get captured again.

Iik gave Tia a dog-like grin, "Don't worry my dear! She'll be fine! But as for us, we've gotta start making up actual war plans!" he chirped.

Tia gave him a dull look, "Your highness, didn't you already do that?" She asked him.

"Did I?" He asked himself, and then put his hand up to his chin, as if he were honestly thinking. "Did I Tia?"

"Yes sire you did." She answered, moving a piece of her long dark hair behind her ear. Not noticing the look Iik was giving her, it was a mixture of amusement and something else, something dark and sexy.

"Well then. I suppose all we have to do now is tell the kingdom to prepare for war, and get just about every blacksmith to start creating more armor and weapons," He said.

"We did that as well," Tia replied.

"Did we?" He put his hand to his chin again, "Well, I suppose we have nothing else to do …except," he paused, letting his sentence hang.

"Except?" Tia echoed.

Ihnk looked down at his adviser, "have dinner with me Tia, you look hungry, as well as tired."

"Your majesty?" She asked, confused.

"And stop with all this 'majesty' nonesense, since when have you ever called me anything else than Iik? And since when did you ever put up with my games? Join me for dinner Tia; I'd like to spend my last one before going to war with you," He said to her, moving his own hair out of his tan face, "Alright?"

Tia looked at him with wide eyes, looking into his own before understanding and nodding, "Yes."


Toboe exited the cart once it got into the palace walls. The minute he stepped foot on the castles floors, it felt as if all of his anger that he had be withholding suddenly burst open, like a dam.

"Toboe!" Cher chirped as she saw the boy, she smiled as she embraced him into a tight hug.

"Cher," Toboe gasped, "I can't breathe." He smiled at her when she let him go. His anger was not directed towards her because she had nothing to do with it…or did she? Though the way she was smiling at him, Toboe let his mind have the benefit of the doubt.

"And you must be exhausted from all this traveling. Would you like something to drink? Eat? Would you like them to run you a nice, hot, bath? Where did you get those clothes? They look fantastic! Your hair! Well, it looks good on you. So, where did you go? What did you see? Am I asking too many questions? Maybe I should stop," Cher babbled, even though Toboe seemed to ignore everything she was saying.

"Where are Cheza and Kiba?" He asked her.

Cher blinked, stopping in mid-babble, "The King and Queen?"

"Yes, the King and Queen," He nearly snapped.

Cher blinked again at him, "Well. Queen Cheza is in her quarters, while King Kiba had already left this morning for battle.

Toboe only nodded, "Alright then. Thank you. I think I'll go see Cheza now."

"Oh. Okay," Cher nodded as she watched him walk away. Something about Toboe had changed but she couldn't place what it was.


Cheza gasped as Toboe entered without knocking. "Toboe!" she smiled. He only glared at her, making her sit down immediately, "Where were you? I was worried."

"Yeah, I bet you were," He managed to say tiredly, "You were never going to tell me, were you?"

"Tell you what?" Cheza asked him, a doe look on her face.

"You know what I'm talking about," He practically spat.

"Don't speak to me like that!" Cheza scolded.

Toboe laughed bitterly, "Why ever not? Don't I have a right? After all you're the one who lied to me my entire life. I think I've got a right to talk back for once."

Cheza sighed and rubbed her temples.

"That won't make this go away," Toboe told her.

"I know that," She said tiredly, she then looked up at him, "what do you want me to say? That I'm sorry that we lied? That it was all our faults that you were raised to be something you were not meant to be? Is that what you want me to say?"

"No," Toboe said, "That's not it at all."

"Do you want to wait until this war is over before we go into this Toboe?" Cheza asked. "So that way, you're father would be here as well, and we can even get Mew over here."

Toboe gave her a look of disgust, "No." He then got up, "I'm going to battle." He said before leaving the room.

Cheza remained sitting in the same spot, frozen.


ECK: ugh, another short chapter haha. Really this chapter's just a filler.

Originally Posted: 6/6/05

Re-Posted: 12/18/09