AuthorsNote:Thanks to Gex-1539 for proofing this.

Disclaimer: Halo, Sangheili, Rtas, Thel/Arbiter and other canon characters belong to Bungie Studios/343 Industries. However, Original Characters, like Zeno, belong to me.

Chapter 9: Ley's Confession

Sani stumbled for the third time as he and Lila were forced to march into the main keep, his hearts heavy with dread. If Zeno was still alive, he would surely be distracted by his sudden appearance, causing him to be cut down right in front of him. Sani was certain that was what Uslo had in mind, since he had to yet remove that hideous grin off his face. Beside him, Lila looked equally worried. Of the two of them, her fate would be much worse: Sani knew he would likely simply be killed, while Lila would be forced into breeding with Uslo. I am sorry, Zeno, he thought grimly. It looks like fate does not want me to keep my promise to you….

At last they emerged into a large room, which Sani safely guessed was the challenge arena. After a quick glance he found the keep elders and the kaidon, whom was standing in the pit, but he could not see Zeno. A part of him hoped Zeno simply hadn't arrived yet, but he knew that could not be due to what the guard said earlier: his hearts started to sink. As they were forced further into the room, he saw a black and purple armored form laying against the side of the pit and his hearts sank completely when he realized it wasn't moving.

"No!" Sani cried, grief filling his hearts as he started to rush toward Zeno's body. However he was stopped in his tracks when pain erupted in his leg and he toppled over. Looking up and back, his vision slightly blurry from tears, he saw Uslo aiming a plasma pistol at him, a smug grin on his face.

"Now, now," Uslo said, grabbing him by his clothing and pulling him back toward the door. "No rushing off without my permission. Do not worry, you will be joining him soon enough…."

"Fucking…bastard…," Sani growled through tight mandibles. "Bastards the bothof you!"

"Uslo," Ley growled, clearly not happy with the intrusion. "What are you doing here? This is not your business. And why are they with you?"

"Business that is clearly finished." Uslo stepped into the pit, glancing down at Zeno briefly before focusing on Ley once more. "However, my business is only just getting started."

"What are you on about?"

At that Uslo looked back at the warrior that came with them. "Bring the Gi'vea forward," he said. Sani watched helplessly as the warrior grabbed Lila and forced her toward him. Then, to everyone's surprise, Uslo aimed his weapon at her.

"Uslo!" Ley cried, clearly distressed. "What are you doing! She has done no crime that deserves death!"

"Watch your words, Ley," Uslo said with a snarl. "Or have you forgotten who is really in charge here? Now, drop your weapons."

"How did I know you would pull a cowardly stunt like this, Uslo?" Ley growled as he tossed his blades away, one of them landing by Zeno's body.

Uslo chuckled darkly. "Because you know I would take advantage of an opportunity if I saw one, Ley," he said, his weapon still pointed at Lila's head. "How convenient that your nephew decided to challenge you, only to fail. He will make the prefect scapegoat to take the blame for all your deaths."

"What…."

"Imagine the gossip!" Uslo continued. "Zeno challenges the kaidon, only to not only kill him but the elders as well in a bloody rage, forcing the captain of the guard to kill him and leave the position of kaidon wide open to anyone, namely me…."

"Have you no honor?" one of the elders growled. "A true Sangheili would not resort to tactics like this."

"And what is honor? What is a true Sangheili?" Uslo countered. "Before the Covenant, we fought amongst ourselves, leaving only the truly fit to live and pass on their genes. During the Covenant, we mostly only fought lesser races, weakening us as a whole. Now that we are free of the Covenant's shackles, we still have not returned to the true way of our species: I intend to change that, among other things."

"You fool," Lila growled, struggling against the warrior holding her. "We have yet to recover from the wars we recently fought! Starting warfare between keeps will ruin us completely!"

"And we will rise from those ashes a better, stronger, species," Uslo snarled. "I do this, for the sake of our future and to do so; those still strongly tainted by the Covenant must be purged." He switched his aim to Ley. "Along with those that are abnormal…mentally."

Sani watched as Ley backed away, glaring at Ley, whom seemed to be enjoying this power trip a bit too well. Yet, Sani saw he kept briefly glancing at something else. He looked and his eyes widened: Zeno was moving! Had he been playing dead or was simply rendered unconscious? Was there something else going on here?

The squad leader…, Sani thought, realizing that if he saw Zeno moving, he would warn Uslo and Uslo would easily finish Zeno off. He had to act. Forgive me, Lila, but this may hurt a bit.

He bunched his legs under him, doing this best to ignore the pain from the wound he received earlier. When he was certain he had aimed himself right, he propelled himself at the warrior. The impact knocked all three of them to the floor, both Lila and the squad leader giving out a startled yelp. It would have an effect that proved to be better than he hoped. Uslo, caught by surprise at the commotion, turned toward them.

"Now Zeno!" Ley called out. Uslo, his eyes now wide, started to spin around again, but proved to be for naught as the tip of a kisan was now protruding from his belly. The man gasped as the blade disappeared again, his weapon slipping from his hand. Zeno must have severed his spine, for his legs crumpled from underneath him and he fell to the floor. The bastard was still alive, but clearly paralyzed from the waist down.

"Captain!" the squad leader cried, trying to untangle himself from the pile they were in. Lila, however, was able to get a leg free enough to give him a nice kick in the head, stunning him. Sani rendered him fully unconscious with a solid head butt. Only now did Sani get a good look at Zeno and see just how close to death he truly was.

"Zeno…," Sani breathed as Zeno approached him, deactivating his borrowed kisan before embracing him. "I thought I had lost you…."

"Not yet, my sweet…," Zeno said softly as he cut his bonds. "Not yet…"

"But…you should be dead…."

"I know…but…you see, Ley had other plans…."

Several minutes ago….

Zeno coughed and gasped as the ability to breath suddenly returned to him. He fell onto his hands and knees, taking in long daunts of sweet air. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ley kneel down beside him. "Why?" he coughed. "Why didn't you kill me like you are supposed to?"

"Under normal circumstances I would, but these are not normal circumstances…."

"What are you…."

The conversation was interrupted by a guard bursting into the room. "Kaidon!" he cried. "Uslo approaches and he brings others!"

"So the time has indeed come, as I suspected…," Ley muttered before addressing the guard directly. "Thank you; now go before he sees you." The guard saluted and left.

Zeno looked at him confused. "What is going on?" he asked.

"As I alluded to before, there is more going on here than what you or Lila know…." For the first time, Zeno saw regret and sorrow in Ley's eyes. "And time is running out for us both."

"What…what are you playing at, Ley?"

"I need you to play dead for me, Zeno and when the time is right, to strike Uslo down."

"Why should I pretend to be dead when by all rights I really should be? And why do you want 'me' to kill your pet?"

"Please, Zeno. I promise to explain everything, if I am able, when this is over. I…I know you have no reason to trust me at all, but just this once…just this once…trust me on this. It may be our only chance to set things right."

Zeno was really confused. What was going on? Why the sudden change in Ley's attitude toward him? He knew though that unless he played along, he may never find out. Besides, what else did he have to lose? He was a dead man.

"Alright…," Zeno said. "Your explanation had better be good…."

"Thank you, Zeno." Ley sounded genuinely grateful. "Noble elders," he said addressing said elders. "I ask you to play along as well. All will be explained, I promise you."

The elders nodded in agreement, curiosity in their eyes.

"You do not know how hard it was to keep up the act when I heard you…," Zeno said softly. "Or when Uslo shot you."

"I can imagine," Sani said, nuzzling him. "But you pulled it off."

"Yes…I failed to win against Ley…but at least…the other problem has been…neutralized. Speaking of which…." At that, Zeno walked over to Uslo's prone form. Uslo was looking up at him defiantly. "No…one…," Zeno growled. "And I mean no one…hurts my mate!" They watched as Zeno kicked and stomped Uslo a couple of times before raising his borrowed kisan for a killing blow.

"No, Zeno," Ley said suddenly. "I want him alive…for now."

"Yes…you better not kill me…," Uslo said with a chuckle as Zeno backed off. "Ley knows what will happen if I die: a shame no Sangheili can bare…."

"Do not be so sure of that, Uslo," Ley said softly. "I am not afraid of your threats anymore."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Because I intend to tell everyone in this room my shame myself."

"What!" Uslo attempted to get to his feet, but of course failed miserably. "You can't!"

"Watch me!" Ley hissed.

"I take it this is part of this explanation you promised?" Zeno asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Yes…." Ley paced around a moment. His demeanor was nothing like the hateful blademaster Zeno grew up with. Instead, he looked confused, lost, and despondent. "Where to start?" Ley said softly. "I suppose the beginning." He turned toward Zeno. "Do you recall what the relation was between myself and your mother?"

"Siblings," Zeno replied. "Which is common knowledge."

"Not just siblings…twins, like you and Lila. I..I have to wonder if all opposite gendered twins are usually cursed like we are…."

At this Zeno scowled. "Being a semo is not a curse," he spat.

"I am not a semo!" Ley snapped. "I…I am something else."

"I do not see what else you could be."

"There is no word in our language that describes what I am…," he said. "I guess…the best way to describe it is being born in the wrong body: my mind is female…but my body…." At that, Ley looked at his hands as if he was disgusted by them.

The revelation hit Zeno like a slap in the face. While most everyone else looked at each other confused, Zeno knew exactly what he was, thanks to his time with the humans. "You are a /transsexual\," he said.

"A what?" Ley looked at him confused, as did everyone else, including Uslo.

"As you said, there is no word for it in our language," Zeno explained. "However, the humans do: /transsexual\."

"/Trans…sexual\," Ley repeated. A look of relief flashed across his face, relief that was short lived. "Regardless of what it is called…it is a curse. I could never be what I truly wanted, a Gi'vea like my sister. I was stuck in the role of a male: to attempt to act otherwise would get me accused of being a semo. Yet I could never fully act like a male…as I could never get myself to bed with another female. The very thought disgusted me." Ley sighed deeply.

"Mea…she was the only one that understood me. I loved her dearly for that, though I was also jealous of her, as she was born correctly. Worse, we both fell in love with the same man…"

Zeno saw where this was going. "Kou…"

Ley nodded. "You do not know…what it is like to see someone you love, be in love with someone other than you. I tried to be happy for my sister, but it constantly ate away at my mind, my sanity. It was not fair…it was not fair. Mea and I started getting into arguments over it. Then the gods punished me by killing her in that building collapse…taking away the only person that understood me.

"I knew it hurt Kou too, for he came to me for comfort. I…truly felt he felt something for me and I did not want to lose him…"

"When he started focusing more attention on me, you started to get jealous again," Zeno said. "You started putting me down, trying to make him believe I was not worth the trouble. Especially after the illness."

"For the most part yes…," Ley confirmed. "But also due to when I found out you were attracted to males: I feared you were cursed as I was. I acted the way I did to try to cure you: a foolish notion I know…considering I could not cure myself. And through it all, Kou never lost faith in you, even after that damning message from Yuteri. Everything I did only drove him further away from me…and then he sacrificed his own life for you, taking him forever from my reach. Leaving me trapped, with no one that understand what I am going through. Then one day I made the biggest mistake of all…."

Zeno glanced down at Uslo, whom was remaining oddly quiet. "You started to confide in this bastard…."

"Yes, he came upon me in a moment of weakness about a year after I took the mantle of kaidon. I was desperate for someone to understand me and told him everything like a naïve fool. He…used that against me, threatening to expose my sins and shame to everyone. The only way to keep him quiet was to let him do what he wanted and he rewarded me by treating me like a female like I always wanted…."

"Essentially, making him kaidon by proxy."

"Aye…my sins have cost this keep greatly: I do not deserve the mantle of kaidon because of them." Ley's face hardened, his demeanor turning to the hardened blademaster Zeno was familiar with. "But Uslo does not deserve it either!" With a growl, Ley picked up one of his discarded kisans and stalked toward Uslo. "I should have done this a long time ago!"

"Ley! No!" Uslo cried, managing to flip onto his back. "Remember all the comfort I gave you!"

"That comfort is not worth the innocent blood you have and intended to spill in my name!" Without another word, Ley plunged the kisan into Uslo's chest. Uslo uttered a load gasp and shuddered before finally laying still. Shaking, Ley stepped back a few paces before falling to his knees, true relief on his face. "It is over…it is finally over…."

Zeno watched him for a moment, wishing he could just leave him in peace. However, he knew he could not. "Not yet…Uslo likely has supporters that will retaliate: they will need to be dwelt with. Plus." Zeno tossed Ley his other kisan before picking up his own. "There is still the challenge."

"Zeno, no!" Sani protested, grabbing his arm. "In your condition…."

"Even at peak condition I could not defeat him, Sani," Zeno said sadly. "And as long as the challenge stands, neither of us can leave this room until one of us falls." With a sigh he added. "And you know which of us is likely to fall. Forfeiting is not an option either."

"Zeno…."

"He is right," Ley said, his expression one of regret. "One of us must die. To be fair, I would rather not kill you, Zeno."

Zeno smiled weakly. "After what I learned a few moments ago…I am not keen on killing you either, Ley…not that I would be able to anyway."

"Never the less, the challenge must be completed," one of the elders said.

There was a moment of silence. Then Ley backed up to the other side of the pit, drawing his swords. "Then come, Zeno," he said. "Come at me one last time with all you have and I will ensure your death is one befitting a man of honor such as you."

Zeno sighed and looked at Sani, whom looked down at the ground in resignation, Lila putting a hand on his shoulder. "You do not have to stay here to watch this, Sani," Zeno offered, but Sani was already shaking his head.

"I am here, I may as well, not matter how much it will hurt…."

"I love you, Sani…," Zeno said, nuzzling his forehead. "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me…." He took his hand into his own. "I will always be with you."

"I know…," Sani said, nuzzling his neck. "But I will still miss you…."

Zeno stepped back and away, not wanting to prolong this any more than necessary. He looked at Lila, whom nodded, tears in her eyes. With a sigh of resignation he turned away from them and took up his position in the pit, his kisans slipping back into his hands. He wondered what the point of this was now, besides technicalities. The real threat was now dead and Ley was remorseful for his sins and likely to do what he could to make up for them. Not that it will help him any.

"Ley…," he said, glancing back at Lila and Sani one last time. "Take care of them for me, please…." Ley simply nodded, an unreadable expression on his face, and beackoned for him.

With a deep breath, Zeno finally charged, igniting his blades as he did so, roaring a battle cry as the rush of wind stripped away his tears. Ley did not ignite his own swords until the last few seconds and everything seemed to go in slow motion at that point. Zeno's initial strikes were parried and he ducked under one of Ley's counters and blocked the other. The exchanged went one like this for a couple of minutes, but Zeno knew he was not going to last.

In his mind, Zeno imagined that he would be the victor and Sani wouldn't suffer the pain of watching him be slain before his eyes. In this fantasy, he saw an opening in Ley's defenses, a rookie mistake, and he took it, plunging his sword into his opponent's upper abdomen. Yet, he had left himself open as well and the pain that erupted in his side snapped out of his fantasy and back to reality.

Only to find that fantasy and reality were one and the same.

Zeno looked down at his sword and confirmed that it was indeed impaled into Ley's abdomen and one of Ley's swords was indeed piercing his side. However, his new wound was not mortal like Ley's was and in shock Zeno jumped back, both swords pulling out of their respective flesh. Confused, Zeno dropped his swords and caught Ley as he crumpled and laid him down on ground, too shocked to speak the question in his mind. Fortunately, Ley could read it in his eyes.

"You…you are young…," Ley explained. "And have people…that love you." He coughed painfully. "It…It would be wrong of me to take a life…that still has so much to live for…to take you from them." Ley nodded in Lila and Sani's direction, whom were approaching. "You have a life…I wish I could have had…."

"But you can still have that life!" Zeno said, finally finding his voice. "Now that you understand what you are…."

Ley shook his head, but was smiling. "My sins…would have haunted me for the rest of my natural life, Zeno. Better for me to step aside…and let another more worthy to take my place. If I could…I would have taken back all the wrongs I have…committed."

"Ley…."

"Shh…there is…more to tell you, before I pass…." Ley was having difficulty talking now and was starting to gasp for breath. "The one…that rescued your sister…and…had been delivering supplies to the Gi'vea…that…that was me…."

"What…," Lila said, shocked. "But then that also means…."

"Yes…I was the one that found those plans…and passed…them on to you, to give to Zeno." Another cough, a more painful one this time. "All to give him the best chance…of succeeding."

"The fight…you were just testing me. You never intended to kill me at all…you wanted me to succeed…," Zeno said softly, tears starting to form in his own eyes.

"Yes…to make up for all the wrongs I…have done…." Ley reached up and touched Zeno's face. "You have a good heart, Zeno…do not lose it…but also do not lose that fire…you use to protect what is important to you. You…have the potential…to be a great kaidon…one Kou would be proud of."

"If it is the elders wish that I be kaidon, then I will perform to the best of my ability and right the wrongs that have been made."

"As I know…you would. I have…one thing to ask you…Zeno."

"What is that, Ley?"

"Can you….forgive me?"

"Yes," Zeno said confidently. "Yes I do."

Ley's face was one of peace and relief and he sighed happily as he said in a whisper. "Thank you...For the first time…I feel at peace…how wonderful…..it…..feels…" His hand slipped from Zeno's face and his eyes closed, a blissful smile on his face. The kaidon was dead.

And Zeno mourned him.

A/N: See you next week for the epilogue and the commentary :)