I was back in the garden again, hiding behind a bush. I reached for my face, feeling that my cheeks were still warm. I was fairly sure that they were pink. "Brother…" Again she found me. Aoba sat down beside me, her dark eyes serious. She tried to search my face, and I looked away. "Did something happen between you and Walker?"

"Nothing," I said, too quickly for either of our tastes. Her brows furrowed and she pushed me a little. "It's…" I had no idea what to say, "…complicated." It sounded so lame, it wasn't funny.

"I'm sure it's not that bad."

"You want to bet?" I asked glumly. I wasn't in the mood to be sarcastic. She continued to stare at me. I sighed. "I think All – the Kasaiou," Kami, I nearly said his name, "…likes me." It came out as a whisper. There was no mistake about the miserable emotion in my voice.

"So… are you saying you don't like him either?" Was it me, or did she sound cheerful that I was sad? I tried to wave it off as my imagination.

"I'm not supposed to – I can't like him. Not like that." Allen and I – we weren't supposed to mix, for both moral and ethical reasons. Aoba sighed.

"This is the time for change. How can we change anything if a dragon can't like a phoenix?"

"I never said I liked him," I shouted. Aoba snorted.

"Exactly – you're totally in denial," she said, smirking as she pointed a finger at me. "Besides, life would be much easier for you if you liked phoenixes. You're going to end up marrying one anyway."

"I still haven't agreed to that completely, you know," I said, annoyed.

"You haven't disagreed either." She stood, pulling me along with her. "I know you like him."

"We're both men."

"Really, I barely notice that you actually are a male sometimes. You're so… feminine." Life can be rough when your own sister insults your masculinity. She waved her hand dismissively. "Your gender is just another excuse. You're royal, he's royal, and no one is going to say anything."

"But children –"

"Need I remind you, Brother, that there are herbs and such to help a person conceive –"

"Only if you're a woman!" My voice was strained.

"Obviously, you haven't been paying attention to the news and history as of late." Aoba flipped her long hair over her shoulder. "If you could recall, our great-great-great-grandmother was actually male."

"It was a once-in-a-century sort of thing," I protested. "Marriage between me and him will never work."

"Yes it will," she insisted. "Because I said so." Really, at times, she can be so completely childish. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Neither seemed to be appropriate at the moment.

"The world doesn't always to your accord." Aoba shrugged.

"It doesn't change the fact that you still like him," she pointed out. I think this would be a good time to change the subject.

"When do you plan to break the news to the kingdom?"

"As soon as you accept the fact that you like Walker." I growled in exasperation. She was like a dog and its bone with this whole thing.

"I'm telling you," I said slowly, trying to sound completely sure to her and myself, "I don't like him."

"Not even as a friend?"

"I…" I couldn't say. I wanted to tear my hair out. Damn you Aoba, for making me think so much about things that I never wanted to think about in the first place.

"You are so bad at lying," Aoba said flippantly. "But fine, I'll give you a little more time. I just hope that the war doesn't worsen because you refuse to admit that you have no feelings whatsoever for a phoenix."

She stood up abruptly and turned on her heel. Her vibrant green skirts flared about as she marched back into the cool marble hallways. I stared after and breathed a long remorseful sigh through my mouth.

"I regret ever meeting you, Allen," I whispered to myself.

000

I lost count of how many times I sighed that day, The sun was setting, staining the sky the many shades of red and blue. Before long, I smacked into someone. Kami, I needed to clear my head. Too much thinking about certain things was making me clumsy. "Hey! Watch where – huh?" The redhead looked up. A broad grin spread across his face.

I quickly slammed my hand across his mouth. "The walls have ears," I hissed. Understanding flickered in his eyes, and I lowered my hand away.

"Sorry for bumping into you. Sometimes I don't look where I'm going. By the way, what's your name?" he asked casually.

"Kanna." He ushered me along. I recognized that he was taking me to the library – his clan's private library.

It was completely the same as I last remembered, as if not a single thing had been moved, that is, of course, if you don't count the various hundreds of thousands of documents, scrolls, books, and maps. It was dark, lit by hundreds of floating candles, some of them nearing the tall ceiling and the crystal chandelier.

Once inside, we settled among the large velvet cushions scattered comfortably on the thick silk rugs. As far as I knew, the Bookman's library was one of the few rooms beside the Ryuou's chamber where people had absolute privacy.

"So, when did you get back?" Lavi asked as he wiped the lenses of his glasses.

"A couple days ago," I said.

"A little… dragon told me you liked a certain birdie." Lavi smirked, giving a low chuckle. I groaned.

"Aoba, wasn't it?"

"Of course." He grabbed a slice of mango from the bowl between us. "Life has been hectic when you went missing, to say the least," he said cheerfully. "All of the officials were arguing whether or not to declare you missing or to declare you dead." He laughed. "They're probably still going on about even behind Aoba's back."

Lavi rolled onto his stomach. "So where were you this entire time?"

"It's a long story…" I wasn't that interested in retelling the entire thing.

"We both have time, and Aoba doesn't expect you back until dinner, I believe."

"What are you, a stalker?" He pointed to his head.

"Photographic memory, remember?"