Warning: yaoish DM/Shura/Dite

Twelve: Shura

Ice cream came on sugary brown cones, sweet and creamy, to which three were purchased and handed out. Shura laughed as he licked his own. "I haven't had ice cream in a long time," he said.

"Then it's about time you had some," said the little girl. "We should find a place to sit down. It's hard to eat in a mask."

Shura widened his eyes. "You wear a mask even now?"

She nodded. "Mm hmm. I'm going to be the Gold Saint of Cancer; might as well get used to the thing."

Shura smiled. She did seem to have much determination and conviction. He wished he could be as strong as he knew this girl to be.

"Come. I see a place."

There were a few long tables and some dilapidated chairs set up in the center of a row of hot eateries, with few open seats, but they managed to find a place. The boy was already half-way through his ice cream and had the gooey stuff dripping from his chin. Shura chuckled as he watched the girl wipe the boy's face with her hand, before going underneath the wraps on her face to give herself enough room between the mask and her lips to lick the ice cream. Shura's own was tasty, even though he did not eat many sweet things. She had been right when she said that ice cream would make everything better.

"You know my name," he began, "but I do not know yours."

"I'm Atlantis, and he is Ingmar."

"Atlantis. That is an unusual name."

"Guess a requirement of a Cancer Saint is a weird name," she responded, making Shura laugh again.

"So if you are going to be the next Cancer Saint, that must mean that you, Ingmar, are going to be the new Pisces Saint."

Ingmar looked up when his name was said. "Yes, sir," he answered timidly.

"Do you enjoy training under Aphrodite?"

"Yes, sir. Master Aphrodite is the best master I could ask for." He blushed, then turned his head to go back to his ice cream.

"Don't mind him," said Atlantis. "He's a scardy-cat."

"Am not," responded Ingmar quietly.

Atlantis laughed. "You are so!" She pushed him gently on the back. Eyes back at Shura, she said, "But once he stops being so scared, he's gonna be a great Saint. He has a powerful Cosmos."

"That's good to hear," said Shura.

There was silence then, as the three of them ate their ice cream. Ingmar made a mess of himself, and Atlantis cleaned him up the best she could. It was nice for Shura to see them; their innocence eased his inner turmoil. He had known that he would not be able to contain his words nor emotions if he saw anyone from his previous life, which was the single reason he had not ventured out of the house when the others did. But had he known that on this day he was to meet the two people he most did not want to see again, he would have stayed in bed.

"Were you close with Signore?"

The question brought him from his thoughts. Leave it to a child to read his mind. "Yes," he finally said after debating whether or not to tell her the truth. May as well, seeing as how the truth would be denied if she were to ask anyone else. "Not just him. It was all three of us."

"Mister Dite, too?"

"Yes. The three of us were best friends, along with a fourth, but after a while, me, Dite and Deathmask became more than that."

"You fell in love."

Shura flinched when she said that, more because she understood than the memories the words invoked. Yes, they were lovers, all three of them, closer than kin, closer even, than the bond between Saint and Cloth. He could remember lazy mornings waking up in the Pisces temple, somehow sandwiched between the other two, squeezed by powerful arms that held him tenderly. Deathmask would always wake first to make them one of his classic breakfasts, while Shura would lie in bed making out with Aphrodite. A large tray would be brought in and they would feed each other, before falling into another bout of love. The most intimate time would come after they were finished, when Deathmask would hold them to him on either side and whisper how much he loved them. Still it was hard to believe that the cruelest of them all would be the one to spout declarations while they blissed. The nostalgia, the memories, brought tears to his eyes that he quickly wiped away. There was no use mourning the loss of the past when he could only look to the future. He had to come to terms with the fact that never again would he lay in their arms. He took a deep breath and let it out in a heavy sigh.

"Yes. I fell in love."

Atlantis had stood from her chair and put her hand atop the one Shura had resting on his thigh. "You may think you've been abandoned, but they still think about you, even if they don't remember it in the morning."

Shura blinked to clear his vision and smiled. "It's okay. It's better they forget me."

"Why?"

He stared at her for long moments debating whether or not he should tell her. In the end, he decided to keep it to himself. Better for her not to know the truth about why he was not remembered than for her to start doubting her own position. She was to become the Gold Saint of Cancer. He wanted her to be able to fight freely without prejudice.

"I cannot tell you. But suffice to say, it is for the best."

He could sense she did not believe him, nor did she fully understand him, but she did understand that he would not tell her, and patted his hand a few times with her smaller one. "When the time comes," she said, "I will know all."

And he did not doubt in the slightest that she would.

The ice cream was gone, the sun was sinking low on the horizon, it was time to leave. Atlantis hugged Shura tightly as she said good-bye and promised that she would see him again one day. She said that she wanted him to see her once she attained her Cloth, and made him promise to be there if he received an invitation. Her insistence made him say yes, even though he understood that he could never go to Sanctuary again. But one day, he decided, he would see her in her Cloth, even if she loses all her memory of him. He would never forget her, nor the memories she represented.

Ingmar bowed to Shura and said a shy farewell. Shura took the boy's hand and shook it in the customary greeting, smiling with the boy flinched. "You will make a fine Saint," he said to the boy. "You need to worry. Aphrodite is not known for making mistakes."

Ingmar smiled with bright eyes. "Thank you, Mister Shura."

"Please, just call me Shura."

"Bye, Shura!" called Atlantis as she grabbed Ingmar's wrist to pull him away. "I'll see you soon!"

Shura raised his hand as a farewell and smiled. No matter the pain that this encounter brought, it was a memory he would cherish for the rest of his life.