A/N: Sorry for the hiatus. I was doing NaNoWriMo. I won with 50,064 word on Floodlannd II. That was stressful. Now back to Touya and Yuki love, oh yeah Yue, too :)

Also, Thanks, Starlightfan800, I appreciate your loyalty and kind words. I hope you enjoy.

This Corrosion- 12:

Touya was pretty worried about getting Yukito home and getting him settled. It was so late at night, but his father had already set up the guest room and left the message he was already on his flight to Hokkaido. He knew that his father, by setting up the guest room, expected a certain decorum now that Sakura was home from Tomoyo's home.

Sakura quickly went to her bedroom with the lion "toy" creature. No doubt she wanted to talk to it about Yue. Touya had Yukito sit on the couch and looked over his hands. Touya observed, "They don't look so bad."

Yukito gave him a bashful smile. "My burns don't really hurt. Something must have happened. It was rather painful at first."

"Maybe it was magic. I don't know what all Yue can do," Touya said, deciding to avoid telling Yukito about Sakura's fake stuffed animal until he knew more about it.

"Can I get you something to eat or drink?"

"Touya, I really should go home. You have Sakura to look after and I don't want to bother you."

"Knock it off, Yuki. Sakura is tucked in and it's too late to get you back home. You need to get some rest and let me look after you."

"I really don't want to bother you. You need your rest and..."

Touya pressed two fingertips to Yukito's lips and shook his head. "You've never been a bother to me one day since I've known you." He lowed his fingers and rested his hand on Yuui's shoulder. "I wish you felt like you could trouble me a little more. You don't have to do everything alone. You remember we're also friends?"

Yukito's smile grew wan. "I know; we are friends."

"I'll get you some water and let you get settled in the guest room," Touya said. Yukito only nodded. When Touya came back he was shocked to see Yue sitting on the couch rather than Yukito. The angelic creature looked utterly forlorn, lost, almost broken. He asked the first thing that came to his mind, "Are you okay?"

Yue looked up at him, those elegant eyes narrowed. All Yue did was nod. Touya handed him the water and sat beside him, mindful of the wings. Yue looked at it and almost handed it back to Touya. He took a tentative sip and then said, "Thank you for your kindness."

Touya asked, "Do you know what happened?"

"Yes, I remember everything about the hot water."

"Do you know why it happened?"

"Yes."

Touya was frustrated that Yue seemed to leave it at one word. He crossed his arms and gave Yue a vexed look. "We better hide you from Sakura. She'd be worried if she saw us talking, I think."

Yue followed him to the guest room, sullenly. Touya, unsure of what to do, started turning down the bed and dimming the light. Touya asked, "Would you please let me know what's wrong with Yukito?"

"It's not what's wrong with him, but what's wrong with me. I did something a long time ago that was forbidden. Now I'm paying the price along with Yukito. I know what I have to do to atone for it; I'm just not sure if I'm able to. Until I find a way to solve it, I'm afraid Yukito will be in a state where he can neither give nor receive love as he should."

"How can I help?" Touya asked.

"I need to learn to let my heart love you."

Touya took in the information and wasn't overly surprised. After all, they shared a body and Yukito was created to help Yue function and protect Sakura. No doubt Yukito and Yue's lives were to be deeply intertwined. With all that understood, Touya was sure he'd have to adapt to loving Yukito in a very unconventional way. Not that he wasn't prepared for that, knowing Yukito wasn't human since day one.

"How do you feel about me and Yukito?"

"I support it. Yukito deserves to be happy. He's a magical construct, but he has his own heart and soul. However, our spirit is one and the same. I made the mistake of thinking he could love you without involving me and that my transgressions with my former master wouldn't affect him. I was very wrong about that."

"What was the transgression that's causing all these problems?"

"I slept with my creator... my master... I'm still very much in love with him. My longing for Clow is keeping Yukito in a tremendous amount of doubt and confusion. Unfortunately, when you told him about Nakuru it only aggravated those feelings. He doesn't understand why he feels the way he does, just that he does. Furthermore, he's now trying to figure out what's real in his life and what isn't. He's now wondering if your love for him is real. He hurt himself to try to figure out if he truly has an existence."

Touya felt his spirits sink. He had a feeling he'd have to ask Yue to do something very cruel. "You mean you have to put aside your feelings for Clow for Yukito to heal?"

"I have to finish mourning him and..." Yue said, his posture getting rigid, "...learn to love you."

Touya shivered. After his fiasco with Nakuru this morning, he wasn't exactly comfortable with this news. He had cared about and maintained his friendship with Yukito for a few years. He was happy with Yukito and was so glad that their relationship was turning romantic. Yue was a new element to Yukito. He seemed to have some similarity to Yukito, but the few times he'd talked with Yue, his overwhelming sadness seemed to be the dominant thing Touya noticed.

"You don't seem comfortable with that," Touya said carefully, hoping to gain some insight on how to cure this problem.

"At this point, it's survival. Yukito's survival. Yukito needs me to live. I have to also love him enough to want to see him thrive. We have your magic and are no longer in physical harm, but what good is our existence without happiness? I was happy, once, with Clow. I want to be happy again, but it's a struggle to let happiness prevail."

"Until you find happiness... learn to love me... will Yukito keep harming himself?"

Yue wouldn't meet Touya's eyes, suddenly. "Most certainly."

Touya felt acid fill his stomach at that point. His mind started to work the problem. One thing he knew for certain, he'd have to not let Yukito leave his sight until Yue decided to be at peace. For two, he had to become comfortable and embrace Yue's love, too, if he wanted to continue loving Yukito.


Yue stood and returned control of his body to Yukito, not wishing to talk to Touya any more. It was too painful, Touya was creating wounds too close to Yue's heart. He hoped Touya would take the information and be more careful with Yukito.


Yukito felt dizzy and slumped forward into Touya's arms. Touya adjusted him in his arms, he was frowning.

"You're upset?" Yukito asked.

"A little. I'm worried about you. I want you to be happy and whole, but that's more complex than I though at first."

Yukito felt so deflated. "It has to do with him? Why I hurt myself, doesn't it?"

"Yes, but we'll talk about it over breakfast tomorrow. I want you to rest."

Touya helped Yukito get into his underclothes and tucked him into the bed. Yukito smiled when Touya took his hand and pressed a kiss on his forehead. Touya brush aside some bangs and said, "I'm not going to let you fade away, Yuki. I went this far for you. Trust me, I'll go further yet. Just give me a little time to figure this out. It's more than just my magic needed to sustain you. That only maintains your body, but there is something else of mine that's needed to maintain your spirit."

Yukito didn't like Touya's dour tone. He asked, "What is it?"

"Let me worry about that for now. Please trust me. I know you feel I shouldn't be trusted because of what happened this morning, but I ask you to place faith in me that I'll find a way to make you happy once again."

Yukito still felt confusion after what Touya had told him about Nakuru. Still, Touya had brought him here and was caring for him. He squeezed Touya's hand and nodded. "I'll trust you."

Touya smiled and promised, "I won't let you down."

To be continued.