Finally! Thank you for the wait!

This is betaed and co written with Blind_Alchemist! Thank her so much, without her this chapter would never go out (I had the basic idea, simply lazy to write it out. ehe)

Enjoy!

When he woke up, Arthur was amazed on how stubborn a survivor he was. He was still alive, after being thrashed by Ivan all over the room. The last thing he remembered was the cracking sound produced by his own head smashing into the wall—he'd been thrown head first into the side wall. His limbs had all been broken before that—and Ivan had been having fun while snapping his joints into impossible angles.

He looked around to find that he was in a small room that emulated simplicity. It was quite bare, with a single table, two chairs, and many medical tools that were mostly connected and hooked up to various parts of his body.

"Thank God you are awake now."

Arthur turned to see a lady with blonde hair and the biggest pair of breasts he'd ever seen. The Sentinel only had seen her once before, but he knew at once from the rumours that that rack belonged to Ivan's older sister.

"What…" His voice came out harsh and rough; evidently he had not been speaking for so long. The lady came to him with a glass of water.

"You were in a coma for two weeks. During that time, your vital internal organs almost shut down. Thank God you managed to pull through and now you are awake."

"Why? Where am I?"

"You are in my house." The lady smiled and she put the rim of a drinking glass onto Arthur's lips. The wetness was like a blessing for Arthur, and he drank the water as fast as he could.

"Slowly, please. Do you want more?" the lady asked again. Arthur nodded.

"Who are you?" He asked once he had quenched his thirst.

"I am Ukraine. I think I know your name… Kiku's father, right? The Sentinel called Arthur Kirkland?"

When Kiku's name was mentioned, everything suddenly came back to Arthur in a flood of memories. The memory of severing the tie between him and Yao. The subsequent agony. The craziness. The fight with the Russian. The pain of his limbs being broken. The pain of colliding with the wall. The darkness.

He had failed everyone. He was an utter failure. It was his fault. Now he'd lost Yao and Kiku.

He had lost everything.

"Why are you bothering to help me!" Arthur couldn't control the volume of his own voice and he shouted at the poor woman. Ukraine visibly cringed and cowered back, but she braced herself and answered.

"I helped you because of Kiku. Please, save him from the Tower. He is still too young to be caught up in this horrible war. And with his other father, Yao Wang, gone, you are the only one he has. This is my place, and you are safe here. I have told nobody where you are and nobody knows where I live."

"What about your brother? I know you are Ivan's sister!"

Ukraine looked sad for a second, before immediately glancing away. "He… I haven't spoken to him since the day I found you. He doesn't know about you, rest assured. I haven't gotten the chance to talk to him… ever since that day. He is still mourning the loss of Yao Wang from the Tower."

Arthur was silenced. He never realized that the big Sentinel (and Guide Hunter) actually treasured Yao that much. He remembered how the man had actually growled at him, telling Arthur to give more care to Yao. He remembered how gentle Ivan was with Yao. And how vehemently Ivan's anger had exploded when he realized that Arthur had forcibly served the bond between him and Yao.

As though she were sensing what Arthur was thinking, Ukraine spoke out. "…It is not your fault, Kirkland. My brother holds an idealized view of familial bonds; this is really all my fault. Especially since Belarus was killed in the attack three weeks ago."

"Belarus?"

"My little sister." Ukraine smiled sadly. She started to cry, but hid her tears behind her hands. "I am sorry, I need to refresh myself in the bathroom… please drink some more water if you need it… I'll be back… Sorry."

Arthur watched as the lady departed from the room. He closed his eyes, lost in thought. He understood the feelings of utter despair and sadness. The lady had recently lost her family, just as Arthur had lost his. But Ukraine had actually reined in her sadness and had actually done something: she'd helped Arthur, at her own risk, for the wishful purpose of saving Kiku. Arthur bit his lip. Yes, he should do something as well. It was useless to drown oneself in despair over everything that had occurred. Now the only thing he could do was to look forward and do whatever he could to somehow make everything better.

It was not an easy recovery. His left limb was completely useless, as some of its main nerves were severed during the fight with Ivan. Now Arthur could only lift his left forearm, but his fingers and wrist would be completely limp. But that aside, he could still feel some sensations like warmth, and pain (but not pressure) in his left arm. That alone was enough to drive him completely mad because Arthur could sometimes feel the phantom pain or pressure, but didn't know how to regain control over his own hand.

He could still walk, thank God, but he was not as agile as he used to be. Furthermore, his 'blending' ability had been compromised: since he couldn't control his left arm, when his body blended into the air and turned invisible, his left arm could still be seen, dangling like a ghost's arm in thin air. It proved a major disadvantage to him, and when he realized what was happening, Arthur felt his morale slipping even lower.

His other body parts were mostly covered in bruises and cuts, but this was not a big deal. However, this was not the case for his eyes; the vision in his left eye was compromised and now it only could differentiate between lightness and darkness. He could no longer see clearly with it.

Ukraine helped him as much as she could throughout the rehabilitation process, but she was just a nurse and together they worked out a not-optimal-but-still-satisfactory schedule. During the first three months, Arthur remained positive that he could return to his optimal condition and maybe his arms would both regain their blending abilities. But as time passed, it was clear that Arthur couldn't make his left arm usable for blending anymore, and it frustrated him beyond belief. Especially now that his spine was even more sensitive.

Apparently during the fight, Ivan had twisted Arthur's body in such a way that his spine had cracked. They'd only realized this when Arthur continued complaining about the pain after three months in rehabilitation—and by then, it was too late to treat. Especially after Arthur had undergone the heavy rehabilitation process. His spine was now permanently twisted and had less physical endurance. After half an hour of work, Arthur would start to feel a great, excruciating pain in his back that could only be soothed with strong pain killers and rest for the rest of the day.

Feeling more and more hopeless each day, Arthur fell into a deep depression. His mind started to become hazy; illusions would appear before him, such as when he suddenly felt as though Yao was standing beside him and smiling, or when he thought he heard Kiku crying. When he saw that nobody was in the room, he felt so forlorn that tears threatened to come to his eyes.

Sometimes he would hear Yao calling him only to find it was actually Ukraine, calling him for lunch. To make matters worse, it wasn't as though he wasn't grateful for all of Ukraine's help, but sometimes he couldn't control his own temper and would lash out at the poor woman. Especially whenever he mistook the woman for Yao. Arthur would shout at her and call her names, only to realize his mistake, and Arthur would end up apologizing for the whole day afterwards. Fortunately Ukraine was willing to forgive him every single time, for she herself felt that she deserved the berating; she had lost her little sister and felt that she had not been able to properly guide her little brother. Arthur knew she was feeling guilty, and he tried his best to reduce Ukraine's guilt. But so far he was getting nowhere as he also felt guilty about the whole business. Both of them were permanently broken in a way, and two broken people could support each other only so far and so much.

Furthermore, both of them were in a way suitable company for each other. Arthur was hard and silent, whereas Ukraine was meek and talkative. Throughout the time they were together, they started to become more comfortable around each other. Because Arthur had lost his income when he was expelled from the Tower (and currently he was listed as a dead person) he was unable to come out of the house and he didn't have money to support himself. Ukraine was the one who supported both of them, mostly from using her savings, as well as from nursing/babysitting duties she did for the neighborhood children.

The area in which they lived was in the countryside, a bit far from the cities and the front lines of the war. It was more peaceful there than in the cities, but poverty was imminent. So far Arthur and Ukraine were able to support themselves by raising some chickens and maintaining a corn field. And they stayed there for the meantime.

Three years passed quietly; and some kind of feeling developed in the confines of Ukraine's heart. The feeling was directed towards the silent brooding man beside her, reading and trying to push himself to the limit; the silent, hump-backed man who always assisted her in taking care of the chickens and tending the field; the silent injured man who always tried to treat her nicely, albeit not always gently. Arthur Kirkland was a man with a (wife) partner and a son. But they had been living together for two years now and frankly, it was normal for Ukraine to develop some feelings toward the Sentinel.

She remembered the fateful day of their meeting, in perfect detail. Ukraine had fished through the debris to find her little brother completely giving in to his insanity. Ivan was laughing hysterically at nothing as the dead body of a dirty-blond man lay at his feet. Ukraine watched in horror as her brother suddenly launched over to her and grabbed her neck harshly. He suffocated her as he lifted her off her feet, until her body was hanging in the air. It was only due to Berwarld's intervention that he stopped, and then he seemed to realize he had nearly killed his own sister. Ivan had then left with Berwarld to catch the Eastern Sentinel who'd captured Yao, and left Ukraine alone by herself.

Sobbing, Ukraine suddenly saw that the dead body of the blonde man was actually moving on its own, groaning all the while. Realizing that the man might still be alive, Ukraine went over to help the man straight away and, using the intercom connection, had called for Francis Bonnefoy.

The French man was beyond devastated when he saw the body of the injured man and had asked Ukraine to help him carry the body to his room. Ukraine had helped hoist up the man, and Francis then informed her of the identity of the man: Arthur Kirkland, Kiku's father and Yao Wang's bonded mate. After applying emergency first aid, she was aware that her medical ability was too limited to babies and infants, so she decided to get Belarus to help her. She called for Belarus through the intercom, but there was no answer.

Worried, Ukraine went to search for her sister, only to find the bloodied body of Belarus trapped underneath the rubble concrete that used to comprise the ceiling of her own office. Ukraine had screamed, and she'd rushed to her sister's side. Belarus's face looked scared and pale, whispering her last words:

"Sister… help me."

Ukraine was frozen as Belarus uttered these words, and then Belarus let go of her last breath. Her body went limp. For a few moments, Ukraine was unable to react, and then she fell onto the floor, her legs unable to support her. It was beyond her worst nightmares. Belarus was gone. And then she heard some sounds behind her. Ivan was there. Her brother had seen the dead body of their littlest sister. Ivan howled so loudly. His voice was filled with sadness, an agony of grief. Ukraine wasn't even able to offer comfort to him, for she herself was still trying to absorb the fact that their littlest sister was no longer with them in the world.

It was then that Ukraine had felt she had failed her own family: her own sister had fallen dead underneath the concrete. Belarus had asked Ukraine to save her, but Ukraine had remained useless and frozen. She had failed to rescue her sister. And her brother became a wreck as well: from both the death of Belarus and Yao Wang's kidnapping. From that moment forth, Ivan had gone completely insane—and he ended up being permanently locked inside one of the asylums in the Tower.

Ukraine felt completely helpless, as she was powerless. She tried to talk to Ivan, to give him some kind of comfort, to act like the older sister she was. But he ignored her, or didn't seem to even hear her, and would only keep chanting Yao Wang and Belarus's names, like a broken record. Ukraine had eventually resorted to begging him, but Ivan continued to completely ignore her. Ukraine had then spiraled into despair and helplessness. She was unable to help her brother—he just wouldn't listen to her. Ukraine finally understood that Ivan didn't think of her as a dependable sister. Now the three siblings were all broken up, while Ukraine, as the oldest, had done nothing to help her little siblings.

That guilt and sadness, as well as the disappointment of being ignored by her own brother, made Ukraine feel as though she deserved nothing less than death. She decided that maybe she could resign and run away from everything. But before that, she decided to visit the new baby room, where she would say goodbye to all babies she had been taking care of. It was then that she spotted Kiku, the most adorable baby in the room, smiling and waving his little arms at her.

Ukraine finally broke down right then and there: her tears fell uncontrollably. The little one was so unfortunate. Kiku had unknowingly lost both his parents, and the baby was still smiling at her, as though she actually mattered to the baby. The despair in her heart was soothed by the innocent acceptance from Kiku. It was then Ukraine swore she would help this child, no matter what.

She decided that perhaps the best way was to help the boy's father. She followed Francis's directions and successfully smuggled Arthur Kirkland out of the Tower, with the help of Matthew Williams (the one who'd helped them gather the babies to a safe place). She returned to her nest in the countryside and had nursed Arthur back to life.

Arthur's precarious health conditions and the challenges in nursing him back to health had brought a welcome distraction to Ukraine. Now she just needed to concentrate on Arthur and maintain his well being. It took her mind away from everything else. Arthur was sometimes harsh with her and would yell at her; Ukraine took it all in stride, because she felt that on some level, she deserved it. And besides, this was all for the small Kiku. Francis has promised her that he would take care of the little Guide.

But Arthur's presence in her everyday life slowly infiltrated into her heart. More and more often, she'd wish that Arthur would look at her and realize that she was there. It felt very odd and even added to her already heavy load of guilt, but sometimes she would catch herself hoping that maybe Arthur would fall in love with her. She was already besotted with his small smile, his gentle good-night wishes, and his tendency to always help her whenever she needed him. Arthur could be very kind, and even though the man was a bit of an invalid; still, Ukraine felt as though Arthur were more than adequate enough to protect her.

Alas, she knew it was impossible. All that time, at every single moment, Arthur's mind was obviously filled with images and memories of his family. Or to be more exact, images and memories of Yao Wang. Sometimes, when she caught him off guard, Arthur would call her by Yao Wang's name. Honestly it hurt her, a bit. And Arthur was getting better and stronger each day, but remained quite obsessed with taking Yao Wang back from the Eastern Tower. Arthur mostly spent his nights studying blueprints of the structure of the Eastern Tower as well as its security system, and even cultural and informational texts and books that he could obtain about the Eastern world.

Ukraine would watch him in silence. Well, all she could do was silently support the man. She should realistically never hope for more.

On the other end of the war and the world, a tall, well-built, black-haired Eastern Sentinel named Yong Soo was entering the room he shared with his supposed mate.

The Guide inside the room didn't acknowledge him with much of a warm welcoming gesture. The beautiful man only nodded and took Yong Soo's coat, and hung it on the hanger by the wall. He then showed Yong Soo the way towards their private kitchen, where dinner was ready. Yong Soo bit back his bitter scowl, realizing that his daily wish was crushed once again. It seemed as though he could never make Yao smile at him. He wished for it every single damn day, but he never had gotten his wish. It seemed that today would be no different.

Yao Wang had basically turned into a living statue ever since that day three years ago, when Yong Soo had taken him from the Western Tower. The Eastern Guide was still as beautiful as ever, but there was no life behind his eyes, or in his face. He looked almost like a wilted flower, and he was noticeably thinner than before; he wouldn't eat or sleep if he weren't prodded and forced. Yong Soo had used all his resources to cheer Yao up; but the man would only watch him from behind an emotionless mask. Yong Soo had tried to bribe Yao with delicious food, nice silk clothing, and other earthly valuables; but Yao had shaken his head at the gifts and refused them all. Yong Soo treated Yao as gently as possible, often letting the golden eyed man have anything he wanted. The only drawback from that strategy was that Yao never asked for anything. He'd even tried to pamper Yao with massages, and even sexual activities, but Yao had welcomed his advances like a dead fish. The beautiful man regularly looked pale, and a frozen, expressionless face seemed to be permanently implanted on his lovely face ever since that fateful day from three years ago.

Yong Soo had also tried to explain to Yao, in their first week of living together, that he wouldn't be forced to receive anyone. The Eastern Tower was not as barbaric as their Western counterparts'. He explained that Yao had the freedom to choose whomever he wanted to bond to. But Yao needed to choose; otherwise, he would have to go with the arranged choice made by the Elders in the Eastern Tower. Sadly, Yao never gave an answer. At the end of the third month from the day of his rescue, Yao Wang was arranged to bond with Yong Soo. And so, now Yong Soo was Yao's official mate. Yet, so far, Yong Soo felt they were nothing like true mates.

True, Yao healed him easily every time Yong Soo needed it. Yao tolerated his touch, although they'd never gone all the way. Yao slept in the same bed, and they shared the same room. Yao even took care of him sometimes, like a spouse. But he never, ever saw the beautiful Guide smile at him. Yong Soo never felt as though his feelings were being reciprocated.

When confronted and asked what he ultimately wanted, Yao always answered the same thing: he wanted his baby back. There was a sadness in his eyes as he spoke, and Yong Soo knew, deep down, that it wasn't only his baby Yao wanted back. He wanted that Western Sentinel as well, the one by the name of Arthur Kirkland.

Yong Soo had eventually overcome his pride and conflicting emotions to search for both of them, the baby Kiku and the Western Sentinel Arthur. But so far he had only been able to gather some basic information. Yao's son, Kiku, was being kept in the most secure part of the Western Tower. Furthermore, because of the devastating attack from several years before, both Towers were in the midst of a very strained relationship. To quell tensions, the Elders from the Eastern Tower had actually opted to present the Western Tower a peace offering in the form of Kiku. So in essence, they'd let the Western Tower keep Kiku (under the condition that the boy wouldn't be harmed or forced to bond with Sentinels before he reached at least 14 years of age) as compensation for Yao Wang, the Guide they'd taken from the Western Tower. At first, the Western Tower's greedy leaders had refused to accept, and had demanded they return Yao Wang to them as well, but the Elders had stubbornly held out, pointing out that Yao was basically Eastern Tower's true Guide. Arthur Kirkland was the one who'd first kidnapped Yao Wang. Thus, the blame did not rest solely on the Eastern Tower, because the entire debacle had been started by one wayward Western Sentinel.

Yong Soo had explained this all to Yao, and the man had wept in silence for one entire night. Yong Soo knew that Yao's sadness was perfectly justified. He would never be able to see his son again. With the agreement between the two Towers solidified, Kiku would officially become the Western Tower's property, and as a Western Guide, he would never be able to leave the Western Tower ever again. It hurt Yong Soo somuch to see his mate in such a pathetic state, but he couldn't help him, as Yao just wouldn't let him in. Furthermore, Yao seemed insensitive to his touch.

Another important matter was regarding that ex-mate of Yao's. Arthur Kirkland was reported as deceased; his body was reportedly buried alongside the many other victims from that fateful day, three years ago. Yong Soo didn't have the heart to ever tell Yao. True, Yao never mentioned that man or ever gave any visible indication that he wanted to bring up the topic. The beautiful Guide pretended to forget everything about that man; but from the occasional bouts of sleep talking from Yao, Yong Soo knew that Arthur Kirkland had stayed in Yao's heart, and in his dreams.

Everything was messed up, as Yong Soo was trapped between his feelings of wanting to give the best life had to offer to the love of his life, and the dark jealousy of his mate's previous family members. Yao clearly wasn't ready to receive him, and maybe, he would never be ready. But Yong Soo was already head over heels for Yao. And it hurt so much to know that, in Yao's mind, he accounted for nothing.

He felt helpless. All he wanted was just to make Yao smile at him, and it seemed to be the hardest thing in the world to do.

Fate was too cruel to him.

The boy grew into an adorable little boy with dark hair and obsidian eyes underneath long lush eyelashes. He became the child of the Western Tower, famous because the Tower never had any children Guild. Everybody wanted to see him. Some spoiled him, some adore him, some ignored him after they realized that he was an Eastern and the other hated him for being Eastern. The boy was guarded very closely by his pseudo-father, Francis Bonnefoy, and thus so far, nobody dared to harm him. Kiku also told since day one that Francis wasn't his real father. He didn't really care, though. For him, Francis was good enough.

The Tower offered precious little in the way of shaping the childhood of a normal four-year-old. Kiku was allowed to play in the glen surrounding the base of the Tower, and go swimming in the moat, but wherever he went, he was continuously accompanied by two hulking adults, usually bodyguard Sentinels under Francis' harem. Whenever he was hungry or thirsty, the Tower cook would hastily provide whatever his heart desired. But he rarely was able to associate with children his age, even the small batch of children who also resided in the Tower. The few times he was permitted to, although the other children would talk to and eat with and sometimes even shares jokes with him, they also appeared afraid of him. None of them wished to be his friend.

Thus, the boy was forced to be content with the silent and the lone time he had. And whenever he had the time to think, his mind always wondered back into the memories of so long ago. And those memories also filled his dream.

Kiku held onto a single memory of his real father, although in his dreams he did not know that the beautiful, ethereal person was his father. He spoke of the memory to no one, and when he thought to put a name to it, he called him Jade Man, because of the white, finely chiseled features of the person's face.

The dreams always began the same way. There would be nothing but darkness, and then Jade Man's face would suddenly appear, beaming at him. They would be lying together, only the two of them, sometimes in a simple linen bed, or sometimes in the dense lushness of a forest floor—Kiku would be held safely, enveloped within silk-clad arms. Jade Man's face would smile at Kiku as he cradled him, but the child would suddenly sense anxiety behind the smile, and see that the golden eyes were actually deep in tears. The man's gaze would drift and he would start looking off into nothingness, whimpering and making soft, weak little cries, which would become irresistible to Kiku's ears. Kiku would reach out with a soft pudgy hand and start touching the man's hair, his drawn eyelids, reaching out and stroking, at times withdrawing his fist coated in tears. But Kiku's continued caresses in the man's long dark hair would soothe him, and the man's soft cries would eventually taper away into contented sighs. Father and child would huddle closer together as the man's lids would fall lower and lower, Kiku's tiny fist clutching a lock of dark hair.

It was at that point the dream sequence would go awry. A giant yellow-haired figure would come in, but what he did next was indecipherable and could only be described as a series of loud shouts, embraces, and jostling movements. He would rumble as he'd move past Kiku and seize the Jade Man, who'd make noises that spoke of pure fear as the giant yellow man pinned him down. But then, as the giant yellow-haired figure would start touching him more and more gently, the Jade Man would stop crying, giving in to his embraces. The dream always ended on a bizarre, random note; sometimes the Jade Man would stop noticing Kiku once the giant yellow figure entered the picture, sometimes the giant yellow figure would pick Kiku up to go for a walk and the Jade Man would kiss him goodbye—

"Baba!" Kiku would scream upon waking from the dream, but only silence would answer him.

Although he was still too young to begin schooling, Kiku had a 'Normal' Tutor of sorts, who wore square spectacles and would sometimes play simple melodies on the piano for the child's amusement. His pseudo-father wanted to make sure that Kiku had to learn the basic of math, writing and reading suitable for his age (which, currently four). The Tutor appeared to be betrothed to the only female Sentinel in the Western Tower; this female, Elizaveta, would sometimes bring sweets for the child, and even work as a nursemaid to Kiku when needed.

"You are important to the Western Tower," Roderich Edelstein, his Tutor, had explained to him once, "and we expect great things from you someday."

But Kiku did not want to be important to the Tower, was not interested in providing great things for them. He was a precocious child who was aware that he was living a privileged life, and yet he was desperately lonely. He wanted to be someplace that he could truly call home, although he didn't know what "home" was. In his darkest moments, he only wished to hide and be comforted again, in silken-clad arms.

And then one day, there was some puzzling news. There was a certain group of Sentinels who patrolled the halls, who he'd become deeply wary of. Their gazes seemed to linger little too long on his small body whenever he passed them in the halls of the high Tower, and when one of them had spoken once, his voice had emulated fear and killing and aggression. Recently, this group had seemed to increase slowly but surely in number, and was congregating in the halls more often.

One day, after dinner, Kiku decided to head back to the mess hall earlier than usual for dessert, and spotted this group trampling towards him from the mouth of the mess hall. Kiku slid behind a corner as the group stopped in its tracks, shuffling and muttering amongst themselves. Mutely, the boy eavesdropped on their conversation as he waited patiently for them to pass.

"It's true," the leader, the one whose voice spoke of death, was saying. "They're negotiating with the head Eastern Sentinel for a special favor. They really don't know their own line. Not only they attacked us first, now they demand a special visiting right."

"What's visit?"

"The cute one. The Guide, Yao Wang. Word has it that the Easterner wants to let him see that traitor Kirkland's grave."

And the name felt so familiar…

to be continued.

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