SEQUEL TO "A RETURN TO THE SEA" This makes no sense unless you've read that one already.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters.

Please R&R

"Cold," Lucille sighed when Kohaku carefully managed to open the door without dropping the singer. "It looks beautiful, though."

"Yeah," Kohaku replied, looking at the singer's beautiful face, those happily sparkling blue eyes and his snowy blonde hair, which looked even shinier than the snow around him. "But you're even more beautiful."

"Ah… T-thanks," the blonde mumbled, his cheeks turning a bit red. "Eh, can we walk a bit more into the forest?"

"Sure." After closing the door behind them, Kohaku started walking onto the small path between the trees. "We should stay on the path, though. I don't wanna get lost in this weather."

"It's fine by me, at least I'm outside," Lucille responded with a smile. "Mmh… it even smells like forest!"

He couldn't suppress a chuckle at that remark. "It'd be strange if it wouldn't smell like that."

It hadn't even been that funny, but Lucille still laughed lightly, his clear voice echoing between the trees. Somehow, all the doubts Kohaku had been having about taking him outside, disappeared by that. Seeing the blonde this happy, this exited, this almost childishly care-free… that made it all worth it. "Kohaku, please let me try to walk a bit," the singer suddenly begged. "Please, I wanna walk in the snow."

"But…" Those damned puppy-eyes. "Well, okay. But I'm keeping you against me." Whatever happened, he couldn't let the blonde get cold, or let him trip and fall in the snow. "Be careful!" he warned, gently lowering the singer's feet to the ground. Good thing he had made him wear those thick leather boots. Beside warmth, they'd probably also give the singer some support.

Still, he stood about as steadily as a newborn foal, leaning heavily against the violinist. "Can we hang the blanket in a tree for a moment? It's kinda making this harder."

"Say so if you get cold." Carefully, Kohaku unwrapped his friend and hung the blanket over a lower branch of a nearby tree. It wasn't exactly like there were any possible thieves around anyway. He had to admit, the singer looked even better without the blanket around him, even though the somewhat tight clothes did reveal how thin he really was. Gently, he wrapped his arms around Lucille's shoulders to steady him without making this any harder on him. "You wanna try walking a few steps?"

"Yeah." Slowly, Lucille stepped forward, his legs nearly collapsing underneath him. Kohaku moved along with him, though, making sure the blonde wouldn't fall. "Geez, my legs are weaker than I thought." It sounded slightly annoyed, but he was clearly enjoying it to walk around a bit. Carefully, he took another step. "Ouch…" His legs trembling too badly now to support him, he slumped back against Kohaku. "Well, that's start."

"It is. But don't exhaust yourself, okay? Do you want to walk on, or shall I carry you a bit further?"

"A bit further would be nice," Lucille sighed. "But I don't think my body can take that, not yet." The bright smile didn't leave his face though. "Kohaku…" Now, those amazing crystal-blue eyes were aimed at the violinist. "Thank you so much for allowing me to go out. And thanks for letting me walk a bit." A faint chuckle. "Eh, I'd like to kiss you, but I can't reach that high."

"Come here then." Gently, Kohaku took the singer back into his arms, holding him tightly against his chest. "I love you, babe."

"Mmh… I love you too." Barely allowing himself to finish that line, Lucille lifted up his head and pressed his lips against Kohaku's, kissing him long and tender. "Mmh…" His eyes drifting shut, he broke their kiss and rested his head on the violinist's shoulders. "Tired…"

"No wonder, this has been more exercise than you've had in over a month." He honestly were proud at the singer, though, for at least trying so hard to walk again. "You really did do well, you know?"

"T-thanks." Almost seeming shy, Lucille blushed. "Don't forget the blanket, by the way. I'm a bit cold now."

Quickly, Kohaku wrapped the blanket back around Lucille's body, careful not to let him fall and get injured by anything. "Do you wanna go back?"

"Mmh… not yet. It's nice here." A wide yawn. "Can we walk a bit further, please?"

"But if you're tired…" A pleading look from those beautiful big eyes interrupted him. "Well, okay then," he sighed. "Where do you wanna go?"

"Mmh… a bit more towards the village? Not to the marketplace or anything, it'd be kind of awkward to be seen like this. But I'd like to see that village, even if only from a distance."

That'd be a ten minute walk, at least. Fifteen minutes, probably, since he was carrying the singer. But technically, Lucille didn't have to do a thing, and as long as he didn't get cold there wouldn't be any problems. "Sure," the violinist agreed. "But…"

"I'll tell you if I get cold," the singer replied, before the taller man had even finished his question. "But right now, I'm more than warm enough."

Kohaku only smiled at him a bit sheepishly. Honestly, he didn't want to get annoying by being so protective. But fact was, that the singer had almost died and was only at the start of recovering. If he'd get a cold, no matter how slight, it could push his already weakened body over the edge. And even though Kohaku really wanted to make sure the blonde had a good time, that just wouldn't be worth it.

For some time, they walked in silence. Not an uncomfortable one, it was more like neither one of them felt the need to say anything, to spoil the deep snowy silence of the forest. Even Kohaku's footsteps barely made a sound, with how carefully he was walking not to slip in the snow, and it startled them both when suddenly a bird twittered somewhere near. "So there is still something living here," Lucille grinned, apparently rather amused by how a small bird had nearly managed to scare them.

"Not if it dares to do that again," Kohaku growled, but unable to hide a soft chuckle. "Geez."

"Oh, is that the village already?" Lucille suddenly asked, the bird apparently forgotten.

"Yeah." Well, the first house at least. The village laid behind it, small but lively, and the marketplace was visible from here. "When you can walk by yourself again, we can go there. If you'd like to, that is."

"Sounds like fun," Lucille immediately responded. "I didn't know there were this many people living here."

"There aren't. But there are other, even smaller villages around. Those people come to shop here too," Kohaku explained. "Still, it isn't too crowded or anything. Just busy enough, so it's possible to go there without dragging attention." Even though they weren't on an assignment here, he still preferred to keep a low profile. Not for any particular reason, for him it was just a natural way of living. Lucille, on the other hand, had a habit of automatically drag all attention towards himself, even if he didn't want to. Well, Kohaku had to admit the blonde was indeed remarkable, with his undoubtedly beautiful appearance and somewhat eccentric way of acting.

Still, if any guy would dare to stare at Lucille too long, the violinist would probably try to scare him off, one way or another.

"Someone's looking," the blonde remarked softly, pointing through the blanket at a spot in the marketplace.

"Eh?" A bit alarmed, Kohaku followed his look, but then recognized the woman from who he had bought the plush toys. "She owns one of the stands," he told the blonde. "I bought something from her, and I mentioned you. So that's probably why she's looking."

"What did you say about me?"

"Well…" He felt his cheeks heating up a bit. "Just that you're my friend. So."

The blonde chuckled softly, definitely noticing Kohaku's discomfort. "Ah, you bought something secret?" Kohaku glared at him. "Okay, I'll stop asking." That grin alone was annoying enough already.

"Hello there!" the lady from the market greeted friendly.

A bit startled, Kohaku looked up. Damn, he hadn't even seen her walking towards them. "Eh, hello."

"So, is this that 'friend' you were talking about yesterday?" she asked enthusiastically. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Lucille replied politely, his cheeks having heated up a bit at the way she had spoken the word 'friend'. What exactly had Kohaku told her?

"He's just as cute as you said he is. Though he doesn't seem like an average blonde moron."

"What the Hell did you say about me?" Lucille giggled, at seeing Kohaku's look of horror.

"Eh… Well… I was just looking for… something… The subject just came up, okay?" That only succeeded in amusing both Lucille and the marketplace lady even more.

"Well, whatever he said, it's clear he loves you," the lady said, probably feeling some pity towards Kohaku.

"Yeah, and whatever he calls me, I love him too," Lucille grinned. "He's just a bit… shy about it."

"Well, we should go back soon, he shouldn't get cold," Kohaku quickly tried to change the subject.

"Ah, already?" Lucille sighed. Despite his eagerness to be outside for a little longer, though, he had to admit he felt exhausted and the snow falling on his face was becoming a bit unpleasant. Besides, it was already passed lunchtime, and he was starting to feel a bit hungry. "Can we go outside again tomorrow?"

"We'll see," the violinist replied. "That depends on the weather and how long it takes you to be all rested again."

"Well then, I hope I'll see you again," the marketplace lady greeted.

"Yeah, bye," Kohaku greeted back, and Lucille gave her a bright smile while the violinist already walked away. "Lucille, are you still okay?"

"Just tired. And a bit hungry." He rested his head on Kohaku's shoulder again. "But… walking around in the snow with the person you love…" A happy smile graced his face. "It's just as romantic as I thought, even though that conversation just now was only funny."

"Let's hope we can take a real walk in the snow next year. When you're all healed up and I'm not so scared anymore about you getting injured or sick."

"So…" To Kohaku's worry, the singer suddenly sounded a bit hurt. "You didn't enjoy it now? I mean, it's not like this is the best possible situation, not by far, but… to me it felt really special. Like… my first real 'date' ever. So…" He trailed off, seemingly unsure of what to say next. "We don't have to go again, if you really don't want to."

"That's not it," the violinist quickly tried to reassure him. "I did enjoy it, especially when you walked those few steps on your own feet. It's just…" He smiled sheepishly. "Well, I guess I'm just too scared of you getting hurt again. I mean, you're the first person I ever truly loved. So I don't ever want to see you getting hurt again."

"Kohaku…" Weakly, the singer moved against him a bit, reaching up just enough to kiss the taller man. "I'm not going to break," he then whispered. "I do heal rather quickly, you know."

"You've been dead to the world for a month, babe. Even you can't be expected to be back to a hundred percent within a little over a week."

"Hm." Lucille just smiled sleepily, apparently too tired to want to discuss any further. So instead, Kohaku just tightened his grip on the thin blonde and felt his friend going limp as he drifted off. It looked kind of cute, actually, Lucille sleeping with the snow still falling quietly around him, and his soft breaths forming small clouds. The thing that made the whole view perfect, though, was the faint smile still lingering on his face.

Even though the blonde needed his rest, Kohaku did wake him once they had gotten home. He needed to make Lucille eat some lunch, but more importantly, he didn't want to redress the singer while he was asleep. It'd seem wrong, somehow, and the violinist would feel embarrassed if the blonde would wake up halfway through the process. Still, it wasn't like Lucille was exactly awake while Kohaku dressed him back into nightwear. Instead, he just laid on bed limply, his eyes already closed, and only moving when the violinist asked him to.

"I'll go make some lunch, all right?" Kohaku said, worriedly waiting for a reply.

"Okay." It was only a faint mumble, but at least he had responded. Still, it didn't fully convince the taller man, being a bit scared that the trip outside had been too much for Lucille's body after all. The singer seemed to sense his stress, though, suddenly opening his eyes and smiling up at him. "I'm just tired, honey. Don't be so worried, I'll be fine once I've slept for a few hours. That was to be expected, right?"

"Yeah." Kohaku smiled softly, before gently giving the singer a short kiss. "Just as it was to be expected that I'd be worried anyway."

I'll update soon^^