Despite Deidara's remarks of 'easy-peasy', it took a small handful of months for the castle to regain its stability. Many vampires, not just those who lived in the castle, did not welcome their return. A Master of the City was supposed to remain in the city and govern, protect, not run off to have an adventure at a moment's whim, but Deidara did it all the time. On this occasion, there had been an attack – Shadow Hunters in their midst killing unchecked – while he had been away. Many demanded for him to step down, and of course he refused. Those vampires were given the choice to leave, or to challenge him. Itachi had spent many of these nights in the company of the werewolf families, not wanting to witness those that challenged his vampire dying under his hand. Those that remained who opposed him left or simply cowered into submission.

Many meetings in the Master's council commenced, much to Deidara's disappointment. Itachi was much better at this portion of the recovery process, which meant Deidara eventually left the meetings to Itachi and he checked in through their connection to contribute. Of the six vampires in Deidara's council, three remained; one had been killed by the Shadow Hunters as they invaded the castle, one had lost a challenge to Deidara, and the third left. Belle remained, smiling her knowing smile as she entered the chamber they held their meetings, Markus, and Anita, one of the vampires he had never been introduced to and had to hurriedly ask Deidara when she greeted them.

The remaining humans were relieved to see them again, Sam had cried when she woke up to find Deidara returned and had surprised Itachi by hugging him as well, apologizing for what her friend had done. All seemed unharmed, but shaken, save for Wes who had continued to work in the gardens as if nothing had transpired, though he often seemed lost in thought, staring across the yards to the old oak tree. The werewolves were also very pleased to see them both, the pups beginning to follow Itachi around whenever they could as though worried that he would leave them again. He spent most of his free time outside to watch them play while their parents worked in the city, feeling Deidara at the edges of his mind trying to touch the sun shine again. He had never seen spring like this before, never imagined there could be so many flowers in one place and found the stress and pains of their experiences with the Shadow Hunters fading.

Deidara ignored the summons to Rome as long as he could, allowing Kali and Tal to become stronger before he would allow them to be on their own again at the Courts mercy. When they finally threatened them to come, the four packed for a short stay and flew out. Both Itachi and Deidara had had quite enough of councils and courts and refused to stay long despite the Vampire Courts attempts to make them. Kali wouldn't explain how she had come to control her Bloodstarved state and Tal wouldn't say why Sasori had wanted him to travel with him. During the trip to Rome, the vampires had agreed that perhaps the Vampire Court wasn't any more trustworthy than the Master of Tokyo. They hadn't asked the humans' opinions, but they were too busy discussing literature to care.

Kali had become stronger every day since they climbed onto the freezing train; the feral appearance faded as she fed on blood packets, and Belle's humans who had volunteered to help her, and Tal when he offered. She explained to Itachi when asked if Tal tasted as wonderful to her as he did to Deidara, that she personally preferred certain flavors of blood that her Silluetu didn't have.

"What do you mean?" Itachi asked, watching another Indian woman painting the vampire's palms.

"Well, I prefer women's flesh," she said, her dark eyes twinkling with humor.

"But you and Tal…" he began, feeling confused and stupid for it.

"It's like any relationship," she explained to him. "Each one of them is different and unique; there isn't a guideline or plan that must be followed. Some contain sex, some do not. Many vampires don't ever choose a certain human to keep as a companion, as you know. Some do when they are first changed because they still retain their human culture, but it fades as we grow older. I love Tal, he is my dearest friend and my heart, but that does not mean that we are physically attracted to one another. When I first met him, I felt my very soul leap for joy and I knew he was my soul mate, but that has always been the extent of our relationship. I do feed from Tal when I need it, but it isn't the base of our partnership. Does that make sense?"

"Yes, I suppose," Itachi replied. "I never thought about it, I guess. Deidara likes to feed on me, and … other things," he blushed a little, but somehow talking to Kali wasn't as awkward as talking to anyone else, "but he's worried he'll hurt me."

"I often worry I'll hurt Tal, or any human," she murmured. "We are so much stronger than you humans and until we grow use to our strength it takes care not to accidentally break you. When I was first poisoned, I didn't notice its effects. I thought I was just hungry… one night I fed on Tal without asking and I hurt him. I stopped myself, but I was so terrified because I had almost kill him. I tried to run and hide, but he was always there at the edges of my mind, always there to whisper comfort to me, trying to help." She held up her finished hand as the woman began to work on the other, watching the paste dry and stain her skin. "I always knew where he was, so I closed off my mind to him. It was so painful, but I knew if I always knew where he was, I wouldn't be able to stop myself from hunting him down and accidentally killing him. But no more," she smiled at Itachi. He thought she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen, with her long hair cleaned and swept off her face with smoky lines highlighting her kind, dark eyes. She was playing dress up, she had told him when he came to talk with her while Deidara was talking to the Court vampires. After so many years, she wanted to dress as she once did in the traditional dress of an Indian woman of her status. The mehndi was usually for festivals and weddings, but Kali loved them dearly and missed having them.

"Do you not like the other things?" she asked gently after a pause.

He felt himself flushing a little and he looked down at his knees. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "I guess I do, but it's a little … embarrassing."

"Sex is very intimate," she admitted, still smiling in understanding. "But so is sharing your soul, which sometimes makes me feel more vulnerable than being naked with someone." Itachi gave a slight nod, unsure of what to say and made a note to think it over when he got a chance. "You two will be fine," Kali added, catching his attention. "You are very quiet, but you are strong. You're strong enough to grow with him without being overwhelmed, and maybe one day you will put an end to the darkness in his mind."

He blinked. "Do you know what that is?" he asked softly. He wondered if it was her perception that gave her knowledge of its presence or if Deidara had told her about it.

"I don't," she murmured softly, her face growing sad. "I am sure you've aware that Deidara had been in an asylum when Sasori found him. During his time, people assumed anyone who thought or acted differently was possessed by demons. I believe that Deidara did, or does have some… nowadays they are called mental illness, or perhaps a disability. I don't like those terms, personally, but I don't know what else to call it. I think you make it better for him though. He seems much happier than he had been when I left him."

"What do you think it is?" he asked, even more softly. It felt strange to talk about the blond when he wasn't there, but sometimes Deidara was not one to have sensitive conversations with and he did want to know more about him.

"Perhaps you should study psychology and try to figure it out," she said, not unkindly. "I don't know much of such things, but he is happy with you and I can tell you're happy with him.

He was happy with Deidara.

On their way back to Germany, he told the blond about the conversation, and Deidara insisted there was nothing wrong with him. "I'm not broken," he stated so firmly, Itachi wondered if he was repeating something someone else had said. Itachi hadn't implied that he was broken, but Deidara didn't take it personally. Itachi didn't bring it up again. When they returned home, they began contracting workers to help return the house to its previous state, Deidara still annoyed that the vampires had left it in ruin when he had gone. Chloe had reestablished the barriers when Sam had gotten word to her, and Deidara had tightened the strength of the spell that made it so that the packs could run safely again and sleep soundly. They ran together over the acres and acres of Deidara's land, hunting rabbits and playing in the snow that still clung to the ground.

Itachi liked to watch them.

They hadn't seen or heard of Sasori since the night he had fed on Itachi. Deidara had followed his scent through the house after the sun had set again and confirmed that he had went to spend the day in the room behind his own portrait, but no one had seen him leave. Neither of them could figure out whether or not his experiment worked, but Deidara confidently said it didn't matter as long as Sasori was gone. He mentioned in passing while Itachi sat in his favorite chair by the fire in the library reading that the vampire was asleep.

Itachi looked up at him curiously where he was sitting on the floor staring down at a puzzle he was working on. "What does that mean?" he asked.

"What?" Deidara lifted his head from where it had been resting in his palm.

"You said 'Danna's sleeping'," Itachi told him.

"Oh, did I?" Deidara looked mildly surprised and thought for a moment then shrugged. "I think he is. I can't feel him very easily now, un."

"I thought vampires couldn't sleep." Itachi slipped his bookmark in between the pages to hold his place and gave the blond his full attention.

"Well… no, it's not really sleeping, but some old vampires can kind of go into this state of… sleep like?" Deidara looked confused as he tried to explain it, spinning a puzzle piece between his fingers. "You know how sometimes Sasori will just start staring off into space, like he forgot he had a body? It's like that, but you do it in your mind space where there's no more thoughts or memories. You know, it's like those movies where the vampires sleep and come out in a whole new era."

"I don't think I've seen any movies like that."

"I seriously need to make you watch movies more often, un," Deidara muttered. "It's kind of like that though. He does it when he's bored and has had enough of the world, un. It's not interesting enough unless there's something fun to do, un."

"Don't you get bored?" Itachi grinned at him a little and the blond shared it.

"No way, un! There's always something new to see and do, isn't there? I'm not as old as Sasori is. Will you get bored?"

Itachi glanced around the library, the werewolf pups sitting at a table across the room doing some after-dinner school work together. Would he get bored? Definitely not. He was one of the few humans in the world that could have exactly what he wanted. All these books in the library, all the books in the world. He had infinite time to read. That was all he wanted. He didn't have to pick just one topic to study due to a shorter life span. He could study many things in as many places. Sam and Grey had been talking to him about taking national tests to get credit for high school so that he could possibly take official university classes. Deidara both liked and hated this idea because he knew it would make Itachi happy, but also meant there would be times he couldn't keep him safe. The world was still not safe for them. Kisame had come to see him before they had left for Rome, giving him a small update. A massive civil war between the Shadow Hunters had broken out and it had spanned across the globe. Kisame didn't seem to mind though, he was strangely having fun with it and it made Itachi queasy to think of how close he had come to being forced into that lifestyle.

"Itachi~"

The brunette forced himself out of his thoughts and resumed the smile at Deidara. "No, I won't be bored. You wouldn't let me be bored," he told the vampire, whose grin broadened and nodded. "But I'm still confused about Sasori. I don't understand why he just left. It's bothering me."

Deidara pursed his lips in thought than wiggled his fingers in the air. "I don't know, and I don't care, un. We're free!"

Itachi gave a small nod, but wasn't very convinced. Sasori didn't seem that simple of a person. And they weren't free regardless of anything Deidara said or hoped for. He glanced down at his phone and scrolled through the list of tasks he had made that needed to be done. That was alright. He liked being busy.

"Itachi," came Deidara's little playful whining voice. He looked up and the blond had crawled over to him and rest his chin on his knee. "Come to the city with me."

Itachi considered it a moment, then finally stood. "Alright," he murmured, replacing his book onto his desk. Deidara grabbed his arm and dragged him through the house and out the front door. The brunette was about to ask whether or not they should have gone to the garage when Deidara hoisted him up and ran from the castle as Itachi scrambled to hold onto the vampire with the wind whipping his hair back. "I hate it when you do that," he muttered when Deidara had set him on solid ground again.

The blond giggled and held his hand out for him. With an exasperated shake of his head, Itachi took it and they began walking down the city streets together. He could feel the blond's happiness that he would take his hand now and wondered when it was that he began accepting it. Itachi watched the light snow falling from the street lights and wondered when spring would come to stay. This far north winter seemed to last longer - a few weeks of spring like weather, then more snow, and he had been too nervous and stressed to observe the weather until it had become summer and fall.

"We should go somewhere, un," Deidara suggested suddenly, stopping to look at an advertisement that contained a picture of a world map. "Pick a place!"

"We don't have time for that," Itachi told him, pointedly not looking at him so he wouldn't have to see the pouting face the vampire made. "We have a lot of work to do, and I still want to relax and… be home."

"I hate work," he groaned, bumping his head against his shoulder when Itachi wouldn't give into his pout.

"I know, but the faster we get it done, the sooner you can do fun things," Itachi reminded him. "I like work… I'm learning a lot which will be useful later."

"Then we'll go see the world, un!" he said unperturbed.

"I suppose if you want to," Itachi said, though his thoughts were back on the comfortable space the library gave. If he was going to be honest, he never wanted to leave it. Traveling the world with a vampire tended to lead to danger instead of just fun.

"We should go to space one day, un!" the blond continued. "That'd be fun, right?"

"I really don't think vampires would survive in space," Itachi told him seriously, bringing his attention back down as they started walking again, passing shoppers and ignoring the inhuman gleam in the eyes of some.

"We'll find out together some day," Deidara declared, swinging their arms together as he grabbed at Itachi's hand again. "I want to see an exploding star."

"You'll die," Itachi informed him.

"Maybe," the vampire smirked, stretching his arms over his head.

"I cannot imagine a scenario where you would survive being anywhere near an exploding star," Itachi insisted.

"Well, maybe that's how we should go out, un," he snickered. "When we're so tired of the world and can get nothing new out of it, we'll go out in a crazy star explosion!"

Itachi turned his head to stare at the blond, then quietly turned away to avoid making a comment on the blond's thrill at the possibility of their deaths. He wasn't quite ready to prepare for that when he only just started out his new life as a temporary immortal. There was so much time now, time to do everything. "Are you going to stop me from going to university?" he asked instead.

Deidara made the face he made every time Itachi mentioned a situation in which they would be separated. "I don't think you'd let me stop you, but I'm just worried you won't be safe on your own, un," he muttered. "What if I say yes and you tell me you want to go off to like, America, or something? It's so big, I'll never find you."

"You won't lose me," Itachi corrected him with a slight roll of his eyes. How could he when they had shared their souls.

"Did you pick something you want to study?" Deidara asked, looking mildly interested. Itachi gave a small smile, knowing Deidara wasn't exactly interested in what he wanted to study, but wanted to know of his interests.

"Maybe history… or psychology," Itachi replied, knowing without looking at Deidara was giving him a suspicious look. "Mostly history. I'm interested in comparing the history of the world with real history… you know, with paranormal creatures in their proper place." Though he doubted the classes would be interesting as Sasori's stories. "Is it okay to go to university though? It could get expensive…"

"Yeah well," Deidara waved him off casually. Itachi was less satisfied. Deidara didn't really understand money. "Though… I'll need to get a new accountant won't I… Belle keeps telling me that, and I need more humans…"

"Just from losing one?"

"Not really, but it would help," Deidara said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. But he was putting it off because he didn't want to leave Itachi. "And… and Sam needs a friend. Cause she lost Kit."

"That's not really how friends work," Itachi told him.

"Sure, it is," Deidara said cheerfully. "You lose one, and get another, un!"

Itachi didn't argue as they continued to walk, the snow that hadn't melted crunching under their shoes. Sometimes it was hard to remember with everything else that Deidara was still young and was unable to think as people normally did. He wondered what sort of people the vampire would bring home. People had called Deidara's humans 'strays', but other vampires called theirs 'human acquaintances'. They were like servants who offered meals to the vampires, but perhaps they were still friendly with them. The humans that lived in the Vampire Court were like slaves, but Deidara called his friends. They were runaways, homeless, unwanted, but clever. For all his selfishness, his rudeness, and his craziness, Deidara sympathized with them and gave them a home and a chance to get back on their feed to live again or live with him. Deidara had called Jack when they had arrived home, explaining what had happened. Jack was still in France going to school, and as the youngest of Deidara's humans, he wasn't as dependent on Deidara's blood to continue being young as the others. Deidara gave him the option of staying with him, or continuing his life as a human – though Deidara assured him that he would continue to look after Jack. Shaken, Jack had asked if he could think about it for a while and Deidara obliged.

"I'll make sure you get a say in who comes to live here," Deidara told him suddenly, sensing part of his nervous shyness.

"I'd like to go see Chloe Engel tomorrow," Itachi said suddenly, looking down at his phone. "I wanted to talk to her about some things, but I won't be gone long."

"Oh, alright," Deidara said rolling his eyes grandly. "Work, work, work. Let's get all that work done so we can have some fun adventure, un." He reached out and gave Itachi's hair a tug. "You need a haircut…"

Itachi gave a soft chuckle and reached to flick his hair out of the blond's grasp as they continued to walk. "You've been saying that since the first day I arrived in Germany," he reminded him. "I have yet to receive a single trim."

Deidara's eyes widened slightly, tilting his head like a confused dog. "Really?" he asked. "How often do I say it?"

"At least once a week."

"Damn," Deidara muttered, shaking his head a little. "It's like I forget the second I say it, un. Let's do it soon, or it'll get longer than mine, which is just weird."

"Yes," Itachi replied, smiling again. He looked around as they turned down familiar streets. Every so often his eyes would linger on something that wasn't quite right – a house with an extra door, a woman with bark like skin, a man with reflective eyes. There would be more in the city, but Deidara enjoyed walking around at night to remind people that he was still the vampire's Master of the City, daring someone to attack him. He could feel Deidara's growing obsession with keeping him safe and eliminating any and all threats around hm.

"Maybe I'll come to school with you, un!" Deidara grinned, commenting aloud on his thoughts. "I haven't been to school in years, what if I've forgotten everything?"

Itachi gave a sigh and glanced over at him. "You can't Deidara. You have a city of vampires to run," he reminded him.

"Stop being so damn responsible," Deidara complained, puffing his cheeks out. "I can leave if I want to."

"People will be angry with you," Itachi told him softly. "Someone will try to overthrow you."

"They'd have to kill me to take the title from me," Deidara explained, grinning devilishly. "And if someone tries to take my castle away, I'll just take it back."

"But I don't want you to die… I don't want you to get hurt," Itachi said softly, reaching out to awkwardly pat his shoulder.

Deidara threw his head back to laugh aloud in response, but he took Itachi's arm, twirling him a little than sank his teeth into his arm. Itachi had to bite down on his lip to keep himself from crying out and his body reacted to his venom. Still he made a soft groan and stumbled back into the wall, yanking his arm out of Deidara's mouth when he made no move to remove his fangs to make the venom stop. Deidara was giggling and several people walking by averted their eyes in amusement. 'Now I kind of want you to die,' he grumbled.

Deidara laughed again and moved to press up against him, rubbing his hips against him and made him feel even more disgusting. "You like it, un," he crooned, leaning up to kiss his jaw before moving towards his neck.

"There are people around," Itachi hissed, gripping Deidara's arms as he tried to push the blond off him, fearing his fangs in his neck.

"So?" Deidara snickered.

"They're watching us!"

"Who cares, un."

Itachi squeezed his eyes shut. Deidara was impossible sometimes. 'I care,'he insisted, trying to push all his discomfort into the thought. When he opened his eyes, Deidara had taken a step back and looked lost and confused. Itachi gave a grateful exhale, though he knew Deidara was upset about feeling all that. Over the blond's shoulder, he saw a few people glancing over at them then share a smirk as they continued walking. He didn't think he would ever grow used to the way people around vampires thought. As if every relationship between humans and vampires had be openly sexual for anyone's entertainment. Itachi didn't dislike that side of it, but he definitely preferred private interactions.

In silence, they went back to the castle, the slow way this time, Itachi feeling dirty with the mess in his pants so he hurried up to his room as soon as they arrived to get out of them. He felt Deidara's childish eyes on him as he left him at the front doors. In his room, he breathed in the familiar smell of the fireplace crackling softly, happy to have it back, the warmth a comfort with the still chilly air. The shower felt wonderful against his back as he cleaned himself off, grumbling privately at Deidara and sat down on the tile floor to enjoy the water a bit more. Several moments later, Deidara crept in cautiously. He slipped under the around the glass border and rest his chin on Itachi's knee, staring at him with wide, concerned eyes and ignoring the water that poured down on his clothes and hair. Itachi gave him a smile, so Deidara smiled back, pulling his clothes off and moved to sit next to him under the stream.

"I'm sorry," he finally said quietly.

"I know you are," Itachi replied, pushing his bangs off his forehead, wondering if he should wash his hair while he was here.

"I think we should just go," Deidara said, inching closer to him. "Let's go on a new adventure. I can give up my title and we can go have fun."

"That would be a very bad idea right now," Itachi said, shaking his head but still smiling. "Particularly financially. I'm human, Deidara, I still need to eat food and clothes, and I don't intend to steal for it."

"But I have money," Deidara reminded him, holding his hand out as if to demonstrate his wealth. "I think…. I should I guess."

Itachi gave a soft laugh. "You're such a teenager sometimes," he said, then turned to face him. "Let's just relax here for a bit. I like the idea of 'home' and would like to relish in that for a bit."

Deidara gave a dramatic roll of his eyes, then smirked devilishly. "I bet I can find something fun to do," he said.

Leaning forward, Itachi surprised him with a soft kiss on his wet forehead. "I'm sure you can find something fun to do anywhere," he said. "But I've been up all day and I'd like to sleep now."

The blond's big blue eyes stared at him, startled by the affectionate gesture, but managed a little pout at him. "Fine," he muttered, sliding out to grab a towel and hurriedly dry himself off before leaving the bathroom. Itachi grinned in embarrassment and pushed the water off his face again. He was still warming up to those kind of gestures, but he knew Deidara liked them, so he tried to step out of his comfort zone at least a little. The vampires giggling shyness in the back of his mind was worth it sometimes.

Standing up, he turned the water off and stepped out of the shower, pausing only to give a longing look at his wonderful clawed foot bath tub. He really wanted to soak in it, but had a feeling if he did, he would fall asleep and drown in it from walking all the way from the city to the castle. He was getting out of shape. Picking up Deidara's towel, he tossed it into the laundry basket and took a new one to dry himself off and pull on his sleeping clothes before shutting off the lights and crawled up next to Deidara to collapse onto his favorite pillow. The darkness was welcome, the weight of the warm blankets fell over his shoulder as Deidara tucked him in then wedged himself into his favorite position against him. He could feel the blond watching him falling asleep without needing to open his eyes. His dreams were laced with Deidara's memories, some human, some vampire. They helped him understand him in ways that he couldn't deduce when awake.

To Deidara, their incident with the Shadow Hunters was already a fun adventure which he would tell in extravagant detail to anyone who would sit still long enough to listen, and he was ready to have another one as soon as possible. Itachi just wanted to spend more time with moments like this. Being around someone, being this close to someone was still new and he had never experienced it before he met Deidara. He hadn't thought it would be this nice. He thought of what Kali said about being vulnerable with someone. Vulnerable, but safe. Deidara had experienced so much in his life as a vampire, but Itachi was still living with a human's concept of time. He wanted to spend time with Deidara before throwing himself out into the world that wanted to kill them again.

That, he thought before finally drifting off entirely, would be for another day.

Thank you for reading my very long story! This is one of my favorites to write and now it's ended, though I have one more extra bonus special for you all to read after this. I hope you all enjoyed the adventure as much as I enjoyed writing it.