An Empire to Conquer Your Heart

Authors' Note: Thanks for the reviews. We hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 8

Madara pours himself another glass of wine as he waits in his chambers. It had been hours since Izuna had walked off with his sister. With every passing minute, dread bloomed ever darker and larger in his stomach.

As the dark, aromatic wine swirls in the crystal glass, the doors to Madara's chambers open quietly and shut a moment after. Almost silent footsteps creep nimbly towards the king. "Madara?"

"Izuna, did you have a pleasant reunion with your sister?" Madara eyes the Bijin he loved warily. It had taken him so long to return.

"I did, she was particularly interested in seeing your medical bay." Izuna saunters slowly towards his lover and eyes the glass in Madara's hand, then the empty bottle of wine, and the half empty one beside it. "…Are you drunk?"

"Unfortunately, no. I have an exceptionally high tolerance for alcohol, but I am pleased you enjoyed yourselves." Madara sets his drink down, trying not to sound too bitter. They had a joyous reunion while he had waited in agony to discover whether or not his heart was about to be ripped out for hours. "I never meant to keep you from your family. Between my duties as king and getting lost in your arms...it just slipped my mind to contact them."

"I'd forgotten as well." Which honestly terrified Izuna. Madara made it so easy for him to lose himself and feel good about it. "Madara…" Izuna places a hand on his lover's cheek and seats himself in the king's lap. "Please don't look so sad on my account."

"How I look will depend on your answer." Madara wraps his arms around his lover tightly. It felt good to feel the warmth of Izuna underneath his arms. Reassuring really to know that the Bijin was still here. "Have you made your decision?"

"Yes, I have." It had taken a lot of thinking and arguing and hugging and worrying. But Izuna had finally come to a decision with his twin's help. "Naori says that I'm in love with you."

"Well, it's good to have found some common ground with her. I'm happy to hear that." He lets out a sigh of relief, kissing Izuna's forehead. "How did she take the news that you're staying? I hope not too poorly. You are free to contact her whenever you like."

Izuna purses his lips, closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath. "Madara, I'm…I'm not staying. I've decided that…I have to go home. There are things that I need to do there that I can't do here. Not yet."

Madara blinks, feeling as though he had been stabbed in the chest repeatedly. "I don't understand. You just said that you loved me. Why would you have to leave and what can you accomplish back there that you can't here?"

"I can finish my education independently, for one thing." Izuna sighs and takes Madara's hands into his. "I told you that among my kind, one of the most important parts of our society is that we all work to contribute to the greater good. My father has his reasons and wants to see me married for the good of the family, but I want more than that, and this is my best chance to prove that I can do more than he thinks I can. It's my chance to prove that I can succeed on my own."

Madara frowns. Well, that should be easy enough to resolve. "If you wish to complete your education, you could do so here easily. While our military might has always been our primary concern, we do have programs those who wish to become diplomats. After all, someone has to manage negotiations. I can't be everywhere at once. You can enroll in the program of your choice."

Izuna sighs. His lover was making this hard decision even harder. But he knew that he had to stick to it, or he would lose himself entirely. "I'm sure that your programs are…adequate for the things I want to do, but I'm already in school, halfway through the second of my three programs, and I want to be able to finish it at home, surrounded by the people I know and love before I leave them."

"And for that you would leave me the person you claim to love?" His eyes flash red. Madara couldn't understand it. Izuna was many things, but a liar he was not. The Bijin loved him. Madara had heard him say as much and now, he wished to leave to finish an education he could complete here to be surrounded by people he'd barely mentioned? "Arrangements could be made to ensure you didn't have to start anything over, but I meant what I said. If you truly wish to leave, I won't stand in your way. Despite the unusual circumstances of our meeting," such as Izuna trying to kill him twice and Madara conquering his lover's homeworld, "I do love you. You're not my prisoner."

"I'm not your prisoner. But I was." Izuna takes Madara's hand and raises it to his short hair. "You brought me here against my will after I foolishly attacked you and your warriors. And this was my punishment. Then, you swept me of my feet in ways I didn't even know were possible. You've made me feel things that I never knew I could. And because of you I've done things that I never thought I would have the chance to. But I never deserved any of it. I didn't earn any of it. I ended up here because I was stupid and reckless. And I can't carry myself with any sort of self-respect among your people, knowing that I have a place here that I never earned and don't deserve."

"You were brought here because you fought against impossible odds. You showed extreme bravery and strength...if little in the way of self-preservation skills." Madara winces, feeling how short Izuna's locks were. He'd had to punish him somehow. His people were a reasonable one, but even they had their limits. An attack on the king had to come with some sort of consequences. "You can carry yourself with pride. You earned your place. You earn it even more every day. I've seen how hard you've been training. Everyone has."

"After the fact, but I never proved that I have the right to be here in the first place…" Izuna leans forward and brushes his lips softly against Madara's. "Please…for the sake of my pride…let me earn my place here. Let me have these last three years with my friends and family before I leave them behind forever… Let me prove my worth not just to you and your people, but to myself so that I can carry myself with pride, knowing that I found a place by your side through my own merits, and not just the ones that you offer to place right into my lap. You took my pride…so please let me have this chance to earn it back so that I can come back to you with my head held high."

Madara returns the kiss, pulling away only to look at Izuna with ever increasing resignation. "Sometimes I wonder if you're a masochist. You have some desperate need to make things far harder on yourself than you have to be." Did he actually mean it? Did Izuna intend to come back after he'd finished his education? "I told your sister that you can leave if you pleases you. I meant it. I hope that you'll be true to your word and you'll return. Perhaps in three years time I will prove myself a more worthy match for you." If he hadn't failed Izuna, made him feel like his pride had been taken...then the Bijin wouldn't be leaving, he'd complete his coursework here and all would be well. Not this…

"I do it because it's something that I need to do, otherwise I know that I'll have regrets." Izuna lays his forehead against Madara's and twirls his fingers into those long, spiky black strands. "And I'll admit…I've never been in love before, so I don't know if this is what it feels like, but…I'd like to think that it is. Because this is something that…I would give up my whole world for. I just want to make sure that I have no lingering regrets before I leave it behind for good."

"Perhaps there are more fundamental differences between Chikaras and Bijins than I realized." Madara sighs, watching Izuna closely as if trying to commit his face to memory. "I've never been in love before either, but I don't have to question if I am in love with you or not. It must be a Bijin trait overanalyze everything. Either one loves someone or they do not, but you misunderstand me. I'm not asking you to leave your world behind indefinitely. You're free to contact whoever you like and visit it when the whim strikes you. Still, this is the path you've chosen for us. We'll see where it leads."

Izuna wasn't sure if Madara fully understood his reasoning, but he supposed it might just be because a Bijin ran on logic, whereas a Chikara ran on instinct. "Then consider it to be a three year visit. Our lives will be so much longer than just three short years, Madara. And after that visit home, I'll come back having accomplished everything that I set out to do. I promise."

Madara trails his thumb over Izuna's lower lip. He wanted to believe Izuna, but the Chikara king wasn't sure he could. After all, it hadn't been that long ago when he had naively thought everything was perfect. Were it not for the Bijin party showing up, Madara doubted he ever would have guessed Izuna harbored these concerns. His lover had never raised any of them. "If this is what you need, then go. I will wait for you and if your father thinks of marrying you off, you can inform him that you're already spoken for."

"If you will wait, then I will return." Izuna smiles and runs the tip of his tongue over Madara's thumb. "And if you don't, then maybe I'll just have to come marching back in and challenge you for that crown of yours. Because I know that I'm spoken for. And one day your whole empire will know it."

"Izuna, I will wait. You're the one who is leaving for three years. Not me." Madara watches Izuna's smile and that pink tongue that he had come to adore glide against his thumb. He could almost pretend the entire conversation hadn't happened. That Izuna wasn't planning to leave him for three damn years. "If you desired it, that day could have been today. We'll just have to postpone it for the time being."

"When I've proven beyond a doubt that I've earned my right to be here, you can tell the entire universe if that makes you happy." Izuna wraps his arms around Madara's neck and spreads his knees to either side of his lover's lap. "But tonight…I want you to love me enough for the three years that I'll be gone. Brand this promise into my body so that I will never forget and so that my dreams will be filled with you."

"You confuse me." Madara brushes his lips against Izuna's in a ghost of a kiss. "First, you tear my heart out by telling me you wish to leave for three years and then you seduce me with such elegance. You've completely robbed me of my sanity. It seems only fitting that I do the same as I grant your request." He deepens the kiss, silencing any further protests. For the rest of the night, Madara would try with all his might to express how much he loved the Bijin in his arms.

By the time morning came and the Bijin delegation was preparing in earnest to leave, a reasonably large crowd of curious Chikara onlookers had gathered around. It made sense. Most of them had limited experience with their sister species to begin with. Madara couldn't begrudge them their inquisitiveness. Still, it was with a heavy heart he watched the Bijin scramble around trying to ensure everything was ready. Izuna was among them.

His Bijin lover had assured Madara that it was only three years. Izuna would return with his regained pride and all would be well. They had spent a passionate night together. It was the only time that Izuna had referred to their couplings as 'making love' or 'loving him.' It was enough to give him a spark of hope. A small flame that felt as though it was being drenched underneath an unforgiving downpour. Despite that, it tried with all its might not go out.

Izuna looked so different with his people. More relaxed and methodological. The Bijin in question was even going over some sort of damn checklist to ensure they had everything needed for the journey. He was his sister's constant shadow.

Maybe the 'three year visit' was for the best. Madara had taken Izuna from his family. He deserved to be among his own people. That didn't make it any less painful, but a promise was a promise.

A figure emerges from the shadows of the hall behind the gallery from which the king watched as his lover prepare to leave. Long, spiky black hair sways across a back clad in scarlet, held back by two braids circling around from his temples. "You miss him already, don't you little brother?" Hiroto steps forward to stand by Madara's side. "I've never seen you like this before."

"Of course, I do, but he made his choice." Madara watches wondering if he was indeed some kind of masochistic. Watching Izuna prepare to leave was akin to having his own heart ripped out. Only the Bijin's promise to return made it semi bearable. "And I have to respect that."

"Three years…" Hiroto hums thoughtfully. "Then I suppose that gives me plenty of time to double or triple your guard. I wouldn't put it past your Bijin to announce his presence by trying to hold a knife to your throat with a smile on his face in the middle of the throne room."

"That would be like him. I suppose you're right." Madara nods, forcing a polite smile to his lips. He was no diplomat, but he was a king. He'd learned how to fake such things. "Three years is certainly enough time to increase my personal guard." It wasn't as if he didn't know what Hiroto was attempting to do. His brother was trying to use humor to soften the blow of Izuna's departure. It was such a Hiroto tactic.

Izuna looks up at the gallery as he hefts a small bag with his few belongings onto his shoulder, including his recently returned sword and dagger. His dark eyes flare with a cherry red glow for a moment as he catches sight of his lover, the king. His sister places her hand in the small of his back, looks up at the king uncertainly, then at her brother. She whispers something into his ear, inaudible to the observing Chikara. After a moment, Izuna smiles sadly and nods, his eyes dimming back to a soft onyx.

Madara tilts his head, wondering what the Bijin woman had whispered, but relaxes slightly. At least Izuna had seen him. He knew that Madara hadn't allowed him to leave without seeing him off. If nothing else, Izuna had to know Madara did love him.

The young Bijin reaches up to his ear and fiddles with something there. Then he beckons over an older Chikara, one that he knew and trusted to do anything he asked. He presses his hand to Kaito's and whispers something into the Chikara's ear. Kaito nods and backs away, his fist clenched gently around something tiny.

"Curious…" Hiroto watches with interest as Izuna's eyes find his brother once more, before the Bijin raises a hand and pulls the hood of a soft white cloak over his head. At the same time, Kaito disappears from the floor below.

"Very curious." Madara frowns wondering what all that was about. He resolves to find Kaito and ask later. What could Izuna have given him?

But he would not have to wait long, for the old warrior appears at the entrance to the gallery and kneels before his king. "Your Majesty."

"Kaito, please rise." His old friend's formal greeting only serves to heighten Madara's curiosity. "Is there something you wish to tell me?"

"Actually, there is something that Izuna wishes to give you." Kaito holds out his hand and opens his fingers to reveal a delicate teardrop earring of rose gold, set with a single ruby and matching sapphire in curving teardrop shapes that circle one another. "He says that he doesn't have the appropriate piece to give you, but that this one will have to do."

"It's beautiful. Thank you." Madara sighs, clutching the earning close to his heart. He knew what it was meant to symbolize and that was all that mattered.

"I wonder what that one means." Hiroto commits the appearance of the earring to memory. He knew that the Bijin held their decorations to mean a number of special things, but he thought he might need a compendium to track all of the formal and informal purposes each earring served.

"I'm not certain what the official meaning is, but the unofficial one is clear enough." Madara gives a wistful smile as he clutches onto the earring protectively. "He wants me to know that he still loves me even if he's leaving for now."

"You really do love him." Hiroto had never seen Madara with such stars in his eyes in the thirty five years since Madara's birth. Not even when he was still a wide-eyed child still learning to explore the galaxy. "He's your precious one."

"Of course he is. It never fails to amaze me. For all your brilliance in battle strategy and in academia you do have a habit of missing the obvious." Madara flicks his brother's nose playfully.

"I was simply observing the obvious." Hiroto rolls his eyes and places his hand on his little brother's head. "And giving you a chance to deny it if you felt bashful. It would have provided wonderful opportunities to tease you. Though I suppose that I could always tease you for being a little brat instead. Thirty-five years old and you're still acting like a little boy with a favorite toy."

Madara rolls his eyes in kind. "I'm not acting like a child with their favorite toy. I'm a Chikara in love. Perhaps one day when you find your precious one, you'll understand."

"Perhaps. But the universe is large." Hiroto didn't know if he would ever find his precious one. But it was alright, he had little time for love right now. His brother was bent on conquering a galaxy, and they had a war campaign to see through. "For now, my concern is helping you to build this empire. A mate can come later."

"Ever the logical one. Love doesn't work that way, though. It isn't something that can be scheduled to take place at a more convenient time." He glances at Hiroto. It was hard to believe they came from the same womb sometimes. Madara loved his brother, but in some ways they couldn't be more different. "If I applied your logical approach to everything, I wouldn't have found my most precious person. I look forward to the day when someone manages to upset your carefully orchestrated plans and makes you act on passion for once."

"I save my passion for your wars, little brother. Just like I promised the day you wrestled me to the floor in front of our father's throne." The corners of Hiroto's lips curve up in a wry smile as he curls a raven lock around his finger. "You fought well that day, and with far more passion and determination than even I had."

"One day, you'll find something that inspires the same passion and determination in you." Madara sighs, shaking his head. Maybe. His brother was stubborn in his own way. Even if his precious one walked right up to Hiroto, Madara wasn't sure he'd notice with his nose always buried deep in whatever plans he was making. "In any event, I'm going to clear my schedule for the foreseeable future. Since you're so practical, I imagine you can handle any unforeseen circumstances that might crop up within the next few days."

"Of course." Still Hiroto raises an eyebrow at the rather odd request. "What are you planning, Madara? Did you take pictures of your Bijin that you plan to make use of when you're feeling the need?" Hiroto glances at the floor of the hanger bay, where the small ship taking the Bijin party back to the surface of the planet begins to slide slowly out of the bay.

Madara doesn't rise to the bait. His eyes turning somber was he watches the ship begin its ascent. "I'm in no mental state to rule right now. It's wiser to take a few days to compose myself before resuming my duties."

Hiroto sighs and wraps his arms around his little brother, then places a gentle kiss against Madara's temple. "I see, then I will see to the running of your new empire in your stead and set our course for our next conquest. Your Bijin will return, Madara. That much I know. He's too stubborn to stay away for longer than he has to and has no sense about when it's best to simply lay down and give up."

"I hope he does." Madara halfheartedly returns the comforting gestures before sighing and squeezing the earring for reassurance. "I know he loves me, but I failed him. If I hadn't, he wouldn't have felt the need to leave. I tried again and again to achieve a compromise, but Izuna is...the most stubborn being I've ever met. Such efforts were doomed from the start." He chuckles wistfully.

"I seem to remember a long time ago that a certain prince was bull-headed, stubborn, and prideful, always insisting on doing everything by himself." Hiroto ruffles Madara's hair and chuckles softly. "Even if that meant he made two challenges to Father all by himself before he was ready and was shorn like a little sheep for his impudence. Despite the fact that he had two brothers both willing to lend him support. I think that Izuna might be more like you than you want to admit."

"We're both stubborn creatures. The only difference is that I channel my energies into pursuing things that bring me happiness and he pursues things out of a sense of duty. Whether or not they bring him misery." Madara glances at his brother. "Are you bitter that I was the one who finally managed to best father?" Madara couldn't blame Hiroto if that was the case. It was a rare Chikara who didn't dream of being king or queen one day. "You've always seemed content with your position."

"I am content with my position. I always knew that, of the two of us, you were the more tenacious fighter." And Hiroto was comfortable admitting that. "I work best when I can out-think and outsmart my opponents. That's much harder to do with your siblings who can read your movements and intentions like a book, I'll have you know." And so, he'd felt no shame when he bowed to his brother. "I fought you for the throne out of duty, because I am the eldest and it was expected. But when I lost, I knelt to you in submission out of love."

"You're right and I do appreciate your loyalty and love." Madara places his hand on Hiroto's shoulder. Words were failing him. "I'm glad you're content, but you deserve more than that. You deserve happiness. You shouldn't rationalize yourself out of pursuing your dreams whatever they may be. For now, I have much work to do...in order to avoid work for a few days."

"You say that I deserve happiness, and yet you saddle me with running your empire for you." Hiroto sighs dramatically. "I see what this is. You say all of these beautiful things to pull me into your grasp, and then you set me to work. Yes, it's obvious that you love me very much, Madara."

"It's truly a wonder how your sense of humor only returns at the most inopportune times." Madara swats Hiroto upside the head. "Never mind. You hardly have reasons to protest. I'm certain you'll amuse yourself by figuring out a way to increase bureaucratic efficiencies or something of the sort. Goodness knows you couldn't enjoy yourself by getting laid or a good fight in the the training arena like most Chikara do."

"Oh I see, so it's my fault that I enjoy intellectual pursuits more than your average Chikara." Hiroto snorts amusedly. "Perhaps your Bijin is where all of my missing passion went, and in turn I acquired the patient and studious nature meant for him."

"Though it disturbs me to admit, there may be something to your theory. It would explain a great deal, but I would rather not associate you with Izuna. You're my brother. He's my lover." Madara makes a face as he heads off. "Either way, I'll leave the empire in your safe and boring hands for the time being."

Hiroto's laughter follows Madara down the hall, growing dimmer with every step. "For now, better things be boring than too exciting. Boring means easy, exciting mens casualties." And with so much expansion in their future, Hiroto would take easy and boring for a while over exciting. The excitement would come in due time.