Shura felt dread rise up in his throat when Shion knocked on the door of the Sagittarius residence.
Shion smiled down at him. "Hi Shura. Is Aioros here? I would like to talk to him," he said, with a soft and calm voice that told Shura there was something he was hiding.
He nodded and led him into the living room, where Aioros was playing with Aioria on the carpet. Aioros had not only gotten a rug, and a couple couches for the living room. He had actually furnished the whole house like Shura had asked him to do for months. So much that Shura had started to wonder when Shion was going to start complaining about the budget.
But Shion had never said a single word about the expenses, which had struck Shura as strange. But now that he saw the look that Shion and Aioros exchanged, he knew there was so much more to it than he'd thought.
Aioros handed Aioria to Shura. "Can you hold him for me?"
"He's looking much better," noted Shion, seeing that there was far more color to Aioria's hair and skin.
"I think he's getting back his sight too. He responds to light much more," said Aioros.
Shion nodded. "I came to tell you that Athena has said she can now fix your bodies," he said. "We can get it done tomorrow during the full moon. Or during the next one in a month. As you would prefer, but we do have to turn you all back at the same time."
Aioros leaned back on the couch. "What did Saga say? Is he still in the underworld with Kanon and Rhadamanthys?"
"He's still there, but…I haven't told him anything. He had some trouble at the beginning but he's been much better since he's been in the underworld. So if you would prefer to have it done next month, there wouldn't be any trouble."
Aioros sighed. "It wouldn't be fair to him. I bet he's losing his mind locked in there with Rhadamanthys."
Shion gave a small laugh. "Kanon said they have been getting along better," he said.
"That sounds like a miracle," said Aioros. "But Aioria would do much better if we changed him back. And Deathmask and Aphrodite keep making fun of Shura all the time."
"I'm fine," said Shura, not even sure why he'd said that.
"I wanted to give this decision to you," said Shion.
Aioros sighed and rubbed at his eyes. "What for? You know what I would choose."
"I wanted to know what you would want."
"I'm not going to choose what I want. I'm going to choose what needs to be done," said Aioros, looking down at his hands.
Shion gave him a sad smile, but Shura could see pride shining in his eyes. "Even if there were no consequences?"
"There are consequences. There always are. And I…I'm not going to lie Shion. This has been everything I've ever wanted but…" he said, gesturing as if he couldn't find the words. As if he wanted to be understood without having to speak.
Shion nodded. "It's too little, too late."
"And I couldn't stand it. To know that you're all making a sacrifice, just to indulge me. I don't want to turn back but…what I want more than anything, is to do the right thing. Even if it hurts."
"I see."
"Did you really not know what I would choose? Or did you want to tempt me and test me again?" asked Aioros with a tired tone.
"I was hoping that you would fail my test for once. I would not have hold it against you," said Shion. "I wish…you would fail my tests more often."
Aioros sighed. "I fail enough as it is," he said, and waved towards himself and Shura and Aioria. "Look at the mess I made. I can't believe I lost control like that, even though Athena had said so many times that I had to remain calm because of the disturbance around my soul. I had to go and yell at Aioria like that and make us both angry…"
"You have only been back alive for a few months Aioros. Don't be so harsh on yourself. Think of it as a strike of luck out of a bout of misfortune. It was quite harmless, all things considered."
"At least there's that, I guess."
"And for what it's worth, even if this is also too little too late. I wanted to say that…I'm sorry, for trying to push you away from becoming the Sagittarius saint. For rejecting you and Aioria like I did."
Aioros lowered his eyes. "You don't have to apologize…You had no way to know I could succeed. None of us had enough of a chance written in our stars. Me less than the others."
"I should have seen it in your eyes. But I dismissed you because of your brother, who had his fate written clearly in the stars. And I didn't even bother to read it. My mistake would have costed the sanctuary two saints. It would have costed me a successor."
Aioros laughed, and Shura flinched hearing the sadness in it.
"That didn't work out so well, uh?"
"It worked out more than well. We won the war. We're both back. I only wish, I had been able to apologize earlier."
"Shion…," whispered Aioros.
Shion stood up and went to ruffle Aioros' hair. "Be at Star Hill tomorrow at dawn. I'll let Kanon know that he has to bring Saga," he said and left.
Aioros led him out and Shura went to put little Aioria down in his crib, taking advantage of the fact he had fallen asleep. He looked down at him for a moment, trying to get the racing thoughts in his head in order. He felt Aioros' arms wrap around his waist and his head fall against his shoulder.
"He fell asleep?" he asked.
Shura made a noise of agreement and reached up to card his fingers through Aioros' dark curls. He really couldn't endure it anymore. He really had to ask.
"What did Shion mean? That he rejected you and Aioria?"
Aioros rubbed his face against Shura's shoulder and pulled him closer against himself. Then he laughed.
"It's kind of a funny story," he said, and Shura knew right away it would not be funny at all. "You know how all those destined to be the golden saints are brought to the sanctuary as babies? Well, we weren't. Our mom brought us here. I still remember her. She was very nice but she was sick with something. I don't know with what. I only remember that she was coughing blood all the way. She died before we could reach the sanctuary. She told me I had to bring Aioria there. That they would help us."
"Aioros…I never…"
"It doesn't matter anymore. I made it to the sanctuary with Aioria. Shion saw my fate in the stars and noticed I had a slight chance of being fit for the Sagittarius cloth, but then he dismissed me and sent me out to live with the servants instead. The chance was too small, and I had to take care of Aioria at the same time. He thought I would never make it. I was too old anyway and he was sure I would fail. But what he didn't know was that I'm the most stubborn kid he had ever encountered. I knew I could do it. I knew because I had to do it…I only had my fists and my brother and I had to succeed. So I harassed him daily, at all hours, until he gave me a chance to compete. And you know how the story went after that."
Shura turned around and threw his arms around Aioros' neck.
"Don't pity me," said Aioros with a sad smile.
He was always smiling. Shura realized that all of Aioros' emotions ultimately expressed themselves through joy in a way that brightened him and everything around him.
"I don't," said Shura. "I love you. I love you so much."
He kissed him.