Part 3

Elios watched as the pale, little maiden, his Little Maiden, stood looking throughout his rooms. He didn't really feel too comfortable in these rooms; they were large enough for a king. He had a sitting room, a bedroom, the biggest closet he had ever seen, and a balcony. Chibi-Usa surveyed it all, finding the smallest things to notice and pick apart.

"There's some dirt here."

Elios smiled and let her roam, trying to figure out what to do. He had no clue who had locked her door, but he had a feeling someone was up to something. Chibi-Usa seemed not to mind, but he did.

Ever since arriving here, he had felt something gripping his heart, and it was all because of her. Elios had lived for over a thousand years, guarding the world of Elysion, the heart of the Earth, and also protecting his Prince. In all that time, he had focused on his duty, but now, after meeting this pale little girl, something was different.

He watched her move, his eyes following her body's every movement. He had been changed by her; by her lovely dream, and her youthful innocence. She had sparked something inside his heart, a feeling he hadn't felt before.

Elios' hand reached out, trying to touch her cheek, but he pulled it back quickly. What are you doing? She's too young! And you have your duty to protect this world and the King. Elios knew that Chibi-Usa had been alive nearly a thousand years, knew she had not grown for many years, but still, he couldn't forget that he had met her as a child. To him, she had always appeared as a child.

He had always known what she looked like, though, had always known that inside she was the woman he saw now. But, thanks to the Amazoness Quartet, he had seen her true body, and that had been the moment he knew what his heart had always known.

"Elios!"

Her voice pulled him from his thoughts, and he turned to see her behind him, her eyes wide with curiosity. "You've been standing still for a while now. Are you alright?"

Elios smiled. "I'm fine. I was just thinking. Well, anyway, you should be asleep. You need a lot of rest, since you'll be busy tomorrow."

"But I have no clothes…"

"Sure you do. You're wearing night clothes."

Chibi-Usa looked down at herself, then frowned. "Fine. But I need a place to sleep."

"You can have the bed. I'll sleep out here."

"Are you sure?"

Elios nodded and shoved her towards the door to his chambers. "Sleep, Little Maiden."

Chibi-Usa frowned, but before she could say anything, he shut the door. He heard her grumbling behind the door, but just smiled.

He could hear her moving, and left the door to lie down on the futon he had. The door opened slightly, and he could just barely make her out by the foot of the bed. She had removed her robe, and was in a long button-up shirt, that fell to her knees.

Elios felt his heart speed up. Chibi-Usa stood by the end of the bed, and stretched before she jumped into bed. Her long legs were well defined, and her arms were lightly muscled. The shirt conformed to the curve of her breasts and hips, and Elios found himself staring. Blinking, Elios made himself look away. He felt his face burning, and quickly turned so he couldn't see Chibi-Usa.

Elios fell into a pseudo-sleep, one where he was asleep but also awake. He heard a strange sound, but soon realized it was someone crying. Inside his dream, he floated towards the sound, and saw a vague shape huddled on the floor, holding something in its arms.

Coming closer, Elios saw Chibi-Usa, and opened his mouth to call out to her. But she moved suddenly, and then was gone. Elios found himself in a strange place, all dark and foreboding. It was Crystal Tokyo, but destroyed.

He heard the crying again, and turned to his left, following the sound. He followed the sound of his Maiden's crying throughout all of Crystal Tokyo, until he found himself in the garden she had shown him just a few hours ago.

Chibi-Usa sat on the ground, cradling something to her. Beside her, a giant hole smoked with steam, and Elios saw the hand of a human sticking out, charred and blackened. The stench of death was all around, but Chibi- Usa seemed not to notice. Instead, she sat crying, rocking back and forth, cradling that object to her breasts.

Elios took a step towards her, to comfort her, and then noticed the body of Diana beside her mistress, a charred wreck. But what really made him stop was the thing she was holding.

Chibi-Usa turned bright eyes full of tears on him, but didn't seem to notice. Instead, she caressed the face against her chest—his face—and cried. Suddenly, though, the skin began to melt, and Chibi-Usa screamed…

Elios woke to the sound of Chibi-Usa crying and thrashing about. Without thinking, he jumped off his makeshift bed, through the open door, and ran over to her side. She was sweating and tears streamed down her face, and her arms thrashed about. Elios tried to calm her, tried to stop her from hurting herself, but only got clawed in the face.

Seeing no other way, Elios climbed into the bed with her, pinning her arms to her side and whispered to her to calm down. "Maiden, it's me. Please…Chibi-Usa! Wake up! It's only a dream!"

Chibi-Usa thrashed for a few seconds more, but then began to calm. Her cheeks were stained with tears, and she was still crying, but she had stopped screaming and thrashing. Elios was surprised no one had heard.

Slowly, ever so slowly, she opened her beautiful eyes, eyes that were usually so bright and happy, now filled with pain and fear.

"Elios…?" She reached a hand up to his face, and she started crying even harder. She flung herself against him, and he wrapped his arms around her. "I had the worst dream!"

Elios put his cheek against her hair. "I know. I saw. But it was only that: a dream."

He could feel her quiver against him, her breath fast like her namesake rabbits'. Elios had no idea what he could do for her, so he just held her tighter. She shuddered against him, then relaxed.

Slowly, she moved her arms so they wrapped around his neck. Elios blinked, and felt her clench her fists in his hair. She rubbed her cheek against his bare chest, the tears cool against his skin. Elios' breath caught, and he lifted her chin in his hand, so he could see her face. Gently, he brushed his lips against her eyes, then down onto her cheek, where he could taste her tears. She gasped as his lips moved down onto her neck, and he moved his hands to unbutton her shirt. Her fists clenched tighter into his hair as he lay her down on her back, his heart beating faster than hers.

Elios had undone the top three buttons, when the realization of what he was doing suddenly hit him. Chibi-Usa was lying nearly beneath him, her beautiful face pale and still frightened by her dream, and he was enjoying it. Elios reached up and took her wrists, pulling them away from the back of his neck. Chibi-Usa blinked in confusion, and Elios slowly sat up.

"Maiden, I…Please, forgive me."

He set her hands down beside her, then turned his back to her, swinging his legs over the bed as though to go. He could feel her sit up, but was surprised when she crawled over to sit beside him. Her skin was pale and covered in sweat, and her loose hair made a pool beside her. He carefully took a strand of it in his hand, threading it between his fingers.

"Elios…I should apologize. I shouldn't have…well…"

"It's alright, Maiden. It was my fault." He blushed slightly. "To tell the truth, this is the main reason I didn't want to stay here for much longer. I was afraid something bad like this would have happened."

Chibi-Usa turned to face him. "Nothing bad happened. You just did what you thought was the right thing to do."

"Maiden…"

"I had a bad dream, and you were there right away, protecting me." Her eyes narrowed in thought. "How did you know? About my dream?"

"The same way I found you before. I live in Elysion, the World of Dreams. I can sense any dream, if I truly wish. Somehow, I was pulled towards yours." He looked down at his feet, swinging slightly against the bed. "I saw."

Chibi-Usa closed her eyes, and he thought she might be fighting tears. "But you came over to me. And made me feel safe. Just like my prince should do." She turned to him, that beautiful smile on her face. "Nothing bad happened."

Elios couldn't agree. He had almost done something unforgivable, and she said nothing bad had happened. And what was worse, he still wanted her. He wanted to feel her skin against his again, to taste her lips. He shook his head to clear it of such thoughts.

Chibi-Usa took his hand, the one caressing her hair, and kissed it gently. Elios opened his eyes and looked at her. "I think we should go to bed now. But," she pulled him down when he made to stand, "I want you to stay here with me. I'm afraid I'll have a dream again. I've been having weird dreams lately, either wonderful or evil, and I'm scared of what I may dream." She stared into his eyes. "Please stay with me."

Elios nodded, and his Little Maiden laughed a silvery peal of laughter, then hugged him, saying thank you. She crawled over to the other side of the bed, and wiggled under the covers. After a moment of thought, Elios crawled under the covers too, but stayed on his side of the bed. Because of that brief moment that he shared in Chibi-Usa's mind, he could feel her displeasure, but didn't care. She was safer with him over here than there.

Elios closed his eyes, when he felt Chibi-Usa move closer. He smiled. She thought she was being stealthful, and moved very slowly, but he could tell what she was doing. She made it about halfway across the bed when he reached out with his arm and drew her closer, so her head lay against his chest. He could feel her heartbeat, and could also tell she hadn't buttoned the shirt yet. He winced at that, but made himself not think about it.

The Priest of Elysion lay awake, with Chibi-Usa's head against his chest, until he felt her breathing steady and knew she was asleep. Gently kissing the top of her head, Elios settled in to sleep. Chibi-Usa made a noise of disapproval when she had to readjust how she was lying, but quickly fell into a deep sleep. Elios smiled.

"I love you, my Lovely Maiden."