Something had awakened him from his dreamless sleep. Trowa felt even more disoriented as he opened his eyes to the dark room, and the breeze from the window felt warm and dry, without the salty tang of the sea. Had he slept only a few moments? The light from the moon was so bright he thought it might be morning, and when he tried to sit up he felt not only light-headed, but also stiff and sore. Somebody must have gotten some good hits on him during that scuffle in the recreation room. At least he had an excuse for not going to school.

"I am sorry, my lord, for disturbing you!"

He blinked his eyes rapidly. There was a shadowy figure of a woman standing over his bed. She held something in her hands that squirmed and mewled liked a kitten. "What…what is happening?"

"Trey, are you awake?" He recognized the weak voice, and he spun as quickly as his aches and pains would allow to see Arora propped on an elbow, lying beside him in the bed. She was bandaged, but she was alive! He could feel her warmth and watched her chest rise and fall in a shallow rhythm as she waited for his response. "Trey?"

"Where am I? What has happened?"

"My lady, the baby…" The servant quickly left the baby with Arora, then hurried from the room after Arora ordered her to find her brother.

"He won't be pleased," commented Arora as she put the baby to her breast. "He made some mention of working on his recovery, although I don't know how he was planning to do that with the women who helped him to his room."

He closed his eyes. "I can't believe I am finishing my dream!"

Arora laughed, then stopped abruptly as if in pain. He spun to look at her, and when their eyes meet, realization dawned in him. "You…you really are here! This isn't a dream!"

"You must be confused! Apolo thought you might be when you awoke."

"How long have I been unconscious?" Trey was afraid to hear the answer, remembering that he had been oblivious for several weeks on L10.

"Three days," she told him. "You lost a lot of blood."

Trey looked at her bandage. "What…what about you? What happened?"

Before she could answer, the door opened and the servant returned followed by Apolo who was moving slowly as if he had been injured. "Good, you are awake. I was afraid Arora was going to ask me to work my magic on you, and I have none left."

"Certainly not after wasting your strength on your females," commented Arora as she passed her contented baby to the servant who hurried out with her. Trey was disappointed to see Shamara go, and yet he needed an explanation.

He looked from Arora to Apolo. "The last thing I remember was Arora dying."

"My brother did not let me die," she told him. She reached out to take Trey's hands.

Then she showed him what he had not seen. As he lost consciousness, believing Arora to be dead, and succumbing to his own injuries as he believed Apolo took her essence, her brother had come to her and placed his hands on her wound. A bluish light bathed them both as he gathered her to him, and when he leaned down to touch his lips to hers, the light intensified as he breathed life back into her body. The heat of his powers seemed to seal the wound and stop the bleeding from her chest. Although she still needed time to recover fully, she was out of danger. Apolo had absorbed half her wound himself, so he wasn't in any better shape than Arora.

"We could not wake you," said Arora. "Heero told me you were unconscious for several weeks on L10. I feared we would be unable to keep you alive that long with our primitive resources."

"Virineia suggested that Arora sleep beside you tonight. She thought perhaps her nearness would jog you from your slumber."

"How is my mother?" Trey could well imagine how she felt, her husband dead, her son possibly dying.

"Lady Virineia is the wife and mother of an emperor. She performed the ritual to entomb Zeno the Butcher quite admirably, and she has assisted Wattan in keeping the restless imperials subdued until you come to your senses."

"I don't think I could be so composed at your funeral," Arora told Trey.

He didn't need to tell her he would be in thousands of pieces if he ever had to lay her to rest. "Are my friends still here?"

"Yes, but they are eager to return to the satellite and then to their own galaxy. They do not perceive any threat to you that you cannot handle."

"Do you believe I have no threat?" Trey asked Apolo.

"There is always a threat, but none that you cannot handle," Apolo said with a shrug. "Some of Zeno's staunchest reporters will not recognize you because Arora dealt the killing stroke. Others say that her powers killed him despite witnessing the events with their own eyes."

Trey sighed. "Am I safe in my own palace?"

Apolo chuckled. "The only threat you will have here, my lord, is my bossy sister. You will have to keep her filled with babies if you intend to have any peace from her."

"I am not bossy! Now get out and let us have some time alone."

Her brother was still laughing as he left the room.

Trey turned on his side to look at Arora in the light from the moons. He glanced at the window to be sure there were two, then breathed a sigh of relief when he had confirmed it.

"You cannot believe this is really happening," she commented aloud.

"I don't know what to believe anymore," he admitted. "But I am afraid that this is a dream from which I will ultimately wake up. Worse, it is an hallucination I am having on L10."

Arora laid her hand on his check, then snuggled up to his body. "This is not a dream, Trey. I have had the same fears, that you really have not returned to Calabria, that I am having the dreams I had almost every night when you were in another part of space. There were so many mornings that I wished I had not awakened."

"We will always wake up together," he said earnestly as he leaned forward to press his lips to forehead. "I don't want to live without you. I wanted to tell you how much I love you when I believed you were dying, but I couldn't speak."

"I felt your love," she said, drawing back to look at him. "I have felt it from the first."

"I wish we weren't so banged up so I could prove my love."

Arora laughed softly. "There are some benefits to my Guerani powers that I haven't showed you yet."

"Really?" Trey was intrigued.

She reached down to take his hands, and she entwined their fingers. "I'm sure we can share an interesting memory or two."

"Or three," he suggested with a laugh before she pulled him away to the past.

She could hear him coming and tried to hide behind the blossoming tree, but he caught sight of her. Arora quickly wiped away her tears and hoped he could not see that she had been crying.

"I've been looking everywhere for you!" Prince Trey looked furious as usual. "You are supposed to be protecting me, not playing silly hiding games!"

Arora didn't want to admit her arms were aching from sword practice or that her backside hurt from the many times he and Apolo had knocked her down. She was nothing but a weak and useless burden to them. "I want to be alone!"

"Fine, but don't get yourself eaten by some animal." Prince Trey started to walk away, but he suddenly stopped and he turned quickly back to her. Arora wasn't fast enough to wipe away a tear. "You're crying!"

She hid her face in her hands. "Go away!"

But she heard his footsteps, and having him see her weakness was more than she could bear. Arora burst into tears, and after a moment she felt his arm around her shoulders and she leaned into his warmth.

"Sometimes I feel like crying, too," he admitted, his voice low as he stroked her hair.

"Sometimes you do cry!" She sniffled.

Prince Trey grunted. "I have good reason. There is much expected of me."

"I have good reason too!" She closed her eyes, then admitted with deep embarrassment, "I am a female."

But Prince Trey laughed at her distress. "I have heard the men say that here is good use for females."

Arora looked up at him. "What is that?"

He shrugged. "They didn't say. I told Apolo to find out, and when he tells me, I will tell you."

"We should go back," she said as a wind picked up and the branches above began to whip about and the sky darkened. She was afraid that a storm might catch them in the open although storms were only part of legends. The rain never fell on Calabria.

"Not yet," he said as looked at the skies. "Perhaps it will rain this time. There is a legend about the rain."

Arora knew the legend. The gods had cursed Calabria with a great fire that scorched the lands. But one day a pure-hearted prince would save a sorceress and the power of their love would bring back the rains to Calabria. "You are a prince," she commented.

Trey looked at her. "You are a Guerani sorceress."

Suddenly pink petals were falling over them, and she was amazed that Prince Trey smiled as they rained about them. Something inside her was touched, and she could only stare at him with awe as he tried to catch the petals. He stopped, then looked down at her. Their eyes met. She smiled at him, and for a moment he appeared startled, then he laughed and grabbed her hand. Arora laughed too as he twirled her around under the tree raining petals from dying blossoms, and when she was breathless, they collapsed on the ground. The few remaining petals drifted over them.

"I will never forget this day," admitted Prince Trey. "We have made it rain!"

Arora looked at him and her heart filled with joy. She would never forget this feeling for as long as she lived. Trey was in her heart, and there he would stay forever.