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A/N This is a revised edition, thanks to reviewer Mak() for pointing out a continuity error.

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Pyrus was tired; more tired than he'd ever felt in his life; short that it was.  He was walking around in a daze inside the Ice Palace and eventually he came to a room; Zera's room.  With a smile and a spark of life in his eyes, he knocked on the door.  After a small pause Pyrus opened the door himself and looked around: the room was simple and airy; with an ambience of elegance and beauty.

[Much like it's owner] Pyrus thought and sat down on a couch

"I'm so tired" he mumbled and fell asleep on the couch

Zera had just finished helping her father go over some royal papers and some brief weapons training with Jade: this was a theory lesson, a warrior needed not only to know how to use her weapons, but to know the weapon itself.  It had been less tiring than the last actual training session but she wanted to rest in her room for a minute.  Humming to herself she opened the door and walked in, then gasped.

"Pyrus?" she whispered to herself

Indeed it was Pyrus; he looked terrible, like he hadn't slept in days.  With a soft smile Zera walked over to her friend and stroked his brow, a slight wisp of steam came from the contact, but it also jolted him awake.  So startled was Pyrus that he screamed out in shock and jumped up, doing a neat flip right over Zera.

"By the Glacier, Pyrus you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Zera screamed

"Zera, what are you doing here?" he asked, momentarily disorientated

"Pyrus, this is my room" she snapped

"Oh, sorry, I'll be, whoa" Pyrus had a dizzy spell and nearly fell over

"PYRUS!" Zera cried out and quickly caught the Fire prince.

Zera wasn't sure what to do: then she saw her bed and for lack of anything else to do until she was able to contact a medic, put him on her bed.  Then she noticed something in Pyrus's clenched fist.  With a curious eye she pried his tough hand open and saw a bottle of pills: FireWire.

"Stimulants?" Zera was shocked

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Cryos, Graveheart, Zera and Jade stood around Zera's bed while a medic checked Pyrus out.  They were all in a state similar to Zera was a few minutes ago when she called them all to see what was going on.  Cryos was wondering what to tell the new Vizier, a man named Ember when he would undoubtedly hear of this.  Graveheart and Jade were discussing what they thought of this.  The medic got up and began to put his tools away.

"He will be fine.  Just a lack of sleep.  Let him rest for a while" the medic said

"Should we move him to his ship?" Jade asked

"No, its alright, he can stay here" Zera said looking at him softly

Cryos and Graveheart shared a small grin and said nothing as they left the room with the medic.  Jade was the only one left behind.  With a smile, the rock woman shot a knowing look towards Zera.  The ice girl blushed and sat down beside Pyrus on the large bed.  Jade said nothing and followed her other friends.  Zera looked again at Pyrus and smiled.

"Stupid match head" she jibed with a tear in her eye

"I never told you this, but I look to you for some strength at times Pyrus.  I'm going to have to take over Ice at some point, and seeing you do my father's job while you're at my age, it makes me feel better about ruling when the time comes" Zera, thinking Pyrus was asleep

"Thanks" Pyrus groaned

"You're awake" Zera said

A crack of lightening lit up the room as a hailstorm began outside.  During this part of the season on Ice it rained almost constantly.

"I don't know why in the Inferno you would look up to me: I mean I know we jibe at each other but I'm pretty sure a prince who takes drugs to keep awake for meetings and paperwork is hardly a role model" Pyrus said softly

Zera shifted closer beside Pyrus and put her hand on his shoulder.  She'd looked into his schedule and saw that he had been so busy over the last few weeks he'd barely slept and the Vizier wasn't helping.  When she saw Pyrus was asleep again, Zera wrapped her arm around his shoulders.  However the entrance of said Vizier ruined her peaceful moment with Pyrus.

"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded as Zera leapt in front of him

"The meaning is irrelevant, but the problem is standing in front of me" Zera shot back

"How dare you speak to me in that manner" Ember seethed

"I think we should take this outside while Pyrus is sleeping" Zera said and led the Vizier out into the hallway

"While you are in my palace on my planet, never mind in my private chambers, I will speak how I will" Zera wouldn't back down

"He is a prince of fire, he is strong" the Vizier's words coincided with the reappearance of Cryos

"But he is not invincible, Vizier, he needs his rest like we all do" Cryos tried to be reasonable

"HE HAS HIS DUTY TO HIS PEOPLE" Ember screamed

In a spot of blind rage, Zera walked up and with both of her left hands, slapped Ember with all her might, sending the fire-man careening across the hallway.  Cryos was speechless at this action and was unable to move.  Zera was breathing a bit heavily and was snarling.

"What about the duty he has to HIMSELF?" she shrieked

"Zera-" Cryos began but was cut off

"He is a ruler" Ember hissed

"And no ruler can function without his rest" Zera had calmed down now.  Clenching her fists she spoke again

"Ember, I want you to give Pyrus a week to recover.  If it were up to me you'd be taking most his work for him.  However, a week to rest and enjoy himself so he's refreshed when he comes back will suffice for now" Zera, breathing heavily pointed down the hallway.

"I see, I'll lodge a formal protest with the leaders of the Alliance" Ember replied

"What are you going to do, tell Graveheart and Jade you've been assaulted by a child when you refused to allow your own leader to rest?" Zera spat

The new Vizier; seeing he was defeated in the matter tried to muster as much as dignity as possible and walked away.  Cryos told his daughter that he would talk with her at a later date; but in his own head he was smiling: such emotion and concern he'd not seen in her since her mother died.

Zera, satisfied that the objective she'd set out to complete was done, Zera went into her room again and saw Pyrus thrashing around: he was having a nightmare.  Quickly running and even jumping onto her own bed, Zera hugged Pyrus tightly while whispering words of calming.  When it became clear these would not work, she tried something else.

[Pyrus] reaching out with her mind, as Zuma taught her, she tried to find Pyrus's conscious self

What she saw was actually a memory: it was of Pyrus and another man: he looked so regal and great.  Then they began to move in unison: staffs and hands and feet moving in perfect harmony.  That's when Zera realised that the older man was Pyrus's father, King Magmus.  Then it all went away and Zera was left in a dark space and a figure that looked like Pyrus on the ground, looking tired and pained

[Pyrus, are you all right?] she asked

This question was enough to jolt Pyrus awake and Zera out of his head.  After taking a few calming breaths and losing his disorientation, Pyrus realised where he was.  He looked up at Zera, and still momentarily dazed reached up and stroked her cheek.  Zera blushed and asked what he was doing

"I wanted to see if this was a beautiful dream or a beautiful reality" he answered and lowered his hand, and head.

"Zera, I'm scared" Pyrus whispered

"Only fools and crazies aren't" she answered

"I know, but my fear has been gnawing at me like a lava dog does a corpse, and I've been so tired lately-" he began

"Don't worry, I convinced Ember to let you have a week off to recuperate" she said with a small smirk

"How'd you do that?" he asked, knowing the answer already

"Well, a mixture of my aggressive negotiating skills and my father's diplomacy were sufficient enough" she chuckled

"Thank you so much" Pyrus, crying slightly, snuggled closer to Zera

"What scares you, Pyrus?" Zera got back to the question of the hour

"I don't know: and perhaps that is even scarier: not knowing what you fear" he said, still feeling the effects of the mild sedative the medic had given him

"Pyrus, I'm your friend.  I will be here for you as long as I can be.  And for tonight, I'm not going to leave you" Zera promised

With these final words, Zera laid down next the once again sleeping fire prince.  Some minutes later, Emperor Femur quietly tiptoed into the room and looked upon the sight he long knew would come about.  Zera and Pyrus, long having dispelled rumours of death by contact between fire and ice, were snuggled close to each other.  With his trademark mischievousness, he whipped out a camera and snapped a picture he intended to share with the other leaders of the Alliance

"He he, this should be fun" he giggled with glee as he ran down the hallway.

The End