Iryu looked out the window. He knew, now. Knew why his bright double so often avoided him. Knew that all his pain had been for nothing. That his recovery, which had taken so long, was worthless. His fingers curled on the sill, his eyes looking blindly at the cloudless sky. Shun. The beautiful green-haired boy was his bright double's lover. And against that vision of loveliness, he stood no chance at all. His strength had returned. But his voice had been permanently ruined… and his body was so marred he still could not recognize it for his own.

"Penny for your thoughts!" a cheerful voice called.

"They are not worth so much," he answered, turning and forcing himself to smile. "A new outfit?"

Shun grinned, and struck a pose. "Yes, it is. What do you think?"

Iryu regarded him thoughtfully. "You look beautiful."

Shun blushed. "Don't talk nonsense, Iryu! Come on, be serious. How does it look?"

"I would think you vain and fishing for compliments, but you denied mine," Iryu said quietly. "It fits you well, and the colors are good, bringing out your eyes rather than your hair."

"Good." Shun dropped without his customary grace into the nearest chair. "I'm sick of being 'that green-haired pretty boy', you know? I thought maybe having the pants so tight would prove I wasn't a girl!"

"They do that." Iryu turned from him, returning to his contemplation of the sky.

"I should take you shopping with me sometime. You could use some clothes of your own, instead of hand-me-downs from Shiryu. Your coloring is different enough that the colors he wears make you still seem ill. You… aren't, are you?"

"I have healed."

"But you… aren't well, are you?" Shun came to stand just behind him. "Not entirely."

"I have healed, Shun. There is naught wrong with my health."

"You never go outside." Shun slipped his arm around the other's waist, naturally, as he pushed him a bit to the side so he could look out the window as well. "It's a nice day, too. We're having a picnic lunch today, over there by the pond. Are you coming this time?"

Iryu tensed at the arm about his waist, his memories taking him back momentarily to Ranome as Shun moved closer to him. His eyes closed, and he ignored the question as he tried to get himself back under control.

Shun glanced up, then stared in dismay at the look of absolute despair on Iryu's face, dropping his arm quickly at the other suddenly clutched at himself and began shivering. "Iryu? Iryu! What's wrong?" When he got no answer, he pushed and prodded the other knight over to the bed.

Iryu sank onto it, ignoring the tears that slid down his face. His body shook as his memories took him to that terrible place he had never truly escaped from. He shuddered even more as Shun continued to tend to him, finally stripping him of his clothes before tucking him under his covers. A faint moan ripped from him as Shun touched his bare skin.

"Iryu. Gods, I'm not going to hurt you." Shun settled to the bed next to the other. "I'm not, Iryu."

"Tear out… my heart…" Iryu rasped at last.

"What?" Shun drew his hand from Iryu's arm for only a moment, then resumed his gentle petting. "I am not going to tear out your heart. I wouldn't have done that even when we were enemies, and we aren't anymore. I'm your friend, Iryu."

"Tear it out." Iryu grasped Shun's hand suddenly, shoving the blankets down to rest it over his heart. "Make the pain stop."

Shun allowed him hold his hand in place, pressed firmly against Iryu's chest. He could feel the other's heartbeat racing beneath his palm. "Calm down, Iryu. Shhh, honey, it's all right. I promise. It's all right."

"Never…"

Shun gazed down at him, completely at a loss. "Please, Iryu, honey, it's all right. No one will hurt you here. No one. I promise."

"Too late… for promises. Just… finish me." Iryu closed his eyes, preparing himself. "Make the hurting stop."

"Too…" Shun repeated. Beneath his hand, Iryu's heartbeat slowed to a more normal rate. "Where does it hurt, Iryu?"

Iryu's raspy whisper was nearly normal. "The pain encompasses all that I am."

"You don't deserve death, Iryu." Shun reached out, his fingers tracing gently over Iryu's face as he pushed locks of hair from the other's face. "Not for anything that's happened. You didn't deserve being hurt for helping Shiryu or for not killing Seiya and me when you had the chance. Shiryu went back for you, but you were already gone. He waited… a long time, hoping you would come. I know he would have helped you if he'd known about what was happening to you! Seiya and I would have, too. If we'd known, we would have come for you."

"He… wanted me… to come? Waited for me?" Black on blue eyes opened, the uncertain hope in them so strong Shun's heart broke. "He would have come?"

"He wanted you to come to him, and he hoped you would. It was over a year before his hope finally faded. But I know that he would have come for you, if he had known." Shun smiled gently, and rose. "I'll send him to you."

"No."

"Why not?"

"What chance has a foul creature such as I against someone so beautiful as you? Look at me, Shun," the rasp commanded as the blankets were kicked aside. "Look at the scars that mar me. I do not even recognize myself in the mirror, I have been so disfigured. I had… not known I had been so badly injured. The ugliness within is now displayed without. I have no hope to win back his affection. No hope to win his love. I have seen the two of you together. Do you think I do not know he is your lover, as Ranome was mine? Or that your love was given the chance to flourish that mine was not? I will not join your picnic, and I do not wish to see Dragon."

Shun scrutinized him, taking in the multitude of criss-crossing scars. Scars Iryu had received because he had not killed when he was supposed to. Scars, that to him, made him unlovable and ugly. "Iryu…"

He sat on the bed again. Reaching out once more, he placed his hand on Iryu's chest, splaying his fingers over the other's heart. "Iryu… what you did and who you are means more than how you look." Shun traced one of the worst scars. "These scars… mar only your body. They were given to you as a punishment, but you should know that they prove your honor. You got them because you helped save the lives of three people, rather than killing them."

Iryu batted his hand away, pulled the blanket back up. "Honor. Honor means nothing. My mirror only made me aware of what I knew of myself."

"Iryu…" Shun reached for him again, and pulled an unexpectedly unresisting form against his chest. "Iryu… please, honey, don't think like that."

"You have your beauty," Iryu rasped against Shun's neck, "and you have your lover. I scare the children and the servants. My double rarely comes to see me, and I cannot believe it is not because of my disfigurement. I have not even a voice any longer, just this… grating imitation."

"Do you think Shiryu is like that?" Shun cried. "Do you think he is so superficial that all he cares about is how you look?" He pushed the dark knight away so that he could look into his eyes. "Do you think that no one looks past the scars to see you?"

"No one." Iryu met Shun's eyes unwaveringly. "Not even you, pretty Shun."

Shun released him slowly, and rose. He walked to the door. His voice was tight when he spoke. "Shiryu is my lover, and you are scarred, but you have more chance with him than you know." He closed the door, leaning against it for only a moment before bolting to his own room. He threw himself across the bed, and allowed his tears to fall.

Some time later, he went in search of his lover.