"Shun." Shiryu stroked his lover's hair, trying to calm the other down. Shun had walked into the library, taken one look at him, and burst into tears. "What's happened? Are you hurt?"

"Uh-uh." Shun sniffled, tried to get control of himself, and decided he'd just collapse against Shiryu instead, and cry himself out.

"Iryu? Has he hurt himself again?" Shun locked his arm's around his lover's waist and buried his face in the long hair hanging over Shiryu's shoulder. He shook his head. "He's hurt you, though, hasn't he? Because of me."

Teeny tiny nod. Shun didn't want to admit it. "Oh, Shun… I love you."

"Uh-hu." Shun hiccupped.

"You don't have to worry. I meant what I said back then."

"Not that…" Shun took a deep breath, and spoiled it by hiccupping several times. He leaned against Shiryu. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall apart on you."

"Come, sit down with me." Shiryu led him to one of the couches, and settled them on it. "Tell me what happened."

Shun leaned back against the couch. "I don't know how."

"Shun, love, look at me." When his lover wouldn't comply, Shiryu reached out, cupping Shun's chin and gently forcing him do face him. "What happened? Just tell me."

"I can't, Shiryu. I can't. I don't know how. I don't know what to tell you."

"Tell me how he hurt you."

Shun's tongue darted out to moisten his lips. "Do you only care for me because of how I look?"

Shiryu smiled. "No, Shun. You have a loving, generous nature and a kind heart. You've got the most infectious giggle I've ever heard. You don't rush into fights, and the ones you do get into you try to resolve peacefully. The fact that you're a beauty only adds to your appeal."

Shun nuzzled Shiryu's palm. He took several deep breaths, calming himself a bit more. "And Iryu? You waited so long for him. He's here now, and…"

"Shun, no," Shiryu interrupted. "You are my love, my lover." He brushed back a lock that kept him from seeing Shun's eyes. "Don't you know that I love you?"

"Yes, but…"

"No buts, Shun. No buts. I love you. I will always love you." Shiryu silenced Shun's next protest with a kiss. "Only you."

"But Iryu…"

"Shun! Please. I don't love him. I love you." Shiryu pulled him close, kissed him passionately. "I love you, Shun."

"Hey! Enough with the mush! I need some help over here!" Seiya's call broke them apart.

Shiryu rose. "I have to help Seiya. I don't want you to worry about this anymore, Shun. I'm not going to replace you." He bent and gave Shun a parting kiss, then strode over to assist Seiya.

Shun looked after him, more tears finding their way down his cheeks. After a moment, he started morosely away. He didn't even notice my new outfit. But I was bawling, so I guess it wasn't the first thing he would have noticed. I don't understand though. He spent a year waiting for Iryu, searching for him, hoping he would come.

And Iryu is right. Shiryu has had barely anything to do with him since he returned. I'm the one who did most of the work of taking care of him. It was almost as if Shiryu couldn't stand to be around him. He can't be right, can he? I thought… I thought he still cared. Still loved him, and was avoiding him for my sake. But that's not what he said. He said he didn't love him, just me. But… Iryu… loves him. So much. Can't Shiryu see that? Is he… is he just ignoring everything except how…?

No! Shiryu isn't like that! He isn't! And neither am I. How could he say that I don't look past the scars? I hardly even notice them anymore, and when I do, I remember everything he went through was because he didn't kill me. Us. He saved us instead.

Shun opened the door before him, stumbled across the room and fell across the bed. He grabbed for a pillow and curled around it, muffling his sobs against it. What changed? I was so sure. He was so gentle with him those first few weeks. What happened? It was my idea to send him to the hospital, Shiryu's to bring him home. But he didn't bring him back to our room. He had his own room. Why didn't Shiryu want him to stay with us?

Does he think I'm jealous?! Shun sat up, resting against the headboard, still curled around the pillow. Is that it? No, no… that can't be. I've never once acted jealous! Except that if that isn't the answer, then Iryu is right.

And that would mean that he…

Shun shook his head furiously. He had to think of a way to convince Iryu to join them for the picnic. He had to prove that he and his friends weren't as shallow as Iryu thought they were. That he wasn't.

"Shun?" The question was somewhat startled.

"Um, hi?" Shun looked down at the pillow he had mangled. Iryu's, of course. His feet had lead him straight back to his lover's darker half. "I… uh…"

"Felt the need to use my pillow for a comforter?" Iryu asked with a hint of condemnation. "Yours too good to be cried into?"

The sudden attack startled him. "I… no… I was… I didn't realize where I was."

"You didn't realize?" Iryu's voice took on a note of sing-song pity. "What a shame. Did you get your feelings hurt?"

Shun's lower lip trembled. "You think no one sees past your scars."

"Oh." A knowing tilt of the head that sent long hair cascading back to reveal the of the wicked scar that marred Iryu's face. "Did I hurt your feelings?"

Shun shook his head. He started to slide from the bed, found himself trapped between it and Iryu. "Oh, do not run away, pretty Shun. Let your tears fall… I will not mind."

Shun looked up at him, at those strange eyes, let his gaze linger on the scar that ravaged Iryu's face. He let his eyes follow the scar from its tip just above Iryu's eye, diagonally across his face to his jaw, following his jaw to the point of his chin, running down his neck to disappear where his robe closed over his chest. "That scar was deliberate, wasn't it? It's the only one that even touches your face, and one of the first things anyone notices."

Iryu tipped his head. "Nearly all my scars were deliberately cut, pretty one. Each time I ran, I received one, each time I fought what they wanted." Iryu tugged the sash of the robe, allowed it to fall. "The more intimate the thing they wanted, the more intimate the cut, you see. But I was never cut so that I could not be used for their enjoyment. None were sliced so deeply or allowed to bleed so long as to kill me.

"On my back, they carved their names, proud of what they had done to me. One would cut, and it would heal, then the next would cut over the scars. Sugase was the last to carve his name, and it runs from my neck to my feet. Did you not notice while you were tending me? I assure you those at the hospital saw my scars. The servants and children see them as well."

"I can see them, but, Iryu, my friends aren't like that. Let me show you. Come with me, to the picnic. Let me show you that we see you, not what was done to you. Please."

"I told you, pretty one. I will not go."

In desperation, Shun reached up, cupping Iryu's face. "Iryu, if what you believe is true, then none of them can see me! You were beautiful, tell me how it is different now? Were you someone then, or just another pretty face?" A hint of bitterness, "Were you just another pretty boy mistaken for a girl?"

"I was never mistaken for anything but what I was - dangerous," Iryu answered. He reached up, taking Shun's wrists. He leaned forward a little, enough to topple the other, and pinned Shun's arms. "No one ever saw anything except the danger and evil that I was."

Shun gazed up at him, hopelessly confused. Iryu hadn't been so mean earlier! What had happened while he was gone? He swallowed, licking lips that had gone dry. "You… you aren't anymore. You aren't evil. I… I don't think you ever were."

"Oh?" Iryu leaned closer. "Why?"

"An… an evil man would have killed me when he had the chance, and tormented Dragon after. You… didn't. You… you let us live, went back to him, and helped him help us." Shun's breathing became a bit faster. He was not at all immune to Iryu's closeness.

"Maybe I was just drawing out the kill, pretty one."

"No."

"You sound so sure." Iryu leaned closer still, his body intimately pressed to Shun. "Why so sure, pretty one?"

"Because I can see it in your eyes, Iryu. I see what your soul tells me. And you haven't answered my question." A hint of defiance, now, in his tone. "What difference is there in being a thing?"

"A thing?" Iryu's lips grazed Shun's. "A thing of ugliness is scorned and discarded, where one of beauty is sought and desired."

Pain in his heart, shining through his eyes. "Shiryu isn't like that. He isn't! He can't be!"

"Can't be?" Iryu whispered in his ear. "Why not, pretty one? Can you deny that he has rarely come to see me? Can you deny that it is you and not my bright, unscarred double who has had the care of me? Can you deny that you are in his bed and not I, even though he waited and wanted me to come?

"Can you tell me that he did not come to my rooms and tell me he thought it best if I left?"

Shun felt his world spin. His lover would not have… could not…. But he could read the anger, the pain and hurt in the dual-toned eyes that stared down at him from a mocking face. "He… wouldn't… say that!"

"No more than five minutes after you left me, Shun." Iryu confirmed, the mockery dying from his face, a moment of hurt showing before being washed by an expression of calm acceptance. "It is no more than I have expected. You should go. He will want you by his side at your picnic."

The abrupt turn caught Shun off-guard. He sat up slowly, still shaking his head in denial, blinking uncertainly at Iryu. Iryu fastened his robe and walked to the window. "Go, Shun."

"He wouldn't have said that. He said," Shun's voice grew stronger, more confident, "he said he felt you needed protection. That we would provide it for you. He wouldn't just tell you to go after that!"

"I have no need for protection any longer. My wounds have healed, my memories returned. I no longer need to be cared for, and I know who it was who harmed me, and will avoid them in the future. It was they from whom I needed protection, and they from whom I can now protect myself."

"You're lying."

"I have no need to lie, Shun. Go to your lover," Iryu said wearily.

"You aren't healed, Iryu." Shun rose, crossing to stand behind the other. He slipped his arms around the other, embracing him. "Your body is healed, but you still hold all the terror of what you went through. Can you tell me that you don't? You're trembling now, and you fell apart just a few hours ago when I touched you. Shiryu was wrong, you still need us."

Shun laid his head against Iryu's back, continuing to hold him. "It wasn't just your body they hurt, honey. They hurt your mind and your soul, too. Stay, and let those wounds heal. Don't leave me before you're truly healed."

"It was not a suggestion that I leave, Shun." Iryu allowed himself to relax, take the comfort Shun offered. "He came to tell me that it was best that I left, and that the arrangements have been made. I am not to spend another night beneath this roof. My things have already been packed, a servant shall come for me in another half-hour."

"Weren't you going to tell me good-bye?" Shun whispered.

"No, Shun. I was not to be allowed. There has been a guard at the door. He has not let me leave my rooms. I suppose they thought I would try to steal the silverware, or some such nonsense."

"He never even noticed my outfit." Shun cursed himself. A stupid, inane remark.

Iryu turned, his arms sliding around Shun. "Shhh, pretty. He will notice it tonight when he peels it from your body."

"He won't notice then either. Never notices what I wear. I was going to take you shopping. No, I am going to take you shopping. We'll both go when you leave, and we'll shop first."

"There is no need, Shun. And besides, you would miss the picnic."

"I wanted you to come to the picnic. I wanted to prove something… and instead…" Shun's eyes filled with tears again. He pressed his face to Iryu's chest, his voice dropping to less than a whisper. "Instead, you tell me something that proves what you said. I'm… I'm an ornament, aren't I, Iryu? Nothing but something pretty to keep around for his use?" A soft sob. "Everything he's told me has been a lie, hasn't it?"

"No, I doubt that. You are one who is beautiful inside and out. I believe he came to realize that when he saw the ugliness of my inner self reflected on the outside - and knew he had waited for one unworthy of love."

"You are not!" Shun declared furiously, raising tear-drenched lashes, sparkling eyes meeting Iryu's. "You are not ugly and you are not unworthy of love!"

"I am."

"You are not! You've got some scars, that's all!" Shun pulled back, yanked Iryu's robe open. "That's all! Scars! Except for the one on your face, and Sugase's signature on your back, none of them are even very big! There's a lot of them, is all. A lot of little," Shun reached out, tracing, "bitty, teeny scars everywhere, and two big ones! They don't make you ugly and they don't make you unlovable!"

"Then name one person who finds me loveable! Ranome turned his back on me, and your Shiryu as well. No one loves me!"

"I do!" Shun cried, then froze, his fingers still over the scar that crossed Iryu's heart. Quietly, he repeated, "I do. I love you."

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Heh. MOOD SWINGS! Hell of a day for those two, ne?