LuceScuro-Yes! Togetherness at last!

Kathy-ann- Um…Okay, thanks.

Leoth- grins yes I believe we all do, (glares at Dark)

Silvertears- accepts plushies from Satoshi before shoving Daisuke on him Ah, How could I stay mad at you ST? "Welll," begins Krad. "Like this!" shoots energy ball at author WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

xXLil Yu JahXx- Yeah, I always have loved writing love hate relationships and it gets too intense for some readers but it appears I found the right group of readers.

Kloudy Reignfall- Well I get the best responses for this story, this story makes me happy. .

SilveryKitsune- Why thank you! I'm glad you're moved by my story, that's a very flattering thing to say! I will of course continue- and I believe we're all pleased with Dark and Krad's courses of actions! .

Pink3Butterfly- Thank you! I try to keep my grammar flawless, but obviously it's not easy with such a complex language. For some reason though, this story just flows well, even over rough chapters.

Animegoil- Your review made me smile. I mean it's rare that people comment on the aspects of the fiction they like and I found it refreshing and pleasant.

Mutou Yasu- Presenting- Dark's side of the story!

Fatalis- Well remember, I am by nature an angst writer, so more dramatics to come.

CH7- Half fallen angels

Niwa Noriko straightened the obi of her kimono in an attempt to ignore the tears running down her face as her lover Naoko rode his best field horse away from her and the village. "I'll be waiting when you come back!" she said waving after him.

He looked back at her with eyes full of love, memorizing her every feature so that when he was on the battlefield he would know what he was fighting for. But some of the villagers watched in distain. The Niwa family was a very poor magic family that lived off the small tidings they received from healings and fixing crop soil, hardly high class enough to ignore that Noriko and Naoko had too close of a relationship for two youths unwed.

Either way Noriko didn't care. She knew that the villagers whispers would be worse and harsher in the coming months. She put her hand to her flat belly and swore that her and Naoko would share their strength in their respective battles.

She walked in the house to her family, namely her mother, her father, and her younger brother. Her mother came up and hugged her comfortingly. "He'll be okay. The spirits will guard him on the battlefield." she said reassuringly.

Noriko laid on her futon staring at the ceiling, her red hair curling in tendrils around her face all the way down to her waist and put her hand on her stomach. She smiled. "A son," she murmured.

The next day would be her birthday, and she knew that her mother and father had their suspicions. She wouldn't tell them. They would just have to accept it when her belly began to show. Hopefully, Naoko would be back from battle before then so they could complete their union. But unless he was, she would have to stay in the house, hidden from an unsympathetic world, and that terrified her.

Nonetheless, she smiled and her beautiful red eyes glowed with acceptance of her fate. "A son." she repeated as the warm magic flowed from her fingers into her flesh caressing the aura of an unborn being. And comforted by its presence, she fell asleep.

"Oneechan," said a small voice. "Oneechan wake up!"

"Toshi?" she murmured. "It's early."

"Yes, but the chickens have escaped from their pen again…I was trying to feed the dog and-"

Noriko shot up in her bed. If the chickens got away Toshi would be in a great deal of trouble. "Let's go! We have to get those chickens!" she said pulling on a robe. She ran out into the main room and stopped with her mouth open.

"Surprise," said her father smiling warmly as his red eyes met hers.

In the kitchen was a large block of stone. Her eyes widened as she looked it over. You see, adorning the kitchen were several works of stone. Pots, bowels, chimes, and a few- very few- sculptures. Noriko loved to sculpt. But being so poor she had to procure her own stones many of which were poor quality causing her work to crack and wear down before she'd completed.

"But- How? It must have been so expensive!" she said running her hand along the smooth surface of the stone. She could tell it was clean cut and of good quality.

"You know that Naoko's father works at the quarry. Naoko has asked for your hand in marriage when he returns from battle…His parents…And your mother and I…We know of your condition…It's a wedding present."

She turned to her father but saw no anger in his eyes. She ran up and hugged him, tears of joy and relief running down her face. He smiled and ran his hand down her back comfortingly. "Oh father! Thank you so much!"

In the months to come, the block of stone would be a great comfort to Noriko. They moved it into the old wood shed where it would be out of the way. As her belly grew, so did the need to hide from the disgusted villagers. But being a very strange and unique family, the Niwa learned to cope the best they knew how.

Noriko unfortunately was forced indoors to thwart the ill intentions of any denied suitors, but she continued life cheerfully as the life within her began to show.

She would go into the wood shop, tie a scarf around her mouth and nose, and sculpt the piece of rock. At first, she didn't know what to sculpt until she remembered something her mother had said to her.

"The spirits will guard him on the battlefield."

Immediately after that her mind drifted to a tale she'd heard of from a western merchant. Angels. Beautiful creatures that guarded men of good souls. She set to creating the creature that she imagined watching over Naoko.

It was a male with a face more beautiful than any woman's, with wild unruly hair, sharp beautiful eyes, and a body like Naoko, the only male she'd ever seen unclothed. Because of this she put in the utmost detail, spending hours carving every curve, every muscle, every line to perfection.

By the time her seventh month of pregnancy came about, the statue was finished. Her entire family was shocked at the beauty and brilliance of the figure, and Noriko was no less impressed.

She smiled as the sun came in through the poorly thatched roof alighting on the planes and angles of the boy she'd created. She ran her hand along his perfectly proportioned one, thinking, if only for a moment, that the stone was warmer than it should have been for late fall. She frowned as she put her hand to the wrist. "A pulse." she murmured. "Father!" she cried as she ran in the house.

"Our daughter has created something magnificent. So magnificent, she's put much of her own energy into it, enough to make it live," said her mother in awe feeling the pulse for herself.

"Almost enough." said her father, staring into the eyes of the statue. "Almost enough. We need to finish what she's started. If what you say is true, this creature has a soul, and we cannot allow it to stay trapped within the stone. Come here Noriko."

"But father," she said, shaking her head at his clear intent. "I haven't the magic it would take to do what you suggest!"

"You must!" he said sternly. "Otherwise you'll damn him to life in stone!"

Horrified by the thought that something so beautiful should remain in stone, she took one of the hands of the statue, and began forcing life into it. At the same time her father took the other hand and began to do the same. Reassured by her father's presence she began to put in more energy.

The hand went soft in her small palm, the fingers twitching as velvet soft skin came to life in hers and her father's calloused hands. Suddenly, when it's palm clenched on hers, color went into the skin. A light but tanned visage took place of pale white stone and each strand of hair was shot through with dark violet. He let out a pained groan as he fell to his knees and turned to look upon the woman that he would know as mother.

His eyes were so… "Dark." she murmured.

He looked at her, his beautiful mouth quivering as he struggled to say something, to relay anything, but instead he fainted into her arms. She cradled him as her family watched. "He is Dark. A child of untamed beauty. He is Dark,"

"…A wise choice my daughter." said her father nodding in approval.

A month after Dark was borne of stone, the entire village knew of and respected the obvious power of the Niwa family. Even the pregnant and ruined Noriko could walk through the village without any harassment. Besides, she always traveled with her creation and guardian, the beautiful creature Dark.

One particular moment he walked next to her in the market place next to the pregnant woman gazing about with all due curiosity. Finally his curiosity turned to her full stomach. He knew she'd told him it was another creation much like himself, but he'd never really understood.

"Noriko, you say another life will be born of you soon?" he asked curiously.

She turned to him with a smile and nodded. "Hai Dark-chan. A child born of me and my love."

"What is…love?"

She frowned as she tried to come up with the proper words. "Love…Love is what my mother and father share. An unbreakable devotion and passion for a life that isn't even your own. I love you Dark-chan, the way a mother loves a son. The same way I'll love this son,"

"…I'll love him too," said Dark decisively. "And I'll protect him, like I'll protect you."

She smiled. "I'd like that Dark,"

Little did they know, the word of Dark's birth hadn't reached only the impressed peasants, it had also reached the intimidated nobility.

The resident magicians to the emperor, the Hikari, were more than intimidated by this exploit. And they decided on an immediate course of action before the emperor found out about the Niwa's exploit. And from their fear and envy was born Krad.

Krad was every bit as beautiful as Dark- or so Dark heard, within one month he'd gotten a little arrogant but he figured he had the right so long as he did what he was supposed to and didn't get himself in trouble. He walked through the market place alone now peering about at the people. Women in particular fascinated him and in each of them he looked for the beauty that he himself possessed, but he never found it. There was something missing constantly.

He walked along until he came by a stand with plums. Without looking about or missing a step he walked by it. Or so it appeared. In truth, he had five plums up his sleeve. It was one of his many unusual talents- one in particular he'd failed to tell Noriko about, but from his lessons he learned that was probably for the better.

By the time he got to the next street over he was happily munching on a plum. He looked about bored. Nothing here but whores and though they clung to him like a wet yukata he could never find them charming. They gazed on him in adoration but they knew better than to waste their time trying to sell- or give themselves to him for that matter. He'd always refused them.

Suddenly he looked up to see a cloaked figure approaching him, figuring it was a new whore who didn't know the rules yet he sighed and continued on his path- only to have the small figure bump into him.

He heard a small "Gomen," before the figure continued on.

He looked at the black plum juice on his already dirty cloak and groaned. He turned around to glare at the figure and only noticed one thing. A long strand of golden hair that had escaped from the cloak to be played with by the wind.

He'd never seen blonde hair before. Before he knew it he was following the figure through the streets. When the figure broke into a panicked run he ran as well chasing it with the speed of a hunting wolf. When they reached the fringe of the woods the figure turned around and aimed a fist at him.

Undaunted by this Dark grabbed the slender wrist and shifted him so soon they toppled to the ground and he found himself atop a beautiful blonde creature.

He was surprised, but not disappointed, to find he was atop a young boy no older in figure than himself. He had long blonde hair, beautiful blue eyes, long dark lashes, and the most perfect lips that Dark had ever encountered. In fact, the countenance he looked on was as beautiful- if not, in his opinion, more beautiful than his own.

"Ah- Angel!" he murmured under his breath as he allowed his gaze to wander over the figure unabashed by his inappropriate actions- though at the time he didn't know they were inappropriate. The other boy did though.

"Get off me!" snapped the blonde boy struggling under Dark's hold. Unfortunately for the beautiful boy, Dark had seen Toshi fight on several occasions and he knew how to stay on top once he got his opponent pinned.

"Who are you?" murmured Dark.

It was then that one of the boy's hand's escaped and flew towards Dark's face. Soon they were in a struggle, each one vying to pin the other. Two perfect bodies set against each other. So perfect that Dark didn't even find it strange when his adversary sprouted wings. Soon though he grabbed the boy's cloak and yanked expecting to take him to the floor again. Instead he took away the cloak, to bare the fine clothing of an aristocrat.

The boy panted as Dark stared in shock. He was dressed in a pure white Kimono that went to six inches above the ground baring pale ankles- and white wings. "You're- You must be- Krad…" murmured Dark in astonishment.

Krad held his head high in acknowledgement. "You must be one of the kidnappers they told me about." he said glaring.

"No." scoffed Dark. "I'm no kidnapper. I'm Dark," he said proudly.

Krad simply looked him over. "No where near as impressive as I was told," he said coolly.

Dark's jaw dropped. "Excuse me?" he said as Krad ignored him to go pick up one of his sandals which had been discarded during the fight, wincing as his pale feet were exposed to the rocky forest floor. "Not impressive? I just kicked your ass there!"

Krad rolled his eyes as he looked about for his other sandal. "You fight like a common street thug, that doesn't impress me," he said. He turned to see Dark holding up his other sandal with a mischievous smirk on his face. "Give that back." he demanded.

"Tsk tsk tsk," clicked Dark with his tongue. "How rude you are Krad! I suggest you as more nicely,"

Krad narrowed his eyes before lunging at the other boy. Dark held the sandal out of reach with one hand and used his other hand to turn Krad's momentum spinning him into a tree, and pressing his lips against his claiming a kiss.

Krad's face turned a deep red as his arms went limp at his sides and the other youth took this time to deepen the kiss making his knees weak and his breaths short.

Then he pulled back. He looked into the violet eyes frozen by the wild beauty of the creature before him. And Dark only uttered one word. "Beautiful."

Krad shoved him. "How dare you!" he sputtered.

'SLAP!'

Dark's face barely turned at the attack rather he still smiled. Handing Krad his sandal he turned to exit the clearing. "I'll meet you here, tomorrow at sunrise."

Krad's face reddened at the audacity of this peasant boy. "I will not!" he growled only growing more furious when the violet haired boy laughed at him. He did the last thing he could think of. He threw his sandal at him.

But by the time the sandal reached the location where it should have hit, Dark was gone.

"And we did meet there, over, and over, and over. But one day, some of the kidnappers Krad had been warned about attacked him…It was the first time I ever took a life. Noriko thought of me as her son, she didn't want me to die. So she infused me with her unborn child and told the villagers she'd destroyed me. She believed me, but apparently the Hikari didn't. They did the same thing to Krad, and the next time I met him, he was trying to kill me."

"Dark… You saved him…What was it that happened? What is it that he keeps mentioning?"

"…The night I was locked away…He was…"

"Dark…" murmured Krad innocently. "Daisuke," he murmured as he changed into Satoshi.

Dark sighed and ran a hand through Satoshi's hair fixing it. "We didn't have powers back then Daisuke. We had no need for them. We only received those so when we manifested again we could protect ourselves against the villagers. We were innocent Daisuke. I wanted to protect Krad. I was just a violent boy in a man's body, and he was a man's body with an injured child's soul. When I killed that man to save Krad, I ran. The bandits were gone…But I left him there. And when he was going home…He was raped."

With that, Dark changed back into a horrified Daisuke.