A Very Riviera Christmas

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Riviera, Sting does. I'm beginning to wonder if I even own this story, since it just ran away from me and started doing its own thing again. o.o;; But anyway, I don't own Ein and Ledah (they own each other), I just own my mad plot to make them fall in love and then stay there forever and a day. So yeah. Don't sue me, or I'll feed you to Reiko-kun (that would be Juggernaut to all of you who've never read my Legaia fics). Rawr.

coda

:Excerpts from the diary of Ecthel Legendra, called Ein:

Twelfthmoon, fifteenth day, 7:45 PM

The outbreak in Hazelwood is over at last; Ledah and I are heading back home (finally!) after what seems like forever. We'll get to Elendia just in time for Christmas, the gods willing.

I'm glad Fia and Cierra headed back home when they did, especially with Fia in her condition. It was all we could do just to keep them in quarantine—Ledah and I were just damned lucky that neither of us caught sick while we were out and about, helping the townsfolk. As soon as the cure was made, they left, and that was almost two months ago. No new sickness has cropped up since we got Cierra's potions and the shots she called "vaccines" handed out.

Even with everything I've seen in my life, I think that plague was probably the scariest situation I've been in. Sickness isn't something you can fight with a sword; you just have to do all you can and trust in the sick person him or herself, and sometimes even all that's not enough. So many people died, and Ledah and I couldn't save a single one… in the end, it was Cierra's work, not ours, that really made the difference.

It was even worse because of the way the plague acted—no symptoms at all until the fever blisters started showing up, and then the fatigues, collapsing, fevers, deliriums, and night sweats as the disease ate those poor Sprites alive. At that point, it was just do everything you could and pray—some got better, some didn't. It'll give me nightmares until the day I die.

Dinner now; more later.

Twelfthmoon, sixteenth day, 8:22 AM

It's simply amazing that it's twelfthmoon and there's still no snow. Remembering the blizzard way back when—almost ten years ago now!—I just can't believe it. It's not like I enjoy tramping through the cold, not at all—snow is really hard to fly in 'cause there's no thermals, and it's IMPOSSIBLE if snow's actually coming down.

It's cold in here, though. I hope Ledah gets back in soon. He left the covers on his side of the futon turned down, and my fingers are already turning to ice just from writing. He was absolutely incredible last night, and I think it's getting to be time to pay him back, heh heh heh. He's not any less lively, even if he claims he's getting old (turning the big 3-7 next year, if you can believe it), and as soon as he comes back it's going to warm up in here in a hurry.

Hang on, there was just this weird noise outside. Looks like I'm going to have to get dressed after all, since I don't hear Ledah at all. Some help he is, right? But I'll be back, as soon as I drag him back in and teach him a "lesson" or two…

Later

I can't believe this is happening! I went outside after I put my clothes on, and Ledah was lying facedown next to the dead fire he was supposed to be lighting to make breakfast! I carried him back inside and put him in bed, and I've got hot water for tea when he wakes up, but I've got a bad feeling about this.

I hope to all the gods that he's just worked himself too hard. Maybe he's right and his age is catching up with him, and I just haven't noticed 'cause I've been preoccupied with the fact that he's as good in bed as he ever was.

Please, gods.

I can't remember ever being this scared, except for maybe the time in Yggdrasil when I thought Ledah was going to die. It feels horrible. Grown men are not supposed to be this scared.

It looks like he's coming around…

Twelfthmoon, seventeenth day, 12:53 PM

Too much happened yesterday for me to get the chance to sit down and write. Here goes, but I can't make any promises about how far I'll get.

As soon as Ledah woke up and realized what had happened, he just broke down and started crying right in front of me. He told me he'd suspected for a while, but just been too afraid to say anything about it or even face what it could mean. Then he took down his pants, pulled up the skirts of his robes, and showed me this little, tiny patch of angry red blisters way up on his thigh, almost in his groin. I should've seen it before, should've realized SOMETHING when Ledah started keeping his legs together in the daytime, but I was too stupid and I couldn't see clearly enough in the dark.

My nightmares have a way of walking into broad daylight and then not leaving.

Ledah still wants to be up and around and helping, but I won't let him. He needs rest if he's going to fight this thing, and I'm going to do everything I possibly can.

He's always been pretty healthy. He's going to make it, I know he is.

Twelfthmoon, nineteenth day, 9:45 PM

I'm almost too tired to write, but I know that I have to get this down.

Ledah was doing fine all through the last two days until the fever started to set in for real. He can't stand up or walk without collapsing, and the blisters have spread along his back with a few on his chest and belly, and there's one really painful-looking one next to his lips like a mole. I've been trying to get food into him, but he just can't keep anything down. This is really bad.

The really scary thing is that he's visibly terrified when he's awake, even though he tries to hide it. Just before he went to sleep ten minutes ago, he hung on to my wrist and asked me in this little voice if I thought he was going to die. I told him no, of course not, but my voice was shaking. And he started to cry again.

I'm in bed next to him right now and he's already burning with fever even though he's lying there shaking. There are shadows under his eyes, and his face is already starting to look hollow. I know I should use Einherjar's magic to release my wings and go get help in Elendia, but I just can't bear to leave Ledah all alone here, when it could take a few days to get back.

I hope I'm doing the right thing. I love Ledah so much… if anything happens to him, I don't know what I'll do…

Twelfthmoon, twentieth day, 3:21 PM

I feel like my head is going to explode.

When I stripped down to wash today, there was a red blister between my legs.

I think I'm going to go insane.

Later

Ledah woke up and we talked a little bit about all this.

His fever's passing, at least for now, but he can't keep anything heavier than tea and road-wafers in his system. The dark streaks beneath his eyes look as though they're going to be permanent. Is this what I'm going to be like in a few days? I don't know, and that's maybe the scariest thing of all.

Ledah must've gotten sick while we were still in Hazelwood, and since I've been so close to him (and still having sex with him, oblivious as I've been) he must've passed it to me somehow. I understand now why he was so terrified before—we've both seen this plague murder the sickly and the well almost at random. The ones who are hardest hit, like Ledah has been, usually either die or get better fastest, and that can be either a good or bad sign—the ones who get sick and stay sick, even mildly, usually end up being the losing battles.

I've seen plague victims die peacefully in their sleep, and I've seen them die screaming in terror from fever-hallucinations. I've seen them softly waste away to nothing and flicker out, and I've seen them go in horrible pain, suffering from vomiting when they try to eat and diarrhea when they manage to get something down at last. If this thing does get us, there's no telling how it will. Gods, I'm so scared. I have no idea what we're going to do.

One thing is for certain—going for help in Elendia is now officially out. There's no set point as to when a plague victim stops being contagious, and if this spreads there too… even if Ledah and I were saved, I wouldn't be able to live with myself afterwards. No, we have to try to do this alone.

I don't want to die. But I don't want to live without Ledah and it already looks like he's going to have this thing really badly until whatever end.

Twelfthmoon, twenty-first day, 9:34 PM

It hurts so much just to write now.

Ledah's had the fevers, nausea and weakness. Along with the blisters, I'm getting the aches.

Every time I have to move my muscles start to scream in pain. It almost hurts just to breathe. I'm glad we still have our stores of trail food to get through, because neither of us is in the condition to try to hunt. Nowadays I'm just lying in bed, trying not to think of the victims who died with the same symptoms I have right now, eating whatever Ledah puts in front of me, and maybe crawling outside to pee. Which is way too dark, even for someone who's as sick as I am. It means I'm not getting the nutrition I need out of what I'm eating… if this keeps up, I'm going to be as hollow-cheeked as Ledah.

His blisters are fading, by the way, except for the one beside his lips, which almost looks as though it's going to fester and turn into a sore. That could either be very good or very bad; it'd mean that he's fighting this off or that he's being thrown into the final stages of the disease.

All the years we've been together, we just took everything for granted, especially our own health and well-being. Ledah hasn't been really sick since that time ten years ago in Elendia, and I've always been fairly healthy, too. I miss the days when we would just ditch whatever plans we'd have and lounge around the house naked, talking or sleeping or bathing and probably having sex at least a dozen times before sundown. I miss Fia's cooking and Serene's company. I miss Lina's contagious happiness, and I miss the way Cierra was always too glad to make her potions and creams for the two of us, fulfilling whatever we needed. I miss Rose's teasing and her writing. I want to go home, almost more than anything else.

I want to go home…

Twelfthmoon, twenty-third day, 9:15 AM

Thank the gods for Ledah.

I hit the delirium yesterday, and I can barely remember anything about it. I just have the vaguest impressions of Ledah holding me, forcing me to eat by passing food mouth-to-mouth and stroking my throat to make me swallow, soothing me when I was afraid.

I love him so much.

I'm so glad he seems to be getting better. All but that one of his blisters have disappeared completely, and he's been able to eat more than he has before. I'm so relieved… Ledah's been through too much in his lifetime to fall to some stupid sickness like this. And losing him would've killed me.

Maybe if I manage to follow his example, we'll be able to get back to Elendia sometime around Christmas after all…

Later

Oh, gods.

Ledah… he's dying.

He's really dying…

He collapsed after being outside to try to cook something out of our supplies, and wound up vomiting so violently that blood was coming up with everything else he'd tried to eat today. I practically had to drag him back inside the tent, he's so weak… and he's lying there now, sleeping (thankfully), moaning with fever-aches. His temperature is going back up, and his skin feels clammy and almost… dirty. It's a bad way to put it, but it doesn't feel like his skin anymore, or at least not like his skin should feel, has felt for all his life. It's looser somehow, almost spongy, like the skin on a corpse that's been dead for a while.

He isn't going to make it.

I was crying for so long that I can't anymore right now, even though I want to more than anything. No, that isn't right. Now that I know Ledah will die, I don't want to live anymore. I want to go with him, die with him, no matter how that will be—from this plague, or even on Einherjar's blade, if that's what needs to be done. My purpose may be to help others, but Ledah is my reason for living. And without him… dying is all I can do, whether that's naturally or through suicide.

I love him.

I love him.

Twelfthmoon, twenty-fourth day, 7:32 AM

Oh, fuck. This is awful.

I woke up early when I realized that the sheets were wet, and for a minute I was wondering if Ledah maybe hadn't managed to get outside fast enough (or woken up to get outside at all), which would be understandable as he's so sick. But I came to my senses well enough, and this isn't piss or even semen (which would also be reasonable, although neither of us have come in our sleep for years now). It's sweat. Ledah's hit the night sweats, and only victims who die get those. He's already dehydrated, and barely even conscious enough to drink from my hands or a drip-rag. No wonder his skin felt clammy yesterday.

Oh, fuck. I don't want him to go like this.

Gods, grant my Ledah dignity if he has to be taken away from me! All his life, through the days he ran from his own parents to the relative security of my child's bed to the two times he cheated death to before he fell to this damn disease, dignity was the one thing he always kept hold of. I won't let this stupid plague make a mockery of everything he's stood for up until now.

Ledah… hang onto yourself, just a little bit longer…

Later

What the hell is happening to me?

I don't think this is the plague. It could be, but I have no idea.

My head feels weird and fuzzy, and it has ever since I woke up, like there's something big and heavy sitting on the thoughts I try to get out. Maybe it's just because I haven't eaten anything for a while. But if I try to look back over the day, there are these odd blank spots, and that's kind of scary.

Going down to the creek to get Ledah some water, I got a good look at my face in the reflection there. I look tired and haggard and sad, but other than that completely fine, unlike my poor dear wasting away in bed. I actually look like I'm getting better, and I don't want that. If this damn plague is going to take one of us, it should be taking both of us, for mercy's sake.

So then what is this…? I don't really understand…

Later

(The following text was heavily blurred by tearstains, almost to the point of illegibility.)

I don't think Ledah's going to last for much longer. He hasn't been able to move or even really wake from where he's been for the past few hours.

I still can't believe that any of this is really real… that the man beside me now, who's always been so full of life and love and strength, is actually going to die…

I remember thinking once when I was young that all the talk about broken hearts was a silly, over-romanticized concept used only by silly lovestruck girls and writers, but I know better now. Hearts can break… mine is breaking right now…

It seems like Ledah's starting to regain consciousness.

That's good, I suppose. I'll be able to say goodbye, at the very least…

Goodbye, and that I'll see him again as soon as I can…

The text of the diary ends here.

---

"Ecthel…"

A soft rustle in the dark as he shifts and eases up on his elbows.

"Ledah…"

"Ecthel, I don't have much longer. You and I both know that."

"Ledah…!" Sobbing now, the leather-bound, thin volume shoved aside along with quill and ink.

"And if it goes like this… my end will most certainly be unpleasant."

"Ledah… oh, gods, Ledah, don't talk like this…!"

A short, pained sigh. "And I don't want to die like that… so Ecthel… I need you to do me a very large favor. It's selfish of me to ask, but…"

Alarm. "No, Ledah! You mustn't ask that of me! I told you twelve years ago that I could never hurt you—and that hasn't changed at all! Please… please don't ask me to do that…!"

"Don't jump to conclusions, love. I would never ask you to raise Einherjar to me like this…"

"Ledah…"

"But in a way, you are also right. If I have to die, I want no slow decline, no aching, painful, vulnerable death. I only have so much energy left in this body to expend, and if I use it up, my life will end regardless of the plague's desires."

Confusion. "Then… what do you want, Ledah…?"

"Ecthel…" A sigh, another shift, and the long fabric sweep as he folds back the sheets to expose his sadly wasted yet still beautiful body, once the object of envy of gods and angels alike. "If I must die, let me die loving you. I beg of you… come to me, one last time."

Silence.

"Ledah…" Regret, awkwardness, possibly even a little guilty desire. "You're still asking me to kill you. You know that, right?"

"I want this, Ecthel. Please."

"…I don't know if I can…"

Desperation in those fever-bright eyes as both chillingly sweat-damp hands close over one of his.

"You can. Don't play impotent with me now, love, you're not even thirty years old yet." A sad and fleeting smile casts over both of them, as they grasp at the sickly vestige of humor. "Help me, Ecthel… please, help me…" Sudden, almost tearful vulnerability, catching him off-guard in its terrible honesty. "Help me, my dearest. Let me die by my own choosing…"

After a long silence, Ein replies.

---

Their last time.

On the eve of their tenth anniversary, though both have forgotten, they consummate their love in the finality of their all-too-mortal frailty.

And if Ein has to try three times before he finally can, what of it? Understandable, for one steeling himself for the final, most painful farewell of his life…

And if their passion seems somewhat diminished, well, what then? Surely it is only replaced by their deep love and tenderness, and only stolen by the weakness of their plague-eaten bodies.

And if Ledah tastes Ein's tears, he does not comment, not even when it seems as though his lover will break down in mid-thrust and withdraw out of heart-crushing grief.

In place of their usual deeply enthralled ferocity is a rare and truly touching tenderness, a deep gentleness as Ein forces himself to mind Ledah's strange frailty, his heart trembling as he finds the skin beneath his supportive hands to be almost loose, and the tips of feathers touching their backs oily and sickly.

But their love is there, the stubborn rose that bloomed within the vacant lot which filled itself with ugliness, a sole ray of beauty in a world of cruelty.

Their climax comes softly, but runs deeply and is perhaps the most potent in all their ten years.

And if Ledah's seed is shot through with blood, neither of them pays it the least mind.

It ends, and it leaves a lingering peace and beauty over the both of them, as Ledah curls close to his lover with his breath rasping and uneven, his lips blue with exhaustion. Ein tugs the sheets of the futon over and around their bodies protectively as they lay side by side, Ledah already retreating into sleep with his childlike grip on the younger angel's body.

And just before Ein closes his eyes, he wishes fleetingly for their lives to suspend into forever in this perfect, beautiful moment, no matter what it would mean for them or anyone else.

They sleep.

---

Twenty-fifth of twelfthmoon

Christmas day

The group of five young women moved in worried silence along the well-traveled forest path.

Serene walked in front, her scythe gleaming from where it lay strapped between her wings, her muscles rippling out of her tension as she walked, her stride wide and her wings themselves angled back out of worry. They had grown at last to their full size through the ten years that passed between that old, joyous homecoming and the present lack of one.

Right behind her, her black hair left loose to drape over her shoulders, was Rose, wearing a deeply pensive expression as she marched with her heavy spellbook held tightly under her arm. She had matured into a very beautiful woman, though it often took her the errant affection of random Sprite men to make her realize it. But Rose disappointed her would-be suitors every time, for she remained in love with her writing, in love with love itself, owing her heart to her friends—in particular, the two angels their little party sought.

A few feet behind Rose (and her sharply lashing tail) came Lina and Fia, still acting as the sisters they were raised to be. No longer wearing her hair in double ponytails, Lina had become a leggy, attractive young woman, finally growing into the enormous longbow she still carried with her most of the time. Her sun-warmed skin, exotic eyes, and the slight curves of her small breasts often drew the eyes of the young men her age—most prominently, those of Gill, her old Pixia playmate—but like Rose, she owed her affection first to her little circle of comrades from the grand adventure twelve years ago.

Unlike her friends, Fia had at last allowed herself to be wooed and won by a kindhearted and honest country Sprite who had been passing through town several years ago. Aside from the humble, scratched wedding band she now wore, there was far more obvious proof of that—namely, the seven-month swell of her very pregnant belly. It was only because of her friends' deep worry, insistence, and still finely polished strength that her young husband had allowed her to leave on this short trip—he, much like Ein and Ledah themselves, considered her to be in a far more delicate condition than she knew herself to be in. She could understand the way they felt, considering the presence of the dangerous plague that had been going around in Hazelwood, but as for her husband… it wasn't as though she was going to have her baby two months early if someone so much as touched her the wrong way, for heavensake!

Cierra brought up the rear of their party, her gnarled staff balanced on her shoulder, the skirts of her dress swaying as she walked briskly. Her dark eyes were hazed with worry, almost more than her friends', but she did not tell them the small piece of information that caused her to feel that way. For she had recently remembered that before she and Fia had left Hazelwood, they had forgotten to vaccinate Ein and Ledah against the plague along with the villagers…

The path broke into a clearing, in which the girls all stopped and stared. For here lay a camp which could almost have been deserted completely by those who had set it.

The skeleton of a fire, still charred, lay surrounded by a circle of stones in a small bare patch of land. Several feet to the side, half-under the protective shade of the nearby pines, was a canvas tent, staked with such painstaking care that the girls could not possibly mistake Ledah's work.

And if the tent and the few black feathers still scattered around the area weren't obvious enough tip-offs, they could not deny any longer when they saw the crimson spear propped against a nearby tree, or the golden sword lying next to it, the jagged angle that served almost as its pommel hooked around the spear's haft. Lorelei and Einherjar's combined magic was still keeping the area safe from the hostile travelers, marauding animals, and rare demonic visitors that could pass by.

Serene headed straight over to the tent and pulled back its flap, kneeling so she would be able to see inside—then instantly dropped it, choking back a cry.

As the others hurried to join her, she shook her head bitterly. "We were too late."

"Too late? What do you mean?" Lina demanded, going pale.

Rose brought up the flap again, and this time they were all able to see what lay within—the two angels entwined within the tangled sheets of the futon they had used as a bed. The sheets did not shift with their breath, as they would've had there been any at all.

Cierra slowly made her way in, kneeling beside them. "They must have passed sometime in the night," she murmured, laying a hand against the soft side of Ledah's throat, then Ein's. "Ein… he isn't even cold yet…"

"What could've happened here?" Lina asked, her voice twisting into a bitter sob.

Cierra was silent for a moment, then pointed to the crusted sore that lay to the side of Ledah's death-paled lips. "This is an infected fever blister, if I've ever seen one," she told them softly, her voice husky with grief. "Ledah… he must've died of the plague, then."

"Is it… safe, then…?" Serene asked cautiously, her voice as normal as she could make it even through the tears on her face.

"Yes… or it should be. There's nothing this disease can do, once its host has carried it to death." Scrubbing her face with the back of her hand, she shook her head. "But I don't understand… Ein wasn't sick, at least not when he… when he passed. So why did he…?"

Rose, the only dry-faced one among them (though her eyes were suspiciously bright), spoke in a low tone. "He must have death-willed himself as soon as he knew Ledah wasn't going to make it. It happens to angels a lot… when they feel they can no longer live due to some kind of grief or trauma, and they truly abandon their will to survive, they'll waste away and die no matter what anyone does for them." She brushed impatiently at her face. "From what I was told, Ein almost death-willed himself once before… that was when he lost his wings. Ledah went through the same thing when he became a Grim Angel." The only thing that saved them was the support they gave each other, she would've said if the others hadn't understood it without need of her telling them.

"I guess the only thing we can do for them now is take them home and give them the burial they deserve," Fia whispered. She was weeping openly but silently, one hand over her eyes as her shoulders trembled.

"I'll dress them so we can take them back," Rose volunteered softly. "I… I think I want to be alone for a while with them, anyway."

Cierra nodded. "Okay. …Come on, everyone." Edging out of the tent, she gently shepherded Fia and Lina away from the general area, followed by Serene, who was now silent, looking up at the sky and letting a few more soundless tears fall.

Alone now, Rose let out a choked sob and covered her face with her hands. "Idiots," she moaned, her voice twisted by grief. "You two are such idiots…

"But I suppose that this is the way you wanted to go, wasn't it…? With each other, I mean…?

"For these past years, you've been fighting so hard for everyone else, you've barely even had any time to live for yourselves… You were just so reckless all the time… but I couldn't let you know how worried I always was for you, since the way you were living made you both so happy…

"Sometimes it was like you guys were trying to get yourselves killed, you know. And then you would come back home, fine as ever, and you would tell us about the danger you'd been in and you'd laugh about it, and then maybe a month or a week or even just a few days later you'd here about such-and-such that needed doing by somebody, only nobody was doing it, so you'd be off again.

"It's not fair… you deserved to keep living, die old and happy and safe at home once your adventuring days were over. Especially now that you were both finally whole again…" Scrubbing tears away, Rose almost timidly touched Ein's back, where the twelve-year-old scars of his Grim Angel trial had just begun to fade now that he'd gained the ability to call his wings back to him with his Diviner's magic. "And then that damn plague… you two stupid, senseless, idiotic, you… you dumb selfless heroes…

"I'll write about everything, I swear… I'm not going to let your story get lost in legends and fairy tales. I'll tell the world the truth, and I won't let you be forgotten. Now that my histories of Asgard and Riviera are all finally done… you'll be my next story, I promise.

"Okay…? That's what you would want, isn't it… Ecthel-niichan… Ledah-niisama…?"

With an arm around each of them, Rose gave in to her tears, cradling her lost loves to her chest and letting herself bid them farewell at last.

---

It was the ancient, forested path again, and this time, Ein knew it for what it was.

This time, he was walking down it himself; the candle of his own soul in one hand and Ledah's clasped tightly in his other.

Although in his dream all those years ago, there had been many more people walking the road, he and Ledah were by themselves here. Ein didn't care about that, though. He was just overwhelmed with relief that he and his lover were passing together, after all.

Ledah squeezed his hand to get his attention, then smiled gratefully at him.

"What?" Ein asked, baffled, starting to blush.

"It would've destroyed me to walk this road alone," the blonde murmured. "I know not how it is you're here with me… but thank you so much, beloved."

"Don't thank me, I don't know why I'm here, either," Ein told him, blushing further. "I guess… I guess we both died, somehow."

"You're here, and therefore I don't care," Ledah said simply, then leaned over and kissed his lover long and passionately in the middle of the road, temporarily halting their forward stride. As they parted, he gave Ein's hand another squeeze and released it.

They walked on.

"Ein…" Ledah began after a short silence. "Have you noticed anything different about how you feel here?"

"N..not really…" Ein said slowly. "What do you mean?"

"You remember how badly my hip has been hurting ever since I dislocated it, in the fight with the Magi's Guardian?" That had been the creature Ledah had been required to destroy—with no help from his lover and partner—in order to allow Ein to gain back his wings. "And then when we came back home, Cierra told us that it looked like I was starting to develop early arthritis because of my injuries in that fight? Well, it feels perfectly fine now—no ache, no swell, no throbbing, nothing. And the shoulder I wrenched that time… the break in the arm of my right wing that never completely healed…"

"No pain?" Ein ventured.

"No, none at all. It's as though none of that ever happened to me. And look at this!" Somewhat wonderingly, Ledah ran a hand through his ragged golden hair. "All the white's gone out of it." Much to Ledah's dismay, his tresses (of which he could be charmingly vain) had begun to take on the paling of age when he had turned thirty-four. "It's like I'm back in my prime again, Ecthel! And just look at yourself!"

"What do you mean, look at myself?" Ein repeated, going pale. "I don't feel any different, I—"

"Oh, truly?" Ledah asked wryly. "Look over your shoulder."

Ein did, and let out an equally shocked and pleased cry. As though they'd never been torn from him at all, his wings—now mostly that iridescent green instead of the near-white they'd been at his birth—sat in their old casual fold. Not quite able to believe his bizarre change of fortune, Ein spread his wings to their full span and hesitantly flapped, sending a scatter of green-white feathers over the path.

Smiling, Ledah reached out and slowly ran his hand over the sensitive inside of his lover's right wing, relishing the feel of the soft down between the feathers beneath his fingers. Ein shuddered and moaned, closing his eyes tightly in pleasure.

"Gods, that feels so good…"

Laughing quietly, Ledah stroked the length of his lover's wing again. "You've no idea how long I've been wanting to do this. They're not just beautiful, they're magnificent—you must have at least three feet on my wingspan. Gods, your wings are huge."

Blushing at his lover's open wonder, Ein pouted. "Well, you still have an inch on me. Even after all that talk about how I'd grow."

Ledah's laughter took a sharp turn of fresh amusement as he shoved his lover's shoulder. "Six inches is nothing to be ashamed of!"

Ein rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. "Maybe compared to five and a half, but next to you, I can be plenty ashamed. Come on, are we going to keep discussing our various lengths, or are we going to get moving?"

Ledah slipped his hand into his lover's again, and they continued again in comfortable silence.

When at last they reached the great gates—which stood open, a change from Ein's old dream—they realized much to their surprise that there was someone waiting there.

"Well, you two sure did take your sweet time, didn't you?"

Ein blinked. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for two dumbasses to get their sorry butts inside. …And what, may I ask, do you two think you're staring at?"

"Well, I just thought that you'd be spending most of your time with your mom now you're here," Ein fumbled.

Malice rolled her eyes. "Some of my time. Not all of it, baby butt." She smiled wryly. "At least now I'm going to have someone closer to my age to talk to."

"I do believe that Ein and I are now several years older than your mother at present," Ledah said calmly. "And you, as well."

"In case you haven't noticed, you've been physically restored here in more ways than one," Malice informed them. "You're at whatever age you happened to be when you were at the peak of your health and abilities. Only little kids stay the age they were when they died up here. It's Valhalla, for godsakes." She shrugged. "And in any case, you two're just about the closest things I ever had to friends. I owe you both one, anyway, so I might as well keep you company for a while. …When you're not busy in bed, that is."

Despite the roughness of the young woman's manner, Ein found himself deeply touched by her words. "Really… it's Ledah you owe, not me."

"But you're the only two who noticed I was stuck where I was, anyway." Malice shrugged again. "Are you two going to sit and talk, or actually come in?"

Ein was silent, pausing to look up the path behind him for a moment.

"Get that pathetic look off your face, will you? You're gonna see those damn girls you always hang out with again. They'll be up here eventually, you know."

"…I guess." Sighing, Ein turned back to face the angel who'd been leaning casually against Valhalla's gates. "Sorry."

"So come on," Malice urged them, a slow smile creeping across her face. "You two are gonna love it up here. Oh, and the hall messengers told me to tell you—Odin and the others want to thank you for everything you've done in their name. You coming or what?"

And so, hand in hand, Ledah Rozwelli and Ein Legendra walked through Valhalla's gates, passing eternally into the halls of legend.

:owari:

THANK YOU…

Reviewers, for bothering to read this long and rambling fanfic (and making it through the 22-page ninth chapter!). To the LxE lovers for making my day with all your happy reviews (especially those praising the lemon in chapter eight!) and everyone else who… didn't quite love LxE, for reading and reviewing anyway. :3

My muses, for keeping me going on this long-ass thing. I don't know where I would be without you.

Sai Roland Deschain of Gilead, for not poking me and telling me to keep writing this time. You do not know how unsettling it is for someone who is not even your MUSE coming up to you and letting you know that you're not done yet.

And as long as we're on that subject, Stephen King, for writing such wonderful books as those in the Dark Tower series. While this means that I get poked every now and then by the aforementioned sai Deschain, it also means that I am highly entertained in between my own writing spurts. Besides, it was your writing that allowed me to get back to MY "dark tower"—my FF:U fanfic, "Kokoro no Hanashi". Thankee-sai.

Mom, for taking me to buy Riviera in the first place and breaking tradition this holiday season by not just getting me clothes as gifts. I will forever be in shock that you bought me one of the games on my list.

Ein, for being the cute, pokable, adorable, yet slightly perverted little hero we all adore.

Ledah, for being fluffy (among other things) and having enough of a fan following that you attracted people to come read the fanfic just 'cause they wanted to see you live. Love you, hon!

Rei-chan, for helping me understand Ledah better. And for being as cute and fluffy as you are… and as scarily similar to Ledah… and for all your little "Ledah moments". My God, you're adorable! (thoroughly enjoys being bi, as that means she gets to drool over cuties like Ledah AND cuties like Rei!)

Rau-sama, for being my bishie. Much as I love everyone else, I love you more. (points to Pinkle's fanpic of Ledah wearing the vest… only wearing the vest… okay, so even "wearing" can only be applied loosely, since he's got it hanging WAYYY open and it just BARELY covers) Now, why in the hell didn't you come out of the shower like THAT in episode 10!

(Expected—and received—response: "Because I have some vestige of modesty, that's why!")

(sigh) Oh, well. Guess I just have to fantasize. Anyway, though I know you are NEVER going to believe me, I think you're just as beautiful with the mask off as you are with it on. (hug) You will always be my always, mon cheri!

Crazed Fuzzle, for the cookies.

Music listened to during the production of this fanfiction:

-Riviera: The Promised Land in-game music (Sound Test)-

-Celine Dion (A New Day Has Come)-

-Best of Inuyasha-

-Wolf's Rain OSTs 1 and 2-

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Well, that's the end of that. You'll be seeing me around the section (and various others), especially as I'm still working on vignette collection "Diary". All you LxE lovers better get your lazy behinds out there and start writing fanfics based on that pairing—make my day like I've made yours!

By the way, I do have something else that I created sort of as a side-fic to this one; however, it is NOT getting posted on FanFiction-dot-Net (or anywhere else on the Internet) because it's just a tiny bit too graphic.

The story goes like this…

Though I'm Jewish, most of my friends are Christian, and I do Christmas shopping and stuff for them—partially because I respect their religion, and partially because I would go broke getting Hanukkah presents for them all. ;-; I'm poor. Anyway, one of my friends was bothering me (and had been for a while) to let Ledah pitch for a while in this fic (she's been reading printed copies because she's too lazy to go on FF-Net). Since I didn't have any more space for lemons, I wrote her a separate one about the first night Ein let Ledah be the seme, as is referenced briefly in the epilogue, for her Christmas gift. It's about nine pages long, and is mostly smut (although it DOES have a plot, because plotless lemons irk me!).

So why am I telling you this? ('Cause I know that certain readers out there will be howling because they can't get at it online!)

Well, if you really want this lemon, PM me about it—and make sure to leave me an email address I can send it to. You'll have to set the email itself up like (your name) at (provider-dot-whatever) so that the stupid site doesn't eat it like it does most other links, so be careful about that. The lemon was written using Microsoft Word, so it may not be compatible with your program. But if it is, the more power to ya. If you give me a usable email address (that won't delete my reply as spam), I'll send the lemon to you as an attachment.

And I had just BETTER not get buried under lemon requests! If you don't get it the first time, too bad. This isn't a damn delivery service.

'Kay? Good!

I'll see you when I see you. Thanks for sticking around for so long, all. Long days and pleasant nights to each of you. (bows)

-Feral Phoenix