Sion knew it was over.

He would never be able to go on a date with Nezumi again. He would never get to see his boyfriend preform again. He would never be able to have long conversations or try new things with him. He would never be able to go on rain walks or hold hands with the dark man again. He would never be able to see Nezumi smile or laugh or hear his sarcastic comment. He would never get to hear his voice again. Nezumi was gone. All of the joys that he brought were done. Over time Nezumi would become just another memory that would fade.

Sion didn't want to let go but he knew he had too. His boyfriend was a rat now. He no longer could recognize the prince as someone he loved. All Nezumi knew was that he was being held against his will by some human. He had to release rat Nezumi into the wild to live the rest of his short life. Nezumi needed to be free and live life without joys, sorrows and without the prince. Sion knew this. Sion knew what he needed to do….

But he couldn't. Instead he clung to the wriggling animal. It was too hard. He couldn't just open his arms and release Nezumi. Once Nezumi left he would never return. It hurt too much to think about it. If the prince let, go his world would crumble and fall. In his arms he held the last bit of his happiness with Nezumi. Sion looked down at the rat who hissed angrily and tried to bite him again. Nezumi was a ball of rage and fury. His dark fur was standing on edge and his black eyes held nothing but contempt for his captor. Sion looked into those vacant eyes. It hurt so much to know that the rat had no recollection of him. A part of him wanted to believe that Nezumi was still Nezumi, that he was just acting this way for some reason and would return to him. The sensible part of him however knew better.

"I'm sorry." Sion sobbed through his tears. "I'm so sorry Nezumi." How could he ever think rats were horrible, terrifying creatures? At that moment he would gladly let every rodent into his castle if it meant Nezumi could stay with him. He would have let them steal food from his kitchen and bite at him a hundred times over if it meant that he could hear Nezumi's voice just one more time.

In the distance the clock chimed two pulling Sion back to reality. He had been sitting there crying for two hours. Even so, it felt like no time had passed since midnight. The moon was still high in the sky shining down its cold light. Sion looked up at it. Nezumi had been interest in the moon. He said he had never really thought about it before he came here. On their first date he had actually asked the prince if the moon was part of a constellation. With a painful jolt, an image of Nezumi lying under the stars flashed in his mind and a new wave of grief hit him. During their first date it felt like they had forever. It was just the two of them, lying under the endless sky, looking at the different constellations. Who knew that the sky that once represented the first of many dates would now hang above him as a mockery to his ruined romance? Back then he had so many things he wanted to show Nezumi. Even now there was so many things left undid and unsaid.

And now it was over.

It had not been enough. Sion had not been able to accomplish all he wanted to do with Nezumi. Infinity wouldn't be enough time to do all the things he wanted to do with the dark-haired man. Sion gave an anguished wail and curled in tighter. How could it end like this? This was worst then reading one of Nezumi's tragedies where he was left feeling empty and frustrated. This wasn't some ignorant king or teenagers from different families, this was him and Nezumi. It was their lives that the fairies messed up. He should have done everything differently. He should have realized that Nezumi was a rat sooner. Maybe he should have fought harder against Cinderella's fairy godmother. Maybe he should have tried pushed Nezumi out of the way instead of taking the hit for him. Sion knew he was being unfair to himself, but he couldn't help regretting his own weaknesses.

Sion lifted his head wearily. He was tired of crying. He was tired of the world treating him and Nezumi cruelty. He was exhausted. He wishes he could just go home and sleep. Maybe then this would turn out to be a bad dream. In his lap Nezumi gave a loud squeak and bit down hard on his hand. Even through his numbness Sion felt it. He lifted up the hand and watched the blood drip down.

"Mouths are for eating or biting. I never head of kissing until I was here. I really don't understand it. Why would you trust someone to put their mouth so close to you? What if they bite you?"

Nezumi had said that during their first date. As Sion turned it attention back to the rat, who was currently trying to bite his hand off, he understands what the dark-haired man meant. Nezumi's teeth were sharp and dangerous. If he kept biting the prince, he could leave some scares or even tear his hand apart. Sion could see why Nezumi didn't want Sion's mouth anywhere near his. Actually, if he thought about it, the white-haired man found it amazing that Nezumi let him kiss any other part of his body. The actor must have really loved him to allow Sion to kiss him. In his mind he was putting himself at risk of being torn apart. Sion's heart began to ache. Why did he ever believe that Nezumi never had feelings for him?

"If only you told me that you were a rat sooner ." Sion muttered "We could have worked it all out together." If he had known, he would have had a better idea on how to help his boyfriend. Nezumi had expressed many desires that he felt like he couldn't do. At the time Sion didn't understand what was holding him back. He still remembered the time Nezumi admitted he wanted to kiss the prince on the lips. The actor was so frustrated that he couldn't do it. At that thought an unwanted wave of grief threatened to overwhelm him. Nezumi had promised him that he would learn to kiss properly. He said it would take time, but they would eventually do it. Now suddenly Nezumi was gone. Sion would never get the chance to know how it felt to kiss someone he loved passionately.

Fresh sobs rose from his lips and he buried his head in Nezumi's fur. It was unfair. Nothing should have taken away their chance at happiness. In his lap the rat dug his claws into Sion's leg and gave a loud snarl of protest. He was clearly angry that Sion's head was anywhere near his body. The prince pulled back and surveyed the creature. Although he saw anger in his eyes, Sion suddenly realized there was also fear. With a sickening jolt the prince realized that Nezumi was afraid of him. He couldn't get free of this human who was holding him. He didn't understand why he was trapped. Sion clenched his teeth as his vision blurred with tears. He was being unfair. Nezumi never wanted to be trapped. Just because he was a rat didn't mean Sion should attempt to hold him against his will.

"It's time for you to go. Goodbye Nezumi." Sion had hoped saying it out loud would make it easier to let go. Instead it made his insides hurt even more. Sion felt nauseous. He gulped and continued,

"I wish I got the chance to tell you, but you changed my life as well. You showed me how to be free…." It was too much for Sion. He broke down again. He knew he was stalling. He knew by talking he was prolonging Nezumi's freedom but….He couldn't do it. He couldn't let him go.

Sion shook his head frustrated. It wasn't a choice he HAD to let Nezumi go. The actor had given up everything to save him and now he was holding him hostage against his will. That was a poor way to repay Nezumi's kindness. Sion tried to steal himself, but his body refused to listen. His arms refused to open and let the struggling creature free. Sion knew that as long as he felt like he was losing Nezumi he couldn't let go. He needed to do something to say goodbye. It was the only way to make him feel like he was letting Nezumi go instead of losing him. He needed a gesture that was different or special. Something that would stick in his head forever. He knew it was stupid but right now it was the only way.

"I know you didn't want me to do it but I'm going to kiss you." Sion told the animal. "Then after that I promise to let you go, alright?" Sion knew the rat didn't understand him, but it felt important to explain his actions to Nezumi. The prince held up the rat to eye level and leaned forward. He knew it was foolish, kissing a rat, but it was his last chance. If he could just do this one thing maybe it would leave him with less regrets. Sion highly doubted it, but he lied to himself anyways in order to do what he knew had to be done. Sion bent forward and planted his lips against the rats. Nezumi made a half growling and half snarling sound in his throat.

Sion close his eyes. Kissing a rat was unpleasant. To make it worse he knew that any minutes he would feel Nezumi's sharp teeth sinking into his lips. If Nezumi was human, he would scold Sion for his stupidity. He would say, "Kissing a rat is a sure way to lose your tongue," in that irritated tone of voice. Even so Sion didn't regret it. It was a memory that he could cling to when all his good memories had faded. As he continued to kiss Nezumi he noticed something was different. First of all, Nezumi had stopped snarling and hissing Second of all, the lips that were pressed against his were puffy and most definitely human. Third of all, there was a heavy weight in his lap. Lastly, his hands were against something big. One hand was on something soft that wasn't fur and the other hand was pressed against something sturdy and bony.

Sion opened his eyes confused and alarmed. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness again, he found that the thing sitting in his lap was Nezumi….human Nezumi. He sat there mirroring Sion's confused expression, looking just as beautiful and adorable as Sion remembered him. The prince pulled back in shock and Nezumi gave a cry of surprise as he fell from Sion's lap.

"What the hell? Why am I human again?" Nezumi voice rang into the night causing some birds in a nearby tree to fly away in fear. The dark-haired man looked down at his hands and then at Sion. As he did his eyes narrowed in annoyance and he crossed his arms.

"What did you do? You better not have traded your humanity for mine."

Sion opened his mouth, but no words came out. Instead he just stared at Nezumi, taking in his appearance. Sion knew he was dreaming; it was the only explanation. There was no way Nezumi would suddenly return to him. The fairies made it clear that Nezumi had to be a rat. They wouldn't just take pity on him.

"Hey, I asked you a question. What did you trade for my humanity?"

Sion knew Nezumi was worried, but the prince was afraid to move or speak. If he did, he knew this dream would end. He didn't want that. He didn't want Nezumi to disappear. Nezumi sighed in frustration and grabbed Sion's arm, pulling him closer.

"What's going on?" he demanded again, then concern entered his voice. "Why aren't you saying anything?"

Sion gasped in shock at the touch. Even through his numbness he could feel Nezumi's warmth. It felt to real to be a dream. Even so Sion was afraid to trust in his senses.

"Am I dreaming?" he croaked, his throat sore from all the crying. "Are you really here?"

"You weren't expecting me to return." Nezumi concluded his anger fading. "So, this wasn't planned."

"No." Sion whispered. He wanted to believe that Nezumi was right there. He really wanted to believe it. "Nezumi please prove that I'm not dreaming." Nezumi frowned at his boyfriend's request but still pulled Sion's hand forward and place it over his chest.

"What do you feel?"

"Your chest?" Sion wasn't sure what this proved. Nezumi rolled his eyes.

"What else?" Nezumi demanded. Sion paused for a moment.

"Your heartbeat."

"Does it feel like an animal?"

"No."

"That's right." Nezumi voice became gentle again. "I'm alive and human. Is that enough proof to you?"

Sion eyes filled with tears again as his hand fell from Nezumi's chest. He was here. Nezumi was truly here. Slowly, as if he moved to quickly Nezumi might disappear he gathered his boyfriend in his arms and hugged him. With his head pressed against the dark-haired man's chest. As the smells and sounds of Nezumi surrounded him he began sobbing with relief. He felt Nezumi tighten his grip.

"It's alright." Nezumi's soft voice made Sion cry even harder. He repeated Nezumi's name over and over again as he cried his heart out. After a while he was able to calm down enough to pull away from Nezumi and look him in the eye.

"You're really here."

"Yeah." Nezumi muttered. Sion smiled stupidly at him.

"I can't believe you're here."

"Are you just going to keep saying that?" Nezumi asked raising an eyebrow.

"If it means I can hear your voice."

"So, you want me to talk?" Nezumi asked. Sion nodded quietly. "Aright then….uhm." Nezumi fished around for something to say. "It's a nice night out…." He glared at the moon. "It's another full moon? Or is this the same full moon?" he swore under his breath. "How long had it been? I have no frame of time. Did anything happen when I was a rat?" His eyes scanned down Sion and then he swore again loudly. "What happened!"

Sion drew back a little at the venom in his boyfriend's voice. He felt alarmed and confused. Nothing really happened between returning to the human realm and crying a lot. He had no idea why Nezumi sounded so angry. Sion followed the actor's gaze until he was looking down at his own chest and arms. There he found the issue. His hands were covered in blood. Deep cuts ran across his hands. As he continued to look, he noticed that his arms and legs were also bleeding heavily. If he wasn't still in shock it would hurt a lot. As it was it took Sion a few seconds to remember where they came from.

"Oh, you mean these…" Sion muttered. Nezumi clamped his hands down on Sion's shoulders, his expression hardening.

"Who did this to you?" his voice was cold and angry. "Who hurt you."

"Don't worry! You just bit and scratched me while I was holding you as a rat." At Sion's words Nezumi paled. He gently picked up Sion's arm.

"I did this to you?" he asked softly. Sion hated the anguish in his voice. He didn't want Nezumi to be upset. Sion got hurt because he wasn't able to let go of Nezumi. It was Sion's fault that he got hurt.

"You were a rat. You couldn't help it." Sion said quickly. "Besides it was worth get you back."

Nezumi didn't look convinced. He reached into a bag that was tied to his cloak and pulled out some herbs and bandages.

"Sorry" he began treating the wounds. "Even if I didn't know any better, it's still is awful to know I hurt you."

"Nezumi…"

"I hate hurting you." Nezumi shook his head in frustration. "It's the one thing I never wanted to do. Even so I keep doing it. First, I hurt you emotionally by breaking up with you. Then I got you turned into a rabbit and hurt because I couldn't protect you…and now I have hurt you as a rat." Sion listened to Nezumi his heart aching. Why was Nezumi blaming himself for everything? It was only half his fault. Sion was the one who was over emotional and helpless. How many times did Nezumi have to go out of his way to protect the prince because he was weak?

"It's not all your fault." Sion looked down. "It's partly my fault. I always managed to mess things up. Besides, you can't really blame yourself for my current injuries. I was the one who was holding you captive as a rat."

"Yeah about that. " Nezumi shot Sion a look, "Why did you think it was a good idea to hang on to me as a rat? I thought you knew rats could be dangerous. Isn't that why you are afraid of them?

"Were afraid of them!" Sion protested. "I'm not afraid of rats anymore. Also, I was going to let you go but I just needed to build up enough courage."

"How long was that going to take?" Nezumi asked exasperated. "I could have rip your arm off!"

" I wanted to say goodbye first." Sion pouted. Nezumi gave him a look. Sion knew what Nezumi was going to say about kissing a rat. It wasn't like he was wrong. If the actor hadn't turned back Sion would have had very bloody lips by now. At that thought a wave of understanding hit Sion.

"That's what it is!" A smile crossed the white-haired man's face. Nezumi finished treating Sion's wounds and sat back.

"What?"

"You're back and I kissed you!"

"I don't see the correlation." Nezumi rolled his eyes. "Unless doing something stupid can cause rats to magically turn into humans."

"No, I mean the kiss. It was true love's first kiss!"

"True love's first what?" Nezumi look unamused. "What the hell is that."

"Oh, come on you must have heard of it." Sion laughed. "Everyone knows about it. It has to be the most well know kind of magic anywhere. It's the idea that that if you kiss someone who is your "true love" for the first time you can break any curses." Of all the magic that Sion was interested that was the one he spends the least amount of time on. It was common knowledge. Although people were afraid of magic, they liked that kind. Sion studied different kinds of magic in the hopes of helping people accept it. It was so basic that Sion forgot existed most of the time.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." Nezumi's voice rang out breaking Sion out of his thought.

"Huh why? It's romantic."

"First of all." Nezumi said irritated. "If all you needed was two people to kiss and break a spell then why didn't you just kiss someone back when you turned into a rabbit as a kid?"

"Because they had to be my true love."

"There's no such thing!" Nezumi exclaimed.

"You're my true love." Sion muttered. Nezumi sighed frustrated.

"Ok" Nezumi ran his hand through his hair. "Say that's the case. We've kissed multiple times. Doesn't this need to be 'first kiss?'" Sion stared at him. He had thought Nezumi was joking. It was just dawning on him that, since Nezumi had been a rat most of his life, he actually had no idea that this kind of magic existed.

"You really haven't heart of it before." Sion said. Nezumi shook his head confirming Sion's suspicions. "Well it only works if you kiss on the lips."

"Of course, it is." Nezumi rolled his eyes. "What is it with human's obsession with kissing on the lips." He glowered at Sion. "You're lucky I didn't bite your tongue off. Seriously what a stupid loophole."

"It's not a loop hope. You must have seen something like this before! You've read enough." Nezumi frowned as he thought things over

"I guess I have seen this a couple of places. But those were all princes kissing enchanted princesses or lovely maidens. I never heard of someone kiss a rat before, besides, if this was a story like that, Cinderella would most likely be the main character." Nezumi waved a hand. "She's the one with the fairly godmother. I would just be a side character who might get a passing mention if I'm lucky."

"You're the main character in my story." Sion whispered shyly.

"How do you manage to say the dorkiest things that someone sound cute coming from you."

"Just lucky I guess."

"Hmmm" Nezumi eyes suddenly narrowed. "Hang on, if 'true loves first kiss' turned me into a human wouldn't it have turned you back when you were a rabbit?"

"Oh yeah," Sion laughed. "To bad I didn't think of telling you about it before."

"Why didn't Cinderella mention it?" Nezumi asked irritated. "She's a hopeless romantic, surely she knows about it."

"Nezumi, when she heard we were dating she probably assumed you already kissed me…on the lips that is. It's a common thing for humans to do."

"I really wish I knew this was an option. It would have been much easier to just kiss you then to escape from jail."

"What?"

"Thing got crazy after you turned into a rabbit." Nezumi snorted. "Sir William decided that I was lying about you being the rabbit and thought I killed you. He almost had me hung and you were almost turned into rabbit stew." He glanced around at the unconscious men. "They chased me all the way here."

"Hold on Sir William did what?!" Sion couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Start from the beginning." Nezumi sighed again before launching into his story. As he explained things Sion's insides clenched. How many times had he told Sir William that Nezumi was trustworthy? He couldn't believe that the knight had so little faith in him that the second something went wrong he refused to believe Nezumi. It made his furious to hear it.

"I can't believe they did that!" Sion roared. Nezumi looked taken aback by Sion's anger.

"Whoa calm down." Nezumi said surprised. "As much as I don't like the guy, I do see why it happened. I never gave him a reason to trust me."

"Maybe, but he could have at least trusted me and my judgement." Sion's eyes narrowed. "We're going to have a long talk after he wakes up." Nezumi eyed him.

"I've never seen you this angry before."

"Sir William went behind my back and tried to kill you! I think my anger is justified." Sion seethed. Nezumi looked unconvinced but didn't press the matter. Instead he just looked at Sion.

"What?"

"I just realized that our first kiss on the lips was when I was a rat." He scolded. "That was not what I wanted."

"It doesn't need to be our only kiss." Sion said shyly. Nezumi hummed and then leaned forward. Gently their lips met. Sion pressed him lips again Nezumi's. It was the most wonderful sensation ever. After a couple of seconds Nezumi pulled back.

"Sorry." He muttered. "That's as much as I can do now." He looked put out. "My stupid rat instincts are keeping me from going longer."

"That's alright. We can work up to it! We have time after all"

Nezumi turned to look into Sion's eyes. In them Sion saw respect and love. Nezumi broke eye contact and looked down.

"Sion when I first met you, I never thought I would get to this point." Nezumi looked down at his hands. "And now that we have all the time in the world, I don't know what to do with myself. However." He looked back at Sion, determination in his eyes. "I realize I don't just want to be boyfriends. I don't think I could stand people always trying to get you away from me."

Sion sucked in his breath. Was Nezumi going to say what he thought he was going to say? Was Nezumi proposing to him? He tried not to keep his hopes high. Just because the prince's mind went to marriage didn't mean that Nezumi was thinking the same thing.

"Shit this is harder than I thought it would be." Nezumi took a deep breath in. "Sion, I want you to be my mate."

Sion stared at him. This was not what he was expecting. What did Nezumi mean by mate? It was definitely a rat thing, but he wasn't sure if it meant the same thing as marriage.

"Are you asking me to marry you?" Sion finally asked.

"Yeah that's what I just said." Nezumi frowned, disappointment in his eyes. "You don't seem to happy about it. If you don't want to that's fine."

"It's not that!" Sion waved his hands. "It's just…mate…"

"Yeah?" Nezumi's lost expression made Sion laugh a little. The dark-haired man glowered. "What? Am I saying something wrong?"

"When you refer to mate, is this a rat thing?"

"Do humans do not use the word mate?"

"They do…."

"Then what's the problem?" Nezumi sighed irritated. "I want you to be my mate. I want to live with you. I want to raise our young with you. I want to protect you from danger. I want to snuggle up with you when it's cold. I want to share meals with you." He shot Sion a look. "Isn't that what humans do?"

"Yes..." Sion's face turned bright red. "But we would call that marriage."

"Yeah I know I've read about marriage before." Nezumi huffed. "I want to marry you. I want you to be my mate. It's the same thing."

"I guess but humans don't use it that way. Mate is….well a mate is a word that could mean friend, or it could mean….uhhh." Sion's face turned redder. "They want to mate with you…you know." Sion coughed. "sex."

"Yeah I want you to be my friend and I want to mate with you as well as the other things I've said." Nezumi agreed.

"Nezumi!" Sion squeaked.

"I don't get the hang up." Nezumi frowned.

"It's….you know what never mind. Just do me a favor. When you talk to other people call it marriage…say we're husbands. When we're alone though you can call me your…mate." The word felt strange in Sion's mouth. It would take a while to get used to being called that,

"Humans and your rules." Nezumi sighed. "Why must you make everything so complicated. " Sion laughed lightly. Nezmi shot him a look. "You didn't answer the question though. Do you want to be my mate?"

"Yes. I do want to be your…mate." A warm sensation rose in Sion's chest. He was going to marry Nezumi. Now he would be able to have the dark-haired man by his side forever. Next to him Nezumi's expression lightened. He pulled Sion close to him.

"I'm glad."

Sion smiled and snuggled into Nezumi's warm embrace. Nearby they heard an audible groan. Sion pulled away to look where the sound was coming from. Some of his unconscious men were starting to stir. Sion scold down at them. When they wake up the prince was going to give them an earful. They would be hearing about this all the way back to the castle and then some time after that, especially Sir Williams. When he finished chewing them out, Sion supposed he should forgive them. It wouldn't really do to have grudges while planning your wedding. As long as the knight didn't say anything about him marrying Nezumi Sion would let him attend.

"Looks like they're waking." Nezumi observed.

"They'll be up in the next twenty minutes." Sion said turning his attention back to Nezumi. "In the meantime." He snuggled up closer to him. "let's celebrate your return."

Chewing out the guards and planning the wedding could wait. Right now it was just him and Nezumi under the endless sky.