Disclaimer: I don't own Kyou Kara Maou! – It belongs to its respective owners. This fan fiction is not a commercial project, and I'm not making any money from writing it.

Warnings: yaoi (male x male), violence, swearing, angst, drama. Wolfram-centric, out of character, original character.

Summary: With Yuuri's upcoming birthday, Wolfram makes his decision. Where will it lead him and what is to become of them? Should eventually be Yuuri x Wolfram.

A/N 1: Yuuri – 18 years old. Wolfram – 21. Eldara – 32. Halea – 20. Athara – 18. Gwendal – 54.

A/N 2: Greta doesn't exist.

A/N 3: European/American/Japanese standards all at once depending on the plot requirements.

A/N 4: A tendency to ignore the anime/manga and supplement the story with my own imagined facts.

A/N 5: Season III is not taken into consideration, except for the fact that Wolfram's uncle exists.

A/N 6: The umlaut in Gunter's name is a bother.

A/N 7: this chapter contains a sex scene. To comply with FanFiction net policy, I cut it. If you want to read the scene, go to ArchiveofOurOwn org.

Bloom

by chayron (lttomb yahoo com), beta-read by Anonymously Awesome

Part 54

Eldara watched Gwendal tread about the room while getting ready for the night. He soon undressed and slipped into the bed, naked. Von Voltaire's sense of embarrassment was nearly non-existent. Or rather, it did exist but came into play in quite unexpected situations. Eldara found this behavior endearing.

After the passionate outburst in von Voltaire's office, the man told him that it would be much more convenient if they shared one bedroom and it was, of course, Gwendal's. He said that it was much less embarrassing than trying to sneak into each other's bedrooms. It did make sense in some weird way, and Eldara moved in at once.

The sex was good. Gwendal seemed to be much more honest in bed than in his daily life. He was an attentive sex partner. Eldara still hadn't found out whether von Voltaire had any interesting or strange fetishes or not. There hadn't been any requests even though Eldara was more than ready to fulfill whatever the older man wished of him. Eldara did realize that he was falling in love – this time with a real, tangible person – but he didn't even try resist the feeling. It somehow didn't bother him. Perhaps it was because he knew it was not meant to be. This didn't feel exactly right, but it felt safe. This would end in three days. Whatever was going to transpire between himself and Gwendal was temporary and was going to leave bittersweet feelings. Nonetheless, this realization didn't stop him from wanting to rouse similar feelings of attachment in Gwendal. It was probably his pride that wasn't satisfied with the status quo. On the other hand, it was only natural to want the person one likes to like them back just as much or even more. His steadfastness was probably off-putting, but Eldara couldn't help it.

They had sex every night and sometimes a quickie during the day. It had been a long time since Eldara's ass has been used so much. It felt good.

As the duke pretended not to be interested and just lay in the bed motionless, Gwendal took the initiative. He pushed the duvet aside, out of his way. The candlelight was poor but he was easily able to see that Eldara was at half-mast, already waiting and excited. Gwendal was no less eager. When they had had sex for the first time, he hadn't been certain how it would go since he had only ever topped yet Eldara seemed to be no less dominating than himself. Yet, it appeared that appearances couldn't be more deceiving. Eldara had never tried to top him, a fact that mystified Gwendal since his imagination had never wandered beyond Wolfram being the bottom in their relationship.

Von Voltaire was curious about this type of versatility but, at the same time, was very reluctant to try it out himself. He felt that he had already given Eldara too much freedom and space. On the one hand, even while being on the receiving end, the duke somehow managed to exert his control over him. On the other hand, he loved how responsive Eldara was to his touch. He had taken Eldara in no less than five different positions and all of them had brought incredible satisfaction to both of them. At least it seemed so.

The following sex scene was cut in order to comply with FanFiction net policy. If you want to read the scene, go to ArchiveofOurOwn org.

"Goodnight," he muttered tiredly, rolling on his side.

"Goodnight," Eldara answered while wiping himself off with the same, previously used, handkerchief. It was soaking wet.

Wolfram jolted in bed. Disoriented, he looked around his bedroom. Suddenly, a white flash of light passed through the thick curtains, and the glasses on the table clinked softly. The gentle sound was suddenly drowned out by a loud boom across the air.

"Ugh," Wolfram groaned, digging deeper into the bedding. It was dark in the room again, and he wondered what time it was. It had to be morning. It was hot in the bedroom and the air was clammy. It was no wonder there was lightning, as it had been so hot the evening before.

Obviously, he wasn't going to get any more sleep. Another flash of white light lit his bedroom, and he sat up. Yawning, he rolled out of the bed and went to open the curtains. The sky was almost black with rolling, dark clouds, and it hardly became any lighter in the room. Wolfram unbolted the window and pushed it open. Instead of a gust of cool, fresh air, he was hit by a smell of smoke. Alarmed, he leaned out of the window but didn't notice anything suspicious.

There was a sudden knock on the bedroom door and, startled, Wolfram whirled around, leaning back into the room.

"Sir! Your Highness!"

"Yes?"

The door flew open and Dacascos came rushing in. Only now Wolfram did realize that he was wearing only a nightshirt, but he forgot his embarrassment as soon as he saw the soldier's agitated face.

"What happened?" Wolfram asked, rushing towards the wardrobe. He started pulling his clothes off the racks.

"There's a fire in the east forest, Sir. It's getting closer to the town as we speak. The wind is picking up too," he reported while Wolfram was dressing.

Pulling his trousers on, Wolfram wondered, "Aren't there any strong fire or water wielders nearby? Even an earth-wielder would suffice in the worst case."

"Err… Half of the forest is burning, Sir. It's simply too big."

Wolfram cursed under his breath. "How about others? Gwendal? Gunter?"

"They and His Majesty are getting ready. Sir is to meet them in the yard."

"Right. Get my horse ready."

"Already done, Sir."

Buckling his belt and buttoning his jacket, Wolfram ran out of his room. His leg still pained him, but there was no time to lose and the crutch was left behind, leaning against the wall. Dacascos noticed the ajar window and went to close it then rushed out after von Bielefeld.

Gwendal was already in the yard, on his horse. Now Wolfram could see a wall of smoke coming from the east and when the wind blew stronger, flakes of ash started falling from the sky. After some struggle, Wolfram got on his horse. A soldier rushed to bring him a water flask with a scarf. Wolfram showed him where to put them and they were stuffed into his saddlebag.

The blond noticed Eldara standing at the top of the stairs leading into the main entrance to the castle. Karela stood behind him, buttoning his shirt. Both men responded to von Bielefeld's inquiring gaze with acknowledging nods. Wolfram inclined his head as well. It was surprising to see von Ashira staying behind in the castle, but he was obviously following Gwendal's orders. The blond bit back a smile.

In a minute, Yuuri and Gunter appeared in the yard. Using no more than ten short sentences, von Voltaire briefed everyone present on the situation and urged his horse forward. The king and von Christ got on their horses and all of them, escorted by a group of soldiers, moved towards the gate after von Voltaire. Wolfram, however, due to his painful thigh, had no luxury of haste. He and two more soldiers soon were left behind in the dust while the other men's backs receded and then completely disappeared around one of the turns down the mountain.

Wolfram reached the edge of the forest in about an hour. Just as he had been informed, there was a lane situated close to the forest. The fire was still quite far from the houses and an earth or air-wielder had flattened rather a large area of trees to increase the distance between the forest and the town. The wind, however, was picking up and the air was heating up, the ashes raining from the sky with each increasingly strong gust. The smoke from the forest was being blown in, the town nearly submerged in it. The echoing sounds of trees splitting in heat, falling, branches snapping against the trunks of other trees then hitting the ground could be heard.

There were several civilians and a few soldiers who had lined themselves in between the forest and the houses to intercept any gust of wind carrying destructive sparks.

"Why doesn't it finally rain?" one of Wolfram's bodyguards grumbled angrily.

"Where's von Voltaire?" Wolfram addressed one of the soldiers keeping watch over the houses.

"I saw a group of soldiers go that way, Sir," he answered, pointing. "There's a small settlement of several houses down the road. It's probably already on fire as it's directly in the path of the wind."

Wolfram cursed and turned his horse to follow the road, then changed his mind. The king was probably able to take care of it. Wolfram, meanwhile, had to make certain that what had probably already happened to that settlement wouldn't happen here.

"Any fire-wielders here?" Wolfram asked.

There was one amongst the civilians and one of his bodyguards.

"Right. Air-wielders?"

There were two.

"Earth?"

"Me, Sir."

"Is there a lake or any other source of water in the forest or around it?"

"No, Sir."

"Then this will have to do," Wolfram said. He bent down and started fumbling with his saddlebag.

"Allow me, Sir," one of his bodyguards said, jumping down his horse. He opened Wolfram's saddlebag and pulled out the bandana with the water flask. He wetted it and held it up for the blond, who tied it around his nose and mouth.

"We'll follow the path into the forest," Wolfram said, trying to make his voice sound clear through the cloth.

The men looked reluctant, but von Bielefeld was resolute, and all what was left for them was to get some cloths as well and follow him into the forest.

Due to the smoke and heat, they weren't able to get very close to the fire. Once they got as close as was possible Wolfram, with the help of his bodyguards, climbed off his horse and called for his fire element. He sent it forward, concentrating hard, as he tried to grasp as much territory as possible and gauge the damage. His senses were suddenly overloaded and he staggered backwards. The affected territory was much larger than he had anticipated. There wasn't any possibility for him to extinguish the fire on his own. Even with the help of the men he had brought with him, there was a slim chance.

"We'll do it step by step," Wolfram said, recalling his element for now. "Let's start here and then proceed west. I will suppress the fire in a small area and move forward. Your job is to prevent it from catching fire again. Suck the air out, spray it with dirt or whatever else works, just as long as it stays safe."

The men confirmed they had heard and were ready to follow the orders. However, at the same time, some of them met each other's eyes uneasily. Von Bielefeld had made it sound like a relatively straightforward task to accomplish, but it wasn't – it was dangerous. If an area they had considered clear caught fire and trapped them, they would be done for.

Wolfram chose a relatively small piece of land to start with but even then to try and blindly control the rampant fire was one of the most difficult things he had ever done. He had managed to suppress the fire in less than a minute, yet the effort this had required of him had been so great that it left him covered in sweat and with shaky legs. He had no time to rest as the fire was spreading back into the area from other directions. This had to be a constant process. While the men behind him were trying to isolate the extinguished area, Wolfram moved deeper into the forest. The smoke was much worse now but a gust of wind from behind dispersed some of it. Wolfram raised his arm in thanks.

They moved forward, section after section but it was a very slow progress and it didn't seem that there was any end to it. Wolfram had hoped that, at some point, they would reach a burnt-out area and would be able to rest. Yet, the strong winds raging above the forest continued to feed the fire without end. Wolfram soon realized that he had overestimated his strength. He was already tired, and the men were hardly able to keep up with him. There was no way that only six of them would put out the fire in the entire forest. The wind was getting even stronger, blowing on the still glowing embers that Wolfram and his men left in their wake. Now there was a danger of the embers rekindling.

Wolfram came to the conclusion that he wasn't able to ensure his men's safety. Retreat was the only plausible action under current circumstances.

Relief could be seen on the exhausted men's faces when he had given the order to fall back. Wolfram, however, was discontent as they had wasted so much energy and time for nothing. He wished for the damn rain to finally start instead of the skies banging about impotently.

For reasons no other but pure spite and frustration Wolfram summoned his fire element again. He sent it forward, high over the forest, tracing and embracing all the flame he was able to sense. He tried to overpower and quench it just like before, but he had bitten off far more than he was able to chew. Cursing, his displeasure and anger skyrocketing, he pulled back. Or tried to. The fire didn't let go. Then, Wolfram tried to sever the connection with his element. That didn't work either. The wildfire was feeding his element, making the element flow too powerful for him to handle. He could tell that, in no time, it was going to slip out of his control entirely. Once that happened, his own fire element would consume him.

"Sir, are you alright?"

His anxiety and desperation must have clearly shown on his face. Wolfram turned to them. There was absolutely nothing any of them could help him with.

"I'm fine," Wolfram answered, attempting to sound natural. "Go back to the edge of the forest and stay there until further notice."

The men stared at the blond for a couple of seconds, then one of Wolfram's bodyguards turned to the earth-wielder from the town. "Go get His Majesty or von Voltaire. Actually, all of you," he ordered the other civilians in a moment, "return to the town and bring them here."

It took only a couple of seconds for the three men to disappear among the charred trees. The smoke swallowed them as if they had never been there. The two bodyguards stayed with von Bielefeld. Wolfram would have gladly repeated his order, but it was clear that it would be disobeyed again. In all honesty, he had neither strength nor wish to argue over a lost cause. His concentration was on his rampant fire element. He had tried to sever the connection over and over but it was like trying to stop the flow of a waterfall with a toothpick.

"Why doesn't it fucking rain?!" Wolfram spat out, his forehead wet and his eyes bulging with the effort. His head felt as if it was about to explode. Rain or the end of fire were his only saving options. None of them seemed to be possible.

Gasping for air, Wolfram leaned against one of the trees around him. His bodyguards rushed over to him.

"Sir?"

"Sir, are you…?"

Wolfram barely heard him, his ears filled with hissing and thumping sounds of his element and his own frantic heartbeat. It hurt to breathe. His lungs and throat were aching. The most vexing thing was that he had done this to himself. It was perhaps the most stupid thing he had ever done.

Then suddenly it was all gone, the pressure, the element, the link, the danger.

Wheezing, Wolfram dropped to his knees. His throat still hurt and it was difficult to breathe. He was, however, so relieved that all he wanted now was to curl up into a ball on this burnt ground and fall asleep forever.

"Wolfram!"

The blond turned his head towards the source of the noise. Through his running eyes he could see that Yuuri was off his horse, rushing to him.

"Cut…off?" Wolfram coughed out. His head was spinning. "Why did you…here?"

"You can thank me later," the king snapped at him, pulling at the scarf on the blond's mouth. It was tied firmly, and he tugged with more force, finally managing to hoist and pull it over Wolfram's head. "What the fuck were you thinking?!"

Von Bielefeld stared at him for a moment or two then his strength left him completely and he keeled over into the ash and soot-covered ground, face-first.

"Wolfram!"

Yuuri grabbed the half-conscious blond by his arm and collar and rolled him over. Relieved, he saw Wolfram breathing. His unfocused eyes, however, were expressionlessly blinking at the smoky sky.

Behind them, Gwendal cleared his throat. "He's fine, Your Majesty, just exhausted. On the other hand… Your Majesty, what about the fire?"

"Yes, yes, in a moment."

The king summoned his water element and, using the excess dampness in the heavy clouds, started showering the forest with rain. He kept it up for a good ten minutes to make certain the fire was completely extinguished.

Von Voltaire watched the king touching his brother's face unconsciously. It was an awkward attempt at reassurance. Or maybe Shibuya was just trying to wipe off the soot. But it also looked as if he was petting an unruly dog. Whatever the oblivious action was, it tugged at von Voltaire's heart, and he couldn't help smiling.

TBC