Disclaimer: I don't own Saint Seiya characters

Setting: Before "Sanctuary"

What a Wonderful Picture

"Crystal-Sensei…what took Master Camus so long?? I really want to see him!!" said Hyoga, his bright blue eyes widened in expectation.

"Yes, I really want to see his Aurora Execution!" replied Isaac.

Crystal Saint smiled and knelt in front of the two kids. "Master Camus is an important person, Hyoga, it's normal when he's late because of something more urgent than this meeting. And Isaac, you're still too young to see Aurora Execution; your grandmaster is here not to demonstrate his skill, he only wants to meet you both."

Isaac sighed. Both seven years old kids now were in Crystal Saint's home in St. Petersburg, Russia. Camus was about to visit the house and the kids almost went mad because the Aquarius had been an hour late.

"What if he's not coming?" asked Hyoga.

"He will come, Hyoga, he always keeps his promise. Just be patient, ok?" smiled Crystal Saint.

"He must be really cool!" beamed Isaac, his eyes sparkled. "You said that he's the only saint who can nearly reach zettai reido (absolute zero)!"

"You're right, Isaac."

Some seconds later there were knocks on the door.

"Oh, it must be him!" said Crystal Saint. He stood up and marched to the door, while Hyoga and Isaac stood up in excitement.

A handsome man with long hair, short fringe, and deep blue eyes appeared when Crystal Saint opened the door. He was taller than Crystal Saint and he had very proportional shape of body. He wore long-sleeve white shirt and dark green long pants, and of course leg warmers.

Hyoga and Isaac couldn't even blink. Aquarius Camus looked so mature and wise that they couldn't believe he was only six years older than them. He was so different with the two kids—Hyoga and Isaac oppositely looked very much younger than their ages.

"Good morning, Master," greeted Crystal Saint, smiled widely as he shook Camus's hand.

Camus smiled slightly. It was obvious that he wasn't a type of man who could smile as Crystal Saint did, but his cold feature got warmer when he looked at his student. "Good morning," he said. Even his voice was so mature. "I'm sorry I'm late, I had to do some unintentional orders from Sanctuary."

"It's alright, Master Camus, come in," said Crystal Saint.

Camus got in, and he saw little Hyoga and Isaac stood close together. He stepped to them and knelt in front of them. "Now who are these?" he asked as he held Isaac's arm and Hyoga's shoulder.

"My name is Isaac," said Isaac enthusiastically.

"Isaac. I heard from your sensei that you're so skillful," replied Camus, caused Isaac got blushed. "Ummm…Crystal Sensei always likes to give compliment, but sometimes he wasn't 100 percent right."

"But I trust him," said Camus. "Nevertheless, he also said that you severally tried to flee from the trainings, is that true?"

Crystal Saint and Hyoga laughed, and Isaac's face went scarlet. "Crystal Sensei only joked," murmured Isaac. But soon his eyes sparkled again. "Master, is it true that you can make an ice coffin which couldn't be destroyed even by hundred saints??"

Camus smiled slightly and nodded.

"Waw, that's cool!!!" beamed Isaac.

Camus patted Isaac's back, then he turned his head to Hyoga. "And who is this?" he asked.

"My…my name is Hyoga," answered Hyoga nervously.

"Hyoga," said Camus. "What's your purpose of becoming saint, Hyoga?" he directly asked.

"Ummm…I want to fulfill my Mama's wish…," answered Hyoga.

Camus nodded slightly. "I see."

"It's not wrong, isn't it, Shihyou (grandmaster)?? Isaac's always mad at me when I say I want to keep my promise to Mama," said Hyoga in despair.

"Because it's so silly, Hyoga," growled Isaac. "Why're you so eager to become a saint just for a small thing like that?"

"It's not silly and it's not small thing! It's the wish of someone I really love!"

"But it doesn't mean you can become a saint for the sake of such trivial thing!"

"Why're you so cruel, Isaac? You're—"

"Hey, boys, stop it," said Crystal Saint who soon marched at Isaac and Hyoga and knelt in front of them as well. "Don't make your grandmaster thinks that I've failed to teach you how to behave well, ok?"

Hyoga and Isaac stopped arguing, but their expressions told Crystal Saint that they didn't want to speak to each other again, even though there was their grandmaster around them. Crystal Saint knew those expressions so well, that's why he had to do one thing to neutralize their angers and took them back to normal.

"Fine," sighed Crystal Saint. "Hyoga, Isaac…as usual, when you're quarreling like this, set yourself apart from each other. Isaac, go buy some desserts. Hyoga, go buy some snacks. Go to different supermarket, but come back here before lunch, coz we're gonna have lunch together with Master Camus. You got it?"

Hyoga and Isaac grumbled, yet mumbled something like "I understand, Sensei." Then they went outside to do what Crystal Saint asked.

"I'm sorry, Master," said Crystal Saint as he and Camus stood up. "It's a common thing happen to those children…but they'll say hi again to each other when they come back, trust me."

"It's ok, after all it was me who started the fight," replied Camus. "Hyoga hasn't changed, has he?"

"He hasn't. That's the way he is."

"I'm afraid you're too soft-hearted in dealing with him," said Camus; he looked at his student scrupulously.

"Well…maybe," said Crystal Saint, shrugged his shoulders. He chose not to look at Camus's eyes.

Camus sighed, then glanced at the door. "Where's the blond kid going?"

Crystal Saint baffled. "To the shop on the corner of this street."

Camus nodded in understanding, then stepped to the door.

"Master Camus," called Crystal Saint before Camus went outside.

"Yes?"

"Please give him some time. He needs some time to understand this," pleaded Crystal Saint.

Camus nodded slightly. "I know," then he walked outside to follow Hyoga.

xxx

On the street…

"Hey, kid."

Hyoga turned his body hearing the sound. "Master Camus?"

Camus stepped to the kid and knelt in front of him. "Wanna take a walk?"

"But Crystal Saint asked me to buy snacks for lunch."

"He decided that we need no snacks."

Hyoga looked at Camus with his big blue eyes.

"Come on," said Camus. He picked Hyoga up and placed him in his arms. Then he walked to nowhere and kept gazing at the child, who still looked somber and laid his head on his shoulder.

"Shihyou, do you think I'm wrong if I want to fulfill my Mama's wish?" asked Hyoga after quite long time.

"No," answered Camus.

"Really?" Hyoga beamed.

"Yeah," said Camus. "But soon you'll learn that becoming a Cygnus Saint is not only about fulfilling your mother's wish, kid."

"I don't understand."

"You will. Now…let's talk about something else."

"Okay. Shihyou, did you live in Siberia as well?"

"Yes, I did."

"It is very cold there, you know."

"You don't like it?"

"I like it. But I prefer living in Kido's mansion."

"Why?"

"There're Sakura trees there. And the grass is green like emerald. And there're Seiya, Shiryu, Ikki, and Shun."

"You miss your friends?"

"Yes. I'm sure they miss me as well. What about Camus-sensei? Do Camus-sensei have friends?"

"I do."

"Do you miss them?"

"I met them everyday."

"Do you play football, chat together, and eat on the same table with them?"

"I don't," said Camus. "We hardly do such thing."

"Ummm…but you'd ever done it, hadn't you?"

"Yeah."

"And it's nice, isn't it?"

"It is," Camus smiled slightly.

"I miss the Sakura trees."

"What is it like?"

"It has flowers around its leaves."

"You mean like that?"

Hyoga was startled. They had arrived in a very wide park Hyoga never attended. He had just come to St. Petersburg once and he never knew there was such beautiful park. The grass was emerald-green and spread out as a wide carpet. It was also full of flowers, and there were trees with white flowers around their leaves. They weren't cherry blossoms, but they're so beautiful.

"What kind of trees are them, Shihyou?" asked Hyoga, his big bright blue eyes twinkled.

"They're magnolia."

"Magnolia?"

"Yes."

Camus gazed at the kid in his arms. He was so small, so innocent. He hadn't known how cruel the world was. He was like the other children, the other normal children, who missed all small yet nice things such as games and friends.

"Shihyou, will you stay with us for long?"

"I'm afraid no, child. I have to go back to Greece soon."

"But we'll meet again soon, won't we?"

"Why're you so eager to see me?"

"Because Camus-sensei is warm."

"Warm?"

"Yes, I like being held by Camus-sensei."

"Really?"

Camus couldn't help to kiss Hyoga's chubby cheek. Such innocent child…he'd only met him for very short time, but he felt something in his heart as he kept gazing at the blond kid's eyes. He loved him…he was his student, and probably his son as well.

"This park is so beautiful," beamed Hyoga.

"Yeah," Camus smiled slightly, then kissed Hyoga's cheek again. He gazed at the kid with rare warmth in his eyes, as if he was his own son.

"Hyoga," the Aquarius said softly.

"Yes, Sensei?" asked Hyoga as he placed his head on Camus's chest.

"There are a lot of kids who are not as lucky as you," said Camus. "They never even taste fresh water. They drink anything they can find, because they couldn't find any clean water. And they're alone. They don't have anybody. They have to live alone.

"But you…you have your Crystal Saint and Isaac. You have something to eat everyday. You can sleep under very soft blanket after doing training on the Siberian ice.

"You're so lucky, you know. You have to be thankful with your condition. You may miss your friends, your mother, and the Sakura trees, but don't make it long. Promise me you won't feel sad anymore, ok? Because you're a very lucky child."

Hyoga nodded innocently.

"Promise me?"

"I promise, Camus-sensei."

"Promise me you won't miss your Mama and your friends too much next time?"

"I promise."

Camus smiled. A very rare warm smile. Then he kissed Hyoga's cheek again and clung his head together with his.

Suddenly Hyoga did the same thing—he kissed Camus's cheek.

Camus was startled—he looked at Hyoga without blinking. Nobody had ever kissed him since the last ten years—his mother was the last person who kissed his cheek.

Hyoga was a bit scared seeing that Camus hadn't said any single word since he kissed him.

"Did I make you angry, Camus-sensei?" asked Hyoga.

Camus finally blinked.

He gazed at Hyoga, then said, "Once again, please."

Hyoga beamed, and he kissed Camus's cheek once again.

"Once again," said Camus, caused Hyoga chuckled. When he kissed Camus's cheek again, Camus chuckled as well.

Then…BLITZ!

Camus and Hyoga turned their heads in reflex. Crystal Saint was giggling, bringing a camera. His gesture showed that he had shot Camus and Hyoga's previous lovely scene.

"What are you doing?" asked Camus. He tried to look stern, but he couldn't replace the warmth in his eyes easily.

"Only taking your picture," chuckled Crystal Saint.

"What for?"

"I think there'll be nobody who doesn't want to take your picture in that expression, master," said Crystal Saint innocently. Before Camus could reply, Crystal Saint directly said, "Let's go home—I've asked Isaac to prepare the lunch"

"Yippy!!!" beamed Hyoga, his blue eyes shone brightly. Camus had had kissed him again if only Crystal Saint wasn't there.

xxx

A week later…

"Camus, I wanna see your report," said Milo as he pushed Camus so that he could sit with him on the sofa.

Camus growled and tried to hide the report he worked on. "Why you never try to work on it yourself?"

"I'm tired, Camus, I can't think well right now."

"You always feel tired for every single second," grumbled Camus. Though he was so irritable, he knew he couldn't reject Milo's request, so he permitted Milo sat beside him and rewrite his report, even though unwillingly.

Minutes later, they heard someone called from the entrance of Aquarius temple. "Excuse me."

"I'll see who comes," said Milo as he stood up and walked to the entrance. Camus rolled his eyes; Milo wouldn't be that kind if he didn't permit him to rewrite his report.

Two minutes later, Milo came back bringing an envelope. "A post man," he said. "Brought a letter from Crystal Saint," he added as he showed the envelope.

Camus stood up in a very sudden way. "Give it to me."

Milo looked puzzled for seconds, but then he grinned. "Wait, I know that expression."

"Milo—"

"This must be a very secret thing."

"Give it to me."

Camus marched at Milo, but Milo soon ran away with the envelope.

"Milo!!" snarled Camus, still tried to catch Milo, but the later seemed very clever to manage himself away from Camus. Milo ran, jumped on the sofa, and when Camus was about to grab his legs, he jumped again and ran to the dining table. He got up the table and stood on it.

"Milo!" shouted Camus as his best friend torn the envelope.

"Let's watch what's this," said Milo cheerfully as he took the thing from inside the envelope.

And he was so startled when he saw what Crystal Saint had sent to Camus.

It was a photograph, and it indeed the most beautiful photograph Milo had ever seen: Camus was laughing with a blond chubby little boy who looked so happy in his arms. The most amazing thing from the picture was: Camus's cheek was being kissed by the blond little child.

Milo sat on the table and gazed at the picture, while Camus stopped running at him. He was a bit surprise seeing Milo's expression that he didn't try to catch him anymore.

"This is very beautiful," said Milo after a very long time. He smiled, still gazing at the picture. "So wonderful," he added.

Camus didn't say anything.

"Is it Hyoga?" asked Milo.

"Yeah."

Milo smiled. He'd never thought Camus could be that warm, and Camus also laughed…

He was so happy that finally he'd found the thing which could destroy Camus's cold mask: a child with blond hair and bright blue eyes.

"Hmmm…may I borrow the negative?" asked Milo as he took the negative from the envelope.

"What for?"

"So I can reprint the photo."

Camus walked to Milo and took the photo from Milo's hand. "What you reprint the photo for, Milo?" he asked, gazed at the photograph.

Milo saw that his best friend's eyes gradually became warmer and warmer.

"I want to keep it," said Milo, and he got down from the table, clapped Camus's shoulder briefly, and got out of the temple.

Camus sighed, then continued gazed at the photograph. He rubbed Hyoga's picture, and he didn't aware that a warm smile began to appear on his handsome face.

"Hope you'll keep your promise, child," he whispered.

XXX

A/N: Hiks…but Hyoga didn't keep his promise did he…? (Sob) Please review…

Next: Saga and Aiolos (in one fic)