When she awoke she found Riku curled up next to her, sleeping. She thought it cute, until it struck her that he was unable to sleep ever since….

He seemed to sense her stirring, and woke himself. He rubbed his eyes, and stared at her. "Saya?"

"Mm…" she muttered, still half-asleep.

"You feeling better?" he asked.

She sat up, having no difficulty in doing so. "Yeah, I think so…" She looked around the room. She had thought it very bright before, but now realized it was rather dim. "Where's Solomon?" she mused.

"He's outside somewhere. Listen, nee-chan, I'm not sure I totally understand what happened with between you two, but he's here for a reason. Try to trust him, he's very devoted to you. I think he was hurt that you weren't happy to see him."

Saya blinked rapidly. She had never had time to sort out how she felt about him. After that fight with James he had just sort of disappeared. She'd been surprised that he hadn't shown up at the Metro Opera House that horrible night… but perhaps that was for the best. She was about to ask Riku another question when her stomach made an awful noise.

She blushed profusely and Riku giggled. "Hungry?" he asked.

She nodded and made to get out of bed, when she suddenly realized she wasn't wearing anything. She blushed even deeper and grabbed the sheets to cover herself. Why is it when I wake up around Solomon I'm always naked? She wondered cynically.

Riku tried not to smile. "It's ok—it's just me."

She stared at him. "But you…."

He shook his head. "Don't worry about it." He seemed very grown up all of a sudden, and she was worried, though she didn't know why. He tugged on her hand, and she followed him out of bed, still clutching the sheet to herself.

"Stand in front of this armoire and think about what you want to wear." He said simply.

She wrapped the sheet around her and did so. "Ok… I'm thinking about it."

"Now open it!" he grinned.

She did so, and there hung a single outfit—the one she had been thinking of. She reached out to touch it, surprised that it was real. "But how…" she murmured.

Riku shrugged. "Solomon says reality is more malleable here," he quoted. "So there's a lot of things we can mess with."

She removed the outfit from its hangars, and he shifted a little. "I'll, uh… I'll be waiting outside." He turned and went through the door without another word.

Saya thought about him as he dressed. Once, before she even knew who she was, Riku had accidentally walked in on her taking a shower. She had been behind the curtain, and he hadn't seen anything, but he'd been so embarrassed he couldn't look at her for a week without blushing. What had changed?

The answer came to her suddenly, and it made her heart heavy. The twins—that's right. They were Diva's children—and Riku's. She had avoided thinking about it, but she knew what must have happened. Fortunately it seemed that Riku had moved on and adjusted after he'd…. But Riku had died, she recalled. What on earth was going on?

She finished dressing, and stepped outside, taking a long look at Riku. "Have you gotten taller?" she mused.

He nodded. "A whole inch," he said proudly.

She frowned. "But…"

He shook his head. "Later. Look." He pointed out past the balcony they stood on, out to the glittering ocean.

Saya gasped. It looked like the view from the Otonashi tomb in Okinawa, but it was different. The sea and the sky were so blue, it almost hurt to look at them. Everything was so intense, flowers blooming everywhere and the wind blowing at the perfect temperature.

"It's… beautiful…" she murmured.

Riku joined her at the balcony edge. "Yeah. Solomon made it, and I helped him."

She ruffled his hair affectionately, which made him frown. "Thanks, nii-kun."

He began to protest, but Saya's stomach began to rumble again. Riku grabbed her hand and pulled. "Come on, let's go get some food."

She laughed and followed him down a flight of stairs. They then stepped inside again, walked down a large open hallway and through a pair of double doors on their left. Inside was what looked like a café, but the only person in it was Solomon. He sat next to the window, staring out of it pensively. He turned to them when they entered, smiling and standing up.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Good. I thought you'd be hungry when you woke up. Please, sit down." He gestured to the seat across from him. She sat, and Riku helped her push her chair in. She felt a little awkward being attended on, but didn't comment. Solomon took his seat again, and Riku chose the one next to her.

"Now, I know you have a lot of questions, and we will answer all of them as best we can, but it will be easier for us to explain things to you if you fill in our blanks first." He began politely.

She nodded.

"What became of you and Diva?" he posed this one carefully, and didn't appear that he really wanted to know.

"We… fought. In the end we ran each other through. Her blood had become impotent after she gave birth, but mine…." she trailed off. She had been so upset, that Diva had gone on without her. She felt almost guilty about it, in Solomon's presence.

He nodded. "I see. It was bound to happen, eventually."

She frowned. "What makes you say that?" she asked.

He sighed. "Throughout time you and Diva have been seen by humans as tools to gain power. While Diva was used by those who wanted power, you were used only by those who wished to stop that power. The people you were surrounded with cared for you deeply. Diva was not always so lucky. In the end, it is the support you had that determined the outcome."

Saya thought about that a moment. "Oh," was the only response she could think of. She knew that Solomon had said he would kill Diva for her, but she had seen the hurt in his eyes when she told him that was her wish. Whatever affections he claimed to have for her, Saya suspected Solomon was still attached to Diva in some way. She couldn't really blame him.

Riku cleared his throat a little. "Uh… what happened, that is… what about the… the um, the children?" he spoke very quietly.

Saya blanched. His children, she knew, and she had almost…. "When I went to sleep they were doing fine. Growing very quickly, little toddlers by now. Julia and Kai are sure to take good care of them."

Riku grinned. "How is everybody?"

Saya smiled back. "Great. Julia and David got married—they're going to have a baby soon. And Kai's doing well. He took me up to sleep, I didn't want the others to know. Lulu… you wouldn't know Lulu," she turned to Solomon, "But she's still alive and doing well."

Solomon smiled and nodded conversationally.

Saya stared down at the table. "Pretty much everybody lived, on my side."

There was a moment of silence, during which a man came out from behind the counter with a platter of food. Surprisingly, it wasn't all for Saya. She got her favorite—boiled eggs and salmon roe. A plate of onigiri was placed in front of Riku, and Solomon graciously received a chicken dish with green beans and yellow peppers. Riku began to devour his immediately, and Saya just stared at him.

Solomon chuckled, beginning to cut up his chicken. "Just a few more questions and then I'll explain."

Saya nodded and began to eat her eggs.

"Whatever became of my brothers?" Solomon asked with a small smile.

Saya poked a piece of roe around her plate. "Well… when Diva died… Nathan… he asked me to kill him. He said this was his exit, and he didn't want to fight me."

Solomon smiled wider. "That sounds like Nathan. And Amshel?" He sounded very concerned about the last.

Saya nodded. "Haji…" but she stopped suddenly, her eyes welling up with tears. "I gave my sword to Haji… and Haji killed Amshel. But…" a single fat tear slid down her face. Solomon frowned, and Riku stopped eating his onigiri to place a hand on her arm. She continued though. "Amshel pinned him to the spot, and I had to leave with the twins because the American government was going to bomb the place…. Haji… Haji died…" she sobbed out the last.

Solomon and Riku stared at each other. "Saya-nee-chan, I don't think Haji's dead."

Saya tried to wipe away her tears, looking down at her little brother. "W-why Riku?"

He glanced at Solomon before answering. "Because he's not here."

That stopped her crying, suddenly. She looked from Riku to Solomon, confused.

"And now I think it is time for us to answer your questions. This place, the Otherside, is where queens go when they sleep. But they can only go here after one of their faithful Chevaliers dies, for it is the fallen Chevaliers' duty to maintain it. It is, I suppose, our reward. We eat, sleep, and can change ourselves and our surroundings." Solomon explained, examining a green bean on his fork.

"Which is why I've grown," Riku interjected.

"Diva spoke of it often upon waking. You see, this is how she maintained her memory from wakening to wakening. She spent her thirty year slumber with only those Chevaliers who had died within her favor."

Saya shuddered a little. "I don't envy her thirty-year vacations with Grigori Rasputin."

Solomon laughed full out, surprised by her response. "Yes, but he was very good at illusion and could become whoever she liked."

Saya took another bite of her eggs, thinking. "But you…"

He grinned. "I must admit I was surprised to find myself here. My suspicions were only confirmed when I found Riku—I knew I had not died in Diva's favor."

She frowned. "But… what happened? I didn't know you…"

He nodded. "When I fought with my brother James, you remember he took your sword?" She nodded. "When he dropped it, it nicked my shoulder, just here," he pointed to the inside of his left shoulder. "At the time it didn't bother me much, but by morning the whole of my left arm was crystallized, and I died shortly thereafter."

Saya put a hand to her mouth. "Oh, god… I'm sorry…"

He shrugged. "It's better here anyway. Even if you weren't aware of my death, I was honored to think that I was in your favor."

She blushed and returned to her eggs. She had been glad that Solomon wanted to help her, and she certainly wasn't going to stop him. She had been more than happy to have him as an ally, but as for his advances…. It had been so long since she had even thought about romance, and then there was Haji of course….

"So…You think Haji survived?" she asked. Her train of thought made sense to her, but to the others it seemed a little random.

"Yes…" Solomon set down his fork, finished with the chicken. "Your first Chevalier is a very resilient chiropteran…." He mused a moment, as if wondering if he should say something. "I was once ordered by Diva to destroy one of her delinquent chevaliers. I of course did not have access to your blood, and so it was a difficult feat. In the end, we discovered it was possible to kill a chevalier by draining his blood and putting him in a position where his wounds will remain open and unable to heal."

Saya gasped quietly.

Solomon tilted his head a little, his eyebrows raised. "It is very uncomfortable, I assure you."

Saya blinked. "You…"

He nodded. "My punishment for appealing to you. Fortunately Nathan thought it would be interesting to 'introduce a plot twist' and let me go."

Saya smiled. "I think he was a good person, considering."

Solomon nodded. "He was probably Diva's best. But as I was saying, short of using your blood, this is the only way to kill a chevalier. However, when we fought at the Zoo, I placed Haji in such a situation. Not only did he live, but he escaped from it without assistance. So I think he is capable of surviving just about anything."

She shuddered. "I never did understand why you two fought so hard."

Solomon stared into his ice water. "I suppose Jealousy is too easy an answer. We had a disagreement as to how best to serve you."

Saya nodded, understanding.

"Whatever became of his promise?" he mused quietly, sipping the water.

She gasped. "How did you know?"

"I guessed," he said with a shrug. Something about the way he looked at you, like you were the most wonderful and painful thing at the same time. I knew what he felt, because I had felt it as well."

Saya laughed a little. "Well, you would be proud of him. He disobeyed me. He wasn't going to, until Kai punched him in his face and demanded that Haji follow his own wishes."

Both Solomon and Riku laughed at that.

"He refused to kill me, or to let me kill the babies…" she trailed off a little. "And then he kissed me." She whispered the last, remembering.

Solomon got very quiet.

Riku, always the one to make things comfortable, turned to Saya with a small smile. "What are the children like? Do they look like me?"

She smiled at his ability to adjust to the situation. "Well, they were still a little young to say when I left. Mostly they look like Diva and me, but I think Irene has your nose."

He tilted his head. "Irene?"

She nodded. "We named the one with blue eyes Julia, because she knew about them first and had been caring for them the longest. The one with brown eyes we named Irene, after a friend of Kai's who helped us form important alliances."

Solomon nodded. "The Schif?" he asked.

"Right. Kai was… he was very fond of her, and Lulu, also one of the Schif, said it would be a good idea because even when she was gone they would be remembered."

Riku nodded. "That makes sense. How is Kai-nii-chan?" he asked excitedly. "Did he end up with Jahana?"

Saya laughed. "Well… you know Jahana, she doesn't play second fiddle to anyone. She's gotten really involved with journalism, I think she means to make it her career. Sometimes she acts like she's going out with Okamura, but I think she's just trying to make Kai jealous."

They laughed.

"Kai's doing really well, actually. He reopened the Omoro, like you wanted."

Riku grinned. "Really?"

As Saya and Riku chatted, Solomon excused himself quietly and left. Saya noticed, but didn't know what she should say. After she had caught Riku up with all the goings-on in Okinawa, though, she wondered if she should have stopped him.

Riku frowned a little at her question. "Solomon… he's a good person, nee-chan. When he found me here I was…" he looked out the window. "I'd been here for a while, and I'd been scared. My fears had turned this place into a nightmare. He helped me learn how to control it, although he was just learning himself. He helped me figure things out, and took care of me really. We talked a lot before you showed up, and he had been really excited to see you. Honestly I think he's got a crush on you." He looked back at her with a mischievous grin.

Saya blushed, and suppressed a smile. "Well… he did propose to me once," she admitted.

His eyes widened. "Wow! He must really love you!"

She smiled sadly, wishing that things were as simple as Riku made it sound. He studied her a moment longer, his grin softening to a pensive stare.

"You don't love him, do you?"

She shook her head. "Not like he wants me to. Riku…" she didn't want to upset him, but it was the only way she knew how to explain it. "What happened between you and Diva…. It would be the same thing."

Riku stared down at the white table cloth. "It's the only way, isn't it? That's what Solomon said when he explained it to me. He said she just wanted to have children, and I could understand that…."

Saya studied her chevalier and little brother. He'd been through so much, and it seemed wrong that he was so matured, but in a small way she was glad he could understand.

He turned to her. "It wouldn't be like that here, not if you didn't want it to," he argued.

"That's true, but…"

Riku grabbed her hand, stopping her. "Saya, you're going to be here for the next 30 years. Can you at least be friends with him?"

She frowned. "Of course we can be friends, I never said…"

"When you woke up and saw him, you looked afraid of him, and you acted like he was the last person you wanted to see in the whole world."

Saya put a hand to her mouth. "I didn't mean it that way."

Riku smiled a little. "I know, but you have to let him know that.

"Oh."

He shoved her a little, playfully, towards the door. "Go talk to him, ok?"

She laughed at his antics. "Alright, alright. I'll try to talk to him."

AN: So, as you can see I'm focusing on what's going on in the Otherside right now, but pretty soon I'm going to start writing what's happening with Julia and Irene too! I think it would be pretty interesting to see what's going on in the real world as well.

Lol, as you might have noticed, I have no freaking clue what the photographer's name is. Or how you're supposed to spell Amshel's name, or whatever. I would highly appreciate anyone who can tell me the answers to these burning questions! Lol.