Disclaimer: I do not own Trinity Blood or any of the characters.

Through the Remnants of the Night

Abel had left the two young Methuselah in a vacant bedroom with two beds, dressers though they had no clothes with which to put in it, and a bath room across from the door with a small balcony opposite the beds.

Ion had taken to pacing around in front of the glass doors, his hands locked behind his back and his gaze stuck to the ground. Esther sat on the edge of the bed nearest to him and just watched, wondering she could possibly do to help him.

Finally, Ion stopped his marathon pacing and turned to look at Esther. He simply stood there watching her. She met his gaze evenly, not blinking nor looking away.

What happened next was a surprise to Esther as Ion moved forward quickly and embraced her tightly against his chest. He held her like that for the longest time, his hand resting on the back of her head keeping her close.

"Esther… If I lose you… I will have truly lost everything…" Ion whispered to her.

So this is what he was thinking about all this time? Esther wondered to herself returning his embrace, and she realized they only had each other now. She had been so calm, so collected with Father Nightroad around to lift her spirits, but the reality of the situation came crashing down on her.

"Ion…" Esther began, tightening her hold around his waist, her lip trembling. "… you won't… y… you won't leave me will you?" Her voice cracked as tears rolled down her cheeks. Ion said nothing for a minute, simply holding her as she cried.

"Of course not Esther… I will never leave you, but you must promise to stay safe and to always stay close to either myself or Father Nightroad…" Ion told her quietly, knowing should he fail to protect her, surely that priest could.

Ion still didn't know what the hell it was that the Father had transformed into, but surely if he was on their side, he could keep Esther safe. Right now, that was the only thing that matter at all to him.

"Please Esther, please don't cry anymore…" Ion said, swallowing his own tears, trying to stay strong for her. Lightly he ran his fingers through her hair, she always seemed so much older, but in this very moment Esther revealed just how young she still was. Ion had almost forgotten that he was the older one, and he cared a great deal about the young Methuselah in his arms, more than he wanted to give thought to.

Even if they did manage to save Mirka from the Terrans, there would be no life for him with out Esther.

"Come we should get some rest." Ion said as Esther calmed down, her tears reduced to small sniffles.

"Yea…" Esther whispered a bit tiredly as she crawled under the covers of the bed. Ion went to get into the other bed but was stopped by a hand clutching his sleeve. "Please… Just… just sit with me until I fall asleep…" Esther pleaded. Ion couldn't say no to her. He complied by lying down on top of the covers with his arms behind his head.

Abel smiled gently, cracking the door opened to Ion and Esther's room. The sight before him was truly endearing. Little Esther curled up to Ion's side, both sound asleep. Closing the door, Abel took a sip of his tea returning to Caterina's chambers for a meeting with the members of AX to discuss their next move.

Esther smiled as she finished telling that section of the story. "I really should have told you then, how much I worried about you..." Ion shook his head, his arm still wrapped around her shoulders under their tree.

"Perhaps things would not have turned out the way they did if you had... Though so much had happened, it still turned out well in the end, and I wouldn't change anything in fears of ruining that..." Ion said quietly.

"True... there may be one thing I could have changed... but enough of this... There is still a lot of story to finish retelling..." Esther smiled if all but a bit sadly. "Care to continue for me?" She asked, knowing he would.

"But of course..." Ion said calmly, starting to talk of the next morning...

Author's Note:

Okay, another chapter out. Not very long, but neither are the others. This is just a quick update before I really get into the events to come. Just some fluff not supposed to be taken sexually; we'll get to that later. As always thank you to all who review, and I apologize for all errors that slip my eye.