Author's Note: Ohisashiburi da na. Yeeeergh, there have been so many obstacles to my writing of late. Aside from the usual time constraints and writer's block, several viruses infected my computer and totally killed it for about a month. Luckily, I left notes on what I was going to do with this chapter, so I wasn't completely at a loss when I started writing again.

Once again, the newest chapter is the longest I've written so far...makes me wonder if I need to learn to shut up. Anyway, onto the actual notes: First, this takes place the night before the last chapter, so if it's been so long that you don't remember where the story left off, I don't blame you if you need to go back and look. Second, those of you who have read the yaoi manga Antique Bakery (good read - and scratch and sniff covers to boot!) will recognize Chikage in one of Fred's loyal bodyguards. Sorry, it just seemed to fit. And last, be forewarned of much parentheses abuse - I was toying around with the "space between" part of this theme, and it kind of turned into "reading between the lines".

This chapter's dedicated to all you crazy people who kept reviewing even this long after my last update, because you make me happy and guilty all at the same time. And to Chikage, who really is adorable.

Disclaimer: Still tired of doing these. Sigh. Not mine, not mine at all. Piss off, lawyers.

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The Space Between Dream and Reality

A boy has the right to dream. It is said that anything is possible in dreams, and that the limitations of the real world are what keeps them from coming true. But what of the heartbeat that lies between the world of dreams and the world of limitations? A meeting of the two worlds, however brief, is sometimes all that is needed to bridge the gap between them. A boy has the right to dream – but a man has the right to make them a reality.

The previous night…

Fred stared at the glowing city lights below his perch on the balcony. The deep black of the night sky never reached the face of the planet, chased away by the haze of luminescence of thousands – perhaps hundreds of thousands – of the flashing, flickering, glaring lights littering the surface of Sentinel 3. Up on the balcony outside of Fred's bedroom, the bustling noise of nightlife faded into the background, and the stark midnight breeze rose above everything to caress his face.

Fred felt like crap.

His eyes had long since glazed themselves over to the glittering sights below him, and he remained slumped over the guardrail of the balcony in a miserable stupor. He was so preoccupied with ignoring the world around him that he didn't notice that he was no longer alone – that is, until a soft touch to his shoulder brought him down from space with a jolt.

Startled, he whipped his head around to get a look at the intruders. Black cloth and broad shoulders filled his vision, and he turned back to view of the city with a groan. "What are you two doing here? And don't you ever wear anything besides those suits?"

His two bodyguards, apparently loyal to a fault (and a criminal charge for breaking and entering), exchanged glances veiled by their ever-present sunglasses.

"Master Luo," began the one on the left, the taller of the two. "You don't seem to be your usual energetic self these days."

"And we also wear pajamas at night, but we deemed them to be inappropriate at this time," said the one on the right, the shorter.

"Right, pajamas…" Fred replied absently. Suddenly, he came to himself and craned his neck around to glance at them once again. "You were worried about me?"

Simultaneous nods.

Fred's brows scrunched as he gave them a weak smile. "That's sweet of you, boys, but you didn't have to go to all the trouble and criminal activity just to check on me. I supplied you with private phones, did I not?"

"Yes, you did, Master Luo," the first spoke again. "But we were afraid you might have been asleep."

"We didn't want to take the chance of waking you up," added the second.

Fred grunted softly. "I wouldn't have minded if you had…" he muttered.

Though they said nothing, Fred somehow discerned that the two hulking figures before him were restraining themselves from erupting in righteous anger; they definitely had an idea of what was wrong – or rather, who was causing their young master to lose sleep, that much was clear.

He gave them a serious look. "You know if you do anything to him you'll be cruising the classifieds in no time flat." It wasn't a question, and the two before him knew it. They grudgingly nodded their assent.

Fred held their stares for a moment longer, but then turned back to the cityscape with an unrestrained sigh. He folded his arms on the smooth guardrail and rested his head upon them; all three dropped off into silence.

Fred was thinking, as he had been doing ever since he had awoken abruptly from a rather unpleasant dream – thinking about Gene. Or, more specifically, the faraway future he had hoped to share with Gene.

The dream had started off normally enough: he had had Gene cornered and partially undressed, and things were progressing nicely. But just when it had really begun heating up, the redhead had suddenly stopped reacting and fallen still. Then, to Fred's horror, the man beneath him simply faded away before his eyes.

It wasn't a terribly extraordinary dream, but Fred found it to be one of the worst nightmares he had ever dreamt.

Out there on that balcony, Fred had come to a realization – that the mere thought of losing that brazen, crass, overly confident and inescapably vocal outlaw was enough to make his heart seize in fear. In all actuality, it hadn't taken him longer than a minute to come to that realization. What he had been losing sleep over was the unanswerable question that still plagued his mind, even at this very minute: How had he fallen so deeply in love with a person who still couldn't even begin to reciprocate those feelings?

But maybe that wasn't an entirely true sentiment… After convincing young Jim that helping him to close the gap between himself and his beloved was a worthwhile venture, creating situations beneficial to the progression of their relationship became easier by far. But though Fred enjoyed getting to play out whatever scheme for romance he could come up with, and though Jim assured him that they were making positive strides, Fred couldn't help the feeling of emptiness and of the strain of wasted effort that settled in the back of his mind and made his heart heavy.

Even if he had made progress with Gene, this current method of cat-and-mouse could only take them so far together, and not anywhere near the reaches that Fred desired. The everyday connections to Gene he usually took comfort in had, of late, only left him needing more than they could offer. Mooning over the occasional, accidental brush of hands; discovering that they had yet another trivial trait in common; most of all, those fervent, heated dreams of his that caused him to awaken to general distress (and more often than not a trip to the linen closet). These were all small pieces of his relationship with Gene that he could keep locked in his memory, to be taken out and admired when he was feeling low.

But now… Well, now they were getting more and more to be those things that brought him down.

How many times had he told, convinced, and reassured himself that he was okay with the way things were with Gene? That limiting the extent of their bond to that of 'just friends', and quietly (and sometimes blatantly) admiring from afar (and sometimes at quite a short distance) would be enough?

Somewhere in the back of his mind (and the front of his pants) he always knew that it would never be enough – not by a long shot. But there had always been the risk of going too far over the line with Gene, of making too heavy an advance or some other mistake that would cost him their friendship. And that had never been a risk worth taking. Even a little bit of Gene was better than none at all.

At least, it hadn't been a risk worth taking until now.

As good a schemer as Fred was, he had not foreseen that getting closer to Gene would adversely affect anyone other than the cocky redhead…well, maybe his shipmates; but certainly not himself. But the teasing touches and surprise kisses hadn't just gotten under Gene's skin – finally allowing himself to take such liberties with the man had lit a fire in Fred, one that had grown to blaze through his very blood so hot that at times he felt like clawing it out from under his skin.

He had always made it a point to tell Gene that he drove him crazy; he just had never had any idea how close to going over the edge that man would unintentionally push him.

He was convinced that it was his own fault, really. He had given in, had crossed that hated line between 'just friends' and 'more than friends' enough times that he had began hoping for that which had always seemed hopeless. He had taken the first breaching step, the one which caused the desperate dreams of his lonely nights to begin to bleed into the very real light of day. And now that it had started, there was no going back, for his heart nor his sanity. And now that they had reached this desolate stagnation, he could only come to one conclusion:

It was now all or nothing.

They could never go back to the comfortable friendship that had kept them together through their younger days. Things could not be allowed to stay as maddeningly inconclusive as they currently stood, with the both of them circling each other nervously, desperate to counter whatever step the other might take. That only left one other option – to leave all qualms, doubts, and fears in the dust, and reach for the dream that no longer seemed so impossible.

If things went badly, it would all end. Fred didn't kid himself that he'd be able to get over it, no matter how much time would pass – he had only ever loved one man. Well, in the metaphysical sense, anyway. That would never change, even if he might indulge in the occasional fling or one night stand after things ended with Gene.

If things went well… Well, what more could he ever ask for?

Fred issued a faint, but somewhat pleased, grunt at the thought. His two bodyguards, quite forgotten for the last fifteen minutes or so, snapped themselves back to attention at the small sign of life from their master.

"Sir? Master Luo, are you alright?"

A half smile crept along Fred's lips. Still gazing out at Sentinel 3's shining nightlife, he spoke in a voice much more suited to him than his previously unaffected tone. "I'll be quite alright, boys. Thank you both for worrying about me, though…for always worrying about me. But you know, you won't have to do that for very much longer. I've come to a decision."

"Master Luo…?" They prompted him again when Fred fell silent.

He finally turned completely around to face them, rewarding them both with his first honest smile in days. "I am going to be with Gene. From this day on, and always – until he ultimately and thoroughly rejects me, or ultimately and thoroughly accepts me, come hell or high space pirates."

The jaws of both of the stern men before him dropped, then struggled to begin forming words.

"I see I've left you speechless," Fred began, spurring himself on to explain before they could gather their wits enough to protest. "Please, before you start, I know neither of you think he's any good for me, and that you never say anything about it because…well, because you don't want to cause me pain by doing so. I appreciate all of that, I really do. But now, I want you to understand that I need to do this – for myself.

"If things stay the way they are…." Here the proud, sometimes haughty and certainly steadfast merchant had to lower his head against the sudden sinking feeling that came with the unfinished thought. "Things can't stay the way they are," he finished firmly.

His announcement was met with even more silence, and all three simply stared at each other for a few moments. Then, quite suddenly, the slightly shorter of the two bodyguards bit his lip, released what could only be described as a somewhat restrained whimper, then proceeded to start unabashedly bawling.

Fred stood dumbstruck, gaping at his utterly discomposed underling. Then the taller of the two in black rested a comforting but firm hand on the shoulder heaving with sobs, and Fred's mouth hung open.

"Ah–!" the blindsided merchant started, working to get a hold of his senses. "Ah, um…a-are you alright?" True concern coloured his question, which was probably the only thing that forced the bawling bodyguard to pull himself together enough to respond.

"M-Master Luo!" he wailed, brandishing a clenched fist and fighting back distressed hiccups. "H-how can you think (hic)… We've both been so (hic) worried about you, and to come here and find you perched on the edge of your b-balcony…!" He took a deep breath and scrubbed away at the trails of tears coursing down his face and sniffed somewhat forlornly. "We – we thought the worst was about to happen. Even if we c-can't stand to watch you waste away with your unrequited love… Even if we don't think that…that man is good enough for you, how can you think that we wouldn't support you in whatever choices you make!"

The silent pillar of strength (and possibly marble) beside him pulled out a prudently pressed handkerchief and handed it over. While the distraught bodyguard noisily blew his nose and otherwise violated the pure white cloth, Fred slowly came to grips with the depths of his subjects' love and loyalty for their master; he suddenly felt very silly.

"I'm sorry for making you worry all the time and causing you both such grief," he said quite sincerely, head lowered just a little in shame. He slowly lifted his gaze, though, and gave them an embarrassed smile. "I'm starting to think you two are too good for me as well."

Both bodyguards suddenly became identically impassioned, adopting the same harried and affronted posture and speaking as one. "Never! We aren't too good for you, and neither is that red-headed insurance liability!"

Fred gawked at them both for a beat, then suddenly let out a tinkling laugh. "Insurance liability! I've never thought about it that way before, but it's so true… Oh, I can't stand it…" He chuckled again, closed the short distance between himself and his guards, and laid a hand on each one's shoulder. "Honestly, you two give me a more difficult time about Gene than my own father. But I am happy for your support, whatever degree of reluctance it may have, because you should know that I plan to go to him tomorrow."

"Tomorrow!"

"But M-Master Luo–!"

Fred held up his hands for quiet. "I know you can't understand why I love Gene, but the fact is that I do. That won't change, so we all need to just get used to it. Even if you don't understand anything else, please at least see that this is the only thing I can do now, and to delay wouldn't benefit anyone."

Both bodyguards grew gravely silent, and then visibly steeled their nerves. "Please do your best, sir," the taller of the two said quietly, while the other could only nod.

"Thank you, and I certainly will," Fred responded in kind. "Now, if you two are quite satisfied with my well-being and will to live, I would rather like to get whatever sleep I can. We're starting early tomorrow, so bring the car around here at seven."

"Yes, sir, and thank you, sir!" They both bowed to Fred, who bowed his head in return, much to the shock of his guards. They turned on their heels and strode back into Fred's room, shutting the door to the balcony behind them.

Fred turned slowly to face the city yet again. This time, however, it didn't look to him like an entire world moving on without him – instead, it seemed to sparkle with renewed resolve, each one of the thousands of points of light trying its damnedest to reach the stars that would outshine them until long after they burnt out.

"Insurance liability, huh…."

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"…Nn…"

…

"Fred….

…

"…Fred…?"

Gene shot up, startled out of sleep. He sat still for some time, trying to catch his gasping breath while the moonlight and the streetlamp outside gleamed different colours on skin that was damp with sweat.

Unconsciously, his fingers found his lips and felt them softly – they were still tingling.

Did…did I just… What did I just dream!

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Hidden in the dark on the sofa-bed below Gene's loft, Jim's eyebrow twitched compulsively. While he was glad he no longer had to hear the moans of the man he thought of as his older (and dumber) brother, he had not prepared himself to deal with the effects of Fred's advances on Gene so early on in the game.

With a quiet sigh, he rolled over and threw the covers over his head, all the while despondently recalculating Fred's odds, and how many more awkward nights he'd have to endure.