Thomas was silent as he remained alone at the dinner table after Heero had left the room and Duo had chased after him. Why did his new father always want to please that guy Heero? Why was he so special? There was nothing about the man that Thomas even remotely liked, and he knew nothing would change his mind.

Yet the orphan also realized that with that kind of mentality he would never even be able to learn to accept Heero. If he didn't then life would be a living hell with Duo always attempting to be on his good side. Yet his new father wasn't the only person in the castle that Thomas noticed was always kind to Heero even when the man wasn't so kind in return.

All of the servants and maids always bowed to him or at least averted their eyes to the ground in his presence. The chef Hilde, Sally, and Duo all loved Heero for some unknown and odd reason that was invisible to Thomas. Perhaps the man just didn't like to be around kids?

No... It seemed like something much more than that, and Thomas didn't even feel like those unreadable negative thoughts were directed at him per se... Actually Heero seemed to associate whatever loathing he had for children to be more at himself instead of Thomas. This just ended up confusing the boy even more than before once that realization hit him.

After a few minutes of sitting alone with all of the uneaten food making Thomas' stomach go into knots Duo finally returned. He almost noticed immediately as his father sat down that he seemed more upset than before.

"Daddy, are you okay?" Thomas asked without really meaning to.

Duo looked over at him and gave him a grin, "I'm fine. I just don't think we're going to town tonight. Maybe tomorrow night, but right now I'm just exhausted. Why don't we head off to bed? If we wake up early tomorrow, I'll take you out to the garden again."

Thomas really wanted to go out in the garden again because of the tranquility it brought him. As soon as he'd left the castle earlier that day and just had the chance to wander through the wonderful maze of nature he'd found some peace. For most children they probably wouldn't have found such a thing as peace in some garden, and most likely would've found boredom and ended up destroying some of the life.

"Sure! I can't wait to go out there again with you, Daddy!" He feigned complete enthusiasm that he currently lacked.

The whole reason Thomas always tried to act so childish was because he knew adults weren't capable of comprehending that children could be deep. Their whole life wasn't about rainbows and fantasies that would never come true, but Thomas had never met anyone who'd ever understood that.

Maybe that's why he found peace in that garden, because there he felt no one would judge him. The only living things there was him, Duo, and the plant life around him that just silently accepted everything that was happening around them. The flowers didn't question his true self, and the trees didn't deny him the ability to think beyond a normal child.

Duo took hold of Thomas' hand very gently as if he was afraid he'd shatter the orphan's hand in an instant. That was why the boy tightened his grip on his father to prove he wasn't as fragile as everyone seemed to believe him to be. Still the pale hand grasping his was just as limp as before, and Thomas knew that it wasn't about him. Duo was just in one of those trances where he wasn't really there, and even though he had been the one to offer his hand to the orphan Duo no longer could feel the boy.

As they navigated through the corridors together, Thomas felt like their roles should be reversed for some reason. Usually parents would never show such a vulnerable state to their child, but that's when the reality really hit him.

Duo wasn't his father; the man's blood wasn't inside of Thomas' veins to where they were forever bonded. Instead it was the blood of two hateful parents that had abandoned him on the street corner on his fifth birthday.

Thomas felt his body go numb remembering the hopeful feeling he had when he watched them walk away from him. Both of them told him to wait here for his birthday present, and at the time it hadn't occurred to him that responsible parents didn't leave young children alone on the street.

He felt his hand fall to his side, but Duo continued walking without even stopping for a split second to realize the orphan's absence. Thomas could feel tears about to flow, but he forced himself to stop and then caught back up with Duo.

He didn't try to take ahold of Duo's hand again.

----

Duo didn't remember falling asleep, didn't remember going to his room, didn't remember Thomas being with him, and couldn't understand how it was already morning. The last thing he did remember was that Heero had shot down all hopes Duo had of ever enjoying a semi-normal family relationship between the three of them.

He'd hoped that Heero and he could be the parents of Thomas since it was obvious neither of them were getting pregnant anytime soon. But there was a simple fact that had shattered this dream.

And that was that real life didn't happen in such a way. Perhaps in one of those fictional novels Quatre constantly read all day the sort of thing would happen where Heero would be angry at first, but in the end all three of them would live happily ever after.

What was happily ever after?

The books always ended saying they lived happily ever after, but what did that consist of? Nice dinners where everyone would talk of their day and laugh at all their little mistakes? Or was it more like reality?

Did everyone put on the façade of loving each other, but secretly loathe one another? That would be reality's happily ever after, and no matter how much you could sugarcoat the truth, there was no avoiding the fact. In the end Duo knew that his life would come to an end, but he'd never thought of how the part between this moment and that second before he would pass away.

What would the rest of his life be like? How long would the rest of his life be?

As he got out of bed, Duo put all of those thoughts behind him and tried to focus. The half-vampire had promised Thomas to take him out to the garden last night, and Duo intended to fulfill that promise yet when he looked over at the orphan he was still fast asleep.

Instead of disturbing Thomas, the half-vampire left the room in search of some company or someone who would at least listen to his feelings. The first person that came to mind was a certain blonde vampire who usually lived in the library and surrounded himself with books.

"Quatre will help me figure everything out... after all he always has his life together even when the world is crumbling around him." Duo walked into the library and looked at the table where the blonde vampire would usually sit. Much to his surprise he found the seat to be vacant and the room completely undisturbed. "Maybe he's in his room. I know he hasn't slept for a couple of days so most likely he's just playing catch-up today."

Duo wasn't actually intending on waking up the vampire if he did find the blonde asleep, but he just wanted to find Quatre. As he quickened his pace he found himself at the door of Quatre's room, and carefully he cracked the door just enough so he could stick his head inside.

Quatre wasn't here either, but if he wasn't in either of his favorites spots... Then where was he?

----

Heero had wasted his night just sitting out in the garden and wondering what had driven him to save the young woman. In his opinion it was better to just not meddle when it came to other vampires and their business. Yet he had, and he couldn't even explain why.

Perhaps it was that terrified look that he'd always ignored before meeting Duo, but after living with Duo for a while he'd come to regret what he'd done to some of his victims. The vampire couldn't even remember how it had come up in conversation, but there was one time that Duo had mentioned it.

----

"Do you make all of your victims into servants? Or do you just kill them?" Duo asked while watching Heero try to sleep. "Every time I've heard vampire stories all the people just end up dying and all that dramatic crap."

Heero tried not to be irritated with Duo, because he'd actually grown accustomed to this game of questions every night. "Duo... I'm trying to sleep. Why don't you do the same?"

Amethyst eyes met Prussian blue eyes and there was a moment of tense silence.

"You shouldn't avoid the question Heero, it just makes it seem like you have something to hide."

The vampire turned his head to look at Duo and frowned. "I don't kill all of them and not all of them are servants either. Is that a good enough answer for you?"

Heero knew it wasn't, but the half-vampire didn't reply. Instead he situated himself to where he was facing Heero, but didn't even look at him again that whole night. Yet it was obvious that Duo wanted to say ask the question, but knew there would never be an answer.

----

He wasn't able to think about what happened the rest of that night because he was interrupted by Quatre. The blonde casually sat beside Heero as if there was no reason for him to actually be there besides wanting to. Of course it was obvious that Quatre was here for a reason, but he was good at making it seem like he wasn't.

Neither of them spoke for a few more minutes as both just watched the moon be constantly covered by clouds and then manage to escape being smothered for just a moment. After what seemed like an eternity, Quatre finally voiced his concern to Heero.

"I need to leave this place Heero. I need to find my own place in the world, and my own partner to keep the darkness from consuming me." The blonde spoke as if he was asking for nothing more than to walk to town, but Heero knew most likely the blonde wouldn't ever come back.

Knowing that Duo wasn't going to be nearly as understanding as he was, Heero hesitated in allowing Quatre to leave. "You realize that most likely you'll never see us again?"

This seemed to catch the blonde vampire off-guard, but Quatre quickly redeemed his composure. "Duo can't understand what I'm going through right now like you can. You went through all of this not so long ago and know how difficult like is to be alone knowing that someone is out there just for you."

Heero couldn't argue against that statement as it was a fact that he had gone through everything Quatre was, but for much longer. There were several years where the vampire had even believed he was doomed to be alone forever, but that fortune-teller had given him the hope he'd needed to survive those extra few years on his own.

"You are now free to find your own partner, home, and whatever you need to attain in this world Quatre." Heero stood up as he removed whatever ties he had to this castle so that the blonde vampire would not feel the need to return here without having accomplished his mission. "I will give you the option to say goodbye to everyone or not. It is your choice."

Quatre smiled like his old self, the person Heero hadn't seen for months now, and it calmed the vampire. Perhaps no one could really explain why Quatre had morphed into an almost completely different person ever since becoming a full vampire, but Heero had always suspected his own darkness was growing fast.

Without looking back at Quatre the vampire entered the castle and headed towards the kitchen. He knew that the blonde most likely hadn't thought to pack any blood for him to feed on when there was no food source nearby. Once he'd told Hilde what he needed, the chef already knew what was going on. She knew someone was leaving, but didn't know who for sure.

Still she went ahead and gave Heero the blood he needed for the person leaving, and Heero at once returned to the garden. Quatre was still there, as if he knew that Heero had wanted him to wait, but once the blonde received the blood he went immediately inside.

"You'll have to forgive me Duo... I know you probably won't be able to understand what he's going through right now, but I'll explain everything to you soon enough."

----

Quatre left immediately after Heero gave him the extra blood, but didn't have the heart to say goodbye to everyone knowing he might never see them again. Especially Duo, since the blonde owed the half-vampire his life for taking care of him. In the end, Quatre wasn't sure whether it would've been better to say goodbye to everyone or just leave.

So he chose to just leave. Not that the blonde didn't feel bad about leaving without giving any notice, but he wasn't sure if he was capable of handling saying goodbye to the people he'd come to love as a family.

Which had made him remember his true family, not as a vampire, but as the human Quatre Winner. This had brought the blonde to the mansion he used to call home, but since it was he middle of the night no one was awake. Not that Quatre had honestly expected anyone to be, but he just hoped to at least get a glimpse of his father.

The thing that caught Quatre by surprise was he found one room with someone still awake. As he carefully snuck around the edge of the house, Quatre was able to catch a quick glimpse of who was inside. It was his oldest sister still awake and apparently she had been crying, yet there was no way Quatre could ever know why.

If he dared to reveal himself as a creature of the night, then he would only give his family even more pain. Yet it was hard to restrain himself from just going down there and at least looking at his sister one last time. She was always so empathetic to him during his childhood, and Quatre remembered that despite their large age difference she was always there for him.

At least he would find comfort that the family is moving on with their lives instead of dwelling on his disappearance and his other sister Elena's death. Both were horrible tragedies for any family to experience, but you couldn't always dwell on the past. Just as he turned to leave Quatre noticed from the corner of his eye that his sister had looked up towards where he had just been.

Before she was at the window, Quatre was already gone and had flitted back to the main road out of town. Even though he hadn't been able to see his father, at least the blonde could be satisfied with a glimpse of his favorite sister. As he continued walking away from his hometown, Quatre began to wonder whether this was really the right choice to make.

Then again, if he didn't go for his chance with Trowa then there would never be another time. Humans aged much faster than Quatre had ever realized before becoming a vampire, and made it obvious that there was no better time than the present to find the person for him. The vampire had sworn not to make the same mistake as Heero had, though it was debatable whether it really was a mistake.

In the end he'd managed to find Duo... so could it be considered a bad thing he'd waited so long?

Actually Quatre couldn't imagine Duo and Heero separated with the kind of bond they share. The blonde vampire was sure now that Heero most likely wouldn't have found salvation without Duo Maxwell by his side. This was the fate that Quatre could say he hoped would happen with him and Trowa.

He hoped that the vampire hunter and him would have as great as a relationship as Duo and Heero shared. Even when they were constantly arguing like they were recently, it was still obvious that both were willing to sacrifice for one another.

Even if it wasn't something extremely great, they would always accept whatever one gave. That's what Quatre wanted in his life, and he was just thankful that he would not have to suffer as long as Heero had.

----

Sally had decided to do her rounds for the night as everything seemed to eerily silent in the castle. As she walked around she found all of the servants going about the chores quietly, Duo had turned in early with Thomas leaving the castle even more uneventful, and with Heero out there was hardly any commotion.

It was nights like these that she was able to truly find a sense of solitude among all the chaos of her daily life. Even Hilde the chef had gone to her room to enjoy a few rare hours of free time in which she decided to spend doing things Sally didn't know about. Which, oddly enough, Sally found herself wandering towards Hilde's private quarters without really meaning to.

Her body just took her in that general direction, and in all honesty Sally didn't feel like resisting. There was something about the chef that Sally had taken an honest liking to, and she was one of the servants in the castle that Sally really liked. And wasn't afraid to admit it to anyone either.

As she found herself in the long corridor leading towards the servants' living area, Sally stopped and tried to force herself to go the opposite way. Reminding herself that Heero had been kind enough to giver her a room all to herself, Sally was struggling with making herself go back to it.

Instead of checking out the servants living arrangements, Sally knew she deserved a good night's rest (along with a full day's). But something wasn't allowing her to turn back and go away from Hilde's room.

While internally fighting her urge to see Hilde, Sally was startled as somebody's hand landed on her shoulder. She whipped around to see who it was, and found the somewhat petite chef directly beside her.

"Are you alright Ms. Sally? Would you like to sit down and have something to drink? You look absolutely exhausted." Hilde smiled and lead Sally towards the kitchen which the blonde hadn't even noticed was right beside her. "Sit down over here, and I'll be right back."

"Don't worry about me Hilde, I'll be fine. I just need to go get a few extra hours of sleep, Duo and his new arrival just kept me up all day." Sally tried not to look like she was in a hurry out of the kitchen, but as soon as she was out she took her chance to get as far away as possible.

----

Hello once again readers! I hope you've had a glorious weekend! My weekend hasn't been all that great, but hopefully all of you guys have had a better time.

Once again, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter!

Please R & R!

Shari Maxwell