Love Struck

Be careful what you wish for...

Ashura remembered the first day he ever wished for a child.

It had always been terribly lonely in the castle that he resided in. But that was to be expected, as there was hardly anyone left in it. The only inhabitants of the Castle were the servants that wondered the halls, and his wife that he rarely saw anymore.

Their marriage had been more for political reasons then for love, but then again that was how it was supposed to be in a royal marriage. Or that is what Ashura had always been taught.

Life seemed to be gone from the castle, and he often reminisced about the days when there was life in the castle. But that seemed so long ago in his mind.

He remembered the first time he'd realized that a child would bring said life back to everyone in the castle.

He recalled the first time he'd ever held a baby in his arms, and while he hadn't understood why everyone was making such a fuse over the babe at the time, he had felt the happiness in the room.

"If only I could have a child. One that would bring life back to this damned castle…" He muttered, miserably.

"Do you desire a child?" A voice suddenly came from behind him.

Ashuras eyes widened and he whirled around quickly. Before him stood a man in bizarre clothing, the likes of which Ashura had never seen. The man wore a large hat atop of his head, and his overly long silver hair was tied into a high ponytail. He was smiling but his ice blue eyes held no warmth in them.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?!" Ashura roared. This was his private study and he had made it clear to the guards that no one, not even his wife was allowed in here.

"Don't be alarmed by me. I'm here to give to you that which you desire." The mans voice was barely above a whisper, but it seemed to almost echo against the walls. He reached inside his coat and pulled out a small glass bottle.

Ashura stared warily at the bottle and the man; he could just make out a small seed-like object resting in the bottom of the glass.

"Oh noble king," the man whispered, the taunting in his voice was hard to catch. "It is a child you want correct?"

The man continued before Ashura could say anything else. "With this 'seed' you can have any kind of child that you desire." The man suddenly tossed the bottle, but Ashura managed to catch it with expert skill.

He glanced inside the glass at the tiny seed. He wondered if the man could possibly be telling the truth, but he felt a strange sense of trust towards the man.

"Have your wife, or whoever you wish as long as they're female, swallow the seed and you will have your child. However, there is a catch… If your child has a miserable life, it will turn once more to a seed, and return to me."

Ashura glanced up sharply, but the man was already gone. The king glanced back at the seed, and wondered if it was really worth it. He was no fortune teller, he couldn't predict if his child would lead a happy life or not.

But as he gazed at the seed, he felt a sense of fondness come over him, and he made his decision.

He would give the seed to his wife, and he would try his best to keep his child happy at all costs.

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A month or two later it was announced to the whole country that the queen was pregnant. And already Ashura was seeing signs of joy returning to the castle. Even his wife seemed happier, as she was getting around the castle more. But even Ashura knew that soon she wouldn't be able to leave her bed chambers at all.

In the months of Her Majesties pregnancy, Ashura busied himself with making preparations for the baby's room. He wanted it to be perfect for his son or daughter. Ashura wasn't like most royals he didn't care if his child was a boy or a girl, his love for the babe would never change.

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Finally after what seemed like forever, the baby was finally born. It was a healthy baby boy.

Ashura leaned in bringing his face closer to his new born sons. The child smiled up at him with bright blue eyes and attempted to grab at one of his fathers long black strands of hair.

It was Ashura who had named the boy. His name was Fai.

His son had white-blond hair with light blue eyes, traits which neither of his parents possessed. His mother had golden blond hair and green eyes, while Ashura had black hair and gold eyes.

But while the baby looked nothing like the both of them, and Ashura suspected that maybe his wife had had a lover on the side, it didn't change the fact that Ashura would always love Fai. No matter what.

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A couple of years passed, and the time of changing diapers changed to teaching young Fai to potty train came faster than Ashura would have thought it would.

Ashura was amazed by how much a child really could bring joy to so many people's lives, even after the death of the late queen; Fais mother.

Fai never ceased to amaze Ashura. He spent every moment he possibly could with the boy, taking in his cute habits, and his ability to change his attention to something else fast, and somehow completely forget the first thing.

"Papa!" Fai yelled in delight, when Ashura entered his room. Ashura chuckled as Fai came running over to him, his short, chubby, legs making it hard to get anywhere fast. Ashura leaned down and scooped Fai up in his arms, chuckling again at the giggles of delight coming from the toddler.

He set Fai down once more, and ran his fingers through the boy's hair. Fai leaned into his fathers touch and seemed to purr from the attention he was receiving.

"Papa! Pway?" Fai asked, grabbing a hold of his fathers' wrist and attempted to tug him over to the pile of toys he'd been playing with earlier.

Ashura let himself be pulled along, chuckling all the while.

Fai never ceased to amuse him.

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"Dad! I'm bored!" An eight year old Fai whined to his father, whose lap he was currently sitting in. "I want some kids my age to play with." He said with a pout.

"Oh do you now?" Ashura asked with a chuckled. His arms were looped lightly around his sons' waist, who was absentmindedly playing with his fathers hands, a habit that he still hadn't grown out of.

"Yes I do." Fai responded, his lips pursing a bit more.

Ashura mock gasped. "H-has it finally happened? Does my son no longer no longer love me?" He whispered brokenly, but Fai knew that his dad was joking.

He giggled, when Ashura started tickling his belly. "D-Dad! N-no s-stop it!" he choked out between giggles, trying to squirm away from his fathers grasp.

"Why would I do such a thing? This is too much fun." Ashura smirked, still tickling his sons' sides, but finally relented after a few seconds.

Fai lay on the bed, panting, he had finally managed to get away from his father at the very last moment. "I love you dad!" He chirped, sitting up, and hugging his dad around his waist.

Ashura returned the hug, and placed a tender kiss to his sons' forehead. "I know you do son, and I love you too. I'll see what I can do about getting you some play buddies."

"Yay!"

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True to his word, Ashura brought in a play mate for Fai, the next day. It was a kid of around eleven years old, who was the son of one of Ashuras most trusted servants.

"Fai I brought someone for you to play with." Ashura called, opening the door to Fai's room. Fai blinked and looked up at his dad, from the place he sat amongst all his toys, curiously.

Ashura glanced to his side, to where the older boy was hiding. He did not look like he wanted to be there at all. Ashura rolled his eyes, wondering if his son would even get along with the grumpy kid.

He grabbed the kids shoulder, and pushed him into the room. The boy stumbled, but managed to right himself. He crossed his tan arms over his chest, and glared at a random spot on the wall.

"Fai this is Kurogane," Ashura introduced, placing a hand lightly on Kuroganes shoulder. "Kurogane this is Fai."

Kurogane glace over at the blond for a split second, before returning his attention back to the spot on the wall. He really didn't want to be here, but his father had practically forced him to come and play with the prince. Kurogane, like most people, had never met the prince, and also like most people assumed the eight year old to be a rich snob.

Fai grinned taking in Kuroganes appearance. He'd never seen anyone like him. He was obviously older then Fai, with disheveled black hair, with dark red eyes and tan skin.

Fai stood up, marched over to the boy, and planted himself where Kurogane would have no choice but to look at him. "Kuro-sama!" Fai chirped, causing both Ashura and Kurogane to blink in surprise. "Let's play together!" He said grabbing Kuroganes wrist, and pulling the still shocked Kurogane off towards his toy pile.

Ashura furrowed his eyebrows. Fai had never acted like that before; he was usually shy around strangers. Ashura glanced warily between his son and Kurogane, who was now yelling at Fai for not calling him by his real name.

Ashura had a feeling that things between him and Fai would never be the same again, and he knew that it would be because of Kurogane Suwa.

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"Dad…?" a now ten year old Fai whispered quietly. He was lying in bed next to his father, in his large bed. It wasn't often that Fai would ask his father to spend the night in his room, but Ashura was all too happy to comply.

"What is it son?" He asked, rolling onto his side so he could face Fai.

Fai was silent for a moment longer before he buried his face in his pillow. "I haff a queffion…" he mumbled into his pillow.

"I can't hear you son, you're going to have to take your face out of your pillow."

Fai pouted, but turned his head to face his father, glaring lightly at him. He'd been doing that quite often now a days, glaring that is. Ashura assumed that it was because Kurogane did that quite often, and that Fai just wanted to have something in common with the older teen.

"I have a question…" Fai mumbled again.

Ashura smiled lightly, and played absentmindedly with a strange of Fais long hair, that now reached to his mid back. "Well lets hear it then,"

"Okay but you have to promise you wont came to… condusions?" Fai scrunched his face up, knowing that that wasn't the word that he was supposed to be saying. But he couldn't remember what exactly the word was….

Ashura furrowed his eyebrows. "Conclusions?" He supplied, hoping that was the word his son was going for.

"Yeah that!" Fai cheered, his whole face brightening. "You have to promise you won't do that!"

Ashura chuckled again. "Okay I won't jump to conclusions. Now what's your question?"

"Ummm… Well… Today I was playing with two of my boy dolls, and I made them be with each other, you .know like a guy and a girl are supposed to be. But Kurogane said that that wasn't how it was supposed to go. That only a guy and a girl could be together, not two guys or two girls, so I was just wondering. Is it wrong for two guys to be together?" Fai finished quickly, his face burning. He was slightly panting from how fast he'd said all that.

Ashura blinked, he'd never heard Fai talk so fast, so it took a few seconds for his question to process. "Hmm… That's a good question son… And one that isn't so easily answered. You see a lot of people have different opinions on that matter."

"D-do you think its wrong dad?" Fai asked, in a small whisper.

Ashura thought hard for a moment. "No I don't," He finally answered truthfully. "If two people really and truly love each other, then gender shouldn't matter, to them or to the rest of the world."

Fai grinned up at his dad. "Thanks dad," He said, cuddling up to his fathers chest.

"Anytime son," Ashura said, wrapping his arms around the boy.

Fai was soon fast asleep in his fathers' arms.

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"Hey I told you to stop doing that didn't I?" Kurogane snapped, taking one of the boy dolls away from Fai. "It's disturbing!"

Fai pouted up at Kurogane. "But Kuro-chan!" He whined, trying to reach for his toy back, but Kurogane held it higher our of his reach. "My dad said it was okay…" He mumbled, and finally stopped trying to reach for his toy.

Kurogane faltered for a second, if the king said it wasn't wrong… But he quickly shook his head. "Your fathers just trying to keep you happy, you spoiled brat."

Fai huffed. "I'm not spoiled…" He said with a pout.

Kurogane rolled his eyes, and finally gave Fai his toy back. "Sure you aren't…"

"I'm not!" Fai said, yanking the toy away from Kurogane, and holding it to his chest, as if to protect it from the teen.

Kurogane ruffled Fai hair, affectionately. He had to admit that the young prince had grown on him, after all these years.

Fai giggled, and grinned up at Kurogane. "You're cute, Kuro-pii!" He chirped, and managed to dunk in time to miss the swing that would have caved in his face.

An all out chase ensued.

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"Dad! I want to cut my hair!" Fai yelled, and he barged into his Fathers room. Ashura looked up from his paperwork. He was surprised that he son had barged into his room, but not at all surprised by why he did it.

The boy was now twelve, and his hair almost reached down to his butt. And Ashura had heard the conversation his son had had with Kurogane that morning.

In fact the teens words still echoed in his mind. "Fai you're hairs too long! You're not a girl damn it so stop trying to look like one!

His son had of course, at the time, defended himself, by saying that his father had long hair so why couldn't he have his long?

"Alright son, if that's what you want." He said stretching the 'you'.

Fai blushed for a second. "I do want to cut it!" He declared. "I want it to reach just above my shoulders." Fai really did like his hair to be long, so he wasn't going to cut that much off of it….

"If it makes you happy son." Was all Ashura said.

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Ashura wasn't blind. He could see that his son was trying to change himself so that Kurogane would like him. The joys that his sons personality had brought him, was slowly drifting away.

But even if that joy in him was gone, hopefully it would never disappear in his son. Every parent wanted their son to lead a happy life.

But Ashura could no longer see how Kurogane was bringing Fai happiness. Yes he knew that his son was in love with the older teen, even if Fai didn't realize it himself.

But hopefully he would realize it soon, before it was too late to do something about it.

But right now Fai needed someone to tell him that it was alright not to be like everyone wanted him to be. Ashura no longer held as much influence in his sons' life like he'd once had.

He'd have to find someone else closer to his sons' age to do that for him. And he already knew the perfect person.

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"Hello, children." Ashura greeted, pushing open his sons door. His son was now thirteen and he knew that soon he would have to knock in order to not invade his sons' privacy, but he hoped that was far in the distant future.

Kurogane and Fai both looked up, from where they were wrestling on the floor. Fai was punned under Kurogane, though Ashura knew that Fai could care less if it was Kurogane who was pinning him down.

"I've brought you a new play mate." Ashura announced, as the girl skipped into the room.

"Hi guys!" She greeted cheerfully. She too didn't seem surprised by the sight in front of her. "I'm Tomoyo!"

Kuroganes face flushed and he quickly scrambled off of Fai, who gave a light pout. "H-Hi…" Kurogane grumbled, causing Tomoyo to giggle.

"Hello!" Fai chirped from his position on the ground. A strand of his blond bangs fell into his face, and he quickly blew it off again. Even after a year Fai still kept his hair the same length.

Ashura assumed it was because Kurogane must have said he liked it.

"Why don't you guys show Ms. Tomoyo around the castle?" Ashura supplied, when both boys looked like they didn't know what to do.

"Okay," Fai chirped, taking a hold of Kuroganes arm, then Tomoyos arm, and then leading them out of the room.

Ashura sighed, running a hand over his face. He hadn't missed the looks that Kurogane kept giving the girl.

Ashura had a feeling that now it wouldn't be just Kurogane who would ruin his and Fais life.

Ashura had once again made a mistake. He could only hope that Fai wouldn't be unhappy, if things didn't go his way.

But he knew that that was wishful thinking.

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A couple of years passed, and the looks that Kurogane gave to Tomoyo never changed, except that now, Tomoyo was giving them back.

On some days the two would almost forget that Fai was even there, choosing instead to talk amongst themselves, and make Fai wish that he hadn't ordered his father to remove all the toys from his room.

Sometimes Fai would see Kurogane looking at Tomoyo in such a way that made his heart ache. It was such a tender look, that seemed similar to ones that his father gave to him often.

It took him a few weeks of pondering to discover what it was. It was love.

Kurogane loved Tomoyo.

That knowledge brought such a sadness to him, that he spent several days in his room crying.

Tomoyo, Kurogane, and his father constantly stopped by his room to make sure he was alright, but he kept his door locked. And only responded to them if he was sure his voice wouldn't give away the fact that he'd been crying.

He could never let Kurogane know that he'd been crying. Kurogane already thought he was too much of a girl anyway. And there was nothing more girly than crying over such a thing.

But he couldn't understand why he was crying over such a thing. He really shouldn't care who Kurogane loved.

So maybe he was in love with Tomoyo as well?

Fai shook his head, and clutched his pillow. That wasn't it. He could never picture kissing someone who was like his older sister, let alone have romantic thoughts about her.

Fai furrowed his eyebrows, and ignore Kurogane pounding on his door, demanding he come out already.

Kurogane.

His heart clenched, and his stomach did a flip.

It was then that he realized it.

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Fai was fifteen when he discovered that he was in love with Kurogane.

It also took him a couple of days to finally unlock his door, and pretend as if nothing had ever happened.

Things returned to normal, or as normal as they could be with Kurogane shooting him suspicious glares.

Fai was fifteen, when he realized that Kurogane was in love with Tomoyo. He was also fifteen when he realized that he was in love with Kurogane.

But he was sixteen when he realized that Tomoyo was also in love with Kurogane.

And when they finally announced to him that they had been going out for almost a year, and were now engaged…

He spent another week locked away in his room

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No matter how much he tried to wipe away the tears that constantly streamed down his face he couldn't. They kept pouring down, much like the rain outside.

His heart ached, and no matter how much he tried to convince himself that they were happy, and that it was for the best, it still didn't stop the almost crippling pain in his chest.

He wasn't sure how long he had been in love with Kurogane before he realized it, but when he thought back he thought that it must have been from the start.

He remembered how entranced with the older boy he was. Enough to even try and change himself for him. He missed his long hair, and all his toys. Even the boy dolls.

Because maybe if he hadn't tossed them he could be playing with them right now, pretending that it was him and Kurogane.

Another sob racked his skinny body. He hadn't eaten in a while. How many days, or weeks, it had been he couldn't remember. But not even the hunger pains in his stomach could distract his heart from hurting.

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He wasn't sure what time it was, nor what day, but he did know that it was dark, and that was a good thing.

The hallways were pitch black, but he knew where he was going, and the dark hid the tears that were still streaming down his face.

He quietly padded across the hall until he reached the room he was looking for.

He inched the door open, and snuck inside the room. A large bed sat in the middle, and he slowly inched over to it, and climbed under the covers.

Ashura opened his eyes, when he felt the bed shake, and heard vicious sobs coming from behind him. He bit his lip, it hurt him to see his son like this, but the boy needed to be comforted.

Ashura had been right to believe that his sons' friends would ruin his sons' life. He knew that soon his son would return to a seed and go back to the man who'd given him to Ashura.

But right now his son needed to be comforted, he would grieve for his son later, when he actually was gone.

He turned around, wrapped his arms around his son, and let him sob into his chest.

Ashura whispered soothing words to his son, and after what felt like an eternity, his son stopped crying. But his body kept shaking as if he couldn't get warm.

Ashura felt his heart clench, and tears threatened to break free of his eyes, but he held them back. His son was about to die.

He lifted his sons chin so that he could look into his dull blue eyes. "I love you son." He whispered.

"I know…" Fai whispered back, his eyes closing. "But your love isn't enough…"

Ashura tears finally streamed down his face, as his boys' body went slack, and his last breath left him. Ashura rocked his sons' body back and forth. His sobs turned into yells and screams, but still his son didn't return to him.

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The silver haired man stood on a cliff that over looked the castle, and glanced into the tiny glass bottle. His seed was back.

"When will you ever learn?" Someone asked from behind him. "Your seeds never find happiness. You really need to stop this cruel game of yours."

The man turned to glare at the person behind him, but whoever it was, was already gone. He sighed lightly and placed the bottle back into his coat pocket, and vanished.

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A blond with pale blue eye

A kid as white as snow

A child with lips as red as blood

I'll give you the beginning

but the rest is up to you

It's the momenbt when beginning

And end become one

I pray that it wont be too depressing…

Children destined for a cruel fate begin their journey

In this tiny, glass bottle…

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Okay a bit of a cross over with Chronicles of the Grim Peddler but somehow I didn't think that Yuuko could have pulled off his job like he does. He's just awesome like that…

Wow… I didn't think that I would actually cry when I started writing this… but I think it was sadder then I had originally intended…