I am so sorry to have left you all waiting for so long. Unfortunately I couldn't get in touch with my betareader for a couple of months. Thus, this chapter is not betaed. If ever you find grave mistakes in it, feel free to e-mail me.

Chapter 6

Two hours later he was sitting at the big dining table, his head lowered, hands cradled in his lap, while the servants served the food. Shun didn't pay much attention to the people around him. He was showing a mere façade to the guests and doing a rather excellent job of that. Even while Natasha had presented him to the more important of her 'friends', he had only forced an innocent smile on his face, without really paying attention. Nothing would matter anymore in a few hours anyway.

He felt the presence of somebody reaching around him and putting a plate in front of him, brushing his shoulder with a feathery touch. Unconsciously, Shun flinched and looked up. He gasped in surprise when his gaze met the servant's familiar face. Even though the boy's eyes were brown, as was the hair, the features of Shun's long time friend were the same, and he'd be damned if he didn't knew those glasses.

Hyoga sent him a sideways glance and a small smile tugged at the corners of the Russian's lips, all the while he was shaking his head very slightly in silent communication. Shun understood and chased the surprised look from his face.

His friend stepped back and served the others on the table, without another look at him.

Shun closed his eyes in pure relief. He felt a warm feeling blossom in the pit of his stomach and engulf him. Hyoga was here, which meant that Athena had found a way to get around the barrier. He glanced to his right at Natasha to make sure she was not paying attention, but she was in a heated discussion with one of her landlords.

He glimpsed as indifferently as possible towards Hyoga, who was still doing his job, and reached out with his Cosmo to touch that of his friend – only to frown in startled surprise, when he touched nothing but emptiness.

He probed a little further but found no answering vibration from that other Cosmo he knew so well. Shun was surprised. He had supposed that Athena had found a way to disarm the shield, but that didn't seem to be the case. They sent somebody with no Cosmo, which meant Hyoga had somehow gotten rid of his, which also meant that he was as vulnerable as any normal human being. But how did she do that? Shun hadn't thought it was possible to separate somebody's Cosmo and body. But then again, Athena was a Goddess after all. He had seen her do miracles before. So why should she not be able to take ones Cosmo temporarily.

While he refused the urge to follow his Russian brother with his eyes, he directed all his apparent interest to the food in front of him, wondering that Ikki had not insisted to come along. He'd expected his niisan to bully his way into the role Hyoga now so obviously held to make sure he was alright. But then again, Hyogas disguise was absolutely perfect. If not for the well-known glasses Hyoga always wore to read at home, Shun himself wouldn't have been sure if it was really his friend he had been looking at. Especially without Cosmo.

Besides, he couldn't know if his brother or the others were not here as well. Maybe they were, and he just hadn't gotten to see them yet? And it was clear why they stayed hidden and didn't make themselves known. They planned to disarm the bombs before they could free him.

He had no right to kill himself anymore. He had to help them with their plan, especially since he knew exactly where the computers for the bombs were. All he had to do was to find a way to get in touch with one of them. But how? First of all he had to manage gaining more of Natasha's trust. He didn't kid himself, he was under close supervision by anyone here in the castle and she alone could get him more freedom to act. Unfortunately that also meant that he had to play along with her little games. He shuddered at that thought but collected himself fast. The tables had turned. He would get out of here, without any innocent lives at stake. Natasha was dangerous, and as a Saint he had the duty to eliminate the threat she posed to humanity. He had no right to act upon his own feelings anymore; he had been given an indirect part in Athena's newest fight for justice.

He turned towards Natasha who had finished her discussion from before. "I didn't know we had so many servants," he said in a pleasant tone but in very bad Russian, falling back to Japanese for some of the words, he didn't know. He did not know much Russian, except the few words and grammatical rules; Hyoga had taught him for fun and out of his own interest. His knowledge of the language was okay to find his way along as a tourist, but hardly enough to lead a conversation.

She looked at him with a start. Shun had so far refused to speak any word in Russian, even though she had given him books to learn it, and the fact that he spoke of 'we' seemed to really surprise but also please her.

"Well, some of them are from the kitchen, to help out," she answered.

Shun nodded and directed his attention back to his plate. So Hyoga was most likely working in the kitchen, since he had seen most of the other servants in the house at one time or the other.

STSSTSSTSSTSSTSSTSSTSSTSSTSSTS

Hyoga swallowed past the lump in his throat. He had been so exited to finally get to see Shun, but his heart had cramped, when he had actually done so. His friend as sitting at the table, shoulders slump and head lowered. He had looked so sad and full of despair and Hyoga had not been able to do anything about it, no matter how much he had wanted to.

Shun had held his head low and didn't look at anyone for a long time, and Hyoga was afraid that the Andromeda Saint might not even notice him.

When he had been putting the plate in front of his friend, he had deliberately touched Shun's shoulder.

He had very well noticed the flinch away from his touch, just like the look of surprise and panic in Shun's eyes, before the other boy had recognized him.

Natasha must have done something to him. Hyoga was certain of it. But it had to wait. Shun now knew that he was not alone anymore. Hyoga hadn't been sure if his friend would even recognize him, or even think that he was just somebody resembling his friend, once he felt no Cosmo. Hyoga had no way of knowing for sure, but he suspected that Shun had tried to contact his Cosmo, not finding anything. That alone would have been enough to hide his identity even from his best friend. But his features, together with exactly the same glasses he wore at home and often got teased about, would be one coincidence to many. Shun knew it was him, and now they needed to find a way to talk to one another.

He walked back to the door to leave the dining room, until he was needed again, when he heard a familiar voice.

"He doesn't look much like a warrior, doesn't he?"

Hyoga smiled at Alexei. "Appearances can deceive."

"Still I would just love to see him fight once," Alexei whispered.

"Be quiet," Hyoga shushed him. "Somebody could hear you."

"What kind of Saint do you think he is, Mikhail? Fire? Ice? Something else?"

Hyoga rolled his eyes and sighed.

"No, really. I would like to know. Even if you don't believe me about their powers, or that the ice-Saints have their origin in Russia."

"It is not that I don't believe you, but you're endangering us both by talking about it here. Wait until we are alone," Hyoga hissed and walked away.

STSSTSSTSSTSSTSSTSSTSSTSSTSSTSSTS

Natasha entered Shun's quarters later that evening after the last of the guests had left and she had refreshed herself in her own quarters.

She found him sitting in a chair, reading one of the Russian books. She stood still and narrowed her eyes. Only after watching him a minute mutely, she stepped closer.

"What are you doing, Sasha?"

Shun sighed. She had from the beginning refused to call him by his real name, giving him a Russian name instead.

"I do what you want me to do, learn Russian."

"And why the sudden change in attitude?" she asked suspiciously.

Shun exhaled noisily and closed his eyes a moment. He had to be careful and give her a good show, so she would believe him.

He closed the book carefully, stood up and took her by the hand. Then he led her to the chair and urged her softly to sit down, applying light pressure on her shoulder. She complied.

He crouched in front of her and took both her hands in his.

He looked deep in her eyes before he spoke. "You want me to love you. But I don't and you know it. Nobody can make anybody love somebody else.

But I finally realized that I will be staying here for the rest of my life. I won't leave you and you know it. I may as well start to make my life here as enjoyable as possible. I will learn the language and who knows. Maybe I'll even like it here. I was forced to fight my whole life. But I hate it. I'm against violence, and I had the most peaceful time in my life since I came here. Maybe it is my destiny to stay here. I was never a born fighter in the first place.

Here and now, I accept your offer for marriage. And maybe in time, I will even learn to love you."

At his words, a smile appeared on her lips, which spread over her whole features. She was definitely pleased with his words and a flicker of triumph lay in her eyes. She leaned over to kiss him, but he laid two fingers on her lips, stopping her softly.

"I would like for us to take it slowly. We won't force anything and all will come naturally, okay?"

She smiled happily and nodded. "Oh Sasha, You won't regret it, I swear. You will love me, and we will be very happy."

With those words, she stood, caressed his cheek and left him alone.

He sank, cross-legged down to the floor and buried his face in his hand. She had bought it. It had really worked. And she had left him alone, without…. No, he wouldn't go there.

He felt at the same time sick, knowing what could have repeated itself, and satisfied, because he had deceived her. He had indeed never had a violent nature, but that woman would deserve every pain she would get.

T.B.C