Notes: Sorry this has taken so long to update. I have no excuse for the delay, except that the story line changed on me. I only recently got a new idea of where to go, and I decided to stay mostly within the manga time line. Meaning Takako didn't return. This also starts up again, many years after the events in the prologue, during Himeno's time.

Thanks so much for all the kind reviews. I hope you all enjoy this. :)


Years later...

Some part of him expected it, when the door opened. He had been expecting it forawhile, since the events with the Princess of Disaster had finished. It was almost surprising to find that she held out for so long, that she had tried to ignore those lingering glances in the opposite direction, or the reluctance the Knight of Wind had to further things.

But he knew she had noticed them. Himeno wasn't stupid, despite her graceless acts and sometimes mindless gestures. The only reason she had left it alone for so long, he suspected, was because she really did love Hayate.

The girl in question entered, a half smile on her lips, "Hey, Kei."

Turning his full gaze to her, he gestured over to a seat in his small, plain cubicle, "Himeno, what are you doing here?"

Reddish-brown eyes looked to the ground, as Himeno sat upon the offered chair. Shifting a little uncomfortably, it was a few moments before she responded, "I don't want to disturb you, but...I need to ask you something."

He decided not let on that he had a feeling what she wanted to ask, "It can't be on something technical. Why ask me and not Sasame?"

Another shift, she clasped her hands in her lap, "Because I had a feeling only you could tell me. And Sasame would only try to ease my feelings. I want the truth," she looked up to him, eyes sad, but clear.

His hands left the keyboard, and he turned his chair to face her, "It has something to do with Hayate, doesn't it?"

Nodding, she sighed, "I know he cares about me, and loves me in his own way. But...I can tell he doesn't love me the way I do him. And I know he didn't love Takako, though he cared about her as well. It's probably not my business..."

"No," he interrupted her, "It is. You have the right to know why Hayate can't return your feelings completely. Though, he does love you, Himeno. It's just that another owns his heart, and has for a long time."

There was no surprise in her, though, she stiffened a little to hear the truth, and she looked to the ground again. Her own words shocked him, "It's Sasame, isn't it?"

Blinking, he tried to process how she could have caught that, while she explained, "I just noticed it, in some of his gestures, in the looks in his eyes. Like when Sasame was sick, he had such a look of longing, of pain that told me he cared more about him then just as a friend. I tried to tell myself that it was just because they're like brothers, but I couldn't fool myself forever. He's always been so protective of him, almost as if he were terrified of something happening, though he tries to hide that feeling from everyone."

The sound of misery in her voice twisted his heart, but he didn't know how to comfort her. Human emotions were something Sasame worked with, Kei was more suited to figuring strategy, advantages, and personalities.

"You're right, he is afraid. He's afraid of losing him again, though, Sasame doesn't know. He has no idea what Hayate feels for him, and if Hayate can help it, he never will, because he doesn't want him to know," he sighed.

She was looking at him again, eyes still sorrowful, but interested now, and her sadness was not all just for her predicament with the Knight of Wind, but for his own agony. That was one thing that made her one of the strongest Pretears he had ever had the privilege of serving. She could push her feelings aside for others, even when they were causing her pain.

She deserved the truth, yet again.

"You see, Sasame died in the battle before Takako. It was brutal, the Princess of Disaster then was horribly powerful. Even with the Pretear on our side, we barely won. That last battle..." he tried to shut the memories out of his mind. The darker times had been with Takako, yet the older memories tended to hurt almost as much, "After, Sasame was of course brought back, but sometimes when we are, our memories are not. That seemed to be the case with him. Avalon, our Pretear, gave him back to us in body, but he had to start again in mind."

He could see the question in her eyes, the same he had asked Hayate once before himself. Why? If Sasame was back, why didn't they start again?

"Because Hayate blamed himself. Sasame took that blow for him, and he felt he didn't have a right to have his love anymore. It almost killed him to lose him, and he didn't want it to happen again. So, he refused to tell Sasame what they had before, and kept him as a best friend instead, burying his feelings inside. "

Himeno's eyes widened, "But that's horrible. No wonder..." she paused, biting her lip, "No wonder he seems so distant. He's afraid to love anyone, isn't he?"

He nodded a little, but said nothing on it, "I suppose you have your answer now."

Silence came, and her head bowed again. He eventually turned back to his work, tapping away at the code he had been writing, unsure of how to go on. Finally, her voice interrupted him, "Could you...tell me their story? I want to help Hayate. I can't imagine suffering that long without the person I love."

He glanced at her, again surprised, "I don't know if you can help him..."

"I know," she gave a shaky smile, "But I want to try. He deserves to be happy again."

Studying her for a few moments, he made his decision, and his respect for her grew. Perhaps she was the greatest Pretear he had ever worked with, to love so selflessly as she did.

"Alright, I'll give you a little of their story. Perhaps you have a chance to fix things," he said finally.