Ritsuka heard the door open, but he did not move. The lights flickered on again. Someone was calling his name.

"Ritsuka!"

Edward…!

He heard a clap, felt a flicker of magic, and then suddenly Edward's arms were around him, gently lifting his head, checking his pulse. "Ritsuka, can you hear me? Are you okay? Ritsuka!"

Ritsuka was just considering opening his eyes when he heard another voice, that familiar, sinister tone he had detected earlier. "You'll find that he's perfectly all right. Drugged, but not harmed." Better not risk moving yet.

"You bastard." Ed pulled Ritsuka closer, rocking him slightly, cradling his head in his left hand. "Ritsuka. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for all of this. It's my fault. I promise I'll make it better. We're gonna get Al and get the hell out of here. Just hang on. It'll be all right."

What did he just say? Al? His brother Al? What exactly is going on? And how is any of this Edward's fault?

"A touching reunion, indeed. Shall we get on with it? There are some preparations that need to be made before the ritual can begin."

"Shove it, asshole. You're not in charge, here. This is a tentative cessation of hostilities between enemies for a mutually beneficial purpose. As soon as it becomes un-mutual, I'm outta here. You want my cooperation, I suggest you try kissing my ass a little harder."

Two thoughts flashed through Ritsuka's mind at once. Ritual? What kind of ritual? Followed by: Tentative cessation of hostilities for a mutually beneficial purpose...? Someone is starting to sound just like his Fighter.

"So noted. You may want to consider painting these runes on your person before attempting to open the Gate. You will recognize them as alchemical symbols for Earth and Stone. They will help ground your physical body in this dimension."

Open the Gate? As in the Gate between our two worlds? This is bad. A frisson of déjà vu ran through Ritsuka as Edward let him go and stepped out of the cage. Something about all of this was starting to feel hauntingly familiar…

"Fine, whatever, let's just get this over with." Ritsuka heard him shuffling out of his shirt and he recognized the acrid scent of greasepaint. The smell sickened him, though he wasn't sure exactly why.

"In order for you to properly complete the ritual, you must embody the Red King, and Aoyagi Ritsuka the White Queen. This is an arcane and ancient rite, the complexities of which I do not have time to impart to you. In the most simplistic terms, the twofold energies of the Red King and the White Queen are already present: omnipresent, in fact. All you need to do is connect briefly with them in order to channel enough power to open the Gate from this side."

Ritsuka imagined Ed rolling his eyes as he stepped back into the cage. "Look, you freakshow, back where I'm from, we don't bother with all this magical mumbo-jumbo. Just show me the array. I'll fucking figure it out myself."

The other man coughed. "It's directly above you."

This time, Ritsuka couldn't help but open his eyes. Directly above us? He glanced toward the ceiling of the cage, but he couldn't see anything. Then Ed clapped his hands and pressed them to the ground, and suddenly, a series of complicated designs was visible both above and below them. Bisecting lines, circles inside circles, and other intricate symbols framed the central motif: two intertwining snakes, one white and one red. Written around the outside of the circle were words in a language Ritsuka did not know, and yet, they were somehow strangely familiar to him:

LUNA ES
SOL SUM
PARS CONIUNGIT
DUO UNUM

Edward read the words out loud, then he spoke in an odd voice:

You are the Moon
I am the Sun
Parts join together
Two become One.

The man continued. "It is beginning. I will be opposite you, waiting to step into the Gate when it opens. Do not attempt to alter the array once it starts. The Gate has no morals, no preferences. It would just as soon take you or Aoyagi Ritsuka if you make a wrong move. I would advise caution. Yours is not the only life and soul you are bargaining with."

Ritsuka slowly turned his head. The man had stepped into a second cage on the other side of the room. There was something about the look on his face... like a panther waiting to pounce. Something is wrong here, terribly wrong. I have to stop this… He sat up, turned to Edward and was about to open his mouth to speak, when his breath caught. The runes on Ed's body were glowing bright blue, and memories were rushing into Ritsuka's head like a freight train.

This has happened before. This all happened before, right here, in this room. Ritsuka remembered being here, and he remembered that man, the man whose name was like his… Ritsu. That man was a scientist, like his father, and Ritsuka had gotten in trouble for walking in on some of his… experiments.

And that day, that day it happened, Ritsuka had been watching in secret, and Seimei was there, and Seimei was painted, painted with symbols, just like Ed's, the one that looked like a triangle and one with an arrow pointing down, and Seimei was glowing. Glowing bright blue. And some terrible magic was happening, some terrible dark magic that was pulling Seimei away from him, forever…

"EDWARD!! EDWARD, STOP!!"

But Ed seemed to be unaware of his presence. He was looking somewhere far in the distance, at a place Ritsuka could not see. Threads of magic wove their way around him, binding him to the circle. Crap. Not good. Ritsuka got up and moved next to him, but still Ed did not seem to notice. Blue cords wound their way around both cages, and Ritsuka noted that Ritsu was also painted in glowing runes. He set this all up, just like he did that time with Seimei, and our father, and… There had been someone else there, too, that day, someone in the cage with Seimei… It couldn't have been Soubi? But it must have been. Only Ritsuka hadn't known him, then. How strange. That means that the first time we met, it wasn't really our first time…

He shook his head, trying desperately to clear it. I can't worry about that right now. I've got to do something. There was only one choice. He had to get through to Edward somehow. Taking a deep breath, he stepped in front of Ed and reached out to take his hands.

Immediately, the scene changed. Light spread in every direction, and there seemed to be no one else there but himself and Ed. They were somewhere… between, somewhere outside of time and space. He could still recognize Edward, but he looked… altered, somehow, as if he were filled with a different presence, glowing from the inside out.

"Ed… Ed, we've got to get out of here, we've got to…"

Edward slowly shook his head, and coming closer, he did a strange thing: he smiled. Ritsuka was taken aback. He wanted to insist, no, this is important, you have to listen… But his smile was so radiant, and his golden eyes glowed so beautifully in the sunlight, Ritsuka couldn't help but give in.

Allowing himself to be pulled closer, he suddenly realized they were dancing. This struck Ritsuka as extremely bizarre, not least of all because Ed was the last person he would ever picture as a dancer, but there he was, leading him graciously across the floor, still smiling enchantingly. Ritsuka had never danced a step in his life, and yet, somehow, the movements now came to him easily. It was exhilarating, gliding across the floor with this handsome boy, enjoying the feeling of his billowy white dress swishing back and forth…

A white dress? How did I come to be wearing this? What is happening?

There seemed to be a force outside of himself guiding him, steadily moving him in a direction he wasn't sure he wanted to go. In order for you to properly complete the ritual, you must embody the Red King, and Aoyagi Ritsuka the White Queen.

The White Queen? Who is…

Then he saw her, or rather, sensed her. She was the most exquisite creature he'd ever beheld. The first thought that came to him caused his heart to leap into his throat: she was so much like his mother, how she had looked before she became ill, before her graceful features had become twisted with rage and guilt. Her beautiful silken dark hair was blowing gently against her pale white face, and when she smiled, Ritsuka felt his heart break into a thousand shards. She lifted her small, bird-like arms, decorated with opalescent pearls, flowing with diaphanous silks so smooth they seemed to be barely there. One petal-soft hand reached out and touched Ritsuka's cheek, stroking his face gently, and he could not hold back tears.

She moved to embrace him, and Ritsuka tried to fight it, knowing he was only doing what Ritsu wanted, but the Queen was so beautiful, so like his mother, and with such a soft, pure, delicate face… Ritsuka collapsed into her arms, his tears wetting her sweet-smelling silks, his eyes squeezed shut. Mother…!

When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer Aoyagi Ritsuka. He lifted his hand; it was draped in the softest, whitest silk. A glittering silver diadem graced his head, and around his neck were ropes of pearls. I am the White Queen. Come to me, my King. I live and die only for you.

You are the Moon
I am the Sun
Parts join together
Two become One.

The Red King stood before him, resplendent in carmine velvet and beaten gold that matched his golden hair and eyes. He carried a jeweled scepter and his right arm was made of solid gold. Ritsuka was swept away, far away, to centuries past, to other lands, other lifetimes, journeys long passed and half remembered. He was only conscious of one thought: This is my Sun. This is my King. I am to become One with him. That is my destiny.

Ritsuka moved closer, allowing himself to be pulled into the arms of the Sun King. Yes, let us come together. Yes, let us be as one. Yes, yes…

His lips were soft like velvet, and he was surprised to find they trembled. This is it, this is everything, everything, the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, the Universe, All is one, One is all… He only wanted this, forever. These lips pressed gently to his, these arms around him, this feeling of everlasting bliss. He moved deeper into the kiss, holding him even tighter. Don't let go. Don't leave me. Don't…

Suddenly, the scene around him changed again. Darkness was falling. The King faltered in his arms, stumbled. When Ritsuka looked at him again, his blonde hair had turned grey, and his features were suddenly old, centuries old, barely alive… Ritsuka touched his own face and realized the same fate had befallen him. Horrified, he watched as the King became a living skeleton, then nothing but bones, and then dust. Ritsuka screamed as he, too disintegrated into nothing.

Awareness shifts. Dust swirls across the ground as the rain clouds gather. Drops of water begin falling from the sky. The White Queen is weeping. She weeps for the death of her King, and for all the suffering souls of the world. The droplets gather, in puddles, in streams, in rivers, and finally, flowing to the Sea. The Sea, which holds all the world's sorrows, all the piteous cries of children, all the bereft mothers' tears. The Sea, which rages with force unequaled. The Sea, whose tides are drawn by the Moon. She waits, patiently, as the darkness begins to fade. Slowly, slowly comes the reddish glow. Gently, sweetly comes the Sun King. The Sea swells joyously, celebrating his return, as the two are united once more.

"My Queen, we are Reborn."

"My King, we are One."

Light exploded around Edward and Ritsuka, and the Gate was unsealed.